Informationstechnische Integration im Bauwesen durch Nutzung fachspezifischen Anwenderwissens

Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird ein Integrationskonzept vorgestellt, bei dem das fachspezifische Wissen des Anwenders integraler Bestandteil des Konzeptes ist. Grundgedanke des Konzeptes ist es, die Informationen vorerst im Kontext der Anwendung, mit der sie erstellt wurden, zu belassen. Die Interpretation der Informationen erfolgt durch den Anwender, der diese Informationen zur Integration nutzen möchte. Er weiß, welche Daten er für seine Arbeiten benötigt, und er verfügt über das erforderliche fachspezifische Wissen, um die Informationen anderer Bearbeiter verstehen zu können. Damit ist es nicht erforderlich, die internen Datenstrukturen einer Software zu verstehen und in einem neutralen Format zu beschreiben. Die Integration erfolgt interaktiv am Bildschirm durch den Anwender. Das vorgestellt Konzept wird in den Kontext der in der Literatur beschriebenen Integrationskonzepte eingegliedert. Hierzu werden die Integrationskonzepte klassifiziert. Die Klassifikation erfolgt auf der Grundlage der Software-Architekturen. Das vorgestellte Integrationskonzept wird am Beispiel der Angebotsbearbeitung im Bauwesen konkretisiert

Modellierung der Prozesse als Basis der Informationssysteme für Bauunternehmen

Die fachlichen Grundlagen der Aufgaben, die in einem Bauunternehmen zu bearbeiten sind, wurden in verschiedenen Disziplinen entwickelt. Maßgeblich waren der Baubetrieb und die Betriebswirtschaftslehre. Die parallele Entwicklung hat jedoch dazu geführt, dass grundlegende Begriff und Verfahren zwischen den Disziplinen nicht aufeinander abgestimmt sind. Die verschiedenen Aufgaben beeinflussen jedoch einander. Innerhalb der jeweiligen Disziplin wurden Informationssysteme entwickelt, mit denen sich die Aufgaben aus der jeweiligen Disziplin bearbeiten lassen. Zur Verbindung der "verschiedenen Welten" existieren zwar ausgewählte Schnittstellen, eine durchgängige verteilte Bearbeitung der verschiedenen Aufgaben wird jedoch noch nicht umfassend unterstützt. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird ein Vorgehen vorgestellt, auf dessen Grundlage eine verteilte Bearbeitung der fachgebietsübergreifenden Aufgaben erfolgen kann. Das Vorgehen beruht auf der Modellierung der Prozesse sowie der zur Bearbeitung der als Bestandteil der Prozesse spezifizierten Aufgaben benötigten Informationen. Dieses Modell wird auf der Grundlage der Mengenlehre mit einem entsprechenden Werkzeug aufgebaut. Die Spezifikation der Informationen wird genutzt, um Datenbankschemata zu generieren, die Spezifikation der Aufgaben wird genutzt, um Werkzeuge zur Bearbeitung zu identifizieren. Diese Werkzeuge sind in Java als Applets implementiert und können über entsprechende Treiber auf die Datenbanken zugreifen. Das Prozessmodell wird in einem nächsten Schritt erweitert. Personen werden eingeführt. Diesen Personen werden Aufgaben zugewiesen, deren Bearbeitung sie ausführen sollen. Auf der Grundlage des erweiterten Prozessmodells werden die Applets, die eine Person benötigt, auf einer entsprechenden Internet-Seite zusammengestellt. Damit kann projektspezifisch ein Informationssystem zusammengestellt werden, das eine verteilte Bearbeitung der verschiedenartigen Aufgaben unterstützt

