Designing systems engineering profiles for VSEs

To address the systems lifecycle needs of Very small entities, a set of standards and guides have been recently developed using the systems engineering lifecycle standard ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 as the main framework. The systems engineering handbook, developed by the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), is used as the reference for the development of a set of systems engineering deployment packages. This short paper presents an overview of this new systems engineering standard and discusses certification scheme needs and future developments

Early stage adoption of ISO/IEC 29110 software project management practices: a case study

The ISO/IEC 29110 standard has at its core a Management and Engineering Guide [1] which are targeted at very small entities (enterprises, organizations, departments or projects) having up to 25 people [2], to assist them unlock the potential benefits of using standards which are specifically designed to address their needs. This paper discusses the role and structure of Project Management in the ISO/IEC 29110 standard and the design and development of project management support documentation. In particular this paper describes a case study of an early adopter of ISO/IEC 29110 project management practices and their experiences with implementing these in an industrial context

Energy-Aware Cloud Management through Progressive SLA Specification

Novel energy-aware cloud management methods dynamically reallocate computation across geographically distributed data centers to leverage regional electricity price and temperature differences. As a result, a managed VM may suffer occasional downtimes. Current cloud providers only offer high availability VMs, without enough flexibility to apply such energy-aware management. In this paper we show how to analyse past traces of dynamic cloud management actions based on electricity prices and temperatures to estimate VM availability and price values. We propose a novel SLA specification approach for offering VMs with different availability and price values guaranteed over multiple SLAs to enable flexible energy-aware cloud management. We determine the optimal number of such SLAs as well as their availability and price guaranteed values. We evaluate our approach in a user SLA selection simulation using Wikipedia and Grid'5000 workloads. The results show higher customer conversion and 39% average energy savings per VM.Comment: 14 pages, conferenc

The EULAR–OMERACT rheumatoid arthritis MRI reference image atlas: the metacarpophalangeal joints

This paper presents the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint magnetic resonance images of the EULAR–OMERACT rheumatoid arthritis MRI reference image atlas. The illustrations include synovitis in the MCP joints (OMERACT RA magnetic resonance imaging scoring system (RAMRIS), grades 0–3), bone oedema in the metacarpal head and the phalangeal base (grades 0–3), and bone erosion in the metacarpal head and the phalangeal base (grades 0–3, and examples of higher grades). The presented reference images can be used to guide scoring of MCP joints according to the OMERACT RA MRI scoring system

Critical Behaviour of the Fuzzy sphere

We study a multi-matrix model whose low temperature phase is a fuzzy sphere that undergoes an evaporation transition as the temperature is increased. We investigate finite size scaling of the system as the limiting temperature of stability of the fuzzy sphere phase is approached. We find on theoretical grounds that the system should obey scaling with specific heat exponent = 1 2 , shift exponent = 4 3 and that the peak in the specific heat grows with exponent ! = 2 3 . Using hybrid Monte Carlo simulations we find good collapse of specific heat data consistent with a scaling ansatz which give our best estimates for the scaling exponents as = 0.50 ± 0.01, = 1.41 ± 0.08 and ! = 0.66 ± 0.08

Fine Structure of the 1s3p ^3P_J Level in Atomic ^4He: Theory and Experiment

We report on a theoretical calculation and a new experimental determination of the 1s3p ^3P_J fine structure intervals in atomic ^4He. The values from the theoretical calculation of 8113.730(6) MHz and 658.801(6) MHz for the nu_{01} and nu_{12} intervals, respectively, disagree significantly with previous experimental results. However, the new laser spectroscopic measurement reported here yields values of 8113.714(28) MHz and 658.810(18) MHz for these intervals. These results show an excellent agreement with the theoretical values and resolve the apparent discrepancy between theory and experiment.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

