Structured data

The work reported here is part of the PROGRES (PROgrammed Graph Rewriting Systems) project. PROGRES is a very high level multi paradigm language for the specification of complex structured data types and their operations. The data structures are modelled as directed, attributed, node and edge labelled graphs (diane graphs). The basic programming constructs of PROGRES are graph rewriting rules (productions and tests) and derived relations on nodes (paths and restrictions). These basic operations may be combined to build partly imperative, partly rule based, complex graph transformations by special control structures which regard the nondeterministic nature of graph rewriting rules. PROGRES offers its users a convenient, partly textual, partly graphical concrete syntax and a rich system of consistency checking rules for the underlying calculus of programmed diane-graph rewriting systems. This paper presents the key techniques used for the execution of PROGRES programs. We will discuss...

Extensional processes that followed the Gondwanan Orogeny rise to the development of a series of rift basins along the continental margin over older accreted Eopaleozoic terranes. Stratigraphic, structural, paleontological, and isotopic studies are presented in this work in order to constrain the ages of the sedimentary infilling and to analyze the tectosedimentary evolution of one of the Cuyo basin depocenters, known as Rincón Blanco. This asymmetrical half-graben was filled by continental sediments under a strong tectonic ...

Rather than a document that is constantly being written as in the wiki approach, the Living Document (LD) is a document that also acts as a document router, operating by means of structured and organized social tagging and using existing ontologies. It offers an environment where users can manage papers and related information, share their knowledge with their peers and discover hidden associations among the shared knowledge. The LD builds upon both the Semantic Web, which values the integration of well-structured data, and the Social Web, which aims to facilitate interaction amongst people by means of user-generated content. In this vein, the LD is similar to a social networking system, with users as central nodes in the network, with the difference that interaction is focused on papers rather than people. Papers, with their ability to represent research interests, expertise, affiliations, and links to web based tools and databanks, are the central axis for interaction amongst user...

Geometric modeling of vast building complexes is a tedious and difficult task. In contrast to the a priori work of an architect who constructs a new building, the computer reconstruction of existing (old or ancient) buildings faces a serious problem: The computer model copies the real world not vice versa. This leads to the question of model abstraction. While the real world building features a vast amount of detail, the model has to reduce these details to a point where a computer model is small enought to be managable by current hardand software. The Angkor Temple Generator, which we developed over the last five years, addresses this dilemma behind the modelling process and exemplifies a modular solution for a defined class of buildings. In this paper we present the example of temple columns to explain the methods we use in the ATG for modelling Angkor style temples efficiently and with a high level of detail. Analyzing temples of the style of Angkor (Cambodia) leads to the constr...

The feeding guilds of four communities of molluscs living in the intertidal zone of Enseada in Caraguatatuba Bay and Barra Velha and Araçá beaches along the São Sebastião Channel were identified. Three-letter codes were assigned to each feeding guild, identifying the feeding habit, mobility patterns related to feeding, and food-capturing structures. Data were obtained from qualitative analyses of the digestive tract contents and from observations on the feeding behaviour of the gastropod Olivella minuta and the bivalves Tagelus plebeius, Macoma constricta, Tellina lineata, and T. versicolor. These data were complemented by published information on the feeding of congeneric or confamilial species. Six feeding guilds were identified. The SDS (suspension-feeder, discreetly motile, inhalant siphon and ctenidia) and DDS (deposit-feeder, discreetly motile, inhalant siphon and ctenidia) groups were more abundant. Suspension-feeding bivalves showed higher Trophic Importance Index (TI) values in all the study areas. Deposit-feeders showed high TI values only at Barra Velha beach. The species in the SDS feeding guild tended to occur in areas with lower salinity and moderately to well-sorted sediments with very fine sand predominating. The distribution of the feeding guilds correlated best with salinity, particle size distribution, and the contents of silt-clay and organic matter in the sediment.

