An ontology-based approach to define and manage B2B interoperability

Electronic business surely represents the new development perspective for world-wide trade. Together with the idea of ebusiness, and the exigency to exchange business messages between trading partners, the concept of business-to-business (B2B) integration arouse. B2B integration is becoming necessary to allow partners to communicate and exchange business documents, like catalogues, purchase orders, reports and invoices, overcoming architectural, applicative, and semantic differences, according to the business processes implemented by each enterprise. Business relationships can be very heterogeneous, and consequently there are variousways to integrate enterprises with each other. Moreover nowadays not only large enterprises, but also the small- and medium- enterprises are moving towards ebusiness: more than two-thirds of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) use the Internet as a business tool. One of the business areas which is actively facing the interoperability problem is that related with the supply chain management. In order to really allow the SMEs to improve their business and to fully exploit ICT technologies in their business transactions, there are three main players that must be considered and joined: the new emerging ICT technologies, the scenario and the requirements of the enterprises and the world of standards and standardisation bodies. This thesis presents the definition and the development of an interoperability framework (and the bounded standardisation intiatives) to provide the Textile/Clothing sectorwith a shared set of business documents and protocols for electronic transactions. Considering also some limitations, the thesis proposes a ontology-based approach to improve the functionalities of the developed framework and, exploiting the technologies of the semantic web, to improve the standardisation life-cycle, intended as the development, dissemination and adoption of B2B protocols for specific business domain. The use of ontologies allows the semantic modellisation of knowledge domains, upon which it is possible to develop a set of components for a better management of B2B protocols, and to ease their comprehension and adoption for the target users.

Progettazione e realizzazione di un sito web e-commerce per l'editoria utilizzando la piattaforma Magento

La tesi analizza e approfondisce vari concetti tra cui l'e-commerce e il suo impatto nel mercato degli ultimi decenni, le fasi progettuali di un sito web, i linguaggi principali sullo sviluppo web, la piattaforma Magento e le sue funzionalità. Dopo lo studio e l'analisi di tali concetti si è passato alla fase di realizzazione del sito web applicando le conoscenze e gli strumenti base della programmazione web come i linguaggi PHP, HTML5, CSS3 e JavaScript.

E-Learning Systems, Environments and Approaches

The volume consists of twenty-five chapters selected from among peer-reviewed papers presented at the CELDA (Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age) 2013 Conference held in Fort Worth, Texas, USA, in October 2013 and also from world class scholars in e-learning systems, environments and approaches. The following sub-topics are included: Exploratory Learning Technologies (Part I), e-Learning social web design (Part II), Learner communities through e-Learning implementations (Part III), Collaborative and student-centered e-Learning design (Part IV). E-Learning has been, since its initial stages, a synonym for flexibility. While this dynamic nature has mainly been associated with time and space it is safe to argue that currently it embraces other aspects such as the learners’ profile, the scope of subjects that can be taught electronically and the technology it employs. New technologies also widen the range of activities and skills developed in e-Learning. Electronic learning environments have evolved past the exclusive delivery of knowledge. Technology has endowed e-Learning with the possibility of remotely fomenting problem solving skills, critical thinking and team work, by investing in information exchange, collaboration, personalisation and community building.

WOCAT - World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies - Preliminary results from Eastern and Southern Africa

The World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT) is a program of the World Association of Soil and Water Conservation (WASWC), organized as a consortium of several international institutions. The overall goal of WOCAT is to contribute to sustainable utilization of soil and water. WOCAT collects and analyzes information on soil and water conservation (SWC) technologies and approaches world-wide, and presents the collected information in computer databases and decision support systems, and in the form of handbooks, reports and maps readily accessible to SWC specialists and policy-makers world-wide. WOCAT has prepared a framework for the evaluation of soil and water conservation and has started data collection. The paper presents preliminary results with promising SWC technologies and approaches used in Eastern and Southern Africa. The first finding is that hardly any promising SWC activities could be found on common grazing lands. Analysis of the cropland shows some of the bio-physical and socioeconomic conditions under which certain SWC technologies and approaches are used, including land use types, climatic zones and land tenure, and looks at issues such as participation and costs. Furthermore, classification criteria for SWC technologies and approaches are discussed.

