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Projects play a fundamental role in improving firms' performance. This is moderated by firms' ability to manage projects as well as on available methods and tools supporting project management. Many software tools exist in the market today, to meet different levels of requirements and offer various functionalities. Thus, there is a need to support the decision of project managers in terms of selecting the most suitable tool to use for their projects. This paper aims to provide a framework to support the comparison and the selection of project management software tools. A comprehensive list of functionalities to select software tools as well as a scoring system were specified. A prototypical implementation is presented to gain insights into framework comprehensiveness and practicality. The framework is expected to assist project managers in selecting the most suitable tools considering project context and stakeholders requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban energy systems are pivotal in the global shift towards a climate-neutral future. Given the need for these systems to adapt to local conditions, designing them remains complex without standardized solutions. To address this, numerous software tools for energy system planning have been developed. Despite many scientific reviews on these tools' characteristics, none comprehensively assess their suitability for different planning phases and tasks in urban energy or district heating planning. This meta-review evaluates the current review literature on UES, offering a more nuanced analysis of the tool landscape. It identifies both common and unique tool characteristics highlighted across studies, including features such as accessibility, temporal and spatial resolutions, and energy sector coverage. To enhance this study's utility, a clear depiction of each tool's specific functionalities and characteristics is emphasized. Our findings show that most tools are open source, utilize Python or Modelica libraries, and support a wide range of tasks across all identified planning phases. In renewable energy integration, the need for multi-energy system planning tools was observed. Some tools meet this need, but many focus only on a single sector, like electricity or heat. Additionally, a gap in environmental assessment methods suggests potential for future development. • Meta-review of urban energy software tools helps users choose the right tool. • Review papers reveal common and unique tool traits. • Many tools support urban energy and district heating; new ones keep emerging. • Many tools focus on simulation; few offer environmental assessment or pipe design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a comprehensive review of state-of-the-art energy systems and spatially explicit modelling approaches aimed at identifying approaches suitable for planning hybrid renewable energy systems integration in rural areas of developing countries. A systematic comparative approach based on an analytical framework is proposed with defined criteria to identify potential tools, evaluate their modelling attributes and select suitable tools. Out of 27 potentially identified suitable models, 10 models that fulfilled key filtering criteria were studied in more detail. Although differences in capabilities were identified, two conventional models (HOMER, iHOGA) and three geographical information system (GIS)-based models (GeoSIM, IntiGIS, and OnSSET) show the most potential for supporting HRES integration in rural areas, despite presenting significant gaps. Conventional models especially lack detailed network analysis capacities but have the potentials to model different hybrid technologies. Alternatively, GIS-based models show more capacity to incorporate spatially sensitive data including network analyses, but show technological and capacity limitations for addressing future trends. In response, this study presents a modelling framework strategy for upgrading individual models and using them complementary. While being open source-based models and scoring well on the proposed assessment criteria, OnSSET and IntiGIS show the highest potential for use in developing countries. In addition, HOMER and iHOGA as well-established models show high scores and are notably useful if complemented with capabilities for analysing spatial parameters. The proposed methodological framework and strategy steps will provide researchers and practitioners with a solid basis for selecting and/or developing modelling tools for application and assessment. • Small-scale hybrid systems can increase energy access in developing countries. • An evaluation framework for comparing HRES models' capabilities is proposed. • HRES models are assessed considering their spatial and technoeconomic features. • Five suitable energy and spatial-based models are analysed for rural applications. • A spatially explicit modelling framework of HRES in rural settings is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer-aided molecular design (CAMD) studies quantitative structure–property relationships and discovers desired molecules using optimization algorithms. With the emergence of machine learning models, CAMD score functions may be replaced by various surrogates to automatically learn the structure–property relationships. Due to their outstanding performance on graph domains, graph neural networks (GNNs) have recently appeared frequently in CAMD. But using GNNs introduces new optimization challenges. This paper formulates GNNs using mixed-integer programming and then integrates this GNN formulation into the optimization and machine learning toolkit OMLT. To characterize and formulate molecules, we inherit the well-established mixed-integer optimization formulation for CAMD and propose symmetry-breaking constraints to remove symmetric solutions caused by graph isomorphism. In two case studies, we investigate fragment-based odorant molecular design with more practical requirements to test the compatibility and performance of our approaches. • We formulate graph neural networks with mixed-integer programming and break symmetry. • We integrate our formulation into the optimization and machine learning toolkit OMLT. • We develop an application in computer-aided molecular design of odorants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein we present Sim 2D Sphere, an open-source software tool that offers a complete environment for mapping key parameters characterizing land surface interactions (LSIs) at varying spatiotemporal resolution using standard and freely available geospatial data. The tool has been developed in Java programming language as an add-on module to the SimSphere Soil Vegetation Atmosphere Transfer model. Its use is demonstrated herein using Earth Observation (EO) data products from ASTER satellite, acquired over a European site belonging to FLUXNET global in-situ monitoring network. Results obtained in overall confirmed Sim2 D Sphere's ability to replicate the diurnal spatiotemporal variability of key LSIs parameters at the ecosystem and environmental conditions in which it was tested. The presented herein tool can be applied by the scientific community, managers and policy-makers as a form of acquiring technical and scientifically-based information for improving our understanding of LSIs and to achieve a more sustainable environment. In addition, this new add-on modelling tool consists an important step towards advancing the deployment of geo-processing tools utilising the state-of-the-art EO data available today. The software tool systematic validation at variant testing conditions as well as further software developments to improve its use are between the key priorities of future work with it. • An open-source software tool to facilitate the study of Land Surface Interactions. • First experimental results of Sim 2D Sphere's simulations presented herein. • Sim2DSphere