A New Method on Efficient Product Management with a Tagging System

Abstract Abstract Abstract The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is now widely used in project management of software development, including scope definition, task scheduling, cost estimation and so on. However, just using WBS is not effective for product management because it is hard to keep the simultaneous update between written product items in WBS and existent products, especially in the situation of large scale software development. In order to improve the product management based on WBS, we designed and implemented a set of metadata tags which will be attached on all the products. The metadata tags are defined in the XML format, containing necessary information of any pieces of products, such as general information (title, description, relations, etc.), schedule information (cost estimation, limit day, working time, etc) and index data (WBS package, index id, etc). To systematically organize product-bonding tags, now we are designing a tagging system. Its aims are to organize all the product information attached on the metadata tags so that it can automatically generate the WBS and provide a platform for easily realizing the update of product management information

Embolization using warmed glue via the triaxial microballoon occlusion system for various vascular disorders

PURPOSE:We aimed to illustrate the benefits of using warmed glue for viscosity reduction via the triaxial microballoon system for the treatment of various vascular disorders.METHODS:Seven patients who underwent 10 treatment sessions for hemoptysis, type II endoleak, post-pancreatic surgical bleeding, spontaneous retroperitoneal bleeding, or ovarian tumor bleeding were evaluated based on technical and clinical outcomes. In the procedure, the triaxial system, consisting of a 4.5-Fr guiding catheter, a 2.8-Fr microballoon catheter, and a 1.9-Fr no-taper microcatheter, was advanced into the target lesion. Glue (33% n-butyl cyanoacrylate mixed with Lipiodol) warmed to 40°C was injected under balloon occlusion.RESULTS:The common hepatic, right bronchial, intercostals, internal mammary, costocervical, lateral thoracic, superior thoracic, thoracoacromial, inferior thyroid, iliolumbar, lumbar, internal pudendal arteries, and branch of the inferior mesenteric artery were successfully embolized; 100% technical success and 100% clinical success were obtained after each session.CONCLUSION:Our modified balloon-occluded glue embolization may lead to better handling with more distal glue penetration capability

Enhancement in Boiling Heat Transfer for Water Using a Polished Plate Surface

The thermal characteristic of a plate evaporator for boiling water have been experimentally investigated. Stainless-steel plates with five kinds of surface roughness (a mirror-polished surface and four kinds of polished plate surface, F2, F0, F-1, and F-2 polishing) were used for the investigation. The roughness order is F-2 > F-1 > F0 > F2 > mirror. The local boiling heat transfers were measured on the evaporator surface using ten thermocouples inside the evaporator. For a comparison of the heat transfer characteristic of the evaporator, the local boiling heat transfer coefficient was measured when the polishing direction was perpendicular or parallel to the water flow at a range of pressures (0.3–0.4 MPa) and flow rates (20–60 mL/min). The results indicate that the local heat transfer coefficient increased with increasing vapor quality at all surface conditions. For F0 polishing, the heat transfer coefficient on the surface with perpendicular polishing was much larger than that on the surfaces with parallel and mirror polishing. In particular, the heat transfer coefficient of the perpendicularly polished surface (F2 and F0 polishing) was increased six-fold in comparison with that of the mirror surface at a vapor quality of 0.35. However, for the F-1 and F-2 perpendicularly polishing plates, the heat transfer coefficients were smaller than those of the F0 and F2 perpendicularly polishing plates. For the F2 perpendicularly polished plate, heat transfer enhancement was confirmed, along with an increase in the number of bubbling points, on increasing the system pressure. For the polished surface, the heat transfer coefficient increased with increasing flow rate. This indicates that the bubble formation cycle was promoted by an increased flow rate

Generation and Characterization of Conditional Heparin-Binding EGF-Like Growth Factor Knockout Mice

Recently, neurotrophic factors and cytokines have been shown to be associated in psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression. Heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor (HB-EGF) is a member of the EGF family, serves as a neurotrophic molecular and plays a significant role in the brain. We generated mice in which HB-EGF activity is disrupted specifically in the ventral forebrain. These knockout mice showed (a) behavioral abnormalities similar to those described in psychiatric disorders, which were ameliorated by typical or atypical antipsychotics, (b) altered dopamine and serotonin levels in the brain, (c) decreases in spine density in neurons of the prefrontal cortex, (d) reductions in the protein levels of the NR1 subunit of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor and post-synaptic protein-95 (PSD-95), (e) decreases in the EGF receptor, and in the calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMK II) signal cascade. These results suggest the alterations affecting HB-EGF signaling could comprise a contributing factor in psychiatric disorder

Remote hand: Hand-centered peripersonal space transfers to a disconnected hand avatar

The space surrounding our body is called peripersonal space (PPS). It has been reported that visuo-tactile facilitation occurs more strongly within PPS than outside PPS. Furthermore, previous research has revealed several methods by which PPS can be extended. The present study provides the first behavioral evidence of the transfer of PPS in a virtual environment by a novel technique. PPS representation was investigated using a remote-controlled hand avatar presented far from their body in a virtual environment. Participants showed strongest visuo-tactile facilitation at the far space around the remote hand and no facilitation at the near space around the real hand, suggesting that PPS transfers from near the body to the space around the hand avatar. The present results extend previous findings of the plasticity of PPS and demonstrate flexibility of PPS representation beyond the physical and anatomical limits of body representation

The relationship between the body and the environment in the virtual world: The interpupillary distance affects the body size perception.

Previous research suggests that the size of one's body is used as a metric to scale the external world. On the other hand, the influence of information from the external world on the perception of body size is unclear. It has been suggested that increased inter-pupillary distance (IPD) leads people to perceive the external world as smaller than it actually is. The present study investigated the effect of the IPD on body size perception, and the relationship between the perceived scale of the body and the external world when the IPD is manipulated. To this end, in a virtual environment, we manipulated the IPD as well as the size and presence of participants' hands, while participant's eye height was increased vertically. Results showed that, when participants' eye height was increased and their hands were enlarged, people with a fixed IPD perceived the size of their body to be large (like a giant) while the external world was perceived to be changed minimally. Alternatively, people with increased IPD perceived that the external world as having shrank, whereas their perception of their body size changed little. However, when a viewers' virtual hands were not shown, the IPD did not affect the individual's percept of body size, although the IPD did affect one's perception of the external world. These results suggest that, when the ratio of the size between one's body and the external world are explicit, the perceived size of one's body is affected by the IPD or perceived scale of the external world that is affected by the IPD

From Computer Networks to Agent Networks

From the 1990s on, one of the most important challenges facing computer science researchers has been the design and construction of software tools to exploit Internet computing. At the same time, the development of agent technology has gone hand in hand with the explosion of the Internet. As worldwide network computing environments become more and more complex, software agents are believed to have the potential to help present and manage the Internet in an autonomous or semi-autonomous way. Yet, to date, a number of fundamental questions about the theory and practice of this new software engineering paradigm have remained unanswered. Here we will explore the features that make the agent-based approach such an appealing and evolutionary computational model. In particular, we envision a global agent-based distributed computing architecture that provides a convenient programming abstraction and sufficient transparency. This paper gives a general introduction to the underlying concepts of our research and development both at the level of design philosophy and in practical implementation techniques. It will be argued that the shift from computer networks to agent networks is a significant extension of network programming technology because agents are well suited to modeling, designing and implementing scalable, flexible and secure distributed systems over a worldwide computing environment.