Thinking Outside the Box: Agile Business Models for CNOs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loss, Leandro; Crave, Servane

This paper introduces the idea of an agile Business Model for CNOs grounded on a new model of innovation based on the effects of globalization and of Knowledge Economy. The agile Business Model considers the resources that are spread out and available worldwide as well as the need for each customer to receive a unique customer experience. It aims at reinforcing in the context of the Knowledge Economy the different business models approaches developed so far. The paper also identifies the levers and the barriers of Agile Business Models Innovation in CNOs.

A Roadmap for Using Agile Development in a Traditional Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Streiffert, Barbara; Starbird, Thomas; Grenander, Sven

2006-01-01

One of the newer classes of software engineering techniques is called 'Agile Development'. In Agile Development software engineers take small implementation steps and, in some cases, they program in pairs. In addition, they develop automatic tests prior to implementing their small functional piece. Agile Development focuses on rapid turnaround, incremental planning, customer involvement and continuous integration. Agile Development is not the traditional waterfall method or even a rapid prototyping method (although this methodology is closer to Agile Development). At the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) a few groups have begun Agile Development software implementations. The difficulty with this approach becomes apparent when Agile Development is used in an organization that has specific criteria and requirements handed down for how software development is to be performed. The work at the JPL is performed for the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA). Both organizations have specific requirements, rules and processes for developing software. This paper will discuss some of the initial uses of the Agile Development methodology, the spread of this method and the current status of the successful incorporation into the current JPL development policies and processes.

Agile Learning: Sprinting through the Semester

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lang, Guido

2017-01-01

This paper introduces agile learning, a novel pedagogical approach that applies the processes and principles of agile software development to the context of learning. Agile learning is characterized by short project cycles, called sprints, in which a usable deliverable is fully planned, designed, built, tested, reviewed, and launched. An…

Agile science: creating useful products for behavior change in the real world.

PubMed

Hekler, Eric B; Klasnja, Predrag; Riley, William T; Buman, Matthew P; Huberty, Jennifer; Rivera, Daniel E; Martin, Cesar A

2016-06-01

Evidence-based practice is important for behavioral interventions but there is debate on how best to support real-world behavior change. The purpose of this paper is to define products and a preliminary process for efficiently and adaptively creating and curating a knowledge base for behavior change for real-world implementation. We look to evidence-based practice suggestions and draw parallels to software development. We argue to target three products: (1) the smallest, meaningful, self-contained, and repurposable behavior change modules of an intervention; (2) "computational models" that define the interaction between modules, individuals, and context; and (3) "personalization" algorithms, which are decision rules for intervention adaptation. The "agile science" process includes a generation phase whereby contender operational definitions and constructs of the three products are created and assessed for feasibility and an evaluation phase, whereby effect size estimates/casual inferences are created. The process emphasizes early-and-often sharing. If correct, agile science could enable a more robust knowledge base for behavior change.

Optical flows method for lightweight agile remote sensor design and instrumentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Chong; Xing, Fei; Wang, Hongjian; You, Zheng

2013-08-01

Lightweight agile remote sensors have become one type of the most important payloads and were widely utilized in space reconnaissance and resource survey. These imaging sensors are designed to obtain the high spatial, temporary and spectral resolution imageries. Key techniques in instrumentation include flexible maneuvering, advanced imaging control algorithms and integrative measuring techniques, which are closely correlative or even acting as the bottle-necks for each other. Therefore, mutual restrictive problems must be solved and optimized. Optical flow is the critical model which to be fully represented in the information transferring as well as radiation energy flowing in dynamic imaging. For agile sensors, especially with wide-field-of view, imaging optical flows may distort and deviate seriously when they perform large angle attitude maneuvering imaging. The phenomena are mainly attributed to the geometrical characteristics of the three-dimensional earth surface as well as the coupled effects due to the complicated relative motion between the sensor and scene. Under this circumstance, velocity fields distribute nonlinearly, the imageries may badly be smeared or probably the geometrical structures are changed since the image velocity matching errors are not having been eliminated perfectly. In this paper, precise imaging optical flow model is established for agile remote sensors, for which optical flows evolving is factorized by two forms, which respectively due to translational movement and image shape changing. Moreover, base on that, agile remote sensors instrumentation was investigated. The main techniques which concern optical flow modeling include integrative design with lightweight star sensors along with micro inertial measurement units and corresponding data fusion, the assemblies of focal plane layout and control, imageries post processing for agile remote sensors etc. Some experiments show that the optical analyzing method is effective to eliminate the limitations for the performance indexes, and succeeded to be applied for integrative system design. Finally, a principle prototype of agile remote sensor designed by the method is discussed.

Taking Another Look at the Data Management Life Cycle: Deconstruction, Agile, and Community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, J. W.; Lenhardt, W. C.; Parsons, M. A.; Benedict, K. K.

2014-12-01

The data life cycle has figured prominently in describing the context of digital scientific data stewardship and cyberinfractructure in support of science. There are many different versions of the data life cycle, but they all follow a similar basic pattern: plan, collect, ingest, asses, preserve, discover, and reuse. The process is often interpreted in a fairly linear fashion despite it being a cycle conceptually. More recently at GeoData 2014 and elsewhere, questions have been raised about the utility of the data life cycle as it is currently represented. We are proposing to the community a re-examination of the data life cycle using an agile lens. Our goal is not to deploy agile methods, but to use agile principles as a heuristic to think about how to incorporate data stewardship across the scientific process from proposal stage to research and beyond. We will present alternative conceptualizations of the data life cycle with a goal to solicit feedback and to develop a new model for conceiving and describing the overall data stewardship process. We seek to re-examine past assumptions and shed new light on the challenges and necessity of data stewardship. The ultimate goal is to support new science through enhanced data interoperability, usability, and preservation.

The NERV Methodology: Non-Functional Requirements Elicitation, Reasoning and Validation in Agile Processes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Domah, Darshan

2013-01-01

Agile software development has become very popular around the world in recent years, with methods such as Scrum and Extreme Programming (XP). Literature suggests that functionality is the primary focus in Agile processes while non-functional requirements (NFR) are either ignored or ill-defined. However, for software to be of good quality both…

Some Findings Concerning Requirements in Agile Methodologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodríguez, Pilar; Yagüe, Agustín; Alarcón, Pedro P.; Garbajosa, Juan

Agile methods have appeared as an attractive alternative to conventional methodologies. These methods try to reduce the time to market and, indirectly, the cost of the product through flexible development and deep customer involvement. The processes related to requirements have been extensively studied in literature, in most cases in the frame of conventional methods. However, conclusions of conventional methodologies could not be necessarily valid for Agile; in some issues, conventional and Agile processes are radically different. As recent surveys report, inadequate project requirements is one of the most conflictive issues in agile approaches and better understanding about this is needed. This paper describes some findings concerning requirements activities in a project developed under an agile methodology. The project intended to evolve an existing product and, therefore, some background information was available. The major difficulties encountered were related to non-functional needs and management of requirements dependencies.

Analysis on critical success factors for agile manufacturing evaluation in original equipment manufacturing industry-an AHP approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ajay Guru Dev, C.; Senthil Kumar, V. S.

2016-09-01

Manufacturing industries are facing challenges in the implementation of agile manufacturing in their products and processes. Agility is widely accepted as a new competitive concept in the manufacturing sector in fulfilling varying customer demand. Thus, evaluation of agile manufacturing in industries has become a necessity. The success of an organisation depends on its ability to manage finding the critical success factors and give them special and continued attention in order to bring about high performance. This paper proposes a set of critical success factors (CSFs) for evaluating agile manufacturing considered appropriate for the manufacturing sector. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method is applied for prioritizing the success factors, by summarizing the opinions of experts. It is believed that the proposed CSFs enable and assist manufacturing industries to achieve a higher performance in agile manufacturing so as to increase competitiveness.

Integrating Low-Cost Rapid Usability Testing into Agile System Development of Healthcare IT: A Methodological Perspective.

PubMed

Kushniruk, Andre W; Borycki, Elizabeth M

2015-01-01

The development of more usable and effective healthcare information systems has become a critical issue. In the software industry methodologies such as agile and iterative development processes have emerged to lead to more effective and usable systems. These approaches highlight focusing on user needs and promoting iterative and flexible development practices. Evaluation and testing of iterative agile development cycles is considered an important part of the agile methodology and iterative processes for system design and re-design. However, the issue of how to effectively integrate usability testing methods into rapid and flexible agile design cycles has remained to be fully explored. In this paper we describe our application of an approach known as low-cost rapid usability testing as it has been applied within agile system development in healthcare. The advantages of the integrative approach are described, along with current methodological considerations.

Transitioning from Distributed and Traditional to Distributed and Agile: An Experience Report

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wildt, Daniel; Prikladnicki, Rafael

Global companies that experienced extensive waterfall phased plans are trying to improve their existing processes to expedite team engagement. Agile methodologies have become an acceptable path to follow because it comprises project management as part of its practices. Agile practices have been used with the objective of simplifying project control through simple processes, easy to update documentation and higher team iteration over exhaustive documentation, focusing rather on team continuous improvement and aiming to add value to business processes. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the experience of a global multinational company on transitioning from distributed and traditional to distributed and agile. This company has development centers across North America, South America and Asia. This chapter covers challenges faced by the project teams of two pilot projects, including strengths of using agile practices in a globally distributed environment and practical recommendations for similar endeavors.

Development of perceived competence, tactical skills, motivation, technical skills, and speed and agility in young soccer players.

PubMed

Forsman, Hannele; Gråstén, Arto; Blomqvist, Minna; Davids, Keith; Liukkonen, Jarmo; Konttinen, Niilo

2016-07-01

The objective of this 1-year, longitudinal study was to examine the development of perceived competence, tactical skills, motivation, technical skills, and speed and agility characteristics of young Finnish soccer players. We also examined associations between latent growth models of perceived competence and other recorded variables. Participants were 288 competitive male soccer players ranging from 12 to 14 years (12.7 ± 0.6) from 16 soccer clubs. Players completed the self-assessments of perceived competence, tactical skills, and motivation, and participated in technical, and speed and agility tests. Results of this study showed that players' levels of perceived competence, tactical skills, motivation, technical skills, and speed and agility characteristics remained relatively high and stable across the period of 1 year. Positive relationships were found between these levels and changes in perceived competence and motivation, and levels of perceived competence and speed and agility characteristics. Together these results illustrate the multi-dimensional nature of talent development processes in soccer. Moreover, it seems crucial in coaching to support the development of perceived competence and motivation in young soccer players and that it might be even more important in later maturing players.

Research to Operations of Ionospheric Scintillation Detection and Forecasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, J.; Scro, K.; Payne, D.; Ruhge, R.; Erickson, B.; Andorka, S.; Ludwig, C.; Karmann, J.; Ebelhar, D.

Ionospheric Scintillation refers to random fluctuations in phase and amplitude of electromagnetic waves caused by a rapidly varying refractive index due to turbulent features in the ionosphere. Scintillation of transionospheric UHF and L-Band radio frequency signals is particularly troublesome since this phenomenon can lead to degradation of signal strength and integrity that can negatively impact satellite communications and navigation, radar, or radio signals from other systems that traverse or interact with the ionosphere. Although ionospheric scintillation occurs in both the equatorial and polar regions of the Earth, the focus of this modeling effort is on equatorial scintillation. The ionospheric scintillation model is data-driven in a sense that scintillation observations are used to perform detection and characterization of scintillation structures. These structures are then propagated to future times using drift and decay models to represent the natural evolution of ionospheric scintillation. The impact on radio signals is also determined by the model and represented in graphical format to the user. A frequency scaling algorithm allows for impact analysis on frequencies other than the observation frequencies. The project began with lab-grade software and through a tailored Agile development process, deployed operational-grade code to a DoD operational center. The Agile development process promotes adaptive promote adaptive planning, evolutionary development, early delivery, continuous improvement, regular collaboration with the customer, and encourage rapid and flexible response to customer-driven changes. The Agile philosophy values individuals and interactions over processes and tools, working software over comprehensive documentation, customer collaboration over contract negotiation, and responding to change over following a rigid plan. The end result was an operational capability that met customer expectations. Details of the model and the process of operational integration are discussed as well as lessons learned to improve performance on future projects.

The influence of physical and cognitive factors on reactive agility performance in men basketball players.

PubMed

Scanlan, Aaron; Humphries, Brendan; Tucker, Patrick S; Dalbo, Vincent

2014-01-01

This study explored the influence of physical and cognitive measures on reactive agility performance in basketball players. Twelve men basketball players performed multiple sprint, Change of Direction Speed Test, and Reactive Agility Test trials. Pearson's correlation analyses were used to determine relationships between the predictor variables (stature, mass, body composition, 5-m, 10-m and 20-m sprint times, peak speed, closed-skill agility time, response time and decision-making time) and reactive agility time (response variable). Simple and stepwise regression analyses determined the individual influence of each predictor variable and the best predictor model for reactive agility time. Morphological (r = -0.45 to 0.19), sprint (r = -0.40 to 0.41) and change-of-direction speed measures (r = 0.43) had small to moderate correlations with reactive agility time. Response time (r = 0.76, P = 0.004) and decision-making time (r = 0.58, P = 0.049) had large to very large relationships with reactive agility time. Response time was identified as the sole predictor variable for reactive agility time in the stepwise model (R(2) = 0.58, P = 0.004). In conclusion, cognitive measures had the greatest influence on reactive agility performance in men basketball players. These findings suggest reaction and decision-making drills should be incorporated in basketball training programmes.

Agile Implementation: A Blueprint for Implementing Evidence-Based Healthcare Solutions.

