Supporting process reuse in PROMENADE

Process reuse (the ability to construct new processes by assembling already built ones) and process harvesting (the ability to build generic processes that may be further reused, from existing ones) are two crucial issues in process technology. Both activities involve defining a set of mechanisms, like abstraction, adaptation, composition, etc. which are appropriate to achieve their goals. In this report, we define a general framework to process reuse and harvesting that proposes a complete set of mechanisms to deal with both activities. This general framework is particularized to the context of a process modelling language to model software processes, called PROMENADE. A definition of the identified reuse and harvesting mecha-nisms is proposed in the context of PROMENADE. Finally, two process reuse case studies which composes various reuse mechanisms are presented.Postprint (published version

Software process modelling as relationships between tasks

Systematic formulation of software process models is currently a challenging problem in software engineering. We present an approach to define models covering the phases of specification, design, implementation and testing of software systems in the component programming framework, taking into account non-functional aspects of software (efficiency, etc.), automatic reusability of implementations in systems and also prototyping techniques involving both specifications and implementations. Our proposal relies on the identification of a catalogue of tasks that appear during these phases which satisfy some relationships concerning their order of execution. A software process model can be defined as the addition of more relationships over these tasks using a simple, modular process language. We have developed also a formal definition of correctness of a software development with respect to a software process model, based on the formulation of models as graphs.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Electrificació i estudi tèrmic per realitzar una casa sostenible

L'objectiu del projecte és aconseguir una vivenda sostenible, basada en la utilització d'energies renovables i en l'ús eficient de l'energia aconseguint un compromís amb l'aspecte econòmic. Es defineixen les característiques de la vivenda, parcel·la, així com la seva ubicació. S’ha realitzat un estudi i càlcul, dels elements elèctrics necessaris a utilitzar, així com la seva potència i s’han pogut determinar les previsions de càrrega. La previsió de càrrega s’ha realitzat tenint en compte el RBT, el CTE, el RITE i altre tipus de legislació vigent. Un cop trobades les previsions de càrrega s’han dibuixat uns plànols on en ells es dibuixaran tots els elements que composen la instal·lació. L’estudi s’ha centrat en la realització d’aspectes sostenibles, ecològics i medi ambientals; com han sigut el càlcul i la producció de l’energia elèctrica necessària mitjançant panells solars fotovoltaics. Seguidament, s’ha centrat amb el tema del confort de la casa, realitzant el càlcul de les càrregues tèrmiques, tant en el tema de la calefacció que s’ha optat pel terra radiant, com en el subministrament de l’aigua calenta sanitària (ACS), les dues parts mitjançat panells solars tèrmics. S’ha realitzat un estudi minuciós per captar l’aigua de pluja en un dipòsit, la qual desprès es retornada a la instal·lació interior, per utilitzar-la en els llocs que no són d’ús de boca. Seguint el mateix procés, també s’ha realitzat un estudi per poder recollir i tractar les aigües residuals de la vivenda, tenint l’opció en un futur d’un reaprofitament d’aquesta aigua. Cal destacar també que s’ha realitzat una valoració econòmica detallada de tots els punts tractats, i es compara l’estalvi econòmic que aporta un disseny sostenible. Per concloure, s'ha efectuat un estudi d’impacte ambiental que compara la totalitat de l’energia elèctrica produïda pròpiament per l’edifici respecte la demanda energètica real. Amb l'objectiu de poder determinar que l’edifici és totalment autosuficient i la viabilitat per a la seva posterior aplicació. Un altre punt diferent de l'estalvi energètic que s'aconsegueix, és la disminució de les emissions de CO2 aconseguides gràcies a la utilització d'aquestes instal·lacions sostenibles

A multi-version algorithm for cooperative edition of hierarchically-structured documents

Several approaches do exist to solve the problem of editing a text document cooperatively in real time. We believe that those approaches could be improved in two ways: (1) preserving the intention of the participants in a better manner and (2) benefiting from a hierarchical document structure (as in XML). This article presents an algorithm for cooperative edition of documents that (1) achieves intention preservation by keeping different versions of the concurrently accessed document fragments and that (2) reduces concurrency conflicts by restricting them to hierarchically dependent fragments.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Browsing a component library using Non-functional Information

This paper highlights the role of non-functional information when reusing from a component library. We describe a method for selecting appropriate implementations of Ada packages taking non-functional constraints into account; these constraints model the context of reuse. Constraints take the form of queries using an interface description language called NoFun, which is also used to state non-functional information in Ada packages; query results are trees of implementations, following the import relationships between components. We define two different situations when reusing components, depending whether we take the library being searched as closed or extendible. The resulting tree of implementations can be manipulated by the user to solve ambiguities, to state default behaviours, and by the like. As part of the proposal, we face the problem of computing from code the non-functional information that determines the selection process

