Managing the complexity of information flow for construction small and medium-sized enterprises (CSMEs) using system dynamics and collaborative technologies

With the increase in e-commerce and the digitisation of design data and information,the construction sector has become reliant upon IT infrastructure and systems. The design and production process is more complex, more interconnected, and reliant upon greater information mobility, with seamless exchange of data and information in real time. Construction small and medium-sized enterprises (CSMEs), in particular,the speciality contractors, can effectively utilise cost-effective collaboration-enabling technologies, such as cloud computing, to help in the effective transfer of information and data to improve productivity. The system dynamics (SD) approach offers a perspective and tools to enable a better understanding of the dynamics of complex systems. This research focuses upon system dynamics methodology as a modelling and analysis tool in order to understand and identify the key drivers in the absorption of cloud computing for CSMEs. The aim of this paper is to determine how the use of system dynamics (SD) can improve the management of information flow through collaborative technologies leading to improved productivity. The data supporting the use of system dynamics was obtained through a pilot study consisting of questionnaires and interviews from five CSMEs in the UK house-building sector.

Tillit och misstro till molntjänster : Identifiering av vilka kriterier som skapar tillit till molntjänster

Cloud computing innebär att datorkraft och IT-resurser i form av servrar, lagring och lokala nätverk görs tillgängliga via internet, cloud computing har ökat snabbt i användning de senaste åren. Möjligheterna med molntjänster har lett till nya utmaningar avseende tillit till molntjänster genom att öppna för helt nya förhållanden mellan leverantör och kund. I dagsläget så är tillit till molntjänsterna ett stort problem för kunder såsom mikroföretag samt små och medelstora företag. Vårt examensarbete syftar till att beskriva mikroföretags samt små och medelstora företags tillit och misstro till molntjänster, samt identifiera vilka kriterier som bidrar till detta. Resultatet visar att det är svårt att tydligt definiera tillit och misstro hos företag, då deras situationer och verksamheter skiljer sig. Tack vare vår litteraturstudie i kombination med våra intervjuer har vi skapat oss en bra bild av vilka kriterier som bidrar med tillit och misstro till molntjänster. Baserat på vårt arbete har vi sammanställt en konceptuell modell som beskriver tillit och misstro till molntjänster.

Molntjänster för utvecklings- och testverksamhet i krisberedskapsmyndigheter

Molntjänster har blivit ett intressant fenomen i IT-världen. Molntjänster har skapat möjligheter för företag och individer att effektivisera sin verksamhet för en minimal avgift istället för att driftsätta egna servrar. Detta blir möjligt genom att erbjuda flera olika tjänster på varierande distributionsmodeller. Till följd av detta fenomen förekommer serviceförfrågningar av molntjänster kontinuerligt bland svenska privata företag och myndigheter. De privata företagen har ingen skyldighet att följa lagar som begränsar dem från att använda molntjänster, i motsats till krisberedskapsmyndigheterna och deras utvecklings- och testverksamhet. Detta examensarbete kommer fokusera på att analysera de möjligheter som finns för svenska krisberedskapsmyndigheters och deras utvecklings- och testverksamheter att använda molntjänster Examensarbetet genomfördes som en kvalitativ studie med hjälp av intervjuer och litteraturstudier som datainsamlingsmetoder. Intervjuerna genomfördes på anställda i en krisberedskapsmyndighet för att ge en bild av hur dessa anställda med varierande befattningar tolkar molntjänster samt dess för- och nackdelar. Litteraturstudien användes för att spegla andra nationers synpunkter på molntjänster i myndigheter, samt vilka svenska lagar och regelverk som kan förhindra molntjänster i en krisberedskapsmyndighet. Resultatet av examensarbetet visade att det existerar möjligheter för användning av molntjänster i en krisberedskapsmyndighet. Detta görs möjligt genom att analysera informationen som skall distribueras på en molntjänst.

Optimal allocation of distributed generators providing reactive power support ancillary service

Problems as voltage increase at the end of a feeder, demand supply unbalance in a fault condition, power quality decline, increase of power losses, and reduction of reliability levels may occur if Distributed Generators (DGs) are not properly allocated. For this reason, researchers have been employed several solution techniques to solve the problem of optimal allocation of DGs. This work is focused on the ancillary service of reactive power support provided by DGs. The main objective is to price this service by determining the costs in which a DG incurs when it loses sales opportunity of active power, i.e, by determining the Loss of Opportunity Costs (LOC). The LOC will be determined for different allocation alternatives of DGs as a result of a multi-objective optimization process, aiming the minimization of losses in the lines of the system and costs of active power generation from DGs, and the maximization of the static voltage stability margin of the system. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology in improving the goals outlined was demonstrated using the IEEE 34 bus distribution test feeder with two DGs cosidered to be allocated. © 2011 IEEE.

