Transparent access to relational, autonomous and distributed databases using semantic web and service oriented technologies

With the constant grow of enterprises and the need to share information across departments and business areas becomes more critical, companies are turning to integration to provide a method for interconnecting heterogeneous, distributed and autonomous systems. Whether the sales application needs to interface with the inventory application, the procurement application connect to an auction site, it seems that any application can be made better by integrating it with other applications. Integration between applications can face several troublesome due the fact that applications may not have been designed and implemented having integration in mind. Regarding to integration issues, two tier software systems, composed by the database tier and by the “front-end” tier (interface), have shown some limitations. As a solution to overcome the two tier limitations, three tier systems were proposed in the literature. Thus, by adding a middle-tier (referred as middleware) between the database tier and the “front-end” tier (or simply referred application), three main benefits emerge. The first benefit is related with the fact that the division of software systems in three tiers enables increased integration capabilities with other systems. The second benefit is related with the fact that any modifications to the individual tiers may be carried out without necessarily affecting the other tiers and integrated systems and the third benefit, consequence of the others, is related with less maintenance tasks in software system and in all integrated systems. Concerning software development in three tiers, this dissertation focus on two emerging technologies, Semantic Web and Service Oriented Architecture, combined with middleware. These two technologies blended with middleware, which resulted in the development of Swoat framework (Service and Semantic Web Oriented ArchiTecture), lead to the following four synergic advantages: (1) allow the creation of loosely-coupled systems, decoupling the database from “front-end” tiers, therefore reducing maintenance; (2) the database schema is transparent to “front-end” tiers which are aware of the information model (or domain model) that describes what data is accessible; (3) integration with other heterogeneous systems is allowed by providing services provided by the middleware; (4) the service request by the “frontend” tier focus on ‘what’ data and not on ‘where’ and ‘how’ related issues, reducing this way the application development time by developers.

Organizations redesign and building of information systems

Develop software is still a risky business. After 60 years of experience, this community is still not able to consistently build Information Systems (IS) for organizations with predictable quality, within previously agreed budget and time constraints. Although software is changeable we are still unable to cope with the amount and complexity of change that organizations demand for their IS. To improve results, developers followed two alternatives: Frameworks that increase productivity but constrain the flexibility of possible solutions; Agile ways of developing software that keep flexibility with less upfront commitments. With strict frameworks, specific hacks have to be put in place to get around the framework construction options. In time this leads to inconsistent architectures that are harder to maintain due to incomplete documentation and human resources turnover. The main goals of this work is to create a new way to develop flexible IS for organizations, using web technologies, in a faster, better and cheaper way that is more suited to handle organizational change. To do so we propose an adaptive object model that uses a new ontology for data and action with strict normalizing rules. These rules should bound the effects of changes that can be better tested and therefore corrected. Interfaces are built with templates of resources that can be reused and extended in a flexible way. The “state of the world” for each IS is determined by all production and coordination acts that agents performed over time, even those performed by external systems. When bugs are found during maintenance, their past cascading effects can be checked through simulation, re-running the log of transaction acts over time and checking results with previous records. This work implements a prototype with part of the proposed system in order to have a preliminary assessment its feasibility and limitations.

Meta-theories in research: positivism, postmodernism, and critical realism

No scholar or researcher is able to provide robust evidence that counters the scant reflection on metatheory – mostly ontology and epistemology – underlying management studies in general, and industrial marketing and purchasing research in particular. This paper is a contribution to the indispensable discussion of metatheoretical alternatives in research, and most importantly, the strengths and shortcomings thereof, and respective implications on research questions, objectives, and findings.

