Advanced Prototype Research Articles

GRIN-GLOBAL: AN INTERNATIONAL PROJECT TO DEVELOP A GLOBAL PLANT GENEBANK INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The mission of the GRIN-Global Project is to create a new, scalable version of the Germplasm Resource Information System (GRIN) to provide the world's crop genebanks with a powerful, flexible, easy-to-use plant genetic resource (PGR) information management system. The system will help safeguard PGR and information vital to global food security, and encourage PGR use. Developed jointly by the USDA Agricultural Research Service, Bioversity International and the Global Crop Diversity Trust, GRIN-Global will be deployed in selected plant genebanks worldwide in 2010. The .NET Framework and Visual Studio development environment were chosen for the project. A core set of web services, enterprise services or other technologies will update data stored locally or on networks, distribute centralized data to off-site systems, and enable third party data sharing. The database and interface(s) will accommodate commercial and open-source programming tools, be database-flexible (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MS SQL Server, Oracle) and require no licensing fees. The database will be deployable on stand-alone computers or networked systems. Iterative programming strategies will support continuous product evaluation and refinement; advanced prototypes will be extensively beta-tested. GRIN-Global supports uploading and downloading passport, phenotype and molecular marker data in a spreadsheet format. Bioversity International will deploy GRIN-Global internationally, working cooperatively to document the new system in Arabic, English, French, Russian and Spanish, translate its interface, and implement it in developing countries. Implementation will be monitored and barriers to adoption identified. Users will evaluate GRIN-Global's impact and suggest improvements following implementation.

A decision-tree-based system for student academic advising and planning in information systems programmes

This paper presents a Decision Support System (DSS) for student advising. The system aims to provide students with an automated programme planning and scheduling service that best fits their profiles while meeting academic requirements. After the literature survey and description of the system's architecture, the paper describes the new paradigm that models student advising as a search problem, whereby the search space is represented by a decision tree that embeds virtually all the instances of a student academic plan. Our approach has several advantages over previous rule-based advising systems. The system implicitly implements, via the decision tree, many academic rules; it allows a systematic and exhaustive browse of the different student plan instances; and it permits a methodological assessment and measurement of the appropriateness of a given student academic plan. An advanced prototype of the proposed advising system was successfully implemented.

Smart drug-loaded polymer gold nanoshells for systemic and localized therapy of human epithelial cancer.

Near-infrared-light-sensitive multifunctional smart drug-loaded polymer gold nanoshells are fabricated as advanced prototypes, composed of chemotherapeutic agents (therapeutic antibody and anticancer drug-loaded polymeric nanoparticles) for systemic chemotherapy of human epithelial cancer and a polymer-based gold nanoshell for localized photothermal treatment by NIR light.

Advanced prototyping for human-centered design for information appliances

“Advanced products demand advanced prototypes” This isthemainconsiderationofcompletingthisissuelyinginfrontof you.During the industrial design process, prototypes play animportantifnotcrucialroleforexploration,evaluation,sim-ulation and communication. However, the development ofadvanced products such as information appliances demandsprototypes that is difficult if not impossible to realize inan economical way. This is in particular the case for com-bining physical shape and digital behavior so called

Designing high-power sewage water pumps

To develop a sewage water pump for extreme operating conditions and high power consumption requires numerical simulation, advanced prototype manufacturing and experimental verification of design data. Michael Hirschberger and J. Kuhlmann of Ruhrpumpen GmbH with Prof. F-K. Benra of the University of Duisburg-Essen describe the process.

Acoustic and vibration measurements of NASA spacesuits

Research was conducted to examine interactions between acoustic signals and mechanical factors relevant to the design of improved auditory displays and noise mitigation for future NASA Spacesuits. Data were collected at NASA Johnson Space Center for the current Mark III advanced prototype surface suit during walking, walking with arm motion, and while seated. Measurements were made using multiple microphones (both head mounted and helmet mounted) and a tri-axial accelerometer to evaluate the effects of suit-borne vibration on overall background noise. Footfall impacts were found to create temporary depolarization of condenser microphone signals, and microphone positioning had a strong effect on signal-noise ratio, partially due to the effect of the helmet enclosure. The results indicate noise mitigation and signal conditioning strategies for improving lunar suit audio voice communications under extra-vehicular (EVA) conditions. Funded by a directed research program of NASA's Space Human Factors Engineering project and by NASA-JSC's Constellation EVA system audio group.

