Timing the introduction of information technology

Abstract. Deciding when to adopt or introduce new information technology (IT) is a relatively difficult problem. This paper presents a method that can be used in many circumstances to evaluate new IT. The model is based on modelling the response of customers and rivals to services provided by IT. The methodology recognizes competitor reactions on two levels: within the local market and actions by rivals in the international market. The model examines behaviour, costs, and benefits over time. Several different types of models are examined, ranging from competitive (Nash) equilibriums to joint ventures. This model is illustrated by examining when banks should implement new technology. The results indicate that large banks can effectively utilize technology as a strategic weapon. Smaller, local banks are more limited in their control of technology. The model reveals some strategic uses that are not evident from existing models.     

Synergistic interaction of D1 and D2 dopamine receptors in the modulation of the reinforcing effect of brain stimulation.

Rats were trained to press a bar for hypothalamic stimulation, and a frequency-response function was plotted. Quinpirole (a selective D2 agonist) facilitated self-stimulation when injected alone but failed to show the facilitatory effect when injected either 1 hr before or 1 hr after injection of SCH 23390 (a D1 antagonist). Injection of reserpine followed by α-methyl-p-tyrosine virtually eliminated self-stimulation. Subsequent injection of either SKF 38393 (a D1 agonist) alone or quinpirole alone did not restore self-stimulation, but a combination of quinpirole and SKF 38393 did. Results suggest that a D2 dopamine agonist facilitates the reinforcing effect of brain stimulation only if D1 receptors are activated by endogenous dopamine or by an exogenous agonist. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Undershoot and settling time tradeoffs for nonminimum phase systems

It has been known for some time that real nonminimum phase zeros imply undershoot in the step response of linear systems. Bounds on such undershoot depend on the settling time demanded and the zero locations. In this note, we review such constraints for linear time invariant systems and provide new stronger bounds that consider simultaneously the effect of two real nonminimum phase zeros. Using the concept of zero dynamics, we extend these results to a class of nonlinear systems.     

In utero exchange transfusion in homozygous alpha-thalassaemia: a case report

We report a case of homozygous alpha-thalassaemia with hydrops fetalis presenting at 22 weeks of gestation. In utero exchange transfusion was performed with maternal blood at 23 weeks. 25 weeks and 29 weeks of gestation. The fetus was delivered at 29 weeks of gestation without significant neonatal complication. Post-transfusion haemoglobin pattern after transfusion suggested that a total haematocrit of 0.52 may be the desired post-exchange transfusion haematocrit to aim for and the total haematocrit of haemoglobin A and haemoglobin Portland dropped approximately one percent per day.     

The production of interleukin-1 alpha immunoreactivity by human oviductal cells in a coculture system

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine the concentration of interleukin-1 alpha in human embryo culture medium with or without oviductal cell coculture and to correlate the interleukin-1 alpha levels with pregnancy. METHODS: Culture media from 32 in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer cycles were assayed for interleukin-1 alpha by immunoassay technique. Human embryos were cultured in Earles' balanced salt solution supplemented with 15% preovulatory serum (sEBSS) in 16 of these cycles, while embryos in the rest of the cycles were cocultured with human oviductal cells in sEBSS. RESULTS: Both sEBSS and spent sEBSS after embryo culture contained low or undetectable levels of interleukin-1 alpha in the pregnant and nonpregnant cycles. On the other hand, oviductal cells significantly increased the amount of interleukin-1 alpha immunoreactivity in the conventional culture medium or coculture medium (P < 0.001, Mann-Whitney rank sum test). The concentrations of interleukin-1 alpha in the spent sEBSS after oviductal cell culture and after coculture with human embryos were 1.5 +/- 1.0 and 1.3 +/- 0.9 pg/ml, respectively. There was no difference in the interleukin-1 alpha concentration between the pregnant and the nonpregnant coculture cycles. CONCLUSIONS: These data showed that human oviductal cells produced interleukin-1 alpha immunoreactivity in a coculture system. However, this production could not be used as a marker for successful embryo implantation.     

OPNET环境下的PIM—SM组播路由协议仿真

IPv6组播技术作为下一代互联网的核心技术之一,相对于IPv4组播技术具有更大的优越性。文章首先对PIM-SM组播协议在IPv6上实现PIM-SM涉及的问题进行了论述,然后在OPNET网络仿真模型中实现了对IPv6和IPv4混合网络场景的配置,进行组播的仿真实验比较单播与组播网络的性能,系统地分析了PIM-SM协议在OPNET中的实现。     

基于加权决策树的蛋白质序列分类算法研究

针对蛋白质序列分类的需求,深入研究了蛋白质序列分类算法。对蛋白质序列的特征属性进行了大量的分析和研究,给出了蛋白质序列特征属性的描述形式。在此基础上设计了一种基于加权决策树的蛋白质序列分类算法,详细阐述了加权决策树的构造过程以及决策树的主要参数计算方法,而且根据蛋白质序列的特征,对决策树进行了改进,给出了加权决策树的实现方法。测试结果表明：设计的蛋白质序列分类算法具有较高的分类精度和较快的执行速度。     

Software structure evaluation based on the interaction and encapsulation of methods

Software structure is the most important factor affecting the quality of a program.The evaluation of software structure is a foundational technique for software development.However,the traditional evaluation criteria,such as "high cohesion and low coupling",are no longer appropriate for the new web applications,which are designed with a hierarchical framework.A novel approach is proposed in this paper to evaluate software quality based on the interaction and encapsulation of methods.In particular,two criteria for high quality software,the functional and hierarchical structure,are proposed to support widely used web applications.The cohesion and coupling and layer matching ratios between methods within a software package are calculated to determine whether the package is well implemented in terms of functional or hierarchical structure.This approach enables us to quantify the quality of a software system according to the structural types of its packages.Experiments were carried out on 18 versions of Struts and six open-source software packages.Our evaluation concurs with the intuition that minor upgrades,aimed at fixing bugs and adding minor functionality quickly,reduce software quality,whereas major upgrades,which normally clean up messy code and re-construct the software,improve software quality.     

Complexity of synthesis of composite service with correctness guarantee

How to compose existing web services automatically and to guarantee the correctness of the design (e.g. temporal constraints specified by temporal logic LTL, CTL or CTL*) is an important and challenging problem in web services. Most existing approaches use the process in conventional software development of design, verification, analysis and correction to guarantee the correctness of composite services, which makes the composition process both complex and time-consuming. In this paper, we focus on the synthesis problem of composite service; that is, for a given set of services and correctness constraint specified by CTL or CTL* formula, a composite service is automatically constructed which guarantees that the correctness is ensured. We prove that the synthesis problem for CTL and CTL* are complete for EXPTIME and 2EXPTIME, respectively. Moreover, for the case of synthesis failure, we discuss the problem of how to disable outputs of environment (i.e. users or services) reasonably to make synthesis successful, which are also proved complete for EXPTIME and 2EXPTIME for CTL and CTL*, respectively.