Contribution to the design of waveguide-fed compound-slot arrays by means of equivalent circuit modelling

Los arrays de ranuras son sistemas de antennas conocidos desde los años 40, principalmente destinados a formar parte de sistemas rádar de navíos de combate y grandes estaciones terrenas donde el tamaño y el peso no eran altamente restrictivos. Con el paso de los años y debido sobre todo a importantes avances en materiales y métodos de fabricación, el rango de aplicaciones de este tipo de sistemas radiantes creció en gran medida. Desde nuevas tecnologías biomédicas, sistemas anticolisión en automóviles y navegación en aviones, enlaces de comunicaciones de alta tasa binaria y corta distancia e incluso sistemas embarcados en satélites para la transmisión de señal de televisión. Dentro de esta familia de antennas, existen dos grupos que destacan por ser los más utilizados: las antennas de placas paralelas con las ranuras distribuidas de forma circular o espiral y las agrupaciones de arrays lineales construidos sobre guia de onda. Continuando con las tareas de investigación desarrolladas durante los últimos años en el Instituto de Tecnología de Tokyo y en el Grupo de Radiación de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, la totalidad de esta tesis se centra en este último grupo, aunque como se verá se separa en gran medida de las técnicas de diseño y metodologías convencionales. Los arrays de ranuras rectas y paralelas al eje de la guía rectangular que las alimenta son, sin ninguna duda, los modelos más empleados debido a la fiabilidad que presentan a altas frecuencias, su capacidad para gestionar grandes cantidades de potencia y la sencillez de su diseño y fabricación. Sin embargo, también presentan desventajas como estrecho ancho de banda en pérdidas de retorno y rápida degradación del diagrama de radiación con la frecuencia. Éstas son debidas a la naturaleza resonante de sus elementos radiantes: al perder la resonancia, el sistema global se desajusta y sus prestaciones degeneran. En arrays bidimensionales de slots rectos, el campo eléctrico queda polarizado sobre el plano transversal a las ranuras, correspondiéndose con el plano de altos lóbulos secundarios. Esta tesis tiene como objetivo el desarrollo de un método sistemático de diseño de arrays de ranuras inclinadas y desplazadas del centro (en lo sucesivo “ranuras compuestas”), definido en 1971 como uno de los desafíos a superar dentro del mundo del diseño de antennas. La técnica empleada se basa en el Método de los Momentos, la Teoría de Circuitos y la Teoría de Conexión Aleatoria de Matrices de Dispersión. Al tratarse de un método circuital, la primera parte de la tesis se corresponde con el estudio de la aplicabilidad de las redes equivalentes fundamentales, su capacidad para recrear fenómenos físicos de la ranura, las limitaciones y ventajas que presentan para caracterizar las diferentes configuraciones de slot compuesto. Se profundiza en las diferencias entre las redes en T y en ! y se condiciona la selección de una u otra dependiendo del tipo de elemento radiante. Una vez seleccionado el tipo de red a emplear en el diseño del sistema, se ha desarrollado un algoritmo de cascadeo progresivo desde el puerto alimentador hacia el cortocircuito que termina el modelo. Este algoritmo es independiente del número de elementos, la frecuencia central de funcionamiento, del ángulo de inclinación de las ranuras y de la red equivalente seleccionada (en T o en !). Se basa en definir el diseño del array como un Problema de Satisfacción de Condiciones (en inglés, Constraint Satisfaction Problem) que se resuelve por un método de Búsqueda en Retroceso (Backtracking algorithm). Como resultado devuelve un circuito equivalente del array completo adaptado a su entrada y cuyos elementos consumen una potencia acorde a una distribución de amplitud dada para el array. En toda agrupación de antennas, el acoplo mutuo entre elementos a través del campo radiado representa uno de los principales problemas para el ingeniero y sus efectos perjudican a las prestaciones globales del sistema, tanto en adaptación como en capacidad de radiación. El empleo de circuito equivalente se descartó por la dificultad que suponía la caracterización de estos efectos y su inclusión en la etapa de diseño. En esta tesis doctoral el acoplo también se ha modelado como una red equivalente cuyos elementos son transformadores ideales y admitancias, conectada al conjunto de redes equivalentes que representa el array. Al comparar los resultados estimados en términos de pérdidas de retorno y radiación con aquellos obtenidos a partir de programas comerciales populares como CST Microwave Studio se confirma la validez del método aquí propuesto, el primer método de diseño sistemático de arrays de ranuras compuestos alimentados por guía de onda rectangular. Al tratarse de ranuras no resonantes, el ancho de banda en pérdidas de retorno es mucho mas amplio que el que presentan arrays de slots rectos. Para arrays bidimensionales, el ángulo de inclinación puede ajustarse de manera que el campo quede polarizado en los planos de bajos lóbulos secundarios. Además de simulaciones se han diseñado, construido y medido dos prototipos centrados en la frecuencia de 12GHz, de seis y diez elementos. Las medidas de pérdidas de retorno y diagrama de radiación revelan excelentes resultados, certificando la bondad del método genuino Method of Moments - Forward Matching Procedure desarrollado a lo largo de esta tésis. Abstract The slot antenna arrays are well known systems from the decade of 40s, mainly intended to be part of radar systems of large warships and terrestrial stations where size and weight were not highly restrictive. Over the years, mainly due to significant advances in materials and manufacturing methods, the range of applications of this type of radiating systems grew significantly. From new biomedical technologies, collision avoidance systems in cars and aircraft navigation, short communication links with high bit transfer rate and even embedded systems in satellites for television broadcast. Within this family of antennas, two groups stand out as being the most frequent in the literature: parallel plate antennas with slots placed in a circular or spiral distribution and clusters of waveguide linear arrays. To continue the vast research work carried out during the last decades in the Tokyo Institute of Technology and in the Radiation Group at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, this thesis focuses on the latter group, although it represents a technique that drastically breaks with traditional design methodologies. The arrays of slots straight and parallel to the axis of the feeding rectangular waveguide are without a doubt the most used models because of the reliability that they present at high frequencies, its ability to handle large amounts of power and their simplicity of design and manufacturing. However, there also exist disadvantages as narrow bandwidth in return loss and rapid degradation of the radiation pattern with frequency. These are due to the resonant nature of radiating elements: away from the resonance status, the overall system performance and radiation pattern diminish. For two-dimensional arrays of straight slots, the electric field is polarized transverse to the radiators, corresponding to the plane of high side-lobe level. This thesis aims to develop a systematic method of designing arrays of angled and displaced slots (hereinafter "compound slots"), defined in 1971 as one of the challenges to overcome in the world of antenna design. The used technique is based on the Method of Moments, Circuit Theory and the Theory of Scattering Matrices Connection. Being a circuitry-based method, the first part of this dissertation corresponds to the study of the applicability of the basic equivalent networks, their ability to recreate the slot physical phenomena, their limitations and advantages presented to characterize different compound slot configurations. It delves into the differences of T and ! and determines the selection of the most suitable one depending on the type of radiating element. Once the type of network to be used in the system design is selected, a progressive algorithm called Forward Matching Procedure has been developed to connect the proper equivalent networks from the feeder port to shorted ending. This algorithm is independent of the number of elements, the central operating frequency, the angle of inclination of the slots and selected equivalent network (T or ! networks). It is based on the definition of the array design as a Constraint Satisfaction Problem, solved by means of a Backtracking Algorithm. As a result, the method returns an equivalent circuit of the whole array which is matched at its input port and whose elements consume a power according to a given amplitude distribution for the array. In any group of antennas, the mutual coupling between elements through the radiated field represents one of the biggest problems that the engineer faces and its effects are detrimental to the overall performance of the system, both in radiation capabilities and return loss. The employment of an equivalent circuit for the array design was discarded by some authors because of the difficulty involved in the characterization of the coupling effects and their inclusion in the design stage. In this thesis the coupling has also been modeled as an equivalent network whose elements are ideal transformers and admittances connected to the set of equivalent networks that represent the antennas of the array. By comparing the estimated results in terms of return loss and radiation with those obtained from popular commercial software as CST Microwave Studio, the validity of the proposed method is fully confirmed, representing the first method of systematic design of compound-slot arrays fed by rectangular waveguide. Since these slots do not work under the resonant status, the bandwidth in return loss is much wider than the longitudinal-slot arrays. For the case of two-dimensional arrays, the angle of inclination can be adjusted so that the field is polarized at the low side-lobe level plane. Besides the performed full-wave simulations two prototypes of six and ten elements for the X-band have been designed, built and measured, revealing excellent results and agreement with the expected results. These facts certify that the genuine technique Method of Moments - Matching Forward Procedure developed along this thesis is valid and trustable.

