Towards unified tooling for easing the qualification of medical normed environments

International audienceMedical confined environments are characterized by a very stringent set of standards and regulations, depending on a wide range of parameters. These are very difficult to handle because of the lack of appropriate tools to qualify before use, monitor during use and audit after use. Providing these tools requires to tackle the complexity of gathering all the different elements of the environment profile (building topology, standards and rules, instrumentation) in a single model which could be statically validated and dynamically checked against events. This article both focuses on introducing the context of medical confined environment regulation and issues faced when trying to design and implement qualification and monitoring tools, and on presenting the approach and work in progress

Defining and Retrieving Themes in Nuclear Regulations

International audienceSafety systems in nuclear industry must conform to an increasing set of regulatory requirements. These requirements are scattered throughout multiple documents expressing different levels of requirements or different kinds of requirements. Consequently, when licensees want to extract the set of regulations related to a specific concern, they lack explicit traces between all regulation documents and mostly get lost while attempting to compare two different regulatory corpora. This paper presents the regulatory landscape in the context of digital Instrumentation and Command systems in nuclear power plants. To cope with this complexity, we define and discuss challenges toward an approach based on information retrieval techniques to first narrow the regulatory research space into themes and then assist the recovery of these traceability links

Toward Multilevel Textual Requirements Traceability Using Model-Driven Engineering and Information Retrieval

International audienceIn complex industrial projects, textual information remains the main vector of information at the project level. Consequently, requirements are scattered throughout multiple documents expressing different levels of requirements and different kinds of requirements. Formalizing this information and tracing different relationships among documents and organizing this environment present a challenging question. Domain-specific modeling and traceability modeling are Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) techniques that could address various aspects of requirements formalization. Text-based high level requirements can be formalized as document concepts can be gathered and represented. Still, relationships cannot always be determined using sole MDE approaches and, as a consequence, relationships and traceability issue remains. Information retrieval (IR) approaches have already proved to work in an efficient way on large text corpora for requirements traceability analysis but do only consider similarity aspects of flatten documents, losing their organization and hierarchy. This paper aims to introduce how a combined use of both MDE and IR can lead to improved requirements organization and traceability while handling textual ambiguous requirements documents.Dans les projets industriels complexes, le texte reste le principal vecteur d'information au niveau du projet. Les exigences sur le futur système sont ainsi disséminées à travers de nombreux documents qui expriment différents niveaux d'exigences et différentes sortes d'exigences. Formaliser cette information et tracer les relations entre ces documents et organiser un un tel environnement représente un défi important. La modélisation d'un domaine ou de la traçabilité dans ce domaine sont des contributions de l'ingénierie dirigée par les modèles (IDM) pour formaliser de tels ensembles. Des exigences textuelles de haut niveau peuvent être formalisées tandis que les documents qui les contiennent peuvent être importés et analysés. Cependant, les relations de traçabilité, elles, ne peuvent pas forcément être acquises à travers ces seules techniques provenant de l'IDM. D'un autre côté, les techniques de recherche d'information (RI) ont déjà démontré leur efficacité sur de larges collections de textes pour la traçabilité des exigences mais ne considèrent que des versions "planes" des documents, perdant toute la hiérarchie et l'organisation de ceux ci. Cet article vise à introduire l'utilisation combiné de l'IDM et de la RI afin d'améliorer les aspects structurels et traçabilité de ces collections de documents d'exigences

