Injecting roles in Java agents through runtime bytecode manipulation

Agents are problem-solving entities that can be used to develop complex and distributed systems because they are autonomous, mobile, reactive, social, and proactive. Today's trends in agent technology include the development of applications as multi-agent systems, where several agents interact within the same application. In these systems, the interactions among agents must be carefully considered. Roles constitute a powerful paradigm for modeling interactions, allowing algorithmic issues and interaction-dependent issues to be handled independently. In this paper, we present the RoleX interaction infrastructure, which enables Java(TM) agents to dynamically assume and use roles at runtime. Our approach is based on using bytecode manipulation to add (or remove) Java members from agents, changing their capabilities. We detail the main component of RoleX, the Role Loader, which performs the bytecode manipulation that allows agents to dynamically assume and release roles

The future of AOSE: exploiting SME for a new conception of methodologies

In the last years, the software engineering eld has provided developers with dierent methodologies to support their work. Nevertheless, existing methodologies can hardly meet the requirements of all existing scenarios, which are more and more complex and highly dierentiated. This problem can be faced by applying the Situational Method Engineering (SME) approach, which enables to build appropriate methodologies by composing \fragments" of existing ones. We envision this approach as the future of software engineering in general, and in particular if applied in Agent Oriented Software Engineering (AOSE). This approach has also the valuable advantage of reusing models, solutions, experiences and tools of existing and tested methodologies. In this paper we report three examples of application of the Situational Method Engineering approach in AOSE. We show that this approach can be applied following dierent directions, and in particular: entity-driven, metamodel-driven, and characteristic-driven. To concretely show these directions, we present three examples of methodologies for developing agent systems (one regarding self-organising systems), all constructed composing methodology fragments to meet the scenario requirements

Building self-adaptive systems by adaptation patterns integrated into agent methodologies

Adopting patterns, i.e. reusable solutions to generic problems, turns out to be useful to rely on tested solutions and to avoid reinventing the wheel. To this aim, we proposed to use adaptation patterns to build systems that exhibit self-adaptive features. However, these patterns would be more usable if integrated in a methodology exploited to develop a system. In this paper we show how our Catalogue of adaptation patterns can be integrated into methodologies for adaptive systems; more in detail, we consider methodologies which support the development of multi-agent systems that can be considered good examples of adaptive systems. The paper, in particular, shows the integration of our Catalogue of adaptive patterns into the PASSI methodology, together with the graphical tool that we developed to support it

Location-dependent services for mobile users

Abstract—One of the main issues in mobile services ’ research (M-service) is supporting M-service availability, regardless of the user’s context (physical location, device employed, etc.). However, most scenarios also require the enforcement of context-awareness, to dynamically adapt M-services depending on the context in which they are requested. In this paper, we focus on the problem of adapting M-services depending on the users ’ location, whether physical (in space) or logical (within a specific distributed group/application). To this end, we propose a framework to model users ’ location via a multiplicity of local and active service contexts. First, service contexts represent the mean to access to M-services available within a physical locality. This leads to an intrinsic dependency of M-service on the users’ physical location. Second, the execution of service contexts can be tuned depending on who is requesting what M-service. This enables adapting M-services to the logical location of users (e.g., a request can lead to different executions for users belonging to different groups/applications). The paper firstly describes the framework in general terms, showing how it can facilitate the design of distributed applications involving mobile users as well as mobile agents. Then, it shows how the MARS coordination middleware, implementing service contexts in terms of programmable tuple spaces, can be used to develop and deploy applications and M-services coherently with the above framework. A case study is introduced and discussed through the paper to clarify our approach and to show its effectiveness. Index Terms—Context-awareness, coordination infrastructures, M-services, mobility, multiagent systems. I

MOMIS: Exploiting agents to support information integration

Information overloading introduced by the large amount of data that is spread over the Internet must be faced in an appropriate way. The dynamism and the uncertainty of the Internet, along with the heterogeneity of the sources of information are the two main challenges for today's technologies related to information management. In the area of information integration, this paper proposes an approach based on mobile software agents integrated in the MOMIS (Mediator envirOnment for Multiple Information Sources) infrastructure, which enables semi-automatic information integration to deal with the integration and query of multiple, heterogeneous information sources (relational, object, XML and semi-structured sources). The exploitation of mobile agents in MOMIS can significantly increase the flexibility of the system. In fact, their characteristics of autonomy and adaptability well suit the distributed and open environments, such as the Internet. The aim of this paper is to show the advantages of the introduction in the MOMIS infrastructure of intelligent and mobile software agents for the autonomous management and coordination of integration and query processing over heterogeneous data sources

A systematic review on the impact of commercially available hybrid closed loop systems on psychological outcomes in youths with type 1 diabetes and their parents