Editor web de conexiones para la creación visual de aplicaciones composicionales mediante mashup

A lo largo de este documento se describe el trabajo llevado a cabo para el logro de todos objetivos de este Trabajo Fin de Grado, el cual tiene como objetivo principal la mejora de la herramienta de edición de las conexiones internas de un mashup proporcionada actualmente por la plataforma web WireCloud. WireCloud es una plataforma web centrada en la construcción visual de mashups de aplicaciones a partir de la interconexión de pequeñas aplicaciones web denominadas widgets. Los principales inconvenientes presentes en el actual editor de conexiones que incluye esta plataforma afectan principalmente a sus usuarios con poca experiencia en diseño web. Estos usuarios tienen dificultades a la hora de interpretar el esquema de conexiones de un mashup ajeno y también, de crear el esquema de conexiones de un mashup propio. La mejora realizada supone un cambio en la metáfora utilizada para la creación de las conexiones, que ahora se organiza en torno a unidades conceptuales denominadas comportamientos que representan subconjuntos cohesionados de conexiones con significado (representando por si mismos comportamientos relevantes del mashup). Con este cambio se logra solventar los inconvenientes que presenta el actual sistema, principalmente la necesidad de crear (y visualizar) simultáneamente todas las conexiones requeridas por el mashup, lo cual supone que: a) es difícil identificar con qué propósito se ha creado cada conexión y qué relación guardan unas conexiones con otras. b) existe un riesgo de olvidar alguna conexión, fundamentalmente por ser difícil la interpretación del propósito de cada conexión y por la imposibilidad de identificar y nombrar conjuntos de conexiones que tienen un propósito determinado. Antes de implementar el código fuente se realizó un estudio pormenorizado de las tecnologías que actualmente utiliza WireCloud, además de un estudio en profundidad de la situación del anterior editor y de las nuevas características y ventajas buscadas en este nuevo editor. Con este último propósito se definieron varios casos de estudio que ayudaron a concretar qué se ha de entender por un comportamiento en el diseño de las conexiones de un mashup y también, ayudaron a definir la mejor organización visual del nuevo editor en torno al concepto de comportamiento. El resto del trabajo consistió en la implementación del nuevo editor y en la elaboración de toda la documentación relacionada: principalmente el manual de uso del nuevo editor que estará disponible como parte de la documentación online de WireCloud.---ABSTRACT---This document describes the work carried out for the achievement of all targets of this Final Project, which has as its main objective the improvement of the edition tool of the mashup’s internal connections that is currently provided by WireCloud. WireCloud is a web platform focused on building visual of web mashups from the interconnection of web applications called web widgets. The main drawbacks present in the current web editor of connections, includes on this platform, mainly affect to users with little experience in web design. These users have difficulties for interpreting the wiring diagram of any web mashup and also, creating the wiring diagram of an own web mashup. The improvement made a change in the metaphor used for creating connections, now managing a conceptual units called behaviors that represent subsets of meaningful connections. This change overcomes the drawbacks of the current system, mainly the need to create and display simultaneously all connections required by the web mashup, which means that: a) Difficultly identify what purpose is created each connection and how they relate to each other connections. b) There is the risk of forgetting some connection, mainly for being difficult to interpret the purpose of each connection and the inability to identify and name sets of connections that have a specific purpose. Before deploying the source code, the study of the technologies currently used WireCloud was performed, plus the study of the situation of the previous editor and new features and advantages searched for this new editor was performed too. For the latter purpose was defined several case studies that helped to specify what understood by behavior in the design of the connections of a web mashup and also that helped to define the best visual organization of the new behavior-oriented wiring editor. The rest of the work involved in implementing the new wiring web editor and in the preparation of all documentation related: mainly user manual for using the new wiring web editor that will be available as part of the WireCloud online documentation.

Aprendizaje integrado en arquitectura con modelos virtuales : implementación de metodología BIM en la docencia universitaria

