Abstract
Geographical Information Systems were originally intended to deal with snapshots representing a single state of some reality but there are more and more applications requiring the representation and querying of time-varying information. This work addresses the representation of moving objects on GIS. The continuous nature of movement raises problems for representation in information systems due to the limited capacity of storage systems and the inherently discrete nature of measurement instruments. The stored information has therefore to be partial and does not allow an exact inference of the real-world object's behavior. To cope with this, query operations must take uncertainty into consideration in their semantics in order to give accurate answers to the users. The paper proposes a set of operations to be included in a GIS or a spatial database to make it able to answer queries on the spatio-temporal behavior of moving objects. The operations have been selected according to the requirements of real applications and their semantics with respect to uncertainty is specified. A collection of examples from a case study is included to illustrate the expressiveness of the proposed operations.

Abstract
Good documentation is crucial for the success of frameworks. In this research, a new documenting approach is proposed combining existing document styles in a kind of "minimalist" framework manual with a special emphasis on framework understandability and usability, rather than on describing framework design. Benefits and drawbacks are evaluated from frameworks of different domains and complexity. © 2000 ACM.

Abstract
This paper presents a novel algorithm for temporal partitioning of graphs representing a behavioral description. The algorithm is based on an extension of the traditional static-list scheduling that tailors it to resolve both scheduling and temporal partitioning. The nodes to be mapped into a partition are selected based on a statically computed cost model. The cost for each node integrates communication effects, the critical path length, and the possibility of the critical path to hide the delay of parallel nodes. In order to alleviate the runtime there is no dynamic update of the costs. A comparison of the algorithm to other schedulers and with close-to-optimum results obtained with a simulated annealing approach is shown. The presented algorithm has been implemented and the results show that it is robust, effective, and efficient, and when compared to other methods finds very good results in small amounts of CPU time.

Abstract
The ability to take advantage of the information society is becoming a must for everyone. Computer literacy is becoming more and more important for individuals as well as corporations. Therefore no efforts must be spared to integrate everyone in this new and exciting development, If for non-disabled persons this can be a challenge, for certain types of disabilities the effort of adaptation is huge. In this paper we focus on blind users. One of the current alternatives for blind users is based on specific hardware that tends to be limited in features and expansibility or very expensive. The other alternative is PC based software. This latest option, although very powerful, has also several disadvantages, namely the lack of practical mobility. In this paper we present a new approach the PalmPCs. PalmPCs are a cheap alternative compared to the hardware mentioned above, they are truly mobile, and they are widely available today. We argue that software can be written for these devices that satisfies the needs of the majority of the blind users. A small application for WindowsCE is presented in which the interface was specifically designed for blind users.

Abstract
A new paradigm far the description of image patter ns is presented. it is proposed that images are described by fuzzy IF... THEN rules instead of pixel values. This new approach may benefit from recognised fuzzy systems superior incorporation of measurement uncertainties, greater resources for managing complexity and better ability to deal with natural language [1]. The concept of relevance has been proposed as a measure of the relative importance of sets of rules [2] [3]. Based on this concept a new methodology was developed: SLIM (Separation of Linguistic Information Methodology) [2] [3]. An algorithm implementing SLIM is presented in this paper, derived from the fuzzy Gmeans clustering algorithm, here applied to organise the fuzzy IF... THEN rules that describe the image. The Lena and the Abington Grass images have been successfully used to illustrate the identification process. The proposed SLIM algorithm has been successfully applied to illustrate a segmentation operation in the "fuzzy rules domain", using the Abington Cross image.

Abstract
There is a need for reliable lighting design applications because available tools are limited and inappropriate for interactive or creative use. Architects and lighting designers need those applications to define, predict, test and validate lighting solutions for their problems. We present a new approach to the lighting design problem based on a methodology that includes the gelometry of the scene, the properties of materials and the design goals. It is possible to obtain luminaire characteristics or other kind of results that maximise the attainment of the design goals, which may include different types of constraints or objectives (lighting, geometrical or others). The main goal, in our approach, is to improve the lighting design cycle. In this work we discuss the use of optimisation in lighting design, describe the implementation of the methodology, present real-world based examples and analyse in detail some of the complex technical problems associated and speculate on how to overcome them.