Le rôle du raisonnement inductif dans le trouble délirant

Pour faire un diagnostic différentiel qui distingue entre les croyances obsessionnelles et celles du trouble délirant (TD), un aspect crucial à évaluer est l’intensité avec laquelle cette conviction est maintenue, allant du doute dans le trouble obsessionnel-compulsif (TOC) à la certitude dans le TD. En effet, les personnes ayant un TD semblent se fier davantage à leur imagination parce qu’elles ne peuvent pas faire confiance aux autres ou à la réalité. Dans le TOC, les personnes croient que leurs doutes imaginaires sont de réelles probabilités, de sorte qu’elles ne peuvent prendre le risque que ces probabilités surviennent réellement. Dans les deux cas, le problème n’est pas la distorsion perceptuelle, mais le remplacement de la réalité par une histoire imaginée et perçue comme possible, même jusqu’à être réelle. Pélissier et O’Connor (2002) ont démontré que les personnes ayant un TOC montrent un style de raisonnement inductif particulier en comparaison de celui des groupes contrôles. Ainsi, l’exploration du raisonnement inductif dans le cas des personnes qui ont un TD permettrait peut-être de raffiner notre compréhension de la pensée délirante, et d’améliorer éventuellement les stratégies de la thérapie cognitive pour le TD. Il est recommandé que les études futures sur le TD essaient de mieux comprendre le raisonnement inductif ainsi que le rôle de l’imagination prédisposant au développement des délires.Differential diagnosis between obsessive beliefs in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and delusions in delusional disorder (DD) requires distinguishing the strength of conviction with which the person holds these beliefs, that is : a dimension stretching from doubt to certainty. Effectively, individuals with DD seem to rely much more on their imagination since they cannot trust others or reality. In OCD, people believe that their imaginary doubts are real probabilities and they cannot take the risk that these possibilities occur in reality. In both cases, the problem is not perceptual distortion but the replacement of reality by an imaginary story perceived as possible or even real. Pelissier and O’Connor (2002) have demonstrated that people with OCD show a particular inductive reasoning style when compared to control groups. Hence, exploration of inductive reasoning in the cases of people with DD could possibly enrich our comprehension of delusional thinking and further improve our strategies in cognitive therapy. It is recommended that future studies on DD concentrate on further understanding of inductive reasoning and the role of imagination predisposing the development of delusions.Para realizar un diagnóstico diferencial que distinga entre las creencias obsesivas y aquellas del trastorno delirante (TD), es crucial evaluar la intensidad con la que esta convicción se mantiene, yendo de la duda en el trastorno obsesivocompulsivo (TOC) a la certeza en el TD. De hecho, las personas con un TD parecen fiarse más de su imaginación porque no pueden confiar en los demás o en la realidad. En el TOC, las personas creen que sus dudas imaginarias son probabilidades reales, de manera que no pueden tomar el riesgo de que estas probabilidades ocurran realmente. En ambos casos, el problema no es la distorsión de la percepción, sino el reemplazo de la realidad por una historia imaginaria y percibida como posible, incluso hasta que llega a ser real. Pélissier y O’Connor (2002) demostraron que las personas que sufren de TOC muestran un estilo de razonamiento inductivo particular, en comparación con el de los grupos de control. De esta manera, la exploración del razonamiento inductivo en los casos de las personas que sufren de un TD permitiría tal vez afinar nuestra comprensión del pensamiento delirante y mejorar eventualmente las estrategias de la terapia cognitiva para el TD. Se recomienda que los estudios futuros sobre el TD intenten comprender mejor el razonamiento inductivo, así como el papel de la imaginación que predispone al desarrollo de los delirios.Para fazer um diagnóstico diferencial que distingue as crenças obsessivas das crenças do transtorno delirante (TD), um aspecto crucial a avaliar é a intensidade com a qual esta convicção é mantida, indo da dúvida no transtorno obsessivo-compulsivo (TOC) à certeza no TD. De fato, as pessoas que sofrem de TD parecem acreditar mais em sua imaginação, visto que não podem confiar nos outros ou na realidade. No TOC, as pessoas crêem que suas dúvidas imaginárias são reais probabilidades, de maneira que elas não podem arriscar que estas probabilidades aconteçam realmente. Nos dois casos, o problema não é a distorção percepcional, mas a substituição da realidade por uma história imaginada e vista como possível, mesmo até real. Pélissier e O’Connor (2002) demonstraram que as pessoas que sofrem de TOC apresentam um estilo de raciocínio indutivo particular em comparação com o dos grupos de controle. Assim, a exploração do raciocínio indutivo, no caso das pessoas que sofrem de TD, permitiria talvez especificar nossa compreensão do pensamento delirante, e melhorar eventualmente as estratégias da terapia cognitiva para o TD. Recomenda-se que os estudos futuros sobre o TD busquem melhor compreender o raciocínio indutivo, assim como o papel da imaginação que predispõe ao desenvolvimento dos delírios

The development of the EULAR–OMERACT rheumatoid arthritis MRI reference image atlas

Based on a previously developed rheumatoid arthritis MRI scoring system (OMERACT 2002 RAMRIS), the development team agreed which joints, MRI features, MRI sequences, and image planes would best illustrate the scoring system in an atlas. After collecting representative examples for all grades for each abnormality (synovitis, bone oedema, and bone erosion), the team met for a three day period to review the images and choose by consensus the most illustrative set for each feature, site, and grade. A predefined subset of images (for example, for erosion—all coronal slices through the bone) was extracted. These images were then re-read by the group at a different time point to confirm the scores originally assigned. Finally, all selected images were photographed and formatted by one centre and distributed to all readers for final approval