Rapid System Development Research Articles

Introduction, Summary, Questions for the Future

Introduction, Summary, Questions for the Future

Guidelines for Future Agile Methodologies and Architecture Reconciliation for Software-Intensive Systems

Background: Several methodologies have been proposed since the first days of software development, from what is now named traditional/heavy methodologies, and later their counterpart, the agile methodologies. The whole idea behind agile methodologies is to produce software at a faster pace than what was considered with plan-based methodologies, which had a greater focus on documenting all tasks and activities before starting the proper software development. Problem: One issue here is that strict agilists are often against fully documenting the software architecture in the first phases of a software process development. However, architectural documentation cannot be neglected, given the well-known importance of software architecture to the success of a software project. Proposed Solution: In this article, we describe the past and current situation of agile methodologies and their relation to architecture description, as well as guidelines for future Agile Methodologies and Architecture Reconciliation. Method: We propose a literature review to understand how agile methodologies and architecture reconciliation can help in providing trends towards the success of a software project and supporting software development at a faster pace. This work was grounded in General Systems Theory as we describe the past, present, and future trends for rapid systems development through the integration of organizations, stakeholders, processes, and systems for software development. Summary of results: As extensively discussed in the literature, we found that there is a false dichotomy between agility and software architecture, and then we describe guidelines for future trends in agile methodologies and reconciliation of architecture to document agile architectures with both architectural decisions and agile processes for any system, as well as future trends to support organizations, stakeholders, processes, and systems.

Економічні аспекти посилення захисту прав інтелектуальної власності

The present stage of development of the world economy is characterized by a spread of innovation, a rapid development of global and national protection systems and, especially, the protection of intellectual property. The dynamism of interstate relations is accompanied by an increase of various violations of intellectual property rights, including counterfeiting, falsification, piracy, and plagiarism. The purpose of the study is to generalize the global trends in the violation of intellectual property rights, identify the main problems in the protection of intellectual property rights in Ukraine within the context of strengthening the fight against violation of copyright and industrial property rights by the world's leading countries. Violations of intellectual property rights, including patent theft, trademark counterfeiting, copyright piracy, and trade secret theft, cause considerable material and financial damage to the rights holders. The problem of counterfeiting is currently spreading on a global scale and occurs in the production, transshipment and in the sale of large quantities of counterfeit goods. Counterfeit goods, especially foodstuffs and pharmaceuticals, bear risks to the health and safety of consumers. Online sales have become the newest channel for trading fraudulent and counterfeited goods. The bulk of counterfeited produce originate from a small group of economies, among which China, Hong Kong (province of China), Turkey, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates are in the lead. Escalated violations of intellectual property rights lead to a stronger protection of intellectual property rights in the USA and EU countries, and the appearance of special reports based on the results of monitoring and supervision of violations in trading partner countries. In recent years, Ukraine has been included in the US Priority Watch List of countries that do not ensure a proper protection of intellectual property rights and are monitored by the Office of the US Trade Representative. Besides, this country is in the second category of the European Commission’s Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List, which includes countries with the most serious problems in intellectual property protection. The status of a candidate country for EU membership requires Ukraine to harmonize its national legislation with the EU legislation in the field of intellectual property protection.

Planting nitrogen-fixing trees in tropical Eucalyptus plantations does not increase nutrient losses through drainage

