Ontology Development by Reuse

This chapter presents methodological guidelines that allow engineers to reuse generic ontologies. This kind of ontologies represents notions generic across many fields, (is part of, temporal interval, etc.). The guidelines helps the developer (a) to identify the type of generic ontology to be reused, (b) to find out the axioms and definitions that should be reused and (c) to adapt and integrate the generic ontology selected in the domain ontology to be developed. For each task of the methodology, a set of heuristics with examples are presented. We hope that after reading this chapter, you would have acquired some basic ideas on how to take advantage of the great deal of well-founded explicit knowledge that formalizes generic notions such as time concepts and the part of relation.

Workflow reuse in practice: a study of neuroimaging pipeline users

Workflow reuse is a major benefit of workflow systems and shared workflow repositories, but there are barely any studies that quantify the degree of reuse of workflows or the practical barriers that may stand in the way of successful reuse. In our own work, we hypothesize that defining workflow fragments improves reuse, since end-to-end workflows may be very specific and only partially reusable by others. This paper reports on a study of the current use of workflows and workflow fragments in labs that use the LONI Pipeline, a popular workflow system used mainly for neuroimaging research that enables users to define and reuse workflow fragments. We present an overview of the benefits of workflows and workflow fragments reported by users in informal discussions. We also report on a survey of researchers in a lab that has the LONI Pipeline installed, asking them about their experiences with reuse of workflow fragments and the actual benefits they perceive. This leads to quantifiable indicators of the reuse of workflows and workflow fragments in practice. Finally, we discuss barriers to further adoption of workflow fragments and workflow reuse that motivate further work.

Objetos tenaces : adaptive reuse en Meatpacking, 1970–1985

OBJETOS TENACES versa sobre la práctica del adaptive reuse (la “reutilización adaptativa”, la reconversión) explicado a través del fenómeno de ruptura, suspensión y reconfiguración de vínculos que el objeto arquitectónico tiene con respecto a su medio económico, sociocultural, normativo y de utilitas. Se trata de un fenómeno en tres fases, muy próximo al mecanismo empleado por el readymade y por el display, que en arquitectura parte de la crisis que supone un cambio de circunstancias, un desarraigo del objeto respecto de su ámbito anterior. El mecanismo tiene vocación de intervención mínima, desde un posicionamiento actual que comprende el mundo construido como una realidad “ya hecha”, y donde las operaciones de proyecto son acciones de transformación que llevan de una situación de obsolescencia a otra de vigencia renovada, es decir, de una realidad completa a otra igualmente completa. Para ello, la investigación se sirve de tres ejemplos de un mismo entorno geográfico (el área en torno a Meatpacking, en el lado oeste del bajo Manhattan, Nueva York) y temporal (las últimas décadas del siglo XX, en las que los casos se solapan a pesar de tener desarrollos cronológicos diversos). Bell Telephone Laboratories, The West Side Improvement y The National Biscuit Company, reconvertidos a Westbeth, a The High Line y a Chelsea Market, construyen juntos el argumento por suma de conceptos, por adición de fenómenos, estudiando las cualidades y las circunstancias que hacen posible la continuidad de las estructuras, es decir, su supervivencia. El texto forma un corpus que proporciona algunas de las claves del objeto denominado como tenaz a través del análisis sincrónico del antes y el después de su puesta en crisis. A tal efecto, se exponen una serie de figuras razonadas entre las cuales figuran el lijado del barniz, los hilos compartidos, la máscara, la momificación y la vitrina, el puente sobre le desfiladero, el enfriamiento, o las reliquias, incrustaciones y adherencias, todas ellas encaminadas a explicar el proceso de renovación del artefacto como un cambio en el sentido, en el significado, y no tanto en lo material. Entre las consideraciones de la tesis está, por un lado, el carácter relativo del término tenacidad, concepto que define a los objetos que se encuentran y se reconocen en su idoneidad, que tienen capacidad de adaptación, y que precisan finalmente de grandes dosis de pragmatismo para su reconfiguración, siendo todas éstas condiciones necesarias pero sólo suficientes a posteriori. Por otro lado, el texto reflexiona acerca del intangible que comparten todos los objetos así llamados y que consiste en la condición, quizá formidable, de ser reconocibles por parte de los sucesivos intervinientes de su historia, convencidos de que su renovación supone una oportunidad; su desaparición, una pérdida. Finalmente, la investigación apunta hacia el concepto de anacronismo como justificación para los objetos que se demuestran adaptables a épocas sucesivas, y que encajan en el tiempo de forma compleja. ABSTRACT TENACIOUS OBJECTS deals with the practice of the adaptive reuse explained by means of the phenomenon of rupture, suspension and reconfiguration of links that the architectural object has vis-à-vis its economic, socio-cultural and regulatory environment, and its utilitas. It is a phenomenon structured in three stages, very close to the mechanism used by the readymade and by the display, which in architecture arise from the crisis that leads to a change in circumstances, an alienation of the object regarding its previous environment. The mechanism aims to the minimum intervention, from a current positioning which understands the world built as a reality “already made”, and where the operations of the project are transformative actions that take us from a situation of obsolescence to a situation of renewed validity, that is, from a complete reality to one just as complete. For this purpose, the research makes use of three examples in the same geographical area (the Meatpacking Discrict, in the Lower West Side of Manhattan, New York) and the same period (the last decades of the 20th century, in which the cases overlap in spite of their diverse chronological developments). Bell Telephone Laboratories, The West Side Improvement and The National Biscuit Company, reconverted into Westbeth, The High Line and Chelsea Market, make up, together, the argument as a sum of concepts, and addition of phenomena, studying the qualities and circumstances which make the continuity of the structures possible, that is, their survival. The text forms a corpus that provides some of the keys of the so-called tenacious object by means of the synchronic analysis of before and after its crisis. To this end, a series of reasoned figures is presented, including the sanding of varnish, the shared threads, the mask, the mummification and the display cabinet, the bridge over the gorge, cooling, or the relics, incrustations and adherences, all of them aimed at explaining the renovation process of the artifact as a change in the sense and the meaning, rather than the material. The considerations of this dissertation include, on the one hand, the relative nature of the term tenacity, a concept which defines the objects found and recognized in their suitability, that are capable of adapting and which finally require large doses of pragmatism for their reconfiguration, all these conditions being necessary but only sufficient a posteriori. On the other hand, the text reflects on the intangible shared among all the so-called objects, and which consists of the condition, perhaps extraordinary, of being recognized by the subsequent interveners of their history, convinced that their renovation represents an opportunity; their disappearance, a loss. Finally, the dissertation studies the concept of anachronism as a justification for the objects that prove to adapt to subsequent periods, and which fit in time in a complex manner.