PubMed

Boustani, Malaz; Alder, Catherine A; Solid, Craig A

2018-03-07

To describe the essential components of an Agile Implementation (AI) process, which rapidly and effectively implements evidence-based healthcare solutions, and present a case study demonstrating its utility. Case demonstration study. Integrated, safety net healthcare delivery system in Indianapolis. Interdisciplinary team of clinicians and administrators. Reduction in dementia symptoms and caregiver burden; inpatient and outpatient care expenditures. Implementation scientists were able to implement a collaborative care model for dementia care and sustain it for more than 9 years. The model was implemented and sustained by using the elements of the AI process: proactive surveillance and confirmation of clinical opportunities, selection of the right evidence-based healthcare solution, localization (i.e., tailoring to the local environment) of the selected solution, development of an evaluation plan and performance feedback loop, development of a minimally standardized operation manual, and updating such manual annually. The AI process provides an effective model to implement and sustain evidence-based healthcare solutions. © 2018, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2018, The American Geriatrics Society.

Overview of the TriBITS Lifecycle Model: Lean/Agile Software Lifecycle Model for Research-based Computational Science and Engineering Software

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bartlett, Roscoe A; Heroux, Dr. Michael A; Willenbring, James

2012-01-01

Software lifecycles are becoming an increasingly important issue for computational science & engineering (CSE) software. The process by which a piece of CSE software begins life as a set of research requirements and then matures into a trusted high-quality capability is both commonplace and extremely challenging. Although an implicit lifecycle is obviously being used in any effort, the challenges of this process--respecting the competing needs of research vs. production--cannot be overstated. Here we describe a proposal for a well-defined software lifecycle process based on modern Lean/Agile software engineering principles. What we propose is appropriate for many CSE software projects thatmore » are initially heavily focused on research but also are expected to eventually produce usable high-quality capabilities. The model is related to TriBITS, a build, integration and testing system, which serves as a strong foundation for this lifecycle model, and aspects of this lifecycle model are ingrained in the TriBITS system. Indeed this lifecycle process, if followed, will enable large-scale sustainable integration of many complex CSE software efforts across several institutions.« less

Developing a model for agile supply: an empirical study from Iranian pharmaceutical supply chain.

PubMed

Rajabzadeh Ghatari, Ali; Mehralian, Gholamhossein; Zarenezhad, Forouzandeh; Rasekh, Hamid Reza

2013-01-01

Agility is the fundamental characteristic of a supply chain needed for survival in turbulent markets, where environmental forces create additional uncertainty resulting in higher risk in the supply chain management. In addition, agility helps providing the right product, at the right time to the consumer. The main goal of this research is therefore to promote supplier selection in pharmaceutical industry according to the formative basic factors. Moreover, this paper can configure its supply network to achieve the agile supply chain. The present article analyzes the supply part of supply chain based on SCOR model, used to assess agile supply chains by highlighting their specific characteristics and applicability in providing the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). This methodology provides an analytical modeling; the model enables potential suppliers to be assessed against the multiple criteria using both quantitative and qualitative measures. In addition, for making priority of critical factors, TOPSIS algorithm has been used as a common technique of MADM model. Finally, several factors such as delivery speed, planning and reorder segmentation, trust development and material quantity adjustment are identified and prioritized as critical factors for being agile in supply of API.

Developing a Model for Agile Supply: an Empirical Study from Iranian Pharmaceutical Supply Chain

PubMed Central

Rajabzadeh Ghatari, Ali; Mehralian, Gholamhossein; Zarenezhad, Forouzandeh; Rasekh, Hamid Reza

2013-01-01

Agility is the fundamental characteristic of a supply chain needed for survival in turbulent markets, where environmental forces create additional uncertainty resulting in higher risk in the supply chain management. In addition, agility helps providing the right product, at the right time to the consumer. The main goal of this research is therefore to promote supplier selection in pharmaceutical industry according to the formative basic factors. Moreover, this paper can configure its supply network to achieve the agile supply chain. The present article analyzes the supply part of supply chain based on SCOR model, used to assess agile supply chains by highlighting their specific characteristics and applicability in providing the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). This methodology provides an analytical modeling; the model enables potential suppliers to be assessed against the multiple criteria using both quantitative and qualitative measures. In addition, for making priority of critical factors, TOPSIS algorithm has been used as a common technique of MADM model. Finally, several factors such as delivery speed, planning and reorder segmentation, trust development and material quantity adjustment are identified and prioritized as critical factors for being agile in supply of API. PMID:24250689

A Big Data-driven Model for the Optimization of Healthcare Processes.

PubMed

Koufi, Vassiliki; Malamateniou, Flora; Vassilacopoulos, George

2015-01-01

Healthcare organizations increasingly navigate a highly volatile, complex environment in which technological advancements and new healthcare delivery business models are the only constants. In their effort to out-perform in this environment, healthcare organizations need to be agile enough in order to become responsive to these increasingly changing conditions. To act with agility, healthcare organizations need to discover new ways to optimize their operations. To this end, they focus on healthcare processes that guide healthcare delivery and on the technologies that support them. Business process management (BPM) and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) can provide a flexible, dynamic, cloud-ready infrastructure where business process analytics can be utilized to extract useful insights from mountains of raw data, and make them work in ways beyond the abilities of human brains, or IT systems from just a year ago. This paper presents a framework which provides healthcare professionals gain better insight within and across your business processes. In particular, it performs real-time analysis on process-related data in order reveal areas of potential process improvement.

Towards a Better Understanding of CMMI and Agile Integration - Multiple Case Study of Four Companies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pikkarainen, Minna

The amount of software is increasing in the different domains in Europe. This provides the industries in smaller countries good opportunities to work in the international markets. Success in the global markets however demands the rapid production of high quality, error free software. Both CMMI and agile methods seem to provide a ready solution for quality and lead time improvements. There is not, however, much empirical evidence available either about 1) how the integration of these two aspects can be done in practice or 2) what it actually demands from assessors and software process improvement groups. The goal of this paper is to increase the understanding of CMMI and agile integration, in particular, focusing on the research question: how to use ‘lightweight’ style of CMMI assessments in agile contexts. This is done via four case studies in which assessments were conducted using the goals of CMMI integrated project management and collaboration and coordination with relevant stakeholder process areas and practices from XP and Scrum. The study shows that the use of agile practices may support the fulfilment of the goals of CMMI process areas but there are still many challenges for the agile teams to be solved within the continuous improvement programs. It also identifies practical advices to the assessors and improvement groups to take into consideration when conducting assessment in the context of agile software development.

Pilot users in agile development processes: motivational factors.

PubMed

Johannessen, Liv Karen; Gammon, Deede

2010-01-01

Despite a wealth of research on user participation, few studies offer insights into how to involve multi-organizational users in agile development methods. This paper is a case study of user involvement in developing a system for electronic laboratory requisitions using agile methodologies in a multi-organizational context. Building on an interpretive approach, we illuminate questions such as: How does collaboration between users and developers evolve and how might it be improved? What key motivational aspects are at play when users volunteer and continue contributing in the face of considerable added burdens? The study highlights how agile methods in themselves appear to facilitate mutually motivating collaboration between user groups and developers. Lessons learned for leveraging the advantages of agile development processes include acknowledging the substantial and ongoing contributions of users and their roles as co-designers of the system.

Introduction to Stand-up Meetings in Agile Methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hasnain, Eisha; Hall, Tracy

2009-05-01

In recent years, agile methods have become more popular in the software industry. Agile methods are a new approach compared to plan-driven approaches. One of the most important shifts in adopting an agile approach is the central focus given to people in the process. This is exemplified by the independence afforded to developers in the development work they do. This work investigates the opinions of practitioners about daily stand-up meetings in the agile methods and the role of developer in that. For our investigation we joined a yahoo group called "Extreme Programming". Our investigation suggests that although trust is an important factor in agile methods. But stand-ups are not the place to build trust.

Social Protocols for Agile Virtual Teams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Picard, Willy

Despite many works on collaborative networked organizations (CNOs), CSCW, groupware, workflow systems and social networks, computer support for virtual teams is still insufficient, especially support for agility, i.e. the capability of virtual team members to rapidly and cost efficiently adapt the way they interact to changes. In this paper, requirements for computer support for agile virtual teams are presented. Next, an extension of the concept of social protocol is proposed as a novel model supporting agile interactions within virtual teams. The extended concept of social protocol consists of an extended social network and a workflow model.

Peridigm summary report : lessons learned in development with agile components.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Salinger, Andrew Gerhard; Mitchell, John Anthony; Littlewood, David John

2011-09-01

This report details efforts to deploy Agile Components for rapid development of a peridynamics code, Peridigm. The goal of Agile Components is to enable the efficient development of production-quality software by providing a well-defined, unifying interface to a powerful set of component-based software. Specifically, Agile Components facilitate interoperability among packages within the Trilinos Project, including data management, time integration, uncertainty quantification, and optimization. Development of the Peridigm code served as a testbed for Agile Components and resulted in a number of recommendations for future development. Agile Components successfully enabled rapid integration of Trilinos packages into Peridigm. A cost of thismore » approach, however, was a set of restrictions on Peridigm's architecture which impacted the ability to track history-dependent material data, dynamically modify the model discretization, and interject user-defined routines into the time integration algorithm. These restrictions resulted in modifications to the Agile Components approach, as implemented in Peridigm, and in a set of recommendations for future Agile Components development. Specific recommendations include improved handling of material states, a more flexible flow control model, and improved documentation. A demonstration mini-application, SimpleODE, was developed at the onset of this project and is offered as a potential supplement to Agile Components documentation.« less

Agile based "Semi-"Automated Data ingest process : ORNL DAAC example

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santhana Vannan, S. K.; Beaty, T.; Cook, R. B.; Devarakonda, R.; Hook, L.; Wei, Y.; Wright, D.

2015-12-01

The ORNL DAAC archives and publishes data and information relevant to biogeochemical, ecological, and environmental processes. The data archived at the ORNL DAAC must be well formatted, self-descriptive, and documented, as well as referenced in a peer-reviewed publication. The ORNL DAAC ingest team curates diverse data sets from multiple data providers simultaneously. To streamline the ingest process, the data set submission process at the ORNL DAAC has been recently updated to use an agile process and a semi-automated workflow system has been developed to provide a consistent data provider experience and to create a uniform data product. The goals of semi-automated agile ingest process are to: 1.Provide the ability to track a data set from acceptance to publication 2. Automate steps that can be automated to improve efficiencies and reduce redundancy 3.Update legacy ingest infrastructure 4.Provide a centralized system to manage the various aspects of ingest. This talk will cover the agile methodology, workflow, and tools developed through this system.

Exploring the possibility of modeling a genetic counseling guideline using agile methodology.

PubMed

Choi, Jeeyae

2013-01-01

Increased demand of genetic counseling services heightened the necessity of a computerized genetic counseling decision support system. In order to develop an effective and efficient computerized system, modeling of genetic counseling guideline is an essential step. Throughout this pilot study, Agile methodology with United Modeling Language (UML) was utilized to model a guideline. 13 tasks and 14 associated elements were extracted. Successfully constructed conceptual class and activity diagrams revealed that Agile methodology with UML was a suitable tool to modeling a genetic counseling guideline.

A Structured, Yet Agile Approach to Designing C2 Operating Environments

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-06-01

PROCESS ........................................................ 22 APPENDIX A: SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL...organization’s mission effectiveness. Lastly, he identifies the mechanisms for C2 agility, enabled by people, processes , information, systems...operations, controls forces, and coordinates operational activities and/or a facility that is organized to gather, process , analyze, dispatch, and

Agile manufacturing: The factory of the future

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Loibl, Joseph M.; Bossieux, Terry A.

1994-01-01

The factory of the future will require an operating methodology which effectively utilizes all of the elements of product design, manufacturing and delivery. The process must respond rapidly to changes in product demand, product mix, design changes or changes in the raw materials. To achieve agility in a manufacturing operation, the design and development of the manufacturing processes must focus on customer satisfaction. Achieving greatest results requires that the manufacturing process be considered from product concept through sales. This provides the best opportunity to build a quality product for the customer at a reasonable rate. The primary elements of a manufacturing system include people, equipment, materials, methods and the environment. The most significant and most agile element in any process is the human resource. Only with a highly trained, knowledgeable work force can the proper methods be applied to efficiently process materials with machinery which is predictable, reliable and flexible. This paper discusses the affect of each element on the development of agile manufacturing systems.

PDS4 - Some Principles for Agile Data Curation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hughes, J. S.; Crichton, D. J.; Hardman, S. H.; Joyner, R.; Algermissen, S.; Padams, J.

2015-12-01

PDS4, a research data management and curation system for NASA's Planetary Science Archive, was developed using principles that promote the characteristics of agile development. The result is an efficient system that produces better research data products while using less resources (time, effort, and money) and maximizes their usefulness for current and future scientists. The key principle is architectural. The PDS4 information architecture is developed and maintained independent of the infrastructure's process, application and technology architectures. The information architecture is based on an ontology-based information model developed to leverage best practices from standard reference models for digital archives, digital object registries, and metadata registries and capture domain knowledge from a panel of planetary science domain experts. The information model provides a sharable, stable, and formal set of information requirements for the system and is the primary source for information to configure most system components, including the product registry, search engine, validation and display tools, and production pipelines. Multi-level governance is also allowed for the effective management of the informational elements at the common, discipline, and project level. This presentation will describe the development principles, components, and uses of the information model and how an information model-driven architecture exhibits characteristics of agile curation including early delivery, evolutionary development, adaptive planning, continuous improvement, and rapid and flexible response to change.