Using UML for modelling the static part of a software process

We study in this paper the use of UML as a tool for modelling the process of software construction. As a case study, we deal with the process of building a library of software components. UML is used in order to define the static part of the process, i.e., the elements that take part on it and their structural relationships. We think that our approach supports some interesting properties in the field of software process modelling (e.g.: modularity; expressivity in model construction; sound formal basis; and flexibility in model enactment). Besides showing the adequacy of UML for modelling the static part, the paper outlines also some drawbacks concerning the description of the dynamic behaviour of the process using only UML, and some possible solutions to them.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Un análisis espacial de las pautas de crecimiento y concentración de la población a partir de series homogéneas: España (1877-2001)

Este trabajo es una aportación a la forma de analizar las pautas de concentración de la población a largo plazo, aplicado en este caso a España. Se trata de una propuesta metodológica, basada en la homogeneización tanto de los datos como de su geografía administrativa tomando como referencia la estructura municipal del censo de 2001. Este trabajo se propone mostrar cómo el uso de técnicas de análisis espacial en este tipo de series homogéneas permite abordar en detalle el estudio de las pautas territoriales de la población. Las conclusiones más importantes a las que se llega son que en España el crecimiento sostenido de la población sigue unas pautas espaciales que se consolidan a lo largo del tiempo. Éstas culminan en una redistribución desigual de la población en el territorio, marcada por la existencia de unas zonas definidas y muy localizadas que sobrepasan los límites administrativos.This work constitutes a contribution to the analysis of long term patterns of population concentration applied to the case of Spain. The proposed methodology is based on the homogenisation of both data and administrative units which takes the municipal structure of the 2001 census as its base reference. This work seeks to show how applying spatial analysis techniques to this type of homogeneous data series allows us to make more detailed studies of population patterns within a given territory. The most important conclusions that we reached was that, in Spain, sustained population growth has followed a spatial pattern that has become increasingly consolidated over time. The tendencies observed have produced an uneven distribution of population within the national territory marked by the existence of a series of well-defined, and often very localised, areas that spread beyond the limits of the official administrative boundaries

A spatial analysis of patterns of growth and concentration of population based on homogeneous population censuses: Spain (1877-2001)

This work constitutes a contribution to the analysis of long term patterns of population concentration applied to the case of Spain. The proposed methodology is based on the homogenisation of both data and administrative units which takes the municipal structure of the 2001 census as its base reference. This work seeks to show how applying spatial analysis techniques to this type of homogeneous data series allows us to make more detailed studies of population patterns within a given territory. The most important conclusions that we reached was that, in Spain, sustained population growth has followed a spatial pattern that has become increasingly consolidated over time. The tendencies observed have produced an uneven distribution of population within the national territory marked by the existence of a series of well-defined, and often very localised, areas that spread beyond the limits of the official administrative boundaries

Inducing metaassociations and induced relationships

In the last years, UML has been tailored to be used as a domainspecific modelling notation in several contexts. Extending UML with this purpose entails several advantages: the integration of the domain in a standard framework; its potential usage by the software engineering community; and the existence of supporting tools. In previous work, we explored one particular issue of heavyweight extensions, namely, the definition of inducing metaassociations in metamodels as a way to induce the presence of specific relationships in their instances. Those relationships were intended by the metamodel specifier but not forced by the metamodel itself. However, our work was restricted to the case of induced associations. This paper proposes an extension to the general case in which inducing metaassociations may force the existence of arbitrary relationships at M1. To attain this goal, we provide a general definition of inducing metaassociation that covers all the possible cases. After revisiting induced associations, we show the inducement of the other relationship types defined in UML: association classes, generalization and dependencies.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author’s final draft

Discrepancies Regarding the Quality of Life of Patients with Alzheimer¿s Disease: A Three-Year Longitudinal Study

Cross-sectional studies report notable discrepancies between patient and caregiver ratings of the quality of life of patients (QoL-p) with Alzheimer¿s disease (AD). This study aimed to identify the factors associated with any changes in QoL-p ratings and any discrepancies between patient and caregiver ratings of QoL-p. Three-year follow-up of a cohort of non-institutionalized patients (n = 119). QoL-p was assessed by the Quality of Life in AD (QoL-AD) scale. We analyzed the influence of functional and cognitive status and behavioral problems in patients, and burden and mental health in caregivers. Repeated measures analysis was applied to the scores of patients and caregivers on the QoL-AD, and to the discrepancies between them. Generally, patients¿ own ratings remained stable over time (F 3,116 = 0.9, p = 0.439), whereas caregiver ratings showed a decline (F 3,116 = 9.4, p < 0.001). In the analysis of discrepancies, patients with anosognosia gave higher ratings (F 1,117 = 11.9, p = 0.001), whereas caregiver ratings were lower when the patient showed greater agitation (F 1,117 = 13.0, p < 0.001), apathy (F 1,117 = 15.4, p < 0.001), and disabilities (F 1,117 = 17.1, p < 0.001), and when the caregiver experienced greater burden (F 1,117 = 9.0, p = 0.003) and worse mental health (F 1,117 = 10.1, p = 0.003). Patient ratings of QoL-p remain generally stable over time, whereas those of caregivers show a decline, there being significant discrepancies in relation to specific patient and caregiver factors