Extending EPANET capabilities with Add-In Tools

[EN] EPANET is probably the most widespread model for water distribution network (WDN). More than twenty years after its appearance, it has become a global reference both for hydraulic and quality analysis of water networks. In 2000, EPANET 2 appears, which includes as most important computational feature a new Toolkit. This toolkit was a library of functions allowing the modification of network data and reading results without access to the appropriate files. Over time, the use of this library has been the communication protocol for every application developers who use the method propose by Todini and Pilati to analyze the behavior of WDN. This library also provides interface tools that allow the execution of a simulation from an external application, as long as the network characteristics had been previously defined. This paper presents a change in the original EPANET model, including a new menu in the graphical user interface (GUI). This menu allows users to set up a personal collection of Add-In tools, which use both project data and simulation results. These tools can be customized and allows to extend the analysis capability of EPANET. All of them can access EPANET functions through the Toolkit and were developed by the authors during the Spanish translation of EPANET, taking into account the homologous Add-in tools developed for SWMM model. As an example of the operation and capabilities of this new menu, several applications integrated as EPANET add-in tools are presented. These tools perform tasks such as importing data network from both CAD and GIS systems, the design of WDNs using genetic algorithms, automatic assignment of initial water quality to network nodes; the skeletonization of a network or optimization of pumping schedule in the network in order to achieve a minimum energy cost.Iglesias Rey, PL.; Martínez-Solano, FJ.; Ribelles-Aguilar, J. (2017). Extending EPANET capabilities with Add-In Tools. Procedia Engineering. 186:626-634. doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2017.03.279S62663418

Learning to teach database design by trial and error

Proceedings of: 4th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems (ICEIS 2002), Ciudad Real, Spain, April 3-6, 2002The definition of effective pedagogical strategies for coaching and tutoring students according to their needs in each moment is a high handicap in ITS design. In this paper we propose the use of a Reinforcement Learning (RL) model, that allows the system to learn how to teach to each student individually, only based on the acquired experience with other learners with similar characteristics, like a human tutor does. This technique avoids to define the teaching strategies by learning action policies that define what, when and how to teach. The model is applied to a database design ITS system, used as an example to illustrate all the concepts managed in the model

Model for the Automated Generation of Optimized Work Packages in Results-Based-Finance Mega Sanitation Projects

The sanitation sector is one of the critical sectors in any country. The lack of proper sanitation systems causes many environmental hazards that threaten people’s health and well-being. In many developing countries, the sanitation sector constitutes a significant part of their strategic plans of reform. However, with the public treasury’s very limited budget, countries opt to major lending institutions for funds. “Results-Based-Finance” is a new funding mechanism used by many lending institutions. The mechanism has proven its efficiency in achieving the necessary reform in sanitation sectors. Due to the complexity of the funding tool, it is crucial to be able to decompose the project into smaller packages to be able to manage and control the project effectively. The objective of this dissertation is to reach an optimum packaging scheme that enables mega sanitation infrastructure projects to be successfully managed through better planning and cost control practices. The model aim shall be to minimize the amount of funds needed from the borrowing country through three options: by reducing the peak value of the negative cashflow curve, by normalizing the negative cashflow curve, or by a combination of the previous two objectives. With the aid of Unified Modelling Language (UML), an algorithm is developed to map the logic behind the model suggested with detailed illustrations of its different modules. Object-oriented processes and operations are modeled using various diagrams of the language, which automatically generate the optimum packaging combination. The packaging model is then implemented via a number of computer-aided programs. Microsoft Excel is used for calculation purposes. Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) programming language is used to make the model user-friendly for non-engineering stakeholders. Palisade\u27s Decision Tools Suite is used for the genetic algorithm optimization process. In order to verify the model, different approaches have been used, which include system checks to minimize programming errors. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis module has been designed with the aid of Top Rank software in order to ensure the flexibility and the capabilities of the constructed model. After the model verification is conducted, the model shall be validated using data from a case study of a mega sanitation results-based financed project located in Egypt. The project is achieved through the World Bank and aims to strengthen the Egyptian Institutions for better service delivery by providing incentives. The project worth is 550 Million USD. The ability of the model to plot the optimization process and the suggested outputs is proven feasible. The model output is not only the content of the packages but also a complete managing plan which demonstrates much useful information to the decision-makers and government officials. Moreover, the model has reduced the peak value of the negative cashflow curve by 18.7 percent, normalized the negative cashflow curve by 5.4 percent, and the model has reduced the funding gap in general by 8.9 percent

