Reducing the Gap Between Business and Information Systems Through Complex Event Processing

According to the Object Management Group, a rule is a proposition that is a claim of obligation or of necessity. The concept of rule is usually employed in the context of business process to manage companies operations. While a workflow is an explicit specification of tasks' execution flow, business rules only impose restrictions on the tasks' execution. This provides a great deal of flexibility for the process execution, since the stakeholders are free to choose an execution flow which does not violate the rules. The execution of a task in a process can be seen as the occurrence of an event, which may enable/disable the execution of some other tasks in the process. Event-driven programming is a paradigm in which the program control-flow is determined by the occurrence of events. The capacity to handle processes that are unpredictably non-linear and dynamic makes the event-driven paradigm an effective solution for the implementation of business rules. However, the connection between the business rules and their implementation through event-driven programming has been made in an ad-hoc and unstructured manner. This paper proposes a methodology to tackle such a problem by systematically moving from business rules described in natural language toward a concrete implementation of a business process. We use complex event processing (CEP) to implement the process. CEP relies on the event driven paradigm for monitoring and processing events. The methodology allows for the active participation of business people at all stages of the refinement process. Throughout the paper, we show how our methodology was employed to implement the operations of the World Bank

The Eisenhower administration and U.S. foreign and economic policy towards Latin America from 1953 to 1961

The thesis aims to examine Eisenhower’s foreign policy towards Latin America from 1953 to 1961. In order to win the Cold War, the leading bureaucrats were split over different approaches needed to achieve policy objectives in Latin America within the hierarchically regularized machinery- but it was not necessarily welcomed by every Latin American nation. There were three problems with Eisenhower’s staff structuring arrangement towards Latin America: (a) politicization of U.S.-Latin American relations from 1953 to 1961 by senior U.S. bureaucrats with an anti-communism agenda for Latin American development; (b) neglect of Latin American requests for public funds before 1959; (c) bureaucratic conflicts over different methods to achieve foreign policy objectives, often resulting in tensions between policy and operations. The bureaucratic approach limited U.S. understanding of Latin America, meaning (a) the National Security Council (NSC) advisory system could not meet stated ideals; (b) the American approach had limited applicability to Latin American societies; (c) tensions existed between U.S. ideals and political, economic and social realities in Latin American countries. By examining the Foreign Relations of the United States volumes and Latin American literature, this thesis moves beyond the existing scholarship of U.S.-Latin American relations and provides a new appraisal of Eisenhower’s approach towards Latin America in the Cold War context

A Joint Foreign Currency Risk Management Approach for Sovereign Assets and Liabilities

An asset and liability management framework for managing risks arising from sovereign foreign exchange obligations requires a joint analysis of (i) the external financial liabilities resulting from a country’s sovereign debt and (ii) the foreign exchange assets of its central bank. Governments often issue sizable amounts of debt denominated in foreign currencies, subjecting their fiscal positions to foreign exchange volatilities. Prudent management of a sovereign’s foreign exchange position under an asset and liability management framework enables governments to mitigate risks at the lowest possible cost, hence increasing resilience to external shocks. Based on the challenges associated with the implementation of an asset and liability management framework, this study recommends a practical approach that includes analysis of the foreign exchange positions of central bank reserves and central government debt portfolios and optimization of the net position. The proposed model is tested, using the foreign exchange reserve and external debt data of seven countries (Albania, Ghana, FYR Macedonia, South Africa, the Republic of Korea, Tunisia, and Uruguay). The paper employs quantitative methods to explore the impact of an overarching asset and liability management strategy and integrated approach on the efficient management of foreign exchange risk. It provides policy recommendations on ways to minimize the risk of foreign exchange mismatches and increase the return on foreign exchange reserves

RESTful and SOAP Services Orchestration: Case Study, American Visa Assignment

Este artículo presenta el análisis de un caso de asignación de visas americanas mediante la extracción de información de diferentes entidades. Para este problema se utilizan las siguientes fuentes de datos: i) información personal del solicitante, ii) información de los bienes inmuebles de la persona, y iii) el historial crediticio proveniente de entidades bancarias. Para la extracción de la información se crearon interfaces que simularon el funcionamiento de dichas entidades, así como sus respectivas bases de datos y servicios web. Para el envío de datos, se implementó en la aplicación, el uso de una arquitectura orientada a servicios (SOA) mediante el desarrollo de un sistema de orquestación de servicios. En este contexto, se aplicaron conceptos del lenguaje BPEL, cuya finalidad es demostrar la importancia de una orquestación de servicios en empresas u organizaciones y la gran utilidad de disponer de servicios integrados. Los conceptos aplicados en el desarrollo del sistema final, corroboran su utilización, puesto que los módulos desarrollados, pueden integrarse a otros sin que exista la necesidad de volver a diseñarlos desde cero, lo que representa una ayuda sustancial en la búsqueda de soluciones óptimas para infraestructuras TI.This article presents the analysis of a case of U.S. visa assignment by extracting information from different entities. The following data sources are used for this issue: (i) personal information of the applicant, (ii) information on the person's real estate, and (iii) credit history from banks. For the extraction of the information, interfaces were created that simulated the operation of these entities and their respective databases and web services. For data submission, the use of a service-oriented architecture (SOA) by developing a service orchestration system was implemented in the application. In this context, BPEL language concepts were applied, which aim to demonstrate the importance of service orchestration across enterprises or organizations and the great utility of having integrated services. The concepts applied in the development of the final system corroborate its use, since the modules developed can be integrated with others without the need to redesign them from scratch, which is a substantial aid in the search for optimal solutions for IT infrastructures

