Proposed in this thesis is a methodology to enable yacht designers to develop innovative structural concepts, even when the loads experienced by the yacht are highly uncertain, and has been implemented in sufficient detail to confirm the feasibility of this new approach. The new approach is required because today??s yachts are generally lighter, getting larger and going faster. The question arises as to how far the design envelope can be pushed with the highly uncertain loads experienced by the structure? What are the effects of this uncertainty and what trade-offs in the structural design will best meet the overall design objectives? The new approach provides yacht designers with a means of developing innovative structural solutions that accommodate high levels of uncertainty, but still focus on best meeting design objectives constrained by trade-offs in weight, safety and cost. The designer??s preferences have a large, and not always intuitive, influence on the necessary design trade-offs. This in turn invites research into ways to formally integrate decision algorithms into knowledge-based design systems. A lean and robust design system has been achieved by developing a set of tools which are blanketed by a fuzzy decision algorithm. The underlying tool set includes costing, material optimisation and safety analysis. Central to this is the innovative way in which the system allows non-discrete variables to be utilized along with new subjective measures of structural reliability based on load path algorithms and topological (shape) optimisation. The originality in this work is the development of a knowledge-based framework and methodology that uses a fuzzy decision making tool to navigate through a design space and address trade-offs between high level objectives when faced with limited design detail and uncertainty. In so doing, this work introduces the use of topological optimisation and load path theory to the structural design of yachts as a means of overcoming the historical focus of knowledge-based systems and to ensure that innovative solutions can still evolve. A sensitivity analysis is also presented which can quantify a design??s robustness in a system that focuses on a global approach to the measurement of objectives such as cost, weight and safety. Results from the application of this system show new and innovative structural solutions evolving that take into account the designers preferences regarding cost, weight and safety while accommodating uncertain parameters such as the loading experienced by the hull.

A fusion system sometimes requires the capability to represent the temporal changes of uncertain sensory information in dynamic and uncertain situation. A Bayesian Network can construct a coherent fusion structure with the hypothesis node which cannot be observed directly and sensors through a number of intermediate nodes that are interrelated by cause and effect. In some BN applications for observing a hypothesis node with the number of participated sensors, rank and select the appropriate options (different combination of sensors allocation) in the decision-making is a challenging problem. By user interaction, we can acquire more and useful information through multi-criteria decision aid (MCDA) as semi-automatically decision support. So in this study, Multi Attribute Decision Making (MADM) techniques as TOPSIS, SAW, and Mixed (Rank Average) for decision-making as well as AHP and Entropy for obtaining the weights of indexes have been used. Since MADM techniques have most probably different results according to different approaches and assumptions in the same problem, statistical analysis done on them. According to results, the correlation between applied techniques for ranking BN options is strong and positive because of the close proximity of weights suggested by AHP and Entropy. Mixed method as compared to TOPSIS and SAW is ideal techniques; moreover, AHP is more acceptable than Entropy for weighting of indexes.

