Human Activity Modelling in the Specification of Operational Requirements: Work in Progress

This paper describes our experience of integrating HCI concepts and techniques into a concurrent requirements engineering process called RESCUE. We focus on the use of a model of current human activity to inform specification of a future system. We show how human activity descriptions, written using a specially designed template, can facilitate the authoring of use case descriptions to be used in the elicitation of requirements for complex socio-technical systems. We describe our experience of using descriptions of human activity, written using the template, to support specification of operational requirements for DMAN, a system to support air traffic controllers in managing the departure of aircraft from airports. We end with a discussion of lessons learnt from our experience and present some ideas for future development of work in this area

Welfare Reform and Immigrant Participation in the Supplemental Security Income Program

We examine the effect of the 1996 welfare reform legislation on participation in the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program by immigrants. Although none of the immigrants on the SSI rolls before welfare reform lost eligibility, the potential exists for future impacts on the SSI caseload and the well-being of recent immigrants. We use microdata files from the Social Security Administration’s Continuous Work History Sample matched to administrative data on SSI participation for the period 1993 to 1999. We estimate simple models of SSI participation and compare our results to the existing literature. We then estimate a series of difference-in-differences models of SSI participation. These models compare SSI participation by immigrants relative to nativeborn individuals, and among affected immigrants relative to unaffected immigrants and native-born individuals, before and after welfare reform. Descriptive results indicate that the percentage of immigrants and natives receiving SSI decreased after welfare reform, but by a larger percentage for natives than for immigrants. The probability of SSI participation decreased after welfare reform for immigrants who were affected by the legislation relative to immigrants who were unaffected. The difference-in-differences estimate is positive for immigrants relative to otherwise similar natives, but the estimated effect among affected immigrants is about half as large as the effect for unaffected immigrants. When the sample is limited to low earners as a proxy for the SSI means test, the results are qualitatively unchanged but quantitatively much stronger. Authors’ Acknowledgements We are grateful to Ulyses Balderas for assisting with the collection of some data used here. A previous version of this paper was presented at the 2004 Western Regional Science Association Annual Meeting, February 25-28, 2004, Maui, HI.

Generation of internal stress and its effects

Internal stresses may be generated continually in many polycrystalline materials. Their existence is manifested by changes in crystal defect concentration and arrangement, by surface observations, by macroscopic shape changes and particularly by alteration of mechanical properties when external stresses are simultaneously imposed

Crowding at the Front of the Marathon Packs

We study the crowding of near-extreme events in the time gaps between successive finishers in major international marathons. Naively, one might expect these gaps to become progressively larger for better-placing finishers. While such an increase does indeed occur from the middle of the finishing pack down to approximately 20th place, the gaps saturate for the first 10-20 finishers. We give a probabilistic account of this feature. However, the data suggests that the gaps have a weak maximum around the 10th place, a feature that seems to have a sociological origin.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures; version 2: published manuscript with various changes in response to referee comments and some additional improvement

Measurement and Calculation of Absolute Single and Multiple Charge Exchange Cross Sections for Fe^(q+) Ions Impacting H_2O

Charge exchange (CE) plays a fundamental role in the collisions of solar- and stellar-wind ions with lunar and planetary exospheres, comets, and circumstellar clouds. Reported herein are absolute cross sections for single, double, triple, and quadruple CE of Fe^(q+) (q = 5-13) ions with H_2O at a collision energy of 7q keV. One measured value of the pentuple CE is also given for Fe^(9+) ions. An electron cyclotron resonance ion source is used to provide currents of the highly charged Fe ions. Absolute data are derived from knowledge of the target gas pressure, target path length, and incident and charge-exchanged ion currents. Experimental cross sections are compared with new results of the n-electron classical trajectory Monte Carlo approximation. The radiative and non-radiative cascades following electron transfers are approximated using scaled hydrogenic transition probabilities and scaled Auger rates. Also given are estimates of cross sections for single capture, and multiple capture followed by autoionization, as derived from the extended overbarrier model. These estimates are based on new theoretical calculations of the vertical ionization potentials of H_2O up to H_2O^(10+)

Informing the specification of a large-scale socio-technical system with models of human activity

In this paper, we present our experience of using rich and detailed models of human activity in an existing socio-technical system in the domain of air traffic control to inform a use case-based specification of an enhanced future system, called DMAN. This work was carried out as part of a real project for Eurocontrol, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation. We describe, in outline, the kinds of models we used, and present some examples of the ways in which these models influenced the specification of use cases and requirements for the future system. We end with a discussion of lessons learnt

Integrating Creativity Workshops into Structured Requirements Processes

Requirements engineering is a creative process in which stakeholders and designers work together to create ideas for new systems that are eventually expressed as requirements. However, many requirements engineering or software development methods do not encourage or support creative thinking, let alone integrate it with existing modeling and analysis processes. This paper describes RESCUE, a scenario-driven requirements engineering process that includes workshops that integrate creativity techniques with different types of use case and system context modelling. It reports a case study in which RESCUE creativity workshops were used to discover stakeholder and system requirements for DMAN, a future air traffic management system for managing departures from major European airports. The workshop was successful in that it provided new and important outputs for subsequent requirements processes. The paper describes the workshop structure and wider RESCUE process, important results and key lessons learned

Regulation of RPE phenotype by Annexin A8 and Wnt signalling

Purpose. Fenretinide (FR), a retinoic acid derivative, is capable of trans-differentiating retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells into a neuronal-like phenotype in culture. Microarray analysis pre- and post-FR treatment revealed down-regulation of Annexin (Anx) A8 and various proteins involved in Wnt signalling in trans-differentiated cells. AnxA8, a member of a superfamily of calcium-dependent phospholipid-binding proteins, is expressed in RPE cells and involved in membrane and cytoskeletal organisation and cell proliferation. The purpose of this study was to analyse the role of AnxA8 and its relationship with Wnt signalling in epithelial trans-differentiation. Methods. At 10% confluence, human RPE cells were treated with 3% charcoal dextran-treated foetal bovine serum (FBS) for 24 h. 3 µM FR or vehicle (0.1% dimethylsulfoxide) was added to the cells every day for 7 days. As a second approach, AnxA8 was suppressed in RPE cells using short interfering RNA (siRNA). Cells were then analysed for expression of AnxA8, neuronal markers (Calbindin, Calretinin) and Wnt signalling proteins (β-Catenin, Frizzled-1, Frizzled-4, Wnt2b, Wnt3a) using immunofluorescence staining, qPCR and western blot analysis. Results. FR and AnxA8 siRNA treatment both induced a decrease in AnxA8 expression and inhibited cell proliferation. FR also led to trans-differentiation of ARPE-19 cells into neuron-like cells and a concomitant up-regulation of neuronal markers. Additionally, expression of proteins involved in Wnt signalling was decreased. The effect of FR was partially reversible by activating Wnt signalling using recombinant Wnt3a or SB216763, a glycogen synthase kinase-3β inhibitor. Conclusions. These data imply an important role for AnxA8 in maintaining RPE phenotype. Down-regulation of AnxA8 appears to be sufficient for neuronal trans-differentiation of RPE cells and the expression of neuronal markers. Further, the interdependence of AnxA8 and Wnt proteins suggests that AnxA8 might be an important regulator in Wnt signalling

Oxygen Isotopic Constraints on the Number and Origin of Basaltic Achondrite Parent Bodies

Our data show that HED meteorites have a homogeneous oxygen isotopic composition consistent with a magma ocean on Vesta. Ibitira, Asuka 881394, Pasamonte, and NWA 1240 probably come from separate parent asteroids