Linking Quality Attributes and Constraints with Architectural Decisions

Quality attributes and constraints are among the main drivers of architectural decision making. The quality attributes are improved or damaged by the architectural decisions, while restrictions directly include or exclude parts of the architecture (for example, the logical components or technologies). We can determine the impact of a decision of architecture in software quality, or which parts of the architecture are affected by a constraint, but the difficult problem is whether we are respecting the quality requirements (requirements on quality attributes) and constraints with all the architectural decisions made. Currently, the common practice is that architects use their own experience to design architectures that meet the quality requirements and restrictions, but at the end, especially for the crucial decisions, the architect has to deal with complex trade-offs between quality attributes and juggle possible incompatibilities raised by the constraints. In this paper we present Quark, a computer-aided method to support architects in software architecture decision making

An Intelligent Data Mining System to Detect Health Care Fraud

The chapter begins with an overview of the types of healthcare fraud. Next, there is a brief discussion of issues with the current fraud detection approaches. The chapter then develops information technology based approaches and illustrates how these technologies can improve current practice. Finally, there is a summary of the major findings and the implications for healthcare practice

Justification of installing 4GL in Hong Kong environment.

by Wu Chung Man, Ronnie.Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1988.Bibliography: leaves 43-45

An Innovative, Multidisciplinary Educational Program in Interactive Information Storage and Retrieval

There exists a large number of large-scale bibliographic Information Storage and Retrieval Systems containing large amounts of valuable data of interest in a wide variety of research applications. These systems are not used to capacity because the end users, i.e., the researchers, have not been trained in the techniques of accessing such systems. This thesis describes the development of a transportable, university-level course in methods of querying on-line interactive Information Storage and Retrieval systems as a solution to this problem. This course was designed to instruct upper division science and engineering students to enable these end users to directly access such systems. The course is designed to be taught by instructors who are not specialists in either computer science or research skills. It is independent of any particular IS and R system or computer hardware. The project is sponsored by NASA and conducted by the University of Southwestern Louisiana and Southern University

Relational Study of Information Technology and Production Management: - The Case of Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) between Mainland China and Hong Kong

In the last few decades, many large corporations have been moving part of the supply chains, especially manufacturing, offshore to take advantage of the low cost resources and labor. For example, the southern part of China, such as Pearl River Delta (PRD), has been attracting the enterprises from all over the word in the last two decades and has become the world manufacturing hub. The types of the manufacturing extend the spectrum from light industry (e.g. toy and garment) originally to high-tech (e.g. semi-conductor wafer) recently and such transition triggers the changes of the technology requirements. In addition, joining WTO has opened up the gate to China and sped up the process of technology advancement as well. The paper investigates the relationships between technology adoption and production management by examining production technology, information systems, and information qualities in a study based on the review of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) between Hong Kong and China. The paper concludes the recommendations for the capability building to bridge the gap for information systems and operations management in China

INTERFACE DESIGN FOR A DBMS

This research serves as the initial delivery and as a guideline for the project, which contains an overview of the project background of study, problems that have been identified, and how do the author see the project's usefulness for users of a DBMS. The main objectives of this study is to do research on the usage and effect of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and the effect of applying it in the User Interface (UI) Design, to review the current DBMS interface andcompare it withthe proper elements of the UI Design, to produce a new guidelines regarding this area of research and also to produce with the refined prototype of theDBMS interface. For this purpose, the author has chosen the TOAD software, which is a DBMS tool to be compared and analyzed according to the elements and guidelines of HCI. Poor representation of the graphical user interface will lead to confusion and misinterpretation by the users and to overcome the matter, the author will come out with a proper set of guidelines as well as a refined set of interface which is more user-friendly and efficient. In orderto accomplish this project, the author has followed the methodology, which begins with the Research/Analysis phase, Conceptual Design phase, Physical Design and ends with User Testing phases. Based on the result and findings, the main factor that contributes to the ineffectiveness of a user interface is the lack of consideration and planning on the design of the user interface as most of the programmers focus on the coding part of the design. This will lead to improper usage of terms and inappropriate metaphors. In conclusion, the importance of the usage and consideration of using HCI in designing the user interface is applicable not only for this project, but to any software developers in developing a useful and efficient programs

A multi-agent simulation approach to sustainability in tourism development

In the last decades the increasing facility in moving and the simultaneous fall of the transportation costs have strongly increased the tourist flows. As a consequence, different destinations, especially those which are rich of natural resources, unable or unready to sustain huge tourism flows, present serious problems of sustainability and Tourism Carrying Capacity (TCC). At the present, it is universally recognized that every tourist destination should plan effective and pro-reactive protection policies of its cultural, environmental and social resources. In order to facilitate policies definition it may be useful to measure the Tourist Carrying Capacity, but the literature has highlighted that this is not an easy task for different reasons: among the others, the complexity and the dynamicity of the concept, the absence of a universally accepted definition and the impossibility of assigning an objective scientific value and to apply a rigorous analysis. Thereby, more recently an alternative, or even complementary, interpretation of TCC has developed; it is called LAC, Limit of Acceptable Changes where the focus shifts from: “How much use an area can tolerate?†to “How much change is acceptable?â€, aiming at evaluating the costs and benefits from alternative management tourism actions. The aim of the paper is to present an innovative framework, based on the LAC approach - MABSiT, Mobile Agent Behavior Simulation in Tourism - developed by the authors, which is composed by five modules: elaboration data, DBMS, ad-hoc maps, agents and ontology. Its modular structure allows to easily study the interactions among the components in order to observe the behavior of the single agents. In an aggregate form, it is possible to define group dynamics, where one possible effect is the influence on the variation of agents’ satisfaction perception in comparison to the surroundings environment. The paper will be structured as follows: an introduction will be followed by a literature review; than the methodology and the framework will be presented and applied to a case study: Vieste, a known maritime destination of South of Italy, which is characterized by high problems of seasonality in the summer. Finally, some conclusions and policy recommendations will be drawn.

Reengineering of the Defense Biometric Identification System (DBIDS) equipment tracking database

The Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) manages the Defense Biometric Identification System (DBIDS). DBIDS captures personal and biometric information to manage DoD-wide access, control, and personnel accountability. DBIDS equipment is installed globally, and managed by a central office on the Monterey peninsula. Program managers track data about the numbers and type of equipment installed at each site. Program managers were tracking DBIDS data using a single Microsoft Excel workbook comprised of several, interlinking worksheets (DBIDS Master Plan Spreadsheet). Data updates were error-prone and difficult, requiring close coordination to keep the number of "current" versions of the spreadsheet to a minimum. This thesis initially focused on reviewing the business rules and processes surrounding DBIDS document, and then transitioned into designing, developing, and implementing of a relational database solution to improve problem areas identified during the initial review. After implementation of the database, this thesis explored the effects of making such a change within an organization. This was attempted by identifying and measuring changes in performance and accuracy of the system; by measuring pre- and post-user satisfaction through the qualitative methods of questionnaires and interviews; and finally using this analysis to improve the project through maintenance and growth iterations.http://archive.org/details/reengineeringofd109454607Outstanding ThesisUS Navy (USN) author.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited