Tool Plug-in Research Articles

Effect Verification in Ecological Landscape Design of Riverbank Leisure Space Based on Sketch Line Simulation Analysis

In order to improve the effectiveness of landscape design for riverbank leisure spaces, this article applies sketch line simulation technology to the design of leisure space landscapes, constructs a design model suitable for the needs of modern urban leisure space landscapes near rivers, and automatically generates high fidelity wireframes through hand drawn user interface sketches, thereby improving the efficiency of prototype design. The key to automatically generating high fidelity wireframes is to accurately detect the type and position of UI components from hand drawn UI sketches. In addition, a prototype software tool plugin was implemented to detect hand drawn UI sketches using an improved Faster R CNN and automatically convert the detection results into high fidelity wireframes. Through computer simulation research, we can see that sketch line simulation has a good effect in the landscape design of leisure spaces near riverbanks in cities.

IoTDeploy: Deployment of IoT Smart Applications over the Computing Continuum

IoT Smart Applications have created a demand for architectures, infrastructure, platforms, orchestration, and service deployment strategies. They are deployed from sensors to the cloud over a geographical and computing continuum, which is challenging for service orchestration and DevOps strategies. The distributed infrastructure to implement the end-to-end data path may vary, even for similar applications, concerning the services deployed over the mist, fog, edge, and cloud stages. This paper proposes and evaluates IoTDeploy, a solution for streamlining and scaling static and dynamic IoT service deployment over the continuum. IoTDeploy implements a CI/CD tool plugin for deploying applications running on the continuum and supports dynamic service migration. We evaluated the service migration from cloud to fog and fog to cloud with a case study on smart irrigation in agriculture. The experiments reveal that deployment in IoT-distributed environments is reliable and resilient, enabling migration without interrupting the application and losing data.

Digitalising BIPV energy simulation: A cross tool investigation

The long-term viability of Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) as a renewable energy technology has garnered increased attention in recent discussions. However, there is currently a noticeable absence of simulation tools specific to BIPV applications that can cover the whole modelling chain. It remains unclear to what extent existing PV and BIM-based simulation tools can effectively address the complexities of BIPV projects. Therefore, this study aims to assess the process of existing simulation tools for BIPV energy simulation, three standalone PV tools (SAM, PV*SOL premium, and PVsyst), two Building Information Modelling (BIM)-based standalone PV tools (BIMsolar and Solarius PV), two plug-ins in BIM-based tools (INSIGHT for Revit, Ladybug Tools for Grasshopper/Rhinoceros 3D), and one Computer-Aided Design and Drafting (CADD) tool plugin (Skelion for Sketchup). Based on one existing building project with three different types of BIPV-installations, this study explored the capability of these eight tools in modelling/importing building geometry, selecting weather data, setting system layout and array, evaluating the solar resource, estimating energy losses, and assessing energy generation. The simulation results are compared with monitored energy yield data and presented with deviation analysis. Suggestions focus on pointing out the future development directions for BIPV digital simulation. This study offers insights and guidance for digitalising the BIPV performance simulation in the complex building design.

Contact angle measurement for polymeric membranes: software selection for ease of use and precision

Contact angle measurement by sessile drop (SD) and captive bubble (CB) method is calculated by the four software, i.e. ‘Angle Tool’ plugin, Drop Snake (DS) plugin, and LB-ADSA plugin of the ImageJ®; and the Ossila® with their advantages and disadvantages. In this study, the ease of use and precision were tested by standard deviation calculation for different hydrophilic membranes. Angle Tool plugin, and DS plugin of ImageJ®; and the Ossila software gave high standard deviations due to rough cut membranes edges giving background shadows misleading the software algorithm. LB-ADSA plugin of the ImageJ® had both advantages of manual drop edge selection and algorithmic calculation of contact angle giving the lowest standard deviation. Therefore, we found that the LB-ADSA plugin of ImageJ® is precise for hydrophilic membranes by both SD and CB methods.

