A formal support to business and architectural design for service-oriented systems

Architectural Design Rewriting (ADR) is an approach for the design of software architectures developed within Sensoria by reconciling graph transformation and process calculi techniques. The key feature that makes ADR a suitable and expressive framework is the algebraic handling of structured graphs, which improves the support for specification, analysis and verification of service-oriented architectures and applications. We show how ADR is used as a formal ground for high-level modelling languages and approaches developed within Sensoria

Surveillance technologies as instruments of discipline in the elite sports coaching context: a cautionary post-structural commentary

The use of surveillance technologies as tools to encourage performance enhancement has become an accepted component of elite coaching. Those from the communities of sports physiology, psychology and biomechanics who promote the application of surveillance technologies have reported multiple benefits for the athlete. Conversely, several socio-cultural studies have suggested that surveillance technologies can lead to an oppressive mechanism of control over the athlete, significantly altering the role and responsibilities of the contemporary coach. In this critical commentary we use a post-structural position and adopt Foucault’s disciplinary analysis to contribute to the ongoing debate surrounding the use of surveillance technology in sport. Specifically, we achieve this by labelling surveillance technologies in sport as what Foucault (1977) might call, instruments of discipline, and by explaining the impact they have upon the working coach and the skilled athlete. We present some suggestions surrounding how to most appropriately utilise surveillance technologies in a sports coaching context and conclude by warning against a binary consideration of the use of technology as either good or bad

Popular music, psychogeography, place identity and tourism: The case of Sheffield

Tourism and cultural agencies in some English provincial cities are promoting their popular music ‘heritage’ and, in some cases, contemporary musicians through the packaging of trails, sites, ‘iconic’ venues and festivals. This article focuses on Sheffield, a ‘post-industrial’ northern English city which is drawing on its associations with musicians past and present in seeking to attract tourists. This article is based on interviews with, among others, recording artists, promoters, producers and venue managers, along with reflective observational and documentary data. Theoretical remarks are made on the representations of popular musicians through cultural tourism strategies, programmes and products and also on the ways in which musicians convey a ‘psychogeographical’ sense of place in the ‘soundscape’ of the city

Description of a new actinosporean type from South African freshwater

The 1st report on actinospores described these organisms as parasites related to myxosporeans. For a long time this group of parasites was believed to represent an independent taxonomic entity. Research on actinosporeans became more intensive after it was shown that they corresponded to the intraoligochaete developmental stages of fish-parasitic myxosporeans. The relevant research includes earlier surveys, as well as studies of actinospore infection of oligochaetes in natural waters and fish farms in connection with the life cycle of myxosporeans. Relatively little data areavailable on myxosporean infections of African freshwater fishes and only a single paper appeared in Africa on their actinosporean alternative stages infecting oligochaetes. In September 2003, actinospore infection of oligochaetes collected from the mud of 2 freshwater biotopes in South Africa was studied. Using the ‘cell-well plate method’, a new aurantiactinomyxon type was found in 1.1 % of the examined Branchiura sowerbyi oligochaete specimens from Rietvlei River northwards to Johannesburg, Gauteng. In 1.5 % of Branchiura sowerbyi collected in a pond (Padda Dam), near the Rand Afrikaans University, Johannesburg, the same aurantiactinomyxon type was found. Infected oligochaetes were found only after collection, no actinosporean release was recorded in Branchiura specimens kept alive for several weeks. Actinospore infection showed high intensity in oligochaetes in both positive cases. Until now, no actinosporean stages of myxosporeans have been described from South Africa. The aurantiactinospore type presented in this paper differs from the already known types described in the special literature

A Logical Verification Methodology for Service-Oriented Computing

We introduce a logical verification methodology for checking behavioural properties of service-oriented computing systems. Service properties are described by means of SocL, a branching-time temporal logic that we have specifically designed to express in an effective way distinctive aspects of services, such as, e.g., acceptance of a request, provision of a response, and correlation among service requests and responses. Our approach allows service properties to be expressed in such a way that they can be independent of service domains and specifications. We show an instantiation of our general methodology that uses the formal language COWS to conveniently specify services and the expressly developed software tool CMC to assist the user in the task of verifying SocL formulae over service specifications. We demonstrate feasibility and effectiveness of our methodology by means of the specification and the analysis of a case study in the automotive domain

