A model to design and verify context-aware adaptive service composition.

The introduction of mobile clients and context-aware behaviours intoWeb Service compositions may generate faults and inconsistencies. We introduce an extension of a composition model where context-awareness is made explicit and a number of correctness properties are verifiable. In particular, our extended model enables the verification of properties commonly used to validate context dependent applications. We also propose a set of algorithms to verify these properties efficiently

Composition and Self-Adaptation of Service-Based Systems with Feature Models

The adoption of mechanisms for reusing software in pervasive systems has not yet become standard practice. This is because the use of pre-existing software requires the selection, composition and adaptation of prefabricated software parts, as well as the management of some complex problems such as guaranteeing high levels of efficiency and safety in critical domains. In addition to the wide variety of services, pervasive systems are composed of many networked heterogeneous devices with embedded software. In this work, we promote the safe reuse of services in service-based systems using two complementary technologies, Service-Oriented Architecture and Software Product Lines. In order to do this, we extend both the service discovery and composition processes defined in the DAMASCo framework, which currently does not deal with the service variability that constitutes pervasive systems. We use feature models to represent the variability and to self-adapt the services during the composition in a safe way taking context changes into consideration. We illustrate our proposal with a case study related to the driving domain of an Intelligent Transportation System, handling the context information of the environment.Work partially supported by the projects TIN2008-05932, TIN2008-01942, TIN2012-35669, TIN2012-34840 and CSD2007-0004 funded by Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and FEDER; P09-TIC-05231 and P11-TIC-7659 funded by Andalusian Government; and FP7-317731 funded by EU. Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Photoactivation of trans diamine platinum complexes in aqueous solution and effect on reactivity towards nucleotides

We show that UVA irradiation (365 nm) of the Pt-IV complex trans,trans,trans-[(PtCl2)-Cl-IV(OH)(2)(dimethylamine) (isopropylamine)] (1), induces reduction to Pt-II photoproducts. For the mixed amine Pt-II complex, trans[(PtCl2)-Cl-II(isopropylamine)(methylamine)] (2), irradiation at 365 nm increases the rate and extent of hydrolysis, triggering the formation of diaqua species. Additionally, irradiation increases the extent of reaction of complex 2 with guanosine-5'-monophosphate and affords mainly the bis-adduct, while reactions with adenosine-5'-monophosphate and cytidine-5'-monophosphate give rise only to mono-nucleotide adducts. Density Functional Theory calculations have been used to obtain insights into the electronic structure of complexes 1 and 2, and their photophysical and photochemical properties. UVA-irradiation can contribute to enhanced cytotoxic effects of diamine platinum drugs with trans geometry

Dynamic verification of mashups of service-oriented things through a mediation platform

The new Internet is evolving into the vision of the Internet of Things, where physical world entities are integrated into virtual world things. Things are expected to become active participants in business, information and social processes. Then, the Internet of Things could benefit from the Web Service architecture like today’s Web does; so Future service-oriented Internet things will offer their functionality via service-enabled interfaces. As demonstrated in previous work, there is a need of considering the behaviour of things to develop applications in a more rigorous way. We proposed a lightweight model for representing such behaviour based on the service-oriented paradigm and extending the standard DPWS profile to specify the (partial) order with which things can receive messages. To check whether a mashup of things respects the behaviour, specified at design-time, of composed things, we proposed a static verification. However, at run-time a thing may change its behaviour or receive requests from instances of different mashups. Then, it is required to check and detect dynamically possible invalid invocations provoked by the behaviour’s changes. In this work, we extend our static verification with an approach based on mediation techniques and complex event processing to detect and inhibit invalid invocations, checking that things only receive requests compatible with their behaviour. The solution automatically generates the required elements to perform run-time validation of invocations, and it may be extended to validate other issues. Here, we have also dealt with quality of service and temporal restrictions

Preliminary assessment of bone histology in the extinct elephant bird <i>Aepyornis</i> (Aves, Palaeognathae) from Madagascar