The lack of safe drinking water worldwide has drawn the attention of decision makers to riverbank filtration (RBF) for its many advantages in purifying surface water. This study provides an overview of the hydrogeologic, fluvial, and environmental influences on the performance of RBF systems and aims to develop a model for RBF site selection. Using multi-attribute utility theory (MAUT), this study structured the RBF siting problem and assessed a multiplicative utility function for the decision maker. In a case study, geostatistical methods were used to acquire the necessary data and geographic information systems (GIS) were used to screen sites suitable for RBF implementation. Those suitable sites were then evaluated and ranked using the multi-attribute utility model. The result showed that sites can be identified as most preferred among the selected suitable sites based on their expected utility values. This study definitively answers the question regarding the capability of MAUT in RBF site selection. Further studies are needed to verify the influences of the attributes on the performance of RBF systems.:Abstract iii Zusammenfassung iv Acknowledgments v Table of Contents vi List of Tables viii List of Figures x Definition of terms xiii 1. Abbreviations xiii 2. Symbols xiii Part I Introduction 1 1. Introduction 2 2. Statement of purpose 2 3. Research questions 3 4. Overview of methodology 3 5. Organization of the dissertation 3 Part II Fundamentals and Literature Review 5 1. The definition of bank filtration 6 2. The Significance of RBF 7 2.1 RBF in drinking water supply 7 2.2 Benefits of RBF for China 14 3. RBF Site Selection 19 3.1 RBF site selection model 20 3.2 Definition of successful RBF sites 24 4. Factors Affecting RBF Site Selection 26 4.1 River hydrology/hydraulics 27 4.2 Geology 28 4.3 Land cover 36 4.4 Well field location 36 4.5 Water quality 37 4.6 Aquifer properties 38 4.7 Distance to river 41 4.8 Riverbed characteristics 43 5. Effect of Clogging on Yield 46 6. Summary 51 Part III Developing a Multi-attribute Utility Model for RBF Site Selection 53 1. Introduction 54 2. Objectives and Attributes 54 3. Assessment of the Utility Function 57 3.1 Investigation of the qualitative preference structure 58 3.2 Assessment of component utility function 62 3.3 Assessment of the scaling constants 63 4. Results 67 5. Discussion 69 6. Summary 74 Part IV Case Study 75 1. Introduction 76 2. Materials and Methods 78 2.1 GIS data collection 78 2.1.1 Geologic data 79 2.1.2 Land cover data 79 2.1.3 Groundwater quality data 80 2.1.4 Aquifer properties data 80 2.1.5 Surface water area data 80 2.1.6 Surface water quality data 81 2.1.7 Streambed material data 81 2.2 Kriging the saturated thickness 91 2.3 Aggregation of all constraint maps 103 3. Results 105 3.1 Kriging 105 3.2 Suitable sites 105 4. Discussion 109 4.1 A discussion of the kriging results 109 4.2 A discussion of the multi-attribute utility model results 117 5. Summary 122 Part V Conclusions and Recommendations 123 1. Conclusion and Recommendation 124 Appendix 1 Environmental quality standards for surface water (GB 3838-2002) 125 Appendix 2 Quality standard for groundwater (GB14848-93) 127 Appendix 3 Explanation to Germany’s RBF site location data 130 Appendix 4 Layer information of drillings 133 Appendix 5 Streambed materials used by Schälchli (1993) 141 Appendix 6 Interview and questionnaires 143 Appendix 7 Surface water area of Jilin City 150 Bibliography 152

Le Cloud Computing est un nouveau modèle économique hébergeant les applications de la technologie de l’information. Le passage au Cloud devient un enjeu important des entreprises pour des raisons économiques. La nature dynamique et la complexité croissante des architectures de Cloud impliquent plusieurs défis de gestion. Dans ce travail, nous nous intéressons à la gestion des contrats SLA. Vu le manque de standardisation, chaque fournisseur de service décrit les contrats SLA avec son propre langage, ce qui laisse l'utilisateur perplexe concernant le choix de son fournisseur de services. Dans ce travail, nous proposons une architecture de Cloud Broker permettant d’établir et de négocier les contrats SLA entre les fournisseurs et les consommateurs du Cloud. L’objectif de cette architecture est d’aider l’utilisateur à trouver le meilleur fournisseur en utilisant une méthode multi-critère. Cette méthode considère chaque critère comme une fonction d’utilité à intégrer dans une super-fonction d’utilité. Nous proposons d’illustrer chaque fonction d’utilité par une courbe spécifique à lui représentant bien le critère de choix. Nous essayons de cerner la plupart des critères qui contribuent dans le choix du meilleurs service et de les classer en critères fonctionnels et critères non fonctionnels. Les contrats SLA établit par notre broker sont formalisés sous forme d’ontologies qui permettent de masquer l'hétérogénéité et d’assurer l'interopérabilité entre les acteurs du Cloud. En outre, l’utilisation des règles d'inférence nous a permis de détecter les