Dynamic Metasystems for Information Systems Development

Dynamics in the use of metasystems in the development of information systems is discussed. An axiomatic level of specification is used to allow dynamic specification of median level metasystems which are, in turn, used in information systems specification, analysis and design. Existing metasystems are reviewed and principles for metasystem evaluation are considered The implementation and use of dynamic metasystems in the Plexsys system is overviewed The Plexsys system implements generalized integrity analysis at all levels of logic and mechanisms to insure the mutual integrity of these levels over time

Educational use cases from a shared exploration of e-books and iPads

E-books and e-book readers are becoming increasingly widely available, particularly for the general reader, and there have been many studies on their adoption. However, less is known about their use for educational and academic purposes. We report here on work carried out on e-books and e-book applications using iPads by academic and teaching staff. After considering pedagogical issues and reporting survey results, we identify a spiral of six key use case areas for e-books. This spiral of use cases moves from basic e-book use, through situational reading, e-books and learning, using multiple learning resources, collaborative/group learning, to e-book production. We discuss each of these use case areas and provide guidelines that will be of interest to practitioners and researchers alike

Security for Grid Services

Grid computing is concerned with the sharing and coordinated use of diverse resources in distributed "virtual organizations." The dynamic and multi-institutional nature of these environments introduces challenging security issues that demand new technical approaches. In particular, one must deal with diverse local mechanisms, support dynamic creation of services, and enable dynamic creation of trust domains. We describe how these issues are addressed in two generations of the Globus Toolkit. First, we review the Globus Toolkit version 2 (GT2) approach; then, we describe new approaches developed to support the Globus Toolkit version 3 (GT3) implementation of the Open Grid Services Architecture, an initiative that is recasting Grid concepts within a service oriented framework based on Web services. GT3's security implementation uses Web services security mechanisms for credential exchange and other purposes, and introduces a tight least-privilege model that avoids the need for any privileged network service.Comment: 10 pages; 4 figure

A Risk- and Fuzzy Set-Based Methodology for Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration Military Utility Assessment Design

The U.S. Department of Defense Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) and derivative, rapid acquisition programs offer timely solutions to critical military needs by assessing the utility of technologies mature enough to be fielded without application of traditional, defense system development processes. Military utility assessments (MUA) are ACTDs\u27 most critical features, but the lack of a standard for identifying assessment criteria tailored to specific demonstrations risks poorly informed acquisition decisions and the military operations those decisions are intended to support. The purpose of this research was to develop and deploy a methodology for identifying measures of effectiveness integral to advanced concept technology demonstration military utility assessment design. Within a context determined by attributes of complex systems, the research observed twin premises that ACTD assessment designs should accommodate: all risks possible when incorporating demonstration prototypes within superior and complex, joint military operations metasystems; and the ambiguities and other of what have been termed “fuzzy” manifestations of the cognition and language with which end-user, military operators craft and express perspectives required to identify measures of effectiveness fundamental to MUA designs. The effort pursued three research questions: (1) How might joint military operations metasystem models guide the identification of ACTD measures of effectiveness? (2) How might be developed and employed joint military metasystem models with which can be identified ACTD measures of effectiveness? (3) How useful might ACTD managers and analysts find the MUA design methodology developed and deployed with this research? The deployed methodology stimulated answers to these research questions by uniquely combining tailored versions of established risk assessment methods with a fuzzy method for resolving small group preferences. The risk assessment methods honored one research premise while enabling the identification and employment of a joint military operations metasystem model suited to MUA design needs of a simulated ACTD. The fuzzy preference method honored the second research premise as it, too, promoted metasystem model employment. The complete methodology was shown to hold favor with a large segment of a community expert in managing and assessing the utility of ACTDs emphasizing critical, joint military service needs

Development of a System of Systems Engineering Method

Systems engineers have been facing challenges with the design and analysis of multiple complex systems. System of Systems Engineering has emerged to assist in this challenge with the systemic analysis, design, and transformation of complex metasystems. This paper outlines a proposed method to overcome these challenges, which is grounded in System of Systems Engineering principles and methodology. An overview of System of Systems Engineering will be provided for understanding of its significance and the attempt to complement Systems Engineering efforts in dealing with the aforementioned challenges. Finally, discussion on the proposed method, with respect to complex system analysis, is provided

A Governance Perspective for System-of-Systems

The operating landscape of 21st century systems is characteristically ambiguous, emergent, and uncertain. These characteristics affect the capacity and performance of engineered systems/enterprises. In response, there are increasing calls for multidisciplinary approaches capable of confronting increasingly ambiguous, emergent, and uncertain systems. System of Systems Engineering (SoSE) is an example of such an approach. A key aspect of SoSE is the coordination and the integration of systems to enable ‘system-of-systems’ capabilities greater than the sum of the capabilities of the constituent systems. However, there is a lack of qualitative studies exploring how coordination and integration are achieved. The objective of this research is to revisit SoSE utility as a potential multidisciplinary approach and to suggest ‘governance’ as the basis for enabling ‘system-of-systems’ coordination and integration. In this case, ‘governance’ is concerned with direction, oversight, and accountability of ‘system-of-systems.’ ‘Complex System Governance’ is a new and novel basis for improving ‘system-of-system’ performance through purposeful design, execution, and evolution of essential metasystem functions.

De novo 7p partial trisomy characterized by subtelomeric FISH and whole-genome array in a girl with mental retardation

Chromosome rearrangements involving telomeres have been established as one of the major causes of idiopathic mental retardation/developmental delay. This case of 7p partial trisomy syndrome in a 3-year-old female child presenting with developmental delay emphasizes the clinical relevance of cytogenetic diagnosis in the better management of genetic disorders. Application of subtelomeric FISH technique revealed the presence of interstitial telomeres and led to the ascertainment of partial trisomy for the distal 7p segment localized on the telomeric end of the short arm of chromosome 19. Whole-genome cytogenetic microarray-based analysis showed a mosaic 3.5 Mb gain at Xq21.1 besides the approximately 24.5 Mb gain corresponding to 7p15.3- > pter. The possible mechanisms of origin of the chromosomal rearrangement and the clinical relevance of trisomy for the genes lying in the critical regions are discussed

METAPLEX: AN INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENT FOR ORGANIZATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT

This paper presents an integrated environment, called MetaPlex; for organization and information systems development. The kernel of MetaPlex is a knowledge base management system which captures the semantic primitives of a domain at the meta level and uses these primitives to describe target systems. Three levels of abstraction are used in MetaPlex for representing knowledge: the axiomatic, median, and instance levels. The MetaPlex Language Definition System is used to name the object types in the domain of interest and to define the attributes, relations, and descriptions which can be used by these object types. The structural knowledge of the domain in general is thus captured at the median level. Knowledge of the domain captured at the median level is used by the MetaPlex Specification System to define a target system at the instance level. A rule-based inference engine is embedded in the MetaPlex environment as an intelligent assistant to help end users. The expertise of a designer can be codified into a rule set which can assist users in classifying an object, in decomposing a high level system component, or in clustering the detailed components at the lower level. Both topdown and bottom-up approaches for systems development are thus supported. A layered approach has been proposed to manage the dynamics of such a metasystem environment. An enterprise model has been developed to demonstrate the usage of MetaPlex and the integration of organization and information systems modeling. Directions for future research are also discussed