Using Agile Project Management to Enhance the Performance of Instructional Design Teams

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sweeney, David S.; Cifuentes, Lauren

2010-01-01

Instructional design models describe in detail methodologies for designing effective instruction. Several widely adopted models include suggestions for managing instructional design projects. However, these suggestions focus on how to manage the instructional design steps rather than the instructional design and development team process. The…

PyMCT: A Very High Level Language Coupling Tool For Climate System Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tobis, M.; Pierrehumbert, R. T.; Steder, M.; Jacob, R. L.

2006-12-01

At the Climate Systems Center of the University of Chicago, we have been examining strategies for applying agile programming techniques to complex high-performance modeling experiments. While the "agile" development methodology differs from a conventional requirements process and its associated milestones, the process remain a formal one. It is distinguished by continuous improvement in functionality, large numbers of small releases, extensive and ongoing testing strategies, and a strong reliance on very high level languages (VHLL). Here we report on PyMCT, which we intend as a core element in a model ensemble control superstructure. PyMCT is a set of Python bindings for MCT, the Fortran-90 based Model Coupling Toolkit, which forms the infrastructure for the inter-component communication in the Community Climate System Model (CCSM). MCT provides a scalable model communication infrastructure. In order to take maximum advantage of agile software development methodologies, we exposed MCT functionality to Python, a prominent VHLL. We describe how the scalable architecture of MCT allows us to overcome the relatively weak runtime performance of Python, so that the performance of the combined system is not severely impacted. To demonstrate these advantages, we reimplemented the CCSM coupler in Python. While this alone offers no new functionality, it does provide a rigorous test of PyMCT functionality and performance. We reimplemented the CPL6 library, presenting an interesting case study of the comparison between conventional Fortran-90 programming and the higher abstraction level provided by a VHLL. The powerful abstractions provided by Python will allow much more complex experimental paradigms. In particular, we hope to build on the scriptability of our coupling strategy to enable systematic sensitivity tests. Our most ambitious objective is to combine our efforts with Bayesian inverse modeling techniques toward objective tuning at the highest level, across model architectures.

Organizational Leadership Process for University Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Llamosa-Villalba, Ricardo; Delgado, Dario J.; Camacho, Heidi P.; Paéz, Ana M.; Valdivieso, Raúl F.

2014-01-01

This paper relates the "Agile School", an emerging archetype of the enterprise architecture: "Processes of Organizational Leadership" for leading and managing strategies, tactics and operations of forming in Higher Education Institutions. Agile School is a system for innovation and deep transformation of University Institutions…

Quality as Sense-Making

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marshall, Stephen

2016-01-01

Sense-making is a process of engaging with complex and dynamic environments that provides organisations and their leaders with a flexible and agile model of the world. The seven key properties of sense-making describe a process that is social and that respects the range of different stakeholders in an organisation. It also addresses the need to…

Development of EarthCube Governance: An Agile Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pearthree, G.; Allison, M. L.; Patten, K.

2013-12-01

Governance of geosciences cyberinfrastructure is a complex and essential undertaking, critical in enabling distributed knowledge communities to collaborate and communicate across disciplines, distances, and cultures. Advancing science with respect to 'grand challenges," such as global climate change, weather prediction, and core fundamental science, depends not just on technical cyber systems, but also on social systems for strategic planning, decision-making, project management, learning, teaching, and building a community of practice. Simply put, a robust, agile technical system depends on an equally robust and agile social system. Cyberinfrastructure development is wrapped in social, organizational and governance challenges, which may significantly impede progress. An agile development process is underway for governance of transformative investments in geosciences cyberinfrastructure through the NSF EarthCube initiative. Agile development is iterative and incremental, and promotes adaptive planning and rapid and flexible response. Such iterative deployment across a variety of EarthCube stakeholders encourages transparency, consensus, accountability, and inclusiveness. A project Secretariat acts as the coordinating body, carrying out duties for planning, organizing, communicating, and reporting. A broad coalition of stakeholder groups comprises an Assembly (Mainstream Scientists, Cyberinfrastructure Institutions, Information Technology/Computer Sciences, NSF EarthCube Investigators, Science Communities, EarthCube End-User Workshop Organizers, Professional Societies) to serve as a preliminary venue for identifying, evaluating, and testing potential governance models. To offer opportunity for broader end-user input, a crowd-source approach will engage stakeholders not involved otherwise. An Advisory Committee from the Earth, ocean, atmosphere, social, computer and library sciences is guiding the process from a high-level policy point of view. Developmental evaluators from the social sciences embedded in the project provide real-time review and adjustments. While a large number of agencies and organizations have agreed to participate, in order to ensure an open and inclusive process, community selected leaders yet to be identified will play key roles through an Assembly Advisory Council. Once consensus is reached on a governing framework, a community-selected demonstration governance pilot will help facilitate community convergence on system design.

Dynamic Data Driven Applications Systems (DDDAS)

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-03-06

INS •  Chip-scale atomic clocks •  Ad hoc networks •  Polymorphic networks •  Agile networks •  Laser communications •  Frequency-agile RF...atomi clocks •  Ad hoc networks •  Polymorphic networks •  Agile networks •  Laser co munications •  Frequency-agile RF systems...Real-Time Doppler Wind Wind field Sensor observations Energy Estimation Atmospheric Models for On-line Planning Planning and Control

The Holy Grail of Agile Acquisition

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-04-01

Motivation • What is Agility? • Approach C t t Th A i iti S t (Th Bi “A” A i iti P )• on ex : e cqu s on ys em e g cqu s on rocess • Agile Software...Bestsellers…” [Erwin 2009] Motivation • Despite of Erwin’s recommendation… – Agility seems to be a simple concept and it is commonly perceived as a virtue...tension between the numerous stakeholders due to different motivation /behavior • The process elements themselves are complex and ambiguous Slide 16Peter

Agile, a guiding principle for health care improvement?

PubMed

Tolf, Sara; Nyström, Monica E; Tishelman, Carol; Brommels, Mats; Hansson, Johan

2015-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to increased understanding of the concept agile and its potential for hospital managers to optimize design of organizational structures and processes to combine internal efficiency and external effectiveness. An integrative review was conducted using the reSEARCH database. Articles met the following criteria: first, a definition of agility; second, descriptions of enablers of becoming an agile organization; and finally, discussions of agile on multiple organizational levels. In total, 60 articles qualified for the final analysis. Organizational agility rests on the assumption that the environment is uncertain, ranging from frequently changing to highly unpredictable. Proactive, reactive or embracive coping strategies were described as possible ways to handle such uncertain environments. Five organizational capacities were derived as necessary for hospitals to use the strategies optimally: transparent and transient inter-organizational links; market sensitivity and customer focus; management by support for self-organizing employees; organic structures that are elastic and responsive; flexible human and resource capacity for timely delivery. Agile is portrayed as either the "new paradigm" following lean, the needed development on top of a lean base, or as complementary to lean in distinct hybrid strategies. Environmental uncertainty needs to be matched with coping strategies and organizational capacities to design processes responsive to real needs of health care. This implies that lean and agile can be combined to optimize the design of hospitals, to meet different variations in demand and create good patient management. While considerable value has been paid to strategies to improve the internal efficiency within hospitals, this review raise the attention to the value of strategies of external effectiveness.

Agile Model Driven Development of Electronic Health Record-Based Specialty Population Registries.

PubMed

Kannan, Vaishnavi; Fish, Jason C; Willett, DuWayne L

2016-02-01

The transformation of the American healthcare payment system from fee-for-service to value-based care increasingly makes it valuable to develop patient registries for specialized populations, to better assess healthcare quality and costs. Recent widespread adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) in the U.S. now makes possible construction of EHR-based specialty registry data collection tools and reports, previously unfeasible using manual chart abstraction. But the complexities of specialty registry EHR tools and measures, along with the variety of stakeholders involved, can result in misunderstood requirements and frequent product change requests, as users first experience the tools in their actual clinical workflows. Such requirements churn could easily stall progress in specialty registry rollout. Modeling a system's requirements and solution design can be a powerful way to remove ambiguities, facilitate shared understanding, and help evolve a design to meet newly-discovered needs. "Agile Modeling" retains these values while avoiding excessive unused up-front modeling in favor of iterative incremental modeling. Using Agile Modeling principles and practices, in calendar year 2015 one institution developed 58 EHR-based specialty registries, with 111 new data collection tools, supporting 134 clinical process and outcome measures, and enrolling over 16,000 patients. The subset of UML and non-UML models found most consistently useful in designing, building, and iteratively evolving EHR-based specialty registries included User Stories, Domain Models, Use Case Diagrams, Decision Trees, Graphical User Interface Storyboards, Use Case text descriptions, and Solution Class Diagrams.

Mapping CMMI Level 2 to Scrum Practices: An Experience Report

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diaz, Jessica; Garbajosa, Juan; Calvo-Manzano, Jose A.

CMMI has been adopted advantageously in large companies for improvements in software quality, budget fulfilling, and customer satisfaction. However SPI strategies based on CMMI-DEV require heavy software development processes and large investments in terms of cost and time that medium/small companies do not deal with. The so-called light software development processes, such as Agile Software Development (ASD), deal with these challenges. ASD welcomes changing requirements and stresses the importance of adaptive planning, simplicity and continuous delivery of valuable software by short time-framed iterations. ASD is becoming convenient in a more and more global, and changing software market. It would be greatly useful to be able to introduce agile methods such as Scrum in compliance with CMMI process model. This paper intends to increase the understanding of the relationship between ASD and CMMI-DEV reporting empirical results that confirm theoretical comparisons between ASD practices and CMMI level2.

Allometric multilevel modelling of agility and dribbling speed by skeletal age and playing position in youth soccer players.

PubMed

Valente-dos-Santos, J; Coelho-e-Silva, M J; Duarte, J; Pereira, J; Rebelo-Gonçalves, R; Figueiredo, A; Mazzuco, M A; Sherar, L B; Elferink-Gemser, M T; Malina, R M

2014-08-01

This study evaluates the contributions of age, skeletal maturation, body size and composition, training and playing position to the development of agility and dribbling speed in young male soccer players (10-18 years) followed longitudinally. 83 players [defenders (n=35), midfielders (n=27), forwards (n=21)] were followed annually over 5 years (average: 4.4 observations per player). Skeletal age (SA), stature, body mass, triceps and subscapular skinfolds, agility and dribbling speed were measured annually. Body composition was estimated from the 2 skinfolds. Annual training volume was estimated from weekly participation forms completed by coaches. The multiplicative allometric models with the best statistical fit showed that statural growth of 1 cm predicts 1.334 s and 1.927 s of improvement in agility and dribbling speed, respectively. Significant independent effects of fat-free mass and annual volume training were found for agility and dribbling speed, respectively (P<0.05). Predicted agility (from 12 to 18 years of SA) and dribbling speed (from 13 to 18 years of SA) differed significantly among players by playing positions (midfielders>forwards>defenders). The present results provide developmental models for the interpretation of intra- and inter-individual variability in agility and dribbling speed among youth soccer players across adolescence, and may provide a framework for trainers and coaches to develop and evaluate individualized training protocols. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Agile Model Driven Development of Electronic Health Record-Based Specialty Population Registries

PubMed Central

Kannan, Vaishnavi; Fish, Jason C.; Willett, DuWayne L.

2018-01-01

The transformation of the American healthcare payment system from fee-for-service to value-based care increasingly makes it valuable to develop patient registries for specialized populations, to better assess healthcare quality and costs. Recent widespread adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) in the U.S. now makes possible construction of EHR-based specialty registry data collection tools and reports, previously unfeasible using manual chart abstraction. But the complexities of specialty registry EHR tools and measures, along with the variety of stakeholders involved, can result in misunderstood requirements and frequent product change requests, as users first experience the tools in their actual clinical workflows. Such requirements churn could easily stall progress in specialty registry rollout. Modeling a system’s requirements and solution design can be a powerful way to remove ambiguities, facilitate shared understanding, and help evolve a design to meet newly-discovered needs. “Agile Modeling” retains these values while avoiding excessive unused up-front modeling in favor of iterative incremental modeling. Using Agile Modeling principles and practices, in calendar year 2015 one institution developed 58 EHR-based specialty registries, with 111 new data collection tools, supporting 134 clinical process and outcome measures, and enrolling over 16,000 patients. The subset of UML and non-UML models found most consistently useful in designing, building, and iteratively evolving EHR-based specialty registries included User Stories, Domain Models, Use Case Diagrams, Decision Trees, Graphical User Interface Storyboards, Use Case text descriptions, and Solution Class Diagrams. PMID:29750222

Evaluation of a novel laparoscopic camera for characterization of renal ischemia in a porcine model using digital light processing (DLP) hyperspectral imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olweny, Ephrem O.; Tan, Yung K.; Faddegon, Stephen; Jackson, Neil; Wehner, Eleanor F.; Best, Sara L.; Park, Samuel K.; Thapa, Abhas; Cadeddu, Jeffrey A.; Zuzak, Karel J.

2012-03-01

Digital light processing hyperspectral imaging (DLP® HSI) was adapted for use during laparoscopic surgery by coupling a conventional laparoscopic light guide with a DLP-based Agile Light source (OL 490, Optronic Laboratories, Orlando, FL), incorporating a 0° laparoscope, and a customized digital CCD camera (DVC, Austin, TX). The system was used to characterize renal ischemia in a porcine model.

Mechanoluminescence assisting agile optimization of processing design on surgical epiphysis plates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Terasaki, Nao; Toyomasu, Takashi; Sonohata, Motoki

2018-04-01

We propose a novel method for agile optimization of processing design by visualization of mechanoluminescence. To demonstrate the effect of the new method, epiphysis plates were processed to form dots (diameters: 1 and 1.5 mm) and the mechanical information was evaluated. As a result, the appearance of new strain concentration was successfully visualized on the basis of mechanoluminescence, and complex mechanical information was instinctively understood by surgeons as the designers. In addition, it was clarified by mechanoluminescence analysis that small dots do not have serious mechanical effects such as strength reduction. Such detail mechanical information evaluated on the basis of mechanoluminescence was successfully applied to the judgement of the validity of the processing design. This clearly proves the effectiveness of the new methodology using mechanoluminescence for assisting agile optimization of the processing design.