Architecture for publication and universal access to smart transducers

This paper proposes a simple and powerful architecture for publication and universal access to smart transducers, through existing and established open standards. Smart transducers are put to work on standards and styles already included in the Web, exploring resources in Cloud Computing and simplifying access to data. © 2012 IEEE.

Constrained intervals and interval spaces

Constrained intervals, intervals as a mapping from [0, 1] to polynomials of degree one (linear functions) with non-negative slopes, and arithmetic on constrained intervals generate a space that turns out to be a cancellative abelian monoid albeit with a richer set of properties than the usual (standard) space of interval arithmetic. This means that not only do we have the classical embedding as developed by H. Radström, S. Markov, and the extension of E. Kaucher but the properties of these polynomials. We study the geometry of the embedding of intervals into a quasilinear space and some of the properties of the mapping of constrained intervals into a space of polynomials. It is assumed that the reader is familiar with the basic notions of interval arithmetic and interval analysis. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Broadband in Latin America: Beyond Connectivity

Includes bibliography.

Broadband in Latin America: Beyond Connectivity

Incluye bibliografía

The new digital revolution: From the consumer Internet to the industrial Internet

The new digital technologies have led to widespread use of cloud computing, recognition of the potential of big data analytics, and significant progress in aspects of the Internet of Things, such as home automation, smart cities and grids and digital manufacturing. In addition to closing gaps in respect of the basic necessities of access and usage, now the conditions must be established for using the new platforms and finding ways to participate actively in the creation of content and even new applications and platforms. This message runs through the three chapters of this book. Chapter I presents the main features of the digital revolution, emphasizing that today’s world economy is a digital economy. Chapter II examines the region’s strengths and weaknesses with respect to digital access and consumption. Chapter III reviews the main policy debates and urges countries to take a more proactive approach towards, for example, regulation, network neutrality and combating cybercrime. The conclusion highlights two crucial elements: first, the need to take steps towards a single regional digital market that can compete in a world of global platforms by tapping the benefits of economies of scale and developing network economies; and second, the significance of the next stage of the digital agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean (eLAC2018), which will embody the latest updates to a cooperation strategy that has been in place for over a decade.

Condições de saúde bucal de diabéticos acompanhados pelo Programa Saúde da Família em Belém - Pará

Neste estudo foram avaliadas as condições de saúde bucal de diabéticos acompanhados pelo Programa Saúde da Família no município de Belém-Pará. As condições analisadas foram: cárie dentária, doença periodontal, uso e necessidade de prótese dentária e lesões de mucosa. A amostra foi composta de 268 diabéticos e 270 indivíduos não diabéticos compondo o grupo controle. Para a coleta dos dados, foram utilizados os índices recomendados pela Organização Mundial de Saúde. Os exames foram realizados nos domicílios dos indivíduos selecionados por examinadores previamente calibrados. Os dados foram processados no Programa de computação Epi info versão 3.3.2 para o Sistema Operacional Windows e estatisticamente analisados. Os resultados demonstraram que: não houve diferença na prevalência de cárie. O CPOD foi igual a 25,7 e 25,4 para diabéticos e grupo controle, respectivamente, com uma grande perda dentária para ambos os grupos. A presença de cálculo foi verificada em 10,6% dos diabéticos e em 13,6% do grupo controle com a prevalência de bolsa periodontal mais evidente em diabéticos (p<0,05). Aproximadamente metade da amostra necessitava de prótese superior e cerca de 78% dos examinados necessitavam de prótese inferior, não diferindo entre os grupos (p > 0,05). A ocorrência de lesões de mucosa bucal, como estomatites e lesões hiperplásicas, em ambos os grupos, foi relacionada ao uso de prótese dentária inadequada. Os dados encontrados demonstram prevalência significante em todas as condições estudadas em ambos os grupos, mas só a doença periodontal teve relação estatisticamente significante com a condição de Diabetes Mellitus.

Simplificação de malhas visando representações em multirresolução

The representation of real objects in virtual environments has applications in many areas, such as cartography, mixed reality and reverse engineering. The generation of these objects can be performed through two ways: manually, with CAD (Computer Aided Design) tools, or automatically, by means of surface reconstruction techniques. The simpler the 3D model, the easier it is to process and store it. However, this methods can generate very detailed virtual elements, that can result in some problems when processing the resulting mesh, because it has a lot of edges and polygons that have to be checked at visualization. Considering this context, it can be applied simplification algorithms to eliminate polygons from resulting mesh, without change its topology, generating a lighter mesh with less irrelevant details. The project aimed the study, implementation and comparative tests of simplification algorithms applied to meshes generated through a reconstruction pipeline based on point clouds. This work proposes the realization of the simplification step, like a complement to the pipeline developed by (ONO et al., 2012), that developed reconstruction through cloud points obtained by Microsoft Kinect, and then using Poisson algorithm