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

Effects of a Twelve Week Aerobic and Strength Training Intervention on Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy

Chemotherapy is one of the most effective cancer treatments to date; however, it has the potential to produce debilitating life-long side effects. Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy is a side effect caused by toxic chemotherapy agents that deteriorate the peripheral nerves of the body. Research has suggested that aerobic and strength training may be able to alleviate some of the symptoms associated with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. Some of the benefits of both aerobic and strength training include increasing blood and nutrient flow to the peripheral nerves, which could help restore sensation and alleviate the some symptoms of chemotherapyinduced peripheral neuropathy. However, to our knowledge, there is little research evaluating the effects of an aerobic and strength-training intervention on chemotherapyinduced peripheral neuropathy. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a 12-week aerobic and strength training intervention on the symptoms of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. Methods: Ten participants (aged 48-76) participated in a 12-week exercise intervention and completed a pre-, mid-, and post- 4.17/1g Semmes Weinstein Monofilament Test and 5.07/10g Semmes Weinstein Monofilament Test. A comprehensive physical assessment was completed before and after the 12-week intervention. Results: Wilk’s Lambda Multivariate analysis of variance revealed significant (p \u3c 0.05) changes from pre-, mid-, and post- 4.17/1g Semmes Weinstein Monofilament Test scores. However, there were no significant (p \u3c 0.05) results detected with the 5.07 Semmes Weinstein Monofilament test. Paired samples ttests revealed significant (p \u3c 0.05) differences between aerobic and several strength tests from pre- to post-assessment. Several psychological scores improved significantly (p \u3c 0.05) as well from pre- to post- assessment. Conclusion: Significant improvements were observed for the 4.17/1g Semmes Weinstein Monofilament test following a 12-week aerobic and strength training intervention for subjects experiencing chemotherapyinduced peripheral neuropathy. These results suggest that aerobic and strength training may contribute to a reduction in chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy

The Importance of Discovery in Children's Causal Learning from Interventions

Four-year-olds were more accurate at learning causal structures from their own actions when they were allowed to act first and then observe an experimenter act, as opposed to observing first and then acting on the environment. Children who discovered the causal efficacy of events (as opposed to confirming the efficacy of events that they observed another discover) were also more accurate than children who only observed the experimenter act on the environment; accuracy in the confirmation and observation conditions was at similar levels. These data suggest that while children learn from acting on the environment, not all self-generated action produces equivalent causal learning

Sommerville, Bonnie interview for the Miami Valley College of Nursing and Health Oral History Project

Carol Holdcraft and Donna Miles Curry interviewed Bonnie Sommerville on December 3, 2002 about the founding of Wright State University College of Nursing and Health. In the interview, Sommerville discusses her career and her decision to come to Wright State as a student and faculty member for the College of Nursing and Health

Contralateral Total Hip Arthroplasty After Hindquarter Amputation

We describe the management and outcome of a 62-year old lady who developed severe osteoarthritis of the hip, nine years after a hindquarter amputation for radiation-induced sarcoma of the contralateral pelvis. The difficulties of stabilising the pelvis intraoperatively and the problems of postoperative rehabilitation are outlined. The operation successfully relieved her pain and restored limited mobility

The Management and Use of Social Network Sites in a Government Department

In this paper we report findings from a study of social network site use in a UK Government department. We have investigated this from a managerial, organisational perspective. We found at the study site that there are already several social network technologies in use, and that these: misalign with and problematize organisational boundaries; blur boundaries between working and social lives; present differing opportunities for control; have different visibilities; have overlapping functionality with each other and with other information technologies; that they evolve and change over time; and that their uptake is conditioned by existing infrastructure and availability. We find the organisational complexity that social technologies are often hoped to cut across is, in reality, something that shapes their uptake and use. We argue the idea of a single, central social network site for supporting cooperative work within an organisation will hit the same problems as any effort of centralisation in organisations. We argue that while there is still plenty of scope for design and innovation in this area, an important challenge now is in supporting organisations in managing what can best be referred to as a social network site 'ecosystem'.Comment: Accepted for publication in JCSCW (The Journal of Computer Supported Cooperative Work

Thermal development of latent fingermarks on porous surfaces-Further observations and refinements