enables for the first time the inclusion of the spatial dimension to the SimSphere SVAT model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Self-learning Chemical Engineering. • Development of software teaching tools. • Design and development of problem generators. • Python and Jupyter notebook. The primary objective of this study is to develop teaching materials for chemical engineering students (or students pursuing other related B.Sc./M.Sc. degrees) that encourage self-learning to facilitate understanding and the development of problem-solving skills. Tools are oriented to support the teaching of "Introduction to Chemical Engineering" courses to 1st year B.Sc. students in Chemical Engineering, 2nd year B.Sc. students in Chemistry, and 3rd year B.Sc. students in Biochemistry at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM). Problem generators of standard exercises, as an additional complement to the exercises that are used in the lectures, seminars, and assignments to facilitate the learning of the students, have been developed. These generators provide exercises to students with "unlimited" initial values (with certain restrictions). The software that was used to develop these materials was Jupyter Notebook, which runs under the Python 3.6 language. The problem generators can be classified into fixed problem generators, case-based generators, and random problem generators. Additionally, lecturing tools have been developed to support teaching using live/interactive examples. These examples can learning understanding of various topics of the courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Medical Imaging & Radiation Sciences is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

• Demand has prompted new UK providers of chemical engineering degree programmes. • Issues include course content, infrastructure, industry engagement and accreditation. • The new providers offer an increased diversity of chemical engineering education. Recent growth in chemical engineering student numbers has driven an increase in the number of UK universities offering the subject. The implications of this growth are described, along with the different challenges facing new providers in the UK compared with established departments. The approaches taken by the various new entrants are reviewed, with reference to recruitment strategies, infrastructure, the use of external facilities, and the particular flavours of chemical engineering being offered by the new providers. Information about the differentiating features of the large number of chemical engineering degree courses now available is somewhat indistinct: this should be rectified in the interests both of prospective students and of employers. Dilemmas facing new providers include the need to address the fundamentals of the subject as well as moving into more novel research-led areas; enabling students to develop the competencies to sustain them for a whole career as well as meeting immediate employer needs; and providing sufficient industry understanding when academics may lack substantial industrial experience. The central importance of practical provision and of the design project, and the approaches taken by new providers to deliver these components, are reviewed, together with the role of software tools in chemical engineering education, and measures to facilitate industry input into courses. As long as it is not used prescriptively or to inhibit innovation, the accreditation process provides constructive guidance and leverage for universities developing new chemical engineering programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Identification and quantitative determination of analytes released from food contact materials (FCMs) is still an analytical challenge for scientists since neither chemical nor spectral databases nor analytical standards are available. Gas and liquid chromatography hyphenated to a variety of accurate mass analyzers based on the use of high-resolution have been used for this purpose. In this review, we present an overview of current approaches based on high resolution accurate mass spectrometry (HRAMS) analysis, particularly based on software tools for data acquisition and data processing used for the identification of unknown migrants coming from plastic FCMs. The main advantages and disadvantages of identification strategies have been put into evidence. A summary of the different intentionally and non-intentionally added substances identified or tentatively identified in plastic FCMs using HRAMS analysis has also been presented. Finally, we discuss the main current risk assessment strategies for food packaging migration studies found in the literature. Highlights • Challenges of identification of unknown migrants from FCMs. • Current approaches in HRAMS analysis of plastic packaging materials are presented. • Main non-targeted screening strategies for migrants analysis are commented. • Discussion of limitations in the non-targeted screening analysis. • Food packaging migration risk assessment strategies are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date numerous metabolomic studies have been performed in order to characterize nutritional intervention studies. The aim of the current study was to present a comprehensive pipeline for characterizing the metabolic changes that occur in chickens tissues in response to naringin and hesperidin dietary supplementation. Forty-nine chickens were randomly divided into 3 groups: the first one fed with diet supplemented with naringin, the second with hesperidin whereas the control group was fed by commercial basal diet. After 30 days of administration chicken muscle samples were analyzed by UHPLC–HRMS whereas data were analyzed by the proposed pipeline. Three significant variables were detected to discriminate the control from the group after naringin administration and thirteen variables after hesperidin supplementation. Furthermore, a more detailed pipeline (encompassing multiple internal standards, internal validation of the clustering, extended statistical significance scores and multiple identification procedures) has been proposed aiming towards a more accurate untargeted analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent developments in data science and machine learning have inspired a new wave of research into data-driven modeling for mathematical optimization of process applications. This paper first considers essential conditions for robustness to uncertainties and accurate extrapolation, which are required to integrate surrogates into process optimization. Next we consider two perspectives for developing process engineering surrogates: a surrogate-led and a mathematical programming-led approach. As these data-driven surrogate models must be integrated into a larger process optimization problem, we discuss the verification problem , i.e., checking that the optimum of the surrogate corresponds to the optimum of the truth model. The paper investigates two case studies on surrogate-based optimization for heat exchanger network synthesis and drill scheduling. • We consider essential conditions for robustness to uncertainties and accurate extrapolation. • We investigate two perspectives for developing process engineering surrogates. • For the surrogate-led perspective, we discuss heat exchanger network synthesis. • For the mathematical programming-led approach, we discuss drill scheduling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Information on medical prescription, such as the one included in package leaflets of medicines (PLs) should benefit from Information Technology (IT) management resources. Objectives: to identify and evaluate studies describing prescription information, and software capable of analyzing, processing, extracting, or simplifying the information included in PLs. Methods: PRISMA checklist was applied, using as keywords: ("package inserts" or "package leaflets" or "summary of product characteristics" or "bulas" or "folhetos" or "prescription information") and "software"; bulas / folhetos are the Portuguese designations of PLs. Keywords were searched in PubMed, Cochrane Library , and SciELO without time restrictions in June 2018. A complementary search was carried out in Google Scholar (2016-2018). Results: 219 studies were identified and 12 met the inclusion criteria. From the 12 selected studies, 3 studies were related to software applications that evaluate text features and the remaining 9 studies were related to other topics, such as extraction and collection of information. Conclusion: software that extract and analyze information of PLs, or that evaluate and simplify PLs is limited and specific to certain languages. The development of new IT tools in this field may be relevant, especially for local cultures and contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for improved building performance is global and has led to numerous international collaborations. Since 2000, the International Energy Agency (IEA) Energy in Buildings and Communities Program (EBC, formerly ECBCS ) has completed two building commissioning research annexes, recognizing the role of the building commissioning process in meeting energy conservation goals. Annex 40 established a common understanding of the commissioning process and initiated research that became the basis for the development of national guidelines and automated tools. Subsequently, Annex 47 focused on advancing the use of technology in commissioning and the work developed and ideas exchanged in Annex 47 were foundational in enabling numerous positive impacts internationally. This paper describes research results from these annexes 1 1 Certain commercial entities, equipment, or materials may be identified in this document in order to describe an experimental procedure or concept adequately. Such identification is not intended to imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor is it intended to imply that the entities, materials, or equipment are necessarily the best available for the purpose. and discusses the impact of both in four areas: 1) commissioning support software tools, 2) cost-benefit methodology, 3) guidelines and standards, and 4) industry associations and research conferences. The paper concludes with a discussion of current commissioning industry research and policy needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pointcut fragility is a well-documented problem in Aspect-Oriented Programming; changes to the base-code can lead to join points incorrectly falling in or out of the scope of pointcuts. Deciding which pointcuts have broken due to base-code changes is a daunting venture, especially in large and complex systems. We present an automated approach that recommends pointcuts that are likely to require modification due to a particular base-code change, as well as ones that do not. Our hypothesis is that join points selected by a pointcut exhibit common structural characteristics. Patterns describing such commonality are used to recommend pointcuts that have potentially broken with a degree of confidence as the developer is typing. The approach is implemented as an extension to the popular Mylyn Eclipse IDE plug-in, which maintains focused contexts of entities relevant to the task at hand using a Degree of Interest (DOI) model. We show that it is accurate in revealing broken pointcuts by applying it to multiple versions of several open source projects and evaluating the quality of the recommendations produced against actual modifications. We found that our tool made broken pointcuts 2.14 times more interesting in the DOI model than unbroken ones, with a p-value under 0.1, indicating a significant difference in final DOI value between the two kinds of pointcuts (i.e., broken and unbroken). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The business and technical needs of the engineering process and toolchain interoperability are presented. • The main works for toolchain interoperability and complex systems development are reviewed. • The main interoperability evaluation models are reviewed and evaluated. • An interoperability evaluation method including effort estimation for toolchain interoperability is presented and illustrated through a basic example. • The proposed interoperability evaluation method is applied to a real case study in the scope of digital hardware design. The engineering lifecycle of cyber-physical systems is becoming more challenging than ever. Multiple engineering disciplines must be orchestrated to produce both a virtual and physical version of the system. Each engineering discipline makes use of their own methods and tools generating different types of work products that must be consistently linked together and reused throughout the lifecycle. Requirements, logical/descriptive and physical/analytical models, 3D designs, test case descriptions, product lines, ontologies, evidence argumentations, and many other work products are continuously being produced and integrated to implement the technical engineering and technical management processes established in standards such as the ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2015 "Systems and software engineering-System life cycle processes". Toolchains are then created as a set of collaborative tools to provide an executable version of the required technical processes. In this engineering environment, there is a need for technical interoperability enabling tools to easily exchange data and invoke operations among them under different protocols, formats, and schemas. However, this automation of tasks and lifecycle processes does not come free of charge. Although enterprise integration patterns, shared and standardized data schemas and business process management tools are being used to implement toolchains, the reality shows that in many cases, the integration of tools within a toolchain is implemented through point-to-point connectors or applying some architectural style such as a communication bus to ease data exchange and to invoke operations. In this context, the ability to measure the current and expected degree of interoperability becomes relevant: 1) to understand the implications of defining a toolchain (need of different protocols, formats, schemas and tool interconnections) and 2) to measure the effort to implement the desired toolchain. To improve the management of the engineering lifecycle, a method is defined: 1) to measure the degree of interoperability within a technical engineering process implemented with a toolchain and 2) to estimate the effort to transition from an existing toolchain to another. A case study in the field of digital hardware design comprising 6 different technical engineering processes and 7 domain engineering tools is conducted to demonstrate and validate the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electricity generation presents the biggest opportunity to lower CO 2 emissions and it is foreseen that hydrogen energy technology will play an important role in realising the scenario to cap global warming at 2 °C through replacement of fossil fuels with renewables. The transition to electric power for transport in battery- and fuel-cell-electric vehicles will further increase the need for low-carbon electricity generation. For a successful transition to a renewable energy economy the traditional approach of designing energy systems to meet only goals related to the technology (capacity, availability, reliability) and economics (return on investment, cost to the consumer) must evolve to take on a more holistic viewpoint and be able to take into account other goals addressing environmental and social considerations. This paper reviews approaches for integrating hydrogen energy technology into hybrid energy systems, emphasising electricity generation using a hydrogen fuel cell. Integration of energy storage, sizing