Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2008. / A thesis submitted to the University of Western Sydney, College of Health and Science, School of Computing and Mathematics, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Includes bibliographical references.

This research aims to explore if and to what extent the IPO-Year R&D investments of 32 Application Software companies return value, as measured through stock performance. By utilizing “Ordinary Least Squares Analysis” and the “Fama-French Three Factor Model,” this research explores how the initial R&D investments in “IPO-Year” impact stock returns during the three years post-IPO. This study is purposed to discover if and how long it takes for the initial R&D investment in the IPO-Year to materialize into stock performance for Application Software companies. However, the research and analysis indicates that R&D expenditures in an IPO-Year is not a statistically significant variable in influencing stock performance.

O desenvolvimento de sistemas com eficácia, eficiência e satisfação dos usuários tem feito com que a usabilidade se torne uma característica importante na avaliação de qualidade de um produto de software. A análise da interação do usuário com o sistema é uma das formas de mensurar essa característica. Novas tecnologias permitem a criação de sistemas com foco na qualidade de interação do usuário, com grande parte do processamento ocorrendo no lado cliente, como as Aplicações Internet Ricas ou simplesmente RIAs, de Rich Internet Applications. No entanto, os dados de interação do usuário armazenados no servidor web são insuficientes para extrair conhecimento útil sobre a qualidade da interação. Este trabalho apresenta uma abordagem para avaliação automática de usabilidade através da aplicação de clustering e métricas na análise de log de RIAs. A abordagem proposta utiliza a Web Application Usage Tracking Tool, WAUTT, para capturar a interação do usuário e o algoritmo X-Means para realizar o agrupamento dos dados. O resultado da avaliação automática emprega métricas que fornecem informação quantitativa a respeito da usabilidade de sistemas web e que poderão ser utilizadas pelo avaliador para auxiliar na tomada de decisão. As informações obtidas com as métricas foram comparadas a um método de avaliação tradicional, a avaliação heurística, para corroborar os resultados obtidos pela abordagem proposta. O clustering foi uma técnica útil para reduzir o volume de dados e permitira ao avaliador concentrar os seus esforços em determinados grupos de usuários com comportamentos semelhantes. A aplicação de métricas aos clusters permitiu realizar uma avaliação de usabilidade quantitativa para auxiliar a tomada de decisão em relação a algumas das subcaracterísticas de usabilidade. A avaliação automática de usabilidade realizada tem potencial para auxiliar no desenvolvimento de sistemas web. / The development of systems with effectiveness, efficiency and user satisfaction has made that usability become an important feature in quality assessment of software products. The analysis of user interaction data with the system is one way to measure this feature. New technologies allow the creation of systems with focus on quality of user interaction and a large part of the processing occurs on the client side, as Rich Internet Applications, from RIAs for short. However, user interaction data stored on the webserver are insufficient to extract useful knowledge about the quality of interaction. This dissertation presents an approach for automatic usability evaluation by applying clustering and metrics in log analysis of RIAs. The proposed approach uses the Web Application Usage Tracking Tool, WAUTT, to capture user interaction and the X-means algorithm to perform clustering. The result of the automatic evaluation applies metrics that provide quantitative information about the usability of web systems and may be used to assist evaluators in making decisions. Information obtained from metrics were compared to a traditional evaluation method, heuristic evaluation, to corroborate the results obtained by the proposed approach. Clustering was a useful technique to reduce the volume of data and allowed the evaluator focus their efforts on certain groups of users with similar behaviors. The application of metrics enabled perform a quantitative usability evaluation to assist the decision making process about some usability subcharacteristics. The automatic usability evaluation conducted as the proposed approach has the potential to assist in developing web systems.

