Les architectures dynamiques orientées services (D-SOA) se concentrent sur les interactions client-serveur à couplage faible, où les deux peuvent apparaître et disparaître à l’exécution. Notre objectif est de concevoir des systèmes de surveillance pour ces architectures. Comme les systèmes de surveillance classiques sont statiquement injectés dans les services surveillés, ils ne peuvent pas gérer correctement le cycle de vie des services d’exécution. En outre, quand un service est remplacé par un autre service, d’autres services peuvent toujours utiliser l’ancienne référence. Cette référence vers un service absent, lorsqu’elle est gardée en mémoire, peut induire des comportements non désirés. Cette thèse contribue à la conception d’un système de surveillance de l’utilisation des services, qui soit résistant à la dynamique de la plateforme et qui soit en mesure de faire face à l’utilisation des références obsolètes. Ce but est atteint en trois étapes. Tout d’abord, en considérant le caractère dynamique des systèmes SOA dans un environnement ouvert, nous concevons une approche de monitoring résistant au la dynamique de la plateforme. Nous identifions deux propriétés clés du système de surveillance à couplage faible: résilience à la dynamicité, c’est-à-dire qu’un moniteur d’interface et son état sont maintenus en mémoire et transférés à un nouveau service lors de la disparition d’un service utilisé, et exhaustivité́, c’est-à-dire qu’un service surveillé ne peut pas contourner les observations du moniteur. Ensuite, pour éviter l’usage de références vers des services qui ne sont plus actifs, nous proposons un service de sécurité́ côté client (SSU Layer), qui permet de traiter ce problème de manière transparente. Si un service utilisé disparaît, la couche SSU peut soit substituer le service de manière transparente, soit lever une exception pour avertir explicitement le client. Cette couche SSU est basée sur une approche transactionnelle qui vise à préserver la cohérence des services actifs. Enfin, nous proposons d’intégrer les deux approches dans un nouveau système de surveillance (NewMS). Les NewMS hérite des principes des deux systèmes précédents : la résilience à la dynamicité, l’exhaustivité et la tolérance aux fautes. Il peut dynamiquement surveiller l’utilisation de services et traiter les références obsolètes de manière transparente. Ces trois propositions sont implémentées dans la plateforme OSGi. Nous avons développé une application simple qui simule un système de réservation de place, qui est monitoré par notre système. Nous avons également proposé différentes spécifications pour ce système. Nos résultats démontrent que le coût d’observation de notre moniteur est proche du coût d’un monitor classique, ne prenant pas en compte les problématiques liées à la dynamique. / Dynamic service-oriented architectures (D-SOA) focus on loosely coupled client- server interactions where both of them can appear and disappear at runtime. Our goal is to design monitoring systems for these architectures. Since classical monitoring systems are statically injected into the monitored services, they cannot properly handle the runtime services’ lifecycle. Moreover, when a service is substituted by a new one, other services may still use the old reference. This reference is kept in memory as a stale reference which induces some forbidden behaviors. This thesis contributes to design a monitoring system with resilient dynamicity that monitors services usage and is able to deal with stale references usage. This goal is achieved in three steps. Firstly, by considering the dynamicity of SOA systems in an open environment, we design a corresponding dynamic monitoring approach. We identify two key properties of the loosely coupled monitoring system: dynamicity resilience, i.e., after the unregistration of a service, its interface monitor and its current state are kept alive in memory and transferred to a new loaded service; comprehensiveness, i.e., the implementations of the monitored interface can’t bypass the monitor observations. Secondly, to avoid stale references usage, we propose a client-side safe service usage (SSU) layer to automatically handle them. If a used service disappears, then the SSU layer can either transparently substitute it or throw an exception to the client. This SSU layer is based on a transactional approach which aims to preserve the coherence of active services. Thirdly, we propose to integrate both approaches into a new monitoring system (NewMS). The NewMS inherits the principles of both systems: dynamicity resilience, comprehensiveness and fault tolerant. It can dynamically monitor service usage and transparently handle stale references of dynamic SOA systems. All the three propositions are implemented on OSGi-based platform. We develop a simple application that simulates an Airline Reservation system, which is monitored by our monitoring systems. We also develop various automata to handle the dynamicity of the Airline Reservation system in the NewMS. Our results demonstrate that the time cost of our monitoring systems is close to one of classical monitoring systems.

