To spend or not spend: IT infrastructure Challenges

Numerous studies have explored IT expenditure benefits and the options such expenditurecreates. These options are seen as intangible assets created by investing in IT (Kholi et al,2012). Benefits of IT Expenditure (BITE) are assessed by the perception of senior executives.Perceptions of BITE are subjective and are important as there is little objective measurementat the process level (Tallon and Kramer, 2007). If a consensus between executives can beestablished it improves the prospects for an accurate understanding of processes (Tallon, 2000).This research therefore develops a conceptual framework to facilitate consensus for executiveperceptions that shape an understanding of benefits as well as expenditure under sense making(Weick et al, 2005, Tallon, 2014) and sense giving (Rouleau, 2005, Weick et al, 2005). Theshaping of understanding of benefits (BITE) and expenditure (ITE) are needed for the ex antecontracting of a business case as well as the ex poste governance of IT infrastructure

Remnant vegetation in farmland - its significance in ethnobotany and local ecosystem

This paper evaluated the structure of remnant vegetation (RV) in and around the farmlands of Kancheepuram District, Tamil Nadu of Southern India, to understand its significance in the local ecosystem. Stratified quadrats along nine randomly selected transects were used for sampling vegetation. The study recorded 2495 specimens of 96 plant species under 43 families in 1848 quadrats (88 of 10 m × 10 m, 352 of 5 m × 5 m and 1408 of 1 m × 1 m dimensions) while there was a possibility of recording more species with better sampling efforts. To know the ethnobotanical uses of plants, interviews were conducted with local villagers and people belonging to the Irula tribe, and later the data were collated with published information. Sixty -six plant species were recorded with traditional uses in food, fodder, fuel, condiment and medicine. Prosopis juliflora, an alien invasive species, was a serious threat to the native flora since higher P. juliflora abundance was associated with declining diversity of other plants. The study found that the absence of monitoring and management protocols leading to uncontrolled propagation of invasive species could cause potential damage to the region’s dry evergreen forests, which were often located near the farmlands

Automated Defect Detection and Characterization on Pulse Thermography Images Using Computer Vision Techniques

Defect detection and characterization plays a vital role in predicting the life span of materials. Defect detection using appropriate inspection technologies at various phases has gained huge importance in metal production lines. It can be accomplished through wise application of non-destructive testing and evaluation (NDE). It is important to characterize defects at an early stage in order to be able to overcome them or take corrective measures. Pulse thermography is a modern NDE method that can be used for defect detection in metal objects. Only a limited amount of work has been done on automated detection and characterization of defects due to thermal diffusion. This paper proposes a system for automatic defect detection and characterization in metal objects using pulse thermography images as well as various image processing algorithms and mathematical tools. An experiment was carried out using a sequence of 250 pulse thermography images of an AISI 316 L stainless steel sheet with synthetic defects. The proposed system was able to detect and characterize defects sized 10 mm, 8 mm, 6 mm, 4 mm and 2 mm with an average accuracy of 96%, 95%, 84%, 77%, 54% respectively. The proposed technique helps in the effective and efficient characterization of defects in metal objects

A critical review of impact resistant materials used in sportswear clothing

This paper highlights the significance of impact resistant materials which are incorporated in sportswear and functional outdoor applications. In recent years, there have been interesting explorations on a wide range of composite materials such as coir/EVA as nonwoven impact protectors, polypropylene and flax fibre laminate, cellular textile materials as sports protectors for helmets. 3D spacer fabrics were explored by Dow Corning on varying thicknesses and levels of protection. In addition materials such as, D3O and visco-elastic polymer dough were also reported to have potential in sportswear applications such as the market for knee pads. In addition, Dow Corning's helical auxetic system is made up of an inelastic fibre spirally wound around a thicker elastic fibre that expands to absorb the shock while the inelastic one limited the expansion. Some concerns noted by researchers are that it has limited applications and the benefits of the impact resistant materials should be evaluated using precise monitoring systems. In this context, the authors have critically evaluated the literature, explored the importance of such materials in the context of functional clothing used for sportswear, and reported their limitations and implications. The study also is informed by experimentation using a custom-built measurement device to precisely monitor the pressure profile of various materials. This device is modelled on some of the ISO test procedures for assessing impact protection. The pressure sensors are located below the sample material and forces transmitted through the material by an impactor are recorded in the form of a load-vs-time dataset. Quantitative comparisons of a range of commercial materials used for impact protection have been obtained

