Retailers in rural Saskatchewan are having to contend with two predominant trendsrural and retail restructuring. Decreasing rural populations, increased consumer mobility, and the chronic instability of primary industries such as agriculture and forestry continue to impact rural communities in the province. The growing presence of multinational corporations, the drive for economies of scale, and the centralization of services into larger urban centers are all influencing the retail sector, particularly in rural areas. In response to these trends, retail co-operatives operating in Northern and Central Saskatchewan have joined a larger urban-based co-op in Prince Albert to form a regional co-operative. Co-operative theory suggests this regional structure may create internal obstacles for co-ops that differ from those of private firms, as co-operatives must consider the implications of reorganization on membership structures and member relations. While most of the empirical investigation has focused on large agricultural co-operatives, less attention has been afforded to consumer co-operatives.<p>Through interviews with the delegates and managers of the Prince Albert Co-operative Association (PACA), this study examines how a multi-branch consumer co-operative has adapted to the present rural and retail milieu. It investigates the new relationships that have emerged among the key stakeholders including members, delegates, and managers as well as the new relations between the major structures, namely the branches and the central body. The research is a starting point for understanding how member and enterprise interests are mediated, communicated, and coordinated within a regional co-operative. Delegates are the focal point of the study as they play an integral role in all of these relations. The findings of the study suggest that while new relationships do form within a multi-branch system, the primary relationship between members and their local co-op branch remains relatively unaffected. Further, the study on the PACA adds to Fairtloughs (2005) work on business structural forms called triarchies. It is argued that the integration of hierarchies, heterachies and responsible autonomy in the form of a federated network reinforces the staying power of the co-op in smaller communities.

This research develops a computer simulation method for federating an Arena© port operations model and a VISSIM© roadway network operations model. The development of this method is inspired by the High Level Architecture (HLA) standard for federating simulations, and incorporates several elements of the HLA principles into its design. The federated simulation model is then tested using a time-lag experiment to demonstrate the presence of feedback loops between federated model components wherein changes to input parameters of one model during runtime can be shown to affect the operational performance of the other model. This experiment also demonstrates how several initial transient phase and steady state operating characteristics of the federated system can be determined from the federation output data. The results indicate that the method developed in this study is capable of capturing the dynamic interaction of two models in federated simulation. It is shown that feedback loops can exist between two models in federated simulation. Most notably, the federation output shows that increased traffic volume in the roadway network model influences the accumulation of containers in the port terminal queue of the port model. The federation output also shows that increased container volume leaving the port terminal model affects both port and road truck utilization, as well as the total number of port trucks in the roadway network model. Challenges and future directions for research in federating transportation-related simulations are also presented.

Zur Erledigung einer Aufgabe kann der Benutzer mit verschiedenen Endgeräten interagieren, welche unterschiedliche Interaktionsarten (Modalitäten) anbieten. Dabei gibt es jedoch kein Endgerät, welches alle erdenkbaren Modalitäten unterstützt. Aus diesem Grund wird eine komponentenbasierte Integrationsschicht auf Basis einer Komponentenplattform entwickelt, die dem Nutzer die gewünschte Freiheit bei der Wahl der Endgeräte und somit der Modalitäten ermöglicht. Als Ausgangsbasis dafür dient das W3C Multimodal Interaction Framework. Mit Hilfe der Integrationsschicht kann der Nutzer beispielsweise Endgeräteföderationen erzeugen, die einzeln oder gemeinsam zur Interaktion verwendet werden können. Die Integrationsschicht besitzt verschiedene Konzepte, um z.B. Geschäftslogik zur Laufzeit zu verteilen, Komponentenausfälle zu behandeln und die auf verschiedene Endgeräte verteilte Nutzerschnittstelle zu synchronisieren. Die entwickelten Konzepte wurden prototypisch implementiert, validiert und auf Performanz untersucht.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references. / Also available by subscription via World Wide Web / xv, 252 leaves, bound ill., map 29 cm

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1983 / Pacific Islands Studies

