Architectural prototyping: from CCS to .Net

Over the last decade, software architecture emerged as a critical issue in Software Engineering. This encompassed a shift from traditional programming towards software development based on the deployment and assembly of independent components. The specification of both the overall systems structure and the interaction patterns between their components became a major concern for the working developer. Although a number of formalisms to express behaviour and to supply the indispensable calculational power to reason about designs, are available, the task of deriving architectural designs on top of popular component platforms has remained largely informal. This paper introduces a systematic approach to derive, from CCS behavioural specifications the corresponding architectural skeletons in the Microsoft .Net framework, in the form of executable C and Cω code. The prototyping process is fully supported by a specific tool developed in Haskell

Higher-order lazy functional slicing

Program slicing is a well known family of techniques intended to identify and isolate code fragments which depend on, or are depended upon, specific program entities. This is particularly useful in the areas of reverse engineering, program understanding, testing and software maintenance. Most slicing methods, and corresponding tools, target either the imperative or the object oriented paradigms, where program slices are computed with respect to a variable or a program statement. Taking a complementary point of view, this paper focuses on the slicing of higher-order functional programs under a lazy evaluation strategy. A prototype of a Haskell slicer, built as proof-of-concept for these ideas, is also introduced

Slicing for architectural analysis

Current software development often relies on non-trivial coordination logic for combining autonomous services, eventually running on different platforms. As a rule, however, such a coordination layer is strongly woven within the application at source code level. Therefore, its precise identification becomes a major methodological (and technical) problem and a challenge to any program understanding or refactoring process. The approach introduced in this paper resorts to slicing techniques to extract coordination data from source code. Such data are captured in a specific dependency graph structure from which a coordination model can be recovered either in the form of an Orc specification or as a collection of code fragments corresponding to the identification of typical coordination patterns in the system. Tool support is also discussed

Thoracic wall reconstruction using ultrasound images to model/bend the thoracic prosthesis for correction of pectus excavatum

Pectus excavatum is the most common congenital deformity of the anterior thoracic wall. The surgical correction of such deformity, using Nuss procedure, consists in the placement of a personalized convex prosthesis into sub-sternal position to correct the deformity. The aim of this work is the CT-scan substitution by ultrasound imaging for the pre-operative diagnosis and pre-modeling of the prosthesis, in order to avoid patient radiation exposure. To accomplish this, ultrasound images are acquired along an axial plane, followed by a rigid registration method to obtain the spatial transformation between subsequent images. These images are overlapped to reconstruct an axial plane equivalent to a CT-slice. A phantom was used to conduct preliminary experiments and the achieved results were compared with the corresponding CT-data, showing that the proposed methodology can be capable to create a valid approximation of the anterior thoracic wall, which can be used to model/bend the prosthesis

Prototyping Concurrent Systems in Cw

Software architecture is currently recognized as one of the most critical design steps in Software Engineering. The specification of the overall system structure, on the one hand, and of the interactions patterns between its components, on the other, became a major concern for the working developer. Although a number of formalisms to express behaviour and supply the indispensable calculational power to reason about designs, are available, the task of deriving architectural designs on top of popular component platforms has remained largely informal. This paper introduces a systematic approach to derive, from behavioural specifications written in Cw, the corresponding architectural skeletons in the Microsoft .NET framework in the form of executable code

Prototyping Behavioural Specifications in the.NET framework

Over the last decade, software architecture emerged as a critical design step in Software Engineering. This encompassed a shift from traditional programming towards the deployment and assembly of independent components. The specification of the overall system structure, on the one hand, and of the interactions patterns between its components, on the other, became a major concern for the working developer. Although a number of formalisms to express behaviour and supply the indispensable calculational power to reason about designs, are available, the task of deriving architectural designs on top of popular component platforms has remained largely informal. This paper introduces a systematic approach to derive, from behavioural specifications written in Ccs, the corresponding architectural skeletons in the Microsoft .Net framework in the form of executable C] code. Such prototyping process is automated by means of a specific tool developed in Haskell

Effect of neutralization and cross-linking on the thermal degradation of chitosan electrospun membranes

