Evidence-based recommendations for building better bras for women treated for breast cancer

Participating in exercise is beneficial for women who have been treated for breast cancer. However, not being able to find a comfortable exercise bra can be a barrier to exercise participation. This study aimed to systematically investigate what breast support women treated for breast cancer want when they exercise in order to provide evidence-based recommendations to improve exercise bra designs for these women. Based on 432 responses from a national online survey, frequency and relationship data were analysed (binary logistic regression) to understand exercise bra issues pertinent to this population. These issues included being able to control for asymmetrical cup sizes, managing heightened skin sensitivity, managing fluid (size) fluctuations, managing a prosthesis and restoring body image by restoring shape. This study provides evidence-based recommendations to inform an exercise bra design that will meet the unique needs of women treated for breast cancer. Rigorous, evidence-based evaluations of exercise bras for women treated for breast cancer may contribute to their well-being and quality of life through enhanced designs.     

一种SIP穿越NAT的解决方案

NAT使得SIP端到端的应用变得非常困难,文章分析了几种SIP穿越NAT方法及其不足,提出了一种基于STUN和TURN方法的穿越方案.其基本思想是根据NAT的不同采用不同的方式实现SIP信令的穿越,而媒体流的穿越则通过对所有可用媒体地址进行连接检查来实现.方案不改动现有NAT,在应用层上实现了对所有NAT的有效穿越,避免单独使用其它方法带来的缺陷.     

Design for Testability for Complete Test Coverage

Some design-for-testability techniques, such as level-sensitive scan design, scan path, and scan/set, reduce test pattern generation of sequential circuits to that of combinational circuits by enhancing the controllability and/or observability of all the memory elements. However, even for combinational circuits, 100 percent test coverage of large-scale circuits is generally very difficult to achieve. This article presents DFT methods aimed at achieving total coverage. Two methods are compared: One, based on testability analysis, involves the addition of test points to improve testability before test pattern generation. The other method employs a test pattern generation algorithm (the FAN algorithm). Results show that 100 percent coverage within the allowed limits is difficult with the former approach. The latter, however, enables us to generate a test pattern for any detectable fault within the allowed time limits, and 100 percent test coverage is possible.     

Regional Process Modeling for Design for Environment

This research is an effort towards providing higher level Design for Environment (DFE) tools for a broad industrial region. Issues ranging from the levels immediately above existing design tools, to the envisioned highest level for a broad geographical region are discussed. A tool for the regional planning of the DFE activities is proposed, considering a model construction based on material flows across the industry. The Multi-Lifecycle approach is supported by organizing the input/output flows for industries, potentially utilizing waste material, side products and recycling. Capitalizing on the conceptual integration of the design and process activities, an Abstract Design Environment is used for the design of the basically process oriented material flow tool. Within the context, the relations among design, process and flow-modeling concepts are discussed.     

Grammar engineering for multiple front-ends for Python

In this paper, we describe our experience in grammar engineering to construct multiple parsers and front ends for the Python language. We present a metrics-based study of the evolution of the Python grammars through the multiple versions of the language in an effort to distinguish and measure grammar evolution and to provide a basis of comparison with related research in grammar engineering. To conduct this research, we have built a toolkit, pygrat , which builds on tools developed in other research. We use pygrat to build a system that automates much of the process needed to translate the Python grammars from EBNF to a formalism acceptable to the bison parser generator. We exploit the suite of Python test cases, used by the Python developers, to validate our parser generation. Finally, we describe our use of the menhir parser generator to facilitate the parser and front-end construction, eliminating some of the transformations and providing practical support for grammar modularisation.     

等级加密体制中的密钥管理研究

分别利用对称加密技术、非对称加密技术以及对称加密与非对称加密结合技术,提出在等级加密下的密钥管理体制,同时对其安全性与效率进行分析.与现有的体制相比,这种体制采用树状模型,其各等级用户之间的密钥通过关系参数连接起来,使得该体制不但适合于一般的等级体制,同时也适合于密钥频繁改变、用户动态变化的应用环境.     

Performance Measures for Evaluating Algorithms for SIMD Machines

This paper examines measures for evaluating the performance of algorithms for single instruction stream–multiple data stream (SIMD) machines. The SIMD mode of parallelism involves using a large number of processors synchronized together. All processors execute the same instruction at the same time; however, each processor operates on a different data item. The complexity of parallel algorithms is, in general, a function of the machine size (number of processors), problem size, and type of interconnection network used to provide communications among the processors. Measures which quantify the effect of changing the machine-size/problem-size/network-type relationships are therefore needed. A number of such measures are presented and are applied to an example SIMD algorithm from the image processing problem domain. The measures discussed and compared include execution time, speed, parallel efficiency, overhead ratio, processor utilization, redundancy, cost effectiveness, speed-up of the parallel algorithm over the corresponding serial algorithm, and an additive measure called "sprice" which assigns a weighted value to computations and processors.     

