Maintainable systems with a business object approach

The concept of Business Objects (BOs) has been recently promoted as a new way of exploiting object-orientation for achieving large-grain reuse. In this paper, we address the issue of how to effectively re-engineer business software applications using BOs as a reuse technique. To this end, we first identify the reuse features of business objects and then compare them with other reuse techniques. In addition, we show that software re-engineering can be more economical when business objects are used. Our work also provides guidance on how to develop and use a Business Object Architecture (BOA), which is shared by a group of interrelated and interdependent software applications. We argue that such architecture allows for more efficient reuse and better maintainability and it is illustrated by means of a case study in a realistic manufacturing environment

MGO-adducted rhBD-2 shows a concentration-dependent reduction of bactericidal activity, shown as a reduction in CFU vs unadducted peptide.

<p>CFU within a defined area were counted following radial diffusion assays performed with gram-negative, facultative anaerobes <i>Escherichia coli</i> (<i>e</i>.<i>c</i>.) and <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> (<i>p</i>.<i>a</i>.), and with the gram-positive, facultative anaerobe <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (<i>s</i>.<i>a</i>.) exposed to 0.5 μg/5 μl with or without MGO. Wild-type hBD-2 is highly bactericidal against most gram-negative bacterial strains, including <i>E</i>. <i>coli</i>, but this function is dramatically reduced following 72 h incubation of rhBD-2 (0.5 μg/5 μl) with 100 μM MGO at 37°C (inset). MGO (100 <i>μ</i>M) also reduces rhBD-2 bactericidal function against the gram-positive <i>S</i>. <i>aureus</i> strain. Data is presented as the Mean ± S.D. for N = 5 (<i>e</i>.<i>c</i>.) or N = 6 experiments (<i>p</i>.<i>a</i>., <i>s</i>.<i>a</i>.). Graph line for <i>e</i>.<i>c</i>. is offset slightly for clarity. (♦, ◊: p = 0.01; _*: p = 0.05).</p

Comparison of deconvoluted tandom MS/MS spectra of untreated (a) vs modified (b) rhBD-2 peptide RYKQIGTCGLPGTK (23–36) after trypsin digestion of the rhBD-2 protein.

<p>The modified hBD-2 peptide was previously incubated in 100 μM MGO at 37°C for 72 h. The presence of the b1 ion with a +54 Da mass shift and unmodified doubly protonated y13 shows that modification of this peptide occurred at Arg²³.</p

Effect of MGO adduction to rhBD-2 on chemoattraction for CEM cells.

<p>Inset, untreated rhBD-2 shows a concentration-dependent optimum in chemoattraction. Fluorescence units are proportional to migrated cell number due to labeling of migrating cell DNA by the CyQuant probe. Lower graph, chemoattractive function is reduced by incubating rhBD-2 with 100 uM MGO for 72 h at 37ଌ. SDF-1 is positive control for chemotaxis of CEM cells. Data is presented as the Mean ± S.E.M. for N₁ = 3, N₂ = 3 experiments _{* *}: p = 0.05).</p