Object-oriented Conceptual Model Research Articles

Development of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Registry Software.

BACKGROUND With an increase in the prevalence and incidence of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), they have become a global challenge. The IBD registry provides complete and timely data, thereby greatly contributing to the estimation of the burden of these diseases and development of control and prevention programs. We aimed to develop an IBD registry software. METHODS The present applied-developmental study had two main stages: determining user requirements, and developing the IBD registry software. The software was created using a Web-based software development technology called ASP.NET Core 2. The programming language in this framework was C#, and the SQL Server 2017 was employed to create a strong and integrated software databank in the relational form. RESULTS When determining user requirements, the data elements were classified into two main categories of patient information and visits and tests. Moreover, in this stage, registry functions, including case ascertainment, abstracting, follow-up, quality control, and reporting were identified. In the registry software development stage, the object-oriented conceptual model was designed with five use case diagrams and 59 classes. The user interface comprised the following main sections: add patient, find patient, complete source report, report, staff, and drugs. Precise user authentication and authorization were also employed to enhance the security of the developed software. CONCLUSION Development of an IBD registry which can precisely record patients and estimate the incidence, prevalence, and socioeconomic burden of these diseases can assist in planning for the control and prevention of IBD in healthcare systems.

Development of a Knowledge-based Clinical Decision Support System for Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosis.

The diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) is difficult considering its complexity, variety in signs and symptoms, and its similarity to the signs and symptoms of other neurological diseases. The purpose of this study is to design and develop a clinical decision support system (CDSS) to help physicians diagnose MS with a relapsing-remitting phenotype. The CDSS software was developed in four stages: requirement analysis, system design, system development, and system evaluation. The Rational Rose and SQL Server were used to design the object-oriented conceptual model and develop the database. The C sharp programming language and the Visual Studio programming environment were used to develop the software. To evaluate the efficiency and applicability of the software, the data of 130 medical records of patients aged 20 to 40 between 2017 and 2019 were used along with the Nilsson standard questionnaire. SPSS Statistics was also used to analyze the data. For MS diagnosis, CDSS had a sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 1, 0.97 and 0.99, respectively, and the area under the ROC curve was 0.98. The agreement rate of kappa coefficient (κ) between software diagnosis and physician’s diagnosis was 0.98. The average score of software users was 98.33%, 96.65%, and 96.9% regarding the ease of learning, memorability, and satisfaction, respectively. Therefore, the applicability of the CDSS for MS diagnosis was confirmed by the neurologists. The evaluation findings show that CDSS can help physicians in the accurate and timely diagnosis of MS by using the rule-based method.

Developing Ghasedak: a Mobile Application to Improve the Quality of Cancer Palliative Care.

Introduction:Today, new health care models are being proposed with the aim of reducing hospital beds and providing services in primary facilities and homes. These models are developed with the focus on the patients and towards their self-management and self-accomplishment of the activities. Among these, Mobile Health Technology seems to be appropriate for making a new model in palliative care and in different types of care, in general. Palliative care Application (app)can pave the way for promoting the patients’ knowledge and thus improving their quality of life, which, in turn, can provide appropriate care at the end of the patients’ life. Aim:This study endeavored to develop the initial version of Mobile Application for cancer Palliative care for the purpose of improving the quality of Iranians’ life. Methods:A mixed method study was conducted in three Phases as follows: 1) comparative study of current mobile applications; 2) developing an object-oriented conceptual model for mobile apps; and 3) developing the initial version of Ghasedak (Ghasedakis the Persian word stand for “Dandelion”) approved for production. Results:Ghasedak was developed for the appropriate cancer self-care, with such functionalities as user training; including cancer definition, cancer factors, its signs and symptoms, types, prevention, cure, adherence to the constraints, strategies for reducing anxiety and overcoming fear, definition and importance of palliative care, management of physical, psychological, social as well as spiritual complications. Ghasedak also includes Clinicians appointment reminds, personal health, user guide, application setting, and patient notes. Conclusion:Ghasedak was developed in compliance with Iranian experts’ opinions. It seems it would be of help in self-care of patients with needed to palliative care.

