Automated software quality visualisation using fuzzy logic techniques

In the past decade there has been a concerted effort by the software industry to improve the quality of its products. This has led to the inception of various techniques with which to control and measure the process involved in software development. Methods like the Capability Maturity Model have introduced processes and strategies that require measurement in the form of software metrics. With the ever increasing number of software metrics being introduced by capability based processes, software development organisations are finding it more difficult to understand and interpret metric scores. This is particularly problematic for senior management and project managers where analysis of the actual data is not feasible. This paper proposes a method with which to visually represent metric scores so that managers can easily see how their organisation is performing relative to quality goals set for each type of metric. Acting primarily as a proof of concept and prototype, we suggest ways in which real customer needs can be translated into a feasible technical solution. The solution itself visualises metric scores in the form of a tree structure and utilises Fuzzy Logic techniques, XGMML, Web Services and the .NET Framework. Future work is proposed to extend the system from the prototype stage and to overcome a problem with the masking of poor scores

NRQCD results on the MILC extra coarse ensemble

We present preliminary results using NRQCD to describe heavy quarks on the MILC 2+1 flavour dynamical extra coarse ensemble. We calculate the spectra of low lying states in bottomonium to complement earlier results on the finer MILC ensembles. We then exploit the coarseness of the lattices to calculate charm propagators using NRQCD. These are used to examine the charmonium spectrum and to calclate the mass of the $B_c$ using NRQCD. Finally we look breifly at the $B_d$ and $B_s$ systems using the imporoved staggered formalism to describe the light valence quarks.Comment: 6 pages, Talk presented at Lattice 2005 (Heavy Quarks), Dublin, 25-30 July 200

Organizational factors shaping software process improvement in small-medium sized software teams: a multi-case analysis.

Previous work looking at software process improvement (SPI) in small organizations has highlighted difficulties faced by small organizations in implementing SPI successfully, but there is little analysis to understand why this is from an organization theory perspective. This paper presents an analysis of SPI across six software teams in the UK using a framework based on Giddens Structuration Theory. Using a structurational perspective helps to draw out how the process improvements are enabled and constrained by their context. By comparing these across the six situations the key similarities and differences across the cases are highlighted. This work extends the existing literature by helping to identify the areas of risk that need managing in small SPI initiatives. The study shows the issues as pertained to the six contexts and actions in each case. The paper highlights how the context influences the outcome

ASSESSING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MPP AND TEA ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION EFFORTS IN THE JAPANESE MARKET FOR MEATS

An Inverse Almost Ideal Demand System is utilized to determine the effectiveness of Market Promotion Program (MPP) and Target Export Assistance (TEA) advertising and promotion expenditures in the Japanese market for meat. Using annual data, it is found that beef advertising and promotion has had a positive and significant effect on the demand for beef. There is insufficient evidence to conclude that pork and poultry advertising and promotion increased the demand for either commodity.Marketing,

Silencing Gideon\u27s Trumpet: The Plight of the Indigent Prisoner

In this newsletter article, Professor Connelly discusses the difficulties faced by indigent prisoners in gaining access to the justice system

Assessing Stroke Awareness, Preparedness, and Preferred Communication Modalities

Stroke is currently the fifth leading cause of death and is recognized as one of the most expensive chronic diseases in the United States, generating 30 billion dollars annually in medical costs and lost earnings. In this exploratory research study, we examine patients’ knowledge of stroke features, associated risk factors to enhance communication, and educational practices of for primary care clinicians to enhance patient preparedness and stroke outcomes for patient populations with risk factors for stroke.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fmclerk/1838/thumbnail.jp

A Quasi-Global Presentation of TIROS III Radiation Data

The TIROS III meteorological satellite was equipped with a five-channel medium resolution radiometer to measure the reflected solar radiation as well as the infrared emission of the earth-atmosphere system in five different spectral regions (Reference 1). According to the initial design of this radiation experiment, one of the most useful applications of the infrared measurements was to be the derivation of day and nighttime cloudiness from Channel 2, which was sensitive within the atmospheric "window" region (8 to 12 microns). Several authors already have demonstrated and discussed the principal usefulness of these data for this particular purpose (References 2, 3, and 4). This present study was performed to investigate and demonstrate the utility of the TIROS radiation data for global synoptic analyses