A comparative study of the discourse of bank advertisements from Banco do Brasil in Brazil and Lloyds TSB in England

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão.Muitos estudos sobre textos tem sido feitos sob a perspectiva da Análise Crítica do Discurso. Concentrando-se em propagandas de um determinado tipo, esta pesquisa tem como foco um estudo comparativo de dois folhetos bancários, um do Banco do Brasil (no Brasil), e outro do Lloyds TSB (na Inglaterra). Com base nos conceitos de Fairclough, que considera o discurso como prática social, eu contrasto o tipo de relação que os participantes mostram no texto e as identidades representadas pelo discurso da instituição bancária. Também tento identificar a ideologia usada nestas propagandas e o seu grau de persuasão. Com fundamentação na gramática sistêmica funcional de Halliday, observo as estruturas lexicogramaticais das orações. Mais especificamente, através do sistema de transitividade, analiso os tipos de processos nos textos, o envolvimento dos participantes nestes processos, e as circunstâncias destes processos. Além disso, através do sistema de modalidade, identifico o tipo de relacionamento no qual os participantes estão envolvidos. Por último, com base no estudo de Kress & van Leeuwen (1996), considero o aspecto visual das propagandas com o intuito de verificar como esta parte interage com o texto verbal para expressar a mensagem no texto. Resultados mostram que ambas as instituições se dirigem ao público de uma maneira informal. Porém, enquanto o Lloyds TSB expressa mais preocupação sobre a vida e as necessidades de seus clientes de uma maneira mais indireta, o Banco do Brasil é mais enfático e direto, mais preocupado em descrever os tipos de investimentos que oferece ao público

Debt crises, political change and the state in the developing world

Dealing with increasing foreign debt has become a key part of government strategy across the developing world, particularly in wake of the payment crises that have shaken south-east Asia, Latin America, Turkey and Russia over the past decade. This working paper seeks to analyze how the political systems in these countries have adapted to the grave problems created by unpayable debt, examining in the process the structure of modern global finance, the history of the state in the developing world, and the demands placed upon governments by sudden rises in poverty and general economic turmoil. Focusing on case-studies of Argentina, Indonesia and Zambia, the paper unpicks the dynamics of these crises, suggesting that certain states have managed to strengthen their freedom of action and authority by recasting their relations with the public at home and with foreign lenders.La gestión de la deuda externa se ha convertido en una pieza fundamental de las estrategias gubernamentales en todo el mundo en desarrollo, sobre todo tras las crisis de pago que han sacudido el Sudeste asiático, Latinoamérica, Turquía y Rusia a lo largo de la última década. Este documento de trabajo busca analizar la forma en que los sistemas políticos de estos países se han adaptado a los graves problemas provocados por las deudas impagables, examinando en el proceso la estructura del actual régimen financiero mundial, la historia del Estado en el mundo en desarrollo, y las nuevas demandas impuestas sobre los gobiernos, derivadas de los aumentos bruscos de la pobreza y la turbulencia económica general. Por medio de tres casos prácticos, de Argentina, Indonesia y Zambia, este documento de trabajo busca descifrar la dinámica de aquellas crisis, y sugiere que ciertos Estados han logrado reforzar su libertad de acción y su autoridad por medio de una refundación de sus relaciones con la ciudadanía y con los acreedores extranjeros.Foreign debt, developing world, state capacity, sovereignty, debt crisis, Deuda externa, mundo en desarrollo, capacidad estatal, soberanía, crisis de deuda

Ohio Archivist (Fall 1998)

The Ohio Archivist is a semi-annual publication of the Society of Ohio Archivists

From Condemnation to Conformity: Carter and Reagan\u27s Foreign Policy towards the Argentine Junta, 1977-1982.

This study examines how the administrations of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan responded to the widespread human rights abuses committed by the Argentine military during the country\u27s Dirty War between 1977 and 1982. The objective is to gain a broader understanding of the policies pursued by both administrations. Under Carter, who brought human rights to the forefront of American foreign policy, Argentina was heavily targeted and sanctioned with the anticipation that such measures would enhance the human rights status in Argentina. Ultimately, such policies resulted in open hostility in bilateral relations, culminating in Argentina\u27s refusal to support Carter\u27s proposed grain embargo on the Soviet Union in 1980. Reagan moved to restore relations until Argentina\u27s invasion of the Falklands in April, 1982. The works of many authors were consulted in conjunction with newspapers, journal articles, government proceedings and declassified documents obtained from the National Security Archives

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

Sangamon State University Catalog, 1975-1976

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