Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Trends In Uspto Office Actions, Ron D. Katznelson

Ron D. Katznelson

No abstract provided.

Ocena Wpływu Planowanego Zakładu Termicznego Przekształcania Odpadów Komunalnych Na Jakość Powietrza W Krakowie, Robert Oleniacz, Maria Pilch

Robert Oleniacz

The work presents air quality impact assessment for the planned Municipal Solid Waste Incineration (MSWI) plant in Krakow with a established capacity of 255000 tons per year. The evaluation is based on assumption that air pollutant emissions from the incinerator will be at the highest allowed level resulting from emission limit values for waste incineration plants with operation time each of two planned lines 7500 hours per year. Calculation results for the one of the considered localization of the MSWI plant in Krakow (district of Nowa Huta) support the thesis that building the incineration plant of this size will not …

Electric Power: Cyber And Electromagnetic Security Issues, George H. Baker

George H Baker

Electric power is essential to the functioning of U.S. society. The electric power system increasingly operates at or near its reliability limits. The geographic scale of the tightly coupled networks involved makes the system susceptible to large-scale outages. More frequent natural and accidental failures portend possible catastrophes from intentional disruption. Deregulation has been a major factor to the lack of investment in system upgrades. Techniques to prevent attacks and reduce vulnerabilities are available and affordable.

"Conversational" Dialogues In Direct-Manipulation Interfaces, David G. Novick

David G. Novick

This paper reports ongoing research in extending direct-manipulation interfaces by incorporating, via the direct-manipulation modality itself, interaction techniques that add kinds of language features associated with spoken conversation. The paper proposes means of implementing ways for a user of a direct-manipulation system to define new kinds of relations among objects in the interface.

Users And Uses Of Synchronous Business Communications Software, David G. Novick, Eleanor Wynn

David G. Novick

To help designers and authors understand users' intentions and work practices for synchronous business communications in a systematic way, we used ethnographic and task-analytic techniques to collect, analyze and classify evidence of the activities of potential users as they conducted their work lives. The interactions we observed among our users took place through a variety of modalities. We found eight categories of tasks for the collaborative or interactive work in which our subjects engaged. Based on these data, we were able to classify roles of potential users of synchronous business communications software into a set of "archetypes" that characterize their …

Hands-Free Documentation, Karen Ward, David G. Novick

David G. Novick

In this paper, we introduce an analysis of the requirements and design choices for hands-free documentation. Hands-busy tasks such as cooking or car repair may require substantial interruption of the task: moving the pan off the burner and wiping hands, or crawling out from underneath the car. We review the need for hands-free documentation and explore the role of task in the use of documentation. Our central analysis examines the roles and characteristics of input and output modalities of hands-free documentation. In particular, we review the use of speech as an input modality, and then visual means and speech as …

An Interaction Initiative Model For Documentation, David G. Novick, Karen Ward

David G. Novick

In this paper we propose a model of creation and use of documentation based on the concept of mixed-initiative interaction. In our model, successful single-initiative interaction is characterized by grounding of contributions, and successful mixed-initiative interaction is characterized by both grounding and agreement. Just as in spoken conversation, achievement of actual agreement depends on the intentions of both parties; agreement is achieved when the reader follows the documentation’s instructions. In fact, readers are not obligated to—and often do not—act according to the author’s intentions. By making these dynamics explicit, the model can aid authors in developing effective documentation. The paper …

Assessing Effectiveness Of Personality Style In Documentation, Kenneth Sayles, David G. Novick

David G. Novick

This paper extends previous work by other researchers that indicated that users of computers preferred a computer with a personality that was similar to theirs. We conducted a similar experiment, but looking beyond preference to see if the personality of documentation would make a difference in the user’s performance. Our data suggest did not indicate that personality match affects performance; and if such a relationship exists it is likely to be weak. We discuss the related research, describe our methodology, present our results, and describe their implications and limitations.

Approaches To Mitigating Decayed Buried Timber Within Railway Embankments, Barry A. Palynchuk Phd

Barry A. Palynchuk PhD

During the last three years, several sinkholes have been observed along CPR railway lines in Southern Ontario. The sinkholes have formed as a result of the decay of buried timber trestles in railway embankments. Although it has not occurred the sinkholes could result in hazardous changes in track geometry under load. This study summarizes the site investigation results and remedial methods implemented at five sites in southern Ontario. Remedial methods include placement geosynthetic reinforcement, soil-cement column reinforcement and grouting of voids at the trestle bents. The design, installation methods and construction constraints for the remedial options are described in this …

Functional Principal Component Regression And Functional Partial Least Squares, Philip T. Reiss, R. Todd Ogden

Philip T. Reiss

Regression of a scalar response on signal predictors, such as near-infrared (NIR) spectra of chemical samples, presents a major challenge when, as is typically the case, the dimension of the signals far exceeds their number. Most solutions to this problem reduce the dimension of the predictors either by regressing on components--e.g. principal component regression (PCR) and partial least squares (PLS)--or by smoothing methods which restrict the coefficient function to the span of a spline basis. This paper introduces functional versions of PCR and PLS, which combine both of the above dimension reduction approaches. Two versions of functional PCR are developed, …

Torsional Waveguide Density Sensor, Radek Glaser

Radek Glaser

Industrial Symbiosis For Very Large Scale Photovoltaic Manufacturing, Joshua M. Pearce

Joshua M. Pearce

Designing Resource-Bounded Reasoners Using Bayesian Networks: System Health Monitoring And Diagnosis, Ole J. Mengshoel

Ole J Mengshoel

In this work we are concerned with the conceptual design of large-scale diagnostic and health management systems that use Bayesian networks. While they are potentially powerful, improperly designed Bayesian networks can result in too high memory requirements or too long inference times, to they point where they may not be acceptable for real-time diagnosis and health management in resource-bounded systems such as NASA’s aerospace vehicles. We investigate the clique tree clustering approach to Bayesian network inference, where increasing the size and connectivity of a Bayesian network typically also increases clique tree size. This paper combines techniques for analytically characterizing clique …

Controlled Language: The Next Big Thing In Translation?, Uwe Muegge

Uwe Muegge

Many global organizations are beginning to see the productivity indicators for their translation and localization processes reach a plateau. That’s an inevitable fact even for those organizations that use what’s currently billed as the latest and greatest in translation technology, such as translation memory with automated workflow components or globalization management systems. Even with these tools in place, making content available in multiple languages remains a very expensive and time-consuming proposition. For those looking for ways to reduce the cost of translation to the point where almost all materials that should be translation actually can be translated, controlled language may …

Digital Elevation Accuracy And Grid Cell Size: Effects On Computed Topographic Attributes, Rob H. Erskine, Timothy R. Green

Timothy R. Green

Terrain attributes are commonly used to explain the spatial variability of agronomic, pedologic, and hydrologic variables. The terrain attributes studied here (elevation, slope, aspect, and curvature) are estimated readily from digital elevation models (DEMs), but questions remain about how the accuracy and sample spacing of the elevation data affect the estimated attributes. The main objective of this study was to quantify differences in each terrain attribute due to factors affecting DEM accuracy and grid cell size. Three data sources were compared: (i) real-time kinematic global positioning system (RTKGPS); (ii) satellite-differentially corrected global positioning system (DGPS); and (iii) U.S. Geological Survey …