The construction industry in the United Kingdom is a multi-billion pound business that contributes, on average 10% of the UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, it is seen by many to be underachieving in terms of service delivery and investment opportunities. Projects are frequently late and over budget much to the disappointment of those involved in the industry and especially clients. Many investigations have been commissioned and resulting reports have suggested improvements in the way the industry is organised. Procurement of construction projects in the main are undertaken using methods that support fragmentation and adversarial relationships. However, with the introduction of partnering and prime contracting some improvements have been made. Procurement of a construction project begins with the strategies developed during briefing and is only complete when the facility is handed over to the client, some contract strategies allow for the facility to be completed once it is in operation, has been maintained and eventually is demolished. Costings and programmes are then related to life-cycle issues and aspects such as maintenance have to be taken into account during the facility development stages. The adoption of Concurrent Engineering (CE) is seen to offer the construction industry a way forward. Having been adopted extensively by manufacturing in its product development stages a similar adoption by the construction industry would go some way to achieving the 30% improvement in real terms suggested by Latham [1994] and Egan [1998]. The research described in the thesis aims to develop a new procurement method for the delivery of construction projects. The approach adopted was to identify current methods of procurement and the problems associated with each method. Then using Concurrent Engineering as a basis, a new procurement model was developed that offered potential improvements in the construction process between the stages of Clients Briefing and Detailed Design. The resulting model was evaluated through the application of CE principles into the process and by the presentation and discussion of the method with a number of industry participants, followed by the completion and assessment of a questionnaire. The model was shown to fulfil the principles of CE and could be adopted into construction. It offers a new approach to procurement which in turn would save costs and time and potentially improve the quality of the final construction product.

Este trabalho é resultado de pesquisa desenvolvida no ano de 2013 em uma escola estadual de Ensino Fundamental, no Município de Itati, no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, tendo como campo empírico a realização de dez encontros com uma turma do quinto ano do Ensino Fundamental com seis estudantes. A pesquisa abordou o estudo de múltiplos e divisores com auxílio do material didático “segredo dos números” via realização de atividades que viessem a auxiliar os alunos na construção dos conceitos de múltiplos e divisores de um número. O “segredo dos números” é um material didático criado pela professora Esther Pillar Grossi constituído por cartas nas quais os fatores primos dos números naturais são representados por símbolos. Na análise dos dados foi utilizada a Teoria dos Campos Conceituais de Gerard Vergnaud, com ênfase no campo conceitual multiplicativo. Constatou-se que os alunos evoluíram do ponto de vista da aprendizagem, nos conceitos relativos a múltiplos e divisores, desde o reconhecimento de um número primo, até as construções das maquetes de um número, que passa pela identificação de todos os divisores desse número. / This work is the result of research conducted in 2013 in a state school of Primary Education in Itati City, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul - Brazil, it has as the empirical field the realization of ten meetings with a class of fifth grade of Elementary School with six students. The research addressed the study about multiples and dividers with the help of teaching materials “secret of the numbers" through the realization of activities that were to assist students in the building of concepts of multiple and dividers of a number. The "secret of numbers" is a didactic material created by Professor Esther Pillar Grossi composed of letters in which the prime factors of natural numbers are represented by symbols. In the datas’ analysis it was used the Theory of Conceptual Fields of Gerard Vergnaud, emphasizing the multiplicative conceptual field. It was found that students progressed from the point of view of learning in the concepts related to multiple and dividers, from the recognition of a prime number, to the construction of models of a number, which includes the identification of all divisors of that number.

Este trabalho é resultado de pesquisa desenvolvida no ano de 2013 em uma escola estadual de Ensino Fundamental, no Município de Itati, no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, tendo como campo empírico a realização de dez encontros com uma turma do quinto ano do Ensino Fundamental com seis estudantes. A pesquisa abordou o estudo de múltiplos e divisores com auxílio do material didático “segredo dos números” via realização de atividades que viessem a auxiliar os alunos na construção dos conceitos de múltiplos e divisores de um número. O “segredo dos números” é um material didático criado pela professora Esther Pillar Grossi constituído por cartas nas quais os fatores primos dos números naturais são representados por símbolos. Na análise dos dados foi utilizada a Teoria dos Campos Conceituais de Gerard Vergnaud, com ênfase no campo conceitual multiplicativo. Constatou-se que os alunos evoluíram do ponto de vista da aprendizagem, nos conceitos relativos a múltiplos e divisores, desde o reconhecimento de um número primo, até as construções das maquetes de um número, que passa pela identificação de todos os divisores desse número. / This work is the result of research conducted in 2013 in a state school of Primary Education in Itati City, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul - Brazil, it has as the empirical field the realization of ten meetings with a class of fifth grade of Elementary School with six students. The research addressed the study about multiples and dividers with the help of teaching materials “secret of the numbers" through the realization of activities that were to assist students in the building of concepts of multiple and dividers of a number. The "secret of numbers" is a didactic material created by Professor Esther Pillar Grossi composed of letters in which the prime factors of natural numbers are represented by symbols. In the datas’ analysis it was used the Theory of Conceptual Fields of Gerard Vergnaud, emphasizing the multiplicative conceptual field. It was found that students progressed from the point of view of learning in the concepts related to multiple and dividers, from the recognition of a prime number, to the construction of models of a number, which includes the identification of all divisors of that number.

