One of the main benefits of service-based systems is the loose coupling of components, which allows for flexibility in the selection of internal and external business partners. However, currently this flexibility is severely limited by the fact that components have to provide not only the same functionality, but do so via virtually the same interface. Invocation-level mediation may be used to o...

for dissemination) In the last twelve years since Gio Wiederhold [Wiederhold, 1992] first came up with the idea of mediation and mediation systems, intensive research has been done in this field. In this report, we provide an overview of the current state-of-the-art in data, information, and processes mediation and an analysis of the requirements for constructing a mediation system.

Considering the roles and tasks ("use cases") in a standard mediation procedure, we identified many possible applications of existing software tools to support the mediation process. Several core components supporting a wide range of mediation tasks were found. The paper attempts to define mediation systems and distinguish them from more general purpose groupware.

How does local unemployment influence presidential elections? Some argue that, for voters, the state of the local economy is an afterthought to that of the national economy. Those who argue that local unemployment matters fall into two camps. Recent research finds that local unemployment is a partisan issue that benefits Democratic candidates because voters believe they are the party best equip...

Configurations are simultaneously existing relations. How we understand them is a problem common to cognitive science and architecture. Space syntax, which is a set of techniques for the analysis of spatial configuration, has over the years produced a body of findings correlating the formal properties of configurations to observed human behaviour. Although most or these correlations are with be...

This study examined the link between socioeconomic status (SES) and school readiness, testing whether parenting (maternal sensitivity and negative behavior/intrusiveness) and financial stress mediated this association and if race moderated these paths. Participants included 164 mother-child dyads from African American and European American families. Findings supported moderated mediation hypoth...

In a simple mediation model, the effect of a manipulated variable X on a dependent variable Y over and above the effect of the mediator Me can be estimated by regressing Y on X and Me. The impact of X on Y in such a model is adjusted for the relationship both between X and Me and between Me and Y . The authors examine the adjustment function in the context of a 2× 2 design with two manipulated ...

Mediators are used for the integration of heterogeneous information sources. Rule{based mediators map the sources to an integrated view by transformation rules reconciling structural heterogeneity problems. But the reconciliation of semantic heterogeneity problems play a subordinate role. In this paper, we present an approach that extends rule{based mediators for the reconciliation of semantic ...

In a recent critique and elaboration of general strain theory, Agnew (2001) argued that criminal victimization might be among the most consequential strains experienced by adolescents, and therefore might be an important cause of delinquency. Few studies to date, however, had examined victimization as a potential cause—rather than outcome—of delinquency. This article addresses this void by exam...