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Advances in electronics nowadays facilitate the design of smart spaces based on physical mash-ups of sensor and actuator devices. At the same time, software paradigms such as Internet of Things (IoT) and Web of Things (WoT) are motivating the creation of technology to support the development and deployment of web-enabled embedded sensor and actuator devices with two major objectives: (i) to integrate sensing and actuating functionalities into everyday objects, and (ii) to easily allow a diversity of devices to plug into the Internet. Currently, developers who are applying this Internet-oriented approach need to have solid understanding about specific platforms and web technologies. In order to alleviate this development process, this research proposes a Resource-Oriented and Ontology-Driven Development (ROOD) methodology based on the Model Driven Architecture (MDA). This methodology aims at enabling the development of smart spaces through a set of modeling tools and semantic technologies that support the definition of the smart space and the automatic generation of code at hardware level. ROOD feasibility is demonstrated by building an adaptive health monitoring service for a Smart Gym.
During the first decade of the 21st century, technologies for
The generalization of these smart spaces may have a beneficial impact on society and economy, serving as basis for applications in different domains, such as sustainability, support to daily living or personal health. For example, a United Nations report [
Among the many technological challenges involved in the evolution of smart spaces, the roadmap for Micro-Electro-Mechanical (MEMS) technologies is especially relevant; in the last decades, they have evolved towards a wide and inexpensive catalogue of small nodes equipped with wireless interfaces as well as sensor and actuator devices, although they are still far away from the ideal
Together with the increasing availability of sensor and actuator embedded devices, novel software paradigms to facilitate the integration of these devices in collaborative environments are handling both "horizontal" and "vertical" planes. The "horizontal" plane is characterized by Machine-to-Machine (M2M) interactions that refer to the communication between devices' functionalities. These M2M interactions are being supported by a recently research field that tries to solve the communication according to IP-based networks, that is, the Internet of Things (IoT) [
Nowadays, both IoT and WoT concepts are being developed under researches in diverse fields (e.g., communication protocols, semantic technologies or reasoning engines) with the final purpose of developing technology to allow isolated "islands" of sensor and actuator devices to be part of a connected network of heterogeneous smart spaces. In a future, smart spaces composed of hundreds, even thousands, of Web-enabled smart objects, will become omnipresent entities providing
Some Internet-oriented approaches facing the problem of facilitating device-layer abstraction include the use of Web Services (WS-*) based on Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA). This orientation is often used for stand-alone infrastructure-based designs, but it reduces its performance and functionalities when applied to resource-constrained devices (e.g., mobile devices [
The ROA client-server design principles are characterized by their simplicity and versatility due to its technological base, highlighting addressability of resource through the Universal Resources Identifier (URI) scheme, and Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to define methods to access and interact with resources. Despite its promising characteristics, existing platforms do not still fully decouple the device layer from the service layer.
For this reason, some research works are addressing domain-specific development frameworks based on patterns and models since they can reduce costs and deployment time and increase scalability in large deployments of smart spaces. A recent trend on this field is betting on the Model Driven Engineering (MDE) principles [ abstracting every part of the system through high-level models independently of the underlying software and hardware technologies. decoupling consumers and providers of contextual resources (sensor, actuators and logic processes), enabling a real reuse of model artifacts and software components. providing a modeling framework to facilitate rapid and agile prototyping of complex deployments even for non-expert developers.
abstracting every part of the system through high-level models independently of the underlying software and hardware technologies.
decoupling consumers and providers of contextual resources (sensor, actuators and logic processes), enabling a real reuse of model artifacts and software components.
providing a modeling framework to facilitate rapid and agile prototyping of complex deployments even for non-expert developers.
The research presented in this article takes advantage of the MDE principles to build a holistic development methodology involving a common, semantically expressive abstraction model, to specify a smart space with its specific services. The initial motivation was to provide a versatile solution to facilitate the development of different smart spaces service scenarios, to be composed of heterogeneous sensors, actuators and logic processors interacting among them through a variety of mechanisms. From that ambitious point of view, we propose the Resource-Oriented and Ontology-Driven Development (ROOD) methodology, which improves traditional MDE-based tools through semantic technologies for rapid prototyping of smart spaces according to the IoT and WoT paradigms. With the aim of providing expressivity to the ROOD's models, we have designed a Unified Modeling Language (UML) profile [
The rest of the paper is structured as follows. Section 2 gathers relevant works on approaches for modeling services and resources in IoT and WoT. Section 3 presents major research challenges analyzed from related work and how they are tackled by our proposal. Section 4 describes an overview of the major features of the ROOD methodology, focusing on its design principles. Section 5 presents the guidelines of ROOD methodology along its different stages. Section 6 describes first results from an early implementation of ROOD based on a Smart Gym deployed on a Smart Hotel. Section 7 concludes the paper with future work.
The analysis of the state of the art of development methodologies shows some interesting proposals providing applicable ideas to construct a holistic methodology for smart spaces. However, to the best of our knowledge, no one addresses the development of specific Model-Driven methodologies to support the design and deployment of smart spaces by modeling from the scenario context to its business logic, and ready to be subsequently deployed on a ROA. Additionally, with regard to semantics, few authors have integrated ontological technologies to support model transformations or validations in Model-Driven approaches, even if there is an increasing interest on the topic. Trends that integrate ontologies with Software Engineering (e.g., Ontology Driven Software Engineering or Ontology Driven Architectures) (e.g., [
As it was described in the previous Section, our proposal needs to consider synergies among different technological and research topics. This way, we have organized the following review of the
Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) [
The design of our SsML is inspired by some UML profiles supported by OMG. Some features of the SoaML (Service-oriented architecture Modeling Language) [
Apart from stand-alone tools for modeling system artifacts, MDA's development principles have motivated some research works considering the whole development process, from CIM to PSM; these works involve meta-models and transformations between the three modeling stages. In [
Few MDA approaches are focused on improving model-driven development through semantic technologies for supporting heterogeneous deployment scenarios and platforms definition. The authors of [
Other MDA-based approaches [
In line with MDA approaches, and closer to WoT field, Rauf
The Model-Driven approaches previously analyzed are generalist and their major foundations can be taken into account when designing new MDE-based approaches. However, regarding modeling of smart spaces, there are many drawbacks that need to be tackled through specific solutions, which solve semantic descriptions and mechanisms to achieve the integration of smart spaces into the WoT paradigm. These major issues are analyzed next.
Several works support the use of semantic technologies to overcome the limitations of contemporary standard-based and embedded devices for smart spaces (e.g., [
In contrast to previous works, basically focused on semantic vocabularies for specific cases of smart spaces deployments, the model presented in [
One of the main advantages (and lei™otif) of semantic models is their ability to be reused and shared: to date, several works modeling smart spaces include standard (or well-known) ontological models. For instance, OWL-Time [
It is important to highlight the results generated from standardization groups that are focused on semantically modeling specific concepts which may be applied to smart spaces (
ROA-based approaches promote the appearance of semantics solutions for modeling different aspects of RESTful frameworks. A ROA-compatible ontology system is described in [
Other approaches assume the current SOA predominance over ROA and try to find solutions to evolve from one domain to other keeping in mind common points among
The growing interest in modeling REST-based resources [
In the line of our previous works, Christophe
Some other Resources-Oriented Frameworks are based on toolkits that facilitate the development and deployment of RESTful applications for the WoT. AutoWoT [
In the previous Section, the state of the art related to the Model-Driven approaches, semantic models and frameworks to facilitate the development and integration of smart space into WoT paradigm was analyzed. From this study, we have identified some research challenges which should lead to the design of a development methodology for large and heterogeneous smart spaces in the field of WoT in order to be integrated into more extensive concepts as smart cities. We have summarized these challenges in the following points:
We consider that the research challenges described above may be considered through a development methodology that implements solutions for each of them, in order to reach a holistic solution for rapid deployments of smart spaces; such an integrated approach could significantly reduce global resources (financial and human) when developing and deploying large and complex smart spaces. To integrate previous works, we analyzed the existing literature in order to show how the considered challenges have been addressed to date. The result of this analysis has been gathered in a comparative table (see
From the comparative analysis, it is noted that related works do not provide a holistic approach we aim at delivering through our proposal. The works of Walter
In order to design a canonical MDA approach, we specified a set of novel DSLs to model different aspects (
Additionally, this work extends and improves traditional MDA-based approaches by introducing semantic technologies, which allow solving problems related to traceability as well as verification of consistency and completeness of the models in relation to domain concepts (
Another improvement provided by ROOD methodology with regard to previous MDE-based approaches ([
Finally, ROOD methodology provides a toolkit based on graphical modeling (e.g., for high level behavior sketching and business processes definition), that makes easier the development and deployment of smart spaces independently of their dimension and device heterogeneity (
ROOD methodology provides the guidelines to develop smart spaces under an Internet-connected resource-oriented approach (following the paradigm of the WoT). In ROOD, a
Successfully addressing these objectives implies applying concepts from a number of different technical fields related to software engineering, semantic technologies, and pervasive embedded networks, among others.
The ROOD methodology addresses the development of smart spaces from two different perspectives: (a) the
In the following sections, an overview of the principles and architecture of the ROOD methodology is firstly provided by means of an explanation of every part of its architecture as well as the phases involved in it. Firstly, the model-driven foundation of the ROOD methodology is explained, including the UML profile, in which the SsML is based, as well as its instances, ECM and SOM. Secondly, an explanation of how semantic (ontology-based) technologies are used along ROOD methodology is provided. Finally, a complete description of the stages of the ROOD methodology is given.
