The synergies between goal sketching and enterprise architecture

This paper introduces a pragmatic and practical method for requirements modeling. The method is built using the concepts of our goal sketching technique together with techniques from an enterprise architecture modeling language. Our claim is that our method will help project managers who want to establish early control of their projects and will also give managers confidence in the scope of their project. In particular we propose the inclusion of assumptions as first class entities in the ArchiMate enterprise architecture modeling language and an extension of the ArchiMate Motivation Model principle to allow radical as well as normative analyses. We demonstrate the usefulness of this method using a simple university library system as an example.

Precipitation and floodiness

There are a number of factors that lead to non-linearity between precipitation anomalies and flood hazard; this non-linearity is a pertinent issue for applications that use a precipitation forecast as a proxy for imminent flood hazard. We assessed the degree of this non-linearity for the first time using a recently developed global-scale hydrological model driven by the ERA-Interim Land precipitation reanalysis (1980–2010). We introduced new indices to assess large-scale flood hazard, or floodiness, and quantified the link between monthly precipitation, river discharge and floodiness anomalies at the global and regional scales. The results show that monthly floodiness is not well correlated with precipitation, therefore demonstrating the value of hydrometeorological systems for providing floodiness forecasts for decision-makers. A method is described for forecasting floodiness using the Global Flood Awareness System, building a climatology of regional floodiness from which to forecast floodiness anomalies out to two weeks.

Sea ice production and water mass modification in the eastern Laptev Sea

A simple polynya flux model driven by standard atmospheric forcing is used to investigate the ice formation that took place during an exceptionally strong and consistent western New Siberian (WNS) polynya event in 2004 in the Laptev Sea. Whether formation rates are high enough to erode the stratification of the water column beneath is examined by adding the brine released during the 2004 polynya event to the average winter density stratification of the water body, preconditioned by summers with a cyclonic atmospheric forcing (comparatively weakly stratified water column). Beforehand, the model performance is tested through a simulation of a well‐documented event in April 2008. Neglecting the replenishment of water masses by advection into the polynya area, we find the probability for the occurrence of density‐driven convection down to the bottom to be low. Our findings can be explained by the distinct vertical density gradient that characterizes the area of the WNS polynya and the apparent lack of extreme events in the eastern Laptev Sea. The simple approach is expected to be sufficiently rigorous, since the simulated event is exceptionally strong and consistent, the ice production and salt rejection rates are likely to be overestimated, and the amount of salt rejected is distrusted over a comparatively weakly stratified water column. We conclude that the observed erosion of the halocline and formation of vertically mixed water layers during a WNS polynya event is therefore predominantly related to wind‐ and tidally driven turbulent mixing processes.

A prospectus for future geomorphological investigation of the Namib sand sea

The Namib Sand Sea in southern Africa offers an ideal location in which to consider general questions about the evolution of sand seas, about the fluxes of sand through contemporary dune fields and about the patterns of dune form that are created. This paper aims to provide a concise account of the approaches and techniques that are currently being used and will be used in the future to address these questions. The paper considers the techniques employed to investigate wind climate, the morphometry of the dunes, the internal structure of dune sediments, the age of the dunes and the potential to model dune development

Prototype Generation from Ontology Charts

Semantic Analysis is a business analysis method designed to capture system requirements. While these requirements may be represented as text, the method also advocates the use of Ontology Charts to formally denote the system's required roles, relationships and forms of communication. Following model driven engineering techniques, Ontology Charts can be transformed to temporal Database schemas, class diagrams and component diagrams, which can then be used to produce software systems. A nice property of these transformations is that resulting system design models lend themselves to complicated extensions that do not require changes to the design models. For example, resulting databases can be extended with new types of data without the need to modify the database schema of the legacy system. Semantic Analysis is not widely used in software engineering, so there is a lack of experts in the field and no design patterns are available. This make it difficult for the analysts to pass organizational knowledge to the engineers. This study describes an implementation that is readily usable by engineers, which includes an automated technique that can produce a prototype from an Ontology Chart. The use of such tools should enable developers to make use of Semantic Analysis with minimal expertise of ontologies and MDA.

