Generador de Comunitats Virtuals

La Diputació de Barcelona planteja la possibilitat de fer un projecte per a generar comunitats virtuals (GCV), definit en diversos mòduls. L'abast del projecte i l'anàlisi funcional general s'especifica en el document Anàlisi funcional del GCV. En aquest informe es presenta el disseny i la construcció del projecte respecte al mòdul 'Fòrum' i el mòdul 'Notícies'. Com a llenguatge de desenvolupament, s'ha fet servir Java amb l'arquitectura J2EE. En l'apartat de disseny arquitectònic s'especifiquen les eines emprades amb més detall.

Desarrollo de aplicaciones en entornos de software libre

El projecte té com idea fonamental crear un programari que permeti la instal·lació de paquets per mitjà de la xarxa en diverses màquines que es trobin registrades en la Base de dades, i a la vegada, es tenen dos mòduls un per a l'aplicació servidor i altre per a l'aplicació client.

Disseny d'un cronòmetre i d'un freqüencímetre integrats en un NIOS controlats sobre μClinux

El projecte que es presenta permet analitzar els avantatges i inconvenients d’una programació orientada a hardware i d’una programació orientada a software a partir del desenvolupament de dos dissenys, un cronòmetre i un freqüencímetre en cadascun dels modes de programació. Donat que en les dues aplicacions es requereix alta precisió de temps (μs) i flexibilitat en el control, la solució final que es proposa és un disseny “mixt” amb dos mòduls hardware específics (cronòmetre i freqüencímetre) integrats en un NIOS/CPU sobre una FPGA. Els dos mòduls es controlen per software sobre un sistema Linux empotrat (μCLinux).

On AUV control architecture

This paper surveys control architectures proposed in the literature and describes a control architecture that is being developed for a semi-autonomous underwater vehicle for intervention missions (SAUVIM) at the University of Hawaii. Conceived as hybrid, this architecture has been organized in three layers: planning, control and execution. The mission is planned with a sequence of subgoals. Each subgoal has a related task supervisor responsible for arranging a set of pre-programmed task modules in order to achieve the subgoal. Task modules are the key concept of the architecture. They are the main building blocks and can be dynamically re-arranged by the task supervisor. In our architecture, deliberation takes place at the planning layer while reaction is dealt through the parallel execution of the task modules. Hence, the system presents both a hierarchical and an heterarchical decomposition, being able to show a predictable response while keeping rapid reactivity to the dynamic environment

Environnement et capacités cognitives chez le rat : compétition entre les facteurs qui influencent les stratégies spatiales

