Diagnostics in the Extendable Integrated Support Environment (EISE)

Extendable Integrated Support Environment (EISE) is a real-time computer network consisting of commercially available hardware and software components to support systems level integration, modifications, and enhancement to weapons systems. The EISE approach offers substantial potential savings by eliminating unique support environments in favor of sharing common modules for the support of operational weapon systems. An expert system is being developed that will help support diagnosing faults in this network. This is a multi-level, multi-expert diagnostic system that uses experiential knowledge relating symptoms to faults and also reasons from structural and functional models of the underlying physical model when experiential reasoning is inadequate. The individual expert systems are orchestrated by a supervisory reasoning controller, a meta-level reasoner which plans the sequence of reasoning steps to solve the given specific problem. The overall system, termed the Diagnostic Executive, accesses systems level performance checks and error reports, and issues remote test procedures to formulate and confirm fault hypotheses

Project portfolio management: prioritising resources for change

While a number of studies have analysed portfolio management in goods firms, few have focused on the processes and practices within service firms. This research project investigated the attitudes, approach and practices geared towards project portfolio management (PPM) in UK-based financial service firms. An exploratory research approach is undertaken via in-depth interviews with key informants in 24 leading financial service companies. Data was also collected on the tools employed for PPM and the performance of the project portfolio. The results revealed considerable variation in the approach and effectiveness of PPM. There were clearly unresolved problems with PPM including PPM not being within the company's strategic context; firms being focused on managing project risk rather than building a balanced portfolio; a lack of understanding of project interdependencies and firms' reluctance to cancel projects once they have started

Rip/singularity free cosmology models with bulk viscosity

In this paper we present two concrete models of non-perfect fluid with bulk viscosity to interpret the observed cosmic accelerating expansion phenomena, avoiding the introduction of exotic dark energy. The first model we inspect has a viscosity of the form ${\zeta} = {\zeta}_0 + ({\zeta}_1-{\zeta}_2q)H$ by taking into account of the decelerating parameter q, and the other model is of the form ${\zeta} = {\zeta}_0 + {\zeta}_1H + {\zeta}_2H^2$. We give out the exact solutions of such models and further constrain them with the latest Union2 data as well as the currently observed Hubble-parameter dataset (OHD), then we discuss the fate of universe evolution in these models, which confronts neither future singularity nor little/pseudo rip. From the resulting curves by best fittings we find a much more flexible evolution processing due to the presence of viscosity while being consistent with the observational data in the region of data fitting. With the bulk viscosity considered, a more realistic universe scenario is characterized comparable with the {\Lambda}CDM model but without introducing the mysterious dark energy.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, submitted to EPJ-

Adolescents’ perspectives on environmental and individual factors influencing their health behaviours

Adolescence is an important life phase in which future patterns of adult health are established. Therefore, there is a need to understand the barriers and enhancers of adolescents’ health to better support their development. We explored adolescents’ perspectives on factors influencing their health behaviours using a qualitative descriptive approach. In-depth interviews were conducted with 22 junior high and high school students in Northern Alberta, who had participated in a 2015/16 Youth Health Survey. Thematic analyses revealed three themes: 1) knowledge, 2) contextual factors (home environment and school environment) and 3) individual factors (self-motivation and personal responsibility). Overall, the students were extensive in their description of healthy lifestyles, but their use of this knowledge was dependent on contextual and individual factors. They described the importance of the home and school environment in supporting healthy lifestyles, particularly by providing the right kind of knowledge and opportunities to cultivate and maintain a healthy lifestyle. They also identified self-motivation and personal responsibility as individual factors of influence on their health behaviours and practices. The students placed a great emphasis on personal responsibility for their health behaviours, despite the necessity of environmental and social supports for encouraging healthy lifestyles. School-based health promotion programs, which take a comprehensive health approach fosters a supportive environment for healthy lifestyle behaviours

Employing CORBA in the Mobile Telecommunications Sector and the Application of Component Oriented Programming Techniques

This paper focuses on the implications of employing CORBA Middleware in today’s wireless telecommunications services and applications developments. It seeks to understand what current opportunities exist to support the use of this technology and assesses some of the performance implications that might be encountered. Discussion also revolves around the use of Component Oriented Development techniques in this same vertical and observations are made as to the benefits and practical problems associated with pursuit of this methodology in wireless telecommunications development programmes. Interest in this topic was aroused after observing the continued development of wireless telecommunications technology (Third Generation - 3G) that allows users to maintain permanent but connectionless contact with more traditional Wide Area Network (WAN) & Local Area Network (LAN) based services. As the boundaries between cellular, wireless LAN and traditional fixed network technologies become increasingly blurred, trends are emerging that seek to extend and migrate the technologies that are currently employed on cabled and wireless LAN networks over to the cellular networks and mass market user equipment

Ethyl 2-(5-bromo-2-iodo­anilino)cyclo­pent-1-ene-1-carboxyl­ate

Acknowledgements We thank the EPSRC National Crystallography Service (University of Southampton) for the data collection.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Case for Distributed Engine Control in Turbo-Shaft Engine Systems

The turbo-shaft engine is an important propulsion system used to power vehicles on land, sea, and in the air. As the power plant for many high performance helicopters, the characteristics of the engine and control are critical to proper vehicle operation as well as being the main determinant to overall vehicle performance. When applied to vertical flight, important distinctions exist in the turbo-shaft engine control system due to the high degree of dynamic coupling between the engine and airframe and the affect on vehicle handling characteristics. In this study, the impact of engine control system architecture is explored relative to engine performance, weight, reliability, safety, and overall cost. Comparison of the impact of architecture on these metrics is investigated as the control system is modified from a legacy centralized structure to a more distributed configuration. A composite strawman system which is typical of turbo-shaft engines in the 1000 to 2000 hp class is described and used for comparison. The overall benefits of these changes to control system architecture are assessed. The availability of supporting technologies to achieve this evolution is also discussed

Experimental, Numerical and Analytical Characterization of Slosh Dynamics Applied to In-Space Propellant Storage, Management and Transfer

Experimental and numerical results are presented from a new cryogenic fluid slosh program at the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT). Water and cryogenic liquid nitrogen are used in various ground-based tests with an approximately 30 cm diameter spherical tank to characterize damping, slosh mode frequencies, and slosh forces. The experimental results are compared to a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for validation. An analytical model is constructed from prior work for comparison. Good agreement is seen between experimental, numerical, and analytical results