CODA performance in the real world

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abbott, D.J.; Heyes, W.G.; Jastrzembski, E.; MacLeod, R.W.; Timmer, C.; Wolin, E.

1999-01-01

The most ambitious implementation of the Jefferson Lab data acquisition system (CODA) to date is for the CLAS spectrometer in Experimental Hall B. CLAS has over 40,000 instrumented channels and uses up to 30 front-end (FASTBUS/VME) crates in the DAQ subsystem. During the initial experiments the authors found that performance of the fully instrumented DAQ system did not scale as expected based on single point to point benchmarks. Over the past year the authors have been able to study various performance bottlenecks in the CLAS DAQ system including front-end real time performance, switched 100BaseT Ethernet data transport, and online data distribution and recording. Performance tuning was necessary for components on both real time (VxWorks) and UNIX (Solaris) operating systems. In addition, a new efficient Event Transfer System (ET) was developed to provide faster online monitoring while having minimal impact on data throughput to storage. They discuss these issues and efforts to overcome the real world problems associated with running a high performance DAQ system on a variety of commercial hardware and software

Studying Real-World Perceptual Expertise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianhong eShen

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Significant insights into visual cognition have come from studying real-world perceptual expertise. Many have previously reviewed empirical findings and theoretical developments from this work. Here we instead provide a brief perspective on approaches, considerations, and challenges to studying real-world perceptual expertise. We discuss factors like choosing to use real-world versus artificial object domains of expertise, selecting a target domain of real-world perceptual expertise, recruiting experts, evaluating their level of expertise, and experimentally testing experts in the lab and online. Throughout our perspective, we highlight expert birding (also called birdwatching as an example, as it has been used as a target domain for over two decades in the perceptual expertise literature.

The real-world safety potential of connected vehicle technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Doecke, Sam; Grant, Alex; Anderson, Robert W G

2015-01-01

This article estimates the safety potential of a current commercially available connected vehicle technology in real-world crashes. Data from the Centre for Automotive Safety Research's at-scene in-depth crash investigations in South Australia were used to simulate the circumstances of real-world crashes. A total of 89 crashes were selected for inclusion in the study. The crashes were selected as representative of the most prevalent crash types for injury or fatal crashes and had potential to be mitigated by connected vehicle technology. The trajectory, speeds, braking, and impact configuration of the selected in-depth cases were replicated in a software package and converted to a file format allowing "replay" of the scenario in real time as input to 2 Cohda Wireless MK2 onboard units. The Cohda Wireless onboard units are a mature connected vehicle technology that has been used in both the German simTD field trial and the U.S. Department of Transport's Safety Pilot project and have been tuned for low false alarm rates when used in the real world. The crash replay was achieved by replacing each of the onboard unit Global Positioning System (GPS) inputs with the simulated data of each of the involved vehicles. The time at which the Cohda Wireless threat detection software issued an elevated warning was used to calculate a new impact speed using 3 different reaction scenarios and 2 levels of braking. It was found that between 37 and 86% of the simulated crashes could be avoided, with highest percentage due a fully autonomous system braking at 0.7 g. The same system also reduced the impact speed relative to the actual crash in all cases. Even when a human reaction time of 1.2 s and moderate braking of 0.4 g was assumed, the impact speed was reduced in 78% of the crashes. Crash types that proved difficult for the threat detection engine were head-on crashes where the approach angle was low and right turn-opposite crashes. These results indicate that connected vehicle

Real-world outcomes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holmgreen, Lise-Lotte

-down model of feeding back research findings to subjects” (Roberts and Sarangi 2003, 340) although, arguably, making results applicable to a real-world context ought to be an essential goal of researcher-practitioner studies. This issue forms the background of the presentation, in which it will be discussed...... how the dissemination of research findings may take place to ensure the creation of real-world outcomes for practitioners (cf. e.g. Nørreklit et al. 1987; Puchta & Potter 2004). The presentation will be centered around the interview study of the discursive constructions of culture in a Danish cross...

Multi-Agent Based Beam Search for Real-Time Production Scheduling and Control Method, Software and Industrial Application

CERN Document Server

Kang, Shu Gang

2013-01-01

The Multi-Agent Based Beam Search (MABBS) method systematically integrates four major requirements of manufacturing production - representation capability, solution quality, computation efficiency, and implementation difficulty - within a unified framework to deal with the many challenges of complex real-world production planning and scheduling problems. Multi-agent Based Beam Search for Real-time Production Scheduling and Control introduces this method, together with its software implementation and industrial applications.  This book connects academic research with industrial practice, and develops a practical solution to production planning and scheduling problems. To simplify implementation, a reusable software platform is developed to build the MABBS method into a generic computation engine.  This engine is integrated with a script language, called the Embedded Extensible Application Script Language (EXASL), to provide a flexible and straightforward approach to representing complex real-world problems. ...

An algebraic approach to modeling in software engineering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loegel, C.J.; Ravishankar, C.V.

1993-09-01

Our work couples the formalism of universal algebras with the engineering techniques of mathematical modeling to develop a new approach to the software engineering process. Our purpose in using this combination is twofold. First, abstract data types and their specification using universal algebras can be considered a common point between the practical requirements of software engineering and the formal specification of software systems. Second, mathematical modeling principles provide us with a means for effectively analyzing real-world systems. We first use modeling techniques to analyze a system and then represent the analysis using universal algebras. The rest of the software engineering process exploits properties of universal algebras that preserve the structure of our original model. This paper describes our software engineering process and our experience using it on both research and commercial systems. We need a new approach because current software engineering practices often deliver software that is difficult to develop and maintain. Formal software engineering approaches use universal algebras to describe ''computer science'' objects like abstract data types, but in practice software errors are often caused because ''real-world'' objects are improperly modeled. There is a large semantic gap between the customer's objects and abstract data types. In contrast, mathematical modeling uses engineering techniques to construct valid models for real-world systems, but these models are often implemented in an ad hoc manner. A combination of the best features of both approaches would enable software engineering to formally specify and develop software systems that better model real systems. Software engineering, like mathematical modeling, should concern itself first and foremost with understanding a real system and its behavior under given circumstances, and then with expressing this knowledge in an executable form

Building Real World Domain-Specific Social Network Websites as a Capstone Project

Science.gov (United States)

Yue, Kwok-Bun; De Silva, Dilhar; Kim, Dan; Aktepe, Mirac; Nagle, Stewart; Boerger, Chris; Jain, Anubha; Verma, Sunny

2009-01-01

This paper describes our experience of using Content Management Software (CMS), specifically Joomla, to build a real world domain-specific social network site (SNS) as a capstone project for graduate information systems and computer science students. As Web 2.0 technologies become increasingly important in driving business application development,…

Real-World Solutions for Developing High-Quality PHP Frameworks and Applications

CERN Document Server

Bergmann, Sebastian

2011-01-01

Learn to develop high-quality applications and frameworks in PHP Packed with in-depth information and step-by-step guidance, this book escorts you through the process of creating, maintaining and extending sustainable software of high quality with PHP. World-renowned PHP experts present real-world case studies for developing high-quality applications and frameworks in PHP that can easily be adapted to changing business requirements. . They offer different approaches to solving  typical development and quality assurance problems that every developer needs to know and master.Details the process

Real-time scheduling of software tasks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoff, L.T.

1995-01-01

When designing real-time systems, it is often desirable to schedule execution of software tasks based on the occurrence of events. The events may be clock ticks, interrupts from a hardware device, or software signals from other software tasks. If the nature of the events, is well understood, this scheduling is normally a static part of the system design. If the nature of the events is not completely understood, or is expected to change over time, it may be necessary to provide a mechanism for adjusting the scheduling of the software tasks. RHIC front-end computers (FECs) provide such a mechanism. The goals in designing this mechanism were to be as independent as possible of the underlying operating system, to allow for future expansion of the mechanism to handle new types of events, and to allow easy configuration. Some considerations which steered the design were programming paradigm (object oriented vs. procedural), programming language, and whether events are merely interesting moments in time, or whether they intrinsically have data associated with them. The design also needed to address performance and robustness tradeoffs involving shared task contexts, task priorities, and use of interrupt service routine (ISR) contexts vs. task contexts. This paper will explore these considerations and tradeoffs

A real-time MPEG software decoder using a portable message-passing library

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kwong, Man Kam; Tang, P.T. Peter; Lin, Biquan

1995-12-31

We present a real-time MPEG software decoder that uses message-passing libraries such as MPL, p4 and MPI. The parallel MPEG decoder currently runs on the IBM SP system but can be easil ported to other parallel machines. This paper discusses our parallel MPEG decoding algorithm as well as the parallel programming environment under which it uses. Several technical issues are discussed, including balancing of decoding speed, memory limitation, 1/0 capacities, and optimization of MPEG decoding components. This project shows that a real-time portable software MPEG decoder is feasible in a general-purpose parallel machine.

A real-time computer simulation of nuclear simulator software using standard PC hardware and linux environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cha, K. H.; Kweon, K. C.

2001-01-01

A feasibility study, which standard PC hardware and Real-Time Linux are applied to real-time computer simulation of software for a nuclear simulator, is presented in this paper. The feasibility prototype was established with the existing software in the Compact Nuclear Simulator (CNS). Throughout the real-time implementation in the feasibility prototype, we has identified that the approach can enable the computer-based predictive simulation to be approached, due to both the remarkable improvement in real-time performance and the less efforts for real-time implementation under standard PC hardware and Real-Time Linux envrionments

RT-Syn: A real-time software system generator

Science.gov (United States)

Setliff, Dorothy E.

1992-01-01

This paper presents research into providing highly reusable and maintainable components by using automatic software synthesis techniques. This proposal uses domain knowledge combined with automatic software synthesis techniques to engineer large-scale mission-critical real-time software. The hypothesis centers on a software synthesis architecture that specifically incorporates application-specific (in this case real-time) knowledge. This architecture synthesizes complex system software to meet a behavioral specification and external interaction design constraints. Some examples of these external constraints are communication protocols, precisions, timing, and space limitations. The incorporation of application-specific knowledge facilitates the generation of mathematical software metrics which are used to narrow the design space, thereby making software synthesis tractable. Success has the potential to dramatically reduce mission-critical system life-cycle costs not only by reducing development time, but more importantly facilitating maintenance, modifications, and extensions of complex mission-critical software systems, which are currently dominating life cycle costs.

New technologies for supporting real-time on-board software development

Science.gov (United States)

Kerridge, D.

1995-03-01

The next generation of on-board data management systems will be significantly more complex than current designs, and will be required to perform more complex and demanding tasks in software. Improved hardware technology, in the form of the MA31750 radiation hard processor, is one key component in addressing the needs of future embedded systems. However, to complement these hardware advances, improved support for the design and implementation of real-time data management software is now needed. This will help to control the cost and risk assoicated with developing data management software development as it becomes an increasingly significant element within embedded systems. One particular problem with developing embedded software is managing the non-functional requirements in a systematic way. This paper identifies how Logica has exploited recent developments in hard real-time theory to address this problem through the use of new hard real-time analysis and design methods which can be supported by specialized tools. The first stage in transferring this technology from the research domain to industrial application has already been completed. The MA37150 Hard Real-Time Embedded Software Support Environment (HESSE) is a loosely integrated set of hardware and software tools which directly support the process of hard real-time analysis for software targeting the MA31750 processor. With further development, this HESSE promises to provide embedded system developers with software tools which can reduce the risks associated with developing complex hard real-time software. Supported in this way by more sophisticated software methods and tools, it is foreseen that MA31750 based embedded systems can meet the processing needs for the next generation of on-board data management systems.

Reflections on "Real-World" Community Psychology

Science.gov (United States)

Wolff, Tom; Swift, Carolyn

2008-01-01

Reflections on the history of real-world (applied) community psychologists trace their participation in the field's official guild, the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA), beginning with the Swampscott Conference in 1965 through the current date. Four benchmarks are examined. The issues these real-world psychologists bring to the…

Properties of four real world collaboration--competition networks

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Chun-Hua; Xu, Xiu-Lian; He, Da-Ren

2009-03-01

Our research group has empirically investigated 9 real world collaboration networks and 25 real world cooperation-competition networks. Among the 34 real world systems, all the 9 real world collaboration networks and 6 real world cooperation-competition networks show the unimodal act-size distribution and the shifted power law distribution of degree and act-degree. We have proposed a collaboration network evolution model for an explanation of the rules [1]. The other 14 real world cooperation-competition networks show that the act-size distributions are not unimodal; instead, they take qualitatively the same shifted power law forms as the degree and act-degree distributions. The properties of four systems (the main land movie film network, Beijing restaurant network, 2004 Olympic network, and Tao-Bao notebook computer sale network) are reported in detail as examples. Via a numerical simulation, we show that the new rule can still be explained by the above-mentioned model. [1] H. Chang, B. B. Su, et al. Phsica A, 2007, 383: 687-702.

Unified underpinning of human mobility in the real world and cyberspace

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Yi-Ming; Zeng, An; Yan, Xiao-Yong; Wang, Wen-Xu; Lai, Ying-Cheng

2016-05-01

Human movements in the real world and in cyberspace affect not only dynamical processes such as epidemic spreading and information diffusion but also social and economical activities such as urban planning and personalized recommendation in online shopping. Despite recent efforts in characterizing and modeling human behaviors in both the real and cyber worlds, the fundamental dynamics underlying human mobility have not been well understood. We develop a minimal, memory-based random walk model in limited space for reproducing, with a single parameter, the key statistical behaviors characterizing human movements in both cases. The model is validated using relatively big data from mobile phone and online commerce, suggesting memory-based random walk dynamics as the unified underpinning for human mobility, regardless of whether it occurs in the real world or in cyberspace.

Providing Geospatial Education and Real World Applications of Data across the Climate Initiative Themes

Science.gov (United States)

Weigel, A. M.; Griffin, R.; Bugbee, K.

2015-12-01

Various organizations such as the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) have developed a structure for general thematic areas in Earth science research, however the Climate Data Initiative (CDI) is addressing the challenging goal of organizing such datasets around core themes specifically related to climate change impacts. These thematic areas, which currently include coastal flooding, food resilience, ecosystem vulnerability, water, transportation, energy infrastructure, and human health, form the core of a new college course at the University of Alabama in Huntsville developed around real-world applications in the Earth sciences. The goal of this course is to educate students on the data available and scope of GIS applications in Earth science across the CDI climate themes. Real world applications and datasets serve as a pedagogical tool that provide a useful medium for instruction in scientific geospatial analysis and GIS software. With a wide range of potential research areas that fall under the rubric of "Earth science", thematic foci can help to structure a student's understanding of the potential uses of GIS across sub-disciplines, while communicating core data processing concepts. The learning modules and use-case scenarios for this course demonstrate the potential applications of CDI data to undergraduate and graduate Earth science students.

Software Architecture Evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Barnes, Jeffrey M.

2013-01-01

Many software systems eventually undergo changes to their basic architectural structure. Such changes may be prompted by new feature requests, new quality attribute requirements, changing technology, or other reasons. Whatever the causes, architecture evolution is commonplace in real-world software projects. Today's software architects, however,…

Software engineering aspects of real-time programming concepts

Science.gov (United States)

Schoitsch, Erwin

1986-08-01

Real-time programming is a discipline of great importance not only in process control, but also in fields like communication, office automation, interactive databases, interactive graphics and operating systems development. General concepts of concurrent programming and constructs for process-synchronization are discussed in detail. Tasking and synchronization concepts, methods of process communication, interrupt and timeout handling in systems based on semaphores, signals, conditional critical regions or on real-time languages like Concurrent PASCAL, MODULA, CHILL and ADA are explained and compared with each other. The second part deals with structuring and modularization of technical processes to build reliable and maintainable real time systems. Software-quality and software engineering aspects are considered throughout the paper.

Real-World Evidence, Public Participation, and the FDA.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Jason L

2017-11-01

For observers of pharmaceutical regulation and the Food and Drug Administration, these are uncertain times. Events in late 2016 raised concerns that the FDA's evidentiary standards were being weakened, compromising the agency's ability to adequately perform its regulatory and public health responsibilities. Two developments most directly contributed to these fears-the approval of eteplirsen, a treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, against the recommendations of both FDA staff and an advisory committee and the December 2016 signing of the 21st Century Cures Act, which encouraged greater use by the FDA of "real-world" evidence not obtained through randomized controlled trials. The arrival of the Trump administration-with its deregulatory, industry-friendly approach-has only amplified concerns over the future of the FDA. It is too early to know whether the recent developments are truly harbingers of an FDA less likely to prevent unsafe or ineffective products from reaching the market. But elements in the two events-the role of patient narratives in deliberations regarding eteplirsen and the enthusiasm for real-world evidence in the 21st Century Cures Act-raise critical issues for the future of evidence in the FDA's work. The rigorous, inclusive approach under way to consider issues related to real-world evidence provides a model for a similarly needed inquiry regarding public participation in FDA decision-making. © 2017 The Hastings Center.

Real-time software for the COMPASS tokamak plasma control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valcarcel, D.F.; Duarte, A.S.; Neto, A.; Carvalho, I.S.; Carvalho, B.B.; Fernandes, H.; Sousa, J.; Sartori, F.; Janky, F.; Cahyna, P.; Hron, M.; Panek, R.

2010-01-01

The COMPASS tokamak has started its operation recently in Prague and to meet the necessary operation parameters its real-time system, for data processing and control, must be designed for both flexibility and performance, allowing the easy integration of code from several developers and to guarantee the desired time cycle. For this purpose an Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture based real-time system has been deployed with a solution built on a multi-core x86 processor. It makes use of two software components: the BaseLib2 and the MARTe (Multithreaded Application Real-Time executor) real-time frameworks. The BaseLib2 framework is a generic real-time library with optimized objects for the implementation of real-time algorithms. This allowed to build a library of modules that process the acquired data and execute control algorithms. MARTe executes these modules in kernel space Real-Time Application Interface allowing to attain the required cycle time and a jitter of less than 1.5 μs. MARTe configuration and data storage are accomplished through a Java hardware client that connects to the FireSignal control and data acquisition software. This article details the implementation of the real-time system for the COMPASS tokamak, in particular the organization of the control code, the design and implementation of the communications with the actuators and how MARTe integrates with the FireSignal software.

Real-time software for the COMPASS tokamak plasma control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Valcarcel, D.F., E-mail: danielv@ipfn.ist.utl.p [Associacao EURATOM/IST, Instituto de Plasmas e Fusao Nuclear - Laboratorio Associado, Instituto Superior Tecnico, P-1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Duarte, A.S.; Neto, A.; Carvalho, I.S.; Carvalho, B.B.; Fernandes, H.; Sousa, J. [Associacao EURATOM/IST, Instituto de Plasmas e Fusao Nuclear - Laboratorio Associado, Instituto Superior Tecnico, P-1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Sartori, F. [Euratom-UKAEA, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, OX14 3DB Oxon (United Kingdom); Janky, F.; Cahyna, P.; Hron, M.; Panek, R. [Institute of Plasma Physics AS CR, v.v.i., Association EURATOM/IPP.CR, Za Slovankou 3, 182 00 Prague (Czech Republic)

2010-07-15

The COMPASS tokamak has started its operation recently in Prague and to meet the necessary operation parameters its real-time system, for data processing and control, must be designed for both flexibility and performance, allowing the easy integration of code from several developers and to guarantee the desired time cycle. For this purpose an Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture based real-time system has been deployed with a solution built on a multi-core x86 processor. It makes use of two software components: the BaseLib2 and the MARTe (Multithreaded Application Real-Time executor) real-time frameworks. The BaseLib2 framework is a generic real-time library with optimized objects for the implementation of real-time algorithms. This allowed to build a library of modules that process the acquired data and execute control algorithms. MARTe executes these modules in kernel space Real-Time Application Interface allowing to attain the required cycle time and a jitter of less than 1.5 {mu}s. MARTe configuration and data storage are accomplished through a Java hardware client that connects to the FireSignal control and data acquisition software. This article details the implementation of the real-time system for the COMPASS tokamak, in particular the organization of the control code, the design and implementation of the communications with the actuators and how MARTe integrates with the FireSignal software.

Real World Connections in High School Mathematics Curriculum and Teaching

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gökhan Karakoç

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Making real world connections in mathematics curricula and in teaching mathematics is generally viewed favorably within the educational community, however, little empirical research has examined how and why to use real world connections in mathematics education based on the views of experts. This study describes the feasibility of the use of real world connections according to high school mathematics teachers and academicians of mathematics education. Opinions of high school mathematics teachers (n=16 and academicians (n=8 about advantages, disadvantages, and examples of real world connections are elicited and reported. Teachers and academicians report several advantages of the use of real world connections in teaching mathematics as well as its disadvantages and limitations. Suggestions about dealing with limiting factors for using real world connections are also reported. Keywords: Mathematics curriculum, real world connections, mathematics teaching

Agile science: creating useful products for behavior change in the real world.

Science.gov (United States)

Hekler, Eric B; Klasnja, Predrag; Riley, William T; Buman, Matthew P; Huberty, Jennifer; Rivera, Daniel E; Martin, Cesar A

2016-06-01

Evidence-based practice is important for behavioral interventions but there is debate on how best to support real-world behavior change. The purpose of this paper is to define products and a preliminary process for efficiently and adaptively creating and curating a knowledge base for behavior change for real-world implementation. We look to evidence-based practice suggestions and draw parallels to software development. We argue to target three products: (1) the smallest, meaningful, self-contained, and repurposable behavior change modules of an intervention; (2) "computational models" that define the interaction between modules, individuals, and context; and (3) "personalization" algorithms, which are decision rules for intervention adaptation. The "agile science" process includes a generation phase whereby contender operational definitions and constructs of the three products are created and assessed for feasibility and an evaluation phase, whereby effect size estimates/casual inferences are created. The process emphasizes early-and-often sharing. If correct, agile science could enable a more robust knowledge base for behavior change.

Learning from Dealing with Real World Problems

Science.gov (United States)

Akcay, Hakan

2017-01-01

The purpose of this article is to provide an example of using real world issues as tools for science teaching and learning. Using real world issues provides students with experiences in learning in problem-based environments and encourages them to apply their content knowledge to solving current and local problems.

Bringing real-world problems into the classroom

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Enserink, B.; De Haan, A.R.C.; Hermans, L.M.

2012-01-01

Real world problems are a challenge and a motivator for students to learn understanding and using the concepts of systems and actors. But using real world problems in the classroom is not without challenges and dilemmas. In the paper we explicitly address the issue of the need for quite intense

RTSPM: real-time Linux control software for scanning probe microscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Chandrasekhar, V; Mehta, M M

2013-01-01

Real time computer control is an essential feature of scanning probe microscopes, which have become important tools for the characterization and investigation of nanometer scale samples. Most commercial (and some open-source) scanning probe data acquisition software uses digital signal processors to handle the real time data processing and control, which adds to the expense and complexity of the control software. We describe here scan control software that uses a single computer and a data acquisition card to acquire scan data. The computer runs an open-source real time Linux kernel, which permits fast acquisition and control while maintaining a responsive graphical user interface. Images from a simulated tuning-fork based microscope as well as a standard topographical sample are also presented, showing some of the capabilities of the software.

Study of emissions and fuel economy for parallel hybrid versus conventional vehicles on real world and standard driving cycles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmed Al-Samari

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Parallel hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs increasing rapidly in the automobile markets. However, the benefits out of using this kind of vehicles are still concerned a lot of costumers. This work investigated the expected benefits (such as decreasing emissions and increasing fuel economy from using the parallel HEV in comparison to the conventional vehicle model of the real-world and standard driving cycles. The software Autonomie used in this study to simulate the parallel HEV and conventional models on these driving cycles.The results show that the fuel economy (FE can be improved significantly up to 68% on real-world driving cycle, which is represented mostly city activities. However, the FE improvement was limited (10% on the highway driving cycle, and this is expected since the using of brake system was infrequent. Moreover, the emissions from parallel HEV decreased about 40% on the real-world driving cycle, and decreased 11% on the highway driving cycle. Finally, the engine efficiency, improved about 12% on the real-world driving cycle, and about 7% on highway driving cycle. Keywords: Emissions, Hybrid electric vehicles, Fuel economy, Real-world driving cycle

A Comparison and Evaluation of Real-Time Software Systems Modeling Languages

Science.gov (United States)

Evensen, Kenneth D.; Weiss, Kathryn Anne

2010-01-01

A model-driven approach to real-time software systems development enables the conceptualization of software, fostering a more thorough understanding of its often complex architecture and behavior while promoting the documentation and analysis of concerns common to real-time embedded systems such as scheduling, resource allocation, and performance. Several modeling languages have been developed to assist in the model-driven software engineering effort for real-time systems, and these languages are beginning to gain traction with practitioners throughout the aerospace industry. This paper presents a survey of several real-time software system modeling languages, namely the Architectural Analysis and Design Language (AADL), the Unified Modeling Language (UML), Systems Modeling Language (SysML), the Modeling and Analysis of Real-Time Embedded Systems (MARTE) UML profile, and the AADL for UML profile. Each language has its advantages and disadvantages, and in order to adequately describe a real-time software system's architecture, a complementary use of multiple languages is almost certainly necessary. This paper aims to explore these languages in the context of understanding the value each brings to the model-driven software engineering effort and to determine if it is feasible and practical to combine aspects of the various modeling languages to achieve more complete coverage in architectural descriptions. To this end, each language is evaluated with respect to a set of criteria such as scope, formalisms, and architectural coverage. An example is used to help illustrate the capabilities of the various languages.

A software framework for real-time multi-modal detection of microsleeps.

Science.gov (United States)

Knopp, Simon J; Bones, Philip J; Weddell, Stephen J; Jones, Richard D

2017-09-01

A software framework is described which was designed to process EEG, video of one eye, and head movement in real time, towards achieving early detection of microsleeps for prevention of fatal accidents, particularly in transport sectors. The framework is based around a pipeline structure with user-replaceable signal processing modules. This structure can encapsulate a wide variety of feature extraction and classification techniques and can be applied to detecting a variety of aspects of cognitive state. Users of the framework can implement signal processing plugins in C++ or Python. The framework also provides a graphical user interface and the ability to save and load data to and from arbitrary file formats. Two small studies are reported which demonstrate the capabilities of the framework in typical applications: monitoring eye closure and detecting simulated microsleeps. While specifically designed for microsleep detection/prediction, the software framework can be just as appropriately applied to (i) other measures of cognitive state and (ii) development of biomedical instruments for multi-modal real-time physiological monitoring and event detection in intensive care, anaesthesiology, cardiology, neurosurgery, etc. The software framework has been made freely available for researchers to use and modify under an open source licence.

Recommendations relating to safety-critical real-time software in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

The Advisory Committee on Nuclear Safety (ACNS) has reviewed safety issues associated with the software for the digital computers in the safety shutdown systems for the Darlington NGS. From this review the ACNS has developed four recommendations for safety-critical real-time software in nuclear power plants. These recommendations cover: the completion of the present efforts to develop an overall standard and sub-tier standards for safety-critical real-time software; the preparation of schedules and lists of responsibilities for this development; the concentration of AECB efforts on ensuring the scrutability of safety-critical real-time software; and, the collection of data on reliability and causes of failure (error) of safety-critical real-time software systems and on the probability and causes of common-mode failures (errors). (9 refs.)

Real world evidence (RWE - Are we (RWE ready?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Viraj Ramesh Suvarna

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Real world evidence is important as it complements data from randomised controlled trials (RCTs. Both have limitations in design, interpretation, and extrapolatability. It is imperative one designs real world studies in the right way, else it can be misleading. An RCT is always considered higher in the evidence ladder and when there is discordance between a real world study and an RCT, it is the latter which is always considered pristine because of the way it is conducted, e.g., randomization, prospective, double-blind, etc. A real world study can also be done prospectively, and propensity score matching can be used to construct comparable cohorts but may not be able to account for certain biases or confounding factors the way an RCT can do. Nevertheless, comparative effectiveness research in the real world is being resorted to, especially for efficiency studies or pharmacoeconomic analyses, and with the advent of machine learning, the electronic healthcare database mining can result in algorithms that help doctors identify clinical characteristics that correlate with optimal response of a patient to a drug/regimen, thus helping him/her select the right patient for the right drug.

Real-world driving behaviour

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rijkeboer, R.C.; Hendriksen, P.; Gense, N.L.J.

2001-01-01

With increasing complexity of engine management system there is a tendency for traditional driving cyles to become further and further removed from reality. So for a sensible evaluation of emissions and fuel consumption of road vehicles in the field there is an urgent need for 'real-world' driving

Developing Reusable and Reconfigurable Real-Time Software using Aspects and Components

OpenAIRE

Tešanović, Aleksandra

2006-01-01

Our main focus in this thesis is on providing guidelines, methods, and tools for design, configuration, and analysis of configurable and reusable real-time software, developed using a combination of aspect-oriented and component-based software development. Specifically, we define a reconfigurable real-time component model (RTCOM) that describes how a real-time component, supporting aspects and enforcing information hiding, could efficiently be designed and implemented. In this context, we out...

Real-time Control Mediation in Agile Distributed Software Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Persson, John Stouby; Aaen, Ivan; Mathiassen, Lars

2008-01-01

Agile distributed environments pose particular challenges related to control of quality and collaboration in software development. Moreover, while face-to-face interaction is fundamental in agile development, distributed environments must rely extensively on mediated interactions. On this backdrop...... control was mediated over distance by technology through real-time exchanges. Contrary to previous research, the analysis suggests that both formal and informal elements of real-time mediated control were used; that evolving goals and adjustment of expectations were two of the main issues in real......-time mediated control exchanges; and, that the actors, despite distances in space and culture, developed a clan-like pattern mediated by technology to help control quality and collaboration in software development....

Impact Of Real-World Driving Characteristics On Vehicular Emissions

OpenAIRE

Nesamani, K S; Subramanian, K. P.

2005-01-01

With increase in traffic volume and change in travel related characteristics, vehicular emissions and energy consumption have increased significantly since two decades in India. Current models are not capable of estimating vehicular emissions accurately due to inadequate representation of real-world driving. The focus of this paper is to understand the level of Indian Driving cycle (IDC) in representing the real-world driving and to assess the impact of real-world driving on vehicular emissio...

Western aeronautical test range real-time graphics software package MAGIC

Science.gov (United States)

Malone, Jacqueline C.; Moore, Archie L.

1988-01-01

The master graphics interactive console (MAGIC) software package used on the Western Aeronautical Test Range (WATR) of the NASA Ames Research Center is described. MAGIC is a resident real-time research tool available to flight researchers-scientists in the NASA mission control centers of the WATR at the Dryden Flight Research Facility at Edwards, California. The hardware configuration and capabilities of the real-time software package are also discussed.

Experiment Design Regularization-Based Hardware/Software Codesign for Real-Time Enhanced Imaging in Uncertain Remote Sensing Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Castillo Atoche A

2010-01-01

Full Text Available A new aggregated Hardware/Software (HW/SW codesign approach to optimization of the digital signal processing techniques for enhanced imaging with real-world uncertain remote sensing (RS data based on the concept of descriptive experiment design regularization (DEDR is addressed. We consider the applications of the developed approach to typical single-look synthetic aperture radar (SAR imaging systems operating in the real-world uncertain RS scenarios. The software design is aimed at the algorithmic-level decrease of the computational load of the large-scale SAR image enhancement tasks. The innovative algorithmic idea is to incorporate into the DEDR-optimized fixed-point iterative reconstruction/enhancement procedure the convex convergence enforcement regularization via constructing the proper multilevel projections onto convex sets (POCS in the solution domain. The hardware design is performed via systolic array computing based on a Xilinx Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA XC4VSX35-10ff668 and is aimed at implementing the unified DEDR-POCS image enhancement/reconstruction procedures in a computationally efficient multi-level parallel fashion that meets the (near real-time image processing requirements. Finally, we comment on the simulation results indicative of the significantly increased performance efficiency both in resolution enhancement and in computational complexity reduction metrics gained with the proposed aggregated HW/SW co-design approach.

A Comprehensive Review of Low-Speed Rear Impact Volunteer Studies and a Comparison to Real-World Outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Cormier, Joseph; Gwin, Lisa; Reinhart, Lars; Wood, Rawson; Bain, Charles

2018-02-27

This study combined all prior research involving human volunteers in low-speed rear-end impacts and performed a comparative analysis of real-world crashes using the National Automotive Sampling System - Crashworthiness Data System. The aim of this study was to assess the rates of neck pain between volunteer and real-world collisions as well as the likelihood of an injury beyond symptoms as a function of impact severity and occupant characteristics in real-world collisions. A total of 51 human volunteer studies were identified that produced a dataset of 1984 volunteer impacts along with a separate dataset of 515,601 weighted occupants in real-world rear impacts. Operating-characteristic curves were created to assess the utility of the volunteer dataset in making predictions regarding the overall population. Change in speed or delta-V was used to model the likelihood of reporting symptoms in both real-world and volunteer exposures and more severe injuries using real-world data. Logistic regression models were created for the volunteer data and survey techniques were used to analyze the weighted sampling scheme with the National Automotive Sampling System database. Symptom reporting rates were not different between males and females and were nearly identical between laboratory and real-world exposures. The minimal risk of injury predicted by real-world exposure is consistent with the statistical power of the large number of volunteer studies without any injury beyond the reporting of neck pain. This study shows that volunteer studies do not under-report symptoms and are sufficient in number to conclude that the risk of injury beyond neck strain under similar conditions is essentially zero. The real-world injury analyses demonstrate that rear impacts do not produce meaningful risks of cervical injury at impacts of similar and greater severity to those of the volunteer research. Future work concerning the mechanism of whiplash-related trauma should focus on impacts of

Embedded and real time system development a software engineering perspective concepts, methods and principles

CERN Document Server

Saeed, Saqib; Darwish, Ashraf; Abraham, Ajith

2014-01-01

Nowadays embedded and real-time systems contain complex software. The complexity of embedded systems is increasing, and the amount and variety of software in the embedded products are growing. This creates a big challenge for embedded and real-time software development processes and there is a need to develop separate metrics and benchmarks. “Embedded and Real Time System Development: A Software Engineering Perspective: Concepts, Methods and Principles” presents practical as well as conceptual knowledge of the latest tools, techniques and methodologies of embedded software engineering and real-time systems. Each chapter includes an in-depth investigation regarding the actual or potential role of software engineering tools in the context of the embedded system and real-time system. The book presents state-of-the art and future perspectives with industry experts, researchers, and academicians sharing ideas and experiences including surrounding frontier technologies, breakthroughs, innovative solutions and...

Software life cycle management standards real-world solutions and scenarios for savings

CERN Document Server

Wright, David

2011-01-01

Software Life Cycle Management Standards will help you apply ISO/IEC 19770 to your business and enjoy the rewards it offers. David Wright calls on his vast experience to explain how the Standard applies to the whole of the software life cycle, not just the software asset management aspects. His informative guide gives up-to-date information using practical examples, clear diagrams and entertaining anecdotes.

Real-Time Software for the Compass Tokamak Plasma Control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Valcarcel, D.F.; Duarte, A.S.; Neto, A.; Carvalho, I.S.; Carvalho, B.B.; Fernandes, H.; Sousa, J. [Instituto de Plasmas e Fusao Nuclear, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisboa (Portugal); Sartori, F. [Euratom-UKAEA, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, OX14 3DB Oxon (United Kingdom); Janky, F.; Cahyna, P.; Hron, M.; Panek, R. [Institute of Plasma Physics AS CR, v.v.i., Association EURATOM / IPP.CR, Prague (Costa Rica)

2009-07-01

This poster presents the flexible and high-performance real time system that guarantees the desired time cycles for plasma control on the COMPASS tokamak: 500 {mu}s for toroidal field, current, equilibrium and shaping; 50 {mu}s for fast control of the equilibrium and vertical instability. This system was developed on top of a high-performance processor and a software framework (MARTe) tailored for real-time. The preliminary measurements indicate that the time constraints will be met on the final solution. The system allows the making of modifications in the future to improve software components. (A.C.)

Software project management in a changing world

CERN Document Server

Ruhe, Günther

2014-01-01

By bringing together various current direc­tions, Software Project Management in a Changing World focuses on how people and organizations can make their processes more change-adaptive. The selected chapters closely correspond to the project management knowledge areas introduced by the Project Management Body of Knowledge, including its extension for managing software projects. The contributions are grouped into four parts, preceded by a general introduction. Part I "Fundamentals" provides in-depth insights into fundamental topics including resource allocation, cost estimation and risk manage

The perception of spatial layout in real and virtual worlds.

Science.gov (United States)

Arthur, E J; Hancock, P A; Chrysler, S T

1997-01-01

As human-machine interfaces grow more immersive and graphically-oriented, virtual environment systems become more prominent as the medium for human-machine communication. Often, virtual environments (VE) are built to provide exact metrical representations of existing or proposed physical spaces. However, it is not known how individuals develop representational models of these spaces in which they are immersed and how those models may be distorted with respect to both the virtual and real-world equivalents. To evaluate the process of model development, the present experiment examined participant's ability to reproduce a complex spatial layout of objects having experienced them previously under different viewing conditions. The layout consisted of nine common objects arranged on a flat plane. These objects could be viewed in a free binocular virtual condition, a free binocular real-world condition, and in a static monocular view of the real world. The first two allowed active exploration of the environment while the latter condition allowed the participant only a passive opportunity to observe from a single viewpoint. Viewing conditions were a between-subject variable with 10 participants randomly assigned to each condition. Performance was assessed using mapping accuracy and triadic comparisons of relative inter-object distances. Mapping results showed a significant effect of viewing condition where, interestingly, the static monocular condition was superior to both the active virtual and real binocular conditions. Results for the triadic comparisons showed a significant interaction for gender by viewing condition in which males were more accurate than females. These results suggest that the situation model resulting from interaction with a virtual environment was indistinguishable from interaction with real objects at least within the constraints of the present procedure.

Analyzing Real-World Light Duty Vehicle Efficiency Benefits

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gonder, Jeffrey; Wood, Eric; Chaney, Larry; Holden, Jacob; Jeffers, Matthew; Wang, Lijuan

2016-06-08

Off-cycle technologies represent an important pathway to achieve real-world fuel savings, through which OEMs can potentially receive credit toward CAFE compliance. DOE national labs such as NREL are well positioned to provide objective input on these technologies using large, national data sets in conjunction with OEM- and technology-specific testing. This project demonstrates an approach that combines vehicle testing (dynamometer and on-road) with powertrain modeling and simulation over large, representative datasets to quantify real-world fuel economy. The approach can be applied to specific off-cycle technologies (engine encapsulation, start/stop, connected vehicle, etc.) in A/B comparisons to support calculation of realistic real-world impacts. Future work will focus on testing-based A/B technology comparisons that demonstrate the significance of this approach.

Development of a support software system for real-time HAL/S applications

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, R. S.

1984-01-01

Methodologies employed in defining and implementing a software support system for the HAL/S computer language for real-time operations on the Shuttle are detailed. Attention is also given to the management and validation techniques used during software development and software maintenance. Utilities developed to support the real-time operating conditions are described. With the support system being produced on Cyber computers and executable code then processed through Cyber or PDP machines, the support system has a production level status and can serve as a model for other software development projects.

Semantic guidance of eye movements in real-world scenes.

Science.gov (United States)

Hwang, Alex D; Wang, Hsueh-Cheng; Pomplun, Marc

2011-05-25

The perception of objects in our visual world is influenced by not only their low-level visual features such as shape and color, but also their high-level features such as meaning and semantic relations among them. While it has been shown that low-level features in real-world scenes guide eye movements during scene inspection and search, the influence of semantic similarity among scene objects on eye movements in such situations has not been investigated. Here we study guidance of eye movements by semantic similarity among objects during real-world scene inspection and search. By selecting scenes from the LabelMe object-annotated image database and applying latent semantic analysis (LSA) to the object labels, we generated semantic saliency maps of real-world scenes based on the semantic similarity of scene objects to the currently fixated object or the search target. An ROC analysis of these maps as predictors of subjects' gaze transitions between objects during scene inspection revealed a preference for transitions to objects that were semantically similar to the currently inspected one. Furthermore, during the course of a scene search, subjects' eye movements were progressively guided toward objects that were semantically similar to the search target. These findings demonstrate substantial semantic guidance of eye movements in real-world scenes and show its importance for understanding real-world attentional control. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Real-time solar magnetograph operation system software design and user's guide

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, C.

1984-01-01

The Real Time Solar Magnetograph (RTSM) Operation system software design on PDP11/23+ is presented along with the User's Guide. The RTSM operation software is for real time instrumentation control, data collection and data management. The data is used for vector analysis, plotting or graphics display. The processed data is then easily compared with solar data from other sources, such as the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM).

Can singular examples change implicit racial attitudes in the real-world?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leslie E. Roos

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Implicit attitudes about social groups persist independently of explicit beliefs and can influence not only social behavior, but also medical and legal practices. Although examples presented in the laboratory can alter such implicit attitudes, it is unclear whether the same influence is exerted by real-world exemplars. Following the 2008 US election, Plant et al. reported that the Implicit Association Test or IAT revealed a decrease in negative implicit attitudes towards African-Americans. However, a large-scale study also employing the IAT found little evidence for a change in implicit attitudes pre- and post-election. Here we present evidence that the 2008 US election may have facilitated at least a temporary change in implicit racial attitudes in the US. Our results rely on the Affective Lexical Priming Score or ALPS and pre- and post-election measurements for both US and non-US participants. US students who, pre-election, exhibited negative associations with black faces, post-election showed positive associations with black faces. Canadian students pre- and post-election did not show a similar shift. To account for these findings, we posit that the socio-cognitive processes underlying ALPS are different from those underlying the IAT. Acknowledging that we cannot form a causal link between an intervening real-world event and laboratory-measured implicit attitudes, we speculate that our findings may be driven by the fact that the 2008 election campaign included extremely positive media coverage of President Obama and prominently featured his face in association with positive words – similar to the structure of ALPS. Even so, our real-world finding adds to the literature demonstrating the malleability of implicit attitudes and has implications for how we understand the socio-cognitive mechanisms underlying stereotypes.

Software Quality Certification: identifying the real obstacles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Megan Baker

1996-05-01

Full Text Available A case study of software certification reveals the real difficulty of certifying quality beyond superficial assessment - readers are invited to form their own conclusions. AS 3563 Software Quality Management System is the Australian version of ISO 9001, developed specifically for the software industry. For many Australian software houses, gaining certification with AS 3563 is a priority since certification has become a prerequisite to doing business with government departments and major corporations. However, the process of achieving registration with this standard is a lengthy and resource intensive process, and may have little impact on actual software quality. This case study recounts the experience of the consulting arm of one of Australia's accounting firms in its quest for certification. By using a number of specific management strategies this company was able to successfully implement AS 3563 in less than half the time usually taken to achieve certification - a feat for which its management should be congratulated. However, because the focus of the project was on gaining certification, few internal benefits have been realised despite the successful implementation of the standard.

Mathematics in the Real World.

Science.gov (United States)

Borenstein, Matt

1997-01-01

The abstract nature of algebra causes difficulties for many students. Describes "Real-World Data," an algebra course designed for students with low grades in algebra and provides multidisciplinary experiments (linear functions and variations; quadratic, square-root, and inverse relations; and exponential and periodic variation)…

Software configuration management

CERN Document Server

Keyes, Jessica

2004-01-01

Software Configuration Management discusses the framework from a standards viewpoint, using the original DoD MIL-STD-973 and EIA-649 standards to describe the elements of configuration management within a software engineering perspective. Divided into two parts, the first section is composed of 14 chapters that explain every facet of configuration management related to software engineering. The second section consists of 25 appendices that contain many valuable real world CM templates.

Understanding the Value of Real-World Evidence

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Camm, A John; Coleman, Craig I; Larsen, Torben Bjerregaard

2018-01-01

importance, there may be challenges in understanding the relevance of the differing study designs, endpoints and populations. Here, we summarize the value of real-world evidence and considerations pertinent to their use in clinical research. Owing to the variety of analyses being conducted using real...

The real meaning of complex Minkowski-space world-lines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adamo, T M [University of Oxford, Mathematical Institute, 24-29 St Giles, Oxford, OX1 3LB (United Kingdom); Newman, E T, E-mail: newman@pitt.ed [University of Pittsburgh, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (United States)

2010-04-07

In connection with the study of shear-free null geodesics in Minkowski space, we investigate the real geometric effects in real Minkowski space that are induced by and associated with complex world-lines in complex Minkowski space. It was already known, in a formal manner, that complex analytic curves in complex Minkowski space induce shear-free null geodesic congruences. Here we look at the direct geometric connections of the complex line and the real structures. Among other items, we show, in particular, how a complex world-line projects into the real Minkowski space in the form of a real shear-free null geodesic congruence.

The real meaning of complex Minkowski-space world-lines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adamo, T M; Newman, E T

2010-01-01

In connection with the study of shear-free null geodesics in Minkowski space, we investigate the real geometric effects in real Minkowski space that are induced by and associated with complex world-lines in complex Minkowski space. It was already known, in a formal manner, that complex analytic curves in complex Minkowski space induce shear-free null geodesic congruences. Here we look at the direct geometric connections of the complex line and the real structures. Among other items, we show, in particular, how a complex world-line projects into the real Minkowski space in the form of a real shear-free null geodesic congruence.

A flexible and reusable software for real-time control applications at JET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Tommasi, G.; Piccolo, F.; Sartori, F.

2005-01-01

The fast growth of the JET real-time control network and the increasing demand for new systems have been the triggers that started the development of the JETRT software framework. This new architecture is designed for maximum reuse and is particularly suited for implementation of both real-time control and data acquisition systems in a complex experimental environment such as JET. Most of the software is the same in all applications independent of the platform. The varying part is the project specific algorithm, which is also compiled into a separate software component, in order to achieve a separation from the plant interface code. This design choice maximises the software reliability, reduces development costs and allows non-specialist programmers to contribute to the implementation of real-time projects. JETRT also provides an integrated set of debugging and testing tools, some of them well integrated with the Matlab environment. This feature besides the framework portability among different platforms allows to perform most of the test and validation phase on a desktop PC running Windows, significantly reducing the commissioning time of a new real-time system

Cellphones and Real-World Communication

Science.gov (United States)

Bugeja, Michael

2004-01-01

In this article, the author shares his views on cellphones and real-world communication. He claims that the cellphone has changed society more than the home computer, which it has assimilated. Cellphones sound during worship, wakes, births, graduations, hearings, trials, and accreditation meetings--interrupting life-changing spiritual or secular…

Main real time software for high-energy physics experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tikhonov, A.N.

1985-01-01

The general problems of organization of software complexes, as well as development of typical algorithms and packages of applied programs for real time systems used in experiments with charged particle accelerators are discussed. It is noted that numerous qualitatively different real time tasks are solved by parallel programming of the processes of data acquisition, equipment control, data exchange with remote terminals, data express processing and accumulation, operator's instruction interpretation, generation and buffering of resulting files for data output and information processing which is realized on the basis of multicomputer system utilization. Further development of software for experiments is associated with improving the algorithms for automatic recognition and analysis of events with complex topology and standardization of applied program packages

The patient registry: a high-impact tool for real world evidence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

BarickUttam, MohantyRituraj, GowdaArun

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Background: In this world of seemingly infinite data across domains, one strives to acquire better tools and methodologies to fully exploit available data. This process begins with meticulous planning to gather relevant information and continues until there is an output in the form of credible evidence. The ability to generate real-world evidence would take such a process to new level: the factors that influence these processes under real-world conditions are varied, unpredictable, and unregulated. Results obtained in highly regulated or controlled conditions are universally accepted and sought after for regulatory approvals, but performance indicators in the real world will set the tone for the future. Hence, the demands for very reliant and robust tools and mechanisms for gathering evidence are all the more prominent and necessary. Patient registries fill this gap and stand tall among the various tools that could deliver the desired end results with acceptable accuracy. Over the years, pharmaceutical companies, along with policymakers and other stakeholders, have been actively involved in the development of such registries. Aims: Here we provide an overview of the usefulness of registries for the various stakeholders in healthcare in terms of conduct, approach, and barriers to initiating such studies. Conclusion: One of the impediments for the wider appeal and utility of registries is low awareness among the public and policymakers. Incorporating them as a part of the standard global healthcare system would involve setting up a regulatory framework.

Real-Time Extended Interface Automata for Software Testing Cases Generation

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Shunkun; Xu, Jiaqi; Man, Tianlong; Liu, Bin

2014-01-01

Testing and verification of the interface between software components are particularly important due to the large number of complex interactions, which requires the traditional modeling languages to overcome the existing shortcomings in the aspects of temporal information description and software testing input controlling. This paper presents the real-time extended interface automata (RTEIA) which adds clearer and more detailed temporal information description by the application of time words. We also establish the input interface automaton for every input in order to solve the problems of input controlling and interface covering nimbly when applied in the software testing field. Detailed definitions of the RTEIA and the testing cases generation algorithm are provided in this paper. The feasibility and efficiency of this method have been verified in the testing of one real aircraft braking system. PMID:24892080

Variants of Evolutionary Algorithms for Real-World Applications

CERN Document Server

Weise, Thomas; Michalewicz, Zbigniew

2012-01-01

Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs) are population-based, stochastic search algorithms that mimic natural evolution. Due to their ability to find excellent solutions for conventionally hard and dynamic problems within acceptable time, EAs have attracted interest from many researchers and practitioners in recent years. This book “Variants of Evolutionary Algorithms for Real-World Applications” aims to promote the practitioner’s view on EAs by providing a comprehensive discussion of how EAs can be adapted to the requirements of various applications in the real-world domains. It comprises 14 chapters, including an introductory chapter re-visiting the fundamental question of what an EA is and other chapters addressing a range of real-world problems such as production process planning, inventory system and supply chain network optimisation, task-based jobs assignment, planning for CNC-based work piece construction, mechanical/ship design tasks that involve runtime-intense simulations, data mining for the predictio...

Stress responses of Calluna vulgaris to reduced and oxidised N applied under 'real world conditions'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sheppard, Lucy J.; Leith, Ian D.; Crossley, A.; Van Dijk, N.; Fowler, D.; Sutton, M.A.; Woods, C.

