A RecommendationSystem for a Web Shop

Tämän työn tarkoituksena on käytännöllisen suositusjärjestelmäratkaisun kehittäminen verkkokauppaympäristöön olemassaolevaa teoriatietoa käyttäen. Työn ensimmäisessä osiossa tarkastellaan ensin tapoja lähdetiedon keräämiseksi järjestelmää varten. Tämän jälkeen käydään läpi eri menetelmiä suosituksen toteuttamiseksi. Lisäksi tutustutaan yleisiin ongelmiin eri menetelmien kanssa. Seuraavaksi tutkitaan miten järjestelmän käyttämään suositustietoa voidaan ryhmitellä. Tämänjälkeen arvioidaan esitettyjä menetelmiä yleisesti tunnettujen kriteerien perusteella. Suositusjärjestelmän toteutustyö on kuvattuna työn toisessa osiossa. Toteutettu ohjelmisto on asennettu kahteen erilliseen toimintaympäristöön.

XML-based information management environment for PE technologies

Printed electronics is an emerging concept in electronics manufacturing and it is in very early development stage. The technology is not stable, design kits are not developed, and flows and Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools are not fixed yet. The European project TDK4PE addresses all this issues and this PFC has been realized on this context. The goal is to develop an XML-based information system for the collection and management of information from the technology and cell libraries developed in TDK4PE. This system will ease the treatment of that information for a later generation of specific Design Kits (DK) and the corresponding documentation. This work proposes a web application to generate technology files and design kits in a formatted way; it also proposes a structure for them and a database implementation for storing the needed information. The application will allow its users to redefine the structure of those files, as well as export and import XML files, between other formats.

Implantación del sistema VLE Moodle para la Escuela Internacional de Medios Audiovisuales (EIMA) : Administración de web y de comercio electrónico en entornos de software libre

Implantación de un virtual learning environment (VLE), en concreto Moodle, para la Escuela Internacional de Medios Audiovisuales (EIMA).

Web-palvelutekniikka teollisuuden tietojärjestelmäintegraation kehitysvälineenä

Tänä päivänä tiedon nopea saatavuus ja hyvä hallittavuus ovat liiketoiminnan avainasioita. Tämän takia nykyisiä tietojärjestelmiä pyritään integroimaan. Integraatio asettaa monenlaisia vaatimuksia, jolloin sopivan integraatiomenetelmän ja -teknologian valitsemiseen pitää paneutua huolella. Integraatiototeutuksessa tulisi pyrkiä ns. löyhään sidokseen, jonka avulla voidaan saavuttaa aika-, paikka- ja alustariippumattomuus. Tällöin integraation eri osapuolien väliset oletukset saadaan karsittua minimiin, jonka myötä integraation hallittavuus ja vikasietoisuus paranee. Tässä diplomityössä keskitytään tutkimaan nykyisin teollisuuden käytössä olevien integraatiomenetelmien ja -teknologioiden ominaisuuksia, etuja ja haittoja. Lisäksi työssä tutustutaan Web-palvelutekniikkaan ja toteutetaan asynkroninen tiedonkopiointisovellus ko. teknologian avulla. Web-palvelutekniikka on vielä kehittyvä palvelukeskeinen teknologia, jolla pyritään voittamaan monet aiempia teknologioita vaivanneet ongelmat. Yhtenä teknologian päätavoitteista on luoda löyhä sidos integroitavien osapuolien välille ja mahdollistaa toiminta heterogeenisessa ympäristössä. Teknologiaa vaivaa kuitenkin vielä standardien puute esimerkiksi tietoturva-asioissa sekä päällekkäisten standardien kehitys eri valmistajien toimesta. Jotta teknologia voi yleistyä, on nämä ongelmat pystyttävä ratkaisemaan.

Load and Performance Testing of Web Applications on Service Based Environments

Suorituskyky- ja kuormitustestien tekeminen sovelluksille on erittäin tärkeä osa tuotantoprosessia nykypäivänä. Myös Web-sovelluksia testataan yhä enemmän. Tarve suorituskyky- ja kuormitustestien tekemiselle on selvä. Testattavan ympäristön tämänhetkinen, mutta myös tulevaisuuden toimivuus taataan oikein tehdyillä testeillä ja niitä seuraavilla korjaustoimenpiteillä. Suurten käyttäjämäärien testaaminen manuaalisesti on kuitenkin hyvin vaikeaa. Sirpaleisen ympäristön, kuten palveluihin perustuvien Web-sovellusympäristöjen testaaminen on haaste. Tämän työn aiheena on arvioida työkaluja ja menetelmiä, joilla raskaita teollisia Web-sovelluksia voidaan testata. Tavoitteena on löytää testausmenetelmiä, joilla voidaan luotettavasti simuloida suuria käyttäjämääriä. Tavoitteena on myös arvioida erilaisten yhteyksien ja protokollien vaikutusta Web-sovelluksen suorituskykyyn.