In a further study of the thermal development of fingermarks on paper and similar surfaces, it is demonstrated that direct contact heating of the substrate using coated or ceramic surfaces at temperatures in excess of 230 °C produces results superior to those obtained using hot air. Fingermarks can also be developed in this way on other cellulose-based substrates such as wood and cotton fabric, though ridge detail is difficult to obtain in the latter case. Fluorescence spectroscopy indicates that the phenomena observed during the thermal development of fingermarks can be reproduced simply by heating untreated white copy paper or filter paper, or these papers treated with solutions of sodium chloride or alanine. There is no evidence to suggest that the observed fluorescence of fingermarks heated on paper is due to a reaction of fingermark constituents on or with the paper. Instead, we maintain that the ridge contrast observed first as fluorescence, and later as brown charring, is simply an acceleration of the thermal degradation of the paper. Thermal degradation of cellulose, a major constituent of paper and wood, is known to give rise to a fluorescent product if sufficient oxygen is available [1-5]. However, the absence of atmospheric oxygen has only a slight effect on the thermal development of fingermarks, indicating that there is sufficient oxygen already present in paper to allow the formation of the fluorescent and charred products. In a depletion study comparing thermal development of fingermarks on paper with development using ninhydrin, the thermal technique was found to be as sensitive as ninhydrin for six out of seven donors. When thermal development was used in sequence with ninhydrin and DFO, it was found that only fingermarks that had been developed to the fluorescent stage (a few seconds of heating) could subsequently be developed with the other reagents. In the reverse sequence, no useful further development was noted for fingermarks that were treated thermally after having been developed with ninhydrin or DFO. Aged fingermarks, including marks from 1-year-old university examination papers were successfully developed using the thermal technique. © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd

Mathematics for the exploration of requirements

The exploration of requirements is as complex as it is important in ensuring a successful software production and software life cycle. Increasingly, tool-support is available for aiding such explorations. We use a toy example and a case study of modelling and analysing some requirements of the global assembly cache of .NET to illustrate the opportunities and challenges that mathematically founded exploration of requirements brings to the computer science and software engineering curricula

Geometrical Ambiguity of Pair Statistics. I. Point Configurations

Point configurations have been widely used as model systems in condensed matter physics, materials science and biology. Statistical descriptors such as the $n$-body distribution function $g_n$ is usually employed to characterize the point configurations, among which the most extensively used is the pair distribution function $g_2$. An intriguing inverse problem of practical importance that has been receiving considerable attention is the degree to which a point configuration can be reconstructed from the pair distribution function of a target configuration. Although it is known that the pair-distance information contained in $g_2$ is in general insufficient to uniquely determine a point configuration, this concept does not seem to be widely appreciated and general claims of uniqueness of the reconstructions using pair information have been made based on numerical studies. In this paper, we introduce the idea of the distance space, called the $\mathbb{D}$ space. The pair distances of a specific point configuration are then represented by a single point in the $\mathbb{D}$ space. We derive the conditions on the pair distances that can be associated with a point configuration, which are equivalent to the realizability conditions of the pair distribution function $g_2$. Moreover, we derive the conditions on the pair distances that can be assembled into distinct configurations. These conditions define a bounded region in the $\mathbb{D}$ space. By explicitly constructing a variety of degenerate point configurations using the $\mathbb{D}$ space, we show that pair information is indeed insufficient to uniquely determine the configuration in general. We also discuss several important problems in statistical physics based on the $\mathbb{D}$ space.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figure

Deforming the Maxwell-Sim Algebra

The Maxwell alegbra is a non-central extension of the Poincar\'e algebra, in which the momentum generators no longer commute, but satisfy $[P_\mu,P_\nu]=Z_{\mu\nu}$. The charges $Z_{\mu\nu}$ commute with the momenta, and transform tensorially under the action of the angular momentum generators. If one constructs an action for a massive particle, invariant under these symmetries, one finds that it satisfies the equations of motion of a charged particle interacting with a constant electromagnetic field via the Lorentz force. In this paper, we explore the analogous constructions where one starts instead with the ISim subalgebra of Poincar\'e, this being the symmetry algebra of Very Special Relativity. It admits an analogous non-central extension, and we find that a particle action invariant under this Maxwell-Sim algebra again describes a particle subject to the ordinary Lorentz force. One can also deform the ISim algebra to DISim$_b$, where $b$ is a non-trivial dimensionless parameter. We find that the motion described by an action invariant under the corresponding Maxwell-DISim algebra is that of a particle interacting via a Finslerian modification of the Lorentz force.Comment: Appendix on Lifshitz and Schrodinger algebras adde