Representing Variability in Software Architecture

Software Architecture is a high level description of a software intensive system that enables architects to have a better intellectual control over the complete system. It is also used as a communication vehicle among the various system stakeholders. Variability in software-intensive systems is the ability of a software artefact (e.g., a system, subsystem, or component) to be extended, customised, or configured for deployment in a specific context. Although variability in software architecture is recognised as a challenge in multiple domains, there has been no formal consensus on how variability should be captured or represented. In this research, we addressed the problem of representing variability in software architecture through a three phase approach. First, we examined existing literature using the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) methodology, which helped us identify the gaps and challenges within the current body of knowledge. Equipped with the findings from the SLR, a set of design principles have been formulated that are used to introduce variability management capabilities to an existing Architecture Description Language (ADL). The chosen ADL was developed within our research group (ALI) and to which we have had complete access. Finally, we evaluated the new version of the ADL produced using two distinct case studies: one from the Information Systems domain, an Asset Management System (AMS); and another from the embedded systems domain, a Wheel Brake System (WBS). This thesis presents the main findings from the three phases of the research work, including a comprehensive study of the state-of-the-art; the complete specification of an ADL that is focused on managing variability; and the lessons learnt from the evaluation work of two distinct real-life case studies.

Retención del talento humano en tiempos de cambio

"Retención del talento humano en tiempos de cambio” tiene como principal objetivo encontrar los factores más importantes en este aspecto que tienen nueve empresas representativas de Antioquia con presencia en Colombia y otros lugares de la geografía mundial; además, abordar estas empresas para conocer el estado actual de los procesos de gestión del talento humano como motor para fortalecer la retención y encontrar tendencias en las prácticas de estas organizaciones -- Se parte de una revisión bibliográfica, que considera variables intrínsecas y extrínsecas (que analizan los impactos hacia el ser y el hacer, respectivamente) -- Posteriormente se realizan entrevistas con los líderes de gestión humana de esas empresas, de las cuales se puede concluir que: primero, la gestión continua y de muchos años para fortalecer el liderazgo de los jefes redunda en un clima laboral que permite la retención de sus trabajadores; segundo, es importante permitir al trabajador desarrollarse dentro de la organización entendiendo la transición que empiezan a afrontar estas empresas por la necesidad de contratar jóvenes a los que motivan la alta exposición y el asumir retos evitando trabajos monótonos y repetitivos; tercero, se deben considerar aspectos como la diversidad y la inclusión, los beneficios que ofrece la empresa, y los paquetes de beneficios que cada día son más dinámicos e intentan ser totalmente flexibles para todos los trabajadores, y en menor escala el factor salarial -- Se hace claridad en que cada una de las compañías abordadas ofrecen a sus trabajadores salarios competitivos acordes a los cargos, roles y el sector en el cual trabajan, además de un salario emocional que los impacta directamente y también beneficia sus familias -- El presente estudio se realizó sobre una población de nueve empresas: Grupo Argos, Grupo Bancolombia, Grupo EPM, Organización Corona, Protección, Servicios Nutresa, Sura Asset Management, Sofasa-Renault y la Universidad Eafit -- Todas ellas generan un impacto alto en la tasa de empleo de la ciudad de Medellín y de Colombia, son altamente reconocidas en Colombia, América Latina y otras partes del mundo

Zmiany w systemach komunikacji akustycznej ptaków jako bioindykatory zmian w środowisku

Wydział Biologii

Resistance to phosphine in Sitophilus oryzae in Australia: A national analysis of trends and frequencies over time and geographical spread

In Australia, along with many other parts of the world, fumigation with phosphine is a vital component in controlling stored grain insect pests. However, resistance is a factor that may limit the continued efficacy of this fumigant. While strong resistance to phosphine has been identified and characterised, very little information is available on the causes of its development and spread. Data obtained from a unique national resistance monitoring and management program were analysed, using Bayesian hurdle modelling, to determine which factors may be responsible. Fumigation in unsealed storages, combined with a high frequency of weak resistance, were found to be the main criteria that led to the development of strong resistance in Sitophilus oryzae. Independent development, rather than gene flow via migration, appears to be primarily responsible for the geographic incidence of strong resistance to phosphine in S. oryzae. This information can now be utilised to direct resources and education into those areas at high risk and to refine phosphine resistance management strategies.

