The Hindu-Kush Himalayan region possesses a large resource of snow and ice, which acts as a freshwater reservoir for irrigation, domestic water consumption or hydroelectric power for billions of people in South Asia. Monitoring hydrologic resources in this region is challenging because of the difficulty of installing and maintaining a climate and hydrologic monitoring network, limited transportation and communication infrastructure and difficult access to glaciers. As a result of the high, rugged topographic relief, ground observations in the region are extremely sparse. Reanalysis data offer the potential to compensate for the data scarcity, which is a barrier in hydrological modeling and analysis for improving water resources management. Reanalysis weather data products integrate observations with atmospheric model physics to produce a spatially and temporally complete weather record in the post-satellite era. This dissertation creates an integrated hydrologic modeling system that tests whether streamflow prediction can be improved by taking advantage of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) remote sensing and reanalysis weather data products in physically based energy balance snow melt and hydrologic models. This study also enhances the energy balance snowmelt model by adding capability to quantify glacier melt. The novelty of this integrated modeling tool resides in allowing the user to isolate various components of surface water inputs (rainfall, snow and glacier ice melt) in a cost-free, open source graphical-user interface-based system that can be used for government and institutional decision-making. Direct, physically based validation of this system is challenging due to the data scarcity in this region, but, to the extent possible, the model was validated through comparison to observed streamflow and to point measurements at locations in the United States having available data

Le croisement de concepts issus de la gestion des processus métier, des normes et standards qualité et de l'interopérabilité nous a permis de nous intéresser à l'organisation et l'intégration des processus métier d'entreprise, pour proposer une démarche de mise en place d'un référentiel qualité multi-vues.<br />Le but de notre travail est de montrer comment intégrer les processus métier d'une entreprise à l'aide d'un référentiel commun offrant différents points de vue. Cette démarche généralisable est appliquée à l'intégration de deux standards de qualité, ISO 9001v2000 et Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), afin de générer un référentiel qualité multi\--vues permettant une certification relative aux deux normes. Ce référentiel prend en compte les chapitres imposés par ISO et les recommandations de CMMI. Dans le cadre de l'implémentation du référentiel, nous nous sommes intéressés à la définition d'une méthodologie d'estimation des délais et charges des projets informatiques afin de rationaliser ce processus critique pour l'entreprise. La mise en place de ce référentiel qualité s'accompagne de la définition d'une démarche assurant l'interopérabilité des processus définis avec ceux des clients et/ou partenaires.<br />Une méthodologie d'audit projet, un référentiel documentaire et un référentiel des compétences viennent compléter le travail déjà réalisé afin d'assurer l'implémentation et le respect du référentiel qualité.

Model integration that allows multiple models to work together for solving a sophisticated problem has been an important research issue in the management of decision models. The recent development of the service-oriented architecture (SOA) has provided an opportunity to apply this new technology to support model integration. This is particularly critical when more and more models are delivered as web services. A web-services-based approach to model management is useful in providing effective decision support. In the past, existing literature has adopted the approach that treated a model as a service. Model integration can be thought of as a composition of web services. In the composition process, proper components and their relationships must be properly identified. This requires accurate model definition and reasoning. In the research, we propose a semantic-based approach for developing such as system. The approach uses DAML-S to describe the capability of a service. Then the system can discover proper services for a particular requirement by using semantic matching on these DAML-S documents. When suitable web services are found, the system uses BPEL4WS to composite them together. The resulting composite web service can be applied to decision support. A prototype that demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed approach is implemented in Java.

Decision support systems (DSS) are increasingly important in this highly competitive environment in which organizations face frequent and complex decision problems. The increased popularity of web technology has pushed most information systems to be web-based; DSS is no exception. Model management as a major component in DSS is also moving toward this direction. Therefore, this research examines how web services technology can be used to implement model management for decision support. In this research, a model is treated as a service. The primary purpose of this research is to achieve model integration capabilities. We adopt existing techniques for web service composition to implement a system that can support model integration. In other words, we use WSDL and BPEL4WS to develop a model integration and management method to support organizational decision making. Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is a trend for future information systems. Web service technology is the foundation for this paradigm shift. The method developed in this research can facilitate an organization to better manage its decision models to increase its competitive advantages.

