Kedalion: NASA's Adaptable and Agile Hardware/Software Integration and Test Lab

Aim/Purpose: Using the Agile Adoption Framework (AAF), this study aims to examine the agile potential of software development companies in Nepal based on their agile maturity level. In addition, this study also examines the impact of various basic agile practices in determining the maturity level of the agile processes being implemented in the software industry of Nepal. Background: Even if most organizations in the software sector utilize agile development strategies, it is essential to evaluate their performance. Nepal’s software industry did not adopt agile techniques till 2014. The Nepalese industry must always adapt to new developments and discover ways to make software development more efficient and beneficial. The population of the study consists of 1,500 and 2,000 employees of software companies in Nepal implementing agile techniques. Methodology: The sample size considered was 150 employees working in software companies in Nepal. However, only 106 respondents responded after three follow-ups. The sample was collected with purposive sampling. A questionnaire was developed to gain information on Customer Adaptive, Customer Collaboration, Continuous Delivery, Human Centric, and Technical Excellence related to agile practices along with the Agile Maturity Level. Contribution: This research contributes to the understanding of agile practices adopted in software companies in developing countries like Nepal. It also reveals the determinants of the agility of software companies in developing countries. Findings: The results suggest that some of the basic principles of agile have a very significant role in Agile Maturity Level in the Nepali context. In the context of Nepal, human-centered practices have a very high level of correlation, which plays a vital role as a major predictor of the agile maturity level. In addition, Technical Excellence is the variable that has the highest level of association with the Agile Maturity Level, making it the most significant predictor of this quality. Recommendations for Practitioners: As Nepali software companies are mostly offshore or serve outsourcing companies, there is a very thin probability of Nepali developers being able to interact with actual clients and this might be one of the reasons for the Nepali industry not relying on Customer Adaptation and Collaboration as major factors of the Agile methodologies. Continuous Delivery, on the other hand, has a significant degree of correlation with Agile Maturity Level. Human-centric practices have a very high level of correlation as well as being a major predictor in determining the Agile Maturity Level in the context of Nepal. Technical Excellence is the most significant predictor and the variable which has the highest level of correlation with Agile Maturity Level. Practitioners should mainly focus on technical excellence as well as human-centric practices to achieve a higher level of Agile Maturity. Recommendation for Researchers: There has not been any such research in the Nepali context that anyone could rely on, to deep dive into their organizational concerns regarding agile strategies and plans. Researchers will need to focus on a more statistical approach with data-driven solutions to the issues related to people and processes. Researchers will need to cover freelancers as well as academics to get a different perspective on what can be the better practices to achieve a higher level of agile maturity. Impact on Society: This study on Agile work is accessible not only to the software industry but also to the general public. The Agile technique has had a huge impact on society’s project management. It has revolutionized how teams approach project planning, development, and execution. The paper’s findings will further information regarding the Agile methodology, which emphasizes collaboration and communication, fosters teamwork and higher quality work, and promotes the exchange of knowledge, ideas, and the pursuit of common goals. Future Research: Owing to the limitations of this study, it is necessary to analyze agile practices in the Nepalese software sector using additional factors that influence agile maturity. The conclusion that years of agile experience do not serve as a balancing factor for both agile practices and the Agile Maturity Level requires additional research. Whether a software outsourcing firm or not, the organization type had no bearing on the degree of maturity of agile methods; this leaves space for further research.

Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) has been widely used throughout biotherapeutic development. However, its implementation in GMP-compliant commercial quality control (QC) laboratories remains a challenge. In this publication, we describe the covalidation and implementation of an automated, high-throughput, and GMP compliant subunit LC-MS method for monitoring antibody oxidation for commercial product release and stability testing. To our knowledge, this is the first report describing the implementation of a high-resolution LC-MS method in commercial QC laboratories for product release and stability testing in the biopharmaceutical industry. This work paves the road for implementing additional LC-MS methods to modernize testing in commercial QC with more targeted control of product quality.

