Using semantic transformers to enable interoperability between media devices in a ubiquitous computing environment

One of the aims of ubiquitous computing is to enable \serendipitous interoperability"; i.e., to make devices that were not necessarily designed to work together interoperate with one another. It also promises to make technologies disappear, by weaving themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it. In order to reach this goal, self-con??guration of the various devices and technologies in ubicomp environments is essential. Whether automated and initiated by context-aware entities, or initiated by users by creating semantic connections between devices, the actual con??guration of the various components (based on their capabilities) should be performed automatically by the system. In this paper we introduce semantic transformers that can be employed to enable interoperability through self-con??guration mechanisms

Using Semantic Transformers to Enable Interoperability between Media Devices in a Ubiquitous Computing Environment

One of the aims of ubiquitous computing is to enable "serendipitous interoperability"; i.e., to make devices that were not necessarily designed to work together interoperate with one another. It also promises to make technologies disappear, by weaving themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it. In order to reach this goal, self-configuration of the various devices and technologies in ubicomp environments is essential. Whether automated and initiated by context-aware entities, or initiated by users by creating semantic connections between devices, the actual configuration of the various components (based on their capabilities) should be performed automatically by the system. In this paper we introduce semantic transformers that can be employed to enable interoperability through self-configuration mechanisms

Report on the Standardization Project ``Formal Methods in Conformance Testing''

This paper presents the latest developments in the “Formal Methods in Conformance Testing” (FMCT) project of ISO and ITU–T. The project has been initiated to study the role of formal description techniques in the conformance testing process. The goal is to develop a standard that defines the meaning of conformance in the context of formal description techniques. We give an account of the current status of FMCT in the standardization process as well as an overview of the technical status of the proposed standard. Moreover, we indicate some of its strong and weak points, and we give some directions for future work on FMCT

Protein and RNA ADP-ribosylation detection is influenced by sample preparation and reagents used

The modification of substrates with ADP-ribose (ADPr) is im-portant in, for example, antiviral immunity and cancer. Recently, several reagents were developed to detect ADP-ribosylation; however, it is unknown whether they recognise ADPr, specific amino acid-ADPr linkages, or ADPr with the surrounding protein backbone. We first optimised methods to prepare extracts con-taining ADPr-proteins and observe that depending on the amino acid modified, the modification is heatlabile. We tested the re-activity of available reagents with diverse ADP-ribosylated pro-tein and RNA substrates and observed that not all reagents are equally suited for all substrates. Next, we determined cross -reactivity with adenylylated RNA, AMPylated proteins, and me-tabolites, including NADH, which are detected by some reagents. Lastly, we analysed ADP-ribosylation using confocal microscopy, where depending on the fixation method, either mitochondrion, nucleus, or nucleolus is stained. This study allows future work dissecting the function of ADP-ribosylation in cells, both on protein and on RNA substrates, as we optimised sample prepa-ration methods and have defined the reagents suitable for specific methods and substrates.Bio-organic Synthesi

Residual Life Distributions from Component Degradation Signals: A Bayesian Approach

Received and accepted Real-time condition monitoring is becoming an important tool in maintenance decision-making. Condition monitoring is the process of collecting real-time sensor information from a functioning device in order to reason about the health of the device. To make effective use of condition information, it is useful to characterize a device degradation signal, a quantity computed from condition information that captures the current state of the device and provides information on how that condition is likely to evolve in the future. If properly modeled, the degradation signal can be used to compute a residual-life distribution for the device being monitored, which can the

Parps: Rapidly Evolving Weapons in the War against Viral Infection

Post-translational protein modifications such as phosphorylation and ubiquitinylation are common molecular targets of conflict between viruses and their hosts. However, the role of other post-translational modifications, such as ADP-ribosylation, in host-virus interactions is less well characterized. ADP-ribosylation is carried out by proteins encoded by the PARP (also called ARTD) gene family. The majority of the 17 human PARP genes are poorly characterized. However, one PARP protein, PARP13/ZAP, has broad antiviral activity and has evolved under positive (diversifying) selection in primates. Such evolution is typical of domains that are locked in antagonistic 'arms races' with viral factors. To identify additional PARP genes that may be involved in host-virus interactions, we performed evolutionary analyses on all primate PARP genes to search for signatures of rapid evolution. Contrary to expectations that most PARP genes are involved in 'housekeeping' functions, we found that nearly one-third of PARP genes are evolving under strong recurrent positive selection. We identified a >300 amino acid disordered region of PARP4, a component of cytoplasmic vault structures, to be rapidly evolving in several mammalian lineages, suggesting this region serves as an important host-pathogen specificity interface. We also found positive selection of PARP9, 14 and 15, the only three human genes that contain both PARP domains and macrodomains. Macrodomains uniquely recognize, and in some cases can reverse, protein mono-ADP-ribosylation, and we observed strong signatures of recurrent positive selection throughout the macro-PARP macrodomains. Furthermore, PARP14 and PARP15 have undergone repeated rounds of gene birth and loss during vertebrate evolution, consistent with recurrent gene innovation. Together with previous studies that implicated several PARPs in immunity, as well as those that demonstrated a role for virally encoded macrodomains in host immune evasion, our evolutionary analyses suggest that addition, recognition and removal of ADP-ribosylation is a critical, underappreciated currency in host-virus conflicts

Interprofessional Consensus Regarding Design Requirements for Liquid-Based Perinatal Life Support (PLS) Technology

Liquid-based perinatal life support (PLS) technology will probably be applied in a first-in-human study within the next decade. Research and development of PLS technology should not only address technical issues, but also consider socio-ethical and legal aspects, its application area, and the corresponding design implications. This paper represents the consensus opinion of a group of healthcare professionals, designers, ethicists, researchers and patient representatives, who have expertise in tertiary obstetric and neonatal care, bio-ethics, experimental perinatal animal models for physiologic research, biomedical modeling, monitoring, and design. The aim of this paper is to provide a framework for research and development of PLS technology. These requirements are considering the possible respective user perspectives, with the aim to co-create a PLS system that facilitates physiological growth and development for extremely preterm born infants

B3/s23 descending a staircase no. 2

This artwork features gliders in cellular automatons playing Conway's game of life. Each playing field is one basic tile from the fashion pattern known as Pied de poule or Houndstooth.The pattern's basic tile has a contour consisting of straight line segments and staircases. In the context of the tessellation typology, it must be considered a hexagon. In our work of art, the basic tile is invisibly glued in a manner which is dictated by the tessellation type, thus implementing a Klein bottle topology, as an alternative to the more classical torus.The Klein bottle appears invisible but it comes to life because of the glider.The work is a tribute to the famous painting Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2, created by Marcel by Duchamp in 1912. Several other hints to Duchamp's work are embedded in the artwork.The author has a personal passion for Pied de poule, which is a rich source of aesthetic qualities in fashion and at the same time a playing field for various types mathematical recreations

In search of a golden ratio for the aesthetics of movement

There is a growing interest among designers and design researchers in dynamic forms, behavior and the associated questions regarding the meaning and the aesthetics of movement. In this article we address a simple, perhaps naive, question about the aesthetics of movement: are there one or more numbers that are as fundamental in a theory of beauty in movement as the golden ratio is in two-dimensional aesthetics and the plastic number is in three dimensional aesthetics.The paper is essentially theoretical, and as such it proposes a number of hypotheses that, at least in principle, can be tested by experiment