Nest predation by cowbirds and its consequences for passerine demography.

Brood parasitism by brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater) reduces reproductive success in many passerines that nest in fragmented habitats and ecological edges, where nest predation is also common. We tested the hypothesis that parasitism and predation are often linked because cowbirds depredate nests discovered late in the host's nesting cycle to enhance future opportunities for parasitism. Over a 20-year study period, brood parasitism by cowbirds was a prerequisite to observing marked inter- and intraannual variation in the rate of nest failure in an insular song sparrow (Melospiza melodia) population. Nest failure increased with the arrival and laying rate of cowbirds and declined when cowbirds ceased laying. The absence or removal of cowbirds yielded the lowest nest failure rates recorded in the study. The absence of cowbirds also coincided with the absence of an otherwise strong positive correlation between host numbers and the annual rate of nest failure. Host numbers, cowbird parasitism, and nest failure may be correlated because cowbirds facilitate nest failure rather than cause it directly. However, an experiment mimicking egg ejection by cowbirds did not affect nest failure, and, contrary to the main prediction of the predation facilitation hypothesis, naturally parasitized nests failed less often than unparasitized nests. Higher survival of parasitized nests is expected under the cowbird predation hypothesis when female cowbirds defend access to hosts because cowbirds should often depredate unparasitized nests but should not depredate nests they have laid in. Where female cowbirds have overlapping laying areas, we expect parasitized nests to fail more often than others if different cowbirds often discover the same nests. We suggest that nest predation by cowbirds represents an adaptation for successful parasitism and that cowbirds influence host demography via nest predation.

Reproductive cooperation between queens and their mated workers: the complex life history of an ant with a valuable nest.

The life history of Harpegnathos saltator is exceptional among ants because both queens and workers reproduce sexually. Recently mated queens start new colonies alone, but later some of the offspring workers also become inseminated and take over the egg-laying role. This alternation seems associated with the existence of very complex underground nests, which are designed to survive floods. Longevity of ponerine queens is low (a consequence of limited caste dimorphism in this "primitive" subfamily), and upon the death of an H. saltator foundress, the nest represents a substantial investment. The queen's progeny should thus be strongly selected to retain the valuable nests. Unlike the flying queens, the workers copulate with males from their own colonies, and, thus, their offspring are expected to be highly related to the foundress. Colony fission appears not to occur because a daughter fragment would lack an adequate nest for protection. Thus, the annual production of queens in colonies with reproductive workers remains essential for the establishment of new colonies. This contrasts with various other ponerine species in which the queens no longer exist.