Los procesos de diseño y construcción en Arquitectura han mostrado un desarrollo de optimización históricamente muy deficiente cuando se compara con las restantes actividades típicamente industriales. La aspiración constante a una industrialización efectiva, tanto en aras de alcanzar mayores cotas de calidad así como de ahorro de recursos, recibe hoy una oportunidad inmejorable desde el ámbito informático: el Building Information Modelling o BIM. Lo que en un inicio puede parecer meramente un determinado tipo de programa informático, en realidad supone un concepto de “proceso” que subvierte muchas rutinas hoy habituales en el desarrollo de proyectos y construcciones arquitectónicas. La inclusión y desarrollo de datos ligados al proyecto, desde su inicio hasta el fin de su ciclo de vida, conlleva la oportunidad de crear una realidad virtual dinámica y actualizable, que por añadidura posibilita su ensayo y optimización en todos sus aspectos: antes y durante su ejecución, así como vida útil. A ello se suma la oportunidad de transmitir eficientemente los datos completos de proyecto, sin apenas pérdidas o reelaboración, a la cadena de fabricación, lo que facilita el paso a una industrialización verdaderamente significativa en edificación. Ante una llamada mundial a la optimización de recursos y el interés indudable de aumentar beneficios económicos por medio de la reducción del factor de incertidumbre de los procesos, BIM supone un opción de mejora indudable, y así ha sido reconocido a través de la inminente implantación obligatoria por parte de los gobiernos (p. ej. Gran Bretaña en 2016 y España en 2018). La modificación de procesos y roles profesionales que conlleva la incorporación de BIM resulta muy significativa y marcará el ejercicio profesional de los futuros graduados en las disciplinas de Arquitectura, Ingeniería y Construcción (AEC por sus siglas en inglés). La universidad debe responder ágilmente a estas nuevas necesidades incorporando esta metodología en la enseñanza reglada y aportando una visión sinérgica que permita extraer los beneficios formativos subyacentes en el propio marco BIM. En este sentido BIM, al aglutinar el conjunto de datos sobre un único modelo virtual, ofrece un potencial singularmente interesante. La realidad tridimensional del modelo, desarrollada y actualizada continuamente, ofrece al estudiante una gestión radicalmente distinta de la representación gráfica, en la que las vistas parciales de secciones y plantas, tan complejas de asimilar en los inicios de la formación universitaria, resultan en una mera petición a posteriori, para ser extraída según necesidad del modelo virtual. El diseño se realiza siempre sobre el propio modelo único, independientemente de la vista de trabajo elegida en cada momento, permaneciendo los datos y sus relaciones constructivas siempre actualizados y plenamente coherentes. Esta descripción condensada de características de BIM preconfiguran gran parte de las beneficios formativos que ofrecen los procesos BIM, en especial, en referencia al desarrollo del diseño integrado y la gestión de la información (incluyendo TIC). Destacan a su vez las facilidades en comprensión visual de elementos arquitectónicos, sistemas técnicos, sus relaciones intrínsecas así como procesos constructivos. A ello se une el desarrollo experimental que la plataforma BIM ofrece a través de sus software colaborativos: la simulación del comportamiento estructural, energético, económico, entre otros muchos, del modelo virtual en base a los datos inherentes del proyecto. En la presente tesis se describe un estudio de conjunto para explicitar tanto las cualidades como posibles reservas en el uso de procesos BIM, en el marco de una disciplina concreta: la docencia de la Arquitectura. Para ello se ha realizado una revisión bibliográfica general sobre BIM y específica sobre docencia en Arquitectura, así como analizado las experiencias de distintos grupos de interés en el marco concreto de la enseñanza de la en Arquitectura en la Universidad Europea de Madrid. El análisis de beneficios o reservas respecto al uso de BIM se ha enfocado a través de la encuesta a estudiantes y la entrevista a profesionales AEC relacionados o no con BIM. Las conclusiones del estudio permiten sintetizar una implantación de metodología BIM que para mayor claridad y facilidad de comunicación y manejo, se ha volcado en un Marco de Implantación eminentemente gráfico. En él se orienta sobre las acciones docentes para el desarrollo de competencias concretas, valiéndose de la flexibilidad conceptual de los Planes de Estudio en el contexto del Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (Declaración de Bolonia) para incorporar con naturalidad la nueva herramienta docente al servicio de los objetivos formativo legalmente establecidos. El enfoque global del Marco de Implementación propuesto facilita la planificación de acciones formativas con perspectiva de conjunto: combinar los formatos puntuales o vehiculares BIM, establecer sinergias transversales y armonizar recursos, de modo que la metodología pueda beneficiar tanto la asimilación de conocimientos y habilidades establecidas para el título, como el propio flujo de aprendizaje o learn flow BIM. Del mismo modo reserva, incluso visualmente, aquellas áreas de conocimiento en las que, al menos en la planificación actual, la inclusión de procesos BIM no se considera ventajosa respecto a otras metodologías, o incluso inadecuadas para los objetivos docentes establecidos. Y es esta última categorización la que caracteriza el conjunto de conclusiones de esta investigación, centrada en: 1. la incuestionable necesidad de formar en conceptos y procesos BIM desde etapas muy iniciales de la formación universitaria en Arquitectura, 2. los beneficios formativos adicionales que aporta BIM en el desarrollo de competencias muy diversas contempladas en el currículum académico y 3. la especificidad del rol profesional del arquitecto que exigirá una implantación cuidadosa y ponderada de BIM que respete las metodologías de desarrollo creativo tradicionalmente efectivas, y aporte valor en una reorientación simbiótica con el diseño paramétrico y fabricación digital que permita un diseño finalmente generativo. ABSTRACT The traditional architectural design and construction