Energy consumption is becoming an evident concern to software developers. This is even more notorious due to the propagation of mobile devices. Such propagation of devices is also influencing software development: a software system is now developed has a set of similar products sharing common features.
In this short paper, we describe our methodology aim at static and accurately predict the energy consumption of software products in such variability systems, typically called software product lines.

The wind energy production is a growing industry and the energy produced is renewable and environmentally cleaner than most of the other systems. The towers to support the wind energy generators may be built with precast concrete elements that are competitive in comparison to other structural systems. The evolution of the technology for wind energy production shows a clear need for larger wind turbines and longer blades and, consequently, taller towers, where precast concrete solutions are competitive. Truss precast concrete towers is a solution that complies with the demands of the present and future wind energy production. The research on the execution and structural behaviour of the connections between the tower elements is an important issue. This communication presents the experimental analysis of column to column connections for precast concrete towers. The tests included connections with commercial threaded bars welded to the rebars and connections with grouted corrugated steel sleeves. Thick joints (50 mm) filled with fibre reinforced grout and thin joints (3 mm) filled with epoxy resin were tested and analysed.

Floods are recurrent events that can have a catastrophic impact. In this work we are interested in the analysis of a data set of gauged daily flows from the Whiteadder Water river, Scotland. Using statistic techniques based on extreme value theory, we estimate several extreme value parameters, including extreme quantiles and return periods of high levels.Floods are recurrent events that can have a catastrophic impact. In this work we are interested in the analysis of a data set of gauged daily flows from the Whiteadder Water river, Scotland. Using statistic techniques based on extreme value theory, we estimate several extreme value parameters, including extreme quantiles and return periods of high levels.

The complex data exchange between architectural design and building energy simulation constitutes the main challenge in the use of energy performance analyses in the early design stage. The enhancement of BIM model data with additional specific energy-related information and the subsequent mapping to the input of an energy analysis or simulation tool is yet an open issue. This paper examines three approaches for the data transfer from 3D CAD applications to building performance simulations using BIM as central data repository and points out their current and envisaged use in practice. The first approach addresses design scenarios. It focuses on the supporting tools needed to achieve interoperability given a 74 wide-spread commercial BIM model (Autodesk Revit) and a dedicated pre-processing tool (DesignBuilder) for EnergyPlus. The second approach is similar but addresses retrofitting scenarios. In both workflows gbXML is used as the transformation format. In the third approach a standard BIM model, IFC is used as basis for the transfer process for any relevant lifecycle phase.

This document has a broad scope and is not focussed on design issues. Precast construction under seismic conditions is treated as a whole. The main principles of seismic design of different structural systems, their behavior and their construction techniques are presented through rules, construction steps and sequences, procedures, and details that should lead to precast structures built in seismic areas complying with the fundamental performance requirements of collapse prevention and life safety in major earthquakes and limited damage in more frequent earthquakes.The content of this document is largely limited to conventional precast construction and, although some information is provided on the well-known “PRESSS technology” (jointed ductile dry connections), this latter solution is not treated in detail in this document.The general overview, contained in this document, of alternative structural systems and connection solutions available to achieve desired performance levels, intends to provide engineers, architects, clients, and end-users (in general) with a better appreciation of the wide range of applications that modern precast concrete technology can have in various types of construction from industrial to commercial as well as residential. Lastly, the emphasis on practical aspects, from conceptual design to connection detailing, aims to help engineers to move away from the habit of blindly following prescriptive codes in their design, but instead go back to basic principles, in order to achieve a more robust understanding, and thus control, of the seismic behaviour of the structural system as a whole, as well as of its components and individual connections.