2008-01-01

Effects and implications of reduced and oxidised N, applied under 'real world' conditions, since May 2002, are reported for Calluna growing on an ombrotrophic bog. Ammonia has been released from a 10 m line source generating monthly concentrations of 180-6 μg m -3 , while ammonium chloride and sodium nitrate are applied in rainwater at nitrate and ammonium concentrations below 4 mM and providing up to 56 kg N ha -1 year -1 above a background deposition of 10 kg N ha -1 year -1 . Ammonia concentrations, >8 μg m -3 have significantly enhanced foliar N concentrations, increased sensitivity to drought, frost and winter desiccation, spring frost damage and increased the incidence of pathogen outbreaks. The mature Calluna bushes nearest the NH 3 source have turned bleached and moribund. By comparison the Calluna receiving reduced and oxidised N in rain has shown no significant visible or stress related effects with no significant increase in N status. - Exposure to NH 3 reduces stress resistance and increases visible damage in mature Calluna

Uncertainty in the Real World

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education; Volume 4; Issue 2. Uncertainty in the Real World - Fuzzy Sets. Satish Kumar. General Article Volume 4 Issue 2 February 1999 pp 37-47. Fulltext. Click here to view fulltext PDF. Permanent link: https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/reso/004/02/0037-0047 ...

Real-Time Extended Interface Automata for Software Testing Cases Generation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shunkun Yang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Testing and verification of the interface between software components are particularly important due to the large number of complex interactions, which requires the traditional modeling languages to overcome the existing shortcomings in the aspects of temporal information description and software testing input controlling. This paper presents the real-time extended interface automata (RTEIA which adds clearer and more detailed temporal information description by the application of time words. We also establish the input interface automaton for every input in order to solve the problems of input controlling and interface covering nimbly when applied in the software testing field. Detailed definitions of the RTEIA and the testing cases generation algorithm are provided in this paper. The feasibility and efficiency of this method have been verified in the testing of one real aircraft braking system.

Simulated Real-World Energy Impacts of a Thermally Sensitive Powertrain Considering Viscous Losses and Enrichment: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wood, E.; Gonder, J.; Lopp, S.; Jehlik, F.

2015-02-01

It is widely understood that cold ambient temperatures increase vehicle fuel consumption due to heat transfer losses, increased friction (increased viscosity lubricants), and enrichment strategies (accelerated catalyst heating). However, relatively little effort has been dedicated to thoroughly quantifying these impacts across a large set of real world drive cycle data and ambient conditions. This work leverages experimental dynamometer vehicle data collected under various drive cycles and ambient conditions to develop a simplified modeling framework for quantifying thermal effects on vehicle energy consumption. These models are applied over a wide array of real-world usage profiles and typical meteorological data to develop estimates of in-use fuel economy. The paper concludes with a discussion of how this integrated testing/modeling approach may be applied to quantify real-world, off-cycle fuel economy benefits of various technologies.

Implementing Large Projects in Software Engineering Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Coppit, David

2006-01-01

In software engineering education, large projects are widely recognized as a useful way of exposing students to the real-world difficulties of team software development. But large projects are difficult to put into practice. First, educators rarely have additional time to manage software projects. Second, classrooms have inherent limitations that…

Real time video processing software for the analysis of endoscopic guided-biopsies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ordoñez, C; Bouchet, A; Pastore, J; Blotta, E

2011-01-01

The severity in Barrett esophagus disease is, undoubtedly, the possibility of its malignization. To make an early diagnosis in order to avoid possible complications, it is absolutely necessary collect biopsies to make a histological analysis. This should be done under endoscopic control to avoid mucus areas that may co-exist within the columnar epithelial, which could lead to a false diagnosis. This paper presents a video processing software in real-time in order to delineate and enhance areas of interest to facilitate the work of the expert.

[Discussion on solutions to ethical issues of clinical researches in a real world].

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Si-Cheng; Liu, Bao-Yan; Xiong, Ning-Ning; Xie, Qi; Zhang, Run-Shun; Zhou, Xue-Zhong; Qiao, Jie

2013-04-01

The paradigm of a real world study has become the frontiers of clinical researches, especially in the field of Chinese medicine, all over the world in recent years. In this paper, ethical issues which probably exist in real-world studies are raised and reviewed. Moreover, some preliminary solutions to these issues such as protecting subjects during the process of real-world studies and performing ethical review are raised based on recent years' practices to enhance the scientificity and ethical level of real-world studies.

StoryTrek: Experiencing Stories in the Real World

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Khaled, Rilla; Barr, Pippin James; Greenspan, Brian

2011-01-01

world experience. In early tests we observed the emergence of a number of recurrent themes in participants’ experiences which are characteristic of the StoryTrek system, but which also help us to understand locative media storytelling affordances more generally. In this paper we present the system......In this paper we introduce StoryTrek, a locative hypernarrative system developed to generate stories based on a reader’s location and specific movements in the real world. This creates, for readers, an interplay between navigation, narrative, and agency, as well as between the fictional and real...

StoryTrek: Experiencing Stories in the Real World

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Khaled, Rilla; Barr, Pippin James; Greenspan, Brian

2011-01-01

In this paper we introduce StoryTrek, a locative hypernarrative system developed to generate stories based on a reader’s location and specific movements in the real world. This creates, for readers, an interplay between navigation, narrative, and agency, as well as between the fictional and real...... world experience. In early tests we observed the emergence of a number of recurrent themes in participants’ experiences which are characteristic of the StoryTrek system, but which also help us to understand locative media storytelling affordances more generally. In this paper we present the system...

Managing Uncertainty in the Real World

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education; Volume 4; Issue 4. Managing Uncertainty in the Real World - Fuzzy Systems. Satish Kumar. General Article ... Author Affiliations. Satish Kumar1. Department of Physics and Computer Science, Dayalbagh Educational Institute Dayalbagh, Agra 282005, India.

Real change in the real world: an achievable goal.

Science.gov (United States)

Friedman, Robert M

2010-03-01

This commentary builds on the papers presented at the Vanderbilt Conference by emphasizing the importance of better understanding the process of change-making if real change in the real world is to be achieved. The commentary reviews several frameworks and research findings related to achieving large-scale sustainable change that benefits children and families. It calls for the application of systems thinking as a complement to the more micro-level research that was presented at the Vanderbilt conference. Such an approach would have implications for framing of the issue, for the strategies that are taken to try to achieve change, and for research/evaluation methods for studying complex, dynamic, nonlinear systems.

LabVIEW A Developer's Guide to Real World Integration

CERN Document Server

Fairweather, Ian

2011-01-01

LabVIEW(t) has become one of the preeminent platforms for the development of data acquisition and data analysis programs. LabVIEW(t): A Developer's Guide to Real World Integration explains how to integrate LabVIEW into real-life applications. Written by experienced LabVIEW developers and engineers, the book describes how LabVIEW has been pivotal in solving real-world challenges. Each chapter is self-contained and demonstrates the power and simplicity of LabVIEW in various applications, from image processing to solar tracking systems. Many of the chapters explore how exciting new technologies c

Multi-robot team design for real-world applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Parker, L.E.

1996-10-01

Many of these applications are in dynamic environments requiring capabilities distributed in functionality, space, or time, and therefore often require teams of robots to work together. While much research has been done in recent years, current robotics technology is still far from achieving many of the real world applications. Two primary reasons for this technology gap are that (1) previous work has not adequately addressed the issues of fault tolerance and adaptivity in multi-robot teams, and (2) existing robotics research is often geared at specific applications and is not easily generalized to different, but related, applications. This paper addresses these issues by first describing the design issues of key importance in these real-world cooperative robotics applications: fault tolerance, reliability, adaptivity, and coherence. We then present a general architecture addressing these design issues (called ALLIANCE) that facilities multi-robot cooperation of small- to medium-sized teams in dynamic environments, performing missions composed of loosely coupled subtasks. We illustrate an implementation of ALLIANCE in a real-world application, called Bounding Overwatch, and then discuss how this architecture addresses our key design issues.

Numerical simulation of real-world flows

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hayase, Toshiyuki, E-mail: hayase@ifs.tohoku.ac.jp [Institute of Fluid Science, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8577 (Japan)

2015-10-15

Obtaining real flow information is important in various fields, but is a difficult issue because measurement data are usually limited in time and space, and computational results usually do not represent the exact state of real flows. Problems inherent in the realization of numerical simulation of real-world flows include the difficulty in representing exact initial and boundary conditions and the difficulty in representing unstable flow characteristics. This article reviews studies dealing with these problems. First, an overview of basic flow measurement methodologies and measurement data interpolation/approximation techniques is presented. Then, studies on methods of integrating numerical simulation and measurement, namely, four-dimensional variational data assimilation (4D-Var), Kalman filters (KFs), state observers, etc are discussed. The first problem is properly solved by these integration methodologies. The second problem can be partially solved with 4D-Var in which only initial and boundary conditions are control parameters. If an appropriate control parameter capable of modifying the dynamical structure of the model is included in the formulation of 4D-Var, unstable modes are properly suppressed and the second problem is solved. The state observer and KFs also solve the second problem by modifying mathematical models to stabilize the unstable modes of the original dynamical system by applying feedback signals. These integration methodologies are now applied in simulation of real-world flows in a wide variety of research fields. Examples are presented for basic fluid dynamics and applications in meteorology, aerospace, medicine, etc. (topical review)

Software Agents Applications Using Real-Time CORBA

Science.gov (United States)

Fowell, S.; Ward, R.; Nielsen, M.

This paper describes current projects being performed by SciSys in the area of the use of software agents, built using CORBA middleware, to improve operations within autonomous satellite/ground systems. These concepts have been developed and demonstrated in a series of experiments variously funded by ESA's Technology Flight Opportunity Initiative (TFO) and Leading Edge Technology for SMEs (LET-SME), and the British National Space Centre's (BNSC) National Technology Programme. Some of this earlier work has already been reported in [1]. This paper will address the trends, issues and solutions associated with this software agent architecture concept, together with its implementation using CORBA within an on-board environment, that is to say taking account of its real- time and resource constrained nature.

Symbolic Victimization and Real World Fear.

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, Michael

1983-01-01

Examines the relationship between victimization of characters in television drama and susceptibility to the viewers' cultivation of a sense of personal risk in the real world. Found that viewers whose fictional counterparts are more likely to be shown as victims show stronger associations between viewing and perceived vulnerability. (PD)

Sunitinib in mRCC: A systematic review of UK Real World Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Andrew Montgomery

2015-08-01

Full Text Available BackgroundReal world data are increasingly used to inform drug reimbursement decisions, but it is unclear how well outcomes from real world studies compare to those of clinical trials. This systematic review seeks to compare outcomes for sunitinib in routine UK clinical practice with the sunitinib registrational and expanded access program clinical trials. MethodSystematic review of the real world published literature was undertaken. UK observational studies recording first or second line sunitinib efficacy were included. A qualitative summary of the results and comparison to the controlled clinical trials was conducted. 15 real world studies were included, 14 of which were only available as posters/presentations. ResultsReal world study reporting quality was generally low, making comparisons with the clinical trials difficult. Practice relating to starting dose, dose modification, timing of therapy initiation and other factors varied between centres. Median progression free survival and adverse events were generally comparable to the clinical trial outcomes, but overall survival was not. ConclusionsThere are few published data on sunitinib use in UK clinical practice. Studies are characterised by lack of peer reviewed publication and heterogeneity in design, reporting and analysis. For use of real world data in the reimbursement setting, data collection and reporting will need to improve.

Design and implementation of a software tool intended for simulation and test of real time codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le Louarn, C.

1986-09-01

The objective of real time software testing is to show off processing errors and unobserved functional requirements or timing constraints in a code. In the perspective of safety analysis of nuclear equipments of power plants testing should be carried independently from the physical process (which is not generally available), and because casual hardware failures must be considered. We propose here a simulation and test tool, integrally software, with large interactive possibilities for testing assembly code running on microprocessor. The OST (outil d'aide a la simulation et au Test de logiciels temps reel) simulates code execution and hardware or software environment behaviour. Test execution is closely monitored and many useful informations are automatically saved. The present thesis work details, after exposing methods and tools dedicated to real time software, the OST system. We show the internal mechanisms and objects of the system: particularly ''events'' (which describe evolutions of the system under test) and mnemonics (which describe the variables). Then, we detail the interactive means available to the user for constructing the test data and the environment of the tested software. Finally, a prototype implementation is presented along with the results of the tests carried out. This demonstrates the many advantages of the use of an automatic tool over a manual investigation. As a conclusion, further developments, nececessary to complete the final tool are rewieved [fr

Process-based software project management

CERN Document Server

Goodman, F Alan

2006-01-01

Not connecting software project management (SPM) to actual, real-world development processes can lead to a complete divorcing of SPM to software engineering that can undermine any successful software project. By explaining how a layered process architectural model improves operational efficiency, Process-Based Software Project Management outlines a new method that is more effective than the traditional method when dealing with SPM. With a clear and easy-to-read approach, the book discusses the benefits of an integrated project management-process management connection. The described tight coup

Exploring Non-Traditional Learning Methods in Virtual and Real-World Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Lukman, Rebeka; Krajnc, Majda

2012-01-01

This paper identifies the commonalities and differences within non-traditional learning methods regarding virtual and real-world environments. The non-traditional learning methods in real-world have been introduced within the following courses: Process Balances, Process Calculation, and Process Synthesis, and within the virtual environment through…

Application Exercises Improve Transfer of Statistical Knowledge in Real-World Situations

Science.gov (United States)

Daniel, Frances; Braasch, Jason L. G.

2013-01-01

The present research investigated whether real-world application exercises promoted students' abilities to spontaneously transfer statistical knowledge and to recognize the use of statistics in real-world contexts. Over the course of a semester of psychological statistics, two classes completed multiple application exercises designed to mimic…

Fuel consumption rates of passenger cars in China: Labels versus real-world

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huo Hong; Yao Zhiliang; He Kebin; Yu Xin

2011-01-01

Recently, China has implemented many policy measures to control the oil demand of on-road vehicles. In 2010, China started to report the fuel consumption rates of light-duty vehicles tested in laboratory and to require new vehicles to show the rates on window labels. In this study, we examined the differences between the test and real-world fuel consumption of Chinese passenger cars by using the data reported by real-world drivers on the internet voluntarily. The sales-weighted average fuel consumption of new cars in China in 2009 was 7.80 L/100 km in laboratory and 9.02 L/100 km in real-world, representing a difference of 15.5%. For the 153 individual car models examined, the real-world fuel consumption rates were -8 to 60% different from the test values. The simulation results of the International Vehicle Emission model show that the real-world driving cycles in 22 selected Chinese cities could result in -8 to 34% of changes in fuel consumption compared to the laboratory driving cycle. Further government effort on fuel consumption estimates adjustment, local driving cycle development, and real-world data accumulation through communication with the public is needed to improve the accuracy of the labeling policy. - Research highlights: → China requires new cars sold to show the test fuel use levels on window labels. → Real-world fuel consumption rates of cars are 15.5% higher than the label values. → Discrepancy between the test cycle and real conditions is a major cause for the gap. → China should adjust the estimates, collect fuel use data, and develop driving cycles. → More official and academic efforts are needed to improve the labeling policy.

Real-Time Payload Control and Monitoring on the World Wide Web

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Charles; Windrem, May; Givens, John J. (Technical Monitor)

1998-01-01

World Wide Web (W3) technologies such as the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and the Java object-oriented programming environment offer a powerful, yet relatively inexpensive, framework for distributed application software development. This paper describes the design of a real-time payload control and monitoring system that was developed with W3 technologies at NASA Ames Research Center. Based on Java Development Toolkit (JDK) 1.1, the system uses an event-driven "publish and subscribe" approach to inter-process communication and graphical user-interface construction. A C Language Integrated Production System (CLIPS) compatible inference engine provides the back-end intelligent data processing capability, while Oracle Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) provides the data management function. Preliminary evaluation shows acceptable performance for some classes of payloads, with Java's portability and multimedia support identified as the most significant benefit.

The ITER Fast Plant System Controller ATCA prototype Real-Time Software Architecture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carvalho, B.B.; Santos, B.; Carvalho, P.F.; Neto, A.; Boncagni, L.; Batista, A.J.N.; Correia, M.; Sousa, J.; Gonçalves, B.

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► High performance ATCA systems for fast control and data acquisition. ► IEEE1588 timing system and synchronization. ► Plasma control algorithms. ► Real-time control software frameworks. ► Targeted for nuclear fusion experiments with long duration discharges. -- Abstract: IPFN is developing a prototype Fast Plant System Controller (FPSC) based in ATCA embedded technologies dedicated to ITER CODAC data acquisition and control tasks in the sub-millisecond range. The main goal is to demonstrate the usability of the ATCA standard and its enhanced specifications for the high speed, very high density parallel data acquisition needs of the most demanding ITER tokamak plasma Instrumentation and Control (I and C) systems. This effort included the in-house development of a new family of high performance ATCA I/O and timing boards. The standard ITER software system CODAC Core System (CCS) v3.1, with the control based in the EPICS system does not cover yet the real-time requirements fulfilled by this hardware, so a new set of software components was developed for this specific platform, attempting to integrate and leverage the new features in CSS, for example the Multithreaded Application Real Time executor (MARTe) software framework, the new Data Archiving Network (DAN) solution, an ATCA IEEE-1588-2008 timing interface, and the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) for system monitoring and remote management. This paper presents the overall software architecture for the ATCA FPSC, as well a discussion on the ITER constrains and design choices and finally a detailed description of the software components already developed

The ITER Fast Plant System Controller ATCA prototype Real-Time Software Architecture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carvalho, B.B., E-mail: bernardo@ipfn.ist.utl.pt [Associacao EURATOM/IST Instituto de Plasmas e Fusao Nuclear, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa, P-1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Santos, B.; Carvalho, P.F.; Neto, A. [Associacao EURATOM/IST Instituto de Plasmas e Fusao Nuclear, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa, P-1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Boncagni, L. [Associazione Euratom-ENEA sulla Fusione, Frascati Research Centre, Division of Fusion Physics, Frascati, Rome (Italy); Batista, A.J.N.; Correia, M.; Sousa, J.; Gonçalves, B. [Associacao EURATOM/IST Instituto de Plasmas e Fusao Nuclear, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa, P-1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal)

2013-10-15

Highlights: ► High performance ATCA systems for fast control and data acquisition. ► IEEE1588 timing system and synchronization. ► Plasma control algorithms. ► Real-time control software frameworks. ► Targeted for nuclear fusion experiments with long duration discharges. -- Abstract: IPFN is developing a prototype Fast Plant System Controller (FPSC) based in ATCA embedded technologies dedicated to ITER CODAC data acquisition and control tasks in the sub-millisecond range. The main goal is to demonstrate the usability of the ATCA standard and its enhanced specifications for the high speed, very high density parallel data acquisition needs of the most demanding ITER tokamak plasma Instrumentation and Control (I and C) systems. This effort included the in-house development of a new family of high performance ATCA I/O and timing boards. The standard ITER software system CODAC Core System (CCS) v3.1, with the control based in the EPICS system does not cover yet the real-time requirements fulfilled by this hardware, so a new set of software components was developed for this specific platform, attempting to integrate and leverage the new features in CSS, for example the Multithreaded Application Real Time executor (MARTe) software framework, the new Data Archiving Network (DAN) solution, an ATCA IEEE-1588-2008 timing interface, and the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) for system monitoring and remote management. This paper presents the overall software architecture for the ATCA FPSC, as well a discussion on the ITER constrains and design choices and finally a detailed description of the software components already developed.

The LBT real-time based control software to mitigate and compensate vibrations

Science.gov (United States)

Borelli, J.; Trowitzsch, J.; Brix, M.; Kürster, M.; Gässler, W.; Bertram, T.; Briegel, F.

2010-07-01

The Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) uses two 8.4 meters active primary mirrors and two adaptive secondary mirrors on the same mounting to take advantage of its interferometric capabilities. Both applications, interferometry and AO, are sensitive to vibrations. Several measurement campaigns have been carried out at the LBT and their results strongly indicate that a vibration monitoring system is required to improve the performance of LINC-NIRVANA, LBTI, and ARGOS, the laser guided ground layer adaptive optic system. Currently, a control software for mitigation and compensation of the vibrations is being designed. A complex set of algorithms collects real-time vibration data, archiving it for further analysis, and in parallel, generating the tip-tilt and optical path difference (OPD) data for the control loop of the instruments. A real-time data acquisition device equipped with embedded real-time Linux is used in our systems. A set of quick-look tools is currently under development in order to verify if the conditions at the telescope are suitable for interferometric/adaptive observations.

Real-world objects are more memorable than photographs of objects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacqueline C Snow

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Research studies in psychology typically use two-dimensional (2D images of objects as proxies for real-world three-dimensional (3D stimuli. There are, however, a number of important differences between real objects and images that could influence cognition and behavior. Although human memory has been studied extensively, only a handful of studies have used real objects in the context of memory and virtually none have directly compared memory for real objects versus their 2D counterparts. Here we examined whether or not episodic memory is influenced by the format in which objects are displayed. We conducted two experiments asking participants to freely recall, and to recognize, a set of 44 common household objects. Critically, the exemplars were displayed to observers in one of three viewing conditions: real-world objects, colored photographs, or black and white line drawings. Stimuli were closely matched across conditions for size, orientation, and illumination. Surprisingly, recall and recognition performance was significantly better for real objects compared to colored photographs or line drawings (for which memory performance was equivalent. We replicated this pattern in a second experiment comparing memory for real objects versus color photos, when the stimuli were matched for viewing angle across conditions. Again, recall and recognition performance was significantly better for the real objects than matched color photos of the same items. Taken together, our data suggest that real objects are more memorable than pictorial stimuli. Our results highlight the importance of studying real-world object cognition and raise the potential for applied use in developing effective strategies for education, marketing, and further research on object-related cognition.

Comparison between Euro NCAP test results and real-world crash data.

Science.gov (United States)

Kullgren, Anders; Lie, Anders; Tingvall, Claes

2010-12-01

The objective of this study was 2-fold: first, to compare Euro NCAP safety ratings of cars with those published by the Folksam real-world injury ratings; and second, to compare injury risk measures between Euro NCAP 2 and 5 Star cars with real-world injury and disability outcomes using police and insurance injury data. Car models were grouped according to the Euro NCAP star rating scores. Folksam risk of injury ratings come from statistical analysis of real-world crashes using police and insurance databases. The paired comparison method using 2-car crashes was used to control for crash speed and the mass differences between cars of different weights were normalized. For all comparisons, 5-star rated Euro NCAP cars were found to have a lower risk of injury compared to 2-star rated cars (5-star cars were 10% ± 2.5% lower risk than 2-star cars). For fatal and serious injuries, the difference was 23 ± 8 percent, and for fatal injuries alone the difference was 68 ± 32 percent. By comparison, the Folksam 5-star rated cars had a relative risk of 0.020 ± 0.0024, whereas 2-star rated car risk was 0.028 ± 0.0016, corresponding to a 27 percent difference in risk between 5- and 2-star cars. Good correlation was found between Euro NCAP test results and real-world injury outcomes. The largest difference in injury risk between 2- and 5-star rated cars in Euro NCAP was found for risk of fatality, confirming that car manufacturers have focused their safety performance on serious crash outcomes. In addition, Euro NCAP crash tests were shown to be highly correlated with serious crash performance, confirming their relevance for evaluating real-world crash performance. Good concordance was found between Euro NCAP and Folksam real-world crash and injury ratings.

Constructing a working taxonomy of functional Ada software components for real-time embedded system applications

Science.gov (United States)

Wallace, Robert

1986-01-01

A major impediment to a systematic attack on Ada software reusability is the lack of an effective taxonomy for software component functions. The scope of all possible applications of Ada software is considered too great to allow the practical development of a working taxonomy. Instead, for the purposes herein, the scope of Ada software application is limited to device and subsystem control in real-time embedded systems. A functional approach is taken in constructing the taxonomy tree for identified Ada domain. The use of modular software functions as a starting point fits well with the object oriented programming philosophy of Ada. Examples of the types of functions represented within the working taxonomy are real time kernels, interrupt service routines, synchronization and message passing, data conversion, digital filtering and signal conditioning, and device control. The constructed taxonomy is proposed as a framework from which a need analysis can be performed to reveal voids in current Ada real-time embedded programming efforts for Space Station.

Assessing the Value of Real-life Brands in Virtual Worlds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mattsson, Jan; Barnes, Stuart; Hartley, Nicole

2015-01-01

World. A key finding is the difficulty in creating emotional brand value in Second Life which has serious implications for the sustainability of current real-life brands in Virtual Worlds. The paper rounds off with conclusions and implications for future research and practice in this very new area.......Virtual Worlds are a significant new market environment for brand-building through experiential customer service interactions. Using value theory, this paper aims to assess the experiential brand value of real-life brands that have moved to the Virtual World of Second Life. A key premise...... is that current brand offerings in Virtual Worlds do not offer consumers adequate experiential value. The results demonstrate both the validity of an axiological approach to examining brand value, and highlight significant problems in consumer perceptions of the experiential value of brands within the Virtual...

Real-world emissions of in-use off-road vehicles in Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Zavala, Miguel; Huertas, Jose Ignacio; Prato, Daniel; Jazcilevich, Aron; Aguilar, Andrés; Balam, Marco; Misra, Chandan; Molina, Luisa T

2017-09-01

Off-road vehicles used in construction and agricultural activities can contribute substantially to emissions of gaseous pollutants and can be a major source of submicrometer carbonaceous particles in many parts of the world. However, there have been relatively few efforts in quantifying the emission factors (EFs) and for estimating the potential emission reduction benefits using emission control technologies for these vehicles. This study characterized the black carbon (BC) component of particulate matter and NOx, CO, and CO 2 EFs of selected diesel-powered off-road mobile sources in Mexico under real-world operating conditions using on-board portable emissions measurements systems (PEMS). The vehicles sampled included two backhoes, one tractor, a crane, an excavator, two front loaders, two bulldozers, an air compressor, and a power generator used in the construction and agricultural activities. For a selected number of these vehicles the emissions were further characterized with wall-flow diesel particle filters (DPFs) and partial-flow DPFs (p-DPFs) installed. Fuel-based EFs presented less variability than time-based emission rates, particularly for the BC. Average baseline EFs in working conditions for BC, NOx, and CO ranged from 0.04 to 5.7, from 12.6 to 81.8, and from 7.9 to 285.7 g/kg-fuel, respectively, and a high dependency by operation mode and by vehicle type was observed. Measurement-base frequency distributions of EFs by operation mode are proposed as an alternative method for characterizing the variability of off-road vehicles emissions under real-world conditions. Mass-based reductions for black carbon EFs were substantially large (above 99%) when DPFs were installed and the vehicles were idling, and the reductions were moderate (in the 20-60% range) for p-DPFs in working operating conditions. The observed high variability in measured EFs also indicates the need for detailed vehicle operation data for accurately estimating emissions from off

Spiromax, a New Dry Powder Inhaler: Dose Consistency under Simulated Real-World Conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Canonica, Giorgio Walter; Arp, Jan; Keegstra, Johan René; Chrystyn, Henry

2015-10-01

Spiromax(®) is a novel dry powder inhaler for patients with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The studies presented here provide further data on attributes (in vitro dosing consistency with budesonide-formoterol (DuoResp) Spiromax; flow rates through empty versions of the Spiromax and Turbuhaler inhaler) of importance to patients with asthma or COPD. Dose-delivery studies were performed using low-, middle-, and high-strength DuoResp Spiromax. Dose consistency was assessed over inhaler life. Total emitted doses (TEDs) were measured at various flow rates, after exposure to high and low temperature or humidity, at different inhaler orientations, and after dropping the inhaler. The criterion for evaluating dose uniformity was whether mean TEDs were within the product specification limits. In separate studies, flow rates were measured after training, using the patient information leaflets, and again after enhanced training as part of a randomized, open-label, cross-over study. Mean values for both budesonide and formoterol were within 85%-115% of the label claim for each strength of DuoResp Spiromax for initial dose uniformity and for the other investigated conditions (temperature, humidity, orientation, dropping, knocking), with the exception of approximately an 80% increase in first dose after dropping the inhaler (subsequent doses not affected). In the flow rate patient study, two patients' inhalations with Spiromax and six with Turbuhaler were 60 L/min. DuoResp Spiromax consistently meets dose uniformity criteria, under controlled laboratory conditions and with variations intended to mimic real-world use. Following enhanced training, all patients in the flow study were able to achieve the minimal inspiratory flow rate of >30 L/min, which is required for effective treatment.

Learning about the "Real World" in an Urban Arts Youth Program

Science.gov (United States)

Larson, Reed W.; Walker, Kathrin C.

2006-01-01

To make the transition to adulthood, youth must learn to function in the complex and unpredictable "real world" of adult life. This is an intensive case study of an urban arts program that sought to provide youth with experiences that prepared them for the real world of arts careers. We conducted 75 interviews with 12 youth and their adult leader…

Working memory is not fixed-capacity: More active storage capacity for real-world objects than for simple stimuli.

Science.gov (United States)

Brady, Timothy F; Störmer, Viola S; Alvarez, George A

2016-07-05

Visual working memory is the cognitive system that holds visual information active to make it resistant to interference from new perceptual input. Information about simple stimuli-colors and orientations-is encoded into working memory rapidly: In under 100 ms, working memory ‟fills up," revealing a stark capacity limit. However, for real-world objects, the same behavioral limits do not hold: With increasing encoding time, people store more real-world objects and do so with more detail. This boost in performance for real-world objects is generally assumed to reflect the use of a separate episodic long-term memory system, rather than working memory. Here we show that this behavioral increase in capacity with real-world objects is not solely due to the use of separate episodic long-term memory systems. In particular, we show that this increase is a result of active storage in working memory, as shown by directly measuring neural activity during the delay period of a working memory task using EEG. These data challenge fixed-capacity working memory models and demonstrate that working memory and its capacity limitations are dependent upon our existing knowledge.

Methodology for object-oriented real-time systems analysis and design: Software engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Schoeffler, James D.

1991-01-01

Successful application of software engineering methodologies requires an integrated analysis and design life-cycle in which the various phases flow smoothly 'seamlessly' from analysis through design to implementation. Furthermore, different analysis methodologies often lead to different structuring of the system so that the transition from analysis to design may be awkward depending on the design methodology to be used. This is especially important when object-oriented programming is to be used for implementation when the original specification and perhaps high-level design is non-object oriented. Two approaches to real-time systems analysis which can lead to an object-oriented design are contrasted: (1) modeling the system using structured analysis with real-time extensions which emphasizes data and control flows followed by the abstraction of objects where the operations or methods of the objects correspond to processes in the data flow diagrams and then design in terms of these objects; and (2) modeling the system from the beginning as a set of naturally occurring concurrent entities (objects) each having its own time-behavior defined by a set of states and state-transition rules and seamlessly transforming the analysis models into high-level design models. A new concept of a 'real-time systems-analysis object' is introduced and becomes the basic building block of a series of seamlessly-connected models which progress from the object-oriented real-time systems analysis and design system analysis logical models through the physical architectural models and the high-level design stages. The methodology is appropriate to the overall specification including hardware and software modules. In software modules, the systems analysis objects are transformed into software objects.

Infusing Real World Experiences into Engineering Education

Science.gov (United States)

National Academies Press, 2012

2012-01-01

The aim of this report is to encourage enhanced richness and relevance of the undergraduate engineering education experience, and thus produce better-prepared and more globally competitive graduates, by providing practical guidance for incorporating real world experience in US engineering programs. The report, a collaborative effort of the…

Validation of real-time zenith tropospheric delay estimation with TOMION software within WAGNSS networks

OpenAIRE

Graffigna, Victoria

2017-01-01

The TOmographic Model of the IONospheric electron content (TOMION) software implements a simultaneous precise geodetic and ionospheric modeling, which can be used to test new approaches for real-time precise GNSS modeling (positioning, ionospheric and tropospheric delays, clock errors, among others). In this work, the software is used to estimate the Zenith Tropospheric Delay (ZTD) emulating real time and its performance is evaluated through a comparative analysis with a built-in GIPSY estima...

Software engineering frameworks for the cloud computing paradigm

CERN Document Server

Mahmood, Zaigham

2013-01-01

This book presents the latest research on Software Engineering Frameworks for the Cloud Computing Paradigm, drawn from an international selection of researchers and practitioners. The book offers both a discussion of relevant software engineering approaches and practical guidance on enterprise-wide software deployment in the cloud environment, together with real-world case studies. Features: presents the state of the art in software engineering approaches for developing cloud-suitable applications; discusses the impact of the cloud computing paradigm on software engineering; offers guidance an

Human aspects in software architecture decision making : a literature review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tang, A.; Razavian, M.; Paech, Barbara; Hesse, T.M.

2017-01-01

Despite past efforts, we have little understanding and limited research efforts on how architects make decisions in the real-world settings. It seems that software architecture researchers make implicit assumption that decision making by software architects can be a rational and prescribed process.

Discussion of solutions to ethical issues in real-world study.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Sicheng; Liu, Baoyan; Xiong, Ningning; Xie, Qi; Zhang, Runshun; Zhou, Xuezhong; Qiao, Jie

2014-09-01

In recent years, the paradigm of real-world study (RWS) has been at the forefront of clinical research worldwide, particularly in the field of traditional Chinese medicine. In this paper, basic features and nature of real-world clinical studies are discussed, and ethical issues in different stages of RWS are raised and reviewed. Moreover, some preliminary solutions to these issues, such as protecting subjects during the process of RWS and performing ethical review, are presented based on recent practices and basic ethical rules to improve the scientific validity and ethical level of RWS.

Real-world operation conditions and on-road emissions of Beijing diesel buses measured by using portable emission measurement system and electric low-pressure impactor.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zhihua; Ge, Yunshan; Johnson, Kent C; Shah, Asad Naeem; Tan, Jianwei; Wang, Chu; Yu, Linxiao

2011-03-15

On-road measurement is an effective method to investigate real-world emissions generated from vehicles and estimate the difference between engine certification cycles and real-world operating conditions. This study presents the results of on-road measurements collected from urban buses which propelled by diesel engine in Beijing city. Two widely used Euro III emission level buses and two Euro IV emission level buses were chosen to perform on-road emission measurements using portable emission measurement system (PEMS) for gaseous pollutant and Electric Low Pressure Impactor (ELPI) for particulate matter (PM) number emissions. The results indicate that considerable discrepancies of engine operating conditions between real-world driving cycles and engine certification cycles have been observed. Under real-world operating conditions, carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbon (HC) emissions can easily meet their respective regulations limits, while brake specification nitrogen oxide (bsNO(x)) emissions present a significant deviation from its corresponding limit. Compared with standard limits, the real-world bsNO(x) emission of the two Euro III emission level buses approximately increased by 60% and 120% respectively, and bsNO(x) of two Euro IV buses nearly twice standard limits because Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system not active under low exhaust temperature. Particle mass were estimated via particle size distribution with the assumption that particle density and diameter is liner. The results demonstrate that nanometer size particulate matter make significant contribution to total particle number but play a minor role to total particle mass. It is suggested that specific certified cycle should be developed to regulate bus engines emissions on the test bench or use PEMS to control the bus emissions under real-world operating conditions. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Paper based Flexible and Conformal SERS Substrate for Rapid Trace Detection on Real-world Surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Singamaneni, Srikanth; Lee, Chang; Tian, Limei

2011-03-01

One of the important but often overlooked considerations in the design of surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates for trace detection is the efficiency of sample collection. Conventional designs based on rigid substrates such as silicon, alumina, and glass resist conformal contact with the surface under investigation, making the sample collection inefficient. We demonstrate a novel SERS substrate based on common filter paper adsorbed with gold nanorods, which allows conformal contact with real-world surfaces, thus dramatically enhancing the sample collection efficiency compared to conventional rigid substrates. We demonstrate the detection of trace amounts of analyte (140 pg spread over 4 cm2) by simply swabbing the surface under investigation with the novel SERS substrate. The hierarchical fibrous structure of paper serves as a 3D vasculature for easy uptake and transport of the analytes to the electromagnetic hot spots in the paper. Simple yet highly efficient and cost effective SERS substrate demonstrated here brings SERS based trace detection closer to real-world applications. We acknowledge the financial support from Center for Materials Innovation at Washington University.

ROSMOD: A Toolsuite for Modeling, Generating, Deploying, and Managing Distributed Real-time Component-based Software using ROS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pranav Srinivas Kumar

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the Robot Operating System Model-driven development tool suite, (ROSMOD an integrated development environment for rapid prototyping component-based software for the Robot Operating System (ROS middleware. ROSMOD is well suited for the design, development and deployment of large-scale distributed applications on embedded devices. We present the various features of ROSMOD including the modeling language, the graphical user interface, code generators, and deployment infrastructure. We demonstrate the utility of this tool with a real-world case study: an Autonomous Ground Support Equipment (AGSE robot that was designed and prototyped using ROSMOD for the NASA Student Launch competition, 2014–2015.

Contribution of Road Grade to the Energy Use of Modern Automobiles Across Large Datasets of Real-World Drive Cycles: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wood, E.; Burton, E.; Duran, A.; Gonder, J.

2014-01-01

Understanding the real-world power demand of modern automobiles is of critical importance to engineers using modeling and simulation to inform the intelligent design of increasingly efficient powertrains. Increased use of global positioning system (GPS) devices has made large scale data collection of vehicle speed (and associated power demand) a reality. While the availability of real-world GPS data has improved the industry's understanding of in-use vehicle power demand, relatively little attention has been paid to the incremental power requirements imposed by road grade. This analysis quantifies the incremental efficiency impacts of real-world road grade by appending high fidelity elevation profiles to GPS speed traces and performing a large simulation study. Employing a large real-world dataset from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Transportation Secure Data Center, vehicle powertrain simulations are performed with and without road grade under five vehicle models. Aggregate results of this study suggest that road grade could be responsible for 1% to 3% of fuel use in light-duty automobiles.

Virtual plagues and real-world pandemics: reflecting on the potential for online computer role-playing games to inform real world epidemic research.

Science.gov (United States)

Oultram, Stuart

2013-12-01

In the wake of the Corrupted Blood incident, which afflicted the massively multiplayer online computer role-playing game World of Warcraft in 2005, it has been suggested that both, the incident itself and massively multiplayer online computer role-playing games in general, can be utilised to inform and assist real-world epidemic and public health research. In this paper, I engage critically with these claims.

A multi-GPU real-time dose simulation software framework for lung radiotherapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Santhanam, A P; Min, Y; Neelakkantan, H; Papp, N; Meeks, S L; Kupelian, P A

2012-09-01

Medical simulation frameworks facilitate both the preoperative and postoperative analysis of the patient's pathophysical condition. Of particular importance is the simulation of radiation dose delivery for real-time radiotherapy monitoring and retrospective analyses of the patient's treatment. In this paper, a software framework tailored for the development of simulation-based real-time radiation dose monitoring medical applications is discussed. A multi-GPU-based computational framework coupled with inter-process communication methods is introduced for simulating the radiation dose delivery on a deformable 3D volumetric lung model and its real-time visualization. The model deformation and the corresponding dose calculation are allocated among the GPUs in a task-specific manner and is performed in a pipelined manner. Radiation dose calculations are computed on two different GPU hardware architectures. The integration of this computational framework with a front-end software layer and back-end patient database repository is also discussed. Real-time simulation of the dose delivered is achieved at once every 120 ms using the proposed framework. With a linear increase in the number of GPU cores, the computational time of the simulation was linearly decreased. The inter-process communication time also improved with an increase in the hardware memory. Variations in the delivered dose and computational speedup for variations in the data dimensions are investigated using D70 and D90 as well as gEUD as metrics for a set of 14 patients. Computational speed-up increased with an increase in the beam dimensions when compared with a CPU-based commercial software while the error in the dose calculation was lung model-based radiotherapy is an effective tool for performing both real-time and retrospective analyses.

Software for Real-Time Light Shaping and BioPhotonics Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Separa, Stephen Daedalus; Glückstad, Jesper; Banas, Andrew Rafael

2018-01-01

We design and implement a software for use in real-time light shaping and biophotonics applications. Design considerations are addressed as well as options to mitigate common performance issues that arise in actual use. Testing was done on actual spatial light modulator hardware at 800x600 and 20...

Applications of Temporal Graph Metrics to Real-World Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, John; Leontiadis, Ilias; Scellato, Salvatore; Nicosia, Vincenzo; Mascolo, Cecilia; Musolesi, Mirco; Latora, Vito

Real world networks exhibit rich temporal information: friends are added and removed over time in online social networks; the seasons dictate the predator-prey relationship in food webs; and the propagation of a virus depends on the network of human contacts throughout the day. Recent studies have demonstrated that static network analysis is perhaps unsuitable in the study of real world network since static paths ignore time order, which, in turn, results in static shortest paths overestimating available links and underestimating their true corresponding lengths. Temporal extensions to centrality and efficiency metrics based on temporal shortest paths have also been proposed. Firstly, we analyse the roles of key individuals of a corporate network ranked according to temporal centrality within the context of a bankruptcy scandal; secondly, we present how such temporal metrics can be used to study the robustness of temporal networks in presence of random errors and intelligent attacks; thirdly, we study containment schemes for mobile phone malware which can spread via short range radio, similar to biological viruses; finally, we study how the temporal network structure of human interactions can be exploited to effectively immunise human populations. Through these applications we demonstrate that temporal metrics provide a more accurate and effective analysis of real-world networks compared to their static counterparts.

Software Estimation Demystifying the Black Art

CERN Document Server

McConnell, Steve

2009-01-01

Often referred to as the "black art" because of its complexity and uncertainty, software estimation is not as difficult or puzzling as people think. In fact, generating accurate estimates is straightforward-once you understand the art of creating them. In his highly anticipated book, acclaimed author Steve McConnell unravels the mystery to successful software estimation-distilling academic information and real-world experience into a practical guide for working software professionals. Instead of arcane treatises and rigid modeling techniques, this guide highlights a proven set of procedures,

The realism project reconciling nuclear power and radiation policies with the real world

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Theodore Rockwell

2006-01-01

Let's get real. It is crazy to fear that one's health and life are threatened by entities known to be harmless, whether those entities are goblins under the bed or trivial levels of radiation from non-existent radiological catastrophes. The nuclear community is in that paranoid state, and no advice from public relations experts can cure it. Some people claim that overstating risk is a prudent thing to do, but in practice it may do harm. Let us recall what we have said and done to create this situation. Then let us look at what the real world tells us about those risks. And then we will consider what might be done to return to reason. (author)

Interreality in practice: bridging virtual and real worlds in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Riva, Giuseppe; Raspelli, Simona; Algeri, Davide; Pallavicini, Federica; Gorini, Alessandra; Wiederhold, Brenda K; Gaggioli, Andrea

2010-02-01

The use of new technologies, particularly virtual reality, is not new in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD): VR is used to facilitate the activation of the traumatic event during exposure therapy. However, during the therapy, VR is a new and distinct realm, separate from the emotions and behaviors experienced by the patient in the real world: the behavior of the patient in VR has no direct effects on the real-life experience; the emotions and problems experienced by the patient in the real world are not directly addressed in the VR exposure. In this article, we suggest that the use of a new technological paradigm, Interreality, may improve the clinical outcome of PTSD. The main feature of Interreality is a twofold link between the virtual and real worlds: (a) behavior in the physical world influences the experience in the virtual one; (b) behavior in the virtual world influences the experience in the real one. This is achieved through 3D shared virtual worlds; biosensors and activity sensors (from the real to the virtual world); and personal digital assistants and/or mobile phones (from the virtual world to the real one). We describe different technologies that are involved in the Interreality vision and its clinical rationale. To illustrate the concept of Interreality in practice, a clinical scenario is also presented and discussed: Rosa, a 55-year-old nurse, involved in a major car accident.

Software Project Management and Measurement on the World-Wide-Web (WWW)

Science.gov (United States)

Callahan, John; Ramakrishnan, Sudhaka

1996-01-01

We briefly describe a system for forms-based, work-flow management that helps members of a software development team overcome geographical barriers to collaboration. Our system, called the Web Integrated Software Environment (WISE), is implemented as a World-Wide-Web service that allows for management and measurement of software development projects based on dynamic analysis of change activity in the workflow. WISE tracks issues in a software development process, provides informal communication between the users with different roles, supports to-do lists, and helps in software process improvement. WISE minimizes the time devoted to metrics collection and analysis by providing implicit delivery of messages between users based on the content of project documents. The use of a database in WISE is hidden from the users who view WISE as maintaining a personal 'to-do list' of tasks related to the many projects on which they may play different roles.

Wars, Revolutions and the First Real World Revolution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petri Minkkinen

2009-12-01

Full Text Available El objetivo de este artículo es promover la discusión conceptual para una publicación más amplia “Los Ciclos del Imperialismo, Guerra, y Revolución”. Empieza desde una presuposición que nuestro mundo común esta atravesando una transición desde un contexto histórico amplio eurocéntrico hacia un contexto histórico amplio non-eurocéntrico. Continua con la discusión histórica de los conceptos relacionados con la guerra, la reforma y la revolución y explica porque, en el contexto de la fase actual de la transición mundial y la Primera Verdadera Guerra Mundial, a pesar de la discusión anterior acerca de las revoluciones y revoluciones mundiales, es razonable sugerir que nuestro mundo común esta atravesando la Primera Verdadera Revolución Mundial._____________________ABSTRACTThe purpose of this article is to engage in a conceptual discussion for a broader publication on “The Cycles of Imperialism, War and Revolution”. It departs from a presupposition that our common world is experiencing a transition from a broad Eurocentric historical context into a non-Eurocentric broad historical context. It proceeds by a historical discussion on the concepts related to wars, reforms and revolutions and explains why, in the context of the actual phase of global transition and the First Real World War, it is, despite earlier discussions on revolutions and world revolutions, meaningful to suggest that our common world is experiencing a First Real World Revolution.

A Real-Time Fault Management Software System for Distributed Environments, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — DyMA-FM (Dynamic Multivariate Assessment for Fault Management) is a software architecture for real-time fault management. Designed to run in a distributed...

Adding Timing Requirements to the CODARTS Real-Time Software Design Method

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bach, K.R.

The CODARTS software design method consideres how concurrent, distributed and real-time applications can be designed. Although accounting for the important issues of task and communication, the method does not provide means for expressing the timeliness of the tasks and communication directly...

More about software requirements thorny issues and practical advice

CERN Document Server

Wiegers, Karl E

2006-01-01

No matter how much instruction you've had on managing software requirements, there's no substitute for experience. Too often, lessons about requirements engineering processes lack the no-nonsense guidance that supports real-world solutions. Complementing the best practices presented in his book, Software Requirements, Second Edition, requirements engineering authority Karl Wiegers tackles even more of the real issues head-on in this book. With straightforward, professional advice and practical solutions based on actual project experiences, this book answers many of the tough questions rais

Getting Real Results with Ohio State University Extension’s Real Money. Real World. Program

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Theresa M. Ferrari

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Youth development organizations have a unique opportunity to offer programs that help young people develop financial skills they need to become successful adults. This article describes Ohio State University Extension’s Real Money. Real World. (RMRW and the systematic approach used to evaluate its effectiveness. The RMRW curriculum includes an active, hands-on experience that gives young people the opportunity to make lifestyle and budget choices similar to those they will make as adults. The realistic simulation creates a teachable moment. The outcomes of the statewide evaluation clearly indicate the curriculum accomplishes its goals of raising awareness, changing attitudes, and motivating students to plan for behavior changes concerning financial management, education, and career choices. The article concludes with a discussion of the organizational outcomes of conducting the evaluation.

Partnering for Real World Learning, Sustainability, Tourism Education

Science.gov (United States)

Jennings, Gayle; Cater, Carl I.; Hales, Rob; Kensbock, Sandra; Hornby, Glen

2015-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to study how real world learning was used to engender and enhance sustainability principles and practices with 11 micro-, small- and medium-tourism business enterprises and 101 university tourism students enrolled across three university courses. Design/methodology/approach: Action research processes were…

Glyphosate and AMPA, "pseudo-persistent" pollutants under real-world agricultural management practices in the Mesopotamic Pampas agroecosystem, Argentina.

Science.gov (United States)

Primost, Jezabel E; Marino, Damián J G; Aparicio, Virginia C; Costa, José Luis; Carriquiriborde, Pedro

2017-10-01

In the Pampas, public concern has strongly risen because of the intensive use of glyphosate for weed control and fallow associated with biotech crops. The present study was aimed to evaluate the occurrence and concentration of the herbicide and its main metabolite (AMPA) in soil and other environmental compartments of the mentioned agroecosystem, including groundwater, in relation to real-world agricultural management practices in the region. Occurrence was almost ubiquitous in solid matrices (83-100%) with maximum concentrations among the higher reported in the world (soil: 8105 and 38939; sediment: 3294 and 7219; suspended particulate matter (SPM): 584 and 475 μg/kg of glyphosate and AMPA). Lower detection frequency was observed in surface water (27-55%) with maximum concentrations in whole water of 1.80 and 1.90 μg/L of glyphosate and AMPA, indicating that SPM analysis would be more sensitive for detection in the aquatic ecosystem. No detectable concentrations of glyphosate or AMPA were observed in groundwater. Glyphosate soil concentrations were better correlated with the total cumulative dose and total number of applications than the last spraying event dose, and an increment of 1 mg glyphosate/kg soil every 5 spraying events was estimated. Findings allow to infer that, under current practices, application rates are higher than dissipation rates. Hence, glyphosate and AMPA should be considered "pseudo-persistent" pollutants and a revisions of management procedures, monitoring programs, and ecological risk for soil and sediments should be also recommended. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Practical Implications of Using Real-World Evidence (RWE) in Comparative Effectiveness Research : Learnings from IMI-GetReal

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Makady, Amr; Stegenga, Heather; Ciaglia, Antonio; Debray, Thomas Pa; Lees, Michael; Happich, Michael; Ryll, Bettina; Abrams, Keith; Thwaites, Rob; Garner, Sarah; Jonsson, Páll; Goettsch, Wim G.

In light of increasing attention towards the use of real-world evidence (RWE) in decision making in recent years, this commentary aims to reflect on the experiences gained in accessing and using RWE for comparative effectiveness research as a part of the Innovative Medicines Initiative GetReal

Treatment of allergic rhinitis using mobile technology with real world data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bousquet, J; Arnavielhe, S; Bedbrook, A

2018-01-01

BACKGROUND: Large observational implementation studies are needed to triangulate the findings from randomized control trials (RCTs) as they reflect "real world" everyday practice. In a pilot study, we attempted to provide additional and complementary insights on the real life treatment of allergi...

