Human development and data envelopment analysis: a structured literature review

Given the importance the concept of productive efficiency has on analyzing the human development process, which is complex and multidimensional, this study conducts a literature review on the research works that have used the data envelopment analysis (DEA) to measure and analyze the development process. Therefore, we researched the databases of Scopus and Web of Science, and considered the following analysis dimensions: bibliometrics, scope, DEA models and extensions used, interfaces with other techniques, units analyzed and depth of analysis. In addition to a brief summary, the main gaps in each analysis dimension were assessed, which may serve to guide future researches. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of maturity levels in the management of product development: case studies in the capital goods industry

In recent approaches to the management of product development process (PDP), maturity levels have attracted the attention of practitioners and researchers. The CMMI model contributes to evaluate the maturity levels and improvement of the product development process management. This paper, based on CMMI model, analyzes the practices adopted in two companies of the capital goods industry, which develop and manufacture equipment upon request. It was observed that on account of market conditioning factors and different practices adapted to PDP management, these companies are at different maturity levels. One company is at the initial level of maturity while the other at the most advanced one. It was also noted that the application of CMMI model can provide improvement to PDP management, as well as present guidelines to achieve higher maturity levels, adequate to companies' needs.

Open innovation and user s involvement in new product development: a case study in the automotive sector

Innovation is an essential factor for obtaining competitive advantages. The search for external knowledge sources for product creation, which can contribute to the innovation process, has become a constant among companies, and users play an important role in this search. In this study, we aimed to analyze user’s involvement in the product development process based on open innovation concepts. We used the unique case study research method. This study was carried out in an automotive company that has developed a project of a concept car involving user’s through the Web 2.0. With such scope, the research demonstrates that users can contribute not only with generation of ideas but also with the innovation process itself.

Desenvolvimento de um protótipo de revista hipermidiática para tablet: um estudo experimental com a UNESP Ciência

Pós-graduação em Televisão Digital: Informação e Conhecimento - FAAC

Sistema informatizado para dispositivos móveis de coleta dos dados referentes à cesta básica do município de Botucatu/SP

The collection of prices for basic goods supply is very important for the population, based on the collection and processing of these data the CLI (Cost Living Index) is calculated among others, helping consumers to shop more rationally and with a clearer view of each product impact of each product on their household budget, not only food, but also cleaning products and personal hygiene ones. Nowadays, the project of collection of prices for basic goods supply is conducted weekly in Botucatu - SP through a spreadsheet. The aim of this work was to develop a software which utilized mobile devices in the data collection and storage phase, concerning the basic goods supply in Botucatu -SP. This was created in order to eliminate the need of taking notes in paper spreadsheets, increasing efficiency and accelerating the data processing. This work utilized the world of mobile technology and development tools, through the platform".NET" - Compact Framework and programming language Visual Basic".NET" was used in the handheld phase, enabling to develop a system using techniques of object oriented programming, with higher speed and reliability in the codes writing. A HP Pavilion dv3 personal computer and an Eten glofish x500+ handheld computer were used. At the end of the software development, collection, data storing and processing in a report, the phase of in loco paper spreadsheets were eliminated and it was possible to verify that the whole process was faster, more consistent, safer, more efficient and the data were more available.

Model-based reuse for crosscutting frameworks: assessing reuse and maintenance effort

