The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is the developer of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED™) green building scoring system. On first inspection of LEED points, few address water efficiency. However, water management encompasses other points beyond the Water Efficiency (WE) category. In general, the industry is apt to take a somewhat compartmentalized approach to water management. The use of alternative water sources or the reuse of wastewater significantly complicates the water budget picture. A total water management systems approach, taking into consideration water from various sources, both inside and outside the building, should be implemented in order to devise a strategy for optimal reduction of potable water consumption and wastewater generation. Using the STELLA software to create an integrated building water management (IBWM) model provides stakeholders with a tool to evaluate potential water savings under dynamic conditions for a specific project site. Data collection for IBWM model calibration also shows that water consumption trends are unique to each project, and using LEED assumptions about water usage can overestimate or underestimate potential water savings.

L’OMS évalue à 1.2 million le nombre de tués sur les routes par an et environ 20 à 50 millions le nombre de blessés (données de 2004). Même si on observe une nette amélioration dans certains pays développés, l’OMS a prévu une augmentation mondiale des décès et des traumatismes d’ici 2030 si rien de nouveau n’est effectué. Pour faire face à cette problématique, les recommandations reposent sur la mise en œuvre de stratégies globales d’amélioration. Celles-ci doivent prendre en compte l’ensemble des enjeux liés à la sécurité routière (santé publique, technologique, économique, juridique, etc.) et être conduites en collaboration par l’ensemble des acteurs du système routier. Par exemple, le travail des constructeurs automobiles consiste en partie à développer des systèmes de sécurité qui agissent dans l’objectif de réduire et/ou d’éviter les accidents (ceinture de sécurité, ABS, airbag, châssis adapté aux déformations, etc.) à partir de connaissances en accidentologie et en biomécanique dans l’objectif de répondre aux exigences de tests consuméristes. L’activité d’évaluation fait partie intégrante de ce processus d’amélioration de la sécurité routière. Elle a pour objectif de fournir des connaissances aux différents acteurs pour les aider à atteindre leurs objectifs. Plus précisément, elle est focalisée sur le calcul d’indicateurs qui renseignent sur les performances des actions de sécurité routière. Le travail de recherche que nous avons effectué est issu d’une réflexion globale sur la réalisation de ces évaluations. Nous avons identifié des enjeux que nous considérons comme levier pour améliorer leur réalisation. Ils concernent la formalisation d’un cadre de l’évaluation pour aider les évaluateurs à dépasser leurs habitudes de travail et ainsi mieux répondre aux besoins des destinataires des évaluations dans un contexte complexe. En se basant sur les connaissances expertes de l’évaluation en sécurité routière et la littérature sur l’évaluation, l’épistémologie, la modélisation des connaissances et les théories de conception, nous avons proposé un modèle générique, créatif et multipoints de vue de l’évaluation. Ce modèle est défini comme une description systémique de l’activité d’évaluation. Il est composé de modèles structurels et fonctionnels à destination des évaluateurs. Dans notre recherche, nous nous sommes focalisés sur les étapes d’analyse du cas d’étude et sur la conception des indicateurs d’évaluation. Notre modèle a été mis à l’épreuve sur des exemples d’évaluation. Les résultats montrent que la formalisation des cas d’évaluations engendre une réflexion plus détaillée sur les questions à traiter et les indicateurs à utiliser. Un outil logiciel permet de rendre opérationnel ce modèle. Il est basé sur la gestion de bases de données et sur des algorithmes de traitement des données. / The WHO estimates the number of road deaths per year is 1.2 million and the number of casualties is about 20 to 50 million (2004). Even if there is a marked improvement in some developed countries, the WHO has planned a global increase in deaths and injuries by 2030 if nothing new is done. To address this issue, the recommendations are based on the implementation of safety strategies for improvement. These latter must take into account all issues related to road safety (public health, technological, economic, legal, etc..) and be conducted in collaboration with all actors of the road system. For instance, work of carmakers is partially to develop safety systems that operate in the goal of reducing and / or to avoid accidents (safety belt, ABS, airbag, chassis adapted to deformation, etc.). They are constructed from knowledge in biomechanics and accidentology with the aim to meet the demands of consumerist tests. The evaluation activity is part of this process of improving road safety. It aims to provide knowledge to different actors to help them to achieve their goals. More specifically, it focuses on the calculation of indicators that provide information on the performance of road safety strategies. The research we've done is from a general thought on these evaluations. We have identified issues which we consider as leverage to improve their achievement. They concern the formalization of a framework to help the evaluators to look beyond their work habits and better meet the needs of the recipients of evaluations in a complex context. Based on the expert knowledge of road safety evaluation and literature on evaluation activity, epistemology, knowledge modelling and design theories, we proposed a generic, creative and multipoint of view model of evaluation. It is composed of structural and functional models intended for evaluators. In our research, we focused on the stages of case studies analysis and the design of the indicators. Our model was tested on examples; the results show that the formalization of the evaluation case generates a more detailed reflection on issues to be addressed and indicators to be used. Software is used to address operational side of this model. It is based on the management of databases and algorithms for data processing.