procedures have proven to be deficient where process optimization is concerned, particularly when compared to other common industrial activities. The ever‐growing strife to achieve effective industrialization, both in favor of reaching greater quality levels as well as sustainable management of resources, has a better chance today than ever through a mean out of the realm of information technology, the Building Information Modelling o BIM. What may initially seem to be merely another computer program, in reality turns out to be a “process” concept that subverts many of today’s routines in architectural design and construction. Including and working with project data from the very beginning to the end of its full life cycle allows for creating a dynamic and updatable virtual reality, enabling data testing and optimizing throughout: before and during execution, all the way to the end of its lifespan. In addition, there is an opportunity to transmit complete project data efficiently, with hardly any loss or redeveloping of the manufacture chain required, which facilitates attaining a truly significant industrialization within the construction industry. In the presence of a world‐wide call for optimizing resources, along with an undeniable interest in increasing economic benefits through reducing uncertainty factors in its processes, BIM undoubtedly offers a chance for improvement as acknowledged by its imminent and mandatory implementation on the part of governments (for example United Kingdom in 2016 and Spain in 2018). The changes involved in professional roles and procedures upon incorporating BIM are highly significant and will set the course for future graduates of Architecture, Engineering and Construction disciplines (AEC) within their professions. Higher Education must respond to such needs with swiftness by incorporating this methodology into their educational standards and providing a synergetic vision that focuses on the underlying educational benefits inherent in the BIM framework. In this respect, BIM, in gathering data set under one single virtual model, offers a uniquely interesting potential. The three‐dimensional reality of the model, under continuous development and updating, provides students with a radically different graphic environment, in which partial views of elevation, section or plan that tend characteristically to be difficult to assimilate at the beginning of their studies, become mere post hoc requests to be ordered when needed directly out the virtual model. The design is always carried out on the sole model itself, independently of the working view chosen at any particular moment, with all data and data relations within construction permanently updated and fully coherent. This condensed description of the features of BIM begin to shape an important part of the educational benefits posed by BIM processes, particularly in reference to integrated design development and information management (including ITC). At the same time, it highlights the ease with which visual understanding is achieved regarding architectural elements, technology systems, their intrinsic relationships, and construction processes. In addition to this, there is the experimental development the BIM platform grants through its collaborative software: simulation of structural, energetic, and economic behavior, among others, of the virtual model according to the data inherent to the project. This doctoral dissertation presents a broad study including a wide array of research methods and issues in order to specify both the virtues and possible reservations in the use of BIM processes within the framework of a specific discipline: teaching Architecture. To do so, a literature review on BIM has been carried out, specifically concerning teaching in the discipline of Architecture, as well as an analysis of the experience of different groups of interest delimited to Universidad Europea de Madrid. The analysis of the benefits and/or limitations of using BIM has been approached through student surveys and interviews with professionals from the AEC sector, associated or not, with BIM. Various diverse educational experiences are described and academic management for experimental implementation has been analyzed. The conclusions of this study offer a synthesis for a Framework of Implementation of BIM methodology, which in order to reach greater clarity, communication ease and user‐friendliness, have been posed in an eminently graphic manner. The proposed framework proffers guidance on teaching methods conducive to the development of specific skills, taking advantage of the conceptual flexibility of the European Higher Education Area guidelines based on competencies, which naturally facilitate for the incorporation of this new teaching tool to achieve the educational objectives established by law. The global approach of the Implementation Framework put forth in this study facilitates the planning of educational actions within a common perspective: combining exceptional or vehicular BIM formats, establishing cross‐disciplinary synergies, and sharing resources, so as to purport a methodology that contributes to the assimilation of knowledge and pre‐defined competencies within the degree program, and to the flow of learning itself. At the same time, it reserves, even visually, those areas of knowledge in which the use of BIM processes is not considered necessarily an advantage over other methodologies, or even inadequate for the learning outcomes established, at least where current planning is concerned. It is this last category which characterizes the research conclusions as a whole, centering on: 1. The unquestionable need for teaching BIM concepts and processes in Architecture very early on, in the initial stages of higher education; 2. The additional educational benefits that BIM offers in a varied array of competency development within the academic curriculum; and 3. The specific nature of the professional role of the Architect, which demands a careful and balanced implementation of BIM that respects the traditional teaching methodologies that have proven effective and creative, and adds value by a symbiotic reorientation merged with parametric design and digital manufacturing so to enable for a finally generative design.