Reading the news through its structure: new hybrid connectivity based approaches

In this thesis a solution for the problem of identifying the structure of news published by online newspapers is presented. This problem requires new approaches and algorithms that are capable of dealing with the massive number of online publications in existence (and that will grow in the future). The fact that news documents present a high degree of interconnection makes this an interesting and hard problem to solve. The identification of the structure of the news is accomplished both by descriptive methods that expose the dimensionality of the relations between different news, and by clustering the news into topic groups. To achieve this analysis this integrated whole was studied using different perspectives and approaches. In the identification of news clusters and structure, and after a preparatory data collection phase, where several online newspapers from different parts of the globe were collected, two newspapers were chosen in particular: the Portuguese daily newspaper Público and the British newspaper The Guardian. In the first case, it was shown how information theory (namely variation of information) combined with adaptive networks was able to identify topic clusters in the news published by the Portuguese online newspaper Público. In the second case, the structure of news published by the British newspaper The Guardian is revealed through the construction of time series of news clustered by a kmeans process. After this approach an unsupervised algorithm, that filters out irrelevant news published online by taking into consideration the connectivity of the news labels entered by the journalists, was developed. This novel hybrid technique is based on Qanalysis for the construction of the filtered network followed by a clustering technique to identify the topical clusters. Presently this work uses a modularity optimisation clustering technique but this step is general enough that other hybrid approaches can be used without losing generality. A novel second order swarm intelligence algorithm based on Ant Colony Systems was developed for the travelling salesman problem that is consistently better than the traditional benchmarks. This algorithm is used to construct Hamiltonian paths over the news published using the eccentricity of the different documents as a measure of distance. This approach allows for an easy navigation between published stories that is dependent on the connectivity of the underlying structure. The results presented in this work show the importance of taking topic detection in large corpora as a multitude of relations and connectivities that are not in a static state. They also influence the way of looking at multi-dimensional ensembles, by showing that the inclusion of the high dimension connectivities gives better results to solving a particular problem as was the case in the clustering problem of the news published online.Neste trabalho resolvemos o problema da identificação da estrutura das notícias publicadas em linha por jornais e agências noticiosas. Este problema requer novas abordagens e algoritmos que sejam capazes de lidar com o número crescente de publicações em linha (e que se espera continuam a crescer no futuro). Este facto, juntamente com o elevado grau de interconexão que as notícias apresentam tornam este problema num problema interessante e de difícil resolução. A identificação da estrutura do sistema de notícias foi conseguido quer através da utilização de métodos descritivos que expõem a dimensão das relações existentes entre as diferentes notícias, quer através de algoritmos de agrupamento das mesmas em tópicos. Para atingir este objetivo foi necessário proceder a ao estudo deste sistema complexo sob diferentes perspectivas e abordagens. Após uma fase preparatória do corpo de dados, onde foram recolhidos diversos jornais publicados online optou-se por dois jornais em particular: O Público e o The Guardian. A escolha de jornais em línguas diferentes deve-se à vontade de encontrar estratégias de análise que sejam independentes do conhecimento prévio que se tem sobre estes sistemas. Numa primeira análise é empregada uma abordagem baseada em redes adaptativas e teoria de informação (nomeadamente variação de informação) para identificar tópicos noticiosos que são publicados no jornal português Público. Numa segunda abordagem analisamos a estrutura das notícias publicadas pelo jornal Britânico The Guardian através da construção de séries temporais de notícias. Estas foram seguidamente agrupadas através de um processo de k-means. Para além disso desenvolveuse um algoritmo que permite filtrar de forma não supervisionada notícias irrelevantes que apresentam baixa conectividade às restantes notícias através da utilização de Q-analysis seguida de um processo de clustering. Presentemente este método utiliza otimização de modularidade, mas a técnica é suficientemente geral para que outras abordagens híbridas possam ser utilizadas sem perda de generalidade do método. Desenvolveu-se ainda um novo algoritmo baseado em sistemas de colónias de formigas para solução do problema do caixeiro viajante que consistentemente apresenta resultados melhores que os tradicionais bancos de testes. Este algoritmo foi aplicado na construção de caminhos Hamiltonianos das notícias publicadas utilizando a excentricidade obtida a partir da conectividade do sistema estudado como medida da distância entre notícias. Esta abordagem permitiu construir um sistema de navegação entre as notícias publicadas que é dependente da conectividade observada na estrutura de notícias encontrada. Os resultados apresentados neste trabalho mostram a importância de analisar sistemas complexos na sua multitude de relações e conectividades que não são estáticas e que influenciam a forma como tradicionalmente se olha para sistema multi-dimensionais. Mostra-se que a inclusão desta dimensões extra produzem melhores resultados na resolução do problema de identificar a estrutura subjacente a este problema da publicação de notícias em linha

Network Flexibility for Recourse Considerations in Bi-Criteria Facility Location

What is the best set of facility location decisions for the establishment of a logistics network when it is uncertain how a company’s distribution strategy will evolve? What is the best configuration of a distribution network that will most likely have to be altered in the future? Today’s business environment is turbulent, and operating conditions for firms can take a turn for the worse at any moment. This fact can and often does influence companies to occasionally expand or contract their distribution networks. For most companies operating in this chaotic business environment, there is a continuous struggle between staying cost efficient and supplying adequate service. Establishing a distribution network which is flexible or easily adaptable is the key to survival under these conditions. This research begins to address the problem of locating facilities in a logistics network in the face of an evolving strategic focus through the implicit consideration of the uncertainty of parameters. The trade-off of cost and customer service is thoroughly examined in a series of multi-criteria location problems. Modeling techniques for incorporating service restrictions for facility location in strategic network design are investigated. A flexibility metric is derived for the purposes of quantifying the similarity of a set of non-dominated solutions in strategic network design. Finally, a multi-objective greedy random adaptive search (MOG) metaheuristic is applied to solve a series of bi-criteria, multi-level facility location problems

A systems approach to organisational change leading to world class manufacturing

The author has reviewed World Class Manufacturing and considered the traditional ways of embarking on world class manufacturing initiatives. The reason for the failure of many of these initiatives has been argued. From a systems theory of organisations and the theory of levels of existence, a systemic process to becoming a world class manufacturing organisation has been postulated. This process has been formulated into a Coping Development model. A critique of the model has been included. The critique discusses obstructions to development and draws conclusions regarding the models application