8,749 research outputs found
Who\u27s the Author? A Bright-Line Rule for Specially Commissioned Works Made for Hire
No full textThis comment argues that the best way to clarify the answer to the question Who\u27s the author? (and thus to clarify whether the creator has a termination right) is to resolve the circuit split in favor of a bright-line rule requiring execution of the written agreement prior to the creation of the work. Part I introduces the legal framework under which the issue must be analyzed. Part II reviews the holdings on each side of the circuit split. Part III presents the arguments that both proper statutory construction of U.S. copyright law and the legislative history of the termination right, which is closely related to the work made for hire provision, support the contention that the statute should be read to impose the bright-line rule. Part IV concludes
Developing Overall Equipment Effectiveness Metrics for Prototype Precision Manufacturing
No full textOverall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is a powerful metric of manufacturing performance incorporating measures of the utilisation, yield and efficiency of a given process, machine or manufacturing line. When associated with the reasons for performance loss, OEE provides the means to compare and prioritise improvement efforts. This research assesses the current systems used in the high-volume production lines of Company-X, a precision manufacturer of computer components. This assessment led to the design of a singular methodology that functions in a high-volume production environment, in the rapid prototyping production, and the program qualification production divisions of Company-X. The methodology defined indicators (Utilisation, Efficiency and Yield), and factors that must be recorded on an individual piece of equipment within a manufacturing line to determine its OEE. These equipment-level records were captured utilising the equipment’s computer-controller, supplemented by minimal user input, to minimise the non-value added activities associated with data-entry. The methodology also determined the means to aggregate the records to prioritize improvement activities (Weighted OEE Pareto) and calculate the manufacturing lines overall performance (Overall Line Effectiveness)
A new technique for building maps of large scientific domains based on the cocitation of classes and categories
No full textOur objective is the generation of schematic visualizations as interfaces for scientific domain analysis. We propose a new technique that uses thematic classification (classes and categories) as entities of cocitation and units of measure, and demonstrate the viability of this methodology through the representation and analysis of a domain of great dimensions. The main features of the maps obtained are discussed, and proposals are made for future improvements and applications
How the dispersion of a droplet cloud depends on its initial size
No full textA cloud of droplets evolves under the influence of strong turbulence. The droplets are made from a phosphorescent fluid. From this cloud we select at t = 0 a narrow line by exciting the droplets with a UV laser, which causes them to glow for a few milliseconds. The dispersion of this line is followed in time using a fast intensified camera. A large range of droplet sizes (Stokes number St) was measured. It appears that lines with St \approx 1 disperse faster than a line of fluid tracers. Lines of droplets which are narrowest initially, spread fastest
The IPHAS catalogue of H alpha emission-line sources in the northern Galactic plane
No full textWe present a catalogue of point-source H alpha emission-line objects selected from the INT/WFC Photometric Ha Survey (IPHAS) of the northern Galactic plane. The catalogue covers the magnitude range 13 <= r' <= 19.5 and includes Northern hemisphere sources in the Galactic latitude range -5 degrees < b < 5 degrees. It is derived from similar to 1500 deg(2) worth of imaging data, which represents 80 per cent of the final IPHAS survey area. The electronic version of the catalogue will be updated once the full survey data become available. In total, the present catalogue contains 4853 point sources that exhibit strong photometric evidence for Ha emission. We have so far analysed spectra for similar to 300 of these sources, confirming more than 95 per cent of them as genuine emission-line stars. A wide range of stellar populations are represented in the catalogue, including early-type emission-line stars, active late-type stars, interacting binaries, young stellar objects and compact nebulae.
The spatial distribution of catalogue objects shows overdensities near sites of recent or current star formation, as well as possible evidence for the warp of the Galactic plane. Photometrically, the incidence of Ha emission is bimodally distributed in (r' - i'). The blue peak is made up mostly of early-type emission-line stars, whereas the red peak may signal an increasing contribution from other objects, such as young/active low-mass stars. We have cross-matched our H alpha-excess catalogue against the emission-line star catalogue of Kohoutek & Wehmeyer, as well as against sources in SIMBAD. We find that fewer than 10 per cent of our sources can be matched to known objects of any type. Thus IPHAS is uncovering an order of magnitude more faint (r' > 13) emission-line objects than were previously known in the Milky Way
[[alternative]]A Study of Assessing the On-line Learning
No full text[[abstract]]The purpose of this study was to investigate the important issues of assessing the learning performance for corporate on-line learning. It included the status, components, factors affecting the design and meta-evaluation of assessing learning performance for corporate on-line learning. A qualitative method of case study with in-depth interviews was employed to collect the data. Six professionals of on-line learning in various companies were interviewed. The author then converted the recorded tapes into Word files. The main concepts of the files were extracted following a preset data analysis procedure. The findings and conclusions were made based on the analyzed data.
The conclusions are as the followings:
1.The status of using on-line learning systems is still in
its infancy stage.
2.The components of an on-line learning system consist of
a platform and on-line courses.
3.The operational team in charge of the maintenance and
operation of the system. Meanwhile, the learners,
instructors and HR staff are the major participants of
an on-line learning system.