O Processo de Concessão dos Sistemas de Transporte de Massa na Região Metropolitana do Rio de Janeiro: Implicações na Organização e na Gestão de Transporte de Passageiros

O presente estudo procurou descrever e analisar o contexto em que se desenvolveu o processo de concessão dos sistemas de transporte de massa na Região Metropolitana do Rio de Janeiro, promovido pelo Programa Estadual de Desestatização ¿ PED, na gestão governamental compreendida entre os anos de 1995 e 1998, bem como avaliar suas implicações sobre o modelo de organização e gestão do transporte público regional então vigente. Seu desenvolvimento enfatizou três aspectos desse processo: a caracterização do cenário anterior à proposta de mudança, a análise substantiva da política representada pelo programa de concessões e a avaliação do novo cenário criado como conseqüência do programa. Sua metodologia pautou-se em consulta bibliográfica, volumosa análise documental, observação dos fatos e entrevistas desestruturadas com administradores e técnicos envolvidos no processo. Seus resultados evidenciaram as limitações dos modelos de análise e de planejamento tradicionalmente adotados para a formulação das políticas setoriais, a precariedade dos sistemas de transporte de passageiros regionais e a situação pelos sistemas de metrô, trens e barcas, consubstanciando um ambiente propício às propostas de sua transferência à gestão privada. Evidenciaram, ainda, que a iniciativa foi influenciada pelo contexto dos projetos de reforma do Estado patrocinados pelo Banco Mundial (BIRD), desenvolvendo-se sem referências relevantes na comunidade técnica setorial e gerando um cenário institucional frágil diante da tarefa de gerir os contratos dela resultantes. Embora pautado em estratégias de retomada de investimentos condizentes com as diretrizes do Plano de Transporte de Massa ¿ PTM, elaborado em 1994, a insipiência do programa não permite constatar, ainda tendências significativas no desempenho dos sistemas concedidos. São evidentes, entretanto, seus reflexos na desentruturação do modelo de gestão pública do transporte metropolitano sob responsabilidade do Estado.

A sucessão na empresa familiar: um estudo de caso na empresa Centro Elétrico na cidade de São Luís Estado do Maranhão

This paper deals with the familiar enterprise succession leaving as a goal to identify, describe and analyze the factors which facilitate and make difficult the process of succession of the familiar enterprise. To this it contextualizes the familiar enterprise in the labor market through its contexts, process and characters. Afterward it treats of the familiar enterprise as an system in its complexity of this segment of the enterprise. It considered the need on studying its origin, evolution and characteristics. Also the ethics and familiar administration. It also, considered the cycle of life, the three-dimensional model of development having as a base the propriety, family and enterprise axes as well as the familiar profissionalization, the main focus reposes in the succession process having as a base its planning the field search reveals it self descriptive, that¿s to say a case study through interview with the proprietors, successors, aggregates and succeeded ones. Finally the management indicators which aim, to contribute to the familiar succession.

Fracking, China and the Global Economy

We develop an intertemporal model of the international economy, where tradeable intermediate goods are produced with capital, labor and hydrocarbons, and used in the production of non-tradeable consumption and investment goods. The model is calibrated to 176 countries, grouped according to their characteristics. We conduct simulations about key events that are currently reshaping the world e.g., fracking and China's new model of development. The model reproduces closely the recent fall in oil prices and delivers results about the impact on global output and consumption, but also about the propagation to different countries through terms of trade and capital accumulation.

Geração automática de interfaces com o utilizador: uma abordagem baseada em MDA para a plataforma PHP