violations dans le contrat SLA établit et de garantir ainsi le respect de la satisfaction client dans le temps / Cloud Computing is a dynamic new technology that has huge potentials in enterprises and markets. The dynamicity and the increasing complexity of Cloud architectures involve several management challenges. In this work, we are interested in Service Level Agreement (SLA) management. Actually, there is no standard to express Cloud SLA, so, providers describe their SLAs in different manner and different languages, which leaves the user puzzled about the choice of its Cloud provider. To overcome these problems, we introduce a Cloud Broker Architecture managing the SLA between providers and consumers. It aims to assist users in establishing and negotiating SLA contracts and to help them in finding the best provider that satisfies their service level expectations. Our broker SLA contracts are formalized as OWL ontologies as they allow hiding the heterogeneity in the distributed Cloud environment and enabling interoperability between Cloud actors. Besides, by combining our ontology with our proposed inference rules, we contribute to detect violations in the SLA contract assuring thereby the sustainability of the user satisfaction. Based on the requirements specified in the SLA contract, our Cloud Broker assists users in selecting the right provider using a multi attribute utility theory method. This method is based on utility functions representing the user satisfaction degree. To obtain accurate results, we have modelled both functional and non functional attributes utilities. We have used personalized utilities for each criterion under negotiation so that our cloud broker satisfies the best consumer requirements from functional and non functional point of view

Il existe deux approches classiques et bien comprises des tâches de traitement vidéo pour la vidéoconférence. Le premier utilise une unité centralisée de contrôle multipoint. Dans la deuxième approche, les tâches de traitement vidéo sont directement traitées dans les clients. La performance est ensuite limitée par les caractéristiques du périphérique. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons une troisième approche alternative. Nous proposons un système qui distribue des tâches de traitement vidéo en temps réel sur les ressources internes de l'entreprise. Une méthode dédiée de prise de décision basée sur les multi-attributs est conçue pour tenir compte de la variété des attributs qui influent sur la qualité de l'expérience. Des algorithmes de distribution et de redistribution de tâches sont élaborés. Nous testons ensuite l'approche proposée au moyen de la simulation afin d'étudier l'impact des principaux paramètres critiques. L'approche proposée pose une question sur laquelle un PC peut être utilisé comme plate-forme pour le serveur multimédia. Nous estimons une qualité perçue des flux vidéo afin d'étudier l'influence de la charge CPU. Nous avons également élaboré des algorithmes, combinant l'approche Cloud / Fog avec différents types de serveurs multimédia. Le résultat fournit une solution de conférence optimisée en termes de coût tant pour le fournisseur que pour le consommateur, ainsi que pour l'expérience de l'utilisateur final. En combinant les algorithmes élaborés et l'architecture avec les résultats de l'expérimentation, nous concluons que la solution proposée peut être utilisée comme une nouvelle approche de la problématique de la vidéoconférence. / There exist two classical and well-understood approaches to video processing tasks for videoconferencing. The first one is using a centralized Multipoint Control Unit (MCU). In the second approach, the video processing tasks are directly handled in endpoints. Performance is then restricted by device characteristics, especially in the case of mobile devices. In this thesis, we propose a third alternative approach. We propose a system, which distributes real-time video processing tasks on enterprise desktop grid. A dedicated Multi Attribute Decision Making method is designed in order to take into account the variety of attributes impacting Quality of Experience. A number of task distribution and redistribution algorithms are elaborated. We then test the proposed approach by means of simulation in order to study the impact of the main critical parameters. The proposed approach arises a question to which extent a PC can be used as a platform for media server and how CPU load affects the quality of provided video conference. We estimate a perceived quality of video streams in order to investigate CPU load influence. Also we elaborated algorithms, combining Cloud/Fog approach with different types of media servers, the result provides an optimized conferencing solution in the terms of cost for both provider and consumer as well as in terms of end user experience. Combining elaborated algorithms and architecture with experimentation results we conclude that proposed solution can be used as a novel approach to video conferencing problematic.