Planting nitrogen (N) fixing species can provide substantial levels of N for tree growth, but it can also result in large nutrient losses through deep drainage, threatening soil fertility. Nutrient losses through deep leaching have been little studied in tropical forest plantations and comprehensive studies are needed before planting these species on a large scale. We assessed nutrient fluxes in soil solutions collected in monocultures and mixed plantations of Acacia mangium and Eucalyptus grandis in Sao Paulo state (Brazil) on Ferralsols fertilized with potassium, phosphorus and lime. Soil solution sampling began after replanting the trees in an experiment that had already been conducted for six years in a first rotation. We collected soil solutions beneath the forest floor and at depths of 30, 100 and 300 cm, and determined nutrient concentrations monthly for 3.5 years. Drainage fluxes were calculated at the depth of the lysimeters by modeling the water fluxes with Hydrus 1D. The N concentrations in topsoil solutions were generally higher in Acacia than in Eucalyptus monocultures, confirming that the introduction of Acacia increases soil N availability. However, these differences were no more observed at 100 cm depth and total N leaching at 300 cm depth was low in all the treatments, with an average of 4.8 kg N ha−1 yr−1, probably due to the rapid root system development and high nutrient requirements of these fast-growing trees. Leaching fluxes of K+, Cl−, Ca2+ and Mg2+ peaked in the upper soil layers after fertilizer applications, but the fluxes drastically decreased in deep soil layers. The low fluxes of dissolved nutrients in deep gravitational solutions in our study suggest that the risks of nutrient leaching losses are low in fast-growing plantations established on deep Ferralsols. Our results show that planting N-fixing trees can enhance the N availability for plants without producing large leaching losses, which confirms the interest of mixed plantations with N-fixing trees.

Multifunctional flower-like Ni particles/silicon carbide nanowires for infrared radar compatible stealth performance

Alongside the rapid development of detection systems and improved detection accuracy, infrared/radar-compatible stealth materials have become the emphasis of current stealth technology research. Versatile flower-like Ni particles/silicon carbide nanowires (SiC NWs) composites for infrared radar stealth compatibility have been successfully prepared. Due to its special microstructure in combination with the multiple loss mechanisms of dielectric and magnetic, the minimum reflection loss (RLmin) achievable with the paraffin matrix mixture is −49.26 dB at a composite content of 50 wt%, which has a thickness of 1.9 mm and an effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 4.85 GHz. By increasing the absorbent content to 60 wt%, the EAB in the Ku band can attain 5.0 GHz at 1.8 mm thickness. Petal-shaped Ni particles are introduced to improve the impedance matching characteristics, increase interfacial polarisation and multiple scattering of electromagnetic (EM) wave, and enhance the microwave absorption properties. Simultaneously, the pure SiC NWs material can protect against infrared radiation emitted from the hand for more than 15 min, and the infrared (IR) reflectivity is improved in all three bands after the composite metal Ni particles. A novel formulation guide for the design of versatile and high-performance EM wave absorbing and infrared stealth materials is provided by this work.

A Hierarchical Accident Recognition Method for Highway Traffic Systems

With the rapid development of highway traffic systems, the accident rate of highway remains high. Once an accident occurs, it will cause serious casualties. In this paper, we proposed a highway accident identification method for real-time accident detection through high-speed monitoring. The proposed method focuses on high detecting speed and high recall for car accident. The designed system consists of four parts: first, yolov3 is used to detect the car. Second, identified car frames are put the identified car frame into the Mosse Tracker for tracking. Third, speed and future center point are estimated according to its size and pixel movement. If the speed exceeds a certain threshold or the future center points among other trackers are too close, the object frame will be put into a trained SVM model. Finally, the flow vector estimation calculation will be used to determine whether there is an accident. The system has fast detection speed, high recall and strong real-time performance. Through this system, we can send warning information to upstream car drivers and traffic management personnel to improve the efficiency of accident handling and reduce the rate of highway traffic accidents and casualties.

