An aspect-oriented and model-driven approach for managing dynamic variability

Constructing and executing distributed systems that can adapt to their operating context in order to sustain provided services and the service qualities are complex tasks. Managing adaptation of multiple, interacting services is particularly difficult since these services tend to be distributed across the system, interdependent and sometimes tangled with other services. Furthermore, the exponential growth of the number of potential system configurations derived from the variabilities of each service need to be handled. Current practices of writing low-level reconfiguration scripts as part of the system code to handle run time adaptation are both error prone and time consuming and make adaptive systems difficult to validate and evolve. In this paper, we propose to combine model driven and aspect oriented techniques to better cope with the complexities of adaptive systems construction and execution, and to handle the problem of exponential growth of the number of possible configurations. Combining these techniques allows us to use high level domain abstractions, simplify the representation of variants and limit the problem pertaining to the combinatorial explosion of possible configurations. In our approach we also use models at runtime to generate the adaptation logic by comparing the current configuration of the system to a composed model representing the configuration we want to reach. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Role of GSH in estrone sulfate binding and translocation by the multidrug resistance protein 1 (MRP1/ABCC1)

Multidrug resistance protein 1 (MRP1/ABCC1) is an ATP-dependent efflux pump that can confer resistance to multiple anticancer drugs and transport conjugated organic anions. Unusually, transport of several MRP1 substrates requires glutathione (GSH). For example, estrone sulfate transport by MRP1 is stimulated by GSH, vincristine is co-transported with GSH, or GSH can be transported alone. In the present study, radioligand binding assays were developed to investigate the mechanistic details of GSH-stimulated transport of estrone sulfate by MRP1. We have established that estrone sulfate binding to MRP1 requires GSH, or its non-reducing analogue S-methyl GSH (S-mGSH), and further that the affinity (Kd) of MRP1 for estrone sulfate is 2.5-fold higher in the presence of S-mGSH than GSH itself. Association kinetics show that GSH binds to MRP1 first, and we propose that GSH binding induces a conformational change, which makes the estrone sulfate binding site accessible. Binding of non-hydrolyzable ATP analogues to MRP1 decreases the affinity for estrone sulfate. However, GSH (or S-mGSH) is still required for estrone sulfate binding, and the affinity for GSH is unchanged. Estrone sulfate affinity remains low following hydrolysis of ATP. The affinity for GSH also appears to decrease in the post-hydrolytic state. Our results indicate ATP binding is sufficient for reconfiguration of the estrone sulfate binding site to lower affinity and argue for the presence of a modulatory GSH binding site not associated with transport of this tripeptide. A model for the mechanism of GSH-stimulated estrone sulfate transport is proposed.

Contesting labour internationalism:the "old" trapped in the "new" in Volkswagen’s South African plant

During the 1970s and 1980s, close linkages were established between unionists in Volkswagen's Uitenhage plant in South Africa and Wolfsburg in Germany. The ensuing relationship resulted in trade union internationalism and solidarity with South African workers in their struggle against apartheid. After the insertion of the South African plant into the global production networks of the company, a range of new pressures and challenges confronted the union in South Africa. This resulted in the mass dismissal in 2000. In an attempt to garner international support and solidarity, the dismissed workers tapped into existing structures with no success, illustrating the reconfiguration of trade union internationalism away from worker interests to those of the unions and company. © 2010 UALE.

Quality of Service System Approximation in IP Networks

This paper is sponsored by the Ministry of Education and Research of the Republic of Bulgaria in the framework of project No 105 “Multimedia Packet Switching Networks Planning with Quality of Service and Traffic Management”.

To what extent and in what manner do Chinese and Indian contract research organisation learn and upgrade with the unbundling the global pharmaceutical R&D value chain?

The paper applies the GVC framework to analyse the organisational and geographical reconfiguration of the global R&D function of leading US and European pharmaceutical MNCs. Though pharmaceutical MNCs have been outsourcing clinical trial activities since the mid-1990s, the outsourcing of discovery research tasks is a phenomenon of the 2000s (Ramirez 2013). Moreover, in the context of a crisis of R&D productivity and increasing pressure from shareholders, a number of US and European pharmaceutical MNCs are breaking up their R&D function in an attempt to increase flexibility and reduce risk as well as costs and are thereby restructuring the global architecture of their R&D function. This break-up, or unbundling (Sako 2006), of the R&D function is particularly interesting given the prevalence of market failure in innovation (Howells et al 2008), the non-modular nature of the R&D process in this industry (Pisano 2006) and the strategic important of this activity to the core competence and long-term competitive advantage of firms in this sector. The focus of this paper is on the outsourcing of R&D activities to Chinese and Indian independently-owned contract research organisations (CROs) and the way these firms are becoming integrated as service providers into the global R&D function (or R&D value chain) of pharmaceutical MNCs. Above all the paper is concerned with the development of capabilities of CROs from these two countries and the dynamics of upgrading in GVCs in knowledge-intensive functions. The paper therefore discusses the role of both knowledge flows within global pharmaceutical R&D value chains as well as national innovation systems on the development of capabilities of Chinese and Indian CROs. Our analysis is based on data from semi-structured interviews collected from senior R&D managers from a sample of ten US and European pharmaceutical MNCs and owners and senior R&D managers from five Chinese and five Indian CROs who are providing research services to MNCs in this industry. We discuss the emergence of R&D outsourcing in this industry and the nature and mechanisms of knowledge flows within R&D value chains. The embeddedness of CROS in the national innovation systems of their home countries is also discussed.

