Middleware for Large-scale Distributed Systems

Nos últimos anos o aumento exponencial da utilização de dispositivos móveis e serviços disponibilizados na “Cloud” levou a que a forma como os sistemas são desenhados e implementados mudasse, numa perspectiva de tentar alcançar requisitos que até então não eram essenciais. Analisando esta evolução, com o enorme aumento dos dispositivos móveis, como os “smartphones” e “tablets” fez com que o desenho e implementação de sistemas distribuidos fossem ainda mais importantes nesta área, na tentativa de promover sistemas e aplicações que fossem mais flexíveis, robutos, escaláveis e acima de tudo interoperáveis. A menor capacidade de processamento ou armazenamento destes dispositivos tornou essencial o aparecimento e crescimento de tecnologias que prometem solucionar muitos dos problemas identificados. O aparecimento do conceito de Middleware visa solucionar estas lacunas nos sistemas distribuidos mais evoluídos, promovendo uma solução a nível de organização e desenho da arquitetura dos sistemas, ao memo tempo que fornece comunicações extremamente rápidas, seguras e de confiança. Uma arquitetura baseada em Middleware visa dotar os sistemas de um canal de comunicação que fornece uma forte interoperabilidade, escalabilidade, e segurança na troca de mensagens, entre outras vantagens. Nesta tese vários tipos e exemplos de sistemas distribuídos e são descritos e analisados, assim como uma descrição em detalhe de três protocolos (XMPP, AMQP e DDS) de comunicação, sendo dois deles (XMPP e AMQP) utilzados em projecto reais que serão descritos ao longo desta tese. O principal objetivo da escrita desta tese é demonstrar o estudo e o levantamento do estado da arte relativamente ao conceito de Middleware aplicado a sistemas distribuídos de larga escala, provando que a utilização de um Middleware pode facilitar e agilizar o desenho e desenvolvimento de um sistema distribuído e traz enormes vantagens num futuro próximo.Over the last few years the designing and implementation of applications have evolved to a new breed of applications that are used by a huge number of users at the same time and are capable of being executed in up to thousands of machines physically distributed, even geographically, such as the cloud computing systems, the new concept of “big data” and smart cities. The existence of several components of these systems, distributed in independent machines, brings inevitable issues in terms of designing and implementation of those systems in order to achieve flexible, scalable, robust, reliable and interoperable systems. It is extremely important to design and implement systems that can be capable of providing a communication and coordination among all the components of the system. The concept of implementing a Middleware seems to be a great option to solve most of these issues, allowing a system to communicate with other systems in a really fast, robust and secure way. This thesis pretends to demonstrate that the usage of Middleware technologies to ensure the communication in distributed systems brings a huge number of advantages, such as interoperability between systems, robustness regarding the communication layer, scalability and high speed communications

ATLANTIC-PRIMATES: a dataset of communities and occurrences of primates in the Atlantic Forests of South America

Primates play an important role in ecosystem functioning and offer critical insights into human evolution, biology, behavior, and emerging infectious diseases. There are 26 primate species in the Atlantic Forests of South America, 19 of them endemic. We compiled a dataset of 5,472 georeferenced locations of 26 native and 1 introduced primate species, as hybrids in the genera Callithrix and Alouatta. The dataset includes 700 primate communities, 8,121 single species occurrences and 714 estimates of primate population sizes, covering most natural forest types of the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina and some other biomes. On average, primate communities of the Atlantic Forest harbor 2 ± 1 species (range = 1–6). However, about 40% of primate communities contain only one species. Alouatta guariba (N = 2,188 records) and Sapajus nigritus (N = 1,127) were the species with the most records. Callicebus barbarabrownae (N = 35), Leontopithecus caissara (N = 38), and Sapajus libidinosus (N = 41) were the species with the least records. Recorded primate densities varied from 0.004 individuals/km 2 (Alouatta guariba at Fragmento do Bugre, Paraná, Brazil) to 400 individuals/km 2 (Alouatta caraya in Santiago, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil). Our dataset reflects disparity between the numerous primate census conducted in the Atlantic Forest, in contrast to the scarcity of estimates of population sizes and densities. With these data, researchers can develop different macroecological and regional level studies, focusing on communities, populations, species co-occurrence and distribution patterns. Moreover, the data can also be used to assess the consequences of fragmentation, defaunation, and disease outbreaks on different ecological processes, such as trophic cascades, species invasion or extinction, and community dynamics. There are no copyright restrictions. Please cite this Data Paper when the data are used in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us of how they are using the data. © 2018 by the The Authors. Ecology © 2018 The Ecological Society of Americ