Design for All in multimedia guides for museums

The Design for All principles define the characteristics which a device should possess in order for it be utilised by every type of user, independent of his or her sensory disabilities or technological competency. These principles are realised in the current work as an integrative tool with which to facilitate universal access to museums via multimedia and portable guides, making access available to all. Based on these principles, this article describes the main findings of the design and use of the MGA (Multimedia Guides for All) approach proposed in this paper. This approach involves a series of recommendations for the selection, application, preparation of content, and maintenance of this type of computerized device, in order to achieve these principles. Firstly, a comparative analysis of the principal types of electronic guides available in museums which incorporate accessibility criteria is provided. Subsequently, a real case study case is presented which conforms to the MGA approach. The MGA approach can be applied to other domains, which should be explored in further research. The conclusions in this article have been drawn from two R&D projects financed by the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Science and Technology supported by the EC FEDER R&D Program.     

The Climate for Transformation: Lessons for Leaders

This article reports insights for organizational leaders based on a series of case studies describing the use of the Situational Outlook Questionnaire as a tool to assist them with their transformation efforts. Leaders often assert the need to change their organizational cultures. This article seeks to clarify and differentiate culture from climate, and then focus on what leaders can do to transform their climate by applying a deliberate assessment tool. As the case studies illustrate, making organizational transformation happen is best approached through a systemic or ecological approach. This approach includes considering the people involved, the methods deployed, the desired outcome of the change as well as the context within which the transformation occurs. The broadest concept within this framework is context, which includes both culture and climate, among other things. Since context is key to initiating and sustaining transformation, emphasis on the leader's role in climate creation will be provided.     

Enhancing the Climate for Creativity for Software Designers

Measurement of the degree to which company climate is supportive of creativity is becoming increasingly important. Tight economic conditions worldwide make it imperative for companies to find ways to generate more innovative products and services. This paper provides data on measurement of degree of creativity in climates of business organizations in general, then data specific to one profession, the Information Systems profession. It also discusses ways the climate for creativity can be enhanced to improve both creativity and productivity. However, the information is not only important to managers of IS, but also to the clients of IS. The departments for whom IS is designing software are equally concerned that software developers have a climate supportive of creative efforts. Therefore, this survey of programmers and analysts should be of interest across the company, not just to IS management.     

An expert system for design for robotic assembly

In recent years, due to the various advantages associated with automation and robotics, much work has been done in developing robotic systems for assembly operations. Since part design plays a major role in assembly, this paper deals with the design of parts for ease of robotic assembly. Considerable knowledge is available in the form of design for robotic assembly rules. In addition, a large amount of data is required for decisions regarding suitability of parts for robotic assembly. The implementation of design for robotic assembly rules would be much easier with the help of an expert system, which would guide the designer toward choosing the design alternative that can best facilitate ease of assembly from a robotic point of view.To this end, a prototype expert system for design for robotic assembly is developed and presented in this paper. The expert system was implemented as a production system, which consists of rules and Object-Attribute-Value (O-A-V) triplets to represent domain knowledge. In order to best utilize the domain specific knowledge, a state space search-based inference mechanism was employed. The implementation of the prototype system is illustrated with examples.     

基于嵌入式内核SOC IDDQ可测试设计方法

由于电路门数增大和晶体管亚阈值电流升高，导致电路的静态漏电流不断升高，深亚微米工艺SOC(系统芯片)IC在IDDQ测试的实现方面存在巨大挑战．虽然减小深亚微米工艺亚阈值漏电开发了许多方法，如衬底偏置和低温测试，但是没有解决因为SOC设计的规模增大引起漏电升高的问题．首先提出了SOC设计规模增大引起高漏电流的可测试性设计概念．然后制定了一系列适合于SOC的IDDQ可测试设计规则．最后提出了一种通过JTAG指令寄存器控制各个内核电源的SOC IDDQ可测试设计方法．     

A method for evaluating elicitation schemes for probabilisticmodels

We present an objective approach for evaluating probability and structure elicitation methods in probabilistic models. The main idea is to use the model derived from the experts' experience rather than the true model as the standard to compare the elicited model. We describe a general procedure by which it is possible to capture the data corresponding to the expert's beliefs, and we present a simple experiment in which we utilize this technique to compare three methods for eliciting discrete probabilities: 1) direct numerical assessment, 2) the probability wheel, and 3) the scaled probability bar. We show that for our domain, the scaled probability bar is the most effective tool for probability elicitation.     

Decision-making tool for crop selection for agriculture development

Neural Computing and Applications - In the present competitive environment, a farmer needs better education, business expertise and good knowledge of technologies and tools to be successful in...     

A model for adaptable systems for transaction processing

Adaptability is an essential tool for managing escalating software costs and to build high-reliability, high-performance systems. Algorithmic adaptability, which supports techniques for switching between classes of schedulers in distributed transaction systems, is modeled. RAID, an experimental system implemented to support experimentation in adaptability, is discussed. Adaptability features in RAID, including algorithmic adaptability, fault tolerance, and implementation techniques for an adaptable server-based design, are modeled     

Requirements for Maintaining Web Access for Hearing-Impaired Individuals

The current textual and graphical interfaces to computing, including the Web, is a dream come true for the hearing impaired. However, improved technology for voice and audio interface threaten to end this dream. Requirements are identified for continued access to computing for the hearing impaired. Consideration is given also to improving access to the sight impaired.