In this section we give a brief description of the features of the Smart Space Modeling Language (SsML). The SsML is a UML 2 profile whose major objective is to support the two main models of an MDA-based methodology, CIM and PIM that, in ROOD, correspond to the aforementioned ECM and SOM, respectively.
OMG has standardized some UML profiles that deal with real-time embedded devices [
The definition of SsML depends on the MDA architecture that is stratified in four abstraction levels (M0 through M3). M0 contains instances of data for a specific platform; M1 is where the system's models are defined; M2 specifies the DSLs that take part in the definition of models at M1. Finally, M3 defines the Meta-Object Facility (MOF), that establishes the basis for different modeling languages.
In summary, ECM and SOM provide a set of modeling tools enabling ROOD methodology to build complex smart spaces from two different viewpoints. As said before, the viewpoints defined in both ECM and SOM correspond to the CIM and PIM of the MDA. From those viewpoints, instances of the smart space can be defined through models that are represented in the form of diagrams with a specific notation. In ROOD methodology, the drawing schema of the diagrams is restricted by the constraints specified in specific viewpoints. Moreover, domain concepts represented in those diagrams are validated through semantic technologies supported by ontological resources that determine what can be represented according to the participants belonging to the smart space (e.g., sensor/actuator devices and users) and to the functionalities they can provide or consume (e.g., sensing or actuating resources). Such semantic information will be stored in Knowledge Bases and will depend on an ontological resource, as shown in Section 4.4. In the following sections we describe the ECM and SOM and all the pieces of the SsML metamodel, which establishes some modeling constraints for each one of them.
According to the MDA specification, CIM models are used to represent the environment and the requirements of the system they model, without referencing any detail about the implementation of the internal processes and tasks [
Anyway, the characteristics of UML activity diagrams do not properly tackle the objectives of CIM as established in the MDA specification,
The extension shown in
A brief description of every stereotype shown in
The enhanced semantic provided by SsML is mapped over a visual modeling language that we have named Environment Context Model (ECM). From the UML extension described previously, SsML establishes the foundations for the definition of the ECM, including its syntax and elements involved in an activity diagram for a smart space based on REST communication mechanisms. ECM's viewpoint of the concepts in SsML has been defined in order to establish the constraints that drive the modeling of ECM diagrams. This viewpoint is shown in
The next stage, according to MDA architecture [
SsML uses UML's general profile mechanisms [
Stereotypes defining the required concepts for creating SOM are described in
In the same way as ECM, SOM is a particularization of the SsML metamodel,
SOM is focused on modeling participants (smart objects) working collaboratively in smart spaces to reach a common objective. The major features of SOM for modeling resources, processes and interacting smart objects are the following:
SOM is able to model communities of interacting smart objects ( SOM is especially designed to be supported by ROA-based approaches. This characteristic facilitates the generation and deployment of artifacts for RESTful architectures. Resource interfaces are specified through
SOM is able to model communities of interacting smart objects (
SOM is especially designed to be supported by ROA-based approaches. This characteristic facilitates the generation and deployment of artifacts for RESTful architectures.
Resource interfaces are specified through
As explained above, ECM and SOM offer a set of modeling tools for intelligently describing the relationship between different real-world entities available in the Smart Space domain (e.g., sensors, actuators, services, resources, physical spaces, The Domain sub-ontology describes the physical characteristics of a Smart Space, populated with Smart Objects managing devices with sensing and actuating capabilities; it is mainly based on an extension of the W3C's SSN (Semantic Sensor Network) ontology [ A Service sub-ontology that defines the necessary entities and properties for modeling a service oriented architecture. For example, it defines from composite processes to simple tasks, as well as elements to orchestrate them. Finally, the Resource sub-ontology allows encapsulating service functionalities through REST interfaces,
The Domain sub-ontology describes the physical characteristics of a Smart Space, populated with Smart Objects managing devices with sensing and actuating capabilities; it is mainly based on an extension of the W3C's SSN (Semantic Sensor Network) ontology [
A Service sub-ontology that defines the necessary entities and properties for modeling a service oriented architecture. For example, it defines from composite processes to simple tasks, as well as elements to orchestrate them.
Finally, the Resource sub-ontology allows encapsulating service functionalities through REST interfaces,
NeOn Framework [
The design of SSO was basically conducted by two mechanisms described in NeOn methodology:
Reusing Domain Ontologies: this mechanism is focused on integrating Ontology Modularization: this task consists of identifying those parts of an ontology that can be considered as independent modules (
Reusing Domain Ontologies: this mechanism is focused on integrating
Ontology Modularization: this task consists of identifying those parts of an ontology that can be considered as independent modules (
Taking into account these mechanisms, SSN ontology was selected as a ground model for building the
NeOn Methodology was also used to specify the
The major entities included in each sub-ontology of the final version of SSO are presented in
The abovementioned semantic models have been developed as OWL-based documents; each particular deployment scenario to be used at ECM or SOM level would need to be built as RDF triples based on these documents, conforming a specific deployment scenario Knowledge Base (KB).
This semantic modeling of the deployment scenario for smart spaces brings several useful advantages for the MDA methodology (both at CIM and PIM level). Using a standardized language (OWL) and integrating existing and well-known models improve the compatibility of ROOD methodology with other semantic tools. It also guarantees consistency of the deployment scenario entities used in ECM and SOM, as general purpose reasoners can be invoked in order to support semantic engineers during KB filing (satisfiability checking according SSO schema), and business and software engineers during model creation (consistency checking according KB contents). In this sense,
Regarding this ontology design process, future works may consider also integrating other well-known models as, e.g., OWL-S [
This section presents the different stages of the ROOD methodology involving the elements of the architecture defined in Section 4. This guideline highlights the traceability between the concepts presented in ECM and SOM metamodels, as well as the mechanisms to verify models delivered in each stage.
As discussed in the previous section, any development methodology based on MDA consists of three main phases: i) Computation Independent Model (CIM); ii) Platform Independent Model (PIM); iii) Platform Specific Model (PSM). Along these phases, MDA manages to separate the conceptual design (focusing on functional requirements of the system) from the platform features (defining no functional and technological aspects of the underlying architecture).
Generally, MDA approaches specify transformation rules between PIM and CIM but just traceability relations between the requirements on CIM models and the concepts of PIM and PSM models. Very often, the own nature of CIM models prevents the creation of direct transformations to PIM models since, while CIM describes functional viewpoints (
Firstly, we identified a set of traceability relations between concepts in both models taking into consideration the elements defined in their viewpoints (see Sections 4.2 and 4.3). In
The concepts shown in
Moreover, semantic technologies play an important role within the ROOD methodology, which take all its potential from the SSO. The SSO was essentially designed in order to adjust the modeling process to specific smart spaces through Knowledge Bases, gathering concrete domain information about different scenarios. The entities specified in SSO are projected on concepts of ECM and SOM models. Those relationships are indicated in
Traceability relations defined in
The ROOD methodology provides a well-specified set of modeling tools and common terminology promoting collaborative work among individuals of heterogeneous development teams without compromising global project resources and efforts. It is important to highlight that the ROOD methodology is flexible and its stages are loosely couple. This characteristic facilitates the involvement of a variety of kinds of professionals collaborating and working jointly in the development chain, e.g., (i) business analyst; (ii) software architect, specialized in ROA; (iii) semantic engineer; (iv) software developer.
Before beginning with the methodology, it is important to identify each element of the smart space by analyzing the physical places that will be populated by smart objects. Meanwhile, every smart object in such smart space is supported by one or more platforms with a set of sensor and actuator devices; these sensor and actuator devices are responsible for leading the expected behavior to the smart space. Such behavior is conditioned to the business processes and underlying tasks (e.g., those managing sensor and actuator work) that are performed by the devices associated with the smart space. In ROOD, these business processes are characterized as services managed by
Once the Knowledge Base of the smart space is instantiated, the modeling phase of the ROOD methodology can start. Firstly, business analysts have to model the smart space using the elements defined in the ECM's metamodel. In this stage, only behavioral information of the smart space is represented without concerning the underlying platform, e.g., activity threads, actions, transitions between actions, and smart objects involved in that activity context.
The information contained in ECM models is used to partially generate the models in the next stage, SOM, whose construction is conducted taking into account the viewpoint described in Section 4.3. This stage should be managed by software architects specialized in resource-oriented architectures, who will take advantage of the information from the ECM to model agents (providers or consumers of services), business processes and tasks. Moreover, it will be needed to set up the information system to manage context information that will have an influence in the current and future behavior of the smart objects. Finally, the involved software architects will design the necessary architectural elements that will offer the smart object resources as RESTful services. This step will provide the key piece to integrate the smart space into a WoT paradigm.
The models created in previous steps will be subjected to a verification process to check the consistency and integrity of the entities, relationships and other semantic information represented in them according to the domain information stored in a scenario Knowledge Base.
The final step consists of generating program code from SOM models. For this aim, the elements represented in SOM models are filtered through a model-to-text transformation mechanism. The percentage of generated code can vary depending on the platform but in any case, it will be totally generated. Therefore, a software developer is required to complete existing gaps in the code (e.g., configuration parameters for hardware peripherals or specific information to integrate devices into a communication infrastructure).
