Abstract multiple specialization and its application to program parallelization.

Program specialization optimizes programs for known valúes of the input. It is often the case that the set of possible input valúes is unknown, or this set is infinite. However, a form of specialization can still be performed in such cases by means of abstract interpretation, specialization then being with respect to abstract valúes (substitutions), rather than concrete ones. We study the múltiple specialization of logic programs based on abstract interpretation. This involves in principie, and based on information from global analysis, generating several versions of a program predicate for different uses of such predicate, optimizing these versions, and, finally, producing a new, "multiply specialized" program. While múltiple specialization has received theoretical attention, little previous evidence exists on its practicality. In this paper we report on the incorporation of múltiple specialization in a parallelizing compiler and quantify its effects. A novel approach to the design and implementation of the specialization system is proposed. The resulting implementation techniques result in identical specializations to those of the best previously proposed techniques but require little or no modification of some existing abstract interpreters. Our results show that, using the proposed techniques, the resulting "abstract múltiple specialization" is indeed a relevant technique in practice. In particular, in the parallelizing compiler application, a good number of run-time tests are eliminated and invariants extracted automatically from loops, resulting generally in lower overheads and in several cases in increased speedups.

A new module system for prolog

It is now widely accepted that separating programs into modules is useful in program development and maintenance. While many Prolog implementations include useful module systems, we argüe that these systems can be improved in a number of ways, such as, for example, being more amenable to effective global analysis and transformation and allowing sepárate compilation or sensible creation of standalone executables. We discuss a number of issues related to the design of such an improved module system for Prolog and propose some novel solutions. Based on this, we present the choices made in the Ciao module system, which has been designed to meet a number of objectives: allowing sepárate compilation, extensibility in features and in syntax, amenability to modular global analysis and transformation, enhanced error detection, support for meta-programming and higher-order, compatibility to the extent possible with official and de-facto standards, etc.

Effectiveness of global analysis in strict independence-based automatic program parallelization

This paper presents a study of the effectiveness of global analysis in the parallelization of logic programs using strict independence. A number of well-known approximation domains are selected and tlieir usefulness for the application in hand is explained. Also, methods for using the information provided by such domains to improve parallelization are proposed. Local and global analyses are built using these domains and such analyses are embedded in a complete parallelizing compiler. Then, the performance of the domains (and the system in general) is assessed for this application through a number of experiments. We argüe that the results offer significant insight into the characteristics of these domains, the demands of the application, and the tradeoffs involved.

Program analysis, debugging and optimization using the ciao system preprocessor

We present a tutorial overview of Ciaopp, the Ciao system preprocessor. Ciao is a public-domain, next-generation logic programming system, which subsumes ISO-Prolog and is specifically designed to a) be highly extensible via librarles and b) support modular program analysis, debugging, and optimization. The latter tasks are performed in an integrated fashion by Ciaopp. Ciaopp uses modular, incremental abstract interpretation to infer properties of program predicates and literals, including types, variable instantiation properties (including modes), non-failure, determinacy, bounds on computational cost, bounds on sizes of terms in the program, etc. Using such analysis information, Ciaopp can find errors at compile-time in programs and/or perform partial verification. Ciaopp checks how programs cali system librarles and also any assertions present in the program or in other modules used by the program. These assertions are also used to genérate documentation automatically. Ciaopp also uses analysis information to perform program transformations and optimizations such as múltiple abstract specialization, parallelization (including granularity control), and optimization of run-time tests for properties which cannot be checked completely at compile-time. We illustrate "hands-on" the use of Ciaopp in all these tasks. By design, Ciaopp is a generic tool, which can be easily tailored to perform these and other tasks for different LP and CLP dialects.

The ciao module system: A new module system for prolog

Ciao Prolog incorporates a module system which allows sepárate compilation and sensible creation of standalone executables. We describe some of the main aspects of the Ciao modular compiler, ciaoc, which takes advantage of the characteristics of the Ciao Prolog module system to automatically perform sepárate and incremental compilation and efficiently build small, standalone executables with competitive run-time performance, ciaoc can also detect statically a larger number of programming errors. We also present a generic code processing library for handling modular programs, which provides an important part of the functionality of ciaoc. This library allows the development of program analysis and transformation tools in a way that is to some extent orthogonal to the details of module system design, and has been used in the implementation of ciaoc and other Ciao system tools. We also describe the different types of executables which can be generated by the Ciao compiler, which offer different tradeoffs between executable size, startup time, and portability, depending, among other factors, on the linking regime used (static, dynamic, lazy, etc.). Finally, we provide experimental data which illustrate these tradeoffs.