Abstract Background Over the last years, a number of researchers have investigated how to improve the reuse of crosscutting concerns. New possibilities have emerged with the advent of aspect-oriented programming, and many frameworks were designed considering the abstractions provided by this new paradigm. We call this type of framework Crosscutting Frameworks (CF), as it usually encapsulates a generic and abstract design of one crosscutting concern. However, most of the proposed CFs employ white-box strategies in their reuse process, requiring two mainly technical skills: (i) knowing syntax details of the programming language employed to build the framework and (ii) being aware of the architectural details of the CF and its internal nomenclature. Also, another problem is that the reuse process can only be initiated as soon as the development process reaches the implementation phase, preventing it from starting earlier. Method In order to solve these problems, we present in this paper a model-based approach for reusing CFs which shields application engineers from technical details, letting him/her concentrate on what the framework really needs from the application under development. To support our approach, two models are proposed: the Reuse Requirements Model (RRM) and the Reuse Model (RM). The former must be used to describe the framework structure and the later is in charge of supporting the reuse process. As soon as the application engineer has filled in the RM, the reuse code can be automatically generated. Results We also present here the result of two comparative experiments using two versions of a Persistence CF: the original one, whose reuse process is based on writing code, and the new one, which is model-based. The first experiment evaluated the productivity during the reuse process, and the second one evaluated the effort of maintaining applications developed with both CF versions. The results show the improvement of 97% in the productivity; however little difference was perceived regarding the effort for maintaining the required application. Conclusion By using the approach herein presented, it was possible to conclude the following: (i) it is possible to automate the instantiation of CFs, and (ii) the productivity of developers are improved as long as they use a model-based instantiation approach.

Aplicación web para la gestión de tareas siguiendo la metodología GTD

[ES] El Trabajo Final de Grado tiene por finalidad ofrecer una solución que ayude a las personas a gestionar sus tareas tanto personales como empresariales de una manera más productiva. Actualmente este tipo de aplicaciones tienen mucho éxito. Se decidió que el desarrollo de esta aplicación fuera con la metodología Getting Things Done (GTD) ya que es una metodología que aumenta la productividad y reduce el estrés laboral. A día de hoy, no hay muchas aplicaciones que utilice esta metodología y las que la utilizan lo hace de una forma muy básica. Junto a esta metodología y guiándonos de la experiencia del tutor se intentó combinar esta metodología con controles de tiempo para mejorar aún más la productividad de las personas que utiliza dicho software. El resultado obtenido de este trabajo final de grado fue la base de una aplicación web para la gestión de tareas. El software creado es totalmente funcional, muy fácil de usar, muy intuitivo, y usa la filosofía Getting Things Done . Básicamente los objetivos principales conseguidos en este proyecto fueron: la gestión de usuarios. La gestión de tareas y proyectos. Aplicación de la metodología GTD. Control del tiempo productivo, e improductivo, interrupciones, temporizadores. La aplicación ha sido realizada como Trabajo Final de Grado en Ingeniería Informática, cumpliendo con todas las fases del desarrollo del software, para obtener un producto funcional que fuera aprobado por el tutor que haría el rol de potencial cliente. En el presente proyecto se ha seguido la metodología RUP, dirigida por casos de uso, iterativa e incremental. Para completar el proceso se ha realizado la elaboración de una lista de características, la especificación de los casos de uso, una fase de análisis, una de diseño, implementación y prueba. Las tecnologías utilizadas han sido, principalmente, Ruby On Rails, HTML5, CSS , AJAX y JAVASCRIPT. El objetivo a largo plazo es que esta solución pueda ser tomada como base de implementación, donde haciendo las mejoras necesarias se pueda poner en el mercado un gran software de gestión de tareas siguiendo la metodología GTD.

Petroleum development and climate change: Risks of being a host country

[EN]A petroleum expert’s view on risks and benefits of oil exploration today in Canarias, considering the climate change facts. The talk starts with an overview of the total petroleum development process, from exploration to post-abandonment, indicating some important risks and benefits for each, from a petroleum industry and a personal perspective. Then there is a part of the talk about the agreed facts of climate change, and what this means for us all. The end of the talk brings together these two sections in a summary.

Strumenti e metodi per lo sviluppo prodotto di lenti oftalmiche

The recent introduction of free form NC machining in the ophthalmic field involved a full review of the former product development process both from the design and the manufacturing viewpoint. Aim of the present work is to investigate and to set up innovative methods and tools supporting the product development, particularly for lenses characterized by free form geometry, as e.g. progressive lenses. In the design stage, the research addressed geometric modeling of complex lens shapes and relevant analysis tools for the optical-geometrical characterization of the produced models. In the manufacturing stage, the main interest was focused on the set-up of the fabrication process, particularly on the NC machining process for which an integration CADCAM software was developed for the generation and the simulation of the machining cycle. The methodologies and tools made available by the present work are currently used in the development of new complex geometry product typologies as, e.g. progressive lenses.

