An Approach to Flexible Multilevel Modelling

Multilevel modelling approaches tackle issues related to lack of flexibility and mixed levels of abstraction by providing features like deep modelling and linguistic extension. However, the lack of a clear consensus on fundamental concepts of the paradigm has in turn led to lack of common focus in current multilevel modelling tools and their adoption. In this paper, we propose a formal framework, together with its corresponding tools, to tackle these challenges. The approach facilitates definition of flexible multilevel modelling hierarchies by allowing addition and deletion of intermediate abstraction levels in the hierarchies. Moreover, it facilitates separation of concerns by allowing integration of different multilevel modelling hierarchies as different aspects of the system to be modelled. In addition, our approach facilitates reusability of concepts and their behaviour by allowing definition of flexible transformation rules which are applicable to different hierarchies with a variable number of levels. As a proof of concept, a prototype tool and a domain-specific language for the definition of these rules is provided.publishedVersio

A Method for Systematic Adaptation and Synchronization of Healthcare Processes

International organizations, as the World Health Organization (WHO) and national governments are constantly defining (or modifying) new healthcare protocols and procedures. Those changes have a significant impact, on one side, on the organizational concerns of a great number of healthcare institutions and centers, and on the other side, on their health information systems that need to be adapted according to the new (or modified) procedures. Administrative workflows are commonly defined by a high level entity and they must then be applied on different institutions ruled by this high level entity. Those workflows must then be adapted to the particular circumstances of each institution, complying with the general regulations of the process established at the top level. This problem, called Hierarchical Adaptation Problem, also implies establishing the methods to evolve together the high level regulation. Such methods must maintain the consistency among the different levels by means of the propagation of the changes to all the different adaptations of the original workflow. To solve this problem, this work introduces the Hierarchical Adaptation Method. A method based on ontologies to define the rules that must be satisfied by a generic workflow to be considered adaptable to different application cases and the rules that must be satisfied by its adapted versions. Moreover, it provides the operations to facilitate both adaptation of administrative workflows and propagation of changes

IFML-based Model-Driven Front-End Modernization

Since late 90’s the use of web application frameworks has been the default choice to develop software applications inside the web domain. In parallel, Model Driven Web Engineering approaches have been defined and successfully applied to reduce the effort of web application development and reuse, fostering the independence of the implementation technology. A direct result of the success of these approaches is the elaboration of the Interaction Flow Modeling Language (IFML) as an Object Management Group (OMG) standard. However, the real fact is that there is a huge amount of legacy web systems that were developed before MDWE approaches were mainstream. The work presented herein tries to leverage IFML to modernize the front-ends of framework-based legacy web applications. In concrete, a systematic model driven reverse engineering process to generate an IFML representation from such applications is presented

Presencia de Hymenolepis nana y diminuta en roedores de la ciudadela las Piñas, Milagro-Ecuador y su riesgo en salud pública

Hymenolepidiosis is a zoonosis of worldwide prevalence, especially in children, and it is caused by rodent cestodes called Hymenolepis (H) nana and Hymenolepis diminuta. It is very common in developing countries with hot, temperate and dry climates. The life cycle of H. nana does not require intermediate hosts, and its usual transmission is fecal-oral (by ingestion of infective eggs); and infection of H. diminuta occurs through ingestion of tenebrionid arthropods with the larval form (cysticercoids). The objective of this study was to determine the presence of H. nana and H. diminuta in the “Las Piñas” citadel, in the city of Milagro (Ecuador) and to make the public health risk known, through informative talks. For this research, the rodents were captured with the help of Tomahawk and Sherman traps with non-toxic baits (meat, mortadella, fish, bread). A descriptive, prospective cross-sectional study with qualitative approach, carried out between February 1st and July 30th, 2018, analyzed fecal samples using direct methods and flotation-centrifugation with a supersaturated saline solution. Out of 87 captured and processed rodents,  20 cases (22.99 %) were  determined for  Hymenolepis nana,  and 10 cases (11.49 %), for H. diminuta. This was the first report of Hymenolepis nana and diminuta in rodents in the country. It can be concluded that the presence of these parasites at the study site is evident and may become a serious public health problem, due to the risk of transmission to the inhabitants of the sector.La Hymenolepidiosis es una zoonosis de prevalencia mundial, sobre todo en niños, es causada por cestodos de roedores denominados Hymenolepis (H) nana e Hymenolepis diminuta, es muy frecuente en países en vías de desarrollo, con climas cálidos, templados y secos. El ciclo biológico de la H. nana no requiere de hospederos intermediarios, y su transmisión habitual es fecal-oral (por ingesta de huevos infectivos); y la infección de H. diminuta se da a través de la ingestión de artrópodos tenebriónidos con la forma larvaria cisticercoides. El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar la presencia de H. nana e H. diminuta en la ciudadela Las Piñas, de la ciudad de Milagro (Ecuador) y dar a conocer a través de charlas informativas el riesgo en salud pública; para esta investigación se capturaron roedores con ayuda de trampas Tomahawk y Sherman en complementariedad con cebos no tóxicos (carne, mortadela, pescado, pan). Mediante un estudio aplicado, con enfoque cualitativo, de tipo descriptivo-prospectivo-transversal, realizado entre el 1 de febrero al 30 de julio del 2018, se analizaron las muestras fecales por métodos directos y de flotación-centrifugación con solución salina sobresaturada.  De 87 roedores capturados y procesados,  20 casos (22.99 %) se determinó para  Hymenolepis nana y  10 casos (11.49 %) para H. diminuta. Constituyéndose en el primer reporte de Hymenolepis nana y diminuta en roedores en el país. Se concluye que es evidente la presencia de estos parásitos en el sitio de estudio, lo que podría convertirse en un serio problema de salud pública, por el riesgo de transmitirse a los habitantes del sector

