4,226 research outputs found
Software-Engineering Process Simulation (SEPS) model
The Software Engineering Process Simulation (SEPS) model is described which was developed at JPL. SEPS is a dynamic simulation model of the software project development process. It uses the feedback principles of system dynamics to simulate the dynamic interactions among various software life cycle development activities and management decision making processes. The model is designed to be a planning tool to examine tradeoffs of cost, schedule, and functionality, and to test the implications of different managerial policies on a project's outcome. Furthermore, SEPS will enable software managers to gain a better understanding of the dynamics of software project development and perform postmodern assessments
Finite element analysis of gradient coil deformation and vibration in NMR microscopy
Resolution degradation due to gradient coil deformation and vibration in NMR microscopy is investigated using finite element analysis. From the analysis, deformations due to the Lorentz force can be as large as 1-10 μm depending on the gradient strength and coil frame material. Thus, these deformations can be one of the major resolution limiting factors in NMR microscopy. Coil vibration, which depends on the input current waveform and resolution degradation due to time-variant deformation and time-invariant deformation are investigated by numerical simulations
Current rectification in a single molecule diode: the role of electrode coupling
We demonstrate large rectification ratios (> 100) in single-molecule
junctions based on a metal-oxide cluster (polyoxometalate), using a scanning
tunneling microscope (STM) both at ambient conditions and at low temperature.
These rectification ratios are the largest ever observed in a single-molecule
junction, and in addition these junctions sustain current densities larger than
10^5 A/cm^2. By following the variation of the I-V characteristics with
tip-molecule separation we demonstrate unambiguously that rectification is due
to asymmetric coupling to the electrodes of a molecule with an asymmetric level
structure. This mechanism can be implemented in other type of molecular
junctions using both organic and inorganic molecules and provides a simple
strategy for the rational design of molecular diodes
An analysis of defect densities found during software inspections
Software inspection is a technical evaluation process for finding and removing defects in requirements, design, code, and tests. Detailed data was collected during the first three years of experience at JPL on 203 inspections. Statistics are discussed for this set of inspections. Included, on a per inspection basis, are averages of: staff time expended, pages covered, major defects found, minor defects found, and inspection team size. Analysis of variance showed a significantly higher density of defects during requirements inspections. It was also observed, that the defect densities found decreased exponentially as the work products approached the coding phase. Increasing the pace of the inspection meeting decreased the density of defects found. This relationship was observed to hold for both major and minor defect densities, although it was more pronounced for minor defects. Guidelines are provided for conducting successful software inspections based upon three years of JPL experience
Anxious/depressed symptoms are related to microstructural maturation of white matter in typically developing youths
AbstractThere are multiple recent reports of an association between anxious/depressed (A/D) symptomatology and the rate of cerebral cortical thickness maturation in typically developing youths. We investigated the degree to which anxious/depressed symptoms are tied to age-related microstructural changes in cerebral fiber pathways. The participants were part of the NIH MRI Study of Normal Brain Development. Child Behavior Checklist A/D scores and diffusion imaging were available for 175 youths (84 males, 91 females; 241 magnetic resonance imagings) at up to three visits. The participants ranged from 5.7 to 18.4 years of age at the time of the scan. Alignment of fractional anisotropy data was implemented using FSL/Tract-Based Spatial Statistics, and linear mixed model regression was carried out using SPSS. Child Behavior Checklist A/D was associated with the rate of microstructural development in several white matter pathways, including the bilateral anterior thalamic radiation, bilateral inferior longitudinal fasciculus, left superior longitudinal fasciculus, and right cingulum. Across these pathways, greater age-related fractional anisotropy increases were observed at lower levels of A/D. The results suggest that subclinical A/D symptoms are associated with the rate of microstructural development within several white matter pathways that have been implicated in affect regulation, as well as mood and anxiety psychopathology.</jats:p
