Naval Combat System Product Line Architecture Economics

Acquisition Research Program Sponsored Report SeriesSponsored Acquisition Research & Technical ReportsA Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approach has been developed at the Naval Postgraduate School that integrates parametric cost and product modeling methods for economic trade-off analysis of system product lines. The research assesses the economic consequences of DoD product line options and has been refining a framework for others to use and adapt. This report provides details of the methodology and its application to several empirical case studies. The modeling framework includes a reference architecture and cost model for a general combat system product line that is extensible to other DoD and government domains. It has been applied to assess the economics of Navy combat system product line architecture approaches in coordinated case studies. The case studies were performed for a three-tier cruise missile system, the Aegis ship software product line, and an Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) cross-domain product line architecture for air, surface, and sub-surface applications. An overall business case analysis for DoD product line practices was performed synthesizing the case studies with recommendations generated.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Towards an integrative framework of brand country of origin recognition determinants : a cross-classified hierarchical model.

To propose a framework integrating the types and levels of the determinants of brand CO recognition and to provide evidence on Internet users’ brand CO recognition rates using a sample of multi-regional and global brands from a variety of product categories and countries. We integrate 'level-1' consumer and brand characteristics and 'level-2' product category and country effects in a single framework. Data obtained through an original on-line survey hosted by Yahoo provide the basis for the empirical analysis. Seven hypotheses are tested using a two-level cross-classified random-effect model (‘HCM2’) : (a) Education is positively related with brand CO recognition; (b) experience with brands is positively related with brand CO recognition; (c) integration between the consumer and the country of a foreign brand is positively related with brand CO recognition; (d) Internet users’ classification performance is significantly better for domestic than for foreign brands; (e) brand-name congruence with true brand origin is positively related with brand CO recognition; (f) brand equity explains brand CO recognition, and (g) product categories with higher consumer involvement enhance brand CO recognition. Brand CO recognition performance by Internet users is in line with classification performance rates reported in other studies dealing with well-know and global brands. The main limitation is the cross-sectional study design. The research implications suggest that scholars should consider level-2 product category and country characteristics in their models, and that the level of brand CO recognition must be understood as inherently associated to the kind of brands under study. Managers would benefit from considering product category and country aspects of their most valuable brands. Policy makers should encourage firms to promote a clear association between brands and countries (when these countries have a positive image) and discriminate between high and low involvement product categories. We contribute to the brand CO awareness literature by integrating consumer and brand characteristics in a theoretical model, and identifying level-2 product category features and CO effects previously disregarded in brand CO recognition frameworks. In addition, our study positively contrasts with previous research by providing empirical evidence on brand CO recognition from the largest set of global brands (109), countries of origin (19) and product categories (15) ever investigated.Brand awareness; Country of origin; Brand CO recognition; Cross-classified hierarchical model; International marketing;

PCA detection and denoising of Zeeman signatures in stellar polarised spectra

Our main objective is to develop a denoising strategy to increase the signal to noise ratio of individual spectral lines of stellar spectropolarimetric observations. We use a multivariate statistics technique called Principal Component Analysis. The cross-product matrix of the observations is diagonalized to obtain the eigenvectors in which the original observations can be developed. This basis is such that the first eigenvectors contain the greatest variance. Assuming that the noise is uncorrelated a denoising is possible by reconstructing the data with a truncated basis. We propose a method to identify the number of eigenvectors for an efficient noise filtering. Numerical simulations are used to demonstrate that an important increase of the signal to noise ratio per spectral line is possible using PCA denoising techniques. It can be also applied for detection of magnetic fields in stellar atmospheres. We analyze the relation between PCA and commonly used well-known techniques like line addition and least-squares deconvolution. Moreover, PCA is very robust and easy to compute.Comment: accepted to be published in A&