Developing infrared array controller with software real time operating system

Science.gov (United States)

Sako, Shigeyuki; Miyata, Takashi; Nakamura, Tomohiko; Motohara, Kentaro; Uchimoto, Yuka Katsuno; Onaka, Takashi; Kataza, Hirokazu

2008-07-01

Real-time capabilities are required for a controller of a large format array to reduce a dead-time attributed by readout and data transfer. The real-time processing has been achieved by dedicated processors including DSP, CPLD, and FPGA devices. However, the dedicated processors have problems with memory resources, inflexibility, and high cost. Meanwhile, a recent PC has sufficient resources of CPUs and memories to control the infrared array and to process a large amount of frame data in real-time. In this study, we have developed an infrared array controller with a software real-time operating system (RTOS) instead of the dedicated processors. A Linux PC equipped with a RTAI extension and a dual-core CPU is used as a main computer, and one of the CPU cores is allocated to the real-time processing. A digital I/O board with DMA functions is used for an I/O interface. The signal-processing cores are integrated in the OS kernel as a real-time driver module, which is composed of two virtual devices of the clock processor and the frame processor tasks. The array controller with the RTOS realizes complicated operations easily, flexibly, and at a low cost.

Using UML Modeling to Facilitate Three-Tier Architecture Projects in Software Engineering Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Mitra, Sandeep

2014-01-01

This article presents the use of a model-centric approach to facilitate software development projects conforming to the three-tier architecture in undergraduate software engineering courses. Many instructors intend that such projects create software applications for use by real-world customers. While it is important that the first version of these…

Worldwide collaborative efforts in plasma control software development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Penaflor, B.G.; Ferron, J.R.; Walker, M.L.; Humphreys, D.A.; Leuer, J.A.; Piglowski, D.A.; Johnson, R.D.; Xiao, B.J.; Hahn, S.H.; Gates, D.A.

2008-01-01

This presentation will describe the DIII-D collaborations with various tokamak experiments throughout the world which have adapted custom versions of the DIII-D plasma control system (PCS) software for their own use. Originally developed by General Atomics for use on the DIII-D tokamak, the PCS has been successfully installed and used for the NSTX experiment in Princeton, the MAST experiment in Culham UK, the EAST experiment in China, and the Pegasus experiment in the University of Wisconsin. In addition to these sites, a version of the PCS is currently being developed for use by the KSTAR tokamak in Korea. A well-defined and robust PCS software infrastructure has been developed to provide a common foundation for implementing the real-time data acquisition and feedback control codes. The PCS infrastructure provides a flexible framework that has allowed the PCS to be easily adapted to fulfill the unique needs of each site. The software has also demonstrated great flexibility in allowing for different computing, data acquisition and real-time networking hardware to be used. A description of the current PCS software architecture will be given along with experiences in developing and supporting the various PCS installations throughout the world

Real-time software use in nuclear materials handling criticality safety control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, S.; Lappa, D.; Chiao, T.; Parrish, C.; Carlson, R.; Lewis, J.; Shikany, D.; Woo, H.

1997-01-01

This paper addresses the use of real-time software to assist handlers of fissionable nuclear material. We focus specifically on the issue of workstation mass limits, and the need for handlers to be aware of, and check against, those mass limits during material transfers. Here ''mass limits'' generally refer to criticality safety mass limits; however, in some instances, workstation mass limits for some materials may be governed by considerations other than criticality, e.g., fire or release consequence limitation. As a case study, we provide a simplified reliability comparison of the use of a manual two handler system with a software-assisted two handler system. We identify the interface points between software and handlers that are relevant to criticality safety

Stable operation of a Secure QKD system in the real-world setting

Science.gov (United States)

Tomita, Akihisa

2007-06-01

Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) now steps forward from the proof of principle to the validation of the practical feasibility. Nevertheless, the QKD technology should respond to the challenges from the real-world such as stable operation against the fluctuating environment, and security proof under the practical setting. We report our recent progress on stable operation of a QKD system, and key generation with security assurance. A QKD system should robust to temperature fluctuation in a common office environment. We developed a loop-mirror, a substitution of a Faraday mirror, to allow easy compensation for the temperature dependence of the device. Phase locking technique was also employed to synchronize the system clock to the quantum signals. This technique is indispensable for the transmission system based on the installed fiber cables, which stretch and shrink due to the temperature change. The security proof of QKD, however, has assumed the ideal conditions, such as the use of a genuine single photon source and/or unlimited computational resources. It has been highly desirable to give an assurance of security for practical systems, where the ideal conditions are no longer satisfied. We have constructed a theory to estimate the leakage information on the transmitted key under the practically attainable conditions, and have developed a QKD system equipped with software for secure key distillation. The QKD system generates the final key at the rate of 2000 bps after 20 km fiber transmission. Eavesdropper's information on the final key is guaranteed to be less than 2-7 per bit. This is the first successful generation of the secure key with quantitative assurance of the upper bound of the leakage information. It will put forth the realization of highly secure metropolitan optical communication network against any types of eavesdropping.

Using real-worldness and cultural difference to enhance student ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

differences, influences the quality of students' learning in a Life Skills module ... Studies reveal that real-world experiences will allow students to activate .... comprised 78 female students of whom 69 were Afrikaans-speaking and nine English-.

Network Coding Designs Suited for the Real World

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Morten Videbæk; Roetter, Daniel Enrique Lucani; Fitzek, Frank

2013-01-01

design have produced a large influx of new ideas and approaches to harness the power of NC. But, which of these designs are truly successful in practice? and which designs will not live up to their promised theoretical gains due to real-world constraints? Without attempting a comprehensive view of all...

Selection of bioprocess simulation software for industrial applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Shanklin, T; Roper, K; Yegneswaran, P K; Marten, M R

2001-02-20

Two commercially available, process-simulation software packages (Aspen Batch Plus v1.2, Aspen Technology, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Intelligen SuperPro v3.0, INTELLIGEN, INC., Scotch Plains, Ner Jersey) are evaluated for use in modeling industrial, biotechnology processes. Software is quantitatively evaluated by Kepner-Tregoe Decision Analysis (Kepner and Tregoe, 1981). This evaluation shows that Aspen Batch Plus v1.2 (ABP) and Intelligen SuperPro v3.0 (ISP) can successfully perform specific simulation tasks but do not provide a complete model of all phenomena occurring within a biotechnology process. Software is best suited to provide a format for process management, using material and energy balances to answer scheduling questions, explore equipment change-outs, and calculate cost data. The ability of simulation software to accurately predict unit operation scale-up and optimize bioprocesses is limited. To realistically evaluate the software, a vaccine manufacturing process under development at Merck & Company is simulated. Case studies from the vaccine process are presented as examples of how ABP and ISP can be used to shed light on real-world processing issues. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Real-time software for the fusion experiment WENDELSTEIN 7-X

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laqua, Heike; Niedermeyer, Helmut; Schacht, Joerg; Spring, Anett

2006-01-01

The super conducting stellarator WENDELSTEIN 7-X will be capable of steady state operation as well as of pulsed operation. All discharge scenarios compatible with these capabilities will be supported by the control system. Each technical component and each diagnostic system will have its own control system, based on a real-time computer with the dedicated software described here, permitting autonomous operation for commissioning and testing and coordinated operation during experimental sessions. The system behaviour as far as it is relevant for the experiment, like parameters and algorithms, will be exclusively controlled by complex software objects. By changing references to these objects synchronously in all computers the whole system behaviour can be changed from one cycle to the next. All data required for the construction of the software objects will be stored in one central database and constructed in the control computers well before they are required

Free Software and Free Textbooks

Science.gov (United States)

Takhteyev, Yuri

2012-01-01

Some of the world's best and most sophisticated software is distributed today under "free" or "open source" licenses, which allow the recipients of such software to use, modify, and share it without paying royalties or asking for permissions. If this works for software, could it also work for educational resources, such as books? The economics of…

On-Road Validation of a Simplified Model for Estimating Real-World Fuel Economy: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wood, Eric; Gonder, Jeff; Jehlik, Forrest

2017-01-01

On-road fuel economy is known to vary significantly between individual trips in real-world driving conditions. This work introduces a methodology for rapidly simulating a specific vehicle's fuel economy over the wide range of real-world conditions experienced across the country. On-road test data collected using a highly instrumented vehicle is used to refine and validate this modeling approach. Model accuracy relative to on-road data collection is relevant to the estimation of 'off-cycle credits' that compensate for real-world fuel economy benefits that are not observed during certification testing on a chassis dynamometer.

Real world efficiency of retrofit partial-flow diesel particulate filters for trucks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Asch, R.; Verbeek, R.; Ligterink, N.; Kadijk, G.

2009-11-01

In 2006 the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM) introduced an incentive scheme for retrofitting diesel particulate filters on Euro II and Euro III trucks. This scheme involves both partial flow and full flow diesel particulate filters (also called semi-open or open respectively wall-flow or closed filters). In the period 2007 till January 2009 about 15,000 partial flow filters and 8,000 full flow diesel particulate filters were installed. The minimum filtration efficiency requirement for the partial flow diesel particulate filters is 50% during the type approval test. In 2008 an engine dynamometer test programme was conducted to measure the filtration efficiency of retrofit open particulates filters of heavy trucks. This led to somewhat disappointing results with average filtration efficiencies in the range of 5-20% during city and national motorway driving conditions up to 20-40% during long distance motorway driving. This result leads to two main questions: (1) Is this result also representative for medium heavy trucks used for delivery, and (2) do similar efficiencies show up also in tests on entire vehicles, tested under conditions as close as possible to their real world usage profile. To this end, an additional measurement programme was defined, which is reported here. The objective of the study reported here is to determine the real world filtration efficiency of retrofit partial flow particulate filters for a number of trucks under different driving conditions such as city and motorway driving. The emphasis should be on medium heavy trucks typically used for national delivery.

Hardware control system using modular software under RSX-11D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kittell, R.S.; Helland, J.A.

1978-01-01

A modular software system used to control extensive hardware is described. The development, operation, and experience with this software are discussed. Included are the methods employed to implement this system while taking advantage of the Real-Time features of RSX-11D. Comparisons are made between this system and an earlier nonmodular system. The controlled hardware includes magnet power supplies, stepping motors, DVM's, and multiplexors, and is interfaced through CAMAC. 4 figures

Multi-Level Formation of Complex Software Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hui Li

2016-05-01

Full Text Available We present a multi-level formation model for complex software systems. The previous works extract the software systems to software networks for further studies, but usually investigate the software networks at the class level. In contrast to these works, our treatment of software systems as multi-level networks is more realistic. In particular, the software networks are organized by three levels of granularity, which represents the modularity and hierarchy in the formation process of real-world software systems. More importantly, simulations based on this model have generated more realistic structural properties of software networks, such as power-law, clustering and modularization. On the basis of this model, how the structure of software systems effects software design principles is then explored, and it could be helpful for understanding software evolution and software engineering practices.

Modeling Interdependent and Periodic Real-World Action Sequences

Science.gov (United States)

Kurashima, Takeshi; Althoff, Tim; Leskovec, Jure

2018-01-01

Mobile health applications, including those that track activities such as exercise, sleep, and diet, are becoming widely used. Accurately predicting human actions in the real world is essential for targeted recommendations that could improve our health and for personalization of these applications. However, making such predictions is extremely difficult due to the complexities of human behavior, which consists of a large number of potential actions that vary over time, depend on each other, and are periodic. Previous work has not jointly modeled these dynamics and has largely focused on item consumption patterns instead of broader types of behaviors such as eating, commuting or exercising. In this work, we develop a novel statistical model, called TIPAS, for Time-varying, Interdependent, and Periodic Action Sequences. Our approach is based on personalized, multivariate temporal point processes that model time-varying action propensities through a mixture of Gaussian intensities. Our model captures short-term and long-term periodic interdependencies between actions through Hawkes process-based self-excitations. We evaluate our approach on two activity logging datasets comprising 12 million real-world actions (e.g., eating, sleep, and exercise) taken by 20 thousand users over 17 months. We demonstrate that our approach allows us to make successful predictions of future user actions and their timing. Specifically, TIPAS improves predictions of actions, and their timing, over existing methods across multiple datasets by up to 156%, and up to 37%, respectively. Performance improvements are particularly large for relatively rare and periodic actions such as walking and biking, improving over baselines by up to 256%. This demonstrates that explicit modeling of dependencies and periodicities in real-world behavior enables successful predictions of future actions, with implications for modeling human behavior, app personalization, and targeting of health interventions. PMID

Bringing the Real World into the Biology Curriculum

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Jenny

2006-01-01

This study followed a small but diverse group of biology teachers through the first two years of the pilot for a new Advanced Level Biology course--Salters-Nuffield Advanced Biology. SNAB aims to modernise A-level Biology using real world contexts and examples as the starting point, promoting conceptual understanding rather than factual recall,…

MCTP Summer Research Internship Program. Research Presentation Day: Experience Mathematics and Science in the Real World

Science.gov (United States)

1996-01-01

This paper presents the summaries of the MCTP Summer Research Internship Program. Technological areas discussed include: Mathematical curriculum development for real world problems; Rain effects on air-water gas exchange; multi-ring impact basins on mars; developing an interactive multimedia educational cd-rom on remote sensing; a pilot of an activity for for the globe program; fossils in maryland; developing children's programming for the american horticultural society at river farm; children's learning, educational programs of the national park service; a study of climate and student satisfaction in two summer programs for disadvantaged students interested in careers in mathematics and science; the maryland governor's academy, integrating technology into the classroom; stream sampling with the maryland biological stream survey (MBSS); the imaging system inspection software technology, the preparation and detection of nominal and faulted steel ingots; event-based science, the development of real-world science units; correlation between anxiety and past experiences; environmental education through summer nature camp; enhancing learning opportunities at the Salisbury zoo; plant growth experiment, a module for the middle school classroom; the effects of proxisome proliferators in Japanese medaka embryos; development of a chapter on birth control and contraceptive methodologies as part of an interactive computer-based education module on hiv and aids; excretion of gentamicin in toadfish and goldfish; the renaissance summer program; and Are field trips important to the regional math science center?

Processing speed and executive functions predict real-world everyday living skills in adolescents with early-onset schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Puig, O; Penadés, R; Baeza, I; Sánchez-Gistau, V; De la Serna, E; Fonrodona, L; Andrés-Perpiñá, S; Bernardo, M; Castro-Fornieles, J

2012-06-01

Cognition and clinical variables are known to be among the most predictive factors of real-world social functioning and daily living skills in adult-onset schizophrenia. Fewer studies have focused on their impact in adolescents with early-onset schizophrenia (EOS). The aim of this study is to examine the relationships and the predictive value of cognition and clinical variables on real-world daily living skills in a sample of adolescents with EOS. Cognitive, clinical and real-world everyday living skills measures were administered to 45 clinically and pharmacologically stabilized adolescent outpatients with EOS and 45 healthy control subjects matched by age and sex. Multi-variant analyses to compare cognitive and real-world functioning profiles between patients and controls and regression analysis to identify predictors of real-world functioning scores in patients were used. Adolescents with EOS showed a generalized cognitive and real-world daily living skills dysfunction. Several cognitive and clinical variables significantly correlated with real-world daily living skills functioning but only the processing speed and executive functions emerged as independent predictors of everyday living skills scores, explaining 25.1% of the variance. Slowness in processing information and executive dysfunction showed a significant impact on real-world daily living skills in EOS, independently from clinical symptoms and other cognitive variables. Nevertheless, much of the variance in the daily living skills measure remained unaccounted for, suggesting that other factors were involved as well in this young population.

Software for real-time localization of baleen whale calls using directional sonobuoys: A case study on Antarctic blue whales.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Brian S; Calderan, Susannah; Gillespie, Douglas; Weatherup, Graham; Leaper, Russell; Collins, Kym; Double, Michael C

2016-03-01

Directional frequency analysis and recording (DIFAR) sonobuoys can allow real-time acoustic localization of baleen whales for underwater tracking and remote sensing, but limited availability of hardware and software has prevented wider usage. These software limitations were addressed by developing a module in the open-source software PAMGuard. A case study is presented demonstrating that this software provides greater efficiency and accessibility than previous methods for detecting, localizing, and tracking Antarctic blue whales in real time. Additionally, this software can easily be extended to track other low and mid frequency sounds including those from other cetaceans, pinnipeds, icebergs, shipping, and seismic airguns.

A Coding of Real Null Four-Momenta into World-Sheet Coordinates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David B. Fairlie

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The results of minimizing the action for string-like systems on a simply connected world sheet are shown to encode the Cartesian components of real null momentum four-vectors into coordinates on the world sheet. This identification arises consistently from different approaches to the problem.

It's a Whole New World.

Science.gov (United States)

Novelli, Joan

1994-01-01

The article presents technology projects that provide real-life reasons for students to learn geography. A variety of online networks take students on online field trips, linking them with scientists, zoologists, archaeologists, and explorers. Other interactive software is available to simulate trips to various locations around the world. (SM)

Semantic guidance of eye movements in real-world scenes

OpenAIRE

Hwang, Alex D.; Wang, Hsueh-Cheng; Pomplun, Marc

2011-01-01

The perception of objects in our visual world is influenced by not only their low-level visual features such as shape and color, but also their high-level features such as meaning and semantic relations among them. While it has been shown that low-level features in real-world scenes guide eye movements during scene inspection and search, the influence of semantic similarity among scene objects on eye movements in such situations has not been investigated. Here we study guidance of eye movemen...

Integrating a virtual agent into the real world

OpenAIRE

André, Elisabeth

2007-01-01

Integrating a virtual agent into the real world : the virtual anatomy assistant ritchie / K. Dorfmüller-Ulhaas ... - In: Intelligent virtual agents : 7th international conference, IVA 2007, Paris, France, September 17-19, 2007 ; proceedings / Catherine Pelachaud ... (eds.). - Berlin [u.a.] : Springer, 2007. - S. 211-224. - (Lecture notes in computer science ; 4722 : Lecture notes in artificial intelligence)

MARTe: A Multiplatform Real-Time Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Neto, André C.; Sartori, Filippo; Piccolo, Fabio; Vitelli, Riccardo; De Tommasi, Gianmaria; Zabeo, Luca; Barbalace, Antonio; Fernandes, Horacio; Valcarcel, Daniel F.; Batista, Antonio J. N.

2010-04-01

Development of real-time applications is usually associated with nonportable code targeted at specific real-time operating systems. The boundary between hardware drivers, system services, and user code is commonly not well defined, making the development in the target host significantly difficult. The Multithreaded Application Real-Time executor (MARTe) is a framework built over a multiplatform library that allows the execution of the same code in different operating systems. The framework provides the high-level interfaces with hardware, external configuration programs, and user interfaces, assuring at the same time hard real-time performances. End-users of the framework are required to define and implement algorithms inside a well-defined block of software, named Generic Application Module (GAM), that is executed by the real-time scheduler. Each GAM is reconfigurable with a set of predefined configuration meta-parameters and interchanges information using a set of data pipes that are provided as inputs and required as output. Using these connections, different GAMs can be chained either in series or parallel. GAMs can be developed and debugged in a non-real-time system and, only once the robustness of the code and correctness of the algorithm are verified, deployed to the real-time system. The software also supplies a large set of utilities that greatly ease the interaction and debugging of a running system. Among the most useful are a highly efficient real-time logger, HTTP introspection of real-time objects, and HTTP remote configuration. MARTe is currently being used to successfully drive the plasma vertical stabilization controller on the largest magnetic confinement fusion device in the world, with a control loop cycle of 50 ?s and a jitter under 1 ?s. In this particular project, MARTe is used with the Real-Time Application Interface (RTAI)/Linux operating system exploiting the new ?86 multicore processors technology.

Designing Inclusive Systems Designing Inclusion for Real-world Applications

CERN Document Server

Clarkson, John; Robinson, Peter; Lazar, Jonathan; Heylighen, Ann

2012-01-01

The Cambridge Workshops on Universal Access and Assistive Technology (CWUAAT) are a series of workshops held at a Cambridge University College every two years. The workshop theme: “Designing inclusion for real-world applications” refers to the emerging potential and relevance of the latest generations of inclusive design thinking, tools, techniques, and data, to mainstream project applications such as healthcare and the design of working environments. Inclusive Design Research involves developing tools and guidance enabling product designers to design for the widest possible population, for a given range of capabilities. There are five main themes: •Designing for the Real-World •Measuring Demand And Capabilities •Designing Cognitive Interaction with Emerging Technologies •Design for Inclusion •Designing Inclusive Architecture In the tradition of CWUAAT, we have solicited and accepted contributions over a wide range of topics, both within individual themes and also across the workshop’s scope. ...

Real-time video compressing under DSP/BIOS

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Qiu-ping; Li, Gui-ju

2009-10-01

This paper presents real-time MPEG-4 Simple Profile video compressing based on the DSP processor. The programming framework of video compressing is constructed using TMS320C6416 Microprocessor, TDS510 simulator and PC. It uses embedded real-time operating system DSP/BIOS and the API functions to build periodic function, tasks and interruptions etcs. Realize real-time video compressing. To the questions of data transferring among the system. Based on the architecture of the C64x DSP, utilized double buffer switched and EDMA data transfer controller to transit data from external memory to internal, and realize data transition and processing at the same time; the architecture level optimizations are used to improve software pipeline. The system used DSP/BIOS to realize multi-thread scheduling. The whole system realizes high speed transition of a great deal of data. Experimental results show the encoder can realize real-time encoding of 768*576, 25 frame/s video images.

Field Balancing in the Real World: Part 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bracher, R.K.; Surrett, C.L.

1999-01-01

This paper is a follow-up to an earlier paper, Field Balancing in the Real World, which was presented at CSI Reliability Week 1997 in Nashville. Case studies of excessive vibrations on fans at ORNL will be discussed. Except for a few small sections from the earlier paper, this paper is entirely new. The case studies are new. As in the first paper, all fans are rigid-rotor type fans. Normal operation, therefore, is at less than the shaft's first critical speed. The presentation of case studies with root cause problems other than unbalance is a major departure from the first paper. We believe they belong here, since unbalance is suspected most of the time when a fan is vibrating excessively, even when it is not the root cause. In reality, unbalance is the underlying cause of the excess vibration on fans we have fixed at ORNL only about half the time. Furthermore, the analyst's credibility could be called into question upon an unsuccessful attempt at field balancing when underlying causes are later discovered and fixed. A demonstration will follow the case study presentation. The additional tests described in this paper to confirm centrifugal force (probable unbalance) will be performed

Development of a smart-antenna test-bed, demonstrating software defined digital beamforming

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kluwer, T.; Slump, Cornelis H.; Schiphorst, Roelof; Hoeksema, F.W.

2001-01-01

This paper describes a smart-antenna test-bed consisting of ‘common of the shelf’ (COTS) hardware and software defined radio components. The use of software radio components enables a flexible platform to implement and test mobile communication systems as a real-world system. The test-bed is

Proposta de arquitetura de hardware e software para sistemas tempo-real distribuídos

OpenAIRE

Marcelo Gotz

2001-01-01

Um sistema tempo-real caracteriza-se por possuir requisitos temporais para execução de suas atividades, e de acordo com a sua tolerância ao atendimento destes requisitos é classificado em hard-real-time ou soft-real-time. O presente trabalho se propõe a apresentar uma arquitetura de hardware e software para suporte a sistemas tempo-real embarcados de baixo custo com objetivo de aplicação em pesquisas no meio acadêmico e que possa ser usado até em ambientes hard-real-time. A motivação para est...

Towards a conceptual framework for identifying student difficulties with solving Real-World Problems in Physics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Niss, Martin

2012-01-01

This paper develops a conceptual framework for identifying the challenges and obstacles university students encounter when solving real-world problems involving Physics. The framework is based on viewing problem solving as a modelling process. In order to solve a real-world problem, the problem...... solver has to go through the steps and do the tasks of such a process. The paper presents a theoretical analysis of what it takes to solve three real-world problems, demonstrating how the framework presented captures the essential aspects of solving them. Moreover, it is argued that three steps critical...... for real-world problem solving – initial analysis of the problem situation, choice of relevant physical theory (the so-called paradigmatic choice) and mathematization – are not covered by existing models of problem solving in Physics. Finally, the existing research on student difficulties with problem...

Switching performance of OBS network model under prefetched real traffic

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Zhenhua; Xu, Du; Lei, Wen

2005-11-01

Optical Burst Switching (OBS) [1] is now widely considered as an efficient switching technique in building the next generation optical Internet .So it's very important to precisely evaluate the performance of the OBS network model. The performance of the OBS network model is variable in different condition, but the most important thing is that how it works under real traffic load. In the traditional simulation models, uniform traffics are usually generated by simulation software to imitate the data source of the edge node in the OBS network model, and through which the performance of the OBS network is evaluated. Unfortunately, without being simulated by real traffic, the traditional simulation models have several problems and their results are doubtable. To deal with this problem, we present a new simulation model for analysis and performance evaluation of the OBS network, which uses prefetched IP traffic to be data source of the OBS network model. The prefetched IP traffic can be considered as real IP source of the OBS edge node and the OBS network model has the same clock rate with a real OBS system. So it's easy to conclude that this model is closer to the real OBS system than the traditional ones. The simulation results also indicate that this model is more accurate to evaluate the performance of the OBS network system and the results of this model are closer to the actual situation.

Real time programming environment for Windows

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

LaBelle, D.R. [LaBelle (Dennis R.), Clifton Park, NY (United States)

1998-04-01

This document provides a description of the Real Time Programming Environment (RTProE). RTProE tools allow a programmer to create soft real time projects under general, multi-purpose operating systems. The basic features necessary for real time applications are provided by RTProE, leaving the programmer free to concentrate efforts on his specific project. The current version supports Microsoft Windows{trademark} 95 and NT. The tasks of real time synchronization and communication with other programs are handled by RTProE. RTProE includes a generic method for connecting a graphical user interface (GUI) to allow real time control and interaction with the programmer`s product. Topics covered in this paper include real time performance issues, portability, details of shared memory management, code scheduling, application control, Operating System specific concerns and the use of Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) tools. The development of RTProE is an important step in the expansion of the real time programming community. The financial costs associated with using the system are minimal. All source code for RTProE has been made publicly available. Any person with access to a personal computer, Windows 95 or NT, and C or FORTRAN compilers can quickly enter the world of real time modeling and simulation.

Real-time PCR (qPCR) primer design using free online software.

Science.gov (United States)

Thornton, Brenda; Basu, Chhandak

2011-01-01

Real-time PCR (quantitative PCR or qPCR) has become the preferred method for validating results obtained from assays which measure gene expression profiles. The process uses reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), coupled with fluorescent chemistry, to measure variations in transcriptome levels between samples. The four most commonly used fluorescent chemistries are SYBR® Green dyes and TaqMan®, Molecular Beacon or Scorpion probes. SYBR® Green is very simple to use and cost efficient. As SYBR® Green dye binds to any double-stranded DNA product, its success depends greatly on proper primer design. Many types of online primer design software are available, which can be used free of charge to design desirable SYBR® Green-based qPCR primers. This laboratory exercise is intended for those who have a fundamental background in PCR. It addresses the basic fluorescent chemistries of real-time PCR, the basic rules and pitfalls of primer design, and provides a step-by-step protocol for designing SYBR® Green-based primers with free, online software. Copyright © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Software ecosystems – a systematic literature review

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Manikas, Konstantinos; Hansen, Klaus Marius

2013-01-01

A software ecosystem is the interaction of a set of actors on top of a common technological platform that results in a number of software solutions or services. Arguably, software ecosystems are gaining importance with the advent of, e.g., the Google Android, Apache, and Salesforce.com ecosystems....... However, there exists no systematic overview of the research done on software ecosystems from a software engineering perspective. We performed a systematic literature review of software ecosystem research, analyzing 90 papers on the subject taken from a gross collection of 420. Our main conclusions...... are that while research on software ecosystems is increasing (a) there is little consensus on what constitutes a software ecosystem, (b) few analytical models of software ecosystems exist, and (c) little research is done in the context of real-world ecosystems. This work provides an overview of the field, while...

Coevolution of variability models and related software artifacts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Passos, Leonardo; Teixeira, Leopoldo; Dinztner, Nicolas

2015-01-01

models coevolve with other artifact types, we study a large and complex real-world variant-rich software system: the Linux kernel. Specifically, we extract variability-coevolution patterns capturing changes in the variability model of the Linux kernel with subsequent changes in Makefiles and C source...

Pattern theory the stochastic analysis of real-world signals

CERN Document Server

Mumford, David

2010-01-01

Pattern theory is a distinctive approach to the analysis of all forms of real-world signals. At its core is the design of a large variety of probabilistic models whose samples reproduce the look and feel of the real signals, their patterns, and their variability. Bayesian statistical inference then allows you to apply these models in the analysis of new signals. This book treats the mathematical tools, the models themselves, and the computational algorithms for applying statistics to analyze six representative classes of signals of increasing complexity. The book covers patterns in text, sound

Emissions During and Real-world Frequency of Heavy-duty Diesel Particulate Filter Regeneration.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruehl, Chris; Smith, Jeremy D; Ma, Yilin; Shields, Jennifer Erin; Burnitzki, Mark; Sobieralski, Wayne; Ianni, Robert; Chernich, Donald J; Chang, M-C Oliver; Collins, John Francis; Yoon, Seungju; Quiros, David; Hu, Shaohua; Dwyer, Harry

2018-05-15

Recent tightening of particulate matter (PM) emission standards for heavy-duty engines has spurred the widespread adoption of diesel particulate filters (DPFs), which need to be regenerated periodically to remove trapped PM. The total impact of DPFs therefore depends not only on their filtering efficiency during normal operation, but also on the emissions during and the frequency of regeneration events. We performed active (parked and driving) and passive regenerations on two heavy-duty diesel vehicles (HDDVs), and report the chemical composition of emissions during these events, as well as the efficiency with which trapped PM is converted to gas-phase products. We also collected activity data from 85 HDDVs to determine how often regeneration occurs during real-world operation. PM emitted during regeneration ranged from 0.2 to 16.3 g, and the average time and distance between real-world active regenerations was 28.0 h and 599 miles. These results indicate that regeneration of real-world DPFs does not substantially offset the reduction of PM by DPFs during normal operation. The broad ranges of regeneration frequency per truck (3-100 h and 23-4078 miles) underscore the challenges in designing engines and associated aftertreatments that reduce emissions for all real-world duty cycles.

Medical Science Liaisons in Real-World Evidence Studies: Experience of AstraZeneca Russia.

Science.gov (United States)

Suvorov, Nikolay; Karaseva, Vera; Stukalina, Ekaterina; Sanay, Elkhan; Petrakovskaya, Vera; Bulatov, Vladimir

2018-01-01

There is no doubt that real-world evidence studies have the potential to improve and accelerate the development and delivery of safe and cost-effective innovative medicines to patients as well as influence the way we approach health and health care. Real-world evidence studies are a great challenge in terms of development and conduct, so there should be a good collaboration between the study team and clinical sites at all times, resulting eventually in timely and efficient enrollment. Engaging the sites and key external experts as early as possible during feasibility and routine visits, as well as highlighting the science rationale behind AstraZeneca's portfolio at investigator meetings and during medical science liaison (MSL) interactions, can create a positive impact on physician perception of a particular study and prioritization of patient recruitment in such studies. Therefore, we would like to underline the important role of MSLs in the risk-based monitoring setting of real-world evidence studies, with special attention to the studies with complicated patient profiles, tough timelines, and/or seasonal factors. This approach will be used further for other real world evidence projects of AstraZeneca Russia MC to ensure timelines and budget deliverables are met for the generation of high-quality evidence and eventually better health care for all of us.

Caffeine Enhances Real-World Language Processing: Evidence from a Proofreading Task

Science.gov (United States)

Brunye, Tad T.; Mahoney, Caroline R.; Rapp, David N.; Ditman, Tali; Taylor, Holly A.

2012-01-01

Caffeine has become the most prevalently consumed psychostimulant in the world, but its influences on daily real-world functioning are relatively unknown. The present work investigated the effects of caffeine (0 mg, 100 mg, 200 mg, 400 mg) on a commonplace language task that required readers to identify and correct 4 error types in extended…

Hyperbolicity measures democracy in real-world networks

Science.gov (United States)

Borassi, Michele; Chessa, Alessandro; Caldarelli, Guido

2015-09-01

In this work, we analyze the hyperbolicity of real-world networks, a geometric quantity that measures if a space is negatively curved. We provide two improvements in our understanding of this quantity: first of all, in our interpretation, a hyperbolic network is "aristocratic", since few elements "connect" the system, while a non-hyperbolic network has a more "democratic" structure with a larger number of crucial elements. The second contribution is the introduction of the average hyperbolicity of the neighbors of a given node. Through this definition, we outline an "influence area" for the vertices in the graph. We show that in real networks the influence area of the highest degree vertex is small in what we define "local" networks (i.e., social or peer-to-peer networks), and large in "global" networks (i.e., power grid, metabolic networks, or autonomous system networks).

Real-world innovation in rural South Africa

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Mulder, I

2008-08-01

Full Text Available stream_source_info Mulder_2008.pdf.txt stream_content_type text/plain stream_size 46126 Content-Encoding UTF-8 stream_name Mulder_2008.pdf.txt Content-Type text/plain; charset=UTF-8 The Electronic Journal for Virtual... Organizations and Networks Volume 10, “Special Issue on Living Labs”, August 2008 REAL-WORLD INNOVATION IN RURAL SOUTH AFRICA Ingrid Mulder1,2, Walter Bohle3, Shela Boshomane4, Chris Morris4, Hugo Tempelman5, & Daan Velthausz1,6 1Telematica Instituut...

Getting real in the classroom

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Genuchten, van M.J.I.M.; Vogel, D.R.

2007-01-01

Exposing students to real-world projects will encourage them to share, learn, and improve.The BOHKNet project began in 1998 with the universities of Eindhoven and Hong Kong. Each BOHKNet team typically consists of 8 to 10 students in two to four locations. The team is assigned a software-related

Comparison of real-world and certification emission rates for light duty gasoline vehicles.

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Tanzila; Frey, H Christopher

2018-05-01

U.S. light duty vehicles are subject to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emission standards. Emission compliance is determined by certification testing of selected emissions from representative vehicles on standard driving cycles using chassis dynamometers. Test results are also used in many emission inventories. The dynamometer based emission rates are adjusted to provide the certification levels (CL), which must be lower than the standards for compliance. Although standard driving cycles are based on specific observations of real-world driving, they are not necessarily real-world representative. A systematic comparison of the real-world emission rates of U.S. light duty gasoline vehicles (LDGVs) versus CL, and emission standards has not been previously reported. The purpose of this work is to compare regulatory limits (both CLs and emission standards) and the real-world emissions of LDGVs. The sensitivity of the comparisons to cold start emission was assessed. Portable Emission Measurement Systems (PEMS) were used to measure hot stabilized exhaust emissions of 122 LDGVs on a specified 110 mile test route. Cold start emissions were measured with PEMS for a selected vehicle sample of 32 vehicles. Emissions were measured for carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrogen oxides (NO x ). For each vehicle, a Vehicle Specific Power (VSP) modal emission rate model was developed. The VSP modal rates were weighted by the standard driving cycles and real-world driving cycles to estimate the respective cycle average emission rates (CAERs). Measured vehicles were matched with certification test vehicles for comparison. For systematic trends in comparison, vehicles were classified into four groups based on the Tier 1 and Tier 2 emission regulation, and the vehicle type such as passenger car and passenger truck. Depending on the cycle-pollutant and the vehicle groups, hot stabilized CAERs are on average either statistically

Disruption in neural phase synchrony is related to identification of inattentional deafness in real-world setting

OpenAIRE

Callan , Daniel E.; Gateau , Thibault; Durantin , Gautier; Gonthier , Nicolas; Dehais , Frédéric

2018-01-01

International audience; Individuals often have reduced ability to hear alarms in real world situations (e.g., anesthesia monitoring, flying airplanes) when attention is focused on another task, sometimes with devastating consequences. This phenomenon is called inattentional deafness and usually occurs under critical high workload conditions. It is difficult to simulate the critical nature of these tasks in the laboratory. In this study, dry electroencephalography is used to investigate inatte...

Effective and efficient software development method for real time safety systems for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manoj, P.; Parimalam, P.; Shanmugam, A.; Murali, N.

2013-01-01

The objective of this paper is to present the effective and efficient methods for developing application software for Distributed Real Time Systems for Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor. It discusses the effective ways to reduce the language and syntax errors while capturing the requirements. This paper suggests an efficient way of requirements capture and coding application software for I and C systems so that the quality factors of the software such as reliability, maintainability and testability are improved. (author)

Design of Embedded Real-time Systems: Developing a Method for Practical Software Engineering

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Løvengreen, Hans Henrik; Ravn, Anders P.; Rischel, Hans

1990-01-01

The methodological issues and practical problems in development and industrial use of a theory-based design method for embedded, real-time systems are discussed. The method has been used for several years in a number of smaller industries that develop both electronics and software for a professio......The methodological issues and practical problems in development and industrial use of a theory-based design method for embedded, real-time systems are discussed. The method has been used for several years in a number of smaller industries that develop both electronics and software...... for a professional market. The design is expressed in a notation for communicating sequential processes, while data types and operations are expressed in a notation built on mathematical set theory. The authors present an order in which to use the notations, a technique for deriving states and operations...

OCA Oracle Database 11g database administration I : a real-world certification guide

CERN Document Server

Ries, Steve

2013-01-01

Developed as a practical book, ""Oracle Database 11g Administration I Certification Guide"" will show you all you need to know to effectively excel at being an Oracle DBA, for both examinations and the real world. This book is for anyone who needs the essential skills to become an Oracle DBA, pass the Oracle Database Administration I exam, and use those skills in the real world to manage secure, high performance, and highly available Oracle databases.

Real-world and specific to vehicle driving cycles for measuring car pollutant emissions

OpenAIRE

ANDRE, M; JOUMARD, R

2004-01-01

In the frame of the European research project ARTEMIS, a set of representative real-world driving cycles has been developed, to ensure a coherency between the pollutant emissions measurements conducted in the frame of the ARTEMIS project and of on-going national campaigns and to enable the integration of all the resulting emission data in the European systems of emission inventory. The 3 real-world ARTEMIS driving cycles (urban, rural road and motorway) represent the observed European drivi...

Software Security and the "Building Security in Maturity" Model

CERN Document Server

CERN. Geneva

2011-01-01

Using the framework described in my book "Software Security: Building Security In" I will discuss and describe the state of the practice in software security. This talk is peppered with real data from the field, based on my work with several large companies as a Cigital consultant. As a discipline, software security has made great progress over the last decade. Of the sixty large-scale software security initiatives we are aware of, thirty-two---all household names---are currently included in the BSIMM study. Those companies among the thirty-two who graciously agreed to be identified include: Adobe, Aon, Bank of America, Capital One, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), EMC, Google, Intel, Intuit, McKesson, Microsoft, Nokia, QUALCOMM, Sallie Mae, Standard Life, SWIFT, Symantec, Telecom Italia, Thomson Reuters, VMware, and Wells Fargo. The BSIMM was created by observing and analyzing real-world data from thirty-two leading software security initiatives. The BSIMM can...

3D Interactions between Virtual Worlds and Real Life in an E-Learning Community

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ulrike Lucke

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Virtual worlds became an appealing and fascinating component of today's internet. In particular, the number of educational providers that see a potential for E-Learning in such new platforms increases. Unfortunately, most of the environments and processes implemented up to now do not exceed a virtual modelling of real-world scenarios. In particular, this paper shows that Second Life can be more than just another learning platform. A flexible and bidirectional link between the reality and the virtual world enables synchronous and seamless interaction between users and devices across both worlds. The primary advantages of this interconnection are a spatial extension of face-to-face and online learning scenarios and a closer relationship between virtual learners and the real world.

How Symmetric Are Real-World Graphs? A Large-Scale Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabian Ball

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The analysis of symmetry is a main principle in natural sciences, especially physics. For network sciences, for example, in social sciences, computer science and data science, only a few small-scale studies of the symmetry of complex real-world graphs exist. Graph symmetry is a topic rooted in mathematics and is not yet well-received and applied in practice. This article underlines the importance of analyzing symmetry by showing the existence of symmetry in real-world graphs. An analysis of over 1500 graph datasets from the meta-repository networkrepository.com is carried out and a normalized version of the “network redundancy” measure is presented. It quantifies graph symmetry in terms of the number of orbits of the symmetry group from zero (no symmetries to one (completely symmetric, and improves the recognition of asymmetric graphs. Over 70% of the analyzed graphs contain symmetries (i.e., graph automorphisms, independent of size and modularity. Therefore, we conclude that real-world graphs are likely to contain symmetries. This contribution is the first larger-scale study of symmetry in graphs and it shows the necessity of handling symmetry in data analysis: The existence of symmetries in graphs is the cause of two problems in graph clustering we are aware of, namely, the existence of multiple equivalent solutions with the same value of the clustering criterion and, secondly, the inability of all standard partition-comparison measures of cluster analysis to identify automorphic partitions as equivalent.

A Coding of Real Null Four-Momenta into World-Sheet Co-ordinates

OpenAIRE

Fairlie, David B.

2008-01-01

The results of minimizing the action for string-like systems on a simply-connected world sheet are shown to encode the Cartesian components of real null momentum four-vectors into co-ordinates on the world sheet. This identification arises consistently from different approaches to the problem.

Sharing skills and knowledge to confront real-world problems | CRDI ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Sharing skills and knowledge to confront real-world problems ... because 1.3 billion people cannot read English, and only 163 million people (a fraction ... childhood obesity in urban areas, caused by increases in junk food and lack of exercise.

Community Action Projects: Applying Biotechnology in the Real World

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Phuong D.; Siegel, Marcelle A.

2015-01-01

Project-based learning and action research are powerful pedagogies in improving science education. We implemented a semester-long course using project-based action research to help students apply biotechnology knowledge learned in the classroom to the real world. Students had several choices to make in the project: working individually or as a…

Investigating Comprehension in Real World Tasks: Understanding Jury Instructions.

Science.gov (United States)

Charrow, Veda R.; Charrow, Robert

This paper discusses the results of part of an ongoing project studying an aspect of real world language usage, the comprehension of standard jury instructions. Problems in the comprehension of these instructions include the memory load that they impose, the fact that most instructions are read only once, and the fact that instructions are written…

Cardioversion of atrial fibrillation in a real-world setting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frederiksen, Anne Sofie; Albertsen, Andi Eie; Christesen, Amanda Marie Somer

2017-01-01

.10-11.81). Major bleeding events occurred in four patients (0.58%) in the NOAC group and 11 patients (0.75%) in the warfarin group (RR 0.78; 95% CI 0.25-2.43). Conclusion: In a real-world clinical setting with anticoagulation handled in a structured multidisciplinary AF clinic, the waiting time to cardioversion...

TRAX - Real-World Tracking of Moving Objects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Christian Søndergaard; Pakalnis, Stardas

2007-01-01

accuracy. This paper presents the TRAX tracking system that supports several techniques capable of tracking the current positions of moving objects with guaranteed accuracies at low update and communication costs in real-world settings. The techniques are readily relevant for practical applications......, but they also have implications for continued research. The tracking techniques offer a realistic setting for existing query processing techniques that assume that it is possible to always know the exact positions of moving objects. The techniques enable studies of trade-offs between querying and update...

Using mathematics to solve real world problems: the role of enablers

Science.gov (United States)

Geiger, Vincent; Stillman, Gloria; Brown, Jill; Galbriath, Peter; Niss, Mogens

2018-03-01

The purpose of this article is to report on a newly funded research project in which we will investigate how secondary students apply mathematical modelling to effectively address real world situations. Through this study, we will identify factors, mathematical, cognitive, social and environmental that "enable" year 10/11 students to successfully begin the modelling process, that is, formulate and mathematise a real world problem. The 3-year study will take a design research approach in working intensively with six schools across two educational jurisdictions. It is anticipated that this research will generate new theoretical and practical insights into the role of "enablers" within the process of mathematisation, leading to the development of principles for the design and implementation for tasks that support students' development as modellers.

Augmented Virtuality: A Real-time Process for Presenting Real-world Visual Sensory Information in an Immersive Virtual Environment for Planetary Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

McFadden, D.; Tavakkoli, A.; Regenbrecht, J.; Wilson, B.

2017-12-01

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) applications have recently seen an impressive growth, thanks to the advent of commercial Head Mounted Displays (HMDs). This new visualization era has opened the possibility of presenting researchers from multiple disciplines with data visualization techniques not possible via traditional 2D screens. In a purely VR environment researchers are presented with the visual data in a virtual environment, whereas in a purely AR application, a piece of virtual object is projected into the real world with which researchers could interact. There are several limitations to the purely VR or AR application when taken within the context of remote planetary exploration. For example, in a purely VR environment, contents of the planet surface (e.g. rocks, terrain, or other features) should be created off-line from a multitude of images using image processing techniques to generate 3D mesh data that will populate the virtual surface of the planet. This process usually takes a tremendous amount of computational resources and cannot be delivered in real-time. As an alternative, video frames may be superimposed on the virtual environment to save processing time. However, such rendered video frames will lack 3D visual information -i.e. depth information. In this paper, we present a technique to utilize a remotely situated robot's stereoscopic cameras to provide a live visual feed from the real world into the virtual environment in which planetary scientists are immersed. Moreover, the proposed technique will blend the virtual environment with the real world in such a way as to preserve both the depth and visual information from the real world while allowing for the sensation of immersion when the entire sequence is viewed via an HMD such as Oculus Rift. The figure shows the virtual environment with an overlay of the real-world stereoscopic video being presented in real-time into the virtual environment. Notice the preservation of the object

Health Monitor for Multitasking, Safety-Critical, Real-Time Software

Science.gov (United States)

Zoerner, Roger

2011-01-01

Health Manager can detect Bad Health prior to a failure occurring by periodically monitoring the application software by looking for code corruption errors, and sanity-checking each critical data value prior to use. A processor s memory can fail and corrupt the software, or the software can accidentally write to the wrong address and overwrite the executing software. This innovation will continuously calculate a checksum of the software load to detect corrupted code. This will allow a system to detect a failure before it happens. This innovation monitors each software task (thread) so that if any task reports "bad health," or does not report to the Health Manager, the system is declared bad. The Health Manager reports overall system health to the outside world by outputting a square wave signal. If the square wave stops, this indicates that system health is bad or hung and cannot report. Either way, "bad health" can be detected, whether caused by an error, corrupted data, or a hung processor. A separate Health Monitor Task is started and run periodically in a loop that starts and stops pending on a semaphore. Each monitored task registers with the Health Manager, which maintains a count for the task. The registering task must indicate if it will run more or less often than the Health Manager. If the task runs more often than the Health Manager, the monitored task calls a health function that increments the count and verifies it did not go over max-count. When the periodic Health Manager runs, it verifies that the count did not go over the max-count and zeroes it. If the task runs less often than the Health Manager, the periodic Health Manager will increment the count. The monitored task zeroes the count, and both the Health Manager and monitored task verify that the count did not go over the max-count.

The Salford Lung Study protocol: a pragmatic, randomised phase III real-world effectiveness trial in asthma.

Science.gov (United States)

Woodcock, Ashley; Bakerly, Nawar Diar; New, John P; Gibson, J Martin; Wu, Wei; Vestbo, Jørgen; Leather, David

2015-12-10

Novel therapies need to be evaluated in normal clinical practice to allow a true representation of the treatment effectiveness in real-world settings. The Salford Lung Study is a pragmatic randomised controlled trial in adult asthma, evaluating the clinical effectiveness and safety of once-daily fluticasone furoate (100 μg or 200 μg)/vilanterol 25 μg in a novel dry-powder inhaler, versus existing asthma maintenance therapy. The study was initiated before this investigational treatment was licensed and conducted in real-world clinical practice to consider adherence, co-morbidities, polypharmacy, and real-world factors. Asthma Control Test at week 24; safety endpoints include the incidence of serious pneumonias. The study utilises the Salford electronic medical record, which allows near to real-time collection and monitoring of safety data. The Salford Lung Study is the world's first pragmatic randomised controlled trial of a pre-licensed medication in asthma. Use of patients' linked electronic health records to collect clinical endpoints offers minimal disruption to patients and investigators, and also ensures patient safety. This highly innovative study will complement standard double-blind randomised controlled trials in order to improve our understanding of the risk/benefit profile of fluticasone furoate/vilanterol in patients with asthma in real-world settings. Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01706198; 04 October 2012.

Analisis Pembebanan Ekonomis pada Jaringan 500 kV Jawa Bali Menggunakan Software PowerWorld

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Badru Tamam Arozaq

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Pada jaringan 500 kV Jawa Bali, PT. PLN (Persero P3B menentukan kombinasi pembangkit yang akan beroperasi pada setiap level beban tertentu. Oleh karena itu, Economic Dispatch (ED atau pembagian pembebanan secara ekonomis dilakukan untuk menghasilkan pembebanan pembangkit yang optimal. Namun, hasil dari Economic Dispatch tersebut belum tentu dapat memenuhi batasan sistem seperti batasan pembakitan generator dan batasan saluran. Untuk itu, Optimal Power Flow (OPF perlu dilakukan dalam rangka pembagian pembebanan secara ekonomis, sekaligus memenuhi batasan-batasan sistem. Pada tugas akhir ini, perhitungan pembagian pembebanan pembangkit dilakukan dengan menggunakan software PowerWorld. Software ini memiliki keunggulan dalam teknik analisis, interaktif, dan disertai dengan grafik, sehingga mempermudah pembaca dalam memahami informasi yang diberikan. Dari hasil pengujian, terbukti bahwa pada keadaan normal ED dan OPF dalam penggunaan software PowerWorld, menghasilkan nilai yang sama yaitu sebesar 662.264,94 $/h. Tetapi pada saat terjadi pelanggaran batas saluran transmisi, hasil simulasi ED lebih murah yaitu sebesar 665.834,06 $/h sedangkan hasil OPF sebesar 863.630,50 $/h.

Real-time Kernel Implementation Practice Program for Embedded Software Engineers' Education and its Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshida, Toshio; Matsumoto, Masahide; Seo, Katsuhiko; Chino, Shinichiro; Sugino, Eiji; Sawamoto, Jun; Koizumi, Hisao

A real-time kernel (henceforth RTK) is in the center place of embedded software technology, and the understanding of RTK is indispensable for the embedded system design. To implement RTK, it is necessary to understand languages that describe RTK software program code, system programming manners, software development tools, CPU on that RTK runs and the interface between software and hardware, etc. in addition to understanding of RTK itself. This means RTK implementation process largely covers embedded software implementation process. Therefore, it is thought that RTK implementation practice program is very effective as a means of the acquisition of common embedded software skill in addition to deeper acquisition of RTK itself. In this paper, we propose to apply RTK implementing practice program to embedded software engineers educational program. We newly developed very small and step-up type RTK named μK for educational use, and held a seminar that used μK as a teaching material for the students of information science and engineers of the software house. As a result, we confirmed that RTK implementation practice program is very effective for the acquisition of embedded software common skill.