SysPRE: systematized process for requirements engineering in knowledge discovery projects

The domain of Knowledge Discovery (KD) and Data Mining (DM) is of growing importance in a time where more and more data is produced and knowledge is one of the most precious assets. Having explored both the existing underlying theory, the results of the ongoing research in academia and the industry practices in the domain of KD and DM, we have found that this is a domain that still lacks some systematization. We also found that this systematization exists to a greater degree in the Software Engineering and Requirements Engineering domains, probably due to being more mature areas. We believe that it is possible to improve and facilitate the participation of enterprise stakeholders in the requirements engineering for KD projects by systematizing requirements engineering process for such projects. This will, in turn, result in more projects that end successfully, that is, with satisfied stakeholders, including in terms of time and budget constraints. With this in mind and based on all information found in the state-of-the art, we propose SysPRE - Systematized Process for Requirements Engineering in KD projects. We begin by proposing an encompassing generic description of the KD process, where the main focus is on the Requirements Engineering activities. This description is then used as a base for the application of the Design and Engineering Methodology for Organizations (DEMO) so that we can specify a formal ontology for this process. The resulting SysPRE ontology can serve as a base that can be used not only to make enterprises become aware of their own KD process and requirements engineering process in the KD projects, but also to improve such processes in reality, namely in terms of success rate.

Applying DEMO to model and automate a process in a workflow system: a case study in a city hall

Organizations are Complex systems. A conceptual model of the enterprise is needed that is: coherent the distinguished aspect models constitute a logical and truly integral comprehensive all relevant issues are covered consistent the aspect models are free from contradictions or irregularities concise no superfluous matters are contained in it essential it shows only the essence of the enterprise, i.e., the model abstracts from all realization and implementation issues. The world is in great need for transparency about the operation of all the systems we daily work with, ranging from the domestic appliances to the big societal institutions. In this context the field of enterprise ontology has emerged with the aim to create models that help to understand the essence of the construction and operation of complete systems; more specifically, of enterprises. Enterprise ontology arises in the way to look through the distracting and confusing appearance of an enterprise right into its deep kernel. This, from the perspective of the system designer gives him the tools needed to design a successful system in a way that’s reflects the desires and needs of the workers of the enterprise. This project’s context is the use of DEMO (Design and Engineering Methodology for Organizations) for (re)designing or (re)engineering of an enterprise, namely a process of the construction department of a city hall, the lack of a well-founded theory about the construction and operation of this processes that was the motivation behind this work. The purpose of studying applying the DEMO theory and method was to optimize the process, automating it as much as possible, while reducing paper and time spent between tasks and provide a better service to the citizens.

Transcriptoma diferencial entre células-tronco mesenquimais humanas jovens e senescentes

Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are powerful sources for cell therapy in regenerative medicine. The long time cultivation can result in replicative senescence or can be related to the emergence of chromosomal alterations responsible for the acquisition of tumorigenesis features in vitro. In this study, for the first time, the expression profile of MSC with a paracentric chromosomal inversion (MSC/inv) was compared to normal karyotype (MSC/n) in early and late passages. Furthermore, we compared the transcriptome of each MSC in early passages with late passages. MSC used in this study were obtained from the umbilical vein of three donors, two MSC/n and one MSC/inv. After their cryopreservation, they have been expanded in vitro until reached senescence. Total RNA was extracted using the RNeasy mini kit (Qiagen) and marked with the GeneChip ® 3 IVT Express Kit (Affymetrix Inc.). Subsequently, the fragmented aRNA was hybridized on the microarranjo Affymetrix Human Genome U133 Plus 2.0 arrays (Affymetrix Inc.). The statistical analysis of differential gene expression was performed between groups MSC by the Partek Genomic Suite software, version 6.4 (Partek Inc.). Was considered statistically significant differences in expression to p-value Bonferroni correction ˂.01. Only signals with fold change ˃ 3.0 were included in the list of differentially expressed. Differences in gene expression data obtained from microarrays were confirmed by Real Time RT-PCR. For the interpretation of biological expression data were used: IPA (Ingenuity Systems) for analysis enrichment functions, the STRING 9.0 for construction of network interactions; Cytoscape 2.8 to the network visualization and analysis bottlenecks with the aid of the GraphPad Prism 5.0 software. BiNGO Cytoscape pluggin was used to access overrepresentation of Gene Ontology categories in Biological Networks. The comparison between senescent and young at each group of MSC has shown that there is a difference in the expression parttern, being higher in the senescent MSC/inv group. The results also showed difference in expression profiles between the MSC/inv versus MSC/n, being greater when they are senescent. New networks were identified for genes related to the response of two of MSC over cultivation time. Were also identified genes that can coordinate functional categories over represented at networks, such as CXCL12, SFRP1, xvi EGF, SPP1, MMP1 e THBS1. The biological interpretation of these data suggests that the population of MSC/inv has different constitutional characteristics, related to their potential for differentiation, proliferation and response to stimuli, responsible for a distinct process of replicative senescence in MSC/inv compared to MSC/n. The genes identified in this study are candidates for biomarkers of cellular senescence in MSC, but their functional relevance in this process should be evaluated in additional in vitro and/or in vivo assays