Yes / In this paper, a novel multilink selection framework is developed for different applications with various quality of service (QoS) requirements in avionic systems, based on the multi-attribute decisionmaking model. Two metaheuristic algorithms are proposed to solve this model while optimizing the multilink selection performances. Multilink configuration and multi-homing capabilities are generally required for aircrafts operating in a heterogeneous wireless network environment. The first algorithm, called Analytic Hierarchy Process and Simulated Annealing (AHP-SA), utilises a two-phase process. In Phase one, an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is used to choose the decision weight factors. Then, in Phase two, a simulated annealing process is applied to select suitable networks, for various service requests, based on the weights obtained from first phase. Further, to improve customer satisfaction, Simulated Annealing algorithm for Simultaneous Weights and Network Selection Optimisation (SA-SWNO) is developed, in which a simulated annealing algorithm is applied to dynamically optimise weight factors of objective functions and the request-to-network assignment matrix. Simulation results demonstrates that both proposed algorithms outperform the commonly used price-based or QoS-based network selection scheme with much higher averaged satisfaction degree and lower computational complexity. / Cockpit NetwOrk CoMmunications Environment Testing (COMET) Project under the European Commission’s Program Clean Sky2 in partnership with the European Aeronautical Industry

We develop a detailed, large-scale, airspace planning and collaborative decision-making model (APCDM), that is part of an $11.5B, 10-year, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-sponsored effort to increase U.S. National Airspace (NAS) capacity by 30 percent. Given a set of flights that must be scheduled during some planning horizon, we use a mixed-integer programming formulation to select a set of flight plans from among alternatives subject to flight safety, air traffic control workload, and airline equity constraints. Novel contributions of this research include three-dimensional probabilistic conflict analyses, the derivation of valid inequalities to tighten the conflict safety representation constraints, the development of workload metrics based on average (and its variance from) peak load measures, and the consideration of equity among airline carriers in absorbing the costs related to re-routing, delays, and cancellations. We also propose an improved set of flight plan cost factors for representing system costs and investigating fairness issues by addressing flight dependencies occurring in hubbed operations, as well as market factors such as schedule convenience, reliability, and the timeliness of connections. The APCDM model has potential use for both tactical and strategic applications, such as air traffic control in response to severe weather phenomenon or spacecraft launches, FAA policy evaluation, Homeland Defense contingency planning, and military air campaign planning. The model is tested to consider various airspace restriction scenarios imposed by dynamic severe weather systems and space launch Special Use Airspace (SUA) impositions. The results from this model can also serve to augment the FAA's National Playbook of standardized flight profiles in different disruption-prone regions of the National Airspace. / Ph. D.

Made available in DSpace on 2009-11-18T19:01:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2003 / Auctions are secular institutions used in the commercial relationships among individuaIs and organizations. They provi de greater flexibility to the processes of determination of prices and allocation of goods, increasing the space for negotiations among buyers and sellers. In the Internet, they have been used, in a growing way, in B2B and G2B electronic commerce, mostly through the model of reverse auctions. However, its unidimensional aspect reduces the negotiations to the variable price, producing, many times, bad results. In the Brazilian case, the Federal Government launched Comprasnet, an Internet public emarketplace, through which public organizations acquire goods and services from registered suppliers. Considering alI the available bidding modalities, 'Electronic Pregão' stands out, as an unidimensional reverse auction, based on price, through which suppliers dispute for contracts of the public administration. In the present work, the author proposes a multicriteria decision-making approach, based on Multi-attribute Utility Theory, as an alternative for the adoption of multi-attribute reverse auctions, adding value to Brazilian Public Buying Organizations. / Leilões são instituições seculares utilizadas nas relações comerciais entre indivíduos e organizações. Provêem maior flexibilidade aos processos de determinação de preços e alocação de bens, aumentando o espaço para negociações entre compradores e vendedores. Na Internet, têm sido empregados, de maneira crescente, em atividades de comércio eletrônico B2B e G2B, em sua maioria, através da modalidade de leilão reverso. No entanto, seu aspecto unidimensional reduz as negociações à variável preço, produzindo, muitas vezes, resultados aquém do desejado. No caso brasileiro, o Governo Federal instituiu o Portal Comprasnet, através do qual, as organizações públicas adquirem bens e serviços de fornecedores cadastrados. Dentre as modalidades de licitação disponíveis, destaca-se o Pregão Eletrônico, um mecanismo de leilão eletrônico reverso baseado no atributo preço, através do qual, fornecedores submetem lances decrescentes, na disputa por contratos do setor público. No presente trabalho, o autor propõe uma abordagem de decisão multicritério, baseada na Teoria da Utilidade Multiatributo, como uma alternativa para a adoção de leilões reversos baseados em múltiplos atributos e, consequentemente, para uma maior agregação de valor pelas organizações compradoras do setor público brasileiro.