AGILE integration into APC for high mix logic fab

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gatefait, M.; Lam, A.; Le Gratiet, B.; Mikolajczak, M.; Morin, V.; Chojnowski, N.; Kocsis, Z.; Smith, I.; Decaunes, J.; Ostrovsky, A.; Monget, C.

2015-09-01

For C040 technology and below, photolithographic depth of focus control and dispersion improvement is essential to secure product functionality. Critical 193nm immersion layers present initial focus process windows close to machine control capability. For previous technologies, the standard scanner sensor (Level sensor - LS) was used to map wafer topology and expose the wafer at the right Focus. Such optical embedded metrology, based on light reflection, suffers from reading issues that cannot be neglected anymore. Metrology errors are correlated to inspected product area for which material types and densities change, and so optical properties are not constant. Various optical phenomena occur across the product field during wafer inspection and have an effect on the quality and position of the reflected light. This can result in incorrect heights being recorded and exposures possibly being done out of focus. Focus inaccuracy associated to aggressive process windows on critical layers will directly impact product realization and therefore functionality and yield. ASML has introduced an air gauge sensor to complement the optical level sensor and lead to optimal topology metrology. The use of this new sensor is managed by the AGILE (Air Gauge Improved process LEveling) application. This measurement with no optical dependency will correct for optical inaccuracy of level sensor, and so improve best focus dispersion across the product. Due to the fact that stack complexity is more and more important through process steps flow, optical perturbation of standard Level sensor metrology is increasing and is becoming maximum for metallization layers. For these reasons AGILE feature implementation was first considered for contact and all metal layers. Another key point is that standard metrology will be sensitive to layer and reticle/product density. The gain of Agile will be enhanced for multiple product contribution mask and for complex System on Chip. Into ST context (High mix logic Fab) in term of product and technology portfolio AGILE corrects for up to 120nm of product topography error on process layer with less than 50nm depth of focus Based on tool functionalities delivered by ASML and on high volume manufacturing requirement, AGILE integration is a real challenge. Regarding ST requirements "Automatic AGILE" functionality developed by ASML was not a turnkey solution and a dedicated functionality was needed. A "ST homemade AGILE integration" has been fully developed and implemented within ASML and ST constraints. This paper describes this integration in our Advanced Process Control platform (APC).

A business rules design framework for a pharmaceutical validation and alert system.

PubMed

Boussadi, A; Bousquet, C; Sabatier, B; Caruba, T; Durieux, P; Degoulet, P

2011-01-01

Several alert systems have been developed to improve the patient safety aspects of clinical information systems (CIS). Most studies have focused on the evaluation of these systems, with little information provided about the methodology leading to system implementation. We propose here an 'agile' business rule design framework (BRDF) supporting both the design of alerts for the validation of drug prescriptions and the incorporation of the end user into the design process. We analyzed the unified process (UP) design life cycle and defined the activities, subactivities, actors and UML artifacts that could be used to enhance the agility of the proposed framework. We then applied the proposed framework to two different sets of data in the context of the Georges Pompidou University Hospital (HEGP) CIS. We introduced two new subactivities into UP: business rule specification and business rule instantiation activity. The pharmacist made an effective contribution to five of the eight BRDF design activities. Validation of the two new subactivities was effected in the context of drug dosage adaption to the patients' clinical and biological contexts. Pilot experiment shows that business rules modeled with BRDF and implemented as an alert system triggered an alert for 5824 of the 71,413 prescriptions considered (8.16%). A business rule design framework approach meets one of the strategic objectives for decision support design by taking into account three important criteria posing a particular challenge to system designers: 1) business processes, 2) knowledge modeling of the context of application, and 3) the agility of the various design steps.

Prediction of performance on the RCMP physical ability requirement evaluation.

PubMed

Stanish, H I; Wood, T M; Campagna, P

1999-08-01

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police use the Physical Ability Requirement Evaluation (PARE) for screening applicants. The purposes of this investigation were to identify those field tests of physical fitness that were associated with PARE performance and determine which most accurately classified successful and unsuccessful PARE performers. The participants were 27 female and 21 male volunteers. Testing included measures of aerobic power, anaerobic power, agility, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and body composition. Multiple regression analysis revealed a three-variable model for males (70-lb bench press, standing long jump, and agility) explaining 79% of the variability in PARE time, whereas a one-variable model (agility) explained 43% of the variability for females. Analysis of the classification accuracy of the males' data was prohibited because 91% of the males passed the PARE. Classification accuracy of the females' data, using logistic regression, produced a two-variable model (agility, 1.5-mile endurance run) with 93% overall classification accuracy.

5th Annual AGILE Science Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hunter, Stanley

2008-01-01

The EGRET model of the galactic diffuse gamma-ray emission (GALDIF) has been extended to provide full-sky coverage and improved to address the discrepancies with the EGRET data. This improved model is compared with the AGILE results from the Galactic center. The comparison is discussed.

Moving target detection for frequency agility radar by sparse reconstruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quan, Yinghui; Li, YaChao; Wu, Yaojun; Ran, Lei; Xing, Mengdao; Liu, Mengqi

2016-09-01

Frequency agility radar, with randomly varied carrier frequency from pulse to pulse, exhibits superior performance compared to the conventional fixed carrier frequency pulse-Doppler radar against the electromagnetic interference. A novel moving target detection (MTD) method is proposed for the estimation of the target's velocity of frequency agility radar based on pulses within a coherent processing interval by using sparse reconstruction. Hardware implementation of orthogonal matching pursuit algorithm is executed on Xilinx Virtex-7 Field Programmable Gata Array (FPGA) to perform sparse optimization. Finally, a series of experiments are performed to evaluate the performance of proposed MTD method for frequency agility radar systems.

Moving target detection for frequency agility radar by sparse reconstruction.

PubMed

Quan, Yinghui; Li, YaChao; Wu, Yaojun; Ran, Lei; Xing, Mengdao; Liu, Mengqi

2016-09-01

Frequency agility radar, with randomly varied carrier frequency from pulse to pulse, exhibits superior performance compared to the conventional fixed carrier frequency pulse-Doppler radar against the electromagnetic interference. A novel moving target detection (MTD) method is proposed for the estimation of the target's velocity of frequency agility radar based on pulses within a coherent processing interval by using sparse reconstruction. Hardware implementation of orthogonal matching pursuit algorithm is executed on Xilinx Virtex-7 Field Programmable Gata Array (FPGA) to perform sparse optimization. Finally, a series of experiments are performed to evaluate the performance of proposed MTD method for frequency agility radar systems.

Organizational Culture and the Deployment of Agile Methods: The Competing Values Model View

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iivari, Juhani; Iivari, Netta

A number of researchers have identified organizational culture as a factor that potentially affects the deployment of agile systems development methods. Inspired by the study of Iivari and Huisman (2007), which focused on the deployment of traditional systems development methods, the present paper proposes a number of hypotheses about the influence of organizational culture on the deployment of agile methods.

Power of lower extremities is most important determinant of agility among physically inactive or active adult people.

PubMed

Manderoos, Sirpa; Vaara, Mariitta; Karppi, Sirkka-Liisa; Aunola, Sirkka; Puukka, Pauli; Surakka, Jukka; Mälkiä, Esko

2018-04-26

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to determine the relationships between agility, running speed, jumping height and length, body mass index, self-report pain in back and in lower extremities, personal factors as self-report health and fitness, and leisure time physical activity in physically inactive or active adult people. Altogether, 233 healthy subjects, 149 women (43.0 ± 7.3 years) and 84 men (44.0 ± 7.7 years), participated into study. Outcome measures were described in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health domains. Multiple regression analysis showed that jumping length explained 24.6% and 15.3% of the variance associated with agility in women and men (adjusted R 2  = .246, p < .001; adjusted R 2  = .153, p = .001, respectively). Jumping length was the main determinant of agility among physically inactive or active women and men. The findings of this study strengthen opinion that the Agility Test for Adults demands also other physical and cognitive characteristics as measured now and their part explaining agility results may be relatively great. We suggest that perception and decision making explain for a great part in agility. It seems that body mass index does not play important role in agility, but physical inactivity can explain or increase the decline of agility. Also, various biological mechanisms in aging process can be linked to the deterioration of capacity of agility. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Handbook for Implementing Agile in Department of Defense Information Technology Acquisition

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-15

Wire-frame Mockup of iTunes Cover Flow Feature (source: http://www.balsamiq.com/products/mockups/examples#mytunez...programming. The JOPES customer was included early in the development process in order to understand requirements management (story cards ), observe...transition by teaching the new members Agile processes, such as story card development, refactoring, and pair programming. Additionally, the team worked to

Considerations for Using Agile in DoD Acquisition

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-04-01

successfully used in manufacturing throughout the world for decades, such as ―just-in- time,‖ Lean, Kanban , and work-flow-based planning. Another new...of this analysis is provided in Table 2. 29 Kanban / lean style of Agile might be the most relevant for this phase. 31 | CMU/SEI-2010-TN-002...family of approaches, including Kanban [14], Rational Unified Process (RUP), Personal Software Process (PSP), Team Software Process (TSP), and Cleanroom

Orders of C2 Agility and Implications for Information and Decision-Making

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-06-01

of agility and, in particular, in discussions of resilience. Orders of agility also invite the re-examination of conceptions of value in informing...incompatible interpretations of decision-making and information. It also gives greater confidence that different conceptions of value and assessment...examination of conceptions of value in informing decision- making, leading to the exposition of a hierarchical model of nested decision-making and decision

Agile methods in biomedical software development: a multi-site experience report.

PubMed

Kane, David W; Hohman, Moses M; Cerami, Ethan G; McCormick, Michael W; Kuhlmman, Karl F; Byrd, Jeff A

2006-05-30

Agile is an iterative approach to software development that relies on strong collaboration and automation to keep pace with dynamic environments. We have successfully used agile development approaches to create and maintain biomedical software, including software for bioinformatics. This paper reports on a qualitative study of our experiences using these methods. We have found that agile methods are well suited to the exploratory and iterative nature of scientific inquiry. They provide a robust framework for reproducing scientific results and for developing clinical support systems. The agile development approach also provides a model for collaboration between software engineers and researchers. We present our experience using agile methodologies in projects at six different biomedical software development organizations. The organizations include academic, commercial and government development teams, and included both bioinformatics and clinical support applications. We found that agile practices were a match for the needs of our biomedical projects and contributed to the success of our organizations. We found that the agile development approach was a good fit for our organizations, and that these practices should be applicable and valuable to other biomedical software development efforts. Although we found differences in how agile methods were used, we were also able to identify a set of core practices that were common to all of the groups, and that could be a focus for others seeking to adopt these methods.

Agile methods in biomedical software development: a multi-site experience report

PubMed Central

Kane, David W; Hohman, Moses M; Cerami, Ethan G; McCormick, Michael W; Kuhlmman, Karl F; Byrd, Jeff A

2006-01-01

Background Agile is an iterative approach to software development that relies on strong collaboration and automation to keep pace with dynamic environments. We have successfully used agile development approaches to create and maintain biomedical software, including software for bioinformatics. This paper reports on a qualitative study of our experiences using these methods. Results We have found that agile methods are well suited to the exploratory and iterative nature of scientific inquiry. They provide a robust framework for reproducing scientific results and for developing clinical support systems. The agile development approach also provides a model for collaboration between software engineers and researchers. We present our experience using agile methodologies in projects at six different biomedical software development organizations. The organizations include academic, commercial and government development teams, and included both bioinformatics and clinical support applications. We found that agile practices were a match for the needs of our biomedical projects and contributed to the success of our organizations. Conclusion We found that the agile development approach was a good fit for our organizations, and that these practices should be applicable and valuable to other biomedical software development efforts. Although we found differences in how agile methods were used, we were also able to identify a set of core practices that were common to all of the groups, and that could be a focus for others seeking to adopt these methods. PMID:16734914

Agile Walker.

PubMed

Katz, Reuven

2015-01-01

The goal of the Agile Walker is to improve the outdoor mobility of healthy elderly people with some mobility limitations. It is a newly developed, all-terrain walker, equipped with an electric drive system and speed control that can assists elderly people to walk outdoors or to hike. The walker has a unique product design with an attractive look that will appeal to "active-agers" population. This paper describes product design requirements and the development process of the Agile Walker, its features and some preliminary testing results.

Nuclear Weapons. National Nuclear Security Administration’s Plans for Its Uranium Processing Facility Should Better Reflect Funding Estimates and Technology Readiness

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-11-01

metal. Recovery extraction centrifugal contactors A process that uses solvent to extract uranium for purposes of purification. Agile machining A...extraction centrifugal contactors 5 6 Yes 6 No Agile machining 5 5 No 6 No Chip management 5 6 Yes 6 No Special casting 3 6 Yes 6 No Source: GAO

Hybrid performance measurement of a business process outsourcing - A Malaysian company perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oluyinka, Oludapo Samson; Tamyez, Puteri Fadzline; Kie, Cheng Jack; Freida, Ayodele Ozavize

2017-05-01

It's no longer new that customer perceived value for product and services are now greatly influenced by its psychological and social advantages. In order to meet up with the increasing operational cost, response time, quality and innovative capabilities many companies turned their fixed operational cost to a variable cost through outsourcing. Hence, the researcher explored different underlying outsourcing theories and infer that these theories are essential to performance improvement. In this study, the researcher evaluates the performance of a business process outsource company by a combination of lean and agile method. To test the hypotheses, we analyze different variability that a business process company faces, how lean and agile have been used in other industry to address such variability and discuss the result using a predictive multiple regression analysis on data collected from companies in Malaysia. The findings from this study revealed that while each method has its own advantage, a business process outsource company could achieve more (up to 87%) increase in performance level by developing a strategy which focuses on a perfect mixture of lean and agile improvement methods. Secondly, this study shows that performance indicator could be better evaluated with non-metrics variables of the agile method. Thirdly, this study also shows that business process outsourcing company could perform better when they concentrate more on strengthening internal process integration of employees.