Dynamic capabilities for CSR management:towards identifying common processes

Purpose – The objective of this paper is to address the question whether and how firms can follow a standard management process to cope with emerging corporate social responsibility (CSR) challenges? Both researchers and practitioners have paid increasing attention to the question because of the rapidly evolving CSR expectations of stakeholders and the limited diffusion of CSR standardization. The question was addressed by developing a theoretical framework to explain how dynamic capabilities can contribute to effective CSR management. Design/methodology/approach – Based on 64 world-leading companies’ contemporary CSR reports, we carried out a large-scale content analysis to identify and examine the common organizational processes involved in CSR management and the dynamic capabilities underpinning those management processes. Findings – Drawing on the dynamic capabilities perspective, we demonstrate how the deployment of three dynamic capabilities for CSR management, namely, scanning, sensing and reconfiguration capabilities can help firms to meet emerging CSR requirements by following a set of common management processes. The findings demonstrate that what is more important in CSR standardization is the identification and development of the underlying dynamic capabilities and the related organizational processes and routines, rather than the detailed operational activities. Originality/value - Our study is an early attempt to examine the fundamental organizational capabilities and processes involved in CSR management from the dynamic capabilities perspective. Our research findings contribute to CSR standardization literature by providing a new theoretical perspective to better understand the capabilities enabling common CSR management processes.

Implementing dynamic capabilities for corporate strategic change towards sustainability

Dynamic scanning, identification, and reconfiguration capabilities can facilitate firms' strategic change toward sustainability and higher competitive advantage in an evolving market environment.

A three-level RFID-based automation approach to enhance network competitiveness

Today, the question of how to successfully reduce supply chain costs whilst increasing customer satisfaction continues to be the focus of many firms. It is noted in the literature that supply chain automation can increase flexibility whilst reducing inefficiencies. However, in the dynamic and process driven environment of distribution, there is the absence of a cohesive automation approach to guide companies in improving network competitiveness. This paper aims to address the gap in the literature by developing a three-level framework automation application approach with the assistance of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and returnable transport equipment (RTE). The first level considers the automation of data retrieval and highlights the benefits of RFID. The second level consists of automating distribution processes such as unloading and assembling orders. As the labour is reduced with the introduction of RFID enabled robots, the balance between automation and labour is discussed. Finally, the third level is an analysis of the decision-making process at network points and the application of cognitive automation to objects. A distribution network scenario is formed and used to illustrate network reconfiguration at each level. The research pinpoints that RFID enabled RTE offers a viable tool to assist supply chain automation. Further research is proposed in particular, the area of cognitive automation to aide with decision-making.

Efficiency improvement of non-uniformly-aged PV arrays

The utilization of solar energy by photovoltaic (PV) systems have received much research and development (R&D) attention across the globe. In the past decades, a large number of PV array have been installed. Since the installed PV arrays often operate in harsh environments, non-uniform aging can occur and impact adversely on the performance of PV systems, especially in the middle and late periods of their service life. Due to the high cost of replacing aged PV modules by new modules, it is appealing to improve energy efficiency of aged PV systems. For this purpose, this paper presents a PV module reconfiguration strategy to achieve the maximum power generation from non-uniformly aged PV arrays without significant investment. The proposed reconfiguration strategy is based on the cell-unit structure of PV modules, the operating voltage limit of gird-connected converter, and the resulted bucket-effect of the maximum short circuit current. The objectives are to analyze all the potential reorganization options of the PV modules, find the maximum power point and express it in a proposition. This proposition is further developed into a novel implementable algorithm to calculate the maximum power generation and the corresponding reconfiguration of the PV modules. The immediate benefits from this reconfiguration are the increased total power output and maximum power point voltage information for global maximum power point tracking (MPPT). A PV array simulation model is used to illustrate the proposed method under three different cases. Furthermore, an experimental rig is built to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. The proposed method will open an effective approach for condition-based maintenance of emerging aging PV arrays.