Joint offloading decision and resource allocation in vehicular edge computing networks

With the rapid development of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), many new applications for Intelligent Connected Vehicles (ICVs) have sprung up. In order to tackle the conflict between delay-sensitive applications and resource-constrained vehicles, computation offloading paradigm that transfers computation tasks from ICVs to edge computing nodes has received extensive attention. However, the dynamic network conditions caused by the mobility of vehicles and the unbalanced computing load of edge nodes make ITS face challenges. In this paper, we propose a heterogeneous Vehicular Edge Computing (VEC) architecture with Task Vehicles (TaVs), Service Vehicles (SeVs) and Roadside Units (RSUs), and propose a distributed algorithm, namely PG-MRL, which jointly optimizes offloading decision and resource allocation. In the first stage, the offloading decisions of TaVs are obtained through a potential game. In the second stage, a multi-agent Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG), one of deep reinforcement learning algorithms, with centralized training and distributed execution is proposed to optimize the real-time transmission power and subchannel selection. The simulation results show that the proposed PG-MRL algorithm has significant improvements over baseline algorithms in terms of system delay.

RIS-Assisted Scheduling for High-Speed Railway Secure Communications

With the rapid development of high-speed railway systems and railway wireless communication, the application of ultra-wideband millimeter wave band is an inevitable trend. However, the millimeter wave channel has large propagation loss and is easy to be blocked. Moreover, there are many problems such as eavesdropping between the base station (BS) and the train. As an emerging technology, reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) can achieve the effect of passive beamforming by controlling the propagation of the incident electromagnetic wave in the desired direction. We propose a RIS-assisted scheduling scheme for scheduling interrupt flows and improving quality of service (QoS). In the propsed scheme, an RIS is deployed between the BS and multiple mobile relays (MRs). By jointly optimizing the beamforming vector and the discrete phase shift of the RIS, the constructive interference between direct link signals and reflected link signals can be achieved, and the channel capacity of eavesdroppers is guaranteed to be within a controllable range. Finally, the purpose of maximizing the number of successfully scheduled flows and satisfying their QoS requirements can be practically realized. Extensive simulations demonstrate that the proposed scheme has superior performance regarding the number of completed flows and the system secrecy capacity over four baseline schemes in literature.

블록체인에 기반한 IoT네트워크의 접근제어 시스템

The rapid development and widespread application of IoT network systems, network security, in particular access control and data privacy, have become critical. Blockchain technology provides features such as decentralization, high reliability, and tampering prevention, which are advantages in solving the challenges of access control: audit ability, resource consumption, scalability, central authority, and trust. In this paper, we propose an ABAC access control system that can be applied to IoT networks. The proposed system utilizes Ethereum

Matrix Metalloproteinase-2-Induced Morphologic Transformation of Self-Assembled Peptide Nanocarriers Inhibits Tumor Growth and Metastasis

Despite the rapid development of novel drug delivery systems, the limited intratumor accumulation of drugs and immunomodulatory function of drug nanovehicles still limit their therapeutic efficiency. Deeper penetration can be achieved by reducing the size of nanocarriers after reaching the tumor site. However, the persistence of such nanocarriers is limited due to their small particle size and ease of removal from tumors. Here, we design a matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2)-responsive peptide, AGLR, that can encapsulate the chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin (DOX) and self-assemble to form spherical nanoparticles (NPs) in a physiological environment, which enhances drug penetration in tumor tissue. Upon cleavage by MMP-2 overexpressed in the tumor microenvironment, DOX/AGLR is transformed from spherical NPs to nanofibers (NFs), improving the DOX retention time and accumulation in tumors in vivo. Furthermore, DOX/AGLR penetrates the extracellular matrix (ECM) and inhibited the upregulation of CCL2 and CD31, inhibiting tumor growth and lung metastasis. Importantly, DOX/AGLR increased the proportion of DC cells and decreased the proliferation of Treg cells. The expression of TGF-β and PD-L1 was downregulated, indicating that DOX/AGLR alleviated the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. This enzyme-responsive, morphologically transformable drug-delivery strategy provides a promising general tumor therapy modality with enhanced antitumor efficacy and immunomodulation.

The Development of Drug Delivery Systems for Efficient Intracranial Hemorrhage Therapy.