It is important to highlight that the transformation specified in the ROOD methodology (ECM-to-SOM and SOM-to-PSM/code) is conducted by mapping rules that in some cases are almost automatically generated and only partially automated in the remainder cases.
ROOD has been partially developed to support research in a large Spanish cooperative project named Technologies for the Hotel of the Future (THOFU Project) [
For this case of use, we have chosen to prototype a
As a whole, the smart indoor gym makes a complex networked infrastructure in which a number of smart objects are involved, consuming and providing many resources related to the user and environment's contexts. In order to simplify this case study, we will focus on a single service to be provided in the smart indoor gym: the
The following section describes the development process of this service in the smart gym, through the stages proposed by ROOD methodology to model the entities managing the behavior and resources of the involved smart objects.
The alert medical service is a basic service, which has to be provided by the
Let us now focus on the emergency detection functionality supplied by the personal trainer. In our validation scenario, when the user enters the smart gym, the personal trainer is downloaded and installed in his/her smartphone; once it is started, it asks for permission to share the user's health profile with the smart gym service. Then, the user is equipped with a
In short, the components involved in the scenario are the following (
Once we have a concise description of the smart space for our case study, let us continue with the practical demonstration of the ROOD methodology in order to prove its feasibility. The following sections describe the modeling process, from ECM to SOM and program code, to develop the alert medical service according to the features specified before.
Semantic technologies are a cornerstone in ROOD methodology. As said in Section 5, previously to start the modeling phases, it is essential to carry out a conceptualization analysis of the smart space; this initial analysis allows to achieve good semantic information of the smart space according to the
Following the aforementioned guidelines,
As described in previous sections, this stage is intended to model the behavior of the smart space. In order to create models in this stage, we have to use the elements defined in the metamodel specified by the Smart Space Modeling Language (SsML) that are associated with those behavioral aspects of smart spaces (see
The ECM proposed for this case study is shown in the
Two smart objects, the smart treadmill and the personal trainer, actively interact each other and the latter interacts with the client contextualizer and the emergency manager as well. The last two entities depend on the designed behavior of the smart treadmill and the smart trainer from which they will get context information leading a specific response on both,
Actions characterizing the behavior of entities in the ECM are defined within activity partition (
This ECM also models interaction aspects between different smart objects and other entities of the smart space. As said in previous sections, in ROOD methodology, interactions are modeled according to a REST architectural style. Thus, situations in which actions cause a behavior on other entities need to be modeled following the general rules that characterize resources in a REST architecture. For this purpose, SsML metamodel provided elements to model RESTful
As shown in
On the other hand, ECM model has to be defined according to the viewpoint provided by ECM, which is based on the SsML metamodel. This also guarantees a consistent mapping between the elements represented in this ECM model and the concepts defined in the SOM viewpoint. Consequently, the transformation process to achieve a subsequent SOM model will make better use of the information contained in the previous ECM.
Following the ROOD methodology, the next stage corresponds to the modeling of SOM. As said in previous sections, models generated in this stage are enriched by means of the information defined in models of the previous stage. This is achieved through a model-to-model transformation process whose efficiency depends on the factors commented on Section 5. Thus, in a standard scenario, some artifacts would be available before starting with the modeling of SOM. This facilitates to software architects the design of the SOM models since they will not have to tackle this stage from scratch. The number of artifacts automatically generated will depend on the quality of the KB contents and the design of the previous ECM model. Moreover, whatever the number of artifacts automatically generated is, those will be aligned with ECM entities according to the traceability matrix specified in
In order to simplify the explanations of the models designed in this stage, let us consider two smart objects: the personal trainer and the smart treadmill. The final SOM models are shown in
In previous SOM models, the classes in grey color are (totally or partially) automated from the previous ECM model; those classes partially generated are colored in light grey. In that case, the software architect has to complete the semantic information according to technical parameters of the smart space, e.g., identification details for defining URIs completely (
One of the major points in this stage consists of formalizing behaviors modeled in the ECM according to the SOM viewpoint. Thus, actions and activities in ECM (
Most smart objects populating smart spaces needs to manage information related to their own context and the context of other smart objects and environment. This aspect is considered in the SOM metamodel by means of the
An important feature, to be modeled by means of SOM models, is the architectural aspect related to the REST paradigm. This is a keystone to enable a smart object for integration into the Web of Things. To this end, the SOM viewpoint provides the
The final stage of ROOD methodology corresponds to the code generation. According to the scenario requirements, this code should be ready to be compiled in some of the platforms characterizing the different devices used in the scenario. Developers of the system will have to tackle this stage by implementing templates that filters the semantic information received from SOM models to transform it into text with sense for a specific compiler. In a canonical MDA approach, those templates are defined as Platform Specific Models (PSM); there will be as many different models as kinds of platforms are deployed on the scenario.
As stated in Section 6.2 (
The above-mentioned platforms are clear cases of the two kinds of platforms considered in ROOD methodology, Native and Gateway, respectively. The following paragraphs focus on describing on the specific development mechanisms for each one of them.
On one hand, the Sun SPOT controlling the treadmill mechanism is a programmable device with constrained resources; it is supplied by small battery (3.7 V rechargeable 770 mAh lithium-ion battery) and includes reduced memory (1 Mb of RAM and 8 Mb of Flash) and processor (400 MHz). Moreover, Sun SPOT nodes use specific communication protocols designed for embedded networks: IEEE 802.15.4 for radio and MAC layers and, in our case, 6LowPAN for network layer.
Sun SPOT can be considered as a
On the other hand, the Bioharness™ BT is an embedded device, which manages a set of biometric sensors. Its communication interface is based on Bluetooth and uses a proprietary application protocol to transmit frames with sensorial information to other devices that are listening for them. The Bioharness™ BT is considered as a
The two different cases of code generation explained in this section have to be conducted through two development branches (
This section gives some implementation details about the development of the MDA tool (so called
As said in previous sections, an important cornerstone of ROOD methodology is the Smart Space Modeling Language (SsML) that was designed as a UML profile. From that profile we designed two models, Environment Context Model (ECM) and Smart Object Model (SOM), which establish a well-defined Domain Specific Language (DSL) for modeling diverse aspects of smart spaces (activities, interactions, business logic and so on). Specifically, the Eclipse project provides the Eclipse Modelling Framework (EMF) [
Each one of those frameworks is very powerful by themselves. In contrast, they are characterized by their complexity to be understood and require a high level of expertise to build quality modeler. Obeo Designer integrates all those frameworks and hides such complexity. Using Obeo Designer, it is possible to define visual modelers without having knowledge about EMF and GMF technologies. The Ecore files are generated from "viewpoints" of the system that enable the creation of modelers (odesign files) by assigning specific graphical notation and behavior to every element composing the models.
Once we have created the Ecore and its corresponding modeler (odesign), we have to define mechanisms to automate the transformation between ECM and SOM through Model-to-Model (M2M) transformations. For this end, we use the ATL language [
Finally, we defined a mechanism to convert SOM models into code, that is, a Model-to-Text (M2T) transformation. For this end, we have chosen Acceleo [
To conclude the description of the
Currently, this mechanism is performed off-line between each stage of the ROOD methodology, but it is expected that in subsequent versions of
The design of a development methodology that provides common languages and procedures to tackle with a large heterogeneous smart space is currently an open challenge in the fields of the Internet of Things and, majorly, the Web of Things. The MDE approaches, specially the OMG standard, MDA, seem good solution to deal with a methodology aimed at this objective. MDA provides specific tools to construct development methodologies stratified in three conceptual layers (CIM, PIM and PSM levels). The MDA specification involves some important concepts that have to be taken into account in order to design optimized methodologies, among them the creation of modeling languages or the definition of accurate alignments between concepts in different layers. The final objective is to improve the quality of Model-to-Model (M2M) transformation to achieve a fine Model-to-Text (M2T) transformation, that is, the generation of program code that is compiled and deployed on hardware.
This work has demonstrated that it is possible to build Model-Driven methodologies based on MDA standards to tackle the challenges of smart spaces,
Currently, we are actively working on the development of the ROOD methodology with the support of open tools within the Eclipse project. This work includes, majorly, the definition of mappings rules to improve the transformation among ECM and SOM as well as the definition of templates to generate SPARQL script for semantic validation through Knowledge Bases. Further developments will try to integrate semantic validation mechanisms as an Eclipse plug-in within the ROOD Visual Editor supporting our methodology, which will implement several mechanisms for semantic debugging and model suggestion in order to support the modeling process during their creation. We are also planning to extend the SSO scope not only for describing deployment scenarios, but also to address its integration into the SsML metamodel in order to improve the verification of ECM and SOM models.
This work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the CDTI CENIT THOFU Programme and under grant TIN2011-28620-C02-02, and by the Government of Madrid under grant S2009/TIC-1485 (CONTEXTS).
MDA's perspective of SsML.
Part of the SsML profile focusing on the extension of behavioral packages of UML 2.
The ECM's viewpoint of the SsML subset extending behavioral concepts from UML2 metamodel.
Part of the SsML profile focusing on defining a metamodel for modeling diverse functional aspects of the smart spaces.
SOM's viewpoint of the SsML metamodel.
SSN extension introducing concepts related to the actuator conceptualization.
Overview of the Smart Space Ontology: modules, classes and relations. In grey color, classes coming from SSN ontology.
Example of inconsistent deployment scenario KB (consistency checking).