RESUME Ce travail se propose de discuter des résultats comportementaux observés chez des rats obtenus dans trois paradigmes expérimentaux différents : le bassin de Morris (Morris Water Maze, Morris, 1984) ; la table à trous (Homing Board, Schenk, 1989) et le labyrinthe radial (Radial Arm Maze, Olton et Samuelson, 1976). Les deux premières tâches sont spatiales et permettent un apprentissage de place en environnements contrôlés, et la troisième est une tâche comportementale qui différencie deux habiletés particulières, celle d'élimination (basée sur la mémoire de travail) et celle de sélection (basée sur la mémoire de référence). La discussion des résultats porte sur les stratégies de navigation utilisées par les animaux pour résoudre les tâches et plus précisément sur les facteurs qui peuvent influencer le choix de ces stratégies. Le facteur environnemental (environnement contrôlé) et le facteur cognitif (vieillissement) représentent les variables étudiées ici. C'est ainsi que certaines hypothèses communément acceptées ont été malmenées par nos résultats. Or si l'espace est habituellement supposé homogène (toutes les positions spatiales présentent le même degré de difficulté lors d'un apprentissage en champ ouvert), ce travail établit qu'une position associée -sans contiguïté - à l'un des trois indices visuels situés dans la périphérie de l'environnement est plus difficile à apprendre qu'une position située entre deux des trois indices. Deuxièmement, alors qu'il est admis que l'apprentissage d'une place dans un environnement riche requiert le même type d'information. dans la bassin de Morris (tâche nagée) que sur la table à trous (tâche marchée), nous avons montré que la discrimination spatiale en bassin ne peut être assurée par les trois indices visuels périphériques et nécessite la présence d'au moins un élément supplémentaire. Enfin, l'étude du vieillissement a souvent montré que l'âge réduit les capacités cognitives nécessaires à la navigation spatiale, conduisant à un déficit général des performances d'un animal sénescent, alors que dans notre travail, nous avons trouvé les animaux âgés plus performants et plus efficaces que les adultes dans une tâche particulière de collecte de nourriture. Ces expériences s'inscrivent dans une étude générale qui met à l'épreuve le modèle théorique proposé pax Schenk et Jacobs (2003), selon lequel l'encodage de la carte cognitive (Tolman, 1948 ; O'Keefe et Nadel, 1978) se ferait dans l'hippocampe par l'activité de deux modules complémentaires :d'une part le CA3 - Gyrus Denté pour le traitement d'une trame spatiale basée sur des éléments directionnels et Jou distribués en gradient (bearing map) et d'autre part le CAl - Subiculum pour le traitement des représentations locales basées sur les positions relatives des éléments fixes de l'environnement (sketch map). SUMMARY This work proposes to talk about behavioural results observed in three different experimental paradigms with rats: the Morris Water Maze (Morris, 1984); the Homing Board (Schenk, 1989) and the Radial Arm Maze (Olton and Samuelson, 1976). The two first tasks are spatial ones and allow place learning in controlled environments. The third one is a behavioural task which contrasts two particular skills, the elimination (based on working memory) and the selection one (based on reference memory). The topic of the discussion will be the navigation strategies used by animals to solve the different tasks, and more precisely the factors which can bias this strategies' choice. The environmental (controlled) and the cognitive (aging) factors are the variables studied here. Thus, some hypotheses usually accepted were manhandled by our results. Indeed, if space is habitually homogenously considered (all spatial positions present the same degree of difficulty in an open field learning), this work establishes that an associated position -without being adjacent - to one of the three visual cues localised in the environmental periphery is more difficult to learn than a configurationnel position (situated between two of the three cues). Secondly, if it is received that place learning in a rich environment requires the same information in the Morris water maze (swimming task) that on the Homing board (walking task), we showed that spatial discrimination in the water maze can't be provided by the three peripheral cue cards and needs the presence of a supplementary cue. At last, aging studies often showed that oldness decreases cognitive skills in spatial navigation, leading to a general deficit in performances. But, in our work, we found that senescent rats were more efficient than adult ones in a special food collecting task. These experiments come within the scope of a general study which tests the theoretical model proposed by Jacobs and Schenk (2003), according to which the cognitive map's encoding (Tolman, 1948, O'Keefe and Nadel, 1978) should take place in the hippocampus by two complementary modules, first the DG-CA3 should encode directional and/or gradients references (the bearing map), and secondly the Subiculum-CAl should process locale elements (the sketch map).

Interacting software-agents to support a kind of expert supervision systems

Expert supervision systems are software applications specially designed to automate process monitoring. The goal is to reduce the dependency on human operators to assure the correct operation of a process including faulty situations. Construction of this kind of application involves an important task of design and development in order to represent and to manipulate process data and behaviour at different degrees of abstraction for interfacing with data acquisition systems connected to the process. This is an open problem that becomes more complex with the number of variables, parameters and relations to account for the complexity of the process. Multiple specialised modules tuned to solve simpler tasks that operate under a co-ordination provide a solution. A modular architecture based on concepts of software agents, taking advantage of the integration of diverse knowledge-based techniques, is proposed for this purpose. The components (software agents, communication mechanisms and perception/action mechanisms) are based on ICa (Intelligent Control architecture), software middleware supporting the build-up of applications with software agent features

MAPI: towards the integrated exploitation of bioinformatics Web Services.

BACKGROUND. Bioinformatics is commonly featured as a well assorted list of available web resources. Although diversity of services is positive in general, the proliferation of tools, their dispersion and heterogeneity complicate the integrated exploitation of such data processing capacity. RESULTS. To facilitate the construction of software clients and make integrated use of this variety of tools, we present a modular programmatic application interface (MAPI) that provides the necessary functionality for uniform representation of Web Services metadata descriptors including their management and invocation protocols of the services which they represent. This document describes the main functionality of the framework and how it can be used to facilitate the deployment of new software under a unified structure of bioinformatics Web Services. A notable feature of MAPI is the modular organization of the functionality into different modules associated with specific tasks. This means that only the modules needed for the client have to be installed, and that the module functionality can be extended without the need for re-writing the software client. CONCLUSIONS. The potential utility and versatility of the software library has been demonstrated by the implementation of several currently available clients that cover different aspects of integrated data processing, ranging from service discovery to service invocation with advanced features such as workflows composition and asynchronous services calls to multiple types of Web Services including those registered in repositories (e.g. GRID-based, SOAP, BioMOBY, R-bioconductor, and others).

