Compass: an expert system for telephone switch maintenance

Abstract: GTE's Compass (Central Office Maintenance Printout Analysis and Suggestion System) is an expert system that aids in the maintenance of a telephone switching system. It analyzes maintenance printouts of telephone company central office switching equipment and suggests maintenance actions to be performed. The results from several field trials indicate that the current version of Compass performs well in identifying system faults and in suggesting corresponding maintenance actions. An expanded version of the expert system is under development while the present version is being put into field use.     

Vaporization of Rare-Earth Oxides

A study of the vaporization of La₂O₃, Nd₂O₃, and Y₂O₃ at high temperatures has been carried out by the Knudsen effusion technique. The methods employed, the results of the measurements, and the low-temperature heat capacities of these materials, which were determined for the purpose of calculating thermal functions of the oxides, are discussed. All the foregoing oxides react with tantalum, forming gaseous tantalummonoxide as a principal product. Cubic tantalates of lanthanum and neodymium are also formed in these reactions.     

NUTRITIVE VALUE OF BREAKFAST CEREAL-MILK COMBINATIONS

The protein quality of 11 breakfast cereal-milk mixtures combined as normally eaten (1 oz cereal and 4 oz fluid milk) was determined by using a modified slope-ratio assay. Slope ratios (milk = 100) of three of the mixtures (oatmeal-milk, cream of rice-milk and shredded wheat-milk) were higher than that of milk alone. Using protein content and slope ratios it was calculated that 1 oz of the various cereals could increase potential protein value over that of milk alone by 26 to 117%, and that some of the mixtures could supply as much as 22% of the recommended daily allowance for an 8–10-yr-old child. It is suggested that information of this sort combining the protein quality of food mixtures as eaten with the protein content of a serving would be welcomed by consumers.