TOPOLOGICAL INFORMATION AS LEADING INFORMATION IN BUILDING PRODUCT MODELS

Digital models of buildings are widely used in civil engineering. In these models, geometric information is used as leading information. Engineers are used to have geometric information, and, for instance, it is state of the art to specify a point by its three coordinates. However, the traditional approaches have disadvantages. Geometric information is over-determined. Thus, more geometric information is specified and stored than needed. In addition, engineers already deal with topological information. A denotation of objects in buildings is of topological nature. It has to be answered whether approaches where topological information becomes a leading role would be more efficient in civil engineering. This paper presents such an approach. Topological information is modelled independently of geometric information. It is used for denoting the objects of a building. Geometric information is associated to topological information so that geometric information “weights” a topology. The concept presented in this paper has already been used in surveying existing buildings. Experiences in the use of this concept showed that the number of geometric information that is required for a complete specification of a building could be reduced by a factor up to 100. Further research will show how this concept can be used in planning processes

Progress Measurement in Planning Processes on the Base of Process Models

This paper presents a specific modeling technique that is focused on preparing planning processes in civil engineering. Planning processes in civil engineering are characterized by some peculiarities so that the sequence of planning tasks needs to be determined for each planning project. Neither the use of optimized partial processes nor the use of lower detailed and optimized processes guarantee an optimal overall planning process. The modeling technique considers these peculiarities. In a first step, it is focused on the logic of the planning process. Algorithms based on the graph theory determine that logic. This approach ensures consistency and logical correctness of the description of a planning process at the early beginning in its preparation phase. Sets of data – the products of engineers like technical drawings, technical models, reports, or specifications – form the core of the presented modeling technique. The production of these sets of data requires time and money. This is expressed by a specific weighting of each set of data in the presented modeling technique. The introduction of these weights allows an efficient progress measurement and controlling of a planning project. For this purpose, a link between the modeling technique used in the preparation phase and the execution phase is necessary so that target and actual values are available for controlling purposes. The present paper covers the description of this link. An example is given to illustrate the use of the modeling technique for planning processes in civil engineering projects

Modification Management for Planning and Construction Processes

Planning and construction processes are characterized by the peculiarity that they need to be designed individually for each project. It is necessary to set up an individual schedule for each project. As a basis for a new project, schedules from already finished projects are used, but adaptions are always necessary. In practice, scheduling tools only document a process. Schedules cover a set of activities, their duration and a set of interdependencies between activities. The design of a process is up to the user. It is not necessary to specify each interdependency, and completeness and correctness need to be checked manually. No methodologies are available to guarantee properties such as correctness or completeness. The considerations presented in the paper are based on an approach where a planning and a construction process including the interdependencies between planning and construction activities are regarded as a result. Selected information need to be specified by a user, and a proposal for an order of planning and construction activities is computed. As a consequence, process properties such as correctness and completeness can be guaranteed with respect to user input. Especially in Germany, clients are allowed to modify their requirements at any time. This leads to modifications in the planning and construction processes. This paper covers a mathematical formulation for this problem based on set theory. A complex structure is set up covering objects and relations; and operations are defined that guarantee consistency in the underlying and versioned process description. The presented considerations are based on previous work. This paper can be regarded as the next step in a series of previous work describing how a suitable concept for handling, planning and construction processes in civil engineering can be formed

Determination of Effects of Modefications during Planning Processes

Usually, the co-ordination of design and planning tasks of a project in the construction industries is done in a paper based way. Subsequent modifications have to be handled manually. The effects of modifications cannot be determined automatically. The approach to specify a complete process model before project start does not consider the requirements of the construction industries. The effort of specification at the beginning and during the process (modifications) does not justify the use of standard process model techniques. A new approach is presented in the according paper. A complete process model is deducted on the basis of a core. The core consists of process elements and specific relations between them. Modifications need to be specified in the core only. The effort of specification is therefore reduced. The deduction of the complete process is based on the graph theory. Algorithms of the graph theory are also used to determine the effects of modifications during project work