Applications of Compression Sportswear

Chapter 7, pages 171–204. Second paragraph: The main aim of this chapter is to present research relating to compression garments and highlight the recent developments relating to specific sports such as cycling, skiing and rugby. The benefits of compression garments were documented in various settings (sports, clinical and non-clinical), although convincing evidence remains elusive. The reported benefits of using compression garments were mainly in enhancing blood circulation, reducing the recurrence of injury, aiding recovery, providing muscle support and reducing muscle soreness. However, the claims made by manufacturers in boosting athletes’ performance are debatable and the evidence gathered so far is less convincing. The research relating to the benefits and limitations of using compression garments for sportswear is critically reviewed. Most studies used different settings, small sample sizes and it is necessary to question whether the findings should be extrapolated to a wider group. Contextual factors that influence garment design and development such as body shapes, fabric panels, materials properties, sizing and comfort are discussed. In addition, market trends in compression sportswear and factors affecting new product development are discussed in the context of designing innovative compression sportswear

Finite element model to simulate impact on a soft tissue simulant

A finite element model of an impact test on a soft tissue simulant, used as part of a shoulder surrogate, was developed in Ansys© LS-DYNA®. The surrogate consisted of a metal hemicylindrical core, with a diameter of 75 mm, covered with a 15 mm thick relaxed muscle simulant. The muscle simulant consisted of a 14 mm thick layer of silicone covered with 1 mm thick chamois leather to represent skin. The material properties of the silicone were obtained via quasi-static compression testing (curve fit with hyperelastic models) and compressive stress relaxation testing (curve fit with a Prony series). Outputs of the finite element models were compared against experimental data from impact tests on the shoulder surrogate at energies of 4.9, 9.8 and 14.7 J. The accuracy of the finite element models was assessed using four parameters: peak impact force, maximum deformation, impact duration and impulse. A 5-parameter Mooney-Rivlin material model combined with a 2-term Prony series was found to be suitable for modelling the soft tissue simulant of the shoulder surrogate. This model had under 10% overall mean deviation from the experimental values for the four assessment parameters across the three impact energies. Overall, the model provided a repeatable test method that can be adapted to help predict injuries to skin tissue and the performance/efficacy of personal protective equipment

Role of a 19S Proteasome Subunit- PSMD10(Gankyrin) in Neurogenesis of Human Neuronal Progenitor Cells

PSMD10(Gankyrin), a proteasome assembly chaperone, is a widely known oncoprotein which aspects many hall mark properties of cancer. However, except proteasome assembly chaperon function its role in normal cell function remains unknown. To address this issue, we induced PSMD10(Gankyrin) overexpression in HEK293 cells and the resultant large-scale changes in gene expression profile were analyzed. We constituted networks from microarray data of these differentially expressed genes and carried out extensive topological analyses. The overrecurring yet consistent theme that appeared throughout analysis using varied network metrics is that all genes and interactions identified as important would be involved in neurogenesis and neuronal development. Intrigued we tested the possibility that PSMD10(Gankyrin) may be strongly associated with cell fate decisions that commit neural stem cells to differentiate into neurons. Overexpression of PSMD10(Gankyrin) in human neuronal progenitor cells facilitated neuronal differentiation via beta-catenin Ngn1 pathway. Here for the first time we provide preliminary and yet compelling experimental evidence for the involvement of a potential oncoprotein - PSMD10(Gankyrin), in neuronal differentiation

Polarization studies of Rotating Radio Transients

We study the polarization properties of 22 known rotating radio transients (RRATs) with the 64-m Parkes radio telescope and present the Faraday rotation measures (RMs) for the 17 with linearly polarized flux exceeding the off-pulse noise by 3$\sigma$. Each RM was estimated using a brute-force search over trial RMs that spanned the maximum measurable range $\pm1.18 \times 10^5 \, \mathrm{rad \, m^2}$ (in steps of 1 $\mathrm{rad \, m^2}$), followed by an iterative refinement algorithm. The measured RRAT RMs are in the range |RM| $\sim 1$ to $\sim 950$ rad m$^{-2}$ with an average linear polarization fraction of $\sim 40$ per cent. Individual single pulses are observed to be up to 100 per cent linearly polarized. The RMs of the RRATs and the corresponding inferred average magnetic fields (parallel to the line-of-sight and weighted by the free electron density) are observed to be consistent with the Galactic plane pulsar population. Faraday rotation analyses are typically performed on accumulated pulsar data, for which hundreds to thousands of pulses have been integrated, rather than on individual pulses. Therefore, we verified the iterative refinement algorithm by performing Monte Carlo simulations of artificial single pulses over a wide range of S/N and RM. At and above a S/N of 17 in linearly polarized flux, the iterative refinement recovers the simulated RM value 100 per cent of the time with a typical mean uncertainty of $\sim5$ rad m$^{-2}$. The method described and validated here has also been successfully used to determine reliable RMs of several fast radio bursts (FRBs) discovered at Parkes.Comment: Submitted to MNRAS, 10 pages, 6 figure