Omecamtiv mecarbil in chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, GALACTIC‐HF: baseline characteristics and comparison with contemporary clinical trials

Aims: The safety and efficacy of the novel selective cardiac myosin activator, omecamtiv mecarbil, in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is tested in the Global Approach to Lowering Adverse Cardiac outcomes Through Improving Contractility in Heart Failure (GALACTIC‐HF) trial. Here we describe the baseline characteristics of participants in GALACTIC‐HF and how these compare with other contemporary trials. Methods and Results: Adults with established HFrEF, New York Heart Association functional class (NYHA) ≥ II, EF ≤35%, elevated natriuretic peptides and either current hospitalization for HF or history of hospitalization/ emergency department visit for HF within a year were randomized to either placebo or omecamtiv mecarbil (pharmacokinetic‐guided dosing: 25, 37.5 or 50 mg bid). 8256 patients [male (79%), non‐white (22%), mean age 65 years] were enrolled with a mean EF 27%, ischemic etiology in 54%, NYHA II 53% and III/IV 47%, and median NT‐proBNP 1971 pg/mL. HF therapies at baseline were among the most effectively employed in contemporary HF trials. GALACTIC‐HF randomized patients representative of recent HF registries and trials with substantial numbers of patients also having characteristics understudied in previous trials including more from North America (n = 1386), enrolled as inpatients (n = 2084), systolic blood pressure < 100 mmHg (n = 1127), estimated glomerular filtration rate < 30 mL/min/1.73 m2 (n = 528), and treated with sacubitril‐valsartan at baseline (n = 1594). Conclusions: GALACTIC‐HF enrolled a well‐treated, high‐risk population from both inpatient and outpatient settings, which will provide a definitive evaluation of the efficacy and safety of this novel therapy, as well as informing its potential future implementation

An Approach to Flexible Multilevel Modelling

Multilevel modelling approaches tackle issues related to lack of flexibility and mixed levels of abstraction by providing features like deep modelling and linguistic extension. However, the lack of a clear consensus on fundamental concepts of the paradigm has in turn led to lack of common focus in current multilevel modelling tools and their adoption. In this paper, we propose a formal framework, together with its corresponding tools, to tackle these challenges. The approach facilitates definition of flexible multilevel modelling hierarchies by allowing addition and deletion of intermediate abstraction levels in the hierarchies. Moreover, it facilitates separation of concerns by allowing integration of different multilevel modelling hierarchies as different aspects of the system to be modelled. In addition, our approach facilitates reusability of concepts and their behaviour by allowing definition of flexible transformation rules which are applicable to different hierarchies with a variable number of levels. As a proof of concept, a prototype tool and a domain-specific language for the definition of these rules is provided

An Approach to Flexible Multilevel Modelling

Multilevel modelling approaches tackle issues related to lack of flexibility and mixed levels of abstraction by providing features like deep modelling and linguistic extension. However, the lack of a clear consensus on fundamental concepts of the paradigm has in turn led to lack of common focus in current multilevel modelling tools and their adoption. In this paper, we propose a formal framework, together with its corresponding tools, to tackle these challenges. The approach facilitates definition of flexible multilevel modelling hierarchies by allowing addition and deletion of intermediate abstraction levels in the hierarchies. Moreover, it facilitates separation of concerns by allowing integration of different multilevel modelling hierarchies as different aspects of the system to be modelled. In addition, our approach facilitates reusability of concepts and their behaviour by allowing definition of flexible transformation rules which are applicable to different hierarchies with a variable number of levels. As a proof of concept, a prototype tool and a domain-specific language for the definition of these rules is provided

A Pattern-Based Development Approach for Interaction Flow Modeling Language

Development and deployment technologies for data-intensive web applications have considerably evolved in the last years. Domain-specific frameworks or model-driven web engineering approaches are examples of these technologies. They have made possible to face implicit problems of these systems such as quick evolving business rules or severe time-to-market requirements. Both approaches propose the automation of redundant development tasks as the key factor for their success. The implementation of CRUD operations is a clear example of repetitive and recurrent task that may be automated. However, although web application frameworks have provided mechanisms to automate the implementation of CRUD operations, model-driven web engineering approaches have generally ignored them, so automation has not been properly faced yet. This paper presents a pattern-based development approach for the Interaction Flow Modeling Language as a way to finally automate repetitive specification tasks. Our approach is illustrated by defining and applying IFML patterns for CRUD operations. Additionally, a supporting tool, which enables automation, is shown. The suitability of our approach and the utility of its tool have been evaluated by its application into several real projects developed by a software company specialized in model-driven web application development. The results obtained present evidence of a significant productivity improvement obtained by the automation of the IFML specification of CRUD operations

Towards a Conceptual Framework for the Specification of Reproducible and Replicable Data Analysis Projects

It is becoming increasingly common to exploit the data collected by Information Systems in order to carry out an analysis of them and obtain conclusions that give rise to a series of decisions in the different research fields. The fact that in most cases these conclusions cannot be properly backed up has given rise to a reproducibility crisis in Data Science, the discipline that makes it possible to convert such data into knowledge, and it research fields that apply it. In this paper we envision a conceptual framework to foster reproducible and replicable Data Science projects. The framework proposes the definition of systematic pipelines that may be (semi)automatically executed in terms of concrete implementation platforms. Proprietary or third party tools are also considered so that flexibility may be ensured without hindering reproducibility and replicability