The author derives an expression for the power spectral density of an asymmetric nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ) data stream. This formula is used to investigate how the data bandwidth varies with data asymmetry. The threshold levels of undesired spectral components that fall into the carrier tracking loop bandwidth are determined by examining the derived spectral density. Based on this formula, a simple technique is developed for the computation of bit signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) degradation due to data asymmetry. The telemetry bit SNR degradations derived using this technique are compared with the results obtained previously by M.K. Simon et al. (1978) and with measurements by the electronic systems test laboratory (ESTL) at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

High performance VLSI is a key electronic technology required to advance science and commercial space missions. This paper illustrates several such NASA applications which require special purpose VLSI. In addition to being able to solve unique scientific problems, specialized VLSI can provide breakthrough technology for new commercial products. For example, the basic technology used to solve a key problem for the Hubble Space Telescope is now used in modern disc drives and digital cable television set top boxes. Spaceflight qualified, application specific VLSI integrated circuits simplify the task of incorporating commercial technology into space hardware. NASA maintains a substantial effort to characterize the hardness of commercial IC processes and parts for total ionizing dose (TID), single event upset (SEU) and single event latchup (SEL). NASA uses this information as a key element in partitioning circuits. By combining this information with a mission's orbital dynamics, duration and criticality, NASA is utilizing more commercial IC products without increase in mission risk.

While automatic tracking and measuring of our physical activity is a well established domain, not only in research but also in commercial products and every-day lifestyle, automatic measurement of eating behavior is significantly more limited. Despite the abundance of methods and algorithms that are available in bibliography, commercial solutions are mostly limited to digital logging applications for smart-phones. One factor that limits the adoption of such solutions is that they usually require specialized hardware or sensors. Based on this, we evaluate the potential for estimating the weight of consumed food (per bite) based only on the audio signal that is captured by commercial ear buds (Samsung Galaxy Buds). Specifically, we examine a combination of features (both audio and non-audio features) and trainable estimators (linear regression, support vector regression, and neural-network based estimators) and evaluate on an in-house dataset of 8 participants and 4 food types. Results indicate good potential for this approach: our best results yield mean absolute error of less than 1 g for 3 out of 4 food types when training food-specific models, and 2.1 g when training on all food types together, both of which improve over an existing literature approach.

The welfare of elderly people living alone or in rest homes can be significantly improved with the introduction of technological solutions. However, before start the development of a new commercial product, new ideas and concepts must be quickly validated. The existence of a platform to enable the rapid verification of a solution will be an asset to support the development of a commercial product. The eZ430-Chronos together with the SimpliciTI were modified to build a wireless network that works as a test bench for new products and concepts. After laboratorial validation, an experimental pilot was installed in a rest home, contributing this way to gather fundamental conclusions to be used in the development of new commercial solutions.

: Commercial computer-aided software engineering (CASE) tool technology has emerged as an important component of practical software development environments. Issues of CASE tool integration have received heightened attention in recent years, with various commercial products and technical approaches promising to make inroads into this difficult-problem. One aspect of CASE integration that has not been adequately addressed is the integration of CASE tools with configuration management (CM)-including both CM policies and systems. Organizations need to address how to make CASE tools from different vendors work effectively with an organization's CM policies and tools (in effect, integrate CASE with CM) within the context of the rapidly evolving state of commercial integration technology. This report describes key issues of the integration of CASE with CM from a third-party integrator's perspective, i.e., how to approach the integration of CASE and CM in such a way as to not require fundamental changes to the implementation of the tools or CM systems themselves.