MAGALHÃES, Regis Pires. Um ambiente para processamento de consultas federadas em linked data Mashups. 2012. 117 f. Dissertação (Mestrado em ciência da computação)- Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza-CE, 2012. / Submitted by Elineudson Ribeiro (elineudsonr@gmail.com) on 2016-07-12T16:08:12Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2012_dis_rpmagalhaes.pdf: 2883929 bytes, checksum: 1a04484a7e875cd8ead588d91693577a (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Rocilda Sales (rocilda@ufc.br) on 2016-07-21T16:05:44Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2012_dis_rpmagalhaes.pdf: 2883929 bytes, checksum: 1a04484a7e875cd8ead588d91693577a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-21T16:05:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2012_dis_rpmagalhaes.pdf: 2883929 bytes, checksum: 1a04484a7e875cd8ead588d91693577a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Semantic Web technologies like RDF model, URIs and SPARQL query language, can reduce the complexity of data integration by making use of properly established and described links between sources.However, the difficulty to formulate distributed queries has been a challenge to harness the potential of these technologies due to autonomy, distribution and vocabulary of heterogeneous data sources. This scenario demands effective mechanisms for integrating data on Linked Data.Linked Data Mashups allow users to query and integrate structured and linked data on the web. This work proposes two architectures of Linked Data Mashups: one based on the use of mediators and the other based on the use of Linked Data Mashup Services (LIDMS). A module for efficient execution of federated query plans on Linked Data has been developed and is a component common to both proposed architectures.The execution module feasibility has been demonstrated through experiments. Furthermore, a LIDMS execution Web environment also has been defined and implemented as contributions of this work. / Tecnologias da Web Semântica como modelo RDF, URIs e linguagem de consulta SPARQL, podem reduzir a complexidade de integração de dados ao fazer uso de ligações corretamente estabelecidas e descritas entre fontes.No entanto, a dificuldade para formulação de consultas distribuídas tem sido um obstáculo para aproveitar o potencial dessas tecnologias em virtude da autonomia, distribuição e vocabulário heterogêneo das fontes de dados.Esse cenário demanda mecanismos eficientes para integração de dados sobre Linked Data.Linked Data Mashups permitem aos usuários executar consultas e integrar dados estruturados e vinculados na web.O presente trabalho propõe duas arquiteturas de Linked Data Mashups:uma delas baseada no uso de mediadores e a outra baseada no uso de Linked Data Mashup Services (LIDMS). Um módulo para execução eficiente de planos de consulta federados sobre Linked Data foi desenvolvido e é um componente comum a ambas as arquiteturas propostas.A viabilidade do módulo de execução foi demonstrada através de experimentos. Além disso, um ambiente Web para execução de LIDMS também foi definido e implementado como contribuições deste trabalho.