Online two-section PV array fault diagnosis with optimized voltage sensor locations

Photovoltaic (PV) stations have been widely built in the world to utilize solar energy directly. In order to reduce the capital and operational costs, early fault diagnosis is playing an increasingly important role by enabling the long effective operation of PV arrays. This paper analyzes the terminal characteristics of faulty PV strings and arrays, and it develops a PV array fault diagnosis technique. The terminal current-voltage curve of a faulty PV array is divided into two sections, i.e., high-voltage and low-voltage fault diagnosis sections. The corresponding working points of healthy string modules and of healthy and faulty modules in an unhealthy string are then analyzed for each section. By probing into different working points, a faulty PV module can be located. The fault information is of critical importance for the maximum power point tracking and the array dynamical reconfiguration. Furthermore, the string current sensors can be eliminated, and the number of voltage sensors can be reduced by optimizing voltage sensor locations. Typical fault scenarios including monostring, multistring, and a partial shadow for a 1.6-kW 3 $times$ 3 PV array are presented and experimentally tested to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed fault diagnosis method.

Mobile bluetooth-based multi-player game development in ubiquitous computing

This paper describes the use of Bluetooth and Java-Based technologies in developing a multi-player mobile game in ubiquitous computing, which strongly depends on automatic contextual reconfiguration and context-triggered actions. Our investigation focuses on an extended form of ubiquitous computing which game software developers utilize to develop games for players. We have developed an experimental ubiquitous computing application that provides context-aware services to game server and game players in a mobile distributed computing system. Obviously, contextual services provide useful information in a context-aware system. However, designing a context-aware game is still a daunting task and much theoretical and practical research remains to be done to reach the ubiquitous computing era. In this paper, we present the overall architecture and discuss, in detail, the implementation steps taken to create a Bluetooth and Java based context-aware game. We develop a multi-player game server and prepare the client and server codes in ubiquitous computing, providing adaptive routines to handle connection information requests, logging and context formatting and delivery for automatic contextual reconfiguration and context-triggered actions. © 2010 Binary Information Press.

Glaisdale Beck diversion scheme - channel change and suspended sediment response

This paper describes the implementation of a novel mitigation approach and subsequent adaptive management, designed to reduce the transfer of fine sediment in Glaisdale Beck; a small upland catchment in the UK. Hydro-meteorological and suspended sediment datasets are collected over a two year period spanning pre- and post-diversion periods in order to assess the impact of the channel reconfiguration scheme on the fluvial suspended sediment dynamics. Analysis of the river response demonstrates that the fluvial sediment system has become more restrictive with reduced fine sediment transfer. This is characterised by reductions in flow-weighted mean suspended sediment concentrations from 77.93 mg/l prior to mitigation, to 74.36 mg/l following the diversion. A Mann-Whitney U test found statistically significant differences (p < 0.001) between the pre- and post-monitoring median SSCs. Whilst application of one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) on the coefficients of sediment rating curves developed before and after the diversion found statistically significant differences (p < 0.001), with both Log a and b coefficients becoming smaller following the diversion. Non-parametric analysis indicates a reduction in residuals through time (p < 0.001), with the developed LOWESS model over-predicting sediment concentrations as the channel stabilises. However, the channel is continuing to adjust to the reconfigured morphology, with evidence of a headward propagating knickpoint which has migrated 120 m at an exponentially decreasing rate over the last 7 years since diversion. The study demonstrates that channel reconfiguration can be effective in mitigating fine sediment flux in upland streams but the full value of this may take many years to achieve whilst the fluvial system, slowly readjusts.

O ciclo indiano de Marguerite Duras à luz da comparação diferencial: a reconfiguração de um personagem

La présente recherche a pour objectif analyser la reconfiguration d'un personnage dans deux romans et dans un texte dramatique de l’écrivaine française Marguerite Duras, qui font partie du Cicle indien. Ils sont : Le Ravissement de Lol V. Stein (1964), Le vice-consul (1965) e India Song (1975). Adoptant la perspective de la Comparaison Différentielle comme approche littéraire, proposée par Ute Heidmann (2008, 2010, 2012), professeur-docteur de l'Université de Lausanne (Suisse), ce travail cherche étudier le personnage Anne-Marie Stretter présent dans ces trois œuvres. On cherche comprendre de quelle manière se produit la réécriture du personnage à partir de trois axes d'analyse : les modalités de l'énonciation, en considérant l'analyse et la comparaison de l'œuvre littéraire comme un événement énonciatif, partant du concept de la scène d'énonciation, proposé par Dominique Maingueneau (2010) ; les modalités d'inscription générique, étroitement liées aux modalités énonciatives, avec un fondement théorique en Todorov (1980) et Heidmann (2012) ; et les modalités de dialogisme intertextuel et interdiscursif, considérant dans la relation dialogique des nouveaux et différentes propositions de sens. Para la compréhension de cela nous partons de Bakhtine (2010), Kristeva (1974), Todorov (1981) et de l'idée de dialogisme et intertextualité, pour arriver à l'idée d'interdiscours proposée par Heidmann (2010, 2012). À partir de cette étude, nous pouvons observer dans l'œuvre d'un même auteur différentes manières de construction d'un personnage, chacun avec ses spécificités et complexités, variant dans le genre et espaces discursifs. L'intérêt de la comparaison différentielle dans cette étude, partant d'un trait commun entre les trois œuvres, est de rendre visible les différences épistémologiques et les nouvelles propositions de sens.