methodologies, energy flow management and their associated optimization algorithms and software implementation are addressed. Few published case studies go beyond technical considerations. This reality is discussed in the light of available software packages. A four-dimensional multi-objective meta-heuristic function is proposed with weighting of technical, economic, environmental and socio-political factors to suit the design goals for the energy system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] This short communication reports on the implementation and validation of the three-phase method for daylight calculations in the freely available software DIALux evo. Compared to the previous approach to daylight calculation in DIALux, the 3-phase method allows for a faster calculation of yearly daylight illuminance without sacrificing accuracy. DIALux is one of the most widespread software among electric lighting designers. By implementing simple, accurate, and fast analysis, this new version of DIALux makes daylight analysis easily available to electric lighting designers. This can unleash the potential of properly integrated daylighting and electric lighting design, for better and more efficient lighting projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary goal of dynamic building envelopes is to meet and balance antagonistic performance criteria utilizing automatic operation. As opposed to static systems, automated shading and daylighting systems are increasingly being used in façade design with the intent to improve building performance. Taking this into consideration, the question that arises is whether such systems can significantly improve buildings energy performance and occupants׳ visual and thermal comfort. The present paper is a review of dynamic operation methods of shading/daylighting systems and their associated implications in building energy balance. Based on the subject distribution of the reviewed studies, the majority of the systems examined are versions of motorized blinds while the analysis of new emerging ideas on deployable and foldable façade systems is limited. User acceptance is quite crucial and is strongly dependent on the system׳s intuitive operation. According to the paper findings, energy savings with automatically controlled blinds depend on the type of control strategy and their connection to dimmable electric lighting systems. Even though control strategies enhance energy performance and occupants׳ comfort, their level of complexity highly affects their efficiency and therefore influences their performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To develop a method for the assessment and characterization of 3D geometric distortion as part of routine quality assurance for MRI scanners commissioned for Radiation Therapy planning. Materials and methods In this study, the in-plane and through-plane geometric distortions on a 1.5 T GE MRI-SIM unit are characterized and the 2D and 3D correction algorithms provided by the vendor are evaluated. We used a phantom developed by GE Healthcare that covers a large field of view of 500 mm, and consists of layers of foam embedded with a matrix of ellipsoidal markers. An in-house Java-based software module was developed to automatically assess the geometric distortion by calculating the center of each marker using the center of mass method, correcting of gross rotation errors and comparing the corrected positions with a CT gold standard data set. Spatial accuracy of typical pulse sequences used in RT planning was assessed (2D T1/T2 FSE, 3D CUBE, T1 SPGR) using the software. The accuracy of vendor specific geometric distortion correction (GDC) algorithms was quantified by measuring distortions before and after the application of the 2D and 3D correction algorithms. Results Our algorithm was able to accurately calculate geometric distortion with sub-pixel precision. For all typical MR sequences used in Radiotherapy, the vendor’s GDC was able to substantially reduce the distortions. Our results showed also that the impact of the acquisition produced a maximum variation of 0.2 mm over a radial distance of 200 mm. It has been shown that while the 2D correction algorithm remarkably reduces the in-plane geometric distortion, 3D geometric distortion further reduced the geometric distortion by correcting both in-plane and through-plane distortions in all acquisitions. Conclusion The presented methods represent a valuable tool for routine quality assurance of MR applications that require stringent spatial accuracy assessment such as radiotherapy. The phantom used in this study provides three dimensional arrays of control points. These tools and the detailed results can be also used for developing new geometric distortion correction algorithms or improving the existing ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a well-developed technique in neuroscience. Limitations in applying MRI to rodent models of neuropsychiatric disorders include the large number of animals required to achieve statistical significance, and the paucity of automation tools for the critical early step in processing, brain extraction, which prepares brain images for alignment and voxel-wise statistics. New method This novel timesaving automation of template-based brain extraction (“skull-stripping”) is capable of quickly and reliably extracting the brain from large numbers of whole head images in a single step. The method is simple to install and requires minimal user interaction. Results This method is equally applicable to different types of MR images. Results were evaluated with Dice and Jacquard similarity indices and compared in 3D surface projections with other stripping approaches. Statistical comparisons demonstrate that individual variation of brain volumes are preserved. Comparison with existing methods A downloadable software package not otherwise available for extraction of brains from whole head images is included here. This software tool increases speed, can be used with an atlas or a template from within the dataset, and produces masks that need little further refinement. Conclusions Our new automation can be applied to any MR dataset, since the starting point is a template mask generated specifically for that dataset. The method reliably and rapidly extracts brain images from whole head images, rendering them useable for subsequent analytical processing. This software tool will accelerate the exploitation of mouse models for the investigation of human brain disorders by MRI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Myokit is a new powerful and versatile software tool for modeling and simulation of cardiac cellular electrophysiology. Myokit consists of an easy-to-read modeling language, a graphical user interface, single and multi-cell simulation engines and a library of advanced analysis tools accessible through a Python interface. Models can be loaded from Myokit's native file format or imported from CellML. Model export is provided to C, MATLAB, CellML, CUDA and OpenCL. Patch-clamp data can be imported and used to estimate model parameters. In this paper, we review existing tools to simulate the cardiac cellular action potential to find that current tools do not cater specifically to model development and that there is a gap between easy-to-use but limited software and powerful tools that require strong programming skills from their users. We then describe Myokit's capabilities, focusing on its model description language, simulation engines and import/export facilities in detail. Using three examples, we show how Myokit can be used for clinically relevant investigations, multi-model testing and parameter estimation in Markov models, all with minimal programming effort from the user. This way, Myokit bridges a gap between performance, versatility and user-friendliness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relevance of this article is due to the enormous