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Information systems often hold data of considerable value. Their continuing development or maintenance will often necessitate evolution of the system and migration of the data from one version to the next: a process that may be expensive, time-consuming, and prone to error. That such a process remains a source of challenges, is recognized by both academia and industry. In current practice, data migration is often considered only in the later stages of development, leaving critical data to be transformed and loaded by hand-written scripts, long after the design process has been completed. The advent of model-driven engineering offers an opportunity to consider the question of information system evolution and data migration earlier in the development process. A precise account of the proposed changes to an existing system model can be used to predict the consequences for existing data, and to generate the necessary data migration implementation. This dissertation shows how automatic data migration can be achieved by extending the definition of a data modeling language to include model level operations, each of which corresponds to the addition, modification, or deletion of a model component. Using the Unified Modeling Language (UML) notation as an example, we show how the specification of these operations may be translated into an abstract program in the Abstract Machine Notation (AMN), employed in the B-method, and then formally checked for consistency and applicability prior to translation into a concrete programming notation, such as Structured Query Language (SQL).

This study used an in situ heart preparation to analyze the power and work of spontaneously beating hearts of four anurans (R. marina, L. catesbeianus, X. laevis, P. edulis) and three urodeles (N. maculosus, A. tigrinum, A. tridactylum) in order to elucidate the meaning of relative ventricle mass (RVM) in terms of specific cardiac performance variables. This study also tests two hypotheses: 1) the ventricles of terrestrial species (R. marina, P. edulis, A. tigrinum) of amphibians are capable of greater maximum power outputs (Pmax) compared to aquatic species (X. laevis, A. tridactylum, N. maculosus, L. catesbeianus) and, 2) the ventricles of Anuran species (R. marina, P. edulis, L. catesbeianus, X. laevis) are capable of greater maximum power output compared to aquatic species (A. tigrinum, A. tridactylum, N. maculosus). The data supported both hypotheses. RVM was significantly correlated with Pmax, stroke volume, cardiac output, afterload at Pmax, and preload at Pmax. Preload at Pmax and afterload at Pmax also correlated very closely with each other, suggesting that an increase blood volume and/or increased modulation of sympathetic tone may influence interspecific variation RVM and may have played a role in supporting higher rates of metabolism, as well as dealing with hypovolemic stresses of life on land.

<p> </p> <p>The degree of self-fertilization in a population determines levels of genetic variation and high selfing rates could thus limit future adaptive potential. Theory predicts that intermediate selfing rates should not persist, yet many plants exhibit mixed mating. Cleistogamy is a floral heteromorphism where individuals produce both showy potentially outcrossing chasmogamous flowers and closed obligately selfing cleistogamous flowers. Reproduction via cleistogamous flowers is thought to be beneficial because of their greater energetic economy compared to chasmogamous flowers but can be costly if selfing leads to inbreeding depression or accelerates the fixation of deleterious mutations within populations. Cleistogamy has evolved independently multiple times and can be used to study the maintenance of adaptive mixed mating. To investigate this, I estimated the costs and benefits of selfing in three populations of <em>Ruellia humilis </em>Nutt (Acanthaceae) in greenhouse common garden experiments. To quantify the costs, I performed hand pollinations and quantified fitness components of progeny resulting from selfing and outcrossing within- and between-populations. To quantify the relative energetic advantage of cleistogamous flowers, I measured dry flower mass, fertility, seed number per fruit, and pollen-ovule ratios of both types of flowers. I found negative cumulative inbreeding depression in all populations, indicative of selfed progeny outperforming outcrossed progeny. While the fitness consequences of between population outcrossing ranged from heterosis to outbreeding depression. When looking at the energetic benefits of selfing, I found that the cost of reproduction via cleistogamous flowers was between 3 and 14-fold less than the cost for outcrossing flowers. Finally, I combined data on inbreeding depression and the energetic costs of reproduction and found that chasmogamous flowers of <em>R. humilis </em>must provide between a 3 to a 45-fold fitness advantage to be maintained, the magnitude of which was dependent upon maternal population. Overall, I conclude that none of the existing hypotheses are sufficient enough to provide the selective advantage needed to explain the persistence of chasmogamous flowers in <em>R. humilis</em>. Without any supported explanations for the maintenance of mixed mating, the exploration of genetic constraints on the loss of chasmogamous flowers could solve this long-standing mystery. </p>