ROOD methodology phases: traceability, participant roles and verification mechanisms.
Diagram of the medical service provided by the smart gym. The smart gym is part of a smart hotel.
ECM model for the alert medical service offered by the smart gym.
Inconsistent ECM model.
SOM model of the personal trainer belonging to the alert medical service.
SOM model of the smart treadmill belonging to the alert medical service.
Development branches for the two cases considered following the ROOD methodology.
Obeo Designer architecture.
Eclipse plug-ins used for developing the ECM and SOM metamodels and their corresponding mapping to transform ECM into SOM.
Code generation process using Acceleo.
Verification process for validating the semantic information contained in a diagram.
Comparative table for different approaches dealing with development aspects of smart spaces.
|Yes (only for high level services. A DSL is provided)
|Constraints from UML class and state diagram
|Generates RESTful web services (limited for IoT deployments)
|Yes (to model many scenarios related to smart spaces)
|Semantic descriptions (format not specified)
|Exposes object capabilities as RESTful services
|Yes (only configurations at runtime)
|Not specified
|Constraints from canonical RESTful models
|Generates software for RESTful servers for WoT
|Yes (a toolkit is provided)
|Partial (related to REST-based models)
|Yes (MDA methodology to design DSLs is provided. DSL users can also take advantage of this approach)
|Several mechanisms are implemented to verify consistency of metamodels and models
|KM3, OWL, Ecore (metamodel), SPARQL
|Not explicitly, but adaptable
|A toolkit for designing DSLs and a Workbench to used those DSLs
|Yes (Several verification and debugging mechanisms are provided (from metamodels and ontologies))
|Yes (A MDE approach to model most of scenarios in relation to smart spaces)
|Three ontologies to conduct modeling and transformations
|Not explicitly, but adaptable (generates code for smart spaces)
|A toolkit for modeling smart spaces is provided
|Yes (However, not specify that are the involved mechanisms)
Graphic nodes included in SsML profile.
The type of events accepted by the action, as specified by triggers. Only sensor, actuator and time events are allowed.
The input port through that context data are received. Only
The type of query transmitted to the target resource. Only REST queries are allowed.
The target resource to which request is sent. Only
The sender source for a request. Only
Graphic paths included in SsML profile.
Provides an output for a resource related to an activity. Only
Provides an input for a resource related to an activity. Only
|It represents the information exchanged between two actions.
Graphic elements for containment in SsML profile.
Partition containing the partition. Only
Partitions contained in the partition. Only
The boundaries leaving the region that will abort the activity being performed in the region.
Nodes contained in the region.
Stereotypes of SsML defining concepts to be used in SOM.
Traceability matrix indicating relationships between concepts in SSO and entities in ECM and SOM.
Report of the analysis of domain aspects in the smart gym.
|Smart Gym
|Personal Trainer
|Touch screen
|Smart T-shirt
|Heart monitor (Sensing heart rate)
|Body temp. sensor (Sensing body temp.)
|Accelerometer (Monitoring body movement)
|Smart Treadmill
|Embedded actuator device
|Treadmill mechanisms
|Client Contextualizer
|Emergency Manager
This table only contains information related to the alert medical service, which belongs to the smart gym.
SSO considers two kinds of platforms: (a) Native (generated artifacts are natively deployed on the device); (b) Gateway (generated artifacts are deployed on a Gateway in order to reach those devices that do not have its own communication capabilities).
Report of the analysis of service aspects in the smart gym.
|Personal trainer
|Health monitor
|Heart sensing
|Configuration data
|Heart rate
|Sensing heart rate
|Body temp sensing
|Configuration data
|Body temp.
|Sensing body temp.
|Activity monitor
|Activity sensing
|Configuration data
|Activity description
|Sensing activity
|Alert generator
|Consumer/ provider
|Heart monitoring
|Heart rate
|Body temp monitoring
|Body temperature
|Activity monitoring
|Activity description
|Health analyzing
|Vital signs (heart/body temp.) and activity.
|Alert (health/fall) notification
|Smart Treadmill
|Treadmill manager
|Mechanism manager
|Configuration data
|Messages (e.g., alert message, work progress)
|Treadmill config.
|Message manager
|Alert notification
|Showing messages on screen
|Client Contextualizer
|Obtaining user data
|User health profile
|Inserting user data
|User health report
|Emergency Manager
|Alert handler
|Message managing
|Emergency message
|Showing messages on screen
Report of the analysis of resource aspect in the smart gym.
|Smart Treadmill
|Treadmill manager
|Alert manager
|Set alert messages
|Obtain working mode
|Client Contextualizer
|Data base
|Obtain user profile
|JSON{"query":{"type":"select","body" :[{"user_id":"[id]"},{"req": "health_cond"},{"req" : "illnesses"} ] }}
|JSON{"illnesses":[list of illnesses],"health_cond":[list of health conditions]}
|Update health report
|JSON{"query":{"type":"insert",body :[{"user_id":"[id]"},{"heart_rate": "[rate]"},{"body_temp" : "[temp]"} ] }}
|Emergency Manager
|Alert handler
|Emergency manager
|Notify an emergency situation
|JSON{"notification":"[type]","message": "[text]" }


text:
I have previously expressed the importance of players understanding the deliverables in a game. This is a business. It's about getting bums on seats in a market where everyone is fighting for an advantage. We put so many expectations on players to perform and criticise when they don't.
So why do we allow inept performances from the whistle-blowers to ruin a game that, nowadays, should be devoid of controversy.
I am talking about the Test against England last week and some of the blatant misses by the referee and his assistants that influenced the game. I am not saying England deserved to lose. In fact, the way they played, got back into the game and managed that last quarter is a credit to Chris Robshaw and his men.
But there were two glaring mistakes in the game that hurt the Wallabies: firstly, in a chance to get points from an attacking position and, secondly, a get-out-of-jail-free card for obstruction on the Owen Farrell try. Both instances were handled poorly by the referees.
If the referee had asked the question of whether English fullback Mike Brown was in touch on his own five-metre line, the answer would have been a definite yes. The referee had time. An injury time-out was in place. From where play started to where it finished was 100 metres apart. The ensuing play resulted in a converted try to the hosts to level the game.
The second was the obstruction by English hooker Dylan Hartley; checking Stephen Moore's line to tackle the defender. It was slight, but it was enough to open the gap just a little. After posing the question to the TV match official, and seeing the replay, all I could say was it was a nothing play from Hartley as England had all the momentum. Yet what came back from the TMO amazed me. He didn't even give a decision, just agreed with George Clancy's words: ''There isn't enough obstruction not to award the try … Agree.'' Surely the fact he used the word ''obstruction'' constitutes contact being made and it therefore ''obstructed'' Moore's progress.
Gone are the days when we can let a 50-50 decision go by. The outcomes are too important for the players, the unions and, in turn, the sponsors. Surely it is easy to ask the TMO to review something to get a definitive answer. Perhaps the game needs to widen its scope on what it can and cannot adjudicate on. Mind you, we have seen the question asked by referees on forward passes, such as Israel Folau's try against the British and Irish Lions. The pass from Ben Mowen to Folau was deemed suspect but, after review, the try stood. Well done. Commonsense prevailed.
So why is it the men in the middle fail to use the technology? It's there for their use and can give almost instant clarity to hazy situations. We all want to see the correct decision made. Why can't the referees look up to the big screen and make a decision? All the players can see it on the screen these days. In the worst cases, if it's wrong, the players just shake their heads in amazement. Of course, the referees sometimes still get it wrong after looking at the big screen. Just ask Michael Hooper about that one. Trust me. It's not a blight on your character that you go upstairs and check with a third party. Get it right.
And by the way, when you ask whether it's a try? Do it like that. Is it a try? Yes or no? Not, ''is there any reason why I cannot go ahead and award the forthwith score to the attacking team from the northern end?'' With a response of … ''Notwithstanding the evidence contrary to the defending players possibly impeding the attacking player, there is no reason why I cannot think of any further circumstances that oneself cannot act in the affirmative.'' Huh? TRY!
Make it easy for everyone. Perhaps that's what's happening. We are getting too complex, but I don't think the further use - or correct use - of technology would complicate things. If anything, it will give clarity.
Twitter - @burkey710

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Worst nightmare came true :(
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So I sent him an email yesterday and as I was responding here he replied. He gave me an awesome offer. Amazing. I think I'm going to drop the order from the CA I've been working with. I've heard too many good things about Jon to pass the opportunity up.
The invoice price they showed me was what I saw on BMW Config + MACO/training. I think you're right about walking away
You're right. And actually, from what it seems like from reading all of your responses, the maximum they can go up on the buy rate is 40 points. The initial MF I was quoted before I found out the car was misordered was 0.00174, a full 0.00049 up on the buy rate. The more I think about it the more I'm realizing how much they were actually screwing with me. Thanks for the tip. I think I'm gonna go with Jon.
You will not regret that decision. It will change your opinion of car buying. He is a great guy. And your order will be correct because you will receive every bit of paperwork throughout the timeline including the VIR.
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text:
The information that Alexander the Great allegedly asked at his deathbed to be buried at the Ammoneion of the Libyan Oasis in modern-day Siwa, is mentioned by the later historians Diodoros (18.3.5), Curtius Rufus (10.5.4), and Justin (12. 15.7). Bosworth, a modern historian, has suggested that Diodoros who did not name his source for his account of Alexander's death and burial, probably drew his information from the History of Hieronymos of Kardia (late 4th century B.C.; see above). Although there are no surviving reports from historians who were eye-witnesses of the last days of Alexander, it is not improbable that Alexander did in fact wish to be buried in Egypt. One should not forget, however, that modern historians have made an equally plausible and attractive case, according to which, Alexander wished to be buried at Aigai with his predecessors.