Cache-aware development of high integrity real-time systems

Cost, performance and availability considerations are forcing even the most conservative high-integrity embedded real-time systems industry to migrate from simple hardware processors to ones equipped with caches and other acceleration features. This migration disrupts the practices and solutions that industry had developed and consolidated over the years to perform timing analysis. Industry that are confident with the efficiency/effectiveness of their verification and validation processes for old-generation processors, do not have sufficient insight on the effects of the migration to cache-equipped processors. Caches are perceived as an additional source of complexity, which has potential for shattering the guarantees of cost- and schedule-constrained qualification of their systems. The current industrial approach to timing analysis is ill-equipped to cope with the variability incurred by caches. Conversely, the application of advanced WCET analysis techniques on real-world industrial software, developed without analysability in mind, is hardly feasible. We propose a development approach aimed at minimising the cache jitters, as well as at enabling the application of advanced WCET analysis techniques to industrial systems. Our approach builds on:(i) identification of those software constructs that may impede or complicate timing analysis in industrial-scale systems; (ii) elaboration of practical means, under the model-driven engineering (MDE) paradigm, to enforce the automated generation of software that is analyzable by construction; (iii) implementation of a layout optimisation method to remove cache jitters stemming from the software layout in memory, with the intent of facilitating incremental software development, which is of high strategic interest to industry. The integration of those constituents in a structured approach to timing analysis achieves two interesting properties: the resulting software is analysable from the earliest releases onwards - as opposed to becoming so only when the system is final - and more easily amenable to advanced timing analysis by construction, regardless of the system scale and complexity.

Autorenwerkzeuge für digitale, multimediale und interaktive Lernbausteine im Web 2.0

Die Forschungsarbeit siedelt sich im Dreieck der Erziehungswissenschaften, der Informatik und der Schulpraxis an und besitzt somit einen starken interdisziplinären Charakter. Aus Sicht der Erziehungswissenschaften handelt es sich um ein Forschungsprojekt aus den Bereichen E-Learning und Multimedia Learning und der Fragestellung nach geeigneten Informatiksystemen für die Herstellung und den Austausch von digitalen, multimedialen und interaktiven Lernbausteinen. Dazu wurden zunächst methodisch-didaktische Vorteile digitaler Lerninhalte gegenüber klassischen Medien wie Buch und Papier zusammengetragen und mögliche Potentiale im Zusammenhang mit neuen Web2.0-Technologien aufgezeigt. Darauf aufbauend wurde für existierende Autorenwerkzeuge zur Herstellung digitaler Lernbausteine und bestehende Austauschplattformen analysiert, inwieweit diese bereits Web 2.0-Technologien unterstützen und nutzen. Aus Sicht der Informatik ergab sich aus der Analyse bestehender Systeme ein Anforderungsprofil für ein neues Autorenwerkzeug und eine neue Austauschplattform für digitale Lernbausteine. Das neue System wurde nach dem Ansatz des Design Science Research in einem iterativen Entwicklungsprozess in Form der Webapplikation LearningApps.org realisiert und stetig mit Lehrpersonen aus der Schulpraxis evaluiert. Bei der Entwicklung kamen aktuelle Web-Technologien zur Anwendung. Das Ergebnis der Forschungsarbeit ist ein produktives Informatiksystem, welches bereits von tausenden Nutzern in verschiedenen Ländern sowohl in Schulen als auch in der Wirtschaft eingesetzt wird. In einer empirischen Studie konnte das mit der Systementwicklung angestrebte Ziel, die Herstellung und den Austausch von digitalen Lernbausteinen zu vereinfachen, bestätigt werden. Aus Sicht der Schulpraxis liefert LearningApps.org einen Beitrag zur Methodenvielfalt und zur Nutzung von ICT im Unterricht. Die Ausrichtung des Werkzeugs auf mobile Endgeräte und 1:1-Computing entspricht dem allgemeinen Trend im Bildungswesen. Durch die Verknüpfung des Werkzeugs mit aktuellen Software Entwicklungen zur Herstellung von digitalen Schulbüchern werden auch Lehrmittelverlage als Zielgruppe angesprochen.