The ciao modular, standalone compiler and its generic program processing library

Ciao Prolog incorporates a module system which allows sepárate compilation and sensible creation of standalone executables. We describe some of the main aspects of the Ciao modular compiler, ciaoc, which takes advantage of the characteristics of the Ciao Prolog module system to automatically perform sepárate and incremental compilation and efficiently build small, standalone executables with competitive run-time performance, ciaoc can also detect statically a larger number of programming errors. We also present a generic code processing library for handling modular programs, which provides an important part of the functionality of ciaoc. This library allows the development of program analysis and transformation tools in a way that is to some extent orthogonal to the details of module system design, and has been used in the implementation of ciaoc and other Ciao system tools. We also describe the different types of executables which can be generated by the Ciao compiler, which offer different tradeoffs between executable size, startup time, and portability, depending, among other factors, on the linking regime used (static, dynamic, lazy, etc.). Finally, we provide experimental data which illustrate these tradeoffs.

A new module system for prolog

It is now widely accepted that separating programs into modules has proven very useful in program development and maintenance. While many Prolog implementations include useful module systems, we feel that these systems can be improved in a number of ways, such as, for example, being more amenable to effective global analysis and allowing sepárate compilation or sensible creation of standalone executables. We discuss a number of issues related to the design of such an improved module system for Prolog. Based on this, we present the choices made in the Ciao module system, which has been designed to meet a number of objectives: allowing sepárate compilation, extensibility in features and in syntax, amenability to modular global analysis, etc.

Some design issues in the visualization of constraint logic program execution

Visualization of program executions has been found useful in applications which include education and debugging. However, traditional visualization techniques often fall short of expectations or are altogether inadequate for new programming paradigms, such as Constraint Logic Programming (CLP), whose declarative and operational semantics differ in some crucial ways from those of other paradigms. In particular, traditional ideas regarding flow control and the behavior of data often cannot be lifted in a straightforward way to (C)LP from other families of programming languages. In this paper we discuss techniques for visualizing program execution and data evolution in CLP. We briefly review some previously proposed visualization paradigms, and also propose a number of (to our knowledge) novel ones. The graphical representations have been chosen based on the perceived needs of a programmer trying to analyze the behavior and characteristics of an execution. In particular, we concéntrate on the representation of the program execution behavior (control), the runtime valúes of the variables, and the runtime constraints. Given our interest in visualizing large executions, we also pay attention to abstraction techniques, Le., techniques which are intended to help in reducing the complexity of the visual information.

Magic cards: a new augmented reality approach

Augmented reality (AR) commonly uses markers for detection and tracking. Such multimedia applications associate each marker with a virtual 3D model stored in the memory of the camera-equipped device running the application. Application users are limited in their interactions, which require knowing how to design and program 3D objects. This generally prevents them from developing their own entertainment AR applications. The Magic Cards application solves this problem by offering an easy way to create and manage an unlimited number of virtual objects that are encoded on special markers.

NGCPV: A new generation of concentrator photovoltaic cells, modules and systems

This work introduces the lines of research that the NGCPV project is pursuing and some of the first results obtained. Sponsored by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Program and NEDO (Japan) within the first collaborative call launched by both Bodies in the field of energy, NGCPV project aims at approaching the cost of the photovoltaic kWh to competitive prices in the framework of high concentration photovoltaics (CPV) by exploring the development and assessment of concentrator photovoltaic solar cells and modules, novel materials and new solar cell structures as well as methods and procedures to standardize measurement technology for concentrator photovoltaic cells and modules. More specific objectives we are facing are: (1) to manufacture a cell prototype with an efficiency of at least 45% and to undertake an experimental activity, (2) to manufacture a 35% module prototype and elaborate the roadmap towards the achievement of 40%, (3) to develop reliable characterization techniques for III-V materials and quantum structures, (4) to achieve and agreement within 5% in the characterization of CPV cells and modules in a round robin scheme, and (5) to evaluate the potential of new materials, devices technologies and quantum nanostructures to improve the efficiency of solar cells for CPV.