Personal learning environment (PLE) solutions aim at empowering learners to design (ICT and web-based) environments for their learning activities, mashingup content and people and apps for different learning contexts. Widely used in other application areas, recommender systems can be very useful for supporting learners in their PLE-based activities, to help discover relevant content, peers sharing similar learning interests or experts on a specific topic. In this paper we examine the utilization of recommender technology for PLEs. However, being confronted by a variety of educational contexts we present three strategies for providing PLE recommendations to learners. Consequently, we compare these recommender strategies by discussing their strengths and weaknesses in general.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / Motivado pelo sucesso de Linked Data e impulsionado pelo crescimento do nÃmero de fontes de dados em formato RDF disponÃveis na Web, novos desafios para processamento de consultas estÃo emergindo, especialmente em configuraÃÃes distribuÃdas. No ambiente de Linked Data, à possÃvel executar consultas federadas, as quais envolvem junÃÃes de dados fornecidos por mÃltiplas fontes. O termo consulta federada à usado quando queremos prover soluÃÃes baseadas em informaÃÃes obtidas de diferentes fontes. Nesse sentido, a concepÃÃo de novos algoritmos e estratÃgias adaptativas para a execuÃÃo de junÃÃes de forma eficiente constitui um desafio importante. Nesse trabalho, apresentamos uma soluÃÃo para a execuÃÃo adaptativa de operaÃÃes de junÃÃes de dados em consultas federadas. A execuÃÃo da operaÃÃo de junÃÃo adaptativa entre informaÃÃes contidas em fontes de dados distribuÃdas baseia-se em estatÃsticas, que sÃo coletadas em tempo de execuÃÃo. Uma informaÃÃo estatÃstica sobre uma determinada fontes seria, por exemplo, o tempo decorrido (Elapsed Time) para obter algum resultado. Para obter as informaÃÃes estatÃsticas atualizadas, usamos uma estratÃgia que coleta essas informaÃÃes durante a execuÃÃo da consulta e,logo apÃs, sÃo armazenadas em uma base de dados local, na qual denominamos como catÃlogo de informaÃÃes estatÃsticas. / Motivated by the success of Linked Data and driven by the growing number of data sources into RDF files available on the web, new challenges for query processing are emerging, especially in distributed settings. These environments allow distributed execution of federated queries, which involve joining data provided by multiple sources, which are often unstable. In this sense, the design of new algorithms and adaptive strategies for efficiently implementing joins is a major challenge. In this paper, we present a solution to the adaptive joins execution in federated queries. The adaptative context of distributed data sources is based on statistics that are collected at runtime. For this, we use a module that updates the information in the catalog as the query is executed. The module works in parallel with the query processor.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / Tecnologias da Web SemÃntica como modelo RDF, URIs e linguagem de consulta SPARQL, podem reduzir a complexidade de integraÃÃo de dados ao fazer uso de ligaÃÃes corretamente estabelecidas e descritas entre fontes.No entanto, a di&#64257;culdade para formulaÃÃo de consultas distribuÃdas tem sido um obstÃculo para aproveitar o potencial dessas tecnologias em virtude da autonomia, distribuiÃÃo e vocabulÃrio heterogÃneo das fontes de dados.Esse cenÃrio demanda mecanismos e&#64257;cientes para integraÃÃo de dados sobre Linked Data.Linked Data Mashups permitem aos usuÃrios executar consultas e integrar dados estruturados e vinculados na web.O presente trabalho propÃe duas arquiteturas de Linked Data Mashups:uma delas baseada no uso de mediadores e a outra baseada no uso de Linked Data Mashup Services (LIDMS). Um mÃdulo para execuÃÃo e&#64257;ciente de planos de consulta federados sobre Linked Data foi desenvolvido e à um componente comum a ambas as arquiteturas propostas.A viabilidade do mÃdulo de execuÃÃo foi demonstrada atravÃs de experimentos. AlÃm disso, um ambiente Web para execuÃÃo de LIDMS tambÃm foi de&#64257;nido e implementado como contribuiÃÃes deste trabalho. / Semantic Web technologies like RDF model, URIs and SPARQL query language, can reduce the complexity of data integration by making use of properly established and described links between sources.However, the dif&#64257;culty to formulate distributed queries has been a challenge to harness the potential of these technologies due to autonomy, distribution and vocabulary of heterogeneous data sources. This scenario demands effective mechanisms for integrating data on Linked Data.Linked Data Mashups allow users to query and integrate structured and linked data on the web. This work proposes two architectures of Linked Data Mashups: one based on the use of mediators and the other based on the use of Linked Data Mashup Services (LIDMS). A module for ef&#64257;cient execution of federated query plans on Linked Data has been developed and is a component common to both proposed architectures.The execution module feasibility has been demonstrated through experiments. Furthermore, a LIDMS execution Web environment also has been de&#64257;ned and implemented as contributions of this work.

Organizations are continuously expanding their use of computer ser-vices. As the number of applications in an organization grows, so does the load on the user management. Registering and unregistering users both from within the organization and also from partner organizations, as well as managing their privileges and providing support all accumu-lates significant costs for the user management. FIdM is a solution that can centralize user management, allow partner organizations to feder-ate, ease users’ password management, provide SSO functionality and externalize the authentication logic from application development. An FIdM system with two organizations, AD FS and two applications have been deployed. The applications are constructed in .NET, with WIF, and in Java using a custom implementation of WS-Federation. In order to evaluate the system, a functional test and a security analysis have been performed. The result of the functional test shows that the system has been implemented successfully. With the use of AD FS, users from both organizations are able to authenticate within their own organization and are then able to access the applications in the organizations without any repeated authentication. The result of the security analysis shows that the overall security in the system is good. The use of AD FS does not allow anyone to bypass authentication. However, the standard integra-tion of WIF in the .NET application makes it more susceptible to a DoS attack. It has been indicated that FIdM can have positive effects on an organization’s user management, a user’s password management and login procedures, authentication logic in application development, while still maintaining a good level of security.