Object Model Framework for Interface Modeling and IT-Oriented Interface Management

The intense complexity of interfaces in a construction project makes information technology (IT) applications a must for effective interface management (IM). This largely requires a unified, accurate, and efficient way of modeling interface information. Conventionally, interfaces are simply modeled as dependencies/relationships between project entities; various interface information is loosely presented in different ways, which reduces the accuracy and completeness of interface information as well as the efficiency in information exchange and application. This paper introduces an object view of interfaces and its inherent interface object modeling technique, and then presents an interface object model (IOM) framework. The IOM is the first in the literature that aims to systematically define the data structure and dependencies of interface information for modeling. It is at the core of a conceptually proposed systematic model-based IM strategy. When fully developed, the IOM can be used to accurately model multiple types of interfaces. This will greatly enhance the quality and interoperability of interface information, promote IT applications for IM, and ultimately improve interface-related project performance.     

Factors affecting the eating quality of pork

In the last decade studies with the specific objective of improving the sensory quality of pork have come to the forefront of meat research, likely a result of consumer complaints of blandness levelled against modern lean meat and the frequent reference to the more strongly flavored meat that was available years ago. Regardless of the lack of scientific evidence to substantiate or refute these claims, the consumer perception of deteriorated quality is real and presents a challenge for the pork industry. Hence, this review has been undertaken with the aim of providing insight into potential sources of amelioration of the eating quality of fresh pork. Existing works are collated, encompassing animal effects, such as, species, breed, muscle type, fat, and ultimate pH, as well as environmental influences, including pre-slaughter conditions of and housing and exercise, and post-slaughter parameters, such as, electrical stimulation, chilling, and cooking.     

Normal State Resistivity of Underdoped YBa2Cu3Ox Thin Films and La2-xSrxCuO4 Ultra-Thin Films under Epitaxial Strain

The normal state resistivity of high temperature superconductors can be probed in the region below T _c by suppressing the superconducting state in high magnetic fields. Here we present the normal state properties of YBa ₂ Cu ₃ O _x thin films in the underdoped regime and the normal state resistance of La _2-x Sr _x CuO ₄ thin films under epitaxial strain, measured below T _c by applying pulsed fields up to 60 T. We interpret these data in terms of the recently proposed 1D quantum transport model with the 1D paths corresponding to the charge stripes.     

Model driven edge detection

Standard edge detectors fail to find most relevant edges, finding either too many or too few, because they lack a geometric model to guide their search. We present a technique that integrates both photometric and geometric models with an initial estimate of the boundary. The strength of this approach lies in the ability of the geometric model to overcome various photometric anomalies, thereby finding boundaries that could not otherwise be found. Furthermore, edges can be scored based on their goodness of fit to the model, thus allowing one to use semantic model information to accept or reject the edges.     

Biofabrication of Sodium Alginate Hydrogel Scaffolds for Heart Valve Tissue Engineering

Every year, thousands of aortic valve replacements must take place due to valve diseases. Tissue-engineered heart valves represent promising valve substitutes with remodeling, regeneration, and growth capabilities. However, the accurate reproduction of the complex three-dimensional (3D) anatomy of the aortic valve remains a challenge for current biofabrication methods. We present a novel technique for rapid fabrication of native-like tricuspid aortic valve scaffolds made of an alginate-based hydrogel. Using this technique, a sodium alginate hydrogel formulation is injected into a mold produced using a custom-made sugar glass 3D printer. The mold is then dissolved using a custom-made dissolving module, revealing the aortic valve scaffold. To assess the reproducibility of the technique, three scaffolds were thoroughly compared. CT (computed tomography) scans showed that the scaffolds respect the complex native geometry with minimal variations. The scaffolds were then tested in a cardiac bioreactor specially designed to reproduce physiological flow and pressure (aortic and ventricular) conditions. The flow and pressure profiles were similar to the physiological ones for the three valve scaffolds, with small variabilities. These early results establish the functional repeatability of this new biofabrication method and suggest its application for rapid fabrication of ready-to-use cell-seeded sodium alginate scaffolds for heart valve tissue engineering.     