Using a Foundational Ontology for Reengineering a Software Enterprise Ontology

Science.gov (United States)

Perini Barcellos, Monalessa; de Almeida Falbo, Ricardo

The knowledge about software organizations is considerably relevant to software engineers. The use of a common vocabulary for representing the useful knowledge about software organizations involved in software projects is important for several reasons, such as to support knowledge reuse and to allow communication and interoperability between tools. Domain ontologies can be used to define a common vocabulary for sharing and reuse of knowledge about some domain. Foundational ontologies can be used for evaluating and re-designing domain ontologies, giving to these real-world semantics. This paper presents an evaluating of a Software Enterprise Ontology that was reengineered using the Unified Foundation Ontology (UFO) as basis.

Text World Theory and real world readers: From literature to life in a Belfast prison.

Science.gov (United States)

Canning, Patricia

2017-05-01

Cognitive stylistics offers a range of frameworks for understanding (amongst other things) what producers of literary texts 'do' with language and how they 'do' it. Less prevalent, however, is an understanding of the ways in which these same frameworks offer insights into what readers 'do' (and how they 'do' it). Text World Theory (Werth, 1999; Gavins, 2007; Whiteley, 2011) has proved useful for understanding how and why readers construct mental representations engendered by the act of reading. However, research on readers' responses to literature has largely focused on an 'idealised' reader or an 'experimental' subject-reader often derived from within the academy and conducted using contrived or amended literary fiction. Moreover, the format of traditional book groups (participants read texts privately and discuss them at a later date) as well as online community forums such as Goodreads, means that such studies derive data from post-hoc, rather than real-time textual encounters and discussions. The current study is the first of its kind in analysing real-time reading contexts with real readers during a researcher-led literary project ('read.live.learn') in Northern Ireland's only female prison. In doing so, the study is unique in addressing experimental and post hoc bias. Using Text World Theory, the paper considers the personal and social impact of reader engagement in the talk of the participants. As such, it has three interrelated aims: to argue for the social and personal benefits of reading stylistically rich literature in real-time reading groups; to demonstrate the efficacy of stylistics for understanding how those benefits come about, and to demonstrate the inter-disciplinary value of stylistics, particularly its potential for traversing traditional research parameters.

Performance of the "CCS Algorithm" in real world patients.

Science.gov (United States)

LaHaye, Stephen A; Olesen, Jonas B; Lacombe, Shawn P

2015-06-01

With the publication of the 2014 Focused Update of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society Guidelines for the Management of Atrial Fibrillation, the Canadian Cardiovascular Society Atrial Fibrillation Guidelines Committee has introduced a new triage and management algorithm; the so-called "CCS Algorithm". The CCS Algorithm is based upon expert opinion of the best available evidence; however, the CCS Algorithm has not yet been validated. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the performance of the CCS Algorithm in a cohort of real world patients. We compared the CCS Algorithm with the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Algorithm in 172 hospital inpatients who are at risk of stroke due to non-valvular atrial fibrillation in whom anticoagulant therapy was being considered. The CCS Algorithm and the ESC Algorithm were concordant in 170/172 patients (99% of the time). There were two patients (1%) with vascular disease, but no other thromboembolic risk factors, which were classified as requiring oral anticoagulant therapy using the ESC Algorithm, but for whom ASA was recommended by the CCS Algorithm. The CCS Algorithm appears to be unnecessarily complicated in so far as it does not appear to provide any additional discriminatory value above and beyond the use of the ESC Algorithm, and its use could result in under treatment of patients, specifically female patients with vascular disease, whose real risk of stroke has been understated by the Guidelines.

Analyzing the State of Static Analysis : A Large-Scale Evaluation in Open Source Software

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beller, M.; Bholanath, R.; McIntosh, S.; Zaidman, A.E.

2016-01-01

The use of automatic static analysis has been a software engineering best practice for decades. However, we still do not know a lot about its use in real-world software projects: How prevalent is the use of Automated Static Analysis Tools (ASATs) such as FindBugs and JSHint? How do developers use

A Conceptual Level Design for a Static Scheduler for Hard Real-Time Systems

Science.gov (United States)

1988-03-01

The design of hard real - time systems is gaining a great deal of attention in the software engineering field as more and more real-world processes are...for these hard real - time systems . PSDL, as an executable design language, is supported by an execution support system consisting of a static scheduler, dynamic scheduler, and translator.

Real-time animation software for customized training to use motor prosthetic systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Davoodi, Rahman; Loeb, Gerald E

2012-03-01

Research on control of human movement and development of tools for restoration and rehabilitation of movement after spinal cord injury and amputation can benefit greatly from software tools for creating precisely timed animation sequences of human movement. Despite their ability to create sophisticated animation and high quality rendering, existing animation software are not adapted for application to neural prostheses and rehabilitation of human movement. We have developed a software tool known as MSMS (MusculoSkeletal Modeling Software) that can be used to develop models of human or prosthetic limbs and the objects with which they interact and to animate their movement using motion data from a variety of offline and online sources. The motion data can be read from a motion file containing synthesized motion data or recordings from a motion capture system. Alternatively, motion data can be streamed online from a real-time motion capture system, a physics-based simulation program, or any program that can produce real-time motion data. Further, animation sequences of daily life activities can be constructed using the intuitive user interface of Microsoft's PowerPoint software. The latter allows expert and nonexpert users alike to assemble primitive movements into a complex motion sequence with precise timing by simply arranging the order of the slides and editing their properties in PowerPoint. The resulting motion sequence can be played back in an open-loop manner for demonstration and training or in closed-loop virtual reality environments where the timing and speed of animation depends on user inputs. These versatile animation utilities can be used in any application that requires precisely timed animations but they are particularly suited for research and rehabilitation of movement disorders. MSMS's modeling and animation tools are routinely used in a number of research laboratories around the country to study the control of movement and to develop and test

Real-world exhaust temperature profiles of on-road heavy-duty diesel vehicles equipped with selective catalytic reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Boriboonsomsin, Kanok; Durbin, Thomas; Scora, George; Johnson, Kent; Sandez, Daniel; Vu, Alexander; Jiang, Yu; Burnette, Andrew; Yoon, Seungju; Collins, John; Dai, Zhen; Fulper, Carl; Kishan, Sandeep; Sabisch, Michael; Jackson, Doug

2018-09-01

On-road heavy-duty diesel vehicles are a major contributor of oxides of nitrogen (NO x ) emissions. In the US, many heavy-duty diesel vehicles employ selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology to meet the 2010 emission standard for NO x . Typically, SCR needs to be at least 200°C before a significant level of NO x reduction is achieved. However, this SCR temperature requirement may not be met under some real-world operating conditions, such as during cold starts, long idling, or low speed/low engine load driving activities. The frequency of vehicle operation with low SCR temperature varies partly by the vehicle's vocational use. In this study, detailed vehicle and engine activity data were collected from 90 heavy-duty vehicles involved in a range of vocations, including line haul, drayage, construction, agricultural, food distribution, beverage distribution, refuse, public work, and utility repair. The data were used to create real-world SCR temperature and engine load profiles and identify the fraction of vehicle operating time that SCR may not be as effective for NO x control. It is found that the vehicles participated in this study operate with SCR temperature lower than 200°C for 11-70% of the time depending on their vocation type. This implies that real-world NO x control efficiency could deviate from the control efficiency observed during engine certification. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Methods of Software Quality Assurance under a Nuclear Quality Assurance Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jang Yeol; Lee, Young Jun; Cha, Kyung Ho; Cheon, Se Woo; Lee, Jang Soo; Kwon, Kee Choon

2005-01-01

This paper addresses a substantial implementation of a software quality assurance under a nuclear quality assurance program. The relationship of the responsibility between a top-level nuclear quality assurance program such as ASME/NQA-1 and its lower level software quality assurance is described. Software quality assurance activities and software quality assurance procedures during the software development life cycle are also described

Software engineering for the EBR-II data acquisition system conversion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schorzman, W.

1988-01-01

The original data acquisition system (DAS) for the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) was placed into service with state-of-the-art computer and peripherals in 1970. Software engineering principles for real-time data acquisition were in their infancy, and the original software design was dictated by limited hardware resources. The functional requirements evolved from creative ways to gather and display data. This abstract concept developed into an invaluable tool for system analysis, data reporting, and as a plant monitor for operations. In this paper the approach is outlined to the software conversion project with the restraints of operational transparency and 6 weeks for final conversion and testing. The outline is then compared with the formal principles of software engineering to show the way that bridge the gap can be bridged between the theoretical and real world by analyzing the work and listing the lessons learned

Perspectives on the future of software engineering essays in honor of Dieter Rombach

CERN Document Server

Münch, Jürgen

2013-01-01

The dependence on quality software in all areas of life is what makes software engineering a key discipline for today's society. Thus, over the last few decades it has been increasingly recognized that it is particularly important to demonstrate the value of software engineering methods in real-world environments, a task which is the focus of empirical software engineering. One of the leading protagonists of this discipline worldwide is Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Dieter Rombach, who dedicated his entire career to empirical software engineering. For his many important contributions to the field he has

Real-world vehicle emission factors in Chinese metropolis city--Beijing.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Qi-dong; He, Ke-bin; Huo, Hong; Lents, James

2005-01-01

The dynamometer tests with different driving cycles and the real-world tests are presented. Results indicated the pollutants emission factors and fuel consumption factor with ECE15 + EUDC driving cycle usually take the lowest value and with real world driving cycle occur the highest value, and different driving cycles will lead to significantly different vehicle emission factors with the same vehicle. Relative to the ECE15 + EUDC driving cycle, the increasing rate of pollutant emission factors of CO, NOx and HC are - 0.42-2.99, -0.32-0.81 and -0.11-11 with FTP75 testing, 0.11-1.29, -0.77-0.64 and 0.47-10.50 with Beijing 1997 testing and 0.25-1.83, 0.09-0.75 and - 0.58-1.50 with real world testing. Compared to the carburetor vehicles, the retrofit and MPI + TWC vehicles' pollution emissionfactors decrease with different degree. The retrofit vehicle (Santana) will reduce 4.44%-58.44% CO, -4.95%-36.79% NOx, -32.32%-33.89% HC, and -9.39%-14.29% fuel consumption, and especially that the MPI + TWC vehicle will decrease CO by 82.48%-91.76%, NOx by 44.87%-92.79%, HC by 90.00%-93.89% and fuel consumption by 5.44%-10.55%. Vehicles can cause pollution at a very high rate when operated in high power modes; however, they may not often operate in these high power modes. In analyzing vehicle emissions, it describes the fraction of time that vehicles operate in various power modes. In Beijing, vehicles spend 90% of their operation in low power modes or decelerating.

Evaluating a digital ship design tool prototype: Designers' perceptions of novel ergonomics software.

Science.gov (United States)

Mallam, Steven C; Lundh, Monica; MacKinnon, Scott N

2017-03-01

Computer-aided solutions are essential for naval architects to manage and optimize technical complexities when developing a ship's design. Although there are an array of software solutions aimed to optimize the human element in design, practical ergonomics methodologies and technological solutions have struggled to gain widespread application in ship design processes. This paper explores how a new ergonomics technology is perceived by naval architecture students using a mixed-methods framework. Thirteen Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering Masters students participated in the study. Overall, results found participants perceived the software and its embedded ergonomics tools to benefit their design work, increasing their empathy and ability to understand the work environment and work demands end-users face. However, participant's questioned if ergonomics could be practically and efficiently implemented under real-world project constraints. This revealed underlying social biases and a fundamental lack of understanding in engineering postgraduate students regarding applied ergonomics in naval architecture. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Clinical Utilisation of Respiratory Elastance Software (CURE Soft): a bedside software for real-time respiratory mechanics monitoring and mechanical ventilation management.

Science.gov (United States)

Szlavecz, Akos; Chiew, Yeong Shiong; Redmond, Daniel; Beatson, Alex; Glassenbury, Daniel; Corbett, Simon; Major, Vincent; Pretty, Christopher; Shaw, Geoffrey M; Benyo, Balazs; Desaive, Thomas; Chase, J Geoffrey

2014-09-30

Real-time patient respiratory mechanics estimation can be used to guide mechanical ventilation settings, particularly, positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP). This work presents a software, Clinical Utilisation of Respiratory Elastance (CURE Soft), using a time-varying respiratory elastance model to offer this ability to aid in mechanical ventilation treatment. CURE Soft is a desktop application developed in JAVA. It has two modes of operation, 1) Online real-time monitoring decision support and, 2) Offline for user education purposes, auditing, or reviewing patient care. The CURE Soft has been tested in mechanically ventilated patients with respiratory failure. The clinical protocol, software testing and use of the data were approved by the New Zealand Southern Regional Ethics Committee. Using CURE Soft, patient's respiratory mechanics response to treatment and clinical protocol were monitored. Results showed that the patient's respiratory elastance (Stiffness) changed with the use of muscle relaxants, and responded differently to ventilator settings. This information can be used to guide mechanical ventilation therapy and titrate optimal ventilator PEEP. CURE Soft enables real-time calculation of model-based respiratory mechanics for mechanically ventilated patients. Results showed that the system is able to provide detailed, previously unavailable information on patient-specific respiratory mechanics and response to therapy in real-time. The additional insight available to clinicians provides the potential for improved decision-making, and thus improved patient care and outcomes.

Real-world damping of a physical pendulum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bacon, M E; Do Dai Nguyen

2005-01-01

Damped periodic motion is ubiquitous in the physical world and is a subject of study at all levels of undergraduate education. In this paper we investigate the damping of a metre stick acting as a physical pendulum subject to air drag. We do not limit our investigation to small angles and find that the air drag is well described by a retarding torque equal to a term proportional to the angular velocity together with a term proportional to the square on the angular velocity. The study is made possible by the use of a video camera, video capture and analysis software and an easy-to-use intuitive, icon-based, simulation program to numerically solve the equation of motion. Suggestions are made for further study

Alternative Assessment--Can Real-World Skills Be Tested? Policy Briefs.

Science.gov (United States)

Simon, Karen; Gregg, Soleil

Many educators are shifting their teaching strategies and approaches to include more emphasis on critical thinking skills, the communication of ideas, a variety of approaches to content emphasizing varied student learning styles, and the need to draw explicit connections among topics for retention of learning. Real-world assessment measures, then,…

Real-Time 3D Visualization

Science.gov (United States)

1997-01-01

Butler Hine, former director of the Intelligent Mechanism Group (IMG) at Ames Research Center, and five others partnered to start Fourth Planet, Inc., a visualization company that specializes in the intuitive visual representation of dynamic, real-time data over the Internet and Intranet. Over a five-year period, the then NASA researchers performed ten robotic field missions in harsh climes to mimic the end- to-end operations of automated vehicles trekking across another world under control from Earth. The core software technology for these missions was the Virtual Environment Vehicle Interface (VEVI). Fourth Planet has released VEVI4, the fourth generation of the VEVI software, and NetVision. VEVI4 is a cutting-edge computer graphics simulation and remote control applications tool. The NetVision package allows large companies to view and analyze in virtual 3D space such things as the health or performance of their computer network or locate a trouble spot on an electric power grid. Other products are forthcoming. Fourth Planet is currently part of the NASA/Ames Technology Commercialization Center, a business incubator for start-up companies.

[Exploration and demonstration study on drug combination from clinical real world].

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Yan-ming; Wang, Lian-xin; Wang, Yong-yan

2014-09-01

Drug combination is extensive in the clinical real world,which is an important part and the inherent requirements of the post-marketing evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The key issues and technology include multi-domain and multi-disciplinary such as the rationality, efficacy and safety evaluation of combination drug starting from clinical real world, study on component in vivo and mechanism of combination drug, the risk/benefit assessment and cost-benefit evaluation of combination drug and so on. The topic has been studied as clinical demonstration on combination therapy of variety of diseases such as coronary heart disease, stroke, insomnia, depression, hepatitis, herpes zoster, psoriasis and ectopic pregnancy. Meanwhile, multi-disciplinary dynamic innovation alliance of clinical drug combination has been presented, which can promote the academic development and improving service ability and level of TCM.

Stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation: re-defining 'real-world data' within the broader data universe.

Science.gov (United States)

Fanaroff, Alexander C; Steffel, Jan; Alexander, John H; Lip, Gregory Y H; Califf, Robert M; Lopes, Renato D

2018-04-23

Real-world data (RWD) has been defined as data generated outside of traditional randomized clinical trials (RCTs). Though RWD has received increasing attention from regulatory authorities and professional societies, dividing evidence into that derived from 'real-world' vs. 'non-real-world' sources provides only one element of a much larger framework for evidence evaluation. Evidence should be evaluated on the source of the data, the method of treatment allocation (whether any intervention being evaluated was assigned or simply observed as used in practice) and the context in which the evidence was generated (overall study design). Under this framework, RWD refers only to data source, and a study incorporates RWD when it primarily uses data collected for non-research purposes, such as insurance claims data or the electronic health record, regardless of study design. Separation of study design, data source, and context enables parallel evaluation of two critical elements: (i) whether a study can support claims of causal inference, which can be assured with a high degree of confidence only in studies where patients are assigned treatments by protocol; and (ii) whether the study population and clinical context mirror clinical practice, a strength of observational studies using data from clinical practice or administrative claims. In this review, we describe the strengths and weaknesses of observational and non-observational studies, and studies involving RWD and non-RWD, through the lens of anticoagulation for atrial fibrillation (AF). Observational studies employing RWD are useful for describing how oral anticoagulants are used in clinical practice, but generally cannot be used to make claims regarding comparative treatment effects. Questions regarding treatment effect generally are best answered through an RCT, and additional pragmatic RCTs are needed to compare different antithrombotic agents for the prevention of thrombotic events in AF.

The Company Approach to Software Engineering Project Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Broman, D.; Sandahl, K.; Abu Baker, M.

2012-01-01

Teaching larger software engineering project courses at the end of a computing curriculum is a way for students to learn some aspects of real-world jobs in industry. Such courses, often referred to as capstone courses, are effective for learning how to apply the skills they have acquired in, for example, design, test, and configuration management.…

Discontinuation risk comparison among 'real-world' newly anticoagulated atrial fibrillation patients

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lip, Gregory Y H; Pan, Xianying; Kamble, Shital

2018-01-01

Discontinuation of oral anticoagulants may expose non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) patients to an increased risk of stroke. This study describes the real-world discontinuation rates and compared the risk of drug discontinuation among NVAF patients initiating apixaban, warfarin, dabigatran,...

32 CFR 643.13 - Military requirement for real estate under grant.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 32 National Defense 4 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Military requirement for real estate under grant... (CONTINUED) REAL PROPERTY REAL ESTATE General § 643.13 Military requirement for real estate under grant. When a military requirement arises for real estate which is being used under a grant of non-Army use, the...

The Geometric Construction Abilities Of Gifted Students In Solving Real - World Problems: A Case From Turkey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Avni YILDIZ

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Geometric constructions have already been of interest to mathematicians. However, studies on geometric construction are not adequate in the relevant literature. Moreover, these studies generally focus on how secondary school gifted students solve non-routine mathematical problems. The present study aims to examine the geometric construction abilities of ninth-grade (15 years old gifted students in solving real-world geometry problems; thus a case study was conducted. Six gifted students participated in the study. The data consisted of voice records, solutions, and models made by the students on the GeoGebra screen. Results indicate that gifted students use their previous knowledge effectively during the process of geometric construction. They modeled the situations available in the problems through using mathematical concepts and the software in coordination. Therefore, it is evident that gifted students think more creatively while solving problems using GeoGebra.

Using mathematics to solve real world problems: the role of enablers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Niss, Mogens Allan; Geiger, Vincent; Stillman, Gloria

2018-01-01

The purpose of this article is to report on a newly funded research project in which we will investigate how secondary students apply mathematical modelling to effectively address real world situations. Through this study, we will identify factors, mathematical, cognitive, social and environmenta...

Analysis of real value of virtual currency in game World of Warcraft

OpenAIRE

Šilha, Daniel

2015-01-01

This bachelor thesis aims to analyze in its first part the price development of WoW token after its launching to the world markets. It seeks the origin of price shocks andidentifies common determinants for world markets with WoW token. The differences between world markets are also examined. The real value of virtual currency (gold) used in this game, is determined, based on the price of WoW token. Introduction of WoW token is aimed to reduce the power of black market. The impact of Wow token...

A software radio platform based on ARM and FPGA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yang Xin.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The rapid rise in computational performance offered by computer systems has greatly increased the number of practical software radio applications. A scheme presented in this paper is a software radio platform based on ARM and FPGA. FPGA works as the coprocessor together with the ARM, which serves as the core processor. ARM is used for digital signal processing and real-time data transmission, and FPGA is used for synchronous timing control and serial-parallel conversion. A SPI driver for real-time data transmission between ARM and FPGA under ARM-Linux system is provided. By adopting modular design, the software radio platform is capable of implementing wireless communication functions and satisfies the requirements of real-time signal processing platform for high security and broad applicability.

NASA's Advanced Multimission Operations System: A Case Study in Formalizing Software Architecture Evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Barnes, Jeffrey M.

2011-01-01

All software systems of significant size and longevity eventually undergo changes to their basic architectural structure. Such changes may be prompted by evolving requirements, changing technology, or other reasons. Whatever the cause, software architecture evolution is commonplace in real world software projects. Recently, software architecture researchers have begun to study this phenomenon in depth. However, this work has suffered from problems of validation; research in this area has tended to make heavy use of toy examples and hypothetical scenarios and has not been well supported by real world examples. To help address this problem, I describe an ongoing effort at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to re-architect the Advanced Multimission Operations System (AMMOS), which is used to operate NASA's deep-space and astrophysics missions. Based on examination of project documents and interviews with project personnel, I describe the goals and approach of this evolution effort and then present models that capture some of the key architectural changes. Finally, I demonstrate how approaches and formal methods from my previous research in architecture evolution may be applied to this evolution, while using languages and tools already in place at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Get Real: Augmented Reality for the Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Rebecca; DeBay, Dennis

2012-01-01

Kids love augmented reality (AR) simulations because they are like real-life video games. AR simulations allow students to learn content while collaborating face to face and interacting with a multimedia-enhanced version of the world around them. Although the technology may seem advanced, AR software makes it easy to develop content-based…

Handbook of Research on Technology Tools for Real-World Skill Development (2 Volumes)

Science.gov (United States)

Rosen, Yigel, Ed.; Ferrara, Steve, Ed.; Mosharraf, Maryam, Ed.

2016-01-01

Education is expanding to include a stronger focus on the practical application of classroom lessons in an effort to prepare the next generation of scholars for a changing world economy centered on collaborative and problem-solving skills for the digital age. "The Handbook of Research on Technology Tools for Real-World Skill Development"…

Real-world volatile organic compound emission rates from seated adults and children for use in indoor air studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Stönner, C; Edtbauer, A; Williams, J

2018-01-01

Human beings emit many volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of both endogenous (internally produced) and exogenous (external source) origin. Here we present real-world emission rates of volatile organic compounds from cinema audiences (50-230 people) as a function of time in multiple screenings of three films. The cinema location and film selection allowed high-frequency measurement of human-emitted VOCs within a room flushed at a known rate so that emissions rates could be calculated for both adults and children. Gas-phase emission rates are analyzed as a function of time of day, variability during the film, and age of viewer. The average emission rates of CO 2 , acetone, and isoprene were lower (by a factor of ~1.2-1.4) for children under twelve compared to adults while for acetaldehyde emission rates were equivalent. Molecules influenced by exogenous sources such as decamethylcyclopentasiloxanes and methanol tended to decrease over the course of day and then rise for late evening screenings. These results represent average emission rates of people under real-world conditions and can be used in indoor air quality assessments and building design. Averaging over a large number of people generates emission rates that are less susceptible to individual behaviors. © 2017 The Authors. Indoor Air published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

World Wind Tools Reveal Environmental Change

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Originally developed under NASA's Learning Technologies program as a tool to engage and inspire students, World Wind software was released under the NASA Open Source Agreement license. Honolulu, Hawaii based Intelesense Technologies is one of the companies currently making use of the technology for environmental, public health, and other monitoring applications for nonprofit organizations and Government agencies. The company saved about $1 million in development costs by using the NASA software.

A GUI Based Software for Sizing Stand Alone AC Coupled Hybrid PV-Diesel Power System under Malaysia Climate

Science.gov (United States)

Syafiqah Syahirah Mohamed, Nor; Amalina Banu Mohamat Adek, Noor; Hamid, Nurul Farhana Abd

2018-03-01

This paper presents the development of Graphical User Interface (GUI) software for sizing main component in AC coupled photovoltaic (PV) hybrid power system based on Malaysia climate. This software provides guideline for PV system integrator to design effectively the size of components and system configuration to match the system and load requirement with geographical condition. The concept of the proposed software is balancing the annual average renewable energy generation and load demand. In this study, the PV to diesel generator (DG) ratio is introduced by considering the hybrid system energy contribution. The GUI software is able to size the main components in the PV hybrid system to meet with the set target of energy contribution ratio. The rated powers of the components to be defined are PV array, grid-tie inverter, bi-directional inverter, battery storage and DG. GUI is used to perform all the system sizing procedures to make it user friendly interface as a sizing tool for AC coupled PV hybrid system. The GUI will be done by using Visual Studio 2015 based on the real data under Malaysia Climate.

Understanding Use Situated in Real-world Mobile Contexts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Korn, Matthias

where the activity is happening) by leveraging three keyenablers: (1) the high penetration of smart phones, (2) their easy programmability and (3) the large-scale distribution channels for mobile applications that come with the platforms. My approach suggests a triggered response solicitation, which......  Our understanding of users' everyday practices in their natural contexts is still very limited. Insights are often only available from studies conducted outside of the context itself. I propose a new approach to study use situated in real-world everyday mobile contexts (at the time and place...

A leadless pacemaker in the real-world setting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Roberts, Paul R.; Clementy, Nicolas; Al Samadi, Faisal

2017-01-01

, telemetry, and battery issues. Objective The acute performance of the Micra transcatheter pacemaker from a worldwide Post-Approval Registry is reported. Methods The registry is an ongoing prospective single-arm observational study designed to assess the safety and effectiveness of Micra in the post...... were low and stable. Conclusion Performance of the Micra transcatheter pacemaker in a real-world setting demonstrates a high rate (99.6%) of implant success and low rate (1.51%) of major complications through 30 days post implant. In particular, the rates of pericardial effusion, device dislodgement...

Real-World Evidence In Support Of Precision Medicine: Clinico-Genomic Cancer Data As A Case Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Agarwala, Vineeta; Khozin, Sean; Singal, Gaurav; O'Connell, Claire; Kuk, Deborah; Li, Gerald; Gossai, Anala; Miller, Vincent; Abernethy, Amy P

2018-05-01

The majority of US adult cancer patients today are diagnosed and treated outside the context of any clinical trial (that is, in the real world). Although these patients are not part of a research study, their clinical data are still recorded. Indeed, data captured in electronic health records form an ever-growing, rich digital repository of longitudinal patient experiences, treatments, and outcomes. Likewise, genomic data from tumor molecular profiling are increasingly guiding oncology care. Linking real-world clinical and genomic data, as well as information from other co-occurring data sets, could create study populations that provide generalizable evidence for precision medicine interventions. However, the infrastructure required to link, ensure quality, and rapidly learn from such composite data is complex. We outline the challenges and describe a novel approach to building a real-world clinico-genomic database of patients with cancer. This work represents a case study in how data collected during routine patient care can inform precision medicine efforts for the population at large. We suggest that health policies can promote innovation by defining appropriate uses of real-world evidence, establishing data standards, and incentivizing data sharing.

Introducing a logic for real-world agents with degrees of belief

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Rens, GB

2009-12-01

Full Text Available stream_source_info Gens_2009.pdf.txt stream_content_type text/plain stream_size 3189 Content-Encoding UTF-8 stream_name Gens_2009.pdf.txt Content-Type text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Introducing a Logic for Real-world Agents... the world could be. A further step to capture uncertain knowledge is to assign a likelihood to each state considered possible so that degrees of belief can be captured. Now as the robot acts and observes while completing its tasks, it will change its...

Enhancing the Student Learning Experience in Software Engineering Project Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Marques, Maira; Ochoa, Sergio F.; Bastarrica, Maria Cecilia; Gutierrez, Francisco J.

2018-01-01

Carrying out real-world software projects in their academic studies helps students to understand what they will face in industry, and to experience first-hand the challenges involved when working collaboratively. Most of the instructional strategies used to help students take advantage of these activities focus on supporting agile programming,…

Guidelines for using empirical studies in software engineering education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabian Fagerholm

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Software engineering education is under constant pressure to provide students with industry-relevant knowledge and skills. Educators must address issues beyond exercises and theories that can be directly rehearsed in small settings. Industry training has similar requirements of relevance as companies seek to keep their workforce up to date with technological advances. Real-life software development often deals with large, software-intensive systems and is influenced by the complex effects of teamwork and distributed software development, which are hard to demonstrate in an educational environment. A way to experience such effects and to increase the relevance of software engineering education is to apply empirical studies in teaching. In this paper, we show how different types of empirical studies can be used for educational purposes in software engineering. We give examples illustrating how to utilize empirical studies, discuss challenges, and derive an initial guideline that supports teachers to include empirical studies in software engineering courses. Furthermore, we give examples that show how empirical studies contribute to high-quality learning outcomes, to student motivation, and to the awareness of the advantages of applying software engineering principles. Having awareness, experience, and understanding of the actions required, students are more likely to apply such principles under real-life constraints in their working life.

Software Support of Modelling using Ergonomic Tools in Engineering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Darina Dupláková

2017-08-01

Full Text Available One of the preconditions for correct development of industrial production is continuous interconnecting of virtual reality and real world by computer software. Computer software are used for product modelling, creation of technical documentation, scheduling, management and optimization of manufacturing processes, and efficiency increase of human work in manufacturing plants. This article describes the frequent used ergonomic software which helping to increase of human work by error rate reducing, risks factors of working environment, injury in workplaces and elimination of arising occupational diseases. They are categorized in the field of micro ergonomics and they are applicable at the manufacturing level with flexible approach in solving of established problems.

A Theoretical Analysis: Physical Unclonable Functions and The Software Protection Problem

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nithyanand, Rishab [Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States); Solis, John H. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)

2011-09-01

Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) or Physical One Way Functions (P-OWFs) are physical systems whose responses to input stimuli (i.e., challenges) are easy to measure (within reasonable error bounds) but hard to clone. This property of unclonability is due to the accepted hardness of replicating the multitude of uncontrollable manufacturing characteristics and makes PUFs useful in solving problems such as device authentication, software protection, licensing, and certified execution. In this paper, we focus on the effectiveness of PUFs for software protection and show that traditional non-computational (black-box) PUFs cannot solve the problem against real world adversaries in offline settings. Our contributions are the following: We provide two real world adversary models (weak and strong variants) and present definitions for security against the adversaries. We continue by proposing schemes secure against the weak adversary and show that no scheme is secure against a strong adversary without the use of trusted hardware. Finally, we present a protection scheme secure against strong adversaries based on trusted hardware.

Real Time with the Librarian: Using Web Conferencing Software to Connect to Distance Students

Science.gov (United States)

Riedel, Tom; Betty, Paul

2013-01-01

A pilot program to provide real-time library webcasts to Regis University distance students using Adobe Connect software was initiated in fall of 2011. Previously, most interaction between librarians and online students had been accomplished by asynchronous discussion threads in the Learning Management System. Library webcasts were offered in…

A real-world Case Study in Information Technology for Undergraduate Students

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sikkel, Nicolaas; Spil, Antonius A.M.; van de Weg, R.L.W.

1999-01-01

Real-world case studies are important to complement the academic skills and knowledge acquired by computer science students. In this paper we relate our experiences with a course specifically designed to address this issue. The problem to be addressed is the replacement of a Hospital Information

New Teaching Environments Near Real-World-Like Laboratories for Power Engineering

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holbøll, Joachim; Østergaard, Jacob

2014-01-01

, and operating real-world systems. The tool to be presented here is mainly establishment of teaching facilities at the Technical University of Denmark adjacent to the research facilities and where nearness to the ‘real world’ is essential and implemented by clearly visible research activities and by close......The Technical University of Denmark offers educations within power engineering at all levels: bachelor, master and PhD. Relevant bachelor programs use the CDIO educational framework, which allows the students to learn engineering fundaments in a context of conceiving, designing, implementing...

Real-World Sorting of RHIC Superconducting Magnets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wei, J.; Gupta, R.; Harrison, M.; Jain, A.; Peggs, S.; Thompson, P.; Trbojevic, D.; Wanderer, P.

1999-01-01

During the seven-year construction of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), more than 1700 superconducting dipoles, quadrupoles, sextupoles, and multi-layer correctors have been constructed and installed. These magnets have been sorted at several production stages to optimize their performance and reliability. For arc magnets, priorities have bene put first on quench performance and operational risk minimization, second on field transfer function and other first-order quantities, and finally on nonlinear field errors which were painstakingly optimized at design. For Interaction-Region (IR) magnets, sorting is applied to select the best possible combination of magnets for the low-β interaction points (IP). This paper summarizes the history of this real-world sorting process

Generación Automática de Software para Sistemas de Tiempo Real: Un Enfoque basado en Componentes, Modelos y Frameworks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diego Alonso

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Resumen: Los Sistemas de Tiempo-Real poseen características que los hacen particularmente sensibles a las decisiones arquitectónicas que se adopten. El uso de Frameworks y Componentes ha demostrado ser eficaz en la mejora de la productividad y calidad del software, sobre todo si se combina con enfoques de Líneas de Productos. Sin embargo, los resultados en cuanto a reutilización y estandarización dejan patente la ausencia de portabilidad tanto de los diseños como las implementaciones basadas en componentes. Este artículo, fundamentado en el Desarrollo de Software Dirigido por Modelos, presenta un enfoque que separa la descripción de aplicaciones de tiempo–real basadas en componentes de sus posibles implementaciones para distintas plataformas. Esta separación viene soportada por la integración automática del código obtenido a partir de los modelos de entrada en frameworks implementados usando tecnología orientada a objetos. Asimismo, se detallan las decisiones arquitectónicas adoptadas en la implementación de uno de estos frameworks, que se utilizará como caso de estudio para ilustrar los beneficios derivados del enfoque propuesto. Por último, se realiza una comparativa en términos de coste de desarrollo con otros enfoques alternativos. Abstract: Real-Time Systems have some characteristics that make them particularly sensitive to architectural decisions. The use of Frameworks and Components has proven effective in improving productivity and software quality, especially when combined with Software Product Line approaches. However, the results in terms of software reuse and standardization make the lack of portability of both the design and componentbased implementations clear. This article, based on the Model- Driven Software Development paradigm, presents an approach that separates the component-based description of real-time applications from their possible implementations on different

X-real-time executive (X-RTE) an ultra-high reliable real-time executive for safety critical systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suresh Babu, R.M.

1995-01-01

With growing number of application of computers in safety critical systems of nuclear plants there has been a need to assure high quality and reliability of the software used in these systems. One way to assure software quality is to use qualified software components. Since the safety systems and control systems are real-time systems there is a need for a real-time supervisory software to guarantee temporal response of the system. This report describes one such software package, called X-Real-Time Executive (or X-RTE), which was developed in Reactor Control Division, BARC. The report describes all the capabilities and unique features of X-RTE and compares it with a commercially available operating system. The features of X-RTE include pre-emptive scheduling, process synchronization, inter-process communication, multi-processor support, temporal support, debug facility, high portability, high reliability, high quality, and extensive documentation. Examples have been used very liberally to illustrate the underlying concepts. Besides, the report provides a brief description about the methods used, during the software development, to assure high quality and reliability of X-RTE. (author). refs., 11 figs., tabs

Development of Spectrometer Software for Electromagnetic Radiation Measurement and Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohd Idris Taib; Noor Ezati Shuib; Wan Saffiey Wan Abdullah

2013-01-01

This software was under development using LabVIEW to be using with StellarNet Spectrometer system. StellarNet Spectrometer was supplied with SpectraWiz operating software that can measure spectral data for real-time spectroscopy. This LabVIEW software was used to access real-time data from SpectraWiz dynamic link library as hardware interfacing. This software will acquire amplitude of every electromagnetic wavelength at periodic time. In addition to hardware interfacing, the user interface capabilities of software include plotting of spectral data in various mode including scope, absorbance, transmission and irradiance mode. This software surely can be used for research and development in application, utilization and safety of electromagnetic radiation, especially solar, laser and ultra violet. Of-line capabilities of this software are almost unlimited due to availability of mathematical and signal processing function in the LabVIEW add on library. (author)

Clinician user involvement in the real world: Designing an electronic tool to improve interprofessional communication and collaboration in a hospital setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Terence; Lim, Morgan E; Mansfield, Elizabeth; McLachlan, Alexander; Quan, Sherman D

2018-02-01

User involvement is vital to the success of health information technology implementation. However, involving clinician users effectively and meaningfully in complex healthcare organizations remains challenging. The objective of this paper is to share our real-world experience of applying a variety of user involvement methods in the design and implementation of a clinical communication and collaboration platform aimed at facilitating care of complex hospitalized patients by an interprofessional team of clinicians. We designed and implemented an electronic clinical communication and collaboration platform in a large community teaching hospital. The design team consisted of both technical and healthcare professionals. Agile software development methodology was used to facilitate rapid iterative design and user input. We involved clinician users at all stages of the development lifecycle using a variety of user-centered, user co-design, and participatory design methods. Thirty-six software releases were delivered over 24 months. User involvement has resulted in improvement in user interface design, identification of software defects, creation of new modules that facilitated workflow, and identification of necessary changes to the scope of the project early on. A variety of user involvement methods were complementary and benefited the design and implementation of a complex health IT solution. Combining these methods with agile software development methodology can turn designs into functioning clinical system to support iterative improvement. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Creating and using real-world evidence to answer questions about clinical effectiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simon de Lusignan

2015-11-01

Full Text Available New forms of evidence are needed to complement evidence generated from randomised controlled trials (RCTs. Real-World Evidence (RWE is a potential new form of evidence, but remains undefined.This paper sets to fill that gap by defining RWE as the output from a rigorous research process which: (1 includes a clear a priori statement of a hypothesis to be tested or research question to be answered; (2 defines the data sources that will be used and critically appraises their strengths and weaknesses; and (3 applies appropriate methods, including advanced analytics. These elements should be set out in advance of the study commencing, ideally in a published protocol.The strengths of RWE studies are that they are more inclusive than RCTs and can enable an evidence base to be developed around real-world effectiveness and to start to address the complications of managing other real-world problems such as multimorbidity. Computerised medical record systems and big data provide a rich source of data for RWE studies.However, guidance is needed to help assess the rigour of RWE studies so that the strength of recommendations based on their output can be determined. Additionally, RWE advanced analytics methods need better categorisation and validation.We predict that the core role of RCTs will shift towards assessing safety and achieving regulatory compliance. RWE studies, notwithstanding their limitations, may become established as the best vehicle to assess efficacy. 

Comparing Expert Driving Behavior in Real World and Simulator Contexts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hiran B. Ekanayake

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Computer games are increasingly used for purposes beyond mere entertainment, and current hi-tech simulators can provide quite, naturalistic contexts for purposes such as traffic education. One of the critical concerns in this area is the validity or transferability of acquired skills from a simulator to the real world context. In this paper, we present our work in which we compared driving in the real world with that in the simulator at two levels, that is, by using performance measures alone, and by combining psychophysiological measures with performance measures. For our study, we gathered data using questionnaires as well as by logging vehicle dynamics, environmental conditions, video data, and users' psychophysiological measurements. For the analysis, we used several novel approaches such as scatter plots to visualize driving tasks of different contexts and to obtain vigilance estimators from electroencephalographic (EEG data in order to obtain important results about the differences between the driving in the two contexts. Our belief is that both experimental procedures and findings of our experiment are very important to the field of serious games concerning how to evaluate the fitness of driving simulators and measure driving performance.

Tracking the reading eye: towards a model of real-world reading

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jarodzka, Halszka; Brand-Gruwel, Saskia

2018-01-01

Eye tracking has helped to understand the process of reading a word or a sentence, and this research has been very fruitful over the past decades. However, everyday real-world reading dramatically differs from this scenario: we read a newspaper on the bus, surf the Internet for movie reviews or

Virtual Worlds: Relationship between Real Life and Experience in Second Life

Science.gov (United States)

Anstadt, Scott P.; Bradley, Shannon; Burnette, Ashley; Medley, Lesley L.

2013-01-01

Due to the unique applications of virtual reality in many modern contexts, Second Life (SL) offers inimitable opportunities for research and exploration and experiential learning as part of a distance learning curriculum assignment. A review of current research regarding SL examined real world social influences in online interactions and what the…

Software architecture for a multi-purpose real-time control unit for research purposes

Science.gov (United States)

Epple, S.; Jung, R.; Jalba, K.; Nasui, V.

2017-05-01

A new, freely programmable, scalable control system for academic research purposes was developed. The intention was, to have a control unit capable of handling multiple PT1000 temperature sensors at reasonable accuracy and temperature range, as well as digital input signals and providing powerful output signals. To take full advantage of the system, control-loops are run in real time. The whole eight bit system with very limited memory runs independently of a personal computer. The two on board RS232 connectors allow to connect further units or to connect other equipment, as required in real time. This paper describes the software architecture for the third prototype that now provides stable measurements and an improvement in accuracy compared to the previous designs. As test case a thermal solar system to produce hot tap water and assist heating in a single-family house was implemented. The solar fluid pump was power-controlled and several temperatures at different points in the hydraulic system were measured and used in the control algorithms. The software architecture proved suitable to test several different control strategies and their corresponding algorithms for the thermal solar system.

Real-world experimentation of distributed DSA network algorithms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tonelli, Oscar; Berardinelli, Gilberto; Tavares, Fernando Menezes Leitão

2013-01-01

such as a dynamic propagation environment, human presence impact and terminals mobility. This chapter focuses on the practical aspects related to the real world-experimentation with distributed DSA network algorithms over a testbed network. Challenges and solutions are extensively discussed, from the testbed design......The problem of spectrum scarcity in uncoordinated and/or heterogeneous wireless networks is the key aspect driving the research in the field of flexible management of frequency resources. In particular, distributed dynamic spectrum access (DSA) algorithms enable an efficient sharing...... to the setup of experiments. A practical example of experimentation process with a DSA algorithm is also provided....

Automatic guidance of attention during real-world visual search.

Science.gov (United States)

Seidl-Rathkopf, Katharina N; Turk-Browne, Nicholas B; Kastner, Sabine

2015-08-01

Looking for objects in cluttered natural environments is a frequent task in everyday life. This process can be difficult, because the features, locations, and times of appearance of relevant objects often are not known in advance. Thus, a mechanism by which attention is automatically biased toward information that is potentially relevant may be helpful. We tested for such a mechanism across five experiments by engaging participants in real-world visual search and then assessing attentional capture for information that was related to the search set but was otherwise irrelevant. Isolated objects captured attention while preparing to search for objects from the same category embedded in a scene, as revealed by lower detection performance (Experiment 1A). This capture effect was driven by a central processing bottleneck rather than the withdrawal of spatial attention (Experiment 1B), occurred automatically even in a secondary task (Experiment 2A), and reflected enhancement of matching information rather than suppression of nonmatching information (Experiment 2B). Finally, attentional capture extended to objects that were semantically associated with the target category (Experiment 3). We conclude that attention is efficiently drawn towards a wide range of information that may be relevant for an upcoming real-world visual search. This mechanism may be adaptive, allowing us to find information useful for our behavioral goals in the face of uncertainty.

Automatic guidance of attention during real-world visual search

Science.gov (United States)

Seidl-Rathkopf, Katharina N.; Turk-Browne, Nicholas B.; Kastner, Sabine

2015-01-01

Looking for objects in cluttered natural environments is a frequent task in everyday life. This process can be difficult, as the features, locations, and times of appearance of relevant objects are often not known in advance. A mechanism by which attention is automatically biased toward information that is potentially relevant may thus be helpful. Here we tested for such a mechanism across five experiments by engaging participants in real-world visual search and then assessing attentional capture for information that was related to the search set but was otherwise irrelevant. Isolated objects captured attention while preparing to search for objects from the same category embedded in a scene, as revealed by lower detection performance (Experiment 1A). This capture effect was driven by a central processing bottleneck rather than the withdrawal of spatial attention (Experiment 1B), occurred automatically even in a secondary task (Experiment 2A), and reflected enhancement of matching information rather than suppression of non-matching information (Experiment 2B). Finally, attentional capture extended to objects that were semantically associated with the target category (Experiment 3). We conclude that attention is efficiently drawn towards a wide range of information that may be relevant for an upcoming real-world visual search. This mechanism may be adaptive, allowing us to find information useful for our behavioral goals in the face of uncertainty. PMID:25898897

A framework for software fault tolerance in real-time systems

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, T.; Knight, J. C.

1983-01-01

A classification scheme for errors and a technique for the provision of software fault tolerance in cyclic real-time systems is presented. The technique requires that the process structure of a system be represented by a synchronization graph which is used by an executive as a specification of the relative times at which they will communicate during execution. Communication between concurrent processes is severely limited and may only take place between processes engaged in an exchange. A history of error occurrences is maintained by an error handler. When an error is detected, the error handler classifies it using the error history information and then initiates appropriate recovery action.

Distributed Arithmetic for Efficient Base-Band Processing in Real-Time GNSS Software Receivers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grégoire Waelchli

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The growing market of GNSS capable mobile devices is driving the interest of GNSS software solutions, as they can share many system resources (processor, memory, reducing both the size and the cost of their integration. Indeed, with the increasing performance of modern processors, it becomes now feasible to implement in software a multichannel GNSS receiver operating in real time. However, a major issue with this approach is the large computing resources required for the base-band processing, in particular for the correlation operations. Therefore, new algorithms need to be developed in order to reduce the overall complexity of the receiver architecture. Towards that aim, this paper first introduces the challenges of the software implementation of a GPS receiver, with a main focus given to the base-band processing and correlation operations. It then describes the already existing solutions and, from this, introduces a new algorithm based on distributed arithmetic.

A Padawan Programmer's Guide to Developing Software Libraries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yurkovich, James T.; Yurkovich, Benjamin J.; Dräger, Andreas

2017-01-01

/Shiny, that make it easier to develop scientific software and by open-source licenses that make it easier to release software. But how do you build a software library that people will use? And what characteristics do the best libraries have that make them enduringly popular? Here, we provide a reference guide......With the rapid adoption of computational tools in the life sciences, scientists are taking on the challenge of developing their own software libraries and releasing them for public use. This trend is being accelerated by popular technologies and platforms, such as GitHub, Jupyter, R......, based on our own experiences, for developing software libraries along with real-world examples to help provide context for scientists who are learning about these concepts for the first time. While we can only scratch the surface of these topics, we hope that this article will act as a guide...

A System for Automatic Detection of Partially Occluded Objects from Real-World Images

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Neskovic, Predrag; Wu, Liang; Cooper, Leon N

2006-01-01

In this work we consider the Bayesian Integrate And Shift (BIAS) model for learning object categories and test its performance on learning and recognizing different object categories from real-world images...

Development of real time system imaging software for the protection of plasma facing components(PFCs) in Wendelstein 7-X

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ali, Adnan; Jakubowski, Marcin; Sunn Pedersen, Thomas; Rodatos, Alexander [Max-Planck-Institute for Plasma Physics, Greifswald (Germany); Greuner, Henri [Max-Planck-Institute for Plasma Physics, Garching (Germany)

2016-07-01

One of the main aims of Wendelstein 7-X, an advanced stellarator in Greifswald, is the investigation of quasi-steady state operation of magnetic fusion devices, for which power exhaust is a very important issue. The predominant fraction of the energy lost from the confined plasma region will be removed by 10 so-called island divertors, which can sustain up to 10 MW/Sq-m. In order to protect the divertor elements from overheating and to monitor power deposition onto the divertor elements, 10 state-of-the-art infrared endoscopes will be installed at W7-X and software is under development for real-time analysis of automatic detection of the hot spots and other abnormal events. The pre-defined algorithms designed for early detection of defects e.g. hotspots, surface layers and delaminations during the discharge are being implemented into the software acquiring the images from the infrared cameras and broadcast them to the main Discharge Control System(DCS). This allows for automatic control of the scenario of the discharge in order to assure safe operation of W7-X. The first online tests of the software will soon be performed at GLADIS in Garching.

Designing design exercises – from theory to creativity and real-world use

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Kotze, P

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses a framework for design exercises for interaction design and HCI based on two theoretical frameworks and a set of knowledge transformers. The model scope design exercises on a continuum ranging from creativity to real-world use...

Analysis and optimization techniques for real-time streaming image processing software on general purpose systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Westmijze, Mark

2018-01-01

Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) Chip Multi-Processor (CMP) systems are for cost reasons often used in industry for soft real-time stream processing. COTS CMP systems typically have a low timing predictability, which makes it difficult to develop software applications for these systems with tight

Effects of an Online Rational Emotive Curriculum on Primary School Students' Tendencies for Online and Real-World Aggression

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Eric Zhi-Feng; Ho, H. C.; Song, Y. J.

2011-01-01

This study investigated the relationship between online and real-world aggressive behavior among primary school students as well as the effects of an online rational emotive curriculum on reducing the tendency of students to display aggression online and in the real-world. We developed an online information literacy course integrated with rational…

Application of Ion Chromatography to the Investigation of Real-World Samples

Science.gov (United States)

Whelan, Rebecca J.; Hannon, Theresa E.; Zare, Richard N.

2004-01-01

The use of ion chromatography (IC) as a means to teach important analytical concepts while giving the students a valuable opportunity to identify and investigate a real-world system of interest to them is described. A single IC apparatus can be tailored for different classes of analyses by the selection of different column-eluent combinations.

Certification of digital system software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Waclo, J.; Cook, B.; Adomaitis, D.