Este trabalho consiste na investigação, síntese e validação prática de um sistema de controle robusto baseado na minimização das normas H2 e H∞, por meio da utilização de desigualdades matriciais lineares, para a estabilização de um processo multivariável. Propõe-se a utilização de um sistema não-linear com duas entradas e duas saídas, que consistem no controle de variáveis de temperatura e nível de fluido em um reservatório. Serão apresentados os principais aspectos estruturais e tecnológicos do sistema a ser utilizado, assim como os fundamentos de estratégias de controle robusto moderno. As estruturas de controle serão implementadas por meio de controlador programável para automação CompactRIO, em conjunto com o software de desenvolvimento LabVIEW. / This work consists of the investigation, synthesis and practical validation of a robust control system based on minimization of H2 and H∞ norms, using linear matrix inequalities, for stabilization of a multivariable process. A study case on a nonlinear system with two imputs and two outputs is proposed, which consists of the control of temperature variables and fluid level in a reservoir. The main structural and system technology to be used and the fundamentals of modern control strategies will be presented. Control structures will be implemented by the programmable automation controller CompactRIO, together with LabVIEW software development.

Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) are softwares that aims to represent human behavior inherent in the teaching process in any particular field in order to support the activities of teachers and offer a adapted teaching to students. ITSs have great potential both in the classroom teaching as the distance, however, its construction is a complex and expensive task that requires the presence of specialized professionals in computing and system domain being compounded when you need to build ITSs large-scale and adapted to each area. In this sense, the approach Software Product Lines (SPL) allows to build large-scale ITS. Complementarily, ontologies can be used to allow such a construction is automatically adaptable to different domains. However, in the application engineering phase of the SPL, when ITS are instantiated, is required manipulation of ontologies and different software artifacts, demanding the presence of professionals with expertise in ontology and software engineering, making it difficult the accomplishment of this task by authors / designers. Given the above, we propose an ontology-based model to automate the SPL application engineering for intelligent tutoring systems. Specifically, it is intended to automate the processes of customization, instantiation and deployment of an ITS of a SPL, making the manipulation of ontologies and software artifacts transparent to the user. The proposed model uses ontologies to represent the features and constraints of a generic SPL, the specific features for ITSs, the decisions of the author in terms of which features will be part of the ITS to be generated and the information of the student. The SPL application engineering process is performed by components that lead author by the steps of authentication in the system, selection of the SPL to be instantiated, customization/configuration of the features of ITS, validation, generation and deployment of ITS on a Web server. In order to validate the proposed model has been built a tool that automates the generation of products in a SPL. This tool was used on a case study involving the application engineering of an ITS from a SPL. The obtained results showed to be adequate singled out as major contributions, the design and development of a semantic model for the SPL application engineering for ITSs, this model guides the author through the process making transparent the use of ontologies and SPL, helps reduce complexity and effort (i.e., workload) in the construction of ITSs from semantic SPL, reduces the skills required to instantiate ITSs what can enable more people to perform this task and allows properly validate the configuration of the features of the ITS to be instantiated, allowing only products without misconfigurations can be generated. / Sistemas Tutores Inteligentes (STIs) são softwares que buscam representar o comportamento humano inerente ao processo de ensino em algum domínio específico com o objetivo de dar suporte às atividades de professores e oferecer um ensino adaptado aos estudantes. Os STIs têm grande potencialidade tanto no ensino presencial quanto a distância, entretanto, sua construção é uma tarefa complexa e dispendiosa que demanda a presença de profissionais especializados em computação e domínio do sistema sendo agravado quando se necessita construir STIs em larga escala e adaptados a cada domínio. Nesse sentido, a abordagem de Linhas de Produto de Software (LPS) possibilita construir STIs em larga escala. De forma complementar, ontologias podem ser utilizadas para permitir que tal construção seja automaticamente adaptável para diferentes domínios. Porém, na fase de engenharia da aplicação da LPS, momento em que os STIs são instanciados, faz-se necessária a manipulação de ontologias e artefatos de software distintos, demandando a presença de profissionais com conhecimentos em ontologia e engenharia de software, o