<p>The development of advanced embedded systems requires a systematic approach as well as advanced tool support in dealing with their increasing complexity. This complexity is due to the increasing functionality that is implemented in embedded systems and stringent (and conflicting) requirements placed upon such systems from various stakeholders. The corresponding system development involves several specialists employing different modeling languages and tools. Integrating their work and the results thereof then becomes a challenge. In order to facilitate system architecting and design integration of different models, an approach that provides dedicated workspaces/views supported by structured information management and information exchange between domain models and tools is required.</p><p>This work is delimited to the context of embedded systems design and taking a model based approach. The goal of the work is to study possible technical solutions for integrating different models and tools, and to develop knowledge, support methods and a prototype tool platform.</p><p>To this end, this thesis examines a number of approaches that focus on the integration of multiple models and tools. Selected approaches are compared and characterized, and the basic mechanisms for integration are identified. Several scenarios are identified and further investigated in case studies. Two case studies have been performed with model transformations as focus. In the first one, integration of Matlab/Simulink® and UML2 are discussed with respect to the motivations, technical possibilities, and challenges. A preliminary mapping strategy, connecting a subset of concepts and constructs of Matlab/Simulink® and UML2, is presented together with a prototype implementation in the Eclipse environment. The second case study aims to enable safety analysis based on system design models in a UML description. A safety analysis tool, HiP-HOPS (Hierarchically Performed Hazard Origin and Propagation Studies), is partially integrated with a UML tool where an EAST-ADL2 based architecture model is developed. The experience and lessons learned from the experiments are reported in this thesis.</p><p>Multiple specific views are involved in the development of embedded systems. This thesis has studied the integration between system architecture design, function development and safety analysis through using UML tools, Matlab/Simulink, and HiP-HOPS. The results indicate that model transformations provide a feasible and promising solution for integrating multiple models and tools. The contributions are believed to be valid for a large class of advanced embedded systems. However, the developed transformations so far are not really scalable. A systematic approach for efficient development of model transformations is desired to standardize the design process and reuse developed transformations. To this end, future studies will be carried out to develop guidelines for model and tool integration and to provide support for structured information at both meta level and instance level.</p>

As a result of concern about the effects of CO2 emssions on the global warming, there is increasing pressure to reduce such emissions from power generation systems. The use of biomass co-firing with coal in conventional pulverised fuel power plants has provided the most immediate route to introduce a class of fuel that is regarded as both sustainable and carbon neutral as it produces less net CO2 emissions. In the future it is anticipated that increased levels of biomass will be required to use in such systems to accomplish the desired CO2 emissions targets. The use of biomass, however, is believed to result in severe fireside corrosion of superheater and reheater tubing and cause unexpected early failures of tubes, which can lead to significant economic penalties. Moreover, future pulverised fuel power systems will need to use much higher steam temeptures and pressures to increase the boiler efficiency. Higher operating temperatures and pressures will also increase the risk of fireside corrosion damage to the boiler tubing and lead to shorter component life. Predicting the remaining service life of superheater and reheater tubes in coal-biomass fired power plants is therefore an important aspect of managing such power plants. The path to this type of failure of heat exchangers involves five processes: combustion, deposition, fireside corrosion, steam-side oxidation, and creep. Various models or partial models each of these processes are available from existing research, but to fully understand the impact of new fuel mixtures (i.e. biomass and coal) and changing operating conditions on such failures, an integrated model of all of these processes is required. This work has produced an integrated set of models and so predicted the remaining service life of superheater/reheater tubes based on the three frameworks which have been developed by analysing those models used in depicting the five processes: one was conceptual and the other two were based on mathematical model. In addition, the outputs of the integrated mathematical models were compared with the laboratory generated data from Cranfield University as well as historical data from Central Electricity Research Laboratories. Furthermore, alternative models for each process were applied in the model and the results were compared with other models results as well as with the experimental data. Based on these comparisons and the availability of models constants the best models were chosen in the integrated model. Finally, a sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the effect of different model input values on the residual life superheater and reheater tubing. Mid-wall metal temperature of tubes was found to be the most important factor affecting the remaining service life of boiler tubing. Tubing wall thickness and outer diameter were another critical input in the model. Significant differences were observed between the residual life of thin-walled and thick-walled tubes.

Submitted by Daniella Sodre (daniella.sodre@ufpe.br) on 2015-03-09T13:01:43Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) TESE Celio Santana.pdf: 3246716 bytes, checksum: fed6ad56ad971be5c5b806d148b9a8c9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-09T13:01:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) TESE Celio Santana.pdf: 3246716 bytes, checksum: fed6ad56ad971be5c5b806d148b9a8c9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-06-18 / Em 2009 a Associação para Promoção da Excelência do Software Brasileiro (SOFTEX1) publicou uma pesquisa indicando que 96% das empresas de software brasileiras eram pequenas e possuíam até 20 pessoas. Ainda que estas empresas empregassem 55,3% de toda mão de obra da área, elas respondiam por apenas 19% do faturamento do setor e por menos de 1% das exportações de software. A conclusão do diagnóstico aponta que essas empresas precisavam passar por reestruturações em seus processos para aumentar sua competitividade. Algumas dessas empresas buscaram essa melhoria partindo para programas de certificação de qualidade tais como o CMMI e MPS.BR. Este trabalho propõe avaliar a utilização de metodologias ágeis como direcionador de programas de melhoria de processo, com o objetivo de atingir níveis de maturidade em avaliações CMMI nível dois e MPS.BR nível F. Uma contribuição deste trabalho é gerar evidências empíricas sobre a adoção de métodos ágeis como política de melhoria de processo em empresas de vida real no Brasil. Assim, esta pesquisa foi realizada para responder as seguintes questões de pesquisa: QP1 –É possível executar programas de melhoria de processo de software baseados em métodos ágeis com o objetivo de certificação CMMI nível dois e MPS.BR nível F? QP2 – Quais os benefícios observados por estas organizações ao se adotar a melhoria de processo baseada em métodos ágeis? E em longo prazo? QP3 – Como a melhoria de processo ágil está relacionada à melhoria de processo prescritivaadotada pelo CMMI e MPS.BR. Esta tese resume quatro anos de pesquisa em oito pequenas e médias empresas Brasileiras. Os métodos utilizados para a pesquisa foram: (i) estudo de caso baseado em avaliações de 3º pessoa registradas em planilhas para responder a QP1; (ii) surveys e (iii) teoria fundamentada em dados foi utilizada para responder as questões QP2 e QP3.