Analysis of the relationships between topographic factors and landslide occurrence and their application to landslide susceptibility mapping: a case study of Mingchukur, Uzbekistan

This paper uses a probability-based approach to study the spatial relationships between landslides and their causative factors in the Mingchukur area, Bostanlik districts of Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The approach is based on digital databases and incorporates methods including probability analysis, spatial pattern analysis, and interactive mapping. First, an object-oriented conceptual model for describing landslide events is proposed, and a combined database of landslides and environmental factors is constructed by integrating various databases within a unifying conceptual framework. The frequency ratio probability model and landslide occurrence data are linked for interactive, spatial evaluation of the relationships between landslides and their causative factors. In total, 15 factors were analyzed, divided into topography, hydrology, and geology categories. All analyzed factors were also divided into numerical and categorical types. Numerical factors are continuous and were evaluated according to their R2 values. A landslide susceptibility map was constructed based on conditioning factors and landslide occurrence data using the frequency ratio model. Finally, the map was validated and the accuracy showed the satisfactory value of 83.3%.

Theoretical and Empirical Validation of Coupling Metrics for Object-Oriented Data Warehouse Design

The conceptual model of a data warehouse can be used to determine its quality during the early stages of design. Metrics have been proposed in the past to quantify the structural complexity of these models. A majority of these metrics focus on the internal quality attributes of size and complexity. Unfortunately, not many measures have been proposed to assess the magnitude of coupling in the data warehouse multidimensional models. Coupling has a significant impact on the complexity and, in turn, quality of these models. In our previous work, we had put forward measures to determine the scope of inheritance and aggregation coupling between classes present in the object-oriented conceptual model of the data warehouse. The proposed measures take conformed dimensions into account, which is a notable feature of the data warehouse. However, the proposed metrics had not been validated. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to corroborate the proposed coupling metrics theoretically against Briand’s property-based framework, as well as empirically, using advanced statistical and machine learning techniques. The results indicate that the metrics are well-founded coupling measures and hence significantly contribute towards the structural complexity of the models which further impacts their understandability.

Las bases de datos descriptivas: Un diseño de Modelo conceptual orientado a objetos

El presente artículo teórico es resultado de una investigación que conjuga la Ingeniería de Sistemas y la Bibliotecología; muestra una aproximación interdisciplinaria ante la problemática que presentan las bases de datos descriptivas de la biblioteca digital, problema generado por el cambio en los principios organizativos de la información y las demandas que el ambiente digital impone a las bibliotecas. El análisis conduce a un replanteamiento sobre la construcción de bases de datos descriptivas, migrando del Modelo entidad-relación (E-R) para adoptar el Modelo orientado a objetos (MOO) el cual en la actualidad es usado para la construcción y desarrollo programático de la web semántica. Por lo anterior, este artículo teórico propone un Modelo conceptual orientado a objetos bajo una metodología propia, la cual desarrolla el proceso para generar el modelo propuesto en dos etapas. La primera es de aproximación al problema, mientras que la segunda corresponde a la identificación de los elementos que incluye componentes de las normas Recursos, Descripción y Acceso (RDA) y observa los principios teóricos que establecen las FRBR (Requerimientos Funcionales para Registros Bibliográficos). Ya en su conjunto se analizan todos los datos para generar la propuesta de diseño de tres modelos conceptuales orientado a objetos para bases de datos descriptivas: 1) el Modelo de obra, 2) el Modelo de dominio y 3) el Modelo de instancia, para conformar una base de datos descriptiva más adecuada y propia de la biblioteca en esta era digital.

Evaluation of the Ontological Completeness and Clarity of Object-Oriented Conceptual Modelling Grammars

Several research studies have concluded that modelling grammars that support the Object-Oriented (OO) methodology focus more on modelling system design and implementation phenomena than real-world phenomena in IS users' domains. Thus, the purpose of this research study was to evaluate the suitability of OO modelling grammars for conceptual modelling. Although the research work focused on one widely used OO modelling grammar—namely, the Unified Modelling Language (UML)—the approach developed can be applied to any OO modelling grammar. The first phase of this research study focused on evaluating all UML constructs and identifying a subset of UML constructs that are capable of representing real-world phenomena in user domains. The second phase was an empirical evaluation of the identified subset of UML constructs. The results of this empirical evaluation suggest that instead of using all UML constructs the subset of UML constructs is better suited for conceptual modelling.

