objects, characterized by a signature, comprised of universes, functions, and relations. The universe or domain is a set of data containing partial functions and predicates (attributes and relations) which encapsulate the universe. Transition rules, in ASMs, are local functions which update the abstract states, and can be expressed as follows: f(t1, t2, ..., tn):= t where f is an n-ary function...

Service economy, service science, service-dominant logic and servitization are apparently related terms. All of them emerged and are located in different disciplines, which do not ease things at all. Accordingly, this paper provides on the one side a fundamental theoretical background on these topics, and on the other side facilitates subsequent research by providing some reference points. At t...

D. Wayne Osgood, E. Michael Foster, and Mark E. Courtney examine the transition to adulthood for youth involved in social service and justice systems during childhood and adolescence. They survey the challenges faced by youth in the mental health system, the foster care system, the juvenile justice system, the criminal justice system, and special education, and by youth with physical disabiliti...

The study on temper embrittlement and hydrogen embrittlement of a test block from a 3Cr1Mo1/4V hydrogenation reactor after ten years of service was carried out by small punch test (SPT) at different temperatures. The SPT fracture energy Esp (derived from integrating the load-displacement curve) divided by the maximum load (Fm) of SPT was used to fit the Esp/Fm versus-temperature curve to determ...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW The transition of healthcare from pediatric to adult settings has become more significant over the past 20 years as the survival of young people with chronic illness and disability has increased and healthcare delivery has become more complex. This review examines the evidence from recent studies and position statements to determine the current issues relating to transition. ...

As of March 2006, more than 1.3 million U.S. military service members had served or were serving in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) or Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). Both active duty and veteran service members are eligible to receive healthcare services from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In May 1982, Congress passed legislation that allowed the VA to provide healthcare services to ...

Healthcare is the largest industry in the country, but its infrastructure is undergoing a radical transition. This transition is being caused by the shift in demographics to an aging population, in turn causing a shift in character from acute illness in hospitals to chronic illness in homes. This shift in character is typical of providing service in an infrastructure, as the transition from sta...

We consider the derivation of a protocol specification from a service specification written in Predicate/Transition-nets (Pr/T-nets). The service specification describes the global behavior of a system and includes the allocation of the Pr/T-net places to N distributed sites. The paper presents a new algorithm for deriving a protocol specification that defines the behavior of N communicating en...

Reform of the bus sector has been occurring in many countries. One matter central to these reform initiatives is the establishment of a value for money (VM) regime to ensure that operators deliver to the market the best possible service levels consistent with stakeholder needs, and especially with the objectives of government. A key underlying feature of VM is identifying the benefit to society...