A sonar approach to obstacle detection for a vision-based autonomous wheelchair

An advanced prototype Computer Controlled Power Wheelchair Navigation System or CCPWNS has been developed to provide autonomy for highly disabled users, whose mix of disabilities makes it difficult or impossible to control their own power chairs in their homes. The working paradigm is “teach and repeat” a mode of control for typical industrial holonomic robots. Ultrasound sensors, which during subsequent autonomous tracking will be used to detect obstacles, also are active during teaching. Based upon post-processed data collected during this teaching event, elaborate trajectories–which may involve multiple direction changes, pivoting and so on, depending upon the requirements of the typically restricted spaces within which the chair must operate–will later be called upon by the disabled rider. An off-line postprocessor assigns an ultrasound profile to the sequence of poses of any taught trajectory. Use of this profile during tracking obviates most of the inherent problems of using ultrasound to avoid obstacles while retaining the ability to near solid objects, such as when passing through a narrow doorway, where required by the environment and trajectory objectives. The work in this article describes a procedure to obtain consistent maps of sonar boundaries during the teaching process, and a preliminary approach to use this information during the tracking phase. The approach is illustrated by results obtained by using the CCPWNS prototype.

Pervasive Gaming in the Everyday World

In this paper, we've made an initial attempt to explore the three dimensions of pervasive game play in the context of people's everyday life. Using an advanced prototype of SupaFly, a pervasive game developed by the former company It's Alive (now part of Daydream), we've evaluated how people perceive and play the game in normal, everyday settings. Our evaluation focused on how the players judged the designers' attempts to incorporate the three dimensions in the game.

QIS: A framework for biomedical database federation

Query Integrator System (QIS) is a database mediator framework intended to address robust data integration from continuously changing heterogeneous data sources in the biosciences. Currently in the advanced prototype stage, it is being used on a production basis to integrate data from neuroscience databases developed for the SenseLab project at Yale University with external neuroscience and genomics databases. The QIS framework uses standard technologies and is intended to be deployable by administrators with a moderate level of technological expertise: It comes with various tools, such as interfaces for the design of distributed queries. The QIS architecture is based on a set of distributed network-based servers, data source servers, integration servers, and ontology servers, that exchange metadata as well as mappings of both metadata and data elements to elements in an ontology. Metadata version difference determination coupled with decomposition of stored queries is used as the basis for partial query recovery when the schema of data sources alters.

Development of the White Light-Emitting Diode-Illuminated Digestive Endoscope

Aim: Videoendoscope system for digestive tract has been well developed and widely distributed throughout the world. In a conventional videoendoscope system, large light source equipment and light-guide fiber bundle are essential, which impose some limitations on the reduction of the size of the system and the design of the scope. Capsule endoscope is useful mainly for small intestine, but it is not suitable for routine esophago-gastro-duodenoscopy and colonoscopy. Recently, light-emitting diode (LED) has been rapidly developed as a new strong light source. So, we have started to develop the new LED-illuminated digestive endoscope system. Methods: We have applied newly developed white LED as the light source of prototype LED-illuminated digestive endoscope. The new ultra-violet LED-based one-tip type white LED has been developed using unique epitaxial growth techniques and advanced optical characterization techniques (developed by Professor Tsunemasa Taguchi, Department of Electricity and Electronics, Yamaguchi University Faculty of Engineering; and Mitsubishi Cable Industries, Ltd.). The new white LED has the highest external quantum efficiency (43%). It also has better color rendering properties at the red region than conventional white LED. The new white LED was located at the distal end of the prototype scope, which was based on the conventional videoendoscope system (Fuji Photo Optical, Co., Ltd.). We observed the esophagus and stomach of a beagle dog under painless state of general anesthesia by well-trained veterinarian (Yamamoto Animal Hospital). This study was conducted under the approval of institutional review board. Support for the study was received from Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan. Results: Esophageal mucosa and gastric mucosa of beagle dog was clearly observed under illumination of new white LED. The intensity of luminous flux of new white LED was smaller than light-source of conventional system, but enough for observation. Color rendering properties at red region for actual esophagus and stomach were good, and reddish area and submucosal blood vessels were well recognized. Conclusions: Our results suggested that the new white LED is suitable for the light source of digestive endoscope from the point of color rendering properties and quantity of luminous flux. We will continue further development of this advanced prototype LED-illuminated digestive endoscope.

