Mashups: An Approach to Overcoming the Business/IT Gap in Service-Oriented Architectures

For quite a long time already, great importance has been attached to the concept of Service-Oriented Architectures for future IT-architectures. However, a major challenge in implementing this concept lies in the gap between the functional department and IT department. Mashups, an architecture also based on services, try to avoid this gap by letting the user himself integrate the services. The following article analyzes similarities and differences between both architecture approaches, and explains to what extent and in which cases Mashups could complement a Service-Oriented Architecture

Designing a Process Mining-Enabled Decision Support System for Business Process Standardization in ERP Implementation Projects

Process standardization allows to optimize ERP systems and is a nec-essary step prior to ERP implementation projects. Traditional approaches to standardizing business processes are based on manually created "de-jure" process models, which are distorted, error-prone, simplistic, and often deviating from process reality. Theoretically embedded in the organizational contingency theory as kernel theory, this paper employs a design science approach to design a process mining-enabled decision support system (DSS) which combines bottom-up process mining models with manually added top-down standardization infor-mation to recommend a suitable standard process specification from a repository. Extended process models of the as-is process are matched against a repository of best-practice standard process model using an attributebased process similarity matching algorithm. Thus, the DSS aims to reduce the overall costs of process standardization, to optimize the degree of fit between the organization and the implemented processes, and to minimize the degree of organizational change re-quired in standardization and ERP implementation projects. This paper imple-ments a working prototype instantiation in the open-source process analytics platform Apromore based on a real-life event log and standardization attributes for the Purchase-to-Pay and Order-to-Cash processes from three SAP R/3 ERP systems at the industry partner

Website content and design in SME: insights from Portugal

Although there is a vast amount of literature on website evaluation, relatively little has been written about the analysis of websites of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). This paper examines a comprehensive set of content and design features of 915 websites of Portuguese SME, as well as the relationship between these features and enterprise size. The results indicate that the majority of the websites are used to convey information, rather than to make transactions, support networking and collaboration or to interact dynamically with users. Accessibility or privacy and security features are not common among websites. Web 2.0 features have a low presence in SME websites, but social media emerged as a construct. In contrast with existing literature, the study has found that website content and design features are positively related with enterprise size. The contributions and implications are discussed together with avenues for further research.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Procedure for decreasing the required time for fire resistance of the multistory buildings

Abstract The Brazilian standard ABNT NBR 15200: 2012 details a procedure for decreasing the required time of fire resistance in buildings with good fire safety characteristics. It called equivalent time method. This name can confuse the less habituated to the fire safety area, because the Brazilian procedure is not equal to the original equivalent time method, European. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the equivalent time method, to detail the origins of the Brazilian method and present their limitations no explicit in the Brazilian standard. Some unknown aspects of most researchers or technical means are presented. It should be highlighted the abundant bibliography presented to aid the understanding of a seemingly simple issue, but it incorporates many concepts of fire safety, not always understood by the users

Plankton diversity and limnological characterization in two shallow tropical urban reservoirs of Pernambuco State, Brazil

Plankton diversity, physical and chemical variables and chlorophyll a were analyzed in two shallow urban reservoirs with different trophic degrees on Pernambuco State, northeastern Brazil. High eutrophication levels were observed in Apipucos reservoir, while Prata reservoir was considered oligotrophic. Values reported for physical and chemical variables and chlorophyll a differed among the studied ecosystems. Richness and plankton diversity were higher in Apipucos reservoir especially for phytoplankton. The presence of potential toxic Cyanophyceae in both reservoirs reflects a problem mainly to Prata reservoir, which is used for public water supply. Differences were observed for some variables among sites of study in Apipucos reservoir, while the differences among strata were negligible in both reservoirs, reflecting the water column mixing by wind action. Rainfall regulated the temporal dynamics for the analyzed variables, with significant seasonal differences, mainly for the major of limnological variables in Apipucos reservoir. Plankton diversity was higher in Apipucos reservoir, especially to phytoplankton, showing that eutrophication and pollution can favor plankton diversity in tropical urban shallow reservoirs.<br>Diversidade planctônica, variáveis físicas e químicas e clorofila a foram analisadas em dois reservatórios urbanos rasos com diferentes graus de trofia, no estado de Pernambuco, nordeste do Brasil. Elevados níveis de eutrofização foram observados no reservatório de Apipucos, enquanto o reservatório do Prata foi considerado oligotrófico. Os valores registrados para as variáveis físicas e químicas e clorofila a diferiram entre os ecossistemas estudados. Riqueza e diversidade planctônicas foram mais elevadas no reservatório de Apipucos, principalmente para o fitoplâncton. A presença de cianobactérias potencialmente tóxicas em ambos os reservatórios reflete um problema, principalmente no reservatório do Prata, o qual é utilizado para abastecimento público. Diferenças espaciais foram observadas para algumas variáveis entre os pontos de estudo no reservatório de Apipucos, enquanto as diferenças entre as profundidades foram negligenciáveis em ambos os reservatórios, refletindo a mistura da coluna d'água pela ação do vento. A precipitação pluviométrica regulou a dinâmica temporal das variáveis analisadas, com diferenças sazonais significativas, principalmente para a maioria das variáveis limnológicas no reservatório de Apipucos. A diversidade planctônica foi maior no reservatório de Apipucos, revelando que a eutrofização e a poluição podem favorecer a diversidade planctônica em reservatórios tropicais urbanos rasos

Procedure for decreasing the required time for fire resistance of the multistory buildings

<div><p>Abstract The Brazilian standard ABNT NBR 15200: 2012 details a procedure for decreasing the required time of fire resistance in buildings with good fire safety characteristics. It called equivalent time method. This name can confuse the less habituated to the fire safety area, because the Brazilian procedure is not equal to the original equivalent time method, European. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the equivalent time method, to detail the origins of the Brazilian method and present their limitations no explicit in the Brazilian standard. Some unknown aspects of most researchers or technical means are presented. It should be highlighted the abundant bibliography presented to aid the understanding of a seemingly simple issue, but it incorporates many concepts of fire safety, not always understood by the users.</p></div

[pt] INTRODUÇÃO À PROBABILIDADE: MEDIDAS DE PROBABILIDADE - EXERCÍCIO 1

Technology concepts and solutions such as object orientation, componentization, Web services, and autonomous agents have been proposed as ways of modeling and developing flexible systems for business process management. However, no explicit linkage has been established between the requirements of flexible process management and the proposed technology support. The objective of this chapter is to investigate how we should apply these modular computing technologies for developing flexible process management solutions by (1) examining the underlying requirements of business process management and (2) relating these requirements to various modular technologies. The underlying requirements of flexible business process management are examined by investigating the key problems with their solutions in business process management, which include decomposition of complex processes, coordination of interactive activities, awareness of dynamic business environments, and flexible resource allocation and coordination. On the other hand, various modular computing technologies for developing flexible systems are examined such as Agent-Oriented Computing (AOC), Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), Component-Based Development (CBD), and Object-Oriented Programming (OOP). The similarities and basic differences between these technology concepts and solutions are investigated. By matching these technologies to the requirements of flexible business process management, we develop a systemic approach for employing these technologies in developing flexible process management systems