A study on the viability of formalizing use cases

Use case scenarios are known as powerful means for requirements specification. On the one hand, they join in the same modelling space the expectations of the stakeholders and the needs of the developers involved in the process. On the other hand, they describe the desired high level functionalities. By formalizing these descriptions we are able to extract relevant information's from them. Specifically, we are interested in identifying requirements patterns (common requirements with typical implementation solutions) in support for a requirements based software development approach. This paper addresses the transformation of use case descriptions expressed in a Controller Natural Language into an ontology expressed in the Web Ontology Language (OWL), as well as the query process for such information. It reports on a study aimed at validating our approach and our tool with real users. A preliminary set of results is discussed.NORTE-07-0124- FEDER-00006

Norm-Establishing and Norm-Following in Autonomous Agency

Living agency is subject to a normative dimension (good-bad, adaptive-maladaptive) that is absent from other types of interaction. We review current and historical attempts to naturalize normativity from an organism-centered perspective, identifying two central problems and their solution: (1) How to define the topology of the viability space so as to include a sense of gradation that permits reversible failure, and (2) how to relate both the processes that establish norms and those that result in norm-following behavior. We present a minimal metabolic system that is coupled to a gradient-climbing chemotactic mechanism. Studying the relationship between metabolic dynamics and environmental resource conditions, we identify an emergent viable region and a precarious region where the system tends to die unless environmental conditions change. We introduce the concept of normative field as the change of environmental conditions required to bring the system back to its viable region. Norm-following, or normative action, is defined as the course of behavior whose effect is positively correlated with the normative field. We close with a discussion of the limitations and extensions of our model and some final reflections on the nature of norms and teleology in agency

Redefining Roles, Responsibilities, and Authority of School Leaders

Addresses the core challenges faced by principals and other school leaders faced with high expectations and accountability and inconsistent or limited support, based on current research literature in the field

Savings for Unemployment in Good or Bad Times: Options for Developing Countries

The paper describes and evaluates unemployment insurance savings accounts (UISAs) – a relatively new and not well-known way of providing unemployment benefits. The UISAs reduce work disincentives by allowing recipients to keep their own unused unemployment contributions, and offer the possibility to extend coverage to informal sector workers. In addition, if integrated with mandatory pension systems (and even social pensions), UISAs can be rapidly deployed and at a low cost, thus becoming a realistic tool to protect workers from the effects of the financial crisis. Even during normal times, the integration with the pension system – and social security in general – would give more flexibility to individuals in the management of short and long term savings (i.e., pension wealth) while avoiding unnecessary administrative costs. The paper discusses issues related to incentives, redistribution, and viability, and outlines a policy framework for design and implementation. It argues that the UISAs system is especially attractive for developing countries, where the "self-policing" nature of the system is particularly important given a much larger informal sector and weaker administrative capacity in comparison to developed countries.unemployment insurance, unemployment insurance savings accounts, unemployment

Analiza diagnostic a subsitemelor sistemului de management Diagnosis Analysis of the Sub-Sistems of Management System

The management system represents all the elements having an organizational, decisional, informational, and methodological character through the agency of whom the process of management is achieved with a view of attaining a maximum level of performance. The managerial machinery of a modern company has a systemic structure within which the interdependencies among the component elements determine the functioning mechanism of the management at all levels. Irrespective of company’s characteristics (profile, size, market position, etc.) the following components of the management system should be noticed: the decisional sub-system, the organizational sub-system, the methodological and managerial sub-system, and the informational sub-system. The paper deals with a profound diagnosis analysis of these sub-systems considering the case of a company which activates within the Romanian energetic industry. The decisional sub-system gathers all the decisions adopted and implemented within the company according to the established goals and to the managerial hierarchical configuration. Integrated within the methodology of managerial analysis of the company, the diagnosis analysis of the decisional sub-system has as a goal the knowledge of its components, namely of the decisions established by managers during a certain period, of the manner the authority within the company is structured, of the decisional tools employed as well as of the part played by the organisms of participative management. Organizational sub-system represents all organizational elements that provide the frame, the division, the combination, and the functionality of labor processes with a view of achieving envisaged goals. The data displayed by the organizational scheme, the organizational and functioning regulations, jobs responsibilities at the level of a machines building company have emphasized several aspects that represent the starting point of analyzing the two components of this management sub-system, namely formal organization and informal organization. Informational sub-system comprises a series of data, items of information, informational fluxes and circuits, procedures and means of approaching information meant to contribute to the settlement and achievement of the company’s goals. The analysis of the informational sub-system has in view the fact that its part is to provide the company’s inner needs of information and its quality depends on the level of development of the technologies of transmitting information. The methodological sub-system designates the group of systems (complex methods), methods, and techniques employed in conceiving and exerting managerial functions and relations within a company. The important mutations that take place within the internal and external environment of the companies determine the managerial team to employ systems, methods, and techniques characteristic to managerial activity that are continually up-dated.diagnosis analysis; management system; decisional sub-system, organizational sub-system; informational sub-system; methodological sub-system

