Measuring the modeling complexity of microservice choreography and orchestration: The case of e-commerce applications

Context: With the increasing popularity of microservices for software application development, businesses are migrating from monolithic approaches towards more scalable and independently deployable applications using microservice architectures. Each microservice is designed to perform one single task. However, these microservices need to be composed together to communicate and deliver complex system functionalities. There are two major approaches to compose microservices, namely Choreography and Orchestration. Microservice compositions are mainly built around business functionalities, therefore businesses need to choose the right composition style that best serves their needs. Hence, this research uses existing complexity metrics from the software engineering and business process modeling domains on small, mid-sized, and end-to-end e-commerce scenarios to analyze and compare the level of complexity of microservice Orchestration and Choreography using Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN). Objective: Comparing the complexity of the two leading composition techniques on small, mid-sized, and end-to-end e-commerce scenarios, using complexity metrics from the software engineering and business process literature. More specifically, we use the metrics to assess the complexity of BPMN-based models representing the abovementioned e-commerce scenarios. Method: This research follows a five-step process for conducting a Design Science Research (DSR) methodology to define, develop and evaluate BPMN-based models for microservice compositions. Results: A series of BPMN workflows are designed as artifacts to investigate microservice Choreography and Orchestration. The results derived from the complexity evaluation of our proposed models show a higher level of complexity in orchestrating microservices for e-commerce applications given the number of services used in modeling Orchestration compared to Choreography. Conclusion: This research uncovers insights on modeling microservice Choreography and Orchestration and discusses the impacts of complexity on the modifiability and understandability of the proposed models. Keywords: Microservice, Microservice Composition, Choreography, Orchestration, Complexity Metric, BPMN

In vitro study on the interaction of ketotifen fumarate with anhydrous theophylline

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the interaction between ketotifen fumarate and anhydrous theophylline in aqueous media of various pH (1.2 and 6.8). Using Job's continuous-variation analysis and Ardon's spectrophotomeric measurement methods, the values of the stability constants of theophylline with ketotifen were determined at a fixed temperature (37 ºC) at various pH. The stability constants, ranging between 5.66 and 9.92, were derived from Ardon's plot, indicating that comparatively stable complexes had formed as a result of an interaction between the drugs. However, following the interaction of theophylline with ketotifen, stability constants were <1 at gastric pH (1.2) and intestinal pH (6.8). Concurrent administration of ketotifen and theophylline could result in the formation of a stable complex and this is likely to reduce the therapeutic activities of both drugs

Sedative and Anxiolytic Activities of Geodorum densiflorum Roots in Swiss Albino Mice

Fresh root of Geodorum densiflorum (Lam.) (Orchidaceae) has applications in regularizing menstrual cycle and as topical aids in insect bites and wounds. The tuber extracts of some plants belonging to Geodorum have folkloric reputation in the management of transient anxiety. The current study was undertaken to investigate the sedative/ anxiolytic effects of G. densiflorum root extracts using rodent behavioral models, such as open field, hole cross, thiopental sodium-induced hypnosis and elevated plus maze test. Present data shows that the organic extracts of G. densiflorum root increase the thiopental sodium induced sleeping time and reduce the time for the onset of sleep. A statistically significant reduction in motor activity and exploratory behavior were observed in the open field and hole cross tests. The results of the current studies provide scientific evidence for its uses in traditional medicines as sedative and anxiolytic agents