Founding territorial sciences

International audienceThe “Founding Territorial Sciences” conference marked the birth of the International College of Territorial Sciences (CIST), a new research body devoted to the study of space and territory. The purpose of the conference was to answer the following question: Although the concept of territory is central to recent social changes, are we justified in seeking to establish the “territorial sciences” as a new academic field or discipline?To answer this question, we need to address a number of other issues. These include:– the issues raised by interdisciplinary research in other countries; if we want to develop an international network, we will need to ensure that similar initiatives are underway in other countries and that they are compatible with the research projects of the CIST;– the issues surrounding the questions addressed by researchers in the territorial sciences; though it has defined an initial set of research questions, the GIS may need to explore other avenues;– the issues surrounding the nature of the “territorial sciences”: should the territorial sciences be defined as an interdisciplinary field, i.e. as a set of disciplines brought together to understand the territorial dimension of their objects of study? Or should they be defined as an emerging discipline, the key concepts, principles and methods of which will need to be defined?The new field covers a wide range of disciplines extending well beyond the humanities and social sciences. The main theoretical and methodological challenges are to foster links between the humanities and social sciences and the life and earth sciences, the health sciences and the engineering sciences (modeling, complex systems, etc.). For example, the lack of collaboration between physicists and mathematicians working on climate change models and humanities and social science researchers concerned with the territorial impact of climate change has created a gap between global and local approaches.Finally, beyond the confines of academia, what is the proper relationship between the territorial sciences and territorial development strategies and practices?Le colloque « Fonder les sciences du territoire » a constitué le lancement scientifique du GIS CIST. Il devait répondre à cette question : nous savons que le territoire est au cœur d’un grand nombre des transformations des sociétés contemporaines, mais pour autant avons-nous raison de vouloir fonder les « sciences du territoire » ? Cela supposait de répondre à d’autres questions préalables :– sur la confrontation aux expériences interdisciplinaires étrangères dans le domaine. Si l’on veut constituer un réseau international, encore faut-il s’assurer de l’existence d’initiatives similaires à l’étranger et du degré de compatibilité avec elles ;– sur les thématiques des sciences du territoire, le GIS ayant lancé de premiers axes de travail mais devant rester ouvert à d’autres axes possibles ;– sur la nature de ces « sciences du territoire » : doivent-elles être conçues comme un champ multidisciplinaire c’est-à-dire comme un ensemble de disciplines scientifiques que l’on confronterait pour comprendre, de manière minimalement harmonisée, la dimension territoriale de leurs objets propres ? Ou doit-on aller jusqu’à considérer qu’il s’agirait d’une discipline scientifique émergente, dont il faudra alors définir les concepts, les lois et les méthodes d’analyse ?Le spectre des disciplines concernées est large, très au-delà des SHS. Car c’est dans la confrontation des SHS avec les sciences de la vie et de la terre, les sciences de santé et les sciences de l’ingénieur (modélisation, systèmes complexes…) que les enjeux théoriques et méthodologiques sont les plus grands. Par exemple le manque d’échanges entre les physiciens ou mathématiciens qui conçoivent les modèles du changement climatique, et les SHS dédiées à l’impact territorial de ce changement climatique, se traduit par une insuffisante interaction entre les analyses globales et locales.Enfin, au-delà des disciplines scientifiques, comment les sciences du territoire devraient-elles se situer par rapport aux pratiques du développement territorial

Formalizing standards and regulations variability in longlife projects. A challenge for Model-driven engineering

Safety regulations and standards imposed by national regulators on nuclear power plant systems provide highlevel requirements, recommendations and/or guidance expressed in natural language. In many cases, this leaves a large margin for interpretation, not all of which are acceptable to a given regulator. Currently the elements that lead to the establishment of acceptable/accepted practices are not always documented, nor are these practices formally modeled. When a new standard appears or when Electricité de France (EDF) has to discuss a standard with another regulator, there is no systematic process to build a practice. Domain-specific modeling, traceability and variability modeling are Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) techniques that could address various aspects of practice formalization. This paper precisely defines the modeling issues that are currently faced by EDF when managing regulatory safety requirements, standards and practices. Then we review existing requirements modeling techniques to understand their benefits and limits according to EDF’s needs

Extractive Industries

"New initiatives recognize that resource wealth can provide a means, when properly used, for poorer nations to decisively break with poverty by diversifying economies and funding development spending. Extractive Industries: The Management of Resources as a Driver of Sustainable Development explores the challenges and opportunities facing developing countries in using oil, gas, and mining to achieve inclusive change. While resource wealth can yield prosperity it can also, when mismanaged, cause acute social inequality, deep poverty, environmental damage, and political instability. There is a new determination to improve the benefits of extractive industries to their host countries, and to strengthen the sector's governance. Extractive Industries provides a comprehensive contribution to what must be done in this sector to deliver development, protect often fragile environments from damage, enhance the rights of affected communities, and support climate change action. It brings together international experts to offer ideas and recommendations in the main policy areas. With a breadth of collective insight and experience, it argues that more attention must be given to the development role of extractive industries, and looks to the future to explain how action on climate change will profoundly shape the sector's prospects.