No Sistema Único de Saúde a regionalização é considerada uma macroestratégia para a organização dos serviços de saúde em um dado território. Sua implementação pressupõe a conformação de sistemas funcionais e hierarquizados que garantam a universalidade, a integralidade, a equidade e resolutividade aos usuários. Na assistência hospitalar, dada a complexidade dos serviços e o pequeno porte da maioria dos municípios brasileiros que não dispõem de condições para ofertar todos os níveis de complexidade em seu território, a regionalização assume relevância na organização dessa rede. O presente estudo busca analisar, sob à perspectiva da regionalização, os fluxos de serviços hospitalares em municípios da Metade Sul do Rio Grande do Sul, por meio do perfil das internações e mobilidade de usuários no período 2000 a 2006. Caracteriza-se como epidemiológico, descritivo e exploratório para o qual se utilizou o Sistema de Informações Hospitalares,associado ao Plano Diretor de Regionalização (PDR) elaborado pela Secretaria Estadual da Saúde como documento que expressa a política e o desenho da regionalização, possibilitou uma análise espacial das microrregiões e macrorregiões às quais pertencem os municípios, através do geoprocessamento das internações hospitalares. A análise da capacidade instalada, do perfil e do fluxo das internações não aponta para a ampliação do acesso às ações e serviços de saúde hospitalares entre os municípios no período estudado. A resolutividade e algumas especificidades encontradas demonstram potencial para aumentar o desempenho dos municípios, como a adoção de políticas públicas que incidam no modelo de atenção desenvolvido pelo município. Há necessidade de reavaliação e readequação permanente do processo de regionalização, a refletir os avanços conquistados e as necessidades e dificuldades persistentes. Propõe-se uma maior coordenação e integração entre os instrumentos organizativos da regionalização: PDR, PPI e PDI. A regionalização como princípio organizacional do SUS, não pode prescindir da união, da participação e do esforço coletivo de gestores, técnicos e estudiosos. Só assim, superando verticalizações, tecendo redes e acordando pactuações, se alcançará a universalidade do acesso, a equidade, a integralidade e resolutividade. / At SUS, regionalization is considered a macro strategy to the organization of health services in a given territory. Its implementation requires the conformation of functional, prioritized systems to ensure universality, comprehensiveness, fairness and resolution to users. Hospital care, given the complexity of services and the small size of most Brazilian towns, where there are no conditions to offer all levels of complexity in their area, the regionalization is relevant in this network organization. This study assesses, in light of regionalization flows of hospital services in towns in the south of Rio Grande do Sul, through the profile of admissions and mobility of users in the period 2000-2006. It is characterized as epidemiological, descriptive and exploratory, and we used for it the Hospital Information System, associated to Director Plan Regionalization – PDR, prepared by the State Department of Health as a document that expresses policy and the design of regionalization, it allowed a spatial analysis of the micro and macro regions to which the municipalities belong, through geoprocessing of hospital admissions. The analysis of capacity, profile and flow of admissions does not point to expanding access to actions and hospital health services among municipalities in the period of the study. The resolution and some specificities we found showed the potential to increase the performance of municipalities, such as adoption of public policies that address health care model developed by the municipality. There is need for reassessment and readjustment of the process of regionalization, to reflect the achievements and the needs and difficulties persisted. We proposed that greater coordination and integration among the tools of organizational regionalization: PDR, PPI and PDI. Regionalization as an organizing principle at SUS cannot do without union participation and collective efforts of managers, technicians and scholars. Only then, overcoming verticalizations, creating networks and agreeing pacts, we will be able to achieve universal access, fairness, completeness and resolution. / En el SUS, la regionalización es considerada una macro estrategia para la organización de los dos servicios de salud en un determinado territorio. Su implementación presupone la conformación de sistemas funcionales y jerarquizados que asegure la universalidad, la integralidad, la equidad y resolutividad a los usuarios. En la asistencia hospitalaria, dada la complexidad de los servicios y el pequeño porte de la mayoría de los municipios brasileños que no disponen de condiciones para ofrecer todos los niveles de complexidad en su territorio, la regionalización asume relevancia en la organización de esa red. El presente estudio busca analizar, a la luz de la regionalización, los flujos de servicios hospitalarios en las municipalidades de la Metade Sul del Rio Grande do Sul, por medio del perfil de las internaciones y movilidad de usuarios en el período 2000 hasta 2006. Se caracteriza como epidemiológico, descriptivo y exploratorio para el cual se utilizó el Sistemas de Informaciones Hospitalarios, asociado al Plano Director de Regionalización (PDR) elaborado por la Secretaría de Estado de la Salud como un documento que expresa la política y el dibujo de la regionalización posibilitó un análisis espacial de las micro y macro-regiones a las cuales pertenecen los municipios, a través de geoprocesamiento de las hospitalizaciones. El análisis de la capacidad instalada, del perfil y del flujo de las internaciones no destaca la ampliación del acceso a las acciones y servicios de salud hospitalarios entre los municipios en el período estudiado. La resolutividad y algunas especificidades encontradas, demuestran potencial para aumentar el desempeño de los municipios como la adopción de políticas públicas que incidan en el modelo de atención desarrollado por la municipalidad. Hay la necesidad de reevaluación y readecuación permanente del proceso de regionalización, a reflejar los avances conquistados y las necesidades y dificultades persistentes. Se propone una mayor coordinación e integración entre los instrumentos organizativos de la regionalización: PDR, PPI y PDI. La regionalización como principio organizacional del SUS, no puede prescindir de la unión, de la participación, y del esfuerzo colectivo de gestores, técnicos y estudiosos. Solamente así, superando verticalizaciones, tejiendo redes y acordando pactos, se alcanzara la universalidad del acceso, la equidad, la integralidad y solutividad.

Orientador: Heloísa Vieira da Rocha / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Computação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-20T14:48:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Vargas_Ariel_D.pdf: 20092407 bytes, checksum: a759e10b287a819834ba069524f29fee (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: Observar as ações de usuários interagindo com a interface de uma aplicação computacional é a base de métodos tradicionais de avaliação de usabilidade, como os testes com usuários e a observação em campo. Apesar de populares e eficientes na descoberta de problemas, esses métodos tradicionais são considerados bastante caros, devido aos custos de envolver usuários, de preparar a infra-estrutura e especialmente da própria execução dos métodos e análise de seus resultados. A qualidade dos resultados da execução desses métodos depende da escolha dos usuários participantes da avaliação, que precisam ser representativos de todos os perfis de usuários da aplicação avaliada. Na Web, devido à diversidade e característica distribuída dos usuários, a obtenção de usuários representativos dos diversos perfis torna-se bastante difícil. Nos métodos tradicionais de avaliação, especialistas em usabilidade analisam a interação de cada usuário interagindo com a aplicação, para encontrar problemas de usabilidade. Esta análise depende do conhecimento e esforço desses especialistas para encontrar problemas na aplicação avaliada. Desse modo, os métodos tradicionais, se utilizados em grande escala de usuários, tornam-se demasiadamente caros devido a seus custos e tempo de execução. Outra característica importante das aplicações Web é sua constante evolução, o que necessita de avaliações de usabilidade periódicas e constantes, para verificar se alterações não prejudicam sua usabilidade. Da mesma forma, os métodos tradicionais de avaliação de usabilidade tornam-se demasiadamente caros, se utilizados em avaliações constantes da usabilidade de aplicações Web. Nesse contexto, esta tese buscou, na automatização do processo de avaliação de usabilidade, uma alternativa para diminuir as dificuldades mencionadas anteriormente em se avaliar a usabilidade de aplicações Web, especialmente em sua fase de manutenção. Assim, esta tese defende a hipótese de que, utilizando-se um método de avaliação de usabilidade fundamentado na captura e análise da interação de usuários de maneira remota e automatizada, é possível diminuir as dificuldades existentes nos métodos tradicionais na fase de manutenção de uma aplicação Web, possibilitando ainda: a análise da interação de usuários em campo e em grande escala de usuários; a identificação de padrões de interação dos usuários com a aplicação; uma avaliação com baixo custo de execução, favorecendo a realização de avaliações periódicas de usabilidade de uma aplicação Web. Neste sentido, esta tese apresenta o desenvolvimento do WebHint, um método remoto e automatizado de avaliação de usabilidade para aplicações Web. O método proposto nesta tese foi aplicado em três estudos de usabilidade que validaram o WebHint como uma alternativa viável para a realização de avaliações remotas e automatizadas de usabilidade de aplicações Web / Abstract: Observing users interacting with user interfaces is the basis of traditional usability evaluation methods as user tests and field observation. In spite of their popularity and efficiency in finding usability problems, these traditional methods are considered expensive, due to the costs of involving users in the evaluation, preparing the infrastructure and specially, due to the costs of executing the methods and analyzing the results. The quality of the results obtained with these methods depends on the users participating of the evaluation, who need to represent all the user's profiles of the evaluated application. In the Web, due to the diversity and distributed location of the users, it is difficult to obtain representative users. In traditional methods, usability experts analyze the behavior of each user interacting with the application in order to detect usability problems. This subjective analysis depends on the knowledge and work of the expert to find the problems. This way, the traditional methods became too expensive when it is necessary to involve high number of users in the evaluation. Another important aspect of Web applications is their frequent evolvement, which requires usability evaluations performed frequently to avoid usability problems caused by changes on the applications. The same way, the traditional methods are too expensive to be performed in a regular basis. In that context, this thesis proposes an automatic method for usability evaluation, as an alternative approach to deal with the difficulties mentioned above. This way, this thesis supports the hypothesis that is possible to decrease the difficulties regarding to the traditional methods through a usability evaluation method based on the automatic capture and analysis of user's interaction. Thus, this thesis, presents the development of the WebHint, a remote and automatic usability evaluation method for Web applications. The proposed method was applied in three usability studies, and their results validated the WebHint as a feasible alternative to perform remote and automatic usability evaluations of Web applications / Doutorado / Ciência da Computação / Doutor em Ciência da Computação

A case study was conducted to document the changes in the attitudes of academic administrators at Langston University with regards to the use of various types of information sources for strategic planning. Environmental scanning of external factors was accomplished for six months by the use of a selective dissemination of information (SDI) service. Pre- and post-assessments of the perceived reliance on, satisfaction with and adequacy of personal and library-type information sources were conducted. Findings indicated the continued reliance on personal sources. No statistically significant changes were found in perceived adequacy levels in the use of library-type materials. The overall satisfaction level for the use of library-type information sources and retrieval methods showed a significant increase. Further study is recommended that will utilize additional information technology and other academic institutions.

Introduction Transition care clinics (TCCs) have proven to be effective in meeting the time-sensitive needs of patients in the post-discharge period and ensuring smooth transitions of patients from hospital to home. These clinics have led to lower readmissions, lower emergency department visits, cost savings, and lower rates of other adverse events following discharge. However, TCCs, including the East Tennessee State University Family Medicine (ETSU-FM) TCC have been facing high rates of patient no-shows. Aim The aim of this dissertation is to identify the different components and outcomes of TCC based on the literature. We further aim to analyze the TCC implementation process at the ETSU-FM clinic, identify gaps, and provide recommendations to address those gaps. Methods A scoping review was conducted using three databases (PubMed, Web of Science, and PsycINFO) searches while following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews Checklist to identify different components of TCCs and the associated outcomes. Additionally, a mixed-methods study was conducted using patients and providers from the ETSU-FM clinic to identify different factors associated with patients’ no-shows to scheduled TCC appointments. Results Eighteen studies were analyzed and TCC components and patients’ outcomes were assessed. Predischarge communication with patients and caregivers, early post-discharge contacts, etc. were identified as some of the effective components of TCC. Our review also highlighted that TCC resulted in lower readmissions, lower ED visits, and cost-effectiveness. For the mixed-methods study, we included 520 patients in our quantitative analysis and interviewed 10 providers for the qualitative analysis. Several patient-level and system-level factors were found to be associated with TCC no-shows. A few of the factors that were deemed modifiable by the clinic have been identified and recommendations provided accordingly. Conclusion TCCs play a vital role in ensuring smooth care transitions of patients following discharge. It is crucial to conduct context-level studies to identify factors that are associated with TCC no-shows and design interventions accordingly. Doing so could lead to pursuit of the triple aim of healthcare: improving patients’ experience of care, improving the health of populations, and reducing the per capita cost of health care.

The study investigated the effect of accessibility and utilization of electronic resources by academic staff on productivity at the University of Calabar and the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. In order to determine the effect of accessibility and utilization of e-resources on productivity of academic staff, a lone hypothesis was formulated thus: there is no significant correlation between accessibility and utilization of e-resources and productivity of academic staff in Nigerian universities. The study adopted quantitative approach as research paradigm; with survey and bibliometrics as research methods. Questionnaire was used as the primary instrument for data collection on accessibility and utilization of e-resources and productivity of academic staff in the study. The population of 2035 academic staff and sample size of 586 academic staff were used for the study, and a response rate of 55.29% was obtained for data analysis. The data for the study were analysed with SPSS. The finding of the study revealed that there is significant correlation between accessibility and utilization of e-resources and productivity of academic staff at the surveyed universities (r=0.135; p=0.004), especially at the level of international publication (r=0.158; p=0.004). The study concluded that there is a positive effect due to accessibility and utilization of e-resources on productivity at the surveyed universities. Further findings of the study revealed a low level of electronic information environment at the surveyed universities in relation to global practices; although, the University of Ibadan was found to have a better electronic information environment than the University of Calabar. The result from questionnaire survey revealed that the University of Calabar was more productive than the University of Ibadan; the converse was obtained with bibliometric analysis as the University of Ibadan was found to be more productive than the University of Calabar. From the findings of the study the influence of demographic variables (discipline, gender, age, education and professional rank) on accessibility and utilization of e-resources was not significant at the surveyed universities. The study recommended increased investment in ICT facilities at the surveyed universities to promote increase in accessibility and utilization of e-resources by academic staff in research. / Information Science / D.Litt et. Phil. (Information Science)

The study investigated the effect of accessibility and utilization of electronic resources by academic staff on productivity at the University of Calabar and the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. In order to determine the effect of accessibility and utilization of e-resources on productivity of academic staff, a lone hypothesis was formulated thus: there is no significant correlation between accessibility and utilization of e-resources and productivity of academic staff in Nigerian universities. The study adopted quantitative approach as research paradigm; with survey and bibliometrics as research methods. Questionnaire was used as the primary instrument for data collection on accessibility and utilization of e-resources and productivity of academic staff in the study. The population of 2035 academic staff and sample size of 586 academic staff were used for the study, and a response rate of 55.29% was obtained for data analysis. The data for the study were analysed with SPSS. The finding of the study revealed that there is significant correlation between accessibility and utilization of e-resources and productivity of academic staff at the surveyed universities (r=0.135; p=0.004), especially at the level of international publication (r=0.158; p=0.004). The study concluded that there is a positive effect due to accessibility and utilization of e-resources on productivity at the surveyed universities. Further findings of the study revealed a low level of electronic information environment at the surveyed universities in relation to global practices; although, the University of Ibadan was found to have a better electronic information environment than the University of Calabar. The result from questionnaire survey revealed that the University of Calabar was more productive than the University of Ibadan; the converse was obtained with bibliometric analysis as the University of Ibadan was found to be more productive than the University of Calabar. From the findings of the study the influence of demographic variables (discipline, gender, age, education and professional rank) on accessibility and utilization of e-resources was not significant at the surveyed universities. The study recommended increased investment in ICT facilities at the surveyed universities to promote increase in accessibility and utilization of e-resources by academic staff in research. / Information Science / D.Litt et. Phil. (Information Science)

