Expressing business rules : a fact based approach : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Information Systems at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Numerous industry surveys have suggested that many IT projects still end in failure. Incomplete, ambiguous and inaccurate specifications are cited as a major causal factor. Traditional techniques for specifying data requirements often lack the expressiveness with which to model subtle but common features within organisations. As a consequence, categories of business rules that determine the structure and behaviour of organisations may not be captured until the latter stages of the systems development lifecycle. A fact-based technique called Object Role Modelling (ORM) has been investigated as an altemative approach for specifying data requirements. The technique's ability to capture and represent a wide range of data requirements rigorously, but still in a form comprehensible to business people, could provide a powerful tool for analysts. In this report, ORM constructs have been synthesised with the concepts and definitions provided by the Business Rules Group (BRG), who have produced a detailed taxonomy of business rule categories. In doing so, business rules discovered in an organisation can be expressed in a form that is meaningful to both analysts and business people. Exploiting the expressive simplicity of a conceptual modelling technique to articulate an organisation's business rules could help to fill a significant requirements gap

Polytropes and other spheres in general relativity

Imperial Users onl

Assessing Friction Characteristics of Liquid Lubricants

The decline of fossil fuel reserves and the increasing awareness of greenhouse gas emissions have been the primary driving forces behind the need to conserve energy. To improve fuel efficiency friction modifiers are commonly blended into lubricants. Reduction of friction will clearly lead to less energy requirements. However, an accurate evaluation of lubricant performance is not possible using existing test equipment. The main reason is that current test rigs require operating conditions that induce wear so that the measurement of friction in these rigs is not a real evaluation of friction. The paper will detail the design and commissioning of a purpose built test rig to measure frictional characteristics of various oils as well as the results of the tests performed

Personalising Learning: Principals' Perspectives

This research project explores the perspectives of four New Zealand secondary school principals in regard to the concept of personalised learning. Using semi-structured interviews, their opinions were sought around three main questions; firstly, how do they conceptualise personalised learning? Secondly, how is personalised learning enacted within their schools currently and lastly, how do they intend leading transformational changes for the future? The findings suggest that personalised learning is comprised of three essential principles; partnerships, meta-cognition and student centricity. In practice it appears that personalised learning is occurring at the fringes of educational practice and has yet to be fully implemented within New Zealand secondary schools. The principals are clear that a transformational shift is currently occurring within education and that there are three main areas of leadership that they need to be consistently working at; Firstly, a collective vision is required, secondly a rigorous research base must underpin all decisions and thirdly, having both time and patience for change. In concluding, this research critiques current practices of personalised learning, suggests areas for improvement and puts forward an alternative organisational structure to support New Zealand secondary schools in personalising learning for students

Nitrogen Biogeochemistry of Aquaculture Pond Sediments.

Aquaculture pond water quality is dominated by planktonic processes, although the high surface-to-volume ratio suggests that sediment has the potential to effect important changes in water quality. The objectives of this research were to evaluate annual variation of sediment nitrogen biogeochemistry and develop a model of annual variation in ammonia concentration in a commercial channel catfish pond. In addition, the effects of physical and chemical sediment management techniques on water quality in aquatic mesocosms were evaluated. Sediment nitrogen was dominated by organic (92-96%) and adsorbed ammonium (2-4%) fractions. Porewater ammonium comprised the smallest yet most dynamic component of sediment N, with maximum concentrations measured during summer. Porewater ammonium concentrations were 4-20x higher than in the water column. Sediments were sinks for oxygen and oxidized nitrogen and sources of carbon dioxide and ammonium. Molecular diffusion accounted for only 1.4-14.9% of ammonium flux suggesting that mineralization of organic matter at the sediment surface was rapid. Denitrification rates were limited by low ambient oxidized nitrogen concentrations, although denitrification potential was substantial. A simulation model accurately described annual variation of catfish pond ammonium concentration. Ammonium production was partitioned between fish excretion (67-75%) and sediment diffusion (25-33%). Phytoplankton ammonium uptake exceeded nitrification during the growing season (April-October); nitrification was a more important removal mechanism than phytoplankton uptake during the winter (November-March). Model output was most sensitive to changes in the partition of nitrogenous excretion, average feeding rate, and the phytoplankton specific uptake rate. Sediment disturbance in organically-enriched aquatic mesocosms improved water quality for fish production. Dissolved oxygen concentration was higher and ammonia concentration was lower in mesocosms stocked with fish. Whole-tank respiration was inversely related to sediment disturbance. Nitrification associated with suspended particles was inversely related to C:N ratio of organic inputs. Nitrate enrichment of aquatic mesocosms did not improve water quality for fish production. Elevated concentrations of ammonia and nitrite were associated with high dissimilatory nitrate reduction rates. Substantial quantities of organic matter mineralization mediated by nitrate were inferred from alkalinity accumulation. Dissolved oxygen concentrations were increased and soluble phosphorus concentrations were decreased only slightly as a function of nitrate enrichment