Vandetanib for the Treatment of Advanced Medullary Thyroid Cancer Outside a Clinical Trial: Results from a French Cohort

International audience

Carbon losses in terrestrial hydrological pathways in sugarcane cropping systems of Australia

Climate change and carbon (C) sequestration are a major focus of research in the twenty-first century. Globally, soils store about 300 times the amount of C that is released per annum through the burning of fossil fuels (Schulze and Freibauer 2005). Land clearing and introduction of agricultural systems have led to rapid declines in soil C reserves. The recent introduction of conservation agricultural practices has not led to a reversing of the decline in soil C content, although it has minimized the rate of decline (Baker et al. 2007; Hulugalle and Scott 2008). Lal (2003) estimated the quantum of C pools in the atmosphere, terrestrial ecosystems, and oceans and reported a “missing C” component in the world C budget. Though not proven yet, this could be linked to C losses through runoff and soil erosion (Lal 2005) and a lack of C accounting in inland water bodies (Cole et al. 2007). Land management practices to minimize the microbial respiration and soil organic C (SOC) decline such as minimum tillage or no tillage were extensively studied in the past, and the soil erosion and runoff studies monitoring those management systems focused on other nutrients such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P).

Gestão nos Serviços com Sistemas de Monitorização e Implementação do Smart Pricing

A presente dissertação foi elaborada no âmbito do Mestrado em Engenharia Electrotécnica (MEE) no Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP), em regime empresarial, na empresa PH Energia Lda. Tem-se verificado que, ao longo dos últimos anos, os mercados estão cada vez mais competitivos, tornando-se quase imperativo que as empresas apostem numa boa otimização dos processos produtivos. Produzir cada vez mais, mais rapidamente e com menos recursos disponíveis, ou seja, de forma eficiente, são os desafios de todas as empresas que pretendem permanecer no mercado. Neste contexto surge o tema de tese, “Gestão nos Serviços com Sistemas de Monitorização e Implementação do Smart Pricing”, cujo objetivo tem como base principal a otimização das plataformas da PH Energia numa cultura de melhoria contínua e orientação para o cliente e promover aplicação da tarifa indexada e Smart Pricing em empresas de maneira a que exista uma maior poupança. Ao longo desta dissertação, foram desenvolvidos cálculos associados à monitorização e gestão nos serviços, bem como demonstrada a viabilidade dos mesmos na aplicação de tarifasindexadas e Smart Pricing no setor empresarial e, para finalizar, a compensação que é possível obter ao deslocar o diagrama de cargas, mantendo sempre o mesmo consumo. Na elaboração deste trabalho fez-se o cruzamento de duas plataformas informáticas designadas GesEnergy e Kisense, com ajuda da empresa VPS que tem como parceria a empresa Energia Simples. Em relação ao plano indexado, foram realizados dois estudos de dois balcões do Banco Popular de Portugal de forma a explicitar quando e como deve ser aplicada a tarifa indexada, gestão da procura, bem como deve ser deslocação do consumo, de forma a abranger as horas mais vantajosas em que o preço de energia elétrica é mais baixo.

Corporate governance : value creation and performance in credit unions

In this study, we examine the relationship between good corporate governance practices and the creation of value/performance of credit unions from 2010 to 2012. The objective was to create and validate a corporate governance index for credit unions, and to then analyse the relationship between good governance practices and the creation of value/performance. The problem question is: do good corporate governance practices provide value creation for credit unions? The research started by creating indices from factor analysis to identify latent dependent variables related to value creation and performance; next indices were created from the principal component analysis for the creation of independent latent variables related to corporate governance. Finally, based on panel data from regression models, the influence of the variables and indices related to corporate governance on the indices of value creation and performance was verified. Based on the research, it became evident that the Corporate Governance Index (IGC) is mainly impacted by Executive Management, with 40.31% of the IGC value, followed by the Representation and Participation dimension, with 34.07% of the IGC value. The contribution for academics was the creation of the Corporate Governance Index (IGC) applied for credit unions. As for the contribution to the system of credit unions, the highlight was the effectiveness of the mechanisms for economic-financial and asset management adopted by BACEN, credit unions and OCEMG.