CaSPiS: A Calculus of Sessions, Pipelines and Services

Service-oriented computing is calling for novel computational models and languages with well disciplined primitives for client-server interaction, structured orchestration and unexpected events handling. We present CaSPiS, a process calculus where the conceptual abstractions of sessioning and pipelining play a central role for modelling service-oriented systems. CaSPiS sessions are two-sided, uniquely named and can be nested. CaSPiS pipelines permit orchestrating the flow of data produced by different sessions. The calculus is also equipped with operators for handling (unexpected) termination of the partner’s side of a session. Several examples are presented to provide evidence of the flexibility of the chosen set of primitives. One key contribution is a fully abstract encoding of Misra et al.’s orchestration language Orc. Another main result shows that in CaSPiS it is possible to program a “graceful termination” of nested sessions, which guarantees that no session is forced to hang forever after the loss of its partner

A survey of coccidian infection (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidaea) of freshwater fish in South Africa

Fish coccidia, especially Goussia and Eimeria spp., are common and frequent parasites of fish. The majority of the known species has been described from the Eurasian continent. Little is known, however, of the coccidian infections of South African freshwater fish. In September 2003, 77 specimens from 7 freshwater fish species were harvested at 4 sites from rivers and ponds in the Gauteng, North West and Limpopo provinces in South Africa. The fish were surveyed for coccidian infections. Two fish species were infected with apicomplexans belonging to Goussia. In banded tilapia (Tilapia sparrmanii Smith) unsporulated oocysts of Goussia vanasi Landsberg and Paperna, 1987 were found. These sporulated in tap water within 24 hours. Another species in the gut of the chubbyhead barb (Barbus anoplusWeber) harboured sporulated oocysts in the faeces and in the intestinal epithelium. The latter species has been described as Goussia anopli. This short survey suggests that more thorough studies might reveal the occurrence of further coccidian species in South African fishes

Zagubione sensoria: antropologiczne badania nad doświadczeniem sensualnym w kontekście wielokulturowości

Sensory experiences have generated a diverse sociological, anthropological and psychological literature. This paper illustrates an approach to the idea of lost sensoria and their social and cultural manifestations. Images of sensory expe­rience, postulated synchronicity of sensory processes and the concept of ethno­poetics constitute a theoretical basis for the concept of lost sensory experience.Tematem niniejszego studium jest doświadczenie sensoryczne oraz jego spo­łeczne manifestacje. Wychodząc od klasycznego porządku pięciu zmysłów, przedstawione zostaną alternatywne porządki sensoryczne oraz ich spo­łeczne i kulturowe umocowanie. Językowe obrazy doświadczenia zmysło­wego, postulowana synchroniczność procesów sensorycznych oraz koncep­cja etnopoetyki stanowią podstawę prezentowanej koncepcji zagubionych sensoriów

WLAN Hot Spot services for the automotive and oil industries :a business analysis Or : "Refuel the car with petrol and information, both ways at the gas station"

While you refuel for gas ,why not refuel for information or download vehicle data ? This paper analyzes in extensive detail the user segmentation by vehicle usage , service offering , and full business models from WLAN hot spot services delivered to vehicles (private, professional , public) around gas stations . Are also analyzed the parties which play a role in such service authorization, provisioning and delivery , with all the dependencies modelled by attributed digraphs . Sevice planning is included as to WLAN base station capabilities . Five year financial models (CAPEX,OPEX) , and data pertain to two possible service suppliers : multi-service oil companies, and mobile service operators (or MVNO) . Model optimization on the return-on-investment (ROI) is carried out for different deployment scenarios ,geographical coverage assumptions, as well as tariff structures . Comparison is also being made with public GPRS data services ,as precursors for 3G services,and the effect of WLAN roaming is analyzed .Analysis shows that due to manpower costs and marketing costs , suitable ROI will not be achieved unless externalities are accounted for and innovative tariff structures are introduced . Open issues and further research are outlined . Further work is carried out,also with automotive electronics sector , wireless systems providers , wireless terminals platform suppliers , and vehicle manufacturers .WLAN services;WLAN;business models;fuel stations;mobile operator;oil company;professional vehicles

Sensoria: An exploratory interdisciplinary framework for researching multimodal & sensory experiences

This paper describes the development and salience of an original and innovative interdisciplinary approach, Sensoria, that combines methods and techniques from social science and performance to address the methodological challenges of researching sensory/multimodal experiences. It sets out the core components and methodological principles that underpin the approach and uses an illustrative example to show how it can facilitate research on hard to access sensorial experiences, to access, understand and analyse people’s experiences and perspectives of touch, a highly tacit sensory mode. The paper discusses the methodological contribution and challenges of this approach to sensory research for social science and artistic practice and ‘more-than-representational’ research more generally. It concludes by making a case for more critical research spaces at the intersection of these disciplines to foster multi-dimensional research dialogues and to advance the exploration and understanding of the relationship between the sensory, social and the digital