Managing R&D Content with Web-based KM Software

Työssä tutkittiin tehokasta tietojohtamista globaalin metsäteollisuusyrityksen tutkimus ja kehitys verkostossa. Työn tavoitteena oli rakentaa kuvaus tutkimus ja kehitys sisällön hallintaan kohdeyrityksen käyttämän tietojohtamisohjelmiston avulla. Ensin selvitettiin käsitteitä tietämys ja tietojohtaminen kirjallisuuden avulla. Selvityksen perusteella esitettiin prosessimalli, jolla tietämystä voidaan tehokkaasti hallita yrityksessä. Seuraavaksi analysoitiin tietojohtamisen asettamia vaatimuksia informaatioteknologialle ja informaatioteknologian roolia prosessimallissa. Verkoston vaatimukset tietojohtamista kohtaan selvitettiin haastattelemalla yrityksen avainhenkilöitä. Haastatteluiden perusteella järjestelmän tuli tehokkaasti tukea virtuaalisten projektiryhmien työskentelyä, mahdollistaa tehtaiden välinen tietämyksen jakaminen ja tukea järjestelmään syötetyn sisällön hallintaa. Ensiksi järjestelmän käyttöliittymän rakenne ja salaukset muokattiin vastaamaan verkoston tarpeita. Rakenne tarjoaa työalueen työryhmille ja alueet tehtaiden väliseen tietämyksen jakamiseen. Sisällönhallintaa varten järjestelmään kehitettiin kategoria, profiloitu portaali ja valmiiksi määriteltyjä hakuja. Kehitetty malli tehostaa projektiryhmien työskentelyä, mahdollistaa olemassa olevan tietämyksen hyväksikäytön tehdastasolla sekä helpottaa tutkimus ja kehitys aktiviteettien seurantaa. Toimenpide-ehdotuksina esitetään järjestelmän integrointia tehtaiden operatiivisiin ohjausjärjestelmiin ja ohjelmiston käyttöönottoa tehdastason projektinhallinta työkaluksi.Ehdotusten tavoitteena on varmistaa sekä tehokas tietämyksen jakaminen tehtaiden välillä että tehokas tietojohtaminen tehdastasolla.

Web Software Engineering - value added approach

Taking the maximum advantage of technological innovations and the investment in them is of key importance for businesses. The IT industry offers a wide range of innovative high-technology solutions to manage information processing and distribution. However for end-user businesses to make informed decisions in this area is challenging. The aim of this research is to identify the key differences in principal solutions, and what the selection criteria should be for those involved. Existing methodologies for software development are classified, and some key criteria are described to help IT system developers and users determine what are the most important factors in system selection, development and deployment. Statistical data is researched and analysed, a theoretical basis is developed and reviewed, key issues from case studies are identified and generalized to be presented along with the conclusions in the current study. The results give a good basis for corporate consideration and provide overall support to the key decisions in developing web-based software. The conclusion is that new web developments should be considered the stakeholders as an evolution of existing business systems, but they should then pay particular attention to the new advantages that web-based software offers in terms of standardised interfaces and procedures, universal deployment opportunities, and a range of other benefits the study highlights.

An interactive web-GIS tool for risk analysis: a case study in the Fella River basin, Italy

This paper presents a prototype of an interactive web-GIS tool for risk analysis of natural hazards, in particular for floods and landslides, based on open-source geospatial software and technologies. The aim of the presented tool is to assist the experts (risk managers) in analysing the impacts and consequences of a certain hazard event in a considered region, providing an essential input to the decision-making process in the selection of risk management strategies by responsible authorities and decision makers. This tool is based on the Boundless (OpenGeo Suite) framework and its client-side environment for prototype development, and it is one of the main modules of a web-based collaborative decision support platform in risk management. Within this platform, the users can import necessary maps and information to analyse areas at risk. Based on provided information and parameters, loss scenarios (amount of damages and number of fatalities) of a hazard event are generated on the fly and visualized interactively within the web-GIS interface of the platform. The annualized risk is calculated based on the combination of resultant loss scenarios with different return periods of the hazard event. The application of this developed prototype is demonstrated using a regional data set from one of the case study sites, Fella River of northeastern Italy, of the Marie Curie ITN CHANGES project.

University teacher competences in a virtual teaching/learning environment : analysis of a teacher training experience

This paper attempts to shed light on the competencies a teacher must have inorder to teach in online university environments. We will relate a teacher trainingexperience, which was designed taking into account the methodological criteriaestablished in line with previous theoretical principles. The main objective of ouranalysis is to identify the achievements and difficulties of a specific formativeexperience, with the ultimate goal of assessing the suitability of this conceptualmethodologicalframework for the design of formative proposals aiming to contribute tothe development of teacher competencies for virtual environments.

Web and education, a successful open entanglement

E-learning, understood as the intensive use of Information and Communication Technologies in mainly but not only) distance education, has radically changed the meaning of the latter. E-learning is an overused term which has been applied to any use of technology in education. Today, the most widely accepted meaning ofe-learning coincides with the fourth generation described by Taylor (1999), where there is an asynchronousprocess that allows students and teachers to interact in an educational process expressly designed in accordance with these principles. We prefer to speak of Internet-Based Learning or, better still, Web-Based Learning, for example, to explain the fact that distance education is carried out using the Internet, with the appearance of the virtual learning environment concept, a web space where the teaching and learning process is generated and supported (Sangrà, 2002). This entails overcoming the barriers of space and time of brickand mortar education (although we prefer the term face-to-face) or of classical distance education using broadcasting and adopting a completely asynchronous model that allows access to education by many more users, at any level (including secondary education, but primarily higher education and lifelong learning).

