Interaction and interest management in a scripting language.

Interaction management is concerned with the protocols that govern interactive activities among multiple users or agents in networked collaborative environments. Interest management is concerned with the relevance-based data filtering in networked collaborative environments. The main objective of the former is to structure interactive activities according to the requirements of the application concerned, while the main objective of the latter is to provide secured data transmission of a subset of information relevant to each recipient. The research in these two important aspects of networked software has largely been carried out in specific application domains such as online meetings, online groupware and online games. This thesis is concerned with the design and implementation of high-level language constructs for interaction and interest management. The work that has been undertaken includes: an abstract study of interactive activities and data transmission in networked collaborative environments through a large number of variations of the noughts and crosses game; the design of a set of language constructs for specifying a variety of interaction protocols; the design of a set of language constructs for specifying secured data sharing with relevance-based filtering; the implementation of these language constructs in the form of a major extension of a scripting language JACIE (Java-based Authoring Language for Collaborative Interactive Environments); the development of two demonstration applications, namely e-leaming on Simulation of Network Trouble Shooting and online Bridge, using the extended JACIE for demonstrating the technical feasibility and usefulness of the design. These high-level language constructs support a class of complicated software features in networked collaborative applications, such as turn management, interaction timing, group formation, dynamic protocol changes, distributed data sharing, access control, authentication and information filtering. They enable programmers to implement such features in an intuitive manner without involving low-level system programming directly, which would otherwise require the knowledge and skills of experienced network programmers

Solar thermal power systems point-focusing thermal and electric applications projects. Volume 1: Executive summary

The activities of the Point-Focusing Thermal and Electric Applications (PETEA) project for the fiscal year 1979 are summarized. The main thrust of the PFTEA Project, the small community solar thermal power experiment, was completed. Concept definition studies included a small central receiver approach, a point-focusing distributed receiver system with central power generation, and a point-focusing distributed receiver concept with distributed power generation. The first experiment in the Isolated Application Series was initiated. Planning for the third engineering experiment series, which addresses the industrial market sector, was also initiated. In addition to the experiment-related activities, several contracts to industry were let and studies were conducted to explore the market potential for point-focusing distributed receiver (PFDR) systems. System analysis studies were completed that looked at PFDR technology relative to other small power system technology candidates for the utility market sector

Analysis of the economic feasibility and reduction of a building’s energy consumption and emissions when integrating hybrid solar thermal/PV/micro-CHP systems

The aim of this paper is to assess the performance of several designs of hybrid systems composed of solar thermal collectors, photovoltaic panels and natural gas internal combustion engines. The software TRNSYS 17 has been used to perform all the calculations and data processing, as well as an optimisation of the tank volumes through an add-in coupled with the GENOPT® software. The study is carried out by analysing the behaviour of the designed systems and the conventional case in five different locations of Spain with diverse climatic characteristics, evaluating the same building in all cases. Regulators, manufacturers and energy service engineers are the most interested in these results. Two major contributions in this paper are the calculations of primary energy consumption and emissions and the inclusion of a Life Cycle Cost analysis. A table which shows the order of preference regarding those criteria for each considered case study is also included. This was fulfilled in the interest of comparing between the different configurations and climatic zones so as to obtain conclusions on each of them. The study also illustrates a sensibility analysis regarding energy prices. Finally, the exhaustive literature review, the novel electricity consumption profile of the building and the illustration of the influence of the cogeneration engine working hours are also valuable outputs of this paper, developed in order to address the knowledge gap and the ongoing challenges in the field of distributed generation

ADS pilot program Plan

The Applications Data Service (ADS) is a system based on an electronic data communications network which will permit scientists to share the data stored in data bases at universities and at government and private installations. It is designed to allow users to readily locate and access high quality, timely data from multiple sources. The ADS Pilot program objectives and the current plans for accomplishing those objectives are described

Providing Preventive Oral Health Care to Infants and Young Children in Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Early Head Start, and Primary Care Settings

This report focuses on seven oral health programs that provide preventive oral health care to young children (infants, toddlers, and children up to 5 years old) in Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Early Head Start (EHS), and primary care settings. All of the programs strive to increase access to preventive oral health care by integrating dental services into primary care settings, WIC clinics, or EHS centers. These programs also rely on primary care providers (physicians, nurses, medical assistants, etc.) or new types of dental hygienists who can practice in community settings to deliver preventive oral health services. Two additional reports in this series describe the remaining programs that provide care in non-dental settings and programs designed to specifically address socioeconomic, cultural, and geographic barriers to preventive oral health care.The findings from the EAs of these programs are synthesized to highlight diverse and innovative strategies that are utilized to provide preventive oral health care in primary care settings, WIC clinics, or EHS centers. These strategies have potential for rigorous evaluation and could emerge as best practices. If proven effective, these innovative program elements could then be disseminated and replicated to increase access for populations in need of preventive oral health care