Coping with Uncertainty in an Agile Systems Development Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taipalus, Toni; Seppänen, Ville; Pirhonen, Maritta

2018-01-01

Uncertain and ambiguous environments are commonplace in information systems development (ISD) projects, and while different Agile frameworks welcome changes in organizational, technical, and business environments, the incurred uncertainty is known to negatively affect the development process and the quality of the final product. The effects of…

SU-E-T-610: Comparison of Treatment Times Between the MLCi and Agility Multileaf Collimators

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ramsey, C; Bowling, J

2014-06-01

Purpose: The Agility is a new 160-leaf MLC developed by Elekta for use in their Infinity and Versa HD linacs. As compared to the MLCi, the Agility increased the maximum leaf speed from 2 cm/s to 3.5 cm/s, and the maximum primary collimator speed from 1.5 cm/s to 9.0 cm/s. The purpose of this study was to determine if the Agility MLC resulted in improved plan quality and/or shorter treatment times. Methods: An Elekta Infinity that was originally equipped with a 80 leaf MLCi was upgraded to an 160 leaf Agility. Treatment plan quality was evaluated using the Pinnacle planningmore » system with SmartArc. Optimization was performed once for the MLCi and once for the Agility beam models using the same optimization parameters and the same number of iterations. Patient treatment times were measured for all IMRT, VMAT, and SBRT patients treated on the Infinity with the MLCi and Agility MLCs. Treatment times were extracted from the EMR and measured from when the patient first walked into the treatment room until exiting the treatment room. Results: 11,380 delivery times were measured for patients treated with the MLCi, and 1,827 measurements have been made for the Agility MLC. The average treatment times were 19.1 minutes for the MLCi and 20.8 minutes for the Agility. Using a t-test analysis, there was no difference between the two groups (t = 0.22). The dose differences between patients planned with the MLCi and the Agility MLC were minimal. For example, the dose difference for the PTV, GTV, and cord for a head and neck patient planned using Pinnacle were effectively equivalent. However, the dose to the parotid glands was slightly worse with the Agility MLC. Conclusion: There was no statistical difference in treatment time, or any significant dosimetric difference between the Agility MLC and the MLCi.« less

Evaluation of agile designs in first-in-human (FIH) trials--a simulation study.

PubMed

Perlstein, Itay; Bolognese, James A; Krishna, Rajesh; Wagner, John A

2009-12-01

The aim of the investigation was to evaluate alternatives to standard first-in-human (FIH) designs in order to optimize the information gained from such studies by employing novel agile trial designs. Agile designs combine adaptive and flexible elements to enable optimized use of prior information either before and/or during conduct of the study to seamlessly update the study design. A comparison of the traditional 6 + 2 (active + placebo) subjects per cohort design with alternative, reduced sample size, agile designs was performed by using discrete event simulation. Agile designs were evaluated for specific adverse event models and rates as well as dose-proportional, saturated, and steep-accumulation pharmacokinetic profiles. Alternative, reduced sample size (hereafter referred to as agile) designs are proposed for cases where prior knowledge about pharmacokinetics and/or adverse event relationships are available or appropriately assumed. Additionally, preferred alternatives are proposed for a general case when prior knowledge is limited or unavailable. Within the tested conditions and stated assumptions, some agile designs were found to be as efficient as traditional designs. Thus, simulations demonstrated that the agile design is a robust and feasible approach to FIH clinical trials, with no meaningful loss of relevant information, as it relates to PK and AE assumptions. In some circumstances, applying agile designs may decrease the duration and resources required for Phase I studies, increasing the efficiency of early clinical development. We highlight the value and importance of useful prior information when specifying key assumptions related to safety, tolerability, and PK.

Mathematics, Information, and Life Sciences

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-05

INS • Chip -scale atomic clocks • Ad hoc networks • Polymorphic networks • Agile networks • Laser communications • Frequency-agile RF systems...FY12 BAA Bionavigation (Bio) Neuromorphic Computing (Human) Multi-scale Modeling (Math) Foundations of Information Systems (Info) BRI

Cross Sectional Study of Agile Software Development Methods and Project Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lambert, Tracy

2011-01-01

Agile software development methods, characterized by delivering customer value via incremental and iterative time-boxed development processes, have moved into the mainstream of the Information Technology (IT) industry. However, despite a growing body of research which suggests that a predictive manufacturing approach, with big up-front…

Measuring the Impact of Agile Coaching on Students' Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodríguez, Guillermo; Soria, Álvaro; Campo, Marcelo

2016-01-01

Nowadays, considerable attention is paid to agile methods as a means to improve management of software development processes. The widespread use of such methods in professional contexts has encouraged their integration into software engineering training and undergraduate courses. Although several research efforts have focused on teaching Scrum…

Agile Software Development in the Department of Defense Environment

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-03-31

Research Methodology .............................................................................................. 17 Research Hypothesis...acquisition framework to enable greater adoption of Agile methodologies . Overview of the Research Methodology The strategy for this study was to...guidance. 17 Chapter 3 – Research Methodology This chapter defines the research methodology and processes used in the study, in an effort to

SU-E-T-627: Precision Modelling of the Leaf-Bank Rotation in Elekta’s Agility MLC: Is It Necessary?

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vujicic, M; Belec, J; Heath, E

Purpose: To demonstrate the method used to determine the leaf bank rotation angle (LBROT) as a parameter for modeling the Elekta Agility multi-leaf collimator (MLC) for Monte Carlo simulations and to evaluate the clinical impact of LBROT. Methods: A detailed model of an Elekta Infinity linac including an Agility MLC was built using the EGSnrc/BEAMnrc Monte Carlo code. The Agility 160-leaf MLC is modelled using the MLCE component module which allows for leaf bank rotation using the parameter LBROT. A precise value of LBROT is obtained by comparing measured and simulated profiles of a specific field, which has leaves arrangedmore » in a repeated pattern such that one leaf is opened and the adjacent one is closed. Profile measurements from an Agility linac are taken with gafchromic film, and an ion chamber is used to set the absolute dose. The measurements are compared to Monte Carlo (MC) simulations and the LBROT is adjusted until a match is found. The clinical impact of LBROT is evaluated by observing how an MC dose calculation changes with LBROT. A clinical Stereotactic Body Radiation Treatment (SBRT) plan is calculated using BEAMnrc/DOSXYZnrc simulations with different input values for LBROT. Results: Using the method outlined above, the LBROT is determined to be 9±1 mrad. Differences as high as 4% are observed in a clinical SBRT plan between the extreme case (LBROT not modeled) and the nominal case. Conclusion: In small-field radiation therapy treatment planning, it is important to properly account for LBROT as an input parameter for MC dose calculations with the Agility MLC. More work is ongoing to elucidate the observed differences by determining the contributions from transmission dose, change in field size, and source occlusion, which are all dependent on LBROT. This work was supported by OCAIRO (Ontario Consortium of Adaptive Interventions in Radiation Oncology), funded by the Ontario Research Fund.« less

Current State of Agile User-Centered Design: A Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hussain, Zahid; Slany, Wolfgang; Holzinger, Andreas

Agile software development methods are quite popular nowadays and are being adopted at an increasing rate in the industry every year. However, these methods are still lacking usability awareness in their development lifecycle, and the integration of usability/User-Centered Design (UCD) into agile methods is not adequately addressed. This paper presents the preliminary results of a recently conducted online survey regarding the current state of the integration of agile methods and usability/UCD. A world wide response of 92 practitioners was received. The results show that the majority of practitioners perceive that the integration of agile methods with usability/UCD has added value to their adopted processes and to their teams; has resulted in the improvement of usability and quality of the product developed; and has increased the satisfaction of the end-users of the product developed. The top most used HCI techniques are low-fidelity prototyping, conceptual designs, observational studies of users, usability expert evaluations, field studies, personas, rapid iterative testing, and laboratory usability testing.

Agile manufacturing and constraints management: a strategic perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stratton, Roy; Yusuf, Yahaya Y.

2000-10-01

The definition of the agile paradigm has proved elusive and is often viewed as a panacea, in contention with more traditional approaches to operations strategy development and Larkin its own methodology and tools. The Theory of Constraints (TOC) is also poorly understood, as it is commonly solely associated with production planning and control systems and bottleneck management. This paper will demonstrate the synergy between these two approaches together with the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ), and establish how the systematic elimination of trade-offs can support the agile paradigm. Whereas agility is often seen as a trade-off free destination, both TOC and TRIZ may be considered to be route finders, as they comprise methodologies that focus on the identification and elimination of the trade-offs that constrain the purposeful improvement of a system, be it organizational or mechanical. This paper will also show how the TOC thinking process may be combined with the TRIZ knowledge based approach and used in breaking contradictions within agile logistics.

A fuzzy MCDM framework based on fuzzy measure and fuzzy integral for agile supplier evaluation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dursun, Mehtap

2017-06-01

Supply chains need to be agile in order to response quickly to the changes in today's competitive environment. The success of an agile supply chain depends on the firm's ability to select the most appropriate suppliers. This study proposes a multi-criteria decision making technique for conducting an analysis based on multi-level hierarchical structure and fuzzy logic for the evaluation of agile suppliers. The ideal and anti-ideal solutions are taken into consideration simultaneously in the developed approach. The proposed decision approach enables the decision-makers to use linguistic terms, and thus, reduce their cognitive burden in the evaluation process. Furthermore, a hierarchy of evaluation criteria and their related sub-criteria is employed in the presented approach in order to conduct a more effective analysis.

Scrum and Global Delivery: Pitfalls and Lessons Learned

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sadun, Cristiano

Two trends are becoming widespread in software development work—agile development processes and global delivery, both promising sizable benefits in productivity, capacity and so on. Combining the two is a highly attractive possibility, even more so in fast-paced and constrained commercial software engineering projects. However, a degree of conflict exists between the assumptions underlying the two ideas, leading to pitfalls and challenges in agile/distributed projects which are new, both with respect to traditional development and agile or distributed efforts adopted separately. Succeeding in commercial agile/distributed projects implies recognizing these new challenges, proactively planning for them, and actively put in place solutions and methods to overcome them. This chapter illustrates some of the typical challenges that were met during real-world commercial projects, and how they were solved.

An Agile Systems Engineering Process: The Missing Link?

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-05-01

has a num- ber of standards available such as ISO 12207 , ISO 9001 and the Capability Maturity Model Integrated (CMMI®) [24,25,26]. The CMMI was a...addressing activities throughout the products lifecycle [24]. ISO 12207 “contains processes, activities and tasks that are to be applied during...the acquisition of a system that contains software” [26]. A limitation identified within ISO 12207 is that it does not specify details on how to

Strategic Technology Selection and Classification in Multimodel Environments

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-05-01

processes. Specifically, the organization chose a blend of CMMI (portions of which were being implemented in engineering), ISO 12207 and the SA CMM...whole- product support Improve product field performance Strategy to accomplish goal Reference models CMMI, SA CMM, IEEE/ ISO 12207 Leverage CMMI...ro u p Lean Six Sigma SOX ISO /IEC 15288 ISO 9000 CMMI ISO 12207 P-CMM AS9100 IEEE 830 PSMIDEAL PPSLockheed Martin Integrated Enterprise Process Agile

A Three Cohort Study of Role-Play Instruction for Agile Project Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmitz, Kurt

2018-01-01

Agile Project Management methods and processes that emphasize action and feedback over planning continue to gain prominence for Information Systems projects. This topic is an ideal candidate to lead the evolution of project management instruction from teaching "about" to learning "how to." This paper describes a role-play…

An Agile Constructionist Mentoring Methodology for Software Projects in the High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meerbaum-Salant, Orni; Hazzan, Orit

2010-01-01

This article describes the construction process and evaluation of the Agile Constructionist Mentoring Methodology (ACMM), a mentoring method for guiding software development projects in the high school. The need for such a methodology has arisen due to the complexity of mentoring software project development in the high school. We introduce the…

DoD Information Assurance and Agile: Challenges and Recommendations Gathered Through Interviews with Agile Program Managers and DoD Accreditation Reviewers

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-11-01

Tradeoff Analysis Method; ATAM, Capability Maturity Model , Capability Maturity Modeling , Carnegie Mellon, CERT, CERT Coordination Center, CMM, CMMI...Hermansen, Product Design, Sphere of Influence (https://www.SphereOfInfluence.com) Joel McAteer, Information Assurance Manager, Modeling ...use of them does introduce some challenges related to delivering software features rapidly and/or in- crementally . • Challenges with respect to

Technology for Evolutionary Software Development (Technologies pour le developpement de logiciels evolutifs)

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-06-01

greater detail in the next section, is to achieve these principles. Besides the fact, that these principles illustrate the essence of agile software...like e.g. ADLER, JASMIN , SAMOC or HEROS. In all of these projects the framework for the process model was the Vorgehensmodell (V-Model) of the...practical essence of the solutions to manage projects within the constraints of cost, schedule, functionality and quality and ways to get the

Red Teaming Agility (Briefing Charts)

