Multi-Party Coordination in the Context of MOWS

Separation of concerns has been presented as a promising tool to tackle the design of complex systems in which cross-cutting properties that do not fit into the scope of a class must be satisfied. In this paper, we show that interactions amongst a number of objects can also be described separately from functionality, which enhances reusability of functional code and interaction patterns. We present our proposal in the context of Multi-Qrganisational Web-Based Systems (MOWS) and also present a framework that provides the infrastructure needed to implement multiparty coordination as an independent aspect

Aspect-oriented interaction in multi-organisational web-based systems

Separation of concerns has been presented as a promising tool to tackle the design of complex systems in which cross-cutting properties that do not fit into the scope of a class must be satisfied. Unfortunately, current proposals assume that objects interact by means of object-oriented method calls, which implies that they embed interactions with others into their functional code. This makes them dependent on this interaction model, and makes it difficult to reuse them in a context in which another interaction model is more suited, e.g., tuple spaces, multiparty meetings, ports, and so forth. In this paper, we show that functionality can be described separately from the interaction model used, which helps enhance reusability of functional code and coordination patterns. Our proposal is innovative in that it is the first that achieves a clear separation between functionality and interaction in an aspect-oriented manner. In order to show that it is feasible, we adapted the multiparty interaction model to the context of multiorganisational web-based systems and developed a class framework to build business objects whose performance rates comparably to handmade implementations; the development time, however, decreases significantly.Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología TIC2000-1106-C02-0

Association between Eruption Sequence of Posterior Teeth, Dental Crowding, Arch Dimensions, Incisor Inclination, and Skeletal Growth Pattern

Background: We conducted research to investigate the effects of the eruption sequence of posterior teeth, arch dimensions, and incisor inclination on dental crowding. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional analytic study was performed on 100 patients (54 boys and 46 girls; mean ages: 11.69 and 11.16 years, respectively). Seq1 (canine-3-/second premolar-5-) or Seq2 (5/3) eruption sequences were recorded in maxilla, and Seq3 (canine-3-/first premolar-4-) or Seq4 (4/3) eruption sequences in mandible; tooth size, available space, tooth size-arch length discrepancy (TS-ALD), arch lengths, incisor inclination and distance, and skeletal relationship were noted. Results: The most common eruption sequences in the maxilla and mandible were Seq1 (50.6%), and Seq3 (52.1%), respectively. In the maxilla, posterior tooth sizes were larger in crowded cases. In the mandible, anterior and posterior tooth sizes were larger in crowded patients. No relationship between incisor variables and the maxillo-mandibular relationship and dental crowding was found. A negative correlation between inferior TS-ALD and the mandibular plane was found. Conclusions: Seq1 and Seq 2 in the maxilla and Seq 3 and Seq 4 in the mandible were equally prevalent. An eruption sequence of 3–5 in the maxilla and 3–4 in the mandible is more likely to cause crowding.BIOCRAN (Craniofacial Biology, Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics) Research GroupDepartment of Clinical Spaecialties (DECO), University Complutense of Madri

Metodología de la evaluación de programas en servicios sociales

Un primer acercamiento al ámbito de evaluación de programas en servicios sociales puede dar la impresión de constituir un proceso perfectamente delimitado. No obstante al profundizar en la problemática nos encontramos ante una gran dispersión teórica, lo cual revierte en la existencia de grandes limitaciones metodológicas. Todo ello implica que el ejercicio profesional en evaluación de programas de intervención no encuentre un marco de referencia claro en el que fundamentar sus actuaciones. En este sentido, el artículo presenta, por un lado, un planteamiento de diseño de evaluación general en el que enmarcar la secuenciación de una serie de fases en función del desarrollo coordinado que debe experimentar el/los programa/s de intervención concreto/s sobre el/lós que se actúa y, por otro, la estructura de funcionamiento del Servicio en la que se integra/n éste/os.Although a first approach to evaluation programs in social services may appear to be a well defined process, after studying this issue we found a wide theoretical dispersion, which implies very important methodological restrictions. Because of this, professional practice in evaluation doesn’t have a clear framework, in which to ground its actions. This anide introduces a general evaluation design consisting of the sequence of several stages depending on the coordinated development that specific intervention program/s must have, and the service functioning structure in which the intervention program/s are integrated

Main components of organizational climate in an emergency medical service: a qualitative approach

