Partially distributed coordination with Reo and constraint automata

Algorithms and the Foundations of Software technolog

A Transformation-Based Approach to Business Process Management in the Cloud

Business Process Management (BPM) has gained a lot of popularity in the last two decades, since it allows organizations to manage and optimize their business processes. However, purchasing a BPM system can be an expensive investment for a company, since not only the software itself needs to be purchased, but also hardware is required on which the process engine should run, and personnel need to be hired or allocated for setting up and maintaining the hardware and the software. Cloud computing gives its users the opportunity of using computing resources in a pay-per-use manner, and perceiving these resources as unlimited. Therefore, the application of cloud computing technologies to BPM can be extremely beneficial specially for small and middle-size companies. Nevertheless, the fear of losing or exposing sensitive data by placing these data in the cloud is one of the biggest obstacles to the deployment of cloud-based solutions in organizations nowadays. In this paper we introduce a transformation-based approach that allows companies to control the parts of their business processes that should be allocated to their own premises and to the cloud, to avoid unwanted exposure of confidential data and to profit from the high performance of cloud environments. In our approach, the user annotates activities and data that should be placed in the cloud or on-premise, and an automated transformation generates the process fragments for cloud and on-premise deployment. The paper discusses the challenges of developing the transformation and presents a case study that demonstrates the applicability of the approach

Performance Aware Reconfiguration of Software Systems

In this paper we address the problem of building a scalable component-based system by means of dynamic reconfiguration. Specifically, we consider the system response time as the performance metric; we assume that the system components can be dynamically reconfigured to provide a degraded service with lower response time. Each component operating at one of the available quality levels is assigned a utility. Higher quality levels are associated to higher utility. We propose an approach for performance-aware reconfiguration of degradable software systems called PARSY (Performance Aware Reconfiguration of software SYstems). PARSY tunes individual components in order to maximize the system utility with the constraint of keeping the system response time below a pre defined threshold. PARSY uses a closed Queueing Network model to select the components to upgrade or degrade

Applications and methods utilizing the Simple Semantic Web Architecture and Protocol (SSWAP) for bioinformatics resource discovery and disparate data and service integration

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Scientific data integration and computational service discovery are challenges for the bioinformatic community. This process is made more difficult by the separate and independent construction of biological databases, which makes the exchange of data between information resources difficult and labor intensive. A recently described semantic web protocol, the Simple Semantic Web Architecture and Protocol (SSWAP; pronounced "swap") offers the ability to describe data and services in a semantically meaningful way. We report how three major information resources (Gramene, SoyBase and the Legume Information System [LIS]) used SSWAP to semantically describe selected data and web services.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We selected high-priority Quantitative Trait Locus (QTL), genomic mapping, trait, phenotypic, and sequence data and associated services such as BLAST for publication, data retrieval, and service invocation via semantic web services. Data and services were mapped to concepts and categories as implemented in legacy and <it>de novo </it>community ontologies. We used SSWAP to express these offerings in OWL Web Ontology Language (OWL), Resource Description Framework (RDF) and eXtensible Markup Language (XML) documents, which are appropriate for their semantic discovery and retrieval. We implemented SSWAP services to respond to web queries and return data. These services are registered with the SSWAP Discovery Server and are available for semantic discovery at <url>http://sswap.info</url>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of ten services delivering QTL information from Gramene were created. From SoyBase, we created six services delivering information about soybean QTLs, and seven services delivering genetic locus information. For LIS we constructed three services, two of which allow the retrieval of DNA and RNA FASTA sequences with the third service providing nucleic acid sequence comparison capability (BLAST).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The need for semantic integration technologies has preceded available solutions. We report the feasibility of mapping high priority data from local, independent, idiosyncratic data schemas to common shared concepts as implemented in web-accessible ontologies. These mappings are then amenable for use in semantic web services. Our implementation of approximately two dozen services means that biological data at three large information resources (Gramene, SoyBase, and LIS) is available for programmatic access, semantic searching, and enhanced interaction between the separate missions of these resources.</p

Development and evaluation of a hot-melt coating technique for enteric coating

Conventional enteric coating requires the use of organic based polymers which are equally hazardous to the environment and operating personnel. Hot-melt coating avoids the use of solvents and is a safer and time-saving process. The present study was designed to assess the efficacy of hot-melt coating (HMC) as an enteric coating technique. Pellets prepared by extrusion spheronization were selected as the core formulation for a model of the gastric irritant drug diclofenac sodium (DFS) because of their innate advantages over single-unit formulations. Stearic acid (SA) and palmitic acid (PA) were evaluated as enteric hot-melt coating materials. HMC was carried out in a specially modified coating pan by applying SA and PA in molten state onto preheated pellets to achieve a coating level of 5-15 %w/w. Hot-melt coated pellets were evaluated for disintegration pH and in vitro dissolution in the pH range 1.2 to 6.8, along with basic micromeritics. SEM of coated pellets showed a uniform and smooth coating. These results indicated that HMC of both SA and PA exhibited very good enteric coating ability. The coated pellets showed negligible drug release in acidic pH. As the pellets were subsequently transferred to a higher pH level, a gradual increase in release of the drug from the pellets was observed with increasing pH of the dissolution media. The release was dependent upon coating extent, providing sustained enteric release as opposed to abrupt release with mixed release kinetics.<br>O revestimento entérico convencional requer o uso de polímeros orgânicos os quais são igualmente danosos ao meio ambiente e ao pessoal que o executa. O revestimento por fusão a quente evita o uso de solventes e é processo mais seguro e que consome menos tempo. O presente estudo foi planejado para avaliar a eficácia do revestimento por fusão a quente (RFQ) como técnica de revestimento entérico. Os péletes preparados por esferonização por extrusão foram selecionados como formulação central para modelo de fármaco irritante gástrico, o diclofenaco sódico (DFS) em razão das vantagens inerentes sobre as formulações de única dose. O ácido esteárico (AE) e o ácido palmítico (AP) foram avaliados como materiais para o revestimento de fusão a quente. O RFQ foi realizado em recipiente especialmente modificado, aplicando AS e PA no estado fundido em péletes pré-aquecidos para atingir nível de revestimento de 5 a 15% p/P. Os péletes revestidos por fusão a quente for avaliados quanto ao pH de desintegração e à dissolução in vitro na faixa de pH de 1,2 a 6,8, juntamente com base micromerítica. O SEM dos péletes revestido mostrou revestimento uniforme e plano. Esses resultados indicaram que o RFQ tanto do AE quanto do AP apresentou capacidade de revestimento muito boa. Os péletes revestidos mostraram pouca liberação do fármaco em pH baixo. Como os péletes foram, subsequentemente, transferidos para pH mais altos, observou-se aumento gradual na liberação do fármaco dos péletes com o aumento do pH do meio de dissolução. A liberação foi dependente da extensão do revestimento, sendo a liberação entérica controlada, contrariamente à liberação abrupta com cinéticas mistas