Towards designing of SPF based secure web application using UML 2.0

This paper describes UML-based foundations for model driven architecture and forward engineering of UML static models. In this paper, we propose an integrated environment for designing object-oriented enterprise models. In this projected process for Fast Prototyping, we design object models like use case diagram, sequence diagram, class diagram, etc. We use object-oriented conceptual modeling techniques to design and develop various applications like E-commerce, Banking, Comparison shopping, Ticketing, Online insurance policy management, product purchase system, etc. This paper suggests forward engineering to generate source code from object models through IBM Rational Rose software. This object oriented source code help software development team from analysis to maintenance phase as well as for round trip engineering. Due to high security concern, we have to use highly secure operating systems as a platform to run these web applications. In this regard, a number of trusted operating systems like Argus, Trusted Solaris, and Virtual Vault have been developed by various companies to handle the increasing need of security. The novel integration of security engineering with model-driven software expansion approach has various advantages. As we observe that all security checks in a Trusted Operating System is not necessary. Some non-essential security checks can be skipped by administrator to increase system performance. These non essential security checks can be easily identified at the time of requirement analysis. For example, the majority of web servers deal with pure public information. The majority of data on a web server is publicly readable and available to all users, but these users should not be capable to change the data on the web server. In this application, the need for security checks during reads from disk seems like a waste of CPU cycles. The real security need for web servers seems to be the security of write accesses, not read accesses. In this paper, we propose code generation, Class identification and Modeling for web applications through UML 2.0. Further we propose Security Performance flexibility model for the same to maintain the balance between security and performance for web applications.

Critical Success Factors and Cluster Evolution: A Case Study of the Linköping ICT Cluster Lifecycle

This paper investigates the variation in the importance of critical success factors (CSFs) in the evolution of the Linköping ICT (information and communication technology) cluster in Sweden. The international empirical evidence of CSFs in ICT clusters reported in the literature is systematically reviewed. On this basis an object-oriented conceptual model is developed encompassing fifteen CSFs; each attributed to one or more objects: for example, firms, institutions, entrepreneurs. The lifecycle of the Linköping ICT cluster is delineated and its stages segmented. The existence and importance of each CSF at each stage of the cluster lifecycle is established empirically on the basis of interviews with key experts. The main findings comprise a stage-specific group of CSFs whose importance varies across the cluster's lifecycle stages with different patterns. The findings are aimed to stimulate policy makers and researchers alike to pursue further the line of enquiry developed in this paper.

Fundamentals of Object Databases: Object-Oriented and Object-Relational Design

Object-oriented databases were originally developed as an alternative to relational database technology for the representation, storage, and access of non-traditional data forms that were increasingly found in advanced applications of database technology. After much debate regarding object-oriented versus relational database technology, object-oriented extensions were eventually incorporated into relational technology to create object-relational databases. Both object-oriented databases and object-relational databases, collectively known as object databases, provide inherent support for object features, such as object identity, classes, inheritance hierarchies, and associations between classes using object references. This monograph presents the fundamentals of object databases, with a specific focus on conceptual modeling of object database designs. After an introduction to the fundamental concepts of object-oriented data, the monograph provides a review of object-oriented conceptual modeling techniques using side-by-side Enhanced Entity Relationship diagrams and Unified Modeling Language conceptual class diagrams that feature class hierarchies with specialization constraints and object associations. These object-oriented conceptual models provide the basis for introducing case studies that illustrate the use of object features within the design of object-oriented and object-relational databases. For the object-oriented database perspective, the Object Data Management Group data definition language provides a portable, language-independent specification of an object schema, together with an SQL-like object query language. LINQ (Language INtegrated Query) is presented as a case study of an object query language together with its use in the db4o open-source object-oriented database. For the object-relational perspective, the object-relational features of the SQL standard are presented together with an accompanying case study of the object-relational features of Oracle. For completeness of coverage, an appendix provides a mapping of object-oriented conceptual designs to the relational model and its associated constraints.