El presente trabajo ofrece un modelo estructural de los principales componentes del «clima laboral» a partir de una construcción de categorías realizadas mediante el registro de información no estructurada aportada por 7 informantes clave del servicio de urgencias de una organización sanitaria. Para el registro de la información se utilizaron entrevistas en profundidad. Con la intención de organizar y sistematizar la información, se realizó un análisis de contenido de la documentación aportada, transformándola a formato de texto siguiendo el método denominado «Teoría Fundamentada» (Strauss y Glaser,1980). Como resultado, se obtuvo un modelo del concepto basado en 5 componentes principales: «productividad», «relación laboral», «trabajo individual», «satisfacción laboral» y «característicasdel servicio». A diferencia de otros procedimientos de obtención de componentes principales de un concepto, éste permitió dar cuenta del proceso de construcción emergente de las distintas categorías para poder explicitar procesos de construcción del cuerpo substantivo del concepto.This paper presents a structural model of the main components of «organizational climate» from the development of categories based on the registry of non-structured information obtained from 7 key informants, members of an emergency medical service. Information was registered using in-depth interviews. In order to organize and systematize the information, a content analysis of the given documentation was carried out, after transforming it to textformat following the «Grounded Theory» (Strauss & Glaser, 1980). As a result, a model of the concept based on 5 main components was obtained: «productivity», «working relationship », «independent work», «labor satisfaction» and «characteristics of the service». This procedure to obtain the main components of a concept differs from others in that this one described the emergent process of construction of the different categories in order to make explicit the processes of construction of the substantive body of the concept.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación PSI2011-2958

Elaboration of an instrument to measure the construct satisfaction with the training received

In the context of higher education, one of the relevant elements to assess the quality of service rendered by educational institutions is the assessment that students do in terms of “satisfaction with the training received”. Currently, in the literature there are some limitations to determine the main dimensions of the construct “satisfaction with the training received”. The aim of this paper is to present evidence of content validity of a set of indicators to measure this construct. After conducting a review of the literature, and based on a questionnaire previously elaborated to measure satisfaction in training programs, a structural and operational definition of the construct was presented, in order to obtain the main dimensions and subdomains that form the construct. Then, a set of indicators were specified to measure each dimension of the construct. Finally, evidence of content validity was obtained carrying out an expert opinion study. As a result, all the indicators presented were suitable or fairly appropriate based on Osterlind indexes about its degree of adjustment with its dimension, and were considered representative. Other evidence of psychometric properties, reliability and validity are planned to be obtained in the future

Construct validity: The use of factor analysis.

Una práctica habitual para obtener evidencia de validez de modelos teóricos basados en los resultados del Análisis Factorial Exploratorio -EFA-, (Arruda et. al., 1996), suele ser utilizar el Análisis Factorial Confirmatorio (CFA) para demostrar la validez de la estructura factorial previamente obtenida con EFA y por consiguiente la validez de las deducciones teóricas inferidas del mismo, es decir, los modelos obtenidos con EFA suelen ser validados con CFA. El objetivo de este artículo es incidir en la posible redundancia de este procedimiento usado en validez de constructo. Se intenta mostrar que generalmente CFA siempre validará las soluciones obtenidas previamente mediante EFA, dado que la estructura factorial resultante de EFA es una de las posibles soluciones que se derivan de la matriz de datos y, por consiguiente, es previsible que en otra muestra extraída de la misma población de referencia, se confirme la estructura obtenida en la anterior. En este sentido, el binomio EFA-CFA, puede ser considerado como un pseudoprocedimiento para la validación de constructo.The results of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) are usually used to deduce theoretical models (Arruda et. al., 1996) and then confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is used to demonstrate the construct validity of those deductions. Therefore, models obtai - ned from the former are ussually validated using latter. The object of this study is to demonstrate the redundancy of this procedure in construct validation. It will be shown that, usually, CFA will validate solutions obtained using EFA. This article emphasizes that this type of procedure does not offer definitive information about the construct validity of the solutions obtained using exploratory factor analysis. In this sense, the EFA-CFA binomial could be considered as a pseudo construct validation

An order-based algorithm for implementing multiparty synchronization

Multiparty interactions are a powerful mechanism for coordinating several entities that need to cooperate in order to achieve a common goal. In this paper, we present an algorithm for implementing them that improves on previous results in that it does not require the whole set of entities or interactions to be known at compile- or run-time, and it can deal with both terminating and non-terminating systems. We also present a comprehensive simulation analysis that shows how sensitive to changes our algorithm is, and compare the results with well-known proposals by other authors. This study proves that our algorithm still performs comparably to other proposals in which the set of entities and interactions is known beforehand, but outperforms them in some situations that are clearly identified. In addition, these results prove that our algorithm can be combined with a technique called synchrony loosening without having an effect on efficiency.Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología TIC 2003-02737-C02-0

A Multiparty Coordination Aspect Language

Coordination languages were motivated by an ever-increasing need for producing highly-reusable components, which can be partially achieved by implementing them in a way that is independent of the way they interact. Isolating interaction from computation, persistence and other concerns enhances modularity, thus promoting reusability and understandability. In this paper, we concentrate on a language aimed at describing the simultaneous coordination of a number of entities, which is a problem we are usually faced with when we have to programme bank transfers, purchases with debit cards, auctions, and so on. This language relies on the novel multiparty interaction model

Repairing Syntax Errors in LR Parsers

This article reports on an error-repair algorithm for LR parsers. It locally inserts, deletes or shifts symbols at the positions where errors are detected, thus modifying the right context in order to resume parsing on a valid piece of input. This method improves on others in that it does not require the user to provide additional information about the repair process, it does not require precalculation of auxiliary tables, and it can be easily integrated into existing LR parser generators. A Yacc-based implementation is presented along with some experimental results and comparisons with other well-known methods.Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología TIC 2000–1106–C02–0