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is the most devastating form of stroke, which accounts for 10-15% of cases and causes high morbidity and mortality. With the continuous exploration of the pathological mechanism of ICH, extensive research focusing on ICH therapy has been conducted. However, the traditional treatment methods, such as surgery for removing the hematoma and pharmacotherapy for improving the clearance of the hematoma and neuroprotection, are greatly limited due to their poor practicality and treatment efficiency. The rapid development of drug delivery systems offers an important prospect for treating ICH as they exhibit great versatility, which can improve the pharmacokinetic behavior of drugs in vivo, increase the drug accumulation in specific cell types or tissues, and enhance the therapeutic effect with diminished toxic effect. In this review, the main molecular pathological mechanisms of ICH are comprehensively described and the limitation of traditional pharmacotherapy are also discussed. Then the development based on drug delivery systems for treating ICH is highlighted. Finally, based on these discussions the challenges of drug delivery systems with a view to providing a new feasible path for the treatment of ICH are summarized.

Dielectric properties of low-temperature sintered forsterite (Mg2SiO4) using high-dispersion and nanoparticle-based solid-state reaction process

Dielectric materials with low dielectric constant and low loss are in high demand due to the rapid development of telecommunication systems toward 5G and 6G. In this work, a modified solid-state reaction method is reported for the synthesis of low dielectric constant forsterite (Mg2SiO4) at low calcination temperatures by using MgO and fumed silica nanoparticles (NPs). The forsterite phase was obtained at 1000 °C, where the sintering temperature was reduced from 1500 °C to 1200 °C. As-synthesized forsterite has a low dielectric constant of 3.9 with low tan δ = 0.00047 at 1 GHz. Low-temperature sintered forsterite is suitable for microelectronics applications.

A Powerful Joint Modulation and STBC Identification Algorithm for Multiuser Uplink SC-FDMA Transmissions

Owing to the rapid development and broad adoption of multiple antenna communication systems over the past few years, space-time block coding (STBC) identification has emerged as a crucial responsibility for smart radios. The majority of previous analysis of STBC identification assumed that the utilized modulation schemes for single-user and uncoded broadcasts were known. This paper investigates the challenge of joint STBC and modulation identification for uplink transmissions with numerous users in single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems using coded transmissions. Multi-user channel estimation brings us one step closer to implementing the proposed design in real-world systems. We additionally employ the channel decoder’s deliverables, which are common in many real-world systems, to enhance the identifying and estimating procedures. Mathematical findings prove that a recursive approach can be utilized to tackle the maximum likelihood (ML) problem of simultaneous STBC and modulation identification with channel estimation. Distinguishing the superimposed signals that originate at the base-station (BS) is accomplished with the use of the space-alternating generalized expectation-maximization (SAGE) algorithm. After that, an expectation-maximization (EM) engine is deployed to make the necessary adjustments to the parameters being considered for each user. The success of the above-mentioned architecture for usage in practical applications is demonstrated by the simulation results obtained under various conditions.

An artificial optoelectronic synapse based on MoO x film

Artificial optoelectronic synapses have the advantages of large bandwidth, low power consumption and low crosstalk, and are considered to be the basic building blocks of neuromorphic computing. In this paper, a two-terminal optoelectronic synaptic device with ITO-MoO x -Pt structure is prepared by magnetron sputtering. The performance of resistive switching (RS) and the photo plastic properties of the device are analyzed and demonstrated. Electrical characterization tests show that the device has a resistive HRS/LRS ratio of about 90, stable endurance, and retention characteristics of more than 104 s (85 °C). The physical mechanism of the device is elucidated by a conducting filament composed of oxygen vacancies. Furthermore, the function of various synaptic neural morphologies is successfully mimicked using UV light as the stimulation source. Including short-term/long-term memory, paired-pulse facilitation, the transition from short-term to long-term memory, and ‘learning-experience’ behavior. Integrated optical sensing and electronic data storage devices have great potential for future artificial intelligence, which will facilitate the rapid development of retina-like visual sensors and low-power neuromorphic systems.

