Shensheng Zhang

An interactive service customization model

Mass customization has become one of the key strategies for a service provider to differentiate itself from its competitors in a highly segmented global service market. This paper proposes an interactive service customization model to support individual service offering for customers. In this model, not only that the content of an activity is customizable, but the process model can also be constructed dynamically according to the customers requirements. Based on goal ontology, the on-demand customer requirements are transformed into a high-level service process model. Process components, which are building blocks for reusable standardized service processes, are designed to support on-demand process composition. The customer can incrementally define the customized service process through a series of operations, including activation of goal decomposition, reusable component selection, and process composition. In this paper, we first discuss the key requirements of the service customization problem. We then present in detail a knowledge-based customizable service process model and the accompanying customization method. Finally we demonstrate the feasibility of the our approach through a case study of the well-known travel planning problem and present a prototype system that enables users to interactively organize a satisfying travel plan.

A Distributed Algorithm for Web Service Composition Based on Service Agent Model

Agent-based service composition has provided a promising computing paradigm for the automatic web service composition. In this paper, a formal service agent model is proposed, which integrates the web service and software agent technologies into one cohesive entity. Based on the service agent model, a distributed planning algorithm for web service composition called DPAWSC is presented. DPAWSC formalizes web service composition into a graph search problem according to the dependence relations among service agents. The key to DPAWSC is that the alternative solution with smaller length has higher priority to be searched than one with larger length. DPAWSC is based on the distributed decision making of the autonomous service agents and addresses the distributed nature of web service composition. We evaluate the algorithm by simulation experiments and the results demonstrate that DPAWSC is effective for its ability to produce the high quality solution at a low cost of communications.

A dynamically reconfigurable system based on workflow and service agents

Most mission critical software systems are being built by integrating multiple distributed components. A software service, which is self-described and managed, and can be discovered and invoked dynamically through the Internet, provides a new paradigm for the composition of software systems. As a consequence, services and service-oriented software architecture will play fundamental roles in autonomic computing, which promotes the concept of self-management for software systems. To support self-managed and service-based software systems, a critical issue is how to deal with the service-oriented architecture to support dynamically reconfiguration. A service-based dynamically reconfigurable system framework for supporting future self-managed software systems was proposed in the paper. In the framework, a service agent represents an intelligent service broker that offers a self-managed and integrated service to respond to the requests from the environment adaptively. A workflow engine in this framework coordinates these service agents to implement particular business functions. The structure of the service agent, including its plan model, the relevant reconfiguration method and a service optimization mechanism, were discussed in the paper. A case study and an implementation were also presented.

Matching large scale ontology effectively

Ontology matching has played a great role in many well-known applications It can identify the elements corresponding to each other At present, with the rapid development of ontology applications, domain ontologies became very large in scale Solving large scale ontology matching problems is beyond the reach of the existing matching methods To improve this situation a modularization-based approach (called MOM) was proposed in this paper It tries to decompose a large matching problem into several smaller ones and use a method to reduce the complexity dramatically Several large and complex ontologies have been chosen and tested to verify this approach The results show that the MOM method can significantly reduce the time cost while keeping the high matching accuracy.

Collaborative knowledge management by integrating knowledge modeling and workflow modeling

Recently both industrial and academic researches show great interest in knowledge management. However, users still find it hard to obtain a suitable knowledge management tool that fits for their needs. Although business requirements always change, current software systems still cannot be adapted to these changes quickly. In this paper, a framework is put forward to facilitate the design of an adaptive knowledge management system. In this framework, the structural knowledge modeling is combined with processes, which are used for ensuring the quality of knowledge acquisition in the framework. Two kinds of spaces, knowledge space and process space, and a knowledge state model are introduced. Finally, application systems based on this framework, which are being used in three real business enterprises for controlling life cycle of knowledge management in China, are discussed.

A process component model for enterprise business knowledge reuse

To respond quickly to the market, the organization must be able to create, manage and optimize dynamic business process. Building up dynamic process using multi predefined process units can lead to higher efficiency in fulfilling complex business goals. Among all valuable information business process, current business process management systems only reuse the workflow model, which is of a relatively lower level, and cannot fully support process unit composition. This paper suggests that business process should be regarded as a kind of knowledge, and reuse of this knowledge should cover a much wider range. A business knowledge reuse framework is discussed. We define process component as a unit for process knowledge management and reuse. The ontology of process component is expatriated in detail. Process component model is a key factor in realizing process knowledge reuse and organizational learning.

Ontology-based reconfigurable case-based reasoning system for knowledge integration

Cased-based reasoning (CRB) is a methodology that follows mankinds problem solving strategy. Most traditional CBR systems are built in a fixed index structure and they cannot be easily adapted to fit new environment. In this paper a KM framework is proposed that combines ontology, case templates and case-based reasoning to solve the problems. In this framework, enterprise ontology provides the basis for integration among knowledge resources. Case templates can be reconfigured based on the enterprises ontology by the user. The knowledge structure and the user-interfaces of the system knowledge structure and the user-interface of the system can be reconfigured so that the system can suit for an enterprise whose knowledge structure and the requirement for knowledge management system change rapidly. Besides, a workflow based knowledge acquisition method is also discussed that assures the quality of the knowledge acquired.

A dynamic grid workflow model based on workflow component reuse

A grid workflow is regarded as a fundamental service in a grid environment. To design a user friendly end-to-end grid workflow model is generally a challenging task for general users. In this paper, we propose the concept of grid workflow component, which can be created and then reused to construct the grid workflow model dynamically. This paper firstly presents a framework for dynamic grid workflow. Then the grid workflow component model, which consists of a semantic sub-model and a syntactic sub-model, is defined. Next the methodologies for reusing grid workflow component, especially its search strategy and assembling patterns, are discussed in the paper.

Composing Web Services Based on Agent and Workflow

Although web service has been regarded as a basic technology to support the next generation web, there are some deficiencies in this technology. A challenge to web service is how to compose several web services according to the business requirements. A web service composition framework WASC is proposed in the paper. In the WASC, different plans are defined as ECA rule set in the service agent and each plan can include several web service invoking activities. After receiving a request, service agent can determine to invoke which service so that the service independent plan will be turned into a service dependent plan by rewriting ECA rules. At the same time, workflow is used to coordinate the actions of service agents. The structures of WASC and service agent are discussed in the paper.

Biliary reconstruction and complications in adult living donor liver transplantation: systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this meta-analysis was to compare outcomes of different techniques used for biliary reconstruction in adult donor liver transplantation. METHODS We searched the literature via Pubmed, Embase, Ovid, the Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group Controlled Trials Regsistry, the Cochrane Central Registry of Controlled Trials, the Cochrane Library database, and Web of Science. Then with the data extracted from the literature, the effects that biliary reconstruction techniques in living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) had on the occurrence of biliary complications were compared. With the use of random-effects and fixed-effect models, the results were obtained and expressed as odds ratio. RESULTS We found 16 eligible studies from various medical centers around the world. Duct-to-duct (DD) reconstruction was performed in the majority of patients (922/1,564). Multiple biliary ducts were encountered in 16.7%-60.4%, and ductoplasty was performed in 7.9%-74% of the patients. Both graft and posterior layer of bile duct anastomosis in DD reconstruction were studied, and no statistically differences in incidence of biliary complications were found between the Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy (RYHJ) and DD groups. Nonsurgical management of biliary complications was the first choice of treatment. CONCLUSIONS Our study found that there is no clear evidence in favor of using DD or RYHJ during adult LDLT.