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-01

are termed “ antifragile ”. Black Swan Model for Deep Red Futures The future is dominated not by trends, but by outliers, extreme events that lie...disproportionately higher mission impact. Agility is a measure of antifragile systems Red Teaming Defined Red Teaming is a function to provide

SU-D-201-04: Evaluation of Elekta Agility MLC Performance Using Statistical Process Control

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Meyers, SM; Balderson, MJ; Letourneau, D

2016-06-15

Purpose: to evaluate the performance and stability of the Elekta Agility MLC model using an automated quality control (QC) test in combination with statistical process control tools. Methods: Leaf positions were collected daily for 11 Elekta units over 5–19 months using the automated QC test, which analyzes 23 MV images to determine the location of MLC leaves relative to the radiation isocenter. The leaf positions are measured at 5 nominal positions, and images are acquired at collimator 0° and 180° to capture all MLC leaves in the field-of-view. Leaf positioning accuracy was assessed using individual and moving range control charts.more » Control limits were recomputed following MLC recalibration (occurred 1–2 times for 4 units). Specification levels of ±0.5, ±1 and ±1.5mm were tested. The mean and range of duration between out-of-control and out-of-specification events were determined. Results: Leaf position varied little over time, as confirmed by very tight individual control limits (mean ±0.19mm, range 0.09–0.44). Mean leaf position error was −0.03mm (range −0.89–0.83). Due to sporadic out-of-control events, the mean in-control duration was 3.3 days (range 1–23). Data stayed within ±1mm specification for 205 days on average (range 3–372) and within ±1.5mm for the entire date range. Measurements stayed within ±0.5mm for 1 day on average (range 0–17); however, our MLC leaves were not calibrated to this level of accuracy. Conclusion: The Elekta Agility MLC model was found to perform with high stability, as evidenced by the tight control limits. The in-specification durations support the current recommendation of monthly MLC QC tests with a ±1mm tolerance. Future work is on-going to determine if Agility performance can be optimized further using high-frequency QC test results to drive recalibration frequency. Factors that can affect leaf positioning accuracy, including beam spot motion, leaf gain calibration, drifting leaves, and image artifacts, are under investigation.« less

Consumption of meat in relation to physical functioning in the Seniors-ENRICA cohort.

PubMed

Struijk, Ellen A; Banegas, José R; Rodríguez-Artalejo, Fernando; Lopez-Garcia, Esther

2018-04-05

Meat is an important source of high-quality protein and vitamin B but also has a relatively high content of saturated and trans fatty acids. Although protein and vitamin B intake seems to protect people from functional limitations, little is known about the effect of habitual meat consumption on physical function. The objective of this study was to examine the prospective association between the intake of meat (processed meat, red meat, and poultry) and physical function impairment in older adults. Data were collected for 2982 participants in the Seniors-ENRICA cohort, who were aged ≥60 years and free of physical function impairment. In 2008-2010, their habitual diet was assessed through a validated computer-assisted face-to-face diet history. Study participants were followed up through 2015 to assess self-reported incident impairment in agility, mobility, and performance-based lower-extremity function. Over a median follow-up of 5.2 years, we identified 625 participants with impaired agility, 455 with impaired mobility, and 446 with impaired lower-extremity function. After adjustment for potential confounders, processed meat intake was associated with a higher risk of impaired agility (hazard ratio [HR] for highest vs. lowest tertile: 1.33; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.08-1.64; p trend = 0.01) and of impaired lower-extremity function (HR for highest vs. lowest tertile: 1.31; 95% CI: 1.02-1.68; p trend = 0.04). No significant associations were found for red meat and poultry. Replacing one serving per day of processed meat with one serving per day of red meat, poultry, or with other important protein sources (fish, legumes, dairy, and nuts) was associated with lower risk of impaired agility and lower-extremity function. A higher consumption of processed meat was associated with a higher risk of impairment in agility and lower-extremity function. Replacing processed meat by other protein sources may slow the decline in physical functioning in older adults.

Balancing Plan-Driven and Agile Methods in Software Engineering Project Courses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boehm, Barry; Port, Dan; Winsor Brown, A.

2002-09-01

For the past 6 years, we have been teaching a two-semester software engineering project course. The students organize into 5-person teams and develop largely web-based electronic services projects for real USC campus clients. We have been using and evolving a method called Model- Based (System) Architecting and Software Engineering (MBASE) for use in both the course and in industrial applications. The MBASE Guidelines include a lot of documents. We teach risk-driven documentation: if it is risky to document something, and not risky to leave it out (e.g., GUI screen placements), leave it out. Even so, students tend to associate more documentation with higher grades, although our grading eventually discourages this. We are always on the lookout for ways to have students learn best practices without having to produce excessive documentation. Thus, we were very interested in analyzing the various emerging agile methods. We found that agile methods and milestone plan-driven methods are part of a “how much planning is enough?” spectrum. Both agile and plan-driven methods have home grounds of project characteristics where they clearly work best, and where the other will have difficulties. Hybrid agile/plan-driven approaches are feasible, and necessary for projects having a mix of agile and plan-driven home ground characteristics. Information technology trends are going more toward the agile methods' home ground characteristics of emergent requirements and rapid change, although there is a concurrent increase in concern with dependability. As a result, we are currently experimenting with risk-driven combinations of MBASE and agile methods, such as integrating requirements, test plans, peer reviews, and pair programming into “agile quality management.”

CT-assisted agile manufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stanley, James H.; Yancey, Robert N.

1996-11-01

The next century will witness at least two great revolutions in the way goods are produced. First, workers will use the medium of virtual reality in all aspects of marketing, research, development, prototyping, manufacturing, sales and service. Second, market forces will drive manufacturing towards small-lot production and just-in-time delivery. Already, we can discern the merging of these megatrends into what some are calling agile manufacturing. Under this new paradigm, parts and processes will be designed and engineered within the mind of a computer, tooled and manufactured by the offspring of today's rapid prototyping equipment, and evaluated for performance and reliability by advanced nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques and sophisticated computational models. Computed tomography (CT) is the premier example of an NDE method suitable for future agile manufacturing activities. It is the only modality that provides convenient access to the full suite of engineering data that users will need to avail themselves of computer- aided design, computer-aided manufacturing, and computer- aided engineering capabilities, as well as newly emerging reverse engineering, rapid prototyping and solid freeform fabrication technologies. As such, CT is assured a central, utilitarian role in future industrial operations. An overview of this exciting future for industrial CT is presented.

Documentation Driven Development for Complex Real-Time Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-12-01

This paper presents a novel approach for development of complex real - time systems , called the documentation-driven development (DDD) approach. This... time systems . DDD will also support automated software generation based on a computational model and some relevant techniques. DDD includes two main...stakeholders to be easily involved in development processes and, therefore, significantly improve the agility of software development for complex real

On the Biomimetic Design of Agile-Robot Legs

PubMed Central

Garcia, Elena; Arevalo, Juan Carlos; Muñoz, Gustavo; Gonzalez-de-Santos, Pablo

2011-01-01

The development of functional legged robots has encountered its limits in human-made actuation technology. This paper describes research on the biomimetic design of legs for agile quadrupeds. A biomimetic leg concept that extracts key principles from horse legs which are responsible for the agile and powerful locomotion of these animals is presented. The proposed biomimetic leg model defines the effective leg length, leg kinematics, limb mass distribution, actuator power, and elastic energy recovery as determinants of agile locomotion, and values for these five key elements are given. The transfer of the extracted principles to technological instantiations is analyzed in detail, considering the availability of current materials, structures and actuators. A real leg prototype has been developed following the biomimetic leg concept proposed. The actuation system is based on the hybrid use of series elasticity and magneto-rheological dampers which provides variable compliance for natural motion. From the experimental evaluation of this prototype, conclusions on the current technological barriers to achieve real functional legged robots to walk dynamically in agile locomotion are presented. PMID:22247667

On the biomimetic design of agile-robot legs.

PubMed

Garcia, Elena; Arevalo, Juan Carlos; Muñoz, Gustavo; Gonzalez-de-Santos, Pablo

2011-01-01

The development of functional legged robots has encountered its limits in human-made actuation technology. This paper describes research on the biomimetic design of legs for agile quadrupeds. A biomimetic leg concept that extracts key principles from horse legs which are responsible for the agile and powerful locomotion of these animals is presented. The proposed biomimetic leg model defines the effective leg length, leg kinematics, limb mass distribution, actuator power, and elastic energy recovery as determinants of agile locomotion, and values for these five key elements are given. The transfer of the extracted principles to technological instantiations is analyzed in detail, considering the availability of current materials, structures and actuators. A real leg prototype has been developed following the biomimetic leg concept proposed. The actuation system is based on the hybrid use of series elasticity and magneto-rheological dampers which provides variable compliance for natural motion. From the experimental evaluation of this prototype, conclusions on the current technological barriers to achieve real functional legged robots to walk dynamically in agile locomotion are presented.

Agility performance in high-level junior basketball players: the predictive value of anthropometrics and power qualities.

PubMed

Sisic, Nedim; Jelicic, Mario; Pehar, Miran; Spasic, Miodrag; Sekulic, Damir

2016-01-01

In basketball, anthropometric status is an important factor when identifying and selecting talents, while agility is one of the most vital motor performances. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the influence of anthropometric variables and power capacities on different preplanned agility performances. The participants were 92 high-level, junior-age basketball players (16-17 years of age; 187.6±8.72 cm in body height, 78.40±12.26 kg in body mass), randomly divided into a validation and cross-validation subsample. The predictors set consisted of 16 anthropometric variables, three tests of power-capacities (Sargent-jump, broad-jump and medicine-ball-throw) as predictors. The criteria were three tests of agility: a T-Shape-Test; a Zig-Zag-Test, and a test of running with a 180-degree turn (T180). Forward stepwise multiple regressions were calculated for validation subsamples and then cross-validated. Cross validation included correlations between observed and predicted scores, dependent samples t-test between predicted and observed scores; and Bland Altman graphics. Analysis of the variance identified centres being advanced in most of the anthropometric indices, and medicine-ball-throw (all at P<0.05); with no significant between-position-differences for other studied motor performances. Multiple regression models originally calculated for the validation subsample were then cross-validated, and confirmed for Zig-zag-Test (R of 0.71 and 0.72 for the validation and cross-validation subsample, respectively). Anthropometrics were not strongly related to agility performance, but leg length is found to be negatively associated with performance in basketball-specific agility. Power capacities are confirmed to be an important factor in agility. The results highlighted the importance of sport-specific tests when studying pre-planned agility performance in basketball. The improvement in power capacities will probably result in an improvement in agility in basketball athletes, while anthropometric indices should be used in order to identify those athletes who can achieve superior agility performance.

Addressing the Barriers to Agile Development in the Department of Defense: Program Structure, Requirements, and Contracting

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-04-30

approach directly contrast with the traditional DoD acquisition model designed for a single big-bang waterfall approach (Broadus, 2013). Currently...progress, reduce technical and programmatic risk, and respond to feedback and changes more quickly than traditional waterfall methods (Modigliani...requirements, and contracting. The DoD can address these barriers by utilizing a proactively tailored Agile acquisition model , implementing an IT Box

Analysis of Agility Performance of Supply Chain: A Case Study on Indian Automotive Manufacturer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Routroy, S.; Sharma, S.; Bhardwaj, A.

2018-04-01

Manufacturing companies should understand the changing customer needs and expectations, access and defend the competitive pressure, anticipate and manage the uncertain demand and supply chain risk, and implement the appropriate technology to survive and excel in today’s marketplace. Therefore, they are moving away from mass production (i.e. lean supply chain) to one based on fast-responsiveness and flexibility, capitalizing on the rapid advancement in internet technologies and factory-on-demand mode of production (i.e. agile supply chain). It is observed that manufacturing companies in India in general and automotive supply chain in specific are compelled to cultivate supply chain agility for enhancing its performance level on continuous basis and comparing its supply chain agility performance with competitors to survive and sustain in the competitive business environment. Therefore, a methodology is proposed to evaluate the supply chain agility of a manufacturing supply chain and compare its performance level with competitors using Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process and Taguchi Loss Function. A case study is developed and the proposed methodology is applied to Indian automotive supply chain for explaining the salient features of it.

Delaying Mobility Disability in People With Parkinson Disease Using a Sensorimotor Agility Exercise Program

PubMed Central

King, Laurie A; Horak, Fay B

2009-01-01

This article introduces a new framework for therapists to develop an exercise program to delay mobility disability in people with Parkinson disease (PD). Mobility, or the ability to efficiently navigate and function in a variety of environments, requires balance, agility, and flexibility, all of which are affected by PD. This article summarizes recent research identifying how constraints on mobility specific to PD, such as rigidity, bradykinesia, freezing, poor sensory integration, inflexible program selection, and impaired cognitive processing, limit mobility in people with PD. Based on these constraints, a conceptual framework for exercises to maintain and improve mobility is presented. An example of a constraint-focused agility exercise program, incorporating movement principles from tai chi, kayaking, boxing, lunges, agility training, and Pilates exercises, is presented. This new constraint-focused agility exercise program is based on a strong scientific framework and includes progressive levels of sensorimotor, resistance, and coordination challenges that can be customized for each patient while maintaining fidelity. Principles for improving mobility presented here can be incorporated into an ongoing or long-term exercise program for people with PD. PMID:19228832

Delaying mobility disability in people with Parkinson disease using a sensorimotor agility exercise program.