An Empirical Comparison of Reuse in Embedded and Nonembedded Systems

High-quality software, delivered on time and budget, constitutes a critical part of most products and services in modern society. Our government has invested billions of dollars to develop software assets, often to redevelop the same capability many times. Recognizing the waste involved in redeveloping these assets, in 1992 the Department of Defense issued the Software Reuse Initiative. The vision of the Software Reuse Initiative was "To drive the DoD software community from its current "re-invent the software" cycle to a process-driven, domain-specific, architecture-centric, library-based way of constructing software.'' Twenty years after issuing this initiative, there is evidence of this vision beginning to be realized in nonembedded systems. However, virtually every large embedded system undertaken has incurred large cost and schedule overruns. Investigations into the root cause of these overruns implicates reuse. Why are we seeing improvements in the outcomes of these large scale nonembedded systems and worse outcomes in embedded systems? This question is the foundation for this research. The experiences of the Aerospace industry have led to a number of questions about reuse and how the industry is employing reuse in embedded systems. For example, does reuse in embedded systems yield the same outcomes as in nonembedded systems? Are the outcomes positive? If the outcomes are different, it may indicate that embedded systems should not use data from nonembedded systems for estimation. Are embedded systems using the same development approaches as nonembedded systems? Does the development approach make a difference? If embedded systems develop software differently from nonembedded systems, it may mean that the same processes do not apply to both types of systems. What about the reuse of different artifacts? Perhaps there are certain artifacts that, when reused, contribute more or are more difficult to use in embedded systems. Finally, what are the success factors and obstacles to reuse? Are they the same in embedded systems as in nonembedded systems? The research in this dissertation is comprised of a series of empirical studies using professionals in the aerospace and defense industry as its subjects. The main focus has been to investigate the reuse practices of embedded systems professionals and nonembedded systems professionals and compare the methods and artifacts used against the outcomes. The research has followed a combined qualitative and quantitative design approach. The qualitative data were collected by surveying software and systems engineers, interviewing senior developers, and reading numerous documents and other studies. Quantitative data were derived from converting survey and interview respondents' answers into coding that could be counted and measured. From the search of existing empirical literature, we learned that reuse in embedded systems are in fact significantly different from nonembedded systems, particularly in effort in model based development approach and quality where the development approach was not specified. The questionnaire showed differences in the development approach used in embedded projects from nonembedded projects, in particular, embedded systems were significantly more likely to use a heritage/legacy development approach. There was also a difference in the artifacts used, with embedded systems more likely to reuse hardware, test products, and test clusters. Nearly all the projects reported using code, but the questionnaire showed that the reuse of code brought mixed results. One of the differences expressed by the respondents to the questionnaire was the difficulty in reuse of code for embedded systems when the platform changed. The semistructured interviews were performed to tell us why the phenomena in the review of literature and the questionnaire were observed. We asked respected industry professionals, such as senior fellows, fellows and distinguished members of technical staff, about their experiences with reuse. We learned that many embedded systems used heritage/legacy development approaches because their systems had been around for many years, before models and modeling tools became available. We learned that reuse of code is beneficial primarily when the code does not require modification, but, especially in embedded systems, once it has to be changed, reuse of code yields few benefits. Finally, while platform independence is a goal for many in nonembedded systems, it is certainly not a goal for the embedded systems professionals and in many cases it is a detriment. However, both embedded and nonembedded systems professionals endorsed the idea of platform standardization. Finally, we conclude that while reuse in embedded systems and nonembedded systems is different today, they are converging. As heritage embedded systems are phased out, models become more robust and platforms are standardized, reuse in embedded systems will become more like nonembedded systems.