No que segue, propõe-se uma classe de sistemas robóticos multi-corpos, cujos corpos componentes estão fisicamente acoplados através de juntas rotativas ativas. Os sistemas da classe considerada possuem mobilidade irrestrita no espaço plano uma vez que propulsores distribuídos ao longo dos corpos do sistema. A modelagem dinâmica destes sistemas é apresentada sob as abordagens Hamiltoniana e Lagrangiana da mecânica analítica. A descrição destes métodos de modelagem, assim como os modelos por eles obtidos, é realizada com ênfase na interpretação geométrica da matemática envolvida. Alguns exemplos de parametrizações do espaço de fase do sistema são discutidos e exemplos de modelagem em função destas parametrizações são obtidos. Ademais, alguns critérios de análise de controlabilidade não-linear são revisados e aplicados aos modelos do sistema com a estrutura de entradas considerada. Alguns casos de estabilização da classe de sistemas são também discutidos. Resultados de simulação de estabilização são obtidos para sistemas através de estudos de casos. Sistemas completamente controlados no espaço de estados podem ser linearizados através de uma técnica de linearização por realimentação e estabilizados com uma realimentação de estados. Para os sistemas cuja controlabilidade é deficiente, propõe-se a modificação de um método de controle de sistemas sub-atuados e uma lei de controle por realimentação é obtida pela teoria de estabilidade de Lyapunov. A classe de sistemas aqui discutida possui grande potencial de aplicação nos ambientes espacial e submarino. / In the following, a class of multi-body robotic systems is proposed in which its system component bodies are physically coupled by active rotating joints. The systems belonging to the proposed class have unrestricted mobility on the plane since thrusters are distributed along the system. System dynamical modeling is obtained through the analytic mechanical Hamiltonian and Lagrangian methods. The presentation of these methods, as well as the dynamical models obtained by them, is realized with an emphasis in the geometrical interpretation of the corresponding mathematics. A few different system phase space parameterizations approaches are discussed and modeling examples are presented under these parameterizations. Additionally, some nonlinear controllability analysis criteria are reviewed and applied to system dynamical models composed by the input structure mentioned above. A few stabilization case studies for the class of systems are also discussed and simulation results are presented. Totally controlled systems in the phase space can be linearized by feedback linearization techniques and stabilized through a state feedback. For partially controllable systems a modification of a stabilization method for under-actuated systems is proposed which renders feedback control via Lypunov stability theory. The class of systems discussed has great potential for space and underwater applications.

A fase inicial de projeto de sistemas, baseada na elicitação, modelagem e análise dos requisitos é considerada a mais complexa e a mais estratégica para obtenção de bons resultados. Por conseguinte, erros precisam ser detectados durante esta fase inicial, antes de começar a implementação, evitando assim o desperdício de tempo e recursos. Este trabalho propõe um método formal de modelagem, análise e verificação de requisitos, partindo de uma representação semi-formal de requisitos em UML, e utilizando o formalismo das Redes de Petri para proceder à modelagem, análise e verificação. Propriedades das redes de Petri, tais como invariantes, são usadas para analisar os requisitos, permitindo uma validação antecipada dos requisitos no processo de design. O objetivo deste trabalho é estender a aplicação das redes de Petri como representação formal para a modelagem e análise de requisitos, endereçando assim a fase anterior às especificações. Pressupõe-se a existência de uma disciplina de projeto baseada em modelos (model driven) que abrange a fase inicial do projeto e se propaga para a modelagem e verificação de soluções. Assim, a abordagem proposta nesta tese se encaixa plenamente em um processo orientado a modelos que use a mesma linguagem: as redes de Petri. / The first stage of system design, which includes elicitation, modeling, and analysis of requirements is considered at the same time, very complex and very strategic to achieve proper results.Therefore it is important to detect mistakes both, conceptual and in requirements, before implementation begins, avoiding the waste of time and resources. This work proposes a formal method for modeling, analysis and verification of requirements, starting with a semi-formal representation of requirements in UML. Petri net and its properties such as invariants are used to analyze requirements, thereby allowing that requirements can be validated earlier. The main objective of this work is to extend the application of Petri Nets, as a formal representation, to requirements phase, addressing specification building. It is assumed that there is a model driven design approach that encompass the initial (requirements) phase and goes through the modeling and verification of solutions. Therefore the approach proposed in this work fits a model driven general approach which could use the same formal language: Petri Nets.

