Service Interface Synthesis in Business Networks

Mismatches between services needing to interoperate have been addressed through the adaptation of structural and behavioural interfaces of services, which in practice incur long lead time through manual, coding effort. We propose a framework, complementary to con- ventional service adaptation, to synthesise service interfaces in the open setting of business networks, allowing consumers to introspect service interfaces and formulate service invocations. The framework also allows evolved service requests, as new features of service capabilities are discov- ered, through interactions with other, similar services. Finally the frame- work fosters reuse of adaptation efforts through normalisation of struc- tural and behavioural interfaces of similar services. This paper provides a first exposition of the service interface synthesis framework, describing patterns containing novel requirements for unilateral service adaptation and detailing the interface synthesis technique. Complex examples of ser- vices drawn from commercial logistic systems are then used to validate the synthesis technique and identify open challenges and future research directions.

NEESTIMATOR v2: re-implementation of software for the estimation of contemporary effective population size (N-e) from genetic data

NeEstimator v2 is a completely revised and updated implementation of software that produces estimates of contemporary effective population size, using several different methods and a single input file. NeEstimator v2 includes three single-sample estimators (updated versions of the linkage disequilibrium and heterozygote-excess methods, and a new method based on molecular coancestry), as well as the two-sample (moment-based temporal) method. New features include the following: (i) an improved method for accounting for missing data; (ii) options for screening out rare alleles; (iii) confidence intervals for all methods; (iv) the ability to analyse data sets with large numbers of genetic markers (10000 or more); (v) options for batch processing large numbers of different data sets, which will facilitate cross-method comparisons using simulated data; and (vi) correction for temporal estimates when individuals sampled are not removed from the population (Plan I sampling). The user is given considerable control over input data and composition, and format of output files. The freely available software has a new JAVA interface and runs under MacOS, Linux and Windows.

Context based service discovery for ubiquitous applications

Service discovery is vital in ubiquitous applications, where a large number of devices and software components collaborate unobtrusively and provide numerous services without user intervention. Existing service discovery schemes use a service matching process in order to offer services of interest to the users. Potentially, the context information of the users and surrounding environment can be used to improve the quality of service matching. To make use of context information in service matching, a service discovery technique needs to address certain challenges. Firstly, it is required that the context information shall have unambiguous representation. Secondly, the devices in the environment shall be able to disseminate high level and low level context information seamlessly in the different networks. And thirdly, dynamic nature of the context information be taken into account. We propose a C-IOB(Context-Information, Observation and Belief) based service discovery model which deals with the above challenges by processing the context information and by formulating the beliefs based on the observations. With these formulated beliefs the required services will be provided to the users. The method has been tested with a typical ubiquitous museum guide application over different cases. The simulation results are time efficient and quite encouraging.

e-SURAKSHAK: A Cyber-Physical Healthcare System with Service Oriented Architecture

In this paper we present the design of ``e-SURAKSHAK,'' a novel cyber-physical health care management system of Wireless Embedded Internet Devices (WEIDs) that sense vital health parameters. The system is capable of sensing body temperature, heart rate, oxygen saturation level and also allows noninvasive blood pressure (NIBP) measurement. End to end internet connectivity is provided by using 6LoWPAN based wireless network that uses the 802.15.4 radio. A service oriented architecture (SOA) 1] is implemented to extract meaningful information and present it in an easy-to-understand form to the end-user instead of raw data made available by sensors. A central electronic database and health care management software are developed. Vital health parameters are measured and stored periodically in the database. Further, support for real-time measurement of health parameters is provided through a web based GUI. The system has been implemented completely and demonstrated with multiple users and multiple WEIDs.

Open Personalization: Involving Third Parties in Improving the User Experience of Websites

Traditional software development captures the user needs during the requirement analysis. The Web makes this endeavour even harder due to the difficulty to determine who these users are. In an attempt to tackle the heterogeneity of the user base, Web Personalization techniques are proposed to guide the users’ experience. In addition, Open Innovation allows organisations to look beyond their internal resources to develop new products or improve existing processes. This thesis sits in between by introducing Open Personalization as a means to incorporate actors other than webmasters in the personalization of web applications. The aim is to provide the technological basis that builds up a trusty environment for webmasters and companion actors to collaborate, i.e. "an architecture of participation". Such architecture very much depends on these actors’ profile. This work tackles three profiles (i.e. software partners, hobby programmers and end users), and proposes three "architectures of participation" tuned for each profile. Each architecture rests on different technologies: a .NET annotation library based on Inversion of Control for software partners, a Modding Interface in JavaScript for hobby programmers, and finally, a domain specific language for end-users. Proof-of-concept implementations are available for the three cases while a quantitative evaluation is conducted for the domain specific language.