O reforço estrutural com materiais de matriz polimérica reforçada com fibras (FRP) em diferentes tipos de elementos estruturais, e.g. pilares, vigas, lajes ou arcos, tem sido objecto de vários estudos. No entanto, os estudos sobre a avaliação da aderência entre ligações coladas em superfícies curvas são muito limitados, não se conhecendo trabalhos, quer analíticos ou numéricos, que se debrucem ainda sobre o efeito da temperatura neste tipo de ligações coladas. Todavia, os trabalhos disponíveis na literatura indicam, de forma unânime, que o descolamento do FRP da superfície curva exige a interacção entre os modos de fractura I e II. Neste sentido, o presente estudo propõe o desenvolvimento de uma solução analítica simples para simular ligações CFRP/betão com superfícies curvas de raio constante e que assumem ambas, isoladamente ou simulataneamente, as acções: (i) aplicação de uma força ao FRP; e (ii) uma a variação de temperatura. Dependendo dos coeficientes de dilatação térmica linear dos materiais colados e para níveis de temperatura não muito superiores à temperatura de transição vítrea (Tg) do FRP, o efeito da temperatura pode ser, do ponto de vista da resistência da ligação, prejudicial ou benéfico, ou seja, pode diminir ou aumentar a capacidade resistente da ligação. Diferentes critérios de rotura são adoptados e diferentes situações, e.g. raio da curva ou diferentes níveis de temperaturas, são abordadas. A solução analítica pressupõe que a lei de aderência relativamente ao modo II de fractura depende da temperatura e é representada por um exponencial, enquanto que para o modo I se assume uma lei de aderência do tipo linear com rotura frágil e cuja influência da temperatura é feita de acordo com os mesmos pressupostos da lei exponencial.

This paper presents a detailed study of the energy consumption of the different Java Collection Framework (JFC) implementations. For each method of an implementation in this framework, we present its energy consumption when handling different amounts of data. Knowing the greenest methods for each implementation, we present an energy optimization approach for Java programs: based on calls to JFC methods in the source code of a program, we select the greenest implementation. Finally, we present preliminary results of optimizing a set of Java programs where we obtained 6.2% energy savings.

Ever since Fibre Reinforced Polymers (FRP) began to be used in the repair or strengthening of structural elements, the premature debonding of the FRP composite from the substrate has been an important drawback that have been motive of several studies. The importance of knowing and describing the full-range behaviour of FRP-to-parent material interfaces rigorously is therefore urgent. However, at present, there are no analytical solutions that describe the full-range behaviour of such interfaces that help us to understand the full debonding phenomena of FRP-to-parent material interfaces free of any mechanical anchorage devices. Therefore, the aim of this study is to contribute the advances of that knowledge through an analytical solution by means of an exponential bond-slip model that is known to represent the nonlinearities involved in the debonding process of the FRP composite from the substrate. Analytical solutions for the slips, strains in the FRP composite, bond stress distributions along the bonded interface and stresses in the substrate are presented. A full-range load-slip analysis is also discussed.

Requirements documents and models need to be used by many stakeholders with dierent technological prociency, during software development. Each stakeholder may need to understand the entire (or simply part of the) requirements artifacts. To empower those stakeholders, views of the requirements should be congurable to their particular needs. Information visualization techniques may help in this process. In this paper, we propose dierent views aimed at highlighting information that is relevant for a particular stakeholder, helping him to query requirements artifacts. We oer three kinds of visualization capturing language and domain elements, while providing a gradual model overview: the big picture view, the syntax-based view, and the concern-based view. We instantiate these views with i* models and introduce an implementation prototype in the iStarLab tool.

The i* community has published guidelines, including model layout guidelines, for the construction of models. Our goal is to evaluate the effect of the layout guidelines on the i* novice stakeholders’ ability to understand and review i* models. We conducted a quasi-experiment where participants were given two understanding and two reviewing tasks. Both tasks involved a model with a bad layout and another model following the i* layout guidelines. We evaluated the impact of layouts by combining the success level in those tasks and the required effort to accomplish them. Effort was assessed using time, perceived complexity (with NASA TLX), and eye-tracking data. Participants were more successful in understanding than in reviewing tasks. However, we found no statistically significant difference in the success, time taken, or perceived complexity, between tasks conducted with models with a bad layout and models with a good layout. Most participants had little to no prior knowledge in i*, making them more representative of stakeholders with no requirements engineering expertise. They were able to understand the models fairly well after a short tutorial, but struggled when reviewing models. Adherence to the existing i* layout guidelines did not significantly impact i* model understanding and reviewing performance.