Thermal degradation of as electrospun chitosan membranes and samples subsequently treated with ethanol and cross-linked with glutaraldehyde (GA) have been studied by thermogravimetry (TG) coupled with an infrared spectrometer (FTIR). The influence of the electrospinning process and cross-linking in the electrospun chitosan thermal stability was evaluated. Up to three degradation steps were observed in the TG data, corresponding to water dehydration reaction at temperatures below 100 ºC, loss of side groups formed between the amine groups of chitosan and trifluoroacetic acid between 150 – 270 ºC and chitosan thermal degradation that starts around 250 ºC and goes up to 400 ºC. The Kissinger model was employed to evaluate the activation energies of the electrospun membranes during isothermal experiments and revealed that thermal degradation activation energy increases for the samples processed by electrospinning and subsequent neutralization and cross-linking treatments with respect to the neat chitosan powder.

On universal central extensions of Hom-Leibniz algebras

In the category of Hom-Leibniz algebras we introduce the notion of Hom-corepresentation as adequate coefficients to construct the chain complex from which we compute the Leibniz homology of Hom-Leibniz algebras. We study universal central extensions of Hom-Leibniz algebras and generalize some classical results, nevertheless it is necessary to introduce new notions of α-central extension, universal α-central extension and α-perfect Hom-Leibniz algebra due to the fact that the composition of two central extensions of Hom-Leibniz algebras is not central. We also provide the recognition criteria for these kind of universal central extensions. We prove that an α-perfect Hom-Lie algebra admits a universal α-central extension in the categories of Hom-Lie and Hom-Leibniz algebras and we obtain the relationships between both of them. In case α = Id we recover the corresponding results on universal central extensions of Leibniz algebras.

Economic analysis of occupational risk prevention: a case study in a textile company

Work accidents affect business and society as a whole. Fewer accidents mean fewer sick leaves, which results in lower costs and less disruption in the production process, with clear advantages for the employer. But workers and their households bear also a significant burden following a work accident, only partially compen-sated by insurance systems. Furthermore, the consequences of work accidents to the State and Society need also to be considered. When an organization performs an integrated risk analysis in evaluating its Occupational Health and Safety Management System, several steps are suggested to address the identified risk situations. Namely, to avoid risks, a series of preventive measures are identified. The organization should make a detailed analysis of the monetary impact (positive or negative) for the organization of each of the measures considered. Particularly, it is also important to consider the impact of each measure on society, involving an adequate eco-nomic cost-benefit analysis. In the present paper, a case study in a textile finishing company is presented. The study concentrates on the dyeing and printing sections. For each of the potential risks, several preventive measures have been identified and the corresponding costs and benefits have been estimated. Subsequently, the Benefit/Cost ratio (B/C) of these measures has been calculated, both in financial terms (from the organisa-tion’s perspective) and in economic terms (including the benefits for the worker and for the Society). Results show that, while the financial analysis in terms of the company does not justify the preventive measures, when the externalities are taken into account, the B/C ratio increases significantly and investments are fully justified.

Analysis of the return on preventive measures in musculoskeletal disorders through the benefitecost ratio: A case study in a hospital

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are among the most costly health problems that society is facing today. Prevention involves investments and it is important for organizations to make a cost ebenefit analysis of ergonomic projects. Return on prevention is a recent concern in the domain of occupational safety and health (OSH). There are many studies concerning the return on the prevention of WMSDs, in terms of the benefits for the organization in which the preventive measures are implemented. However, it is also important to perform an analysis of the impact of each measure on society (externalities). A model to perform a financial and economic costebenefit analysis related to OSH projects was developed and it was applied in the case of the prevention of WMSDs in a Portuguese hospital. An analysis of the accidents and corresponding costs has been made in six of the services of the hospital. Financial and an economic costebenefit analysis have been made and the benefitecost ratio (B/C) has been calculated. While the B/C financial ratio, considering only the benefits to the hospital, is around 2, the economic B/C ratio, taking into account all the external benefits that have been quantified, is higher than 14. Relevance to industry: Both the economic and the financial B/C ratio are important support tools for decision makers in public and private organizations, helping them to define which preventive measures should be implemented, taking into account the costs involved and the resulting quantified benefits, for the organization, for the workers and for the society.