International audienceAepyornis, a giant subfossil ratite from Madagascar, shows a well-preserved bone histology. Hindlimb bones exhibit an extensive histodiversity; the cortex is initially made of fibrolamellar, well-vascularized primary bone that modulates locally into plexiform or laminar patterns. Lines of arrested growth are generally weakly expressed. Haversian reconstruction can be complete. Perimedullar endosteal deposition is variable but can be extensive. The complex causality (phylogenetic, systematic, ontogenetic and functional… factors) involved in the production of the observed data is discussed.Aepyornis, ratite géant subfossile de Madagascar, montre une histologie osseuse bien préservée. Les os longs des pattes présentent une forte diversité histologique ; l’os primaire des corticales est initialement du type général fibrolamellaire, fortement vascularisé selon des patrons plexiformes ou laminaires. Les lignes d’arrêt de croissance sont généralement peu exprimées. Le remaniement haversien peut être complet. Le dépôt endostéal périmédullaire est variable, mais peut être très important. La causalité complexe (facteurs phylogénétiques, systématiques, ontogénétiques, fonctionnels…) pouvant rendre compte des structures observées est abordée

Towards an approach to assess Supply Chain Quality Management maturity

Maturity models have been developed in order to help companies to improve organizational performance. Furthermore, due to the globalization and the growing competition, companies need to increase the competitiveness through operational efficiency, internally and in the entire supply chain.In this paper, an approach for the design and implementation of a Supply Chain Quality Management maturity model is presented.The concept of Supply Chain Quality Management has been developed in order to achieve a good integration between the two approaches: Quality Management and Supply Chain Management, and how such integration can help and support the companies to become more effective and efficient.The proposed approach to assess Supply Chain Quality Management maturity incorporates both quantitative and qualitative information to define several levels corresponding to different integration maturity levels. A case study in a world class company of the automotive industry is being used to validate the approach.- This work is sponsored by the Portugal Incentive System for Research and Technological Development. Project in copromotion no 002814/2015 (iFACTORY 2015-2018)

RNA-seq analysis of the Rhizobium tropici CIAT 899 Transcripitome shows similarites in the activation patterns of symbiotic genes in the presence of apigenin and salt.

Rhizobium tropici strain CIAT 899 establishes effective symbioses with several legume species, including Phaseolus vulgaris and Leucaena leucocephala. This bacterium synthesizes a large variety of nodulation factors in response to nod-gene inducing flavonoids and, surprisingly, also under salt stress conditions. The aim of this study was to identify differentially expressed genes in the presence of both inducer molecules, and analyze the promoter regions located upstream of these genes. Results obtained by RNA-seq analyses of CIAT 899 induced with apigenin, a nod gene-inducing flavonoid for this strain, or salt allowed the identification of 19 and 790 differentially expressed genes, respectively. Fifteen of these genes were up-regulated in both conditions and were involved in the synthesis of both Nod factors and indole-3-acetic acid. Transcription of these genes was presumably activated through binding of at least one of the five NodD proteins present in this strain to specific nod box promoter sequences when the bacterium was induced by both apigenin and salt. Finally, under saline conditions, many other transcriptional responses were detected, including an increase in the transcription of genes involved in trehalose catabolism, chemotaxis and protein secretion, as well as ribosomal genes, and a decrease in the transcription of genes involved in transmembrane transport. To our knowledge this is the first time that a transcriptomic study shows that salt stress induces the expression of nodulation genes in the absence of flavonoids. Thus, in the presence of both nodulation inducer molecules, apigenin and salt, R. tropici CIAT 899 up-regulated the same set of symbiotic genes. It could be possible that the increases in the transcription levels of several genes related to nodulation under saline conditions could represent a strategy to establish symbiosis under abiotic stressing conditions

A composite indicator for supply chain performance measurement: a case study in a manufacturing company

This paper proposes a methodology to develop and implement a Composite Indicator (CI) to measure the performance of Supply Chain processes. It reflects the aggregation of individual measures, related to the same process, with a weighted average, in order to assess the global performance in terms of both efficiency and effectiveness. Through a case study in a manufacturing company, a concept validation was performed by implementing the methodology in the Return process of the Supply Chain. The results showed that the combination between a Composite Indicator and a Business Intelligence tool provides a better understanding of the overall performance of a given process, facilitating also the identification of root causes. This paper aims to contribute to the supply chain performance management research field, proposing a methodology to implement a Composite Indicator, which is a topic insufficiently explored in the existent literature.- This work has been supported by national funds through FCT - Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2019