Experimental Aspects of Highly Accelerated Life Tests

Experimental aspects of High Accelerated Life Tests (HALT) are presented. A statistical analysis of test results which allows to define the different characteristic areas of a product (operating and destruction limits) is given. In particular, some tests on electronic board using thermal and vibration stresses have been investigated

A complete genome sequence ofLactobacillus helveticus R0052, a commercial probiotic strain

Lactobacillus helveticus R0052 is a commercially available strain that is widely used in probiotic preparations. The genome sequence consisted of 2,129,425 bases. Comparative analysis showed that it was unique among L. helveticus strains in that it contained genes encoding mucus-binding proteins similar to those found in Lactobacillus acidophilus

Multi-Response Optimization For Industrial Processes

Process optimization is a very important point in modern industry. There are many classical optimization methods, which can be applied when some mathematical conditions are verified. Real situations are not very simple so that classical methods may not succeed in optimizing; as in cases when the optimization has several contradictory objectives (Collette, 2002). The purpose of this work is to propose an optimization method for industrial processes with multiple inputs and multiple outputs (MIMO), for which the optimization objectives are generally contradictory and for which some objectives are not maximum or minimum but performance criteria. The first step of this method is modeling each process response by a quadratic model. After establishing the model, we use a simplified numerical optimization algorithm in order to determine values of the parameters allowing optimizing the different responses, for MIMO processes. This method will also allow finding optimum target values for multiple inputs single output processes

What do Students Learn from Participation in an Undergraduate Research Journal? Results of an Assessment

INTRODUCTION Undergraduate research journals provide students with an opportunity to disseminate their work while learning about the scholarly publishing process. The opportunities to learn about scholarly communication have been demonstrated, but such journals also offer a means of helping students attain necessary information literacy competencies. By partnering in the publication of undergraduate journals, libraries can further strategic goals related to information literacy and establish a connection between library publishing and student success. This paper reports on an assessment of the Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research (JPUR) that was designed to evaluate student learning outcomes and demonstrate connections between journal participation and student success. METHODS The assessment plan included all student and faculty stakeholder groups. Online surveys were distributed to primary stakeholder groups annually for three years; students who attended workshops were asked to complete evaluations; and web metrics were collected. RESULTS The findings indicated that students experienced gains in learning as a result of writing an article, writing a research snapshot, or mentoring a student author. Because of their involvement with JPUR, student authors intended to publish articles in the future. JPUR influenced career decisions. Faculty were motivated to continue to act as mentors for undergraduate research. DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION The assessment showed that student authors benefitted from experiencing the full spectrum of the scholarly publishing process. Notably, students gained knowledge of important information literacy concepts. These learning gains and the demonstrated influence of JPUR on student career and scholarly aspirations clearly show that publication of an undergraduate research journal supports university priorities for student success as well as the Libraries’ strategic priorities of information literacy and scholarly communication. It is recommended that other institutions that are publishing undergraduate journals undertake similar assessments, which will further establish the value of such publications

Optimisation et maîtrise des processus multivariés –Méthode FNAD

The major disadvantage with actual multivariate statistical control techniques is the great difficulty in detecting the out of control variable in the process. We are proposing in this article an original approach based on the utilisation of discriminate analysis and digital filtering, and we are showing that it is possible in this way to overcome this inconvenience

Parity-Violating Electron Scattering from the Pion-Correlated Relativistic Fermi Gas

Parity-violating quasielastic electron scattering is studied within the context of the relativistic Fermi gas and its extensions to include the effects of pionic correlations and meson-exchange currents. The work builds on previous studies using the same model; here the part of the parity-violating asymmetry that contains axial-vector hadronic currents is developed in detail using those previous studies and a link is provided to the transverse vector-isovector response. Various integrated observables are constructed from the differential asymmetry. These include an asymmetry averaged over the quasielastic peak, as well as the difference of the asymmetry integrated to the left and right of the peak -- the latter is shown to be optimal for bringing out the nature of the pionic correlations. Special weighted integrals involving the differential asymmetry and electromagnetic cross section, based on the concepts of y-scaling and sum rules, are constructed and shown to be suited to studies of the single-nucleon form factor content in the problem, in particular, to determinations of the isovector/axial-vector and electric strangeness form factors. Comparisons are also made with recent predictions made on the basis of relativistic mean-field theory.Comment: 28 pages, LATeX, 13 figures (tar-compressed postscript files, available from the authors), MIT preprint CTP#222