SAQUA - sistema baseado em software livre para análise do comportamento da qualidade das águas fluviais: aplicado à bacia do rio Paraíba do Sul.

Nesta dissertação foi desenvolvido o sistema SAQUA (Sistema para Análise da Qualidade das Águas Fluviais), que permite o acompanhamento dos dados de séries históricas de parâmetros físico-químicos para análise da qualidade de águas fluviais. A alimentação do sistema SAQUA se dá a partir do arquivo tipo texto gerado no Hidroweb, sistema de banco de dados hidrológicos da ANA (Agência Nacional de Águas), disponibilizado na internet. O SAQUA constitui uma interface que permite a análise espaço-temporal de parâmetros de qualidade da água específicos definidos pelo usuário. A interface foi construída utilizando o servidor de mapas Mapserver, as linguagens HTML e PHP, além de consultas SQL e o uso do servidor Web Apache. A utilização de uma linguagem dinâmica como o PHP permitiu usar recursos internos do Mapserver por meio de funções que interagem de forma mais flexível com códigos presentes e futuros, além de interagir com o código HTML. O Sistema apresenta como resultado a representação gráfica da série histórica por parâmetro e, em mapa, a localização das estações em análise também definidas pelo usuário, geralmente associadas a uma determinada região hidrográfica. Tanto na representação gráfica da série temporal quanto em mapa, são destacados a partir de código de cores a estação de monitoramento e a observação em que os limites estabelecidos na resolução CONAMA 357/05 não foi atendido. A classe de uso da resolução CONAMA que será usada na análise também pode ser definida pelo usuário. Como caso de estudo e demonstração das funções do SAQUA foi escolhida a bacia hidrográfica do rio Paraíba do Sul, localizada na região hidrográfica Atlântico Sudeste do Brasil. A aplicação do sistema demonstrou ótimos resultados e o potencial da ferramenta computacional como apoio ao planejamento e à gestão dos recursos hídricos. Ressalta-se ainda, que todo o sistema foi desenvolvido a partir de softwares disponibilizados segundo a licença GPL de software livre, ou seja, sem custo na aquisição de licenças, demonstrando o potencial da aplicação destas ferramentas no campo dos recursos hídricos.

A computationally efficient software application for calculating vibration from underground railways

The PiP model is a software application with a user-friendly interface for calculating vibration from underground railways. This paper reports about the software with a focus on its latest version and the plans for future developments. The software calculates the Power Spectral Density of vibration due to a moving train on floating-slab track with track irregularity described by typical values of spectra for tracks with good, average and bad conditions. The latest version accounts for a tunnel embedded in a half space by employing a toolbox developed at K.U. Leuven which calculates Green's functions for a multi-layered half-space. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Delegation, Arbitration and High-Level Service Discovery as Key Elements of a Software Infrastructure for Pervasive Computing

The dream of pervasive computing is slowly becoming a reality. A number of projects around the world are constantly contributing ideas and solutions that are bound to change the way we interact with our environments and with one another. An essential component of the future is a software infrastructure that is capable of supporting interactions on scales ranging from a single physical space to intercontinental collaborations. Such infrastructure must help applications adapt to very diverse environments and must protect people's privacy and respect their personal preferences. In this paper we indicate a number of limitations present in the software infrastructures proposed so far (including our previous work). We then describe the framework for building an infrastructure that satisfies the abovementioned criteria. This framework hinges on the concepts of delegation, arbitration and high-level service discovery. Components of our own implementation of such an infrastructure are presented.

NHS Wales user needs study including knowledgebase tools report. Report for Informing Healthcare Strategy implementation programme.

Thomas, R., Spink, S., Durbin, J. & Urquhart, C. (2005). NHS Wales user needs study including knowledgebase tools report. Report for Informing Healthcare Strategy implementation programme. Aberystwyth: Department of Information Studies, University of Wales Aberystwyth. Sponsorship: Informing Healthcare, NHS Wales