Resolving Architectural Mismatches of COTS Through Architectural Reconciliation

The integration of COTS components into a system under development entails architectural mismatches. These have been tackled, so far, at the component level, through component adaptation techniques, but they also must be tackled at an architectural level of abstraction. In this paper we propose an approach for resolving architectural mismatches, with the aid of architectural reconciliation. The approach consists of designing and subsequently reconciling two architectural models, one that is forward-engineered from the requirements and another that is reverse-engineered from the COTS-based implementation. The final reconciled model is optimally adapted both to the requirements and to the actual COTS-based implementation. The contribution of this paper lies in the application of architectural reconciliation in the context of COTS-based software development. Architectural modeling is based upon the UML 2.0 standard, while the reconciliation is performed by transforming the two models, with the help of architectural design decisions.

DataWarp: Building Applications which Make Progress in an Inconsistent World

The usual approach to dealing with imperfections in data is to attempt to eliminate them. However, the nature of modern systems means this is often futile. This paper describes an approach which permits applications to operate notwithstanding inconsistent data. Instead of attempting to extract a single, correct view of the world from its data, a DataWarp application constructs a collection of interpretations. It adopts one of these and continues work. Since it acts on assumptions, the DataWarp application considers its recent work to be provisional, expecting eventually most of these actions will become definitive. Should the application decide to adopt an alternative data view, it may then need to void provisional actions before resuming work. We describe the DataWarp architecture, discuss its implementation and describe an experiment in which a DataWarp application in an environment containing inconsistent data achieves better results than its conventional counterpart

Carmen: Software Component Model Checker

International audienceThe challenge of model checking of isolated software components becomes more and more relevant with the boom of component-oriented technologies [20]. An important issue here is how to verify an open model representing an isolated software component (also referred as the missing environment problem in [17]). In this paper, we propose on-the-fly simulation of the component environment to address the issue. We employ behavior protocols [18] and a system coordinating two model checkers: Java PathFinder [4] and BPChecker [15]. This approach allows us to enclose the model represent- ing the behavior of a given component and consequently to exhaustively verify the model. Our solution was implemented as the Carmen tool [1]. We demonstrate scalability of our approach on real-life examples and show that, in comparison with the COMBAT model checker [17], we bring better performance, and also exhaustive and correct verification

Static Analysis of Aspect Interaction and Composition in Component Models

International audienceComponent based software engineering and aspect orientation are claimed to be two complementary approaches. While the former ensures the modularity and the reusability of software entities, the latter enables the modularity of crosscutting concerns that cannot be modularized by regular components. Nowadays, several approaches and frameworks are dedicated to integrate aspects into component models. However, when several aspects are woven, interferences may appear which results on undesirable behaviors. The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, we show how aspectualized component models can be formally modeled in Uppaal model checker in order to detect potential interferences among aspects. Second, we provide an extendible catalog of composition operators used for aspect composition. We illustrate our general approach with an airport Internet service example

Glioma Pathogenesis-Related Protein 1: Tumor-Suppressor Activities and Therapeutic Potential

After glioma pathogenesis-related protein 1 (GLIPR1/Glipr1) was identified, the expression of GLIPR1 was shown to be down-regulated in human prostate cancer, owing in part to methylation in the regulatory region of this gene in prostate cancer cells. Additional studies showed that GLIPR1/Glipr1 expression is induced by DNA-damaging agents independent of p53. Functional analysis of GLIPR1 using in vitro and in vivo gene-transfer approaches revealed both growth suppression and proapoptotic activities for mouse Glipr1 and human GLIPR1 in multiple cancer cell lines. The proapoptotic activities were dependent on production of reactive oxygen species and sustained c-Jun-NH2 kinase signaling. It was interesting that adenoviral vector-mediated Glipr1 (AdGlipr1) transduction into prostate cancer tissues using an immunocompetent orthotopic mouse model revealed additional biologic activities consistent with tumor-suppressor functions. Significantly reduced tumor-associated angiogenesis and direct suppression of endothelial-cell sprouting activities were documented. In addition, AdGlipr1 strongly stimulated antitumor immune responses that resulted in specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte activities in this model. Glipr1-related antitumor immunostimulatory activities were confirmed and extended in subsequent studies. Administration of a novel Glipr1 gene-modified tumor cell vaccine had significant antitumor activity in a mouse model of recurrent prostate cancer. In conclusion, restoration of GLIPR1 function in prostate cancer cells through GLIPR1 gene-based or GLIPR protein-based delivery methods may provide a safe and effective approach for targeted therapy for a range of malignancies

El retaule major de Nostra Senyora del Socors i la formació del santuari cinccentista de la serra del Corredor

Reconstrucció de la gènesi d'un santuari cinccentista dedicat a la Mare de Déu, edificat a la serra del Corredor i equipat amb la intervenció decisiva de l'ermità Lleonard Claus (m. 1601). L'estudi se centra en el complex retaule major del santuari, contractat el 1589, i especialment en les seves catorze taules de pintura. A més d'identificar i documentar-ne per primer cop l'autor, Antoni Toreno II(m. 1598), traça un primer perfil general de la seva activitat, pràcticament desconeguda fins avui, i explora les fonts gràfiques que va utilitzar-hi -en particular, estampes de Cornelis Cort.The article investigates the origins of a sixteenth century sanctuary devoted to the Blessed Virgin, which was built with the active intervention of the hermit Lleonard Claus (m. 1601). Special attention is paid to its complex main altarpiece (commissioned in 1589), and its fourteen painted panels. The article identifies their painter, Antoni Toreno II (m. 1598), for the first time. Some of the main aspects of this artist's biography and his inspiration on Cornelis Cort engravings are described

Multilevel Contracts for Trusted Components

This article contributes to the design and the verification of trusted components and services. The contracts are declined at several levels to cover then different facets, such as component consistency, compatibility or correctness. The article introduces multilevel contracts and a design+verification process for handling and analysing these contracts in component models. The approach is implemented with the COSTO platform that supports the Kmelia component model. A case study illustrates the overall approach.Comment: In Proceedings WCSI 2010, arXiv:1010.233

Applying MDA and OMG Robotic Specification for Developing Robotic Systems

Robotics systems have special needs often related with their realtime nature and environmental properties. Often, control and communication paths within the system are tightly coupled to the actual physical configuration of the robot. As a consequence, these robots can only be assembled, configured, and programmed by robot experts. Traditional approaches, based on mainly writing the code without using software engineering techniques, are still used in the development process of these systems. Even when these robotic systems are successfully used, several problems can be identified and it is widely accepted that new approaches should be explored. The contribution of this research consists in delineating guidelines for the construction of robotic software systems, taking advantage of the application of the OMG standard robotic specifications which adhere to the model-driven approach MDA. Thereby the expert knowledge is captured in standard abstract models that can then be reused by other less experienced developers. In addition part of the code is automatically generated, reducing costs and improving quality