Model Based Development of Quality-Aware Software Services

Modelling languages and development frameworks give support for functional and structural description of software architectures. But quality-aware applications require languages which allow expressing QoS as a first-class concept during architecture design and service composition, and to extend existing tools and infrastructures adding support for modelling, evaluating, managing and monitoring QoS aspects. In addition to its functional behaviour and internal structure, the developer of each service must consider the fulfilment of its quality requirements. If the service is flexible, the output quality depends both on input quality and available resources (e.g., amounts of CPU execution time and memory). From the software engineering point of view, modelling of quality-aware requirements and architectures require modelling support for the description of quality concepts, support for the analysis of quality properties (e.g. model checking and consistencies of quality constraints, assembly of quality), tool support for the transition from quality requirements to quality-aware architectures, and from quality-aware architecture to service run-time infrastructures. Quality management in run-time service infrastructures must give support for handling quality concepts dynamically. QoS-aware modeling frameworks and QoS-aware runtime management infrastructures require a common evolution to get their integration

CAR T-Cell Therapy Predictive Response Markers in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma and Therapeutic Options After CART19 Failure

Immunotherapy with T cells genetically modified with chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) has shown significant clinical efficacy in patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell lymphoma. Nevertheless, more than 50% of treated patients do not benefit from such therapy due to either absence of response or further relapse. Elucidation of clinical and biological features that would predict clinical response to CART19 therapy is of paramount importance and eventually may allow for selection of those patients with greater chances of response. In the last 5 years, significant clinical experience has been obtained in the treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients with CAR19 T cells, and major advances have been made on the understanding of CART19 efficacy mechanisms. In this review, we discuss clinical and tumor features associated with response to CART19 in DLBCL patients as well as the impact of biological features of the infusion CART19 product on the clinical response. Prognosis of DLBCL patients that fail CART19 is poor and therapeutic approaches with new drugs are also discussed

Mossbauer and magnetization studies of amorphous NdFeB compositionally modulated thin films

Several NdFeB compositionally modulated thin films are studied by using both conversion electron Mossbauer spectra and SQUID (superconducting quantum-interference-device) magnetometry. Both the hyperfine fields and the easy magnetization magnitude are not correlated with the modulation characteristic length (lambda) while the magnetization perpendicular to the thin-film plane decreases as lambda increases. The spectra were recorded at room temperature being the gamma rays perpendicular to the substrate plane. The magnetization measurements were recorded by using a SHE SQUID magnetometer in applied magnetic fields up to 5.5 T and in the temperature range between 1.8 and 30 K

La segregación ocupacional y sectorial de la mujer en el mercado de trabajo español

La concentración de las mujeres y los hombres en diferentes ocupaciones y sectores constituye un hecho empírico fundamental de la distribución del empleo. El objetivo del presente trabajo es el análisis de la segregación de género por ocupaciones y por sectores en España, a partir de la Encuesta de la Población Activa (EPA). El análisis hace uso de varios indicadores de segregación, destacando el índice de disimilitud (ID) de Duncan y Duncan. Los resultados apuntan hacia una persistencia de niveles significativos de segregación de género en el mercado de trabajo español.

Model-Driven Development of a Web Service-Oriented Architecture and Security Policies.

Applying model-driven development methodologies provide inherent benefits such as increased productivity, greater reuse, and better maintainability, to name a few. Efforts on achieving model-driven development of web services already exist. However, there is currently no complete solution that addresses non-functional aspects of these services as well. This paper presents an ongoing work which seeks to integrate these non-functional aspects in the development of web services, with a clear emphasis on security

Evaluating non-functional properties globally

Real-time systems are usually dependable systems which, besides timing constraints, have to meet some other quality criteria in order to provide certain reliance on its operation. For this reason, a key issue in the development of this kind of system is to trade off the different non-functional aspects involved in the system e.g., time, performance, safety, power, or memory. The success of the development process is often determined by how earlier we can make thorough assumptions and estimations, and hence, take careful decisions about non-functional aspects. Our approach to support this decision activity is based on treating non-functional properties and requirements uniformly, and still supporting specific evaluation and analysi

Multi Domain-Specific Modeling of the Security Concerns of Service-Oriented Architectures

Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA), and Web Services (WS), the technology generally used to implement them, achieve the integration of heterogeneous technologies, providing interoperability, and yielding the reutilization of pre-existent systems. Model-driven development methodologies provide inherent benefits such as increased productivity, greater reuse, and better maintainability, to name a few. Efforts on achieving model-driven development of SOAs already exist, but there is currently no standard solution that addresses non-functional aspects of these services as well. This paper presents an approach to integrate these non-functional aspects in the development of web services, with an emphasis on security

Integration of Safety Analysis in Model-Driven Software Development

I Safety critical software requires integrating verification techniques in software development methods. Software architectures must guarantee that developed systems will meet safety requirements and safety analyses are frequently used in the assessment. Safety engineers and software architects must reach a common understanding on an optimal architecture from both perspectives. Currently both groups of engineers apply different modelling techniques and languages: safety analysis models and software modelling languages. The solutions proposed seek to integrate both domains coupling the languages of each domain. It constitutes a sound example of the use of language engineering to improve efficiency in a software-related domain. A model-driven development approach and the use of a platform-independent language are used to bridge the gap between safety analyses (failure mode effects and criticality analysis and fault tree analysis) and software development languages (e.g. unified modelling language). Language abstract syntaxes (metamodels), profiles, language mappings (model transformations) and language refinements, support the direct application of safety analysis to software architectures for the verification of safety requirements. Model consistency and the possibility of automation are found among the benefits

Analysis of Quality Dependencies in the Composition of Software Architectures

A dependable system has to meet some quality criteria in order to provide certain reliance on its operation. The quality of a system depends on the complex composition of the quality of its subsystems. Specications of non-functional properties are commonly used to describe provided quality, required quality, resource usage and resource availability. Enclosing these specifications along with architectural models allows performing preliminary quality assessments (design-phase analysis). We allow configuration choices for quality specifications to represent design choices, deployment choices, or component adaptability. We focus on a composition study that answers to: is it possible to meet system and subsystem requirements given provided qualities? and, which configuration allows satisfying the requirements? The contributions of this work are: i) to formalize the composition based on quality levels and constraints, ii) to analyze existing quality dependencies in such a composition, iii) to show how we represent and evaluate dependencies in a model driven environment

Fabrication process of Mo/Au TES at RT

We report on the fabrication details of TES based on Mo/Au bilayers. The Mo layer is deposited by radio frequency (RF) sputtering and capped with a sputter deposited thin Au protection layer. Afterwards, a second Au layer of suitable (lower) resistivity is deposited ex‐situ by e‐beam evaporation, until completion of the total desired Au thickness. The deposition was performed at room temperature (RT) on LPCVD Si3 N4 membranes. Such a deposition procedure is very reproducible and allow controlling the critical temperature (Tc) and normal electrical resistance (RN ) of the Mo/Au bilayer. The process is optimized to achieve low stress bilayers, thus avoiding the undesirable curvature of the membranes. Bilayers are patterned using photolithographic techniques and wet etching procedures. Mo superconducting paths are used to contact the Mo/Au bilayers, thus ensuring good electrical conductivity and thermal isolation. The entire fabrication process let to stable and reproducible sensors with required and tunable functional propertie