Purpose This paper aims at spelling out the area of protection (AoP), namely the general concept of human well-being and the impact categories in social life cycle assessment (SLCA). The applicability of the so-called capabilities approach—a concept frequently used for evaluating human lives—is explored. It is shown how the principles of the capabilities approach can be transferred to the impact assessment within SLCA. Methods The literature concerning the AoP and the impact assessment has been critically reviewed from an applied philosophy perspective. The capabilities approach has been adopted for defining both the AoP and the impact categories. Results The main results are the following: (1) The AoP is defined as autonomy, well-being freedom and fairness; (2) using the dimensions which constitute well-being together with the concept of fairness eight impact categories are proposed: life, knowledge and aesthetic experience, work and play, friendship, self-integration, self-expression, transcendence and fairness itself and (3) by examining the ‘Guide to Social LCA: Methodological Sheets’, it is demonstrated that our proposed framework can be used for structuring the previous work on impact assessment. Conclusions The capability approach is one possibility for addressing the question ‘what is of importance in a human life?’ When applied in a practical field, like SLCA, this framework is not only useful for structuring data but also for disclosing our own normative assumptions about what counts as valuable in a human life. Thus, the normative evaluation is more coherent.

Review of literature on corporate portals, whose main purpose is to provide easy access to enterprise digital information. Corporate portals use metadata and eXtensible Markup Language to integrate unstructured data to structured data from enterprise operational databases, supplying access to corporate information through a personalized interface, available over the internal hypertext network—the Intranet. A corporate portal functions as a single gateway to all information and knowledge resources in an enterprise. At the beginning, the author describes the improvements in information management, going through different stages—from physical control of information containers to corporate portals. This paper presents definitions, concepts, main components of corporate portal architecture, and different kinds of corporate portals found in specialized literature. The author also points out the potential benefits of this technology to enterprise business.

Extreme environments are those that fall outside the limited range in which we and most other eukaryotes can survive, and are inhabited by the extremophiles, which include thermophiles and psychrophiles. Psycrophilic organisms are living at temperatures close to the freezing point of water, while in the other end of the scale the hyperthermophilic can function perfectly at temperatures above the boiling point. It is of great interest to understand how these organisms can function at "the limits of life". Few structural comparison studies between psychrophiles and mesophiles and/or thermophiles have been done, the first in 1998 (1). Citrate synthase from a psychrophile, a mesophile and a thermophile were compared sequentially and structurally. The results from the study confirm only a few observations reported in earlier sequence comparison and homology studies in the structural features of psychrophile enzymes, and many questions are still left unanswered. This project con...

The geodynamic model of the Palaeozoic basin opening of central Jebilet has been unknown before this study in spite of the abundance in the geological studies carried out in the studied sector using conventional methods. This is due to the scarcity of the key beds and synsedimentary structures. Using the synergy between the image data of the Landsat satellite TM sensor and the ground data, we have highlighted, herein, new structural data allowing the design of a new model of the Palaeozoic basin opening of central Jebilet. This opening could have been made according to dextral submeridian transverse faults with the individualization of subequatorial normal faults. To cite this article: A. El Harti et al., C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).

The paper presents the trends in the development of methods and systems for manufacturing and assembly process planning on the background of Concurrent Engineering strategies. The solutions for the functional integration of design/manufacturing and production preparation phases and the IT infrastructure including Product Data Management systems for the storage of product structure data, design and manufacturing process documentation are presented. The concept and the example of integrated process and manufacturing system planning in Product Lifecycle Management environment are presented.

The International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC) has become a standard all over the world. It became a standard tool to classify the important elements in the Electronic Patient Record (EPR) of the GP: reasons for encounter (RFE) reflecting the patient's view, process of care (decision, action, intervention or plans) reflecting the care process, and the assessment (diagnosis or health issue) reflecting the doctor's view. ICPC-2 is fully compatible with structuring data in the episode of care model and it's reflecting the essential elements of each patient/provider encounter. To implement ICPC-2 in the EPR a Thesaurus has been developed in Belgium with double encoded clinical labels. The implementation is now mandatory for labeled EPR systems in Belgium. The use of ICPC 2 ay improve the accessibility and use of on-line Expert systems and Guidelines.