Use Of Software Research Articles

MI-Sim: A MATLAB package for the numerical analysis of microbial ecological interactions

Food-webs and other classes of ecological network motifs, are a means of describing feeding relationships between consumers and producers in an ecosystem. They have application across scales where they differ only in the underlying characteristics of the organisms and substrates describing the system. Mathematical modelling, using mechanistic approaches to describe the dynamic behaviour and properties of the system through sets of ordinary differential equations, has been used extensively in ecology. Models allow simulation of the dynamics of the various motifs and their numerical analysis provides a greater understanding of the interplay between the system components and their intrinsic properties. We have developed the MI-Sim software for use with MATLAB to allow a rigorous and rapid numerical analysis of several common ecological motifs. MI-Sim contains a series of the most commonly used motifs such as cooperation, competition and predation. It does not require detailed knowledge of mathematical analytical techniques and is offered as a single graphical user interface containing all input and output options. The tools available in the current version of MI-Sim include model simulation, steady-state existence and stability analysis, and basin of attraction analysis. The software includes seven ecological interaction motifs and seven growth function models. Unlike other system analysis tools, MI-Sim is designed as a simple and user-friendly tool specific to ecological population type models, allowing for rapid assessment of their dynamical and behavioural properties.

Challenges for evidence-based environmental management: what is acceptable and sufficient evidence of causation?

AbstractInvestigators attempting to demonstrate causal relationships in environmental systems face challenges associated with natural variability, multiple stressors, the difficulty of performing rigorous experiments, and the time and money required to undertake such studies. Rapid, transparent, and logical methods are needed to synthesize and evaluate evidence from multiple existing scientific research studies. Eco Evidence was developed for this purpose. It provides a synthesis method, online database, and analysis software for use in environmental causal assessments. Eco Evidence provides a definition of ‘acceptable’ and ‘sufficient evidence’ to establish causation. To illustrate its capabilities, we provide an example in which Eco Evidence informed a review of groundwater abstraction limits for environmental flow guidelines in the Australian Capital Territory. The synthesis of available evidence from peer-reviewed and unpublished sources was deemed sufficient and acceptable to inform a decision to kee...

ANALYSIS OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF OPERATING MODES OF ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS WITH THE TRACTION LOADS

Innovative scenarios of reliable energy supply of transportation process aimed at reducing the specific energy consumption and increase energy efficiency of the systems of electric traction. The paper suggests innovative energy saving directions in traction networks of railways and new circuit solutions accessing traction substations in energy systems networks, ensure energy security of the transportation process. To ensure the energy security of rail transport special schemes were developed to propose the concept of external power traction substations, which would increase the number of connections to the networks of 220 – 330 kV, as well as the creation of transport and energy corridors, development of its own supply of electric networks of 110 kV substations and mobile RP-110 kV of next generation. Therefore, the investment program of the structures owned by the Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia) need to be synchronized in their technological characteristics, as well as the criteria of reliability and quality of power supply with the same external energy investment programs. It is found that without any load on left or right supplying arm one of two less loaded phases of traction transformer begins generating specific modes in the supplying three-phase line. Thus, modes of mobile substation cause leakage in one of the phases of the supply line of traction transformers of active-capacitive current, and as a result generating energy in the main power line of 154 kV, which is fixed and calculated by electricity meters. For these three phase mode supply network is necessary to use 1st algorithm, i.e. taking into account the amount of electricity as the energy in all phases. For effective application of reactive power compensation devices in the AC traction power supply systems it is proposed to develop regulatory documentation on necessity of application and the order of choice of parameters and placement of compensation systems taking into account operation mode of power systems and the use of software systems with imitation of instantaneous interrelated schemes of transport loads.

Lésions traumatiques liées à la pratique du vélo chez l’enfant, au service d’accueil des urgences pédiatriques du CHU de Reims, à propos de 2060 cas

ObjectiveThis paper aims at studying the origins and characteristics of lesions related to the cycling accidents of children, so as to prevent them. MethodsThe data came from the URQUAL® software in use at the pediatric emergency department of the University Hospital of Reims. It had been collected between 2007 and 2014 and included all the patients that had been seen at the pediatric emergency department after an accident related to the use of a bicycle. The lesions are encoded with the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS), which defines the lesion and the severity of that injury. We had carried out a descriptive analysis of the data before implementing the χ2 and Fisher tests in order to differentiate the age and sex groups. ResultsA total of 2060 patients were included in the study and they presented 2960 traumatic lesions. The number of yearly consultations was stable. Accidents linked to acrobatic cycling and collisions with engine-powered vehicles were more frequent with children aged 10+ (P respectively 0.0002 and <0.0001). Lesions of the cephalic extremity accounted for 41% of the total of lesions; they were predominant with children aged<10 (P<0.0001). The male sex group showed a higher number of moderate to high-gravity lesions (P=0.0201). ConclusionThe lesions related to cycling are various. Lesions of the cephalic extremity are predominant and need to be prevented by wearing a helmet from a very early age on. Future prevention actions will have to involve stakeholders in the fields of medicine, risk prevention and government authorities.