Alexander's Empire at its largest, in 323 B.C.
But let us take a look at the facts. On his deathbed, Alexander allegedly gave his ring to his general Perdikkas, thereby appointing him regent of his huge empire until queen Roxane gave birth to their child. Roxane eventually did indeed give birth to a son, Alexander IV, who stood to inherit his father's territories. Alexander the Great's generals had different plans, however, and aimed at promoting their own interests for succession. Very early on, they openly challenged the legitimation of Alexander IV's designation as heir of his father. Our readers will surely be familiar with the way the Greeks viewed all non-Greeks whom they called "Barbarians." And Alexander IV was, after all, half-Bactrian, half-Greek. The years from 323 to 301 B.C. saw endless conflicts among Alexander the Great's successors which ended with the parceling out of the Macedonian conqueror's empire and the creation of the first Hellenistic kingdoms. During these turbulent years, Alexander IV and his mother Roxane were assassinated by Cassander who then usurped the throne of Macedonia and married Thessaloniki, Alexander the Great's sister in order to legitimize his power.
In the struggle of Alexander's generals for succession, the body of the conqueror played the role of a symbol which would confirm the newly acquired power of some of them. Perdikkas, according to our sources, sent the mummified remains of Alexander the Great to Aigai, the old Macedonian capital, for burial. He had a magnificent funerary cart constructed for this purpose. The body itself was placed in a gold anthropoid sarcophagus which was in turn encased in a second gold casket and covered with a purple robe. Alexander's coffin was placed, together with his armor, in a gold carriage which had a vaulted roof supported by an Ionic peristyle. The decoration of the carriage was very rich and is described in great detail by Diodoros (18.26.3). A good tentative reconstruction of the funerary cart has been proposed by the modern archaeologist Stella Miller (see bibliography below). This scholar by no means claims that her reconstruction is accurate; she rather suggested it in order to help scholars visualize what is discussed by Diodoros.
The breakdown of Alexander's Empire following
Very early on, Ptolemy had realized that the breakdown of Alexander's Empire was inevitable, and he wished to secure the wealthy territory of Egypt for himself. He therefore organized an attack against Alexander's funerary procession and intercepted the body of his former master which he then buried in Memphis, the old capital of Egypt. This event caused the final breach in the relations of Ptolemy with Perdikkas and is described by all ancient historians: Arrian (7.26.3); Diodorus (17.117.4; 18.1.4; 18.26.3); Curtius Rufus, 10.5.5; and Justin, 12.15.8). Diodoros mentions that Alexander's funerary procession was indeed destined for the Ammoneion of Libya in modern-day Siwa, but there is not a single ancient historian to claim that Alexander was in fact ever buried there. I will take this information a little further. By the time that Ptolemy stole Alexander's mummy from Perdikkas, thereby infuriating the latter, he had established his control over Egypt. It seems therefore unlikely that Perdikkas would be ever so naive as to not have guessed Ptolemy's ambitions and the role that Alexander's body would play in Ptolemy's dynastic propaganda. Perdikkas, at least in the beginning, seems to have sincerely tried to hold Alexander's Empire together and preserve it for Alexander IV. It is therefore highly unlikely that he would ever decide to bury Alexander in Egypt instead of Aigai, the traditional burial place for Macedonian kings and an area that he himself controlled. On the other hand, if Alexander's body was ever destined for Siwa for burial, Ptolemy would not go to any pains in order to steal it from Perdikkas, since the body was being transported to Egypt anyway and would therefore be easily accessible to him. If we add to this information the ancient reports about the increasing dissatisfaction of the Greeks with Alexander's adoption of foreign customs from the territories that he conquered, one can plausibly wonder whether the ancient reports of his alleged wish to be buried at the Ammoneion of Libya can be accurate.
Modern statue of Alexander the Great, Thessaloniki.
One may therefore plausibly conclude that Alexander wished to be buried in Aigai, next to his ancestors despite the "internationalist" ideas of the Macedonian conqueror for the creation of a multi-national empire where diversity and individuality would be respected. Alexander always remained a Greek and was on his way back home to Macedonia when he died suddenly. Perdikkas, who by allaccounts conformed to his former master's wishes and protected his widow and infant son, then intended to bring his body to Aigai. Ptolemy on the other hand, had other plans. He had established his control over Egypt and decided to use the body of Alexander as asymbol in order to legitimize his position. He intercepted the mummy by attacking the funerary procession which headed eastwards and buried it at Memphis. According to Diodorus who describes the tomb of Alexander in Memphis in some detail, the monument which was constructed by Ptolemy I there, was in the traditional Egyptian style.
Copyright © Hellenic Electronic Center and
Elizabeth Kosmetatou (author), 1998. All rights reserved.


text:
First tropical storm of the season forms off S.C.
RALEIGH, N.C. —The first tropical storm of hurricane season formed off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center said.
A ship near the center of the storm reported pressure data that indicates the storm's wind speed is 60 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in a 7 p.m. advisory. That speed is about 15 mph stronger than originally reported.
On Saturday evening, Tropical Storm Alberto was 130 miles east of Charleston and 120 miles south of Cape Fear, N.C. It was moving at about 3 mph to the southwest.
National Weather Service meteorologist Sandy LaCorte in Wilmington said the system will continue moving to the southwest before reversing course and heading northeast over the next several days. She said the center of the storm is not expected to get close to the Carolinas' coast.
LaCorte said Alberto will produce increased waves at beaches in the Carolinas. There is a high risk of rip currents along North Carolina's Outer Banks, and a moderate risk along the southeastern beaches and the entire South Carolina coast. Winds will gust to around 25 mph.
The weather service said there will be isolated and scattered rain showers along the coast of the Carolinas into early next week.
A forecast map by the hurricane center predicts that the storm will drift toward the open sea off the Mid-Atlantic region by midweek, but it's difficult to accurately predict a storm's path days in advance.
The National Hurricane Center is considering a tropical storm watch for a portion of the coast of North and South Carolina for Saturday night. Forecasters expect the storm to strengthen.
The official start to hurricane season is June 1, but tropical storms often occur before then.
Contributing: Associated Press
Posted | Updated


text:
Regional studies of the unexplained are always welcome, and this particular one is based both upon personal investigations carried out by the author, and citations from published sources going back decades and even, in many cases, centuries.
Half of the book deals with hauntings, the remainder with other Fortean phenomena, including devils, Whisht Hounds (a sort of demonic hunt), witches, giants, pixies, cannibals with tusks, Wild Men, mermaids, leaping demons, vampires, werewolves, Alien Big Cats (notably the Beast of Exmoor), inexplicable fires (caused by poltergeists?), 'invisible attackers' (such as animal mutilators), strange rain (a fall of black worms, and so on), a lamb seen in the sky in the eighteenth century, presumed to be a religious manifestation, and UFOs, including 'little suns' (right back in 1902), silver discs, "a huge, dome-shaped object", a star-spangled cross, and "a 'flying tadpole' that left a trail of purple smoke".
It is interesting to note that the material is very much the same as what is found everywhere else. Amongst the purely legendary stories are the sun dancing on Easter Day, megalithic stones that move at midnight, and buried treasure guarded by ghostly monks. Most of us will have heard of all of these before. In the late eighteenth century, it was said that the ghost of a certain woman would appear in Berry Pomeroy Castle whenever a resident was about to die. From 1958 comes a classic 'phantom hitchhiker' tale, from a lorry driver on the Devon Expressway. Another common story is the ghost who smokes a pipe, which can be smelt, and there is said to be one such in Brixham Heritage Museum, who, as Codd points out, is indifferent to the ban on smoking in public places. There are no stories about boggarts, but this is a word largely confined to Lancashire and Yorkshire, and there are reports of similar entities.
When, in 1950, a Paignton resident saw "two large circular objects travelling south", he was so alarmed that he called South Devon Police. I have often wondered about this kind of story. Supposing that they were alien spacecraft, or from another dimension, what could he have expected the police to do about them?
I feel that UFOs should have had more than six pages devoted to them. In 1997 there was a Devonshire UFO wave that was the subject of a whole book by Jonathan Downes, but it does not even get a mention. Codd does briefly describe the Arthur Bryant encounter of 1965 (giving the date wrongly), but fails to explain that the entity 'Yamski' was thought by some to be George Adamski, who had died the day before, and had somehow at once become reincarnated as a fifteen-year-old Venusian.
Though references are given, they are not wholly complete: several times he cites Sabine Baring-Gould, a nineteenth century vicar who collected folklore (and wrote Onward Christian Soldiers), but does not specify which books, although Baring-Gould was a prolific author. And an index would have been useful.
That said, I would highly recommend this book as a view of the unexplained in general. -- Gareth J. Medway.


text:
Have Ford Questions? Ask a Mechanic for Answers ASAP
DTC P1759 FRONT BRAKE SOLENOID VALVE FUNCTION Description
Attachments are only available to registered users.