Physics-Based Modeling of Power System Components for the Evaluation of Low-Frequency Radiated Electromagnetic Fields

The low-frequency electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) is an increasingly important aspect in the design of practical systems to ensure the functional safety and reliability of complex products. The opportunities for using numerical techniques to predict and analyze system’s EMC are therefore of considerable interest in many industries. As the first phase of study, a proper model, including all the details of the component, was required. Therefore, the advances in EMC modeling were studied with classifying analytical and numerical models. The selected model was finite element (FE) modeling, coupled with the distributed network method, to generate the model of the converter’s components and obtain the frequency behavioral model of the converter. The method has the ability to reveal the behavior of parasitic elements and higher resonances, which have critical impacts in studying EMI problems. For the EMC and signature studies of the machine drives, the equivalent source modeling was studied. Considering the details of the multi-machine environment, including actual models, some innovation in equivalent source modeling was performed to decrease the simulation time dramatically. Several models were designed in this study and the voltage current cube model and wire model have the best result. The GA-based PSO method is used as the optimization process. Superposition and suppression of the fields in coupling the components were also studied and verified. The simulation time of the equivalent model is 80-100 times lower than the detailed model. All tests were verified experimentally. As the application of EMC and signature study, the fault diagnosis and condition monitoring of an induction motor drive was developed using radiated fields. In addition to experimental tests, the 3DFE analysis was coupled with circuit-based software to implement the incipient fault cases. The identification was implemented using ANN for seventy various faulty cases. The simulation results were verified experimentally. Finally, the identification of the types of power components were implemented. The results show that it is possible to identify the type of components, as well as the faulty components, by comparing the amplitudes of their stray field harmonics. The identification using the stray fields is nondestructive and can be used for the setups that cannot go offline and be dismantled

Climate, Land Use and Hydrologic Sensitivities of Stormwater Quantity and Quality in Complex Coastal Urban Watersheds

The study analyzed hydro-climatic and land use sensitivities of stormwater runoff and quality in the complex coastal urban watershed of Miami River Basin, Florida by developing a Storm Water Management Model (EPA SWMM 5). Regression-based empirical models were also developed to explain stream water quality in relation to internal (land uses and hydrology) and external (upstream contribution, seawater) sources and drivers in six highly urbanized canal basins of Southeast Florida. Stormwater runoff and quality were most sensitive to rainfall, imperviousness, and conversion of open lands/parks to residential, commercial and industrial areas. In-stream dissolved oxygen and total phosphorus in the watersheds were dictated by internal stressors while external stressors were dominant for total nitrogen and specific conductance. The research findings and tools will be useful for proactive monitoring and management of storm runoff and urban stream water quality under the changing climate and environment in South Florida and around the world.

Non-invasive winding fault detection for induction machines based on stray flux magnetic sensors

Non-intrusive monitoring of health state of induction machines within industrial process and harsh environments poses a technical challenge. In the field, winding failures are a major fault accounting for over 45% of total machine failures. In the literature, many condition monitoring techniques based on different failure mechanisms and fault indicators have been developed where the machine current signature analysis (MCSA) is a very popular and effective method at this stage. However, it is extremely difficult to distinguish different types of failures and hard to obtain local information if a non-intrusive method is adopted. Typically, some sensors need to be installed inside the machines for collecting key information, which leads to disruption to the machine operation and additional costs. This paper presents a new non-invasive monitoring method based on GMRs to measure stray flux leaked from the machines. It is focused on the influence of potential winding failures on the stray magnetic flux in induction machines. Finite element analysis and experimental tests on a 1.5-kW machine are presented to validate the proposed method. With time-frequency spectrogram analysis, it is proven to be effective to detect several winding faults by referencing stray flux information. The novelty lies in the implement of GMR sensing and analysis of machine faults.

Reestructuración de la gerencia en Colombia: la educación superior necesita un nuevo perfil profesional del administrador para aminorar las externalidades del contexto actual (Aportes del mercadeo relacional, la teoría de creación de valor compartido y la inteligencia emocional)

El objetivo general de esta revisión es explicar que la educación superior en Colombia necesita integrar al campo administrativo el reconocimiento y manejo de las emociones, para que la gerencia contribuya al verdadero desarrollo social sostenible. Como el campo de interés está centrado en la gerencia, se hizo uso de los aportes del marketing relacional, la teoría de creación de valor compartido y la inteligencia emocional, así como otras aproximaciones teóricas y bibliográficas que sirvieron de soporte durante el desarrollo del seminario de gerencia. Consecuentemente, los aportes de los autores soportan las razones por las cuales se requiere de una reestructuración de la gerencia para mitigar las externalidades del medio y promover el desarrollo social y económico. Finalmente, se pretendió proporcionar la información adecuada al lector acerca del tema, de forma tal que facilite la comprensión y promueva la discusión acerca de los diferentes aportes de los autores.