Contribuição ao desenvolvimento de ontologias para processos petroquímicos : estudo de caso em uma planta DEA

In the last decades, the oil, gas and petrochemical industries have registered a series of huge accidents. Influenced by this context, companies have felt the necessity of engaging themselves in processes to protect the external environment, which can be understood as an ecological concern. In the particular case of the nuclear industry, sustainable education and training, which depend too much on the quality and applicability of the knowledge base, have been considered key points on the safely application of this energy source. As a consequence, this research was motivated by the use of the ontology concept as a tool to improve the knowledge management in a refinery, through the representation of a fuel gas sweetening plant, mixing many pieces of information associated with its normal operation mode. In terms of methodology, this research can be classified as an applied and descriptive research, where many pieces of information were analysed, classified and interpreted to create the ontology of a real plant. The DEA plant modeling was performed according to its process flow diagram, piping and instrumentation diagrams, descriptive documents of its normal operation mode, and the list of all the alarms associated to the instruments, which were complemented by a non-structured interview with a specialist in that plant operation. The ontology was verified by comparing its descriptive diagrams with the original plant documents and discussing with other members of the researchers group. All the concepts applied in this research can be expanded to represent other plants in the same refinery or even in other kind of industry. An ontology can be considered a knowledge base that, because of its formal representation nature, can be applied as one of the elements to develop tools to navigate through the plant, simulate its behavior, diagnose faults, among other possibilities

Instâncias da representação imagética hiper-real

The approach that undertakes this work revolves around the emergence of iconic structures on reflecting about the meaning of different methods of image representation through which the contemporaneity reveals itself. At baseline, three aspects are considered looking for an analytical ontology of the act of representation and imagery: the transition of representation in the oral culture of societies for writing, from these to typography, and finally the creation of a representation device. Resorted to, therefore, the argument by some genealogy reference points that technological instances such as writing, printing and photography, the evolution of this process, correspond, in itself, a consequent shift technique, for each representation precedent. In the area of the image, the most salient aspect of this change in foward process is the emergence of hyper-reality: the instances of hyper-realistic representation. In the Western context, the 'simulation of the world' - essential idea of mimesis is the work of an autonomous an conventional system. It should be noted, then the fact that under unreflective of the post-industrial societies, the mass-media image is coating with natural or fake code including - according to Baudrillard - tends to replace the real world in the "perpetuation of a large chain of simulacra." Hence in modern times, in the postindustrial society, during the crisis of the representation regimen and perception, centered in the referent. In this limit, new settings are established by aesthetic representations of imagery in contemporary culture: establishing spaces of simulation [Jean Baudrillard] the spectacle [Guy Debord] and hypermodernity [Gilles Lipovetsky] in which they operate. In these assemblages, saps the emergence of Hyper-reality Representation Instances - as seen in this study aesthetic events to configure itineraries of a new sensibility. It is the nature of this practice sign-iconic, ingrained in the creation of current artistic expression, which this research engaged in peering: the hyper-realistic setting, taking empirical support central to contemporary imagery production, diverse formats of analog representation.