Identifying and managing risks in the development of online educational software for social media use

This paper aims to contribute to the process associated with the creation of educational software intended for use on the internet through various social networks. In order to optimise the produced software we approached the issue following a methodology and procedures based on the theory of project management, particularly that of risk management. The methodology and procedures will subsequently be described in the project. The management of risks in software projects is a difficult and complex process. Its implementation includes three main stages that are search and locate the risks, evaluate, and finally overcome them. Based on the above characteristics we have created a questionnaire that aimed to identify the potential risks during the creation of this software category. The survey results were recorded and then evaluated. Upon completion of this process we were able to create a list of potential risks related to the creation of educational software for use on the Internet through social media. Finally based on the list we created, we proceeded with the formulation of proposals which aim to address the identified risks. These proposals after consideration of relevant work had as their object to overcome the individual risks that incurred.

Admittance/Fourier Series Revisited: Understanding Periodic Heat Flows

Thermal modelling of buildings typically involves the use of software programs that are highly accurate but complex. As such many users do not have a good “feel” for how heat flows in and out of a building. The simplest type of manual calculation method is a steady state model which allows some insight into the flow of heat in a building. However modelling of thermal storage in building elements with mass is seen to be too difficult to be solved readily and as such complex thermal software programs are utilised. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the admittance method was developed which calculated quite accurately the thermal response of building elements with mass. Typically the thermal response of a building to 24 hour cyclic inputs - temperatures and solar radiation – was calculated. When extended to higher frequencies utilising a Fourier series representation of temperatures and solar radiation, accuracy improves further. However this approach was soon overtaken by more complex computer based models which delivered greater modelling complexity and accuracy but tended to obscure the underlying physical processes. This paper re-examines the admittance/Fourier method as a pathway to enhancing understanding of the response of buildings to fluctuating temperatures and solar radiation. A simplified representation of yearly ambient temperature in terms of only three terms: a constant, a yearly and daily frequency – allows a very simple model of a building to be developed. This approach can allow building designers rapid insight into the performance of various materials and designs and in addition enhance their understanding of the fundamental physical processes involved.

Finding Places: HCI Platform for Public Participation in Refugees’ Accommodation Process

This paper describes the conception, development and deployment of a novel HCI system for public participation and decision-making. This system was applied for the process of allocating refugee accommodation in the City of Hamburg within the FindingPlaces project (FP) in 2016. The CityScope (CS) – a rapid prototyping platform for urban planning and decision-making – offered a technical solution which was complemented by a workshop process to facilitate effective interaction of multiple participants and stakeholder groups. This paper presents the origins of CS and the evolution of the tangible user interface approach to urban planning and public participation. It further outlines technical features of the system, including custom hardware and software in use, utilization in real-time as well as technical constraints and limitations. Special focus is on the adaptation of the CS technology to the specific demands of Hamburg´s FP project, whose procedures, processes, and results are reflected. The final section analyzes success factors as well as shortcomings of the approach, and indicates further R&D as well as application scenarios for the CS.

Identification of Brassinosteroid Signaling Complexes by Coimmunoprecipitation and Mass Spectrometry.

A combination of coimmunoprecipitation (coIP) of tagged proteins followed by protein identification and quantitation using Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry/Mass Spectrometry (LCMS/MS) has proven to be a reliable method to qualitatively characterize membrane-bound receptor complexes from plants. Success depends on a range of parameters, such as abundance and stability of the complex and functionality of the tagged receptors, efficiency of the protein complex isolation procedure, MS equipment, and analysis software in use. In this Chapter, we focus on the use of one of the green fluorescent protein-tagged receptors of the SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASE (SERK) family, of which SERK3, also known as BRASSINOSTEROID INSENSITIVE1 (BRI1) ASSOCIATED KINASE1 (BAK1), is a coreceptor of BRI1. Like BRI1 itself, SERK3 is a leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase (LRR RK) with a single-pass transmembrane domain. The latest updated laboratory protocol is presented as well as examples of data analysis and typical results obtained. Potential drawbacks of the procedure employed for plant membrane proteins will be pointed out.