1991-01-01

The activities involved in the successful application of digital systems to Nuclear Protection functions is not achieved through happenstance. At Westinghouse there has been a longstanding program to utilize digital state of the art technology for protection system advancement. Thereby gaining the advantages of increased system reliability, performance, ease of operation and reduced maintenance costs. This paper describes the Westinghouse background and experience in the safety system software development process, including Verification and Validation, and its application to protection system qualification and the successful use for licensing the Eagle 21 Digital Process Protection System Upgrade. In addition, the lessons learned from this experience are discussed from the perspective of improving the development process through applying feedback of the measurements made on the process and the software product quality. The goal of this process optimization is to produce the highest possible software quality while recognizing the real world constraints of available resources, project schedule and the regulatory policies that are customary in the nuclear industry

The Best of All Worlds: Immersive Interfaces for Art Education in Virtual and Real World Teaching and Learning Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Grenfell, Janette

2013-01-01

Selected ubiquitous technologies encourage collaborative participation between higher education students and educators within a virtual socially networked e-learning landscape. Multiple modes of teaching and learning, ranging from real world experiences, to text and digital images accessed within the Deakin studies online learning management…

Real time software for the control and monitoring of DIII-D system interlocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Broesch, J.D.; Penaflor, B.G.; Coon, R.M.; Harris, J.J.; Scoville, J.T.

1996-10-01

This paper describes the real time, multi-tasking, multi-user software and communications of the E-Power Supply System Integrated Controller (EPSSIC) for the DIII-D tokamak. EPSSIC performs the DIII-D system wide go/no-go determination for the plasma sequencing. This paper discusses the data module handling, task work load balancing, and communications requirements. Operational experience with the new EPSSIC and recent improvements to this system are also described

Cars and Kinetic Energy--Some Simple Physics with Real-World Relevance

Science.gov (United States)

Parthasarathy, Raghuveer

2012-01-01

Understanding energy usage is crucial to understanding modern civilization, as well as many of the challenges it faces. Energy-related issues also offer real-world examples of important physical concepts, and as such have been the focus of several articles in "The Physics Teacher" in the past few decades (e.g., Refs. 1-5, noted further below).…

Towards Real-time, On-board, Hardware-Supported Sensor and Software Health Management for Unmanned Aerial Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Schumann, Johann; Rozier, Kristin Y.; Reinbacher, Thomas; Mengshoel, Ole J.; Mbaya, Timmy; Ippolito, Corey

2013-01-01

Unmanned aerial systems (UASs) can only be deployed if they can effectively complete their missions and respond to failures and uncertain environmental conditions while maintaining safety with respect to other aircraft as well as humans and property on the ground. In this paper, we design a real-time, on-board system health management (SHM) capability to continuously monitor sensors, software, and hardware components for detection and diagnosis of failures and violations of safety or performance rules during the flight of a UAS. Our approach to SHM is three-pronged, providing: (1) real-time monitoring of sensor and/or software signals; (2) signal analysis, preprocessing, and advanced on the- fly temporal and Bayesian probabilistic fault diagnosis; (3) an unobtrusive, lightweight, read-only, low-power realization using Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) that avoids overburdening limited computing resources or costly re-certification of flight software due to instrumentation. Our implementation provides a novel approach of combining modular building blocks, integrating responsive runtime monitoring of temporal logic system safety requirements with model-based diagnosis and Bayesian network-based probabilistic analysis. We demonstrate this approach using actual data from the NASA Swift UAS, an experimental all-electric aircraft.

Flexible software architecture for user-interface and machine control in laboratory automation.

Science.gov (United States)

Arutunian, E B; Meldrum, D R; Friedman, N A; Moody, S E

1998-10-01

We describe a modular, layered software architecture for automated laboratory instruments. The design consists of a sophisticated user interface, a machine controller and multiple individual hardware subsystems, each interacting through a client-server architecture built entirely on top of open Internet standards. In our implementation, the user-interface components are built as Java applets that are downloaded from a server integrated into the machine controller. The user-interface client can thereby provide laboratory personnel with a familiar environment for experiment design through a standard World Wide Web browser. Data management and security are seamlessly integrated at the machine-controller layer using QNX, a real-time operating system. This layer also controls hardware subsystems through a second client-server interface. This architecture has proven flexible and relatively easy to implement and allows users to operate laboratory automation instruments remotely through an Internet connection. The software architecture was implemented and demonstrated on the Acapella, an automated fluid-sample-processing system that is under development at the University of Washington.

Utilities pull together to design latest storm management software

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wildman, T.; Ritchie, I.

2003-04-01

Development of Outage Mitigation and Recovery software by the Electric Power Research Institute with the support of cooperating electric utilities is discussed. The software is designed to aid utilities in their resource allocation and mutual assistance activities during recovery from major outages cause by natural or man-made disasters. The software is designed to operate in conjunction with major commercial outage systems, to add significant new functionality not available in existing systems. The new software module, called emPower, was actually developed by LeT Systems, a world leader in the design, development and deployment of mission critical e-business-based, real-time outage, network and workforce management solutions for the utility sector. The software is a real-time, stand-alone, web-based program built around advanced intelligence and robust algorithms, designed to interface easily and cleanly with embedded outage mitigation and recovery systems. emPower provides extensive procedural and logistical support to successfully integrate crews and equipment, and automatically assigns tasks and schedules them in accordance with defined restoration goals and priorities. emPower also tracks all activities and generates proper reports for internal and external agencies, among them utility management, police, government departments, media, medical facilities, and customers.

Software Development Technologies for Reactive, Real-Time, and Hybrid Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Manna, Zohar

1996-01-01

The research is directed towards the design and implementation of a comprehensive deductive environment for the development of high-assurance systems, especially reactive (concurrent, real-time, and hybrid) systems. Reactive systems maintain an ongoing interaction with their environment, and are among the most difficult to design and verify. The project aims to provide engineers with a wide variety of tools within a single, general, formal framework in which the tools will be most effective. The entire development process is considered, including the construction, transformation, validation, verification, debugging, and maintenance of computer systems. The goal is to automate the process as much as possible and reduce the errors that pervade hardware and software development.

REAL TIME MICRODISPLACEMENTS TESTING BY OPTO-DIGITAL HOLOGRAPHIC INTERFEROMETRY TECHNIQUE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L BOUAMAMA

2007-12-01

Since all the process is controlled numerically, it is possible to follow in real time using the holographic interferometry techniques, double exposure, real time or time average, any changes in the object under study and to start and stop the process at any time by adequate software. This can be done by subtracting a reference image by suitable software directly on the CCD camera. We show also, the ability of the technique to study in real time all evolutional phenomena.

Maximize Your Investment 10 Key Strategies for Effective Packaged Software Implementations

CERN Document Server

Beaubouef, Grady Brett

2009-01-01

This is a handbook covering ten principles for packaged software implementations that project managers, business owners, and IT developers should pay attention to. The book also has practical real-world coverage including a sample agenda for conducting business solution modeling, customer case studies, and a road map to implement guiding principles. This book is aimed at enterprise architects, development leads, project managers, business systems analysts, business systems owners, and anyone who wants to implement packaged software effectively. If you are a customer looking to implement COTS s

Teaching Real-World Applications of Business Statistics Using Communication to Scaffold Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Gareth P.; Jones, Stacey; Bean, John C.

2015-01-01

Our assessment research suggests that quantitative business courses that rely primarily on algorithmic problem solving may not produce the deep learning required for addressing real-world business problems. This article illustrates a strategy, supported by recent learning theory, for promoting deep learning by moving students gradually from…

Bringing the Real World in: Reflection on Building a Virtual Learning Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Mundkur, Anuradha; Ellickson, Cara

2012-01-01

We reflect on translating participatory and experiential learning methodologies into an online teaching environment through a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) that simulates the "real-world" contexts of international development in order to develop an applied critical understanding of gender analysis and gender mainstreaming. Rather than being…

Incidence of real-world automotive parent and halogenated PAH in urban atmosphere.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Pan-Pan; Zhao, Yi-Bo; Ni, Hong-Gang

2018-06-01

This study reports results from a tunnel experiment impact of real-world traffic-related particle and gas parent and halogenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs and HPAHs) on urban air. The traffic related emission characteristics and subsequent environmental behavior of these compounds were investigated. To understand the significance of real-world transport emissions to the urban air, traffic-related mass emissions of PAHs and HPAHs were estimated based on measured emission factors. According to our results, PAHs and HPAHs emissions via particulate phase were greater than those via gaseous phase; particles in 2.1-3.3 μm size fraction, have the major contribution to particulate PAHs and HPAHs emissions. Over all, contribution of traffic-related emission of PAHs (only ∼3% of the total PAHs emission in China) is an overstated source of PAHs pollution in China. Actually, exhaust pipe emission contributed much less than the total traffic-related emission of pollutants. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Brain-to-Brain Synchrony Tracks Real-World Dynamic Group Interactions in the Classroom.

Science.gov (United States)

Dikker, Suzanne; Wan, Lu; Davidesco, Ido; Kaggen, Lisa; Oostrik, Matthias; McClintock, James; Rowland, Jess; Michalareas, Georgios; Van Bavel, Jay J; Ding, Mingzhou; Poeppel, David

2017-05-08

The human brain has evolved for group living [1]. Yet we know so little about how it supports dynamic group interactions that the study of real-world social exchanges has been dubbed the "dark matter of social neuroscience" [2]. Recently, various studies have begun to approach this question by comparing brain responses of multiple individuals during a variety of (semi-naturalistic) tasks [3-15]. These experiments reveal how stimulus properties [13], individual differences [14], and contextual factors [15] may underpin similarities and differences in neural activity across people. However, most studies to date suffer from various limitations: they often lack direct face-to-face interaction between participants, are typically limited to dyads, do not investigate social dynamics across time, and, crucially, they rarely study social behavior under naturalistic circumstances. Here we extend such experimentation drastically, beyond dyads and beyond laboratory walls, to identify neural markers of group engagement during dynamic real-world group interactions. We used portable electroencephalogram (EEG) to simultaneously record brain activity from a class of 12 high school students over the course of a semester (11 classes) during regular classroom activities (Figures 1A-1C; Supplemental Experimental Procedures, section S1). A novel analysis technique to assess group-based neural coherence demonstrates that the extent to which brain activity is synchronized across students predicts both student class engagement and social dynamics. This suggests that brain-to-brain synchrony is a possible neural marker for dynamic social interactions, likely driven by shared attention mechanisms. This study validates a promising new method to investigate the neuroscience of group interactions in ecologically natural settings. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Data Modeling for Mobile Services in the Real World

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Christian Søndergaard; Pedersen, Torben Bach; Speicys, L.

2003-01-01

Research contributions on data modeling, data structures, query processing, and indexing for mobile services may have an impact in the longer term, but each contribution typically offers an isolated solution to one small part of the practical problem of delivering mobile services in the real world....... In contrast, this paper describes holistic concepts and techniques for mobile data modeling that are readily applicable in practice. Focus is on services to be delivered to mobile users, such as route guidance, point-of-interest search, road pricing, parking payment, traffic monitoring, etc. While geo...

Exchange Server 2010 Administration Real World Skills for MCITP Certification and Beyond (Exams 70-662 and 70-663)

CERN Document Server

Stidley, Joel

2010-01-01

A soup-to-nuts guide for messaging administrators. Exchange Server is the world's leading e-mail server software. Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 have made changes that messaging administrators need to know and understand in their daily work with Exchange Server. This Sybex guide focuses on the skills, concepts, technologies, and potential pitfalls that admins in the trenches need to understand. It also provides the information they need to earn MCITP certification.: Updates in Exchange Server, the world's leading e-mail server software, require messaging administrators to update their knowledge

European type-approval test procedure for evaporative emissions from passenger cars against real-world mobility data from two Italian provinces.

Science.gov (United States)

Martini, Giorgio; Paffumi, Elena; De Gennaro, Michele; Mellios, Giorgos

2014-07-15

This paper presents an evaluation of the European type-approval test procedure for evaporative emissions from passenger cars based on real-world mobility data. The study relies on two large databases of driving patterns from conventional fuel vehicles collected by means of on-board GPS systems in the Italian provinces of Modena and Firenze. Approximately 28,000 vehicles were monitored, corresponding to approximately 36 million kilometres over a period of one month. The driving pattern of each vehicle was processed to derive the relation between trip length and parking duration, and the rate of occurrence of parking events against multiple evaporative cycles, defined on the basis of the type-approval test procedure as 12-hour diurnal time windows. These results are used as input for an emission simulation model, which calculates the total evaporative emissions given the characteristics of the evaporative emission control system of the vehicle and the ambient temperature conditions. The results suggest that the evaporative emission control system, fitted to the vehicles from Euro 3 step and optimised for the current type-approval test procedure, could not efficiently work under real-world conditions, resulting in evaporative emissions well above the type-approval limit, especially for small size vehicles and warm climate conditions. This calls for a revision of the type-approval test procedure in order to address real-world evaporative emissions. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

A Process For Performance Evaluation Of Real-Time Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew J. Kornecki

2003-12-01

Full Text Available Real-time developers and engineers must not only meet the system functional requirements, but also the stringent timing requirements. One of the critical decisions leading to meeting these timing requirements is the selection of an operating system under which the software will be developed and run. Although there is ample documentation on real-time systems performance and evaluation, little can be found that combines such information into an efficient process for use by developers. As the software industry moves towards clearly defined processes, creation of appropriate guidelines describing a process for performance evaluation of real-time system would greatly benefit real-time developers. This technology transition research focuses on developing such a process. PROPERT (PROcess for Performance Evaluation of Real Time systems - the process described in this paper - is based upon established techniques for evaluating real-time systems. It organizes already existing real-time performance criteria and assessment techniques in a manner consistent with a well-formed process, based on the Personal Software Process concepts.

Real World NET, C#, and Silverlight Indispensible Experiences from 15 MVPs

CERN Document Server

Evjen, Bill; Balassy, Gyorgy; Gleeren, Gill; Giard, David; Golesh, Alex; Grossnicklaus, Kevin; Jenkins, Caleb; Juday, Jeffrey; Lele, Vishwas; Likness, Jeremy; Millett, Scott; Nagel, Christian; Yöndem , Daron; Weyer, Christian

2011-01-01

A team of MVP authors guides you through the .NET 4 Framework Written by a group of experienced MVPs, this unparalleled book delves into the intricate-and often daunting-world of .NET 4. Each author draws from a particular area of expertise to provide invaluable information on using the various .NET 4, C# 4, Silverlight 4, and Visual Studio tools in the real world. The authors break down the vast .NET 4 Framework into easily digestible portions to offer you a strong foundation on what makes .NET such a popular and successful framework for building a wide range of solutions.Breaks down the .NET

Enhance Learning on Software Project Management through a Role-Play Game in a Virtual World

Science.gov (United States)

Maratou, Vicky; Chatzidaki, Eleni; Xenos, Michalis

2016-01-01

This article presents a role-play game for software project management (SPM) in a three-dimensional online multiuser virtual world. The Opensimulator platform is used for the creation of an immersive virtual environment that facilitates students' collaboration and realistic interaction, in order to manage unexpected events occurring during the…

How to do Research in the Real world: What is to know and Who is to gain?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Villumsen, Anne Marie Anker

2016-01-01

a specific line of research. This, again, requires time. In the presentation, I will propose new concepts concerning real world research and knowledge production. The presentation will be based on data from a collaborative organizational field study. The aim of the study was establish a coherent practice...... of multidisciplinary collaboration between day-care and social services to support and aid children and families at risk. First, I propose the concepts of a) Development through Research and b) Research through Development. Both concepts are inter-dependent. They share development as a goal and both require applying......Real world research: The need for different types of knowledge requires two knowledge production processes In real world research, there are dilemmas. One significant dilemma is time. The field of practice needs a type of knowledge that is produced quickly and can be applied immediately...

Network resilience to real-world disasters: Eyjafjallajökull and 9/11

Science.gov (United States)

Woolley, Olivia; Thiemann, Christian; Grady, Daniel; Brockmann, Dirk

2011-03-01

We investigate the resilience of the the world-wide air transportation network (WAN) to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the recent eruption of the volcano Eyjafjallajökull. Although both disasters caused wide-spread disruption, the number of airports that were closed and the volume of interrupted traffic were well below the percolation threshold predicted by the classical theory. In order to quantify and visualize network deformation before breakdown, we introduce a framework based on the increase in shortest-path distance and homogenization of shortest-path structure. These real-world disasters are a new type of disruption because the removal of all vertices (airports) is geographically compact. Our framework incorporates the dual perspective of individual airports and geopolitical regions to capture how the impact interacts with the sub-network structure.We find that real-world events have an impact signature which is qualitatively different from that of random or high-centrality attacks. Furthermore, we find that the network is more resilient to the 9/11 disaster, although it removed more airports and traffic than the volcanic ash-cloud. This is due to the network roles of Europe and North America. We discuss how regional roles influence resilience to a region's removal.

Integrating open-source software applications to build molecular dynamics systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Bruce M; Predecki, Paul K; Kumosa, Maciej

2014-04-05

Three open-source applications, NanoEngineer-1, packmol, and mis2lmp are integrated using an open-source file format to quickly create molecular dynamics (MD) cells for simulation. The three software applications collectively make up the open-source software (OSS) suite known as MD Studio (MDS). The software is validated through software engineering practices and is verified through simulation of the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-a and isophorone diamine (DGEBA/IPD) system. Multiple simulations are run using the MDS software to create MD cells, and the data generated are used to calculate density, bulk modulus, and glass transition temperature of the DGEBA/IPD system. Simulation results compare well with published experimental and numerical results. The MDS software prototype confirms that OSS applications can be analyzed against real-world research requirements and integrated to create a new capability. Copyright © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Drawing the Ideal World and Real World: A Study of Lesbian, Labour and Social Inclusion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henrique Luiz Caproni Neto

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we analyze the experience of lesbian women in Juiz de Fora on the scope of work, society and the individual, from drawings made by them. Discussed the experience of sexuality and lesbophobia as aspects present in their lives and at work, considering that fall into a heteronormative context. So, we conducted a qualitative study with the preparation of drawings and interviews that allowed the construction of categories: being lesbian, inclusion and social integration, personal and professional development, and real world and the ideal world. These drawings are shown as a rich and interesting technique to provide access to their subjective and symbolic dimensions as to their social and work experiences. Finally, we advocate a reflective and humanistic stance both in society and in organizations about the socially constructed and valued patterns that can marginalize or stigmatize those fleeing them.

Experiences in Automation and Control in Engineering Education with Real-world Based Educational Kits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Filomena SOARES

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The well-known paradigm learning by doing is particularly important in engineering courses. Still, in some situations, there is a lack of real-world didactic workbenches due to the absence of financial support, human resources or maintenances restrictions. The authors of this paper have been overcome this difficulty by designing and implementing virtual and remote laboratories in Process Monitoring, Control and Automation teaching applied to Mechanical, Electronics and Biomedical Engineering. The goal of this paper is to present the work developed regarding the real-world workbenches to be used in automation and control practical classes as an integrated virtual and remote laboratory. Some important points include the modelling and control of Discrete Event Systems, Continuous Systems and Real-Time Systems as well as Industrial Control Networks. The physical parts were developed and connected, in a closed-loop configuration, with the respective controllers. The developed kits and systems were geared towards the engineering students’ needs. This integrated approach is very useful for providing students with a global set of skills in this domain. Quantitative and qualitative studies are continuously applied not only for obtaining students feedback but also to gather information to devise strategies for future virtual and remote laboratory applications development suitable for the target public. The positive results achieved so far are very encouraging attesting its efficiency not only in terms of students’ learning but also as a first contact to face real-world problems. The less positive identified point is concerned with technical aspects.

Interactive reconstructions of cranial 3D implants under MeVisLab as an alternative to commercial planning software.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan Egger

Full Text Available In this publication, the interactive planning and reconstruction of cranial 3D Implants under the medical prototyping platform MeVisLab as alternative to commercial planning software is introduced. In doing so, a MeVisLab prototype consisting of a customized data-flow network and an own C++ module was set up. As a result, the Computer-Aided Design (CAD software prototype guides a user through the whole workflow to generate an implant. Therefore, the workflow begins with loading and mirroring the patients head for an initial curvature of the implant. Then, the user can perform an additional Laplacian smoothing, followed by a Delaunay triangulation. The result is an aesthetic looking and well-fitting 3D implant, which can be stored in a CAD file format, e.g. STereoLithography (STL, for 3D printing. The 3D printed implant can finally be used for an in-depth pre-surgical evaluation or even as a real implant for the patient. In a nutshell, our research and development shows that a customized MeVisLab software prototype can be used as an alternative to complex commercial planning software, which may also not be available in every clinic. Finally, not to conform ourselves directly to available commercial software and look for other options that might improve the workflow.

Interactive reconstructions of cranial 3D implants under MeVisLab as an alternative to commercial planning software

Science.gov (United States)

Egger, Jan; Gall, Markus; Tax, Alois; Ücal, Muammer; Zefferer, Ulrike; Li, Xing; von Campe, Gord; Schäfer, Ute; Schmalstieg, Dieter; Chen, Xiaojun

2017-01-01

In this publication, the interactive planning and reconstruction of cranial 3D Implants under the medical prototyping platform MeVisLab as alternative to commercial planning software is introduced. In doing so, a MeVisLab prototype consisting of a customized data-flow network and an own C++ module was set up. As a result, the Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software prototype guides a user through the whole workflow to generate an implant. Therefore, the workflow begins with loading and mirroring the patients head for an initial curvature of the implant. Then, the user can perform an additional Laplacian smoothing, followed by a Delaunay triangulation. The result is an aesthetic looking and well-fitting 3D implant, which can be stored in a CAD file format, e.g. STereoLithography (STL), for 3D printing. The 3D printed implant can finally be used for an in-depth pre-surgical evaluation or even as a real implant for the patient. In a nutshell, our research and development shows that a customized MeVisLab software prototype can be used as an alternative to complex commercial planning software, which may also not be available in every clinic. Finally, not to conform ourselves directly to available commercial software and look for other options that might improve the workflow. PMID:28264062

Real versus tariff liberalization: a welfare comparison under monopolistic competition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schröder, Philipp

2004-01-01

A distinction between real trade costs (e.g. administration, border formalities, transport costs) and tariff costs is introduced into a standard monopolistic competition trade model. Driven by the number of firms, welfare under real trade barriers turns out to be lower than under an equivalent...

The real-world effectiveness of vedolizumab on intestinal and articular outcomes in inflammatory bowel diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Macaluso, Fabio Salvatore; Orlando, Rosalba; Fries, Walter; Scolaro, Mariangela; Magnano, Antonio; Pluchino, Dario; Cappello, Maria; Morreale, Gaetano Cristian; Siringo, Sebastiano; Privitera, Antonino Carlo; Ferracane, Concetta; Belluardo, Nunzio; Alberghina, Nadia; Ventimiglia, Marco; Rizzuto, Giulia; Renna, Sara; Cottone, Mario; Orlando, Ambrogio

2018-03-01

The effectiveness of vedolizumab in real-world practice is under evaluation, while its role in inflammatory bowel disease-associated spondyloarthritis is still unclear. To report real-world data about the effectiveness of vedolizumab on intestinal and articular symptoms after 10 and 22 weeks of treatment. Web-based data from the cohort of the Sicilian Network for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (SN-IBD) were extracted to perform a prospective multicentre observational study. 163 patients (84 with Crohn's disease and 79 with ulcerative colitis) were included. At week 10, a steroid-free remission was achieved in 71 patients (43.6%), while at week 22 a steroid-free remission was obtained in 40.8% of patients. A response on articular symptoms was reported after 10 weeks of treatment in 17 out of 43 (39.5%) patients with active spondyloarthritis at baseline, and in 10 out of 22 (45.4%) patients at week 22. The only factor associated with articular response was the coexistence of clinical benefit on intestinal symptoms (at week 10: OR 8.471, p = 0.05; at week 22: OR 5.600, p = 0.08). Vedolizumab showed good effectiveness after 10 and 22 weeks of treatment. A subset of patients reported improvement also on articular symptoms, probably as a consequence of the concomitant control of gut inflammation. Copyright © 2018 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Multilingual children between real and imaginary worlds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Laursen, Helle Pia; Kolstrup, Kirsten Lundgaard

2017-01-01

This article analyzes how a group of multilingual children in their early adolescence use various forms of language play and position themselves symbolically through involvement in signifying practices. By developing a conceptual framework that combines insights on language play (Cook 2000......) and the signifying self (Kramsch 2009), it demonstrates how the children as sign makers and symbolic subjects (re)signify their own learning space. The analysis reveals how, during a reading and joint text construction activity in Danish, they explore the symbolic possibilities of signs and subjectivities, while...... moving in and out of the text and back and forth between imagined and real worlds. These findings illustrate how the children’s interest both shapes their playful interaction and takes shape through it. It furthermore shows how language play contributes to paving the way for a resignification...

A Padawan Programmer's Guide to Developing Software Libraries.

Science.gov (United States)

Yurkovich, James T; Yurkovich, Benjamin J; Dräger, Andreas; Palsson, Bernhard O; King, Zachary A

2017-11-22

With the rapid adoption of computational tools in the life sciences, scientists are taking on the challenge of developing their own software libraries and releasing them for public use. This trend is being accelerated by popular technologies and platforms, such as GitHub, Jupyter, R/Shiny, that make it easier to develop scientific software and by open-source licenses that make it easier to release software. But how do you build a software library that people will use? And what characteristics do the best libraries have that make them enduringly popular? Here, we provide a reference guide, based on our own experiences, for developing software libraries along with real-world examples to help provide context for scientists who are learning about these concepts for the first time. While we can only scratch the surface of these topics, we hope that this article will act as a guide for scientists who want to write great software that is built to last. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Real-Time Capable Software-Defined Receiver Using GPU for Adaptive Anti-Jam GPS Sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Seo, Jiwon; Chen, Yu-Hsuan; De Lorenzo, David S.; Lo, Sherman; Enge, Per; Akos, Dennis; Lee, Jiyun

2011-01-01

Due to their weak received signal power, Global Positioning System (GPS) signals are vulnerable to radio frequency interference. Adaptive beam and null steering of the gain pattern of a GPS antenna array can significantly increase the resistance of GPS sensors to signal interference and jamming. Since adaptive array processing requires intensive computational power, beamsteering GPS receivers were usually implemented using hardware such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). However, a software implementation using general-purpose processors is much more desirable because of its flexibility and cost effectiveness. This paper presents a GPS software-defined radio (SDR) with adaptive beamsteering capability for anti-jam applications. The GPS SDR design is based on an optimized desktop parallel processing architecture using a quad-core Central Processing Unit (CPU) coupled with a new generation Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) having massively parallel processors. This GPS SDR demonstrates sufficient computational capability to support a four-element antenna array and future GPS L5 signal processing in real time. After providing the details of our design and optimization schemes for future GPU-based GPS SDR developments, the jamming resistance of our GPS SDR under synthetic wideband jamming is presented. Since the GPS SDR uses commercial-off-the-shelf hardware and processors, it can be easily adopted in civil GPS applications requiring anti-jam capabilities. PMID:22164116

A Real-Time Capable Software-Defined Receiver Using GPU for Adaptive Anti-Jam GPS Sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dennis Akos

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Due to their weak received signal power, Global Positioning System (GPS signals are vulnerable to radio frequency interference. Adaptive beam and null steering of the gain pattern of a GPS antenna array can significantly increase the resistance of GPS sensors to signal interference and jamming. Since adaptive array processing requires intensive computational power, beamsteering GPS receivers were usually implemented using hardware such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs. However, a software implementation using general-purpose processors is much more desirable because of its flexibility and cost effectiveness. This paper presents a GPS software-defined radio (SDR with adaptive beamsteering capability for anti-jam applications. The GPS SDR design is based on an optimized desktop parallel processing architecture using a quad-core Central Processing Unit (CPU coupled with a new generation Graphics Processing Unit (GPU having massively parallel processors. This GPS SDR demonstrates sufficient computational capability to support a four-element antenna array and future GPS L5 signal processing in real time. After providing the details of our design and optimization schemes for future GPU-based GPS SDR developments, the jamming resistance of our GPS SDR under synthetic wideband jamming is presented. Since the GPS SDR uses commercial-off-the-shelf hardware and processors, it can be easily adopted in civil GPS applications requiring anti-jam capabilities.

Design, Development and Delivery of Active Learning Tools in Software Verification & Validation Education

Science.gov (United States)

Acharya, Sushil; Manohar, Priyadarshan Anant; Wu, Peter; Maxim, Bruce; Hansen, Mary

2018-01-01

Active learning tools are critical in imparting real world experiences to the students within a classroom environment. This is important because graduates are expected to develop software that meets rigorous quality standards in functional and application domains with little to no training. However, there is a well-recognized need for the…

Software takes command

CERN Document Server

Manovich, Lev

2013-01-01

Software has replaced a diverse array of physical, mechanical, and electronic technologies used before 21st century to create, store, distribute and interact with cultural artifacts. It has become our interface to the world, to others, to our memory and our imagination - a universal language through which the world speaks, and a universal engine on which the world runs. What electricity and combustion engine were to the early 20th century, software is to the early 21st century. Offering the the first theoretical and historical account of software for media authoring and its effects on the prac

Waking up from the dream of reason; Rationality in the real world

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Hezewijk, René

2007-01-01

Review Essay of: Gerd Gigerenzer, Adaptive Thinking: Rationality in the Real World. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. 344 pp. ISBN 0–19–513622–5 (hbk). Gerd Gigerenzer, Reckoning with Risk: Learning to Live with Uncertainty. London: Allen Lane/Penguin, 2002. 310 pp. ISBN 0–713–99512–2

Adapting to Change in a Master Level Real-World-Projects Capstone Course

Science.gov (United States)

Tappert, Charles C.; Stix, Allen

2012-01-01

Our mission of capstone computing courses for the past ten years has been to offer students experience with the development of real-world information technology projects. This experience has included both the hard and soft skills required for the work they could expect as industrial practitioners. Hard skills entail extending one's knowledge…

Software Epistemology

Science.gov (United States)

2016-03-01

in-vitro decision to incubate a startup, Lexumo [7], which is developing a commercial Software as a Service ( SaaS ) vulnerability assessment...LTS Label Transition System MUSE Mining and Understanding Software Enclaves RTEMS Real-Time Executive for Multi-processor Systems SaaS Software ...as a Service SSA Static Single Assignment SWE Software Epistemology UD/DU Def-Use/Use-Def Chains (Dataflow Graph)

Temporal and kinematic variables for real-world falls harvested from lumbar sensors in the elderly population.

Science.gov (United States)

Bourke, A K; Klenk, J; Schwickert, L; Aminian, K; Ihlen, E A F; Helbostad, J L; Chiari, L; Becker, C

2015-01-01

Automatic fall detection will reduce the consequences of falls in the elderly and promote independent living, ensuring people can confidently live safely at home. Inertial sensor technology can distinguish falls from normal activities. However, fall data recorded from elderly people in real life. The FARSEEING project has compiled a database of real life falls from elderly people, to gain new knowledge about fall events. We have extracted temporal and kinematic parameters to further improve the development of fall detection algorithms. A total of 100 real-world falls were analysed. Subjects with a known fall history were recruited, inertial sensors were attached to L5 and a fall report, following a fall, was used to extract the fall signal. This data-set was examined, and variables were extracted that include upper and lower impact peak values, posture angle change during the fall and time of occurrence. These extracted parameters, can be used to inform the design of fall-detection algorithms for real-world falls detection in the elderly.

The relative importance of real-time in-cab and external feedback in managing fatigue in real-world commercial transport operations.

Science.gov (United States)

Fitzharris, Michael; Liu, Sara; Stephens, Amanda N; Lenné, Michael G

2017-05-29

Real-time driver monitoring systems represent a solution to address key behavioral risks as they occur, particularly distraction and fatigue. The efficacy of these systems in real-world settings is largely unknown. This article has three objectives: (1) to document the incidence and duration of fatigue in real-world commercial truck-driving operations, (2) to determine the reduction, if any, in the incidence of fatigue episodes associated with providing feedback, and (3) to tease apart the relative contribution of in-cab warnings from 24/7 monitoring and feedback to employers. Data collected from a commercially available in-vehicle camera-based driver monitoring system installed in a commercial truck fleet operating in Australia were analyzed. The real-time driver monitoring system makes continuous assessments of driver drowsiness based on eyelid position and other factors. Data were collected in a baseline period where no feedback was provided to drivers. Real-time feedback to drivers then occurred via in-cab auditory and haptic warnings, which were further enhanced by direct feedback by company management when fatigue events were detected by external 24/7 monitors. Fatigue incidence rates and their timing of occurrence across the three time periods were compared. Relative to no feedback being provided to drivers when fatigue events were detected, in-cab warnings resulted in a 66% reduction in fatigue events, with a 95% reduction achieved by the real-time provision of direct feedback in addition to in-cab warnings (p safety culture of the company in terms of how the information is used. Data were analysed on a per-truck trip basis, and the findings are indicative of fatigue events in a large-scale commercial transport fleet. Future research ought to account for individual driver performance, which was not possible with the available data in this retrospective analysis. Evidence that real-time driver monitoring feedback is effective in reducing fatigue events is

Exhaust particle and NOx emission performance of an SCR heavy duty truck operating in real-world conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Saari, Sampo; Karjalainen, Panu; Ntziachristos, Leonidas; Pirjola, Liisa; Matilainen, Pekka; Keskinen, Jorma; Rönkkö, Topi

2016-02-01

Particle and NOx emissions of an SCR equipped HDD truck were studied in real-world driving conditions using the "Sniffer" mobile laboratory. Real-time CO2 measurement enables emission factor calculation for NOx and particles. In this study, we compared three different emission factor calculation methods and characterised their suitability for real-world chasing experiments. The particle number emission was bimodal and dominated by the nucleation mode particles (diameter below 23 nm) having emission factor up to 1 × 1015 #/kgfuel whereas emission factor for soot (diameter above 23 nm that is consistent with the PMP standard) was typically 1 × 1014 #/kgfuel. The effect of thermodenuder on the exhaust particles indicated that the nucleation particles consisted mainly of volatile compounds, but sometimes there also existed a non-volatile core. The nucleation mode particles are not controlled by current regulations in Europe. However, these particles consistently form under atmospheric dilution in the plume of the truck and constitute a health risk for the human population that is exposed to those. Average NOx emission was 3.55 g/kWh during the test, whereas the Euro IV emission limit over transient testing is 3.5 g NOx/kWh. The on-road emission performance of the vehicle was very close to the expected levels, confirming the successful operation of the SCR system of the tested vehicle. Heavy driving conditions such as uphill driving increased both the NOx and particle number emission factors whereas the emission factor for soot particle number remains rather constant.

The 'bookshelf illusion'--a real-world Zöllner-type illusion?

Science.gov (United States)

MacLin, Otto H; Peterson, Dwight J

2010-01-01

We discovered an interesting perceptual distortion in our office where an upright lamp in front of a bookshelf was noticeably curved to form several subtle S-shaped bends. We realized that the books in the bookshelf fell in a particular manner, leaning in alternative directions, which caused the straight lamp to appear bent, creating what may be a real-world example of the Zöllner illusion. Evidence for the production of the illusion diagrammatically and an explanation for the effect are provided.

Real-time software for the COMPASS tokamak plasma control

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Valcárcel, D.F.; Duarte, A.S.; Neto, A.; Carvalho, I.S.; Carvalho, B.B.; Fernandes, H.; Sousa, J.; Sartori, F.; Janky, Filip; Cahyna, Pavel; Hron, Martin; Pánek, Radomír

2010-01-01

Roč. 85, 3-4 (2010), s. 470-473 ISSN 0920-3796. [IAEA Technical Meeting on Control, Data Acquisition and Remote Participation for Fusion Research/7th./. Aix – en – Provence, 15.06.2009-19.06.2009] Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20430508 Keywords : Real-time * ATCA * Data acquisition * Plasma control software Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 1.143, year: 2010 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V3C-4YXMP1Y-3&_user=6542793&_coverDate=07%2F31%2F2010&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000070123&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=6542793&md5=9005df0735c0dbb3a93a9c154b0d09c1&searchtype=a

Learning from Mistakes --- A Comprehensive Study on Real World Concurrency Bug Characteristics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shan Lu; Soyeon Park; Eunsoo Seo; Yuanyuan Zhou

2008-01-01

The reality of multi-core hardware has made concurrent programs pervasive. Unfortunately, writing correct concurrent programs is difficult. Addressing this challenge requires advances in multiple directions, including concurrency bug detection, concurrent program testing, concurrent programming model design, etc. Designing effective techniques in all these directions will significantly benefit from a deep understanding of real world concurrency bug characteristics. This paper provides the first (to the best of our knowledge) comprehensive real world concurrency bug characteristic study. Specifically, we have carefully examined concurrency bug patterns, manifestation, and fix strategies of 105 randomly selected real world concurrency bugs from 4 representative server and client opensource applications (MySQL, Apache, Mozilla and OpenOffice). Our study reveals several interesting findings and provides useful guidance for concurrency bug detection, testing, and concurrent programming language design. Some of our findings are as follows: (1) Around one third of the examined non-deadlock concurrency bugs are caused by violation to programmers order intentions, which may not be easily expressed via synchronization primitives like locks and transactional memories; (2) Around 34% of the examined non-deadlock concurrency bugs involve multiple variables, which are not well addressed by existing bug detection tools; (3) About 92% of the examined concurrency bugs can be reliably triggered by enforcing certain orders among no more than 4 memory accesses. This indicates that testing concurrent programs can target at exploring possible orders among every small groups of memory accesses, instead of among all memory accesses; (4) About 73% of the examined non-deadlock concurrency bugs were not fixed by simply adding or changing locks, and many of the fixes were not correct at the first try, indicating the difficulty of reasoning concurrent execution by programmers.

Students without Borders: Global Collaborative Learning Connects School to the Real World

Science.gov (United States)

Bickley, Mali; Carleton, Jim

2009-01-01

Kids can't help but get engaged when they're collaborating with peers across the globe to solve real-life problems. Global collaborative learning is about connecting students in communities of learners around the world so they can work together on projects that make a difference locally and globally. It is about building relationships and…

An accelerometry-based methodology for assessment of real-world bilateral upper extremity activity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ryan R Bailey

Full Text Available The use of both upper extremities (UE is necessary for the completion of many everyday tasks. Few clinical assessments measure the abilities of the UEs to work together; rather, they assess unilateral function and compare it between affected and unaffected UEs. Furthermore, clinical assessments are unable to measure function that occurs in the real-world, outside the clinic. This study examines the validity of an innovative approach to assess real-world bilateral UE activity using accelerometry.Seventy-four neurologically intact adults completed ten tasks (donning/doffing shoes, grooming, stacking boxes, cutting playdough, folding towels, writing, unilateral sorting, bilateral sorting, unilateral typing, and bilateral typing while wearing accelerometers on both wrists. Two variables, the Bilateral Magnitude and Magnitude Ratio, were derived from accelerometry data to distinguish between high- and low-intensity tasks, and between bilateral and unilateral tasks. Estimated energy expenditure and time spent in simultaneous UE activity for each task were also calculated.The Bilateral Magnitude distinguished between high- and low-intensity tasks, and the Magnitude Ratio distinguished between unilateral and bilateral UE tasks. The Bilateral Magnitude was strongly correlated with estimated energy expenditure (ρ = 0.74, p<0.02, and the Magnitude Ratio was strongly correlated with time spent in simultaneous UE activity (ρ = 0.93, p<0.01 across tasks.These results demonstrate face validity and construct validity of this methodology to quantify bilateral UE activity during the performance of everyday tasks performed in a laboratory setting, and can now be used to assess bilateral UE activity in real-world environments.

Intellectual Property Protection of Software – At the Crossroads of Software Patents and Open Source Software

OpenAIRE

Tantarimäki, Maria

2018-01-01

The thesis considers the intellectual property protection of software in Europe and in the US, which is increasingly important subject as the world is globalizing and digitalizing. The special nature of software has challenges the intellectual property rights. The current protection of software is based on copyright protection but in this thesis, two other options are considered: software patents and open source software. Software patents provide strong protection for software whereas the pur...

Adaptation of Control Center Software to Commerical Real-Time Display Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Collier, Mark D.

1994-01-01

NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is currently developing an enhanced Huntsville Operation Support Center (HOSC) system designed to support multiple spacecraft missions. The Enhanced HOSC is based upon a distributed computing architecture using graphic workstation hardware and industry standard software including POSIX, X Windows, Motif, TCP/IP, and ANSI C. Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) is currently developing a prototype of the Display Services application for this system. Display Services provides the capability to generate and operate real-time data-driven graphic displays. This prototype is a highly functional application designed to allow system end users to easily generate complex data-driven displays. The prototype is easy to use, flexible, highly functional, and portable. Although this prototype is being developed for NASA-MSFC, the general-purpose real-time display capability can be reused in similar mission and process control environments. This includes any environment depending heavily upon real-time data acquisition and display. Reuse of the prototype will be a straight-forward transition because the prototype is portable, is designed to add new display types easily, has a user interface which is separated from the application code, and is very independent of the specifics of NASA-MSFC's system. Reuse of this prototype in other environments is a excellent alternative to creation of a new custom application, or for environments with a large number of users, to purchasing a COTS package.

Frontal theta EEG dynamics in a real-world air traffic control task.

Science.gov (United States)

Shou, Guofa; Ding, Lei

2013-01-01

Mental workload and time-on-task effect are two major factors expediting fatigue progress, which leads to performance decline and/or failure in real-world tasks. In the present study, electroencephalography (EEG) is applied to study mental fatigue development during an air traffic control (ATC) task. Specifically, the frontal theta EEG dynamics are firstly dissolved into a unique frontal independent component (IC) through a novel time-frequency independent component analysis (tfICA) method. Then the temporal fluctuations of the identified frontal ICs every minute are compared to workload (reflected by number of clicks per minute) and time-on-task effect by correlational analysis and linear regression analysis. It is observed that the frontal theta activity significantly increase with workload augment and time-on-task. The present study demonstrates that the frontal theta EEG activity identified by tfICA method is a sensitive and reliable metric to assess mental workload and time-on-task effect in a real-world task, i.e., ATC task, at the resolution of minute(s).

Research and Realization of the HJ-1C Real-time Software Frame Synchronization Algorithm

OpenAIRE

Hou Yang-shuan; Shi Tao; Hu Yu-xin

2014-01-01

Conventional software frame synchronization methods are inefficient in processing huge continuous data without synchronization words. To improve the processing speed, a real-time synchronization algorithm is proposed based on reverse searching. Satellite data are grouped and searched in the reverse direction to avoid searching for synchronization words in huge continuous invalid data; thus, the frame synchronization speed is improved enormously. The fastest processing speed is up to 15445.9 M...

Hop, Step, Step and Jump : Towards Real-World Complexity @ Delft University of Technology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pruyt, E.; Slinger, J.H.; Van Daalen, C.; Yucel, G.; Thissen, W.A.H.

2009-01-01

This paper deals with System Dynamics education at Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands. It focuses more specifically on the quadruple jump approach towards dealing with real-world dynamic complexity. The paper starts with an overview of the System Dynamics courses, situated within the

Replacing a Hospital Information System: an example of a real-world case study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sikkel, Nicolaas; Spil, Antonius A.M.; van de Weg, R.L.W.

Real-world case studies are important to complement the academic skills and knowledge acquired by computer science students. In this paper we relate our experiences with a course specifically designed to address this issue. The objectives of the course are threefold: to train management and

Understanding the GOLD 2011 Strategy as applied to a real-world COPD population

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vestbo, J.; Vogelmeier, C.; Small, M.

2014-01-01

Study objectives: The aim of this analysis was to understand the implications of the GOLD 2011 multidimensional system for the assessment and management of COPD, using data from a real-world observational study. Methods: Data were drawn from the Adelphi Respiratory Disease Specific Programme...

Association Between NCAP Ratings and Real-World Rear Seat Occupant Risk of Injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Metzger, Kristina B; Gruschow, Siobhan; Durbin, Dennis R; Curry, Allison E

2015-01-01

Several studies have evaluated the correlation between U.S. or Euro New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) ratings and injury risk to front seat occupants, in particular driver injuries. Conversely, little is known about whether NCAP 5-star ratings predict real-world risk of injury to restrained rear seat occupants. The NHTSA has identified rear seat occupant protection as a specific area under consideration for improvements to its NCAP. In order to inform NHTSA's efforts, we examined how NCAP's current 5-star rating system predicts risk of moderate or greater injury among restrained rear seat occupants in real-world crashes. We identified crash-involved vehicles, model year 2004-2013, in NASS-CDS (2003-2012) with known make and model and nonmissing occupant information. We manually matched these vehicles to their NCAP star ratings using data on make, model, model year, body type, and other identifying information. The resultant linked NASS-CDS and NCAP database was analyzed to examine associations between vehicle ratings and rear seat occupant injury risk; risk to front seat occupants was also estimated for comparison. Data were limited to restrained occupants and occupant injuries were defined as any injury with a maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) score of 2 or greater. We linked 95% of vehicles in NASS-CDS to a specific vehicle in NCAP. The 18,218 vehicles represented an estimated 6 million vehicles with over 9 million occupants. Rear seat passengers accounted for 12.4% of restrained occupants. The risk of injury in all crashes for restrained rear seat occupants was lower in vehicles with a 5-star driver rating in frontal impact tests (1.4%) than with 4 or fewer stars (2.6%, P =.015); results were similar for the frontal impact passenger rating (1.3% vs. 2.4%, P =.024). Conversely, side impact driver and passenger crash tests were not associated with rear seat occupant injury risk (driver test: 1.7% for 5-star vs. 1.8% for 1-4 stars; passenger test: 1.6% for 5

[Characteristics and drug analysis associated with vertigo disease in real world].

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Qian; Li, Yuan-Yuan; Xie, Yan-Ming; Yang, Wei; Zhao, Wei; Zhuang, Yan; Wang, Yong-Yan

2014-09-01

To explore the characteristics and influenced factors associated with the onset of vertigo disease, analysis of 3 719 cases of hospitalized patients with vertigo disease from the real world. Analysis the date of patients diagnosed with vertigo disease from the hospital information system of 19 grade-III class-A hospital from 2004 to 2011, include general information, the doctor's advice, other diseases combined, diagnostic information and the relationship with the onset of 24 solar terms, and the treatment drugs. The median age of hospitalized patients with vertigo disease was 59, the number of women (65.91%) was more than men (34.09%), manual workers (85.32%) were the majority career, most patients (81.63%) condition were general by the time they were hospital admission, patients more like admitted to neurologist (70.34%) when they first time to outpatient serves, hospitalization days were in 8-14 days (46.65%), 46.04% of the patients in the hospital total cost is in 5 000 RMB to 10 000 RMB, 73.86% of patients paid by National Health Medical Insurance. Hypertension (20.79%) was the most common underlying health problems, The most common syndromes was deficiency of liver-Yin and kidney-Yin(44. 21%) , followed by hyperactivity of liver-yang, disease of phlegm turbidity in mongolia and deficiency of Qi and blood. There were more deficiency syndrome and less excess syndrome. The highest rate of hospital admission solar terms in 2009 was the insects awaken throttle (5.21%), In 2010, the highest rate solar terms of hospital admission was the rain throttle (6.14%). The most frequently used traditional Chinese medicine was gastrodine injection (20.55%), the most frequently used western medicine for betahistine (10.19%), gastrodine injection was the most traditional Chinese medicine that combination with other western medicine. Hypertension was the most underlying health problems in the patients with vertigo disease in the real world, although the mental factors should

A Custom Approach for a Flexible, Real-Time and Reliable Software Defined Utility.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaballos, Agustín; Navarro, Joan; Martín De Pozuelo, Ramon

2018-02-28

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have enabled the evolution of traditional electric power distribution networks towards a new paradigm referred to as the smart grid. However, the different elements that compose the ICT plane of a smart grid are usually conceived as isolated systems that typically result in rigid hardware architectures, which are hard to interoperate, manage and adapt to new situations. In the recent years, software-defined systems that take advantage of software and high-speed data network infrastructures have emerged as a promising alternative to classic ad hoc approaches in terms of integration, automation, real-time reconfiguration and resource reusability. The purpose of this paper is to propose the usage of software-defined utilities (SDUs) to address the latent deployment and management limitations of smart grids. More specifically, the implementation of a smart grid's data storage and management system prototype by means of SDUs is introduced, which exhibits the feasibility of this alternative approach. This system features a hybrid cloud architecture able to meet the data storage requirements of electric utilities and adapt itself to their ever-evolving needs. Conducted experimentations endorse the feasibility of this solution and encourage practitioners to point their efforts in this direction.

Qualifying codes under software quality assurance: Two examples as guidelines for codes that are existing or under development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mangold, D.

1993-05-01

Software quality assurance is an area of concem for DOE, EPA, and other agencies due to the poor quality of software and its documentation they have received in the past. This report briefly summarizes the software development concepts and terminology increasingly employed by these agencies and provides a workable approach to scientific programming under the new requirements. Following this is a practical description of how to qualify a simulation code, based on a software QA plan that has been reviewed and officially accepted by DOE/OCRWM. Two codes have recently been baselined and qualified, so that they can be officially used for QA Level 1 work under the DOE/OCRWM QA requirements. One of them was baselined and qualified within one week. The first of the codes was the multi-phase multi-component flow code TOUGH version 1, an already existing code, and the other was a geochemistry transport code STATEQ that was under development The way to accomplish qualification for both types of codes is summarized in an easy-to-follow step-by step fashion to illustrate how to baseline and qualify such codes through a relatively painless procedure.

Qualifying codes under software quality assurance: Two examples as guidelines for codes that are existing or under development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mangold, D.

1993-05-01

Software quality assurance is an area of concern for DOE, EPA, and other agencies due to the poor quality of software and its documentation they have received in the past. This report briefly summarizes the software development concepts and terminology increasingly employed by these agencies and provides a workable approach to scientific programming under the new requirements. Following this is a practical description of how to qualify a simulation code, based on a software QA plan that has been reviewed and officially accepted by DOE/OCRWM. Two codes have recently been baselined and qualified, so that they can be officially used for QA Level 1 work under the DOE/OCRWM QA requirements. One of them was baselined and qualified within one week. The first of the codes was the multi-phase multi-component flow code TOUGH version 1, an already existing code, and the other was a geochemistry transport code STATEQ that was under development The way to accomplish qualification for both types of codes is summarized in an easy-to-follow step-by step fashion to illustrate how to baseline and qualify such codes through a relatively painless procedure

Food for Thought: Cross-Classification and Category Organization in a Complex Real-World Domain.

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, Brian H.; Murphy, Gregory L.