Possible Cause
DTC Confirmation Procedure CAUTION: Always drive vehicle at a safe speed.NOTE: If "DTC Confirmation Procedure" has been previously performed, always turn ignition switch "OFF" and wait at least 10 seconds before performing the next test.After the repair, perform the following procedure to confirm the malfunction is eliminated.WITH CONSULT-II
Selector lever: "D" positionGear position: 3rd => 4th Gear (FR/B ON/OFF)Driving location: Driving the vehicle uphill (increased engine load) will help maintain the driving conditions required for this test.
See: P1841WITH GST Follow the procedure "WITH CONSULT-II".Diagnostic Procedure
With CONSULT-II
OK or NGOK >> GO TO 4.NG >> GO TO 2.
OK or NGOK >> GO TO 3.NG >> Repair or replace damaged parts.
OK or NGOK >> Replace the control valve with TCM. Refer to "Control Valve With TCM and A/T Fluid Temperature Sensor 2".NG >> Repair or replace damaged parts.
OK or NGOK >> INSPECTION ENDNG >> GO TO 2.
What were your results (conclusion) after performing diagnosis test??


text:
Latest question:
How do you think the new GigE standards will influence the machine vision industry?
Respond or ask your question now!
It sounds like something from a science fiction novel�swallowing a pill that has tiny cameras in it to diagnose diseases of the esophagus. But thanks to advancements in technology it has become reality.
The desire to explore the relatively inaccessible area of the esophagus and small intestine led to the development of an ingestible miniature camera. Video capsule endoscopy provides visualization of the esophagus and GI tract by transmitting images wirelessly from a disposable capsule to a data recorder worn by the patient.
Given Imaging Ltd. (Yoqneam, Israel) manufactures the PillCam SB, which evaluates the small intestine and the PillCam ESO for the esophagus. Another capsule system has been release by Olympus in Europe and is nearing clearance and release in the United States.
About the size of a large vitamin pill, these tiny imaging systems eliminate the need for costly, invasive procedures used to diagnose and evaluate diseases of the esophagus, small intestine and GI tract.
After Micron Technology, Inc. (Boise, Idaho) acquired Photobyte, a custom imaging product company, they disbanded most of the projects that had been in the pipeline except for a solid few. One project that they maintained was the disposable capsule project from Given Imaging. �Micron looked at the market segments and opportunities and we had the tiger by the tail with this one,� said Paul Gallagher, director of market development for Micron. �The simplicity of architecture that Given had developed and the simplicity of the usage models for the doctors, which translated also in significantly reduced price points for the insurance company made it a winner all around.�


text:
Drug addiction among adolescents
Drug addiction among adolescents
Author: C. AMARAL DIAS, F. FOUTO PÓLVORA
Pages: 81 to 86
Creation Date: 1983/01/01
Drug addiction among adolescentsC. AMARAL DIAS
Professor, University of Coimbra, and Director, Centre for the Study of Drug Addiction Prophylaxis Research, Coimbra, Portugal F. FOUTO PÓLVORA Psychiatrist and Director-General, Planing and Co-ordinating Cabinet for Drug Control, Lisbon, Portugal
Of the 5,419 drug abusers who came to the attention of three regional centres in Portugal during the period 1978 to 1981, the great majority were young people. Of these, 65 per cent were in the 15 - 21 age group or younger ; 57 per cent were male and 43 per cent were female. Among 4,338 drug abusers classified by the type of drug used, cannabis was most frequently abused (33 per cent), followed by opiates (24 per cent), barbiturate type (l 3 per cent), amphetamine type (l l per cent), hallucinogens (7 per cent), alcohol (5 per cent), cocaine (4 per cent) and others (3 per cent). Depression and narcissistic regression were often observed among young addicts, particularly those abusing opiates. Emphasis is placed on primary prevention and in this regard particular importance is attached to the strengthening of the identity of young drug abusers.
In Portugal, drug-abuse prevention and treatment programmes have from the outset been based on an approach in which the emphasis has been on psychosocial behaviour and development.
Drug addiction did not begin to cause serious concern to the Government, the public and the social welfare system until a wave of addiction occurred among young people in 1975 and I 976. The phenomenon did not differ greatly from what was happening in other countries culturally close to Portugal.
Mental-health workers in Portugal first studied drug addiction from the point of view of understanding the development of the adolescent, from its individual and interpersonal aspects to systemic and social relations.
The Government set up three regional centres for drug prophylaxis research at Lisbon, Oporto and Coimbra. These centres have adopted a strategy of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention, based on the view that drug addiction is part of the wider problems of youth today. This basic philosophy, governing therapeutic and preventive work, has been accepted by the staff of the three regional centres which are doing significant work in the field of drug abuse reduction.
After some years of activity, Portugal is now convinced that the principles it took as the basis at the beginning were right. Furthermore, it is in a position to argue in favour of a theoretical model that is in line with clinical practice.
The approach to the problem
The starting point for investigation was a study of drug addiction in the light of depression [ [1]] . In 1977, experience was based mainly on the results of psychotherapy, and knowledge of pathology in relation to drug addiction was virtually non-existent. Portuguese adolescents were not heavily addicted and their addiction was inseparably linked with the crisis of adolescence. Drug-abuse problems and the problems of the crisis of growing up were therefore associated in their evolution.
Data from the regional centres of Oporto, Coimbra and Lisbon 1978 - 1981
During the period 1978 to 1981 , some 5,419 persons came to the attention of the three centres. Figure I shows that a great majority of them were young people : 8 per cent younger than 15 years, 57 per cent in the 15 - 21 age group and 35 per cent were older than 21 years of age.
Figure II shows that of the persons abusing illicit drugs 57 per cent were men and 43 per cent were women.
Of 4,338 drug abusers who could be classified according to type of drug used cannabis was in first place (33 per cent), followed by opiates (24 per cent), barbiturate type (l 3 per cent), amphetamine type (ll per cent), hallucinogens (7 per cent), alcohol (5 per cent), cocaine (4 per cent) and others (3 per cent) (see figure III).
In the study, emphasis was placed on the family and significant persons in the addict's surroundings. Some 85 per cent of contacts with persons abusing drugs were in the family.
The psychopathology of drug addiction
The image presented by drug addicts, particularly those who take opiates, suggests a narcissistic relationship. On this point the authors agree with other writers [2, 3].
Figure I
Breakdown of 5,419 known drug abusers, by age, 1978-1981
Figure II
Distribution of 5,419 known male and female drug abusers
Figure III
Types of drugs used by 4,338 drug abusers, 1978-1980
This image implies narcissistic hallucinations and attitudes bordering on autism and, at the same time, a marked sociopathic deviation in the way of life of the addict. Furthermore, this manifest pathology conceals a latent pathology in most, if not in all, cases. Narcotic drugs interfere with the acquisition of a stable personality structure, resulting in relational chaos.
In considering the general characteristics of the drug addicts studied, it was easy to understand the difficulty or even the impossibility for drug addicts of doing the necessary work for acquiring identity. It was found that identity is acquired through the synthesis of childhood identifications which crystallize when adolescents, individually or in a group, accept the roles which society offers to them and those they hope to acquire. Consequently, the acquisition of identity is an inherent trait of juvenile psychology, to which the whole pathology of socialization must necessarily be linked.
Because of the many difficulties confronting young people in structuring their family milieu and because their identities are still in flux, the problem of drug addiction is essentially one of negative identity, in so far as this concept sums up the impossibility of accepting the depression that appears normally during the period of adolescence.
Thus drug addiction acts as a real trap. By delaying in extremis the end of normal adolescent depression, drug addiction avoids the acquisition of a coherent personality structure through the struggle against such depression.
Adolescent problems always vacillate between the two points : depression following childhood mourning and the narcissistic regression which accompanies it. Here drug addiction has a double effect : on the one hand, it creates a barrier at the internal level to the development from narcissistic regression to the objective relationship, if one considers the pleasure it gives and the way in which it proceeds, while, on the other hand, at the external level, because of the distinctive behaviour it entails, it will be a factor inhibiting the social relationships necessary for new social tasks.
The work of the regional centres
Basically, the three regional centres are homes that, despite their emphasis on the psycho-therapeutic relationship, do not discourage intervention by the family and other meaningful persons surrounding drug addicts.
At this level, work concentrates on the strengthening of identities that were already disordered, as studies on the families of drug addicts have shown, and also on the construction of an identity of the ego, which is always lacking in such young people [ [4]] , [ [5]] , [ [6]] . For this reason, intervention by non- medical specialists, particularly psychologists and social workers, is important.
Two of the clinics for young drug addicts in Portugal, in Coimbra and Lisbon, have been set up in accordance with the so-called therapeutic community model. The primary prevention that is emphasized has a meaning within the structuring and maturational strengthening of identifications operating at the social level. The primary prevention programme for schools, as developed at the national level, has taken as its basic idea the fact that the target of programmes to prevent drug addiction in the young must be the adults. In the end it is adults who provide possible identification models, and the programme thus exemplifies essential thinking at present on juvenile drug addicts. In this respect, an adolescent is an individual searching for an identity, and adults provide a possibility for multiple identifications.
