Services (général)

Preliminary requirements on trusted third parties for service transactions in cloud eco-systems

Description: 

The first part of the paper describes the design of a service module that assists customers with the leasing of cloud computing services by taking into account their require- ments on service provisioning. The service module introduces basic service level management functionality within a larger framework. The framework is illustrated as a web platform and uses a trusted third party (TTP) as a secure middle layer on service transactions. The second part of the paper focuses on the TTP role. Preliminary security requirements are identified and analyzed for the implementation and successful operation of such a TTP entity.

Ontologies for the Integration of Air Quality Models and 3D City Models

Description: 

In the perspective of a sustainable urban planning, it is necessary to investigate cities in a holistic way and to accept surprises in the response of urban environments to a particular set of strategies. For example, the process of inner-city densification may limit air pollution, carbon emissions, and energy use through reduced transportation; on the other hand, the resulting street canyons could lead to local levels of pollution that could be higher than in a low-density urban setting. The holistic approach to sustainable urban planning implies using different models in an integrated way that is capable of simulating the urban system. As the interconnection of such models is not a trivial task, one of the key elements that may be applied is the description of the urban geometric properties in an “interoperable” way. Focusing on air quality as one of the most pronounced urban problems, the geometric aspects of a city may be described by objects such as those defined in CityGML, so that an appropriate air quality model can be applied for estimating the quality of the urban air on the basis of atmospheric flow and chemistry equations. It is generally admitted that an ontology-based approach can provide a generic and robust way to interconnect different models. However, a direct approach, that consists in establishing correspondences between concepts, is not sufficient in the present situation. One has to take into account, among other things, the computations involved in the correspondences between concepts. In this paper we first present theoretical background and motivations for the interconnection of 3D city models and other models related to sustainable development and urban planning. Then we present a practical experiment based on the interconnection of CityGML with an air quality model. Our approach is based on the creation of an ontology of air quality models and on the extension of an ontology of urban planning process (OUPP) that acts as an ontology mediator.

Specifying the Representation of Non-geometric Information in 3D Virtual Environments

Description: 

In 3D virtual environments (3DVE), we need to know what an object looks like (i.e. geometric information) and what the object is, what are its properties and characteristics and how it relates to other objects (i.e. non-geometric information). Several interactive presentation techniques have been devised to incorporate non-geometric information into 3DVEs. The relevance of a technique depends on the context. Therefore, the choice of an appropriate representation technique cannot be done once for all and must be adapted to the context. In this paper, we first present a preliminary classification of representation techniques for non-geometric information in 3DVE. Then we propose a formalism, based on description logics, to describe the usability of a technique in a given context. We show how these descriptions can be processed to select appropriate techniques when automatically or semi-automatically generating a 3DVE.

Testing the Usability of Information Visualization Techniques in Interactive 3D Virtual Environments: a Toolkit

Description: 

Augmenting 3D virtual environments (3DVEs) with additional abstract information, with different data types (such as numbers, texts, images and videos) amplifies and enhances the user's spatial cognition and understanding of geometrical objects in order to perform specific tasks which require both abstract information and a 3D scene. Many interactive information visualization techniques have been created to incorporate abstract information into 3DVEs. The designers of 3DVEs are faced with the challenge of selecting a specific information visualization technique or creating a novel technique according to their specific design needs and contexts. Therefore, a toolkit for the usability evaluation is needed to help them compare the usability of different information visualization techniques according to specific design needs and contexts. Our main objective is to create such toolkit for performing usability tests in order to complete a reusable evaluation grid for comparing the usability of visualization techniques in different evaluation contexts. In this article, we present an evaluation framework and toolkit that we have developed in order to perform usability tests.

Abstract information visualization in interactive 3D virtual environments: conceptualization and usability evaluation

Description: 

Abstract information refers to information that a user can't directly obtain just by visualizing the spatial information of objects in a 3D virtual environment (3DVE). This thesis first reviews the state of the art on interactive 3DVEs development, abstract information visualization techniques and the evaluation of interactive 3DVEs. Then, this thesis presents a conceptual model, reusable toolkit and usability evaluation methodology for comparing the usability of different abstract information visualization techniques. In order to control the navigation skill variable, the design of a constrained navigation approach for teleporting the user from one user context to another is proposed. Finally, this thesis presents case studies for validating the proposed conceptual model, toolkit and usability evaluation methodology by performing usability testing experiments. The contributions of this thesis are a conceptual model, reusable toolkit and usability evaluation methodology for measuring and comparing the usability of abstract information visualization techniques in interactive 3DVEs.

