This memorandum reviews the factors that constitute an Expert System Building Tool (ESBT) and evaluates current tools in terms of these factors. Evaluation of these tools is based on their structure and their alternative forms of knowledge representation, inference mechanisms , and developer/end-user interfaces. Next, functional capabilities, such as diagnosis and design, are related to alterna...

With increasing attention on e-business and its implications for firm performance from both academia and practitioners, the study focuses on the mechanism under which e-business contributes to firm competitive advantage in the uncertain and dynamic environment. Drawing upon resource-based theory and dynamic capabilities approach, this study develops a theoretical framework that links e-business...

We seek to support creativity in science, engineering, and design applications by building infrastructure that offers new capabilities for creative collaborative exploration of complex data in a variety of non-traditional computing environments. We describe particular novel environments and devices, including the Allosphere and the interactive Fogscreen, the software components to support colla...

In this work, we propose new automation tools to process 2D building geometry data for effective communication and timely response to critical events in commercial buildings. Given the scale and complexity of commercial buildings, robust and visually rich tools are needed during an emergency. Our data processing pipeline consists of three major components, (1) adjacency graph construction, repr...

while in the historic urban fabric of iran's cities, there are numerous traditional buildings that have stood up for more than one hundred years, today's buildings, in spite of advanced construction technologies, are not comparable with those traditional ones in terms of resiliency and durability. the sustainable vernacular strategies in design and construction of these traditional ho...

Energy efficient building design, construction, and operations require the development and sharing of building information among different individuals, organizations, and computer applications. Building Information Modeling (BIM) servers are tools used to enable an effective exchange of data. This paper describes an investigation into the core BIM server requirements needed to effectively suppo...

We present an overview of Vanilla, a system for building interpreters from components implementing language fragments. We describe Vanilla’s architecture and capabilities, and illustrate its use by defining a simple language feature.

At ASDEX Upgrade (AUG), a new compact solid-state detector has been installed to measure the energy spectrum of fast neutrals based on the principle described by Shinohara et al. [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 75, 3640 (2004)]. The diagnostic relies on the usual charge exchange of supra-thermal fast-ions with neutrals in the plasma. Therefore, the measured energy spectra directly correspond to those of co...