Model-based systems in the automotive industry

The automotive industry was the first to promote the development of applications of model-based systems technology on a broad scale and, as a result, has produced some of the most advanced prototypes and products. In this article, we illustrate the features and benefits of model-based systems and qualitative modeling by prototypes and application systems that were developed in the automotive industry to support on-board diagnosis, design for diagnosability, and failure modes and effects analysis.

Les nouvelles générations de détecteurs infrarouge à base de HgCdTe

The technology of very high performance cooled infrared detectors made with HgCdTe has progressed continuously for ten years and reached today an industrial maturity that allows the production of large size arrays at a more and more reasonable cost. At the same time, new prototypes of more complex sensors have appeared (megapixel arrays, multicolour arrays, high definition long linear arrays, … ) that show the strong potentialities of this very high performance technology. This paper presents the technology developed in France and gives the state of the art of products available in industry; it then focuses on some very recent realizations of advanced prototypes made at LETI (dualband arrays, megapixel arrays, … ). To cite this article: G. Destefanis, C. R. Physique 4 (2003).

Safety and tolerability of high-dose quetiapine in treatment refactory schizophrenia: Preliminary results from an open-label trial

ASC multifilamentary composite tape based on BSCCO-2223 high temperature superconductor (HTS) and a scalable rolling process has reached a record superconductor critical current density Jc (77 K, 0 T) of up to 58,000 A/cm2, and engineering (full cross-section including metal sheath) Je (77 K, 0 T) up to 15,000 A/cm2. Pilot manufacturing of long lengths (100–400 m) has permitted a variety of increasingly significant prototypes, including a 200 hp ac synchronous motor, a 3300 A (77 K) 50 m machine-stranded cable conductor, a 5 kJ SMES system, and an operational ion-beam switching magnet installed in a tandem accelerator for carbon mass spectrometry dating. Recent ASC progress in manufacturing with Je over 8000 A/cm2 creates new opportunities for yet more advanced prototypes and commercial development.

Effect of Display Design and Situation Complexity on Operator Performance

The U.S. Navy is currently developing its next-generation cruise missile, the Tactical Tomahawk, which improves upon current versions by its ability to be retargeted in flight against emergent time-critical targets. In this study, we developed an advanced operator interface prototype for monitoring, controlling and retargeting the Tactical Tomahawk missile and empirically tested the effect of mission complexity on the ability of shipboard operators to maintain situational awareness in various operational scenarios. The first phase of research involved a domain analysis of three primary domains: the weapon system; time-critical decisionmaking; and principles of interface design. The second phase was a concurrent Cognitive Work/Task Analysis (CW/TA) and scenario development effort. The third phase was interface component design followed by complete prototype implementation. In the final phase, we trained and tested twenty graduate students on the dynamic and interactive prototype, based on hypotheses pertaining to both monitoring and retargeting tasks. Statistical results support two primary conclusions. First, operators can maintain adequate situational awareness when monitoring eight missiles and twelve targets simultaneously. Second, results support the use of the missile timebar feature in the interface to compare events. Subjective results indicate the requirement for a robust decision support tool to facilitate rapid retargeting decisions. These and other results form the basis for recommendations to the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) about how to most effectively allocate personnel resources in the design of a command and control watchstation for the Tactical Tomahawk cruise missile system.

Amkor adds latest packaging equipment to advanced prototype development lab

Amkor adds latest packaging equipment to advanced prototype development lab

Commercial Systems for the Direct Detection of Explosives for Explosive Ordnance Disposal Tasks

There are a number of Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) tasks in which it is necessary to discriminate and identify UneXploded Ordnance (UXO) already detected by other means. What we seek is the capacity to characterize in a non-destructive way the munition's content, usually either explosive or inert (e.g., practice munition), if possible using a fairly mobile system and without direct contact. A number of existing technologies for the direct detection of explosives, applicable in EOD scenarios, are therefore characterized, and corresponding commercially available systems or advanced prototypes identified whenever possible. Some of the techniques are also useful for the detection of buried UXO or landmines, to which we refer whenever appropriate. We first concentrate on bulk explosive detection, in particular on neutron based systems exploiting gamma spectroscopy, which have the potential of detecting the explosive's nitrogen content and/or its other constituents (carbon, oxygen and hydrogen). Candidate systems exist, although most of them have as primary aim the discrimination of chemical munition. We then describe the application of trace explosive detection techniques, which seems to be less mature also due to the large number of parameters influencing the variables of interest (explosive vapor and particle concentration). Sampling is in this case of primary importance.

