Distributed Web Service Coordination for Collaboration Applications and Biological Workflows

In this dissertation work, we have investigated the main research thrust of decentralized coordination of workflows over web services. To address distributed workflow coordination, first we have developed “Web Coordination Bonds” as a capable set of dependency modeling primitives that enable each web service to manage its own dependencies. Web bond primitives are as powerful as extended Petri nets and have sufficient modeling and expressive capabilities to model workflow dependencies. We have designed and prototyped our “Web Service Coordination Management Middleware” (WSCMM) system that enhances current web services infrastructure to accommodate web bond enabled web services. Finally, based on core concepts of web coordination bonds and WSCMM, we have developed the “BondFlow” system that allows easy configuration distributed coordination of workflows. The footprint of the BonFlow runtime is 24KB and the additional third party software packages, SOAP client and XML parser, account for 115KB

A Methodology for Engineering Collaborative and ad-hoc Mobile Applications using SyD Middleware

Today’s web applications are more collaborative and utilize standard and ubiquitous Internet protocols. We have earlier developed System on Mobile Devices (SyD) middleware to rapidly develop and deploy collaborative applications over heterogeneous and possibly mobile devices hosting web objects. In this paper, we present the software engineering methodology for developing SyD-enabled web applications and illustrate it through a case study on two representative applications: (i) a calendar of meeting application, which is a collaborative application and (ii) a travel application which is an ad-hoc collaborative application. SyD-enabled web objects allow us to create a collaborative application rapidly with limited coding effort. In this case study, the modular software architecture allowed us to hide the inherent heterogeneity among devices, data stores, and networks by presenting a uniform and persistent object view of mobile objects interacting through XML/SOAP requests and responses. The performance results we obtained show that the application scales well as we increase the group size and adapts well within the constraints of mobile devices

SyD: A Middleware Testbed for Collaborative Applications over Small Heterogeneous Devices and Data Stores

Abstract. Currently, it is possible to develop a collaborative application running on a collection of heterogeneous, possibly mobile, devices, each potentially hosting data stores, using existing middleware technologies such as JXTA, BREW, compact.NET and J2ME. However, they require too many ad-hoc techniques as well as cumbersome and time-consuming programming. Our System on Mobile Devices (SyD) middleware, on the other hand, has a modular architecture that makes such application de-velopment very systematic and streamlined. The architecture supports transactions over mobile data stores, with a range of remote group invo-cation options and embedded interdependencies among such data store objects. The architecture further provides a persistent uniform object view, group transaction with Quality of Service (QoS) speci¯cations, and XML vocabulary for inter-device communication. This paper presents the basic SyD concepts, introduces the architecture and the design of the SyD middleware and its components. We also provide guidelines fo

DISTRIBUTED WEB SERVICE COORDINATION FOR COLLABORATIVE APPLICATIONS AND BIOLOGICAL WORKFLOWS

In this dissertation work, we have investigated the main research thrust of decentralized coordination of workflows over web services. To address distributed workflow coordination, first we have developed “Web Coordination Bonds” as a capable set of dependency modeling primitives that enable each web service to manage its own dependencies. Web bond primitives are as powerful as extended Petri nets and have sufficient modeling and expressive capabilities to model workflow dependencies. We have designed and prototyped our “Web Service Coordination Management Middleware” (WSCMM) system that enhances current web services infrastructure to accommodate web bond enabled web services. Finally, based on core concepts of web coordination bonds and WSCMM, we have developed the “BondFlow ” system that allows easy configuration distributed coordination of workflows. The footprint of the BonFlow runtime is 24KB and the additional third party software packages, SOAP client and XML parser, account for 115KB

Web Coordination Bonds: A Simple Enhancement to Web Services Infrastructure for Effective Collaboration

The Web Services need to extend beyond the basic service architecture (invoke and respond) to selfcoordinating Web processes collaborating among themselves in the desired configuration as per user's application (transient to long lasting). A core set of artifacts are needed to allow these Web processes to hook together in a desired structure to enforce automatic information flow, group constraint satisfaction, and data and control dependencies, all without any central coordinating authority. We propose Web Coordination Bonds, analogous to the chemical bonds, as a set of such core artifacts for effective collaboration among Web Services. There are two types of Web bonds: subscription bonds allow information, control and event flows whereas negotiation bonds enforce dependencies and contracts. Web bonds are simple yet powerful, and we demonstrate how they can be employed to create (model) and enforce (deploy and execute) producerconsumer and shared-resource relationships, workflow scenarios, and atomic transactions. We have developed and prototyped a middleware called System on Devices (SyD) incorporating Web bonds, and have employed it to prototype a few distributed applications which bond existing Web Services together to collaborate. Much remains to be done, including theoretical treatment of Web coordination bonds

A Rare Case of Gallstone Ileus: Bouveret Syndrome Presenting with Concurrent Gallstone Coleus

Background. Bouveret syndrome and gallstone coleus are two rare subsets of gallstone ileus. Bouveret syndrome involves a gastric outlet obstruction, whereas gallstone coleus involves an obstruction of the large intestine. Both of the conditions are caused by gallstones, which migrated from the gallbladder via the fistulae. Due to its rarity, only few cases were reported for each condition. The current case describes an even rarer case of Bouveret syndrome and gallstone coleus presenting together. The case report will hopefully provide better understanding of the disease presentation and hence, lead to early diagnosis and management. Case. Ms. B is an 86-year-old woman of Italian background who presented to our emergency department with worsening symptoms of bowel obstruction. Her past clinical history included Kaposi sarcoma, hypertension, osteoarthritis, and vitamin D deficiency with surgical history including caesarean section and tonsillectomy. On her imaging, she had two large gallstones, one in the proximal duodenum and one in the distal colon. It also showed gastric dilatation and gas in the gall bladder. She was subsequently diagnosed with Bouveret syndrome with concurrent gallstone coleus. The laparotomy revealed two points of gallstone obstruction at the first part of the duodenum and at the distal sigmoid colon. Her postoperative recovery was uncomplicated. She was discharged to the care of her family and followed up in the general surgery clinic. Conclusion. The current case report describes a unique presentation of Bouveret syndrome where an additional gallstone was found simultaneously in the sigmoid colon causing the obstruction. By introducing this novel case of having two different subsets of gallstone ileus simultaneously, there will be a better understanding of both conditions and hopefully improve our scope of practice

Service-Oriented Cloud Computing Architecture

Cloud computing is getting popular and IT giants such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, IBM have started their cloud computing infrastructure. However, current cloud implementations are often isolated from other cloud implementations. This paper gives an overview survey of current cloud computing architectures, discusses issues that current cloud computing implementations have and proposes a Service-Oriented Cloud Computing Architecture (SOCCA) so that clouds can interoperate with each other. Furthermore, the SOCCA also proposes high level designs to better support multi-tenancy feature of cloud computing. 1

Development of NeuronBank: A Federation of Customizable Knowledge Bases of Neuronal Circuitry

Knowledge of neuronal circuitry is foundational to the neurosciences, but no tools have been developed for cataloguing this knowledge. Part of the problem is that the concepts used to describe neural circuits are rapidly evolving and vary substantially across different species. The NeuronBank projec