An integrated approach for selecting design parameters in smart product-service system conceptual design

Nowadays, with the rapid development of cyber physical systems, IoT, and artificial intelligence, more and more attention has been paid to adapting the combination of smart, connected products and their generated services. Among these, smart product-service system (SPSS) with the unique features of smartness, connection, value co-creation, and data-driven has been widely concerned. Therefore, based on axiomatic design theory, the mapping from function domain to physical domain is a critical process in SPSS's conceptual design and the selecting of design parameters in physical domain has great impact on meeting multi-stakeholders’ benefits. Nevertheless, despite a few works on requirement conversion, it is not clear about the mapping mechanism under the target of value co-creation. Aiming to fill this gap, an integrated SPSS conceptual design method is proposed to solve the cross-domain mapping problem. It decomposes and reorganizes SPSS's function requirements with requirement development laws in TRIZ and divides the physical domain into product-related domain and service-related domain. Design parameters would be selected and evaluated by domain experts based on fuzzy comprehensive evaluation from different dimensions, which could represent the benefit of multi-stakeholders. Next, a binary integer programming (BIP) model with restrictions from different stakeholders would be constructed, which could be regarded as a multi-objective optimization problem. To solve the BIP model, the genetic algorithm is used and the optimal design parameters combination could be generated as the output of this process. Finally, a case study is carried out to demonstrate the feasibility and advantages of the integrated approach for cross-domain mapping in SPSS conceptual design.

Comparison of 25% Dextrose versus Expressed Breast Milk in Reducing Pain while Heel Prick Procedure in Preterm Neonates in a Tertiary Care Hospital, Vadodara, Gujarat, India: A Randomised Clinical Trial

Introduction: Preterm infants undergo repeated painful procedures during a period of rapid brain development and programming of stress systems. Newborn babies including preterm infants do feel pain. Although different interventions, such as skin-to-skin contact, glucose solutions, breastfeeding, and local anaesthetic agents, have been evaluated to reduce infants’ pain, there is no clinical trial available to identify the best method. Aim: To compare the dectrose 25% versus Expressed Breast Milk (EBM) in reducing pain while heel prick procedure in preterm neonates in a tertiary care hospital. Materials and Methods: The present randomised clinical trial was conducted at Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Kashiben Gordhandas Patel Children Hospital, Vadodara, Gujarat, India, from September 2019 to May 2020. Total 125 neonates with Gestational age between 28 weeks to 36 weeks were included in the study. Babies were divided into two groups by randomisation: Group-A: EBM and Group-B: Dextrose 25%. Premature Infant Pain Profile (PIPP) score was calculated from worst state of individual recovery period (0-½ minute, 1-1½ minute, 3-3½ minute) and compared to baseline period PIPP. Results: Mean gestational age on examination in Group-A was 34.48±6.14 weeks and in Group-B were 34.51±5.89 weeks. Out of total 125 preterm babies (Group-A-62, group B-63), 71 (56.8%) were male and 54 (43.2 %) were females. Comparison of PIPP at 1-1½ min of heel prick in EBM and Dextrose 25% group was statistically significant (p-value <0.003) suggestive of continued analgesic effect of dextrose 25% better than EBM and PIPP scores after 3-3½ min of heel prick having no statistically significant difference. (p>0.05) Mean difference between the PIPP score in the dextrose 25% and EBM groups was -1.25 and -1.33 at 0 and 1 minute after procedure (p-value,<0.001), so pain relief was better in dextrose 25% group than EBM group. Conclusion: Dextrose 25% was better effective in reducing mean crying duration than EBM. Dextrose 25% had a better analgesic effect than EBM in 28 to 36 weeks gestational age neonates.

