Project communication variables : a comparative study of US and UK industry perceptions

Research undertaken at the Construction Industry Institute (CII) in the USA has indicated the need for project managers to focus their attention on six ‘Critical Communication Variables’ as a means of ensuring the fulfillment of time cost and quality targets. These variables refer to the accuracy, timeliness and completeness of information presented to participants, as well as the level of understanding, barriers to and procedures for project based communication. The findings and tools generated by the CII study have been used as part of case study based research examining construction projects in the Central Belt region of Scotland. In addition to the CII data collection tools employed, the Scottish study included semi-structured interviews as a means of contextualising the communication and decision-making taking place. This paper presents the results of this benchmarking exercise, and highlights significant issues that project team members need to improve upon in order to achieve the timeliness quality and cost required in today’s construction industr

Formal and Informal Methods for Multi-Core Design Space Exploration

We propose a tool-supported methodology for design-space exploration for embedded systems. It provides means to define high-level models of applications and multi-processor architectures and evaluate the performance of different deployment (mapping, scheduling) strategies while taking uncertainty into account. We argue that this extension of the scope of formal verification is important for the viability of the domain.Comment: In Proceedings QAPL 2014, arXiv:1406.156

Predicting Network Attacks Using Ontology-Driven Inference

Graph knowledge models and ontologies are very powerful modeling and re asoning tools. We propose an effective approach to model network attacks and attack prediction which plays important roles in security management. The goals of this study are: First we model network attacks, their prerequisites and consequences using knowledge representation methods in order to provide description logic reasoning and inference over attack domain concepts. And secondly, we propose an ontology-based system which predicts potential attacks using inference and observing information which provided by sensory inputs. We generate our ontology and evaluate corresponding methods using CAPEC, CWE, and CVE hierarchical datasets. Results from experiments show significant capability improvements comparing to traditional hierarchical and relational models. Proposed method also reduces false alarms and improves intrusion detection effectiveness.Comment: 9 page

Legal Minimum Wages and the Wages of Formal and Informal Sector Workers in Costa Rica

The classic dual economy models of developing countries hold minimum wages (among other institutions) accountable for persistent dualism. They note that applying or enforcing minimum wage laws in only one sector of the economy will create wage differentials which will not be eroded with labor mobility to the high wage sector. In this paper we use 12 years of micro data on thousands workers living in Costa Rica to test whether legal minimum wages have a differential impact on the wages of workers in the formal sector vs. informal sector, defined in various ways in accordance with the dual development models. The evidence from Costa Rica is contrary to the assumptions of these models. We find that increases in minimum wages not only raise the wages of workers in the urban formal sector (large urban enterprises) who are covered by minimum wage law, but they also increase the wages of all other workers covered by minimum wage legislation in what are traditionally regarded as informal sectors and where the legislation is often considered not to be enforced. Specifically, we provide evidence that minimum wages increase the wages of workers in small urban enterprises, large rural enterprises and small rural enterprises. Further, our results suggest that higher legal minimum wages raise the average wage of workers in these “informal” sectors more than in the urban formal sector. We concluded that in Costa Rica minimum wages are being enforced in the rural and small scale sectors and may actually work to reduce average wage differentials between these sectors and the urban formal sector. On the other hand, minimum wages have no significant impact on the wages of workers in another sector that is regarded as informal but which is not covered by minimum wage legislation: the self-employed workers (both urban and rural). Thus, one could argue that minimum wages may contribute to dualism between the formal and informal, defined as self-employed vs. salaried workers. However, we find no evidence of the bleaker scenario, that self-employed earnings are being lowered by minimum wages.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40033/3/wp647.pd

Analyzing Behavioural Scenarios over Tabular Specifications Using Model Checking

Tabular notations, in particular SCR specifications, have proved to be a useful means for formally describing complex requirements. The SCR method offers a powerful family of analysis tools, known as the SCR Toolset, but its availability is restricted by the Naval Research Laboratory of the USA. This toolset applies different kinds of analysis considering the whole set of behaviours associated with a requirements specification. In this paper we present a tool for describing and analyzing SCR requirements descriptions, that complements the SCR Toolset in two aspects. First, its use is not limited by any institution, and resorts to a standard model checking tool for analysis; and second, it allows to concentrate the analysis to particular sets of behaviours (subsets of the whole specifications), that correspond to particular scenarios explicitly mentioned in the specification. We take an operational notation that allows the engineer to describe behavioural "scenarios" by means of programs, and provide a translation into Promela to perform the analysis via Spin, an efficient off-the-shelf model checker freely available. In addition, we apply the SCR method to a Pacemaker system and we use its tabular specification as a running example of this article.Comment: In Proceedings LAFM 2013, arXiv:1401.056

Towards a Formalism-Based Toolkit for Automotive Applications

The success of a number of projects has been shown to be significantly improved by the use of a formalism. However, there remains an open issue: to what extent can a development process based on a singular formal notation and method succeed. The majority of approaches demonstrate a low level of flexibility by attempting to use a single notation to express all of the different aspects encountered in software development. Often, these approaches leave a number of scalability issues open. We prefer a more eclectic approach. In our experience, the use of a formalism-based toolkit with adequate notations for each development phase is a viable solution. Following this principle, any specific notation is used only where and when it is really suitable and not necessarily over the entire software lifecycle. The approach explored in this article is perhaps slowly emerging in practice - we hope to accelerate its adoption. However, the major challenge is still finding the best way to instantiate it for each specific application scenario. In this work, we describe a development process and method for automotive applications which consists of five phases. The process recognizes the need for having adequate (and tailored) notations (Problem Frames, Requirements State Machine Language, and Event-B) for each development phase as well as direct traceability between the documents produced during each phase. This allows for a stepwise verification/validation of the system under development. The ideas for the formal development method have evolved over two significant case studies carried out in the DEPLOY project

On the adequacy of current empirical evaluations of formal models of categorization

Categorization is one of the fundamental building blocks of cognition, and the study of categorization is notable for the extent to which formal modeling has been a central and influential component of research. However, the field has seen a proliferation of noncomplementary models with little consensus on the relative adequacy of these accounts. Progress in assessing the relative adequacy of formal categorization models has, to date, been limited because (a) formal model comparisons are narrow in the number of models and phenomena considered and (b) models do not often clearly define their explanatory scope. Progress is further hampered by the practice of fitting models with arbitrarily variable parameters to each data set independently. Reviewing examples of good practice in the literature, we conclude that model comparisons are most fruitful when relative adequacy is assessed by comparing well-defined models on the basis of the number and proportion of irreversible, ordinal, penetrable successes (principles of minimal flexibility, breadth, good-enough precision, maximal simplicity, and psychological focus)

The design research pyramid: a three layer framework

To support knowledge-based design development, considerable research has been conducted from various perspectives at different levels. The research on knowledge-based design support systems, generic design artefact and design process modelling, and the inherent quality of design knowledge itself are some examples of these perspectives. The structure underneath the research is not a disparate one but ordered. This paper provides an overview of some ontologies of design knowledge and a layered research framework of knowledge-based engineering design support. Three layers of research are clarified in this pattern: knowledge ontology, design knowledge model, and application. Specifically, the paper highlights ontologies of design knowledge by giving a set of classifications of design knowledge from different points of view. Within the discussion of design knowledge content ontology, two topologies, i.e., teleology and evolutionary, are identified