Patterns for Programming in the Semantic Web

Originally proposed in the mid-90s, design patterns for software development played a key role in object-oriented programming not only in increasing software quality, but also by giving a better understanding of the power and limitations of this paradigm. Since then, several authors have endorsed a similar task for other programming paradigms, in the hope of achieving similar benefits. In this paper we discuss design patterns for the Semantic Web, giving new insights on how existing programming frameworks can be used in a systematic way to design large-scale systems. The common denominator between these frameworks is the combination between different reasoning systems, namely description logics and logic programming. Therefore, we chose to work in a generalization of dl-programs that supports several (possibly different) description logics, expecting that our results will be easily adapted to other existing frameworks such as multi-context systems. This study also suggests new constructs to enforce legibility and internal structure of logic-based Semantic Web programs

Sistema de apoio à racionalização da utilização de energia eléctrica

Esta dissertação descreve o sistema de apoio à racionalização da utilização de energia eléctrica desenvolvido no âmbito da unidade curricular de Tese/Dissertação. O domínio de aplicação enquadra-se no contexto da Directiva da União Europeia 2006/32/EC que declara ser necessário colocar à disposição dos consumidores a informação e os meios que promovam a redução do consumo e o aumento da eficiência energética individual. O objectivo é o desenvolvimento de uma solução que permita a representação gráfica do consumo/produção, a definição de tectos de consumo, a geração automática de alertas e alarmes, a comparação anónima com clientes com perfil idêntico por região e a previsão de consumo/produção no caso de clientes industriais. Trata-se de um sistema distribuído composto por front-end e back-end. O front-end é composto pelas aplicações de interface com o utilizador desenvolvidas para dispositivos móveis Android e navegadores Web. O back-end efectua o armazenamento e processamento de informação e encontra-se alojado numa plataforma de cloud computing – o Google App Engine – que disponibiliza uma interface padrão do tipo serviço Web. Esta opção assegura interoperabilidade, escalabilidade e robustez ao sistema. Descreve-se em detalhe a concepção, desenvolvimento e teste do protótipo realizado, incluindo: (i) as funcionalidades de gestão e análise de consumo e produção de energia implementadas; (ii) as estruturas de dados; (iii) a base de dados e o serviço Web; e (iv) os testes e a depuração efectuados. (iv) Por fim, apresenta-se o balanço deste projecto e efectuam-se sugestões de melhoria.This MSc. dissertation describes the support system that was develop to promote the rational use of electric energy. The project application domain falls within the context of European Union Directive 2006/32/EC which states that consumers should be empowered with the means to reduce their individual electricity consumption and implement energy saving methods and devices to increase energy efficiency. The aim is to develop a solution to provide a graphical representation of the consumption/production patterns, setup consuming ceilings, generate automatic alerts and alarms, compare anonymously consumers with identical profiles by region and predict, in the case of industrial installations, the expected consumption/ production values. The outcome is a distributed system organized in two main blocks: front-end and back-end. The front-end includes user interface applications for Android mobile devices and Web browsers. The back-end provides data storage and processing and is installed in a cloud computing platform – The Google App Engine – which provides a standard Web service interface. This option ensures interoperability, scalability and robustness to the system. The design, implementation and testing of the prototype are detailed, including: (i) the management and analysis features for energy consuming and production; (ii) the data structures; (iii) the database and the Web service; (iv) and (iv) the testing and debugging. Finally, the outcome is discussed, the limitations are identified and improvement suggestions are made

Model-Driven Management of Internal Controls for Business Process Compliance

The thesis tackles the problem of high effort for achieving business process compliance to regulations in the area of Enterprise Risk Management. Common to these regulations are requirements on the presence of effective internal controls in companies. The level of automation with regard to translating compliance requirements into a set of internal controls and assuring the effectiveness of these controls during execution of business processes is raised thorugh a novel model-driven approach

Allgemeine Geschäftsbedingungen in Peer-to-Peer-Märkten

Die Arbeit behandelt elektronische Marktplätze, die ohne eine zentrale Instanz auskommen und allein durch die Marktteilnehmer entstehen. Sie bietet technische Ansätze und deren rechtliche Beurteilung, um den Zugangsnachweis für Erklärungen führen zu können und behandelt wie Rechner zur Rechtsfolgenermittlung eingesetzt werden können, um den Nutzer für den Vertragsentwurf und -abschluss einzelfallbezogenes rechtliches Expertenwissen zur Verfügung stellen zu können