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:50:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 6538.pdf: 3408162 bytes, checksum: 85cea22acdce40da79f51ce8f67bafd7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-10-30 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / The research in performance measurement (PM) systems have reacted to changes in organizations environments. In recent years, in response to the pressures of society, the organizations are increasingly implementing sustainability practices. Following this context, this study aims to investigate empirically the changes in PM systems caused by the implementation of sustainability practices in organizations. The bibliometric studies and systematic literature review have showed that there is no clear relationship between the research on sustainability and PM systems. Hence, it is necessary to develop more empirical studies to close the identified gap. In the first research effort of this thesis, a case study was carried out in a company which is ranked as sustainability company in Brazil index. The empirical findings indicate that the PM system changes have occurred in three elements: performance measures, how the companies communicate their results, and the process of information management. These findings were the foundation for developing the survey, the second research effort. The survey was carried out in a population of 182 companies which publish sustainability reports in Brazil, according to the Global Reporting Initiative standards . After the data collection, 81 valid responses were received. The data analyzes demonstrate that the respondents who perceived change in PM systems work in companies which has more implemented environmental practices. Additionally, this perception is influenced by PM systems variables: use of social indicators, the relevance of social/environmental indicators, the new social/environmental performance indicators, the internal communication among all hierarchical classes of roles, the external communication to several groups of stakeholders, the use of benchmarking, the compliance with regulations issues, the information provided from PM system about social/environmental performance measures and the interpretation of the social/environmental performance indicator results. Therefore, the sustainability practices have acted as triggers for changes in performance measurement systems. / Historicamente, as pesquisas em sistemas de medição de desempenho (SMDs) têm se comportado de forma reativa às mudanças que ocorrem nas organizações. Nos últimos anos, em resposta às pressões da sociedade, as organizações estão introduzindo práticas de sustentabilidade aos seus negócios. Dentro deste contexto, este trabalho tem como objetivo investigar empiricamente as mudanças nos sistemas de medição de desempenho causadas pela implantação de práticas de sustentabilidade nas organizações. Estudos realizados, com uso de análises bibliométricas e revisão sistemática, mostraram que não existe uma forte aderência entre artigos científicos sobre SMDs e sustentabilidade. Ficou clara a necessidade de mais estudos empíricos. A primeira parte empírica desta tese trata-se de um estudo de caso realizado em uma empresa listada em um ranking brasileiro de sustentabilidade. Os resultados apontaram que as mudanças no SMD da empresa ocorreram principalmente em três elementos: nos indicadores de desempenho, na forma como resultados são comunicados, e no processo de gestão da informação. Esses resultados foram a base para o desenvolvimento da survey conduzida na etapa seguinte com uma população de 182 empresas que publicaram relatórios de sustentabilidade no Brasil, de acordo com os padrões estabelecidos pela Global Reporting Initiative. Após a coleta de dados, 81 respostas válidas foram recebidas. As análises dos dados comprovaram que respondentes que tiveram a percepção de mudanças nos SMDs estão em empresas que implantaram mais práticas ambientais. Tal percepção é influenciada pelas variáveis do SMD: monitoramento de indicadores sociais, relevância estratégica de indicadores sociais e/ou ambientais, a definição desses tipos de indicadores ser realizada a partir de objetivos estratégicos, a divulgação interna e externa dos resultados da empresa para diferentes níveis hierárquicos e stakeholders, a utilização de benchmarking para a decisão sobre a implantação de novas práticas sociais e/ou ambientais, o cumprimento de requisitos de divulgação legal, o fornecimento de informações sociais e/ou ambientais precisas e atualizadas e o acompanhamento periódico desses resultados. Portanto, é possível concluir que as práticas de sustentabilidade funcionam como alavancas para a mudança nos sistemas de medição de desempenho.