que dificulta a realização dessa tarefa por autores/projetistas. Com base no exposto propõe-se neste trabalho um modelo baseado em ontologia para automatizar a engenharia de aplicação de LPS para sistemas tutores inteligentes. De maneira específica pretende-se automatizar o processo de customização, instanciação e implantação de STIs de uma LPS, tornando transparente ao usuário a manipulação de ontologias e artefatos de software. O modelo proposto utiliza ontologias para representar as funcionalidades e restrições de uma LPS genérica, as funcionalidades específicas para STIs, as decisões do autor em termos de quais funcionalidades farão parte do STI a ser gerado e as informações do aluno. O processo de engenharia de aplicação da LPS é realizado por componentes que conduzem o autor pelas etapas de autenticação no sistema, seleção da LPS a ser instanciada, customização/configuração das funcionalidades do STI, validação, geração e implantação de um STI em um servidor Web. Para validar o modelo proposto foi construída uma ferramenta que automatiza a geração de produtos em uma LPS. Tal ferramenta foi utilizada em um estudo de caso abrangendo a engenharia de aplicação de um STI a partir de uma LPS. Os resultados obtidos mostram-se adequados apontando como principais contribuições a concepção e desenvolvimento de um modelo semântico para a engenharia de aplicação de LPS para STIs, este modelo guia o autor pelo processo tornando transparente o uso de ontologias e LPS, auxilia na redução da complexidade e do esforço empregado (i.e., carga de trabalho) na construção de STIs a partir de LPS semântica, reduz as qualificações exigidas para instanciar STIs ao qual pode possibilitar que mais pessoas realizem essa tarefa e permite validar corretamente a configuração das funcionalidades do STI a ser instanciado de forma que apenas produtos sem erros de configuração sejam gerados.

Problems in formal verification are often stated in terms of finite automata and extensions thereof. In this thesis we investigate several such algorithmic problems. In the first part of the thesis we develop a theory of completeness thresholds in Bounded Model Checking. A completeness threshold for a given model M and a specification φ is a bound k such that, if no counterexample to φ of length k or less can be found in M, then M in fact satisfies φ. We settle a problem of Kroening et al. [KOS⁺11] in the affirmative, by showing that the linearity problem for both regular and ω-regular specifications (provided as finite automata and Buchi automata respectively) is PSPACE-complete. Moreover, we establish the following dichotomies: for regular specifications, completeness thresholds are either linear or exponential, whereas for ω-regular specifications, completeness thresholds are either linear or at least quadratic in the recurrence diameter of the model under consideration. Given a formula in a temporal logic such as LTL or MTL, a fundamental problem underpinning automata-based model checking is the complexity of evaluating the formula on a given finite word. For LTL, the complexity of this task was recently shown to be in NC [KF09]. In the second part of the thesis we present an NC algorithm for MTL, a quantitative (or metric) extension of LTL, and give an AC¹ algorithm for UTL, the unary fragment of LTL. We then establish a connection between LTL path checking and planar circuits which, among others, implies that the complexity of LTL path checking depends on the Boolean connectives allowed: adding Boolean exclusive or yields a temporal logic with P-complete path-checking problem. In the third part of the thesis we study the decidability of the reachability problem for parametric timed automata. The problem was introduced over 20 years ago by Alur, Henzinger, and Vardi [AHV93]. It is known that for three or more parametric clocks the problem is undecidable. We translate the problem to reachability questions in certain extensions of parametric one-counter machines. By further reducing to satisfiability in Presburger arithmetic with divisibility, we obtain decidability results for several classes of parametric one-counter machines. As a corollary, we show that, in the case of a single parametric clock (with arbitrarily many nonparametric clocks) the reachability problem is NEXP-complete, improving the nonelementary decision procedure of Alur et al. The case of two parametric clocks is open. Here, we show that the reachability is decidable in this case of automata with a single parameter.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-26T13:24:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 753117 bytes, checksum: 467a65eb943f05efb0eeeb4310611e6c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-02-28 / Universidade Federal de Viçosa / For grain storage facility management, different unit operations are involved such as: receiving, cleaning, drying, storage and dispatching. To perform these operations, different structures, equipments, labor, energy and inputs are needed. Several research works have being done on analyzing the grain storage facility costs, although few of them take into account the analysis of factors associated to all preprocessing and storage steps. Therefore the objective of this work was to develop an internet decision support system for determining