value of refractories in the national economy. Refractory materials are the materials produced of mineral raw materials and are capable of retaining their functional properties under a variety of conditions at high temperatures without significant deformations; such materials are used for metallurgical processes, furnace designing, and high-temperature units. There is solved a partial differential equation of parabolic type, non-linear in the second derivatives. The solution is carried out by using the MATLAB software. The article presents the results of researching temperature distribution in conductive magnesite melt, depending on the current leads location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows how corpus-based research on academic writing has been used to inform a variety of concordancing activities designed to help postgraduate science and engineering students write the Discussion section of their theses. The concordancing tasks were integrated into a two-part workshop and made use of a freely-available corpus of research articles. In Part 1 of the workshop students first analyzed printed extracts of discussion sections from theses and identified prototypical move structure patterning. These top-down, genre-based pen-and-paper activities were followed by more bottom-up corpus tasks designed to familiarize students with search strategies for identifying useful lexico-grammatical patterns for particular rhetorical functions. In Part 2 of the workshop students were introduced to variation of move structure patterning in the Discussion section. Concordancing tasks focused on problematic areas identified in students' drafts of the discussion sections of their own theses. The corpus enquiries were also designed to familiarize students with more sophisticated searches to exploit the functionality of the software used. In the last section of the article, I suggest a range of freely-available corpora and tools that are suitable for use in second-language academic writing programs for advanced-level students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whole Building Life Cycle Assessment (WBLCA) is an effective way of evaluating the environmental impact of a building's systems and materials. Designers usually rely on software tools to evaluate a building's environmental performance, and the barriers to the smooth use of these tools during design are extensive. Given the critical role software tools are playing in design practice, this research sought the opinions of WBLCA software tool developers to create a framework that better integrates WBLCA into the Building Project Process (BPP). A questionnaire of software attributes in each stage of BPP and the challenges associated with incorporating WBLCA into the BPP was followed by interviews to establish a greater understanding of the software tool developers' responses. The integrative framework illustrates the character of the WBLCA in each stage of BPP, including the goal of the assessment, the relevant software attributes, the applicable databases, and the primary stakeholders engaged in the process. For instance, design-oriented software attributes are more relevant in the early stages, and, as the BPP progresses, the assessment requires more transparency in the assumptions and outcomes. The findings from this study will guide software developers and policymakers to develop tools and procedures more aligned with designers interests. • Sustainability software capabilities define the design process. • The sustainable design process moves from qualitative to quantitative metrics. • The key decision for LCA building design does not match certification requirements. • In-use results need to feed into the early stages of future projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though PID control has been available for a long time, there are still no tuning methods including derivative action that have gained wide acceptance in industry. Also, there is still no general consensus for when one should use PID, PI or even I control on a process. The focus of this article is to present a new method for optimal PID control design that automatically picks the best controller type for the process at hand. The proposed PID design procedure uses a software-based method to find controllers with optimal or near optimal load disturbance response subject to robustness and noise sensitivity constraints. It is shown that the optimal controller type depends on maximum allowed noise sensitivity as well as process dynamics. The design procedure thus results in a set of PID, PI and I controllers with different noise filters that the user can switch between to reach an acceptable control signal activity. The software is also used to compare PI and PID control performance with equivalent noise sensitivity and robustness over a large batch of processes representative for the process industry. This can be used to show how much a particular process benefits from using the derivative part. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To develop and validate a large field of view phantom and quality assurance software tool for the assessment and characterization of geometric distortion in MRI scanners commissioned for radiation therapy planning. Materials and Methods A purpose built phantom was developed consisting of 357 rods (6 mm in diameter) of polymethyl-methacrylat separated by 20 mm intervals, providing a three dimensional array of control points at known spatial locations covering a large field of view up to a diameter of 420 mm. An in-house software module was developed to allow automatic geometric distortion assessment. This software module was validated against a virtual dataset of the phantom that reproduced the exact geometry of the physical phantom, but with known translational and rotational displacements and warping. For validation experiments, clinical MRI sequences were acquired with and without the application of a commercial 3D distortion correction algorithm (Gradwarp™). The software module was used to characterize and assess system-related geometric distortion in the sequences relative to a benchmark CT dataset, and the efficacy of the vendor geometric distortion correction algorithms (GDC) was also assessed. Results Results issued from the validation of the software against virtual images demonstrate the algorithm's ability to accurately calculate geometric distortion with sub-pixel precision by the extraction of rods and quantization of displacements. Geometric distortion was assessed for the typical sequences used in radiotherapy applications and over a clinically relevant 420 mm field of view (FOV). As expected and towards the edges of the field of view (FOV), distortion increased with increasing FOV. For all assessed sequences, the vendor GDC was able to reduce the mean distortion to below 1 mm over a field of view of 5, 10, 15 and 20 cm radius respectively. Conclusion Results issued from the application of the developed phantoms and algorithms demonstrate a high level of precision. The results indicate that this platform represents an important, robust and objective tool to perform routine quality assurance of MR-guided therapeutic applications, where spatial accuracy is paramount. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthetic biology (SynBio) is a field at the intersection of biology and engineering. Inspired by engineering principles, researchers use defined parts to build functionally defined biological circuits. Genetic design automation (GDA) allows scientists to design, model, and analyze their genetic circuits in silico before building them in the lab, saving time, and resources in the process. Establishing SynBio's future is dependent on GDA, since the computational approach opens the field to a broad, interdisciplinary community. However, challenges with part libraries, standards, and software tools are currently stalling progress in the field. This review first covers recent advancements in GDA, followed by an assessment of the challenges ahead, and a proposed automated genetic design workflow for the future. [Display omitted] • Synthetic biology aims to apply engineering principles in biology. • Insufficient part libraries, standards, and software are challenges to the field. • Working on the challenges will move genetic design automation forward. • Goal is a fully automated workflow for design, build, and test of genetic circuits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a tool combining two software applications aimed at optimizing structural design problems of the civil engineering domain. Our approach lies in integrating an application for designing 2D and 3D bar structures, called Ebes, with the jMetal multi-objective optimization framework. The result is a software package that helps civil engineers to create bar structures which can be optimized further with multi-objective metaheuristics according to different goals, such as minimizing the structure weight and minimizing the deformation. The main features of both Ebes and jMetal are described and how they are combined together in one single tool is explained. Finally a case study to illustrate how the application works is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a model-driven decision-support system (software tool) implementing a model-based methodology for on-line leakage detection and localization which is useful for a large class of water distribution networks. Since these methods present a certain degree of complexity which limits their use to experts, the proposed software tool focuses on the integration of a method emphasizing its use by water network managers as a decision support system. The proposed software tool integrates a model-based leakage localization methodology based on the use of on-line telemetry information, as well as a water network calibrated hydraulic model. The application of the resulting decision support software tool in a district metered area (DMA) of the Barcelona distribution network is provided and discussed. The obtained results show that the leakage detection and localization may be performed efficiently reducing the required time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Society increasingly demands quickly, easily and a homogeneous access to the information. Access to Internet, mobile devices, social networks as Facebook or ResearchGate, which create links between people to share data reaching anywhere in the world within seconds or the increase commitment for the cloud, where access from any device and place allowing the access to the own documents, videos, photos, music, etc. keeping the own customized environment or applications to share documents as Google Drive or Dropbox, which allows to agile data access are examples of agility in the flow of information and is something that nowadays is needed and is no longer questioned. This paradigm transferred in the scope of research, knowing that universities, their affiliated research centers and researchers have the aim on spending time doing research, getting funds for their research or teaching and the moment to feel the need to transfer or enter the results into an information system that do not report short-term progress or improvement in their day to day of research never arrives. Faced with this situation takes more relevance offer systems that provide the flexibility and immediacy of access to scientific publications generated. In this regard already exists commercial databases as Web Of Science, PubMed, Dialnet, Scopus, Google Scholar, etc. that provides it. On the other hand, SIGMA Gestión Universitaria, which is a not-for-profit consortium established in 1996 by a group of 8 top level Spanish Public Universities to provide technological solutions to their needs for managing academic, learning, research and organization processes aligning its ARGOS Research Project Solution with the ERA requirements. SIGMA and their universities have made great efforts to promote competitiveness, mobility, create synergies and improve the research quality in-house, regionally, nationally and internationally. This has allowed great progress in all areas, researcher's mobility, creating synergies with shared resource centers between different institutions and improving the research visibility generated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Every day, companies are exposed to various types of risk. They can be connected to property, liability of third parties, staff or decisions; risk is the usual companion in every business and with direct influence on result. In the paper different types and categories of risks are explained in a great detail. The essential aspects and characteristics of risks are systematically described and discussed. For better decision making the introduction of the software tool RISK is shown and argumented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Architecture recovery is an activity applied to a system whose initial architecture has eroded. When the system is large, the user must use dedicated tools to support the recovery process. We present Softwarenaut — a tool which supports architecture recovery through interactive exploration and visualization. Classical architecture recovery features, such as filtering and details on demand, are enhanced with evolutionary capabilities when multi-version information about a subject system is available. The tool allows sharing and discovering the results of previous analysis sessions through a global repository of architectural views indexed by systems. We present the features of the tool together with the architecture recovery process that it supports using as a case-study ArgoUML, a well-known open source Java system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Clinical genomic research faces increasing challenges in establishing participant privacy and consent processes that facilitate meaningful choice and communication capacity for longitudinal and secondary research uses. There are an evolving range of participant-centric initiatives that combine web-based informatics tools with new models of engagement and research collaboration. These emerging initiatives may become valuable approaches to support large-scale and longitudinal research studies. We highlight and discuss four types of emerging initiatives for engaging and sustaining participation in research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Quantitative analysis has tremendous but mostly unrealized potential in healthcare to support objective and accurate interpretation of the clinical imaging. In 2008, the National Cancer Institute began building the Quantitative Imaging Network (QIN) initiative with the goal of advancing quantitative imaging in the context of personalized therapy and evaluation of treatment response. Computerized analysis is an important component contributing to reproducibility and efficiency of the quantitative imaging techniques. The success of quantitative imaging is contingent on robust analysis methods and software tools to bring these methods from bench to bedside. 3D Slicer is a free open-source software application for medical image computing. As a clinical research tool, 3D Slicer is similar to a radiology workstation that supports versatile visualizations but also provides advanced functionality such as automated segmentation and registration for a variety of application domains. Unlike a typical radiology workstation, 3D Slicer is free and is not tied to specific hardware. As a programming platform, 3D Slicer facilitates translation and evaluation of the new quantitative methods by allowing the biomedical researcher to focus on the implementation of the algorithm and providing abstractions for the common tasks of data communication, visualization and user interface development. Compared to other tools that provide aspects of this functionality, 3D Slicer is fully open source and can be readily extended and redistributed. In addition, 3D Slicer is designed to facilitate the development of new functionality in the form of 3D Slicer extensions. In this paper, we present an overview of 3D Slicer as a platform for prototyping, development and evaluation of image analysis tools for clinical research applications. To illustrate the utility of the platform in the scope of QIN, we discuss several use cases of 3D Slicer by the existing QIN teams, and we elaborate on the future directions that can further facilitate development and validation of imaging biomarkers using 3D Slicer. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents a MATLAB embedded package for hybrid Petri nets called SimHPN. It offers a collection of tools devoted to simulation, analysis and synthesis of dynamical systems modeled by hybrid Petri nets. The package supports several server semantics for the firing of both, discrete and continuous, types of transitions. Besides providing different simulation options, SimHPN offers the possibility of computing steady state throughput bounds for continuous nets. For such a class of nets, optimal control and observability algorithms are also implemented. The package is fully integrated in MATLAB which allows the creation of powerful algebraic, statistical and graphical instruments that exploit the routines available in MATLAB. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to specify functional requirements on software for rapid factory planning and design in a digital factory context. In comparison with other studies that focus on particular aspects of layout development, this work deploys a comprehensive approach, based on industrial needs, to determine main functionalities for factory layout software. The research considers integration of different layouts where original equipment manufacturer and other stakeholders involved in factory layout design collaborate with each other to develop, or extend a factory. Therefore; engineering change management and data exchange in a system neutral format are taken into account as main pillars. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The aim of this work is to present practical tools to analyze energy, economic and environmental performances of energy generation systems, buildings and equipments in a community. The models and software tools presented are very different to each other and are designed to support different phases in an efficient community project implementation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Energy saving methods can be employed to reduce energy consumption in buildings, or improve indoor thermal conditions. An example of those methods is the use of permeable coverings, but there are other important parameters like thermal inertia. To understand and predict these energy saving procedures, one may employ different software resources. In the present paper a review of existing software resources is carried out, and, as a consequence of this review, HAM tools were selected to simulate the indoor environment of school buildings. Results show that parameters like thermal inertia can interfere in the solar heat gains, changing the building time constant. Other parameters, like air changes per hour or the use of permeable coverings, present a clear enhancement of indoor environment conditions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Background and purpose: To demonstrate and examine the ability of a newly developed software tool to estimate and analyze consensus contours from manually created contours by expert radiation oncologists. Material and methods: Several statistical methods and a graphical user interface were developed. For evaluation purposes, we used three breast cancer CT scans from the RTOG Breast Cancer Atlas Project. Specific structures were contoured before and after the experts’ consensus panel meeting. Differences in the contours were evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively by the consensus software tool. Estimates of consensus contours were analyzed for the different structures and Dice-similarity and Dice-Jaccard coefficients were used for comparative evaluation. Results: Based on kappa statistics, highest levels of agreement were seen in the left-breast, lumpectomy, and heart. Significant improvements between pre- and post-consensus contours were seen in delineation of the chestwall and breasts while significant variations were noticed in the supraclavicular and internal mammary nodes. Dice calculations for all pre-consensus STAPLE estimations and final consensus panel structures reached 0.80 or greater for the heart, left/right-breast, case-A lumpectomy, and chestwall. Conclusions: Using the consensus software tool incorporating STAPLE estimates provided the ability to create contours similar to the ones generated by expert physicians. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This report describes an integrated software package, DataView, which contains a number of tools for analysing rhythmic neural activity. These include simple autocorrelation, a merge-and-drop filter, an enhanced version of the Poisson surprise method and a flexible hill-and-valley analysis tool. The package contains facilities for identifying, examining, and if appropriate, correcting, outliers arising from misidentification or rhythm abnormalities. The package has a full graphical user interface which provides flexible and rapid feedback on the progress of analysis, and the consequences of choices regarding parameters for the various tools. The user can thus easily experiment with different methodologies and tool settings, and tune the analysis to the most appropriate form for the data in question. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The precision measurements envisaged at the International Linear Collider (ILC) depend on excellent instrumentation and reconstruction software. The correct identification of heavy flavour jets, placing unprecedented requirements on the quality of the vertex detector, will be central for the ILC programme. This paper describes the LCFIVertex software, which provides tools for vertex finding and for identification of the flavour and charge of the leading hadron in heavy flavour jets. These tools are essential for the ongoing optimisation of the vertex detector design for linear colliders such as the ILC. The paper describes the algorithms implemented in the LCFIVertex package as well as the scope of the code and its performance for a typical vertex detector design. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Formulated products represent a particular class of complex chemical products, and their design is typically based on experience and extensive experimentation. Although still at an early stage, and despite that their potential is not fully accessed and not fully used by the industry, computer-aided design (CAD) methods and tools offer many possibilities in the design of formulated products. The CAD methodology based on computerized models enables the formulation chemists to speed up the design process, without completely replacing experiments. In this work, we summarize previous studies in the field and present important elements of the CAD framework, emphasizing estimation methods for key target properties, link to specifications, and finally, some case studies will illustrate how the CAD framework can be used in practice for formulated products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the operation of biorefineries, performing a quantitative, economic, and environmental assessment of process equipment design without the use of related software, is time-consuming, difficult, and sometimes impossible due to the complexity and high volume of calculations. The wrong choice of software in simulation and modeling can cause a lot of damages and lead to inaccurate results. Therefore, choosing an