The visibility and spatial characteristics of commercial space are the key factors that affect the space vitality. However, the coupling visibility graphical analysis of commercial spaces and spatial characteristics to quantitatively analyse consumer behaviour in commercial street spaces and assess the vitality of retail spaces has not been adequately studied. In this paper, the aim is to conduct a visibility graph analysis of Zhuangli Street in Letai Center, Shijiazhuang, using space syntax theory, assessing the spatial vitality of the retail space by investigating the shop visits. First, a methodology for obtaining data on spatial characteristics and consumer behaviour of shopping streets was developed. Secondly, this article constructs a process for a visibility graph analysis of Zhuangli Street based on space syntax theory. Third, two combination variables of the space coefficient and depth coefficient of shop windows in retail spaces of a commercial street are proposed. Finally, the effect of combination variables and business types on spatial vitality was analyzed using correlation and multiple regression methods, and a space vitality prediction model was proposed. The results showed that the shop with the highest shop visits of retail spaces in the shopping street is 13.55 times higher than the smallest shop. The space coefficient of the shop window, depth coefficient of the shop window, and space connectivity of retail spaces in commercial streets have positive effects on space vitality. The workflow proposed in this paper can provide technical support for retail space design in commercial streets as well as evaluating and optimizing commercial street space design solutions.

This paper reports on the application of commercial technology to the ground control and management facilities of an operational military satellite system: the commercial space communications sector is currently enjoying the benefits of contemporary enterprise management solutions. These solutions have matured and been widely adopted by the sector bringing operational and strategic benefits which are increasingly considered as the norm. These commercial space solutions operate throughout the standard telecommunications business and network management layers by seamlessly interleaving and sharing information between core generic applications. By contrast, the defence sector’s ability to benefit from these technologies is constrained by the need to manage (or selectively deny) access to information in a robust and rigorous fashion. This represents a demand upon (a cultural and technical conflict with the ethos of) the 'open access' architectures enjoyed by the commercial sector. So, we will report a real-world operational example of methods by which this conflict is largely resolved by referring to our experience of the development, implementation and commissioning of an operational Military Satellite System. Specifically we report on the approach adopted by us to the challenge of retaining the efficiencies of a classic e-TOM (Enhanced Telecoms Operating Map) system within the constraints imposed by a multi-security level environment. We report on lessons learned throughout the concept, design, implementation and commissioning phases and describe how the benefits will continue throughout the operational phase. Finally, we will reflect upon the way such challenges might be tackled in the future within a private-public collaborative framework.

&lt;div class="section abstract"&gt;&lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;The number of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations performed during the vehicle aerodynamic development process continues to expand at a rapid rate. One key contributor to this trend is the number of analytically based designed experiments performed to support vehicle aerodynamic shape development. A second contributor is the number of aerodynamic optimization studies performed for vehicle exterior components such as mirrors, underbody shields, spoilers, etc. A third contributor is the increasing number of “what if” exploratory studies performed early in the design process when the design is relatively fluid. Licensing costs for commercial CFD solutions can become a significant constraint as the number of simulations expands. A number of alternative products (e.g., independently developed, supported and documented forks of the popular open-source OpenFOAM® toolbox [&lt;span class="xref"&gt;1&lt;/span&gt;]) have become available in recent years, offering a lower cost alternative to traditional commercial CFD products. This paper summarizes results from a broad and deep evaluation of the capability of iconCFD® to substitute for the more traditional commercial CFD solutions currently used to support vehicle aerodynamic development early in the program development cycle. Included in this study were detailed B-car, sedan, SUV and truck shapes as well as multiple variants of each shape. The study investigated both static and moving ground boundary conditions as well as alternative turbulence models. Trends of the predicted aerodynamic drag coefficients (&lt;i&gt;C&lt;sub&gt;d&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/i&gt;) are compared against experimental data. Both transient and steady state simulation ranking accuracy of total vehicle &lt;i&gt;C&lt;sub&gt;d&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/i&gt; were found to be equivalent to that historically observed with more traditional commercial solver results. A consistent upward bias in absolute &lt;i&gt;C&lt;sub&gt;d&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/i&gt; values was observed in the transient results.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

