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Although design decisions that are made in the preliminary design stages of a building are more cost sensitive than those that are made at later stages, previous research suggests that they result in only a slight improvement in the accuracy of building price forecasts as the design develops. However, established conventional forecasting methods lack measures of their own performance, which has inhibited the development of simpler early-stage techniques. One early-stage price forecasting model, the Storey Enclosure Method, which was developed by James in 1954, uses the basic physical measurements of buildings to estimate building prices. Although James' Storey Enclosure Model (JSEM) is not widely used in practice, it has been proved empirically, if rather crudely, to be a better model than other commonly used models. This research aims firstly to advance JSEM by using regression techniques and secondly to develop an objective approach for the assessment of model performance. To accomplish the first research aim, this research uses data from 148 completed Hong Kong projects for four types of building: offices, private housing, nursing homes, and primary and secondary schools. Sophisticated features of the modelling exercise include the use of leave-one-out cross validation to simulate the way in which forecasts are produced in practice and a dual stepwise selection strategy that enhances the chance of identifying the best model. Two types ofregressed models from different candidate sets, the Regressed Model for James' Storey Enclosure Method (RJSEM) and Regressed Model for Advanced Storey Enclosure Method (RASEM), are developed accordingly. In considering the RJSEM, RASEM, and the most commonly used alternative early stage floor area and cube models, all of the models except JSEM are found to be unbiased. The RJSEM and RASEM models are also examined for their consistency using a structured approach that involves the use of both parametric and non-parametric inference tests. This shows that although the RASEMs for different building types are generally more consistent, they are not significantly better than the other models. Finally, the combination of the forecasts that are generated from different models to capture the different aspects of information from the models is suggested as an alternative strategy for improving forecasting performance.

Condition of infrastructure is deteriorated over time as it gets older. It is the deterioration model that predicts how and when facilities will deteriorate over time. In most infrastructure management system, the deterioration model is a crucial element. Using the deterioration model, it is very helpful to estimate when repair will be carried out, how much will be needed for the maintenance of the entire facilities, and what maintenance costs will be required during the life cycle of the facility. However, the study of deterioration model for civil infrastructures of ports is still in its infancy. In particular, there is almost no related research in South Korea. Thus, this study aims to develop a deterioration model for civil infrastructure of ports in South Korea. There are various methods such as Deterministic, Stochastic, and Artificial Intelligence to develop deterioration model. In this research, Markov model using Markov chain theory, one of the Stochastic methods, is used to develop deterioration model for ports in South Korea. Markov chain is a probabilistic process among states. i.e., in Markov chain, transition among states follows some probability which is called as the transition probability. The key process of developing Markov model is to find this transition probability. This process is called calibration. In this study, the existing methods, Optimization method and Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), are reviewed, and methods to improve for these are presented. In addition, in this study, only a small amount of data are used, which causes distortion of the model. Thus, supplement techniques are presented to overcome the small size of data. In order to address the problem of the existing methods and the lack of data, the deterioration model developed by the four calibration methods: Optimization, Optimization with Bootstrap, MCMC (Markov Chain Monte Carlo), and MCMC with Multiple imputation, are finally proposed in this study. In addition, comparison between four models are carried out and good performance model is proposed. This research provides deterioration model for port in South Korea, and more accurate calibration technique is suggested. Furthermore, the method of supplementing insufficient data has been combined with existing calibration techniques.

Conflict analysis tools are applied to brownfield negotiations in order to investigate the impacts of coalition formation and a decision maker’s (DM’s) attitudes upon the successful resolution of brownfield disputes. The concepts of attitudes within the Graph Model for Conflict Resolution (GMCR) is defined and subsequently are used, along with coalition analysis methods, to examine the redevelopment of the Kaufman Lofts property and the resolution of a post-development dispute involving Eaton’s Lofts, both located in downtown Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Within the model of the Kaufman Lofts redevelopment, the project is broken down into three connected project conflicts: property acquisition, remediation selection and redevelopment; with the graph model applied to all three conflict nodes. The application of attitudes shows the impact of cooperation between local governments and private developers in the formation of a coalition that mutually benefits all parties. Coalition analysis, applied to the redevelopment selection conflict between Heritage Kitchener and the private developer in the Kaufman Lofts project, illustrates the importance of close collaboration between the local government and the developer. Systems methodologies implemented here for the examination of brownfield redevelopments are examined and contrasted with the economic and environmental tools commonly used in the redevelopment industry. Furthermore, coalition formation within GMCR is used to examine the negotiation of the Kyoto Protocol, to demonstrate that formal conflict resolution methods can be utilized in other areas of environmental management.

Conflict analysis tools are applied to brownfield negotiations in order to investigate the impacts of coalition formation and a decision maker’s (DM’s) attitudes upon the successful resolution of brownfield disputes. The concepts of attitudes within the Graph Model for Conflict Resolution (GMCR) is defined and subsequently are used, along with coalition analysis methods, to examine the redevelopment of the Kaufman Lofts property and the resolution of a post-development dispute involving Eaton’s Lofts, both located in downtown Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Within the model of the Kaufman Lofts redevelopment, the project is broken down into three connected project conflicts: property acquisition, remediation selection and redevelopment; with the graph model applied to all three conflict nodes. The application of attitudes shows the impact of cooperation between local governments and private developers in the formation of a coalition that mutually benefits all parties. Coalition analysis, applied to the redevelopment selection conflict between Heritage Kitchener and the private developer in the Kaufman Lofts project, illustrates the importance of close collaboration between the local government and the developer. Systems methodologies implemented here for the examination of brownfield redevelopments are examined and contrasted with the economic and environmental tools commonly used in the redevelopment industry. Furthermore, coalition formation within GMCR is used to examine the negotiation of the Kyoto Protocol, to demonstrate that formal conflict resolution methods can be utilized in other areas of environmental management.

