Ecosystems enabling adaptive composition of intelligent services

Intelligent services are roughly defined as pieces of software with the capabilities of problem-solving and autonomous composition of solutions, e.g., composition of manufacturing processes. They are heterogeneous and distributed by design, however in industrial settings they are constrained to local interactions with limited room for adaptation due to the need to lower the interoperability barrier. In this paper, we present an approach where collections of intelligent services are treated as ecosystems, using food chains, environments and migration to enable adaptive compositions that generate solutions with a higher service value chain. We present a set of experiments demonstrating how a distributed ecosystem achieves compositions of solutions with higher service value chains while balancing the load and diversity of intelligent services across the ecosystem via self-organisation. This supports the claim that implementations of intelligent service based systems (ISBS) as ecosystems could bring substantial benefits to industrial applications.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Ecologia reprodutiva e história natural de Kinosternon herrerai (Testudines: Kinosternidae) no centro de sua distribuição

México alberga 10 especies endémicas de tortugas de barro del género Kinosternon, pero hace falta información de historia natural para la mayoría de ellas. Aquí describimos algunas generalidades de la ecología reproductiva e historia natural de una población de la tortuga Casquito de Herrera, endémica mexicana, K. herrerai en Hidalgo, México. Las hembras y los machos fueron similares en masa corporal y longitud del carapacho, además, las tortugas más grandes y pesadas se movieron más que aquellas más pequeñas y livianas. El tamaño de la puesta varió de uno a seis huevos, con un promedio de 3.4 ± 1.7, y la puesta de huevos ocurrió a temperaturas ambientales entre 15 and 21°C (x̅ = 18.6°C). El tiempo total de anidamiento (desde la selección del nido hasta la ovoposición) duró ca. 37 min y el periodo de incubación fue de 75 días in situ. Estos resultados mejoran nuestra comprensión de los aspectos de historia natural de las tortugas de barro Kinosternon, que son necesarios para llevar a cabo acciones de conservación para preservar todas sus poblaciones.Mexico harbors 10 endemic species of mud turtles of genus Kinosternon, but natural history information is lacking for most of them. Herein we describe some generalities of the reproductive ecology and natural history of one population of the Mexican endemic, Herrera’s mud turtle, K. herrerai from Hidalgo, Mexico. Females and males were similar in body mass and carapace length. Additionally, larger and heavier turtles moved more than smaller and lighter ones. Clutch size varied from one to six eggs, with an average of 3.4 ± 1.7, and egg laying occurred at environmental temperatures between 15 and 21°C (x̅ = 18.6°C). Total nesting time (from selection of nesting site to oviposition) lasted ca. 37 min, and the incubation period was 75 days in situ. These results enhance our understanding of natural history aspects of Kinosternon mud turtles, which are necessary to carry out conservation actions to preserve all of its populations.O México abriga 10 espécies endêmicas de tartarugas-de-lama do gênero Kinosternon, mas faltam informações sobre a história natural da maioria delas. Aqui, descrevemos algumas generalidades da ecologia reprodutiva e da história natural de uma população de Hidalgo da tartaruga-de-lama-de-herrera, K. herrerai, endêmica do México. As fêmeas e os machos eram semelhantes em termos de massa corporal e comprimento da carapaça. Além disso, as tartarugas maiores e mais pesadas se movimentavam mais do que as menores e mais leves. O tamanho da ninhada variou de um a seis ovos, com uma média de 3,4 ± 1,7, e a postura dos ovos ocorreu em temperaturas ambientais entre 15 e 21°C (x̅ = 18,6°C). O tempo total de nidificação (desde a seleção do local de nidificação até a ovipostura) durou cerca de 37 min, e o período de incubação foi de 75 dias in situ. Esses resultados aumentam nossa compreensão dos aspectos da história natural das espécies de Kinosternon, que são necessários para realizar ações de conservação para preservar todas as suas populações

Periovulatory Hormonal Profiles after Estrus Induction and Conception Rate by Fixed-Time AI in Payoya Goats during the Anestrous Season

Sexual activity in domestic goats is positively influenced by reducing the photoperiod. Various protocols have therefore been developed in goats for the induction and synchronization of estrus during those months in which their sexual activity is reduced. The present observational study evaluates the periovulatory hormonal profile in Payoya goats (n = 24), during a non-favorable photoperiod (i.e., spring), being treated for estrus induction. The treatment comprised the vaginal insertion of sponges impregnated with progestogen (fluorogestone acetate, FGA), together with cloprostenol and equine chorionic gonadotrophin (eCG), 48 h before the end of the treatment. When the treatment ended, the plasma concentrations of the LH, FSH, progesterone and estradiol were determined. The goats were inseminated 46 h after the sponge withdrawal, and a pregnancy diagnosis was carried out 40–45 days after the insemination. Various parameters were monitored, such as the peaks of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and estradiol, and their respective intervals, in reference to the time of the sponge withdrawal. The conception rate was 62.5%, and the kidding rate was 50%. The results record the hormonal release pattern after the estrus synchronization treatment based on the FGA, and the differences between the pregnant and non-pregnant goats. The findings suggest that the LH peak produced after the estrus synchronization treatment, both in terms of the amplitude and the time of increment, is involved in the reproductive failure detected

Environmental impact of aquaculture on the marine benthos: exclusion - inclusion experiments

