Modelling languages quality evaluation by taxonomic analysis: a preliminary proposal

El paradigma de la ingeniería dirigida por modelos (MDE por sus siglas en inglés) promueve el uso de modelos conceptuales en procesos de ingeniería e investigación sobre sistemas de información. Como productos de ingeniería los modelos conceptuales deben tener calidad, la cual aplica tanto a los modelos conceptuales como los lenguajes de modelado empleados para construir dichos modelos. Debido a los múltiples retos, divergencias y tendencias para evaluación y aseguramiento de la calidad en contextos MDE, una forma para ejecutar un proceso de evaluación de la calidad es usar una técnica donde la aplicabilidad y metas de los artefactos de modelado puedan ser contrastadas con los principios esenciales del desarrollo de sistemas de información. Este trabajo formula un conjunto de requisitos conceptuales y metodológicos para un marco de evaluación de la calidad de lenguajes de modelado con el potencial de abordar algunos de los retos abiertos de calidad en MDE. Para este propósito, se propone usar principios del popular marco de trabajo Zachman para sistemas de información, como una herramienta taxonómica aplicada sobre artefactos de modelado usados en un desarrollo de un sistema de información, en aras de ejecutar procedimientos analíticos sobre modelos alineados con una arquitectura de referencia para sistemas de información, y con razonamientos ontológicos. En este trabajo se expone cómo el marco Zachman soporta análisis sobre modelos para propósitos de calidad por su administración nativa de la semántica.The Model-Driven Engineering (mde) paradigm promotes the usage of conceptual models in information systems (is) engineering and research. As engineering products, conceptual models must have quality, which applies on both conceptual models and modeling language employed to build them. This paper presents a modeling language quality evaluation framework. This framework uses the principles from the popular Zachman framework for information systems as a taxonomic tool applied over modeling rtifacts used in an information system development. The purpose of this taxonomic tool is to perform analytic procedures that are aligned with an is reference architecture and ontological reasoning. Throughout this work, we describe how the Zachman framework supports analytics over modeling languages for quality purposes by its native management of semantics

Using Fractal Enterprise Modeling in Strategic Analysis with Focus on Intangibles: Empirical Study in Product Innovation

This article presents a new meta-modeling approach for intangible resources. The method combines Enterprise Modeling (EM) and the resource value innovation model from the knowledge management (KM) field. In particular, fractal enterprise modeling (FEM) language has been used for constructing the intangible resources’ level of development. The practical application of the proposed method deploys a real case example in the strategic analysis of the organizational change within the product innovation activities. The results imply that the proposed method has a good potential to incorporate the intangibles into EM. First, it has been possible to represent the intangible resources’ level of development. Second, the FEM models produced in the study have been useful in the analysis of how tacit knowledge is acquired and appropriated within the organization’s strategic capability building. The study resulted in producing modeling and analyzing patterns that can be reused in similar situations. The research followed the Design Science Research (DSR) methodology

