The value of certification: an empirical assessment of the perceptions of end-users of local area networks

Abstract. Certification is one criterion that employers seek when hiring network professionals. Many employers assume a certified network professional is better able to manage networked resources than is a non-certified counterpart. Therefore, employers often offer a monetary premium to attract certified network professionals. By measuring end-user perceptions, the current study empirically assesses the popular industry assumption that certified network professionals are more adept managers of network resources than those individuals who are not certified network professionals. Analyses of a data derived from 299 end-users of 11 separate local area networks indicate no statistically significant difference exists between the capabilities of certified network professionals and non-certified network professionals.     

Intelligent SQL

Intelligent SQL is an intelligent database engine interface language which incorporates object-oriented, inferencing, and multi-media constructs. It is intended to be a powerful extension of existing SQL dialects. It also provides querying capabilities for object-oriented databases. Intelligent SQL was prototyped at Ashton-Tate. This paper discusses the main features of Intelligent SQL.     

Convolutional solutions of partial difference equations

A significant part of the theory of one-dimensional linear shift-invariant systems is based on the concept of weighting function (or impulse response): the output is the convolution of the weighting function with the input. This paper introduces the concept of linear translation-invariant systems and uses this notion in studying impulse response, z-transforms, and transfer functions for multidimensional systems.     

On the relationship between parity space and approaches to fault detection

Parity space approach and H₂ approach are two important fault detection approaches. This paper studies the relationship between these two approaches, which reveals frequency domain characteristics of the optimal solution of the parity space approach on the one side and provides a numerical solution of the H₂-optimal design of residual generators on the other side.     

Structural Disruption of Toothpastes Under Deformation — An Easy Release of Active Ingredients

The author suggests a technological approach relevant to the optimization of toothpaste compositions with regard to the easy release of the therapeutic ingredients under shear deformation. It is based on the comparative assessment of the steady‐state viscous behaviour of placebo samples (mixtures containing all the components except the therapeutic ingredients) and the final products. It is presumed that the maximum beneficial effect of the toothpastes, as therapeutic agents, is achieved if the final products and the placebo blends display similar shear‐thinning characteristics.     

Evaluating the design of flexible manufacturing systems

Evaluating the design of flexible manufacturing systems is complex. Developing a measure of performance useful for evaluating alternate designs continues to be interesting. Here, total productivity of the system is proposed as an appropriate measure. Specification of parameters based upon strategic considerations for this measure are discussed. Finally, the usefulness of the measure is demonstrated through an example.     

Equitone Predicate Algebras and Their Applications

Predicates that preserve their values on a larger (extended) body of data are called equitone. An algebra of such predicates is constructed, a system of its generators is specified, and a complete system of transformations of identities is defined. The results obtained are used for construction and investigation of complete classes of compositions of various types and levels of abstractions that are used in logics of partial predicates.     

Web-based systems design: a study of contemporary practices and an explanatory framework based on “method-in-action”

This paper reports the findings of a detailed study of Web-based systems design (WBSD) practices in Ireland based on data collected over a 3-year period (2002–2005), the objectives of which were to (1) contribute towards a richer understanding of the current “real-world” context of WBSD by characterising the profile of a typical project (team size, timeframe, nature of requirements, etc.) and identifying the key challenges, constraints, and imperatives (i.e. “mediating factors”) faced by Web-based system designers, and (2) understand how those contextual parameters and mediating factors influence the activity of WBSD as regards the selection and enactment of whatever design practices are therefore engaged (i.e. the use of methods, procedures, etc.). Data was gathered through a survey which yielded 165 usable responses, and later through a series of semi-structured qualitative interviews. Using grounded theory, an explanatory conceptual framework is derived, based on an extension of the “method-in-action” model, the application of which to WBSD has not been previously investigated in depth. It is proposed that this framework of WBSD issues is valuable in a number of ways to educators, researchers, practitioners, and method engineers.     

Controlling mechanical systems with backlash—a survey

Backlash is one of the most important non-linearities that limit the performance of speed and position control in industrial, robotics, automotive, automation and other applications. The control of systems with backlash has been the subject of study since the 1940s. This survey reveals that surprisingly few control innovations have been presented since the early path breaking papers that introduced the describing function analysis of systems with backlash. Promising developments are however taking place using adaptive and non-linear control strategies.     

Wiener models of direction-dependent dynamic systems

Analysis of systems with direction-dependent dynamics is currently limited to cases in which the dynamics in the two directions of the output are first order; results for such systems have been published for both pseudo-random maximum-length binary (MLB) and inverse-repeat maximum-length binary (IR-MLB) inputs. These relatively limited analytical results make it useful to examine alternative ways of modelling such systems and in this paper, Wiener models are considered for this purpose. Methods for optimising the Wiener model parameters by matching the system and model cross-correlation functions, outputs, and discrete Fourier transforms of the outputs are considered, and the results are compared. These methods are also applied to a first-order direction-dependent system with a maximum-length ternary (MLT) input, for which no analytical results are currently available, and to a second-order system with an IR-MLB input.