The highly dynamic world of information technology service management stresses the benefits of the quick and correct implementation of IT services. A disciplined approach relies on a separate set of assumptions and principles as an agile approach, both of which have complicated implementation processes as well as copious benefits. Combining these two approaches to enhance the effectiveness of each, while difficult, can yield exceptional dividends. Balancing Agile and Disciplined Engineering and Management Approaches for IT Services and Software Products is an essential publication that focuses on clarifying theoretical foundations of balanced design methods with conceptual frameworks and empirical cases. Highlighting a broad range of topics including business trends, IT service, and software development, this book is ideally designed for software engineers, software developers, programmers, information technology professionals, researchers, academicians, and students.

Philosophical paradigms, theoretical frameworks, and methodologies make up the answering and problem solving systems that define current research approaches. While there are multiple research method books, the subject lacks an update and integrated source of reference for graduate courses. Research Methodologies, Innovations and Philosophies in Software Systems Engineering and Information Systems aims to advance scientific knowledge on research approaches used in systems engineering, software engineering, and information systems and to update and integrate disperse and valuable knowledge on research approaches. This aims to be a collection of knowledge for PhD students, research-oriented faculty, and instructors of graduate courses.

The book presents state of the art knowledge about Decision-Making Support Systems (DMSS). Its main goals are to generate a compendium of quality theoretical and applied papers on decision-making support systems, to help diffuse scarce knowledge about effective methods and strategies for successfully designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating decision-making support systems, and to create an awareness among academicians and practitioners about the relevance of decision-making support systems in the current complex and dynamic management environment. Decision-Making Support Systems: Achievements and Challenges for the New Decade is a comprehensive compilation of DMSS thought and vision, dealing with issues such as decision making concepts in organizations.

Intelligent Decision-Making Support Systems (i-DMSS) are specialized IT-based systems that support some or several phases of the individual, team, organizational or inter-organizational decision making process by deploying some or several intelligent mechanisms. This book pursues the following academic aims: (i) generate a compendium of quality theoretical and applied contributions in Intelligent Decision-Making Support Systems (i-DMSS) for engineering and management IT-based service systems (ITSS); (ii) diffuse scarce knowledge about foundations, architectures and effective and efficient methods and strategies for successfully planning, designing, building, operating, and evaluating i-DMSS for ITSS, and (iii) create an awareness of, and a bridge between ITSS and i-DMSS academicians and practitioners in the current complex and dynamic engineering and management ITSS organizational. The book presents a collection of 11 chapters referring to relevant topics for both IT service systems and i-DMSS including: problems of selection of IT service providers, optimization of supply chain systems, IT governance decisions, clinical decision support, dynamic user-interface adaptation, re-engineering of processes, and generic decision problems. Advanced IT technologies used in some chapters are: fuzzy multi-criteria mechanisms, semantic processing, data mining processing, and rough sets. Other chapters report traditional DSS mechanisms but used or suggested to be used in innovative mode for IT service engineering and management tasks.

Decision-making Support Systems (DMSS) are computer-based systems that support individual or organisational decision-making processes. Recent advances in information technology and artificial intelligence are enhancing these systems and giving rise to intelligent-DMSS.

Intelligent Decision-making Support Systems: Foundations, Applications and Challenges is the first book to provide integrated coverage of the technical aspects of intelligent Decision-Making Support Systems together with discussion of their application and evaluation in organisational structures.

The book brings together up-to-date information on the theory and application of i-DMSS. Readers will learn about the foundations, architectures, methods and strategies for successfully designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating intelligent Decision-making Support Systems.

Intelligent Decision-making Support Systems: Foundations, Applications and Challenges will be of value to researchers in AI and management studies interested in the latest thinking in decision-making, as well practising managers and consultants who are involved with putting advanced information technologies into practice in organisations.

Intelligent Decision-Making Support Systems (i-DMSS) are specialized IT-based systems that support some or several phases of the individual, team, organizational or inter-organizational decision making process by deploying some or several intelligent mechanisms. This book pursues the following academic aims: (i) generate a compendium of quality theoretical and applied contributions in Intelligent Decision-Making Support Systems (i-DMSS) for engineering and management IT-based service systems (ITSS); (ii)  diffuse scarce knowledge about foundations, architectures and effective and efficient methods and strategies for successfully planning, designing, building, operating, and evaluating i-DMSS for ITSS, and (iii) create an awareness of, and a bridge between ITSS and i-DMSS academicians and practitioners in the current complex and dynamic engineering and management ITSS organizational. The book presents a collection of 11 chapters referring to relevant topics for both IT service systems and i-DMSS including: problems of selection of IT service providers, optimization of supply chain systems, IT governance decisions, clinical decision support, dynamic user-interface adaptation, re-engineering of processes, and generic decision problems. Advanced IT technologies used in some chapters are:  fuzzy multi-criteria mechanisms, semantic processing, data mining processing, and rough sets. Other chapters report traditional DSS mechanisms but used or suggested to be used in innovative mode for IT service engineering and management tasks.

This book will be bought by researchers and graduates students in Artificial Intelligence and management as well as practising managers and consultants interested in the application of IT and information systems in real business environment.

This book contains contributions by world leaders in their fields and includes chapters dedicated to the structural analysis of glycans from different sources, and information related to the glycan functions in different biological process: the role of glycosaminoglycans in intercellular communication, polysaccharides as antiviral molecules, the immunomodulatory properties of helminth glycans, the role of glycans in Drosophila development, and the importance of mannoproteins for fungal biology.

The highly dynamic world of information technology service management stresses the benefits of the quick and correct implementation of IT services. A disciplined approach relies on a separate set of assumptions and principles as an agile approach, both of which have complicated implementation processes as well as copious benefits. Combining these two approaches to enhance the effectiveness of each, while difficult, can yield exceptional dividends. Balancing Agile and Disciplined Engineering and Management Approaches for IT Services and Software Products is an essential publication that focuses on clarifying theoretical foundations of balanced design methods with conceptual frameworks and empirical cases. Highlighting a broad range of topics including business trends, IT service, and software development, this book is ideally designed for software engineers, software developers, programmers, information technology professionals, researchers, academicians, and students.

The fungal cell wall is a shield that protects the cells against changes in the extracellular environment, and from the high internal pressure generated during cell growth. These protective attributes are associated with cell wall robustness and strength, but at the same time the wall has to be plastic and dynamic to allow cell growth and communication with the external environment. The main components of the cell wall are sugars, proteins and lipids. Sugars are the most abundant components of the wall, and are mostly present as polysaccharides of glucose (alpha- and beta-glucans), N-acetylglucosamine (chitin), and glucosamine (chitosan). Most of the cell wall proteins are glycoproteins modified by a glycolipid and/or oligosaccharides covalently attached to asparagine (N-linked glycosylation) or serine/threonine residues (O-linked glycosylation). These wall proteins play important roles in cell wall integrity and structure, sensing changes in the extracellular environment, and some of them have adhesive properties and hydrolytic activities.