Науково-методичне забезпечення формування системи управління взаємовідносинами зі споживачами в цифровому просторі

One of the modern challenges of the organization of marketing activities is the rapid development of digital technologies and information systems as effective tools for promoting products and e-commerce. Therefore, enterprises pay considerable attention to the technological component of business digitalization based on the modernization of IT infrastructure, the introduction of cloud software, and the formation of digital channels using information technology. The key vector of digital transformation should be aimed at increasing the requirements for the level of logistics services, the emergence of new criteria for the quality of logistics services, that is, the formation of a customer-oriented approach to customer relationship management. In view of this, the purpose of this study is to develop scientific and methodological provision of the formation of a system for managing relationships with consumers, taking into account the challenges of the digital environment. To achieve the set goal of the study, the methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison, classification, expert questioning, statistical analysis, structural and logical generalization were used. In the article, the system of management of relationships with consumers is considered as an interrelated set of objects and subjects of management through the implementation of the entire list of functions of management of consumer service processes on the basis of the use of mechanisms of information, organizational and logistical support. The level of use of information and communication technologies in the organization of consumer service processes at Ukrainian enterprises is analyzed. A structural and functional scheme of formation of a system for managing relationships with consumers has been built. The expediency of applying a system approach to the digital transformation of the consumer relationship management system based on the use of information tools and digital channels is substantiated; formation of a qualitatively new culture of marketing communications and omnichannel information environment.

A Shared Control Design for Steering Assistance System Considering Driver Behaviors

With the rapid development of advanced driver assistance systems, driver-automation cooperative control becomes more challenging due to the uncertainty of driver behaviors. To this end, this paper proposes a shared control approach to assist drivers in path-tracking and collision avoidance. A high-fidelity CarSim vehicle model embedded driver simulator is built to collect the driver data, based on which the normalized steering angle input and the time to collision are defined to quantify the driving performance. Then, these performance indices are employed to develop the fuzzy controller and determine the control authority for the steering assistance system (SAS). A multi-constraints model predictive control is designed to follow the desired path, and simultaneously ensure the vehicle stability. Different from the traditional constraints handling method, the state constraint is transformed into the input constraint considering the nonlinearity. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified with two less experienced drivers. The test results show that the path-tracking performance and vehicle stability can be guaranteed with less control effort.

Robust optimization of train scheduling with consideration of response actions to primary and secondary risks.

Nowadays, with the rapid development of rail transportation systems, passenger demand and the possibility of the risks occurring in this industry have increased. These conditions cause uncertainty in passenger demand and the development of adverse impacts as a result of risks, which put the assurance of precise planning in jeopardy. To deal with uncertainty and lessen negative impacts, robust optimization of the train scheduling problem in the presence of risks is crucial. A two-stage mixed integer programming model is suggested in this study. In the first stage, the objective of the nominal train scheduling problem is to minimize the total travel time function and optimally determine the decision variables of the train timetables and the number of train stops. A robust optimization model is developed in the second stage with the aim of minimizing unsatisfied demand and reducing passenger dissatisfaction. Additionally, programming is carried out and the set of optimal risk response actions is identified in the proposed approach for the presence of primary and secondary risks in the train scheduling problem. A real-world example is provided to demonstrate the model's effectiveness and to compare the developed models. The results demonstrate that secondary risk plays a significant role in the process of optimal response actions selection. Furthermore, in the face of uncertainty, robust solutions can significantly and effectively minimize unsatisfied demand by a slightly rise in the travel time and the number of stops obtained from the nominal problem.

СТРАТЕГИЯ КИТАЯ ПО СОЗДАНИЮ БЕСПИЛОТНОГО ТРАНСПОРТА

With the development of modern telemetry, communication, analysis and computing methods and devices, we have witnessed the rapid development of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). They are having a profound impact on all aspects of society through safe and high-quality transport services. Nevertheless, due to the ever-increasing uncertainty, the variety and complexity of mechanisms, and the variety of strategies involved in this system, ITS currently exhibit a high de-gree of social complexity, leaving many problems unresolved. This article examines the PRC's strategy for unmanned transport. The points of the strategy are discussed in detail. A comparison of the PRC with the US is given, as both countries are leaders in this field