The development of advanced embedded systems requires a systematic approach as well as advanced tool support in dealing with their increasing complexity. This complexity is due to the increasing functionality that is implemented in embedded systems and stringent (and conflicting) requirements placed upon such systems from various stakeholders. The corresponding system development involves several specialists employing different modeling languages and tools. Integrating their work and the results thereof then becomes a challenge. In order to facilitate system architecting and design integration of different models, an approach that provides dedicated workspaces/views supported by structured information management and information exchange between domain models and tools is required. This work is delimited to the context of embedded systems design and taking a model based approach. The goal of the work is to study possible technical solutions for integrating different models and tools, and to develop knowledge, support methods and a prototype tool platform. To this end, this thesis examines a number of approaches that focus on the integration of multiple models and tools. Selected approaches are compared and characterized, and the basic mechanisms for integration are identified. Several scenarios are identified and further investigated in case studies. Two case studies have been performed with model transformations as focus. In the first one, integration of Matlab/Simulink® and UML2 are discussed with respect to the motivations, technical possibilities, and challenges. A preliminary mapping strategy, connecting a subset of concepts and constructs of Matlab/Simulink® and UML2, is presented together with a prototype implementation in the Eclipse environment. The second case study aims to enable safety analysis based on system design models in a UML description. A safety analysis tool, HiP-HOPS (Hierarchically Performed Hazard Origin and Propagation Studies), is partially integrated with a UML tool where an EAST-ADL2 based architecture model is developed. The experience and lessons learned from the experiments are reported in this thesis. Multiple specific views are involved in the development of embedded systems. This thesis has studied the integration between system architecture design, function development and safety analysis through using UML tools, Matlab/Simulink, and HiP-HOPS. The results indicate that model transformations provide a feasible and promising solution for integrating multiple models and tools. The contributions are believed to be valid for a large class of advanced embedded systems. However, the developed transformations so far are not really scalable. A systematic approach for efficient development of model transformations is desired to standardize the design process and reuse developed transformations. To this end, future studies will be carried out to develop guidelines for model and tool integration and to provide support for structured information at both meta level and instance level. / QC 20101116

In parallel with the popularization and widespread diffusion of the internet, interest in the concept of different business models (BM) has increased dramatically, attracting the attention of both scholars and managers alike (Dodgson, Gann and Phillips, 2013). As a result, an increasing number of businesses decide to establish themselves and compete in the digital arena (Lee, 2001); many of which are employing what is called a platform model capitalizing on the ability to operate with several BMs simultaneously (Gu, Kannan and Ma, 2018; Aversa, Haefliger, Hueller and Reza, 2021). The purpose of this study is to explore how a digital platform company can manage a diversified business model portfolio in a digital platform context. Theoretical concepts relevant to the subject were used to analyze the challenges and opportunities of operating with a diversified BM portfolio, as illustrated in our two research questions: 1) What are the challenges and opportunities in operating with a diversified BM portfolio? and 2) How could a new model be integrated into a diversified BM portfolio with B2C, B2B and B2B2C models already employed? A single case study approach was used in this study in the form of in-depth interviews with executives at a company with a diversified business model portfolio, coupled with data from annual reports and strategic documents to strengthen the empirical foundation. Even though the most commonly voiced drawbacks with a case study design often revolves around the generalizability (or lack thereof), we believe that the findings presented in this study are sufficiently generalizable and broadly applicable, especially considering the prevalence of contextually similar companies (digital companies with a platform model and diversified BM portfolios). The empirical findings highlighted several vital aspects of successfully managing a diversified BM portfolio; the importance of resource management as well as the value of creating a long-term strategy. In short, this study showed that a diversified BM portfolio can provide a) increased firm capacity utilization through effective resource allocation, b) a safeguard toward market fluctuations via multiple revenue streams, c) leverage of resources through BM exploitation and exploration and d) a source of competitive advantage as a result of the complexity of the system. However, the aforementioned benefits are not devoid of challenges. Most notably how to prevent undermining parts of the core business as a result of cannibalization, which could be managed using a Phased Integration Strategy.

Standalone computer modules for county to county travel demand forecasting have been integrated. The Trip Generation, Trip Distribution and Mode Choice modules have been unified under one Graphical User Interface (GUI). The outputs are automatically mapped using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology to allow immediate and spatial analysis. The integrated model allows for faster running times and quicker analysis of the results. The ability to calculate travel time savings for travelers was also included to the final model. The modeling framework developed is known as the Transportation Systems Analysis Model (TSAM). / Master of Science