PubMed

King, Laurie A; Horak, Fay B

2009-04-01

This article introduces a new framework for therapists to develop an exercise program to delay mobility disability in people with Parkinson disease (PD). Mobility, or the ability to efficiently navigate and function in a variety of environments, requires balance, agility, and flexibility, all of which are affected by PD. This article summarizes recent research identifying how constraints on mobility specific to PD, such as rigidity, bradykinesia, freezing, poor sensory integration, inflexible program selection, and impaired cognitive processing, limit mobility in people with PD. Based on these constraints, a conceptual framework for exercises to maintain and improve mobility is presented. An example of a constraint-focused agility exercise program, incorporating movement principles from tai chi, kayaking, boxing, lunges, agility training, and Pilates exercises, is presented. This new constraint-focused agility exercise program is based on a strong scientific framework and includes progressive levels of sensorimotor, resistance, and coordination challenges that can be customized for each patient while maintaining fidelity. Principles for improving mobility presented here can be incorporated into an ongoing or long-term exercise program for people with PD.

Tailoring Agility: Promiscuous Pair Story Authoring and Value Calculation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tendon, Steve

This chapter describes how a multi-national software organization created a business plan involving business units from eight countries that followed an agile way, after two previously failed attempts with traditional approaches. The case is told by the consultant who initiated implementation of agility into requirements gathering, estimation and planning processes in an international setting. The agile approach was inspired by XP, but then tailored to meet the peculiar requirements. Two innovations were critical. The first innovation was promiscuous pair story authoring, where user stories were written by two people (similarly to pair programming), and the pairing changed very often (as frequently as every 15-20 minutes) to achieve promiscuity and cater for diverse point of views. The second innovation was an economic value evaluation (and not the cost) which was attributed to stories. Continuous recalculation of the financial value of the stories allowed to assess the projects financial return. In this case implementation of agility in the international context allowed the involved team members to reach consensus and unanimity of decisions, vision and purpose.

Origami: An Active Learning Exercise for Scrum Project Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sibona, Christopher; Pourreza, Saba; Hill, Stephen

2018-01-01

Scrum is a popular project management model for iterative delivery of software that subscribes to Agile principles. This paper describes an origami active learning exercise to teach the principles of Scrum in management information systems courses. The exercise shows students how Agile methods respond to changes in requirements during project…

Impact of Agile Software Development Model on Software Maintainability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gawali, Ajay R.

2012-01-01

Software maintenance and support costs account for up to 60% of the overall software life cycle cost and often burdens tightly budgeted information technology (IT) organizations. Agile software development approach delivers business value early, but implications on software maintainability are still unknown. The purpose of this quantitative study…

Aspects of the BPRIM Language for Risk Driven Process Engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sienou, Amadou; Lamine, Elyes; Pingaud, Hervé; Karduck, Achim

Nowadays organizations are exposed to frequent changes in business environment requiring continuous alignment of business processes on business strategies. This agility requires methods promoted in enterprise engineering approaches. Risk consideration in enterprise engineering is getting important since the business environment is becoming more and more competitive and unpredictable. Business processes are subject to the same quality requirements as material and human resources. Thus, process management is supposed to tackle value creation challenges but also the ones related to value preservation. Our research considers risk driven business process design as an integral part of enterprise engineering. A graphical modelling language for risk driven business process engineering was introduced in former research. This paper extends the language and handles questions related to modelling risk in organisational context.

The agile alert system for gamma-ray transients

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bulgarelli, A.; Trifoglio, M.; Gianotti, F.

2014-01-20

In recent years, a new generation of space missions has offered great opportunities for discovery in high-energy astrophysics. In this article we focus on the scientific operations of the Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector (GRID) on board the AGILE space mission. AGILE-GRID, sensitive in the energy range of 30 MeV-30 GeV, has detected many γ-ray transients of both galactic and extragalactic origin. This work presents the AGILE innovative approach to fast γ-ray transient detection, which is a challenging task and a crucial part of the AGILE scientific program. The goals are to describe (1) the AGILE Gamma-Ray Alert System, (2) a newmore » algorithm for blind search identification of transients within a short processing time, (3) the AGILE procedure for γ-ray transient alert management, and (4) the likelihood of ratio tests that are necessary to evaluate the post-trial statistical significance of the results. Special algorithms and an optimized sequence of tasks are necessary to reach our goal. Data are automatically analyzed at every orbital downlink by an alert pipeline operating on different timescales. As proper flux thresholds are exceeded, alerts are automatically generated and sent as SMS messages to cellular telephones, via e-mail, and via push notifications from an application for smartphones and tablets. These alerts are crosschecked with the results of two pipelines, and a manual analysis is performed. Being a small scientific-class mission, AGILE is characterized by optimization of both scientific analysis and ground-segment resources. The system is capable of generating alerts within two to three hours of a data downlink, an unprecedented reaction time in γ-ray astrophysics.« less

The AGILE Alert System for Gamma-Ray Transients

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bulgarelli, A.; Trifoglio, M.; Gianotti, F.; Tavani, M.; Parmiggiani, N.; Fioretti, V.; Chen, A. W.; Vercellone, S.; Pittori, C.; Verrecchia, F.; Lucarelli, F.; Santolamazza, P.; Fanari, G.; Giommi, P.; Beneventano, D.; Argan, A.; Trois, A.; Scalise, E.; Longo, F.; Pellizzoni, A.; Pucella, G.; Colafrancesco, S.; Conforti, V.; Tempesta, P.; Cerone, M.; Sabatini, P.; Annoni, G.; Valentini, G.; Salotti, L.

2014-01-01

In recent years, a new generation of space missions has offered great opportunities for discovery in high-energy astrophysics. In this article we focus on the scientific operations of the Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector (GRID) on board the AGILE space mission. AGILE-GRID, sensitive in the energy range of 30 MeV-30 GeV, has detected many γ-ray transients of both galactic and extragalactic origin. This work presents the AGILE innovative approach to fast γ-ray transient detection, which is a challenging task and a crucial part of the AGILE scientific program. The goals are to describe (1) the AGILE Gamma-Ray Alert System, (2) a new algorithm for blind search identification of transients within a short processing time, (3) the AGILE procedure for γ-ray transient alert management, and (4) the likelihood of ratio tests that are necessary to evaluate the post-trial statistical significance of the results. Special algorithms and an optimized sequence of tasks are necessary to reach our goal. Data are automatically analyzed at every orbital downlink by an alert pipeline operating on different timescales. As proper flux thresholds are exceeded, alerts are automatically generated and sent as SMS messages to cellular telephones, via e-mail, and via push notifications from an application for smartphones and tablets. These alerts are crosschecked with the results of two pipelines, and a manual analysis is performed. Being a small scientific-class mission, AGILE is characterized by optimization of both scientific analysis and ground-segment resources. The system is capable of generating alerts within two to three hours of a data downlink, an unprecedented reaction time in γ-ray astrophysics.

Effects of High Intensity Interval Training on Increasing Explosive Power, Speed, and Agility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fajrin, F.; Kusnanik, N. W.; Wijono

2018-01-01

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a type of exercise that combines high-intensity exercise and low intensity exercise in a certain time interval. This type of training is very effective and efficient to improve the physical components. The process of improving athletes achievement related to how the process of improving the physical components, so the selection of a good practice method will be very helpful. This study aims to analyze how is the effects of HIIT on increasing explosive power, speed, and agility. This type of research is quantitative with quasi-experimental methods. The design of this study used the Matching-Only Design, with data analysis using the t-test (paired sample t-test). After being given the treatment for six weeks, the results showed there are significant increasing in explosive power, speed, and agility. HIIT in this study used a form of exercise plyometric as high-intensity exercise and jogging as mild or moderate intensity exercise. Increase was due to the improvement of neuromuscular characteristics that affect the increase in muscle strength and performance. From the data analysis, researchers concluded that, Exercises of High Intensity Interval Training significantly effect on the increase in Power Limbs, speed, and agility.

Talent identification and selection process of outfield players and goalkeepers in a professional soccer club.

PubMed

Gil, Susana María; Zabala-Lili, Jon; Bidaurrazaga-Letona, Iraia; Aduna, Badiola; Lekue, Jose Antonio; Santos-Concejero, Jordan; Granados, Cristina

2014-12-01

Abstract The aim of this study was to analyse the talent identification process of a professional soccer club. A preselection of players (n = 64) aged 9-10 years and a final selection (n = 21) were performed by the technical staff through the observation during training sessions and matches. Also, 34 age-matched players of an open soccer camp (CampP) acted as controls. All participants underwent anthropometric, maturity and performance measurements. Preselected outfield players (OFs) were older and leaner than CampP (P < 0.05). Besides, they performed better in velocity, agility, endurance and jump tests (P < 0.05). A discriminant analysis showed that velocity and agility were the most important parameters. Finally, selected OFs were older and displayed better agility and endurance compared to the nonselected OFs (P < 0.05). Goalkeepers (GKs) were taller and heavier and had more body fat than OFs; also, they performed worse in the physical tests (P < 0.05). Finally, selected GKs were older and taller, had a higher predicted height and advanced maturity and performed better in the handgrip (dynamometry) and jump tests (P < 0.05). Thus, the technical staff selected OFs with a particular anthropometry and best performance, particularly agility and endurance, while GKs had a different profile. Moreover, chronological age had an important role in the whole selection process.

Providing Agility in C2 Environments Through Networked Information Processing: A Model of Expertise

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-01

personal benefits promoting self-esteem, pride, self-efficacy, personal identification with colleagues and organizations, obtaining a better...studies based on staged-event methods with “target-present” and “target-absent” lineups . The results show that when choosers make positive... identification , the correlation between confidence and accuracy was consistently high. Besides correct choosers have a higher mean confidence level than

Social media as an information system: improving the technological agility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Senadheera, Vindaya; Warren, Matthew; Leitch, Shona

2017-04-01

There is an increased focus on research involving social media. This research however has failed to catch up with the pace of the technology development and may prove disadvantageous for both practice and theory. The longitudinal study presented in the paper was conducted over a 3-year period involving Australian banks and popular social media technologies. The paper empirically tests the Honeycomb model as a tool that enhances the technological agility of social media. The paper fills a key research gap and provides dynamism to social media strategy formation, continuous improvement of strategy development in support of greater business agility.

Research on Modeling of the Agile Satellite Using a Single Gimbal Magnetically Suspended CMG and the Disturbance Feedforward Compensation for Rotors

PubMed Central

Cui, Peiling; Yan, Ning

2012-01-01

The magnetically suspended Control Moment Gyroscope (CMG) has the advantages of long-life, micro-vibration and being non-lubricating, and is the ideal actuator for agile maneuver satellite attitude control. However, the stability of the rotor in magnetic bearing and the precision of the output torque of a magnetically suspended CMG are affected by the rapid maneuvers of satellites. In this paper, a dynamic model of the agile satellite including a magnetically suspended single gimbal control moment gyroscope is built and the equivalent disturbance torque effected on the rotor is obtained. The feedforward compensation control method is used to depress the disturbance on the rotor. Simulation results are given to show that the rotor displacement is obviously reduced. PMID:23235442

Research on modeling of the agile satellite using a single gimbal magnetically suspended CMG and the disturbance feedforward compensation for rotors.

PubMed

Cui, Peiling; Yan, Ning

2012-12-12

The magnetically suspended Control Moment Gyroscope (CMG) has the advantages of long-life, micro-vibration and being non-lubricating, and is the ideal actuator for agile maneuver satellite attitude control. However, the stability of the rotor in magnetic bearing and the precision of the output torque of a magnetically suspended CMG are affected by the rapid maneuvers of satellites. In this paper, a dynamic model of the agile satellite including a magnetically suspended single gimbal control moment gyroscope is built and the equivalent disturbance torque effected on the rotor is obtained. The feedforward compensation control method is used to depress the disturbance on the rotor. Simulation results are given to show that the rotor displacement is obviously reduced.

Research to Operations Transition of an Auroral Specification and Forecast Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, J.; Sanders, S.; Davis, B.; Hedrick, C.; Mitchell, E. J.; Cox, J. M.

Aurorae are generally caused by collisions of high-energy precipitating electrons and neutral molecules in Earth’s polar atmosphere. The electrons, originating in Earth’s magnetosphere, collide with oxygen and nitrogen molecules driving them to an excited state. As the molecules return to their normal state, a photon is released resulting in the aurora. Aurora can become troublesome for operations of UHF and L-Band radars since these radio frequencies can be scattered by these abundant free electrons and excited molecules. The presence of aurorae under some conditions can lead to radar clutter or false targets. It is important to know the state of the aurora and when radar clutter is likely. For this reason, models of the aurora have been developed and used in an operational center for many decades. Recently, a data-driven auroral precipitation model was integrated into the DoD operational center for space weather. The auroral precipitation model is data-driven in a sense that solar wind observations from the Lagrangian point L1 are used to drive a statistical model of Earth’s aurorae to provide nowcasts and short-duration forecasts of auroral activity. The project began with a laboratory-grade prototype and an algorithm theoretical basis document, then through a tailored Agile development process, deployed operational-grade code to a DoD operational center. The Agile development process promotes adaptive planning, evolutionary development, early delivery, continuous improvement, regular collaboration with the customer, and encourages rapid and flexible response to customer-driven changes. The result was an operational capability that met customer expectations for reliability, security, and scientific accuracy. Details of the model and the process of operational integration are discussed as well as lessons learned to improve performance on future projects.

Autonomous Guidance of Agile Small-scale Rotorcraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mettler, Bernard; Feron, Eric

2004-01-01

This report describes a guidance system for agile vehicles based on a hybrid closed-loop model of the vehicle dynamics. The hybrid model represents the vehicle dynamics through a combination of linear-time-invariant control modes and pre-programmed, finite-duration maneuvers. This particular hybrid structure can be realized through a control system that combines trim controllers and a maneuvering control logic. The former enable precise trajectory tracking, and the latter enables trajectories at the edge of the vehicle capabilities. The closed-loop model is much simpler than the full vehicle equations of motion, yet it can capture a broad range of dynamic behaviors. It also supports a consistent link between the physical layer and the decision-making layer. The trajectory generation was formulated as an optimization problem using mixed-integer-linear-programming. The optimization is solved in a receding horizon fashion. Several techniques to improve the computational tractability were investigate. Simulation experiments using NASA Ames 'R-50 model show that this approach fully exploits the vehicle's agility.

