Services in pervasive computing environments : from design to delivery

The work presented in this thesis is based on the assumption that modern computer technologies are already potentially pervasive: CPUs are embedded in any sort of device; RAM and storage memory of a modern PDA is comparable to those of a ten years ago Unix workstation; Wi-Fi, GPRS, UMTS are leveraging the development of the wireless Internet. Nevertheless, computing is not pervasive because we do not have a clear conceptual model of the pervasive computer and we have not tools, methodologies, and middleware to write and to seamlessly deliver at once services over a multitude of heterogeneous devices and different delivery contexts. Our thesis addresses these issues starting from the analysis of forces in a pervasive computing environment: user mobility, user profile, user position, and device profile. The conceptual model, or metaphor, we use to drive our work is to consider the environment as surrounded by a multitude of services and objects and devices as the communicating gates between the real world and the virtual dimension of pervasive computing around us. Our thesis is thus built upon three main “pillars”. The first pillar is a domain-object-driven methodology which allows developer to abstract from low level details of the final delivery platform, and provides the user with the ability to access services in a multi-channel way. The rationale is that domain objects are self-contained pieces of software able to represent data and to compute functions and procedures. Our approach fills the gap between users and domain objects building an appropriate user interface which is both adapted to the domain object and to the end user device. As example, we present how to design, implement and deliver an electronic mail application over various platforms. The second pillar of this thesis analyzes in more details the forces that make direct object manipulation inadequate in a pervasive context. These forces are the user profile, the device profile, the context of use, and the combinatorial explosion of domain objects. From the analysis of the electronic mail application presented as example, we notice that according to the end user device, or according to particular circumstances during the access to the service (for instance if the user access the service by the interactive TV while he is having his breakfast) some functionalities are not compulsory and do not fit an adequate task sequence. So we decided to make task models explicit in the design of a service and to integrate the capability to automatically generate user interfaces for domain objects with the formal definition of task models adapted to the final delivery context. Finally, the third pillar of our thesis is about the lifecycle of services in a pervasive computing environment. Our solutions are based upon an existing framework, the Jini connection technology, and enrich this framework with new services and architectures for the deployment and discovery of services, for the user session management, and for the management of offline agents

Synthesis and characterisation of novel molecularly imprinted nanogels with aldolase Type I activity

PhD 2009 QMThis research project focussed on using the molecular imprinting approach for the synthesis of nanogels capable of catalysing the cross-aldol reaction between 4-nitrobenzaldehyde and acetone. A polymerisable proline derivative was used as the functional monomer to mimic the enamine-based mechanism of aldolase type I enzymes. A 1,3-diketone template, used to create the cavity, was designed to imitate the intermediate of the aldol reaction and was bound to the functional monomer using a reversible covalent interaction prior to polymerisation. Soluble imprinted nanogels were prepared by using a high-dilution radical polymerisation, which was followed by template removal and estimation of active site concentrations by monitoring the release of 4-nitrophenolate due to the acetylation of proline units with 4-nitrophenyl acetate. Analysis by DLS and TEM confirmed an average particle size of 20 nm for the nanogel preparations, comparable to the size of natural enzymes, and an average molecular mass ranging from 258 to 288 kDa, as determined by GPLC using polymethylmethacrylate standards. The polymers were found to be soluble in DMF, DMSO and mixtures thereof, giving rise to homogeneous solutions. The kinetic characterisation of both imprinted and non-imprinted nanogels was carried out with catalyst concentrations between 0.7 and 3.5% mol. Imprinted nanogel MIP-AS147 was found to have a kcat value of 0.26 × 10-2 min-1, the highest value ever achieved with imprinted nanogels catalysing C-C bond formation. Comparison of the catalytic constants for both imprinted nanogel MIP-AS147 and non-imprinted nanogel NIP-AS133 gave a ratio of kcatMIP /kcatNIP = 20, which is indicative of good imprinting efficiency and highlights the significance of the template during the imprinting process. Analysis of the stereoselectivity of the reaction catalysed by nanogels gave 62% ee, which is comparable with the one of the “free” catalyst. This work is the first and so far only example of imprinted polymer capable of catalysing the cross-aldol addition. The kinetic data obtained provide additional evidence to the hypothesis that the nanogel format is superior to ‘bulk’ polymers for the generation of enzymelike catalysts.Queen Mary University Glaxo Smith Klin