A multi-objective optimization framework for designing urban block forms considering daylight, energy consumption, and photovoltaic energy potential

Urban form significantly influences building energy consumption. However, most research has primarily focused on quantifying the relationship between the two factors, with limited exploration of optimizing urban form to enhance building energy performance. Moreover, studies often fail to consider multiple performance objectives simultaneously. This study proposes a multi-objective optimization framework for early urban design stage to improve energy and environmental performance in residential block layouts. The performance objectives include energy consumption, photovoltaic energy potential, and sunlight hours. The framework is implemented using the parametric platform Rhino & Grasshopper, where a parametric model controls the layout of blocks. Ladybug Tools plugin is employed for performance simulation, and Wallacei is used for optimization. An ideal residential block in Jianhu City, China, is taken as a case study. The study generates a total of 1896 valid solutions, including 58 Pareto solutions. The performance of the Pareto solutions demonstrates considerable improvements, indicating the effectiveness of optimizing urban form for enhancing energy and environmental performance. Compared to the initial solution, a typical Pareto solution showcases a 1.5% reduction in energy consumption, a 52.7% increase in photovoltaic energy potential, and a 50% increase in sunlight hours. These findings underscore the pivotal role of urban block morphology in influencing energy consumption, photovoltaic potential, and daylighting. The proposed multi-objective framework in this study enhances and facilitates sustainable block form design, which is expected to provide technical support for energy-efficient or low-carbon urban design.

Impact of urban form on building energy consumption and solar energy potential: A case study of residential blocks in Jianhu, China

Urban form can significantly affect building energy consumption and solar energy potential, which is essential to sustainable urban development. However, few studies have proposed a comprehensive framework to discuss this. In addition, how to bridge the gap between theory and practice, and how to combine quantitative research results with urban form design is also a matter of concern. Based on this background, this study proposes a multi-objective urban form design optimization framework based on the Grasshopper platform. Three optimization objectives were identified: minimum building energy consumption, maximum solar potential and maximum sunlight hours. Then, taking Jianhu in China as an example, the building types are extracted from the actual urban context to create blocks. The Ladybug Tools plugin is used for performance simulation, and multi-objective optimization is run in Wallacei X. Furthermore, based on the optimization process data, a correlation analysis of urban form factors with building energy consumption and solar energy potential is conducted. Finally, the research findings are integrated, and energy-efficient urban form design strategies are proposed. The research results show that a block form with excellent energy performance in Jianhu has the following characteristics: (i) The open space is often located in the center of the block. High-rise buildings are located on the west side. (ii) The block presents a layout consisting of a low south side and high north side. (iii) The orientation of the block is 15° south by westor due south. (iv) Avoid building types with large shape coefficient such as P-4, C-1, S-3 and C-2. In addition, building density (BD), open space ratio (OSR), shape coefficient (SC) and average perimeter-area ratio (PAR) have significant correlations with the total building energy use intensity of the block. For solar potential, floor area ratio (FAR), BD, the average number of floors (AF), OSR, SC, and PAR are highly correlated with rooftop PV energy generation, and sky view factor (SVF) is significantly correlated with rooftop PV energy generation.

A Straightforward Method for Adipocyte Size and Count Analysis Using Open-source Software QuPath

ABSTRACT Changes in adipose tissue morphology, depicted by cell morphology alterations such as enlargement of fat cells, always accompany over-weight and obesity. The variables related to cell size have been shown to associate with low-grade inflammation of adipose tissue and common obesity-related comorbidities including metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. Quantifying fat cell morphology from images of histological specimens can be tedious. Here, we present a straightforward method for the task using the free open-source software QuPath with its inbuilt tools only. Measurements of human adipose tissue samples with the described protocol showed an excellent correlation with those obtained with ImageJ software with Adipocyte Tools plugin combined with manual correction of misdetections. Intraclass correlation between the two methods was at good to excellent level. The method described here can be applied to considerably large tissue areas, even whole-slide analysis.

The German EU Council Presidency Translator

AbstractThis contribution describes the German EU Council Presidency Translator (EUC PT), a machine translation service created for the German EU Council Presidency in the second half of 2020, which is open to the general public. Following a series of earlier presidency translators, the German version exhibits important extensions and improvements. The German EUC PT is the first to integrate systems from commercial vendors, public services, and a research center, using a mix of custom and generic translation engines, and to introduce a new webpage translation widget. A further important feature is the close collaboration with human translators from the German ministries, who were provided with computer-assisted translation tool plugins integrating machine translation services into their daily work environments. Uptake by the public reflects a huge interest in the service, showing the need for breaking language barriers.

