Patterns for service-oriented information exchange requirements

Service-Oriented Computing (SOC) is an emerging computing paradigm that supports loosely-coupled inter-enterprise interactions. SOC interactions are predominantly specified in a procedural manner that defines message sequences intermixing implementation with business requirements. In this paper we present a set of patterns concerning requirements of information exchange between participants engaging in service-oriented interactions. The patterns aim at explicating and elaborating the business requirements driving the interaction and separating them from implementation concerns

Requirements-Driven Adaptation of Choreographed Interactions

Electronic services are emerging as the de-facto enabler of interaction interoperability across organization boundaries. Cross-organizational interactions are often “choreographed”, i.e. specified by a messaging protocol from a global point of view independent of the local view of each interacting organization. Local requirements motivating an interaction as well as the global contextual requirements governing the interaction inevitably evolve over time, requiring adaptation of the corresponding interaction protocol. Adaptation of an interaction protocol must ensure the satisfaction of both sets of interaction requirements while maintaining consistency between the global view and the local views of an interaction specification. Such adaptation is not possible with the current state-of-the-art representations of choreographed interactions, as they capture only operational messaging specifications detached from both local organizational requirements as well as global contextual requirements. This thesis presents three novel contributions that tackle adaptation of choreographed interaction protocols: an automated technique for deriving an interaction protocol from requirements, a formalization of consistency between local and global views, and a framework for guiding the adaptation of a choreographed interaction. A choreographed interaction is specified using models of organizational requirements motivating the interaction. We employ the formal semantics embedded in requirements models to automatically derive an interaction protocol. We propose a framework for relating the global and local views of interaction specification and maintaining consistency between them. We develop a metamodel for interaction specification, from which we enumerate adaptation operations. We build a catalogue that provides guidance on performing each operation and propagating changes between the global and local views. These contributions are evaluated using examples from the literature as well as a real-world case study

Lebanese Water Resources: A Potential to Alleviate Middle East Water Stress

Years of war have left the Lebanese water sector in a very bad shape. This has caused excessive water waste in practically all aspects of water consumption. As Lebanon wastes water, its neighbors are desperately seeking to secure their water needs. Consequently, this paper proposes investing sovereign wealth funds from the oil rich water poor Arab countries to assist in developing an efficient water network to maximize the efficiency of the Lebanese water sector. Such investments would be made for the purpose of creating a large enough water surplus in Lebanon that would eventually be exported to the gulf to help alleviate their water stress

A CATEGORIZATION AND ALGORITHM FOR DETERMINING ONLINE SHOPPING BEHAVIOR IN A B2C ECOMMERCE CONTEXT

Online shopping behavior can be classified as experiential, utilitarian, and mixed. A questionnaire administered in a laboratory setting was given to several hundred subjects to categorize them along those levels, based on a classification algorithm. The current investigation complements the existing businessto- consumer e-commerce research by defining online shopping behavior in a more complex and comprehensive way. Online shopping behavior is categorized along a ternary classification instead of the traditional binary one in the literature. With the inclusion of mixed behavior, the three-level classification portrays a more realistic representation of the complex consumer behavior over the simpler, polarized, and dichotomous grouping of experiential versus utilitarian behavior

User Interface, Multimedia Richness, and Learning Style on the World Wide Web: A Literature Review

Electronic commerce had witnessed considerable growth over the past few years and is expected to continue growing in the future. The World Wide Web is increasingly becoming an important avenue of the marketplace. However, unlike the traditional retail outlets of business, it lacks certain aspects like being physically in a store and interacting with customer sales people. A well-designed user interface can overcome some of these limitations and aid customers in their search of products and services. This paper examines user interface and the richness of a multimedia site on the World Wide Web, as well as users\u27 learning styles, in terms of the literature

