Ontology-Centered Knowledge Management Using Information Retrieval Techniques

The paper argues that an effective solution to information and knowledge management (KM) needs of practitioners in the construction industry can be found in the provision of an adapted knowledge environment that makes use of user profiling and document summarization techniques based on information retrieval sciences. The conceptualization of the domain through ontology takes a pivotal role in the proposed knowledge environment and provides a semantic referential to ensure relevance, accuracy, and completeness of information. A set of KM services articulated around the selected ontology have been developed, using the Web services model, tested, and validated in real organizational settings. This provided the basis for formulating recommendations and key success factors for any KM project development.     

Bio-based sustainable films from the Algerian Opuntia ficus-indica cladodes powder: Effect of plasticizer content

The present study investigated the fabrication and characterization of bio-based sustainable films composed of a terrestrial plant raw material, namely Opuntia ficus-indica (OFI) cladodes powder (CP) and a marine seaweed derivative, namely agar (A). The effect of glycerol concentration on the properties of the casted films was evaluated at four different contents, namely 30, 40, 50 and 60 wt%. The films present UV-blocking properties, as well as moderate mechanical performance, thermal stability, and water vapor transmission rate (WVTR). The results point to an increase in thickness, elongation at break, moisture content, water solubility, and WVTR with increasing glycerol content. On the contrary, Young's modulus, tensile strength, and water contact angle decreased as glycerol concentration increased. The best combination is obtained for the film with 30% glycerol, based on an intermediate compromise between physical, mechanical, thermal, and barrier properties. All these outcomes express the potentiality of the powder obtained from grinding the OFI cladodes as raw material to produce low-cost films for the development of sustainable packaging materials.     

Pentane isomerization and disproportionation catalyzed by sulfated zirconia promoted with iron and manganese

Fe- and Mn-promoted sulfated zirconia was used to catalyze the conversion ofn-pentane in a flow reactor at temperatures in the range of –25 to 40C andn-pentane partial pressures in the range of 0.005 to 0.01 atm. The rates of reaction increased with time on stream during an induction period and then decreased rapidly. The predominant reaction at –25C and short times on stream was isomerization to give isopentane; no dibranched products were observed. The selectivity for isomerization decreased and that for disproportionation increased with increasing temperature, with disproportionation becoming predominant at 40C; the principal product was then isobutane. The product distribution data are consistent with acid-base catalysis and carbocation intermediates. However, there appears to be more to the reaction mechanism than acid-base chemistry, and the roles of the iron and manganese promoters are not yet explained.     

Stability and robustness of fuzzy adaptive control of nonlinear systems

In this paper, we propose a new approach that guarantees the stability and robustness of an adaptive control law of a nonlinear system.The control diagram proposed contains a Takagi–Sugeno–Kang fuzzy controller (TSK-FC) and a training block allowing the online adaptation of the FC parameters. The adaptation algorithm used is based on the gradient with minimization of the quadratic error between the system output and that desired by using the direct method of Lyapunov. However, our approach considers the gradient step of each adaptive FC parameter to be bound. This approach was applied to the control of an inverted pendulum. The results obtained confirm well the validity of such an adaptation especially the guarantee of the pendulum stability and the robustness of its control with respect to the disturbances introduced on the FC parameters and the pendulum itself.     

Biosorption potential of the mediterranean plant (Posidonia oceanica) for the removal of Cu2+ ions from aqueous media : Equilibrium,kinetic, thermodynamic and mechanism analysis

The biosorption characteristics of copper(II) ions using Posidonia oceanica biomass were investigated. Experimental parameters affecting the biosorption process such as pH level, contact time, biosorbent dosage and temperature were studied. The equilibrium data were applied to the Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherm models. The Langmuir model fitted very well the equilibrium data, and the maximum uptake of Cu(II) by Posidonia oceanica was found to be 76.92 mg/g. The mean free energy E (10.78 kJ/mol) from the D-R isotherm indicated a chemical ion-exchange mechanism. Kinetic results showed that the pseudo-second-order kinetic model was well fitted to the experimental data. Thermodynamic parameters depicted the exothermic nature of biosorption and the process was feasible and spontaneous. The results of FTIR (Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy) revealed that carboxyl, amine, and hydroxyl groups on the biomass surface were involved in the biosorption of Cu(II) ions.     

Third-order accurate finite volume schemes for Euler computations on curvilinear meshes

After looking for a convenient definition of accuracy for finite-volume schemes on structured meshes, a high-order accurate scheme is constructed for the Euler equations. Thanks to suitably weighted discretization operators, the proposed scheme is third-order on mildly deformed grids and second-order on highly deformed grids. The influence of mesh deformations on the scheme accuracy is studied theoretically and numerically. Numerical results are shown for a Lamb vortex, subsonic flow past a cylinder and transonic flow past a NACA0012 airfoil.     

A comparative analysis of contact algorithms in contact shape optimization problems

This paper presents a comparative analysis of contact algorithms used for solving contact shape optimization problems. Specifically, a nonlinear, feasible direction interior point method (FDIPM) for the frictional contact analysis of hyperelastic materials has been implemented in which the friction is introduced using the return mapping approach. This comparative investigation aims to find the cause of instability in sensitivity of the contact pressure nonuniformity (CPN). The results obtained by the FDIPM are found to be comparable with those by the penalty methods (PM) and the augmented Lagrange multiplier methods (ALMM); however, the FDIPM possesses advantages, including good convergence and convenience in modeling. Furthermore, the basic cause of the unstable sensitivity is revealed to be the discretization of the finite element method, which causes the discontinuous increase of contact area with respect to the continuous increase of contact load. To improve the stability of the CPN, an adaptive post-processing technique is proposed.     

n-pentane isomerization and disproportionation catalyzed by promoted and unpromoted sulfated zirconia

Isomerization and disproportionation of n-pentane were catalyzed by sulfated zirconia, Fe- and Mn-promoted sulfated zirconia, and Pt-, Fe-, and Mn-promoted sulfated zirconia in a flow reactor at temperatures of −25 to 50°C and n-pentane partial pressures of 0.005–0.01 atm. Incorporation of the Fe and Mn promoters increased the activity of the sulfated zirconia by two orders of magnitude at 50°C; addition of Pt to the latter catalyst increased the activity only slightly. The primary reactions, disproportionation (to give butanes and hexanes) and isomerization, occurred in parallel; secondary disproportionation reactions gave heptanes, propane, butanes, and pentanes. The data are consistent with acid-base catalysis and carbenium ion intermediates, and the isomerization is inferred to proceed both by unimolecular and bimolecular mechanisms. H₂ in the feed stream and Pt in the catalyst both led to reductions in the rate of catalyst deactivation. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Activity Awareness as an Enabler for Communication and Network Building in Construction Design Teams

The paper reports on ongoing research into the facilitation of communication in distributed design teams of the type typically encountered in the construction sector. Ideas around social aspects in such design teams are discussed followed by our previous research efforts as an evolutionary process that has led us to develop in this direction. It is argued that facilitating timely and contextually grounded communication in a distributed environment can help to build the social networks and associated social capital common in collocated design teams but often absent in distributed ones. We describe our framework for providing such facilitation through monitoring and awareness of the information “space” of a construction project. We believe that by leveraging the relationships in the information space, we can go some way to identifying those individuals who would benefit from developing interpersonal relations in their work and further by exploiting those relationships in real time we can accelerate the formation of personal social networks and social capital between those individuals.