Softwaresysteme sind ein wichtiger Bestandteil in der heutigen digitalen Welt und müssen oft als fundamentales Investitionsgut von Unternehmen betrachtet werden. Deswegen benötigen solche Systeme eine betriebswirtschaftliche Sichtweise: der Wert als operatives System sowie als langfristige finanzielle Investition bezüglich zukünftiger Anforderungen. Die Grundlage jeden guten Softwaresystems liegt in dessen Architektur, dem Zusammenhang von allen Teilen und deren Beziehungen untereinander, dem inneren Aufbau und der Organisation der Teile. Der Zusammenhang zwischen guter Architektur und resultierender guter Evolutionsfähigkeit und Zukunftsfähigkeit eines Systems ist generell in den Meinungen vertreten. Jedoch liegen dazu nur wenige Literaturstellen vor, welche die Thematik tatsächlich mehr als nur empirisch aufzeigen. Diese Arbeit soll einen möglichen Weg aufzeigen, wie mithilfe eines modellbasierten Ansatzes ein kausaler und quantitiver Zusammenhang zwischen Architektur eines Softwaresystems und dem resultierenden betriebswirtschaftlichen Wert (im Sinne der Evolutionsfähigkeit) hergestellt werden kann.

A constante evolução dos Sistemas de Informação (SI) tem levado os profissionais dessa área a se defrontarem com vários problemas relativos a tomadas de decisões quando se vêem diante da necessidade de planejar uma atualização ou evolução de seus sistemas de tecnologia da informação. Dentre as dúvidas e dilemas que os administradores se deparam cotidianamente se referem a como e para qual sistema evoluir, escolha de opções entre adquirir soluções prontas, desenvolver seu próprio sistema, modificar ou customizar, transformar um software pronto em outro aplicativo que atenda às necessidades da empresa. Por isso torna-se importante compreender como as organizações se preparam diante dessas dificuldades e o que existe de conhecimento nessa área que possa servir de orientação diante dessas várias perspectivas. Esta pesquisa aborda, dentro dos Sistemas de Tecnologia da Informação, os aspectos referentes aos Sistemas de Informação relacionados às aplicações na organização, sem contudo, envolver a infra-estrutura, hardware, comunicação, automação e redes. Tendo como objetivo entender como as organizações planejam a evolução de seus sistemas de informação, esta pesquisa foi realizada por meio de estudo de casos múltiplos em seis empresas de manufatura, procurando descrever e analisar como elas tratam essa questão obtendo-se como resultado uma compreensão de que a maioria delas pouco utiliza uma metodologia de planejamento. Adicionalmente obteve-se um levantamento das boas práticas em planejamento como contribuição para a evolução dos sistemas de tecnologia da informação. / The constant evolution of Information Systems (IS) has been leading professionals in this area to face several problems concerning the decision making when they have to plan an upgrade or evolve their technology information system. Among the questions and dilemmas that administrators face daily are how and for what systems to evolve, having to decide between purchasing ready-made solutions, develop their own system, modify, customize or transform into another software application that meets the needs of company. Therefore it is important to understand how organizations face these difficulties and to verify the knowledge related to this question that cans guide the decision facing these various perspectives. This research addresses within the information technology systems aspects about information systems related to applications into the organization, however, without involving infrastructure, hardware, communication, automation and networking. Through multiple-case study in six manufacturing companies seeks to assess how they plan the evolution of their information technology systems. As a result, this study concludes that organizations rarely plan the evolution of the systems. Additionally is presented a roll of best practices in planning the evolution of systems.

