Modeling Service Choreographies with Rule-enhanced Business Processes

The participation at EDOC 2010 was overwhelming in every positive sense, and I am very thankful to the committee for this award. Our presentation was received highly positive and triggered several questions. The questions were mainly about the relations of our work with the use of ontology and vocabulary representation languages, and our plans for developing executable models rather than generating code from models. In fact, this was already in line with our previous plans and research directions. Some of these discussions even continued during the following days. In particular, we had plans for two concrete collaborations. One is related to the development of a formal semantics of the rBPMN languages by using process algebra, that is, by using the mCRL2 language in particular. Moreover, we also created a common plan for integration of semi-structured English language for defining business rules and vocabularies. This will also allow us to have a more effective way to capture rules in rBPMN process models. Moreover, our presentation of the rBPMN editor, as an practical implementation tool for the work with the rBPMN language received a special attention, and several researchers have already approached us to establish research collaboration and/or to use our tool, which is now publically available. The overall experience was also extremely valuable. The program of the conference covered nearly all of the diverse topics in enterprise computing. That is, the selected papers cover engineering aspects in many phases of development life cycle of enterprise systems, especially those designed for distributed environments. I have also delivered a keynote at the VORTE 2010 workshop with the audience with was the largest of all workshop keynotes at the conference. The participants very positively received my insights. In a very interactive session, we discussed some of the main research challenges important for better integration of business rules and business process modeling languages.The research community has so far mainly focused on the problem of modeling of service orchestrations in the domain of service composition, while modeling of service choreographies has attracted less attention. The following challenges in choreography modeling are tackled in this paper: i) choreography models are not well-connected with the underlying business vocabulary models. ii) there is limited support for decoupling parts of business logic from complete choreography models. This reduces dynamic changes of choreographies; iii) choreography models contain redundant elements of shared business logic, which might lead to an inconsistent implementation and incompatible behavior. Our proposal – rBPMN – is an extension of a business process modeling language with rule and choreography modeling support. rBPMN is defined by weaving the metamodels of the Business Process Modeling Notation and REWERSE Rule Markup Language. To evaluate our proposal, we use service-interaction patterns and compare our approach with related solutions

End-User Service Computing: Spreadsheets as a Service Composition Tool

In this paper, we show how spreadsheets, an end-user development paradigm proven to be highly productive and simple to learn and use, can be used for complex service compositions. We identify the requirements for spreadsheet-based service composition, and present our framework that implements these requirements. Our framework enables spreadsheets to send requests and retrieve results from various local and remote services. We show how our tools support different composition patterns, and how the style of declarative dependencies of spreadsheets can facilitate service composition. We also discuss novel issues identified by using the framework in several projects and education

Grammar-Based Random Walkers in Semantic Networks

Semantic networks qualify the meaning of an edge relating any two vertices. Determining which vertices are most "central" in a semantic network is difficult because one relationship type may be deemed subjectively more important than another. For this reason, research into semantic network metrics has focused primarily on context-based rankings (i.e. user prescribed contexts). Moreover, many of the current semantic network metrics rank semantic associations (i.e. directed paths between two vertices) and not the vertices themselves. This article presents a framework for calculating semantically meaningful primary eigenvector-based metrics such as eigenvector centrality and PageRank in semantic networks using a modified version of the random walker model of Markov chain analysis. Random walkers, in the context of this article, are constrained by a grammar, where the grammar is a user defined data structure that determines the meaning of the final vertex ranking. The ideas in this article are presented within the context of the Resource Description Framework (RDF) of the Semantic Web initiative.Comment: First draft of manuscript originally written in November 200

Open Source Software: All You Do Is Put It Together

The authors propose an infrastructure for rapidly prototyping applications from open source software components. The Adaptable Multi-Interface Communicator infrastructure (AMICO) is based on ideas of middleware platforms for component integration, but it focuses on pragmatic aspects of OSS integration, often absent from many existing integration platforms. The authors also identify the key requirements of middleware for rapid prototyping with OSS components and illustrate their approach through two examples in complex scenarios

Association Of Supermarket Characteristics With The Body Mass Index Of Their Shoppers

Background Research on the built food environment and weight status has mostly focused on the presence/absence of food outlets while ignoring their internal features or where residents actually shop. We explored associations of distance travelled to supermarkets and supermarket characteristics with shoppers’ body mass index (BMI). Methods Shoppers (n=555) of five supermarkets situated in different income areas in the city were surveyed for food shopping habits, demographics, home postal code, height and weight. Associations of minimum distance to a supermarket (along road network, objectively measured using ArcGIS), its size, food variety and food basket price with shoppers’ BMI were investigated. The ‘food basket’ was defined as the mixture of several food items commonly consumed by residents and available in all supermarkets. Results Supermarkets ranged in total floor space (7500–135 000 square feet) and had similar varieties of fruits, vegetables and cereals. The majority of participants shopped at the surveyed supermarket more than once per week (mean range 1.2 ± 0.8 to 2.3 ± 2.1 times per week across the five supermarkets, p < 0.001), and identified it as their primary store for food (52% overall). Mean participant BMI of the five supermarkets ranged from 23.7 ± 4.3 kg/m2 to 27.1 ± 4.3 kg/m2 (p < 0.001). Median minimum distance from the shoppers’ residence to the supermarket they shopped at ranged from 0.96 (0.57, 2.31) km to 4.30 (2.83, 5.75) km (p < 0.001). A negative association was found between food basket price and BMI. There were no associations between BMI and minimum distance to the supermarket, or other supermarket characteristics. After adjusting for age, sex, dissemination area median individual income and car ownership, BMI of individuals who shopped at Store 1 and Store 2, the supermarkets with lowest price of the ‘food basket’, was 3.66 kg/m2 and 3.73 kg/m2 higher compared to their counterparts who shopped at the supermarket where the ‘food basket’ price was highest (p < 0.001). Conclusions The food basket price in supermarkets was inversely associated with BMI of their shoppers. Our results suggest that careful manipulation of food prices may be used as an intervention for decreasing BMI