Understanding the main drivers of value creation in an open innovation program

Innovation has been identified as the single most relevant element in fuelling corporations’ competitive advantage and ultimate value creation. Corporations no longer rely on a single, linear structure of innovation; the new paradigm of open innovation opens up new possibilities of organizing innovation within the ecosystem, thus giving rise to new drivers for value creation. These value drivers have an impact on the strategic position of the firm and have the ability to create superior financial performance. In this paper we explore the close relationship between open innovation and value creation and propose a framework to analyze this process as well as the most critical elements involved.

A language exchange program: sustainability innovation in language and culture engagement

Spanish Educational Laws have been promoting the widespread use of English; as a result, Spanish Uni versities are looking for ways to give students more international training in order to prepare them for a future that will increasingly involve global problems and partnerships. Therefore, the Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain (UPM), and the University of British Columbia, Okanagan, Canada (UBCO) have come together to offer opportunities for international collaboration and learning, thus facilitating virtual encounters among Spanish and Canadian students. The Language Exchange Program between the UPM and UBCO acts as a model for sustainability innovation in language and culture engagement as the students can interact with native speakers in communication tasks. This interdisciplinary initiative supports the latest methodological principles observed in the Common European Framework for Languages, such as autonomous and life-long learning, self-assessment and peer-assessment as well as the incorporation of new technologies to the learning process. Additionally the ‘virtual’ mobility is provided at no extra cost. This article presents the preliminary results of two virtual exchange programs that have been offering varied forms of study which are venue-independent, and have clearly expanded the range of scenarios for the students on both sides by promoting collaborative work and cultural exchange.

A language exchange program: sustainability innovation in language and culture engagement

The Language Exchange Program between the UPM and UBCO acts as a model for sustainability innovation in language and culture engagement as the students can interact with native speakers in communication tasks. This interdisciplinary initiative supports the latest methodological principles observed in the Common European Framework for Languages [1], such as autonomous and lifelong learning, self-assessment and peer-assessment as well as the incorporation of new technologies to the learning process

Persuasive system design methods to deliver a cardio-rehabilitation program of post mi outpatients

