· · · Institutional Repository

A lot of (legacy) datasets can be combined with other datasets in order to increase their value. New technologies and ideas around the Semantic Web are evolving to make these enrichments possible. In recent years, the Linked Data principles have become the established standard for publishing data on the Semantic Web. With these techniques and principles it becomes possible to enrich a dataset using an interlinking between different datasets in the Linked Data cloud. However, transforming a dataset into a Linked Data dataset is a difficult process. This thesis proposes a way to perform this transformation and explains several required steps needed to be taken in order to succeed. It will discuss difficulties and experiences with entity resolution and evaluates an automatic interlinking approach with the purpose of connecting datasets and creating new opportunities with a (legacy) dataset. As an end result, this thesis will deliver a Linked Data application for the Software Technology publications dataset.

Web applications are rapidly becoming more advanced since the introduction of AJAX technologies. Famous examples include Google’s GMail, Maps and Docs, as well as Twitter and Facebook. These technological advancements bring along a number of challenges, mostly concerning web application testing. In this thesis, we propose a number of techniques to automatically test web applications using invariants on the application’s Document Object Model (DOM) and invariants on the application’s JavaScript code. Using a proxy, we add JavaScript source code that can generate an execution trace. This trace contains all information about the JavaScript variables that is needed to derive invariants on them. Next, we crawl the web application. This can be done manually or in an automated fashion. Crawling the application will generate the actual execution trace. The invariants can be derived using special tools that analyze the trace. Furthermore, during crawling, the DOMs of the web application are fed to an algorithm that can derive invariants on the DOM. We implemented all this as plugins to Crawljax, however these techniques are not only appliable to Crawljax. To evaluate the quality of the invariants, we conducted several case studies. The results are encouraging, meaning our work can be used to automatically generate invariants which can be used for regression testing of dynamic web applications.

Betreffende de oude spoorlijn van Amsterdam - Rosendaal (ca. 1839-1846) Aan deze spoorlijn liggen enkele projecten die te maken hebben met het spoor / de oude Lijn. Het Weg & Werken terrein in Haarlem ligt op de plaats van 'de oude Lijn' en was een voormalige onderhoudsdienst van de HIJSM (Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg Maatschappij). Voor dit terrein is een nieuw Masterplan gemaakt. Daarna is ingezoomd op het Seinwezen gebouw uit 1915, welke is getransformeerd naar een gebouw voor culturele/spirituele dagbesteding voor o.a. mindervaliden.

The master thesis goes into measuring real life choice consumers make when choosing an inner city shopping centre. The preferences of over 600 consumers in The Netherlands and Germany have been measured using a discrete choice method. To improve the knowledge within the research method used, two different layouts were used to measure consumers' choices.

This thesis will explore the possibilities of dashboard technology to gather information and display this in such a way that it will help the user making decisions. Inspired by the idea of what we do is based on what we know the alternatives shown on the dashboard will help us making precedents for the project that is being designed. The multi-disciplinary set up of the program will enable the user to understand the communication between the various disciplines involved, as well as being able to explain others parties why certain choices are made and how the design would benefit from this.

Based on satellite observations of Earths time variable gravity field from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), it is possible to derive variations in terrestrial water storage. Tiny variations of gravity from monthly into a decade time scales are mainly due to redistributions of water mass inside the surface fluid envelops of our planet (Ramillien et al., 2008). This allows us to derive variations in TWS (Terrestrial Water Storage) from satellite observations of the gravity field. Firstly, the Ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) and the Ensemble Kalman smoother (EnKS) have been applied to assimilate the GRACE TWS variation data into the HBV-96 model, a conceptual rainfall-runoff model over the Rhine river basin. Based on prior work on this field, in this thesis it was intended from the very beginning the improvement of methods used, starting from the study period, which was extended from February 1st 2003 to December 26st 2006. Afterwards, newer versions of TWS variation estimates were inferred from three sets of GRACE solutions, one from DEOS TU Delft, and another from CSR - University of Texas. A third dataset named as RBF, based on radial basis function was also included. All of the solutions use different filtering methods which yield different estimates. The following step was to change the state vector and how it is updated. In this way a more realistic method for the individual stores of the Terrestrial Water Stores was used. Finally the Ensemble Moving Batch Smoother have been applied to assimilate the GRACE data into the HBV-96 model. This new assimilation smoother uses observations beyond the estimation time, which are also useful in the estimation.

United Biscuits, Northern Europe (UB-NE) has the intention to achieve excellent product leadership, customer intimacy and operational excellence. A highly competitive market forces the company to respond to customer demand in the most optimal way and yet to maintain company profitability. In an ideal world there exists a one to one relationship between customer demand and manufacturer production. In reality, there often exists a mismatch with extra inventory and costs as a result. To gain insight into this mismatch a decision support tool is designed based on the influence of demand and production variability on supply chain processes.