An enhanced attitudes methodology within the framework of the Graph Model for Conflict Resolution (GMCR) is developed and applied to a range of environmental disputes, including a sustainable development conflict, an international climate change negotiation and a selection of brownfield conflicts over a proposed transfer of ownership. GMCR and the attitudes framework are first defined and then applied to a possible Sino-American climate negotiation over reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. A formal relationship between the attitudes framework and relative preferences is defined and associated mathematical theorems, which relate the moves and solution concepts used in both types of analysis, are proven. Significant extensions of the attitudes methodology are devised in the thesis. The first, dominating attitudes is a methodology by which the importance of a decision maker’s (DM’s) attitudes can be used to evaluate the strength of a given state stability. The second, COalitions and ATtitudes (COAT), is an expansion of both the attitudes and coalitions frameworks which allows one to analyze the impact of attitudes within a collaborative decision making setting. Finally, the matrix form of attitudes, is a mathematical methodology which allows complicated solution concepts to be executed using matrix operations and thus make attitudes more adaptable to a coding environment. When applied to environmental management conflicts, these innovative expansions of the attitudes framework illustrate the importance of cooperation and diplomacy in environmental conflict resolution.

Interwell connectivity is a very important piece of the puzzle for petroleum engineers. To optimize the injection well flow for increasing the production rate, interwell connectivity is a very important parameter. To build a model that works with better precision and with less effort has always been desired by reservoir engineers. In this study we developed an electric circuit network model (referred as the admittance or ymodel) for calculating the admittance parameters to predict branch flow rates (injectorproducer well pair) of oil reservoirs with precision. The y-model is very simple and efficient model that can predict branch flow very efficiently. Injection and production flow rates are the key data used in this model, which also happens to be the most abundant data for oil reservoirs. Injector well bottom-hole pressure data can also be used in this model if available. The governing equation of the electric circuit analogy of well to well flow rates in the oil reservoir is based on Ohm’s law for admittance. A mathematical procedure is also being developed for this circuit network model which solves a series of equations and finds unique solutions for the admittances and branch flows. These results can further be used for predicting the production flow rate for individual producer well. The model shows very good agreement with the exploration data of real oil reservoir. / text

The aim of the current thesis is to analyze, design and to create a model for the internet-based repository of products manufacturing specification and website where products are grouped and filed and also to check its operation and provide with the instructions of the project and the system. Also to create a dynamic advertisement, which woud made user’s attention by his begavior in the IS. IS will not be unambiguously related with one company ir organization. Any company could use this IS. Also it could be installed to any customer, client. For IS flexible characteristics, will be filed any produkts in that IS. Dynamic advertisement purpose – to make atention of user by his behavior in the web site. i.e. the user useing IS, browsing dyrectories, selecting dyrectory įtems, in the web site Bonner should change respectively. Such if user selects medicine, in the web site banner should changes to another Bonner related with medicine. If user browses other directories įtems, banner constantly changes by his behavior in web site. It would be new use in local web site of advertisement model. For the convenience of the user’s the interface is very easy, the search and the review of the products are quick. Consumers with the internet will easily reach the website because that it operates in every operational system which supports Apache Web with PHP and MySQL databases.

An enhanced attitudes methodology within the framework of the Graph Model for Conflict Resolution (GMCR) is developed and applied to a range of environmental disputes, including a sustainable development conflict, an international climate change negotiation and a selection of brownfield conflicts over a proposed transfer of ownership. GMCR and the attitudes framework are first defined and then applied to a possible Sino-American climate negotiation over reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. A formal relationship between the attitudes framework and relative preferences is defined and associated mathematical theorems, which relate the moves and solution concepts used in both types of analysis, are proven. Significant extensions of the attitudes methodology are devised in the thesis. The first, dominating attitudes is a methodology by which the importance of a decision maker’s (DM’s) attitudes can be used to evaluate the strength of a given state stability. The second, COalitions and ATtitudes (COAT), is an expansion of both the attitudes and coalitions frameworks which allows one to analyze the impact of attitudes within a collaborative decision making setting. Finally, the matrix form of attitudes, is a mathematical methodology which allows complicated solution concepts to be executed using matrix operations and thus make attitudes more adaptable to a coding environment. When applied to environmental management conflicts, these innovative expansions of the attitudes framework illustrate the importance of cooperation and diplomacy in environmental conflict resolution.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / With the increasing need for accurate weather predictions, we need large samples of data from different data sources for an accurate estimate. There are a number of data sources that keep publishing data periodically. These data sources have their own server protocols that a user needs to follow while writing client for retrieving data. This project aims at creating a generic semi-automatic client mechanism for retrieving scientific data from such sources. Also, with the increasing number of data sources there is also a need for a data model to accommodate data that is published in different formats. We have come up with a data model that can be used across various applications in the domain of scientific data retrieval.