Statecharts for Distributed Product Data Management System Modelling

Product data management (PDM) has been accepted as an important tool for the manufacturing industries. In recent years, more and mor e researches have been conducted in the development of PDM. Their research area s include system design, integration of object-oriented technology, data distri bution, collaborative and distributed manufacturing working environment, secur ity, and web-based integration. However, there are limitations on their rese arches. In particular, they cannot cater for PDM in distributed manufacturing e nvironment. This is especially true in South China, where many Hong Kong (HK) ma nufacturers have moved their production plants to different locations in Pearl R iver Delta for cost reduction. However, they retain their main offices in HK. Development of PDM system is inherently complex. Product related data cover prod uct name, product part number (product identification), drawings, material speci fications, dimension requirement, quality specification, test result, log size, production schedules, product data version and date of release, special tooling (e.g. jig and fixture), mould design, project engineering in charge, cost spread sheets, while process data includes engineering release, engineering change info rmation management, and other workflow related to the process information. Accor ding to Cornelissen et al., the contemporary PDM system should contains manageme nt functions in structure, retrieval, release, change, and workflow. In system design, development and implementation, a formal specification is nece ssary. However, there is no formal representation model for PDM system. Theref ore a graphical representation model is constructed to express the various scena rios of interactions between users and the PDM system. Statechart is then used to model the operations of PDM system, Fig.1. Statechart model bridges the curr ent gap between requirements, scenarios, and the initial design specifications o f PDM system. After properly analyzing the PDM system, a new distributed PDM (DPDM) system is proposed. Both graphical representation and statechart models are constructed f or the new DPDM system, Fig.2. New product data of DPDM and new system function s are then investigated to support product information flow in the new distribut ed environment. It is found that statecharts allow formal representations to capture the informa tion and control flows of both PDM and DPDM. In particular, statechart offers a dditional expressive power, when compared to conventional state transition diagr am, in terms of hierarchy, concurrency, history, and timing for DPDM behavioral modeling.

A multi-scale modelling framework to guide management of plant invasions in a transboundary context

Background：Attention has recently been drawn to the issue of transboundary invasions,where species introduced and naturalized in one country cross international borders and become problematic in neighbouring countries.Robust modelling frameworks,able to identify the environmental drivers of invasion and forecast the current and future potential distribution of invasive species,are needed to study and manage invasions.Limitations due to the lack of species distribution and environmental data,or assumptions of modelling tools,often constrain the reliability of model predictions.Methods：We present a multiscale spatial modelling framework for transboundary invasions,incorporating robust modelling frameworks（Multimodel Inference and Ensemble Modelling） to overcome some of the limitations.The framework is illustrated using Hakea sericea Schrad.（Proteaceae）,a shrub or small tree native to Australia and invasive in several regions of the world,including the Iberian Peninsula.Two study scales were considered：regional scale（western Iberia,including mainland Portugal and Galicia） and local scale（northwest Portugal）.At the regional scale,the relative importance of environmental predictors sets was evaluated and ranked to determine the main general drivers for the species distribution,while the importance of each environmental predictor was assessed at the local scale.The potential distribution of H.sericea was spatially projected for both scale areas.Results：Model projections for western Iberia suggest that a large area is environmentally suitable in both Portugal and Spain.Climate and landscape composition sets were the most important determinants of this regional distribution of the species.Conversely,a geological predictor（schist lithology） was more important in explaining its local-scale distribution.Conclusions：After being introduced to Portugal,H.sericea has become a transboundary invader by expanding in parts of Galicia（Spain）.The fact that a larger area is predicted as environmentally suitable in Spain raises concerns regarding its potential continued expansion.This highlights the importance of transboundary cooperation in the early management of invasions.By reliably identifying drivers and providing spatial projections of invasion at multiple scales,this framework provides insights for the study and management of biological invasions,including the assessment of transboundary invasion risk.