Interactive Calculus in a Virtual Learning Environment

The teaching of higher level mathematics for technical students in a virtual learningenvironment poses some difficulties, but also opportunities, now specific to that virtuality.On the other hand, resources and ways to do now manly available in VLEs might soon extend to all kinds of environments.In this short presentation we will discuss anexperience carried at Universitat Oberta deCatalunya (UOC) involving (an on line university), first, the translation of LaTeX written existent materials to a web based format(specifically, a combination of XHTML andMathML), and then the integration of a symbolic calculator software (WIRIS) running as a Java applet embedded in the materials, intending to achieve an evolution from memorising concepts and repetitive algorithms to understanding and experiment concepts and the use of those algorithms.

Anàlisi de la usabilitat web del Departament d'Ensenyament de la Generalitat de Catalunya

En el present treball farem un anàlisis complet de la usabilitat del lloc web del Departament d'Ensenyament de la Generalitat de Catalunya, tant des de el punt de vista heurístic com de l'ús en entorn real. Identificarem els punts forts i dèbils i, finalment, farem una proposta breu de millora i treball futur. Volem d'aquesta manera millorar l'experiència del ciutadà amb la institució i la qualitat de la seva relació.

Web-based corporate social responsibility reporting

Due to concerns regarding globalisation and sustainable development, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is topical in the business context and in the field of accounting. The main objective of this study was to review previous academic literature in the field of CSR reporting and develop an insight into CSR reporting in the Web-based environment. The main purpose was to find out what Web-based CSR reporting is like and how companies are utilising the Internet to communicate on responsibility issues. I did not, however, collect empirical research data but limited my study into theoretical and descriptive examination. In order to create an insight into Web-based reporting, I examined the development, motives and current practices of CSR reporting. I concluded that the Internet is a unique, interactive communication channel that is used differently compared with annual reports. The amount of companies engaging in Web-based CSR reporting is increasing and the reporting practices in terms of e.g. content and accessibility of information vary. I also concluded that many companies have not yet discovered the true potential of the Web as an interactive communication medium.

Computational and Experimental Investigation of the Grooved Roll in Paper Machine Environment

In the paper machine, it is not a desired feature for the boundary layer flows in the fabric and the roll surfaces to travel into the closing nips, creating overpressure. In this thesis, the aerodynamic behavior of the grooved roll and smooth rolls is compared in order to understand the nip flow phenomena, which is the main reason why vacuum and grooved roll constructions are designed. A common method to remove the boundary layer flow from the closing nip is to use the vacuum roll construction. The downside of the use of vacuum rolls is high operational costs due to pressure losses in the vacuum roll shell. The deep grooved roll has the same goal, to create a pressure difference over the paper web and keep the paper attached to the roll or fabric surface in the drying pocket of the paper machine. A literature review revealed that the aerodynamic functionality of the grooved roll is not very well known. In this thesis, the aerodynamic functionality of the grooved roll in interaction with a permeable or impermeable wall is studied by varying the groove properties. Computational fluid dynamics simulations are utilized as the research tool. The simulations have been performed with commercial fluid dynamics software, ANSYS Fluent. Simulation results made with 3- and 2-dimensional fluid dynamics models are compared to laboratory scale measurements. The measurements have been made with a grooved roll simulator designed for the research. The variables in the comparison are the paper or fabric wrap angle, surface velocities, groove geometry and wall permeability. Present-day computational and modeling resources limit grooved roll fluid dynamics simulations in the paper machine scale. Based on the analysis of the aerodynamic functionality of the grooved roll, a grooved roll simulation tool is proposed. The smooth roll simulations show that the closing nip pressure does not depend on the length of boundary layer development. The surface velocity increase affects the pressure distribution in the closing and opening nips. The 3D grooved roll model reveals the aerodynamic functionality of the grooved roll. With the optimal groove size it is possible to avoid closing nip overpressure and keep the web attached to the fabric surface in the area of the wrap angle. The groove flow friction and minor losses play a different role when the wrap angle is changed. The proposed 2D grooved roll simulation tool is able to replicate the grooved aerodynamic behavior with reasonable accuracy. A small wrap angle predicts the pressure distribution correctly with the chosen approach for calculating the groove friction losses. With a large wrap angle, the groove friction loss shows too large pressure gradients, and the way of calculating the air flow friction losses in the groove has to be reconsidered. The aerodynamic functionality of the grooved roll is based on minor and viscous losses in the closing and opening nips as well as in the grooves. The proposed 2D grooved roll model is a simplification in order to reduce computational and modeling efforts. The simulation tool makes it possible to simulate complex paper machine constructions in the paper machine scale. In order to use the grooved roll as a replacement for the vacuum roll, the grooved roll properties have to be considered on the basis of the web handling application.