An Integrated Framework to Assess ‘Leanness’ Performance in Distribution Centres

The theory behind lean philosophy is to create more value with less. Effective lean management enables organisations to exceed customer expectations while reducing costs. Despite the fact that numerous practices and approaches are used in the process of implementing lean philosophy and reducing waste within supply chain systems, little effort has been directed into assessing the leanness level of distribution and its impact on overall performance. Given the vital role of distribution units within supply chains, this research aims to develop a comprehensive lean assessment framework that integrates a selected set of statistical, analytical, and mathematical techniques in order to assess the ‘leanness’ level in the distribution business. Due to the limited number of published articles in the area of lean distribution, there are no clear definitions of the underlying factors and practices. Therefore, the primary phase of the proposed framework addresses the identification of lean distribution dimensional structure and practices. The other two phases of the framework discuss the development of a structured model for lean distribution and address the process to find a quantitative lean index for benchmarking lean implementation in distribution centres. Integrating the three phases provides the decision makers with an indicator of performance, subject to applying various lean practices. Incorporating the findings of a survey that sent to 700 distribution businesses in Ireland along with value stream mapping, modelling, simulation, and data envelopment analysis, has given the framework strength in the assessment of leanness. Research outcomes show that lean distribution consists of five key dimensions; workforce management, item replenishment, customers, transportation, and process quality. Lean practices associated with these dimensions are mainly focused on enhancing the communication channels with customers, simplifying the distribution networks structure, people participating in problem solving and a continuous improvement process, and increasing the reliability and efficiency of the distribution operations. The final output of the framework is two key leanness indices; one is set to measure the tactical leanness level, while the second index represents the leanness at the operational level. Both indices can effectively be used in evaluating the lean implementation process and conducting a benchmarking process based on the leanness level

Mineral Uptake Rates and Yield Coefficients of the Green Microalgae Scenedesmus Dimorphus

The need for renewable sources of energy has become critical as fossil fuel resources, which include oil, coal, and natural gas, are known to contribute to climate change and will eventually be depleted. Biofuels that originate from the fat of plants, animals, microalgae, and bacteria are an attractive alternative. Microalgae, in particular, are strong candidates for biofuel production since they have a high growth rate and lipid content (up to 50 in some species). The goal of this research was to optimize 3N-BBM+V recipe (Bold Basal Medium with 3-fold Nitrogen and Vitamins) in an effort of reducing the amount of nutrients used in growing the green microalgae Scenedesmus dimorphus, and hence lower the cost of cultivation. Three runs were carried out on a 5L bioreactor in batch mode. The average growth rate of S. dimorphus was 0.17 ± 0.03 days-1. Inductively Coupled Plasma was utilized to monitor substrate concentration with time in the bioreactor which allowed the determination of yield coefficients in gdw biomass/g substrate for magnesium (253±50), calcium (341±84), potassium (61±15), phosphorous (60±13), and iron (5807±3000). These yields were utilized to calculate the optimal starting substrate concentration in the media in mg/L for magnesium (4.3±0.3), calcium (3.2±0.2), potassium (18±1), phosphorous (18±1), and iron (0.19±0.015). The inverse of mass fraction for elements in the biomass was obtained in gdw biomass/g substrate for magnesium (309±9), calcium (341±84), potassium (98±6), phosphorous (70±5), and iron (8075±2500). The average substrate consumption rates in the three runs for Mg, Ca, Fe, P, and K are 0.61±0.41,0.31±0.64, 0.008±0.03, 2.8±1.6, and 1.3±2.2 mg substrate/gdw biomass.day respectively. Potassium and phosphorous have the lowest yields which is consistent wit h them having the highest consumption rates. The bead beater and mortar and pestle cell lysing methods were utilized to determine which

“It is my life”: A Psychoanalytical and an Existentialist Study of People of Suicidal Tendencies in Modern and Contemporary American Suicide Drama

This study presents a psychoanalytical and an existentialist investigation into people of suicidal tendencies in modern and contemporary American drama in the elated hope to probe deeper into the minds of such characters and reveal the causes behind developing such suicidal ideation, attempted suicides and completed suicides. Before committing or attempting to commit suicide characters of suicidal tendencies must have experienced many ordeals in their lives that have made them want to commit suicide. They feel or must have felt overloaded by the miserable conditions they find themselves entrapped in. Their suicidality is the culmination of long years of pent up frustration, hopelessness, powerlessness and helpless endurance. For them resorting to suicide seems inescapable to relieve them of the pain of daily living.Keywords: Suicide; Suicidality; Causes; Psychoanalysis; Tendencies; American; Dram

Interactive Experiential ECommerce: An Experimental Study

This study explores the effects of two independent variables: navigation shopping behavior (experiential vs. utilitarian) and interactivity levels (low vs. high) on flow experience, in a laboratory experiment that is a 2 x 2 factorial in a completely randomized design. The experiment deals with two commercial web sites: an original with high interactive features and a custom-made, parallel, and fictitious site with low interactive features. The study handles one independent variable, flow experience, in terms of its sensory, affective, cognitive, behavioral, and relational dimensions, based on Schmitt\u27s (1999, 2003) definition of the user experience and in light of flow theory (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975, 1990, 2000)