Interpersonal dynamics in baseline rallies in tennis

In tennis, the relative positioning of players on court constrains their opportunities to perform successful actions. In this study we proposed and validated an empirical function that captures the spatial-temporal relationship between tennis players during competitive performance. This parameter, termed goal-directed displacement index (GDD Index), is defined over time by the product of both players' distances to the central line of the court and to the centre of the net. Results showed that the GDD index successfully described tennis players' patterns of interaction, as well as identified breaks in patterns of play during competitive performance, due to changes in relative positioning on court. Our analysis revealed two different patterns of interpersonal interactions, cross and down-the-line rallies, and two ways for a break to emerge in game dynamics, parallel variation (transition from a cross court rally to a down-the-line rally) and angle opening (lateral displacement). Data suggest that the elaboration of specific individual profiles of performance for different players, using the GDD index, could improve performance analysis in tennis

A Second-order Model of Lean Manufacturing Implementation to Leverage Production Line Productivity with the Importance-Performance Map Analysis

The objective of this article is to examine the direct path from lean manufacturing (LM) to production line productivity using second-order analysis in a structural equation model (SEM). Data were collected from 236 large manufacturers using a cross-sectional survey. The findings confirmed the positive direct effect of LM practices on production line productivity. The outcome of importance-performance map analysis (IPMA) revealed that the productivity can be leveraged when manufacturing firms are able to produce more than one product model per day with the support of a kanban system to authorize production and material movements. LM supported by a small number of high-performance suppliers leads to improved production line productivity. This study contributes to closing existing gaps of studies investigating the effect of LM on productivity. Practitioners will benefit by understanding the vital constructs of LM practices to improve the overall productivity of a production line

Aspects of positive definiteness and gaussian processes on planet earth

This thesis studies characterisations and properties of spatial and spatio-temporal Gaussian processes defined over the sphere (or in the spatio-temporal case the product of the sphere and the real line). Such processes are of importance in global weather and climate science, where the geometry is necessarily spherical, but, especially in the dynamic setting, they are less well-studied than their Euclidean counterparts. Beginning with Brownian motion, we first look at characterising Gaussian randomness on the sphere and sphere-cross-line, and how it compares with the Euclidean setting -- we show that the characterisation theorems of Gaussian processes on spaces of types spanning the real line, the sphere and sphere-cross-line can be phrased as consequences of a powerful general theorem of harmonic analysis. We go on to find the answer to a recent question posed about dimension-hopping operators for positive-definite (i.e. covariance) functions on the sphere-cross-line, and consider how we could go about constructing dimension-hopping operators with the semi-group property on the sphere. Later, we address the theory of the path properties of these processes, extending a finite-dimensional result the the infinite-dimensional case and showing that a remarkably elegant approach for processes on Euclidean space carries over to our setting. We finish by finding the analogue of the powerful Ciesielski isomorphism for continuous functions on the two-sphere.Open Acces

PRODUCT LINE ARCHITECTURE FOR HADRONTHERAPY CONTROL SYSTEM: APPLICATIONS DEVELOPMENT AND CERTIFICATION

Hadrontherapy is the treatment of cancer with charged ion beams. As the charged ion beams used in hadrontherapy are required to be accelerated to very large energies, the particle accelerators used in this treatment are complex and composed of several sub-systems. As a result, control systems are employed for the supervision and control of these accelerators. Currently, The Italian National Hadrontherapy Facility (CNAO) has the objective of modernizing one of the software environments of its control system. Such a project would allow for the integration of new types of devices into the control system, such as mobile devices, as well as introducing newer technologies into the environment. In order to achieve this, this work began with the requirement analysis and definition of a product line architecture for applications of the upgraded control system environment. The product line architecture focuses on reliability, maintainability, and ease of compliance with medical software certification directives. This was followed by the design and development of several software services aimed at allowing the communication of the environments applications and other components of the control system, such as remote file access, relational data access, and OPC-UA. In addition, several libraries and tools have been developed to support the development of future control system applications, following the defined product line architecture. Lastly, a pilot application was created using the tools developed during this work, as well as the preliminary results of a cross-environment integration project. The approach followed in this work is later evaluated by comparing the developed tools to their legacy counterparts, as well as estimating the impact of future applications following the defined product line architecture.Hadrontherapy is the treatment of cancer with charged ion beams. As the charged ion beams used in hadrontherapy are required to be accelerated to very large energies, the particle accelerators used in this treatment are complex and composed of several sub-systems. As a result, control systems are employed for the supervision and control of these accelerators. Currently, The Italian National Hadrontherapy Facility (CNAO) has the objective of modernizing one of the software environments of its control system. Such a project would allow for the integration of new types of devices into the control system, such as mobile devices, as well as introducing newer technologies into the environment. In order to achieve this, this work began with the requirement analysis and definition of a product line architecture for applications of the upgraded control system environment. The product line architecture focuses on reliability, maintainability, and ease of compliance with medical software certification directives. This was followed by the design and development of several software services aimed at allowing the communication of the environments applications and other components of the control system, such as remote file access, relational data access, and OPC-UA. In addition, several libraries and tools have been developed to support the development of future control system applications, following the defined product line architecture. Lastly, a pilot application was created using the tools developed during this work, as well as the preliminary results of a cross-environment integration project. The approach followed in this work is later evaluated by comparing the developed tools to their legacy counterparts, as well as estimating the impact of future applications following the defined product line architecture