Las enfermedades no transmisibles provocan cada ano 38 millones de fallecimientos en el mundo. Entre ellas, tan solo cuatro enfermedades son responsables del 82% de estas muertes: las enfermedades cardiovasculares, las enfermedades crónicas respiratorias, la diabetes, y el cáncer. Se prevé que estas cifras aumenten en los próximos anos, ya que las tendencias indican que en el año 2030 las muertes por esta causa ascenderán a 53 millones de personas. La Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) considera importante buscar soluciones para afrontar esta situación y ha solicitado a los gobiernos del mundo la implementación de intervenciones para mejorar los hábitos de vida de las personas y reducir así el riesgo de desarrollo de enfermedades no trasmisibles. Cada año se producen 32 millones de infartos de miocardio y derrames celebrales, de los cuales 12.5 son mortales. En el mundo entre el 40% y 75% de la víctimas de un infarto de miocardio mueren antes de su ingreso en el hospital. En los casos que sobreviven, la adopción de un estilo de vida saludable puede evitar infartos sucesivo, y supone un ahorro potencial de 6 billones de euros al año. La rehabilitación cardiaca es un programa individualizado que aplica un método multidisciplinar para ayudar al paciente a recuperar su condición física, a gestionar la enfermedad cardiovascular y sus comorbilidades, a adoptar hábitos de vida saludables, y a promover su salud mental. La rehabilitación cardiaca requiere la total involucración y motivación del paciente, solo de esta manera se podrán promover hábitos saludables y mejorar la gestión y prevención de su enfermedad. Aunque la participación en los programas de rehabilitación cardiaca es baja, hoy en día existen programas de rehabilitación cardiaca que el paciente puede realizar en su casa. Estos suponen una solución prometedora para aumentar la participación. La rehabilitación cardiaca se considera una intervención integral donde los modelos de psicología de la salud son aplicados para promover un cambio en el estilo de vida de las personas así como para ayudarles a afrontar su propia enfermedad. Existen métodos para implementar cambios de hábitos y de aptitud, y también se considera muy relevante promover no solo el bienestar físico sino también el mental. Existen tecnologías que promueven los cambios de comportamientos en los seres humanos. En concreto, las tecnologías persuasivas y los sistemas de apoyo al cambio de comportamientos modelan las características, las estrategias y los métodos de diseño para promover cambios usando la tecnología. Pero estos modelos tienen algunas limitaciones: todavía no se ha definido que rol tienen las emociones en el cambio de comportamientos y como traducir los métodos de la psicología de la salud en la tecnología. Esta tesis se centra en tres elementos que tienen un rol clave en los cambios de hábitos y actitud: el estado físico, el estado mental, y la tecnología. -Estado de salud: un estado de salud critico puede modificar la actitud del ser humano respecto al cambio. A la vez un buen estado de salud hace que la necesidad del cambio sea menos percibida. -Estado emocional: la actitud tiene un componente afectivo. Los estados emocionales negativos pueden reducir la habilidad de una persona para adoptar nuevos comportamientos. La salud mental es la situación ideal donde los individuos tienen predisposición a los cambios. La tecnología puede ayudar a las personas a adoptar nuevos hábitos, así como a mantener una salud física y mental. Este trabajo de investigación se centra en el diseño de tecnologías para la mejora del estado físico y emocional de las personas. Se ha propuesto un marco de diseño llamado “Well.Be.Sign”. El marco se basa en tres aspectos: El marco teórico: representa los elementos que se tienen que definir para diseñar tecnologías para promover el bienestar de las personas. -El diagrama de influencia: presenta las fuerzas de ‘persuasión’ en el contexto de la salud. El rol de las tecnologías persuasivas ha sido contextualizado en una dimensión donde otros elementos influencian el usuario.  El proceso de diseño: describe el proceso de diseño utilizando una metodología iterativa e incremental que aplica una combinación de métodos de diseño existentes (Diseño Orientado a Objetivos, Diseño de Sistemas Persuasivos) así como elementos originales de este trabajo de investigación. Los métodos se han aplicados para diseñar un sistema que ofrezca un programa de tele-rehabilitación cardiaca. Inicialmente se ha diseñado un prototipo de acuerdo con las necesidades del usuario. En segundo lugar, el prototipo se ha extendido especificando la intervención requerida para al programa de rehabilitación cardiaca. Finalmente el sistema se ha desarrollado y validado en un ensayo clínico con grupo control, donde se observaron las variaciones del estado cardiovascular, el nivel de conocimiento acerca de la enfermedad, la percepción de la enfermedad, la persistencia de hábitos saludables, y la aceptabilidad del sistema. Los resultados muestran que el grupo de intervención tiene una superior capacidad cardiovascular, mejor conocimiento acerca de la enfermedad, y más percepción de control de la enfermedad. Asimismo, en algunos casos se ha registrado persistencia de los hábitos de ejercicios 6 meses después del uso del sistema. Otros dos estudios se han presentado para demonstrar la relevancia del estado emocional del usuario en el diseño de aplicaciones para la promoción del bienestar.  En personas con una grave enfermedad crónica como la insuficiencia cardiaca, donde se ha presentado las conexiones entre estado de salud y estado emocional. En el estudio se ensena la relaciones que tienen los síntomas y las emociones negativas y como un estado negativo emocional puede empeorar la condición física del paciente. -Personas con trastornos del humor: el estudio muestra como las emociones pueden tener un impacto en la percepción de la tecnología por parte del usuario. ABSTRACT Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) cause the death of 38 million people every year. Four major NCDs are responsible for 82% of these deaths: cardio vascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, diabetes and cancer. These pandemic numbers are projected to raise to 53 million deaths in 2030, and for this reason the assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) considers communicable diseases as an urgent need to be addressed. It is also a trend to advocate the adoption of mobile technology to deliver health services and to promote healthy behaviours among citizens, but adopting healthS promoting lifestyle is still a difficult task