Covalency effects on the magnetism of EuRh2P2

In experiments, the ternary Eu pnictide EuRh2P2 shows an unusual coexistence of a non-integral Eu valence of about 2.2 and a rather high Neel temperature of 50 K. In this paper, we present a model which explains the non-integral Eu valence via covalent bonding of the Eu 4f-orbitals to P2 molecular orbitals. In contrast to intermediate valence models where the hybridization with delocalized conduction band electrons is known to suppress magnetic ordering temperatures to at most a few Kelvin, covalent hybridization to the localized P2 orbitals avoids this suppression. Using perturbation theory we calculate the valence, the high temperature susceptibility, the Eu single-ion anisotropy and the superexchange couplings of nearest and next-nearest neighbouring Eu ions. The model predicts a tetragonal anisotropy of the Curie constants. We suggest an experimental investigation of this anisotropy using single crystals. From experimental values of the valence and the two Curie constants, the three free parameters of our model can be determined.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, submitted to J. Phys.: Condens. Matte

Looking for crossmodal correspondences between classical music and fine wine

Background Wine writers sometimes compare wines to pieces of music, a particular musical style or artist, or even to specific musical parameters. To date, though, it is unclear whether such comparisons merely reflect the idiosyncratic matches of the writers concerned or whether instead they reflect more general crossmodal matching tendencies that would also be shared by others (e.g., social drinkers). In our first experiment, we looked for any consensual patterns of crossmodal matching across a group of 24 participants who were presented with four distinctive wines to taste. In our second experiment, three of the wines were presented with and without music and 26 participants were asked to rate the perceived sweetness, acidity, alcohol level, fruitiness, tannin level, and their own enjoyment of the wines. Results The results of experiment 1 revealed the existence of a significant agreement amongst the participants in terms of specific classical music - fine wine pairings that appeared to go particularly well (or badly) together. For example, Tchaikovsky’s String Quartet No 1 in D major turned out to be a very good match for the Château Margaux 2004 (red wine). Meanwhile, Mozart’s Flute Quartet in D major, K285 was found to be a good match for the Pouilly Fumé (white wine). The results of experiment 2 revealed that participants perceived the wine as tasting sweeter and enjoyed the experience more while listening to the matching music than while tasting the wine in silence. Conclusions Taken together, the results of the two experiments reported here suggest that people (social drinkers) share a number of crossmodal associations when it comes to pairing wines and music. Furthermore, listening to the appropriate classical music can enhance the overall experience associated with drinking wine. As such, our findings provide prima facie evidence to support the claim that comparing a wine to a particular style of music (as documented in the work of a number of wine writers) might provide the social drinker with useful clues about the sensory properties that they should expect to perceive in a wine should they eventually get to taste it

Governance of Digital Health Data on Cooperatively Organized Platforms – a Design Thinking Approach

More and more stakeholders are collecting data for improving their services: from scientific research over public administration to commercial enterprises. Existing data management services offer few rights of co-determination for their users. Data cooperatives aim to provide a democratic alternative to this. Through such a platform cooperative members are supposed to be enabled to share their data in a self-determined way. In this paper, we present a design thinking-based user research with stakeholders of data cooperatives in a health-data context. We provide an overview of motivations, expectations, and interfaces between a cooperative and individuals as cooperative members, organizations, representatives from research, and policy makers. In an iterative process, 34 interviews were conducted with different stakeholder groups, from which 7 personas were subsequently derived. For these, 4 prototypes were developed and tested with potential users. Our results show that all interviewed groups were very interested in the concept of data cooperatives. At the same time, it proves challenging to reconcile the conflicting internal and external requirements and to implement attractive value propositions for all stakeholders

Structure–property relationships of iron arsenide superconductors

Iron based superconductors sent material scientists into a renewed excitement reminiscent of the time when the first high-Tc superconductors were discovered 25 years ago. This feature article reviews relationships between structural chemistry and magnetic as well as superconducting properties of iron arsenide compounds, which are outstandingly rich and uniquely coupled. Particular attention is paid to the nature of the structural phase transitions of the parent compounds and their possible origins, on effects of doping on the crystal structures and on the coexistence of magnetic ordering and superconductivity. In spite of the many fascinating insights that have already enriched the research on superconductivity, many questions are still open and prove iron based superconductors to be a good recipe for future discoveries in this lively field