4.The learners usually are able to access the on-line
learning system at anytime but only in the specific
places designated by the company for the reasons of
system security.
5.An on-line learning system can serve as a knowledge
management system for the corporate knowledge
management.
6.The way a leaner using an on-line learning system is one
of the main sources of barriers in promoting on-line
learning.
7.The purposes of learning evaluation are three-fold:
helping the learner to learn, auditing the training
event and improving the training program.
8.The approaches of assessing on-line learning
performances comprise of on-line questionnaire, on-line
test, homework, discussing area, comments area, article
sharing, learning process record, and on-line synchronic
meeting.
9.The timing of evaluation maybe during or after the on-
line learning session.
10.The three basic principles in conducting evaluation are
based on the philosophy of the instructor, the
supporting functions provided by the system platform
and applying evaluation methods elastically.
11.The dimensions of evaluation feedback are audience,
channel and applications of evaluation results.
12.The difficulties of employing on-line evaluation come
from lack of budget, busy learners and the tendency of
answering questions of learners.
13.The factors that affect the choice of evaluation
methods are type of course, instructional strategies,
how easy to use the evaluation tool, background of the
learner and decisions made by evaluation designer or
evaluator.
14.The cost will affect the timing of evaluation.
15.The companies tend not to be concerning about the
fairness and cheating of on-line evaluation.
16.The design of on-line and off-line evaluations is
different.
17.Meta-evaluation of an on-line evaluation is usually
done by HR staff or the instructor.
18.The timing of a meta-evaluation maybe during or after
the on-line learning evaluation.
19.The focuses of meta-evaluation are confirming the
quality of results of the on-line learning evaluation,
adding pre-tests, expanding question bank and verifying
its validity, simplifying the evaluation process and
changing the perspectives of the company toward the on-
line learning evaluation.
Agile Construction and Evolution of Product-Line Architectures
No full textSoftware Product Line Engineering (SPLE) has proved to have significant advantages in family-based software development, but also implies the up¬front design of a product-line architecture (PLA) from which individual product applications can be engineered. The big upfront design associated with PLAs is in conflict with the current need of "being open to change". However, the turbulence of the current business climate makes change inevitable in order to stay competitive, and requires PLAs to be open to change even late in the development. The trend of "being open to change" is manifested in the Agile Software Development (ASD) paradigm, but it is spreading to the domain of SPLE. To reduce the big upfront design of PLAs as currently practiced in SPLE, new paradigms are being created, one being Agile Product Line Engineering (APLE). APLE aims to make the development of product-lines more flexible and adaptable to changes as promoted in ASD. To put APLE into practice it is necessary to make mechanisms available to assist and guide the agile construction and evolution of PLAs while complying with the "be open to change" agile principle. This thesis defines a process for "the agile construction and evolution of product-line architectures", which we refer to as Agile Product-Line Archi-tecting (APLA). The APLA process provides agile architects with a set of models for describing, documenting and tracing PLAs, as well as an algorithm to analyze change impact. Both the models and the change impact analysis offer the following capabilities: Flexibility & adaptability at the time of defining software architectures, enabling change during the incremental and iterative design of PLAs (anticipated or planned changes) and their evolution (unanticipated or unforeseen changes). Assistance in checking architectural integrity through change impact analysis in terms of architectural concerns, such as dependencies on earlier design decisions, rationale, constraints, and risks, etc.Guidance in the change decision-making process through change im¬pact analysis in terms of architectural components and connections. Therefore, APLA provides the mechanisms required to construct and evolve PLAs that can easily be refined iteration after iteration during the APLE development process. These mechanisms are provided in a modeling frame¬work called FPLA. The contributions of this thesis have been validated through the conduction of a project regarding a metering management system in electrical power networks. This case study took place in an i-smart software factory and was in collaboration with the Technical University of Madrid and Indra Software Labs. La Ingeniería de Líneas de Producto Software (Software Product Line Engi¬neering, SPLE) ha demostrado tener ventajas significativas en el desarrollo de software basado en familias de productos. SPLE es un paradigma que se basa en la reutilización sistemática de un conjunto de características comunes que comparten los productos de un mismo dominio o familia, y la personalización masiva a través de una variabilidad bien definida que diferencia unos productos de otros. Este tipo de desarrollo requiere el diseño inicial de una arquitectura de línea de productos (Product-Line Architecture, PLA) a partir de la cual los productos individuales de la familia son diseñados e implementados. La inversión inicial que hay que realizar en el diseño de PLAs entra en conflicto con la necesidad actual de estar continuamente "abierto al cam¬bio", siendo este cambio cada vez más frecuente y radical en la industria software. Para ser competitivos es inevitable adaptarse al cambio, incluso en las últimas etapas del desarrollo de productos software. Esta tendencia se manifiesta de forma especial en el paradigma de Desarrollo Ágil de Software (Agile Software Development, ASD) y se está extendiendo también al ámbito de SPLE. Con el objetivo de reducir la inversión inicial en el diseño de PLAs en la manera en que se plantea en SPLE, en los último años han surgido nuevos enfoques como la Ingeniera de Líneas de Producto Software Ágiles (Agile Product Line