Optimal metric for condition rating of existing buildings: is five the right number?

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Structure and Infrastructure Engineering on January 2019, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/15732479.2018.1557702In the context of the built environment in the recent years, the concept of maintenance has changed from corrective to preventive maintenance. There is evidence that preventive maintenance is much more efficient than corrective maintenance, since severe deteriorations that may represent danger to people are avoided, and also money is saved. To make periodic inspections of the buildings is useful to quantify, the extent to which deteriorations are severe or not, in order to facilitate decision making and prioritise interventions. To this purpose, many scales have been used and are used to assess the severity of damage and degradation of the building components. But it appears evident that there is not consensus among users and these scales are different between them, with different number of degrees and metrics for the measurement of the condition state. The main goal of this paper is to calculate which is the optimal metric (which is the optimal number of degrees) of a severity scale of damages in buildings, so the corresponding scale could be of widespread and of common use among professionals, avoiding the problems of comparison between different evaluators. The proposed methodology to calculate the optimal metric of a scale can be also extended to other scopes.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Nonlinear predictive control of autonomous soaring UAVs using 3DOF models

We design a nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) system for a soaring UAV in order to harvest the energy from the atmospheric updrafts. Our control framework combines an online estimation with a heuristic search method to obtain the UAV optimal trajectory. To allow for real-time computation of the control commands we solve the optimal control problem using a 3 degrees-of-freedom (DOF) model but apply the inputs to a more realistic 6DOF model. Hence, we design a 3DOF-6DOF model interaction strategy. Simulations show how the control system succeeds in energy extraction in a challenging dynamic atmospheric environment while satisfying its real-time contraints

Online Psychosocial Support for Oncology Patients: A Group Facilitation Manual

A significant portion of the oncology population is seeking, yet not receiving, adequate psychological treatment. Therefore, the Internet has become an important resource for delivering services to those that may be limited by barriers that accompany traditional oncology support groups. While research has shown that online therapy is effective, the quality and efficacy of therapy is often unknown and/or sub-optimal and essential psychological care cancer patients deserve is compromised. The purpose of this project was to provide therapists and other mental health professionals with a structured, evidence-based guide to providing quality mental health care for cancer patients. First, a review of the literature focused on meta-analyses that targeted psychosocial interventions for cancer patients, online therapy, and what has been done thus far with online interventions specifically for the oncology population is presented. Key ingredients identified as superior in outcome measures and clinical effectiveness include interventions that are more interactive, last 12-weeks or longer, incorporate cognitive-behavioral, educational and existential aspects, are facilitated by psychologists with more clinical experience, and target cancer patients experiencing emotional distress. Next, a facilitation manual is outlined. Observations and clinical remarks found in this manual were written based off of this writer\u27s one-year doctoral practicum experience as the primary facilitator for Health-Space.net., an online psychosocial support group for cancer patients and survivors that was created in accordance with the aforementioned relevant research premises. The manual was designed to outline how to create an online identity as a therapist, what to expect in an online environment, and how to manage first interactions with group members. Further, it explains twelve modules that are implemented into the group on a weekly basis; the content of the modules, as well as participant reactions and advantageous facilitator responses are discussed. Next, different components of the group are outlined, such as the discussion board, blogging tool, and the chat. Various themes, clinical responses and challenges/solutions are presented. Termination and the creation of the Alumni Group are described and personal conclusions are summarized

Minimum Race-Time Planning-Strategy for an Autonomous Electric Racecar

Increasing attention to autonomous passenger vehicles has also attracted interest in an autonomous racing series. Because of this, platforms such as Roborace and the Indy Autonomous Challenge are currently evolving. Electric racecars face the challenge of a limited amount of stored energy within their batteries. Furthermore, the thermodynamical influence of an all-electric powertrain on the race performance is crucial. Severe damage can occur to the powertrain components when thermally overstressed. In this work we present a race-time minimal control strategy deduced from an Optimal Control Problem (OCP) that is transcribed into a Nonlinear Problem (NLP). Its optimization variables stem from the driving dynamics as well as from a thermodynamical description of the electric powertrain. We deduce the necessary first-order Ordinary Differential Equations (ODE)s and form simplified loss models for the implementation within the numerical optimization. The significant influence of the powertrain behavior on the race strategy is shown.Comment: Accepted at The 23rd IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems, September 20 - 23, 202

Toward a script theory of guidance in computer-supported collaborative learning

This article presents an outline of a script theory of guidance for computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). With its four types of components of internal and external scripts (play, scene, role, and scriptlet) and seven principles, this theory addresses the question how CSCL practices are shaped by dynamically re-configured internal collaboration scripts of the participating learners. Furthermore, it explains how internal collaboration scripts develop through participation in CSCL practices. It emphasizes the importance of active application of subject matter knowledge in CSCL practices, and it prioritizes transactive over non-transactive forms of knowledge application in order to facilitate learning. Further, the theory explains how external collaboration scripts modify CSCL practices and how they influence the development of internal collaboration scripts. The principles specify an optimal scaffolding level for external collaboration scripts and allow for the formulation of hypotheses about the fading of external collaboration scripts. Finally, the article points towards conceptual challenges and future research questions

Uncertainty explicit assessment of off-the-shelf software: Selection of an optimal diverse pair

Assessment of software COTS components is an essential part of component-based software development. Sub-optimal selection of components may lead to solutions with low quality. The assessment is based on incomplete knowledge about the COTS components themselves and other aspects, which may affect the choice such as the vendor's credentials, etc. We argue in favor of assessment methods in which uncertainty is explicitly represented (`uncertainty explicit' methods) using probability distributions. We have adapted a model (developed elsewhere by Littlewood, B. et al. (2000)) for assessment of a pair of COTS components to take account of the fault (bug) logs that might be available for the COTS components being assessed. We also provide empirical data from a study we have conducted with off-the-shelf database servers, which illustrate the use of the method