Collaborative peer feedback and learning analytics: theory-oriented design for supporting class-wide interventions

Although dialogue can augment the impact of feedback on student learning, dialogic feedback is unaffordable by instructors teaching large classes. In this regard, peer feedback can offer a scalable and effective solution. However, the existing practices optimistically rely on students' discussion about feedback and lack a systematic design approach. In this paper, we propose a theoretical framework of collaborative peer feedback which structures feedback dialogue into three distinct phases and outlines the learning processes involved in each of them. Then, we present a web-based platform, called Synergy, which is designed to facilitate collaborative peer feedback as conceptualised in the theoretical framework. To enable instructor support and facilitation during the feedback practice, we propose a learning analytics support integrated into Synergy. The consolidated model of learning analytics, which concerns three critical pieces for creating impactful learning analytics practices, theory, design and data science, was employed to build the analytics support. The learning analytics support aims to guide instructors' class-wide actions toward improving students' learning experiences during the three phases of peer feedback. The actionable insights that the learning analytics support offers are discussed with examples

Sleep Change of English, French and Chinese speaking Immigrants in Ottawa and Gatineau, Canada

The International Journal of Health Sciences & Research is a multidisciplinary indexed open access double-blind peer-reviewed international journalObjectives: This multicultural study aimed at examining sleep change of English, French and Chinese speaking immigrants in Ottawa and Gatineau, Canada, and identifying demographic factors that impact the change. Materials and Methods: 810 immigrants of the three language sub-groups were recruited by purposive-sampling. Using self-reports, respondents answered questions of sleep change (sleep behavior change and sleep belief change) and demography in Multicultural Lifestyle Change Questionnaire of English, French or Chinese version. Data were analyzed statistically. Results: Immigrants of different gender, language and category sub-groups exhibited different Sleep Time Change Rates, Sleep Time Increasing Rates, Sleep Time Decreasing Rates, Sleep Quality Change Rates, Sleep Quality Improving Rates, Sleep Quality Declining Rate and Sleep Belief Change Rates, but no statistical difference between the rates. Sleep Change (Sleep Behavior Change + Sleep Belief Change) and Sleep Behavior Change were correlated negatively with Mother Tongue, and positively with Age and Primary Occupation. Age and Primary Occupation significantly impacted Sleep Change. Gender significantly impacted Sleep Behavior Change. Mother Tongue significantly impacted Sleep Belief Change. Conclusion: Immigrants of different sub-groups in Canada experienced different sleep changes. Age and Primary Occupation were main impacting factors. Gender was a sleep behavior influencing factor. Mother Tongue was an important sleep belief affecting factor. Culture was a significant contributing factor. Acculturation was a relating impacting factor. Data may provide evidence and implication for immigrant health policy-making and policy-revising in Canada

Physical Activity Change of English, French and Chinese Speaking Immigrants in Ottawa and Gatineau, Canada

SAP is an open access publisherOBJECTIVES: The multicultural study aims at examining Physical Activity Change of English, French and Chinese speaking immigrants in Ottawa and Gatineau, Canada, and identifying demographic factors that correlate with the change and impact the change. METHODS: 810 immigrants of three language sub-groups were recruited by purposive-sampling. Using self-reports, respondents answered questions regarding Physical Activity Change and Demography in Multicultural Lifestyle Change Questionnaire of English, French or Chinese version. Data were analyzed statistically in percentage, correlation, regression and factor analysis. RESULTS: Immigrants of different gender, language and category sub-groups exhibited different rates in Physical Activity Change, and different language sub-groups displayed different Physical Exercise Items rates after immigration, but no statistical difference between the rates. Physical Activity Change (Physical Activity Behavior Change + Physical Activity Belief Change) was negatively correlated with Gender, Category of Immigration, Employment Status and Primary Occupation. Physical Activity Behavior Change was negatively correlated with Age, Gender, Category of Immigration, Employment Status and Primary Occupation. Age, Gender, Category of Immigration and Employment Status significantly impacted Physical Activity Change. Mother Tongue, Age, Gender, Category of Immigration and Employment Status significantly impacted Physical Activity Behavior Change. Two factors (factor one: physical activity behavior change factor and factor two: physical activity belief change factor) influenced significantly Physical Activity Change. Factor one exposed more significant effect than factor two. CONCLUSIONS: Different immigrant sub-groups experienced different Physical Activity Change and three language sub-groups presented different physical activity patterns after immigration. Age, Gender, Category of Immigration, Employment Status and Primary Occupation were main factors impacting significantly Physical Activity Change. Mother Tongue was an important factor influencing significantly Physical Activity Behavior Change. Culture and acculturation were relating contributing factors. Data may provide evidence and implication for physical exercising policy-making and policy-revising in Canada