C. A. Dias, "Toxicomania e depressao : um modelo de compreensao nas vertentes individual e social", Análise psicológica , No. 2, 1978.002
J. F. Masterson, "Psychiatric significance of adolescent turmoil", American Journal of Psychiatry , vol. 124, 1968, pp. 1549 - 1554.03
E. J. Khantzian, "The ego, the self and opiate addiction : theoretical and treatment considerations", International Review of Psychoanalysis , vol. 5, 1978, pp. 189 - 199.004
C. A. Dias, j. Rodrigues and A. M. Ribeiro, "Arco-Iris ,Therapeutic Community of the Coimbra Centre for the Study of Drug Addiction Prophylaxis", Information Letter , October-December 1981, pp.25-27.005
K. J. Deissler, W. Feller and M. Rirsen, "Identitatskrise und jugendliche Drogensucht", Therapeutische Umschau und medizinische Bibliographie , vol.34,No. 10 (1977), pp.694-700.006
J. C. Cordeiro, "L'Adolescent et sa famille", Toulouse, Privat, 1975.


text:
Conference on Entrepreneurship and Human
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Proceedings of the First Conference on Entrepreneurship and Human Rights, [CD-ROM], Vinod, H. D. (editor), IEEP, Economics Department,
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text:
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LiberKey is a complete application platform that allows you to quickly launch and manage your applications. Install an application from LiberKey catalog is done with 2 clicks but you can easily add any other application.
Publisher: Captel SARL
Tags: Application Launcher, Application Manager,
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A former director of Tyco International Ltd. is expected to plead guilty to one felony count associated with his receipt of a $20 million payment from the company, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Frank E. Walsh Jr., who resigned from Tyco's board early this year, is expected to return the $20 million and pay a fine as part of a simultaneous settlement deal with Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, this person said.
The arrangement is expected to be unveiled at a press conference in New York this morning by Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau.
Mr. Walsh resigned after being confronted by fellow directors at a board meeting, after the directors discovered Mr. Walsh had been paid $20 million by Tyco, supposedly for his role in helping broker the company's $9.5 billion acquisition of CIT Group (CIT, news). Mr. Walsh received $10 million of the payment, while another $10 million went to a charitable fund of which he was a trustee.
Tyco sued Mr. Walsh in June to recover the money, claiming that he breached his fiduciary duties to the company by accepting the payment, which wasn't authorized by the board. Mr. Walsh has defended the payment as proper, saying it reflected his contribution to the CIT deal.
Mr. Walsh also has said the payment was approved by then-Chief Executive L. Dennis Kozlowski, who has since been indicted on charges of looting Tyco. Mr. Kozlowski has pleaded not guilty.
Mr. Morgenthau's office has been investigating the Walsh payment for at least several months. Mr. Walsh would be the fourth ex-Tyco official to be indicted, including former Chief Financial Officer Mark Swartz and former general counsel Mark Belnick.


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NEW YORK (AP) As the innings went by Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, there was a sense of urgency for the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets.
"You can't lose that kind of game," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "You use all your roster, you have to win the game. You're out there that long, you don't want to waste it."
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel felt the same way.
"We had the game won a couple of times but it got away from us," he said.
Carlos Beltran settled this battle of attrition by leading off the 16th inning with his 12th home run, ending a 5-hour, 22-minute marathon that was the longest game in the major leagues this season. There were 521 pitches and Beltran hit the last one into the New York bullpen.
BOX SCORE: Mets 9, Phillies 8 (16 innings)
The Mets used 21 players and the Phillies 18. The only position player who didn't get into the game was Philadelphia reserve outfielder Chris Coste.
Ryan Madson (4-3) worked seven scoreless innings in relief, uncharted territory for him, before Beltran's homer ended it and gave him the loss.
"I never thought I would (go that long)," said Madson, who threw 105 pitches. "I felt better later. I felt comfortable. I had no idea how many pitches I threw."
Madson said he was prepared to go as long as necessary. Only closer Tom Gordon and Real Cormier were left in the Phillies bullpen and Cormier had received an injection in his shoulder and was unavailable.
"I knew I was it," Madson said.
Beltran caught up with a high fastball to end it.
"As soon as I hit it, I knew it was gone," he said. "It was a fastball up and in and I was able to hit it good."
Darren Oliver (2-0) worked four shutout innings to earn the victory that stretched the Mets' lead in the NL East over the Phillies to four games.
Jose Reyes capped a furious New York comeback with a two-out, two-run homer in the eighth, tying the score at 8-8. The rally started when Endy Chavez beat out an infield hit and scored on a pinch double by Chris Woodward. Reyes, who had been 0-for-4, followed with his fourth homer of the season.
"I don't know how I got that one," he said, after golfing the ball over the wall, one of four homers hit by the Mets.
Home runs by David Wright and Cliff Floyd erased an early 2-0 deficit for the Mets. But David Bell drove in five runs with a three-run homer and a double to put Philadelphia ahead.
Rookie Shane Victorino's RBI single to right broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth and then Bell, who had just 13 RBI before Tuesday night and had flied out to end a bases loaded threat in the third, followed with his fourth homer of the season for a 6-2 lead.
In the bottom of the inning, Chavez singled and pinch-hitter Jose Valentin walked. After two outs, Beltran's infield single scored Chavez, who had stolen third.
An inning later, consecutive doubles by Floyd and Kaz Matsui made it 6-4. Then Julio Franco, appearing in his 2,400th major league game, delivered a pinch double against reliever Aaron Fultz, scoring Matsui.
In the seventh, Mets reliever Aaron Heilman walked Ryan Howard and Victorino, and Bell followed with a two-run double to left center. But the Mets came back again in the eighth on hits by Chavez and Woodward before Reyes' home run tied the score at 8.
Notes: Mets RF Xavier Nady was a late scratch from the lineup because of lower back stiffness. ... Wright's second-inning homer was the first run the Mets scored for Steve Trachsel in three starts. ... Floyd's homer was his second in the last three games. ... It was the longest Mets game since 1995. ... Rob Bell of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays was the last pitcher to have a seven-inning relief stint, getting the win with seven shutout innings against Arizona on June 19, 2004.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Washington (CNSNews.com) – President Barack Obama says America does not need a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, and he once again blamed much of the fiscal problem on Bush-era tax cuts.
"We don't need a constitutional amendment to do our jobs," Obama told reporters at his Friday news conference. "The Constitution already tells us to do our jobs -- and to make sure that the government is living within its means and making responsible choices."
The House will consider a balanced budget amendment next week. It is an idea supported by both conservatives (including Sen. Jim DeMint of S.C.) and liberal Republicans (including Sen Olympia Snowe of Maine). In fact, every Republican in the U.S. Senate now supports a balanced budget amendment as a way of offseting a $2 trillion increase in the debt ceiling.
The public overwhelmingly supports a balanced budget amendment by 72 percent, while just 20 percent oppose it, according to a Fox News poll.
To legally borrow more money, Congress and the president must authorize an increase in the debt ceiling. The national debt is $14.4 trillion. Under the constitutional amendment, a deficit would have to be erased by spending cuts.
"We don't need a balanced budget amendment," Obama said on Friday. "We simply need to make these tough choices and be willing to take on our bases. And everybody knows it. I mean, we could have a discussion right here about what the numbers look like, and we know what's necessary." Obama and his fellow Democrats insist that a tax hike on the wealthy is necessary.
A reporter at the news conference pointed out that Vice President Joe Biden voted for a balanced budget amendment when he was in the Senate in 1997.
House Speaker John Boehner on Thursday cited comments earlier this year from House Minority White Steny Hoyer, who said, "I happen to be for a balanced budget amendment." Boehner, in the same news released, also quoted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) as saying, "I believe we should have a constitutional amendment to balance the budget."
Obama blamed the policies former President George W. Bush for the nation's current fiscal problems – touting his own $787-billion stimulus package at the same time. He asserted that the United States will not find itself in the same position as Greece and other countries that have reached the financial brink.
"Contrary to what some folks say, we're not Greece, we're not Portugal," Obama said. "It turns out that our problem is we cut taxes without paying for them over the last decade; we ended up instituting new programs like a prescription drug program for seniors that was not paid for; we fought two wars, we didn't pay for them; we had a bad recession that required a Recovery Act and stimulus spending and helping states -- and all that accumulated and there's interest on top of that."


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Dr. Roy Montgomery leaves the P.E.I. Supreme Court building in Charlottetown Monday after overseeing a coroner's inquest into the death of Sherry Jean Ball in 2013.
©THE GUARDIAN/Ryan Ross
A coroner's inquest into the death of a woman at the Hillsborough Hospital has finished with the jury making five recommendations for changes at the facility.
They include adopting a report from forensic psychiatrist Dr. Risk Kronfli, which itself included 10 recommendations.
RELATED: Coroner's inquest underway
Sherry Jean Ball was a patient at the Hillsborough Hospital when she hanged herself in a bathroom on Dec. 1, 2013.
Ball had a schizoaffective disorder, which can involve symptoms of psychotic episodes that include delusions, hallucinations and extreme withdrawal.
The inquest was called to determine the facts of Ball's death, and after almost two days of testimony the jury spent several hours on Tuesday reviewing the evidence before making recommendations.
Among Kronfli's recommendations was a call to end psychiatric patient transfers on weekends unless it is to a higher level of care.
Ball was transferred from acute care at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to the Hillsborough Hospital for non-acute care.
Kronfli also recommended no transfers be made while a patient is actively ill or their medication hasn't been stabilized for two weeks.
The jury heard Ball's medication levels were not stable over that period of time before her death.
Some of the other recommendations from Kronfli's report and the jury dealt with how patient belongings are handled, changes to supervision and an update of the provincial drug formulary for injectable medications.