ATLANTIC EPIPHYTES: a data set of vascular and non-vascular epiphyte plants and lichens from the Atlantic Forest

Epiphytes are hyper-diverse and one of the frequently undervalued life forms in plant surveys and biodiversity inventories. Epiphytes of the Atlantic Forest, one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world, have high endemism and radiated recently in the Pliocene. We aimed to (1) compile an extensive Atlantic Forest data set on vascular, non-vascular plants (including hemiepiphytes), and lichen epiphyte species occurrence and abundance; (2) describe the epiphyte distribution in the Atlantic Forest, in order to indicate future sampling efforts. Our work presents the first epiphyte data set with information on abundance and occurrence of epiphyte phorophyte species. All data compiled here come from three main sources provided by the authors: published sources (comprising peer-reviewed articles, books, and theses), unpublished data, and herbarium data. We compiled a data set composed of 2,095 species, from 89,270 holo/hemiepiphyte records, in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, recorded from 1824 to early 2018. Most of the records were from qualitative data (occurrence only, 88%), well distributed throughout the Atlantic Forest. For quantitative records, the most common sampling method was individual trees (71%), followed by plot sampling (19%), and transect sampling (10%). Angiosperms (81%) were the most frequently registered group, and Bromeliaceae and Orchidaceae were the families with the greatest number of records (27,272 and 21,945, respectively). Ferns and Lycophytes presented fewer records than Angiosperms, and Polypodiaceae were the most recorded family, and more concentrated in the Southern and Southeastern regions. Data on non-vascular plants and lichens were scarce, with a few disjunct records concentrated in the Northeastern region of the Atlantic Forest. For all non-vascular plant records, Lejeuneaceae, a family of liverworts, was the most recorded family. We hope that our effort to organize scattered epiphyte data help advance the knowledge of epiphyte ecology, as well as our understanding of macroecological and biogeographical patterns in the Atlantic Forest. No copyright restrictions are associated with the data set. Please cite this Ecology Data Paper if the data are used in publication and teaching events. © 2019 The Authors. Ecology © 2019 The Ecological Society of Americ

Diagnóstico por Teledermatologia em paciente do Alto Rio Solimões: um caso de escabiose crostosa

Teledermatology uses telecommunication technology and informatics on dermatologic practice without the presence of a specialist. This paper describes the diagnostic process of a Crusted Scabies (Norwegian Scabies) case in an elderly patient from the Alto Solimões River region using teledermatology resources. Moreover, the authors discuss the progress of these technologies, which allow healthcare assistance for those living in remote indigenous and riverine communities, particularly in isolated areas of the Legal Amazon where many diseases are neglected or underdiagnosed.La Teledermatología usa las tecnologías de las telecomunicaciones y de la informática para dar asistencia dermatológica sin la presencia de un especialista. Este artículo describe el proceso de diagnóstico de un caso de escabiosis costrosa (sarna norueguesa) en un paciente anciano de la región del Alto Rio Solimões, a través de recursos de la Teledermatología. Además, los autores discuten los avances de estas tecnologías que permiten llevar asistencia médica a las comunidades costeras e indígenas remotas, especialmente a aquellas de zonas aisladas del Legal Amazon, en las cuales numerosas enfermedades son negligenciadas y subdiagnosticadas.A Teledermatologia estuda o uso das tecnologias de telecomunicação e informática na assistência dermatológica sem a atuação presencial do especialista. Neste trabalho, é relatado o processo diagnóstico de um caso de escabiose crostosa (sarna norueguesa) em paciente idoso da região do Alto Rio Solimões, por meio de recursos de Teledermatologia. Além disso, os autores discutem os avanços dessa tecnologia que possibilita a assistência a distância para comunidades ribeirinhas e indígenas, sobretudo em áreas isoladas da Amazônia Legal, nas quais inúmeras doenças são negligenciadas e subdiagnosticadas