Master's thesis concerns itself with a design of a brand new business simulation game. The first part defines business simulation games as a specific form of educational activity and describes their individual components. The second part is fully dedicated to design. It specified goals and requirements for the proposed software application and economic model of the game and describes ways to implement them. The design focuses on technical aspects of the game, on defining specific algorithms for the model to use and on implications of relationships among variables in the proposed model.

No description available.

A rapidly expanding world population and extreme climate change have made food production a crucial challenge in the twentyirst century. Therefore, improving crop production through agricultural management could be an effective solution for this challenge. However, due to the associated cost and time to perform field works, researchers widely rely on agricultural system modeling to examine the impacts of different crop management scenarios. However, due to the complexity of agricultural system modeling, their applications in producing practical knowledge for producers are limited. Concurrently, deep learning techniques have been recognized as a preferred method when dealing with large datasets. This study was performed in three phases. First, A deep learning network was utilized and trained by incorporating a large number of datasets produced by the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) model. To the best of our knowledge, no research has been done in the literature on modeling a cropping system by deep learning. An model accuracy level of around 98\% was obtained, and it was 770 times faster than classical crop models DSSAT in calculating 900,000 different crop growth scenarios. However, The second phase of the study examined the robustness of the deep learning model under a wider range of environmental factors (e.g., different irrigation and climatological conditions) while a deep learning structure was desired compare to the first study. To optimize the deep learning structure, three variable reduction methods were used (Bayesian, Spearman, and Principal Component Analysis). The result of this study showed that a deep learning structure could be developed that has a similar accuracy level as the original model while the structural size was reduced up to 80 times. In the third phase of the study, three techniques (L1/L2 regularization, and neurons dropout) were used to address the overfitting problem in some deep learning models. The L2 regularization was identified as the most effective method that increased model generalization and reduced overfitting. The overall results from this study demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed deep learning technique in replicating the yield results from crop modeling under different climatological and management conditions.

No description available.

Power networks are sophisticated dynamical systems whose stable operation is essential to modern society. We study the swing equation for networks and its linearization (LSEN) as a tool for modeling power systems. Nowadays, phasor measurement units (PMUs) are used across power networks to measure the magnitude and phase angle of electric signals. Given the abundant data that PMUs can produce, we study applications of the dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) and Loewner framework to power systems. The matrices that define the LSEN model have a particular structure that is not recovered by DMD. We thus propose a novel variant of DMD, called structure-preserving DMD (SPDMD), that imposes the LSEN structure upon the recovered system. Since the solution of the LSEN can potentially exhibit interesting transient dynamics, we study the transient growth for the exponential matrix related to the LSEN. We follow Godunov's approach to get upper bounds for the transient growth and also analyze the relationship of such bounds with classical bounds based on the spectrum, numerical range, and pseudospectra. We show how Godunov's bounds can be optimized to bound the solution operator at a given time. The Loewner framework provides a tool for identifying a dynamical system from tangential measurements. The singular values of Loewner matrices guide the discovery of the true order of the underlying system. However, these singular values can exhibit rapid decay when the interpolation points are far from the poles of the system. We establish a range of bounds for this decay of singular values and apply this analysis to power systems. / Doctor of Philosophy / Power networks are sophisticated dynamical systems whose stable operation is essential to modern society. We study a mathematical model called the LSEN to understand and recover the dynamics of power networks. The LSEN model defines some matrices that have special structures dictated by the application. We propose a novel method to recover matrices with this desired structure from data. We also study some properties of the solution of the LSEN model related to the exponential of a matrix, connecting classical results with the particular approach that we follow. In the system identification context, we also study bounds on the singular values of Loewner matrices to understand the interplay between the data (measurements of the system) and mathematical artifacts (poles of the system).

A tool management system for a job shop was developed in this study. The system is based on the rules of the plant of T&uuml / rk Trakt&ouml / r ve Ziraat Makineleri A.S. in Ankara. An object-oriented methodology was used during the system development. Unified Modeling Language (UML), which is the standard diagramming notation for object-oriented development, is used to model the system. Entity-Relation (E-R) modeling is used during the construction of the database. System was developed using three-tiered Microsoft Windows Distributed Internet Applications (DNA) Architecture. Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 and Visual InterDev 6.0, which are the members of Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0 were used as programming tools. Internet Information Server was used as web server and Microsoft Transaction Server was used as object broker. Microsoft SQL Server was used as database server. Software was developed in three modules: gage-fixture, cutting tool-tool holder and tool requirement plan modules. Gage- fixture module tracks the location of measuring equipment, fixture and fixture assemblies / keeps the related data about these tools and manage calibration of the measuring equipments. Cutting tool-tool holder module tracks the issue and return of cutting tools and tool holders / sharpening of cutting tools / keeps the related data about these tools. Tool requirement plan module tracks the purchase orders and cutting tool receivings from vendors / prepares tool requirement plan and suggests purchase orders according to the requirement calculation.