Boris Milašinović

Early effort estimation in web application development

Effort estimation of the web application on the basis of the conceptual model and functional size is proposed.Functional size of data-driven web application is in correlation with the estimated development effort.The effort estimation model can be built with the support of conceptual models and COSMIC FP.The method is not adequate for web applications with complex mathematical calculations. Project planning in software industry represents one of the most complex tasks, especially when there is a need to estimate the time, cost and effort needed for development of software projects. In the field of development effort estimation for classical software projects a number of methods have been developed, tested and successfully implemented. Web projects are, by their nature, different than classical software projects, and there is a lack of methods and models that provides a high degree of confidence in development effort estimation. This paper analyzes the possibility of using a combination of functional size and conceptual models for the purpose of web application development effort estimation. Measurement of functional size can be effectively applied to the conceptual models of the data-driven web applications because of the existence of extensive count of data movements. For the purpose of this study 19 web applications with their conceptual models were employed. An effort model was built using simple linear regression analysis. Upon construction, evaluation and validation of the effort model prediction accuracy elements, R2, MMRE, and Pred(l), showed promising results for web projects used in the model construction and validation process.

Invasive alien plants in Croatia as a threat to biodiversity of South-Eastern Europe: Distributional patterns and range size

During the analysis of alien and invasive flora of Europe, as a threat to biodiversity, data for Croatia were missing. The aim of our research was to analyse distributional patterns and range size of all invasive alien plants (64) for the state area (57,000 km(2)). They were detected on 49% of the state territory, averaging five taxa per 35 km(2). The greatest number of invasive plants (>30 per grid cell) was recorded in the major urban centres, increasing in the south-east direction and reflecting positive correlation with temperature and negative with altitude. The most endangered areas are in the Mediterranean region, especially on islands. The number of invasive plants increased with habitat diversity and almost 75% of all sites with invasive plants are located within a few habitats with direct anthropogenic influence. The results should provide a reliable regional and global basis for strategic planning regarding invasive alien plants management.

Diversity, knowledge and spatial distribution of the vascular flora of Croatia

The Balkan Peninsula is recognized as an important centre of plant diversity. Despite the fact that Croatia contains more than 50% of all Balkan species of vascular flora, the knowledge of the spatial distribution, α-diversity and relation to the conservation efforts have never been summarized and presented. A spatial analysis was performed on several data-sets containing a number of records and a number of species per grid cell. Results show that the Croatian flora consists of 4507 species and 1159 subspecies. The residuals around the linear regression used as a measure of the species richness indicate that Croatia had the highest residual value among the 40 European countries sampled and highest stress on the biodiversity value of the Apennine, the Iberian and the Balkan peninsulas. On the basis of half a million findings and their spatial distributions, we observed that within one grid cell (35 km2) 542 species could be expected. A number of records based on the herbarium specimens, literature and field observation and related spatial distribution were discussed. The spatial distribution of α-diversity indicates that the national hot spots were more consistent with the important plant areas network than with the network of officially protected areas.

An e-mail connectivity solution for WAP-enabled mobile phone

We describe the architecture of a system called wMail, intended for e-mail messaging using wireless application protocol (WAP) enabled cell phone. The software integrates all of users Internet mailboxes with the users cell phone, turning them into instant messaging systems available at any time from anywhere. On the basis of a chosen time period and notification type, the user is provided either with an SMS message or with a PUSH request, which allows the user to connect easily to his integrated e-mail inbox through a unique link without an unnecessary login procedure. wMail implements various content filters so that the content from various file types is displayed on the cell phone display in a suitable way. Methods for displaying such messages are described. wMail also provides various notification methods and anti-spam filters.

Knowledge assessment at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing

The article deals with the problem of assessing student knowledge in programming courses at the Department of Applied Computing of Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb, Croatia. It discusses the evolution of an assessment system from a simple midterm and homework based model to a more complex and better organized model in order to eliminate a negative backwash effect and to stimulate an active approach to learning. Various types of employed assessments are presented, their theoretical background discussed and the success of their implementation evaluated.

On Some Problems while Writing an Engine for Flow Control in Workflow Management Software

This paper describes some of the most common problems that can occur while writing an engine for flow control in workflow management software. The emphasis is put on implementing workflow control patterns, particularly on splits and matching synchronization points, and on milestones and mutual exclusions. After brief introduction and description of a background of development of a proprietary workflow management system, typical problems are described and solutions are proposed. Finally, a proprietary workflow parsing algorithm is proposed and explained.

Estimation of feasibility for business information systems

This paper describes the architecture of a system called Business Information System Feasibility. The purpose of the system is to establish a base for an impartial and computer-aided decision-making tool for choice of information system software and / or its provider, for evaluation of computerization projects and for validation of existing information systems. In the paper we present the system model, the implemented features and the algorithm used for calculation of product scores feasibility query.

Estimation of Feasibility for Business Information Systems

This paper describes the architecture of a system called Business Information System Feasibility. The purpose of the system is to establish a base for an impartial and computer-aided decision-making tool for choice of information system software and / or its provider, for evaluation of computerization projects and for validation of existing information systems. In the paper we present the system model, the implemented features and the algorithm used for calculation of product scores feasibility query.

A tool for simplifying automatic categorization of scientific paper using Watson API

More than a decade many scientific papers have been dealing with automatic categorization of documents. Until recently there were no wide spread tools or libraries that could be integrated in a custom application. Recent cloud solutions for cognitive computing eased such integration, but integration still requires a lot of work. An idea of extendible library for simplifying document parsing and categorization using IBM Watson API is developed and presented in this paper. As a proof of concept nearly one hundred of scientific papers in a scientific journal were parsed and analysed using Watson API to detect key topics and concepts of each paper which were then compared with keywords provided by the author.

Principal risk in implementation of a sophisticated ERP system at a higher education institutions

Implementation of a sophisticated ERP system into a heterogeneous academic environment like universities is far from being a trivial task. The question of integration as a serious risk factor should not be neglected. That is why strategic planning of the integrated business-information system (IBIS) have a crucial importance as a link between academic strategy and business strategy.