An analysis of the design of the physical distribution network using a generic framework towards a network with lower supply chain costs

Veel mensen kunnen niet wonen zoals ze willen. De kwaliteit van nieuwe en bestaande woningen sluit niet aan op de veranderende vraag van de bewoners. Hierdoor ontstaat een mismatch tussen de vraag van de bewoners en het aanbod van woningen. Een manier om op de veranderende vraag in te spelen is door flexibel te bouwen. In 1999 is door de SEV in opdracht van het ministerie van VROM en Economische Zaken een experiment opgezet. Dit experiment kan inspelen op de mismatch tussen de vraag en het aanbod van woningen omdat IFD woningen keuzevrijheid bieden en omdat deze woningen aanpasbaar zijn in de gebruiksfase. Dit experiment heet Industrieel Flexibel Demontabel bouwen. Dit onderzoek richt zich voornamelijk op het gebruik van de flexibele woningen door de bewoners in de gebruiksfase. Vragen die aan bod komen zijn: Worden de flexibiliteitsmogelijkheden gebruikt door de bewoners of is het een verspilling van tijd en geld? Is er uiteindelijk waarde gecreëerd voor de bewoners? Wat is er uiteindelijk gebeurd met de geïnitieerde flexibiliteit? Dit onderzoek geeft aanbevelingen aan de hand van Lean Thinking.

European railways have faced fundamental reforms to their organizational structures in the past decades. The reform plans, instigated by the European Union, resulted in a vast arrange of organizational structures visible today, more or less unique per EU member state. The main question that arises: do performances of European railways relate to the type of organizational structure in place? Did the EU reform plans indeed increase efficiency and effectiveness in Europe’s railway sectors? Israel’s railways possess a much shorter history than its European counterparts. The current organizational structure of Israel Railways presents a number of issues in adequately managing infrastructure and transport operations. Israel is interested to learn from experiences in European railway sectors if a renewed organizational structure might increase overall performance. The thesis work closely examines organizational structures and evaluates performances of railway sectors in 27 European countries. It investigates if a correlation between organizational structure and performance is visible at all and which lessons of the European reform plans can be taken along in designing optional new structures for Israel Railways.

Afstudeerwerk van de ontwikkeling van Yolngu Aboriginal Housing in Australia. Posters with drawings and concept drawings.

Spatial Collage is an investigation of the Collage as a 2 dimensional form of art and an exploration of the potential of Collage in an architectural framework. Several keywords describe the characteristics of a collage: recomposition; deconstruction; scalejump; mismatch; multiple readings. Words that can have an architectural meaning as well. Studio Border Conditions Ruhr tries to grasp the complex urban conditions in an area by doing bottom-up investigation, makes visible what remains invisible on a map. In the Ruhr area everything can go with everything, like someone shuffeled the elements around after which they end up in wrong places; with as result mistakes; mismatches; non-functional conditions; brutal combinations of old and new materials; a perfect environment to base the project Spatial Collage. A set of photographs and drawings illustrating collage conditions were the inspiration for the project.

Identifying opportunities in aviation for a transportation research institute and providing a casestudy on itinerary choice based on revealed-preference data.

Een aanleiding voor dit rapport is het stilleggen van de exploitatie van RandstadRail vanwege ontsporingen en andere incidenten. Er zijn verschillende onderzoeken gedaan vast te stellen hoe dit kon gebeuren. Tot nu toe zijn nog geen oplossingen aangedragen om de problemen bij het veiligheidstoezicht bij toekomstige projecten te voorkomen. Deze studie heeft als doel om een verbeterde aanpak te creëren zodat de exploitatieveiligheid beter gewaarborgd is en het toezicht wordt verbeterd.

Public transport cuts pollution, creates space for city inhabitants and offers everyone the freedom to travel, to name but a few reasons for boasting public transport. However, the performance of public transport has decreased the past decade, in spite of an overall increase in mobility. Moreover, recent economic and political developments have led to a decrease in funding for public transport in the Netherlands. Even with the efficiency gains from public tendering, it is unlikely that the retrenchment can be compensated. So, the current paradigm is not sufficient to maintain or improve the current level of service and ridership of public transport. It is therefore necessary to look at possible new paradigms. One such paradigm is the Disney philosophy, which has been successfully imported from entertainment to healthcare. The challenges in that public sector have been overcome by applying principles from the Disney philosophy. Due to its success in healthcare, the Disney philosophy is assessed for its usefulness in public transport. The goal of this project is therefore to research how the Disney philosophy may be applied to pubUc transport to consider whether or not it may be a suitable new paradigm to overcome the challenges faced by public transport.

This thesis focuses on the bus station of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in The Netherlands. A performance study is performed on three criteria: the bus station's throughput of traffic flow, or: coping with capacity, the safety on the bus lane and quality of the infrastructure as perceived by its user. There is a projected growth of public transportation through Schiphol Plaza when looking at increasing numbers of air travelers, employees and use of especially the HOV (high quality public transportation) bus lines. There is no knowledge yet on how long the current bus station layout can cope with this growth. This needs to be made clear and a possible solution for appearing bottlenecks needs to be provided.