Dalla genesi alla liquidazione degli ELTIF. Un nuovo e "instabile" tassello nella composita disciplina della gestione collettiva del risparmio

La presente trattazione concerne gli European long-term investment fund, disciplinati dal regolamento UE 2015/760 del 29 aprile 2015, meglio noti come ELTIF, di cui si è inteso indagare i molteplici aspetti che attengono all’operatività degli stessi, dalla genesi sino alla fase della liquidazione. Trattandosi di uno dei più recenti tasselli della composita disciplina europea del risparmio gestito, si è ritenuto opportuno anzitutto prendere le mosse dall’evoluzione della regolamentazione, domestica e comunitaria, della gestione collettiva del risparmio, la quale rappresenta la “cornice” normativa di riferimento entro cui si colloca il veicolo in discorso. Definito il percorso evolutivo della disciplina de qua, si è posta quindi l’attenzione sulla regolamentazione degli ELTIF che, pur migliorabile sotto diversi profili, rappresenta un significativo passo in avanti nel senso della costruzione dell’Unione dei mercati di capitali e del rilancio dell’economia europea. In particolare, l’indagine ha riguardato anzitutto i connotati della nuova fattispecie (carattere europeo, orizzonte temporale di lungo periodo, illiquidità). L’analisi dei tratti fisiognomici è stata funzionale non solo a verificare se essi, nella loro peculiarità, siano o meno idonei a definire un tipo a sé stante di prodotto, ma altresì a valutare in che termini essi producano un effetto conformativo sulla disciplina del prodotto stesso, specie con riferimento alla fase dell’investimento e del disinvestimento. Con l’intento di vagliare l’opportunità di interventi sul dato normativo che mirino ad accrescere l’attrattività degli ELTIF, si è volta quindi l’attenzione alla fase finale della vita del fondo, in quanto l’esiguità della disciplina dettata con riferimento alla liquidazione si espone ad applicazioni dubbie che, in larga parte, lasciano spazio all’autonomia regolamentare del prodotto e, dunque, all’applicazione di discipline nazionali disomogenee; e ciò specie con riferimento a una peculiare ipotesi di liquidazione promossa dagli investitori in conseguenza del mancato soddisfacimento della richiesta di rimborso avanzata.

Il patrimonio disponibile di un Ente pubblico e l'approccio metodologico per la sua valorizzazione

Il lavoro di tesi ha avuto come obbiettivo quello di indagare il corpo normativo, lo stato dell’arte sulla gestione patrimoniale anche attraverso l’analisi di alcune esperienze condotte in Italia, per definire l’approccio metodologico e gli strumenti per la valorizzazione del patrimonio immobiliare disponibile di un Ente pubblico, applicata al caso studio del comune di Bologna, con la collaborazione del Dipartimento Lavori Pubblici, Verde, Mobilità e Patrimonio ed in particolare con il Settore Patrimonio. L’indagine si è concentrata sulla sezione dei fabbricati del patrimonio edilizio comunale e non sui terreni, in quanto ritenuta più interessante ai fini della valorizzazione. Il patrimonio immobiliare del comune di Bologna, secondo il materiale fornito, è composto da circa 1800 unità di varia natura e dimensione; tuttavia la maggior parte di queste proprietà fanno parte del patrimonio indisponibile. Il presente lavoro, ha riguardato il patrimonio disponibile distribuito su tutto il territorio metropolitano di Bologna, per il quale è stata condotta l’indagine per fornire gli elementi necessari per sviluppare alternative per la sua valorizzazione. L’analisi condotta sul patrimonio disponibile del comune di Bologna, nonostante le varie selezioni effettuate sull’elenco fornito, ha portato ad individuare un numero considerevole di immobili valorizzabili, per i quali è emerso uno stato di conoscenza generale piuttosto scarso. E’ emersa quindi la difficoltà da parte dell’amministrazione di occuparsi degli immobili, che non sono direttamente utilizzati a fini istituzionali per la loro messa a reddito, nonostante si abbiano a disposizione strumenti normativi specifici per questo tipo di operazioni.