facing human tendencies. Within this context, there is a promising opportunity: persuasive technologies. These technologies are intentionally designed to change a person’s attitudes or behaviours; when applied in this context, than can be used to change health-related attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours. Each year there are 32 million heart attacks and strokes globally, of which about 12.5 million are fatal. Worldwide between 40 and 75% of all heart-attack victims die before reaching hospital. Avoiding a second heart attack by improving adherence to lifestyle and medication regimens has a cost saving potential of around €6 billion per year. In most of the cases the cardiovascular event has been provoked by unhealthy lifestyle. Furthermore, after an MI event the patient's decision to adopt or not healthier behaviour will influence the progress of the disease. Cardio-rehabilitation is an individualized program that follows a multidisciplinary approach to support the user to recover from the Myocardial Infarction, manage the Cardio Vascular Disease and the comorbidities, adopt healthy habits, and cope with any emotional distress. Cardio- rehabilitation requires patient participation and willingness to perform behavioral modifications and change the attitude toward the management and prevention of the disease. Participation in the Cardio Rehabilitation program is not high; the home-based rehabilitation program is a promising solution to increase participation. Nowadays cardio rehabilitation is considered a comprehensive intervention in which models of health psychology are applied to promote the behaviour change of the individuals. Relevant methods that have been successfully applied to foster healthy habits include the Health Belief Model and the Trans Theoretical Model. Studies also demonstrate the importance to promote not only the physical but also the mental well being of the individuals. The idea of also promoting behaviour change using technologies has been defined by the literature as persuasive technologies or behaviour change support systems, in which the features, the strategies and the design method have been modelled to foster the behaviour change using technology. Limitations have been found in this model: there is still research to be done on the role of the emotions and how psychological health intervention can be translated into computer methods. This research focuses on three elements that could foster behaviour change in individuals: the physical and emotional status of the person, and the technology. Every component can influence the user's attitude and behaviour in the following ways: ' Physical status: bad physical status could change human attitude toward the necessity to adopt health behaviours; at the same time, good health status reduces the need to adopt healthy habits. ' Emotional status: the attitude has an affective component, negative emotional state can reduce the ability of a person to adopt new behaviours, and mental well being is the ideal situation in which individuals have a predisposition to adopt healthy behaviours. ' Technology: it can help users to adopt new behaviours and can also be support to promote physical and emotional status. Following this approach the idea driven in this research is that technology that is designed to improve the physical status and the emotional status of the individual could better foster behaviour change. According to this principle, the Well.Be.Sign framework has been proposed. The framework is based on three views: ' The theoretical framework: it represents the patterns that have to be defined to design the technologies to promote well being. ' The influence diagram: it shows the persuasive forces in the context of health care. The role of the persuasive technologies is contextualized in a wider universe where other factors and persuasive forces influence a patient. ' The design process: it shows the process of design using an iterative, incremental methodology that applies a combination of existing methodologies (Goal Directed Design and Persuasive System Design) and others that are original to this research. The methods have been applied to design a system to deliver cardio rehabilitation at home: first a prototype has been defined according to the user’s needs, then it has been extended with the specific intervention required for the cardio–rehabilitation, finally the system has been developed and validated in a controlled clinical study in which the cardiovascular fitness, the level of knowledge, the perception of the illness, the persistence of healthy habits and the system acceptance (only the intervention group) were measured. The results show that the intervention group increased cardiovascular capacity, knowledge, feeling of control of illness and perceived benefits of exercise at the end of the study. After six months of the study, a followSup of the exercise habits was performed. Some individuals of the intervention group continued to be engaged in the running exercise sessions promoted in the designed system. Two other cases have been presented to demonstrate the foundations of the Well.Be.Sign’s approach to promote both physical and emotional status: ' People affected by Heart Failure, in which a bidirectional connection between health status and emotions has been discussed with patients. Two correlations were demonstrated: the relationship between symptoms and negative emotional response, and that negative emotional status is correlated with worsening of chronic conditions. ' People with mood disorders: the study shows that emotions could also impact how the user perceives the technology.

The COG database: new developments in phylogenetic classification of proteins from complete genomes

The database of Clusters of Orthologous Groups of proteins (COGs), which represents an attempt on a phylogenetic classification of the proteins encoded in complete genomes, currently consists of 2791 COGs including 45 350 proteins from 30 genomes of bacteria, archaea and the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/COG). In addition, a supplement to the COGs is available, in which proteins encoded in the genomes of two multicellular eukaryotes, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, and shared with bacteria and/or archaea were included. The new features added to the COG database include information pages with structural and functional details on each COG and literature references, improvements of the COGNITOR program that is used to fit new proteins into the COGs, and classification of genomes and COGs constructed by using principal component analysis.