Os modelos e as técnicas de modelação são, hoje em dia, fundamentais na engenharia de software, devido à complexidade e sofisticação dos sistemas de informação actuais.A linguagem Unified Modeling Language (UML) [OMG, 2005a] [OMG, 2005b] tornou-se uma norma para modelação, na engenharia de software e em outras áreas e domínios, mas é reconhecida a sua falta de suporte para a modelação da interactividade e da interface com o utilizador [Nunes and Falcão e Cunha, 2000].Neste trabalho, é explorada a ligação entre as áreas de engenharia de software e de interacção humano-computador, tendo, para isso, sido escolhido o processo de desenvolvimento Wisdom [Nunes and Falcão e Cunha, 2000] [Nunes, 2001]. O método Wisdom é conduzido por casos de utilização essenciais e pelo princípio da prototipificação evolutiva, focando-se no desenho das interfaces com o utilizador através da estrutura da apresentação, com a notação Protótipos Abstractos Canónicos (PAC) [Constantine and Lockwood, 1999] [Constantine, 2003], e do comportamento da interacção com a notação ConcurTaskTrees (CTT) [Paternò, 1999] [Mori, Paternò, et al., 2004] em UML.É proposto, também, neste trabalho um novo passo no processo Wisdom, sendo definido um modelo específico, construído segundo os requisitos da recomendação Model Driven Architecture (MDA) [Soley and OMG, 2000] [OMG, 2003] elaborada pela organização Object Managent Group (OMG). Este modelo específico será o intermediário entre o modelo de desenho e a implementação da interface final com o utilizador. Esta proposta alinha o método Wisdom com a recomendação MDA, tornando possível que sejam gerados, de forma automática, protótipos funcionais de interfaces com o utilizador a partir dos modelos conceptuais de análise e desenho.Foi utilizada a ferramenta de modelação e de metamodelação MetaSketch [Nóbrega, Nunes, et al., 2006] para a definição e manipulação dos modelos e elementos propostos. Foram criadas as aplicações Model2Model e Model2Code para suportar as transformações entre modelos e a geração de código a partir destes. Para a plataforma de implementação foi escolhida a framework Hydra, desenvolvida na linguagem PHP [PHP, 2006], que foi adaptada com alguns conceitos de modo a suportar a abordagem defendida neste trabalho.

A outra face dos modelos: técnicas de visualização para explorar modelos

Os modelos são tradicionalmente utilizados na engenharia de software para documentar aspetos do desenho e, em alguns casos, como base para a geração de parte ou a totalidade dos sistemas informáticos que descrevem. Embora subsista o debate sobre este tipo de abordagens e sobre o papel e qualidades que os modelos devem possuir nesta área de engenharia, a existência de modelos que estejam em conformidade com linguagens de modelação bem definidas permite outro tipo de utilizações que vão além das anteriormente referidas. Assente no conhecimento existente sobre a visualização de dados, nesta dissertação irá ser demonstrado a utilização de técnicas de visualização que permitem extrair informação sobre os modelos numa perspetiva inovadora e que contribui favoravelmente para uma melhor compreensão, análise e validação dos mesmos.

Integrating eye tracking in virtual reality for stroke rehabilitation

This thesis reports on research done for the integration of eye tracking technology into virtual reality environments, with the goal of using it in rehabilitation of patients who suffered from stroke. For the last few years, eye tracking has been a focus on medical research, used as an assistive tool  to help people with disabilities interact with new technologies  and as an assessment tool  to track the eye gaze during computer interactions. However, tracking more complex gaze behaviors and relating them to motor deficits in people with disabilities is an area that has not been fully explored, therefore it became the focal point of this research. During the research, two exploratory studies were performed in which eye tracking technology was integrated in the context of a newly created virtual reality task to assess the impact of stroke. Using an eye tracking device and a custom virtual task, the system developed is able to monitor the eye gaze pattern changes over time in patients with stroke, as well as allowing their eye gaze to function as an input for the task. Based on neuroscientific hypotheses of upper limb motor control, the studies aimed at verifying the differences in gaze patterns during the observation and execution of the virtual goal-oriented task in stroke patients (N=10), and also to assess normal gaze behavior in healthy participants (N=20). Results were found consistent and supported the hypotheses formulated, showing that eye gaze could be used as a valid assessment tool on these patients. However, the findings of this first exploratory approach are limited in order to fully understand the effect of stroke on eye gaze behavior. Therefore, a novel model-driven paradigm is proposed to further understand the relation between the neuronal mechanisms underlying goal-oriented actions and eye gaze behavior.