Methodology and measures for preventing unacceptable flow-accelerated corrosion thinning of pipelines and equipment of NPP power generating units

Problems of metal flow-accelerated corrosion (FAC) in the pipelines and equipment of the condensate- feeding and wet-steam paths of NPP power-generating units (PGU) are examined. Goals, objectives, and main principles of the methodology for the implementation of an integrated program of AO Concern Rosenergoatom for the prevention of unacceptable FAC thinning and for increasing operational flow-accelerated corrosion resistance of NPP EaP are worded (further the Program). A role is determined and potentialities are shown for the use of Russian software packages in the evaluation and prediction of FAC rate upon solving practical problems for the timely detection of unacceptable FAC thinning in the elements of pipelines and equipment (EaP) of the secondary circuit of NPP PGU. Information is given concerning the structure, properties, and functions of the software systems for plant personnel support in the monitoring and planning of the inservice inspection of FAC thinning elements of pipelines and equipment of the secondary circuit of NPP PGUs, which are created and implemented at some Russian NPPs equipped with VVER-1000, VVER-440, and BN-600 reactors. It is noted that one of the most important practical results of software packages for supporting NPP personnel concerning the issue of flow-accelerated corrosion consists in revealing elements under a hazard of intense local FAC thinning. Examples are given for successful practice at some Russian NPP concerning the use of software systems for supporting the personnel in early detection of secondary-circuit pipeline elements with FAC thinning close to an unacceptable level. Intermediate results of working on the Program are presented and new tasks set in 2012 as a part of the updated program are denoted. The prospects of the developed methods and tools in the scope of the Program measures at the stages of design and construction of NPP PGU are discussed. The main directions of the work on solving the problems of flow-accelerated corrosion of pipelines and equipment in Russian NPP PGU are defined.

E03 - Prevalence study on potential drug-drug interaction in piacenza hospital onco-haematology department

Cancer patients can be a human model of potential drug-drug interaction (PDIs). Usually they receive a large number of different medications, including antineoplastic agents, drugs for comorbid illness and medication for supportive care, however information about these interactions are fragmented and poor, so we assessed a prospective study to evaluate the prevalence of drug interaction among patients hospitalized in the Onco-Haematology department, Hospital of Piacenza. Data on drugs administered for cancer, comorbidities or supportive care were collected from different computerized prescription software in use in the department, we compared them with a database to focus on drugs co-administration. A literature review was performed to identify major PDI and to classify them by level of severity (major, moderate, minor) and by strengths of scientific evidence for them (one to five grade of evidence). In this study 284 cancer patients were enrolled, patients had taken an average of 7 (standard deviation: 4) drugs on each day of therapy, plus chemotherapy agents, we identified 67 PDIs. At least 53 (19 %) patients had one PDI. Of all PDIs: 63 (94 %) were classified as moderate severity and only 4 (6 %) as major. In 55 cases chemotherapeutic agents were involved in possible interactions with supportive care drugs, meanwhile in 12 cases the PDIs were between supportive care drugs. Coumadin, quinolone, cyclophosphamide, allopurinol and cisplatin were frequently part of the PDIs. Interaction that potentially cause medullar depression, major bleeding risk or a decrease in the drug absorption rate were common. In our Centre, thanks to a computerized prescription software, integrated with caution alarm in case of possible interaction, we had a lower rate of PDIs than the one from literature. It's possible to improve the software integrating the alarm with the PDIs between chemotherapy agents and supportive care drugs.

Professional Re-Usable Software Principles for the Public Sector

A practical approach to accessing free and open, re-usable software for use in the public sector.

SU-G-JeP2-06: Dosimetric and Workflow Evaluation of First Commercial Synthetic CT Software for Clinical Use in Pelvis