Describing non-deterministic reactive systems by means of regular expressions

This paper presents a language based on regular expressions for describing non-deterministic reactive systems. It also presents some ideas on how to build (or adapt) tools for exploiting such a language (recognizers, generators and provers).     

Ausscheidungsvorgänge während der Wärmebehandlung kupferhaltiger Stähle

Kupferzusätze in Stahl können in bezug auf Korrosionswiderstand und Festigkeit vorteilhaft sein. Es wurde der Einfluß von Kupfer auf die Korngröße, mechanische Eigenschaften und Mikrostruktur von quasi-binären Fe-Cu-Legierungen ermittelt. Der Verfestigungseffekt von Kupfer im abgeschreckten Stahl entsteht durch Kornverfeinerung, Mischkristallverfestigung (46 N/mm²/(% Cu)) und eventuell durch Ausscheidung von Kupfer während des Abkühlens. Es gilt einen linearen Zusammenhang zwischen Korngröße und Kupfergehalt. Zwischen einigen mechanischen Eigenschaften (Härte, Zugfestigkeit und Streckgrenze) und dem Kupfergehalt gilt aber nur ein linearer Zusammenhang, wenn keine Cu-Ausscheidung während des Abkühlens nach dem Lösungsglühen stattgefunden hat. Die eventuell auftretende Ausscheidungshärtung während der Abkühlung kann eine Erhöhung der Streckgrenze mit bis zu 130 N/mm² bewirken. Das Auftreten einer Ausscheidung während des Abkühlens wurde elektronenmikroskopisch nachgewiesen. Der theoretische Verfestigungsbeitrag wurde mit Hilfe dieser Messungen berechnet und stimmt gut mit den Ergebnissen überein. Mittels Jominy-Versuchen wurde die notwendige Abkühlungsgeschwindigkeit zur Vermeidung einer Ausscheidung wie folgt bestimmt: ln(Abk. Geschw.) [°C/s] = 1,98 · (% Cu) ? 0,08.     

Shape from shadows.

The colors, textures, and shapes of shadows are physically constrained in several ways in natural scenes. The visual system appears to ignore these constraints, however, and to accept many patterns as shadows even though they could not occur naturally. In the stimuli that we have studied, the only requirements for the perception of depth due to shadows were that shadow regions be darker than the surrounding, nonshadow regions and that there be consistent contrast polarity along the shadow border. Three-dimensional shape due to shadows was perceived when shadow areas were filled with colors or textures that could not occur in natural scenes, when shadow and nonshadow regions had textures that moved in different directions, or when they were presented on different depth planes. The results suggest that the interpretation of shadows begins with the identification of acceptable shadow borders by a cooperative process that requires consistent contrast polarity across a range of scales at each point along the border. Finally, we discuss how the identification of a shadow region can help the visual system to patch together areas that are separated by shadow boundaries, to identify directions of surface curvature, and to select a preferred three-dimensional interpretation while rejecting others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modeling safety and airworthiness (RTCA DO-178B) information: conceptual model and UML profile

Several safety-related standards exist for developing and certifying safety-critical systems. System safety assessments are common practice and system certification according to a standard requires submitting relevant system safety information to appropriate authorities. The RTCA DO-178B standard is a software quality assurance, safety-related standard for the development of software aspects of aerospace systems. This research introduces an approach to improve communication and collaboration among safety engineers, software engineers, and certification authorities in the context of RTCA DO-178B. This is achieved by utilizing a Unified Modeling Language (UML) profile that allows software engineers to model safety-related concepts and properties in UML, the de facto software modeling standard. A conceptual meta-model is defined based on RTCA DO-178B, and then a corresponding UML profile, which we call SafeUML, is designed to enable its precise modeling. We show how SafeUML improves communication by, for example, allowing monitoring implementation of safety requirements during the development process, and supporting system certification per RTCA DO-178B. This is enabled through automatic generation of safety and certification-related information from UML models. We validate this approach through a case study on developing an aircraft’s navigation controller subsystem.