Uma proposta para rastreabilidade no desenvolvimento de software

Orientador: Mario JinoTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Elétrica e de ComputaçãoResumo: Rastreabilidade tem sido um tópico de pesquisa no desenvolvimento de software por pelo menos 40 anos, sendo adicionada a muitos padrões, como o DOD-STD-2167A e o IEEE 830-1998. Este último, por exemplo, afirma que uma boa especificação de requisitos de software deve ser rastreável. A rastreabilidade fornece muitos benefícios para projetos de software, tais como: identificação das razões para decisões de design, prevenção de problemas de dependência, identificação de responsabilidades em um projeto, estimação de impacto e de custo de modificações, e medição do progresso de desenvolvimento. Sucintamente, a rastreabilidade permite a geração de um produto de melhor qualidade. Dois principais focos surgiram na literatura nos últimos anos: desenvolvimento baseado em modelo e geração automática de rastros. O primeiro trata da modelagem de rastreabilidade, definindo relações e elementos de um projeto; o segundo trata da descoberta automática de relações entre elementos. Vários conceitos foram definidos até agora, como rastreabilidade bidirecional, rastreabilidade de especificações pré e pós-requisitos, rastreabilidade horizontal e vertical, e rastreabilidade explícita e implícita. Embora haja um consenso geral sobre a maioria dos conceitos relacionados a rastreabilidade, há uma falta de consenso sobre como, e o quê, deve ser rastreado; não há consenso sobre: quais relações são relevantes para os projetos de desenvolvimento de software, quais elementos devem ser rastreados, como as mudanças nos elementos de um projeto afetam as relações existentes, ou como atualizar as relações dadas certas mudanças. Os modelos de rastreabilidade visam responder a essas questões fornecendo um padrão para ser usado como uma guia em projetos de desenvolvimento de software; entretanto, não há consenso sobre o que um modelo deve conter. Existe uma variedade de modelos, cada um considerando diferentes tipos de relações, elementos, e possuindo diferentes focos. Além disso, a maioria dos modelos possui problemas que tornam o seu uso difícil, ou até mesmo impossível; por exemplo, existem modelos que não descrevem - suficientemente ou em nada - as ligações de rastreabilidade que propõem. Este trabalho visa a ajudar nesta questão, fornecendo uma contribuição dupla: um modelo de referência para criar e avaliar modelos de rastreabilidade, e um metamodelo abrangente, construído em cima do modelo de referência, para adicionar rastreabilidade a projetos de desenvolvimento de software. Nosso Modelo de Referência para rastreabilidade define os elementos básicos em um modelo de rastreabilidade e define conjuntos básicos de: ações, tipos de ligações, tipos de artefatos, e processos. Propriedades necessárias para o conjunto de tipos de ligações e o conjunto de tipos de artefatos também são fornecidas. Nosso Metamodelo para rastreabilidade é composto por: um modelo conceitual descrevendo e organizando os elementos de rastreabilidade; um conjunto de tipos de artefatos representando as atividades definidas no Modelo de Referência, além de um conjunto de tipos de artefatos criados para registrar decisões de design; um conjunto de tipos de ligações que modelam diferentes relações de rastreabilidade; e um conjunto de processos para garantir a consistência de projetosAbstract: Traceability has been a topic of research in software development for at least 40 years, being added to many standards, such as the DOD-STD-2167A and the IEEE 830-1998. The latter, for instance, states that a good software requirements specification should be traceable. Traceability provides many benefits to software projects, such as: identification of the reasons for design decisions, avoidance of dependency issues, identification of accountability in a project, estimation of impact and cost of modifications, and measurement of development progress. Succintly, traceability allows the generation of a better quality product. Two main focuses have emerged in the literature in recent years: model-based development and automated trace generation. The former concerns modeling traceability by defining relations and elements in a project; the latter concerns automatic discovery of relations between elements in a project. Several concepts have been defined so far, such as bidirectional traceability, pre and post-requirements specification traceability, horizontal and vertical traceability, and explicit and implicit traceability. While there is general consensus on most concepts related to traceability, there is a lack of consensus on how, and what, should be traced; there is no consensus on which relations are relevant for software development projects, which elements should be traced, how changes in elements of a project affects existing relations, or how to update relations given certain changes. Traceability models aim to answer these questions by providing a standard to be used as a guide in software development projects; however, there is no consensus on what a model should contain. There is a variety of models, each considering different types of relations, elements, and having distinct focuses. Also, the majority of models have issues which makes them difficult or even impossible to use; for instance, there are models which do not describe - sufficiently or at all - traceability links which they propose. This work aims to help in this issue by providing a twofold contribution: a reference model for creating and evaluating traceability models, and a comprehensive metamodel, built on top of the reference model, to add traceability to software development projects. Our Reference Model for traceability defines the basic elements in a traceability model and defines basic sets of: actions, link types, artifact types, and processes. Necessary properties for the sets of link types and artifact types are also provided. Our Metamodel for traceability is composed of: a conceptual model describing and organizing the elements of traceability; a set of artifact types representing the activities of the Reference Model, plus a set of artifact types created to record design decisions; a set of link types modeling different traceability relations; and a set of processes to ensure project consistencyDoutoradoEngenharia de ComputaçãoDoutor em Engenharia Elétrica1142618CAPE