Influence of habitat on nest location and reproductive output of Montagu’s Harriers breeding in natural vegetation

We examined distribution and breeding success of semi-colonial Montagu’s Harriers (Circus pygargus) in relation to habitat in Castellón province (eastern Spain). Breeding areas used by harriers at a 1-km2 scale were characterised by having intermediate percentages of scrub cover, their nesting habitat, and also had intermediate coverage of herbaceous crops and non-irrigated orchards. Out of all habitat variables considered, only the percentage of herbaceous crops within 500 m from individual nests had a positive and significant effect on breeding output of the species, suggesting that this habitat may be efficiently used by harriers to forage. Breeding output was also related to laying date and number of breeding neighbours within 500 m around nests, with pairs laying later and having a higher number of breeding neighbours showing lower fledged brood sizes. Number of neighbours (but not laying date) was positively related to scrub cover within 500 m and to cover of herbaceous crops within 2,000 m. Conservation actions for Montagu’s Harrier in the study area should be aimed at preserving areas of scrub with nearby presence of herbaceous crops or natural grasslands. However, habitat improvement for semi-colonial species such as Montagu’s Harrier may not result in a change of species distribution area, and good habitat areas may remain unoccupied, as social factors like presence of conspecifics play an important role in breeding area selection for these species.

How can directories of open access repositories improve the reuse of learning objects in building engineering?

This paper studies the use of directories of open access repositories worldwide (DOARW) to search Spanish repositories containing learning objects in the field of building engineering (BE). Results show that DOARW are powerful tools, but deficiencies (indicated in this study) have to be solved in order to obtain more accurate searches, and to facilitate repository-finding for potential users who are seeking learning objects (LOs) for reuse. Aiming to contribute to the promotion of the reuse of Spanish LOs, this study exposes to the academic community all existing Spanish repositories with LOs, and in particular, the repositories that contain LOs in the field of BE. This paper also studies the critical mass of available content (LOs) in the field of BE in Spain. It has been found to be low.

Building from building waste: The development of an instrument to determine the circularity of materials from the existing building stock in order to maximise high quality reuse

On a global level the population growth and increase of the middle class lead to a growing demand on material resources. The built environment has an enormous impact on this scarcity. In addition, a surplus of construction and demolition waste is a common problem. The construction industry claims to recycle 95% of this waste but this is in fact mainly downcycling. Towards the circular economy, the quality of reuse becomes of increasing importance. Buildings are material warehouses that can contribute to this high quality reuse. However, several aspects to achieve this are unknown and a need for more insight into the potential for high quality reuse of building materials exists. Therefore an instrument has been developed that determines the circularity of construction waste in order to maximise high quality reuse. The instrument is based on three principles: ‘product and material flows in the end of life phase’, ‘future value of secondary materials and products’ and ‘the success of repetition in a new life cycle’. These principles are further divided into a number of criteria to which values and weighting factors are assigned. A degree of circularity can then be determined as a percentage. A case study for a typical 70s building is carried out. For concrete, the circularity is increased from 25% to 50% by mapping out the potential for high quality reuse. During the development of the instrument it was clarified that some criteria are difficult to measure. Accurate and reliable data are limited and assumptions had to be made. To increase the reliability of the instrument, experts have reviewed the instrument several times. In the long-term, the instrument can be used as a tool for quantitative research to reduce the amount of construction and demolition waste and contribute to the reduction of raw material scarcity.

Reuse of Spanish civil war air-raid shelters in Alicante: the R46 Balmis and R31 Seneca shelter

More than a hundred public air-raid shelters were constructed beneath Alicante during the Spanish Civil war. Their architectural uniqueness and humanitarian purpose render these shelters a tangible testament to our recent history. The Alicante Municipal Archives hold reports written by technicians who inspected the shelters in the 1940s, which were subsequently included in the Special Plan for public shelters in 1953. Half a century later, in 2003, information on the air-raid shelters was included in another Special Plan aimed at protecting Alicante’s archaeological heritage. Thanks to the work of the Municipal Heritage Conservation unit (COPHIAM) and the Special Protection Plan for Urban Archaeology (PEPA), the exact or approximate locations were identified for almost 90% of the shelters known to have existed. This paper describes interventions in two of these architectural spaces using advanced museology techniques. The first concerns air-raid shelter R46, located in the Plaza del Dr. Balmis in the city centre. This was built in 1938, and is rectangular with two entrances. The second is air-raid shelter R31, located in the Plaza Séneca.

Naval Air Station South Weymouth reuse study: Rockland land use

Shows land use in the part of Rockland adjoining South Weymouth Naval Air Station.

NEST - Novo Estudo Sem Tutor

Trabalho de projeto de mestrado, Educação (Área de especialidade em Educação e Tecnologias Digitais), Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto de Educação, 2015

Contaminants associated with direct and indirect reuse of municipal wastewater /

Contract 68-02-2257.