Exploración de Bases de Datos Genómicas Dirigida por Modelos Conceptuales

Cada día los doctores, genetistas e investigadores enfrentan grandes retos al momento de buscar información y querer sintetizar los resultados obtenidos luego de una consulta de información médica en la web. No obstante, internamente quedan las dudas sobre: > o > o > entre otras. Pues muchas de las veces lo que se espera es abarcar todas las fuentes de información para generar así un reporte médico completo. De manera similar sucede en el ámbito del genoma humano, donde se pueden encontrar cientos de páginas con bases de datos genómicas. Varios de estos sitios son desconocidos, ya sea porque son nuevos o no han sido publicitados. Ahora bien, la interrogante del investigador en el momento de sintetizar información es >, >. La aplicación del modelado conceptual aplicado en este caso al ámbito médico permite considerar los diferentes procesos y detallar las tareas y actividades que se desarrollan. Pues ahí es donde el modelado conceptual juega un rol muy importante, puesto que, luego de abstraer los elementos que se desea obtener se permite encontrar coincidencias desde varias fuentes y que estas apunten a un mismo concepto. Es así que, el modelado del genoma humano es una pieza fundamental que permite considerar las entidades involucradas y sus relaciones. Por este motivo, el presente trabajo de fin de máster pretende ser una herramienta de ayuda para las personas involucradas con el área del genoma humano. Al crearse un mapeo, es decir al establecerse los vínculos entre la información las bases de datos genómicas contrastadas con cada uno de los elementos del Esquema Conceptual del Genoma Humano (ECGH), se establecen los enlaces necesarios para que los usuarios tengan un soporte sus búsquedas. Este trabajo presenta el desarrollo de la exploración de las bases de datos genómicas que se han encontrado en listados avalados por Institutos de investigación en el área genómica. Se indica el proceso de verificación de los sitios que se han encontrado, puesto que algunos sitios han sufrido cambios en los servidores o simplemente ya dejaron de funcionar. Así también se exponen las tareas de depuración que se ha generado, debido a que cada una de las bases de datos genómicas presentan diferentes estructuras, organizaciones de la información, incluso en algunos de los casos se utiliza nomenclatura distinta a la que habitualmente el investigador está acostumbrado a encontrar. Posteriormente se presenta el mapeo de cada base de datos genómica con los elementos del ECGH. Finalmente se muestra los resultados obtenidos con estadísticas que se pudieron establecer en la exploración de las bases de datos genómicas y un interfaz resultado como herramienta de ayuda para el usuario. Para finalizar, se exponen los problemas encontrados en el desarrollo de este trabajo, así como también las conclusiones a las que se han podido llegar. Se indican los posibles trabajos futuros que se pueden realizar a partir de este trabajo.Doctors, geneticists and researchers face huge challenges every day; especially at the time of looking for information and to synthesize the results obtained after checking medical information online. However, there are certain doubts regarding this issue; for example, > or > or >, among others. Most of the time, it is expected to encompass all the sources to generate a complete medical report. It happens in a similar way in the human genome field where hundreds of pages with data bases are found. Many of those are unknown since they are either new or have been advertised. So the questions for the researcher at the time of synthesizing information is, How to unify results if the searches done have brought different information? Which pieces of information are the same or have the same meaning? In this case, the application of the conceptual model in the medical field allows to consider different processes to detail the tasks and activities that are developed. It is there where the conceptual model plays an important role, given that once the elements are abstracted and that the desired information is obtained, it is possible to find information from many sources so that they match one single concept. Thereof is the fact that the human genome modeling is a fundamental piece that allows to consider the different entities and their relationships. For this reason, this master¿s degree work aims to be a tool for those professionals involved in the human genome field. Setting up a map, that is to say, establishing links among the genomic data bases contrasted to each one of the elements from the Human Genomic Conceptual Scheme (HGCS), the necessary links are established so that the users find support when searching information. This work presents the development of the genomic data bases exploration that has been found on validated sources; that is, by research institutions in the area of genetics. The verification process of the sites that were found is shown because several sites have been changed in the servers or they simply stopped working. In addition, the debugging tasks are mentioned in this work because each one of the genomic data bases presents different structures, information organization, and in some cases, they used different naming compared to the one the researcher is used to find. After that, a genomic data base mapping is presented with the HGCS. Finally, the obtained results are shown in this work, including statistics that were established through the genomic data bases exploration and the interface that was the result as a tool for the user. In a nutshell, the problems found during the development of this work are shown along with the conclusions that arose. Possible future researches on the bases of this work are indicated.Solis Cabrera, VA. (2018). Exploración de Bases de Datos Genómicas Dirigida por Modelos Conceptuales. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/114954TFG

Entity-Relationship Meta-model Databases with Unknown Meta-Attribute Values

In the entity-relationship (ER) meta-model, modeling constructs such as entities, relationships, attributes, etc., in the concrete conceptual model are all represented in meta-entity classes, and items of information which qualify the modeling constructs (e.g. whether an entity class in the concrete conceptual model is strong or weak) appear as meta-attributes, associated with a particular meta-entity class. In an agile software development process, conceptual model construction and the consequent database design often proceeds on the basis of incomplete requirements specification, especially in the early iterations, and the information on a model construct, i.e. the concrete value of a meta-attribute, is hard to predict and specify. In this thesis, we deal with the unknown values by extending the ER meta-model to allow meta-attributes to have the value unknown . These unknowns are taken into account in the physical database design. We have implemented the triggers to refactor the physical database when the unknown attribute values in the conceptual model become known. The thesis demonstrates that the database design based on the concrete conceptual model can be re-factored when missing information is identified and updated

Developing a system for health and safety enhancement and automation in construction sites