SPACES TO IMPROVE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY INDICATORS

The research deals with studying the indicators of environmental quality of life and focusing on thermal comfort as one of the most important indicators that have a direct impact on the urban formation in urban spaces. By examining the role, it plays in achieving thermal comfort at peak summer times as one of the most difficult days of the year for vacuum users in terms of feeling comfortable and satisfied. Where four main elements were identified as being the most influential in the urban form of the space, (dimensions of space - materials - green spaces, trees and water elements - orientation). A model of urban space was chosen and tested within a measurement matrix linking the four climatic elements that control the results of the comfort index. The study relied on the measurement method on the use of digital modeling through one of the simulation programs, and ENVI-MET was chosen as one of the certifiedprograms in the research whose results were tested and made sure of its high accuracy. Parametric design methodology such as Rhinoceros and Grasshopper using the ENVI-MET plugin by preparing spatial modeling within these applications, outputting, and analyzing the results. The research also opens a new field of research to link the parametric design methodology with urban design approaches in its wide fields and explore new tools plugin within this software to take advantage of them. يتناول البحث دراسة مؤشرات جودة الحياة البيئية والترکيز على الراحة الحرارية کأحد اهم تلک المؤشرات والتي لها تأثير مباشر على التشکيل العمراني بالفراغات العمرانية. من خلال اختبار الدور الذى تلعبه في تحقيق الراحة الحرارية في أوقات الذروة الصيفية کأحد اصعب أيام السنه لمستخدمي الفراغ من حيث الشعور بالراحة والرضا. حيث تم تحديد اربع عناصر رئيسية باعتبارها الأکثر تأثيرا في التشکيل العمراني للفراغ وهى ( ابعاد الفراغ – مواد التشطيب – المسطحات الخضراء والأشجار والعناصر المائية – التوجيه) وتم اختيار نموذج لفراغ عمراني وتم اختباره داخل مصفوفة للقياس تربط بين العناصر المناخية الأربعة التي تتحکم في نتائج مؤشر الراحة الحرارية وبين عناصر التصميم العمراني للفراغ التي تم ذکرها، وقد اعتمد البحث في طريقة القياس على استخدام النمذجة الرقمية من خلال احد برامج المحاکاة وقد تم اختيار ENVI-MET باعتباره احد البرامج المعتمدة في الأبحاث والتي تم اختبار نتائجه والتأکد من دقتها العالية، وقد اهتم البحث باستخدام منهجية التصميم البارامتري مثل Rhinocerosو Grasshopperباستخدام ENVI-MET plugin عن طريق اعداد نمذجة فراغية داخل هذه التطبيقات وإخراج النتائج وتحليلها.کما يفتح البحث مجال بحثى جديد لربط منهجية التصميم البارامترى بمناهج التصميم العمراني بمجالاتها الواسعة واستکشاف أدوات جديدة plugin داخل هذه البرمجيات للاستفادة منها.

A CAD-based design for manufacturing method for casted components

The paper proposes a method to couple manufacturing knowledge in the context of casting with 3D CAD modelling and design. The approach allows formalizing tacit into explicit design knowledge, for aiding engineers during the development of metal casted components. It is based on three main pillars: (i) identification of geometrical features (3D CAD features) and parameters that can cause an issue during the manufacturing process, (ii) definition of a numerical threshold for feature parameters that guarantee the feasibility of the casting process, and (iii) representation of design rules within a CAD system to support product design review. The method is considered the starting point for future developing a software tool (CAD tool plug-in), here just presented. Two case studies are reported with the aim to show the advantages of the proposed method and tool in the identification of manufacturing issues early in the product development process. Results highlight how the CAD-based tool is a useful assistant to avoid design problems related to the metal casting process.

Intelligent Communication Management Terminal in the Construction of Human Resource Management Mode

With the rapid development of the economy, the integration of corporate strategic management and human resource management has become an issue of concern. This research mainly discusses the role of intelligent communication management terminal in the construction of human resource management mode. In this research, the system development process of this research mainly uses the class library in the software architecture layer to support the software development process. The main development language of Android, JAVA, is to install the Android Develop Tools plug‐in on eclipse and install the Android SDK in the computer operating system to build the Android development environment. The development and application of the system not only make the enterprise managers more convenient and efficient in the process of managing the enterprise but also smooth the operation of the enterprise while reducing the human resource investment and also gives the employees more right to know and the right to participate in the enterprise construction. By creating more value while reducing human resource input, enterprises will enable it to obtain more benefits, and thus enter a cycle of good development and contribute to society. The system has the functions of personnel management, recruitment management, attendance management, training management, work management, and salary management. The recruitment management function of the system is mainly composed of recruitment plan management, recruitment information management, and talent pool. In the system’s recruitment plan management function, important information such as the recruitment part, the number of recruits, personnel requirements, and the specific arrival time of the personnel must be clarified. The personnel in charge of the enterprise personnel department shall conduct corresponding regulations according to the specific needs of the enterprise and shall be experienced by the personnel department. The review is carried out, and all parts of the enterprise are coordinated and completed at the same time. In the platform performance test, when the number of concurrent users reaches 50000, the request time is about 6 seconds, which meets the requirement that the response time of 10000 people per second is less than 10 seconds. This research puts forward suggestions and countermeasures for the optimization of human resource management, which can not only improve the efficiency of Y company’s human resource management but also provide useful reference and reference for other enterprises facing the same problem.