Efficient extraction of musculoskeletal structures from multi-channel MR images

Description: 

We propose the extraction of musculoskeletal structures (bones, muscles) from the lower limb, following three main objectives: development of an MRI protocol, processing and labelling of the image data, and the exploitation of multi-channel data during the segmentation of individual muscles. We propose an MR acquisition protocol that generates seamless, high-resolution images of thigh and calf. We present a method to identify air and muscle tissue in the image and massively parallel version of the approach. To identify the individual muscles, we align a muscle template which is modified with our deformable model framework under the influence of image forces to match the actual anatomy. This iterative process uses multi-channel image data to find relevant image features. We propose coupled multi-resolution deformable models that allow working on different resolutions in parallel. This work is aimed at helping the understanding of diseases by providing personalised anatomical models.

The value perspective in the analysis and design of service systems

Description: 

The thesis proposes an interdisciplinary framework for service research in information systems that goes beyond the technological concerns and integrates the business concerns about service processes and models and the user's concerns about service usage and value. Based on this framework, the thesis analyzes further the concept of service value and suggests the value perspective in the analysis and design of service systems. In addition, the thesis analyses the role of the user in service systems and suggests a method for service analysis and design that emphasises on the use of service by the user. The research outcomes can provide several research implications and insights and can inspire various potential uses, especially in research projects that seek to integrate a variety of technologies and services with the purpose to facilitate and enable people in their daily life practices.

Analysis of 3d knee joint deformation using a multiscale modelling approach

Description: 

The human knee joint is the largest and most complex joint of the human body. The interdependencies encountered in the musculoskeletal system are crucial in understanding musculoskeletal conditions. Patient-specific models are promising methods to unravel clinical diagnosis. However, as the range of medical and experimental data is expanding, it has become a challenge to integrate data in virtual models in a way that it is comprehensive and reliable for medical diagnosis. In this thesis, we focus on a novel modelling paradigms that encompasses mechanics with microscale and physiological data which aims at being practical for clinical investigation. We integrate microstructural and physiological data into articulation simulations, by investigating different biological organization levels such as organ, tissue, cellular, and molecular level. We consider synergies between in vitro data, medical imaging data and computational models, which can have a significant impact on the development of realistic simulation tools to answer clinical challenges.

Analysing smartphone users “inner-self”: the perception of intimacy and smartphone usage changes

Description: 

Smart mobile services and applications use users' context. However, we never investigate how users perceive this context and how to leverage this perception for even smarter services. We represent the perception of the context of users as their intimacy, their familiarity with their current place, the number, and kind of people around them. The adjective ‘intimate' describes the context as familiar, being private and comfortable. First, we validate the intimacy concept. We establish that users use mobile services differently in different intimacy situations, and we create a first theoretical model to estimate their intimacy. Second, we investigate the intimacy predictability in practice (limitations and solutions). Finally, we show how we can leverage intimacy for studies on users' context or deploy our intimacy model to help apps developer. Advertisers can use it to deliver their content, and it can support the innovative projects, as Google Project Tango, to get smarter.

An ontology-based repository for combining heterogeneous knowledge resources

Description: 

Multiple tasks related to documents, such as indexing, retrieving, annotation, or translation are based on linguistic, terminological and ontological knowledge existing in resources of different types represented using various formalisms. Building bridges between these resources and using them together is a complex task. Solving this problem relies on finding the right resources before extracting the required data. Ontology repositories have been created to help in this task by collecting ontologies and offering effective indexing of these resources. However, these repositories treat a single category of resources and do not provide operations for generating new resources. To meet these needs in terms of knowledge engineering, our contributions are (1) an ontology for representing heterogeneous resources and knowledge combination operators; (2) an approach based on the principles of semantic web to ensure the representation, storage and alignment of heterogeneous resources and (3) the development of an ontology-based repository for combining alignment resources.

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