From nanoscience to nanoethics: the viewpoint of a scientist

Nanotechnologies are an emerging and multidisciplinary field of research, which is re-cently knowing a growing interest because of the basic and applied scientific break-through. Despite a deep understanding of the nanoscience is far to be achieved, the de-bate about the impact of nano-objects in everyday life is gradually involving both the scientific community and civil society. Here we provide some arguments to reflect upon the so-called “nanoethics”. We will start with a brief introduction about the definition of nanotechnology and then the circularity that links the characterization techniques in comparison with the discovery of nanotechnology will be discussed. Conclusion remarks about the presence of nanotechnology in everyday life will be finally presented

Webrogue: meet web people

WebRogue is an application for virtual presence over the Web. It is implemented by coupling a Web client and a Chat client, so that each time the user downloads a Web page he or she can see who is connected to that site and chat with them. Users can decide to talk in couples, or simply speak loud, so that anyone that is watching that page can listen, or even scream so that everybody on the web-site can listen. Additionally two or more users can decide to form a group and surf together, one of them being the leader, that the others will follow. Whenever the leader changes URL, the page loaded on the browsers of anybody else in the group will change accordingly. The goal of WebRogue is to enable the birth of online communities around web-sites of interest, allowing exchange of opinions, in a free, non moderated manner, between site visitors and site owners, and thus it is designed with freedom of speech in mind. Nobody can moderate a WebRogue channel, no subscription or authentication is required, and the service doesnt rely on any particular application to be installed server-side in web-sites, for them to become meeting points for WebRogue users.267-27

Interactive Web-based Applications Enforcing Communication and Cooperation in Distributed Teams

In this paper we show the work ongoing at CRS4, on the topic of collaboration tools. We describe DJ-Lab, a plugin for the popular integrated development environment IntelliJ Idea that supports the practice of remote pair programming; XP4IDE, that automates the activity of tracking of XP managed development projects and integrates in the IDE a view of the project tasks; and WebRogue, an application for virtual presence in Web sites, that allows web users to see the other people connected to a web server and communicate and cooperate in various ways. The philosophies of these applications are analyzed to spot analogies and differences, potential evolutions, technical and human limitations, and track a path for future development.17-2

Web 2.0 mashup geoweb

2006-11-22Sardegna Ricerche, Edificio 2, Località Piscinamanna 09010 Pula (CA) - ItaliaGis Day 2006: dal Gis al Geo-We

Building the Web of Things with WS-BPEL and Visual Tags. Web of Things using Service-oriented Architecture standards

The Web of things is an emerging scenario in which everyday objects are connected to the Internet and can answer to HTTP queries with structured data. This paper presents a system that allows users to build networks of everyday objects using visual tags as proximity technology. The system backend is based on Service-oriented Architecture languages and tools for the runtime composition of “things” establishing connections we call hyperpipes.357-36

Designing peer-to-peer systems for business-to-business environments

Conference held in Firenze, Italy, 30 November -2 December 2005This paper describes the design of a peer-to-peer system integrated in a larger framework for the automatic content production, formatting, distribution and delivery over multiple platforms called AXMEDIS (E.U. IST-2-511299). One of the goals of the project is the reduction of costs and, among the others, the adoption of a collaborative environment based on a virtual database as an abstraction of a multitude of objects shared in a large network of content producers/distributors/aggregators. The peculiar properties of this system are the automation of P2P related operations, the professional query user interface based on Dublin Core and available rights of target objects, and the preemptive exclusion of uncertified participants.219-22

Itv as a community-to-community collaborative system

Web-forums and Instant Messengers provide a unique opportunity for the users to create and support spontaneous communities. However, such systems tend to focus on the one-to-one and one-to-many approaches. Community-to- Community interaction, described as two groups of people which communicate by means of a network, is still missing. This work describes early implementation of an interactive television (iTV) chat system, which dynamically creates chat rooms where users can discuss, share their TV experience and access web resources.337-33