Exigência de lisina para aves de reposição de 13 a 20 saemanas de idade

Objetivando estimar as exigências de lisina de 13 a 20 semanas e avaliar seus efeitos na fase de produção de ovos, 200 poedeiras leves (PL) Lohmann Selected Leghorn e 200 poedeiras semipesadas (PSP) Isa Brown foram distribuídas em delineamento em blocos ao acaso e alimentadas com ração basal contendo 14,0% de proteína bruta (PB) e 2.900 kcal de energia metabolizável (EM) suplementada com L-lisina HCl para os níveis de 0,39; 0,42; 0,45; 0,48; e 0,51% de lisina total nas rações. Na fase de postura, 160 aves de cada linhagem foram alimentadas com ração de produção contendo 16,5% de PB, 2.900 kcal/kg de EM, 2,9% de Ca+2 e 0,755% de lisina. As estimativas das exigências de lisina obtidas pelo ganho de peso, para a fase de 13 a 20 semanas de idade, foram de 0,48% ou consumo de 354 mg diário para as PL e de 0,49% ou consumo de 365 mg diário para as PSP. Produção de ovos e conversões por massa e por dúzia de ovos de ambas as linhagens foram afetadas de forma quadrática pelos níveis de lisina da fase de crescimento. A massa de ovos das PL foi afetada de forma quadrática. Durante a fase de crescimento, as PSP apresentaram maior ganho de peso que as PL. Durante a fase de produção, as PSP apresentaram menor consumo de ração e melhor conversão alimentar por massa de ovos que as PL.The objective of this work was to estimate the requirement of lysine from 13 to 20 weeks and to evaluate the posterior effect on the performance of two egg-type strains. Three hundred egg-white pullets from 13 to 20 weeks of age and three hundred egg-brown pullets from 13 to 20 weeks of age were allotted to a randomised block design with five treatments and four replicates. A basal diet with 14.0% of crude protein and 2900 kcal metabolizable energy/kg was supplemented with L-lysine HCl to obtain 0.39, 0.42, 0.45, 0.48, and 0.51% of total lysine in the diet. During the laying period, all hens received the same diet with 16.5 CP, 2822 kcal ME/kg, 3.81% Ca+2 and 0.755% of lysine. The pullets requirement estimates of lysine based on weight gain from 13 to 20 weeks were 0.48% or a daily intake of 354 mg for white-egg, and 0.49% or a daily intake of 365 mg for brown-egg. Egg production and mass and egg dozen conversions of two strains were quadraticly affected. Egg mass of white-egg was affected by quadratic manner. During the final growing phase, the brown-egg pullets showed better weight gain than white-egg pullets. During the egg production phase, the brown-egg pullets showed a lower feed intake and better egg mass conversion than white-egg pullets

Development and Application of Electrochemical Sensor Based on Molecularly Imprinted Polymer and Carbon Nanotubes for the Determination of Carvedilol

This work describes the preparation of a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) for determination of carvedilol (CAR). Electrochemical behavior of CAR on the modified electrode was evaluated using cyclic voltammetry. The best composition was found to be 65% (m/m) of MIP. Under optimized conditions (pH 8.5 in 0.25 mol L−1 Britton–Robinson buffer and 0.1 mol L−1 KCl) the voltammetric method showed a linear response for CAR in the range of 50–325 µmol L−1 (R = 0.9755), with detection and quantification limits of 16.14 µmol L−1 and 53.8 µmol L−1, respectively. The developed method was successfully applied for determination of CAR in real samples of pharmaceuticals. The sensor presented good sensitivity, rapid detection of CAR, and quick and easy preparation. Furthermore, the material used as modifier has a simple synthesis and its amount utilized is very small, thus illustrating the economic feasibility of this sensor