NUTRISOL: un programa informático para la evaluación nutricional comunitaria y hospitalaria de acceso libre.

We have developed the computer programme NUTRISOL, a nutritional programme destined to analysis of dietary intake by means of the food transformation to nutrient. It has been performed under Windows operative system, using Visual Basic 6.0. It is presented in a CD-Rom. We have used the Spanish CSIC Food Composition Table and domestic food measures commonly used in Spain which could be modified and updated. Diverse kind of diets and reference anthropometric data are also presented. The results may be treated using various statistical programmes. The programme contains three modules: 1) Nutritional epidemiology, which allows to create or open a data base, sample management, analyse food intake, consultation of nutrient content and exportation of data to statistical programmes. 2) Analyses of diets and recipes, creation or modification of new ones. 3) To ask different diets for prevalent pathologies. Independent tools for modifying the original tables, calculate energetic needs, recommend nutrient intake and anthropometric indexes are also offered. In conclusion, NUTRISOL Programme is an application which runs in PC computers with minimal equipment in a friendly interface, of easy use, freeware, which may be adapted to each country, and has demonstrated its usefulness and reliability in different epidemiologic studies. Furthermore, it may become an efficient instrument for clinical nutrition and health promotion.

Integrating Metalib and SFX into the BV-SSPA

Introduction To guarantee the success of a virtual library it is essential that all users can access all the library resources independently of the user’s location. Achieving this goal in the Andalusian Public Health System has been a particularly difficult task, due to it is made up of 10 research centers and 95.000 health-care professionals. Aims Since the BV-SSPA started three years ago, one of its mayor aims has been to provide remote access to all its resources in this complex scenario, as well as facilitate the access to the virtual library to both professionals and citizens. IP access was guaranteed because health-care professionals could access everything from their workplaces thanks to the intranet, but it was restricted when they were not there. The BV-SSPA solved this problem by installing a federated authentication and authorization system called PAPI and a PAPI rewriting proxy. After three years the BV-SSPA has met a new challenge: adapting its federated access system to Metalib and SFX, specifically the access management module PDS had to be connected with the existing PAPI system. This new challenge came along with the introduction of a new metasearcher and link resolver. Material and Methods Initially there were three independent systems: • A Metalib and SFX PDS module, • A federated authentication and authorization system: PAPI. • A PAPI Rewriting Proxy. The chosen solution went through the reutilization of the existing software. To achieve this goal, a PHP connector between these applications was developed and several modules in the PDS configuration were modified. On the other hand, providing a simplified access to Metalib has been solved using Xerxes and integrating it in a Drupal website. Results Thanks to this connector the BV-SSPA was able to get all its users remotely accessing its new metasearcher without changing the way they used to validate, or without having to remember a new username and password. Futhermore, thanks to Xerxes, it is possible to use Metalib from a simple interface and without having to leave the BV-SSPA website to go its native interface.

Timetable database restructuring

Heriot-Watt University uses a software package called Syllabus Plus for its timetabling. This package can perform scheduling functions however it is currently employed only as a room booking system at present. In academic session 2008-2009 the university will be restructuring its academic year from 3 terms of 10 weeks to semesters of 14 weeks and therefore major changes will be required to the timetabling information. This project has two functions, both with practical and relevant applications to the timetabling of the university. The aims of the project are the ability to change population number of modules and activities, delete term 3 modules and activities, the ability to change module and activity name, and change the teaching week pattern from the semester

