Verifying service continuity in a satellite reconfiguration procedure: application to a satellite

The paper discusses the use of the TURTLE UML profile to model and verify service continuity during dynamic reconfiguration of embedded software, and space-based telecommunication software in particular. TURTLE extends UML class diagrams with composition operators, and activity diagrams with temporal operators. Translating TURTLE to the formal description technique RT-LOTOS gives the profile a formal semantics and makes it possible to reuse verification techniques implemented by the RTL, the RT-LOTOS toolkit developed at LAAS-CNRS. The paper proposes a modeling and formal validation methodology based on TURTLE and RTL, and discusses its application to a payload software application in charge of an embedded packet switch. The paper demonstrates the benefits of using TURTLE to prove service continuity for dynamic reconfiguration of embedded software

A multidisciplinary understanding of news: Comparing elite press framing of 9/11 in the US, Italy, France and Pakistan

Political Communications, International Communications, News Sociology, all claim to offer an explanation for what shapes the news, but provide extremely different, if not contradictory suggestions. Political communications almost takes for granted the fact that official actors have a major role in shaping news stories at the national level. International Communications points at several possibilities: structural economic imbalances lead to unidirectional news flows from rich countries towards poor countries; globalization causes news to become homogenised on a worldwide scale; news is geared to the tastes of local audiences by national news producers. News sociology, instead, argues that the news product of each media organization is the unique output of patterns of social interactions among media professionals. An international comparative study of the elite press framing of 9/11 in the US, Italy, France, and Pakistan reveals the limits of these approaches: none of them alone is able to explain the patterns of news contents that were detected in the empirical investigation.The analysis suggests that the content of press coverage in the newspapers under analysis is more effectively explained in terms of selection of newsworthy sources, guided by national interest, journalistic culture, and editorial policy. The study points to the benefit of adopting international comparative research designs and fundamentally argues that, if we want to explain news in the information age, we need to approach its study in a multidisciplinary perspective

Pervasiveness and efficacy in regulatory governance – neo-liberalism as ideology and practice in European telecommunications reorganisation

Telecommunications provides one of the most well-developed examples of the growth of neo-liberalism. The sector is interesting since the contrast between its pre neoliberal and post neo-liberal characteristics is particularly stark. This paper explores the impacts of neo-liberalism in European telecommunications, placing particular focus on the EU institutional context. It considers the conseqences of neo-liberalism as ideology, on the one hand, and practice, on the other. It finds that, ideologically, neoliberalism has become deeply pervasive in European telecommunications and for its advocates can be regarded as a highly successful project spanning almost 30 years. In terms of practice, the paper argues that the pursuit of neo-liberalism has been less successful. In particular, competition has proven complex and difficult to create and there are concerns over the ability of the neo-liberal model to provide sufficient investment to deliver new Next Generation Networks. However, these deficiencies tend to be under-played due to the ideological and rhetorical success of the neo-liberal project in telecommunications.

Cooperative International Direct Marketing: An Alternative for Asian-Pacific Countries to Increase Exports to Industrial Market Economies

Exporters from Asian-Pacific Countries can successfully establish marketing presence in Industrial Market Economies by directly marketing products in these country markets. Direct marketing potential in Industrial Marketing Economies can be determined by examining two critical factors: the direct marketing infrastructure and emerging environmental changes. Although the resource requirement for direct marketing is quite substantial, exporters, who combine their resources to engage in cooperative international direct marketing, will find it easier to establish marketing presence in Industrial Market Economics