Paraphysical Jurisprudent Massacre Mediation

It is possible and thereby feasible to develop and implement a pragmatic methodology for a preemptive evidentiary system of ‘Paraphysical Jurisprudence’ for mediating the occurrence of massacres. A required comprehensive completion and formalizing of the tools of epistemology (theory of knowledge) already exists and has been tested both ecumenically and scientifically. The evolution of epistemology has followed the historical progression from myth and superstition to logic and reason to empiricism and now finally to the utility of ‘transcendence’ as a tool in knowledge acquisition. An inspiring example from popular culture is illustrated in the 2002 Hollywood film noir “Minority Report” designed by its director to present a ‘plausible future world’ for the year 2054 wherein an elaborate ‘Precrime Unit’ is tested to prevent murder by utilizing a trio of ‘precogs’ bathed in a ‘photonic milk’ able to presciently predetermine impending occurrences of homicide for which the Precrime Police Unit then intervenes to prevent. Disdain for a putative so-called scientific metaphysics by natural philosophers is deeply rooted in modern pragmatic societies; perhaps rightly so as consistency, credibility and lack of a comprehensive theory has been heretofore emphatically lacking. In addition to the major problem of repeatability is the perceived distinction between domains of the physical and so-called ‘spiritual’ as mutually exclusive. In this work a strong case is made for the rigorous viability and near term putative implementation of a system of paraphysical jurisprudence drawing on the utility of a panoply of concepts. The remaining question is when does feasible become practical in the face of a steady increase in the heinous massacre of innocents

Semantics for incident identification and resolution reports

In order to achieve a safe and systematic treatment of security protocols, organizations release a number of technical briefings describing how to detect and manage security incidents. A critical issue is that this document set may suffer from semantic deficiencies, mainly due to ambiguity or different granularity levels of description and analysis. An approach to face this problem is the use of semantic methodologies in order to provide better Knowledge Externalization from incident protocols management. In this article, we propose a method based on semantic techniques for both, analyzing and specifying (meta)security requirements on protocols used for solving security incidents. This would allow specialist getting better documentation on their intangible knowledge about them.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TIN2013-41086-

Savings for unemployment in good or bad times : options for developing countries

The paper describes and evaluates unemployment insurance savings accounts (UISAs) a relatively new and not well-known way of providing unemployment benefits. The UISAs reduce work disincentives by allowing recipients to keep their own unused unemployment contributions, and offer the possibility to extend coverage to informal sector workers. In addition, if integrated with mandatory pension systems (and even social pensions), UISAs can be rapidly deployed and at a low cost, thus becoming a realistic tool to protect workers from the effects of the financial crisis. Even during normal times, the integration with the pension system and social security in general will give more flexibility to individuals in the management of short and long term savings (i.e., pension wealth) while avoiding unnecessary administrative costs. The paper discusses issues related to incentives, redistribution, and viability, and outlines a policy framework for design and implementation. It argues that the UISAs system is especially attractive for developing countries, where the'self-policing'nature of the system is particularly important given a much larger informal sector and weaker administrative capacity in comparison to developed countries.,Labor Markets,Labor Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Access to Finance