The construction industry forms an important element within the economic activities and is known to be challenging and dangerous. Erroneously construction site accidents were accepted as unavoidable. The existing work health and safety protocols goals were not to cut risk but to provide risk assessment by understanding the types of risks associated with various activities and setting out rules and procedures to manage them and cut their impact. This study attempts a proactive approach to construction site health and safety by anticipating the hazards associated with a planned daily work activity and providing on site the relevant training and safety instructions. This was achieved by integrating the project’s digital design with site images processing and analysis. Digital image processing applies signal processing algorithms to images and videos resulting in extracting useful information from them. An essential and critical issue in the field of computer vision is the object’s recognition methods which should be capable of finding the partial occlusion of objects. Knowledge management systems archive and locate the required information and make it available to the relevant destination quickly and efficiently. It can also provide access to information in other construction sites and to the design team. This management system helps to save the gained experience and make it available to the project or other similar projects. The Building Information System was introduced as a system in which the objectives of this study can be incorporated leaving the door open to incorporate other project management activities. The possible solutions for the identified health and safety business problem were analysed in order to arrive at the best solution suitable to the objectives of the study. The end users ‘needs obtained from the distributed questionnaire and the project’s functional requirements were considered in order to create a model that will achieve their goals in an efficient manner. An activity diagram and a user case diagram based on the UML language were generated. Based on them a computerized model (CONSTRUCTION AUTOMATA) was developed to identify risks associated with specific work activities and provide the relevant safety instructions and training to mitigate them. The model automatically produces safety reports to record and serve as a knowledge management base for future reference thus eliminating possible human errors. The computer program was tested with available site images from an existing project and it proved to deliver its outputs according to its design. The developed model was then demonstrated to a selected group of relevant professionals and was seen to score well with ease of use mark of (6.17) and effectiveness as a health and safety tool mark of (6.37) out of a total mark of (10)

Conceptual modeling of public services: A metaphor-oriented analysis

Gegenstand dieser Dissertation ist die konzeptuelle Modellierung öffentlicher Dienstleistungen. Konzeptuelle Modelle öffentlicher Dienstleistungen dienen zur Beschreibung der Anwendungsdomänen von Informationssystemen, die zur Erbringung der öffentlichen Dienstleistungen eingesetzt werden. Sie beschreiben die fachlichen Konzepte, die in der Domäne relevant sind und in den Informationssystemen implementiert werden. Deshalb nehmen die konzeptuellen Modelle im Entwicklungsprozess dieser Informationssysteme eine wichtige Rolle ein. Als sprachliche Ausdrücke spiegeln konzeptuelle Modelle zudem wider, wie der Modellierer die Anwendungsdomäne bewusst aber auch unbewusst konzeptuell erschließt. Vor diesem Hintergrund wird im Rahmen dieser Dissertation die konzeptuelle Modellierung öffentlicher Dienstleistungen aus Sicht der sogenannten Theorie der konzeptuellen Metapher (conceptual metaphor theory) untersucht. Diese Theorie basiert auf der Grundannahme, dass es sich bei Metaphern nicht um Kombinationen von Wörtern aus unterschiedlichen Domänen handelt. Vielmehr sind (konzeptuelle) Metaphern als eine Abbildung von Konzepten einer Quelldomäne auf die Konzepte einer Zieldomäne zu verstehen. Konzeptuelle Metaphern sind folglich ein kognitiver Mechanismus, mittels dessen eine Zieldomäne, wie z. B. die der hier betrachteten Domäne der öffentlichen Dienstleistungen, konzeptuell erschlossen wird. Ziel dieser Dissertation ist es, zu erarbeiten, mit welchen konzeptuellen Metaphern das Konzept der öffentlichen Dienstleistung konzeptuell erschlossen wird. Darüber hinaus soll gezeigt werden, wie die konzeptuellen Metaphern in konzeptuellen Modellen öffentlicher Dienstleistungen realisiert sind. Dazu wird in dieser Dissertation eine für diese Untersuchung geeignete Methode zur Identifikation und Beschreibung von konzeptuellen Metaphern für das Konzept der öffentlichen Dienstleistung erarbeitet. Die Methode wird auf Veröffentlichungen zum Thema der konzeptuellen Modellierung öffentlicher Dienstleistungen angewendet. Das Ergebnis der Untersuchung ist ein Katalog konzeptueller Metaphern für das Konzept der öffentlichen Dienstleistung. Der Katalog umfasst 23 konzeptuelle Metaphern, die modelliert und erläutert werden. Ferner werden Voraussetzungen und Beispiele für die Anwendung der jeweiligen konzeptuellen Metapher gegeben.Subject of this thesis is the conceptual modeling of public services. Conceptual models describe the domains of information systems used for providing public services. Conceptual models of public services play a key role in the development process of such information systems because conceptual models describe the relevant concepts of the domain which will be “implemented” in these information systems. As conceptual models are also lingual artifacts they reflect the modeler’s view on the domain described. This also includes how the modeler himself conceptualizes and understands the domain. Against this background, the conceptual modeling of public services is analyzed from the perspective of the so-called conceptual metaphor theory. The main assumption of the conceptual metaphor theory is that metaphors are not just unusual combination of words coming from different domains but mappings of concepts of a source domain to the concepts of a target domain. As such, conceptual metaphors are a crucial mechanism in understanding and conceptualizing the target domain, such as the domain of public services. This thesis intends to identify conceptual metaphors used to conceptualize the concept of public service and to analyze how such conceptual metaphors are realized in conceptual models for public services. To this end, a definition of the concept of conceptual metaphor as well as a method for identifying, describing, and modeling conceptual metaphors for the concept of public service are developed. Applying the definition and the method on publications regarding the conceptual modeling of public services, 23 conceptual metaphors for the concept of public services are identified, described and modeled. Furthermore, prerequisites and examples for applying these conceptual metaphors in the context of conceptual modeling are given