the grain storage facility costs and charging rates in grain store facilities. The costs were determined for each unit operation including depreciation, repair, maintenance, insurance, labor housing, energy, inputs, permanent and temporary labor. For estimating the drying and cleaning systems capacities, technical coefficient values were defined as function of the physical properties of the products. The reception and dispatching costs were calculated in terms of tones of received product by the storage facility assuming the annual capacity occupancy index and its static capacity. The cleaning and drying costs were calculated assuming the type, moisture content and impurity content. In order to estimate the effective processing capacity technical coefficients were applied. The cost of storage operations were calculated in terms of tones per stored product for a period of 15 days assuming the occupational index, the facility static capacity and the bulk density of the product. The CONAB storage facilities located in Uberaba-MG and Ponta Grossa-PR were implemented in the system for generating the results according to their specific characteristics. In applying the decision support system it was observed that the reception and dispatching costs reduced exponentially as tones of received product of the storage facility increased, in another hand the reception cost increased more intensively than the dispatching costs. For the cleaning and drying costs, the costs behavior was approximately linear and increasing as the initial moisture content increased. The drying cost for Ponta Grossa facility presented an increase in the intensity of the cost rising with the drying final moisture content reduction. The Uberaba storage facility presented approximately the same intensity of drying cost rising with drying reduction of the final moisture content. The storage cost increased exponentially with the reduction of occupational index of the storage facility. According to the results it can be concluded that it is important to consider the type of the product, moisture content and product impurities content, occupational index and storage facility turning as well other operational details on storage facility management are considered important for composing the final costs of reception, cleaning, drying, storing and dispatching operations. / O funcionamento de unidades armazenadoras de grãos envolve operações unitárias, tais como recepção, limpeza, secagem, armazenagem e expedição. Para a execução dessas operações, utilizam-se edificações, maquinários, mão-de-obra, energia e insumos. Vários trabalhos de análise de custos em unidades armazenadoras de produtos agrícolas têm sido conduzidos, mas poucos abordam análises dos efeitos dos fatores associados a cada uma das etapas do pré-processamento e armazenagem. Deste modo, o objetivo deste trabalho foi desenvolver um sistema de apoio à decisão com acesso pela internet para determinação de custos e tarifas em unidades armazenadoras de produtos agrícolas. Os custos foram determinados considerando as especificações de cada uma das operações unitárias no que se refere à depreciação, reparo e manutenção, seguros, impostos e alojamento, energia, insumos, mão-de-obra permanente e temporária. Os custos de recepção e expedição foram calculados por tonelada de produto recebido pela unidade armazenadora, considerando o índice de rotatividade e sua capacidade estática. Os custos para as operações de limpeza e secagem foram calculados, considerando o tipo, teor de umidade e impureza do produto. Para isso, foram utilizados coeficientes técnicos para estimativa da capacidade efetiva de processamento. Os custos na operação de armazenagem foram calculados por tonelada de produto armazenado para um período de 15 dias, considerando o índice de ocupação, capacidade estática da unidade armazenadora e massa específica do produto. As unidades da CONAB, localizadas em Uberaba-MG e Ponta Grossa-PR, foram implementadas no sistema para geração de resultados conforme suas características específicas. Ao empregar o sistema de apoio à decisão, constatou-se que os custos de recepção e expedição se reduzem exponencialmente com o aumento do índice de rotatividade da unidade armazenadora: crescendo o custo de recepção com maior intensidade que o custo de expedição. Para os custos de limpeza e secagem, os comportamentos dos custos foram aproximadamente lineares e crescentes com o aumento do teor de umidade inicial do produto. O custo de secagem para a unidade de Ponta Grossa apresentou um aumento nas intensidades de crescimento do custo com a redução do teor de umidade final de secagem. A unidade de Uberaba apresentou, aproximadamente, as mesmas intensidades de crescimento do custo de secagem com a redução do teor de umidade final. O custo de armazenagem apresentou um comportamento exponencial crescente com a redução do índice de ocupação da unidade armazenadora. Com os resultados obtidos, pode-se concluir que a consideração do tipo de produto, teor de umidade e impureza do produto, índice de ocupação e rotação da unidade armazenadora, bem como os demais detalhes operacionais de funcionamento de uma unidade armazenadora de produtos agrícolas são importantes na composição final dos custos de recepção, limpeza, secagem, armazenagem e expedição.