Malaria’s Eve: Evidence of a recent population bottleneck throughout the world populations of Plasmodium falciparum

We have analyzed DNA sequences from world-wide geographic strains of Plasmodium falciparum and found a complete absence of synonymous DNA polymorphism at 10 gene loci. We hypothesize that all extant world populations of the parasite have recently derived (within several thousand years) from a single ancestral strain. The upper limit of the 95% confidence interval for the time when this most recent common ancestor lived is between 24,500 and 57,500 years ago (depending on different estimates of the nucleotide substitution rate); the actual time is likely to be much more recent. The recent origin of the P. falciparum populations could have resulted from either a demographic sweep (P. falciparum has only recently spread throughout the world from a small geographically confined population) or a selective sweep (one strain favored by natural selection has recently replaced all others). The selective sweep hypothesis requires that populations of P. falciparum be effectively clonal, despite the obligate sexual stage of the parasite life cycle. A demographic sweep that started several thousand years ago is consistent with worldwide climatic changes ensuing the last glaciation, increased anthropophilia of the mosquito vectors, and the spread of agriculture. P. falciparum may have rapidly spread from its African tropical origins to the tropical and subtropical regions of the world only within the last 6,000 years. The recent origin of the world-wide P. falciparum populations may account for its virulence, as the most malignant of human malarial parasites.