Engineering, APLE). APLE propone el desarrollo de líneas de producto de forma más flexible y adaptable a los cambios, iterativa e incremental. Para ello, es necesario disponer de mecanismos que ayuden y guíen a los arquitectos de líneas de producto en el diseño y evolución ágil de PLAs, mientras se cumple con el principio ágil de estar abierto al cambio. Esta tesis define un proceso para la "construcción y evolución ágil de las arquitecturas de lineas de producto software". A este proceso se le ha denominado Agile Product-Line Architecting (APLA). El proceso APLA proporciona a los arquitectos software un conjunto de modelos para de¬scribir, documentar y trazar PLAs, así como un algoritmo para analizar vel impacto del cambio. Los modelos y el análisis del impacto del cambio ofrecen: Flexibilidad y adaptabilidad a la hora de definir las arquitecturas software, facilitando el cambio durante el diseño incremental e iterativo de PLAs (cambios esperados o previstos) y su evolución (cambios no previstos). Asistencia en la verificación de la integridad arquitectónica mediante el análisis de impacto de los cambios en términos de dependencias entre decisiones de diseño, justificación de las decisiones de diseño, limitaciones, riesgos, etc. Orientación en la toma de decisiones derivadas del cambio mediante el análisis de impacto de los cambios en términos de componentes y conexiones. De esta manera, APLA se presenta como una solución para la construcción y evolución de PLAs de forma que puedan ser fácilmente refinadas iteración tras iteración de un ciclo de vida de líneas de producto ágiles. Dicha solución se ha implementado en una herramienta llamada FPLA (Flexible Product-Line Architecture) y ha sido validada mediante su aplicación en un proyecto de desarrollo de un sistema de gestión de medición en redes de energía eléctrica. Dicho proyecto ha sido desarrollado en una fábrica de software global en colaboración con la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid e Indra Software Labs
[[alternative]]A Study of On-line Learners' Learning Needs
No full text[[abstract]]With the success of competitive global markets and advancing information technology, on-line learning had been brought forth. Although on-line learning was developing and becoming commonplace with many studies exploring it, the lack of studies in on-line learners’ learning needs still existed. For this reason, the main purpose of this study was to explore the aspects of on-line learners’ learning needs. The study constructed electronic questionnaires to gather learners’ opinions about the importance degree of on-line learners’ learning needs. Having done the study, the following two conclusions were made: first, from the on-line learners’ viewpoints, there were nineteen needs of great importance; second, their learning needs can further divide into five categories: learning feedback, interaction mechanism, system design, learning content, and learning objects, and each of these five categories had their significance.
Three-line modelling of the Terschelling supply
No full textIn the framework of the NOURTEC project experimental nourishments have been executed. The NOURTEC project is an EU-research project in the scope of the program for Marine Science and Technology (Mast II). NOURTEC stands for Innovative Nourishment Techniques Evaluation. Full-scale experiments have been carried out in three different countries (Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands). Different nourishment techniques have been applied (i.e. shoreface nourishments and beach nourishments). In the period May to November 1993 a shoreface nourishment was carried out at the coast of Terschelling (the Netherlands). An extensive monitoring program has accompanied this exercise. This study is about the simulation of the evolution of the nourishment with a three-line model. The basic idea of line modelling is that the magnitude of cross-shore transport is proportional to the deviation from the equilibrium shape of the cross-shore proflle. For the modelling the cross-shore profile is schematised in zones. Each zone is characterised by "a line which represents the sediment volume of the zone. Also longshore dispersion is taken into account. Coastal constants which quantify the magnitude of transport in cross and longshore direction have been determined. For that purpose use was made of the available wave and bathymetric data. A study was made of the behaviour of the coast prior to the nourishment. The autonomous behaviour was taken into account for determining the shoreface nourishment behaviour. A comparison between measured development and calculations with the three linemodel shows that there are similarities but also considerable differences. One of the difficulties is how to distinguish between autonomous proflle development and profile development caused by the nourishment. The behaviour of the nourishment is partly understood by the model runs. The calculated development of the upper zone is very similar to the measured development. The results for the middle zone are less good. The three-line model will in principle predict symmetrical proflle development in longshore direction in case of an alongshore symmetrical supply. From observations it is clear that the nourishment is moving eastward. This can not be modelled with the present three-line model. The differences between measured and calculated development in the lower zone are also considerable. The research has yielded an increased insight in the complex behaviour of the shoreface nourishment along the coast of Terschelling.Hydraulic EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience
Line-start permanent-magnet motor: single-phase starting performance analysis
No full textThis paper presents a detailed quasi-steady-state approach to different torque components (average and pulsating) for a single-phase capacitor-run permanent-magnet (PM) motor. By employing average electromagnetic torque, and the expected envelope of the pulsating torque, an accurate prediction of starting torque components behavior is made. The quasi-steady-state analysis of the asynchronous performance of the single-phase capacitor-start capacitor-run PM motor is realized through a combination of symmetrical components and d-q axes theory. The developed approach is valid for any m-phase AC motor-induction, synchronous reluctance, or synchronous PM
- …
