Improving model quality through foundational ontologies: Two contrasting approaches to the representation of roles

Several foundational ontologies have been developed recently. We examine two of these from the point of view of their quality in representing temporal changes, focusing on the example of roles. We discuss how these are modelled in two foundational ontologies: the Unified Foundational Ontology and the BORO foundational ontology. These exhibit two different approaches, endurantist and perdurantist respectively. We illustrate the differences using a running example in the university student domain, wherein one individual is not only a registered student but also, for part of this period, was elected the President of the Student Union. The metaphysical choices made by UFO and BORO lead to different representations of roles. Two key differences which affect the way roles are modelled are exemplified in this paper: (1) different criteria of identity and (2) differences in the way individual objects extend over time and possible worlds. These differences impact upon the quality of the models produced in terms of their respective explanatory power. The UFO model concentrates on the notion of validity in “all possible worlds” and is unable to accurately represent the way particulars are extended in time. The perdurantist approach is best able to describe temporal changes wherein roles are spatio-temporal extents of individuals

Estrategias de ahorro de energía eléctrica aplicables a la industria hotelera mexicana

Este trabajo de obtención de grado se diseñó bajo la modalidad de una investigación documental y evaluación económica financiera de un hipotético proyecto de inversión en un hotel ubicado en Quintana Roo, México. El objetivo principal fue recopilar y analizar las iniciativas y experiencias que han tenido organizaciones de la industria hotelera en el extranjero sobre el ahorro de energía eléctrica, y determinar la factibilidad de su implementación en México, así como cuantificar los beneficios económicos derivados de su aplicación y su contribución a la disminución de las emisiones de gases generadores del calentamiento global. Esta investigación presenta las estrategias para el ahorro en el consumo de energía eléctrica que pueden ser adoptadas por hoteles establecidos en México de categoría cinco estrellas, gran turismo y categoría especial (gran industria). No se tomaron para este estudio la pequeña y mediana industria turística mexicana. Con lo expuesto, esta investigación pretende ser la guía para la implementación de prácticas y dispositivos de ahorro de energía eléctrica aplicables en la industria hotelera mexicana

The Rule of the Jungle in Pakistan: A Case Study on Corruption and Forest Management in Swat

Corruption in the forest sector of Swat, Pakistan is impairing the sustainable management of forest. We analyze corruption in a case study setting against the backdrop of the reform options that are most often cited as possible solutions. As we highlight in this study, the crime and punishment approach is not feasibly implemented if the overall institutional environment is weak. Since countrywide overhaul of corruption through sweeping reform programs, the other reform approach, is a difficult and lengthy task, there is a need for an alternative kind of reform. In the case of a corruption-ridden centralised forest management regime, institutional reform should move away from enforcement of existing institutions and promote communal management of natural resources by locals

Domain Models are Aspect Free

Proponents of aspect orientation have successfully seeded the impression that aspects—like objects—are so fundamental a notion that they should pervade all phases and artefacts of the software development process. Aspect orientation has therefore proliferated from programming to design to analysis to requirements, sparing neither software processes nor their favourite languages. Since modelling plays an important role in software engineering, much effort is currently being invested in making modelling languages aspect ready. However, based on an observed lack of examples for domain level (or functional) aspects this paper argues the case against the omnipresence of aspects, particularly the existence of aspects in domain models, and offers some informal arguments as well as a semiformal proof in favour of the claims made

Toponimia y marginalidad geográfica: Los nombres de lugar como reflejo de una interpretación del espacio

En este artículo exploramos las posibilidades que ofrece la toponimia para el estudio aplicado de procesos de marginalidad geográfica. Tomando como ejemplo algunos topónimos de Cataluña y Aragón, y de otros lugares de la Península Ibérica, documentados al menos desde la Edad Media, analizamos la evolución de estos nombres en sí mismos y en relación al ámbito espacial al que se han aplicado, o se aplican. Se trata de observar, en definitiva, si la toponimia nos suministra una información significativa para evaluar los procesos de transformación y cambio que sufre el territorio, y de comprobar si las situaciones de marginalidad física reflejadas por algunos topónimos antiguos se han visto alteradas, o no, por el paso del tiemp

Fuzzy Medical Diagnosis

: Despite all standardization efforts, medical diagnosis is still considered an art. Much of this status is owed to the fact that medical diagnosis requires a proficiency in coping with uncertainty simply not found in today's computing machinery. Offering a generic and powerful framework for the remodelling of existing systems and the paradigms they are based on, fuzzy set theory promises to be a valuable contribution to the advancement of medical computing,, particularly as implementations begin to proliferate. With our work we provide an overview of fuzzy medical systems covering three different aspects of diagnosis: scoring, consultation, and diagnostic monitoring. Keywords: problems of medical diagnosis, medical scores, consultation systems, diagnostic monitoring 1. Introduction Medical diagnosis is the art of determining a person's pathological status from an available set of findings. Why is it an art? Because it is a problem complicated by many and manifold factors, an..