Functional MRI Mapping of the Human Auditory Cortex

Mapping the human auditory cortex with standard functional imaging techniques is difficult because of its small size and angular position along the Sylvian fissure. As a result, the exact number and location of auditory cortex areas in the human remains unknown. In a first experiment, we measured the two largest tonotopic areas of primary auditory cortex (PAC, Al and R) using high-resolution functional MRI at 7 Tesla relative to the underlying anatomy of Heschl's gyrus (HG). The data reveals a clear anatomical- functional relationship that indicates the location of PAC across the range of common morphological variants of HG (single gyri, partial duplication and complete duplication). Human PAC tonotopic areas are oriented along an oblique posterior-to-anterior axis with mirror-symmetric frequency gradients perpendicular to HG, as in the macaque. In a second experiment, we tested whether these primary frequency-tuned units were modulated by selective attention to preferred vs. non-preferred sound frequencies in the dynamic manner needed to account for human listening abilities in noisy environments, such as cocktail parties or busy streets. We used a dual-stream selective attention experiment where subjects attended to one of two competing tonal streams presented simultaneously to different ears. Attention to low-frequency tones (250 Hz) enhanced neural responses within low-frequency-tuned voxels relative to high (4000 Hz), and vice versa when at-tention switched from high to low. Human PAC is able to tune into attended frequency channels and can switch frequencies on demand, like a radio. In a third experiment, we investigated repetition suppression effects to environmental sounds within primary and non-primary early-stage auditory areas, identified with the tonotopic mapping design. Repeated presentations of sounds from the same sources, as compared to different sources, gave repetition suppression effects within posterior and medial non-primary areas of the right hemisphere, reflecting their potential involvement in semantic representations. These three studies were conducted at 7 Tesla with high-resolution imaging. However, 7 Tesla scanners are, for the moment, not yet used for clinical diagnosis and mostly reside in institutions external to hospitals. Thus, hospital-based clinical functional and structural studies are mainly performed using lower field systems (1.5 or 3 Tesla). In a fourth experiment, we acquired tonotopic maps at 3 and 7 Tesla and evaluated the consistency of a tonotopic mapping paradigm between scanners. Mirror-symmetric gradients within PAC were highly similar at 7 and 3 Tesla across renderings at different spatial resolutions. We concluded that the tonotopic mapping paradigm is robust and suitable for definition of primary tonotopic areas, also at 3 Tesla. Finally, in a fifth study, we considered whether focal brain lesions alter tonotopic representations in the intact ipsi- and contralesional primary auditory cortex in three patients with hemispheric or cerebellar lesions, without and with auditory complaints. We found evidence for tonotopic reorganisation at the level of the primary auditory cortex in cases of brain lesions independently of auditory complaints. Overall, these results reflect a certain degree of plasticity within primary auditory cortex in different populations of subjects, assessed at different field strengths. - La cartographie du cortex auditif chez l'humain est difficile à réaliser avec des techniques d'imagerie fonctionnelle standard, étant donné sa petite taille et position angulaire le long de la fissure sylvienne. En conséquence, le nombre et l'emplacement exacts des différentes aires du cortex auditif restent inconnus chez l'homme. Lors d'une première expérience, nous avons mesuré, avec de l'imagerie par résonance magnétique à haute intensité (IRMf à 7 Tesla) chez des sujets humains sains, deux larges aires au sein du cortex auditif primaire (PAC; Al et R) avec une représentation spécifique des fréquences pures préférées - ou tonotopie. Nos résultats ont démontré une relation anatomico- fonctionnelle qui définit clairement la position du PAC à travers toutes les variantes du gyrus d'Heschl's (HG). Les aires tonotopiques du PAC humain sont orientées le long d'un axe postéro-antérieur oblique avec des gradients de fréquences spécifiques perpendiculaires à HG, d'une manière similaire à celles mesurées chez le singe. Dans une deuxième expérience, nous avons testé si ces aires primaires pouvaient être modulées, de façon dynamique, par une attention sélective pour des fréquences préférées par rapport à celles non-préférées. Cette modulation est primordiale lors d'interactions sociales chez l'humain en présence de bruits distracteurs tels que d'autres discussions ou un environnement sonore nuisible (comme par exemple, dans la circulation routière). Dans cette étude, nous avons utilisé une expérience d'attention sélective où le sujet devait être attentif à une des deux voies sonores présentées simultanément à chaque oreille. Lorsque le sujet portait était attentif aux sons de basses fréquences (250 Hz), la réponse neuronale relative à ces fréquences augmentait par rapport à celle des hautes fréquences (4000 Hz), et vice versa lorsque l'attention passait des hautes aux basses fréquences. De ce fait, nous pouvons dire que PAC est capable de focaliser sur la fréquence attendue et de changer de canal selon la demande, comme une radio. Lors d'une troisième expérience, nous avons étudié les effets de suppression due à la répétition de sons environnementaux dans les aires auditives primaires et non-primaires, d'abord identifiées via le protocole de la première étude. La présentation répétée de sons provenant de la même source sonore, par rapport à de sons de différentes sources sonores, a induit un effet de suppression dans les aires postérieures et médiales auditives non-primaires de l'hémisphère droite, reflétant une implication de ces aires dans la représentation de la catégorie sémantique. Ces trois études ont été réalisées avec de l'imagerie à haute résolution à 7 Tesla. Cependant, les scanners 7 Tesla ne sont pour le moment utilisés que pour de la recherche fondamentale, principalement dans des institutions externes, parfois proches du patient mais pas directement à son chevet. L'imagerie fonctionnelle et structurelle clinique se fait actuellement principalement avec des infrastructures cliniques à 1.5 ou 3 Tesla. Dans le cadre dune quatrième expérience, nous avons avons évalués la cohérence du paradigme de cartographie tonotopique à travers différents scanners (3 et 7 Tesla) chez les mêmes sujets. Nos résultats démontrent des gradients de fréquences définissant PAC très similaires à 3 et 7 Tesla. De ce fait, notre paradigme de définition des aires primaires auditives est robuste et applicable cliniquement. Finalement, nous avons évalués l'impact de lésions focales sur les représentations tonotopiques des aires auditives primaires des hémisphères intactes contralésionales et ipsilésionales chez trois patients avec des lésions hémisphériques ou cérébélleuses avec ou sans plaintes auditives. Nous avons trouvé l'évidence d'une certaine réorganisation des représentations topographiques au niveau de PAC dans le cas de lésions cérébrales indépendamment des plaintes auditives. En conclusion, nos résultats démontrent une certaine plasticité du cortex auditif primaire avec différentes populations de sujets et différents champs magnétiques.

