Design Tools

This book aims at encompassing the panorama of design tools being developed, tested and adopted by researchers and professors at the Department of Design of Politecnico di Milano. The tools are organized in a taxonomy that reflects the path of choice of a possible user in need for the right tool for a task to be performed. The taxonomy is based on a formalization of the design process proposed by the authors, which characterizes the Design System at Politecnico di Milano. The book essentially offers two main contributions: an original taxonomy that guides towards the organization of design tools and their usage with different actors; a representative collection of design tools developed within the Department of Design of Politecnico di Milano with specific instructions on how to use them. Design Tools is addressed both to practitioners and academics in the field of design that are interested in getting to know more about the discourse around design tools in general and in particular how this discourse takes a shape within Politecnico di Milano and resolves in usable and shareable tools

Extension of the behavior composition framework in presence of failures using recovery techniques and AKKA

Abstract: Fault tolerance is an essential property to be satis ed in the composition of services, but reaching a high level of fault tolerance remains a challenge. In the area of ubiquitous computing, the composition of services is inevitable when a request cannot be carried out by a single service, but by a combination of several services. This thesis studies fault tolerance in the context of a general behavior composition framework. This approach raises, rst, the problem of the synthesis of controllers (or compositions) in order to coordinate a set of available services to achieve a new service, the target service and, second, the exploitation of all compositions to make the new service fault tolerant. Although a solution has been proposed by the authors of the behavior composition framework, it is incomplete and has not been evaluated experimentally or in situ. This thesis brings two contributions to this problem. On one hand, it considers the case in which the service selected by the controller is temporarily or permanently unavailable by exploiting recovery techniques to identify a consistent state of the system from which it may progress using other services or leave it in a coherent state when none of the available services no longer allows progression. On the other hand, it evaluates several recovery solutions, each useful in services malfunction situations, using a case study implemented with the aid of Akka, a tool that facilitates the development of reactive, concurrent and distributed systems.La tolérance aux fautes est une propriété indispensable à satisfaire dans la composition de services, mais atteindre un haut de niveau de tolérance aux fautes représente un défi majeur. Dans l'ère de l'informatique ubiquitaire, la composition de services est inévitable lorsqu'une requête ne peut être réalisée par un seul service, mais par la combinaison de plusieurs services. Ce mémoire étudie la tolérance aux fautes dans le contexte d'un cadre général de composition de comportements (behavior composition framework en anglais). Cette approche soulève, tout d'abord, le problème de la synthèse de contrôleurs (ou compositions) de façon à coordonner un ensemble de services disponibles afin de réaliser un nouveau service, le service cible et, ensuite, celui de l'exploitation de l'ensemble des compositions afin de rendre le nouveau service tolérant aux fautes. Bien qu'une solution ait été proposée par les auteurs de ce cadre de composition, elle est incomplète et elle n'a pas été évaluée expérimentalement ou in situ. Ce mémoire apporte deux contributions à ce problème. D'une part, il considère le cas dans lequel le service visé par le contrôleur est temporairement ou définitivement non disponible en exploitant des techniques de reprise afin d'identifier un état cohérent du système à partir duquel il peut progresser en utilisant d'autres services ou de le laisser dans un état cohérent lorsqu'aucun service, parmi ceux disponibles, ne permet plus de progression. D'autre part, il évalue plusieurs solutions de reprise, chacune utile dans des situations particulières de pannes, à l'aide d'une étude de cas implémentée en Akka, un outil qui permet aisément de mettre en oeuvre des systèmes réactifs, concurrents et répartis

Analysis and design of security mechanisms in the context of Advanced Persistent Threats against critical infrastructures