Parcerias com a cana-de-açúcar: tensões e contradições no desenvolvimento das experiências de assentamentos rurais em São Paulo

A controversa presença da cana nos assentamentos rurais nos últimos anos exige uma cuidadosa reflexão sobre sua interferência no modo de vida dos assentados e na relação dos assentamentos com a dinâmica do desenvolvimento regional. A presença da cana-de-açúcar nos assentamentos tem causado conflitos internos e debates não consensuais sobre o passado/presente/futuro dessas experiências. A análise da parceria com as agroindústrias é atravessada, do nosso ponto de vista, pela noção de trama de tensões, exigindo que sejam submetidas ao crivo analítico as desigualdades constitutivas desta polêmica integração dos assentados às usinas de açúcar e álcool, assim como as consequências socioeconômicas e ambientais da problemática transformação dos assentamentos rurais em celeiros da cana. No âmbito desse artigo, serão considerados como objetos da investigação os assentamentos das regiões de Araraquara e do Pontal do Paranapanema e analisadas perspectivas de outro modelo de desenvolvimento.

Visual IMML: um perfil UML para a modelagem de interfaces de usuário

The software development processes proposed by the most recent approaches in Software Engineering make use old models. UML was proposed as the standard language for modeling. The user interface is an important part of the software and has a fundamental importance to improve its usability. Unfortunately the standard UML does not offer appropriate resources to model user interfaces. Some proposals have already been proposed to solve this problem: some authors have been using models in the development of interfaces (Model Based Development) and some proposals to extend UML have been elaborated. But none of them considers the theoretical perspective presented by the semiotic engineering, that considers that, through the system, the designer should be able to communicate to the user what he can do, and how to use the system itself. This work presents Visual IMML, an UML Profile that emphasizes the aspects of the semiotic engineering. This Profile is based on IMML, that is a declarative textual language. The Visual IMML is a proposal that aims to improve the specification process by using a visual modeling (using diagrams) language. It proposes a new set of modeling elements (stereotypes) specifically designed to the specification and documentation of user interfaces, considering the aspects of communication, interaction and functionality in an integrated manner

Abordagem dirigida a modelos para redes de sensores sem fio

Research on Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) has evolved, with potential applications in several domains. However, the building of WSN applications is hampered by the need of programming in low-level abstractions provided by sensor OS and of specific knowledge about each application domain and each sensor platform. We propose a MDA approach do develop WSN applications. This approach allows domain experts to directly contribute in the developing of applications without needing low level knowledge on WSN platforms and, at the same time, it allows network experts to program WSN nodes to met application requirements without specific knowledge on the application domain. Our approach also promotes the reuse of the developed software artifacts, allowing an application model to be reused across different sensor platforms and a platform model to be reused for different applications

Políticas de turismo e comunidade local no litoral potiguar

This research focuses on raise the discussion of existance tourism policies in Rio Grande do Norte and its contributions to the integration of local communities in the coastal tourist activity. Guided by the background of the neoliberalism and its influence on the model of tourism development adopted in Rio Grande do Norte. For that, were surveyed the concrete realities of coastal localities of the municipalities of Ceará-Mirim, Extremoz, Parnamirim and Nísia Floresta covered by Prodetur-RN I and II, by being part of the tourist portion of the state that have received domestic and international investment and, because are located in the geographical area of the Potiguar capital, Natal. We interviewed the municipal managers and the residents of local communities who live in municipalities more than ten years. Also, was raised a discussion on the role of the state as the main agent of public policies and hegemonic facilitator in the attraction of domestic and foreign investments, with the main scenario the neoliberal model of economic development. Here discuss ways and strategies of socio-political organization of local communities, with regard to the inclusion in the tourist and, pointing to the critical development model in question and signaling other concepts of development model, such as local basis, for example. By the ending of the research, was concluded that the model of development of the tourism in the Rio Grande do Norte is reflected of the way of life of the society, that the communities live in precarious conditions and that the way of inclusion in the tourism is almost incipient. Also, it was possible to detect the inexistence of public politics of tourism that promoted the planning of the tourist activity, as well as, the inclusion of the communities in the decision processes and that, searched the development on the basis of the principles of sustainable and local autonomy