Using WinWin Quality Requirements Management Tools: A Case Study

Negotiating stakeholder WinWin relationships among software quality requirements is a technique that emerged during the 1990's in order to overcome the difficulties arising from contract-oriented specification compliance (popular in the 1970's) and service-oriented customer satisfaction (popular in the 1980's). Obstacles to adoption of negotiated win-win relationships include coordination of multiple stakeholder interests and priorities, reasoning of complicated dependencies, and scalability of an exponentially increasing resolution option space. Conflict identification and resolution techniques are key success factors to overcome the obstacles. This paper describes two exploratory knowledge-based tools (called QARCC and S-COST)^* for conflict identification and resolution and how they were used in the digital library projects of a USC Software Engineering class during the 1996/97 school year. A comparative analysis with the artifacts surfaced by stakeholders and the artifacts generated and analyzed by QARCC and S-COST focused on the conflict resolution process, stakeholders' roles and their relationships to quality artifacts, and tool effectiveness. We conclude that the tools helped stakeholders: (1) surface and negotiate conflicts; (2) identify conflicts among functional and quality requirements; and (3) generate, visualize, and negotiate potential resolution options for the conflicts.     

Measurements of neutron total cross-sections and resonance parameters of erbium at the Pohang Neutron Facility

We measured neutron total cross-sections of natural erbium in the neutron energy region from 0.2 to 120 eV by using the neutron time-of-flight method at the Pohang Neutron Facility, which consists of an electron linear accelerator, a water-cooled tantalum target with a water moderator, and a 12-m-long time-of-flight path. A ⁶Li-ZnS(Ag) scintillator with a diameter of 12.5 cm and a thickness of 1.6 cm was used as a neutron detector, and a group of high-purity natural erbium metallic plates with various thickness was used for the neutron transmission measurements. The present measurement was compared with the existing experimental and the evaluated data. The resonance parameters of ¹⁶⁶Er, ¹⁶⁷Er, ¹⁶⁸Er, and ¹⁷⁰Er in the neutron energy region below 120 eV were extracted from the transmission by using the multilevel R-matrix SAMMY code and were compared with the evaluated data from ENDF/B VII.0 and other previous reported results.     

我厂棒形绝缘子和瓷套用铝质高强度坯料配方的研究与应用

简要介绍了我厂棒形绝缘子、瓷套用铝质高强度坯料配方的研究应用情况。通过选择新的粘土原料研制配方,改善了坯料的工艺性能和瓷质性能,极大地提高了产品生产过程的合格率。     

Sequential unfolding of novelty and pleasantness appraisals of odors: Evidence from facial electromyography and autonomic reactions.

We investigated the effects of odors on appraisal processes and consequent emotional responses. The main goal was to test whether an odor is detected as novel or familiar before it is evaluated as pleasant or unpleasant. Participants performed a recognition task in which they were presented with pairs of unpleasant or pleasant odors (sample and target odors). Within a pair, the sample and target were either identical or different to assess participants’ novelty detection; unpleasant and pleasant target odors were contrasted to examine participants’ appraisal of intrinsic pleasantness. We measured facial expressions using electromyography and physiological reactions using electrocardiogram and electrodermal activity in response to odors. The earliest effects on facial muscles and heart rate occurred in response to novelty detection. Later effects on facial muscles and heart rate were related to pleasantness evaluation. This study is the first to demonstrate the existence of a sequence of appraisal checks for odors eliciting emotional reaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Thermal hydraulic performance analysis of the printed circuit heat exchanger using a helium test facility and CFD simulations

The thermal-hydraulic performance of the PCHE was investigated using the KAIST helium test loop. Experiments were performed in the helium laminar region with 350 < Re < 1200. The hot/cold side inlet conditions were 25–550 °C/25–100 °C over the operating pressure of 1.5–1.9 MPa, respectively. Mass flow rates were controlled in the range of 40–100 kg/h. Pressure drop and temperature difference were measured at the inlet and outlet of the hot and cold sides. A global Fanning factor correlation and a global Nusselt number correlation were proposed using information only at the inlet and outlet of the hot and cold sides. A three-dimensional (3-D) numerical simulation was performed using FLUENT, a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code, to compare simulation results to the KAIST helium test data and to obtain the local Nusselt number in the PCHE. CFD predictions showed good agreement with experimental data. A local pitch-averaged Nusselt number correlation was proposed using local temperature, pressure, surface heat fluxes, and properties provided by CFD simulations. The system analysis code, GAMMA, was also utilized to identify which correlation was more applicable for system analysis. It turns out that the proposed local pitch-averaged Nusselt number correlation from CFD simulations is more appropriate than the global Nusselt number correlation developed from experimental data.     