Nuclear Medium Effects in the Relativistic Treatment of Quasifree Electron Scattering
Non-relativistic reduction of the S-matrix for the quasifree electron
scattering process is studied in order to
understand the source of differences between non-relativistic and relativistic
models. We perform an effective Pauli reduction on the relativistic expression
for the S-matrix in the one-photon exchange approximation. The reduction is
applied to the nucleon current only; the electrons are treated fully
relativistically. An expansion of the amplitude results in a power series in
the nuclear potentials. The series is found to converge rapidly only if the
nuclear potentials are included in the nuclear current operator. The results
can be cast in a form which reproduces the non-relativistic amplitudes in the
limit that the potentials are removed from the nuclear current operator. Large
differences can be found between calculations which do and do not include the
nuclear potentials in the different orders of the nuclear current operator. In
the high missing momentum region we find that the non-relativistic calculations
with potentials included in the nuclear current up to second order give results
which are close to those of the fully relativistic calculation. This behavior
is an indication of the importance of the medium modifications of the nuclear
currents in this model, which are naturally built into the relativistic
treatment of the reaction.Comment: Latex, 26 pages including 5 uuencoded postscript figures. accepted
for publication in Phys. Rev. C
Serological and Molecular Identification of Brucella spp. in Pigs from Cairo and Giza Governorates, Egypt
Brucellosis is considered as endemic disease of animals and humans since thousands of years in Egypt. However, brucellosis in pigs has never been reported in Egypt. Thus, serological and molecular assays were applied to detect anti-Brucella antibodies and DNA in serum samples collected from pigs. In total 331 blood samples collected from male and female pigs at slaughterhouses of Cairo and Giza governorates were investigated using Brucella c- and i-ELISA and Brucella real-time PCR. Anti-Brucella antibodies were detected in 16 (4.83%) and 36 (10.8%) sera by i-ELISA and c-ELISA, respectively. Brucella DNA was detected in 10 (3.02%) seropositive samples and identified as Brucella melitensis (7/10) and Brucella suis (3/10). A higher prevelance was found in boars. This is the first study investigating pig brucellosis in Egypt. The results of this study will raise awareness for brucellosis in these farm animals and will help to develop effective control strategies
Visualizing War
Curators Andrew Egbert, Natalie Sherif, and Alexandra Ward have designed an experience that allows us to consider why these images resonated with such power for Civil War Americans. In doing so, they have shifted the gallery experience away from a truth-seeking mission, giving us instead a platform from which to move beyond questions of whether visual culture was realistic or not. They offer us a chance to explore the emotional and intellectual connections that sustained Americans long after the shouts and cheers in rushing to arms had faded. [excerpt]https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/artcatalogs/1008/thumbnail.jp
Universality in movie rating distributions
In this paper histograms of user ratings for movies (1,...,10) are analysed.
The evolving stabilised shapes of histograms follow the rule that all are
either double- or triple-peaked. Moreover, at most one peak can be on the
central bins 2,...,9 and the distribution in these bins looks smooth
`Gaussian-like' while changes at the extremes (1 and 10) often look abrupt. It
is shown that this is well approximated under the assumption that histograms
are confined and discretised probability density functions of L\'evy skew
alpha-stable distributions. These distributions are the only stable
distributions which could emerge due to a generalized central limit theorem
from averaging of various independent random avriables as which one can see the
initial opinions of users. Averaging is also an appropriate assumption about
the social process which underlies the process of continuous opinion formation.
Surprisingly, not the normal distribution achieves the best fit over histograms
obseved on the web, but distributions with fat tails which decay as power-laws
with exponent -(1+alpha) (alpha=4/3). The scale and skewness parameters of the
Levy skew alpha-stable distributions seem to depend on the deviation from an
average movie (with mean about 7.6). The histogram of such an average movie has
no skewness and is the most narrow one. If a movie deviates from average the
distribution gets broader and skew. The skewness pronounces the deviation. This
is used to construct a one parameter fit which gives some evidence of
universality in processes of continuous opinion dynamics about taste.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publicatio
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