Measurements of the atmospheric carbon monoxide column with a ground-based length-modulated radiometer

A ground-based remote sounding instrument that uses a length-modulated radiometer to measure the total atmospheric carbon monoxide (CO) column has been built. Measurements made in Toronto during August and September of 1994 showed average CO concentrations of 125 to 150 parts per billion in volume (ppbv, parts in 10(9)). Similar measurements made in October at a rural site 80 km north of Toronto showed concentrations of approximately 100 ppbv. The latter measurements are shown to agree with other simultaneous ground- and satellite-based measurements. This instrument is an advanced prototype of the MOPITT (Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere) satellite instrument.

Design and evaluation of a generic software architecture for on-demand video servers

Introduces the design, implementation and evaluation of a generic software architecture for on-demand video servers. We describe different key components for controlling the storage and network devices within the server. The interactive collaborations between these software components are also illustrated. The experimental results indicate a very promising direction in exploring the right combinations of these software components. The server is thus able to increase the number of concurrent video accesses with the same hardware configuration. For instance, with the right combinations, the system achieved about 80% of the storage system bandwidth of four disks, about 70% of the storage system bandwidth of six disks, and generally reached the maximal achieved SCSI bandwidth when eight disks are used over two SCSI buses. Our research and experimental results are based on video servers currently under construction across a variety of hardware platforms, including SMP, DMP and clusters of PCs or workstations. The most advanced prototype server is based on an SGI shared-memory multiprocessor with a mass storage system consisting of RAID-3 disk arrays. With all the enabling/management schemes, we were able to further investigate interesting research issues by considering the user's access profiles for taking advantage of popular video titles. The results were significant, with a range of 60% improvement given a 512 kByte block size. In addition to the experimental results, theoretical performance models were also developed that closely match to our collected experimental results.

FlowBack

The Distributed Systems Technology Centre (DSTC) framework for workflow specification, verification and management captures workflows transaction-like behavior for long lasting processes. FlowBack is an advanced prototype functionally enhancing an existing workflow management system by providing process backward recovery. It is based on extensive theoretical research ([3],[4],[5],[6],[8],[9]), and its architecture and construction assumptions are product independent. FlowBack clearly demonstrates the extent to which generic backward recovery can be automated and system supported. The provision of a solution for handling exceptional business process behavior requiring backward recovery makes workflow solutions more suitable for a large class of applications, therefore opening up new dimensions within the market. For the demonstration purpose, FlowBack operates with IBM FlowMark, one of the leading workflow products.

Conflict Resolution Support for Random Routing

This paper describes work undertaken in the Program for Harmonised ATM Research in Eurocontrol (PHARE) at the Eurocontrol Experimental Centre, Bretigny-sur-Orge, France, on a new concept in deconfliction and problem solving for air traffic controllers. The Highly Interactive Problem Solver (HIPS) combines a novel approach for the display of air situations with a powerful trajectory editor to give the controller a rapid and reliable means of solving problems in particular conflicts between aircraft. The system fully exploits the expected technological context for the near to medium-term future. It allows full use of advanced aircraft navigation capabilities, while explicitly taking into account uncertainties in predicted trajectories. It is of particular interest for random routing and Free Flight applications.The developments described have reached the level of advanced prototype, and have been evaluated in the context of the recent PHARE PD1 simulation for an enroute planning application, and by the National Air Traffic Services of the United Kingdom in an oceanic (procedural-type) application. In both cases it was shown that controllers could manipulate aircraft trajectories while maintaining flexibility and situational awareness. These characteristics will be needed to satisfy, in part at least, the airline’s requirements for better routes and profiles, while at the same time keeping or improving safety at traffic levels higher than those of today.