Quality assessment technique for ubiquitous software and middleware

The new paradigm of computing or information systems is ubiquitous computing systems. The technology-oriented issues of ubiquitous computing systems have made researchers pay much attention to the feasibility study of the technologies rather than building quality assurance indices or guidelines. In this context, measuring quality is the key to developing high-quality ubiquitous computing products. For this reason, various quality models have been defined, adopted and enhanced over the years, for example, the need for one recognised standard quality model (ISO/IEC 9126) is the result of a consensus for a software quality model on three levels: characteristics, sub-characteristics, and metrics. However, it is very much unlikely that this scheme will be directly applicable to ubiquitous computing environments which are considerably different to conventional software, trailing a big concern which is being given to reformulate existing methods, and especially to elaborate new assessment techniques for ubiquitous computing environments. This paper selects appropriate quality characteristics for the ubiquitous computing environment, which can be used as the quality target for both ubiquitous computing product evaluation processes ad development processes. Further, each of the quality characteristics has been expanded with evaluation questions and metrics, in some cases with measures. In addition, this quality model has been applied to the industrial setting of the ubiquitous computing environment. These have revealed that while the approach was sound, there are some parts to be more developed in the future

A system identification based approach for pulsed eddy current non-destructive evaluation

This paper is concerned with the development of a new system identification based approach for pulsed eddy current non-destructive evaluation and the use of the new approach in experimental studies to verify its effectiveness and demonstrate its potential in engineering applications

A statistical model to describe invariants extracted from a 3-D quadric surface patch and its applications in region-based recognition

A statistical model, describing noise-disturbed invariants extracted from a surface patch of a range image, has been developed and applied to region based pose estimation and classification of 3D quadrics. The Mahalanobis distance, which yields the same results as a Baysian classifier, is used for the classification of the surface patches. The results, compared with the Euclidean distance, appear to be much more reliabl

Willingness to pay for fresh milk and associated marketing services

The study assesses willingness to pay for fresh milk and associated services among some potential consumers (students on the University of Ghana Campus) in Accra, Ghana. Students were sampled using multi-stage stratified random sampling procedure. In the first stage, one hall was selected from two categories of halls - rent paying and non-rent paying halls. In the second stage, respondents were sampled randomly from each of the two halls. The double bounded contingent valuation method was used to analyse willingness to pay. The results show that while price does not significantly influence willingness to pay, one’s perception of fresh milk consumption as a health risk, and income status significantly influence willingness to pay. The estimated marginal effects also reveal that a unit increase in the perception of fresh milk consumption as a health risk precipitates a 14 per cent decrease in willingness to pay for fresh milk brought to the local market, and 11 per cent increase in the willingness to pay for milk delivered to the doorstep. Consumers in the more endowed income group have a 32 per cent more willingness to pay for fresh milk brought to the local market or delivered at the doorstep. The results provide empirical basis for market strategy formation in the peri-urban milk marketing

Synthetic biology for evolutionary engineering: from perturbation of genotype to acquisition of desired phenotype

With the increased attention on bio-based industry, demands for techniques that enable fast and effective strain improvement have been dramatically increased. Evolutionary engineering, which is less dependent on biological information, has been applied to strain improvement. Currently, synthetic biology has made great innovations in evolutionary engineering, particularly in the development of synthetic tools for phenotypic perturbation. Furthermore, discovering biological parts with regulatory roles and devising novel genetic circuits have promoted high-throughput screening and selection. In this review, we first briefly explain basics of synthetic biology tools for mutagenesis and screening of improved variants, and then describe how these strategies have been improved and applied to phenotypic engineering. Evolutionary engineering using advanced synthetic biology tools will enable further innovation in phenotypic engineering through the development of novel genetic parts and assembly into well-designed logic circuits that perform complex tasks.11Ysciescopu

Effective-Mass Theory of p-Type Heterostructures Under Transverse Magnetic Fields

[[abstract]]We present, within the transfer-matrix formalism, a second-order k⋅p effective-mass theory for p-type heterostructures under transverse magnetic fields (parallel to the layers). The Luttinger Hamiltonian of Γ8 states is employed to describe valence bands, with the coupling between heavy and light holes included. We expand the envelope functions in parabolic cylinder functions, and reduce the effective-mass equations from coupled differential equations to matrix equations. The matrices involved are of small dimensionality (typically 8×8), allowing for treating hole magnetic levels and magnetotunneling in a concise manner. The theory has been applied to a single-barrier structure and a double-barrier structure, both made of GaAs and AlxGa1-xAs. In the former case, we present valence bands and wave functions, and, in the latter, we show hole transmission under transverse magnetic fields for various channels. The model presented here is well suited to magneto-optic- and magnetotransport-property calculations.[[fileno]]2030120010026[[department]]電機工程學

Ultramarathon is an outstanding model for the study of adaptive responses to extreme load and stress.

ABSTRACT: Ultramarathons comprise any sporting event involving running longer than the traditional marathon length of 42.195 km (26.2 miles). Studies on ultramarathon participants can investigate the acute consequences of ultra-endurance exercise on inflammation and cardiovascular or renal consequences, as well as endocrine/energetic aspects, and examine the tissue recovery process over several days of extreme physical load. In a study published in BMC Medicine, Schütz et al. followed 44 ultramarathon runners over 4,487 km from South Italy to North Cape, Norway (the Trans Europe Foot Race 2009) and recorded daily sets of data from magnetic resonance imaging, psychometric, body composition and biological measurements. The findings will allow us to better understand the timecourse of degeneration/regeneration of some lower leg tissues such as knee joint cartilage, to differentiate running-induced from age-induced pathologies (for example, retropatelar arthritis) and finally to assess the interindividual susceptibility to injuries. Moreover, it will also provide new information about the complex interplay between cerebral adaptations/alterations and hormonal influences resulting from endurance exercise and provide data on the dose-response relationship between exercise and brain structure/function. Overall, this study represents a unique attempt to investigate the limits of the adaptive response of human bodies.Please see related article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/10/78