Support Tool to the Validation Process of Functional Requirements

The activity of validating identified requirements for an information system helps to improve the quality of a requirements specification document and, consequently, the success of a project. Although various different support tools to requirements engineering exist in the market, there is still a lack of automated support for validation activity. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to make up for that deficiency, with the use of an automated tool, to provide the resources for the execution of an adequate validation activity. The contribution of this study is to enable an agile and effective follow-up of the scope established for the requirements, so as to lead the development to a solution which would satisfy the real necessities of the users, as well as to supply project managers with relevant information about the maturity of the analysts involved in requirements specification.

Computational support for the process of software requirement specification

The software industry has become more and more concerned with the appropriate application of activities that composes requirement engineering as a way to improve the quality of its products. In order to support these activities, several computational tools have been available in the market, although it is still possible to find a lack of resources related to some activities. In this context, this paper proposes the inclusion of a module to aid in the requirements specification to a tool called Requirements Elicitation Support Tool. This module allows to specify requirements in accordance with IEEE 830 standard, thus contributing to the documentation of the requirements established for a software system, besides supporting the learning of concepts related to the requirements specification, which improves the skills of users of the tool. © 2012 IEEE.

Apoio à gerência de requisitos de software utilizando Design Rationale

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Reducing the gap between mobile and intelligent software agents

This paper presents an approach to integrate an artificial intelligence (AI) technique, concretely rule-based processing, into mobile agents. In particular, it focuses on the aspects of designing and implementing an appropriate inference engine of small size to reduce migration costs. The main goal is combine two lines of agent research, First, the engineering oriented approach on mobile agent architectures, and, second, the AI related approach on inference engines driven by rules expressed in a restricted subset of first-order predicate logic (FOPL). In addition to size reduction, the main functions of this type of engine were isolated, generalized and implemented as dynamic components, making possible not only their migration with the agent, but also their dynamic migration and loading on demand. A set of classes for representing and exchanging knowledge between rule-based systems was also proposed.

The wood for the civil engineering: A proposal of distance education

The majority of the Brazilian schools of Civil Engineering have taught the subject works with wood in the traditional only by disciplines of Metallic Structures and Wood at a topic in the content of the program on disciplines at the Materials of Civil Construction. To extend of the wood studies is being made possible that all the pupils have a wider understanding of this material and its adapted use is the goal of the proposal, that by the means of the education modality e-learning, disclosing the first one: Module I - Introduction to the Study of the Wood. This methodology tries to use the theoretical beddings in projects that are related to the pupil daily tasks and its practical professional. The article presents the theoretical bases of the conception proposal and its structure, and at the conclusions, the problems found during its application are displayed. Basically, the methodology considers that the professor and the pupil must share the learning, and adopt it as main in the interdisciplinary.

A case study of concurrent engineering application on the development of parts for the white goods industry in Brazil

This classical way to manage product development processes for massive production seems to be changing: high pressure for cost reduction, higher quality standards, markets reaching for innovation lead to the necessity of new tools for development control. Into this, and learning from the automotive and aerospace industries factories from other segments are starting to understand and apply manufacturing and assembly oriented projects to ease the task of generate goods and from this obtain at least a part of the expected results. This paper is intended to demonstrate the applicability of the concepts of Concurrent Engineering and DFM/DFA (Design for Manufacturing and Assembly) in the development of products and parts for the White Goods industry in Brazil (major appliances as refrigerators, cookers and washing machines), showing one case concerning the development and releasing of a component. Finally is demonstrated in a short term how was reached a solution that could provide cost savings and reduction on the time to delivery using those techniques.

Modeling the growth of LT and TL-oriented fatigue cracks in longitudinally and transversely pre-strained Al 2524-T3 alloy

The aluminum alloy 2524 (Al-Cu-Mg) was developed during the 90s mainly to be employed in aircraft fuselage panels, replacing the standard Al 2024. In the present analysis the fatigue crack growth (FCG) behavior of 2524-T3 was investigated, regarding the influence of three parameters: load ratio, pre strain and crack plane orientation of the material. The pre strain of aluminum alloys is usually performed in order to obtain a more homogeneous precipitates distribution, accompanied by an increase in the yield strength. In this work, it was evaluated the resistance of Al 2524-T3 sheet samples to the fatigue crack growth, having L-T and T-L crack orientations. FCG tests were performed under constant amplitude loading at three distinct positive load ratios. The three material conditions were tested: as received(AR), pre strained longitudinally (SL) and transversally (ST) in relation to rolling direction. In order to describe FCG behavior, two-parameter kinetic equations were compared: a Paris-type potential model and a new exponential equation introduced in a previous work conducted by our research group. It was observed that the exponential model, which takes into account the deviations from linearity presented by da/dN versus AK data, describes more adequately the FCG behavior of Al 224-T3 in relation to load ratio, pre strain effects and crack plane orientation. © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

