The EEE-05 Challenge: A New Web Service Discovery and Composition Competition

With growing acceptance of service-oriented computing, an emerging area of research is the investigation of technologies that will enable the discovery and composition of web services. Using the same approach as the popular Trading Agent Competitions (TAC), the EEE-05 Web Services Challenge is the first event geared towards the management of web services. The competition solicits industry and academic researchers that develop software components and/or intelligent agents that have the ability to discover pertinent web services and also compose them to create higher-level capabilities. This paper describes the competition details for this first year and expectations for future events

WSC-07: Evolving the Web Services Challenge

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is an evolving architectural paradigm where businesses can expose their capabilities as modular, network-accessible software services. By decomposing capabilities into modular services, organizations can share their offerings at multiple levels of granularity while also creating unique access points for their peer organizations. The true impact of SOA will be realized when 3rd party organizations can obtain a variety of services, on-demand, and create higher-order composite business processes. The Web Services Challenge (WSC) is a forum where academic and industry researchers can share experiences of developing tools that automate the integration of web services. In the third year (i.e. WSC-07) of the Web Services Challenge, software platforms will address several new composition challenges. Requests and results will be transmitted within SOAP messages. In addition, semantic representations will be both represented in the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) and in the Web Ontology Language (OWL). Finally, composite processes will have both sequential and concurrent branches

Nappe Vibration Mitigation Techniques for Free-overfall Structures

Nappe vibration is a phenomenon that has been witnessed in the field for a variety of different free overflow hydraulic structures operating at low heads, such as fountains, crest gates, and weirs. This phenomenon is visually characterized by oscillations in the thin nappe cascading downstream of the control structure. These oscillations can produce a significant level of noise and acoustic pressure waves, which can increase the environmental and societal impacts of the hydraulic structure. As a result, a detailed investigation has been undertaken to identify practical and effective mitigation solutions for free-overfall structures where nappe vibration may be of concern. Research is being performed with a prototype-scale linear weir (weir length of 3.5 m and fall height of 3 m) located at the Engineering Hydraulics laboratory of the University of Liège, to assess the effectiveness of various crest modifications and any corresponding impacts to hydraulic efficiency (i.e., flow rate). The test matrix includes the optimization (position and spacing of elements) of three mitigation solutions which are projecting bolts, deflectors and step. In addition, a high-speed camera and audio equipment have been used to evaluate effectiveness of the configurations in reducing nappe vibration. Finally, this practical study has identified countermeasures suitable for retrofits and new construction, easy to construct, durable, hydraulically efficient, and with minimal potential for debris collection

Trends in management of proximal humerus fractures in the United States : 1998-2009

Proximal humerus fractures (PHFs) are common but they do not have a standard of treatment. Historically, surgeons have opted for closed reduction percutaneous pinning (CRPP) or open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) for simple fractures and hemiarthroplasty (HA) for more complex fractures. ORIF has become increasingly popular because of its expanded utility with locking plates. The use of CRPP has declined and been limited to simple fractures with recent literature showing unexpectedly higher complication rates. Reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA) was introduced in the U.S. in 2003 and has been used to treat complicated shoulder problems such as cuff tear arthropathy, revision, and 4-part PHFs. The aim of this study was to analyze the shifting emphasis between operative modalities for displaced PHFs. We hypothesized that the rate of total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) would increase after the introduction of RTSA

Importance of decision support implementation in emergency department vancomycin dosing

INTRODUCTION: The emergency department (ED) plays a critical role in the management of life-threatening infection. Prior data suggest that ED vancomycin dosing is frequently inappropriate. The objective is to assess the impact of an electronic medical record (EMR) intervention designed to improve vancomycin dosing accuracy, on vancomycin dosing and clinical outcomes in critically ill ED patients. METHODS: Retrospective before-after cohort study of all patients (n=278) treated with vancomycin in a 60,000-visit Midwestern academic ED (March 2008 and April 2011) and admitted to an intensive care unit. The primary outcome was the proportion of vancomycin doses defined as “appropriate” based on recorded actual body weight. We also evaluated secondary outcomes of mortality and length of stay. RESULTS: The EMR dose calculation tool was associated with an increase in mean vancomycin dose ([14.1±5.0] vs. [16.5±5.7] mg/kg, p<0.001) and a 10.3% absolute improvement in first-dose appropriateness (34.3% vs. 24.0%, p=0.07). After controlling for age, gender, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus infection, and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score, 28-day in-hospital mortality (odds ratio OR 1.72; 95% CI [0.76–3.88], p=0.12) was not affected. CONCLUSION: A computerized decision-support tool is associated with an increase in mean vancomycin dose in critically ill ED patients, but not with a statistically significant increase in therapeutic vancomycin doses. The impact of decision-support tools should be further explored to optimize compliance with accepted antibiotic guidelines and to potentially affect clinical outcome

Ecological effects of reservoir operations on Blue Mesa Reservoir

Includes bibliographical references.Annual progress report, May 1, 1995-April 30, 1996

The C. elegans CHP1 homolog, pbo-1, functions in innate immunity by regulating the pH of the intestinal lumen

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.Caenorhabditis elegans are soil-dwelling nematodes and models for understanding innate immunity and infection. Previously, we developed a novel fluorescent dye (KR35) that accumulates in the intestine of C. elegans and reports a dynamic wave in intestinal pH associated with the defecation motor program. Here, we use KR35 to show that mutations in the Ca2+-binding protein, PBO-1, abrogate the pH wave, causing the anterior intestine to be constantly acidic. Surprisingly, pbo-1 mutants were also more susceptible to infection by several bacterial pathogens. We could suppress pathogen susceptibility in pbo-1 mutants by treating the animals with pH-buffering bicarbonate, suggesting the pathogen susceptibility is a function of the acidity of the intestinal pH. Furthermore, we use KR35 to show that upon infection by pathogens, the intestinal pH becomes neutral in a wild type, but less so in pbo-1 mutants. C. elegans is known to increase production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as H2O2, in response to pathogens, which is an important component of pathogen defense. We show that pbo-1 mutants exhibited decreased H2O2 in response to pathogens, which could also be partially restored in pbo-1 animals treated with bicarbonate. Ultimately, our results support a model whereby PBO-1 functions during infection to facilitate pH changes in the intestine that are protective to the host