Industry 4.0 can be defined as the digitization of all components within the industry, by combining productive processes with leading information and communication technologies. Whereas this integration has several benefits, it has also facilitated the emergence of several attack vectors. These can be leveraged to perpetrate sophisticated attacks such as an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT), that ultimately disrupts and damages critical infrastructural operations with a severe impact. This doctoral thesis aims to study and design security mechanisms capable of detecting and tracing APTs to ensure the continuity of the production line. Although the basic tools to detect individual attack vectors of an APT have already been developed, it is important to integrate holistic defense solutions in existing critical infrastructures that are capable of addressing all potential threats. Additionally, it is necessary to prospectively analyze the requirements that these systems have to satisfy after the integration of novel services in the upcoming years. To fulfill these goals, we define a framework for the detection and traceability of APTs in Industry 4.0, which is aimed to fill the gap between classic security mechanisms and APTs. The premise is to retrieve data about the production chain at all levels to correlate events in a distributed way, enabling the traceability of an APT throughout its entire life cycle. Ultimately, these mechanisms make it possible to holistically detect and anticipate attacks in a timely and autonomous way, to deter the propagation and minimize their impact. As a means to validate this framework, we propose some correlation algorithms that implement it (such as the Opinion Dynamics solution) and carry out different experiments that compare the accuracy of response techniques that take advantage of these traceability features. Similarly, we conduct a study on the feasibility of these detection systems in various Industry 4.0 scenarios

Web-oriented Event Processing

How can the Web be made situation-aware? Event processing is a suitable technology for gaining the necessary real-time results. The Web, however, has many users and many application domains. Thus, we developed multi-schema friendly data models allowing the re-use and mix from diverse users and application domains. Furthermore, our methods describe protocols to exchange events on the Web, algorithms to execute the language and to calculate access rights

Understanding design impact: a new framework for understanding the potential of design and enhancing future professional practice

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonUnderstanding Design Impact: A new framework for understanding the potential of design and enhancing future professional practice. Design is widely recognised as an important driver for economic performance. However, the value of design has proved resistant to quantification despite research attention since the early 1980s. Correlation between design investment and impact has been demonstrated, but not causation. There is considerable interest from policy and professional bodies in what is described here as ‘Design Impact’. Impact can be measured, for example, by return on investment, increases in profitability or cost reductions. However this only crudely captures the economic impact of a design ingredient. Increasingly, social and environmental impacts are also of interest. The design profession sees the potential for better articulation of design impact as a means to increase their influence. The context has been explored through a series of descriptive and prescriptive studies including analysis of 45 DBA Design Effectiveness Award case studies, 304 undergraduate design projects from two institutions over a three year period together with interviews and workshops with senior design professionals and design academics. A new Understanding Design Impact framework is the overall outcome and contribution to knowledge from the work. This bridges between theory and practice and is a powerful basis for placing consideration of design impact at the heart of design activity. A design impact ontology has been developed as a robust foundation to the framework which resolves issues with underlying concepts. An initial version of this ontology is published in The Design Journal and is claimed as a supporting contribution to new knowledge. So too are new ontological classifications of factors which have considerable influence on design impact: Design Influences and Authority and Motivation and Path. These provide fresh perspectives and are worthy of further research consideration. A number of routes are identified for the further development and dissemination of the framework

Developing the overall marketing strategy for Small Portuguese Hotels in the Spanish market

This study’s purpose was to develop a successful marketing strategy for Small Portuguese Hotels (SPH) in the Spanish market and provide the start-up with recommendations on both tactical and operational level. Various theoretical models have been applied that when used all together, substantiated by an extensive literature framework, fulfil the process of developing a marketing strategy in a successful way which is needed to succeed as a company nowadays. The concluded marketing strategy for SPH has been based on all data gathered throughout the entire study, consisting of both desk and field research. In terms of field research, an online survey was conducted among Spaniards as part of the customer analysis. Besides, an interview has been held with Mrs. Rita Alves Machado as part of the internal analysis and several SPH employees have participated in several questionnaires needed to design the most relevant framework for SPH when qualifying different strategic options to eventually find the best fitting marketing strategy: ‘Before targeting the promising Spanish market, SPH should achieve its short-term goals and improve day-to-day business. Besides, before moving to the Spanish market, SPH needs a complete and clear marketing, sales and social media plan that can straight be implemented and will strongly position SPH in the Spanish market to expand its existing Portuguese customer base.’ The complete and clear marketing, sales and social media plan comprise the recommendations on both tactical and operational level.Este estudo focou-se no desenvolvimento de uma estratégia de marketing sustentável para a Small Portuguese Hotels (SPH) no mercado espanhol e direcionar a start-up tanto a nível estratégico como operacional. Foram aplicados vários modelos teóricos que, utilizados em conjunto, e fundamentados por uma extensa revisão de literatura, completam o desenvolvimento de uma estratégia de marketing bem-sucedida, necessária para o sucesso de qualquer empresa atualmente. A estratégia resultante foi fundamentada pelos dados recolhidos ao longo de todo o estudo, consistindo em pesquisa documental e trabalho de campo. Em termos da pesquisa realizada em trabalho de campo, foi realizado um questionário online a pessoas de nacionalidade espanhola como análise do cliente. Adicionalmente, foi realizada uma entrevista com a Rita Alves Machado no âmbito da análise interna e com todos os colaboradores da SPH, que participaram em vários questionários, necessários para delinear o quadro mais relevante para a empresa no apuramento de diferentes opções estratégicas e, eventualmente, encontrar a melhor estratégia de marketing pretendida: "Antes de se focar no promissor mercado espanhol, a SPH deve alcançar os seus objetivos de curto prazo e de gestão do dia-a-dia. Adicionalmente, antes de entrar no mercado espanhol, a SPH necessita de um plano completo e claro de marketing, vendas e redes sociais que possa ser implementado eficazmente, que posicionará fortemente a SPH no mercado espanhol para expandir a sua base de clientes portugueses existente." O plano integral de marketing, vendas e redes sociais compreende as recomendações tanto a nível estratégico como operacional