Changes of Radiographic Trabecular Bone Density and Peri-Implant Marginal Bone Vertical Dimensions Around Non-Submerged Dental Implants with a Laser-Microtextured Collar after 5 Years of Functional Loading.

Objectives: The progressive peri-implant bone remodeling caused by dynamic cycles of microdamage may change peri-implant bone characteristics and volume after the functional loading. This prospective study was designed to evaluate the radiographic trabecular bone density and peri-implant vertical dimensional changes around the non submerged dental implant with a laser-microtextured collar (NSLI)s after 5 years of functional loading. Methods: Digital periapical radiographs of 58 NSLIs supported fixed single crowns and fixed partial dentures in 26 patients (14 men, mean age of 52 ± 3.8 years) were used for comparative evaluation between the implant placement [Baseline (BSL)], the definitive Crowns Delivery (CD) and the 5 years post-functional loading examination (T5). Regions of interest (ROI) were taken into consideration for the measurement of mean gray levels, standard deviation, and variation coefficient. The texture parameters, such as contrast, correlation, angular second moment and entropy, were investigated by using the software ImageJ (v.1.50i), by means of the Gray-level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) Texture Tool plugin. Vertical Peri-implant Marginal Bone Level (VPMBL) was assessed at the mesial and the distal sides of each implant by subtracting the measure at BSL from the measure at T5 by means of dedicate software (VixWin Platinum Imaging Software). Mixed regression models were adopted to analyze data. The possible effects of some variables, such as the use of provisional denture, location, crown/implant ratio, type of prosthetic design (single or splinted), on radiographic dimensional vertical changes, gray levels and texture analysis variables were also evaluated. Results: From BSL to T5, mesial and distal VPMBL showed a statistically significant gain of 0.9 ±0.5, and 0.10 mm ±0.6, respectively (P<0.05). From CD to T5, mean gray levels increased from 94.4±26.8) to 111.8±27.1 (P<0.05), while the coefficient of variation decreased from 0.08±0,03 to 0.05±0.04) (P<0.05). Variables showed no statistically significant correlation with texture parameters (P > 0.05). Conclusion: NSLIs showed an increase in radiographic vertical peri-implant marginal bone levels and bone density up to 5 years of loading.

Urban Rules and Morphology Analysis as Support to Solar Performance in Passo Fundo/RS, Brazil

The expansion and densification of cities should be planned to ensure minimum health conditions for buildings. In this sense, this study is interested in the right to solar access for buildings using the analysis of solar envelope to propose urban forms that guarantee this right. The study is in the exploratory phase, and it is applied to the city of Passo Fundo, Brazil. The study started from an analysis of the pre-existing morphological structure, and the solar envelope was generated using the Ladybug tool plugins for Grasshopper and Diva applications in Rhinoceros software. The results showed that the pre-existing urban form has low solar performance, evidencing the need to review construction rules according to the pattern and positioning of lots. Thus, it is expected to be counterbalanced by the revision of urban rules, proposing subsidies for the reformulation and adequacy, or creation of new legislation.

Geographical accessibility to permanent care centers of family doctors from Bihor County, Romania

Abstract Accessibility (geographic or spatial) to health services is a component of health care services access that through measurement can assess inequities in health. Geographical accessibility can be measured using a geographic information system (GIS) where travel time is calculated from the patient’s home to the place where a service is delivered. Permanent care centers of family doctors (PCCs) are units providing family medicine services (consultations, injections, solving minor emergencies) outside the work schedule of family doctors (night and holiday), for overloading prevention of emergency hospitals services by direct addressing or by calling to the unique emergency number 112. Bihor County has 617118 inhabitants in the 101 administrative-territorial units (458 localities), 334 family medicine practices, and there were 34 PCCs. We intended to identify the number of localities in more than 10, 20 or 30 minutes of travel by car from the PCC (based on end-2018 data). A GIS was created using the QGIS application, which includes layers: the county border, the 454 localities and the georeferenced addresses of PCC. Using the ORS Tools plug-in, the appropriate isochrones were created. Then overlapping isochrones and localities (points), the number of localities for which the travel time to the nearest PCC is greater than 10, 20 and 30 minutes, respectively, was obtained. The time needed for the inhabitants to reach the PCC is: more than 10 minutes for 247 localities; more than 20 minutes for 81 localities and over 30 minutes for 10 localities. The results are presented in the form of maps and in tabular form (localities). Using GIS, accessibility to medical services in a territory (city, county, country) can be measured. The application of free GIS software, QGIS, requires hardware, staff training, procedures (for work and decision-making) to research and improve population access to health services. Key messages Access to health services can be assessed using geographic information systems. The use of appropriate maps facilitates decision making to optimize health services.