Many errors in spreadsheet formulas can be avoided if spreadsheets are built automatically from higher-level models that can encode and enforce consistency constraints in the generated spreadsheets. Employing this strategy for legacy spreadsheets is difficult, because the model has to be reverse engineered from an existing spreadsheet and existing data must be transferred into the new model-generated spreadsheet. We have developed and implemented a technique that automatically infers relational schemas from spreadsheets. This technique uses particularities from the spreadsheet realm to create better schemas. We have evaluated this technique in two ways: First, we have demonstrated its applicability by using it on a set of real-world spreadsheets. Second, we have run an empirical study with users. The study has shown that the results produced by our technique are comparable to the ones developed by experts starting from the same (legacy) spreadsheet data. Although relational schemas are very useful to model data, they do not fit well spreadsheets as they do not allow to express layout. Thus, we have also introduced a mapping between relational schemas and ClassSheets. A ClassSheet controls further changes to the spreadsheet and safeguards it against a large class of formula errors. The developed tool is a contribution to spreadsheet (reverse) engineering, because it fills an important gap and allows a promising design method (ClassSheets) to be applied to a huge collection of legacy spreadsheets with minimal effort.

In Europe, the technology development of high-speed trains is increasingly exposed to societal needs, driven by ICT advancements, external to traditional design. Together with the liberalisation of the rail markets and increase pressures from other transport modes leads to an unprecedented situation where planers, operators and suppliers of high-speed have to take decision in this complex and competitive environment.
In such broadening of elements influencing design and, thus, product development process, from the survey here to be presented, it was not observed technology options assessment or strategic agenda setting from visions shifting in the same way.
For the high-speed train industry this new trend requires going beyond the visions of the past 15 to 20 years’ practices of “sector endogenous” and structurally closed strategic methods approaches to a broader interaction with the widening of societal actors now capable of being active contributors to innovation from digitalization.
This way to understand the European industry readiness for undertaking such supra systemic challenge, this paper presents the results from a survey conducted by the authors to 74 representatives of the high-speed train innovation chain regarding to which extent societal embedding is considered in the drafting of their visions and technology development projects.
This work becomes even more pertinent if considered that the debate is now open in the railway industry (not exclusive to high-speed trains) as they are launching the joint initiative SHIFT2RAIL, revise ERRAC (the European Rail Research Advisory Council) mandate and enter in a new research cycle with the European research framework Horizon 2020.

Punching-shear capacity of slab-column connections in existing R/C structures may be inadequate to bear design loads, so strengthening works are required. The lack of punching resistance may be due to detailing, design or building errors; in other cases, such lack is due to a change of use, which requires an increase of resistance. Different techniques have been developed for strengthening R/C slabs against punching: enlargement of the support, gluing external fibre reinforced polymers or casting a bonded concrete overlay (BCO) on the slab's top surface, insertion of post-installed steel bolts, application of fibre reinforced polymers cords as shear reinforcement. In the paper, the authors apply the Critical Shear Crack Theory (CSCT) to all of these techniques and evaluate their efficacy with reference to a case study.

Software refactoring is a well-known technique that provides transformations on software artifacts with the aim of improving their overall quality.

In the past, we have proposed a catalog of refactoring for spreadsheet models expressed in the ClassSheets modeling language, which allows us to specify the business logic of a spreadsheet in an object-oriented fashion.

Reasoning about spreadsheets at the model level enhances a model-driven spreadsheet environment where a ClassSheet model and its conforming instance (the spreadsheet data) automatically co-evolves after a refactoring is applied at the model level. Our motivation for such research was to improve the model and its conforming instance: the spreadsheet data.

In this paper we define such refactorings using previously proposed evolution steps for models and instances.

We also present an empirical study we designed and conducted in order to confirm our original intuition that these refactorings have a positive impact on end-user productivity, both in terms of effectiveness and efficiency.

The results are presented not only in terms of productivity changes between refactored and non-refactored scenarios, but also in terms of overall user satisfaction, relevance, and experience.

In almost all cases the refactorings indeed improved end-users productivity. Moreover, in most cases users were more engaged with the refactored version of the spreadsheets they worked with.

This study presents an analysis of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP)-to-parent material interfaces based on 40 single-lap shear tests intended to highlight the strength of the interfaces under fracture mode II. Three different substrates are analyzed: timber;concrete and steel, using the same CFRP laminates and adhesive agent. The Externally Bonded Reinforcement (EBR) technique was used throughout the study. The results show that the CFRP-to-timber interfaces had the highest strength but also showed that these interfaces need a longer bonded length in order to reach maximum strength, i.e., CFRP-to-timber interfaces had the longest effective bond length. The local non-linear bond-slip curve of CFRP-to-concrete can be approximated to exponential curves, whereas the CFRP-to-timber or steel interfaces showed tri-linear and bi-linear bond-slip relations, respectively. Also, the CFRP-to-timber interfaces revealed the highest fracture energy.

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