SOA$$^\mathrm{}$$: a new way to design the decision in SOA—based on the new standard Decision Model and Notation (DMN)

In recent years, Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) technologies are emerging as a powerful vehicle for organizations that need to integrate their applications within and across organizational boundaries. In addition, organizations need to make better decisions more quickly. Moreover, they need to change those decisions immediately to adapt to this increasingly dynamic business environment. It is primarily a question in ensuring the decisional aspect by adopting the SOA as a support architecture. In this paper, we describe a new approach called SOA\(^\mathrm{+d}\) based on a certain number of standards. It is going to be studied on three dimensions: The first is related to the definition of the information system implied in the SOA based on the use case model. The second develops the business dimension which is based on the BPMN (Business Process Modeling Notation). The last dimension addresses the need of decision; we use the new standard decision model and notation (DMN) which is recently approved by Object Management Group (OMG) and considered as a simple notation to specify the decision. Finally, Service Oriented Architecture Modeling Language (SoaML) will be used for design of several services. We also present our meta-model Decisional Model of Service (DMS) to define a new set of concepts necessary for modeling the three levels. Some of them are already known, whereas others are new and are proposed as an element of this work. we illustrate our proposal with a real case study in the Pharmacy Inventory Management.     

Low temperature synthesis of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Manganese tungstate</Emphasis> nanoflowers with antibacterial potential: Future material for water purification

Pure water is the fundamental requisite for human life. The water has been recycled naturally but not in an adequate amount for consumption. Nanotechnology with extraordinary applications provides competent ways for the decontamination of contaminated water. In the present study MnWO₄ nanoflowers endorsed with inherent antibacterial activity were successfully synthesized by facile hydrothermal approach. XRD, SEM, EDX spectroscopy and UVDRS were used to characterize the as-synthesized nanoflowers. Gram negative Escherichia coli ATCC 52922 bacterium was used as model organism to test antibacterial activity of as-synthesized MnWO₄ nanoflowers. This study was conducted to optimize minimum concentration of MnWO₄ nanoflowers and maximum contact time required to achieve complete inactivation of bacteria present in contaminated water. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of MnWO₄ nanoflowers was found to be 10 μg/ml. The assessment and interpretation of bacterial viability was done using dual fluorescent staining. The synthesized 3D-nanoflowers were found as potent bactericides. Thus, MnWO₄ nanoflowers emerged to be very good future material for disinfection of biological pollutants present in the contaminated water reservoirs and as an anti-biofouling agent.     

Palyno‐morphological characteristics of gymnosperm flora of pakistan and its taxonomic implications with LM and SEM methods

The present study is intended to assess gymnosperms pollen flora of Pakistan using Light Microscope (LM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) for its taxonomic significance in identification of gymnosperms. Pollens of 35 gymnosperm species (12 genera and five families) were collected from its various distributional sites of gymnosperms in Pakistan. LM and SEM were used to investigate different palyno‐morphological characteristics. Five pollen types (i.e., Inaperturate, Monolete, Monoporate, Vesiculate‐bisaccate and Polyplicate) were observed. Six In equatorial view seven types of pollens were observed, in which ten species were sub‐angular, nine species were Traingular, six species were Perprolate, three species were Rhomboidal, three species were semi‐angular, two species were rectangular and two species were prolate. While five types of pollen were observed in polar view, in which ten species were Spheroidal, nine species were Angular, eight were Interlobate, six species were Circular, two species were Elliptic. Eighteen species has rugulate and 17 species has faveolate ornamentation. Eighteen species has verrucate and 17 have gemmate type sculpturing. The data was analysed through cluster analysis. The study showed that these palyno‐morphological features have significance value in classification and identification of gymnosperms. Based on these different palyno‐morphological features, a taxonomic key was proposed for the accurate and fast identifications of gymnosperms from Pakistan.     

The diversity and distribution of freshwater macrophytes in the wedian of the mountainous northern Oman

The paper reports the first study of diversity and distribution of freshwater macrophytes in the wedian (plural of wadi = seasonal river) of the northern Al Hajar Mountain range in Oman. Fifteen lentic habitats in the wedian were surveyed. The number of species, their growth forms and abundance were recorded in the studied habitat of each wadi. In all, 41 species belonging to 14 families and 32 genera were collected. Of these 37 species were emergent and four were submergent. Poaceae was the most diverse emergent family with 17 species. Phragmites australis was the most common emergent followed by Typha domingensis. Among submerged macrophytes, Chara vulgaris had higher frequency of occurrence with low abundance followed by Potamogeton distinctus with relatively high abundance. Floristic diversity was estimated using species richness (Margalef’s D), general diversity (Shannon–Wiener H′), evenness (Pielous’s EH), and dominance (Berger–Parker d) indices for each study habitat. Principal component analysis was used to evaluate the variability using four indices. PC1 and PC2 explained 98.18% of the variability. Some habitats in different watersheds exhibited similar species diversity, but some in the same watershed were different. Baseline data on the freshwater macrophytes in northern Oman are provided here.     

Recovered memories in context: Thoughts and elaborations on Bowers and Farvolden (1996).

The recovered memory debate exposes several traditional and recent contradictions within psychology. Building on K. Bowers and P. Farvolden ( see record 83:27619), the nature of recovered memories has profoundly different meanings for therapeutic versus legal settings. Whereas memory can be distorted during the process of retrieval, certain techniques—such as nondirective writing—may be helpful in reducing suggestive influences in recall. Ironically, methods that have been found to produce the most accurate recollections of the past appear only subtly different from those that yield the greatest distortions. The recovered memory debate must ultimately be viewed within a cultural context, both in terms of the phenomenon and its treatment. The authors discuss parallels to other explanatory and therapeutic fads related to states of nonspecific distress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Chemical composition,antimicrobial potential against cariogenic bacteria and cytotoxic activity of Tunisian Nigella sativa essential oil and thymoquinone

We investigate in this work the chemical composition by GC–EIMS, the antibacterial and the cytotoxic activities of Tunisian Nigella sativa essential oil and its bioactive compound, thymoquinone, were tested against various clinical cariogenic bacteria (n = 30). Eighty-four compounds were identified in the essential oil. The major one was p-cymene (49.48%) whereas thymoquinone represented only 0.79%. The essential oil (2.43 mg/disc) containing only 3.35 μg of thymoquinone showed pronounced dose dependant antibacterial activity against Streptococcus mitis, Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus constellatus and Gemella haemolysans (15.5 ± 0.707 mm). However, pure thymoquinone compound (150 μg/disk) was active against all the studied strains especially S. mutans and S. mitis (24.5 ± 0.71 and 22 ± 1.41 mm inhibition zones, respectively).