Le Problème de Tournées de Véhicules (PTV) est une clé importante pour gérér efficacement des systèmes logistiques, ce qui peut entraîner une amélioration du niveau de satisfaction de la clientèle. Ceci est fait en servant plus de clients dans un temps plus court. En terme général, il implique la planification des tournées d'une flotte de véhicules de capacité donnée basée à un ou plusieurs dépôts. Le but est de livrer ou collecter une certain quantité de marchandises à un ensemble des clients géographiquement dispersés, tout en respectant les contraintes de capacité des véhicules. Le PTV, comme classe de problèmes d'optimisation discrète et de grande complexité, a été étudié par de nombreux au cours des dernières décennies. Étant donné son importance pratique, des chercheurs dans les domaines de l'informatique, de la recherche opérationnelle et du génie industrielle ont mis au point des algorithmes très efficaces, de nature exacte ou heuristique, pour faire face aux différents types du PTV. Toutefois, les approches proposées pour le PTV ont souvent été accusées d'être trop concentrées sur des versions simplistes des problèmes de tournées de véhicules rencontrés dans des applications réelles. Par conséquent, les chercheurs sont récemment tournés vers des variantes du PTV qui auparavant étaient considérées trop difficiles à résoudre. Ces variantes incluent les attributs et les contraintes complexes observés dans les cas réels et fournissent des solutions qui sont exécutables dans la pratique. Ces extensions du PTV s'appellent Problème de Tournées de Véhicules Multi-Attributs (PTVMA). Le but principal de cette thèse est d'étudier les différents aspects pratiques de trois types de problèmes de tournées de véhicules multi-attributs qui seront modélisés dans celle-ci. En plus, puisque pour le PTV, comme pour la plupart des problèmes NP-complets, il est difficile de résoudre des instances de grande taille de façon optimale et dans un temps d'exécution raisonnable, nous nous tournons vers des méthodes approcheés à base d’heuristiques. / The Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) is an important key to efficient logistics system management, which can result in higher level of customer satisfaction because more customers can be served in a shorter time. In broad terms, it deals with designing optimal delivery or collection routes from one or several depot(s) to a number of geographically scattered customers subject to side constraints. The VRP is a discrete optimization and computationally hard problem and has been extensively studied by researchers and practitioners during the past decades. Being complex problems with numerous and relevant potential applications, researchers from the fields of computer science, operations research and industrial engineering have developed very efficient algorithms, both of exact and heuristic nature, to deal with different types of VRPs. However, VRP research has often been criticized for being too focused on oversimplified versions of the routing problems encountered in real-life applications. Consequently, researchers have recently turned to variants of the VRP which before were considered too difficult to solve. These variants include those attributes and constraints observed in real-life planning and lead to solutions that are executable in practice. These extended problems are called Multi-Attribute Vehicle Routing Problems (MAVRPs). The main purpose of this thesis is to study different practical aspects of three multi-attribute vehicle routing problems which will be modeled in it. Besides that, since the VRP has been proved to be NP-hard in the strong sense such that it is impossible to optimally solve the large-sized problems in a reasonable computational time by means of traditional optimization approaches, novel heuristics will be designed to efficiently tackle the created models.

