A pluggable service platform architecture for e-commerce

In the beginning of the e-commerce era, retailers mostly adopted vertically integrated solutions to control the entire e-commerce value chain. However, they began to realize that to achieve agility, a better approach would be to focus on certain core capabilities and then create a partner ecosystem around them. From a technical point of view, this means it is advised to have a lightweight platform architecture with small core e-commerce functionality which can be extended by additional services from third party providers. In a typical e-commerce ecosystem with diverse information systems of network partners, integration and interoperability become critical factors to enable seamless coordination among the partners. Furthermore an increasing adoption of cloud computing technology could be observed resulting in more challenging integration scenarios involving cloud services. Thus, an e-commerce platform is required that suites the advanced needs for flexible and agile service integration. Therefore, this paper aims to present a reference architecture of a novel pluggable service platform for e-commerce. We investigate on currently available online shop platform solutions and integration platforms in the market. Based on the findings and motivated by literature on service-oriented design, we develop an architecture of a service-based pluggable platform for online retailers. This design is then instantiated by means of a prototype for an e-commerce returns handling scenario to demonstrate the feasibility of our architecture design.     

Studies on a New Concept of 3D Data Integration about Reaches and Forces of a Disabled Person on a Wheelchair (CAD Methods in Car and Market Ergonomics)

The article presents a new concept of combining the three dimensions (3D) of a person's manipulation space. The data concern information about the reach of the arms and biomechanical data about limiting the load of a disabled person sitting in a wheelchair. Measurement data were acquired empirically, on original measuring station. The data included, respectively, arms' reach (static and dynamic) or, alternatively, measurements of limiting forces. The obtained data were processed into virtual 3D surfaces of arms' reach and forces. These surfaces provide the required graphic model of anthropotechnical and biomechanical data. Developed model was utilized to perform a virtual analysis of the accessibility of a disabled person to technical means: in a market sale space and in the ergonomic analysis into the space of a personal car. The presented method of 3D graphic modeling of anthropometrical and biomechanical data can be universally applied in ergonomic designing of work stations not only for disabled persons. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Hydrophilic polycarbonate chips for generation of oil-in-water (O/W) and water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) emulsions

Modification of the surfaces of polycarbonate (PC) with the use of a solution of tin (II) chloride renders them hydrophilic. The surface draping is stable against exposure to water and to alcohols. Exposure to alkanes reduces but does not diminish the effect. The method is compatible—in using the same solvent and temperature—with the hydrophobic modification of PC (Jankowski et al. in Lab Chip 11:1151–1156, 2011). The combination of these methods makes it possible to generate single and multiple monodisperse emulsions with the use of flow-focusing junctions in systems made in PC—a material that is suitable for fabrication of multilayer, high-throughput microfluidic devices.     

Topology optimization of a cantilevered piezoelectric energy harvester using stress norm constraints

Vibrational piezoelectric energy harvesters are devices which convert ambient vibrational energy into electric energy. Here we focus on the common cantilever type in which an elastic beam is sandwiched between two piezoelectric plates. In order to maximize the electric power for a given sinusoidal vibrational excitation, we perform topology optimization of the elastic beam and tip mass by means of the SIMP approach, leaving the piezoelectric plates solid. We are interested in the first and especially second resonance mode. Homogenizing the piezoelectric strain distribution is a common indirect approach increasing the electric performance. The large design space of the topology optimization approach and the linear physical model also allows the maximization of electric performance by maximizing peak bending, resulting in practically infeasible designs. To avoid such problems, we formulate dynamic piezoelectric stress constraints. The obtained result is based on a mechanism which differs significantly from the common designs reported in literature.     

Hydrophilic polycarbonate chips for generation of oil-in-water (O/W) and water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) emulsions

Modification of the surfaces of polycarbonate (PC) with the use of a solution of tin (II) chloride renders them hydrophilic. The surface draping is stable against exposure to water and to alcohols. Exposure to alkanes reduces but does not diminish the effect. The method is compatible—in using the same solvent and temperature—with the hydrophobic modification of PC Jankowski et al. ( Lab Chip 11:748–752, 2011). The combination of these methods makes it possible to generate single and multiple monodisperse emulsions with the use of flow-focusing junctions in systems made in PC—material that is suitable for fabrication of multilayer, high throughput microfluidic devices.     

Low-latency atomic broadcast in the presence of contention

The Atomic Broadcast algorithm described in this paper can deliver messages in two communication steps, even if multiple processes broadcast at the same time. It tags all broadcast messages with the local real time, and delivers all messages in the order of these timestamps. Both positive and negative statements are used: “m broadcast at time 51” vs. “no messages broadcast between times 31 and 51”. To prevent crashed processes from blocking the system, the -elected leader broadcasts negative statements on behalf of the processes it suspects () to have crashed. A new cheap Generic Broadcast algorithm is used to ensure consistency between conflicting statements. It requires only a majority of correct processes (n > 2f) and, in failure-free runs, delivers all non-conflicting messages in two steps. The main algorithm satisfies several new lower bounds, which are proved in this paper.     

On the robust control of nonlinear systems

In this paper we consider robust stabilization of the class of nonlinear plants of the form $$\dot x = f(x) + \sum\limits_{i = 1}^m {g_i } (x)u_i (t),$$ which are equivalent, under smooth state space coordinate transformations and nonlinear state feedback, to controllable systems. This approach is very sensitive for unknown parameters' values. Parameter adaptation may be used as a technique to robustify minimum-phase systems [3]. We give an example of a locally stable adaptive tracking system in which the last assumption is weakened. The minimum-phase plant considered in the paper is a current-controlled squirrel cage induction motor.     

Ultraviolet photodetectors and readout based on a-IGZO semiconductor technology

In this work, real-time ultraviolet photodetectors are realized through metal–semiconductor–metal (MSM) structures. Amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) is used as semiconductor material and gold as metal electrodes. The readout of an individual sensor is implemented by a transimpedance amplifier (TIA) consisting of an all-enhancement a-IGZO thin-film transistor (TFT) operational amplifier and a switched capacitor (SC) as feedback resistance. The photosensor and the transimpedance amplifier are both manufactured on glass substrates. The measured photosensor possesses a high responsivity R , a low response time t _{R E S} , and a good noise equivalent power value NEP .     

Recommendation of RILEM Technical Committee 250-CSM: Test method for Textile Reinforced Mortar to substrate bond characterization

Textile Reinforced Mortar (TRM), also known as Fabric Reinforced Mortar or Fabric Reinforced Cementitious Matrix, composites are an emerging technology for the external repair and strengthening of existing structures. For most applications, the effectiveness of the TRM reinforcement relies on its bond performance. This recommendation identifies the best practice to characterize the bond behaviour of TRM. A shear bond test method is proposed to determine the peak axial stress (associated with the maximum load that can be transferred from the structural member to the externally bonded TRM reinforcement), the stress–slip relationship and the failure mode that controls the TRM-to-substrate load transfer capacity. Guidelines on specimen manufacturing, experimental setup, test execution, and determination of test results are provided.