Table 1. - Estimated numbers of marine zooplnaktonic species for the World Oceanand for the South Atlantic

In total, ca. 7000 zooplanktonic species have been described for the World Ocean. This figure represents less than 4% of the total number of known marine organisms. Of the 7000 zooplanktonic species world-wide, some 60% are present in the South Atlantic; about one third of the latter have been recorded in its Subantarctic waters, and ca. 20% south of the Polar Front. When compared with those of benthic animals, these figures indicate that proportions of the overall inventories that are present in the cold waters are almost two times higher among the zooplankton. In agreement with this pattern, the proportions of Antarctic endemics in the benthos are very significantly higher than those in the plankton. For the water-column dwelling animals, the Polar Front boundary is more important than the Tropical-Subtropical limit, but almost equivalent to the Subtropical-Transitional limit, and weaker in biogeographic terms than the Transitional-Subantarctic boundary. Some of the implications of these dissimilarities, both for ecological theory and for resource allocation strategies, are discussed.

Packet switching in wide area broadband private networks

B-ISDN is a universal network which supports diverse mixes of service, applications and traffic. ATM has been accepted world-wide as the transport technique for future use in B-ISDN. ATM, being a simple packet oriented transfer technique, provides a flexible means for supporting a continuum of transport rates and is efficient due to possible statistical sharing of network resources by multiple users. In order to fully exploit the potential statistical gain, while at the same time provide diverse service and traffic mixes, an efficient traffic control must be designed. Traffic controls which include congestion and flow control are a fundamental necessity to the success and viability of future B-ISDN. Congestion and flow control is difficult in the broadband environment due to the high speed link, the wide area distance, diverse service requirements and diverse traffic characteristics. Most congestion and flow control approaches in conventional packet switched networks are reactive in nature and are not applicable in the B-ISDN environment. In this research, traffic control procedures mainly based on preventive measures for a private ATM-based network are proposed and their performance evaluated. The various traffic controls include CAC, traffic flow enforcement, priority control and an explicit feedback mechanism. These functions operate at call level and cell level. They are carried out distributively by the end terminals, the network access points and the internal elements of the network. During the connection set-up phase, the CAC decides the acceptance or denial of a connection request and allocates bandwidth to the new connection according to three schemes; peak bit rate, statistical rate and average bit rate. The statistical multiplexing rate is based on a `bufferless fluid flow model' which is simple and robust. The allocation of an average bit rate to data traffic at the expense of delay obviously improves the network bandwidth utilisation.

Computer integrated system for form-roll manufacture

Computer integrated manufacture has brought about great advances in manufacturing technology and its recognition is world wide. Cold roll forming of thin-walled sections, and in particular the design and manufacture of form-rolls, the special tooling used in the cold roll forming process, is but one such area where computer integrated manufacture can make a positive contribution. The work reported in this thesis, concerned with the development of an integrated manufacturing system for assisting the design and manufacture of form-rolls, was undertaken in collaboration with a leading manufacturer of thin-walled sections. A suit of computer programs, written in FORTRAN 77, have been developed to provide computer aids for every aspect of work in form-roll design and manufacture including cost estimation and stock control aids. The first phase of the development programme dealt with the establishment of CAD facilities for form-roll design, comprising the design of the finished section, the flower pattern, the roll design and the interactive roll editor program. Concerning the CAM facilities, dealt with in the second phase, an expert system roll machining processor and a general post-processor have been developed for considering the roll geometry and automatically generating NC tape programs for any required CNC lathe system. These programs have been successfully implemented, as an integrated manufacturing software system, on the VAX 11/750 super-minicomputer with graphics facilities for displaying drawings interactively on the terminal screen. The development of the integrated system has been found beneficial in all aspects of form-roll design and manufacture. Design and manufacturing lead times have been reduced by several weeks, quality has improved considerably and productivity has increased. The work has also demonstrated the promising nature of the expert systems approach to computer integrated manufacture.