Purpose: evaluate a commercial synthetic CT (syn-CT) software for use in prostate radiotherapy Methods: Twenty prostate patients underwent CT and MR simulation scans in treatment position on a 3T Philips scanner. The MR protocol consisted of a T2w turbo spin-echo for soft tissue contrast, a 2D balanced-fast field echo (b-FFE) for fiducial identification, a dual-echo 3D FFE B0 map for distortion analysis and a 3D mDIXON FFE sequence to generate syn-CT. Two echoes are acquired during mDIXON scan, allowing water, fat, and in-phase images to be derived using the frequency shift of the fat and water protons. Tissues were classified as: air, adipose, water, trabecular/spongy bone and compact/cortical bone and assigned specific bulk HU values. Bone structures are segmented based on a pelvis bone atlas. Accuracy of syn-CT for patient treatment planning was analyzed by transferring the original plan and structures from the CT to syn-CT via rigid registration and recalculating dose. In addition, new IMRT plans were generated on the syn-CT using structures contoured on MR and transferred to the syn-CT. Accuracy of fiducial-based localization at the treatment machine performed using syn-CT or DRRs generated from syn-CT was assessed by comparing to orthogonal kV radiographs or CBCT. Results: Dosimetric comparison between CT and syn-CT was within 0.5% for all structures. The de-novo optimized plans generated on the syn-CT met our institutional clinical objectives for target and normal structures. Patient-induced susceptibility distortion based on B0 maps was within 1mm and 0.4 mm in the body and prostate. The rectal and bladder outlines on the syn-CT were deemed sufficient for assessing rectal and bladder filling on the CBCT at the time of treatment. CBCT localization showed a median error of < ±1 mm in LR, AP and SI direction. Conclusion: MRI derived syn-CT can be used clinically in MR-alone planning and treatment process for prostate. Drs. Deasy, Hunt and Tyagi have Master research agreement with Philips healthcare.

Know your open source code

Open source software use has moved from the fringes into the mainstream of software development, accelerating time to market and generating cost savings. But despite these benefits, a thoughtful approach to adoption is essential. Lack of visibility into the open source software in use – particularly to known open source security vulnerabilities that have found their way into the codebase – exposes organisations to exploitation that could result in financial losses, business disruption, customer defection, legal action and brand risk. Open source software use has moved from the fringes into the mainstream of software development, accelerating time to market and generating cost savings. However, a thoughtful approach to adoption is essential, says Mike Pittenger of Black Duck Software. Lack of visibility into the open source in use – particularly to known security vulnerabilities that have found their way into the codebase – exposes organisations to exploitation that could result in financial losses, business disruption, customer defection, legal action and brand risk.

Assessing the quality of operation notes: a review of 1092 operation notes in 9 UK hospitals.

BackgroundThe General Medical Council states that effective note keeping is essential and records should be clear, accurate and legible. However previous studies of operation notes have shown they can be variable in quality and affect patient safety. This study compares the quality of operation notes against the National Standards set by the Royal College of Surgeons of England and the British Orthopaedic Association (BOA) for improving patient safety.MethodsInformation from Orthopaedic operation notes was collected prospectively over a 2-week period. All elective and trauma operations performed were included and trainees from the region coordinated data collection in 9 hospitals.ResultsData from 1092 operation notes was reviewed. A number of important standards were nearly met including legibility (98.4 %), the name of the operating surgeon (99.3 %) and the operation title (99.1 %). However a number of standards were not met and those with potential patient safety implications include availability on the ward (88.8 %), documentation of type of anaesthetic used (78.6 %), diagnosis (73.4 %) and findings (80.1 %). In addition, the postoperative instructions recorded the need for and type of postoperative antibiotics or venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in only 49.7 % and 48.8 % of cases respectively.ConclusionsThe quality and content of operation notes studied across the region in this period was variable. Use of software programmes in some hospitals for creating operation notes meant that some centres had better results for elements such as date, time and patient identification details. Following this study, greater awareness of the standards combined with additional local measures may improve the quality of operation notes.

Validation of probabilistic genotyping software for use in forensic DNA casework: Definitions and illustrations

A number of new computer programs have recently been developed to facilitate the interpretation and statistical weighting of complex DNA profiles in forensic casework. Acceptance of such software in the user community, and subsequent acceptance by the court, relies heavily upon their validation. To date, few guidelines exist that describe the appropriate and sufficient validation of such software used in forensic DNA casework. In this paper, we discuss general principles of software validation and how they could be applied to the interpretation software now being introduced into the forensic community. Importantly, we clarify the relationship between a statistical model and its implementation via software. We use the LRmix program to provide specific examples of how these principles can be implemented.

