Active architecture for pervasive contextual services

Pervasive services may be defined as services that are available to any client (anytime, anywhere). Here we focus on the software and network infrastructure required to support pervasive contextual services operating over a wide area. One of the key requirements is a matching service capable of assimilating and filtering information from various sources and determining matches relevant to those services. We consider some of the challenges in engineering a globally distributed matching service that is scalable, manageable, and able to evolve incrementally as usage patterns, data formats, services, network topologies and deployment technologies change. We outline an approach based on the use of a peer-to-peer architecture to distribute user events and data, and to support the deployment and evolution of the infrastructure itself

Active architecture for pervasive contextual services

International Workshop on Middleware for Pervasive and Ad-hoc Computing MPAC 2003), ACM/IFIP/USENIX International Middleware Conference (Middleware 2003), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil This work was supported by the FP5 Gloss project IST2000-26070, with partners at Trinity College Dublin and Université Joseph Fourier, and by EPSRC grants GR/M78403/GR/M76225, Supporting Internet Computation in Arbitrary Geographical Locations, and GR/R45154, Bulk Storage of XML Documents.Pervasive services may be defined as services that are available "to any client (anytime, anywhere)". Here we focus on the software and network infrastructure required to support pervasive contextual services operating over a wide area. One of the key requirements is a matching service capable of as-similating and filtering information from various sources and determining matches relevant to those services. We consider some of the challenges in engineering a globally distributed matching service that is scalable, manageable, and able to evolve incrementally as usage patterns, data formats, services, network topologies and deployment technologies change. We outline an approach based on the use of a peer-to-peer architecture to distribute user events and data, and to support the deployment and evolution of the infrastructure itself.Peer reviewe

Introduction:Mortality in Design

Digital design for mortals. Precisely what is unsettling about modern technological construction is that, instead of holding together earth and sky, mortals and divinities, it penetrates the earth to extract resources, pushes beyond the sky with rockets and satellites, attempts to suppress mortality with medicine and drugs, and precisely in this attempt to control the body, rejects the art of dying, and thereby and in the very process the remembering of the divinities that is the most intimate part of human suffering. More than ten years old now, Carl Mitcham’s reflection on the performance of vernacular architecture (the building of his own house in fact) is a powerful statement about the tendency of modern technology to suppress human mortality and with it the expression of the human spirit. Precisely what is unsettling about modern technological construction is that, instead of holding together earth and sky, mortals and divinities, it penetrates the earth to extract resources, pushes beyond the sky with rockets and satellites, attempts to suppress mortality with medicine and drugs, and precisely in this attempt to control the body, rejects the art of dying, and thereby and in the very process the remembering of the divinities that is the most intimate part of human suffering

New Simple Procedure for the Computation of the Multimode Admittance or Impedance Matrix of Planar Waveguide Junctions

Much effort has been devoted in the past to the development of electromagnetic simulation algorithms for wave- guide junctions that could at the same time include higher-order mode interactions and lead to computationally efficient codes. Even though this is indeed a classical subject, there is still a strong interest in this area as waveguide systems become increas- ingly complex, and ever shorter development and manufacturing times are required. In this paper a simple method is described for the evaluation of the multimode network representation of planar waveguide junctions in terms of admittance or impedance parameters. The key feature of the method is that it starts from the wanted final results, the equivalent network representation, in order to obtain an analytic expression for the evaluation of the relevant matrix elements. The procedure is based on general network theory and is equivalent to ideally measuring directly the value of the admittance or impedance elements. In this paper the evaluation procedure is fully described. Measured results of actual hardware are then compared with simulations indicating that the codes developed are indeed very accurate as well as computationally very efficient.Agencia Espacial Europe

Evolutionary clade affects resistance of Clostridium difficile spores to Cold Atmospheric Plasma

Clostridium difficile is a spore forming bacterium and the leading cause of colitis and antibiotic associated diarrhoea in the developed world. Spores produced by C. difficile are robust and can remain viable for months, leading to prolonged healthcare-associated outbreaks with high mortality. Exposure of C. difficile spores to a novel, non-thermal atmospheric pressure gas plasma was assessed. Factors affecting sporicidal efficacy, including percentage of oxygen in the helium carrier gas admixture, and the effect on spores from different strains representing the five evolutionary C. difficile clades was investigated. Strains from different clades displayed varying resistance to cold plasma. Strain R20291, representing the globally epidemic ribotype 027 type, was the most resistant. However all tested strains displayed a ~3 log reduction in viable spore counts after plasma treatment for 5 minutes. Inactivation of a ribotype 078 strain, the most prevalent clinical type seen in Northern Ireland, was further assessed with respect to surface decontamination, pH, and hydrogen peroxide concentration. Environmental factors affected plasma activity, with dry spores without the presence of organic matter being most susceptible. This study demonstrates that cold atmospheric plasma can effectively inactivate C. difficile spores, and highlights factors that can affect sporicidal activity

The relationship between cannabis outcome expectancies and cannabis refusal self-efficacy in a treatment population

Background and aims: Self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectancies are central to Social Cognitive Theory (SCT). Alcohol studies demonstrate the theoretical and clinical utility of applying both SCT constructs. This study examined the relationship between refusal self-efficacy and outcome expectancies in a sample of cannabis users, and tested formal mediational models. Design: Patients referred for cannabis treatment completed a comprehensive clinical assessment, including recently validated cannabis expectancy and refusal self-efficacy scales. Setting: A hospital alcohol and drug out-patient clinic. Participants: Patients referred for a cannabis treatment [n=1115, mean age 26.29, standard deviation (SD) 9.39]. Measurements: The Cannabis Expectancy Questionnaire (CEQ) and Cannabis Refusal Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (CRSEQ) were completed, along with measures of cannabis severity [Severity of Dependence Scale (SDS)] and cannabis consumption. Findings: Positive (β=-0.29,

A Small Molecule Screen to Identify a Potential Treatment for MTDPS3

Mitochondrial DNA Depletion Syndrome 3 (MTDPS3) is the most common mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) depletion syndrome. MTDPS3 is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by a mutation in the deoxyguanosine kinase (DGUOK) gene in which a reduction in mtDNA nucleotides results in decreased levels of Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP). The DGUOK phenotypes vary; however, liver dysfunction tends to be consistent for all pediatric patients. Liver transplants can be beneficial; however, it’s only a palliative treatment at best, and the affected population rarely reaches adulthood. This thesis describes a high-throughput drug screen to identify a potential therapy for MTDPS3. MTDPS3 mutant hepatocytes derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) were utilized in the drug screen of the South Carolina Compound Collection (SC3) library. From the primary screen of 10,000 compounds, 63 compounds increased ATP levels at a sample number of one. The primary hits were used to perform biological replicates with the knockout cells, and six can increase ATP levels consistently. Two of the six compounds increased ATP production at eight different drug concentrations. My results show six small molecules with the therapeutic potential to treat an MTDPS3 phenotype in-vitro

Death, After-Death and the Human in the Internet Era: Remembering, Not Forgetting Professor Michael C. Kearl (1949-2015)

Today, humans have remains that are other than physical, generated within and supported by new information communications technologies (ICTs). As with human remains of the past, these are variously attended to or ignored. In this article, which serves as the introduction to this special issue, we examine the reality, meaning and use of enduring digital remains of humans. We are specifically interested in the evolving practices of remembering and forgetting associated with them. These previously posited considerations of ‘human remains’ and ‘what remains of the human’ are useful for exploring the relationship between the Internet, the body, remembering and forgetting. This article is a first step towards understanding how new technological developments are shaping and revealing our contemporary view of life, death and what it means to be human