Information requirements for enterprise systems

In this paper, we discuss an approach to system requirements engineering, which is based on using models of the responsibilities assigned to agents in a multi-agency system of systems. The responsibility models serve as a basis for identifying the stakeholders that should be considered in establishing the requirements and provide a basis for a structured approach, described here, for information requirements elicitation. We illustrate this approach using a case study drawn from civil emergency management

Qualité des pommes de terre : nouvelles méthodes d'évaluation calibrées sur l'analyse sensorielle

Quality of potatoes : new assessment methods calibrated by means of sensory analysis [frying index]. For the potato sector, raw material quality became an important criterium because it determines the type of use and the transformation ability of the tubers. It is now primordial to be able to identify the quality level of a share by reliable and objective methods. The qualitative criteria of potatoes are for the most estimated via sensory tests. During this survey, we measured several texture descriptors (desintegration, flouriness, granulation), the flesh colour, the after-cooking blackening susceptibility, the taste intensity and the after-frying coloration of the samples. In order to get rid of the human subjectivity, we studied the potentialities of near infrared spectrometry (NIRS) and of image analysis to predict or to measure these sensory behaviours. We observed high correlation between real values and values predicted by NIRS models, mainly for texture descriptors and flesh colour. Frying index prediction by NIRS is acceptable, but less precise than its measurement by image analysis

A Rapid Estimation of Nitrogen Bound to Neutral Detergent Fibre in Forages by Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy

Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) is widely used as a rapid method for the evaluation of the chemical composition or the nutritive value of foodstuffs (Givens et al., 1997). The determination of the neutral detergent fibre (NDF) bound N (NDF-N), which is highly variable in forages (Shayo & Udén, 1999), is expensive. The purpose of this study was to test the use of NIRS in the prediction of NDF-N in various forages

Combined multi-protocols qMRI for thigh muscle analysis: a preliminary study

Quantitative MRI (qMRI) has been shown to be crucial for assessing organ dysfunction in the body. Usually, in qMRI approaches, a few metrics are extracted to distinguish normal and abnormal tissues. In this study, we coupled four MRI protocols (mDIXON T1, T1 and T2 mapping and DTI) to obtain 34 complementary metrics including 20 shape metrics, 2 texture metrics and 12 water diffusivity metrics for thigh muscle analysis. These metrics were calculated on both thighs to detect a pathological difference between a pair of right and left muscles. The method is based on a dimension reduction method and a projection of shape and diffusivity metrics into a three-dimensional linear latent space, along with two texture metrics. 5 healthy individuals (10 thighs, each thigh 7 muscles, i.e., 4 exors and 3 extensors) were scanned to provide the reference scores. The developed pipeline was used to analyse the pair thighs of 4 patients in order to suggest a specific muscle therapy before total knee arthroplasty (TKA) individually for each of the 7 muscles. Preliminary results from the analysis of thigh muscle texture, shape and diffusivity showed that this qMRI protocol can help to suggest a targeted, patient-specific exercise plan to improve muscle recovery after TKA surgery. More healthy and pathological subjects are needed to confirm these encouraging results

Ternary configuration in the framework of inverse mean-field method

A static scission configuration in cold ternary fission has been considered in the framework of mean field approach. The inverse scattering method is applied to solve single-particle Schroedinger equation, instead of constrained selfconsistent Hartree-Fock equations. It is shown, that it is possible to simulate one-dimensional three-center system via inverse scattering method in the approximation of reflectless single-particle potentials.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, iopart.cls, to be published in Int.J.Mod.Phys.

L'intérêt de la spectroscopie proche infrarouge en analyse de terre (synthèse bibliographique)

Use of near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy in soil analysis. A review. This paper presents a literature review on the development of near infrared reflectance spectroscopy for soil analysis and the contribution of this technique to the evaluation of soil fertility analysis. This technique is used to estimate the chemical composition of soil samples on the basis of their absorption properties. It is therefore an indirect method of measurement, which requires a calibration phase for the prediction of these properties. NIR spectroscopy offers many advantages compared to reference analysis: it is known to be a physical, non-destructive, rapid, reproducible and low cost method. Often employed in other analytical domains, such as agro-food, NIR spectroscopy has, however, seldom been used in soil characterization, due to the complexity of the soil matrix. Thanks to the development of chemometric methods, numerous studies have recently been conducted to evaluate the feasibility of the application of the technique in soil analysis. Most authors conclude that NIR spectroscopy is promising; however, to date, use of the technique has not spread to routine laboratories. The paper is organized as follows. Firstly, we provide an overview of the NIR spectroscopy technique and related chemometric methods. Secondly, we describe the soil characteristics that can be predicted using this technique. Finally, we detail examples of results that have been obtained through the use of the technique, mainly in the determination of clay and organic carbon content, and of cation exchange capacity