integrated system and specialized software can be the most important tool to achieve the planned goals. This study is aimed to investigate how and when to make the right software choice to enhance the performance and profits and diminish the risks, operating costs, and environmental impacts. The software used in the stages of cultivation, harvesting, conversion of microalgae, process optimization, and environmental impact assessment of biorefineries are introduced in various sections of this study, and the advantages and disadvantages of each of them are given along with some practical examples. The software tools investigated in this study include Aspen plus, SuperPro Designer, BioSTEAM, IPSEpro, WinGEMS, Unisim Design, Virtual Sugarcane Biorefinery (VSB) modeling software, Simapro, OpenLCA, and, etc., which can be used according to feed and process conditions and products. To our knowledge, we did not encounter any similar reviews or reports, and this review is the first of its kind on this topic. [Display omitted] • Software tools for microalgae biorefineries were presented. • Biofuel production modeling and optimization was investigated. • How and when to choose the right software was developed. • Reduction of the risks, operating costs, and environmental impacts by software was introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a set of tools developed to support an innovative methodology to design and upgrade wastewater treatment systems in a probabilistic way. For the first step, data reconstruction, two different tools were developed, one for situations where data are available and another one where no data are available. The second step, modelling and simulation, implied the development of a new simulation platform and of distributed computation software to deal with the simulation load generated by the third step, uncertainty analysis, with Monte Carlo simulations of the system over one year, important dynamics and stiff behaviour. For the fourth step, evaluation of alternatives, the evaluator tool processes the results of the simulations and plots the relevant information regarding the robustness of the process against input and parameters uncertainties, as well as concentration–duration curves for the risk of non-compliance with effluent and receiving water quality limits. This paper illustrates the merits of these tools to make the innovative methodology of practical interest. The design practice should move from conventional procedures suited for the relatively fixed context of emission limits, to more advanced, transparent and cost-effective procedures appropriate to cope with the flexibility and complexity introduced by integrated water management approaches. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper focuses on a method for linear or non-linear continuous time modelling of physical systems using discrete time data. This approach facilitates a more appropriate modelling of more realistic non-linear systems. Particularly concerning advanced building components, convective and radiative heat interchanges are non-linear effects and represent significant contributions in a variety of components such as photovoltaic integrated façades or roofs and those using these effects as passive cooling strategies, etc. Since models are approximations of the physical system and data is encumbered with measurement errors it is also argued that it is important to consider stochastic models. More specifically this paper advocates for using continuous–discrete stochastic state space models in the form of non-linear partially observed stochastic differential equations (SDE’s)—with measurement noise for modelling dynamic systems in continuous time using discrete time data. First of all the proposed method provides a method for modelling non-linear systems with partially observed states. The approach allows parameters to be estimated from experimental data in a prediction error (PE) setting, which gives less biased and more reproducible results in the presence of significant process noise than the more commonly used output error (OE) setting. To facilitate the use of continuous–discrete stochastic state space models, a PE estimation scheme that features maximum likelihood (ML) and maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimation is presented along with a software implementation. As a case study, the modelling of the thermal characteristics of a building integrated PV component is considered. The EC-JRC Ispra has made experimental data available. Both linear and non-linear models are identified. It is shown that a description of the non-linear heat transfer is essential. The resulting model is a non-linear first order stochastic differential equation for the heat transfer of the PV component. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Recently developed analysing techniques applying the concept of the effectively shaped indenter allow a much more comprehensive analysing of nanoindentation data of thin films. The new analysing procedures have even been successfully applied in the case of very thin coatings well below 100 nm thick. Important physical mechanical parameters like Young''s modulus, critical stresses for phase transition and Yield strength can be determined. From the theoretical point of view, fracture toughness (critical stresses for cracks of various fracture modes) and intrinsic stresses should in principle be determinable. However, as the mathematical apparatus for such analysing procedures is rather complex and the performance of the evaluation very cumbersome and difficult to learn, it seems reasonable to develop software tools providing features for a rather automated calculation process. The present study is about the principle feasibility of such analysing tools and the state of their realisation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: JETRT is a software framework particularly suited for implementation of both real-time control and data acquisition systems. It is especially designed to work in a complex experimental environment such as the JET nuclear fusion facility. This new architecture maximizes the software reusability. The project-specific algorithm is compiled into a separate software component, in order to achieve a separation from the plant interface code. JETRT provides a set of tools to perform most of the validation phase on a Windows running desktop PC. Thanks to these design choices, both the development costs and the commissioning time have been reduced and even non-specialist programmers can easily contribute to the deployment of a new real-time system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The next big project proposed in particle physics is the International Linear Collider (ILC), an electron positron collider with an energy reach of around . The ongoing optimization and development of a detector for the ILC is only possible through the extensive use of sophisticated simulation software. In this paper we give a brief review of the software tools that are available in the currently ongoing three international detector concept studies and present two new software packages that have been developed in the context of the Large Detector Concept (LDC) study. The first is a application framework that provides a platform for the distributed development of reconstruction and analysis software and the second is a conditions data toolkit. The interoperability with other software packages is discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: An overview of some of the mathematical models appearing in the literature for use in the glucose-insulin regulatory system in relation to diabetes is given, enhanced with a survey on available software. The models are in the form of ordinary differential, partial differential, delay differential and integro-differential equations. Some computational results are also presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]