Estimation of collapse moment for the wall-thinned pipe bends using fuzzy model identification

In this work, the collapse moment due to wall-thinned defects is estimated through fuzzy model identification. A subtractive clustering method is used as the basis of a fast and robust algorithm for identifying the fuzzy model. The fuzzy model is optimized by a genetic algorithm combined with a least squares method. The developed fuzzy model has been applied to the numerical data obtained from the finite element analysis. Principal component analysis is used to preprocess the input signals into the fuzzy model to reduce the sensitivity to the input change and the fuzzy model are trained by using the data set prepared for training (training data) and verified by using another data set different (independent) from the training data. Also, three fuzzy models are trained, respectively, for three data sets divided into the three classes of extrados, intrados, and crown defects, which is because they have different characteristics. The relative root mean square (RMS) errors of the estimated collapse moment are 0.5397% for the training data and 0.8673% for the test data. It is known from this result that the fuzzy models are sufficiently accurate to be used in the integrity evaluation of wall-thinned pipe bends and elbows.     

High- versus low-dose ACE inhibition in chronic heart failure: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study of imidapril

OBJECTIVES: To determine dose-related clinical and neurohumoral effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), we conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized study of three doses (2.5 mg, 5 mg and 10 mg) of the long-acting ACE inhibitor imidapril. BACKGROUND: The ACE inhibitors have become a cornerstone in the treatment of CHF, but whether high doses are more effective than low doses has not been fully elucidated, nor have the mechanisms involved in such a dose-related effect. METHODS: In a parallel group comparison, the effects of three doses of imidapril were examined. We studied 244 patients with mild to moderate CHF (New York Heart Association class II-III: +/-80%/20%), who were stable on digoxin and diuretics. Patients were treated for 12 weeks, and the main end points were exercise capacity and plasma neurohormones. RESULTS: At baseline, the four treatment groups were well-matched for demographic variables. Of the 244 patients, 25 dropped out: 3 patients died, and 9 developed progressive CHF (3/182 patients on imidapril vs. 6/62 patients on placebo, p < 0.05). Exercise time increased 45 s in the 10-mg group (p = 0.02 vs. placebo), but it did not significantly change in the 5-mg (+16 s), and 2.5-mg (+11 s) imidapril group, compared to placebo (+3 s). Physical working capacity also increased in a dose-related manner. Plasma brain and atrial natriuretic peptide decreased (p < 0.05 for linear trend), while (nor)epinephrine, aldosterone and endothelin were not significantly affected. Renin increased in a dose-related manner, but plasma ACE activity was suppressed similarly (+/-60%) on all three doses. CONCLUSIONS: Already within 3 months after treatment initiation, high-dose ACE inhibition (with imidapril) is superior to low-dose. This is reflected by a more pronounced effect on exercise capacity and some of the neurohormones, but it does not appear to be related to the extent of suppression of plasma ACE.     

关于试验中“发动机转速提升困难”的故障检查

在新车试验开发阶段,车辆的很多硬件和软件都是新状态的,其可靠性都需要在试验中来验证,所以难免在试验中出现各种疑难杂症。当这些问题出现的时候,往往相应的诊断软件还未开发出来而无法用诊断仪读取故障码,很多时候只能靠试验人员的经验来进行排查。本文以五菱宏光/五菱宏光S/五菱荣光S系列车型为基础,通过对车辆在试验开发过程中遇到的关于引起“发动机转速无法提升”的常见的几种原因进行分析排查,希望对大家在以后的工作和生活中处理类似问题时能够提供参考。     

Nanogap Array Fabrication Using Doubly Clamped Freestanding Silicon Nanowires and Angle Evaporations

We present a simple semiconductor process to fabricate nanogap arrays for application in molecular electronics and nano‐bio electronics using a combination of freestanding silicon nanowires and angle evaporation. The gap distance is modulated using the height of the silicon dioxide, the width of the Si nanowires, and the evaporation angle. In addition, we fabricate and apply the nanogap arrays in single‐electron transistors using DNA‐linked Au nanoparticles for the detection of DNA hybridization.     

Thin-film encapsulation of top-emission organic light-emitting devices with polyurea/Al2O3 hybrid multi-layers

We developed a room-temperature encapsulation process based on multi-stack of ultra thin Al₂O₃ and polyurea layers for top-emission organic light-emitting devices (TEOLEDs). Device structure, including a capping layer for refractive-index matching and a thick polyurea buffer layer, was optimized to enhance light extraction without distorting electroluminescence spectrum. The efficiency of a TEOLED encapsulated with 5 pairs of Al₂O₃(50 nm)/polyurea(20 nm) layers was better than that of a glass-encapsulated TEOLED, whereas their color coordinates were almost identical. Moreover, the half-decay lifetime of a TEOLED encapsulated with 5 pairs of Al₂O₃/polyurea layers was 86% of that of a glass-encapsulated TEOLED. Water vapor transition rate of 5 pairs of Al₂O₃(50 nm)/polyurea(20 nm) layers on PET film was measured as low as 5 × 10⁻⁴ g/m² day.