1999-01-01

Seven studies involving 256 undergraduates examined how people represent, access, and make inferences about the real-world category domain, foods. Results give a detailed picture of the use of cross-classification in a complex domain. (SLD)

Hierarchical Spatio-Temporal Probabilistic Graphical Model with Multiple Feature Fusion for Binary Facial Attribute Classification in Real-World Face Videos.

Science.gov (United States)

Demirkus, Meltem; Precup, Doina; Clark, James J; Arbel, Tal

2016-06-01

Recent literature shows that facial attributes, i.e., contextual facial information, can be beneficial for improving the performance of real-world applications, such as face verification, face recognition, and image search. Examples of face attributes include gender, skin color, facial hair, etc. How to robustly obtain these facial attributes (traits) is still an open problem, especially in the presence of the challenges of real-world environments: non-uniform illumination conditions, arbitrary occlusions, motion blur and background clutter. What makes this problem even more difficult is the enormous variability presented by the same subject, due to arbitrary face scales, head poses, and facial expressions. In this paper, we focus on the problem of facial trait classification in real-world face videos. We have developed a fully automatic hierarchical and probabilistic framework that models the collective set of frame class distributions and feature spatial information over a video sequence. The experiments are conducted on a large real-world face video database that we have collected, labelled and made publicly available. The proposed method is flexible enough to be applied to any facial classification problem. Experiments on a large, real-world video database McGillFaces [1] of 18,000 video frames reveal that the proposed framework outperforms alternative approaches, by up to 16.96 and 10.13%, for the facial attributes of gender and facial hair, respectively.

Haptograph Representation of Real-World Haptic Information by Wideband Force Control

Science.gov (United States)

Katsura, Seiichiro; Irie, Kouhei; Ohishi, Kiyoshi

Artificial acquisition and reproduction of human sensations are basic technologies of communication engineering. For example, auditory information is obtained by a microphone, and a speaker reproduces it by artificial means. Furthermore, a video camera and a television make it possible to transmit visual sensation by broadcasting. On the contrary, since tactile or haptic information is subject to the Newton's “law of action and reaction” in the real world, a device which acquires, transmits, and reproduces the information has not been established. From the point of view, real-world haptics is the key technology for future haptic communication engineering. This paper proposes a novel acquisition method of haptic information named “haptograph”. The haptograph visualizes the haptic information like photograph. The proposed haptograph is applied to haptic recognition of the contact environment. A linear motor contacts to the surface of the environment and its reaction force is used to make a haptograph. A robust contact motion and sensor-less sensing of the reaction force are attained by using a disturbance observer. As a result, an encyclopedia of contact environment is attained. Since temporal and spatial analyses are conducted to represent haptic information as the haptograph, it is possible to be recognized and to be evaluated intuitively.

Virtual Worlds: Relationship Between Real Life and Experience in Second Life

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Scott P. Anstadt

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Due to the unique applications of virtual reality in many modern contexts, Second Life (SL offers inimitable opportunities for research and exploration and experiential learning as part of a distance learning curriculum assignment. A review of current research regarding SL examined real world social influences in online interactions and what the effects on users may be. This aids students in understanding the social constructionist perceptions and worldview of those persons they may serve in social services. This suggests the importance of developing an understanding of the relationship between users’ real life (RL and their SL. Some research has begun to reveal the effectiveness of telecommunication and computer simulation with certain clients in the fields of mental health and social work, yet there is a lack of sufficient research done within the context of virtual worlds. The current study surveyed users of several educationally and health focused SIMS (simulations as to what motivates their SL and RL interactions. The data explores associations between users’ RL and their SL in several areas,potentially addressing the future role of educating social work students regarding research methodology in online virtual reality interactions. Implications for social work are discussed including engaging clients using incentives for social participation built into the SL milieu.

Real-world Data for Clinical Evidence Generation in Oncology.

Science.gov (United States)

Khozin, Sean; Blumenthal, Gideon M; Pazdur, Richard

2017-11-01

Conventional cancer clinical trials can be slow and costly, often produce results with limited external validity, and are difficult for patients to participate in. Recent technological advances and a dynamic policy landscape in the United States have created a fertile ground for the use of real-world data (RWD) to improve current methods of clinical evidence generation. Sources of RWD include electronic health records, insurance claims, patient registries, and digital health solutions outside of conventional clinical trials. A definition focused on the original intent of data collected at the point of care can distinguish RWD from conventional clinical trial data. When the intent of data collection at the point of care is research, RWD can be generated using experimental designs similar to those employed in conventional clinical trials, but with several advantages that include gains in efficient execution of studies with an appropriate balance between internal and external validity. RWD can support active pharmacovigilance, insights into the natural history of disease, and the development of external control arms. Prospective collection of RWD can enable evidence generation based on pragmatic clinical trials (PCTs) that support randomized study designs and expand clinical research to the point of care. PCTs may help address the growing demands for access to experimental therapies while increasing patient participation in cancer clinical trials. Conducting valid real-world studies requires data quality assurance through auditable data abstraction methods and new incentives to drive electronic capture of clinically relevant data at the point of care. Published by Oxford University Press 2017. This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the US.

Multiplicative Attribute Graph Model of Real-World Networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Myunghwan [Stanford Univ., CA (United States); Leskovec, Jure [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)

2010-10-20

Large scale real-world network data, such as social networks, Internet andWeb graphs, is ubiquitous in a variety of scientific domains. The study of such social and information networks commonly finds patterns and explain their emergence through tractable models. In most networks, especially in social networks, nodes also have a rich set of attributes (e.g., age, gender) associatedwith them. However, most of the existing network models focus only on modeling the network structure while ignoring the features of nodes in the network. Here we present a class of network models that we refer to as the Multiplicative Attribute Graphs (MAG), which naturally captures the interactions between the network structure and node attributes. We consider a model where each node has a vector of categorical features associated with it. The probability of an edge between a pair of nodes then depends on the product of individual attributeattribute similarities. The model yields itself to mathematical analysis as well as fit to real data. We derive thresholds for the connectivity, the emergence of the giant connected component, and show that the model gives rise to graphs with a constant diameter. Moreover, we analyze the degree distribution to show that the model can produce networks with either lognormal or power-law degree distribution depending on certain conditions.

Celeris: A GPU-accelerated open source software with a Boussinesq-type wave solver for real-time interactive simulation and visualization

Science.gov (United States)

Tavakkol, Sasan; Lynett, Patrick

2017-08-01

In this paper, we introduce an interactive coastal wave simulation and visualization software, called Celeris. Celeris is an open source software which needs minimum preparation to run on a Windows machine. The software solves the extended Boussinesq equations using a hybrid finite volume-finite difference method and supports moving shoreline boundaries. The simulation and visualization are performed on the GPU using Direct3D libraries, which enables the software to run faster than real-time. Celeris provides a first-of-its-kind interactive modeling platform for coastal wave applications and it supports simultaneous visualization with both photorealistic and colormapped rendering capabilities. We validate our software through comparison with three standard benchmarks for non-breaking and breaking waves.

Semantic web for robots : applying semantic web technologies for interoperability between virtual worlds and real robots

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Juarez Cordova, A.G.

2012-01-01

The topic of this PhD project is in the context of cross-reality, a term that de??nes mixed reality environments that tunnel dense real-world data acquired through the use of sensor/actuator device networks into virtual worlds. It is part of the ongoing academia and industry e??orts to achieve

Software design practice using two SCADA software packages

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Basse, K.P.; Christensen, Georg Kronborg; Frederiksen, P. K.

1996-01-01

Typical software development for manufacturing control is done either by specialists with consideral real-time programming experience or done by the adaptation of standard software packages for manufacturing control. After investigation and test of two commercial software packages: "InTouch" and ......Touch" and "Fix", it is argued, that a more efficient software solution can be achieved by utilising an integrated specification for SCADA and PLC-programming. Experiences gained from process control is planned investigated for descrete parts manufacturing....

Real World Europeanisation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Morten Jarlbæk

2017-01-01

Several studies of the impacts of the EU on modern policies and polities evade investigation of the most detailed level of Europeanisation, i.e. gradual legal changes. This seems odd as it is exactly these small gears turning that constitute perhaps the most real and concrete of all types of Euro...

Software engineering

CERN Document Server

Sommerville, Ian

2016-01-01

For courses in computer science and software engineering The Fundamental Practice of Software Engineering Software Engineering introduces readers to the overwhelmingly important subject of software programming and development. In the past few years, computer systems have come to dominate not just our technological growth, but the foundations of our world's major industries. This text seeks to lay out the fundamental concepts of this huge and continually growing subject area in a clear and comprehensive manner. The Tenth Edition contains new information that highlights various technological updates of recent years, providing readers with highly relevant and current information. Sommerville's experience in system dependability and systems engineering guides the text through a traditional plan-based approach that incorporates some novel agile methods. The text strives to teach the innovators of tomorrow how to create software that will make our world a better, safer, and more advanced place to live.

Uncertainties in real-world decisions on medical technologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, C Y

2014-08-01

Patients, clinicians, payers and policy makers face substantial uncertainties in their respective healthcare decisions as they attempt to achieve maximum value, or the greatest level of benefit possible at a given cost. Uncertainties largely come from incomplete information at the time that decisions must be made. This is true in all areas of medicine because evidence from clinical trials is often incongruent with real-world patient care. This article highlights key uncertainties around the (comparative) benefits and harms of medical technologies. Initiatives and strategies such as comparative effectiveness research and coverage with evidence development may help to generate reliable and relevant evidence for decisions on coverage and treatment. These efforts could result in better decisions that improve patient outcomes and better use of scarce medical resources. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Pragmatic quality metrics for evolutionary software development models

Science.gov (United States)

Royce, Walker

1990-01-01

Due to the large number of product, project, and people parameters which impact large custom software development efforts, measurement of software product quality is a complex undertaking. Furthermore, the absolute perspective from which quality is measured (customer satisfaction) is intangible. While we probably can't say what the absolute quality of a software product is, we can determine the relative quality, the adequacy of this quality with respect to pragmatic considerations, and identify good and bad trends during development. While no two software engineers will ever agree on an optimum definition of software quality, they will agree that the most important perspective of software quality is its ease of change. We can call this flexibility, adaptability, or some other vague term, but the critical characteristic of software is that it is soft. The easier the product is to modify, the easier it is to achieve any other software quality perspective. This paper presents objective quality metrics derived from consistent lifecycle perspectives of rework which, when used in concert with an evolutionary development approach, can provide useful insight to produce better quality per unit cost/schedule or to achieve adequate quality more efficiently. The usefulness of these metrics is evaluated by applying them to a large, real world, Ada project.

Humanoid Robotics: Real-Time Object Oriented Programming

Science.gov (United States)

Newton, Jason E.

2005-01-01

Programming of robots in today's world is often done in a procedural oriented fashion, where object oriented programming is not incorporated. In order to keep a robust architecture allowing for easy expansion of capabilities and a truly modular design, object oriented programming is required. However, concepts in object oriented programming are not typically applied to a real time environment. The Fujitsu HOAP-2 is the test bed for the development of a humanoid robot framework abstracting control of the robot into simple logical commands in a real time robotic system while allowing full access to all sensory data. In addition to interfacing between the motor and sensory systems, this paper discusses the software which operates multiple independently developed control systems simultaneously and the safety measures which keep the humanoid from damaging itself and its environment while running these systems. The use of this software decreases development time and costs and allows changes to be made while keeping results safe and predictable.

Suitability of Synthetic Driving Profiles from Traffic Micro-Simulation for Real-World Energy Analysis: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hou, Yunfei; Wood, Eric; Burton, Evan; Gonder, Jeffrey

2015-10-14

A shift towards increased levels of driving automation is generally expected to result in improved safety and traffic congestion outcomes. However, little empirical data exists to estimate the impact that automated driving could have on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. In the absence of empirical data on differences between drive cycles from present day vehicles (primarily operated by humans) and future vehicles (partially or fully operated by computers) one approach is to model both situations over identical traffic conditions. Such an exercise requires traffic micro-simulation to not only accurately model vehicle operation under high levels of automation, but also (and potentially more challenging) vehicle operation under present day human drivers. This work seeks to quantify the ability of a commercial traffic micro-simulation program to accurately model real-world drive cycles in vehicles operated primarily by humans in terms of driving speed, acceleration, and simulated fuel economy. Synthetic profiles from models of freeway and arterial facilities near Atlanta, Georgia, are compared to empirical data collected from real-world drivers on the same facilities. Empirical and synthetic drive cycles are then simulated in a powertrain efficiency model to enable comparison on the basis of fuel economy. Synthetic profiles from traffic micro-simulation were found to exhibit low levels of transient behavior relative to the empirical data. Even with these differences, the synthetic and empirical data in this study agree well in terms of driving speed and simulated fuel economy. The differences in transient behavior between simulated and empirical data suggest that larger stochastic contributions in traffic micro-simulation (relative to those present in the traffic micro-simulation tool used in this study) are required to fully capture the arbitrary elements of human driving. Interestingly, the lack of stochastic contributions from models of human drivers

Advanced simulation and management software for nuclear emergency training and response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rose, K.W.

2011-01-01

The importance of training of safety personnel to deal with real world scenarios is prevalent amongst nuclear emergency preparedness and response organizations. For the development of training tools we have committed to ensure that field procedures, data collection software and decision making tools be identical during training sessions as they would be during a real emergency. By identifying the importance of a fully integrated tool, we have developed a safety support system capable of both functioning in training mode and real mode, enabling emergency response organizations to train more efficiently and effectively. This new fully integrated emergency management tool is called S3-FAST also known as Safety Support Systems - Field Assessment Survey Tool. (orig.)

SYSTEMATIC ANALYSIS OF REAL-WORLD DRIVING BEHAVIOR FOLLOWING FOCAL BRAIN LESIONS

OpenAIRE

Thompson, Kelsey; Read, Katherine; Anderson, Steven; Rizzo, Matthew

2011-01-01

Many patients with circumscribed brain injuries, such as those caused by stroke or focal trauma, return to driving after a period of acute recovery. These persons often have chronic residual cognitive deficits that may impact on driving safety, but little is known about their driving behavior in the real world. Extant studies tend to rely on driving simulators or controlled on-road drives. These methods of observation are not able to capture the complexities of the typical driving environment...

Measurements of the LHCb software stack on the ARM architecture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kartik, S Vijay; Couturier, Ben; Clemencic, Marco; Neufeld, Niko

2014-01-01

The ARM architecture is a power-efficient design that is used in most processors in mobile devices all around the world today since they provide reasonable compute performance per watt. The current LHCb software stack is designed (and thus expected) to build and run on machines with the x86/x86 6 4 architecture. This paper outlines the process of measuring the performance of the LHCb software stack on the ARM architecture – specifically, the ARMv7 architecture on Cortex-A9 processors from NVIDIA and on full-fledged ARM servers with chipsets from Calxeda – and makes comparisons with the performance on x86 6 4 architectures on the Intel Xeon L5520/X5650 and AMD Opteron 6272. The paper emphasises the aspects of performance per core with respect to the power drawn by the compute nodes for the given performance – this ensures a fair real-world comparison with much more 'powerful' Intel/AMD processors. The comparisons of these real workloads in the context of LHCb are also complemented with the standard synthetic benchmarks HEPSPEC and Coremark. The pitfalls and solutions for the non-trivial task of porting the source code to build for the ARMv7 instruction set are presented. The specific changes in the build process needed for ARM-specific portions of the software stack are described, to serve as pointers for further attempts taken up by other groups in this direction. Cases where architecture-specific tweaks at the assembler lever (both in ROOT and the LHCb software stack) were needed for a successful compile are detailed – these cases are good indicators of where/how the software stack as well as the build system can be made more portable and multi-arch friendly. The experience gained from the tasks described in this paper are intended to i) assist in making an informed choice about ARM-based server solutions as a feasible low-power alternative to the current compute nodes, and ii) revisit the software design and build system for portability and

Software test attacks to break mobile and embedded devices

CERN Document Server

Hagar, Jon Duncan

2013-01-01

Address Errors before Users Find Them Using a mix-and-match approach, Software Test Attacks to Break Mobile and Embedded Devices presents an attack basis for testing mobile and embedded systems. Designed for testers working in the ever-expanding world of ""smart"" devices driven by software, the book focuses on attack-based testing that can be used by individuals and teams. The numerous test attacks show you when a software product does not work (i.e., has bugs) and provide you with information about the software product under test. The book guides you step by step starting with the basics. It

Reale Osservatorio Vesuviano: the First Volcanological Observatory in the World

Science.gov (United States)

Avvisati, Gala; de Vita, Sandro; Di Vito, Mauro Antonio; Marotta, Enrica; Sangianantoni, Agata; Peluso, Rosario; Pasquale Ricciardi, Giovanni; Tulino, Sabrina; Uzzo, Tullia; Ghilardi, Massimo; De Natale, Giuseppe

2015-04-01

The Reale Osservatorio Vesuviano (ROV), historic home of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), is the oldest volcanological observatory in the world. It was founded in 1841 by the Bourbon king of Naples. The building is located on the western slope of Mount Vesuvius, one of the most famous and dangerous volcanoes in the world. Since its foundation, the ROV has always attracted researchers, visitors and students from many countries. The ROV site is an elegant neo-classical building which at present hosts permanent exhibitions of part of its inheritance of valuable mineral, scientific instrument and art collections. A radical change is now under way, starting with the structural reinforcement of the building, renewal and upgrading of services, and the redefinition of exhibition itineraries so as to make visits still more enjoyable and informative. This will include the integration of outdoor footpaths and theme-based routes designed for users of differing levels of expertise. This major transformation also involves a study and a number of operations aimed at the possibility of developing self-financed activities. To this end an analysis of tourist movements in Campania was conducted, in part so as to attract to the ROV a larger and more varied group of visitors. In an area that - despite its unique characteristics - is currently significantly degraded and underused, the creation of such a powerful tourist and cultural attraction would serve as a focus for the development of additional activities and services that would greatly enhance it and stimulate growth. These activities would, of course, be compatible with a territory that has a high risk of volcanic hazards - indeed, such growth would constitute an important component in mitigating this risk in the area. The example given illustrates how the restoration and enhancement of a piece of our historic, scientific and cultural heritage could be the driving force behind the economic revival of an

The software architecture of the real-time on-line decision support system 'RODOS'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rafat, M.; Schuele, O.

1998-01-01

The RODOS project aims at the development of an integrated and comprehensive real-time on-line decision support system for off-site emergency management of nuclear accidents in Europe, applicable for the vicinity of the release and the early phase up to far distant areas and the later stages of an accident. The architecture of the RODOS software framework is described as a tool for processing and managing a large variety of different types of information, including those which are categorized in terms of meteorology, radiology, economy, emergency actions and countermeasures, rules, preferences, facts, maps, statistics, catalogues, models and methods. The conceptual design of the software structure based on the Client-Server model and the practical co-operation between a set of autonomous applications meeting the user requirements and objectives are discussed. Details of co-operation management are described by explaining the concepts of the inter-module communication, data exchange, control of operation and data model. (author)

Energy Consumption Prediction for Electric Vehicles Based on Real-World Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cedric De Cauwer

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Electric vehicle (EV energy consumption is variable and dependent on a number of external factors such as road topology, traffic, driving style, ambient temperature, etc. The goal of this paper is to detect and quantify correlations between the kinematic parameters of the vehicle and its energy consumption. Real-world data of EV energy consumption are used to construct the energy consumption calculation models. Based on the vehicle dynamics equation as underlying physical model, multiple linear regression is used to construct three models. Each model uses a different level of aggregation of the input parameters, allowing predictions using different types of available input parameters. One model uses aggregated values of the kinematic parameters of trips. This model allows prediction with basic, easily available input parameters such as travel distance, travel time, and temperature. The second model extends this by including detailed acceleration data. The third model uses the raw data of the kinematic parameters as input parameters to predict the energy consumption. Using detailed values of kinematic parameters for the prediction in theory increases the link between the statistical model and its underlying physical principles, but requires these parameters to be available as input in order to make predictions. The first two models show similar results. The third model shows a worse fit than the first two, but has a similar accuracy. This model has great potential for future improvement.

Digital representations of the real world how to capture, model, and render visual reality

CERN Document Server

Magnor, Marcus A; Sorkine-Hornung, Olga; Theobalt, Christian

2015-01-01

Create Genuine Visual Realism in Computer Graphics Digital Representations of the Real World: How to Capture, Model, and Render Visual Reality explains how to portray visual worlds with a high degree of realism using the latest video acquisition technology, computer graphics methods, and computer vision algorithms. It explores the integration of new capture modalities, reconstruction approaches, and visual perception into the computer graphics pipeline.Understand the Entire Pipeline from Acquisition, Reconstruction, and Modeling to Realistic Rendering and ApplicationsThe book covers sensors fo

Making Real-World Issues Our Business: Critical Literacy in a Third-Grade Classroom.

Science.gov (United States)

Heffernan, Lee; Lewison, Mitzi

2000-01-01

Reflects on the events that occurred during a six-month period in a suburban classroom. Documents the transformation that took place in learning and teaching as students took part in a critical literacy curriculum. Examines the significant curricular changes that occur when the "real world" is allowed to enter classroom discussions and…

A Custom Approach for a Flexible, Real-Time and Reliable Software Defined Utility

Science.gov (United States)

2018-01-01

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have enabled the evolution of traditional electric power distribution networks towards a new paradigm referred to as the smart grid. However, the different elements that compose the ICT plane of a smart grid are usually conceived as isolated systems that typically result in rigid hardware architectures, which are hard to interoperate, manage and adapt to new situations. In the recent years, software-defined systems that take advantage of software and high-speed data network infrastructures have emerged as a promising alternative to classic ad hoc approaches in terms of integration, automation, real-time reconfiguration and resource reusability. The purpose of this paper is to propose the usage of software-defined utilities (SDUs) to address the latent deployment and management limitations of smart grids. More specifically, the implementation of a smart grid’s data storage and management system prototype by means of SDUs is introduced, which exhibits the feasibility of this alternative approach. This system features a hybrid cloud architecture able to meet the data storage requirements of electric utilities and adapt itself to their ever-evolving needs. Conducted experimentations endorse the feasibility of this solution and encourage practitioners to point their efforts in this direction. PMID:29495599

A Custom Approach for a Flexible, Real-Time and Reliable Software Defined Utility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agustín Zaballos

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Information and communication technologies (ICTs have enabled the evolution of traditional electric power distribution networks towards a new paradigm referred to as the smart grid. However, the different elements that compose the ICT plane of a smart grid are usually conceived as isolated systems that typically result in rigid hardware architectures, which are hard to interoperate, manage and adapt to new situations. In the recent years, software-defined systems that take advantage of software and high-speed data network infrastructures have emerged as a promising alternative to classic ad hoc approaches in terms of integration, automation, real-time reconfiguration and resource reusability. The purpose of this paper is to propose the usage of software-defined utilities (SDUs to address the latent deployment and management limitations of smart grids. More specifically, the implementation of a smart grid’s data storage and management system prototype by means of SDUs is introduced, which exhibits the feasibility of this alternative approach. This system features a hybrid cloud architecture able to meet the data storage requirements of electric utilities and adapt itself to their ever-evolving needs. Conducted experimentations endorse the feasibility of this solution and encourage practitioners to point their efforts in this direction.

Real world use of an Internet intervention for pediatric encopresis.

Science.gov (United States)

Ritterband, Lee M; Ardalan, Kaveh; Thorndike, Frances P; Magee, Joshua C; Saylor, Drew K; Cox, Daniel J; Sutphen, James L; Borowitz, Stephen M

2008-06-30

The Internet is a significant source of medical information and is now being shown to be an important conduit for delivering various health-related interventions. This paper aimed to examine the utility and impact of an Internet intervention for childhood encopresis as part of standard medical care in a "real world" setting. Patients diagnosed with encopresis were given a Web-based information prescription to use an Internet intervention for pediatric encopresis. A total of 22 families utilized the intervention between July 2004 and June 2006. A chart review and phone interview were undertaken to collect user characteristics; defecation-related information, including frequency of soiling, bowel movements (BMs) in the toilet, and amount of pain associated with defecation; and information on computer/Internet usage. Three questionnaires were used to examine the utility of, impact of, and adherence to the Internet intervention. Program utilization was obtained from a data tracking system that monitored usage in real time. Overall, parents rated the Internet intervention as enjoyable, understandable, and easy to use. They indicated that the Internet intervention positively affected their children, decreasing overall accidents and increasing child comfort on the toilet at home. Of the 20 children who initially reported fecal accidents, 19 (95%) experienced at least a 50% improvement, with a reduction of accident frequency from one fecal accident per day to one accident per week. Although it is not clear whether this improvement is directly related to the use of the Internet intervention, patient feedback suggests that the program was an important element, further establishing Internet interventions as a viable and desirable addition to standard medical care for pediatric encopresis. To our knowledge, this is the first time a pediatric Internet intervention has been examined as part of a "real world" setting. This is an important step toward establishing Internet

Software performance and scalability a quantitative approach

CERN Document Server

Liu, Henry H

2009-01-01

Praise from the Reviewers:"The practicality of the subject in a real-world situation distinguishes this book from othersavailable on the market."—Professor Behrouz Far, University of Calgary"This book could replace the computer organization texts now in use that every CS and CpEstudent must take. . . . It is much needed, well written, and thoughtful."—Professor Larry Bernstein, Stevens Institute of TechnologyA distinctive, educational text onsoftware performance and scalabilityThis is the first book to take a quantitative approach to the subject of software performance and scalability

Designing and Using Projects with Real World Application in a MBA Managerial Accounting Class: The Case of The Balanced Scorecard

Science.gov (United States)

Houke, Charlotte

2017-01-01

This paper explores the purpose of designing and using projects with real world application in a M.B.A. managerial accounting class. Included is a discussion of how and why the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) Project has been used in classes to link theory with practice by providing real world application of the BSC framework. M.B.A. students represent a…

External Prior Guided Internal Prior Learning for Real-World Noisy Image Denoising

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Jun; Zhang, Lei; Zhang, David

2018-06-01

Most of existing image denoising methods learn image priors from either external data or the noisy image itself to remove noise. However, priors learned from external data may not be adaptive to the image to be denoised, while priors learned from the given noisy image may not be accurate due to the interference of corrupted noise. Meanwhile, the noise in real-world noisy images is very complex, which is hard to be described by simple distributions such as Gaussian distribution, making real noisy image denoising a very challenging problem. We propose to exploit the information in both external data and the given noisy image, and develop an external prior guided internal prior learning method for real noisy image denoising. We first learn external priors from an independent set of clean natural images. With the aid of learned external priors, we then learn internal priors from the given noisy image to refine the prior model. The external and internal priors are formulated as a set of orthogonal dictionaries to efficiently reconstruct the desired image. Extensive experiments are performed on several real noisy image datasets. The proposed method demonstrates highly competitive denoising performance, outperforming state-of-the-art denoising methods including those designed for real noisy images.

Effects of age on a real-world What-Where-When memory task.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adele eMazurek

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Many cognitive abilities decline with aging, making it difficult to detect pathological changes against a background of natural changes in cognition. Most of the tests to assess cognitive decline are artificial tasks that have little resemblance to the problems faced by people in everyday life. This means both that people may have little practice doing such tasks (potentially contributing to the decline in performance and that the tasks may not be good predictors of real-world cognitive problems.In this study, we test the performance of young people (18-25 years and older people (60+-year-olds on a novel, more ecologically valid test of episodic memory: the real-world What-Where-When (WWW memory test. We also compare them on a battery of other cognitive tests, including working memory, psychomotor speed, executive function, and episodic memory. Older people show the expected age-related declines on the test battery. In the WWW memory task, older people were more likely to fail to remember any What-Where-When combination than younger people were, although they did not significantly differ in their overall WWW score due to some older people performing as well as or better than most younger people. WWW memory performance was significantly predicted by other measures of episodic memory, such as the single-trial learning and long-term retention in the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning task and Combined Object Location Memory in the Object Relocation task. Self-reported memory complaints also predicted performance on the WWW task.These findings confirm that our real-world WWW memory task is a valid measure of episodic memory, with high ecological validity, which may be useful as a predictor of everyday memory abilities. The task will require a bit more development to improve its sensitivity to cognitive declines in aging and to potentially distinguish between mentally healthy older adults and those with early signs of cognitive pathologies.

Real-world scenarios help improve selection of radiology employees.

Science.gov (United States)

Kline, C L; Groff, K; Phillips, M

1998-01-01

Choosing the right candidate through the interview process is critical, particularly in light of rapidly changing skills in various technologies. The authors have changed the interviewing process at Jeanes Hospital in Philadelphia in order to examine and evaluate multiple objectives simultaneously. To do this, they created an instrument that elicits impromptu responses to real-world radiology situations. Such responses help assess a potential candidate's training, emotional strength, technical experience and growth potential. They also determine how much additional training the potential candidate will need to be effective in the department. Using the instrument helps sharpen the assessment of candidate traits such as face-to-face communication skills and response time. The impact on hiring is positive. Quality staff, improved patient care and improved patient safety are only some of the results. Many of the questions included on the instrument come from past problem situations and help the interviewers to determine whether a candidate understands underlying issues and the seriousness of situations. The goal is to ensure that patient care and productivity are not hampered by unusual situations. When a concrete difference is detected between a candidate's response and the department's needs, it is possible to assess the cost-effectiveness of training for the discrepancy. For entry-level candidates, the question is whether the person is trainable. Consistently using this interview document forces hiring managers to identify specific abilities, traits and experience desirable in the workplace.

Ticagrelor versus clopidogrel in real-world patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction: 1-year results by propensity score analysis

OpenAIRE

Vercellino, Matteo; S?nchez, Federico Ariel; Boasi, Valentina; Perri, Dino; Tacchi, Chiara; Secco, Gioel Gabrio; Cattunar, Stefano; Pistis, Gianfranco; Mascelli, Giovanni

2017-01-01

Background European guidelines recommend the use of ticagrelor versus clopidogrel in patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). This recommendation is based on inconclusive results and subanalyses from clinical trials. Few data are available on the effects of ticagrelor in a real-world population. Methods To compare the effects of ticagrelor and clopidogrel in a real-world STEMI population, we conducted a pre-post case-control study examining all patients with STEMI included in...

Real-World Switching to Riociguat: Management and Practicalities in Patients with PAH and CTEPH.

Science.gov (United States)

Gall, Henning; Vachiéry, Jean-Luc; Tanabe, Nobuhiro; Halank, Michael; Orozco-Levi, Mauricio; Mielniczuk, Lisa; Chang, MiKyung; Vogtländer, Kai; Grünig, Ekkehard

2018-06-01

A proportion of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) do not achieve treatment goals or experience side effects on their current therapy. In such cases, switching patients to a new drug while discontinuing the first may be a viable and appropriate treatment option. CAPTURE was designed to investigate how physicians manage the switching of patients to riociguat in real-world clinical practice. Observations from the study were used to assess whether recommendations in the riociguat prescribing information are reflected in clinical practice. CAPTURE was an international, multicenter, uncontrolled, retrospective chart review that collected data from patients with PAH or inoperable or persistent/recurrent CTEPH who switched to riociguat from another pulmonary hypertension (PH)-targeted medical therapy. The primary objective of the study was to understand the procedure undertaken in real-world clinical practice for patients switching to riociguat. Of 127 patients screened, 125 were enrolled in CAPTURE. The majority of patients switched from a phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor (PDE5i) to riociguat and the most common reason for switching was lack of efficacy. Physicians were already using the recommended treatment-free period when switching patients to riociguat from sildenafil, but a slightly longer period than recommended for tadalafil. In line with the contraindication, the majority of patients did not receive riociguat and PDE5i therapy concomitantly. Physicians also followed the recommended dose-adjustment procedure for riociguat. Switching to riociguat from another PH-targeted therapy may be feasible in real-world clinical practice in the context of the current recommendations.

Real world evidence: a form of big data, transforming healthcare data into actionable real time insights and informed business decisions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Uttam Kumar Barick

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Data has always played an important role in assisting business decisions and overall improvement of a company’s strategies. The introduction of what has come to be named ‘BIG data’ has changed the industry paradigm altogether for a few domains like media, mobility, retail and social. Data from the real world is also considered as BIG data based on its magnitude, sources and the industry’s capacity to handle the same. Although, the healthcare industry has been using real world data for decades, digitization of health records has demonstrated its value to all the stakeholders with a reaffirmation of interest in it. Over time, companies are looking to adopt new technologies in linking these fragmented data for meaningful and actionable insights to demonstrate their value over competition. It has also been noticed that the consequences of not demonstrating the value of data are sometimes leads regulators and payers to be severe. The real challenge though is not in identifying data sets but transforming these data sets into actionable real time insights and business decisions. Evidence and value development frameworks need to work side by side, harnessing meaningful insights in parallel to product development from early phase to life-cycle management. This should in-turn create evidence and value-based insights for multiple stakeholders across the industry; ultimately supporting the patient as the end user to take informed decisions that impact access to care. This article attempts to review the current state of affairs in the area of BIG data in pharma OR BIG DIP as it is increasingly being referred to.

Craniux: a LabVIEW-based modular software framework for brain-machine interface research.

Science.gov (United States)

Degenhart, Alan D; Kelly, John W; Ashmore, Robin C; Collinger, Jennifer L; Tyler-Kabara, Elizabeth C; Weber, Douglas J; Wang, Wei

2011-01-01

This paper presents "Craniux," an open-access, open-source software framework for brain-machine interface (BMI) research. Developed in LabVIEW, a high-level graphical programming environment, Craniux offers both out-of-the-box functionality and a modular BMI software framework that is easily extendable. Specifically, it allows researchers to take advantage of multiple features inherent to the LabVIEW environment for on-the-fly data visualization, parallel processing, multithreading, and data saving. This paper introduces the basic features and system architecture of Craniux and describes the validation of the system under real-time BMI operation using simulated and real electrocorticographic (ECoG) signals. Our results indicate that Craniux is able to operate consistently in real time, enabling a seamless work flow to achieve brain control of cursor movement. The Craniux software framework is made available to the scientific research community to provide a LabVIEW-based BMI software platform for future BMI research and development.

Craniux: A LabVIEW-Based Modular Software Framework for Brain-Machine Interface Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alan D. Degenhart

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents “Craniux,” an open-access, open-source software framework for brain-machine interface (BMI research. Developed in LabVIEW, a high-level graphical programming environment, Craniux offers both out-of-the-box functionality and a modular BMI software framework that is easily extendable. Specifically, it allows researchers to take advantage of multiple features inherent to the LabVIEW environment for on-the-fly data visualization, parallel processing, multithreading, and data saving. This paper introduces the basic features and system architecture of Craniux and describes the validation of the system under real-time BMI operation using simulated and real electrocorticographic (ECoG signals. Our results indicate that Craniux is able to operate consistently in real time, enabling a seamless work flow to achieve brain control of cursor movement. The Craniux software framework is made available to the scientific research community to provide a LabVIEW-based BMI software platform for future BMI research and development.

Effective pollutant emission heights for atmospheric transport modelling based on real-world information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pregger, Thomas; Friedrich, Rainer

2009-01-01

Emission data needed as input for the operation of atmospheric models should not only be spatially and temporally resolved. Another important feature is the effective emission height which significantly influences modelled concentration values. Unfortunately this information, which is especially relevant for large point sources, is usually not available and simple assumptions are often used in atmospheric models. As a contribution to improve knowledge on emission heights this paper provides typical default values for the driving parameters stack height and flue gas temperature, velocity and flow rate for different industrial sources. The results were derived from an analysis of the probably most comprehensive database of real-world stack information existing in Europe based on German industrial data. A bottom-up calculation of effective emission heights applying equations used for Gaussian dispersion models shows significant differences depending on source and air pollutant and compared to approaches currently used for atmospheric transport modelling. - The comprehensive analysis of real-world stack data provides detailed default parameter values for improving vertical emission distribution in atmospheric modelling

A longitudinal examination of the moderating effects of symptoms on the relationship between functional competence and real world functional performance in Schizophrenia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael W. Best

2014-06-01

Conclusions: Residual negative and depressive symptoms are distinct constructs that impede the use of functional skills in the real world. Depressive symptoms are often overlooked in schizophrenia but appear to be an important factor that limits the use of functional ability in real world environments.

System Integration for Real-Time Mobile Manipulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reza Oftadeh

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Mobile manipulators are one of the most complicated types of mechatronics systems. The performance of these robots in performing complex manipulation tasks is highly correlated with the synchronization and integration of their low-level components. This paper discusses in detail the mechatronics design of a four wheel steered mobile manipulator. It presents the manipulator's mechanical structure and electrical interfaces, designs low-level software architecture based on embedded PC-based controls, and proposes a systematic solution based on code generation products of MATLAB and Simulink. The remote development environment described here is used to develop real-time controller software and modules for the mobile manipulator under a POSIX-compliant, real-time Linux operating system. Our approach enables developers to reliably design controller modules that meet the hard real-time constraints of the entire low-level system architecture. Moreover, it provides a systematic framework for the development and integration of hardware devices with various communication mediums and protocols, which facilitates the development and integration process of the software controller.

Further support for the role of dysfunctional attitudes in models of real-world functioning in schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Horan, William P; Rassovsky, Yuri; Kern, Robert S; Lee, Junghee; Wynn, Jonathan K; Green, Michael F

2010-06-01

According to A.T. Beck and colleagues' cognitive formulation of poor functioning in schizophrenia, maladaptive cognitive appraisals play a key role in the expression and persistence of negative symptoms and associated real-world functioning deficits. They provided initial support for this model by showing that dysfunctional attitudes are elevated in schizophrenia and account for significant variance in negative symptoms and subjective quality of life. The current study used structural equation modeling to further evaluate the contribution of dysfunctional attitudes to outcome in schizophrenia. One hundred eleven outpatients and 67 healthy controls completed a Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale, and patients completed a competence measure of functional capacity, clinical ratings of negative symptoms, and interview-based ratings of real-world functioning. Patients reported higher defeatist performance beliefs than controls and these were significantly related to lower functional capacity, higher negative symptoms, and worse community functioning. Consistent with Beck and colleagues' formulation, modeling analyses indicated a significant indirect pathway from functional capacity-->dysfunctional attitudes-->negative symptoms-->real-world functioning. These findings support the value of dysfunctional attitudes for understanding the determinants of outcome in schizophrenia and suggest that therapeutic interventions targeting these attitudes may facilitate functional recovery. (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Real World SharePoint 2010 Indispensable Experiences from 22 MVPs

CERN Document Server

Hillier, Scot; Bishop, Darrin; Bleeker, Todd; Bogue, Robert; Bosch, Karine; Brotto, Claudio; Buenz, Adam; Connell, Andrew; Drisgill, Randy; Lapointe, Gary; Medero, Jason; Molnar, Agnes; O'Brien, Chris; Klindt, Todd; Poelmans, Joris; Rehmani, Asif; Ross, John; Swan, Nick; Walsh, Mike; Williams, Randy; Young, Shane; Macori, Igor

2010-01-01

Proven real-world best practices from leading Microsoft SharePoint MVPsSharePoint enables Web sites to host shared workspaces and is a leading solution for Enterprise Content Management. The newest version boasts significant changes, impressive enhancements, and new features, requiring developers and administrators of all levels of experience to quickly get up to speed on the latest changes. This book is a must-have anthology of current best practices for SharePoint 2010 from 20 of the top SharePoint MVPs. They offer insider advice on everything from installation, workflow, and Web parts to bu

Real-time SHVC software decoding with multi-threaded parallel processing

Science.gov (United States)

Gudumasu, Srinivas; He, Yuwen; Ye, Yan; He, Yong; Ryu, Eun-Seok; Dong, Jie; Xiu, Xiaoyu

2014-09-01

This paper proposes a parallel decoding framework for scalable HEVC (SHVC). Various optimization technologies are implemented on the basis of SHVC reference software SHM-2.0 to achieve real-time decoding speed for the two layer spatial scalability configuration. SHVC decoder complexity is analyzed with profiling information. The decoding process at each layer and the up-sampling process are designed in parallel and scheduled by a high level application task manager. Within each layer, multi-threaded decoding is applied to accelerate the layer decoding speed. Entropy decoding, reconstruction, and in-loop processing are pipeline designed with multiple threads based on groups of coding tree units (CTU). A group of CTUs is treated as a processing unit in each pipeline stage to achieve a better trade-off between parallelism and synchronization. Motion compensation, inverse quantization, and inverse transform modules are further optimized with SSE4 SIMD instructions. Simulations on a desktop with an Intel i7 processor 2600 running at 3.4 GHz show that the parallel SHVC software decoder is able to decode 1080p spatial 2x at up to 60 fps (frames per second) and 1080p spatial 1.5x at up to 50 fps for those bitstreams generated with SHVC common test conditions in the JCT-VC standardization group. The decoding performance at various bitrates with different optimization technologies and different numbers of threads are compared in terms of decoding speed and resource usage, including processor and memory.

PACMAN: PRIMA astrometric instrument software

Science.gov (United States)

Abuter, Roberto; Sahlmann, Johannes; Pozna, Eszter

2010-07-01

The dual feed astrometric instrument software of PRIMA (PACMAN) that is currently being integrated at the VLTI will use two spatially modulated fringe sensor units and a laser metrology system to carry out differential astrometry. Its software and hardware compromises a distributed system involving many real time computers and workstations operating in a synchronized manner. Its architecture has been designed to allow the construction of efficient and flexible calibration and observation procedures. In parallel, a novel scheme of integrating M-code (MATLAB/OCTAVE) with standard VLT (Very Large Telescope) control software applications had to be devised in order to support numerically intensive operations and to have the capacity of adapting to fast varying strategies and algorithms. This paper presents the instrument software, including the current operational sequences for the laboratory calibration and sky calibration. Finally, a detailed description of the algorithms with their implementation, both under M and C code, are shown together with a comparative analysis of their performance and maintainability.

Gaseous nitrous acid (HONO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emission from gasoline and diesel vehicles under real-world driving test cycles.

Science.gov (United States)

Trinh, Ha T; Imanishi, Katsuma; Morikawa, Tazuko; Hagino, Hiroyuki; Takenaka, Norimichi

2017-04-01

Reactive nitrogen species emission from the exhausts of gasoline and diesel vehicles, including nitrogen oxides (NO x ) and nitrous acid (HONO), contributes as a significant source of photochemical oxidant precursors in the ambient air. Multiple laboratory and on-road exhaust measurements have been performed to estimate the NO x emission factors from various vehicles and their contribution to atmospheric pollution. Meanwhile, HONO emission from vehicle exhaust has been under-measured despite the fact that HONO can contribute up to 60% of the total hydroxyl budget during daytime and its formation pathway is not fully understood. A profound traffic-induced HONO to NO x ratio of 0.8%, established by Kurtenbach et al. since 2001, has been widely applied in various simulation studies and possibly linked to under-estimation of HONO mixing ratios and OH radical budget in the morning. The HONO/NO x ratios from direct traffic emission have become debatable when it lacks measurements for direct HONO emission from vehicles upon the fast-changing emission reduction technology. Several recent studies have reported updated values for this ratio. This study has reported the measurement of HONO and NO x emission as well as the estimation of exhaust-induced HONO/NO x ratios from gasoline and diesel vehicles using different chassis dynamometer tests under various real-world driving cycles. For the tested gasoline vehicle, which was equipped with three-way catalyst after-treatment device, HONO/NO x ratios ranged from 0 to 0.95 % with very low average HONO concentrations. For the tested diesel vehicle equipped with diesel particulate active reduction device, HONO/NO x ratios varied from 0.16 to 1.00 %. The HONO/NO x ratios in diesel exhaust were inversely proportional to the average speeds of the tested vehicles. Photolysis of HONO is a dominant source of morning OH radicals. Conventional traffic-induced HONO/NO x ratio of 0.8% has possibly linked to underestimation of the total HONO

Robust Emission Management Strategy to Meet Real-World Emission Requirements for HD Diesel Engines

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mentink, P.; Nieuwenhof, R. van den; Kupper, F.; Willems, F.; Kooijman, D.

2015-01-01

Heavy-duty diesel engines are used in different application areas, like long-haul, city distribution, dump truck and building and construction industry. For these wide variety of areas, the engine performance needs to comply with the real-world legislation limits and should simultaneously have a low

Robust emission management strategy to meet real-world emission requirements for HD diesel engines

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mentink, P.R.; Nieuwenhof, van den R.; Kupper, F.; Willems, F.P.T.; Kooijman, D.

2015-01-01

Heavy-duty diesel engines are used in different application areas, like long-haul, city distribution, dump truck and building and construction industry. For these wide variety of areas, the engine performance needs to comply with the real-world legislation limits and should simultaneously have a low

Stochastic Real-World Drive Cycle Generation Based on a Two Stage Markov Chain Approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Balau, A.E.; Kooijman, D.; Vazquez Rodarte, I.; Ligterink, N.

2015-01-01

This paper presents a methodology and tool that stochastically generates drive cycles based on measured data, with the purpose of testing and benchmarking light duty vehicles in a simulation environment or on a test-bench. The WLTP database, containing real world driving measurements, was used as

The effect of real-world personal familiarity on the speed of face information processing.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin Balas

2007-11-01

Full Text Available Previous studies have explored the effects of familiarity on various kinds of visual face judgments, yet the role of familiarity in face processing is not fully understood. Across different face judgments and stimulus sets, the data is equivocal as to whether or not familiarity impacts recognition processes.Here, we examine the effect of real-world personal familiarity in three simple delayed-match-to-sample tasks in which subjects were required to match faces on the basis of orientation (upright v. inverted, gender and identity. We find that subjects had a significant speed advantage with familiar faces in all three tasks, with large effects for the gender and identity matching tasks.Our data indicates that real-world experience with a face exerts a powerful influence on face processing in tasks where identity information is irrelevant, even in tasks that could in principle be solved via low-level cues. These results underscore the importance of experience in shaping visual recognition processes.

Real-time fluoroscopic needle guidance in the interventional radiology suite using navigational software for percutaneous bone biopsies in children

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shellikeri, Sphoorti; Srinivasan, Abhay; Krishnamurthy, Ganesh; Vatsky, Seth; Zhu, Xiaowei; Keller, Marc S.; Cahill, Anne Marie [The Children' s Hospital of Philadelphia, Department of Radiology, Philadelphia, PA (United States); Setser, Randolph M. [Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc., Hoffman Estates, IL (United States); Hwang, Tiffany J. [University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Girard, Erin [Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc., Princeton, NJ (United States)

2017-07-15

Navigational software provides real-time fluoroscopic needle guidance for percutaneous procedures in the Interventional Radiology (IR) suite. We describe our experience with navigational software for pediatric percutaneous bone biopsies in the IR suite and compare technical success, diagnostic accuracy, radiation dose and procedure time with that of CT-guided biopsies. Pediatric bone biopsies performed using navigational software (Syngo iGuide, Siemens Healthcare) from 2011 to 2016 were prospectively included and anatomically matched CT-guided bone biopsies from 2008 to 2016 were retrospectively reviewed with institutional review board approval. C-arm CT protocols used for navigational software-assisted cases included institution-developed low-dose (0.1/0.17 μGy/projection), regular-dose (0.36 μGy/projection), or a combination of low-dose/regular-dose protocols. Estimated effective radiation dose and procedure times were compared between software-assisted and CT-guided biopsies. Twenty-six patients (15 male; mean age: 10 years) underwent software-assisted biopsies (15 pelvic, 7 lumbar and 4 lower extremity) and 33 patients (13 male; mean age: 9 years) underwent CT-guided biopsies (22 pelvic, 7 lumbar and 4 lower extremity). Both modality biopsies resulted in a 100% technical success rate. Twenty-five of 26 (96%) software-assisted and 29/33 (88%) CT-guided biopsies were diagnostic. Overall, the effective radiation dose was significantly lower in software-assisted than CT-guided cases (3.0±3.4 vs. 6.6±7.7 mSv, P=0.02). The effective dose difference was most dramatic in software-assisted cases using low-dose C-arm CT (1.2±1.8 vs. 6.6±7.7 mSv, P=0.001) or combined low-dose/regular-dose C-arm CT (1.9±2.4 vs. 6.6±7.7 mSv, P=0.04), whereas effective dose was comparable in software-assisted cases using regular-dose C-arm CT (6.0±3.5 vs. 6.6±7.7 mSv, P=0.7). Mean procedure time was significantly lower for software-assisted cases (91±54 vs. 141±68 min, P=0

Real-world Outcomes of Multiple Myeloma: Retrospective Analysis of the Czech Registry of Monoclonal Gammopathies.

Science.gov (United States)

Hájek, Roman; Jarkovsky, Jiri; Maisnar, Vladimír; Pour, Ludek; Špička, Ivan; Minařík, Jiri; Gregora, Evžen; Kessler, Petr; Sýkora, Michal; Fraňková, Hana; Campioni, Marco; DeCosta, Lucy; Treur, Maarten; Gonzalez-McQuire, Sebastian; Bouwmeester, Walter

2018-06-01

Real-world data on patient outcomes and treatment patterns in multiple myeloma (MM) are limited. The present noninterventional, observational, retrospective analysis of prospectively collected Czech patient medical record data from the Registry of Monoclonal Gammopathies estimated real-world outcomes in adults with a diagnosis of symptomatic MM made between May 2007 and June 2014. In total, 2446 patients had initiated first-line treatment. The median overall survival since the diagnosis (primary endpoint) was 50.3 months (95% confidence interval, 46.1-54.5 months) and decreased with each successive treatment line. A similar trend was observed for progression-free survival and the depth of response. In line with European guidelines and clinical practice, bortezomib-, thalidomide-, and lenalidomide-based regimens were most commonly used across all treatment lines (42.3%, 28.9%, and 18.4%, respectively). In the first line, bortezomib and thalidomide were used most often, with lenalidomide the most commonly used agent in the relapse setting (second to fourth lines). Exploratory analyses revealed that younger age (≤ 65 years), lower international staging system stage, and previous stem cell transplantation were associated with significant improvements in overall and progression-free survival, especially in the early treatment lines. The present study is the first analysis of Czech data from the Registry of Monoclonal Gammopathies, and it provides important insights into the real-world management of MM for physicians and healthcare providers. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Distributed controller clustering in software defined networks.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmed Abdelaziz

Full Text Available Software Defined Networking (SDN is an emerging promising paradigm for network management because of its centralized network intelligence. However, the centralized control architecture of the software-defined networks (SDNs brings novel challenges of reliability, scalability, fault tolerance and interoperability. In this paper, we proposed a novel clustered distributed controller architecture in the real setting of SDNs. The distributed cluster implementation comprises of multiple popular SDN controllers. The proposed mechanism is evaluated using a real world network topology running on top of an emulated SDN environment. The result shows that the proposed distributed controller clustering mechanism is able to significantly reduce the average latency from 8.1% to 1.6%, the packet loss from 5.22% to 4.15%, compared to distributed controller without clustering running on HP Virtual Application Network (VAN SDN and Open Network Operating System (ONOS controllers respectively. Moreover, proposed method also shows reasonable CPU utilization results. Furthermore, the proposed mechanism makes possible to handle unexpected load fluctuations while maintaining a continuous network operation, even when there is a controller failure. The paper is a potential contribution stepping towards addressing the issues of reliability, scalability, fault tolerance, and inter-operability.

