Mapping service components to EJB business objects

The emerging trends for e-business engineering revolve around specialisation and cooperation. Successful companies focus on their core competencies and rely on a network of business partners for the support services required to compose a comprehensive offer for their customers. Modularity is crucial for a flexible e-business infrastructure, but related requirements seldom reflect on the design and operational models of business information systems. Software components are widely used for the implementation of e-business applications, with proven benefits in terms of system development and maintenance. We propose a service-oriented componentisation of e-business systems as a way to close the gap with the business models they support. Blurring the distinction between external services and internal capabilities, we propose a homogeneous model for the definition of e-business applications components and present a process-based technique for component modelling. We finally present an Enterprise Java Beans extension that implements the model

Performance Testing of Distributed Component Architectures

Performance characteristics, such as response time, throughput andscalability, are key quality attributes of distributed applications. Current practice,however, rarely applies systematic techniques to evaluate performance characteristics.We argue that evaluation of performance is particularly crucial in early developmentstages, when important architectural choices are made. At first glance, thiscontradicts the use of testing techniques, which are usually applied towards the endof a project. In this chapter, we assume that many distributed systems are builtwith middleware technologies, such as the Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) or theCommon Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA). These provide servicesand facilities whose implementations are available when architectures are defined.We also note that it is the middleware functionality, such as transaction and persistenceservices, remote communication primitives and threading policy primitives,that dominates distributed system performance. Drawing on these observations, thischapter presents a novel approach to performance testing of distributed applications.We propose to derive application-specific test cases from architecture designs so thatthe performance of a distributed application can be tested based on the middlewaresoftware at early stages of a development process. We report empirical results thatsupport the viability of the approach

WEB service interfaces for inter-organisational business processes an infrastructure for automated reconciliation

For the majority of front-end e-business systems, the assumption of a coherent and homogeneous set of interfaces is highly unrealistic. Problems start in the back-end, with systems characterised by a heterogeneous mix of applications and business processes. Integration can be complex and expensive, as systems evolve more in accordance with business needs than with technical architectures. E-business systems are faced with the challenge to give a coherent image of a diversified reality. Web services make business interfaces more efficient, but effectiveness is a business requirement of at least comparable importance. We propose a technique for automatic reconciliation of the Web service interfaces involved in inter-organisational business processes. The working assumption is that the Web service front-end of each company is represented by a set of WSDL and WSCL interfaces. The result of our reconciliation method is a common interface that all the parties can effectively enforce. Indications are also given on ways to adapt individual interfaces to the common one. The technique was embodied in a prototype that we also present

Next-generation viewpoint-based environments

This paper discusses the notion of, and outlines requirements for Viewpoint-based Environments. These are next-generation CASE environments, which support the specification of requirements from multiple perspectives or so-called viewpoints. Requirements for such environments are mainly concerned with the detection and management of interference between viewpoints. Viewpoint-based Environments should also support the cooperation of multiple developers and maintain development histories in terms of multiple viewpoint versions. We briefly sketch an architecture for such environments and outline a research agenda for developing them

I Still Can Dream

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/4228/thumbnail.jp

My Bajadere

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/4798/thumbnail.jp

An Evaluation of a School-Based School Connectedness Program

In the United States, approximately 45% of high school students are either not engaged (28%) or actively disengaged (17%) in the academic process. Increasing a school\u27s average student engagement yields an increase in reading and math achievement. This study evaluates a school connectedness program, Promoting Positive School Engagement (PPSE) program using a convergent mixed methods model to determine the degree of effectiveness measured by the Hemingway measure of adolescent connectedness instrument in an Urban, Midwest public middle school. Quantitative data were collected from 20 students who participated in the program and 20 students who did not (control group). Analyzed using ANCOVA, the results showed that participation in PPSE significantly increased student connectedness. Qualitative data were collected from six student program participants and five program staff through interviews. Content analysis of interview data showed that a youth\u27s connectedness is a response to relatedness and belonging, a reflection of adolescents\u27 perceptions of their involvement in events, organizations, and activities. Additionally, participants reported a greater connectedness to school through the development of positive mentor/mentee relationships. The results of this study may assist others in developing similar programs at their schools to enhance students\u27 school connectedness

Phase-field-crystal model for liquid crystals

Based on static and dynamical density functional theory, a phase-field-crystal model is derived which involves both the translational density and the orientational degree of ordering as well as a local director field. The model exhibits stable isotropic, nematic, smectic A, columnar, plastic crystalline and orientationally ordered crystalline phases. As far as the dynamics is concerned, the translational density is a conserved order parameter while the orientational ordering is non-conserved. The derived phase-field-crystal model can serve for efficient numerical investigations of various nonequilibrium situations in liquid crystals

An Evaluation of a School-Based School Connectedness Program

In the United States, approximately 45% of high school students are either not engaged (28%) or actively disengaged (17%) in the academic process. Increasing a school\u27s average student engagement yields an increase in reading and math achievement. This study evaluates a school connectedness program, Promoting Positive School Engagement (PPSE) program using a convergent mixed methods model to determine the degree of effectiveness measured by the Hemingway measure of adolescent connectedness instrument in an Urban, Midwest public middle school. Quantitative data were collected from 20 students who participated in the program and 20 students who did not (control group). Analyzed using ANCOVA, the results showed that participation in PPSE significantly increased student connectedness. Qualitative data were collected from six student program participants and five program staff through interviews. Content analysis of interview data showed that a youth\u27s connectedness is a response to relatedness and belonging, a reflection of adolescents\u27 perceptions of their involvement in events, organizations, and activities. Additionally, participants reported a greater connectedness to school through the development of positive mentor/mentee relationships. The results of this study may assist others in developing similar programs at their schools to enhance students\u27 school connectedness