Submitted in fulfillment of the academic requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Information Technology, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016. / Motivated by the literature regarding the need for further research on client participation in software development, a systemic framework for the understanding of client requirements in Information System development projects is developed. This systemic framework is particularly relevant for project contexts characterized by diversity of stakeholder values and complexity. To address this complexity, research led to the selection of methods from three systems methodologies and the conclusion for the need to mix them in the process of requirements understanding by clients. The mixing of methods from various methodologies is justified through the principles of Critical Systems Practice, and the process of their use is guided by Action Design Research. In spite of the strong research tradition associated with Soft Systems Methodology and the growing interest in the Work System Method, the level of use of these by practitioners is not high because complex project situations require harnessing of the strengths of more than one methodology. The proposed framework also includes a third system methodology Critical Systems Heuristics. This study demonstrated how the meta-methodology Critical Systems Practice is applied in justifying the selection and the mix of methods from the above three methodologies in the proposed framework. The principles of design science were applied, where the framework is the design artifact that is developed. Action Research was used to guide evaluation of the framework in the pilot study. The framework was applied in a pilot study to the understanding of the management of a Wellness Centre which operates within the Kenneth Gardens Housing Estate, through action research. As a result of the pilot study some modifications were made to the framework and the process of its implementation. The modified framework was applied in a further main study concerning the management of the Kenneth Gardens Housing Estate which has a broader context than the pilot study. The contribution of this research to the field of Information Systems is both theoretical and practical. One theoretical contribution is provision of a framework for clearer understanding of software requirements by clients. The second theoretical contribution is that Action Design Research is enhanced by adding proper justification for the methods included in the framework through the application of Critical Systems Thinking and Critical Systems Practice. The practical contribution is through the demonstration of Action Design Research being applied to a real-world problem in both the pilot and the main study. / D

The theme of this thesis is to analyze current technological trends with a focus on open source software in terms of relevance and importance for enterprises. The main objective is to evaluate the current status of open source software for Czech enterprises and characterize the progress based on data from 2010 and 2015. The thesis describes the basic forms of software used by companies which are further categorized based on the functionality and usability. The specifics of open source software and its licenses are defined. Subsequently the selection of specific open source licenses, generally perceived views on their use and the status of open source software in various stages of its existence are described. Analytical part describes the results of the author's survey in Czech enterprises in terms of open source software application for 2015. The results are compared with data from 2010 and appropriate conclusions are defined. Finally, the hypotheses are connected with the results of the author's survey, data comparison, available open source methodologies and other sources for an overall assessment of the situation in the Czech Republic.

The development of enterprise software is a complex activity that requires a diverse set of stakeholders to communicate and coordinate in order to achieve a successful outcome. In this dissertation I introduce a high-level physical architecture for a platform titled FeatureIT that has the goal of supporting the collaboration between stakeholders throughout the entire Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). FeatureIT is the result of unifying the theoretical foundations of the multi-disciplinary field of Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) with the paradigm and associated technologies of Web 2.0. The architecture was borne out a study of literature in the fields of CSCW, Web 2.0 and software engineering, which facilitated the identification of functional and non-functional requirements necessary for the platform. The design science research methodology was employed to construct this architecture iteratively to satisfy the requirements while validating its efficacy against a comprehensive set of scenarios that typically occur in the SDLC. / Computing / M. Sc. (Information Systems)