A constante evolução dos Sistemas de Informação (SI) tem levado os profissionais dessa área a se defrontarem com vários problemas relativos a tomadas de decisões quando se vêem diante da necessidade de planejar uma atualização ou evolução de seus sistemas de tecnologia da informação. Dentre as dúvidas e dilemas que os administradores se deparam cotidianamente se referem a como e para qual sistema evoluir, escolha de opções entre adquirir soluções prontas, desenvolver seu próprio sistema, modificar ou customizar, transformar um software pronto em outro aplicativo que atenda às necessidades da empresa. Por isso torna-se importante compreender como as organizações se preparam diante dessas dificuldades e o que existe de conhecimento nessa área que possa servir de orientação diante dessas várias perspectivas. Esta pesquisa aborda, dentro dos Sistemas de Tecnologia da Informação, os aspectos referentes aos Sistemas de Informação relacionados às aplicações na organização, sem contudo, envolver a infra-estrutura, hardware, comunicação, automação e redes. Tendo como objetivo entender como as organizações planejam a evolução de seus sistemas de informação, esta pesquisa foi realizada por meio de estudo de casos múltiplos em seis empresas de manufatura, procurando descrever e analisar como elas tratam essa questão obtendo-se como resultado uma compreensão de que a maioria delas pouco utiliza uma metodologia de planejamento. Adicionalmente obteve-se um levantamento das boas práticas em planejamento como contribuição para a evolução dos sistemas de tecnologia da informação. / The constant evolution of Information Systems (IS) has been leading professionals in this area to face several problems concerning the decision making when they have to plan an upgrade or evolve their technology information system. Among the questions and dilemmas that administrators face daily are how and for what systems to evolve, having to decide between purchasing ready-made solutions, develop their own system, modify, customize or transform into another software application that meets the needs of company. Therefore it is important to understand how organizations face these difficulties and to verify the knowledge related to this question that cans guide the decision facing these various perspectives. This research addresses within the information technology systems aspects about information systems related to applications into the organization, however, without involving infrastructure, hardware, communication, automation and networking. Through multiple-case study in six manufacturing companies seeks to assess how they plan the evolution of their information technology systems. As a result, this study concludes that organizations rarely plan the evolution of the systems. Additionally is presented a roll of best practices in planning the evolution of systems.

This master thesis covers re-engineering methods of legacy systems. Legacy system is an old system, which is hardly compliant with modern technologies and used only because it has become an integral part of organization business process support during the long period of its maintenance. These systems are large, monolithic and difficult to modify, and cost and risk of their replacement are difficult to predict. The science of software engineering offers an incremental modernization of information systems applying the re-engineering of legacy software. The main goal of software re-engineering is to transform the software in the way, it would become easier to understand, maintain and re-use, at the same time preserving its useful, time trusted functions. The main re-engineering methods are source code translation, reverse engineering and data re-engineering. This thesis covers the analysis of these methods, which was made during the re-engineering of wood production and sales accounting system. The adoption and realization time rate of every method was examined. The influence of the applied re-engineering methods to the system reliability, efficiency, usability and other quality metrics is given.

Modern aerospace systems rely heavily on legacy platforms and their derivatives. Historical examples show that after a vehicle design is frozen and delivered to a customer, successive upgrades are often made to fulfill changing requirements. Current practices of adapting to emerging needs with derivative designs, retrofits, and upgrades are often reactive and ad-hoc, resulting in performance and cost penalties. Recent DoD acquisition policies have addressed this problem by establishing a general paradigm for design for lifelong evolution. However, there is a need for a unified, practical design approach that considers the lifetime evolution of an aircraft concept by incorporating future requirements and technologies. This research proposes a systematic approach with which the decision makers can evaluate the value and risk of a new aircraft development program, including potential derivative development opportunities. The proposed Evaluation of Lifelong Vehicle Evolution (EvoLVE) method is a two- or multi-stage representation of the aircraft design process that accommodates initial development phases as well as follow-on phases. One of the key elements of this method is the Stochastic Programming with Recourse (SPR) technique, which accounts for uncertainties associated with future requirements. The remedial approach of SPR in its two distinctive problem-solving steps is well suited to aircraft design problems where derivatives, retrofits, and upgrades have been used to fix designs that were once but no longer optimal. The solution approach of SPR is complemented by the Risk-Averse Strategy Selection (RASS) technique to gauge risk associated with vehicle evolution options. In the absence of a full description of the random space, a scenario-based approach captures the randomness with a few probable scenarios and reveals implications of different future events. Last, an interactive framework for decision-making support allows simultaneous navigation of the current and future design space with a greater degree of freedom. A cantilevered beam design problem was set up and solved using the SPR technique to showcase its application to an engineering design setting. The full EvoLVE method was conducted on a notional multi-role fighter based on the F/A-18 Hornet.