Software Development Processes Metrics

Pojem proces pronikl v posledních letech do všech oblastí lidské činnost, kde pomáhá systematizovat dříve neorganizovanou práci. Tato práce se zaměřuje na analýzu procesů pomocí statistických metod (Statistical process control). V úvodu přináší základní teoretické poznatky z oblasti managementu procesů. Hlavní část je pak věnována samotným technikám, které se uplatňují při analýze dat. Jsou zde shrnuty postupy, jak jednoduše a efektivně posuzovat chování procesu pomocí grafů a statistických metod a jak následně z výsledků analýz vyvodit příslušné kroky vedoucí ke zlepšení procesů. Poslední část této práce je věnována praktické ukázce analýzy reálných dat pomocí vytvořené aplikace a rozboru dosažených výsledků, které prokazují obecnou vhodnost a použitelnost statistických metod analýzy dat.The importance of processes is growing. Processes are integrated into many areas of human work, where they help to organize all activities. This thesis aims on statistical approach to process behavior analysis. There are mentioned the basic process management issues in the beginning of this thesis. The main focus is on the techniques used during process analysis. There are mentioned approaches that are used to easily and effectively assess process behavior using process behavior charts and how to deduce proper steps from the analysis results to improve the process. The last part of this thesis is dedicated to practical analysis of real process behavior data using implemented solution. The results show common usability of statistical methods and approaches to process analysis.

Volatile organic compounds in motor vehicle interiors under various conditions and their effect on human health

The aim of this paper is to estimate the mass concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene (B), toluene (T), ethylbenzene (E) and m-, p-, o-xylenes (X) inside of the driver-compartment of motor vehicles. The results were compared with the Czech limits for indoor environments and the external concentrations. The experiments were carried out on various routes with different methods of ventilation. The volatile emissions detected inside the vehicle were investigated in the city of Brno, Czech Republic. Cabin air was collected using desorption tubes and the samples were analysed by thermal desorption gas chromatography with a flame ionisation detector coupled with a mass detector. VOC concentrations detected in the cabin of the vehicle ranged from 2.93 mu g.m(-3) to 7.96 mu g.m(-3) for benzene, 1.42 mu s.m(-3) to 4.38 mu g.m(-3). for toluene, 44.06 mu g.m(-3) to 152.00 mu g.m(-3) for ethylbenzene and 63.07 mu g.m(-3) to 479.62 mu g.m(-3) for xylenes. The indoor limit value for benzene, according to the Czech standard, is 7 mu g.m(-3). Levels of toluene were consistently below the Czech hourly standard, whose value according to the Czech standard is 300 mu g.m(-3). According to our findings, various methods of ventilation are an important factor influencing the BTEX pollution levels within the interior of the vehicle. In addition, this paper presents the influence results of benzene on the health of passengers inside the cabin of the vehicle. The results show that all age categories, especially children under the age of two, are exposed to increased health risks

Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy Study of the Conductivity of Hole-Transporting Materials

Some redox-active ionic liquids, organic amorphous solids containing electron-donating moieties, and conductive polymers can efficiently transport positive electrical charges. These hole-conducting media find increasing applications in unconventional solar cells and organic light-emitting diodes. Appropriate methods are required to unravel the detailed conduction and trapping mechanisms in these materials as well as to fully understand the interplay of molecular vibrations and charge transport processes. Here we present terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) as a powerful technique, that allows the direct determination of the complex conductivity of hole transporting materials in a contactless, purely optical manner. Beyond the measurement of the conductivity of solid and liquid materials, THz (far infrared) spectroscopy also provides direct information of the librational and vibrational modes coupled to charge transport processes and therefore is invaluable in the study of the mechanism of polaronic transport in matter. Application of this technique is illustrated by examples provided by the study of the ionic liquid 3-methyl-1-propylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethane) sulfonimide (PMIT FSI) and that of the molecular liquid hole conductor 10-methylphenoxazine. Both systems are of particular interest, as both types of holetransporting media are successfully used as alternatives to solvent-based electrolytes in dye sensitized solar cell

Temperature-Dependent Ordering Phenomena of a Polyiodide System in a Redox-Active Ionic Liquid

Iodine added to iodide-based ionic liquids leads to dramatic changes of their physical properties which may have implications for technological applications. Here we study the phase diagram of 1-methyl 3-propylimidazolium iodide, the temperature versus iodine (I2) concentration. Above a threshold I2 concentration of 3.9 M, polyiodides are found to be the major determinant of the thermodynamic properties, where nucleation occurs at reduced temperatures leading to a crystalline phase followed by a nematic phase. At the highest concentrations and for increasing temperatures a phonon mode develops which gives indication of mesophases with both improved orientational order of the polyiodide chains and a degree of positional order close to melting. These novel results are important for the fundamental understanding of the physical properties in molten salts and for applications where ionic liquids are used as charge-transporting media such as in batteries and dye-sensitized solar cells

Analysis of the effect of catalytic additives in the agricultural waste combustion process

This paper presents the research results of the effect of using calcium oxide and potassium permanganate on the combustion of pellets from wheat bran and beet pulp. The measurements were performed in the technical laboratory of the Centre of Energy Utilization of Non-Traditional Energy Sources in Ostrava. The research examined the effect of the use of chemical substances on the amount of air pollutants from biomass thermal conversion in a low-power boiler and the process temperature. First, we performed technical and elementary analyses of agricultural waste. The raw material was then comminuted, mixed with a selected additive, pelletized, and finally burned in a low-power boiler. The additive was added in three proportions: 1:20, 1:10, and 1:6.67 (i.e., 15%) relative to the fuel weight. The combustion process efficiency was measured using a flue gas analyzer and three thermocouples attached to the data recorder. From the measurement results, we were able to determine the percentage reduction of pollutant emissions into the atmosphere (CO, NOx, and SO2) due to the use of additives. Because emission standards are becoming increasingly stringent and fuel and energy prices are rising, the results presented in this article may be useful to agri-food processing plants that want to manage these materials thermally.Web of Science1510art. no. 352

Samferdsel og miljø 2007 : Utvalgte indikatorer for samferdselssektoren

Rapporten inneholder utvalgt statistikk og indikatorer for samferdselssektoren med hovedvekt på sammenhenger mellom samferdsel og miljø. I den grad det har vært mulig, er norske data sammenlignet med definerte indikatorer i EUs TERMprosjekt (Transport and Environment Reporting Mechanism) og med andre internasjonale datakilder. I tillegg presenteres utdypende statistikk for Norge

New Species in the Old World: Europe as a Frontier in Biodiversity Exploration, a Test Bed for 21st Century Taxonomy

The number of described species on the planet is about 1.9 million, with ca. 17,000 new species described annually, mostly from the tropics. However, taxonomy is usually described as a science in crisis, lacking manpower and funding, a politically acknowledged problem known as the Taxonomic Impediment. Using data from the Fauna Europaea database and the Zoological Record, we show that contrary to general belief, developed and heavily-studied parts of the world are important reservoirs of unknown species. In Europe, new species of multicellular terrestrial and freshwater animals are being discovered and named at an unprecedented rate: since the 1950s, more than 770 new species are on average described each year from Europe, which add to the 125,000 terrestrial and freshwater multicellular species already known in this region. There is no sign of having reached a plateau that would allow for the assessment of the magnitude of European biodiversity. More remarkably, over 60% of these new species are described by non-professional taxonomists. Amateurs are recognized as an essential part of the workforce in ecology and astronomy, but the magnitude of non-professional taxonomist contributions to alpha-taxonomy has not been fully realized until now. Our results stress the importance of developing a system that better supports and guides this formidable workforce, as we seek to overcome the Taxonomic Impediment and speed up the process of describing the planetary biodiversity before it is too late