Body art, existência e conhecimento :a percepção do corpo na Educação Física

In the Renaissance, the anatomy project a map of the body. Since then, the human body has been investigated for innumerable techniques, configuring new landscapes on the condition human being and the proper knowledge. In accordance with Merleau-Ponty (1975), All technique is body technique. It configures and extends the Metaphysical structure of our meat. In this direction, any intervention in the human body, a tattooing, a surgery or a performance, extends the perception and the directions of the existence of the subject. Merleau-Ponty (1975) still affirms, that all technique presents objective interventions. However, the body, ahead of these interventions, doesn t have to be considered only object, but subject that, from the interventions, attributes sensible and meanings through the movements, also being this its way of being in the world. Searching to extend this reflection on the discontinuities between the object body and the subject body, as well as, with the objective to reflect on the relation between the corporal techniques and the production of the subjectivity and the knowledge of the physical education, we reflect on the body art, as one technique of body that marks the exterior of the body, exteriorizing the subjectivity, to search new means to the body and that ahead of this, we believe being able to project innumerable directions for the corporal transformations in the contemporarily. As a method for our reflection in we will support them in the phenomenology. IT presents as a new ontology, in which distinction does not occur enters the operating paper of the citizen that knows and the influence of the known object. The phenomenological understanding of body will be able to contribute with the knowledge of the Physical Education, a time that gives us important arguments on the experience of the body in relation with the nature, the culture, history. To be a body is to be tied to a world that we do not possess completive, but that we do not cease to search it

Cellular and molecular characterization of an embryonic cell line (BME26) from the tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus

The cellular and molecular characteristics of a cell line (BME26) derived from embryos of the cattle tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus were studied. The cells contained glycogen inclusions, numerous mitochondria, and vesicles with heterogeneous electron densities dispersed throughout the cytoplasm. Vesicles contained lipids and sequestered palladium meso-porphyrin (Pd-mP) and rhodamine-hemoglobin, suggesting their involvement in the autophagic and endocytic pathways. The cells phagocytosed yeast and expressed genes encoding the antimicrobial peptides (microplusin and defensin). A cDNA library was made and 898 unique mRNA sequences were obtained. Among them, 556 sequences were not significantly similar to any sequence found in public databases. Annotation using Gene Ontology revealed transcripts related to several different functional classes. We identified transcripts involved in immune response such as ferritin, serine proteases, protease inhibitors,. antimicrobial peptides, heat shock protein, glutathione S-transferase, peroxidase, and NADPH oxidase. BME26 cells transfected with a plasmid carrying a red fluorescent protein reporter gene (DsRed2) transiently expressed DsRed2 for up to 5 weeks. We conclude that BME26 can be used to experimentally analyze diverse biological processes that occur in R. (B.) microplus such as the innate immune response to tick-borne pathogens. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Transcriptomics and systems biology analysis in identification of specific pathways involved in cacao resistance and susceptibility to witches' broom disease

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

SISOnt: sistema de informação em saúde baseado em ontologias

The sharing of knowledge and integration of data is one of the biggest challenges in health and essential contribution to improve the quality of health care. Since the same person receives care in various health facilities throughout his/her live, that information is distributed in different information systems which run on platforms of heterogeneous hardware and software. This paper proposes a System of Health Information Based on Ontologies (SISOnt) for knowledge sharing and integration of data on health, which allows to infer new information from the heterogeneous databases and knowledge base. For this purpose it was created three ontologies represented by the patterns and concepts proposed by the Semantic Web. The first ontology provides a representation of the concepts of diseases Secretariat of Health Surveillance (SVS) and the others are related to the representation of the concepts of databases of Health Information Systems (SIS), specifically the Information System of Notification of Diseases (SINAN) and the Information System on Mortality (SIM)