4,668 research outputs found
A Model-Based Approach to Impact Analysis Using Model Differencing
Impact analysis is concerned with the identification of consequences of
changes and is therefore an important activity for software evolution. In
modelbased software development, models are core artifacts, which are often
used to generate essential parts of a software system. Changes to a model can
thus substantially affect different artifacts of a software system. In this
paper, we propose a modelbased approach to impact analysis, in which explicit
impact rules can be specified in a domain specific language (DSL). These impact
rules define consequences of designated UML class diagram changes on software
artifacts and the need of dependent activities such as data evolution. The UML
class diagram changes are identified automatically using model differencing.
The advantage of using explicit impact rules is that they enable the
formalization of knowledge about a product. By explicitly defining this
knowledge, it is possible to create a checklist with hints about development
steps that are (potentially) necessary to manage the evolution. To validate the
feasibility of our approach, we provide results of a case study.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, In: Proceedings of the 8th International
Workshop on Software Quality and Maintainability (SQM), ECEASST Journal, vol.
65 201
Working paper 06-07 - Potential ICT-enabled Offshoring of Service Jobs in Belgium
This paper provides a rough estimate for Belgium of the proportion of service jobs at risk of being offshored in the wake of ICT-developments, and compares the results for Belgium with results for the EU15 and the US. Occupational employment data from the Labour Force Survey are used to produce this estimate by identifying service jobs that could possibly be offshored due to ICT-enabled tradability. The results show that the share of such jobs is lower for Belgium than for the EU15 or the US, but that there is an upward trend in this share over the period 1993 to 2005. Industry-level data and a shift-and-share analysis are used to explain the results.ICT
Working Paper 05-11 - Productivity gains and spillovers from offshoring
Offshoring is generally believed to be productivity-enhancing and this belief is underpinned by economic theory. This article contributes to the growing literature that tests empirically whether offshoring does indeed help to improve productivity. Estimating the impact of materials and business services offshoring on productivity growth with industry-level data for Belgium over the period 1995-2004, we investigate this issue separately for manufacturing and market services. The results show that there is no productivity effect of materials offshoring, while business services offshoring leads to productivity gains especially in manufacturing. In addition, we look at the possibility of rent spillovers from offshoring. Productivity gains from offshoring in one industry may feed through to other industries that purchase its output for intermediate use if, due to offshoring, the user value exceeds the price of the output. The lack of evidence of such rent spillovers from either materials or business services offshoring in the data leads us to conclude that firms manage to internalise all efficiency gains from offshoring.Offshoring, Productivity, Business services, Rent spillovers, Materials
Working Paper 09-08 - Trade-based measures of offshoring: an overview for Belgium
Offshoring has since long been a matter of concern in developed countries and has recently received growing attention in the economic literature. The aim of this paper is to provide a critical review of definitions of offshoring that have been put forward in recent years, thereby updating the definitions in earlier publications of the Federal Planning Bureau. We also take a closer look at how offshoring can be measured. In the absence of individual firm data, we focus on indirect trade-based measures of offshoring, compare them and present results for Belgium that show an upward trend in offshoring.Offshoring, Trade-based measures, Processing trade, Imported intermediate inputs, Supply and use tables, Shift-and-share analysis
A plethora of new, magnetic chemically peculiar stars from LAMOST DR4
Magnetic chemically peculiar (mCP) stars are important to astrophysics
because their complex atmospheres lend themselves perfectly to the
investigation of the interplay between such diverse phenomena as atomic
diffusion, magnetic fields, and stellar rotation. The present work is aimed at
identifying new mCP stars using spectra collected by the Large Sky Area
Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST). Suitable candidates were
selected by searching LAMOST DR4 spectra for the presence of the characteristic
5200A flux depression. Spectral classification was carried out with a modified
version of the MKCLASS code and the accuracy of the classifications was
estimated by comparison with results from manual classification and the
literature. Using parallax data and photometry from Gaia DR2, we investigated
the space distribution of our sample stars and their properties in the
colour-magnitude diagram. Our final sample consists of 1002 mCP stars, most of
which are new discoveries (only 59 previously known). Traditional mCP star
peculiarities have been identified in all but 36 stars, highlighting the
efficiency of the code's peculiarity identification capabilities. The derived
temperature and peculiarity types are in agreement with manually derived
classifications and the literature. Our sample stars are between 100 Myr and 1
Gyr old, with the majority having masses between 2M(Sun) and 3M(Sun). Our
results could be considered as strong evidence for an inhomogeneous age
distribution among low-mass (M < 3M(Sun)) mCP stars. We identified several
astrophysically interesting objects: two mCP stars have distances and
kinematical properties in agreement with halo stars; an eclipsing binary system
hosting an mCP star component; and an SB2 system likely comprising of an mCP
star and a supergiant component.Comment: 62 pages, 24 figures, 10 tables, corrected some typos and minor
mistakes; corrected wrong number of stars with absolute parallax errors less
than 25
Model Matching Challenge: Benchmarks for Ecore and BPMN Diagrams
In the last couple of years, Model Driven Engineering (MDE) gained a
prominent role in the context of software engineering. In the MDE paradigm,
models are considered first level artifacts which are iteratively developed by
teams of programmers over a period of time. Because of this, dedicated tools
for versioning and management of models are needed. A central functionality
within this group of tools is model comparison and differencing. In two
disjunct research projects, we identified a group of general matching problems
where state-of-the-art comparison algorithms delivered low quality results. In
this article, we will present five edit operations which are the cause for
these low quality results. The reasons why the algorithms fail, as well as
possible solutions, are also discussed. These examples can be used as
benchmarks by model developers to assess the quality and applicability of a
model comparison tool for a given model type.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure
Enabling mobile commerce through mass customization
Mobile Commerce is a new degree of electronic commerce arises from the convergence of Internet and mobile communication technologies. In order to be successful in mobile business, it is not sufficient to simply transfer conventional Internet applications or E-Commerce business models on mobile devices. Added values for the customer are necessary. Typical informational added values in Mobile Commerce originate from ubiquity, context-sensitivity, identifying functions or command and control functions. Mobile devices implicate disadvantes, which can be equalized by individualization. For the simplest devices, this is satisfied with simple features like housings, ring tones or logos. The more upmarket the device is, the more the individualization focus is laid on the applications instead of the device itself. In terms of mass customization, the individualization of mobile devices and applications can be categorized as soft customization. Below this level, three kinds of customization habe to be distinguished: The first on is device adaptation which means the customization of the device itself. The next one is application adaptation and describes the customization of the applications through the customer or as self-individualization of the software. The last one is service composition and means the package of services or the customer-individual composition of applications and services, which ca be done either by the customer, by the provider or by collaboration of both. In this paper we show the importance of mass customization and its techniques for the success of mobile commerce.mass customization; M-Commerce; mobile added values; point-of-delivery-customization; service composition
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