English summary The plaque and gingivitis inhibiting capacity of a commercially available mouthwash containing essential oils and ethyl lauroyl arginate 188-94 The plaque and gingivitis inhibiting capacity of a commercially available mouthwash containing essential oils and ethyl lauroyl arginate. A randomized clinical trial. Objective: A commercially available mouth rinse with ethyl lauroyl arginate and essential oils claims to have better antimicrobial properties than the traditional essential oil products. The aim of this study was to compare the plaque and gingivitis inhibiting effect of the commercial product containing essential oils with ethyl lauroyl arginate with one placebo and one negative control in a modified experimental gingivitis model. Materials and methods: In three groups of healthy volunteers, experimental gingivitis was induced and monitored over 21 d, simultaneously treated with the commercial test solution, 21.6 % hydro-alcohol solution and sterile water, respectively. The maxillary right quadrant of each individual received mouthwash only, whereas the maxillary left quadrant was subject to both rinsing and mechanical oral hygiene. Compliance and side effects were monitored at d 7, 14 and 21. Plaque and gingivitis scores were obtained at baseline and d 21. Results and conclusion: Although the commercial product containing essential oils with ethyl lauroyl arginate performed statistically significantly better regarding average plaque scores on all surfaces combined than the placebo (p=0.018) and negative control (p=0.003) when no mechanical tooth cleaning was performed, the product still left the patient with enough plaque to cause gingivitis and thus seemed of questionable clinical benefit to the patient. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier is NCT02884817. (Secondary publication of: Valør LO &amp; al. Acta Odontol Scand. 2017: 1 - 6. doi: 10.1080/00016357.2017.1412499)

With the development of Broadband over Power Lines (BPL) technology, the electricity and cyber services require a new system's view of developing hybrid infrastructures with integrated services. This paper mainly explores the following three questions: a) what is state-of-the-art BPL research and applications?, b) what are the opportunities for integrated electricity and cyber services?, c) where the research should lead us and why? Existing efforts, including research issues and commercial products, solutions and services are presented in this paper. Status of the standardization in this area is also discussed. Besides the research topics, this paper points out the educational and training issues that will need to be addressed in the future by the education programs at various levels.

Adsorptive separation of volatile anaesthetics: A review of current developments

BackgroundTaxilli Herba (TH) and Visci Herba (VH), defined as the leaves and branches of the mistletoe species Taxillus chinensis and Viscum coloratum, respectively, are popular herbal medicines in East Asia. However, commercial TH and VH products are frequently adulterated with related inauthentic mistletoe species, posing efficacy and safety concerns. Accurate species identification of herbal medicinal products is a prerequisite for quality control, but traditional morphological identification methods are hampered by difficulties in discriminating among closely related species and in identifying the source materials in processed products. PurposeThis study aimed to develop sequence-characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers and a multiplex-SCAR assay for rapid and accurate identification of authentic TH and VH. MethodsThe matK region was sequenced in a total of 20 samples from five mistletoe species, namely T. chinensis and V. coloratum, and three species often found in adulterated herbal medicines, T. sutchuenensis, V. articulatum, and Macrosolen tricolor. Species-specific nucleotide polymorphisms were identified and short regions (21–22 bp) containing at least two species-specific nucleotides close to the 3ʹ end were incorporated into SCAR primers that produced uniquely sized PCR amplicons for each species. The five SCAR primer sets were also combined into a multiplex-SCAR assay. ResultsThe SCAR primers successfully generated amplicons of the expected size for each target species even with low-DNA templates or with templates containing DNA from multiple samples. No amplification was observed in non-target species. The SCAR markers and the multiplex-SCAR assay successfully identified commercial TH and VH products that were counterfeit or adulterated in both dried and processed products. ConclusionThis is the first report to illustrate discrimination of genuine medicinal mistletoe species with DNA-based marker assays, enabling rapid and accurate species identification. The SCAR assays developed in this study will facilitate the standardization of commercial mistletoe products.

Authentication of consumer fraud in Taiwanese fish products by molecular trace evidence and forensically informative nucleotide sequencing