A conceptual schema-based temporal meta database schemas generation technique for 3D objects

In this paper, a temporal meta database for three-dimensional (3D) objects whose properties and relationships are supported by valid time is introduced. Based on our proposed temporal object-oriented conceptual schema model, a conceptual schema of the temporal meta database can be generated from a 3D graphical data source and other particular application requirements. Based on our proposed temporal object relational data model with attribute timestamping, logical schemas of the temporal meta database can be systematically and automatically generated from the conceptual schema. From the temporal meta database, non-temporal/temporal metadata about temporal 3D objects are available for temporal information system users. Convenient access using database languages such as SQL can be performed. Queries over 3D objects using a temporal object relational SQL are demonstrated.

A Paradigm for Object-Oriented Conceptual Modeling of Optical Networks

We present a conceptual framework for modeling optical networks and the solutions to its associated problems. The framework is targeted towards a large-scale initiative by us for designing a Unified Modeling Language (UML) Profile that can help with conceptual modeling of typical optical network design problems. While there are pieces of literature available that describe profiles for other application areas, there are no profiles for use in networking problems, in general. Our work is an important step forward to address this deficiency. Our proposed profile takes the existing UML notations and extends them to support the modeling of optical networks.

A method for the definition of integrity constraints in object-oriented conceptual modeling languages

We propose a new method that eases the definition of integrity constraints in object-oriented conceptual modeling languages. The essence of the method is to represent constraints by special operations that we call constraint operations. The formal specification of these operations is the definition of the corresponding constraints. The method allows the specialization of constraints and the definition of exceptions. The main application of the method is for static constraints. However, a variant of it can also be applied for creation-time and deletion-time constraints, two particular classes of temporal constraints. The method can be adapted to any object-oriented language, and we show its adaptation to the UML. We also show that our method has several advantages over existing methods.

Modeling events as entities in object-oriented conceptual modeling languages

Most current conceptual modeling languages and methods do not model events as entities. We argue that, at least in object-oriented (O-O) languages, modeling events as entities provides substantial benefits. We show that a method for behavioral modeling that deals with event and entity types in a uniform way may yield better behavioral schemas. The proposed method makes extensive use of language constructs such as constraints, derived types, derivation rules, type specializations and operations, which are present in all complete O-O conceptual modeling languages. The method can be adapted to most O-O languages. In this paper we explain its adaptation to the UML.

An object-oriented conceptual model of a collaborative product development management (CPDM) system

It is apparent that the development or implementation of a collaborative product development management (CPDM) system in an enterprise should be based on the right understanding of core domain objects, their main attributes, and their relationships to other objects in the product development domain. For this purpose, an object-oriented conceptual model of a CPDM system based on a top-down approach is presented in this paper. For building the conceptual model systematically, this paper proposes the 4P2C modeling views, which are multi-faceted views of engineering information that provides an integrated and consistent perspective on engineering information. The 4P2C stands for product, process, project, participant, cost, and collaboration. Based on the 4P2C modeling views, six sub-models are constructed that eventually constitute a complete conceptual CPDM model. In each sub-model, the decomposition of core domain objects, their main attributes, and their relationships to other objects are represented in detail. A prototype application program along with an illustrative cost calculation example is also presented to demonstrate that the proposed CPDM model will enable enterprises to maintain consistency in product data efficiently throughout the product life cycle.

Ontology based object-oriented domain modelling: fundamental concepts

Understanding the business is an important step in information system (IS) development. Conceptual models are descriptions of the organizational context for which a system is developed, and are used to help understanding this context. However, conceptual modelling methods do not provide well-formalized ways to create domain descriptions. On the other hand, in the area of IS design and software modelling, languages exist (such as UML) that possess a high level of formality. Extending the use of these IS design languages to conceptual modelling, even though they have not been specifically intended for this, can lead to several advantages. In particular, it can enable the use of similar notation in several stages of system development. However, while object-oriented constructs such as “object” and “operation” have clear meaning in the context of software design, it is not clear what they might mean in terms of the application domain, and no rules or guidelines exist for using them to create useful descriptions of such domains. This paper suggests specific semantics for object-oriented constructs based on a mapping between ontologically derived concepts and object-oriented language constructs. The paper also proposes modelling rules to guide the construction of object-oriented conceptual models and to assure that such models describe only ontologically feasible application domain situations. While the results are applicable to object-oriented constructs in general, UML is used as an example. A case study to test the use of the proposed semantics and modelling rules is described.