Este trabalho é resultado de pesquisa desenvolvida no ano de 2013 em uma escola estadual de Ensino Fundamental, no Município de Itati, no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, tendo como campo empírico a realização de dez encontros com uma turma do quinto ano do Ensino Fundamental com seis estudantes. A pesquisa abordou o estudo de múltiplos e divisores com auxílio do material didático “segredo dos números” via realização de atividades que viessem a auxiliar os alunos na construção dos conceitos de múltiplos e divisores de um número. O “segredo dos números” é um material didático criado pela professora Esther Pillar Grossi constituído por cartas nas quais os fatores primos dos números naturais são representados por símbolos. Na análise dos dados foi utilizada a Teoria dos Campos Conceituais de Gerard Vergnaud, com ênfase no campo conceitual multiplicativo. Constatou-se que os alunos evoluíram do ponto de vista da aprendizagem, nos conceitos relativos a múltiplos e divisores, desde o reconhecimento de um número primo, até as construções das maquetes de um número, que passa pela identificação de todos os divisores desse número. / This work is the result of research conducted in 2013 in a state school of Primary Education in Itati City, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul - Brazil, it has as the empirical field the realization of ten meetings with a class of fifth grade of Elementary School with six students. The research addressed the study about multiples and dividers with the help of teaching materials “secret of the numbers" through the realization of activities that were to assist students in the building of concepts of multiple and dividers of a number. The "secret of numbers" is a didactic material created by Professor Esther Pillar Grossi composed of letters in which the prime factors of natural numbers are represented by symbols. In the datas’ analysis it was used the Theory of Conceptual Fields of Gerard Vergnaud, emphasizing the multiplicative conceptual field. It was found that students progressed from the point of view of learning in the concepts related to multiple and dividers, from the recognition of a prime number, to the construction of models of a number, which includes the identification of all divisors of that number.

L’objectif de cette thèse est de proposer une nouvelle méthode de construction de modèles métaboliques dans le contexte de la génomique comparée. Nous avons développé un outil, ab-pantograph, permettant l’inférence de modèles métabolique se basant sur la logique abductive. Pour ce faire, nous avons introduit une représentation logique de modèles métaboliques minimaux enzymatiques, puis à partir d’un modèle métabolique dit de référence, nous avons dérivé un modèle minimal enzymatique explicite accompagné d’association de gènes. Enfin, en couplant ce modèle métabolique au génome d’un organisme cible, nous inférons par abduction un modèle enzymatique pour cet organisme cible accompagné d’un ensemble d’associations de gènes, modèle que l’on veut congruent à celui que l’on aurait pu obtenir en ayant toutes les informations pour l’organisme cible.L’outil proposé, ab-pantograph, a été développé en utilisant la programmation logique par contraintes et Hyprolog. / The objective of this thesis is to propose a new method of constructing metabolic models in the context of comparative genomics. We have developed a tool, abpantograph, allowing the inference of metabolic models based on the Abductive logic. To do this, we have introduced a logical representation of minimal enzymatic metabolic models and from a metabolic model called reference, we derived an explicit enzymatic minimal model accompanied by gene association. Finally, by coupling this metabolic modele with the genome of a target organism, we infer abductively a model enzyme for this target organism accompanied by a set of gene associations, pattern one wants congruent to that which is could have obtained by having all the information to the target organism. The proposed tool, ab-pantograph, has been developed using constraint logic programming and Hyprolog.

Aus der Einleitung: "Im Modell und Formenbau des Maschinenbaus beschreibt Reverse Engineering den Prozess der 3D-Erfassung eines Objektes, die Aufbereitung der Digitalisierungsdaten zu CAD-Modellen und die weitere Nutzung dieser Daten in einer CAD/CAM-Umgebung. Ziel dieser Arbeiten ist es dann weiterführend, physische Objekte durch CNC-Fräsen oder mittels Generativer Fertigungsverfahren herzustellen. Die Maßkontrolle der gefertigten Produkte gegenüber dem CAD ist ebenfalls eine Aufgabestellung des Reverse Engineering (Schöne 2009, Wang 2011)."

本文將模糊理論的觀念，應用到時間數列分析上。研究重點包括模糊自相似度的定義與度量，模糊自迴歸係數的分析，模糊相似度辨識與自迴歸階次認定、模糊時間數列模式建構與預測等。我們首先給定模糊時間數列模式的概念與一些重要性質。接著提出模糊相似度的定義與度量，以及模式建構的流程。經由系統性的模擬與分析，我們建立階次認定的演算法則與認定程序。藉著詳細的演算比較這些類型的模糊時間數列。並以模糊關係方程式推導，提出合適的模糊時間數列模式建構方法。並利用提出的方法對台灣的景氣對策信號，及台灣結婚率建立模糊時間數列模式。最後，使用所建構的模糊時間數列模式對未來進行預測，以驗證所建構模糊時間數列模式的效率性與實用性。 / In modeling a time series the accuracy of various model constructions and forecasting techniques, certain rules and models are adhered to. Traditional methods on the model construction for a time series are based on the researchers' experience by choosing a "good" model, which will satisfactorily explain its dynamic behavior, from a model-base. But a fundamental question that often arises is: does the data exhibit the real case honestly? In this research we show how fuzzy time series construction be applied for this purpose. An order detection process for fuzzy time series is presented. Simulation has been used extensively to explore general properties of statistical procedures, and the approach is particularly useful in fuzzy time series construction. Statistical strategies typically consist of sequences of rules used repeatedly on the same data set. This paper is organized as follows: In Chapter 2 we will discuss about the definition of fuzzy time series as well as certain important properties. In Chapter 3, We use the similarity comparison process to decide the order of a fuzzy time series. Simulations and analysis with the results about various types of autocorrelation are experienced in Chapter 4. Finally, we apply our methods to three empirical examples, Taiwan business cycle index, marriage rate and numbers of students enrollment in Chapter 5. Chapter 6 is the conclusion and the discussion of future researches.