DECIMAL: A requirements engineering tool for product families

Today, many software organizations are utilizing product families as a way of improving productivity, improving quality and reducing development time. When a new member is added to a product family, there must be a way to verify whether the new member\u27s specific requirements are met within the reuse constraints of its product family. The contribution of this paper is to demonstrate such a verification process by describing a requirements engineering tool called DECIMAL. DECIMAL is an interactive, automated, GUI driven verification tool that automatically checks for completeness (checking to see if all commonalities are satisfied) and consistency (checking to see if dependencies between variabilities are satisfied) of the new member\u27s requirements with the product family\u27s requirements. DECIMAL also checks that variabilities are within the range and data type specified for the product family. The approach is to perform the verification using a database as the underlying analysis engine. A pilot study of a virtual reality device driver product family is also described which investigates the feasibility of this approach by evaluating the tool

Experimental investigation on surface characterization of chemical treated Natural fiber composite

In this research work removal of lignin and hemicelluloses for untreated coir fiber reinforced composites was accomplished by suitable chemical treatment namely new method at optimum fiber loading such as 25% and 30%. To avoid the problem of untreated coir fiber, chemical treatment was done. Final treated fiber extraction process was gone through new method. It results in treated cellulose composite at 25% and 30% lignin and hemicelluloses was found to be decreased was revealed in Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis, it shows defibrillation, de-polymerization in treated composite was revealed in scanning electron microscopy analysis, and shows high oxygen content percentage than carbon content percentage about 22.06% which demonstrates removal of lignin in treated composite, was revealed in element detection analysis.. The main objective was accomplished by the removal of lignin and hemicelluloses of natural fiber through suitable chemical treatment and at optimum fiber loadin

Outsourcing labour to the cloud

Various forms of open sourcing to the online population are establishing themselves as cheap, effective methods of getting work done. These have revolutionised the traditional methods for innovation and have contributed to the enrichment of the concept of 'open innovation'. To date, the literature concerning this emerging topic has been spread across a diverse number of media, disciplines and academic journals. This paper attempts for the first time to survey the emerging phenomenon of open outsourcing of work to the internet using 'cloud computing'. The paper describes the volunteer origins and recent commercialisation of this business service. It then surveys the current platforms, applications and academic literature. Based on this, a generic classification for crowdsourcing tasks and a number of performance metrics are proposed. After discussing strengths and limitations, the paper concludes with an agenda for academic research in this new area

A study on the clinical, biochemical and hormonal profile of polycystic ovary syndrome patients attending tertiary care hospital

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorder of reproductive age affecting 5% to 10% of women worldwide. It is a heterogenous, multifactorial, complex genetic disorder. PCOS receives a considerable attention because of its high prevalence and metabolic, reproductive and cardiovascular consequences.Methods: A cross sectional observation study of 100 PCOS patients was carried out between January 2014 to July 2015 in Gynaecology out-patient and Infertility OPD, Justice K. S. Hegde charitable hospital, Mangalore. The clinical, biochemical and hormonal profile of these patients were analysed and correlation was done between clinical features and biochemical and hormonal profile.Results: The prevalence of PCOS was 6.3% in the Gynaecology out-patient visits and 37.14% among infertile women. Menstrual irregularity was the most common complaint accounting for 31% followed by infertility (23%). Elevated leutinizing hormone and elevated LH: FSH was significant in irregular menstrual group. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in our study was 21.3%. Spearmans correlation between various clinical and laboratory parameters showed menstrual cycle and body mass index(BMI) had a fair positive correlation and was significant. WHR (waist hip ratio) showed 21 times risk for metabolic syndrome.Conclusions: The study showed that most of our polycystic ovary syndrome subjects were hirsute, with central obesity and overweight or obese. Oligomenorrhea was the most common presentation. Among the various risk factors studied, WHR (waist hip ratio) showed 21 times risk for metabolic syndrome. Obese women with PCOS had more severe ovulatory dysfunction and need more attention for their appropriate management

Interlayer structure of iodide intercalated layered double hydroxides (LDHs)

The iodide-containing layered double hydroxides (LDHs) of Mg and Zn with Al crystallize by the inclusion of extensive positional disorder of I- ions in the interlayer region. I- ion given its poor charge to size ratio can neither screen effectively the positive charge nor participate in H-bonding with the metal hydroxide layers. Thereby the I- ions are not stabilized in sites close to the seat of positive charge of the metal hydroxide layers (6c), nor in sites that facilitate H-bonding (3b or 18h). On the other hand, OH- from water can do both and effectively displaces I- from the interlayer. © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Acetyl salicylic acid augments functional recovery following sciatic nerve crush in mice

Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (CDK-5) appears to play a significant role in peripheral nerve regeneration as CDK-5 inhibition retards nerve regeneration following nerve crush. Anti-inflammatory drug acetyl salicylic acid elevates CDK-5 and reduces ischemia – reperfusion injury in cultured neurons. In this study we have evaluated the effect of acetyl salicylic acid on functional recovery following sciatic nerve crush in mice. Eighteen Swiss albino mice underwent unilateral sciatic nerve crush. Test animals received acetyl salicylic acid (100 mg/kg/day, n = 6 or 50 mg/kg/day, n = 6) and control animals (n = 6) received normal saline for 14 days following surgery. Functional recovery was assessed with improvement in Sciatic Function Index, nociception and gait. In comparison with normal saline treatment, acetyl salicylic acid (100 mg/kg/day) significantly improved functional recovery following sciatic nerve crush. Anti-inflammatory drug acetyl salicylic acid appears to be a promising agent for treating peripheral nerve injuries and hence elucidation of its neuroprotective pathways is necessary