Requirements Analysis Spiral

Requirements symbolise the need or the set of needs for triggering the development processof the system. The system developed must follow the law of the requirements. Capturing therequirements of a system is a challenge. It is both subjective and objective process. The realisticand comprehensive requirements should be evolved as early as possible during the developmentcycle of the system. Many a times, it may not be possible to freeze the requirements in a singlecycle. This may require a number of iterations. A template has been evolved for speeding upthe capturing process of requirements. Requirements analysis spiral (RAS) developed helpsin evolving the requirements.The development of the system or the produkt cannot wait till the requirements have matured,and further, it is also an evolving process. Therefore, continual models of the system have tobe developed for achieving the maturity of the system. RAS can be used to freeze the requirementsfor the initial model and the subsequent models till the maturity of the system is achieved, bothin terms of requirements and quality. The paper illustrates the application of RAS for evolvingthe frozen and matured requirements through a case study

Organising Quality Function in Research and Development

Quality function may be summarised as quality generation, quality control, and qualityassurance. The quality generation and quality control, because of their fuactional nature, arecomparatively easy to organise, however, the challenge is to organise quality assurance in theorganisation. It is the challenge because quality assurance should seamlessly merge with theR&D process. In future, the organisations, whether real or virtual, are going to bepredominantly, research and development (R&D) oriented rather than pure manufacturing orservice providers. However, the nature and intensity of the R&D may differ. It could be fromsimple improvement to innovation, to exploitation of inventions.Organising quality function in R&D means organising its various dimensions against thestipulated criteria such as the realisation of the quality system; realisation of quality duringproduct development, including system engineering; staffing of quality generation, quality control,and quality assurance; balancing of the quality function; harnessing of project quality, functionalquality, staff quality and line quality; application of the RHR principle; exploitation of the toolsof organising, democratic organisation; and so on. The basic purpose of organising the qualityfunction is to inculcate the sense of pride in quality among the scientists so that they feelpassionate about it. It is the passion and love for quality that generates, sustains, and maintainsquality

Does Board Connectedness Contribute to Firms Performance During A Financial Crisis?

This study examines the relationship between board connectedness and future firm performance during the crisis period, and whether performance varies with the firm\u27s age and growth opportunities. This study distinguishes between the effect of various board centrality measures on firm performance during a crisis. We find that board connectedness does help future firm performance during a financial crisis. For all firms, future performance for the highest quintile of connected firms outperforms the lowest quintile by approximately 1% per year on average in the 2008–09 crisis period. The impact of connectedness on firms’ future performance during the crisis period is more pronounced for young and high growth firms. Overall, board connectedness appears to effectively manage uncertainty, provide access to valuable resources, shrink the information gap, and help future firm performance during a financial crisis

2-D Imaging of Concealed Objects using Circular Co-Arrays at MM Wave Frequencies: Simulation and Experimental Results

Simulation and experimental results at 35 GHz, for a single target of unit reflectivity, a concrete pillar and a gun shaped object placed in the central region  of 2-D scene , have been presented using circularly co-located transmit and receive co-arrays. Simulation program has been written in MATLAB to reconstruct the raw image using an improvised algorithm. Simulation and experimental results confirm the method of reconstruction of image. Reconstruction of a Gun-shaped object has also been shown with help of simulation and experimental results. Reconstruction of image has been performed using post data acquisition processing on the received scattered data. Experimental results confirm that the method can be used to reconstruct quality image for detection of concealed metallic objects using MM wave frequencies

Controlling Electrocatalytic Interfaces using Thin Films and Nanostructures for Energy Applications

