A document management methodology based on similarity contents

The advent of the WWW and distributed information systems have made it possible to share documents between different users and organisations. However, this has created many problems related to the security, accessibility, right and most importantly the consistency of documents. It is important that the people involved in the documents management process have access to the most up-to-date version of documents, retrieve the correct documents and should be able to update the documents repository in such a way that his or her document are known to others. In this paper we propose a method for organising, storing and retrieving documents based on similarity contents. The method uses techniques based on information retrieval, document indexation and term extraction and indexing. This methodology is developed for the E-Cognos project which aims at developing tools for the management and sharing of documents in the construction domain

hydrogen embrittlement in pipelines transporting sour hydrocarbons

Abstract Lamination-like defects in pipeline steels can be of both metallurgical and operational origin. In pipelines transporting hydrocarbon usually such defects are not a big challenge since they do not propagate under operating conditions. Nonetheless, in presence of a corrosion phenomenon and sour gas (H2S), it is possible to observe blisters and cracks which may propagate in the steel. The observed damage mechanisms is Hydrogen Embrittlement and in spite of a huge amount of study and publications available, it is quite difficult for a pipeline owner to get practical data (crack propagation rate for instance) allowing a reliable estimate of the fitness for service of a pipeline. Taking advantage of a pipeline spool containing internal defects that was in service for more than 10 years and recently removed, a comprehensive study is underway to obtain a complete assessment of the pipeline future integrity. The program is comprehensive of study and comparison of ILI reports of the pipeline, to determine the optimum interval between inspections, assessment of inspection results via an accurate nondestructive (UT) and destructive examination of the removed section, to verify ILI results, lab tests program on specimens from the removed spool at operating conditions (75-80 bar and 30°-36° C) in presence of a small quantity of water, H2S (5%) and CO2 (7%), in order to assess defect propagation and to obtain an estimate of crack growth rate, and test in field of available methods to monitor the presence of Hydrogen and/or the growth of defects in in-service pipelines. This quite ambitious program is also expected to be able of offering a small contribution toward a better understanding of HE mechanisms and the engineering application of such complex, often mainly academic, studies

Coordinating multi-site construction projects using federated clouds

The requirements imposed by AEC (Architecture/Engineering/Construction) projects with regard to data storage and execution, on-demand data sharing and complexity on building simulations have led to utilising novel computing techniques. In detail, these requirements refer to storing the large amounts of data that the AEC industry generates — from building schematics to associated data derived from different contractors that are involved at various stages of the building lifecycle; or running simulations on building models (such as energy efficiency, environmental impact & occupancy simulations). Creating such a computing infrastructure to support operations deriving from various AEC projects can be challenging due to the complexity of workflows, distributed nature of the data and diversity of roles, profiles and location of the users. Federated clouds have provided the means to create a distributed environment that can support multiple individuals and organisations to work collaboratively. In this study we present how multi-site construction projects can be coordinated by the use of federated clouds where the interacting parties are represented by AEC industry organisations. We show how coordination can support (a) data sharing and interoperability using a multi-vendor Cloud environment and (b) process interoperability based on various stakeholders involved in the AEC project lifecycle. We develop a framework that facilitates project coordination with associated “issue status” implications and validate our outcome in a real construction project

Cloud computing for the architecture, engineering & construction sector: requirements, prototype & experience

The Architecture, Engineering \& Construction (AEC) sector is a highly fragmented, data intensive, project based industry, involving a number of very different professions and organisations. Projects carried out within this sector involve collaboration between various people, using a variety of different systems. This, along with the industry's strong data sharing and processing requirements, means that the management of building data is complex and challenging. This paper presents a solution to data sharing requirements of the AEC sector by utilising Cloud Computing. Our solution presents two key contributions, first a governance model for building data, based on extensive research and industry consultation. Second, a prototype implementation of this governance model, utilising the CometCloud autonomic cloud computing engine based on the Master/Work paradigm. we have integrated our prototype with the 3D modelling software Google Sketchup. The approach and prototype presented has applicability in a number of other eScience related applications involving multi-disciplinary, collaborative working using Cloud computing infrastructure

Experimental Study of Concrete Class Influence on Cracks Openings

The aim of this experimental work is to study reinforced concrete continuous beams cracking by considering different classes of concretes. As it is well known, the design of reinforced concrete structures considers three limit states (limit state of collapse, limit state of strain and limit state of cracking). The cracks in reinforced concrete structures are admitted in the phase II (cracked sections). Thus, the phenomenon of cracks can be treated as a normal state only when the cracks opening is limited to avoid a permanent risk of collapse and ensure durability for the civil engineering constructions. Tests on real scale reinforced concrete continuous beams were carried out under concentrated loads increasing from zero up to collapse. The influence of the concrete classes on crack opening has been investigated

Coordinating data analysis and management in multi-layered clouds

We introduce an architecture for undertaking data processing across multiple layers of a distributed computing infrastructure, composed of edge devices (making use of Internet-of-Things (IoT) based protocols), intermediate gateway nodes and large scale data centres. In this way, data processing that is intended to be carried out in the data centre can be pushed to the edges of the network -- enabling more efficient use of data centre and in-network resources. We suggest the need for specialist data analysis and management algorithms that are resource-aware, and are able to split computation across these different layers. We propose a coordination mechanism that is able to combine different types of data processing capability, such as in-transit and in-situ. An application scenario is used to illustrate the concepts, subsequently evaluated through a multi-site deployment

Toward Face Biometric De-identification using Adversarial Examples

The remarkable success of face recognition (FR) has endangered the privacy of internet users particularly in social media. Recently, researchers turned to use adversarial examples as a countermeasure to privacy attacks. In this paper, we assess the effectiveness of using two widely known adversarial methods (BIM and ILLC) for de-identifying personal images. We discovered, unlike previous claims in the literature, that it is not easy to get a high protection success rate (suppressing identification rate) with imperceptible adversarial perturbation to the human visual system. Finally, we found out that the transferability of adversarial examples is highly affected by the training parameters of the network with which they are generated

Comportement agronomique d'une collection de pois (Pisum sativum L)

Agronomical Behaviour of a Pea Collection (Pisum sativum L.). This experience was achieved under greenhouse conditions. Twelve genotypes of pea were used (Asgrow, Jumbo, Lincoln, Merveille de Kelvedon, Purser, Rajai Torpe, Snajor Kosep, Korai,Wando, Rondo, local genotype, Major Kosep Korai and Surgevil). They were cultivated on peat during 5.5 months (from October to April). Some agronomical parameters were studied: resistance to diseases, (Powdery-mildew, mildew, top yellow virus, anthracnose, browning), fresh matter, number of branches/plant, number of flowers/plant, number of pods/ plant and the yield of grains /plant. Results showed that only the genotype Purser is resistant to all diseases and Surgevil is sensitive only to the Top Yellow virus. The local genotype is sensitive to three frequent diseases (Powdery-mildew, mildew and Anthracnose). With regard to vegetative growth, the highest yield of fresh matter do not contribute towards a high fertility rate. In fact, only the genotypes having a weak yield of fresh matter (Snajor Kosep Korai, Asgrow, Major Kosep Korai, Rajai Torpe and Purser) have the most important rate of fertility (> 30%). Within this group, the most important yield (> 9 g/plant) is a result of high: number of pods/plant (7.5 to 21.6) and of grains/pod (2.8 to 4.92). Finally, genotype Purser should be retained for farmers and programs of genetic amelioration for its resistance to diseases and agronomical performances