A machine learning approach for distinguishing uterine sarcoma from leiomyomas based on perfusion weighted MRI parameters

PurposeTo propose a computer-assisted method for distinguishing uterine sarcoma from leiomyomas based on perfusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging (PWI). Materials and methodsForty-two women confirmed to have a total of 60 masses (10 uterine sarcomas and 50 benign leiomyomas) were included. The reference diagnosis was based on postoperative histopathological examination. All women underwent the standard MRI protocol with 3-Tesla MR imager (Magnetom Trio, Siemens, Erlangen, Germany) for assessment of myometrial masses, followed by PWI. For each mass, two regions of interest (ROI) were outlined manually by an experienced radiologist; one (ROIL) represented the entire tumor while the other (ROIs) was placed on the area of the lesion with the most marked contrast enhancement. Two additional ROIs with diameters similar to ROIs (3.0 to 3.1 mm) were placed on psoas muscle (ROIP) and myometrium (ROIM) in order to provide baselines for comparisons. The obtained ROIs of PWI images were then analyzed using the DCE Tool plug-in (version 2.0SP1) within ClearCanvas (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) framework. The DCE Tool provides seven parameters (Ktrans, kep, Vb, IAUC, initial slope, peak, the mean squared error) for modelling contrast uptake within an ROI using the modified Tofts model. Parameters extracted from the ROIs were fed into a decision tree ensemble, which classified the corresponding lesions either as malignant or benign. The leave-one-out cross validation (LOOCV) was utilized to evaluate the performance of the classifier. ResultsNone of the parameters extracted from ROIL or ROIs differed significantly between uterine sarcoma and benign leiomyomas (all p > 0.05). The overall accuracy of 66.7% was obtained by feeding seven parameters extracted from ROIL to the classifier. When 21 features extracted from ROIL, ROIM, and ROIP were fed into the classifier an accuracy of 91.7%, sensitivity of 100%, and specificity of 90% were achieved in the optimal operating point of classifier. ConclusionAlthough none of the PWI parameters differed significantly between benign and malignant lesions, when the information provided by the extracted features was aggregated using a machine learning method, a promising discriminative power was obtained. This suggests that the proposed model for combining the PWI parameters is potentially useful for differentiating uterine sarcoma from leiomyomas.

A proposed model for reuse of software requirements in requirements catalog

Nowadays, the demand for higher quality in software products causes the increased complexity of these products. These two aspects (quality and complexity) combined with productivity are key elements for improving the competitiveness between software companies and differentiating success from failure in the software industry. In this sense, software reuse, and requirements reuse in particular, has been widely recognized as an effective way to improve software quality and productivity. In this paper, we propose a model to reuse the software requirements in a Requirements Catalog. This research aims to define the guidelines to carry out the requirements reuse process through four principal activities: searching, selecting, adapting, and implementing. Also, the commercial tool Computer-Aided Requirements Engineering Rational RequisitePro was tailored to make feasible the implementation of the proposed model; in this sense, a tool plug-in was developed. Finally, a case study is presented to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed model. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Determining the Cause of Design Model Inconsistencies