Distributed controller clustering in software defined networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdelaziz, Ahmed; Fong, Ang Tan; Gani, Abdullah; Garba, Usman; Khan, Suleman; Akhunzada, Adnan; Talebian, Hamid; Choo, Kim-Kwang Raymond

2017-01-01

Software Defined Networking (SDN) is an emerging promising paradigm for network management because of its centralized network intelligence. However, the centralized control architecture of the software-defined networks (SDNs) brings novel challenges of reliability, scalability, fault tolerance and interoperability. In this paper, we proposed a novel clustered distributed controller architecture in the real setting of SDNs. The distributed cluster implementation comprises of multiple popular SDN controllers. The proposed mechanism is evaluated using a real world network topology running on top of an emulated SDN environment. The result shows that the proposed distributed controller clustering mechanism is able to significantly reduce the average latency from 8.1% to 1.6%, the packet loss from 5.22% to 4.15%, compared to distributed controller without clustering running on HP Virtual Application Network (VAN) SDN and Open Network Operating System (ONOS) controllers respectively. Moreover, proposed method also shows reasonable CPU utilization results. Furthermore, the proposed mechanism makes possible to handle unexpected load fluctuations while maintaining a continuous network operation, even when there is a controller failure. The paper is a potential contribution stepping towards addressing the issues of reliability, scalability, fault tolerance, and inter-operability.

Army Secure Operating System: Information Security for Real Time Systems

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Anderson, Eric

1984-01-01

The Army Secure Operating System (ASOS) project, under the management of the U.S. Army CECOM organization, will provide real time systems software necessary for fielding modern Battlefield Automation Systems...

Project Manager Street Smarts A Real World Guide to PMP Skills

CERN Document Server

Zaval, Linda Kretz

2011-01-01

The perfect workbook for project managers and PMP exam candidates seeking practical experience New project managers and students pursuing the Project Management Professional certification are looking for practical experience to solidify their skills. The step-by-step tasks presented in this book offer them an opportunity to practice the common tasks project managers face in the real world. The authors, both expert project management trainers and consultants, explore each phase of project management: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control, and closing the project, with in-depth

Science writing in the real world

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mike Mentis

2014-02-01

Full Text Available The objective of this contribution is to consider guides to technical writing. Since the professional writes what he does and does what he writes, guides to how you execute the one relate to how you perform the other, so this article is about more than just writing. While there is need for idiosyncrasy and individualism, there are some rules. Documents must have an explicit purpose stated at the outset. By their nature, documents in the applied sciences and business address real-world problems, but elsewhere activity may be laissez faire for which the cost-effectiveness in yielding innovations is contestable. A hallmark of written science and technology is that every statement is capable of being tested and capable of being shown to be wrong, and that methods yield repeatable results. Caution should be observed in requiring authoritative referencing for every notion, partly because of the unsatisfying infinite regress in searching for ultimate sources, and partly to avoid squashing innovation. It is not only the content of messages that matters, but reliability too. Probability theory must be built into design to assure that strong inference can be drawn from outcomes. Research, business and infrastructure projects must substitute the frequent optimistic ‘everything goes according to plan’ (EGAP with a more realistic ‘most likely development’ (MLD and the risks of even that not happening. A cornerstone of science and technology is parsimony. No description, experiment, explanation, hypothesis, idea, instrument, machine, method, model, prediction, statement, technique, test or theory should be more elaborate than necessary to satisfy its purpose. Antifragility – the capacity to survive and benefit from shocks – must be designed into project and organizational structure and function by manipulating such factors as complexity and interdependency to evade failure in a turbulent and unpredictable world. The role of writing is to integrate

Real time control of the SSC string magnets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calvo, O.; Flora, R.; MacPherson, M.

1987-01-01

The system described in this paper, called SECAR, was designed to control the excitation of a test string of magnets for the proposed Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) and will be used to upgrade the present Tevatron Excitation, Control and Regulation (TECAR) hardware and software. It resides in a VME orate and is controlled by a 68020/68881 based CPU running the application software under a real time operating system named VRTX

Real-world fuel economy and CO2 emissions of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ploetz, Patrick; Funke, Simon Arpad; Jochem, Patrick

2015-01-01

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) combine electric propulsion with an internal combustion engine. Their potential to reduce transport related green-house gas emissions highly depends on their actual usage and electricity provision. Various studies underline their environmental and economic advantages, but are based on standardised driving cycles, simulations or small PHEV fleets. Here, we analyse real-world fuel economy of PHEV and the factors influencing it based on about 2,000 actual PHEV that have been observed over more than a year in the U.S. and Germany. We find that real-world fuel economy of PHEV differ widely among users. The main factors explaining this variation are the annual mileage, the regularity of daily driving, and the likelihood of long-distance trips. Current test cycle fuel economy ratings neglect these factors. Despite the broad range of PHEV fuel economies, the test cycle fuel economy ratings can be close to empiric PHEV fleet averages if the average annual mile-age is about 17,000 km. For the largest group of PHEV in our data, the Chevrolet Volt, we find the average fuel economy to be 1.45 litres/100 km at an average electric driving share of 78%. The resulting real-world tank-to-wheel CO 2 emissions of these PHEV are 42 gCO 2 /km and the annual CO 2 savings in the U.S. amount to about 50 Mt. In conclusion, the variance of empirical PHEV fuel economy is considerably higher than of conventional vehicles. This should be taken into account by future test cycles and high electric driving shares should be incentivised.

Interfacing An Intelligent Decision-Maker To A Real-Time Control System

Science.gov (United States)

Evers, D. C.; Smith, D. M.; Staros, C. J.

1984-06-01

This paper discusses some of the practical aspects of implementing expert systems in a real-time environment. There is a conflict between the needs of a process control system and the computational load imposed by intelligent decision-making software. The computation required to manage a real-time control problem is primarily concerned with routine calculations which must be executed in real time. On most current hardware, non-trivial AI software should not be forced to operate under real-time constraints. In order for the system to work efficiently, the two processes must be separated by a well-defined interface. Although the precise nature of the task separation will vary with the application, the definition of the interface will need to follow certain fundamental principles in order to provide functional separation. This interface was successfully implemented in the expert scheduling software currently running the automated chemical processing facility at Lockheed-Georgia. Potential applications of this concept in the areas of airborne avionics and robotics will be discussed.

Characteristics of service requests and service processes of fire and rescue service dispatch centers: analysis of real world data and the underlying probability distributions.

Science.gov (United States)

Krueger, Ute; Schimmelpfeng, Katja

2013-03-01

A sufficient staffing level in fire and rescue dispatch centers is crucial for saving lives. Therefore, it is important to estimate the expected workload properly. For this purpose, we analyzed whether a dispatch center can be considered as a call center. Current call center publications very often model call arrivals as a non-homogeneous Poisson process. This bases on the underlying assumption of the caller's independent decision to call or not to call. In case of an emergency, however, there are often calls from more than one person reporting the same incident and thus, these calls are not independent. Therefore, this paper focuses on the dependency of calls in a fire and rescue dispatch center. We analyzed and evaluated several distributions in this setting. Results are illustrated using real-world data collected from a typical German dispatch center in Cottbus ("Leitstelle Lausitz"). We identified the Pólya distribution as being superior to the Poisson distribution in describing the call arrival rate and the Weibull distribution to be more suitable than the exponential distribution for interarrival times and service times. However, the commonly used distributions offer acceptable approximations. This is important for estimating a sufficient staffing level in practice using, e.g., the Erlang-C model.

Aquifers in coastal reclaimed lands - real world assessments

Science.gov (United States)

Saha, A.; Bironne, A.; Vonhögen-Peeters, L.; Lee, W. K.; Babovic, V. M.; Vermeulen, P.; van Baaren, E.; Karaoulis, M.; Blanchais, F.; Nguyen, M.; Pauw, P.; Doornenbal, P.

2017-12-01

Climate change and population growth are significant concerns in coastal regions around the world, where more than 30% of the world's population reside. The numbers continue to rise as coastal areas are increasingly urbanized. Urbanization creates land shortages along the coasts, which has spurred coastal reclamation activities as a viable solution. In this study, we focus on these reclamation areas; reclaimed areas in Singapore, and in the Netherlands, and investigate the potential of these reclaimed bodies as artificial aquifers that could attenuate water shortage problems in addition to their original purpose. We compare how the reclamation methods determine the hydrogeological characteristics of these manmade aquifers. We highlight similarities in freshwater lens development in the artificial shallow aquifers under natural recharge under diverse conditions, i.e. tropical and temperate zones, using numerical models. The characteristics and responses of these aquifers with dynamic freshwater-saltwater interface are contrasted against naturally occurring coastal aquifers where equilibrium was disturbed by anthropogenic activities. Finally, we assess the risks associated with subsidence and saltwater intrusion, combining measurements and numerical models, in case these aquifers are planned for Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) or Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) strategies. Relative performances of some ASR schemes are simulated and compared in the reclaimed lands.

High level issues in reliability quantification of safety-critical software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Man Cheol

2012-01-01

For the purpose of developing a consensus method for the reliability assessment of safety-critical digital instrumentation and control systems in nuclear power plants, several high level issues in reliability assessment of the safety-critical software based on Bayesian belief network modeling and statistical testing are discussed. Related to the Bayesian belief network modeling, the relation between the assessment approach and the sources of evidence, the relation between qualitative evidence and quantitative evidence, how to consider qualitative evidence, and the cause-consequence relation are discussed. Related to the statistical testing, the need of the consideration of context-specific software failure probabilities and the inability to perform a huge number of tests in the real world are discussed. The discussions in this paper are expected to provide a common basis for future discussions on the reliability assessment of safety-critical software. (author)

Mid-level perceptual features distinguish objects of different real-world sizes.

Science.gov (United States)

Long, Bria; Konkle, Talia; Cohen, Michael A; Alvarez, George A

2016-01-01

Understanding how perceptual and conceptual representations are connected is a fundamental goal of cognitive science. Here, we focus on a broad conceptual distinction that constrains how we interact with objects--real-world size. Although there appear to be clear perceptual correlates for basic-level categories (apples look like other apples, oranges look like other oranges), the perceptual correlates of broader categorical distinctions are largely unexplored, i.e., do small objects look like other small objects? Because there are many kinds of small objects (e.g., cups, keys), there may be no reliable perceptual features that distinguish them from big objects (e.g., cars, tables). Contrary to this intuition, we demonstrated that big and small objects have reliable perceptual differences that can be extracted by early stages of visual processing. In a series of visual search studies, participants found target objects faster when the distractor objects differed in real-world size. These results held when we broadly sampled big and small objects, when we controlled for low-level features and image statistics, and when we reduced objects to texforms--unrecognizable textures that loosely preserve an object's form. However, this effect was absent when we used more basic textures. These results demonstrate that big and small objects have reliably different mid-level perceptual features, and suggest that early perceptual information about broad-category membership may influence downstream object perception, recognition, and categorization processes. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Understanding Is Key: An Analysis of Factors Pertaining to Trust in a Real-World Automation System.

Science.gov (United States)

Balfe, Nora; Sharples, Sarah; Wilson, John R

2018-06-01

This paper aims to explore the role of factors pertaining to trust in real-world automation systems through the application of observational methods in a case study from the railway sector. Trust in automation is widely acknowledged as an important mediator of automation use, but the majority of the research on automation trust is based on laboratory work. In contrast, this work explored trust in a real-world setting. Experienced rail operators in four signaling centers were observed for 90 min, and their activities were coded into five mutually exclusive categories. Their observed activities were analyzed in relation to their reported trust levels, collected via a questionnaire. The results showed clear differences in activity, even when circumstances on the workstations were very similar, and significant differences in some trust dimensions were found between groups exhibiting different levels of intervention and time not involved with signaling. Although the empirical, lab-based studies in the literature have consistently found that reliability and competence of the automation are the most important aspects of trust development, understanding of the automation emerged as the strongest dimension in this study. The implications are that development and maintenance of trust in real-world, safety-critical automation systems may be distinct from artificial laboratory automation. The findings have important implications for emerging automation concepts in diverse industries including highly automated vehicles and Internet of things.

The Robobo Project: Bringing Educational Robotics Closer to Real-World Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bellas, Francisco; Naya, Martin; Varela, Gervasio

2017-01-01

The Robobo Project is a STEM-based project that aims to bring educational robotics, in primary and high school, closer to real-world applications. It is based on the use of a smartphone-based robotic platform called Robobo, a very flexible programming environment, and a set of lessons to integrate...... them. The smartphone provides high-level hardware capabilities in terms of sensors, communications and processing capabilities that allow to create more practical and realistic lessons that exploit human-robot interaction, with a small investment. In this paper, we present the main elements...

Real-World Rib Fracture Patterns in Frontal Crashes in Different Restraint Conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Ellen L; Craig, Matthew; Scarboro, Mark

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to use the detailed medical injury information in the Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN) to evaluate patterns of rib fractures in real-world crash occupants in both belted and unbelted restraint conditions. Fracture patterns binned into rib regional levels were examined to determine normative trends associated with belt use and other possible contributing factors. Front row adult occupants with Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) 3+ rib fractures, in frontal crashes with a deployed frontal airbag, were selected from the CIREN database. The circumferential location of each rib fracture (with respect to the sternum) was documented using a previously published method (Ritchie et al. 2006) and digital computed tomography scans. Fracture patterns for different crash and occupant parameters (restraint use, involved physical component, occupant kinematics, crash principal direction of force, and occupant age) were compared qualitatively and quantitatively. There were 158 belted and 44 unbelted occupants included in this study. For belted occupants, fractures were mainly located near the path of the shoulder belt, with the majority of fractures occurring on the inboard (with respect to the vehicle) side of the thorax. For unbelted occupants, fractures were approximately symmetric and distributed across both sides of the thorax. There were negligible differences in fracture patterns between occupants with frontal (0°) and near side (330° to 350° for drivers; 10° to 30° for passengers) crash principal directions of force but substantial differences between groups when occupant kinematics (and contacts within the vehicle) were considered. Age also affected fracture pattern, with fractures tending to occur more anteriorly in older occupants and more laterally in younger occupants (both belted and unbelted). Results of this study confirmed with real-world data that rib fracture patterns in unbelted occupants were more distributed

MASS APPRAISAL AND REAL ESTATE TAXATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

VORONIN V. О.

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Raising of problem. The government at the legislative level fixed the definition of market value for tax purposes as mandatory in the implementation of real estate transactions. In order to meet the requirements of objectivity, uniformity and consistency of the results obtained during the evaluation procedures, as well as minimize the influence of subjective factors, there is a need to develop a methodology for evaluating an automated procedure for determining the estimated value of the property based on its market value. To solve this problem, we use special techniques and methods of mass appraisal that incorporates computer-supported statistical analyses, such as multiple regression analysis and adaptive estimation procedure for use in the field of property valuation and property rights. Purpose. Realization of this goal involves the development of the concept of a computer-assisted mass appraisal. The basis of this concept is an adaptive hybrid models of market pricing in different market segments that incorporates software adaptive algorithms for determining the market value by the three evaluation approaches using the results of a multi-level real estate market analysis. It was proposed the utility automated valuation models which is intended for the implementation of a computerized real estate valuation based on the developed software adaptive algorithms. Con-clusion. To achieve this goal have been developed and used concepts underlying of computerized mass appraisal. The basis of this concept is adaptive hybrid pricing models in various segments of the real estate market of Ukraine. The problem is solved by the application of the developed software-based adaptive algorithms for determining the market value of three evaluation approaches using the results of a multi-level analysis of the real estate market. It was pro-posed the model of automated appraisal, according to it was implemented computerization of appraisal procedures on the

Intelligent web data management software architectures and emerging technologies

CERN Document Server

Ma, Kun; Yang, Bo; Sun, Runyuan

2016-01-01

This book presents some of the emerging techniques and technologies used to handle Web data management. Authors present novel software architectures and emerging technologies and then validate using experimental data and real world applications. The contents of this book are focused on four popular thematic categories of intelligent Web data management: cloud computing, social networking, monitoring and literature management. The Volume will be a valuable reference to researchers, students and practitioners in the field of Web data management, cloud computing, social networks using advanced intelligence tools.

Virtual-World Naturalism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Reynolds

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Sometimes a player will stray from the path described by a game, moving into new spaces, developing new possible modes of interaction, and often discovering the rougher edges of the game world, where physics models break down, textures become incongruous, and the pieces don’t quite fit together. Gameplay that seeks out these spaces and these phenomena, that searches for such clues to the underlying construction of the virtual environment, is a kind of virtual-world naturalism, at once a return to an investigative urge that has been subsumed to the exhaustive mapping and description of the real world and a form of resistance to the very idea of pre-defined paths of action, of externally imposed limits, in virtual worlds as well as in our own.

Fairer machine learning in the real world: Mitigating discrimination without collecting sensitive data

OpenAIRE

Veale, M; Binns, RDP

2017-01-01

Decisions based on algorithmic, machine learning models can be unfair, reproducing biases in historical data used to train them. While computational techniques are emerging to address aspects of these concerns through communities such as discrimination-aware data mining (DADM) and fairness, accountability and transparency machine learning (FATML), their practical implementation faces real-world challenges. For legal, institutional or commercial reasons, organisations might not hold the data o...

Theft of Virtual Property — Towards Security Requirements for Virtual Worlds

Science.gov (United States)

Beyer, Anja

The article is focused to introduce the topic of information technology security for Virtual Worlds to a security experts’ audience. Virtual Worlds are Web 2.0 applications where the users cruise through the world with their individually shaped avatars to find either amusement, challenges or the next best business deal. People do invest a lot of time but beyond they invest in buying virtual assets like fantasy witcheries, wepaons, armour, houses, clothes,...etc with the power of real world money. Although it is called “virtual” (which is often put on the same level as “not existent”) there is a real value behind it. In November 2007 dutch police arrested a seventeen years old teenager who was suspicted to have stolen virtual items in a Virtual World called Habbo Hotel [Reuters07]. In order to successfully provide security mechanisms into Virtual Worlds it is necessarry to fully understand the domain for which the security mechansims are defined. As Virtual Worlds must be clasified into the domain of Social Software the article starts with an overview of how to understand Web 2.0 and gives a short introduction to Virtual Worlds. The article then provides a consideration of assets of Virtual Worlds participants, describes how these assets can be threatened and gives an overview of appopriate security requirements and completes with an outlook of possible countermeasures.

What Is Real-World Data? A Review of Definitions Based on Literature and Stakeholder Interviews

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Makady, Amr; de Boer, Anthonius; Hillege, Hans; Klungel, Olaf; Goettsch, Wim

2017-01-01

Background: Despite increasing recognition of the value of real-world data (RWD), consensus on the definition of RWD is lacking.  Objectives: To review definitions publicly available for RWD to shed light on similarities and differences between them.  Methods: A literature review and stakeholder

Impact of sacubitril/valsartan on heart failure admissions: insights from real-world patient prescriptions.

Science.gov (United States)

Martens, Pieter; Lambeets, Seppe; Lau, Chirikwah; Dupont, Matthias; Mullens, Wilfried

2018-06-17

Sacubitril/valsartan reduced heart failure (HF)-admissions and cardiovascular mortality in the PARADIGM-HF-trial. However, real-world patients are often frailer and less able to tolerate high doses of sacubitril/valsartan. We performed a retrospective analysis of consecutive patients prescribed sacubitril/valsartan in a single tertiary HF-clinic between December 2016 and January 2018. HF-admissions were assessed in a paired fashion, comparing the amount of antecedent HF-episodes with incident HF-episodes after the initiation. Baseline risk for adverse events was assessed by the EMPHASIS-HF-risk-score Results: A total of 201-HF-patients were retrospectively identified (age = 68 ± 11 years, ejection fraction = 29 ± 8%). Real world patients were older, had higher serum creatinine and a higher New-York Heart-Association (NYHA)-class (p sacubitril/valsartan a total of 23-individual patients experienced at least one HF-episodes. Over the same time period preceding initiation of sacubitril/valsartan, 51 individual patients experienced a HF-episodes (p Sacubitril/valsartan significantly reduced the rate of incident vs. antecedent HF-admissions, in patients with low or high baseline NYHA-class (II vs. III and IV; p value = 0.019 respectively p = .004) or patients with an EMPHASIS-HF risk score below or above the mean (p = .002 respectively p = .016). Patients older than 75-years exhibited a trend towards HF-reduction. Higher doses of sacubitril/valsartan were associated with more reduction in incident versus antecedent HF-episodes. Despite being frailer and older, real-world patients exhibit a significant and early reduction in incident HF-hospitalisations following initiation of sacubitril/valsartan. Higher doses might be associated with more reduction in HF-admissions, underscoring the importance of dose uptitration.

Perils of using speed zone data to assess real-world compliance to speed limits.

Science.gov (United States)

Chevalier, Anna; Clarke, Elizabeth; Chevalier, Aran John; Brown, Julie; Coxon, Kristy; Ivers, Rebecca; Keay, Lisa

2017-11-17

Real-world driving studies, including those involving speeding alert devices and autonomous vehicles, can gauge an individual vehicle's speeding behavior by comparing measured speed with mapped speed zone data. However, there are complexities with developing and maintaining a database of mapped speed zones over a large geographic area that may lead to inaccuracies within the data set. When this approach is applied to large-scale real-world driving data or speeding alert device data to determine speeding behavior, these inaccuracies may result in invalid identification of speeding. We investigated speeding events based on service provider speed zone data. We compared service provider speed zone data (Speed Alert by Smart Car Technologies Pty Ltd., Ultimo, NSW, Australia) against a second set of speed zone data (Google Maps Application Programming Interface [API] mapped speed zones). We found a systematic error in the zones where speed limits of 50-60 km/h, typical of local roads, were allocated to high-speed motorways, which produced false speed limits in the speed zone database. The result was detection of false-positive high-range speeding. Through comparison of the service provider speed zone data against a second set of speed zone data, we were able to identify and eliminate data most affected by this systematic error, thereby establishing a data set of speeding events with a high level of sensitivity (a true positive rate of 92% or 6,412/6,960). Mapped speed zones can be a source of error in real-world driving when examining vehicle speed. We explored the types of inaccuracies found within speed zone data and recommend that a second set of speed zone data be utilized when investigating speeding behavior or developing mapped speed zone data to minimize inaccuracy in estimates of speeding.

Privatization of Land Plot Under Integral Real Estate Complex

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maruchek A. A.

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the questions concerning the privatization of a land plot under integral real estate complex. The authors come to conclusion that a number of legislation norms relating to privatization of a land plot do not take into account the construction of an integral real estate complex that could cause some problems in the realization of the right to privatization of the land plot

A flexible software architecture for scalable real-time image and video processing applications

Science.gov (United States)

Usamentiaga, Rubén; Molleda, Julio; García, Daniel F.; Bulnes, Francisco G.

2012-06-01

Real-time image and video processing applications require skilled architects, and recent trends in the hardware platform make the design and implementation of these applications increasingly complex. Many frameworks and libraries have been proposed or commercialized to simplify the design and tuning of real-time image processing applications. However, they tend to lack flexibility because they are normally oriented towards particular types of applications, or they impose specific data processing models such as the pipeline. Other issues include large memory footprints, difficulty for reuse and inefficient execution on multicore processors. This paper presents a novel software architecture for real-time image and video processing applications which addresses these issues. The architecture is divided into three layers: the platform abstraction layer, the messaging layer, and the application layer. The platform abstraction layer provides a high level application programming interface for the rest of the architecture. The messaging layer provides a message passing interface based on a dynamic publish/subscribe pattern. A topic-based filtering in which messages are published to topics is used to route the messages from the publishers to the subscribers interested in a particular type of messages. The application layer provides a repository for reusable application modules designed for real-time image and video processing applications. These modules, which include acquisition, visualization, communication, user interface and data processing modules, take advantage of the power of other well-known libraries such as OpenCV, Intel IPP, or CUDA. Finally, we present different prototypes and applications to show the possibilities of the proposed architecture.

Evaluating real-world CO2 and NOX emissions for public transit buses using a remote wireless on-board diagnostic (OBD) approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Liuhanzi; Zhang, Shaojun; Wu, Ye; Chen, Qizheng; Niu, Tianlin; Huang, Xu; Zhang, Shida; Zhang, Liangjun; Zhou, Yu; Hao, Jiming

2016-11-01

The challenge to mitigate real-world emissions from vehicles calls for powerful in-use compliance supervision. The remote on-board diagnostic (OBD) approach, with wireless data communications, is one of the promising next-generation monitoring methods. We collected second-by-second profiles of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and nitrogen oxides (NO X ) emissions, driving conditions and engine performance for three conventional diesel and three hybrid diesel buses participating in a remote OBD pilot program in Nanjing, China. Our results showed that the average CO 2 emissions for conventional diesel and hybrid diesel buses were 816 ± 83 g km -1 and 627 ± 54 g km -1 , respectively, under a typical driving pattern. An operating mode binning analysis indicated that CO 2 emissions reduction by series-parallel hybrid technology was largely because of the significant benefits of the technology under the modes of low speed and low power demand. However, significantly higher CO 2 emissions were observed for conventional diesel buses during rush hours, higher than 1200 g km -1 . The OBD data suggested no improvement in NO X emission reduction for hybrid buses compared with conventional buses; both were approximately 12 g km -1 because of poor performance of the selective catalyst reduction (SCR) systems in the real world. Speed-dependent functions for real-world CO 2 and NO X emissions were also constructed. The CO 2 emissions of hybrid buses were much less sensitive to the average speed than conventional buses. If the average speed decreased from 20 km h -1 to 10 km h -1 , the estimated CO 2 emission factor for conventional buses would be increased by 34%. Such a change in speed would increase NO X emissions for conventional and hybrid buses by 38% and 56%, respectively. This paper demonstrates the useful features of the remote OBD system and can inform policy makers how to take advantage of these features in monitoring in-use vehicles. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier

Fitness networks for real world systems via modified preferential attachment

Science.gov (United States)

Shang, Ke-ke; Small, Michael; Yan, Wei-sheng

2017-05-01

Complex networks are virtually ubiquitous, and the Barabási and Albert model (BA model) has became an acknowledged standard for the modelling of these systems. The so-called BA model is a kind of preferential attachment growth model based on the intuitive premise that popularity is attractive. However, preferential attachment alone is insufficient to describe the diversity of complex networks observed in the real world. In this paper we first use the accuracy of a link prediction method, as a metric for network fitness. The link prediction method predicts the occurrence of links consistent with preferential attachment, the performance of this link prediction scheme is then a natural measure of the ;preferential-attachment-likeness; of a given network. We then propose several modification methods and modified BA models to construct networks which more accurately describe the fitness properties of real networks. We find that all features assortativity, degree distribution and rich-club formation can play significant roles for the network construction and eventual structure. Moreover, link sparsity and the size of a network are key factors for network reconstruction. In addition, we find that the structure of the network which is limited by geographic location (nodes are embedded in a Euclidean space and connectivity is correlated with distances) differs from other typical networks. In social networks, we observe that the high school contact network has similar structure as the friends network and so we speculate that the contact behaviours can reflect real friendships.

Development of a real-time fuel cell stack modelling solution with integrated test rig interface for the generic fuel cell modelling environment (GenFC) software

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fraser, S.D.; Monsberger, M.; Hacker, V. [Graz Univ. of Technology, Graz (Austria). Christian Doppler Laboratory for Fuel Cell Systems; Gubner, A.; Reimer, U. [Forschungszentrum Julich, Julich (Germany)

2007-07-01

Since the late 1980s, numerous FC models have been developed by scientists and engineers worldwide to design, control and optimize fuel cells (FCs) and fuel cell (FC) power systems. However, state-of-the-art FC models have only a small range of applications within the versatile field of FC modelling. As fuel cell technology approaches commercialization, the scientific community is faced with the challenge of providing robust fuel cell models that are compatible with established processes in industrial product development. One such process, known as Hardware in the Loop (HiL), requires real-time modelling capability. HiL is used for developing and testing hardware components by adding the complexity of the related dynamic systems with mathematical representations. Sensors and actuators are used to interface simulated and actual hardware components. As such, real-time fuel cell models are among the key elements in the development of the Generic Fuel Cell Modelling Environment (GenFC) software. Six European partners are developing GenFC under the support of the Sixth European Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP6). GenFC is meant to increase the use of fuel cell modelling for systems design and to enable cost- and time-efficient virtual experiments for optimizing operating parameters. This paper presented an overview of the GenFC software and the GenFC HiL functionality. It was concluded that GenFC is going to be an extendable software tool providing FC modelling techniques and solutions to a wide range of different FC modelling applications. By combining the flexibility of the GenFC software with this HiL-specific functionality, GenFC is going to promote the use of FC model-based HiL technology in FC system development. 9 figs.

Spontaneous mentalizing during an interactive real world task: an fMRI study.

Science.gov (United States)

Spiers, Hugo J; Maguire, Eleanor A

2006-01-01

There are moments in everyday life when we need to consider the thoughts and intentions of other individuals in order to act in a socially appropriate manner. Most of this mentalizing occurs spontaneously as we go about our business in the complexity of the real world. As such, studying the neural basis of spontaneous mentalizing has been virtually impossible. Here we devised a means to achieve this by employing a unique combination of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a detailed and interactive virtual reality simulation of a bustling familiar city, and a retrospective verbal report protocol. We were able to provide insights into the content of spontaneous mentalizing events and identify the brain regions that underlie them. We found increased activity in a number of regions, namely the right posterior superior temporal sulcus, the medial prefrontal cortex and the right temporal pole associated with spontaneous mentalizing. Furthermore, we observed the right posterior superior temporal sulcus to be consistently active during several different subtypes of mentalizing events. By contrast, medial prefrontal cortex seemed to be particularly involved in thinking about agents that were visible in the environment. Our findings show that it is possible to investigate the neural basis of mentalizing in a manner closer to its true context, the real world, opening up intriguing possibilities for making comparisons with those who have mentalizing problems.

Allocating effort and anticipating pleasure in schizophrenia: Relationship with real world functioning.

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Serper, M; Payne, E; Dill, C; Portillo, C; Taliercio, J

2017-10-01

Poor motivation to engage in goal-oriented behavior has been recognized as a hallmark feature of schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SZ). Low drive in SZ may be related to anticipating rewards as well as to poor working memory. However, few studies to date have examined beliefs about self-efficacy and satisfaction for future rewards (anticipatory pleasure). Additionally, few studies to date have examined how these deficits may impact SZ patients' real world functioning. The present study examined SZ patients' (n=57) anticipatory pleasure, working memory, self-efficacy and real world functioning in relation to their negative symptom severity. Results revealed that SZ patients' negative symptom severity was related to decisions in effort allocation and reward probability, working memory deficits, self-efficacy and anticipatory pleasure for future reward. Effort allocation deficits also predicted patients' daily functioning skills. SZ patients with high levels of negative symptoms are not merely effort averse, but have more difficulty effectively allocating effort and anticipating pleasure engaging in effortful activities. It may be the case that continuously failing to achieve reinforcement from engagement and participation may lead SZ patients to form certain negative beliefs about their abilities which contributes to amotivation and cognitive deficits. Lastly, our findings provide further support for a link between SZ patients functional daily living skills their effort allocation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Teaching with Real-time Earthquake Data in jAmaSeis

Science.gov (United States)

Bravo, T. K.; Coleman, B.; Taber, J.

2011-12-01

Earthquakes can capture the attention of students and inspire them to explore the Earth. The Incorporated Research Institutions in Seismology (IRIS) and Moravian College are collaborating to develop cross-platform software (jAmaSeis) that enables students to access real-time earthquake waveform data. Users can record their own data from several different types of educational seismometers, and they can obtain data in real-time from other jAmaseis users nationwide. Additionally, the ability to stream data from the IRIS Data Management Center (DMC) is under development. Once real-time data is obtained, users of jAmaseis can study seismological concepts in the classroom. The user interface of the software is carefully designed to lead students through the steps to interrogate seismic data following a large earthquake. Users can process data to determine characteristics of seismograms such as time of occurrence, distance from the epicenter to the station, magnitude, and location (via triangulation). Along the way, the software provides graphical clues to assist student interpretations. In addition to the inherent pedagogical features of the software, IRIS provides pre-packaged data and instructional activities to help students learn the analysis steps. After using these activities, students can apply their skills to interpret seismic waves from their own real-time data.

Evaluation of some software measuring displacements using GPS in real-time

Science.gov (United States)

Langbein, John

2006-01-01

(Langbein and Bock, 2004). But, not all locales include strain and tiltmeters. Thus, having the capability to extract signals with periods of less than a day is desirable since the distribution of GPS is more extensive than strain and tilt.At both Parkfield and Long Valley, the USGS has been using other software packages to process the GPS data at sub-daily intervals and in real-time. The underlying goal of these types of measurements is to detect any deformation event as it evolves; the 24 hour processing might not provide timely results if such a deformation event is precursory to a geologic hazard (an earthquake for Parkfield and either a volcanic event or an earthquake for Long Valley).In Long Valley, We use the software package called 3DTracker (http://www.3dtracker.com, http://www.condorearth.com) to estimate the changes of in position of a remote site relative to a “fixed” site. The 3DTracker software uses double difference GPS code measurements and receiversatellite-time triple differences from one epoch to the next of the GPS phase data (a proxy for travel-time measurements) and employs a Kalman filter to obtain stability in the estimate of position. That is, the estimate of the current position depends upon the estimate of the prior position. Hence, a time series of position looks fairly smooth depending upon the coefficient selected for the Kalman filter. With triple differences, the sometimes troublesome initial integer cycle ambiguity terms cancel (number of wavelengths between the receiver and each satellite), but only the incremental change in position is calculated. This triple difference Kalman filter solution is slow to converge and less accurate than a double difference (e.g., RTD, Track) solution, but it is robust and computationally efficient (Remondi and Brown, 2000). 3D-Tracker allows use of various single-frequency and dual-frequency GPS phase and code observables including the ionospheric-free combinations (known as LC or L3 and P(L3)) formed

Fairer machine learning in the real world: Mitigating discrimination without collecting sensitive data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Veale

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Decisions based on algorithmic, machine learning models can be unfair, reproducing biases in historical data used to train them. While computational techniques are emerging to address aspects of these concerns through communities such as discrimination-aware data mining (DADM and fairness, accountability and transparency machine learning (FATML, their practical implementation faces real-world challenges. For legal, institutional or commercial reasons, organisations might not hold the data on sensitive attributes such as gender, ethnicity, sexuality or disability needed to diagnose and mitigate emergent indirect discrimination-by-proxy, such as redlining. Such organisations might also lack the knowledge and capacity to identify and manage fairness issues that are emergent properties of complex sociotechnical systems. This paper presents and discusses three potential approaches to deal with such knowledge and information deficits in the context of fairer machine learning. Trusted third parties could selectively store data necessary for performing discrimination discovery and incorporating fairness constraints into model-building in a privacy-preserving manner. Collaborative online platforms would allow diverse organisations to record, share and access contextual and experiential knowledge to promote fairness in machine learning systems. Finally, unsupervised learning and pedagogically interpretable algorithms might allow fairness hypotheses to be built for further selective testing and exploration. Real-world fairness challenges in machine learning are not abstract, constrained optimisation problems, but are institutionally and contextually grounded. Computational fairness tools are useful, but must be researched and developed in and with the messy contexts that will shape their deployment, rather than just for imagined situations. Not doing so risks real, near-term algorithmic harm.

Physical Analytics: An emerging field with real-world applications and impact

Science.gov (United States)

Hamann, Hendrik

2015-03-01

In the past most information on the internet has been originated by humans or computers. However with the emergence of cyber-physical systems, vast amount of data is now being created by sensors from devices, machines etc digitizing the physical world. While cyber-physical systems are subject to active research around the world, the vast amount of actual data generated from the physical world has attracted so far little attention from the engineering and physics community. In this presentation we use examples to highlight the opportunities in this new subject of ``Physical Analytics'' for highly inter-disciplinary research (including physics, engineering and computer science), which aims understanding real-world physical systems by leveraging cyber-physical technologies. More specifically, the convergence of the physical world with the digital domain allows applying physical principles to everyday problems in a much more effective and informed way than what was possible in the past. Very much like traditional applied physics and engineering has made enormous advances and changed our lives by making detailed measurements to understand the physics of an engineered device, we can now apply the same rigor and principles to understand large-scale physical systems. In the talk we first present a set of ``configurable'' enabling technologies for Physical Analytics including ultralow power sensing and communication technologies, physical big data management technologies, numerical modeling for physical systems, machine learning based physical model blending, and physical analytics based automation and control. Then we discuss in detail several concrete applications of Physical Analytics ranging from energy management in buildings and data centers, environmental sensing and controls, precision agriculture to renewable energy forecasting and management.

Microinverter Thermal Performance in the Real-World: Measurements and Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Hossain, Mohammad Akram; Xu, Yifan; Peshek, Timothy J.; Ji, Liang; Abramson, Alexis R.; French, Roger H.

2015-01-01

Real-world performance, durability and reliability of microinverters are critical concerns for microinverter-equipped photovoltaic systems. We conducted a data-driven study of the thermal performance of 24 new microinverters (Enphase M215) connected to 8 different brands of PV modules on dual-axis trackers at the Solar Durability and Lifetime Extension (SDLE) SunFarm at Case Western Reserve University, based on minute by minute power and thermal data from the microinverters and PV modules along with insolation and environmental data from July through October 2013. The analysis shows the strengths of the associations of microinverter temperature with ambient temperature, PV module temperature, irradiance and AC power of the PV systems. The importance of the covariates are rank ordered. A multiple regression model was developed and tested based on stable solar noon-time data, which gives both an overall function that predicts the temperature of microinverters under typical local conditions, and coefficients adjustments reecting refined prediction of the microinverter temperature connected to the 8 brands of PV modules in the study. The model allows for prediction of internal temperature for the Enphase M215 given similar climatic condition and can be expanded to predict microinverter temperature in fixed-rack and roof-top PV systems. This study is foundational in that similar models built on later stage data in the life of a device could reveal potential influencing factors in performance degradation. PMID:26147339

Cognitive tests predict real-world errors: the relationship between drug name confusion rates in laboratory-based memory and perception tests and corresponding error rates in large pharmacy chains.

Science.gov (United States)

Schroeder, Scott R; Salomon, Meghan M; Galanter, William L; Schiff, Gordon D; Vaida, Allen J; Gaunt, Michael J; Bryson, Michelle L; Rash, Christine; Falck, Suzanne; Lambert, Bruce L

2017-05-01

Drug name confusion is a common type of medication error and a persistent threat to patient safety. In the USA, roughly one per thousand prescriptions results in the wrong drug being filled, and most of these errors involve drug names that look or sound alike. Prior to approval, drug names undergo a variety of tests to assess their potential for confusability, but none of these preapproval tests has been shown to predict real-world error rates. We conducted a study to assess the association between error rates in laboratory-based tests of drug name memory and perception and real-world drug name confusion error rates. Eighty participants, comprising doctors, nurses, pharmacists, technicians and lay people, completed a battery of laboratory tests assessing visual perception, auditory perception and short-term memory of look-alike and sound-alike drug name pairs (eg, hydroxyzine/hydralazine). Laboratory test error rates (and other metrics) significantly predicted real-world error rates obtained from a large, outpatient pharmacy chain, with the best-fitting model accounting for 37% of the variance in real-world error rates. Cross-validation analyses confirmed these results, showing that the laboratory tests also predicted errors from a second pharmacy chain, with 45% of the variance being explained by the laboratory test data. Across two distinct pharmacy chains, there is a strong and significant association between drug name confusion error rates observed in the real world and those observed in laboratory-based tests of memory and perception. Regulators and drug companies seeking a validated preapproval method for identifying confusing drug names ought to consider using these simple tests. By using a standard battery of memory and perception tests, it should be possible to reduce the number of confusing look-alike and sound-alike drug name pairs that reach the market, which will help protect patients from potentially harmful medication errors. Published by the BMJ

The Map in Our Head Is Not Oriented North: Evidence from a Real-World Environment.

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Tad T Brunyé

Full Text Available Like most physical maps, recent research has suggested that cognitive maps of familiar environments may have a north-up orientation. We demonstrate that north orientation is not a necessary feature of cognitive maps and instead may arise due to coincidental alignment between cardinal directions and the built and natural environment. Experiment 1 demonstrated that pedestrians have difficulty pointing north while navigating a familiar real-world environment with roads, buildings, and green spaces oriented oblique to cardinal axes. Instead, north estimates tended to be parallel or perpendicular to roads. In Experiment 2, participants did not demonstrate privileged memory access when oriented toward north while making relative direction judgments. Instead, retrieval was fastest and most accurate when orientations were aligned with roads. In sum, cognitive maps are not always oriented north. Rather, in some real-world environments they can be oriented with respect to environment-specific features, serving as convenient reference systems for organizing and using spatial memory.

Towards Porting a Real-World Seismological Application to the Intel MIC Architecture

OpenAIRE

V. Weinberg

2014-01-01

This whitepaper aims to discuss first experiences with porting an MPI-based real-world geophysical application to the new Intel Many Integrated Core (MIC) architecture. The selected code SeisSol is an application written in Fortran that can be used to simulate earthquake rupture and radiating seismic wave propagation in complex 3-D heterogeneous materials. The PRACE prototype cluster EURORA at CINECA, Italy, was accessed to analyse the MPI-performance of SeisSol on Intel Xeon Phi on both sing...

Understanding Is Key: An Analysis of Factors Pertaining to Trust in a Real-World Automation System

Science.gov (United States)

Balfe, Nora; Sharples, Sarah; Wilson, John R.

2018-01-01

Objective: This paper aims to explore the role of factors pertaining to trust in real-world automation systems through the application of observational methods in a case study from the railway sector. Background: Trust in automation is widely acknowledged as an important mediator of automation use, but the majority of the research on automation trust is based on laboratory work. In contrast, this work explored trust in a real-world setting. Method: Experienced rail operators in four signaling centers were observed for 90 min, and their activities were coded into five mutually exclusive categories. Their observed activities were analyzed in relation to their reported trust levels, collected via a questionnaire. Results: The results showed clear differences in activity, even when circumstances on the workstations were very similar, and significant differences in some trust dimensions were found between groups exhibiting different levels of intervention and time not involved with signaling. Conclusion: Although the empirical, lab-based studies in the literature have consistently found that reliability and competence of the automation are the most important aspects of trust development, understanding of the automation emerged as the strongest dimension in this study. The implications are that development and maintenance of trust in real-world, safety-critical automation systems may be distinct from artificial laboratory automation. Application: The findings have important implications for emerging automation concepts in diverse industries including highly automated vehicles and Internet of things. PMID:29613815

Differences in Energy Consumption in Electric Vehicles: An Exploratory Real-World Study in Beijing

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Kezhen Hu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Electric vehicles (EVs are widely regarded as a promising solution to reduce air pollution in cities and key to a low carbon mobility future. However, their environmental benefits depend on the temporal and spatial context of actual usage (journey energy efficiency and the rolling out of EVs is complicated by issues such as limited range. This paper explores how the energy efficiency of EVs is affected and shaped by driving behavior, personal driving styles, traffic conditions, and infrastructure design in the real world. Tests have been conducted with a Nissan LEAF under a typical driving cycle on the Beijing road network in order to improve understanding of variations in energy efficiency among drivers under different urban traffic conditions. Energy consumption and operation parameters were recorded in both peak and off-peak hours for a total of 13 drivers. The analysis reported in this paper shows that there are clear patterns in energy consumption along a route that are in part related to differences in infrastructure design, traffic conditions, and personal driving styles. The proposed method for analyzing time series data about energy consumption along routes can be used for research with larger fleets of EVs in the future.

One in the Dance: Musical Correlates of Group Synchrony in a Real-World Club Environment.

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Melissa Ellamil

Full Text Available Previous research on interpersonal synchrony has mainly investigated small groups in isolated laboratory settings, which may not fully reflect the complex and dynamic interactions of real-life social situations. The present study expands on this by examining group synchrony across a large number of individuals in a naturalistic environment. Smartphone acceleration measures were recorded from participants during a music set in a dance club and assessed to identify how group movement synchrony covaried with various features of the music. In an evaluation of different preprocessing and analysis methods, giving more weight to front-back movement provided the most sensitive and reliable measure of group synchrony. During the club music set, group synchrony of torso movement was most strongly associated with pulsations that approximate walking rhythm (100-150 beats per minute. Songs with higher real-world play counts were also correlated with greater group synchrony. Group synchrony thus appears to be constrained by familiarity of the movement (walking action and rhythm and of the music (song popularity. These findings from a real-world, large-scale social and musical setting can guide the development of methods for capturing and examining collective experiences in the laboratory and for effectively linking them to synchrony across people in daily life.

One in the Dance: Musical Correlates of Group Synchrony in a Real-World Club Environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Ellamil, Melissa; Berson, Joshua; Wong, Jen; Buckley, Louis; Margulies, Daniel S

2016-01-01

Previous research on interpersonal synchrony has mainly investigated small groups in isolated laboratory settings, which may not fully reflect the complex and dynamic interactions of real-life social situations. The present study expands on this by examining group synchrony across a large number of individuals in a naturalistic environment. Smartphone acceleration measures were recorded from participants during a music set in a dance club and assessed to identify how group movement synchrony covaried with various features of the music. In an evaluation of different preprocessing and analysis methods, giving more weight to front-back movement provided the most sensitive and reliable measure of group synchrony. During the club music set, group synchrony of torso movement was most strongly associated with pulsations that approximate walking rhythm (100-150 beats per minute). Songs with higher real-world play counts were also correlated with greater group synchrony. Group synchrony thus appears to be constrained by familiarity of the movement (walking action and rhythm) and of the music (song popularity). These findings from a real-world, large-scale social and musical setting can guide the development of methods for capturing and examining collective experiences in the laboratory and for effectively linking them to synchrony across people in daily life.

Digital Controller Development Methodology Based on Real-Time Simulations with LabVIEW FPGA Hardware-Software Toolset

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Tommaso Caldognetto

2013-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we exemplify the use of NI Lab-VIEW FPGA as a rapid prototyping environment for digital controllers. In our power electronics laboratory, it has been successfully employed in the development, debugging, and test of different power converter controllers for microgrid applications.The paper shows how this high level programming language,together with its target hardware platforms, including CompactRIO and Single Board RIO systems, allows researchers and students to develop even complex applications in reasonable times. The availability of efficient drivers for the considered hardware platforms frees the users from the burden of low level programming. At the same time, the high level programming approach facilitates software re-utilization, allowing the laboratory know-how to steadily grow along time. Furthermore, it allows hardware-in-the-loop real-time simulation, that proved to be effective, and safe, in debugging even complex hardware and software co-designed controllers. To illustrate the effectiveness of these hardware-software toolsets and of the methodology based upon them, two case studies are

Collaborative adaptations in social work intervention research in real-world settings: lessons learned from the field.

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Blank Wilson, Amy; Farkas, Kathleen

2014-01-01

Social work research has identified the crucial role that service practitioners play in the implementation of evidence-based practices. This has led some researchers to suggest that intervention research needs to incorporate collaborative adaptation strategies in the design and implementation of studies focused on adapting evidence-based practices to real-world practice settings. This article describes a collaborative approach to service adaptations that was used in an intervention study that integrated evidence-based mental health and correctional services in a jail reentry program for people with serious mental illness. This description includes a discussion of the nature of the collaboration engaged in this study, the implementation strategies that were used to support this collaboration, and the lessons that the research team has learned about engaging a collaborative approach to implementing interventions in research projects being conducted in real-world social service delivery settings.

Android arcade game app a real world project : case study approach

CERN Document Server

DiMarzio, Jerome

2012-01-01

Apress, the leading Android books publisher, continues to provide you with very hands-on, practical books for teaching and showing app developers how to build and design apps, including game apps, that can be built and deployed in the various Android app stores out there. Android Arcade Game App:  A Real World Project - Case Study Approach is no different in that it walks you through creating an arcade style Prison Break game app-top to bottom-for an Android smartphone or tablet.  This book teaches you the unique characteristics and challenges of creating an Arcade style game And it provides y

Real-world and trial-based cost-effectiveness analysis of bevacizumab in HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer patients: a study of the Southeast Netherlands Breast Cancer Consortium.