English

Automation efforts in libraries have moved from standalone database systems to cloud-based systems, traversing generations of library management system (LMS) and integrated library management system (ILS) in between. This paper attempts to traverse this transition with emphasis on present-day technological state-of-affairs in the libraries. The traditional terminologies vis-a-vis the cloud associated architecture has been touched upon. The paper introduces library specific tenant- based software services over the cloud architecture and also the associated maturity model. Apart from ILS, other facets of library automation have been talked upon with examples from libraries providing such aggregation or dissemination services. The paper lays special emphasis on library service platforms in use in India. An internet search was done to locate the cloud- based library software in use and thereafter a listing of major vendors and providers promoting these software were made. Questionnaires were sent to such vendors and exploratory study was conducted to overcome the non-respondent bias and the usage statistics extracted. Koha was found to be the most common open source in use over the cloud through a paid support from three of the eleven vendors in India. Only two clouds- enabled proprietary software are available at present, e-Granthalaya and Cybrarian TM with former having the support from Government and hence has more installations. A detailed analysis on suitability of an ILS for a library indicated that single-tenant SaaS model suits large libraries while small group of homogeneous libraries can do with multi-tenet SaaS model. Still, library SaaS is in its infancy in India. http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/djlit.35.6.8895

Effectiveness and performance analysis of model-oriented security requirements engineering to elicit security requirements: a systematic solution for developing secure software systems

Software systems are becoming more and more critical in every domain of human society. These systems are used not only by corporates and governments, but also by individuals and across networks of organizations. The wide use of software systems has resulted in the need to contain a large amount of critical information and processes, which certainly need to remain secure. As a consequence, it is important to ensure that the systems are secure by considering security requirements at the early phases of software development life cycle. In this paper, we propose to consider security requirements as functional requirements and apply model-oriented security requirements engineering framework as a systematic solution to elicit security requirements for e-governance software systems. As the result, high level of security can be achieved by more coverage of assets and threats, and identifying more traces of vulnerabilities in the early stages of requirements engineering. This in turn will help to elicit effective security requirements as countermeasures with business requirements.

Improvement of the Consistent Fuzzy Preference Relation Method and Comparison with the AHP Method

AHP is always a popular method adopted by researchers in dealing with the issues of multiple criteria decision making. However, with the increase in the criteria, the traditional AHP may cause a problem in terms of the consistency of the questionnaires. Later on, the method of Consistent Fuzzy Preference Relation was developed to resolve such issue. But currently the utilization rate of this method is low, -probably because most researchers still doubt the result of the CFPR method. The main purpose of this study is using experiment and statistics analysis to compare the two methods. The final report shows that the results obtained by the CFFR method and the traditional AHP method are similar. It indicates CFPR is a good method for dealing with the MCDM problem. Moreover, this study also proposes a suggestion to improve the CFPR, so as to resolve the issue of screening out the valid questionnaires. Finally, this study used the CFPR method to code the software for use of follow-up researchers.

MODES OF OPERATION OF THE SYSTEM OF TRACTION POWER AC USING REACTIVE POWER COMPENSATION DEVICES

The paper presents a systematic analysis of existing methods of reactive power compensation. The study of operating modes of the systems external and traction power supply is carried out. The methodology for selecting promising compensation schemes and energy-saving in the traction networks AC electrified railway lines is offered. The comparative evaluation of prospective controlled compensation devices shows that use of seamlessly adjustable devices with unregulated condensing the battery and with parallel translator regulated with thyristor unit and with filters to reduce harmonics bond to the large capital investments. For traction networks of domestic railways payback period is more than 10-15 years. The most promising for traction power supply today is a stepwise adjustable devices of reactive power compensation. For the efficient allocation of investments in programs and projects of modernization of system traction power supply developed by the methodology of selecting parameters and places placement devices transverse compensation in the system traction power supply, which is based on the use of software systems with imitation of interconnected instant circuits moving loads of electric rolling stock. Based on the results of multiple calculations full factor experiment when simulating work of the systems traction power supply during the day marked the most influencing factors on energy-saving in process freight on electric traction and established the extent of their influence. These include the overflows of power, the resistance of traction network, reactive power compensation, power supply circuits and the organization of trains. Innovative technologies energy-saving railways from positions of consideration their close connection with the systems external power supply are proposed .

A Review of the Various Approaches for Text to Text Machine Translations

Machine translation (MT) is defined as a subfield of computational linguistics that investigates the use of computer software to translate text or speech from one natural language to another. It is a key application in the field of natural language processing. At its basic level, MT performs simple substitution of words in one natural language for words in another. Effort to access documents from one language to another leads to the development of machine translation system which involves lots of heterogeneous features and its implementations. Approaches to machine translations are different and each of this approach has its own benefits and drawbacks. This study looks at the various approaches to machine translations and future needs in order to provide more robust and sensible system in the area of natural language processing which will be resistant and impervious to failure regardless of users’ inputs. It is hopeful that researchers in the area of language processing can make use of our valuable improvement and suggestions.