On the Performance and Scalability of Web Services for Monitoring MPLS-based Networks

Web Services is an XML-based technology that has attracted significant attention for building distributed Internet services. Considerable research efforts have been trying to extend it to become a unifying management technology; initial evaluation efforts have demonstrated promising application potential in the domain of network and service management. This paper analyzes the monitoring requirements of a management system used in architectures for providing quality of service, and shows how Web Services can be used effectively to fulfill these requirements. In order to achieve this, a WS-based framework was designed and a query tool was developed to support distributed, optimized retrieval of management information exposed as Web Services. The query tool supports selective and bulk retrieval from MPLS-capable routers. Management information retrieval is demonstrated through three monitoring scenarios, and the measured performance in terms of latency and bandwidth is compared against a conventional approach based on SNMP.     

Determinants of Enterprise System Adoption Across the System Lifecycle: Exploring the Role of Economic Development

The authors studied enterprise systems adoption in transition and less-developed economies within the European Union in search of determinants (critical success factors and barriers) across the system lifecycle. They found 14 determinants drawing from interviews with practitioners whose experience exceeds 280 projects. The authors compared their data with prior results from well-developed countries and concluded that determinants and their criticality across the lifecycle depend on the level of economic development. The authors discussed implications and provided recommendations.     

Assessment of retrofitting measures and solar systems' potential in urban areas using Geographical Information Systems: Application to a Mediterranean city

Energy efficient management of urban environment is undoubtedly a challenging task. Although the topography of cities and their urban built environment are considered as the main layers for environmental analysis, further geographical data has to be taken into account as well. In particular, economic and social data should also be considered on spatial level, as they highly affect the need for energy conservation measures. Furthermore, land and building uses, urban mobility and transactions are also crucial factors that influence energy use and management. Within this framework, this paper examines the establishment of a methodology approach in order to estimate energy conservation and solar systems potential in urban environments, based on the implementation of geoinformatics decision-making tools into a fine-scale analysis over an extended geographical area. All above multi-criteria variables can be efficiently analyzed by applying Geographical Information System (GIS) tools, which are particularly applied for the establishment of the proposed methodology. The scope of the paper is to deliver an integrated assessment tool, in order to aid researches as well as public bodies for the implementation of energy policies concerning the urban built environment. A case study of the urban area of Thessaloniki in Northern Greece is presented focusing on the evaluation of current energy performance and possible retrofit measures for the existing urban building stock, especially for typical residential multi-family (MF) buildings. Conclusively, the general outcome obtained by current research, indicate that denser urban areas perform limited potential both for retrofitting interventions on buildings' envelope and solar systems applications, apart from the quality and the age of building constructions.     

From “Onto-GeoNoesis” to “Onto-Genesis”: The Design of Geographic Ontologies

An important issue in geographic ontological research is the ability to design new ontologies. In this context, we first explore the desiderata of domain ontologies in terms of their constituting elements: i.e., the lexicon, concepts, relations, and axioms. Furthermore, we touch upon several characteristics of geographic concepts, which have puzzled geographic information scientists, and present critical topics of geographic ontological research. Based on the previous aspects of the problem, and guided by prior work of analyzing existent geographic ontologies, we have identified their qualities and deficiencies with regard to completeness and adequacy. This meta-ontological approach has guided us in presenting herein, a framework for generating robust geographic ontologies, which will comply with the semantics of the concepts of the specific domain.     

Characterisation and engineering properties of tectonically undisturbed but lithologically varied sedimentary rock masses

Tectonically undisturbed sedimentary rocks deposited in a quiescent shallow marine environment often include a sequence of strata that may present significant lithological variety at the scale of an engineering structure. Such rock masses exhibit engineering properties that are significantly different from tectonically disturbed rock masses of similar composition. For example, molasse consists of a series of tectonically undisturbed sediments of sandstones, conglomerates, siltstones and marls, produced by the erosion of mountain ranges after the final phase of an orogeny. They behave quite differently from flysch which has the same composition but which was tectonically disturbed during the orogeny. The molasses behave as continuous rock masses when they are confined at depth and the bedding planes do not appear as clearly defined discontinuity surfaces. Close to the surface the layering of the formations is discernible and only then similarities may exist with the structure of some types of flysch. Therefore extreme care is necessary in the use of geotechnical classification systems for the selection of design parameters, in order to avoid penalizing the rock mass unnecessarily. A discussion on the use of the geological strength index (GSI) for the characterisation of such rock masses is presented. Two GSI charts are proposed for estimating the mechanical properties of these masses: one mainly for tunnels; and the second for surface excavations. An example is given to illustrate the process of tunnel design in molassic rocks.     

Charge carrier transport in polyimides based on 9,10-bis(p-aminophenyl)anthracene

Transient currents were measured by the time-of-flight technique in films of aromatic polyimides based on 9,10-bis(p-aminophenyl)anthracene and a series of diimide fragments. The electric field and temperature dependences of the hole and electron drift mobilities were detected. In amorphous films of the soluble polyimide with a phthalide group in the diimide fragment, the drift mobility was found to reach the value of 10^-4cm²V^-1s^-1 at 5·5×10⁵Vcm^-1 and 291K. In the insoluble polyimide films including the crystalline phase, the mobility was lower by one or two orders of magnitude. This is attributed to the presence of cavities in the films of the insoluble polyimides. The applicability of known theoretical models describing temperature and electric field dependences of the drift mobility is discussed. © 1998 Society of Chemical Industry     

法国重现城市文化遗产价值的实践

文章介绍了法国保护城市历史文化遗产的实践过程,论述了“保护区”和“建筑、城市和自然风景遗产保护区”的产生背景,以及保护规划掣是目标和内容,阐明了法国国家建筑与城市规划师在城市历史文化遗产保护中的地位与作用     

Report on the 10th International Conference on Autonomous Infrastructure,Management, and Security (AIMS 2016)

This article is a report of the IFIP AIMS 2016, which was held at Universität der Bundeswehr München, Germany from June 20 to June 23, 2016. AIMS 2016 focused on the theme “Management and Security in the Age of Hyperconnectivity”. The AIMS conference positions itself in the network management community as an educational venue for young researchers and Ph.D. students. The AIMS program included keynotes, technical sessions and Ph.D. Workshop sessions, but also hands-on labs and an educational panel for training young academics. The highlights on each of the parts of the AIMS 2016 program are summarized in this article.