Describing ancient horizontal gene transfers at the nucleotide and gene levels by comparative pathogenicity island genometrics.

MOTIVATION: Lateral gene transfer is a major mechanism contributing to bacterial genome dynamics and pathovar emergence via pathogenicity island (PAI) spreading. However, since few of these genomic exchanges are experimentally reproducible, it is difficult to establish evolutionary scenarios for the successive PAI transmissions between bacterial genera. Methods initially developed at the gene and/or nucleotide level for genomics, i.e. comparisons of concatenated sequences, ortholog frequency, gene order or dinucleotide usage, were combined and applied here to homologous PAIs: we call this approach comparative PAI genometrics. RESULTS: YAPI, a Yersinia PAI, and related islands were compared with measure evolutionary relationships between related modules. Through use of our genometric approach designed for tracking codon usage adaptation and gene phylogeny, an ancient inter-genus PAI transfer was oriented for the first time by characterizing the genomic environment in which the ancestral island emerged and its subsequent transfers to other bacterial genera.

Metacognitive training for adolescents with psychosis: A multiple case study

Cognitive biases may be one of the explaining factor underlying psychotic symptoms like delusions and hallucinations. Metacognitive training (MCT) was demonstrated, in adults with schizophrenia, to reduce these cognitive biases. However, to the best of our knowledge, there has been no research on adolescents with psychosis. The current study aimed at assessing the feasibility, treatment adherence and its benefi cial effects on psychotic symptoms, depression, social functioning and self-esteem of a MCT. Participants were fi ve psychotic adolescents with psychosis, aged 16-18, who attended the Day Care Unit for Adolescents (DCUA). The MCT, delivered in group, corresponds to 2x8 modules, lasting between 45 and 60 minutes once a week. To measure MCT's effi ciency, the Positive And Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale (SOFAS), the Health of Nation Outcome Scale for Children and Adolescent (HoNOSCA), the depression scale of Calgary and the self-esteem scale of Rosenberg have been used. The results of the 5 patients indicate that MCT is feasible and the treatment adherence is moderate. The schedule of the MCT needs to be adapted to the availability of the participants. At a descriptive level, the MCT allows to reduce psychotic and depressive symptoms (PANSS & Calgary) as well as to improve the social functioning (SOFAS & HoNOSCA) and self-esteem (Rosenberg). To sum up, MCT seem to be an interesting alternative and/or a good additional treatment to reduce cognitive bias, psychotic symptoms as well as improving social functioning

The molecular architecture of the TNF superfamily.

Ligands of the TNF (tumour necrosis factor) superfamily have pivotal roles in the organization and function of the immune system, and are implicated in the aetiology of several acquired and genetic diseases. TNF ligands share a common structural motif, the TNF homology domain (THD), which binds to cysteine-rich domains (CRDs) of TNF receptors. CRDs are composed of structural modules, whose variation in number and type confers heterogeneity upon the family. Protein folds reminiscent of the THD and CRD are also found in other protein families, raising the possibility that the mode of interaction between TNF and TNF receptors might be conserved in other contexts.