A feasibility study for the development of sustainable theoretical framework for smart air-conditioning

Air-conditioning as a technical solution to protect inhabitants from excessive heat exposure creates the challenge of expanding global warming and climate change. While air-conditioning has mostly been applied as an improvement to living conditions, health and environmental problems associated with its use frequently occur. Therefore, this study challenges and extends existing knowledge on sustainability-related to smart air-conditioning systems, where social, environmental and economic dynamics were considered. For instance, when exploring renewable-based options, advanced smart control techniques and profitability measures of air-conditioning reinforce the three pillars of sustainability. In addition to eradicating indoor health effects, this also helps to combat climate change through the system’s sustainability. As an exercise in conceptual modelling, the principal component analysis accounts for sustainable planning and its integration into the theoretical framework. The newly proposed photovoltaic solar air-conditioning was optimised using Polysun to demonstrate the significant application of solar energy in air-conditioning systems, thereby reducing the level of energy consumption and carbon emissions. The newly proposed fuzzy proportional-integral-derivative controller and backpropagation neural network were optimised using Matlab to control the indoor temperature and CO2 level appropriately. The controller of the indoor environment was designed, and the proportional-integral-derivative control was utilised as a result of its suitability. The smart controllers were designed to regulate the parameters automatically to ensure an optimised control output. The performance of photovoltaic solar air-conditioning in different temperate climates of Rome, Toulouse and London districts achieved a higher coefficient of performance of 3.37, 3.69 and 3.97, respectively. The system saved significant amount of energy and carbon emissions. The indoor temperature and indoor CO2 possess an appropriate time constant and settling time, respectively. The profitability assessment of the system revealed its adequate efficiency with an overall payback period of 5.5 years

Reusando Modelos Conceituais : Linguagem e Compilador

TCC(graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro Tecnológico. Ciências da Computação.Este relatório apresenta uma linguagem textual para modelagem con- ceitual (baseada em classes/associações da UML e em restrições da OCL) e um compilador que pode gerar código em qualquer linguagem ou tecnologia através de templates de texto extensíveis. A linguagem e o compilador permitem a especificação da informação gerenciada por sistemas de software cada vez mais distribuídos e em constante mu- dança. A partir de uma única fonte, a geração de código automática mantém as implementações consistentes com sua especificação atra- vés das diferentes plataformas e tecnologias. Além disso, na medida em que o horizonte tecnológico se expande, os templates textuais po- dem ser modificados para adotar novas tecnologias. Diferentemente de outras abordagens, tais como MDA e MPS, espera-se que o suporte fer- ramental acompanhando esta linguagem, juntamente com sua natureza textual, facilite a integração do desenvolvimento de software dirigido por modelos no fluxo de trabalho dos desenvolvedores de software