Object-oriented conceptual modeling for commitment-based collaboration management in virtual enterprises

For the rapid progress of internet technologies in recent years, Electronic Commerce (EC) has gained attention as a major theme for enterprises to keep their competitiveness. From the perspective of effective resources utilization, it becomes now an important goal for an enterprise to promote its performance and competitiveness through integrating itself and relevant suppliers and consumers as a virtual group to achieve the so-called Business-to-Business EC. In this paper, we propose an object-oriented modeling approach that addresses the management of collaboration on the Internet between enterprises. The approach divides those required mechanisms for collaboration management into three layers: commitment, role, and activity ones. With this architecture, two enterprises may collaborate via the establishment and maintenance of commitment, the collaboration and coordination between roles, and the interaction and coordination between activities. For specification, an object-oriented model is presented for each layer that describes the working details of that layer. To illustrate, these models are applied in a typical manufacturing supply chain application among various enterprises.

Computer Assistance in Managing the Maintenance of Low-Slope Roofs

Computerized roof management systems (CRMSs) are developed to assist building owners in minimizing their expenditures on roof maintenance while improving the safety and serviceability of their roof stock. Current CRMSs have some limitations that affect their ability to efficiently represent roof data at different manageable levels and to accurately predict the service life of various roof components. A new CRMS, called CBROOF, is developed within the Building Envelope Life Cycle Asset Management (BELCAM) research project to overcome these limitations. CBROOF has an object-oriented conceptual model that supports the hierarchical decomposition of roofs and the representation of their data at different levels of detail. CBROOF also incorporates the use of the case-based reasoning (CBR) approach to predict the future condition of roof components based on the recorded condition of similar components. The design and implementation of the relevant modules of CBROOF are presented, and the CBR deterioration model developed for the service life prediction of built-up roof membranes is validated.

On the spatial relationship between landslides and causative factors on Lantau Island, Hong Kong

This paper presents a statistical approach to study the spatial relationship between landslides and their causative factors at the regional level. The approach is based on digital databases, and incorporates such methods as statistics, spatial pattern analysis, and interactive mapping. Firstly, the authors propose an object-oriented conceptual model for describing a landslide event, and a combined database of landslides and environmental factors is constructed by integrating the various databases within such a conceptual framework. The statistical histogram, spatial overlay, and dynamic mapping methods are linked together to interactively evaluate the spatial pattern of the relationship between landslides and their causative factors. A case study of an extreme event in 1993 on Lantau Island indicates that rainfall intensity and the migration of the center of the rainstorm greatly influence the occurrence of landslides on Lantau Island. A regional difference in the relationship between landslides and topography is identified. Most of the landslides in the middle and western parts of the island occurred on slopes with slope angles of 25–35°, while in the eastern part, the corresponding range is 30–35°. Overlaying landslide data with land cover reveals that a large number of landslides occurred in the bareland and shrub-covered area, and in the transition zones between different vegetation types. The proposed approach can be used not only to analyze the general characteristics of such a relationship, but also to depict its spatial distribution and variation, thereby providing a sound basis for regional landslide prediction.

E-management of scalable supply chains: conceptual modeling and information technologies framework

The interest in Supply Chain (SC) management decision-making problem is growing fast. The purpose of a SC is to transform incomplete information about the market and available resources into co-ordinated plans for production and replenishment of goods and services in the network formed by co-operating units. One of the goals of Internet-Based Management (e-management) is to facilitate transfer and sharing of knowledge in the context of structures, such as SC. Object-oriented Knowledge Management tools for SC configuration utilise reusable components and configure knowledge as needed, in order to interactively assist users (agents) in decision-making. This paper discusses a generic development methodology for object-oriented conceptual modelling and e-management of scalable supply chains. For illustration, applications from the textile industry have been utilised.