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2016-11-03T11:54:04Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Murillo da Silveira Grübler_.pdf: 3027339 bytes, checksum: 2fdb175c76ab90e275bf8ba04792e452 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-11-03T11:54:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Murillo da Silveira Grübler_.pdf: 3027339 bytes, checksum: 2fdb175c76ab90e275bf8ba04792e452 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-08-19 / CNPQ – Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / O Gerenciamento de Leitos é uma importante área de planejamento e controle hospitalar. Sua função é garantir o equilíbrio entre os pacientes que chegam através do setor de emergência, os eletivos que possuem algum tratamento agendado e aqueles que saem do hospital. Dessa forma, esse gerenciamento possibilita manter alta a taxa de ocupação dos quartos, mas sem realmente lotá-los, além de prever qualquer situação não planejada. A gestão eficaz de leitos hospitalares como recurso sempre foi um desafio para os gestores. Nas décadas de 80 e 90, por exemplo, milhares de pacientes tiveram operações canceladas em virtude de razões não médicas. Como há necessidade de um melhor controle do fluxo, a área de Gerenciamento de Leitos começou, então, a receber mais atenção acadêmica e também políticas nacionais para a sua gestão. O processo de admissão e posicionamento de enfermos, a partir do Gerenciamento de Leitos, vem se desenvolvendo nos últimos anos através de diversas técnicas de pesquisa operacional, tais como simulação, teoria de filas, análise estatística, entre outras. Devido às constantes incertezas vividas pelos hospitais atualmente, o uso do modelo cognitivo Ciência de Situação em pesquisas científicas na área da saúde vem crescendo cada vez mais. A Ciência de Situação é uma área de estudo que busca compreender o contexto dos ambientes e projetar ações futura. Em suma, é uma técnica que vai além do tradicional processamento de informações, visto que procura explicar o comportamento humano na operação de sistemas complexos. Nessa assertiva, este trabalho tem como objetivo utilizar a Ciência de Situação na área de Gerenciamento de Leitos, usando um modelo híbrido que une a técnica de Rede Neural Artificial Multilayer Perceptron com a Teoria do Valor Multiatributo para tomada de decisão, auxiliando gestores no processo de atribuição de pacientes em leitos adequados ao seu tratamento. Através da implementação de um protótipo baseado neste modelo híbrido de apoio à decisão, nomeado de IMBEDS, foram avaliados 50 pacientes em um total de 266 leitos gerenciados pela Central de Leitos, no Hospital Mãe de Deus, localizado em Porto Alegre. O resultado final dos testes foi de 93,5% de similaridade entre o leito apto apresentado pelo modelo e o processo real de alocação dos enfermos. / The Bed Management is an important area of planning and control hospital. It’s function is to ensure the balance between the patients who come through the emergency department, elective that have some scheduled treatment and those leaving the hospital. Thus, the Bed Management enables the hospital keep high occupancy rate of rooms, but without fill all the beds, in addition to providing any unplanned situation. Effective management of hospital beds as a resource has always been a challenge for managers. In the 80s and 90s, for example, thousands of patients have operations canceled due to non-medical reasons. As there is need for better control of the flow, Bed Management area then began to receive more academic attention and also policies national for the Bed Management. The process of admission and positioning the patients, from the management of beds, has been developing in recent years through of operational research, such as simulation, queuing theory, statistical analysis, among others. Due to the uncertainties experienced by hospitals nowadays, the use of model Situation Awareness in research in the health field is growing increasingly. Situation Awareness is a field of study that seeks to understand the context of the environment and designing future actions. In short, it is a technique that goes beyond the traditional information processing, as it seeks to explain human behavior in the operation of complex systems. In this statement, this work aims to use the Situation Awareness in Bed Management area, using a hybrid model that combines the technique Artificial Neural Network Multilayer Perceptron with the Multi-Attribute Value Theory for decision making, assisting managers in process of patient's allocation to the bed suitable in his treatment. Through the implementation of a prototype based on this hybrid model of decision support, named of IMBEDS, were evaluated 50 patients in a total of 266 beds managed by Beds Center, in the Hospital Mãe de Deus, located in Porto Alegre. The final result of the tests was 93.5% similarity between the bed apt selected by the model and the allocation process of the patients.