Looking at the effectiveness of an earth science unit designed using the Understanding by Design process

This report shares my efforts in developing a solid unit of instruction that has a clear focus on student outcomes. I have been a teacher for 20 years and have been writing and revising curricula for much of that time. However, most has been developed without the benefit of current research on how students learn and did not focus on what and how students are learning. My journey as a teacher has involved a lot of trial and error. My traditional method of teaching is to look at the benchmarks (now content expectations) to see what needs to be covered. My unit consists of having students read the appropriate sections in the textbook, complete work sheets, watch a video, and take some notes. I try to include at least one hands-on activity, one or more quizzes, and the traditional end-of-unit test consisting mostly of multiple choice questions I find in the textbook. I try to be engaging, make the lessons fun, and hope that at the end of the unit my students get whatever concepts I‘ve presented so that we can move on to the next topic. I want to increase students‘ understanding of science concepts and their ability to connect understanding to the real-world. However, sometimes I feel that my lessons are missing something. For a long time I have wanted to develop a unit of instruction that I know is an effective tool for the teaching and learning of science. In this report, I describe my efforts to reform my curricula using the “Understanding by Design” process. I want to see if this style of curriculum design will help me be a more effective teacher and if it will lead to an increase in student learning. My hypothesis is that this new (for me) approach to teaching will lead to increased understanding of science concepts among students because it is based on purposefully thinking about learning targets based on “big ideas” in science. For my reformed curricula I incorporate lessons from several outstanding programs I‘ve been involved with including EpiCenter (Purdue University), Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS), the Master of Science Program in Applied Science Education at Michigan Technological University, and the Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning (MACUL). In this report, I present the methodology on how I developed a new unit of instruction based on the Understanding by Design process. I present several lessons and learning plans I‘ve developed for the unit that follow the 5E Learning Cycle as appendices at the end of this report. I also include the results of pilot testing of one of lessons. Although the lesson I pilot-tested was not as successful in increasing student learning outcomes as I had anticipated, the development process I followed was helpful in that it required me to focus on important concepts. Conducting the pilot test was also helpful to me because it led me to identify ways in which I could improve upon the lesson in the future.

Language Boxes: Bending the Host Language with Modular Language Changes

As domain-specific modeling begins to attract widespread acceptance, pressure is increasing for the development of new domain-specific languages. Unfortunately these DSLs typically conflict with the grammar of the host language, making it difficult to compose hybrid code except at the level of strings; few mechanisms (if any) exist to control the scope of usage of multiple DSLs; and, most seriously, existing host language tools are typically unaware of the DSL extensions, thus hampering the development process. Language boxes address these issues by offering a simple, modular mechanism to encapsulate (i) compositional changes to the host language, (ii) transformations to address various concerns such as compilation and highlighting, and (iii) scoping rules to control visibility of language extensions. We describe the design and implementation of language boxes, and show with the help of several examples how modular extensions can be introduced to a host language and environment.

VirtualMesh: An Emulation Framework for Wireless Mesh Networks in OMNeT++

Wireless Mesh Networks (WMN) have proven to be a key technology for increased network coverage of Internet infrastructures. The development process for new protocols and architectures in the area of WMN is typically split into evaluation by network simulation and testing of a prototype in a test-bed. Testing a prototype in a real test-bed is time-consuming and expensive. Irrepressible external interferences can occur which makes debugging difficult. Moreover, the test-bed usually supports only a limited number of test topologies. Finally, mobility tests are impractical. Therefore, we propose VirtualMesh as a new testing architecture which can be used before going to a real test-bed. It provides instruments to test the real communication software including the network stack inside a controlled environment. VirtualMesh is implemented by capturing real traffic through a virtual interface at the mesh nodes. The traffic is then redirected to the network simulator OMNeT++. In our experiments, VirtualMesh has proven to be scalable and introduces moderate delays. Therefore, it is suitable for predeployment testing of communication software for WMNs.