From Whitehall to the world : international development and the global reconfiguration of New Labour's political economy

Since the creation of the Department for International Development (DFID) in 1997, much scholarly effort has been concentrated on describing New Labour's international development policy outputs. Within these accounts however, there has been little, if any, treatment of how its development policies actually came to be formed, or even more specifically, analysis of the linkages between this branch of foreign policy and New Labour's domestic political economy. My thesis seeks to fill this gap in the literature. My major contribution is to show that the character and orientation of a set of policies designed initially by New Labour officials for the domestic economy were subsequently 'recycled' and transmitted abroad into the field of international development. I test such a claim empirically through three case studies exploring in depth the core policy areas of debt relief, HIV and AIDS, and overseas aid, through which I am able to trace the way that ideas first developed at home were subsequently transposed into its international development policy. This provides the framework which allows me to examine how the Blair and Brown Governments managed the frequently conflicting expectations of the two sets of 'market' and 'social' constituencies in the construction of their international development policy. While 'social' constituencies were successful in influencing processes of policy change which iteratively moved policy closer to their expectations, on the whole its character still favoured the demands of the 'market' constituencies, as had been the case previously in its domestic political economy. Although New Labour's international development policies appeared to become more 'social' over time, this did not mean that they became dominated by 'social concerns'. My overall characterisation of New Labour’s often complex phasing of its international development policy, then, is that it remained market-driven albeit not exclusively market-oriented

Aspects of the late Atlantic Iron Age

The Scottish Atlantic Iron Age is recognised as falling into four periods, the EIA, MIA, LIA I and LIA II. Least is known of the LIA I, the immediate post-broch period. Original analysis of the C-14 record confirms these divisions; they result as a combination of the effects of the Trondheim calibration curve but mainly the history of archaeological survival and previous excavation strategy. A large data base of pins and combs is examined and analysed, following on the earlier work of Stevenson (1955a), because these are some of the more ubiquitous and chronologically sensitive artefacts belonging to the LIA. This provides the basis for a reconsideration of the nature of LIA settlement throughout the Atlantic Province as a whole, more particularly in the study area of Orkney and Caithness. There are still severe problems in recognising LIA, particularly LIA I activity. This analysis forms the basis for a case study of Orkney and Caithness from around the early centuries of the first millennium BC to the eighth or ninth century AD. A scheme is suggested for the structural developments witnessed over this period, and on the basis of the general trends observed, a social interpretation is put forward. An attempt is made to apply Fields of Discourse, which is contrasted with previous work in this area, because of its sound methodological approach. Archaeological application of the technique of access analysis is described and used to investigate how the use of space structured and reproduced these changing social relations. The shift from locally based power sources to more centralised, in relation to Orkney and Caithness more distant, sources of authority is demonstrated, and related to the development of the southern Pictish kingdom. This change reflects the move from intensive to extensive sources of power. Other aspects of social reproduction are examined to see if they fit within this framework. On analogy with contemporary situations elsewhere and the evidence to hand, the means by which this power may have been exercised, specifically changing agricultural practice and land tenure, and the ideological power of Christianity are speculated upon