The release of greenhouse gases such as CO2 due to various human activities and the use of fossil fuels causes climate change and increases global temperature. For this reason, we must create new technologies that help shift energy production away from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. Over the past few decades, researchers in academia and industry have focused on developing novel techniques for clean and renewable energy, which could in part be mediated by H2 fuel cells. The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) occurs at the cathode of fuel cells and is the rate-limiting reaction. Water can be electrolyzed using electricity from renewable sources to generate H2 in a green manner. The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is the rate-limiting reaction for water electrolysis. Unfortunately, catalysts based on Pt and Ir have the best performance for the ORR and OER, respectively. However, the widespread application of these catalysts is limited because of the high cost and scarcity of Pt- and Ir-based catalysts. Non-precious metal catalysts such as those based on Cu and Ni are promising alternatives. In this dissertation, I have developed a new electrochemical platform that allows for the study of the control of electron and proton transfer in the ORR. Specifically, I use Cu as one of the non-precious metal catalysts to study the ORR. I prepared a dinuclear Cu ORR catalyst that can be covalently attached to thiol-based self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on Au electrodes using azide-alkyne click chemistry. Using this architecture, the electron transfer rate to the catalyst is modulated by changing the length of the SAM, and the proton transfer rate to the catalyst is controlled with an appended lipid membrane modified with proton carriers. By tuning the relative rates of proton and electron transfer, the current density of the lipid-covered catalyst was enhanced significantly without altering its core molecular structure. Also, I utilized designer small-molecule proton carriers bearing nitrile functional groups that mimic naturally occurring protonophores. These bio-inspired CN-based proton carriers with tailorable proton kinetics were used to turn on the ORR activity of a Cu-based non-precious metal electrocatalyst supported on a modular hybrid bilayer membrane platform under alkaline conditions. In addition, I designed and developed OER electrocatalysts using non-precious metals for energy conversion and storage processes. Hydrogen gas is an alternative fuel that is produced from the electrolysis of water, but technical challenges have heretofore limited the efficiency of water electrolyzers. In order for hydrogen gas to achieve widespread use, it is critical to develop electrocatalysts for the OER that are more cost-effective and widely available than the current state of the art. Thus, I prepared bimetallic electrocatalysts based on Ni and Cu for the OER. I used thin films of Cu2O modified with an overlayer of Ni to construct novel electrocatalysts and determined the optimal ratio of Ni to cuprous oxide for performing the OER in alkaline conditions by tuning the amount of Ni electrodeposited on the Cu2O. Moreover, I developed nanostructured Ni-Cu systems by synthesizing both metallic and bimetallic Ni-Cu nanoclusters and nanoparticles. I found that, for both nanoclusters and nanoparticles, the ratio of Ni to Cu is highly associated with OER electrocatalysis efficiency. Furthermore, I modified carbon electrodes using different compositions of alkyl amine SAMs with various chain lengths and diluent ratios. I investigated the role of defect sites in the SAMs to understand the electron-transfer properties of the appended ferrocene molecules by modifying the SAMs with ZnO electrodeposits. Interestingly, I found that there is a significant change in the electron-transfer rates as a function of SAM linker length when the SAM defect sites are blocked with ZnO electrodeposits. The surface modification protocols used in this study are important in a wide range of applications such as energy catalysis, electroanalysis, and biosensors

Stump healing in below knee amputations using soft versus rigid dressing

Introductions: Different techniques of postsurgical dressings are used after a below-knee amputation (BKA). This study compares the application of soft dressings versus rigid dressings on healing time and hospital stay after BKA. Methods: In this cross sectional prospective analysis of outcome of two types of post-operative dressings after BKA during January 2012 to January 2018 at Shree Bhawani Hospital Birgunj, Nepal. Wound healing time and hospitalisation were compared between soft and rigid dressings. Results: Out of 37 BKA, 20 received soft dressings with knee immobiliser and 17 rigid plaster dressings. Average age of patients in soft dressing group was 41 years (range 10-70) and in plaster dressing group 37.7 years (range 10-70). Two out of 20 (10%) with soft dressing and 13 out of 18 (76.47%) with the rigid dressing healed primarily, p <0.001. Patients treated with soft dressings stayed in the hospital on an average of 35.2 days (range 22-49 days) and rigid dressings 18.4 days (range12-31 days). Conclusions: The patients with rigid dressings after BKA had significantly more primary wound healings and shorter length of hospitalisation compared to soft dressing. Keywords: below knee amputation BKA, rigid dressing, soft dressin