The present paper studies the impact of aquacultural organic wastes and wild fish on the macroinfauna assemblage and on the biogeochemical properties of marine sediments. Exclusion experiments were carried out on coarse and fine sands. Wild fish might reduce the organic material pool by eating feed, feces and infauna, as well as by facilitating the transport of organic materials to other areas. Granulometry stands out as the most important factor in the response of different sediments. We conclude that wild fish can reduce the impact of organic waste from aquaculture.Se ha examinado el impacto de una descarga de materiales orgánicos procedentes de una instalación de acuicultura y se estudia la influencia de la ictiofauna silvestre sobre el ensamblaje de la macroinfauna y las propiedades biogeoquímicas del sedimento. Se realizaron experimentos de exclusión sobre fondos de arenas gruesas y de arenas finas. La ictiofauna silvestre puede suavizar la acumulación de materia orgánica debajo de las jaulas flotantes consumiendo las heces, el pienso y la infauna, o bien facilitando la resuspensión y transporte de materia orgánica a otras zonas. La granulometría se ha destacado como la característica más importante que explica la diferenciación en la respuesta de los sedimentos. Se puede concluir que la ictiofauna silvestre suaviza los impactos derivados del excedente de materia orgánica de las granjas marinas.Instituto Español de Oceanografí

Landslide Risk: Economic Valuation in the North-Eastern Zone of Medellin City

Natural disasters of a geodynamic nature can cause enormous economic and human losses. The economic costs of a landslide disaster include relocation of communities and physical repair of urban infrastructure. However, when performing a quantitative risk analysis, generally, the indirect economic consequences of such an event are not taken into account. A probabilistic approach methodology that considers several scenarios of hazard and vulnerability to measure the magnitude of the landslide and to quantify the economic costs is proposed. With this approach, it is possible to carry out a quantitative evaluation of the risk by landslides, allowing the calculation of the economic losses before a potential disaster in an objective, standardized and reproducible way, taking into account the uncertainty of the building costs in the study zone. The possibility of comparing different scenarios facilitates the urban planning process, the optimization of interventions to reduce risk to acceptable levels and an assessment of economic losses according to the magnitude of the damage. For the development and explanation of the proposed methodology, a simple case study is presented, located in north-eastern zone of the city of Medellín. This area has particular geomorphological characteristics, and it is also characterized by the presence of several buildings in bad structural conditions. The proposed methodology permits to obtain an estimative of the probable economic losses by earthquake-induced landslides, taking into account the uncertainty of the building costs in the study zone. The obtained estimative shows that the structural intervention of the buildings produces a reduction the order of 21 % in the total landslide risk. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd

Evolution of benthic communities in El Hornillo Bay (Águilas, Murcia) (southeast Spain) after cessation of floating-cage seabream Sparus auratus L., 1758 and seabass Dicentrarchus labrax (L., 1758) culture

Results are presented on the evolution of the seabed in El Hornillo Bay (águilas, Murcia) (southeast Spain) after ten years of intensive floating-cage culture of seabream Sparus auratus L., 1758 and seabass Dicentrarchus labrax (L., 1758), as the system was progressively dismantled, in three phases. Three stations were selected for each one of these phases, as well as one control station. At each stage, changes were observed by collecting data on the sediments' physical-chemical parameters and macrofauna. Although the sediment remained anoxic for more than 24 months after the cages were removed, a rapid increase in biodiversity occurred immediately. The MDS analyses indicated time- and space-based differences within the structure of the benthic community.En 1989 se instaló en la bahía de El Hornillo (águilas, Murcia) (sureste de España) una granja acuícola para el cultivo en régimen intensivo de dorada Sparus auratus L., 1758 y lubina Dicentrarchus labrax (L., 1758) en jaulas flotantes. Tras diez años de explotación, y después de su desmantelamiento progresivo en tres fases, se ha estudiado la evolución de los fondos de la bahía, impactados por esta actividad. Se seleccionaron, con este fin, tres estaciones de seguimiento para cada una de esas fases y se estableció una estación de control. En cada estación se observaron los cambios producidos en las variables fisicoquímicas y en la macrofauna del sedimento, que permanecería anóxico más de 24 meses. La biodiversidad experimentó un incremento rápido inmediatamente después de la retirada de las jaulas, y los análisis de ordenación multidimensional (MDS) señalan la existencia de diferencias en la estructura de la comunidad bentónica en función del tiempo y del espacio.Instituto Español de Oceanografí

An elastic software architecture for extreme-scale big data analytics

This chapter describes a software architecture for processing big-data analytics considering the complete compute continuum, from the edge to the cloud. The new generation of smart systems requires processing a vast amount of diverse information from distributed data sources. The software architecture presented in this chapter addresses two main challenges. On the one hand, a new elasticity concept enables smart systems to satisfy the performance requirements of extreme-scale analytics workloads. By extending the elasticity concept (known at cloud side) across the compute continuum in a fog computing environment, combined with the usage of advanced heterogeneous hardware architectures at the edge side, the capabilities of the extreme-scale analytics can significantly increase, integrating both responsive data-in-motion and latent data-at-rest analytics into a single solution. On the other hand, the software architecture also focuses on the fulfilment of the non-functional properties inherited from smart systems, such as real-time, energy-efficiency, communication quality and security, that are of paramount importance for many application domains such as smart cities, smart mobility and smart manufacturing.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Programme under the ELASTIC Project (www.elastic-project.eu), grant agreement No 825473.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version