Aim: To systematically assess the impact of commercially available hybrid closed loop (HCL) systems on psychological outcomes in youths with type 1 diabetes and their parents. Methods: We performed a systematic review including studies published in the last 10 years. PICOS framework was used in the selection process, and evidence was assessed using the GRADE system. Results: A total of 215 studies were identified after duplicate removal, and 31 studies were included in this systematic review: 20 on first-generation HCL and 11 on second-generation HCL systems. According to studies with moderate- to high-level quality of evidence, HCL systems led to better, or in some studies, unchanged psychological outcomes such as distress and burden related to diabetes management, fear of hypoglycemia, quality of life, satisfaction; instead, quality of sleep was perceived as improved, although results were not confirmed in studies using actigraphy. From semi-structured interviews, answers were more homogeneous, and participants reported a positive experience and attitude towards HCL technology, which was felt to be easy to use and apt to achieve glycemic targets. Conclusions: Evidence confirms the importance of evaluating the psychosocial needs of youths with diabetes and their families when starting HCL systems and during follow-up, and to set realistic expectations of what can be achieved along with awareness of the limitations of the systems, and educate and motivate families to overcome barriers

Efficacy and safety of ketamine for neonatal refractory status epilepticus: case report and systematic review

BackgroundEvidence-based data on treatment of neonatal status epilepticus (SE) are scarce. We aimed to collect data on the efficacy and safety of ketamine for the treatment of neonatal SE and to assess its possible role in the treatment of neonatal SE.MethodsWe described a novel case and conducted a systematic literature review on neonatal SE treated with ketamine. The search was carried out in Pubmed, Cochrane, Clinical Trial Gov, Scopus and Web of Science.ResultsSeven published cases of neonatal SE treated with ketamine were identified and analyzed together with our novel case. Seizures typically presented during the first 24 h of life (6/8). Seizures were resistant to a mean of five antiseizure medications. Ketamine, a NMDA receptor antagonist, appeared to be safe and effective in all neonates treated. Neurologic sequelae including hypotonia and spasticity were reported for 4/5 of the surviving children (5/8). 3/5 of them were seizure free at 1–17 months of life.DiscussionNeonatal brain is more susceptible to seizures due to a shift towards increased excitation because of a paradoxical excitatory effect of GABA, a greater density of NMDA receptors and higher extracellular concentrations of glutamate. Status epilepticus and neonatal encephalopathy could further enhance these mechanisms, providing a rationale for the use of ketamine in this setting.ConclusionsKetamine in the treatment of neonatal SE showed a promising efficacy and safety profile. However, further in-depth studies and clinical trials on larger populations are needed

Retrospective immunophenotypical evaluation of MET, PD-1/PD-L1, and mTOR pathways in primary tumors and pulmonary metastases of renal cell carcinoma: the RIVELATOR study addresses the issue of biomarkers heterogeneity

Aim: In renal cell carcinoma (RCC), tumor heterogeneity generated challenges to biomarker development and therapeutic management, often becoming responsible for primary and acquired drug resistance. This study aimed to assess the inter-tumoral, intra-tumoral, and intra-lesional heterogeneity of known druggable targets in metastatic RCC (mRCC). Methods: The RIVELATOR study was a monocenter retrospective analysis of biological samples from 25 cases of primary RCC and their paired pulmonary metastases. The biomarkers analyzed included MET, mTOR, PD-1/PD-L1 pathways and the immune context. Results: High multi-level heterogeneity was demonstrated. MET was the most reliable biomarker, with the lowest intratumor heterogeneity: the positive mutual correlation between MET expression in primary tumors and their metastases had a significantly proportional intensity (P = 0.038). The intratumor heterogeneity grade was significantly higher for the mTOR pathway proteins. Combined immunophenotypical expression patterns and their correlations with the immune context were uncovered [i.e., mTOR expression in the metastases positively correlated with PD-L1 expression in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), P = 0.019; MET expression was related to PD-1 expression on TILs (P = 0.041, ρ = 0.41) and peritumoral lymphocytes (RILs; P = 0.013, ρ = 0.49)], suggesting the possibility of predicting drug response or resistance to tyrosine kinase, mTOR, or immune checkpoint inhibitors. Conclusions: In mRCC, multiple and multi-level assays of potentially predictive biomarkers are needed for their reliable translation into clinical practice. The easy-to-use immunohistochemical method of the present study allowed the identification of different combined expression patterns, providing cues for planning the management of systemic treatment combinations and sequences in an mRCC patient population. The quantitative heterogeneity of the investigated biomarkers suggests that multiple intralesional assays are needed to consider the assessment reliable for clinical considerations