The inquest heard Ball was required to remain in hospital under an order from the Criminal Code Review Board after she assaulted someone.
Ball was also under public guardianship when she was first admitted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and then the Hillsborough Hospital in November 2013.
Between 2009 and 2013, Ball had 24 placements in community care facilities and hospitalizations.
During the inquest, the jury heard Ball would try a placement, be unsuccessful and then return to hospital.
The jury also heard testimony that Ball had made at least two prior suicide attempts.
At times, Ball wouldn't take her medications, and hospital staff had to crush them into food.
On Dec. 1, a resident care worker found Ball in a bathroom where she had hanged herself from a shower curtain using a cord from a radio.
Kronfli's recommendations included doing evaluations and removing anything that could be used as an anchor in patient rooms.
Since Ball's death, the showers in the Hillsborough Hospital no longer use rods and have curtains that attach to tracks with Velcro.
While she was at the Hillsborough Hospital, the level of observation for Ball changed several times, including moving her to a single room where she was checked on every 30 minutes.
Kronfli made recommendations about changes to observation levels, including that staff can't move patients to a lower level without a psychiatric evaluation first.
Coroner Dr. Roy Montgomery ordered a partial, temporary publication ban on the first day of the inquest, but he lifted it Tuesday with Ball's family's support.
Crown attorney Jeff MacDonald said the family was most concerned with seeing positive change come from the inquest.
All of the jury's recommendations will be forwarded to P.E.I.'s chief coroner.


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To: Mayor Allen Green
Vice Mayor Mary Martin
Councilman Dennis Kennedy
Councilman Robert Pohlmann
Councilman George Steindoerfer
From: Kenneth W. Parker, City Manager
Subject: Agenda Commentary for Regular City Council Meeting of
September 3, 2008
Date: August 25, 2008
The City Council Meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 3, not on our normal Tuesday City Council Meeting date. Be sure to mark this on your calendar.
There will be a shade meeting at 5:30 p.m. on September 3 since we did not complete our discussion on August 26. The purpose of the shade meeting is to discuss on going contract negotiations with Fire Commanders, Fire Lieutenants, Paramedics, Driver-Engineers, and Firefighters, PEA, and Police Lieutenants.
Item 1 - Pledge of Allegiance
Item 2 - Silent Invocation
Item 3 - Roll Call
Item 4 - Discussion of Proposed Millage Rate FY08/09
This is the first public hearing. On August 26, the City Council instructed the staff to reduce the operating budget and to reduce the millage rate to 4.60 mills. This will be accomplished by:
1. Savings achieved through renewals in insurance.
2. Reduction in the assumption for fuel cost (I will be recommending to the City Council that the City carry money forward to handle any spikes in energy cost above the anticipated level).
3. Funding a portion of the Rose Bay Project from dollars remaining in the Drainage Bond issue.
I am concerned about the uncertainty of State revenues. The State revenues continue to under-perform and not meet the estimates. Should the City Council decide to reduce the millage and budget further, we will be prepared to calculate the millage rate and the budget reduction necessary to achieve the desired millage rate.
Item 5 - Resolution No. 08-40 - Adopting the Tentative Millage Rate for FY08/09
Any millage rate above 4.32744 will require a 4/5 vote of City Council. Margaret will be providing you with the sheet that leads you through the discussion of adopting the preliminary millage rate. The City Council can still reduce the budget further at the second public hearing that will be conducted on September 17.
Item 6 - Resolution No. 08-41 - Adopting the Tentative Operating Budget for FY08/09
The attached Resolution approves the budget. Based upon your instructions last Tuesday, the budget has been adjusted according.
Item 7 - Resolution No. 08-42 - Adopting the Tentative Capital Budget for FY08/09
The City Council is approving the implementation of the first year of the City's CIP.
C. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION (Non-Agenda – 15 Minutes)
Attached are the minutes of the following meetings:
Staff recommends approval of the minutes.
Item 9 - Update on Construction Projects
Attached is the report from Quentin L. Hampton Associates. If you have questions, please contact Mark Hampton or me.
Item 10 - Update on Recreational Facilities
Attached is the update from Parks and Recreation. If you have questions, please contact either Susan Lovallo or me.
Item 11 - Road Construction Report
Attached is the Road Construction Report. If you have questions, please contact either Warren Pike or me.
Item 12 - Bid Award – Construction Services Contract for Garnsey Water Treatment Plant Softener and Filter Structure Enclosure
FAC 62-555.320(12b) regarding disinfection requirements for open air water treatment plant process tanks became effective January 1, 2008. Facilities have been given a grace period of approximately two years to become fully compliant with this unfunded mandate.
Three firms submitted bids on August 12, 2008, and the apparent low bidder was Centstate Contractors Incorporated at a cost of $1,393,000.00. Subsequent evaluation of the bids conducted by the City's Engineering Consultant, Quentin L. Hampton, found Centstate's bid prices to be fair and consistent within current industry standards. In addition, references for previous projects were contacted to confirm the ability of both the contractor and their subcontractors to perform the specified work. As such, City staff has found Centstate to be the most responsive, responsible, low bidder.
Funding for this project is available from the account entitled WWP003 Water Plant Improvements. Therefore, we are requesting that Council award a contract to Centstate Contractors in the amount of $1,393,000.00.
Staff recommends that Council approve award of a contract to the firm of Centstate Contractors, Incorporated for Bid B08-16 Garnsey Water Treatment Plant Softener & Filter Structure Enclosure, in an amount of $1,393,000.00, and authorize the Mayor and City Manager to execute the associated contract documents.
Item 13 - Approve Purchase of Furnishing for Fire Stations 72 and 75
Fire & Rescue needs to purchase furnishings for the two new Fire Stations that are being built as part of the Public Safety Bond. This price includes all furniture for the living, office, lobby, and sleeping quarters.
Staff recommends that Council approve the purchase of furnishing for Fire Stations 72 and 75 under State Contract from PRIDE of Florida for a total cost of $64,258.53.
City Manager's Comments: The City Council allocated these dollars from the previous year's budget. These dollars have been appropriated each year since the City Council decided to construct the Fire Station. The owner-provided items have a life expectancy of less than the bond issue term; therefore, it has been the City's practice not to acquire those items from the bond issue proceeds.
The furnishings are being acquired under a State contract with PRIDE. PRIDE is part of the State Prison System. They provide excellent service as well as an excellent product.
Item 14 - Approval of SHIP Grant down payment assistance for Kimberly E. Will
The State Housing Initiatives Partnership program is a grant that is funded by the State in an effort to assist low and moderate-income individuals with housing needs.
Kimberly Will has been approved for assistance through the City's contractor Mid-Florida Housing Partnership. In addition to approval, Kimberly has attended classes on credit counseling and home ownership, as well as met all State regulations for assistance.
All contracts and closing statements will be subject to approval by the City of Port Orange Legal Department prior to award of assistance and property closing.
Staff recommends that Council authorize loan up to $60,000 and acceptance of second mortgage and promissory note for the purchase of real property.
Item 15 - Resolution No. 08-43 - Authorizing Issuance of Stormwater Refunding Revenue Bonds Not to Exceed $4,700,000
The attached resolution authorizes the refunding of 1998 Stormwater Bonds, ultimately reducing our debt service cost because of the change in interest cost. Please see the attached Resolution for specific details. Staff recommends approval.
Item 16 - Loan Commitment for Stormwater Utility Refunding
Bids were solicited for the refunding of the stormwater utility loan. Five bids were received, with the most favorable one being from Hancock Bank payable over ten (10) years, at a rate of 3.69% with no prepayment penalty. Hancock has a Bond Counsel fee of $1,000. In addition and included in this analysis, the City's Bond Counsel and Financial Advisory fees have been estimated at $50,000. Total debt service savings on this refunding can either be taken upfront with an initial savings of $184,000 or a level debt savings of about $24,000 per year over the ten years. Toby Wagner, the City's Financial Advisor, has reviewed the proposals; and he, along with staff, recommend that Council approve this loan to Hancock for their proposal as submitted.
Staff recommends that City Council approve the Loan Commitment for Stormwater Utility Refunding to Hancock Bank for their proposal as submitted with terms, including interest at 3.69%, semi-annual payments on 10/1 and 4/1, maturing in ten years.
City Manager's Comments: I am recommending that we take as much of the debt service savings in the initial year. This is not a lot of savings; however, the bond issue is very small, too. Our estimate on the cost of issuance is on the high side as well. The amount that we actually save may be more in the initial year than we are projecting based on the actual cost of issuance.
Item 17 - Concurrency and Fair Share Agreement for Ravenwood Veterinary Clinic
proposed Fair-Share Agreement has been prepared in conjunction with the
expansion plans for the Ravenwood Veterinary Clinic,
located on the west side of Clyde Morris Boulevard, south of Woodlake Drive. A
new 4,682 square foot clinic building will replace the current clinic building.
The traffic impact analysis (TIA),
completed this year by Ghyabi & Associates,
anticipates impacts to the
The site plan has been reviewed by staff and found to be in compliance with the City's development requirements. A Development Order will be issued upon City Council approval of the Fair-Share agreement and receipt of the fair-share mitigation payment.
Staff recommends that Council approve the Concurrency and Fair-Share Agreement for the Ravenwood Veterinary Clinic Site Plan.
Item 18 - Comments/Concerns from Council Members
At this time, Council Members may discuss various matters of concern.