Investimentos internacionais e a valorização imobiliária dos municípios de Maxaranguape e Rio do Fogo

Since the middle of 1970´s the world has been undergoing significant transformations, comes in a new era of global capital accumulation, and starts the called productive restructuring. This restructuring is materialized spatially through the reconfiguration of territory, redefining its uses and providing a new spatial structure. With regard to native of Rio Grande do Norte territory, there is, from the 1980s, the emergence of new economic activities, among which stand out tourism, which become stimulated from government policies. In this context, has stood the east coast of the state, because its beaches have recognized scenic appeal and environmental quality. Therewith business opportunity, international investors ended up investing in this portion of Rio Grande do Norte´s territory, especially over the last decade. The expansion of this process, to the north coast, resulted in the emergence of intense property dynamics in the municipalities of Maxaranguape and Rio do Fogo. The low value of the property and buildings, compared to the European market and the availability of real property, were the main factors that explain the attraction of such investors, who are now seen as new business opportunities with high rates of profitability, in tropical areas, hitherto remote geographical location of the economic system. Therefore, the objective of the research is to analyze to what extent the International Investment promoted the appreciation of property in the municipalities of Maxaranguape and Rio do Fogo. The time frame covers the period among 2000- 2013. The methodology consisted of the following proceedings: surveys and analysis of data collected in the property registry office of the Maxaranguape and Rio do Fogo municipalities; interviews with public and private officials that were important for the analysis of spatial transformations and the recovery of the property that occurred in the municipalities studied; collection of secondary data from official bodies, such as IBGE, MTUR, SETUR, BNB etc. Analyzing the information and data that have been cataloged, it was concluded that this investments are reinforcing old leisure and tourism practices existing in the past in those territories and, shifted (creating new territorial arrangements) a significant part of the eastern coast zone areas of the state. Another consequence connected to this recent phenomenon refers to property’s increase in value that has occurred in this part of the state, episode which is directly connected to that event. Therefore, it is realize that the expansion and the incorporation of the capital territories reveal, in part, the strategies of the capitalist mode of production, which are evident in the search for better conditions of accumulation, expanding the alternative of use of the properties which occurs in selective way and uneven in the geographic space form. It is observed that the mechanisms that capital makes use to impose their practices can happen through the property’s increase in value market, meaning, thereby, that the reproduction of imbalances happens, often, through the marked property speculation with the fast increase in value of properties.

No cotidiano da escola: o pensar e agir de jovens e adultos

The necessity of the view of the Youth and Adults Education (EJA) subjects beyond of their academic failures becomes imperative for a reconfiguration of this teaching modality. Thus, the compromise of this study is to go into these subjects‘ universe, give them a voice and, therefore, understand, in general, the web of relationships between these subjects and the school. It is understood that it is not possible to figure out the means attributed by the subjects without consideration, as an essential element, the social context in which such means has been built. For the development of this study, the methodology adopted was the ethnographic research. The procedures used for the data construction were the participative observation, the semi-structured interviews with a focal group, and the individualized semi-structured interviews. For the understanding of the data constructed in the field, the content analysis technique was used, which reach the expectations of an interpretative analysis. The observation occurred mainly in the classrooms, on a public school, located in a City of Natal/RN. The interviews were taken with a sample of eight students, males and females, with 25 to 60 year-olds. Such interviews highlight that for the young adult students, the school is much more than a place to learn. They realize such space as enabler of social interaction, as well as the possibility of rising through new professional horizons and, therefore achieve a social mobility. For the older students, mainly among women, the return to the school benches brings into the learning discourse, the desire of making new friends, having moments of meeting, chatting and relaxation, finally, to forget the problems of the day by day. The school quotidian observation allows a better understanding of the action of the subjects in relationship with the school practices. Finally, it can be affirmed that seeking for the school has not only the intention to recover the time lost in the childhood. Learning remains as a secondary goal. It does not matter whether they will be retained or promoted to the next level at the end of the academic year, what really matters is to be in school.