Double-peaked Narrow Emission-line Galaxies in LAMOST Survey

We outline a full-scale search for galaxies exhibiting double-peaked profiles of promi- nent narrow emission lines, motivated by the prospect of finding objects related to merging galaxies, and even dual active galactic nuclei candidates as by-product, from the Large Sky Area Multi-object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) Data Re- lease 4. We assemble a large sample of 325 candidates with double-peaked or strong asymmetric narrow emission lines, with 33 objects therein appearing optically resolved dual-cored structures, close companions or signs of recent interaction on the Sloan Dig- ital Sky Survey images. A candidate from LAMOST (J074810.95+281349.2) is also stressed here based on the kinematic and spatial decompositions of the double-peaked narrow emission line target, with analysis from the cross-referenced Mapping Nearby Galaxies at the Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey datacube. MaNGA en- ables us to constrain the origin of double peaks for these sources, and with the IFU data we infer that the most promising origin of double-peaked profiles for LAMOST J074810.95+281349.2 is the `Rotation Dominated + Disturbance' structure.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, accepted by MNRA

Towards an integrative framework of brand country of origin recognition determinants : a cross-classified hierarchical model

To propose a framework integrating the types and levels of the determinants of brand CO recognition and to provide evidence on Internet users’ brand CO recognition rates using a sample of multi-regional and global brands from a variety of product categories and countries. We integrate 'level-1' consumer and brand characteristics and 'level-2' product category and country effects in a single framework. Data obtained through an original on-line survey hosted by Yahoo provide the basis for the empirical analysis. Seven hypotheses are tested using a two-level cross-classified random-effect model (‘HCM2’) : (a) Education is positively related with brand CO recognition; (b) experience with brands is positively related with brand CO recognition; (c) integration between the consumer and the country of a foreign brand is positively related with brand CO recognition; (d) Internet users’ classification performance is significantly better for domestic than for foreign brands; (e) brand-name congruence with true brand origin is positively related with brand CO recognition; (f) brand equity explains brand CO recognition, and (g) product categories with higher consumer involvement enhance brand CO recognition. Brand CO recognition performance by Internet users is in line with classification performance rates reported in other studies dealing with well-know and global brands. The main limitation is the cross-sectional study design. The research implications suggest that scholars should consider level-2 product category and country characteristics in their models, and that the level of brand CO recognition must be understood as inherently associated to the kind of brands under study. Managers would benefit from considering product category and country aspects of their most valuable brands. Policy makers should encourage firms to promote a clear association between brands and countries (when these countries have a positive image) and discriminate between high and low involvement product categories. We contribute to the brand CO awareness literature by integrating consumer and brand characteristics in a theoretical model, and identifying level-2 product category features and CO effects previously disregarded in brand CO recognition frameworks. In addition, our study positively contrasts with previous research by providing empirical evidence on brand CO recognition from the largest set of global brands (109), countries of origin (19) and product categories (15) ever investigated.Publicad