Discovery and validation for composite services on the semantic web

urrent technology for locating and validating composite services are not sufficient due to the following reasons. • Current frameworks do not have the capacity to create complete service descriptions since they do not model all the functional aspects together (i.e. the purpose of a service, state transitions, data transformations). Those that deal with behavioural descriptions are unable to model the ordering constraints between concurrent interactions completely since they do not consider the time taken by interactions. Furthermore, there is no mechanism to assess the correctness of a functional description. • Existing semantic-based matching techniques cannot locate services that conform to global constraints. Semantic-based techniques use ontological relationships to perform mappings between the terms in service descriptions and user requests. Therefore, unlike techniques that perform either direct string matching or schema matching, semantic-based approaches can match descriptions created with different terminologies and achieve a higher recall. Global constraints relate to restrictions on values of two or more attributes of multiple constituent services. • Current techniques that generate and validate global communication models of composite services yield inaccurate results (i.e. detect phantom deadlocks or ignore actual deadlocks) since they either (i) do not support all types of interactions (i.e. only send and receive, not service and invoke) or (ii) do not consider the time taken by interactions. This thesis presents novel ideas to deal with the stated limitations. First, we propose two formalisms (WS-ALUE and WS-π-calculus) for creating functional and behavioural descriptions respectively. WS-ALUE extends the Description Logic language ALUE with some new predicates and models all the functional aspects together. WS-π-calculus extends π-calculus with Interval Time Logic (ITL) axioms. ITL axioms accurately model temporal relationships between concurrent interactions. A technique comparing a WS-π-calculus description of a service against its WS-ALUE description is introduced to detect any errors that are not equally reflected in both descriptions. We propose novel semantic-based matching techniques to locate composite services that conform to global constraints. These constraints are of two types: strictly dependent or independent. A constraint is of the former type if the values that should be assigned to all the remaining restricted attributes can be uniquely determined once a value is assigned to one. Any global constraint that is not strictly dependent is independent. A complete and correct technique that locates services that conform to strictly dependent constraints in polynomial time, is defined using a three-dimensional data cube. The proposed approach that deals with independent constraints is correct, but not complete, and is a heuristic approach. It incorporates user defined objective functions, greedy algorithms and domain rules to locate conforming services. We propose a new approach to generate global communication models (of composite services) that are free of deadlocks and synchronisation conflicts. This approach is an extension of a transitive temporal reasoning mechanism

The Church of Christ in early Bernicia: forerunners and foundation

A firmly multidlsciplinary approach starts from a theological definition of the Church as the Body of Christ, and Christians as empowered by the Holy Spirit, the possibility of miracle, and the reality of warfare with demons are taken seriously, and scholarly belief in them defended. They are made the subject of excursuses. Hagiographic writings are treated with cautious respect. Bernicia, land and people, and its relationship to its neighbours are considered. In a demographic excursus the view that Dark Age life-span was short is rebuffed. Part two discusses the life and mission of the Church in sub-Roman Britain. In our area evidence for this proves to be largely limited to the shadowy activities of Ninian and Kentigern, therefore further evidence of the status of the British church in the fifth and sixth centuries is sought in Patrick’s Confession and Gildas's De Excidlo Britɸmniae. A new model for the latter - the sermon of the protomartyr Stephen - is proposed; as is a new exegesis of D. E. B. c.69, which may have Implications for our understanding of the persistence of Pelagian beliefs. An excursus considers the significance of white stones in association with Christian burial. The origins of the mission of Augustine are considered briefly. Part three considers the mission of Paulinus in detail, in particular the reasons for its collapse; in contrasting it with the Celtic mission misslological principles are cited. A reappraisal of Paulinus's retreat, more favourable to him than that normally held, is reached by invoking wartime experience. The discipline of obstetrics is involved to advance the theory that /Ethelburh's delivery was premature; also earlier to re-examine the Herbert Ian account of Kentigern's conception, where the 'something contrary to sound doctrine' is identified, against the hitherto standard view, as the apparent approval, by Servanus, of extramarital coitus. The final establishment of the Church in Bernicia is seen as occurring principally as the result of Aidan's mission, but with valid contributions from the British and Roman traditions. That Simeon of Durham gave the credit for this foundation to Oswald is found Justifiable. A new genealogical tree of Oswy has been constructed, and maps have been provided