A biological-inspired support frame for an artificial cornea

Bilateral corneal blindness represents a quarter of the total blind, world-wide. The artificial cornea in assorted forms, was developed to replace opaque non-functional corneas and to return sight in otherwise hopeless cases that were not amenable to corneal grafts; believed to be 2% of corneal blind. Despite technological advances in materials design and tissue engineering no artificial cornea has provided absolute, long-term success. Formidable problems exist, due to a combination of unpredictable wound healing and unmanageable pathology. To have a solid guarantee of reliable success an artificial cornea must possess three attributes: an optical window to replace the opaque cornea; a strong, long term union to surrounding ocular tissue; and the ability to induce desired host responses. A unique artificial cornea possesses all three functional attributes- the Osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis (OOKP). The OOKP has a high success rate and can survive for up to twenty years, but it is complicated both in structure and in surgical procedure; it is expensive and not universally available. The aim of this project was to develop a synthetic substitute for the OOKP, based upon key features of the tooth and bone structure. In doing so, surgical complexity and biological complications would be reduced. Analysis of the biological effectiveness of the OOKP showed that the structure of bone was the most crucial component for implant retention. An experimental semi-rigid hydroxyapatite framework was fabricated with a complex bone-like architecture, which could be fused to the optical window. The first method for making such a framework, was pressing and sintering of hydroxyapatite powders; however, it was not possible to fabricate a void architecture with the correct sizes and uniformity of pores. Ceramers were synthesised using alternative pore forming methods, providing for improved mechanical properties and stronger attachment to the plastic optical window. Naturally occurring skeletal structures closely match the structural features of all forms of natural bone. Synthetic casts were fabricated using the replamineform process, of desirable natural artifacts, such as coral and sponges. The final method of construction by-passed ceramic fabrication in favour of pre-formed coral derivatives and focused on methods for polymer infiltration, adhesion and fabrication. Prototypes were constructed and evaluated; a fully penetrative synthetic OOKP analogue was fabricated according to the dimensions of the OOKP. Fabrication of the cornea shaped OOKP synthetic analogue was also attempted.

건설 프로젝트 프로세스 관리 효율화를 위한 영국과 미국의 BIM 현황 분석

World-wide efforts have been made to adopt BIM (Building Information Modelling) to improve the efficiency of construction project management processes lively. BIM means a shared digitized expression which provides a reliable source to make an informed decision over a physical or a functional character across all construction sectors including design, civil engineering and plant construction. The Korean Public Procurement Service mandates to use BIM for over 50 billion won public construction projects from 2012, and this will be extended to every project initiated by the Korean Public Procurement Service from 2016. This paper aims not only to investigate potential barriers which can be faced at the initial stage of BIM adoption, but also to explore possible solutions against them. For doing this, the BIM utilization strategies and action plans by US and UK public sectors which adopt BIM earlier than Korea were analysed. Based on the results of comparative analysis between US and UK, the proper guideline for BIM adoption in Korea will be suggested.

Knowledge transfer in website design:exploring the processes and benefits of design collaboration for non-creative Micros

This thesis explores the interaction between Micros (<10 employees) from non-creative sectors and website designers ("Creatives") that occurred when creating a website of a higher order than a basic template site. The research used Straussian Grounded Theory Method with a longitudinal design, in order to identify what knowledge transferred to the Micros during the collaboration, how it transferred, what factors affected the transfer and outcomes of the transfer including behavioural additionality. To identify whether the research could be extended beyond this, five other design areas were also examined, as well as five Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) engaged in website and branding projects. The findings were that, at the start of the design process, many Micros could not articulate their customer knowledge, and had poor marketing and visual language skills, knowledge core to web design, enabling targeted communication to customers through images. Despite these gaps, most Micros still tried to lead the process. To overcome this disjoint, the majority of the designers used a knowledge transfer strategy termed in this thesis as ‘Bi-Modal Knowledge Transfer’, where the Creative was aware of the transfer but the Micro was unaware, both for drawing out customer knowledge from the Micro and for transferring visual language skills to the Micro. Two models were developed to represent this process. Two models were also created to map changes in the knowledge landscapes of customer knowledge and visual language – the Knowledge Placement Model and the Visual Language Scale. The Knowledge Placement model was used to map the placement of customer knowledge within the consciousness, extending the known Automatic-Unconscious -Conscious model, adding two more locations – Peripheral Consciousness and Occasional Consciousness. Peripheral Consciousness is where potential knowledge is held, but not used. Occasional Consciousness is where potential knowledge is held but used only for specific tasks. The Visual Language Scale was created to measure visual language ability from visually responsive, where the participant only responds personally to visual symbols, to visually multi-lingual, where the participant can use visual symbols to communicate with multiple thought-worlds. With successful Bi-Modal Knowledge Transfer, the outcome included not only an effective website but also changes in the knowledge landscape for the Micros and ongoing behavioural changes, especially in marketing. These effects were not seen in the other design projects, and only in two of the SME projects. The key factors for this difference between SMEs and Micros appeared to be an expectation of knowledge by the Creatives and failure by the SMEs to transfer knowledge within the company.