Mastering interactions with Internet of Things platforms through the IoTVar middleware

International audienceThe rising popularity of the Internet of Things (IoT) has led to a plethora of highly heterogeneous, geographically dispersed devices. In recent years, IoT platforms have been used to provide a variety of services to applications such as device discovery, context management, and data analysis. However, the lack of standardization currently means that each IoT platform comes with its own abstractions, APIs, and interactions. As a consequence, programming the interactions between an application and an IoT platform is often time consuming, error prone, and depends on the developers' level of knowledge about the IoT platform. To address these issues, we propose offering to application developers on the client side the possibility to declare variables that are automatically mapped to sensors and whose values are transparently updated with sensor observations. For this purpose, we introduce IoTVar, a middleware between IoT applications and platforms. In IoTVar, all the necessary interactions with IoT platforms are managed by proxies. This paper presents IoTVar integrated with the FIWARE platform, which is used for developing IoT Future Internet applications. We also report results of some experiments performed to evaluate IoTVar, showing IoTVar reduces the effort required to declare and manage IoT variables and its impact in terms of CPU, memory, and energy

Daily intake of pasteurized orange juice decreases serum cholesterol, fasting glucose and diastolic blood pressure in adults

Previous studies have shown that fresh squeezed orange juice or juice from reconstituted concentrate can help prevent the development of atherosclerosis. Pasteurized orange juice presently represents the major orange juice available in the market, and because of this, it becomes necessary to determine the healthy benefits associated with this product. In this study we investigated the effect of regular consumption of pasteurized orange juice on the nutritional status, biochemical profile, and arterial blood pressure in healthy men and women. Men and women volunteered to consume pasteurized orange juice (500 mL·d–1 and 750 mL·d–1, respectively), for 8 weeks. Anthropometric, biochemical, hemodynamic, and dietary assessments were evaluated at baseline and at the end of the experimental period. Total cholesterol and LDL-C significantly decreased in both men and women after the consumption of orange juice, and an increase in HDL-C level was detected exclusively in women. Fasting glucose, diastolic blood pressure, and triglyceride levels dropped in men after the consumption of orange juice. Anthropometric variables did not change with orange juice consumption, only waist circumference decreased significantly in women. Consumption of orange juice increased the energy and carbohydrate intake for women; however, vitamin C and folate increased after the orange juice period for both men and women. Regular consumption of pasteurized orange juice by men (750 mL·d–1) and women (500 mL·d–1) reduced the risk of developing atherosclerosis, and increased the nutritional quality of their diets

Mastering Interactions with Internet of Things Platforms through the IoTVar Middleware

The rising popularity of the Internet of Things (IoT) has led to a plethora of highly heterogeneous, geographically dispersed devices. In recent years, IoT platforms have been used to provide a variety of services to applications such as device discovery, context management, and data analysis. However, the lack of standardization currently means that each IoT platform comes with its own abstractions, APIs, and interactions. As a consequence, programming the interactions between an application and an IoT platform is often time consuming, error prone, and depends on the developers’ level of knowledge about the IoT platform. To address these issues, we propose offering to application developers on the client side the possibility to declare variables that are automatically mapped to sensors and whose values are transparently updated with sensor observations. For this purpose, we introduce IoTVar, a middleware between IoT applications and platforms. In IoTVar, all the necessary interactions with IoT platforms are managed by proxies. This paper presents IoTVar integrated with the FIWARE platform, which is used for developing IoT Future Internet applications. We also report results of some experiments performed to evaluate IoTVar, showing IoTVar reduces the effort required to declare and manage IoT variables and its impact in terms of CPU, memory, and energy

Ingestão regular do suco de laranja vermelha reduz pressão arterial de adultos

Objective – This study aimed to investigate the regular ingestion of red orange juice on blood pressure, anthropometric and diet variables of adults. Methods – The individuals in the experimental group, composed by 19 men and 16 women received 750 mL / d of pasteurized red orange juice for 8 weeks. All volunteers were evaluated for anthropometric, dietary and hemodynamic parameters in the beginning and at the end of the experimental period. Results – There was no change in the variables anthropometric after ingestion of red orange juice. The systolic blood pressure reduced significantly among eutrophic participants supplemented with red orange juice and the diastolic blood pressure reduced among the pre-obese participants. There were significant increases in vitamin C and folate intakes during the experimental period. Conclusion – Regular consumption of red orange juice has shown hypotensive properties, suggesting cardiovascular protective activity in adults. So it would be beneficial to encourage the consumption of citrus fruits as they are unique dietary sources of flavanones.Objetivo – Investigar a ingestão regular do suco de laranja vermelha sobre a pressão arterial, variáveis antropométricas e dietéticas de indivíduos adultos. Métodos – Os indivíduos do grupo experimental, formado por 19 homens e 16 mulheres, receberam 750 mL/dia de suco de laranja vermelha pasteurizado durante 8 semanas. Foram realizadas avaliação antropométrica, dietética e hemodinâmica. Todas as avaliações foram realizadas no início do período experimental e após o tratamento dietético com o suco de laranja. Resultados – Não houve alteração nas variáveis antropométricas após a ingestão do suco de laranja vermelha. A pressão arterial sistólica reduziu significativamente entre os participantes eutróficos que consumiram suco de laranja vermelha e a diastólica reduziu entre os participantes com excesso de peso. Houve aumento significativo da ingestão de vitamina C e folato durante o período experimental. Conclusão – O consumo regular do suco de laranja vermelha mostrou propriedade hipotensora, sugerindo atividade protetora cardiovascular em indivíduos adultos. Portanto, seria interessante incentivar o consumo de frutas cítricas, pois são exclusivas fontes dietéticas de flavanonas.Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES

Pharmacokinetics of flavanone glycosides after ingestion of single doses of fresh-squeezed orange juice versus commercially processed orange juice in healthy humans

Orange juice is a rich source of flavonoids considered beneficial to cardiovascular health in humans. The objective of this study was to analyze the pharmacokinetics of the main flavanone glycosides, hesperidin and narirutin, in humans after the consumption of two styles of orange juice, fresh-squeezed (FOJ) and commercially processed (POJ), differing in their amounts of soluble and insoluble forms of these compounds. Healthy human subjects consumed 11.5 mL/kg body weight of FOJ, and after an interval of 30 days, consumed the same quantity of POJ. The results showed that there were no significant differences in the Tmax of the pharmacokinetic curves for the metabolites of hesperidin and narirutin following the consumption of the two styles of juices, and corrected for differences in doses in the POJ and FOJ, there were also no significant differences in the AUC and Cmax values and percent absorption of these compounds.Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES