Metamodel-driven model interpreter evolution
Domain-specific modeling (DSM) raises the level of abstraction by specifying a metamodel that is aligned to a particular problem domain. A key feature of DSM is the construction of model interpreters that synthesize the domain models into software artifacts. In the presence of new stakeholder requirements, it is possible that a metamodel undergoes numerous changes during periods of evolution (a new instance of the classic schema evolution problem). Consequently, there is a fundamental problem in keeping the model interpreters up to date with metamodel changes. This research abstract outlines the technical challenges in formalizing model interpreter implementation with the intent to facilitate interpreter evolution in terms of metamodel migration.

title: Index Support for Visualizing Large, Distributed, High-Dimension Data Sets

title: Model replication: transformations to address model scalability
abstract: 2 SUMMARY In Model-Driven Engineering, it is often desirable to evaluate different design alternatives as they relate to scalability issues of the modeled system. A typical approach to address scalability is model replication, which starts by creating base models that capture the key entities as model elements and their relationships as model connections. A collection of base models can be adorned with necessary information to characterize a specific scalability concern as it relates to how the base modeling elements are replicated and connected together. In current modeling practice, such model replication is usually accomplished by scaling the base model manually. This is a time-consuming process that represents a source of error, especially when there are deep interactions between model components. As an alternative to the manual process, this paper presents the idea of automated model replication through a model transformation process that expands the number of elements from the base model and makes the correct connections among the generated modeling elements. The paper motivates the need for model replication through case studies taken from models supporting different domains.

title: Business Process-Oriented Software Architecture for Supporting Business Process Change
abstract: As a business process is essential in running an enterprise, this paper aims toward improving software architecture by extracting business-relevant semantics from business logic and transforming them as important elements that need to be molded and represented in software architecture. This allows for the development of a business process-oriented software architecture (BPOSA) that can support smoother business process change. The paper introduces the structure of BPOSA and its work mode. Then it describes the steps involved in designing a process-oriented software system, and provides analysis and design methods of extending process-relevant attributes for application in business operations.

title: Levels of Independence in Aspect-Oriented Modeling
abstract: We are investigating the application of aspect-oriented principles as an aid toward improving the capabilities of domain-specific modeling. The approach, in general, provides transformations by weaving modeling aspects into a base model. The modeling aspects provide variation points within the model and can be used to drive the synthesis of the model into different artifacts. In this brief position paper, we describe how our current and future work improves the capabilities offered in a model-based tool. We highlight several levels of independence that make the approach applicable to numerous modeling situations.

title: A Composition-Oriented Approach for Business Process Formal Design
abstract: Traditional approaches to designing business processes are often inadequate for complicated, distributed, and collaborated settings. However since network technologies have become widespread, an increasing number of business processes exhibit these properties. Therefore a new approach is needed. To this end, we describe the motivation, conceptualization, and analysis of a composition-oriented business process design method. The key advance of our method is that it uses process algebra pi-calculus as its formal basis and builds a complex process by composing simple structured process control modules to reduce the complexity of business process design as well as let several designers collaborate the design of a complex process. To make business process more clear, we also provide way of separating exception processing logic from normal process control logic and provide scooping mechanisms to minimize the detrimental effects of unplanned contingencies by ways of composition

title: Research and Practice in Undergraduate Embedded System Course
abstract: Embedded systems are becoming very common and meantime create a high demand for hardware and software engineer to support the development of IT. The higher education institutions are facing the need to update their embedded system syllabus. In this paper, we will share our experiences in the development of an undergraduate embedded systems course. This paper describes the design, implementation and teaching style of Application & Principle of Embedded System course in Department of Electrical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology. The paper also presents the challenges encountered due to broad knowledge background and how to achieve the right balance between theory and practice. We also introduce how co-operation between BIT and INTEL in Embedded System Joint Lab.

title: The F-R Model of Teaching in Chinese Universities
abstract: In view of the teaching characteristics of the full-time universities in China, the paper probes into the application of web-based teaching platform and the new model of teaching---the F-R model of teaching that integrates the rigid teaching management with the flexible curricula teaching to make full use of the teaching resources and enhance the teaching efficiency. The new model of teaching not only assures the integrity of the students' knowledge system but also emphasizes the individual difference. It provides a way to cultivate students' personality and develop the students' ability to analyze and solve the actual problems that are necessary for the full-development and innovative person in modern society.

title: htSNPer1.0: software for haplotype block partition and htSNPs selection
abstract: BackgroundThere is recently great interest in haplotype block structure and haplotype tagging SNPs (htSNPs) in the human genome for its implication on htSNPs-based association mapping strategy for complex disease. Different definitions have been used to characterize the haplotype block structure in the human genome, and several different performance criteria and algorithms have been suggested on htSNPs selection. heuristic algorithm, generalized branch-and-bound algorithm, is applied to the searching of minimal set of haplotype tagging SNPs (htSNPs) according to different htSNPs performance criteria. We develop a software htSNPer1.0 to implement the algorithm, and integrate three htSNPs performance criteria and four haplotype block definitions for haplotype block partitioning. It is a software with powerful Graphical User Interface (GUI), which can be used to characterize the haplotype block structure and select htSNPs in the candidate gene or interested genomic regions. It can find the global optimization with only a fraction of the computing time consumed by exhaustive searching algorithm.ConclusionhtSNPer1.0 allows molecular geneticists to perform haplotype block analysis and htSNPs selection using different definitions and performance criteria. The software is a powerful tool for those focusing on association mapping based on strategy of haplotype block and htSNPs.

title: Arnetminer: expertise oriented search using social networks
abstract: Expertise Oriented Search (EOS) aims at providing comprehensive expertise analysis on data from distributed sources. It is useful in many application domains, for example, finding experts on a given topic, detecting the confliction of interest between researchers, and assigning reviewers to proposals. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of our expertise oriented search system, Arnetminer (http://www.arnetminer.net). Arnetminer has gathered and integrated information about a half-million computer science researchers from the Web, including their profiles and publications. Moreover, Arnetminer constructs a social network among these researchers through their co-authorship, and utilizes this network information as well as the individual profiles to facilitate expertise oriented search tasks. In particular, the co-authorship information is used both in ranking the expertise of individual researchers for a given topic and in searching for associations between researchers. We have conducted initial experiments on Arnetminer. Our results demonstrate that the proposed relevancy propagation expert finding method outperforms the method that only uses person local information, and the proposed two-stage association search on a large-scale social network is order of magnitude faster than the baseline method.

title: Modular verification of dynamically adaptive systems
abstract: Cyber-physical systems increasingly rely on dynamically adaptive programs to respond to changes in their physical environment; examples include ecosystem monitoring and disaster relief systems. These systems are considered high-assurance since errors during execution could result in injury, loss of life, environmental impact, and/or financial loss. In order to facilitate the development and verification of dynamically adaptive systems, we separate functional concerns from adaptive concerns. Specifically, we model a dynamically adaptive program as a collection of (non-adaptive) steady-state programs and a set of adaptations that realize transitions among steady state programs in response to environmental changes. We use Linear Temporal Logic (LTL) to specify properties of the non-adaptive portions of the system, and we use A-LTL (an adapt-operator extension toLTL) to concisely specify properties that hold during the adaptation process. Model checking offers an attractive approach to automatically analyzing models for adherence to formal properties and thus providing assurance. However, currently, model checkers are unable to verify properties specified using A-LTL. Moreover, as the number of steady-state programs and adaptations increase, the verification costs (in terms of space and time) potentially become unwieldy. To address these issues, we propose a modular model checking approach to verifying that a formal model of an adaptive program satisfies its requirements specified in LTL and A-LTL, respectively.