Spontaneous honeybee behaviour is altered by persistent organic pollutants

The effect of environmental pollutants on honeybee behaviour has focused mainly on currently used pesticides. However, honeybees are also exposed to persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The aim of this laboratory based study was to determine if exposure to sublethal field-relevant concentrations of POPs altered the spontaneous behaviour of foraging-age worker honeybees. Honeybees (Apis mellifera) were orally exposed to either a sublethal concentration of the polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) mixture Aroclor 1254 (100 ng/ml), the organochlorine insecticide lindane (2.91 ng/ml) or vehicle (0.01% DMSO, 0.00015% ethanol in 1M sucrose) for 1–4 days. The frequency of single event behaviours and the time engaged in one of four behavioural states (walking, flying, upside down and stationary) were monitored for 15 min after 1, 2, 3 and 4 days exposure. Exposure to Aroclor 1254 but not lindane increased the frequency and time engaged in honeybee motor activity behaviours in comparison to vehicle. The Aroclor 1254—induced hyperactivity was evident after 1 day of exposure and persisted with repeated daily exposure. In contrast, 1 day of exposure to lindane elicited abdominal spasms and increased the frequency of grooming behaviours in comparison to vehicle exposure. After 4 days of exposure, abdominal spasms and increased grooming behaviours were also evident in honeybees exposed to Aroclor 1254. These data demonstrate that POPs can induce distinct behavioural patterns, indicating different toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic properties. The changes in spontaneous behaviour, particularly the PCB-induced chronic hyperactivity and the associated energy demands, may have implications for colony health

Cosmological Radiative Transfer Codes Comparison Project I: The Static Density Field Tests

Radiative transfer simulations are now at the forefront of numerical astrophysics. They are becoming crucial for an increasing number of astrophysical and cosmological problems; at the same time their computational cost has come to the reach of currently available computational power. Further progress is retarded by the considerable number of different algorithms (including various flavours of ray-tracing and moment schemes) developed, which makes the selection of the most suitable technique for a given problem a non-trivial task. Assessing the validity ranges, accuracy and performances of these schemes is the main aim of this paper, for which we have compared 11 independent RT codes on 5 test problems: (0) basic physics, (1) isothermal H II region expansion and (2) H II region expansion with evolving temperature, (3) I-front trapping and shadowing by a dense clump, (4) multiple sources in a cosmological density field. The outputs of these tests have been compared and differences analyzed. The agreement between the various codes is satisfactory although not perfect. The main source of discrepancy appears to reside in the multi-frequency treatment approach, resulting in different thicknesses of the ionized-neutral transition regions and different temperature structure. The present results and tests represent the most complete benchmark available for the development of new codes and improvement of existing ones. To this aim all test inputs and outputs are made publicly available in digital form.Comment: 32 pages, 39 figures (all color), comments welcom

The European union’s 2010 target: Putting rare species in focus

P. 167-185The European Union has adopted the ambitious target of halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010. Several indicators have been proposed to assess progress towards the 2010 target, two of them addressing directly the issue of species decline. In Europe, the Fauna Europaea database gives an insight into the patterns of distribution of a total dataset of 130,000 terrestrial and freshwater species without taxonomic bias, and provide a unique opportunity to assess the feasibility of the 2010 target. It shows that the vast majority of European species are rare, in the sense that they have a restricted range. Considering this, the paper discusses whether the 2010 target indicators really cover the species most at risk of extinction. The analysis of a list of 62 globally extinct European taxa shows that most contemporary extinctions have affected narrow-range taxa or taxa with strict ecological requirements. Indeed, most European species listed as threatened in the IUCN Red List are narrow-range species. Conversely, there are as many wide-range species as narrow-range endemics in the list of protected species in Europe (Bird and Habitat Directives). The subset of biodiversity captured by the 2010 target indicators should be representative of the whole biodiversity in terms of patterns of distribution and abundance. Indicators should not overlook a core characteristic of biodiversity, i.e. the large number of narrow-range species and their intrinsic vulnerability. With ill-selected indicator species, the extinction of narrowrange endemics would go unnoticedS