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / In today's fast paced world, people have become increasingly interested in online communication to facilitate their lives and make it faster. This goes on from simple social interactions to more advanced actions like shopping on the internet. The presence of such activities makes it crucial for people to use their common sense and judgment to process all this information and evaluate what/who they trust and what/whom they do not. This process would have been much easier if the number of people in such networks is really small and manageable. However, there are millions of users who are hooked online every day. This makes the person very overwhelmed with his trusting decision, especially when it comes to interacting with strangers over the internet, and/or buying personal items, especially expensive ones. Therefore, many trust models have been proposed by computer scientists trying to evaluate and manage the trust between users using different techniques and combining many factors. What these computer scientists basically do is coming up with mathematical formulas and models to express trust in online networks and capture its parameters. However, social scientists are the people better trained to deal with concepts related to human behaviors and their cognitive thinking such as trust. Thus, in order for computer scientists to support their ideas and get a better insight about how to direct their research, people like social scientists should contribute. With this in mind, we realized in our group work the importance of such contribution, so we came up with the idea of my research work. In my search, I tried to find how these social scientists think and tackle a dynamic notion like trust, so we can use their findings in order to enhance our work and trust model. Through the chapters, I will discuss an already developed trust model that uses measurement theory in modeling trust. I will refer back to this model and see how other social scientists dealt with some of the issues encountered by the model and its functionality. Some small experiments have been done to show and compare our results with social scientists results for the same matter. One of the most important and controversial points to be discussed from social scientists' point of view is whether trust is transitive or not. Other points to be discussed and supported by social scientists' research include aggregation, reputation, timing effects on trust, reciprocity, and experience effects on trust. Some of these points are classified into trust mapping categories and others are related to trust management or decision making stages. In sum, this work is a multidisciplinary study of trust whose overall goal is to enhance our work and results, as computer scientists.

The scarcity of financial resources often poses challenges for organisations in both the private and the public sector, which require productive (tangible) resources, in order to thrive. Organisations are developing innovative and cost-effective methods to secure productive resources that are needed to drive performance. Special libraries in the public sector face the same pressures that resulted in some of them being overwhelmed by poor resources. The purpose of the study is to determine the levels of resources available to the libraries in the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) and the extent to which tangible resources can predict information service provision in GPG libraries. The theory of the firm and the resource-based view (RBV) theory were used as theoretical framework to support the study. The study addresses the identified gap of resource adequacy in special libraries by measuring adequacy from the perspective of those responsible for exploiting the resources, instead of the library services (the output) and library users. This approach differs from those in similar studies, which measured adequacy from the perspective of consumers. The study adopted a positivist philosophical assumption, using a quantitative research approach, with questionnaires and interviews as the data collection tools. The population of the study involves all the library officials of the libraries in Gauteng Provincial Government departments, including management. Due to the nature and size of the target population, there was no need for sampling. A total of 30 respondents for both quantitative and qualitative data, participated in the study. In order to achieve acceptable levels of validity of collected and analysed data, the face validity method was used, whereas the representative reliability method was used to ensure reliability and consistency of the measuring instruments. Mean and standard deviation, multiple regression and Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient analyses on quantitative data was conducted by using the data analysis tool Statistical Software for Social Sciences (SPSS). Atlas Ti was used to analyse the qualitative data collected. No major limitations were identified. The study found the level of physical, financial, ICT-based resources and staff development and training in the GPG libraries to be low, similarly the level of information services provided was found to be low. The resources were found to have predictive value on one another, but not on information services. Furthermore, the study did find a positive and strong relationship between resources and services at GPG libraries. The study recommended a resourcing model that is based on the collaborative consumption/sharing economy concept and principles. / Information Science / D. Phil (Information Science)