Temas de actualidad en salud pública

La salud pública es una disciplina importante para la salud en el mundo. Se define como la ciencia y el arte de prevenir las enfermedades, prolongar la vida y promover la salud a través de los esfuerzos organizados y decisiones con conocimiento de la sociedad, las organizaciones (públicas y privadas), las comunidades y los individuos, esta disciplina se ha renovado con la incorporación de múltiples actores, profesiones, áreas de conocimiento, además de ser afectados y promovido por múltiples tecnologías, en particular los de información. Como un campo cambiante del conocimiento, la salud pública requiere la información basada en la evidencia y actualizaciones regulares, más aún en el contexto de un mundo en transición epidemiológica. "Temas actuales en la salud pública", presenta información actualizada sobre varios temas relacionados con las áreas reales de interés en esta ciencia médica creciente y emocionante, con la concepción y la filosofía que estamos trabajando para mejorar la salud de la población, en lugar que el tratamiento de las enfermedades de los pacientes individuales, la toma de decisiones sobre el cuidado de la salud colectiva que se basan en la mejor evidencia disponible, actualizada, válida y pertinente, y, finalmente, en el contexto de los recursos disponibles. La salud pública debe ser una ciencia compleja, ayudando en las decisiones, acciones y cambios en la salud del mundo. En una sociedad globalizada esto se hizo hincapié no sólo en una nación en particular, sino en todo el mundo.Public health is a major health discipline in the world. Defined as the science and art of preventing diseases, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of the society, organizations (public and private), communities and individuals, this discipline has been renewed by the incorporation of multiple actors, professions, knowledge areas, as well as being impacted and promoted by multiple technologies, particularly information ones. As a changing field of knowledge, public health requires evidence-based information and regular updates, even more in the context of a world in epidemiological transition. Health impacts of climate change are currently in the quest of the Millennium Development Goals, and most of them are related to the activities of public health. “Current Topics in Public Health” presents updated information on multiple topics related to actual areas of interest in this growing and exciting medical science, with the conception and philosophy that we are working to improve the health of the population, rather than treating diseases of individual patients; taking decisions about collective health care that are based on the best available, current, valid and relevant evidence; and finally within the context of available resources. Public health should be a complex science helping in the decision, actions and changes in the health of the world. In a globalized society this is emphasized not just in a particular nation but in the whole world