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van Kampen, R J W; Ramaekers, B L T; Lobbezoo, D J A; de Boer, M; Dercksen, M W; van den Berkmortel, F; Smilde, T J; van de Wouw, A J; Peters, F P J; van Riel, J M G; Peters, N A J B; Tjan-Heijnen, V C G; Joore, M A

2017-07-01

The aim of our analysis was to assess the real-world cost-effectiveness of bevacizumab in addition to taxane treatment versus taxane monotherapy for HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer compared with the cost-effectiveness based on the efficacy results from a trial. A state transition model was built to estimate costs, life years (LYs) and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) for both treatments. Two scenarios were examined: a real-world scenario and a trial-based scenario in which transition probabilities were primarily based on a real-world cohort study and the E2100 trial, respectively. In both scenarios, costs and utility parameter estimates were extracted from the real-world cohort study. Moreover, the Dutch health care perspective was adopted. In both the real-world and trial scenarios, bevacizumab-taxane is more expensive (incremental costs of €56,213 and €52,750, respectively) and more effective (incremental QALYs of 0.362 and 0.189, respectively) than taxane monotherapy. In the real-world scenario, bevacizumab-taxane compared to taxane monotherapy led to an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of €155,261 per QALY gained. In the trial scenario, the ICER amounted to €278,711 per QALY gained. According to the Dutch informal threshold, bevacizumab in addition to taxane treatment was not considered cost-effective for HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer both in a real-world and in a trial scenario. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Randomized controlled trials and real-world observational studies in evaluating cardiovascular safety of inhaled bronchodilator therapy in COPD

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Kardos P

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Peter Kardos,1 Sally Worsley,2 Dave Singh,3 Miguel Román-Rodríguez,4 David E Newby,5 Hana Müllerová2 1Group Practice and Respiratory, Allergy and Sleep Unit, Red Cross Maingau Hospital, Frankfurt, Germany; 2GSK, Stockley Park, Middlesex, 3University of Manchester, Medicines Evaluation Unit, University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK; 4Primary Care Respiratory Research Unit, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Palma IdisPa, Palma de Mallorca, Spain; 5BHF Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Edinburgh, The Queen’s Medical Research Institute, Edinburgh, UK Abstract: Long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA or long-acting β2-agonist (LABA bronchodilators and their combination are recommended for the maintenance treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD. Although the efficacy of LAMAs and LABAs has been well established through randomized controlled trials (RCTs, questions remain regarding their cardiovascular (CV safety. Furthermore, while the safety of LAMA and LABA monotherapy has been extensively studied, data are lacking for LAMA/LABA combination therapy, and the majority of the studies that have reported on the CV safety of LAMA/LABA combination therapy were not specifically designed to assess this. Evaluation of CV safety for COPD treatments is important because many patients with COPD have underlying CV comorbidities. However, severe CV and other comorbidities are often exclusion criteria for RCTs, contributing to a lack in external validity and generalizability. Real-world observational studies are another important tool to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of COPD therapies in a broader population of patients and can improve upon the external validity limitations of RCTs. We examine what is already known regarding the CV and cerebrovascular safety of LAMA/LABA combination therapy from RCTs and real-world observational studies, and explore the advantages and

Research and Realization of the HJ-1C Real-time Software Frame Synchronization Algorithm

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Hou Yang-shuan

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Conventional software frame synchronization methods are inefficient in processing huge continuous data without synchronization words. To improve the processing speed, a real-time synchronization algorithm is proposed based on reverse searching. Satellite data are grouped and searched in the reverse direction to avoid searching for synchronization words in huge continuous invalid data; thus, the frame synchronization speed is improved enormously. The fastest processing speed is up to 15445.9 Mbps when HJ-1C data are tested. This method is presently applied to the HJ-1C quick-look system in remote sensing satellite ground stations.

Real-world fuel economy and CO{sub 2} emissions of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ploetz, Patrick; Funke, Simon Arpad; Jochem, Patrick [Fraunhofer-Institut fuer System- und Innovationsforschung (ISI), Karlsruhe (Germany). Competence Center Energiepolitik und Energiesysteme

2015-07-01

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) combine electric propulsion with an internal combustion engine. Their potential to reduce transport related green-house gas emissions highly depends on their actual usage and electricity provision. Various studies underline their environmental and economic advantages, but are based on standardised driving cycles, simulations or small PHEV fleets. Here, we analyse real-world fuel economy of PHEV and the factors influencing it based on about 2,000 actual PHEV that have been observed over more than a year in the U.S. and Germany. We find that real-world fuel economy of PHEV differ widely among users. The main factors explaining this variation are the annual mileage, the regularity of daily driving, and the likelihood of long-distance trips. Current test cycle fuel economy ratings neglect these factors. Despite the broad range of PHEV fuel economies, the test cycle fuel economy ratings can be close to empiric PHEV fleet averages if the average annual mile-age is about 17,000 km. For the largest group of PHEV in our data, the Chevrolet Volt, we find the average fuel economy to be 1.45 litres/100 km at an average electric driving share of 78%. The resulting real-world tank-to-wheel CO{sub 2} emissions of these PHEV are 42 gCO{sub 2}/km and the annual CO{sub 2} savings in the U.S. amount to about 50 Mt. In conclusion, the variance of empirical PHEV fuel economy is considerably higher than of conventional vehicles. This should be taken into account by future test cycles and high electric driving shares should be incentivised.

Familiar real-world spatial cues provide memory benefits in older and younger adults.

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Robin, Jessica; Moscovitch, Morris

2017-05-01

Episodic memory, future thinking, and memory for scenes have all been proposed to rely on the hippocampus, and evidence suggests that these all decline in healthy aging. Despite this age-related memory decline, studies examining the effects of context reinstatement on episodic memory have demonstrated that reinstating elements of the encoding context of an event leads to better memory retrieval in both younger and older adults. The current study was designed to test whether more familiar, real-world contexts, such as locations that participants visited often, would improve the detail richness and vividness of memory for scenes, autobiographical events, and imagination of future events in young and older adults. The predicted age-related decline in internal details across all 3 conditions was accompanied by persistent effects of contextual familiarity, in which a more familiar spatial context led to increased detail and vividness of remembered scenes, autobiographical events, and, to some extent, imagined future events. This study demonstrates that autobiographical memory, imagination of the future, and scene memory are similarly affected by aging, and all benefit from being associated with more familiar (real-world) contexts, illustrating the stability of contextual reinstatement effects on memory throughout the life span. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Impaired behavior on real-world tasks following damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex.

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Tranel, Daniel; Hathaway-Nepple, Julie; Anderson, Steven W

2007-04-01

Patients with damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortices (VMPC) commonly manifest blatant behavioral navigation defects in the real world, but it has been difficult to measure these impairments in the clinic or laboratory. Using a set of "strategy application" tasks, which were designed by Shallice and Burgess (1991) to be ecologically valid for detecting executive dysfunction, we investigated the hypothesis that VMPC damage would be associated with defective performance on such tasks, whereas damage outside the VMPC region would not. A group of 9 patients with bilateral VMPC damage was contrasted with comparison groups of participants with (a) prefrontal brain damage outside the VMPC region (n = 8); (b) nonprefrontal brain damage (n = 17); and (c) no brain damage (n = 20). We found support for the hypothesis: VMPC patients had more impaired performances on the strategy application tasks, especially on a Multiple Errands Test that required patients to execute a series of unstructured tasks in a real-world setting (shopping mall). The results are consistent with the notion that efficacious behavioral navigation is dependent on the VMPC region. However, the strategy application tasks were relatively time consuming and effortful, and their diagnostic yield over and above conventional executive functioning tests may not be sufficient to warrant their inclusion in standard clinical assessment.

Real-world persistence with fingolimod for the treatment of multiple sclerosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Kantor, Daniel; Johnson, Kristen; Vieira, Maria Cecilia; Signorovitch, James; Li, Nanxin; Gao, Wei; Koo, Valerie; Duchesneau, Emilie; Herrera, Vivian

2018-05-15

To systematically review reports of fingolimod persistence in the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) across data sources and practice settings, and to develop a consensus estimate of the 1-year real-world persistence rate. A systematic literature review was conducted (MEDLINE, EMBASE, and abstracts from selected conferences [2013-2015]) to identify observational studies reporting 1-year fingolimod persistence among adult patients with RRMS (sample size ≥50). A random-effects meta-analysis was performed to estimate a synthesized 1-year persistence rate and to assess heterogeneity across studies. Of 527 publications identified, 25 real-world studies reporting 1-year fingolimod persistence rates were included. The studies included patients from different data sources (e.g., administrative claims, electronic medical records, or registries), used different definitions of persistence (e.g., based on prescriptions refills, patient report, or prescription orders), and spanned multiple geographic regions. Reported 1-year persistence rates ranged from 72%-100%, and exhibited statistical evidence of heterogeneity (I 2  = 93% of the variability due to heterogeneity across studies). The consensus estimate of the 1-year persistence rate was 82% (95% confidence interval: 79%-85%). Across heterogeneous study designs and patient populations found in real-world studies, the consensus 1-year fingolimod persistence rate exceeded 80%, consistent with persistence rates identified in the recently-completed trial, PREFERMS. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Hybrid-Electric Passenger Car Carbon Dioxide and Fuel Consumption Benefits Based on Real-World Driving.

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Holmén, Britt A; Sentoff, Karen M

2015-08-18

Hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs) have lower fuel consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions than conventional vehicles (CVs), on average, based on laboratory tests, but there is a paucity of real-world, on-road HEV emissions and performance data needed to assess energy use and emissions associated with real-world driving, including the effects of road grade. This need is especially great as the electrification of the passenger vehicle fleet (from HEVs to PHEVs to BEVs) increases in response to climate and energy concerns. We compared tailpipe CO2 emissions and fuel consumption of an HEV passenger car to a CV of the same make and model during real-world, on-the-road network driving to quantify the in-use benefit of one popular full HEV technology. Using vehicle specific power (VSP) assignments that account for measured road grade, the mean CV/HEV ratios of CO2 tailpipe emissions or fuel consumption defined the corresponding HEV "benefit" factor for each VSP class (1 kW/ton resolution). Averaging over all VSP classes for driving in all seasons, including temperatures from -13 to +35 °C in relatively steep (-13.2 to +11.5% grade), hilly terrain, mean (±SD) CO2 emission benefit factors were 4.5 ± 3.6, 2.5 ± 1.7, and 1.4 ± 0.5 for city, exurban/suburban arterial and highway driving, respectively. Benefit factor magnitude corresponded to the frequency of electric-drive-only (EDO) operation, which was modeled as a logarithmic function of VSP. A combined model explained 95% of the variance in HEV benefit for city, 75% for arterial and 57% for highway driving. Benefit factors consistently exceeded 2 for VSP classes with greater than 50% EDO (i.e., only city and arterial driving). The reported HEV benefits account for real-world road grade that is often neglected in regulatory emissions and fuel economy tests. Fuel use HEV benefit factors were 1.3 and 2 for the regulatory highway (HWFET) and city (FTP) cycles, respectively, 18% and 31% higher than the EPA adjusted

Disruption in neural phase synchrony is related to identification of inattentional deafness in real-world setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Callan, Daniel E; Gateau, Thibault; Durantin, Gautier; Gonthier, Nicolas; Dehais, Frédéric

2018-06-01

Individuals often have reduced ability to hear alarms in real world situations (e.g., anesthesia monitoring, flying airplanes) when attention is focused on another task, sometimes with devastating consequences. This phenomenon is called inattentional deafness and usually occurs under critical high workload conditions. It is difficult to simulate the critical nature of these tasks in the laboratory. In this study, dry electroencephalography is used to investigate inattentional deafness in real flight while piloting an airplane. The pilots participating in the experiment responded to audio alarms while experiencing critical high workload situations. It was found that missed relative to detected alarms were marked by reduced stimulus evoked phase synchrony in theta and alpha frequencies (6-14 Hz) from 120 to 230 ms poststimulus onset. Correlation of alarm detection performance with intertrial coherence measures of neural phase synchrony showed different frequency and time ranges for detected and missed alarms. These results are consistent with selective attentional processes actively disrupting oscillatory coherence in sensory networks not involved with the primary task (piloting in this case) under critical high load conditions. This hypothesis is corroborated by analyses of flight parameters showing greater maneuvering associated with difficult phases of flight occurring during missed alarms. Our results suggest modulation of neural oscillation is a general mechanism of attention utilizing enhancement of phase synchrony to sharpen alarm perception during successful divided attention, and disruption of phase synchrony in brain networks when attentional demands of the primary task are great, such as in the case of inattentional deafness. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

MicROS-drt: supporting real-time and scalable data distribution in distributed robotic systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Bo; Wang, Huaimin; Fan, Zedong; Zhang, Pengfei; Liu, Hui

A primary requirement in distributed robotic software systems is the dissemination of data to all interested collaborative entities in a timely and scalable manner. However, providing such a service in a highly dynamic and resource-limited robotic environment is a challenging task, and existing robot software infrastructure has limitations in this aspect. This paper presents a novel robot software infrastructure, micROS-drt, which supports real-time and scalable data distribution. The solution is based on a loosely coupled data publish-subscribe model with the ability to support various time-related constraints. And to realize this model, a mature data distribution standard, the data distribution service for real-time systems (DDS), is adopted as the foundation of the transport layer of this software infrastructure. By elaborately adapting and encapsulating the capability of the underlying DDS middleware, micROS-drt can meet the requirement of real-time and scalable data distribution in distributed robotic systems. Evaluation results in terms of scalability, latency jitter and transport priority as well as the experiment on real robots validate the effectiveness of this work.

SM1.3 Seismic Centers Data Acquisition: an introduction to Antelope, EarthWorm, SeisComP and their usage around the world

Science.gov (United States)

Pesaresi, Damiano; Sleeman, Reinoud

2010-05-01

Many medium to big size seismic data centers around the world are facing the same question: which software to use to acquire seismic data in real-time? A home-made or a commercial one? Both choices have pros and cons. The in-house development of software usually requires an increased investment in human resources rather than a financial investment. However, the advantage of fully accomplishing your own needs could be put in danger when the software engineer quits the job! Commercial software offers the advantage of being maintained, but it may require both a considerable financial investment and training. The main seismic software data acquisition suites available nowadays are the public domain SeisComP and EarthWorm packages and the commercial package Antelope. Nanometrics, Guralp and RefTek also provide seismic data acquisition software, but they are mainly intended for single station/network acquisition. Antelope is a software package for real-time acquisition and processing of seismic network data, with its roots in the academic seismological community. The software is developed by Boulder Real Time Technology (BRTT) and commercialized by Kinemetrics. It is used by IRIS affiliates for off-line data processing and it is the main acquisition tool for the USArray program and data centers in Europe like the ORFEUS Data Center, OGS (Italy), ZAMG (Austria), ARSO (Slovenia) and GFU (Czech Republic). SeisComP was originally developed for the GEOFON global network to provide a system for data acquisition, data exchange (SeedLink protocol) and automatic processing. It has evolved into to a widely distributed, networked seismographic system for data acquisition and real-time data exchange over Internet and is supported by ORFEUS as the standard seismic data acquisition tool in Europe. SeisComP3 is the next generation of the software and was developed for the German Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS). SeisComP is licensed by GFZ (free of charge) and

Multitasking capacities in persons diagnosed with schizophrenia: a preliminary examination of their neurocognitive underpinnings and ability to predict real world functioning.

Science.gov (United States)

Laloyaux, Julien; Van der Linden, Martial; Levaux, Marie-Noëlle; Mourad, Haitham; Pirri, Anthony; Bertrand, Hervé; Domken, Marc-André; Adam, Stéphane; Larøi, Frank

2014-07-30

Difficulties in everyday life activities are core features of persons diagnosed with schizophrenia and in particular during multitasking activities. However, at present, patients׳ multitasking capacities have not been adequately examined in the literature due to the absence of suitable assessment strategies. We thus recently developed a computerized real-life activity task designed to take into account the complex and multitasking nature of certain everyday life activities where participants are required to prepare a room for a meeting. Twenty-one individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and 20 matched healthy controls completed the computerized task. Patients were also evaluated with a cognitive battery, measures of symptomatology and real world functioning. To examine the ecological validity, 14 other patients were recruited and were given the computerized version and a real version of the meeting preparation task. Results showed that performance on the computerized task was significantly correlated with executive functioning, pointing to the major implication of these cognitive processes in multitasking situations. Performance on the computerized task also significantly predicted up to 50% of real world functioning. Moreover, the computerized task demonstrated good ecological validity. These findings suggest the importance of evaluating multitasking capacities in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia in order to predict real world functioning. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Facilitating Students' Interaction with Real Gas Properties Using a Discovery-Based Approach and Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Sweet, Chelsea; Akinfenwa, Oyewumi; Foley, Jonathan J., IV

2018-01-01

We present an interactive discovery-based approach to studying the properties of real gases using simple, yet realistic, molecular dynamics software. Use of this approach opens up a variety of opportunities for students to interact with the behaviors and underlying theories of real gases. Students can visualize gas behavior under a variety of…

What Is Real-World Data (RWD)? : A Review of Definitions Based on Literature and Stakeholder Interviews

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Makady, Amr; de Boer, Anthonius; Hillege, Hans; Klungel, Olaf; Goettsch, Wim

Background: Despite increasing recognition of the value of real-world data (RWD), consensus on the definition of RWD is lacking. Objectives: To review definitions publicly available for RWD to shed light on similarities and differences between them. Methods: A literature review and stakeholder

Overall safety profile and effectiveness of tramadol hydrochloride/acetaminophen in patients with chronic noncancer pain in Japanese real-world practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshizawa, K; Kawai, K; Fujie, M; Suzuki, J; Ogawa, Y; Yajima, T; Yokomori, J

2015-11-01

To evaluate the overall safety profile and clinical effectiveness of tramadol hydrochloride/acetaminophen (TA) combination tablets in Japanese patients with chronic noncancer pain unrelieved by non-opioid drugs for up to 12 weeks in real-world practice. This survey was a multicenter, prospective, longitudinal registry on the use of TA as a newly initiated pain treatment for chronic noncancer pain incurable by non-opioid analgesics that was conducted under the Good Post Marketing Study Practice regulation controlled by the Japan Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Collected data included socio-demographics, treatment information, incidence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs), numerical rating scale for intensity of pain, EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) scale, and physician's global impression (PGI) during the 12 week observation period. A total of 1316 patients were registered. ADRs were reported in 259 patients (20.5%); most events were nonserious (99.4%), including nausea (n = 87 [6.9%]), constipation (n = 63 [5.0%]), dizziness and somnolence (n = 29 [2.3%] each), and vomiting (n = 21 [1.7%]). No event related to drug dependence or respiratory depression was reported. In addition, 82.8% of patients showed acceptable effectiveness based on PGI at Week 4. Numerical rating scale for intensity of pain and EQ-5D utility scores were improved by -2.7 (SD 2.3) and 0.16 (SD 0.20) at Week 4, respectively, and the improvement was maintained until Week 12. This is a first report to evaluate the risk-benefit profile of TA in Japanese real-world practice using large size registry data. It is suggested that the favorable risk-benefit balance of TA was confirmed for patients with chronic noncancer pain unrelieved by non-opioid drugs in real-world practice. Limitations of this study were those inherent to open-label and non-interventional study designs. This registry survey is registered at umin.ac.jp (identifier: UMIN000015901).

Bridging the gap between the randomised clinical trial world and the real world by combination of population-based registry and electronic health record data : A case study in haemato-oncology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kibbelaar, R E; Oortgiesen, B E; van der Wal-Oost, A M; Boslooper, K; Coebergh, J W; Veeger, N J G M; Joosten, P; Storm, H; van Roon, E N; Hoogendoorn, M

2017-01-01

Randomised clinical trials (RCTs) are considered the basis of evidence-based medicine. It is recognised more and more that application of RCT results in daily practice of clinical decision-making is limited because the RCT world does not correspond with the clinical real world. Recent strategies

The interdisciplinary team in type 2 diabetes management: Challenges and best practice solutions from real-world scenarios

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margaret McGill

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The Global Partnership for Effective Diabetes Management has previously recommended the implementation of an interdisciplinary team (IDT approach to type 2 diabetes (T2DM management as one of 10 practical steps for health care professionals to help more people achieve their glycaemic goal. This article discusses some of the key contributors to success and also the challenges faced when applying IDT care, by examining case studies and examples from around the world. The real-world practices discussed show that implementing successful interdisciplinary care in diabetes is possible despite significant barriers such as established hierarchal structures and financial resource constraints. Instituting collaborative, integrated working relationships among multiple disciplines under strong leadership, together with enhanced and active communication and improved patient access to appropriate specialties is essential. Patients have a crucial role in the management of their own disease and including them as part of the treatment team is also critical. IDTs in diabetes care improve patient outcomes in terms of control of glycaemia and cardiometabolic risk factors, and decreased risk of diabetes complications. Ensuring access to an appropriate IDT, in whatever form, is paramount to enable the best care to be delivered.

Real-World Executive Functions in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Profiles of Impairment and Associations with Adaptive Functioning and Co-Morbid Anxiety and Depression

Science.gov (United States)

Wallace, Gregory L.; Kenworthy, Lauren; Pugliese, Cara E.; Popal, Haroon S.; White, Emily I.; Brodsky, Emily; Martin, Alex

2016-01-01

Although executive functioning (EF) difficulties are well documented among children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), little is known about real-world measures of EF among adults with ASD. Therefore, this study examined parent-reported real-world EF problems among 35 adults with ASD without intellectual disability and their…

The dynamic of modern software development project management and the software crisis of quality. An integrated system dynamics approach towards software quality improvement

OpenAIRE

Nasirikaljahi, Armindokht

2012-01-01

The software industry is plagued by cost-overruns, delays, poor customer satisfaction and quality issues that are costing clients and customers world-wide billions of dollars each year. The phenomenon is coined The Software Crisis", and poses a huge challenge for software project management. This thesis addresses one of the core issues of the software crisis, namely software quality. The challenges of software quality are central for understanding the other symptoms of the software crisis. Th...

Teaching an Aerospace Engineering Design Course via Virtual Worlds: A Comparative Assessment of Learning Outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

Okutsu, Masataka; DeLaurentis, Daniel; Brophy, Sean; Lambert, Jason

2013-01-01

To test the concept of multiuser 3D virtual environments as media to teach semester-long courses, we developed a software prototype called Aeroquest. An aerospace design course--offered to 135 second-year students for university credits in Fall 2009--was divided into two groups: the real-world group attending lectures, physically, in a campus hall…

Real-time development of data acquisition and analysis software for hands-on physiology education in neuroscience: G-PRIME.

Science.gov (United States)

Lott, Gus K; Johnson, Bruce R; Bonow, Robert H; Land, Bruce R; Hoy, Ronald R

2009-01-01

We report on the real-time creation of an application for hands-on neurophysiology in an advanced undergraduate teaching laboratory. Enabled by the rapid software development tools included in the Matlab technical computing environment (The Mathworks, Natick, MA), a team, consisting of a neurophysiology educator and a biophysicist trained as an electrical engineer, interfaced to a course of approximately 15 students from engineering and biology backgrounds. The result is the powerful freeware data acquisition and analysis environment, "g-PRIME." The software was developed from week to week in response to curriculum demands, and student feedback. The program evolved from a simple software oscilloscope, enabling RC circuit analysis, to a suite of tools supporting analysis of neuronal excitability and synaptic transmission analysis in invertebrate model systems. The program has subsequently expanded in application to university courses, research, and high school projects in the US and abroad as free courseware.

BMI and risk of serious upper body injury following motor vehicle crashes: concordance of real-world and computer-simulated observations.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shankuan Zhu

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Men tend to have more upper body mass and fat than women, a physical characteristic that may predispose them to severe motor vehicle crash (MVC injuries, particularly in certain body regions. This study examined MVC-related regional body injury and its association with the presence of driver obesity using both real-world data and computer crash simulation.Real-world data were from the 2001 to 2005 National Automotive Sampling System Crashworthiness Data System. A total of 10,941 drivers who were aged 18 years or older involved in frontal collision crashes were eligible for the study. Sex-specific logistic regression models were developed to analyze the associations between MVC injury and the presence of driver obesity. In order to confirm the findings from real-world data, computer models of obese subjects were constructed and crash simulations were performed. According to real-world data, obese men had a substantially higher risk of injury, especially serious injury, to the upper body regions including head, face, thorax, and spine than normal weight men (all p<0.05. A U-shaped relation was found between body mass index (BMI and serious injury in the abdominal region for both men and women (p<0.05 for both BMI and BMI(2. In the high-BMI range, men were more likely to be seriously injured than were women for all body regions except the extremities and abdominal region (all p<0.05 for interaction between BMI and sex. The findings from the computer simulation were generally consistent with the real-world results in the present study.Obese men endured a much higher risk of injury to upper body regions during MVCs. This higher risk may be attributed to differences in body shape, fat distribution, and center of gravity between obese and normal-weight subjects, and between men and women. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary.

A Dynamic Speech Comprehension Test for Assessing Real-World Listening Ability.

Science.gov (United States)

Best, Virginia; Keidser, Gitte; Freeston, Katrina; Buchholz, Jörg M

2016-07-01

Many listeners with hearing loss report particular difficulties with multitalker communication situations, but these difficulties are not well predicted using current clinical and laboratory assessment tools. The overall aim of this work is to create new speech tests that capture key aspects of multitalker communication situations and ultimately provide better predictions of real-world communication abilities and the effect of hearing aids. A test of ongoing speech comprehension introduced previously was extended to include naturalistic conversations between multiple talkers as targets, and a reverberant background environment containing competing conversations. In this article, we describe the development of this test and present a validation study. Thirty listeners with normal hearing participated in this study. Speech comprehension was measured for one-, two-, and three-talker passages at three different signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), and working memory ability was measured using the reading span test. Analyses were conducted to examine passage equivalence, learning effects, and test-retest reliability, and to characterize the effects of number of talkers and SNR. Although we observed differences in difficulty across passages, it was possible to group the passages into four equivalent sets. Using this grouping, we achieved good test-retest reliability and observed no significant learning effects. Comprehension performance was sensitive to the SNR but did not decrease as the number of talkers increased. Individual performance showed associations with age and reading span score. This new dynamic speech comprehension test appears to be valid and suitable for experimental purposes. Further work will explore its utility as a tool for predicting real-world communication ability and hearing aid benefit. American Academy of Audiology.

The effectiveness of lane departure warning systems-A reduction in real-world passenger car injury crashes.

Science.gov (United States)

Sternlund, Simon; Strandroth, Johan; Rizzi, Matteo; Lie, Anders; Tingvall, Claes

2017-02-17

The objective of this study was to estimate the safety benefits of in vehicle lane departure warning (LDW) and lane keeping aid (LKA) systems in reducing relevant real-world passenger car injury crashes. The study used an induced exposure method, where LDW/LKA-sensitive and nonsensitive crashes were compared for Volvo passenger cars equipped with and without LDW/LKA systems. These crashes were matched by car make, model, model year, and technical equipment; that is, low-speed autonomous emergency braking (AEB) called City Safety (CS). The data were extracted from the Swedish Traffic Accident Data Acquisition database (STRADA) and consisted of 1,853 driver injury crashes that involved 146 LDW-equipped cars, 11 LKA-equipped cars, and 1,696 cars without LDW/LKA systems. The analysis showed a positive effect of the LDW/LKA systems in reducing lane departure crashes. The LDW/LKA systems were estimated to reduce head-on and single-vehicle injury crashes on Swedish roads with speed limits between 70 and 120 km/h and with dry or wet road surfaces (i.e., not covered by ice or snow) by 53% with a lower limit of 11% (95% confidence interval [CI]). This reduction corresponded to a reduction of 30% with a lower limit of 6% (95% CI) for all head-on and single-vehicle driver injury crashes (including all speed limits and all road surface conditions). LDW/LKA systems were estimated to lower the driver injury risk in crash types that the systems are designed to prevent; that is, head-on and single-vehicle crashes. Though these are important findings, they were based on a small data set. Therefore, further research is desirable to evaluate the effectiveness of LDW/LKA systems under real-world conditions and to differentiate the effectiveness between technical solutions (i.e., LDW and LKA) proposed by different manufacturers.

Simulation software support (S3) system a software testing and debugging tool

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burgess, D.C.; Mahjouri, F.S.

1990-01-01

The largest percentage of technical effort in the software development process is accounted for debugging and testing. It is not unusual for a software development organization to spend over 50% of the total project effort on testing. In the extreme, testing of human-rated software (e.g., nuclear reactor monitoring, training simulator) can cost three to five times as much as all other software engineering steps combined. The Simulation Software Support (S 3 ) System, developed by the Link-Miles Simulation Corporation is ideally suited for real-time simulation applications which involve a large database with models programmed in FORTRAN. This paper will focus on testing elements of the S 3 system. In this paper system support software utilities are provided which enable the loading and execution of modules in the development environment. These elements include the Linking/Loader (LLD) for dynamically linking program modules and loading them into memory and the interactive executive (IEXEC) for controlling the execution of the modules. Features of the Interactive Symbolic Debugger (SD) and the Real Time Executive (RTEXEC) to support the unit and integrated testing will be explored

Business Intelligence using Software Agents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana-Ramona BOLOGA

2011-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents some ideas about business intelligence today and the importance of developing real time business solutions. The authors make an exploration of links between business intelligence and artificial intelligence and focuses specifically on the implementation of software agents-based systems in business intelligence. There are briefly presented some of the few solutions proposed so far that use software agents properties for the benefit of business intelligence. The authors then propose some basic ideas for developing real-time agent-based software system for business intelligence in supply chain management, using Case Base Reasoning Agents.

Digital video timing analyzer for the evaluation of PC-based real-time simulation systems

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Shawn R.; Crosby, Jay L.; Terry, John E., Jr.

2009-05-01

Due to the rapid acceleration in technology and the drop in costs, the use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) PC-based hardware and software components for digital and hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) simulations has increased. However, the increase in PC-based components creates new challenges for HWIL test facilities such as cost-effective hardware and software selection, system configuration and integration, performance testing, and simulation verification/validation. This paper will discuss how the Digital Video Timing Analyzer (DiViTA) installed in the Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) provides quantitative characterization data for PC-based real-time scene generation systems. An overview of the DiViTA is provided followed by details on measurement techniques, applications, and real-world examples of system benefits.

Informing Architecture and Urban Modeling with Real-world Data on 3D Tangible Interfaces and Augmented Displays

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Banke, Tore; Salim, Flora; Jaworski, Przemyslaw

2011-01-01

The proliferation of online and digital data in our world yields unprecedented opportunities for connecting physical and digital parametric models with live data input and feedback. Tangible interfaces and augmented displays provide theatrical settings for designers to visualize real-world data a...... detection, and multi-touch techniques, multidimensional tangible interfaces and augmented displays presented in this paper demonstrate a powerful new approach for designing and interacting with physical models, materials, and environmental data....

Classification versus inference learning contrasted with real-world categories.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Erin L; Ross, Brian H

2011-07-01

Categories are learned and used in a variety of ways, but the research focus has been on classification learning. Recent work contrasting classification with inference learning of categories found important later differences in category performance. However, theoretical accounts differ on whether this is due to an inherent difference between the tasks or to the implementation decisions. The inherent-difference explanation argues that inference learners focus on the internal structure of the categories--what each category is like--while classification learners focus on diagnostic information to predict category membership. In two experiments, using real-world categories and controlling for earlier methodological differences, inference learners learned more about what each category was like than did classification learners, as evidenced by higher performance on a novel classification test. These results suggest that there is an inherent difference between learning new categories by classifying an item versus inferring a feature.

Real-world use, safety, and survival of ipilimumab in metastatic cutaneous melanoma in The Netherlands.

Science.gov (United States)

Jochems, Anouk; Leeneman, Brenda; Franken, Margreet G; Schouwenburg, Maartje G; Aarts, Maureen J B; van Akkooi, Alexander C J; van den Berkmortel, Franchette W P J; van den Eertwegh, Alfonsus J M; Groenewegen, Gerard; de Groot, Jan Willem B; Haanen, John B A G; Hospers, Geke A P; Kapiteijn, Ellen; Koornstra, Rutger H; Kruit, Wim H J; Louwman, Marieke W J; Piersma, Djura; van Rijn, Rozemarijn S; Ten Tije, Albert J; Vreugdenhil, Gerard; Wouters, Michel W J M; Uyl-de Groot, Carin A; van der Hoeven, Koos J M

2018-07-01

Phase III trials with ipilimumab showed an improved survival in patients with metastatic melanoma. We evaluated the use and safety of ipilimumab, and the survival of all patients with metastatic cutaneous melanoma (N=807) receiving ipilimumab in real-world clinical practice in The Netherlands using data from the Dutch Melanoma Treatment Registry. Patients who were registered between July 2012 and July 2015 were included and analyzed according to their treatment status: treatment-naive (N=344) versus previously-treated (N=463). Overall, 70% of treatment-naive patients and 62% of previously-treated patients received all four planned doses of ipilimumab. Grade 3 and 4 immune-related adverse events occurred in 29% of treatment-naive patients and 21% of previously-treated patients. No treatment-related deaths occurred. Median time to first event was 5.4 months [95% confidence interval (CI): 4.7-6.5 months] in treatment-naive patients and 4.4 months (95% CI: 4.0-4.7 months) in previously-treated patients. Median overall survival was 14.3 months (95% CI: 11.6-16.7 months) in treatment-naive patients and 8.7 months (95% CI: 7.6-9.6 months) in previously-treated patients. In both patient groups, an elevated lactate dehydrogenase level (hazard ratio: 2.25 and 1.70 in treatment-naive and previously-treated patients, respectively) and American Joint Committee on Cancer M1c-stage disease (hazard ratio: 1.81 and 1.83, respectively) were negatively associated with overall survival. These real-world outcomes of ipilimumab slightly differed from outcomes in phase III trials. Although phase III trials are crucial for establishing efficacy, real-world data are of great added value enhancing the generalizability of outcomes of ipilimumab in clinical practice.

Prediction and Characterization of High-Activity Events in Social Media Triggered by Real-World News.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalyanam, Janani; Quezada, Mauricio; Poblete, Barbara; Lanckriet, Gert

2016-01-01

On-line social networks publish information on a high volume of real-world events almost instantly, becoming a primary source for breaking news. Some of these real-world events can end up having a very strong impact on on-line social networks. The effect of such events can be analyzed from several perspectives, one of them being the intensity and characteristics of the collective activity that it produces in the social platform. We research 5,234 real-world news events encompassing 43 million messages discussed on the Twitter microblogging service for approximately 1 year. We show empirically that exogenous news events naturally create collective patterns of bursty behavior in combination with long periods of inactivity in the network. This type of behavior agrees with other patterns previously observed in other types of natural collective phenomena, as well as in individual human communications. In addition, we propose a methodology to classify news events according to the different levels of intensity in activity that they produce. In particular, we analyze the most highly active events and observe a consistent and strikingly different collective reaction from users when they are exposed to such events. This reaction is independent of an event's reach and scope. We further observe that extremely high-activity events have characteristics that are quite distinguishable at the beginning stages of their outbreak. This allows us to predict with high precision, the top 8% of events that will have the most impact in the social network by just using the first 5% of the information of an event's lifetime evolution. This strongly implies that high-activity events are naturally prioritized collectively by the social network, engaging users early on, way before they are brought to the mainstream audience.

The Pharmacogenomics Research Network Translational Pharmacogenetics Program: Overcoming Challenges of Real-World Implementation

Science.gov (United States)

Shuldiner, AR; Relling, MV; Peterson, JF; Hicks, JK; Freimuth, RR; Sadee, W; Pereira, NL; Roden, DM; Johnson, JA; Klein, TE

2013-01-01

The pace of discovery of potentially actionable pharmacogenetic variants has increased dramatically in recent years. However, the implementation of this new knowledge for individualized patient care has been slow. The Pharmacogenomics Research Network (PGRN) Translational Pharmacogenetics Program seeks to identify barriers and develop real-world solutions to implementation of evidence-based pharmacogenetic tests in diverse health-care settings. Dissemination of the resulting toolbox of “implementation best practices” will prove useful to a broad audience. PMID:23588301

An open-source hardware and software system for acquisition and real-time processing of electrophysiology during high field MRI.

Science.gov (United States)

Purdon, Patrick L; Millan, Hernan; Fuller, Peter L; Bonmassar, Giorgio

2008-11-15

Simultaneous recording of electrophysiology and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a technique of growing importance in neuroscience. Rapidly evolving clinical and scientific requirements have created a need for hardware and software that can be customized for specific applications. Hardware may require customization to enable a variety of recording types (e.g., electroencephalogram, local field potentials, or multi-unit activity) while meeting the stringent and costly requirements of MRI safety and compatibility. Real-time signal processing tools are an enabling technology for studies of learning, attention, sleep, epilepsy, neurofeedback, and neuropharmacology, yet real-time signal processing tools are difficult to develop. We describe an open-source system for simultaneous electrophysiology and fMRI featuring low-noise (tested up to 7T), and user-programmable real-time signal processing. The hardware distribution provides the complete specifications required to build an MRI-compatible electrophysiological data acquisition system, including circuit schematics, print circuit board (PCB) layouts, Gerber files for PCB fabrication and robotic assembly, a bill of materials with part numbers, data sheets, and vendor information, and test procedures. The software facilitates rapid implementation of real-time signal processing algorithms. This system has been used in human EEG/fMRI studies at 3 and 7T examining the auditory system, visual system, sleep physiology, and anesthesia, as well as in intracranial electrophysiological studies of the non-human primate visual system during 3T fMRI, and in human hyperbaric physiology studies at depths of up to 300 feet below sea level.

Bringing well service into the digital age : new software and digital pens allow for real-time tracking of field data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anon.

2010-09-15

This article discussed a paperwork automation system that was implemented at a well services company and the efficiencies that were gained as a result of the implementation. The company's highly mobile delivery and service teams needed access to real-time delivery, inventory, and billing data, which the paper-based data management system then in place was unable to provide. The automated system incorporates new software and digital pens, which digitize handwriting and integrate the data directly into software. The new system allows for the real-time tracking of field data without disruption to existing employee processes or the necessity of a large investment in new computer infrastructure. The new system reduces the costs associated with paper-based data collection processes, including printing, form data re-keying, scanning, and storage. It also eliminates delays in reporting and billing and allows accurate inventory tracking throughout the supply chain as well as improved management of inventory levels. 2 refs., 2 figs.

Real-Time Eye Detection and Tracking under Various Light Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Feng Jiao

2007-10-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a real-time online prototype automobile and truck driver-fatigue monitor. It uses remotely located charge-coupled-device cameras equipped with active infrared illuminators to acquire video images of the driver. Various visual cues that typically characterize the level of alertness of a person are extracted in real time and systematically combined to infer the fatigue level of the driver. The visual cues employed characterize eyelid movement, gaze movement, head movement, and facial expression. A probabilistic model is developed to model human fatigue and to predict fatigue based on the visual cues obtained. The simultaneous use of multiple visual cues and their systematic combination yields a much more robust and accurate fatigue characterization than using a single visual cue. This system was validated under real-life fatigue conditions with human subjects of different ethnic backgrounds, genders, and ages; with/without glasses; and under different illumination conditions. It was found to be reasonably robust, reliable, and accurate in fatigue characterization.

The "neuro-mapping locator" software. A real-time intraoperative objective paraesthesia mapping tool to evaluate paraesthesia coverage of the painful zone in patients undergoing spinal cord stimulation lead implantation.

Science.gov (United States)

Guetarni, F; Rigoard, P

2015-03-01

Conventional spinal cord stimulation (SCS) generates paraesthesia, as the efficacy of this technique is based on the relationship between the paraesthesia provided by SCS on the painful zone and an analgesic effect on the stimulated zone. Although this basic postulate is based on clinical evidence, it is clear that this relationship has never been formally demonstrated by scientific studies. There is a need for objective evaluation tools ("transducers") to transpose electrical signals to clinical effects and to guide therapeutic choices. We have developed a software at Poitiers University hospital allowing real-time objective mapping of the paraesthesia generated by SCS lead placement and programming during the implantation procedure itself, on a touch screen interface. The purpose of this article is to describe this intraoperative mapping software, in terms of its concept and technical aspects. The Neuro-Mapping Locator (NML) software is dedicated to patients with failed back surgery syndrome, candidates for SCS lead implantation, to actively participate in the implantation procedure. Real-time geographical localization of the paraesthesia generated by percutaneous or multicolumn surgical SCS lead implanted under awake anaesthesia allows intraoperative lead programming and possibly lead positioning to be modified with the patient's cooperation. Software updates should enable us to refine objectives related to the use of this tool and minimize observational biases. The ultimate goals of NML software should not be limited to optimize one specific device implantation in a patient but also allow to compare instantaneously various stimulation strategies, by characterizing new technical parameters as "coverage efficacy" and "device specificity" on selected subgroups of patients. Another longer-term objective would be to organize these predictive factors into computer science ontologies, which could constitute robust and helpful data for device selection and programming

Circular contour retrieval in real-world conditions by higher order statistics and an alternating-least squares algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Haiping; Marot, Julien; Fossati, Caroline; Bourennane, Salah

2011-12-01

In real-world conditions, contours are most often blurred in digital images because of acquisition conditions such as movement, light transmission environment, and defocus. Among image segmentation methods, Hough transform requires a computational load which increases with the number of noise pixels, level set methods also require a high computational load, and some other methods assume that the contours are one-pixel wide. For the first time, we retrieve the characteristics of multiple possibly concentric blurred circles. We face correlated noise environment, to get closer to real-world conditions. For this, we model a blurred circle by a few parameters--center coordinates, radius, and spread--which characterize its mean position and gray level variations. We derive the signal model which results from signal generation on circular antenna. Linear antennas provide the center coordinates. To retrieve the circle radii, we adapt the second-order statistics TLS-ESPRIT method for non-correlated noise environment, and propose a novel version of TLS-ESPRIT based on higher-order statistics for correlated noise environment. Then, we derive a least-squares criterion and propose an alternating least-squares algorithm to retrieve simultaneously all spread values of concentric circles. Experiments performed on hand-made and real-world images show that the proposed methods outperform the Hough transform and a level set method dedicated to blurred contours in terms of computational load. Moreover, the proposed model and optimization method provide the information of the contour grey level variations.

From laboratory to road: Modeling the divergence between official and real-world fuel consumption and CO_2 emission values in the German passenger car market for the years 2001–2014

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tietge, Uwe; Mock, Peter; Franco, Vicente; Zacharof, Nikiforos

2017-01-01

Official fuel consumption and carbon dioxide (CO_2) emission values of European passenger cars are widely recognized to be unrepresentative of real-world driving. The divergence between official and real-world values undermines national vehicle taxation schemes and EU-wide CO_2 standards for passenger cars, particularly since the divergence increases with new model generations. This study examines real-world fuel consumption data from more than 130,000 vehicles to investigate the development of the divergence. The analysis validates and refines a regression model developed by , which estimates real-world fuel consumption of cars based on readily available vehicle characteristics, namely official fuel consumption values, vehicle mass, and engine capacity. The regression model yielded coefficients of determination of 0.87 or higher, but was found to underestimate fuel consumption of newer vehicles and company cars. This study proposes to add vehicle build year as a regressor to account for the increasing divergence between official and real-world fuel consumption figures. - Highlights: • Real-world fuel consumption of new cars in Germany is 36% higher than official values. • The divergence between official and real-world fuel consumption has grown over time. • A simple regression accounts for ≥87% of the variance in real-world fuel consumption values. • Vehicle age must be included in the model to account for the growing divergence.

A real world dissemination and implementation of Transdiagnostic Behavior Therapy (TBT) for veterans with affective disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Gros, Daniel F; Szafranski, Derek D; Shead, Sarah D

2017-03-01

Dissemination and implementation of evidence-based psychotherapies is challenging in real world clinical settings. Transdiagnostic Behavior Therapy (TBT) for affective disorders was developed with dissemination and implementation in clinical settings in mind. The present study investigated a voluntary local dissemination and implementation effort, involving 28 providers participating in a four-hour training on TBT. Providers completed immediate (n=22) and six-month follow-up (n=12) training assessments and were encouraged to collect data on their TBT patients (delivery fidelity was not investigated). Findings demonstrated that providers endorsed learning of and interest in using TBT after the training. At six-months, 50% of providers reported using TBT with their patients and their perceived effectiveness of TBT to be very good to excellent. Submitted patient outcome data evidenced medium to large effect sizes. Together, these findings provide preliminary support for the effectiveness of a real world dissemination and implementation of TBT. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Experience inheritance from famous specialists based on real-world clinical research paradigm of traditional Chinese medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Guanli; Wang, Yinghui; Zhang, Runshun; Liu, Baoyan; Zhou, Xuezhong; Zhou, Xiaji; Zhang, Hong; Guo, Yufeng; Xue, Yanxing; Xu, Lili

2014-09-01

The current modes of experience inheritance from famous specialists in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) include master and disciple, literature review, clinical-epidemiology-based clinical research observation, and analysis and data mining via computer and database technologies. Each mode has its advantages and disadvantages. However, a scientific and instructive experience inheritance mode has not been developed. The advent of the big data era as well as the formation and practice accumulation of the TCM clinical research paradigm in the real world have provided new perspectives, techniques, and methods for inheriting experience from famous TCM specialists. Through continuous exploration and practice, the research group proposes the innovation research mode based on the real-world TCM clinical research paradigm, which involves the inheritance and innovation of the existing modes. This mode is formulated in line with its own development regularity of TCM and is expected to become the main mode of experience inheritance in the clinical field.

USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN RESEARCH WORK OF FUTURE SOFTWARE ENGINEERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.O. Vinnik

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The article describes practical cooperation experience of Kherson State University’s lecturers group and students on software creation for automation, selection and processing of information about the universities scientists publication on the Internet. Recently, much attention is paid to scientometric bases by scientific societies of Eastern Europe. Large number of countries creates their own scientometric bases, platforms and other services. Working on familiar projects the future software engineers can be ready to implement similar tasks as for own country and for the world leaders. The result of research group work should be creation of software tools to support the business processes of research activities at the university. The involvement of students in research work allows using their creativity and employment potential for solving urgent problems of university, raising research competence of students’ professional skills in computer science and software engineering, which are involved in design and development of real software product. Participation of students in each stage is essential element of research group work. While creating software, students receive not only theoretical and practical knowledge of research work but also enhance their professional competences, as projects implementation is the closest to the professional software engineer’s work.

A Component-Oriented Programming for Embedded Mobile Robot Software

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Safaai Deris

2008-11-01

Full Text Available Applying software reuse to many Embedded Real-Time (ERT systems poses significant challenges to industrial software processes due to the resource-constrained and real-time requirements of the systems. Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR system is a class of ERT systems, hence, inherits the challenge of applying software reuse in general ERT systems. Furthermore, software reuse in AMR systems is challenged by the diversities in terms of robot physical size and shape, environmental interaction and implementation platform. Thus, it is envisioned that component-based software engineering will be the suitable way to promote software reuse in AMR systems with consideration to general requirements to be self-contained, platform-independent and real-time predictable. A framework for component-oriented programming for AMR software development using PECOS component model is proposed in this paper. The main features of this framework are: (1 use graphical representation for components definition and composition; (2 target C language for optimal code generation with resource-constrained micro-controller; and (3 minimal requirement for run-time support. Real-time implementation indicates that, the PECOS component model together with the proposed framework is suitable for resource constrained embedded AMR systems software development.

Can We Model Driver Perceptions? An In-Situ Experiment in Real-World Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aly M. Tawfik, PhD

2014-06-01

Full Text Available It is clear that perceptions play a significant role in traveler decisions. Consequently, traveler perceptions are a corner stone in the feasibility of traveler information systems; for traveler information systems are only valuable if the drivers are incapable of accurately acquiring the provided information on their own, and if the provided information is relevant for the drivers' decision criteria. Accuracy of traveler perceptions has been repeatedly researched in public transportation, and has been found to vary according to different reasons. However, in spite of the clear significance of traveler perceptions, minimal effort has been put into modeling it. Almost all travel behavior models are based on traveler experiences, which are assumed to reflect traveler perceptions via the addition of some random error component. This works introduces an alternative approach: instead of adding an error component to represent driver perceptions, it proposes to model driver perceptions. This work is based on a real-world route choice experiment of a sample of 20 drivers who made more than 2,000 real-world route choices. Each of the drivers' experiences, perceptions, and choices were recorded, analyzed and cross examined. The paper demonstrates that: i driver experiences are different from driver perceptions, ii driver perceptions explain driver choices better than driver experiences, iii it is possible to model and predict driver perceptions of travel distance, time and speed.

Software tools for the simple processing of a real-time system input/output. Application to the survey/check of a ion source by a mini-computer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laudillay, Y.

1979-01-01

This I/0 software is composed by the set of modules allowing exchanges of data between computer and process to control. It is developed taking several types of problems into account. Particularly the use of I/0 must be easy for the pedestrian and I/0 system should be able to evolve because the number of parameters can increase or lessen and also, the characteristics of some parameters can change. The respect of these conditions requires some particular solutions. For example, it is preferable for the control process software to be written in high level language and the I/0 software to be accessible in this language. It is important, also that hardware and software intermediate levels for exchanges of data be easy for user writing a program. The other problems, typical of the real time check are determined by use of the computer standard I/0. However some further modules are necessary to obtain a real time I/0 system having satisfying performances [fr

A Cost Effective Approach to Develop Mid-size Enterprise Software Adopted the Waterfall Model

OpenAIRE

M. N. Hasnine; M. K. H. Chayon; M. M. Rahman

2015-01-01

Organizational tendencies towards computer-based information processing have been observed noticeably in the third-world countries. Many enterprises are taking major initiatives towards computerized working environment because of massive benefits of computer-based information processing. However, designing and developing information resource management software for small and mid-size enterprises under budget costs and strict deadline is always challenging for software eng...

Open Source Software Development

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

appropriate to refer to FOSS or FLOSS (L for Libre , where the alternative term “ libre software ” has popularity in some parts of the world) in order...Applying Social Network Analysis to Community-Drive Libre Software Projects, Intern. J. Info. Tech. and Web Engineering, 2006, 1(3), 27-28. 17...Open Source Software Development* Walt Scacchi Institute for Software Researcher University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA 92697-3455 USA Abstract

Software supervisor: extension to the on-line codes utilization in order to help the process control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomas, J.B.; Dumas, M.; Evrard, J.M.

1988-01-01

Calculation is a complex problem, which is usually solved by human experts. The complexity and the potentiality of the software increases. The introduction of the calculations in real time systems needs additional specifications. These aims cab be achieved by means of the control of the knowledge based systems, as well as by the introduction of the software techniques in the existing computer world. The following examples are given: the automatic generation of the calculation methods (in control language) in the modular code systems; the calculations monitoring by the expert systems, in order to help the on-line operations [fr

Managing in the Virtual World: How Second Life is Rewriting the Rules of "Real Life" Business

Science.gov (United States)

Wyld, David C.

In this paper, we will explore the growth of virtual worlds - one of the most exciting and fast-growing concepts in the Web 2.0 era. We will see that while there has been significant growth across all demographic groups, online gaming in MMOGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Games) are finding particular appeal in today's youth - the so-called "digital native" generation. We then overview the today's virtual world marketplace, both in the youth and adult-oriented markets. Second Life is emerging as the most important virtual world today, due to the intense interest amongst both large organizations and individual entrepreneurs to conduct real business in the virtual environment. Due to its prominence today and its forecasted growth over the next decade, we take a look at the unscripted world of Second Life, examining the corporate presence in-world, as well as the economic, technical, legal, ethical and security issues involved for companies doing business in the virtual world. In conclusion, we present an analysis of where we stand in terms of virtual world development today and a projection of where we will be heading in the near future. Finally, we present advice to management practitioners and academicians on how to learn about virtual worlds and explore the world of opportunities in them.

The Development of a Teaching Strategy for Implementing a Real-World Business Project into Database Courses