High-voltage electrophoretic deposition of preferentially oriented films from multiferroic YMn2O5 nanopowders

Processing of the YMn2O5 powder is very challenging, since it decomposes to YMnO3 and Mn3O4 at temperatures close to 1180 °C, while samples consolidation commonly demands high temperatures. The main goal of this work is to investigate a possibility to prepare thick films of YMn2O5, since their deposition generally requires significantly lower temperatures. Multiferroic YMn 2O5 was synthesized by the hydrothermal method from Y(CH3COO)3·xH2O, Mn(CH 3COO)2·4H2O and KMnO4 precursors. XRD, FE-SEM and TEM analysis showed that the obtained powder was monophasic, with orthorhombic crystal structure and columnar particle shape with mean diameter and length of around 20 and 50 nm, respectively. The obtained powder was suspended in isopropyl alcohol with addition of appropriate binder and deflocculant. This suspension was used for electrophoretic deposition of YMn2O5 thick films under the high-voltage conditions and electric fields ranging from 250 to 2125 V/cm. The films obtained at 1000 V/cm and higher electric fields showed good adhesion, particle packing, homogeneity and very low porosity. It was shown that the deposition in extremely high electric fields (KC=2125 V/cm) can influence the crystal orientation of the films, resulting in formation of preferentially oriented films. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l.

Multi-choice mixed integer goal programming optimization for real problems in a sugar and ethanol milling company

Goal Programming (GP) is an important analytical approach devised to solve many realworld problems. The first GP model is known as Weighted Goal Programming (WGP). However, Multi-Choice Aspirations Level (MCAL) problems cannot be solved by current GP techniques. In this paper, we propose a Multi-Choice Mixed Integer Goal Programming model (MCMI-GP) for the aggregate production planning of a Brazilian sugar and ethanol milling company. The MC-MIGP model was based on traditional selection and process methods for the design of lots, representing the production system of sugar, alcohol, molasses and derivatives. The research covers decisions on the agricultural and cutting stages, sugarcane loading and transportation by suppliers and, especially, energy cogeneration decisions; that is, the choice of production process, including storage stages and distribution. The MCMIGP allows decision-makers to set multiple aspiration levels for their problems in which the more/higher, the better and the less/lower, the better in the aspiration levels are addressed. An application of the proposed model for real problems in a Brazilian sugar and ethanol mill was conducted; producing interesting results that are herein reported and commented upon. Also, it was made a comparison between MCMI GP and WGP models using these real cases. © 2013 Elsevier Inc.

Proposta de modelo conceitual de QFD integrado com AHP, modelo de Kano e análise SWOT no desenvolvimento de produto

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

A influência da integração multissensorial na construção do espaço semântico no sistema Kansei de engenharia: um estudo de Design Ergonômico com barbeadores descartáveis

Pós-graduação em Design - FAAC

Investigation of the structural, optical and dielectric properties of highly (100)-oriented (Pb0.60Ca0.20Sr0.20)TiO3 thin films on LaNiO3 bottom electrode

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Modeling of piezoelectric energy harvesting considering the dependence of the rectifier circuit

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Morphofunctional characterization of decellularized vena cava as tissue engineering scaffolds

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Tissue-engineering-based Strategies for Regenerative Endodontics

Stemming from in vitro and in vivo pre-clinical and human models, tissue-engineering-based strategies continue to demonstrate great potential for the regeneration of the pulp-dentin complex, particularly in necrotic, immature permanent teeth. Nanofibrous scaffolds, which closely resemble the native extracellular matrix, have been successfully synthesized by various techniques, including but not limited to electrospinning. A common goal in scaffold synthesis has been the notion of promoting cell guidance through the careful design and use of a collection of biochemical and physical cues capable of governing and stimulating specific events at the cellular and tissue levels. The latest advances in processing technologies allow for the fabrication of scaffolds where selected bioactive molecules can be delivered locally, thus increasing the possibilities for clinical success. Though electrospun scaffolds have not yet been tested in vivo in either human or animal pulpless models in immature permanent teeth, recent studies have highlighted their regenerative potential both from an in vitro and in vivo (i.e., subcutaneous model) standpoint. Possible applications for these bioactive scaffolds continue to evolve, with significant prospects related to the regeneration of both dentin and pulp tissue and, more recently, to root canal disinfection. Nonetheless, no single implantable scaffold can consistently guide the coordinated growth and development of the multiple tissue types involved in the functional regeneration of the pulp-dentin complex. The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive perspective on the latest discoveries related to the use of scaffolds and/or stem cells in regenerative endodontics. The authors focused this review on bioactive nanofibrous scaffolds, injectable scaffolds and stem cells, and pre-clinical findings using stem-cell-based strategies. These topics are discussed in detail in an attempt to provide future direction and to shed light on their potential translation to clinical settings.