Anotação, numa perspectiva de Direito Penal Constitucional, de Criminologia e de Política Criminal, de alguns dos aspectos do Acórdão do Tribunal Constitucional (português) n.º 353/2012, de 5 de Julho de 2012 - o problema da legítima defesa de bens jurídicos individuais e bens jurídicos colectivos, bens jurídicos supra-individuais e/ou bens jurídicos comunitários no meio do Estado de Direito e do Estado Social

o Acórdão do Tribunal Constitucional português n.º 353/2012, de 5 de Julho de 2012, ao declarar a respectiva inconstitucionalidade com força obrigatória geral, colocou em evidência a existência de bens jurídicos individuais e bens jurídicos colectivos, bens jurídicos supra-individuais, bens jurídicos comunitários. Bens jurídicos estes que devem e têm que ser tutelados e protegidos. A legítima defesa pode existir quer em relação à agressão actual e ilícita de bens jurídicos individuais, quer em relação à agressão actual e ilícita de bens jurídicos colectivos, bens jurídicos supra-individuais e/ou bens jurídicos comunitários? Parte muito substancial e importante da Doutrina indica que sim. Mas, então, como reagir, no contexto da hipotética legítima defesa, face à eventual agressão actual e ilícita dos bens jurídicos tutelados, agora com valor reforçado, pelo próprio Tribunal Constitucional? E qual o papel do direito constitucional de resistência? Este artigo pretende fornecer um muito breve contributo para a solução das correspondentes questões. A questão dos Direitos Fundamentais, o Desenvolvimento e a modernidade. § the Sentence of the (Portuguese) Constitutional Court n. 353/2012 of July 5, 2012, declaring its generally binding unconstitutionality, has highlighted the existence of individual legal goods and collective legal goods, supra-individual legal goods, community legal goods. These legal goods, that should and must be defended and protected. Legitimate defense can be either relative to the current and illicit aggression to individual legal goods, whether in relation to the current and illicit aggression to collective legal goods, supra-individual legal goods or community legal goods? Very substantial and important part of the Doctrine would appear so. But then how to respond, in the context of hypothetical self-defense, in the face of possible current and illicit aggression of the protected legal goods, now with enhanced value, by the Constitutional Court? And what is the role of the constitutional right of resistance? This article is intended to provide a very brief contribution to the solution of the corresponding questions. The question of Fundamental Rights, Development and modernity.

Partidos políticos e direito de oposição a Pirro

Art. 114º da Constituição da República Portuguesa: “1. Os partidos políticos participam nos órgãos baseados no sufrágio universal e directo, de acordo com a sua representatividade eleitoral. 2. É reconhecido às minorias o direito de oposição democrática, nos termos da Constituição e da lei. 3. Os partidos políticos representados na Assembleia da República e que não façam parte do Governo gozam, designadamente, do direito de serem informados regular e directamente pelo Governo sobre o andamento dos principais assuntos de interesse público, de igual direito gozando os partidos políticos representados nas Assembleias Legislativas das regiões autónomas e em quaisquer outras assembleias designadas por eleição directa relativamente aos correspondentes executivos de que não façam parte.”. § Article 114 of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic. "1. Political parties shall participate in organs based on direct and universal suffrage, according to their electoral representation. 2. It is recognized minorities the right to democratic opposition, under the Constitution and the law. 3. Political parties represented in Parliament and not forming part of the Government shall, in particular, the right to be informed regularly and directly by the Government on the progress of the main matters of public interest, equal rights enjoying the political parties represented in Legislative Assemblies of the autonomous regions and any other assemblies formed through direct elections with respect to the corresponding executives who are not part. ".

A Morte Saiu À Rua…

Diz a Lei 53/03, com última versão da Lei 60/15: “1 ‐ Quem praticar os factos previstos no n.º 1 do artigo 2.º, com a intenção nele referida, é punido com pena de prisão de 2 a 10 anos, ou com a pena correspondente ao crime praticado, agravada de um terço nos seus limites mínimo e máximo, se for igual ou superior àquela, não podendo a pena aplicada exceder o limite referido no n.º 2 do artigo 41.º do Código Penal”. § Says the Law 53/03, with the latest version of Law 60/15: "1 - Whoever commits the acts referred to in paragraph 1 of article 2, with the intention that it shall be punished with imprisonment from 2 to 10 years, or the penalty corresponding to the crime committed, increased by one third in its minimum and maximum limits, if it is equal or superior to, the penalty may not exceed the limit referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 41 of Penal code ".