D on’t you just hate it when you find an error in your design and then have to work out where it came from? What caused it? Is it a minor modeling error? Or more fundamentally, does it result from an inconsistent design or even a requirements error? These issues have bedeviled designers and programmers alike since the days of the ENIAC. With today’s increasingly complex designs and composite systems, identifying and correcting design errors early and accurately is more critical than ever. In a recent article in IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering (vol. 39, no. 11, 2013, pp. 1531–1548), Alexander Reder and Alexander Egyed from Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria, bravely tackle this problem. They’ve produced a major advance in inconsistency analysis— moving beyond just identifying a design inconsistency to accurately showing designers where the inconsistency originates. Their work starts from the premise that visualizing an inconsistency in a design tool ought to also involve visualizing its cause, a novel concept not previously explored in software engineering design. Understanding the cause is vital in formulating a suitable repair, whether manual or automated. And to understand the cause, it must be understood that behind an inconsistency is a design rule—a constraint—that the design violated. Inconsistency is defined in how the various parts of the design rule contributed to the inconsistency and identifying which model element in the design influenced those parts. To do so, the authors present an equally novel approach for computing the cause of design model inconsistencies by looking at inconsistencies from two angles: the syntactic structure of design rules to understand the expected results of their parts and the validation results to determine where the validated results match the expected results. The cause of an inconsistency is then the set of model elements that contributed to validations that didn’t match expectation. The authors rigorously evaluate this novel technique and supporting prototype tool plug-in using a correctness measure (based on causes being complete and minimal), an effectiveness measure (based on scalability and determining the full set of causes for an inconsistency), and a performance measure (based on computational scalability). They show that their technique can determine the full set of expressions that cause model consistency problems both accurately and scalably. Given the prevalence of models well beyond software engineering, anyone interested in modeling tools, model inconsistency checking and resolution, and holistic and effective evaluation of engineering research should read this paper.

MBAT: A scalable informatics system for unifying digital atlasing workflows

BackgroundDigital atlases provide a common semantic and spatial coordinate system that can be leveraged to compare, contrast, and correlate data from disparate sources. As the quality and amount of biological data continues to advance and grow, searching, referencing, and comparing this data with a researcher's own data is essential. However, the integration process is cumbersome and time-consuming due to misaligned data, implicitly defined associations, and incompatible data sources. This work addressing these challenges by providing a unified and adaptable environment to accelerate the workflow to gather, align, and analyze the data.ResultsThe MouseBIRN Atlasing Toolkit (MBAT) project was developed as a cross-platform, free open-source application that unifies and accelerates the digital atlas workflow. A tiered, plug-in architecture was designed for the neuroinformatics and genomics goals of the project to provide a modular and extensible design. MBAT provides the ability to use a single query to search and retrieve data from multiple data sources, align image data using the user's preferred registration method, composite data from multiple sources in a common space, and link relevant informatics information to the current view of the data or atlas. The workspaces leverage tool plug-ins to extend and allow future extensions of the basic workspace functionality. A wide variety of tool plug-ins were developed that integrate pre-existing as well as newly created technology into each workspace. Novel atlasing features were also developed, such as supporting multiple label sets, dynamic selection and grouping of labels, and synchronized, context-driven display of ontological data.ConclusionsMBAT empowers researchers to discover correlations among disparate data by providing a unified environment for bringing together distributed reference resources, a user's image data, and biological atlases into the same spatial or semantic context. Through its extensible tiered plug-in architecture, MBAT allows researchers to customize all platform components to quickly achieve personalized workflows.

Improved Performance Research Integration Tool (IMPRINT): Human Performance Modeling for Improved System Design

Identifying human factors issues before systems are built and demonstrating the importance of those issues to decision makers outside the human factors community is difficult. Modeling and simulation (M&S) has become a critical part of tackling this challenge, but the true impact of M&S is made when the results can be translated into predictions that are important to the decision makers such as future system performance. Through the use of the Improved Performance Research Integration Tool (IMPRINT), analysts are able to quantify the effect of human operator performance on system performance. IMPRINT is a task network modeling tool designed to help assess the influence of the human operator on system performance throughout the system lifecycle. This demonstration will provide a brief overview of IMPRINT and its capabilities and highlight new features that provide enhanced modeling capabilities and better results visualization. It will also feature a look at the new Multimodal Interface Design Support (MIDS) tool plug-in that provides users with analysis specific multimodal design guidelines they could be implemented into the system design to minimize mental overload and improve system performance.

Adapting Web Pages for Small-Screen Devices

We propose a page-adaptation technique that splits existing Web pages into smaller, logically related units. To do this, we must first solve two technical problems: how to detect an existing Web page's semantic structure, and how to split a Web page into smaller blocks based on that structure. To date, we've implemented our technique in Web browsers for mobile devices, in a proxy server for adapting Web pages on the fly, and as an authoring tool plug-in for converting existing Web pages. The Web page can then be adapted to form a two-level hierarchy with a thumbnail representation at the top level for providing a global view and an index to a set of subpages at the bottom level for detailed information.