Creative Citizenship – two journeys, one destination

This paper is a representation of a live, audio-visual keynote address given at the Creative Citizens Conference in London (September 2014), co-presented by Hargreaves (IH) and Hartley (JH). It seeks to combine (i) autobiographical narrative storytelling – two of them, in fact; with (ii) an attempt to build concepts, themes and strategies out of that narrative, and how the two stories did indeed arrive at ‘one destination’; and (iii) plentiful use of visual prompts, combined with part-scripted, part-improvised dialogic commentary. This approach was risky on the day; it is even harder to render into two dimensions, not least because a vital element, the audience, cannot be represented in that format. Nevertheless, we offer the ‘paper’ as a record of how two intersecting lives and careers were both drawn to the ‘Creative Citizens’ idea, not only as a research problem but also as a component of the speakers’ own practice – one as a high profile journalist turned academic; the other as an academic with interests in alternative models of journalism. We think that our bio-trajectories are relevant to the way that the research project led by Hargreaves has been tackled

THEMIS observations and riometry: A data comparison with a view to proxy and prediction

A comparison has been made between radio absorption events observed by riometer at selected times of day and bursts of electrons observed in the midnight sector by THEMIS satellites. The correlation is found to be good for absorption in the noon and midnight sectors but poor around dawn and dusk. For noon and midnight the absorption can be estimated from the THEMIS electron flux to better than a factor of 2 in most cases. In the noon sector the absorption follows the THEMIS event by about 30 min on average (though with considerable variation from case to case), but by night the absorption precedes the electron flux by about 8 min on average. Thus, the flux at THEMIS can be predicted from the absorption in the night sector, the accuracy being better than a factor of 3 in most cases. The flux observed also depends on the location of the satellite, reducing with increasing distance down the tail. It is estimated that the source of the tail events observed in this study was at about 6Re, and comparisons are made with the established general pattern of the substorm in auroral absorption

Poor governance design: Its impact on transaction costs and value creation.

We argue the hierarchical nature of contractual governance within outsourced services is not effective, consequently increasing transaction costs for the Buyer and Supplier, and reducing value in use. We studied outsourced public sector Repairs and Maintenance (R&M) contracts considering the contracts within the relational exchange and their role in governing and directing the delivery of services. A key feature is delivery via a Value network, Buyers and Suppliers outsourcing elements of procurement and service delivery. Within this sector, the use of construction influenced standard forms of contract and traditional performance measurement regimes utilising temporal and volumetric metrics are endemic. Our findings demonstrate that the relationship between contractual governance and measurement is a traditionally held perspective of output and operand resources. Additionally the forms of contract create a disconnect to the governance objectives sought, exacerbates transaction costs and diminishes “value in use” for the Resident

Bounded rationality, negligence or corruption: The effect of emergent malfeasance in procurement practice.

A recent European Commission (EC) report highlighted widespread perceptions of corruption in public sector procurement (Anon 2014). The report identified that given the level of financials flows generated, public sector procurement is an area prone to overt and covert corrupt practices which are exacerbated by “weak governance which hinders market competition and raises the price paid by the administration for goods and services, directly impacting public expenditure and therefore tax payers resources. The financial interests at stake and the close interaction between public and private sectors make public procurement a major risk” (p21). We report a specific investigation, which bears out that conclusion. In UK Public Sector procurement the acronym OJEU, strictly speaking the Official Journal of the European Union has become short hand for the overall legal framework governing public procurement. The framework and its processes aim to increase transparency and eliminate trade barriers arising from discriminatory procurement. Ex ante transaction costs are, it is assumed, justified by ex post benefits. We test that assumption in one market sector and find the opposite. In a silent conspiracy those who benefit from the ex ante stages of the process do not enhance the ex post value-in-use for the intended beneficiaries. While not corruption per se, the outcome can be seen as emergent, or complicit, malfeasance. The specific research sought to identify the real and possible impacts of short-term duration contracts on stakeholders engaged in a sector of the Facilities Management (FM) market place. It focused on the trading relationships between private sector “suppliers” and public sector “buyers” providing Repairs and Maintenance (R&M) services to the Social Housing sector. As this channel has specific operational traits, legal obligations and common social, political and cultural dimensions it provided a controlled opportunity to identify issues that potentially emerge out of short-term contracts. Our review of the market identified a number of trends that, whilst pertinent to the supplier organisations, were also a feature of the industry. These were related to the procurement process, and how it influenced the structure of the businesses operating within the industry; the contract, which defines and shapes the business relationships; and additionally the management of the procurement and award process . Short-termism in outsourced R&M contracting has a potential negative cost, for both “buyer” and “supplier”, in terms of increased ex ante and ex post transaction costs. The process operates to the benefit of those involved in doing or advising on the procurement and contract management to the detriment of the supposed beneficiaries; the tenants of the Social Housing stock We cannot call the process deliberate corruption. We do though argue that the term 'emergent malfeasance’ is justified. Bibliography. Ansari, Shahzad., Frank Wijen and Barbara Gray, 2009, “Averting the tragedy of the commons. An Institutional Perspective on the Construction and Governance of Transactional Commons”. .Academy of Management Proceedings. 1 1-6 Anon, 2014, EU ANTI-CORRUPTION REPORT, http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/e-library/documents/policies/organized-crime-and-human-trafficking/corruption/docs/acr_2014_en.pdf accessed 07 February 201