Summary Reporting for a Linked Interaction Design-Scrum Approach: How Much Modeling Is Useful?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keenan, Frank; Damdul, Namgyal; Kelly, Sandra; Connolly, David

Identifying the minimum beneficial modeling to support an agile development team is crucial. Often, story cards arranged on wall charts or spontaneously drawn diagrams provide sufficient detail to allow a team to understand an emerging problem. However, what is beneficial when a new stakeholder joins a team after development has commenced and needs to have project background and progress reported? This poster reports on the models produced by a process combining aspects of Interaction Design (ID) and Scrum for internet development in such a scenario.

Early Formulation Model-centric Engineering on Nasa's Europa Mission Concept Study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bayer, Todd; Chung, Seung; Cole, Bjorn; Cooke, Brian; Dekens, Frank; Delp, Chris; Gontijo, I.; Lewis, Kari; Moshir, Mehrdad; Rasmussen, Robert;

Compact, Automated, Frequency-Agile Microspectrofluorimeter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fernandez, Salvador M.; Guignon, Ernest F.

1995-01-01

Compact, reliable, rugged, automated cell-culture and frequency-agile microspectrofluorimetric apparatus developed to perform experiments involving photometric imaging observations of single live cells. In original application, apparatus operates mostly unattended aboard spacecraft; potential terrestrial applications include automated or semiautomated diagnosis of pathological tissues in clinical laboratories, biomedical instrumentation, monitoring of biological process streams, and portable instrumentation for testing biological conditions in various environments. Offers obvious advantages over present laboratory instrumentation.

Cancellation Circuit for Transmit-Receive Isolation

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-01

non -ideal hardware, and the performance of the circuit is limited. One of the major problems is the leakage from the circulator. The leakage disrupts...cancellation circuit was investigated by a series of simulations using Agilent ADS (Agilent Advanced Design System), and hardware tests were conducted to...developed in the WDDPA application, allowing coherent processing of the data from all elements. There are limitations encountered due to non -ideal

TriBITS lifecycle model. Version 1.0, a lean/agile software lifecycle model for research-based computational science and engineering and applied mathematical software.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Willenbring, James M.; Bartlett, Roscoe Ainsworth; Heroux, Michael Allen

2012-01-01

Software lifecycles are becoming an increasingly important issue for computational science and engineering (CSE) software. The process by which a piece of CSE software begins life as a set of research requirements and then matures into a trusted high-quality capability is both commonplace and extremely challenging. Although an implicit lifecycle is obviously being used in any effort, the challenges of this process - respecting the competing needs of research vs. production - cannot be overstated. Here we describe a proposal for a well-defined software lifecycle process based on modern Lean/Agile software engineering principles. What we propose is appropriate for manymore » CSE software projects that are initially heavily focused on research but also are expected to eventually produce usable high-quality capabilities. The model is related to TriBITS, a build, integration and testing system, which serves as a strong foundation for this lifecycle model, and aspects of this lifecycle model are ingrained in the TriBITS system. Here, we advocate three to four phases or maturity levels that address the appropriate handling of many issues associated with the transition from research to production software. The goals of this lifecycle model are to better communicate maturity levels with customers and to help to identify and promote Software Engineering (SE) practices that will help to improve productivity and produce better software. An important collection of software in this domain is Trilinos, which is used as the motivation and the initial target for this lifecycle model. However, many other related and similar CSE (and non-CSE) software projects can also make good use of this lifecycle model, especially those that use the TriBITS system. Indeed this lifecycle process, if followed, will enable large-scale sustainable integration of many complex CSE software efforts across several institutions.« less

SLS Flight Software Testing: Using a Modified Agile Software Testing Approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bolton, Albanie T.

2016-01-01

NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) is an advanced launch vehicle for a new era of exploration beyond earth's orbit (BEO). The world's most powerful rocket, SLS, will launch crews of up to four astronauts in the agency's Orion spacecraft on missions to explore multiple deep-space destinations. Boeing is developing the SLS core stage, including the avionics that will control vehicle during flight. The core stage will be built at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans, LA using state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment. At the same time, the rocket's avionics computer software is being developed here at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL. At Marshall, the Flight and Ground Software division provides comprehensive engineering expertise for development of flight and ground software. Within that division, the Software Systems Engineering Branch's test and verification (T&V) team uses an agile test approach in testing and verification of software. The agile software test method opens the door for regular short sprint release cycles. The idea or basic premise behind the concept of agile software development and testing is that it is iterative and developed incrementally. Agile testing has an iterative development methodology where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between cross-functional teams. With testing and development done incrementally, this allows for increased features and enhanced value for releases. This value can be seen throughout the T&V team processes that are documented in various work instructions within the branch. The T&V team produces procedural test results at a higher rate, resolves issues found in software with designers at an earlier stage versus at a later release, and team members gain increased knowledge of the system architecture by interfacing with designers. SLS Flight Software teams want to continue uncovering better ways of developing software in an efficient and project beneficial manner. Through agile testing, there has been increased value through individuals and interactions over processes and tools, improved customer collaboration, and improved responsiveness to changes through controlled planning. The presentation will describe agile testing methodology as taken with the SLS FSW Test and Verification team at Marshall Space Flight Center.

A survey of risk factors for digit injuries among dogs training and competing in agility events.

PubMed

Sellon, Debra C; Martucci, Katherine; Wenz, John R; Marcellin-Little, Denis J; Powers, Michelle; Cullen, Kimberley L

2018-01-01

OBJECTIVE To identify potential risk factors for digit injuries in dogs training and competing in agility events. DESIGN Internet-based, retrospective, cross-sectional survey. ANIMALS 1,081 dogs training or competing in agility events. PROCEDURES Data were collected for eligible animals via retrospective surveys distributed electronically to handlers of dogs participating in agility-related activities. Variables evaluated included demographic (handlers) and signalment (dogs) information, physical characteristics of dogs, and injury characteristics. A separate survey of dogs competing in similar agility-related activities but without digit injuries was also administered. Multivariable logistic regression was used to develop a model for assessment of risk factors. RESULTS Data were collected from 207 agility dogs with digit injuries and 874 agility dogs without digit injuries. Factors associated with significantly increased odds of injury included Border Collie breed (OR, 2.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.5 to 3.3), long nails (OR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.3 to 4.5), absence of front dewclaws (OR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.3 to 2.6), and greater weight-to-height ratio (OR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.1 to 2.0). Odds of injury decreased with increasing age of the dog (OR, 0.8; 95% CI, 0.76 to 0.86). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results should be cautiously interpreted because of potential respondent and recall bias and lack of review of medical records. Nevertheless, results suggested that retaining healthy dewclaws, maintaining lean body mass, and trimming nails short for training and competition may decrease the likelihood of digit injuries. Research to investigate training practices, obstacle construction specifcations, and surface considerations for dogs competing in agility activities is indicated.

Model based design introduction: modeling game controllers to microprocessor architectures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jungwirth, Patrick; Badawy, Abdel-Hameed

2017-04-01

We present an introduction to model based design. Model based design is a visual representation, generally a block diagram, to model and incrementally develop a complex system. Model based design is a commonly used design methodology for digital signal processing, control systems, and embedded systems. Model based design's philosophy is: to solve a problem - a step at a time. The approach can be compared to a series of steps to converge to a solution. A block diagram simulation tool allows a design to be simulated with real world measurement data. For example, if an analog control system is being upgraded to a digital control system, the analog sensor input signals can be recorded. The digital control algorithm can be simulated with the real world sensor data. The output from the simulated digital control system can then be compared to the old analog based control system. Model based design can compared to Agile software develop. The Agile software development goal is to develop working software in incremental steps. Progress is measured in completed and tested code units. Progress is measured in model based design by completed and tested blocks. We present a concept for a video game controller and then use model based design to iterate the design towards a working system. We will also describe a model based design effort to develop an OS Friendly Microprocessor Architecture based on the RISC-V.

Sharing environmental models: An Approach using GitHub repositories and Web Processing Services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stasch, Christoph; Nuest, Daniel; Pross, Benjamin

2016-04-01

The GLUES (Global Assessment of Land Use Dynamics, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Ecosystem Services) project established a spatial data infrastructure for scientific geospatial data and metadata (http://geoportal-glues.ufz.de), where different regional collaborative projects researching the impacts of climate and socio-economic changes on sustainable land management can share their underlying base scenarios and datasets. One goal of the project is to ease the sharing of computational models between institutions and to make them easily executable in Web-based infrastructures. In this work, we present such an approach for sharing computational models relying on GitHub repositories (http://github.com) and Web Processing Services. At first, model providers upload their model implementations to GitHub repositories in order to share them with others. The GitHub platform allows users to submit changes to the model code. The changes can be discussed and reviewed before merging them. However, while GitHub allows sharing and collaborating of model source code, it does not actually allow running these models, which requires efforts to transfer the implementation to a model execution framework. We thus have extended an existing implementation of the OGC Web Processing Service standard (http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/wps), the 52°North Web Processing Service (http://52north.org/wps) platform to retrieve all model implementations from a git (http://git-scm.com) repository and add them to the collection of published geoprocesses. The current implementation is restricted to models implemented as R scripts using WPS4R annotations (Hinz et al.) and to Java algorithms using the 52°North WPS Java API. The models hence become executable through a standardized Web API by multiple clients such as desktop or browser GIS and modelling frameworks. If the model code is changed on the GitHub platform, the changes are retrieved by the service and the processes will be updated accordingly. The admin tool of the 52°North WPS was extended to support automated retrieval and deployment of computational models from GitHub repositories. Once the R code is available in the GitHub repo, the contained process can be easily deployed and executed by simply defining the GitHub repository URL in the WPS admin tool. We illustrate the usage of the approach by sharing and running a model for land use system archetypes developed by the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ, see Vaclavik et al.). The original R code was extended and published in the 52°North WPS using both, public and non-public datasets (Nüst et al., see also https://github.com/52North/glues-wps). Hosting the analysis in a Git repository now allows WPS administrators, client developers, and modelers to easily work together on new versions or completely new web processes using the powerful GitHub collaboration platform. References: Hinz, M. et. al. (2013): Spatial Statistics on the Geospatial Web. In: The 16th AGILE International Conference on Geographic Information Science, Short Papers. http://www.agile-online.org/Conference_Paper/CDs/agile_2013/Short_Papers/SP_S3.1_Hinz.pdf Nüst, D. et. al.: (2015): Open and reproducible global land use classification. In: EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts . Vol. 17. European Geophysical Union, 2015, p. 9125, http://meetingorganizer.copernicus. org/EGU2015/EGU2015- 9125.pdf Vaclavik, T., et. al. (2013): Mapping global land system archetypes. Global Environmental Change 23(6): 1637-1647. Online available: October 9, 2013, DOI: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2013.09.004

Practical Approach for Hyperspectral Image Processing in Python

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Annala, L.; Eskelinen, M. A.; Hämäläinen, J.; Riihinen, A.; Pölönen, I.

2018-04-01

Python is a very popular programming language among data scientists around the world. Python can also be used in hyperspectral data analysis. There are some toolboxes designed for spectral imaging, such as Spectral Python and HyperSpy, but there is a need for analysis pipeline, which is easy to use and agile for different solutions. We propose a Python pipeline which is built on packages xarray, Holoviews and scikit-learn. We have developed some of own tools, MaskAccessor, VisualisorAccessor and a spectral index library. They also fulfill our goal of easy and agile data processing. In this paper we will present our processing pipeline and demonstrate it in practice.

Network configuration management : paving the way to network agility.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Maestas, Joseph H.

2007-08-01

Sandia networks consist of nearly nine hundred routers and switches and nearly one million lines of command code, and each line ideally contributes to the capabilities of the network to convey information from one location to another. Sandia's Cyber Infrastructure Development and Deployment organizations recognize that it is therefore essential to standardize network configurations and enforce conformance to industry best business practices and documented internal configuration standards to provide a network that is agile, adaptable, and highly available. This is especially important in times of constrained budgets as members of the workforce are called upon to improve efficiency, effectiveness, andmore » customer focus. Best business practices recommend using the standardized configurations in the enforcement process so that when root cause analysis results in recommended configuration changes, subsequent configuration auditing will improve compliance to the standard. Ultimately, this minimizes mean time to repair, maintains the network security posture, improves network availability, and enables efficient transition to new technologies. Network standardization brings improved network agility, which in turn enables enterprise agility, because the network touches all facets of corporate business. Improved network agility improves the business enterprise as a whole.« less

AGILE OBSERVATIONS OF THE 'SOFT' GAMMA-RAY PULSAR PSR B1509 - 58

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pilia, M.; Pellizzoni, A.; Esposito, P.

2010-11-01

We present the results of new AGILE observations of PSR B1509 - 58 performed over a period of {approx}2.5 years following the detection obtained with a subset of the present data. The modulation significance of the light curve above 30 MeV is at a 5{sigma} confidence level and the light curve is similar to those found earlier by COMPTEL up to 30 MeV: a broad asymmetric first peak reaching its maximum 0.39 {+-} 0.02 cycles after the radio peak plus a second peak at 0.94 {+-} 0.03. The gamma-ray spectral energy distribution of the pulsed flux detected by COMPTEL andmore » AGILE is well described by a power law (photon index {alpha} = 1.87 {+-} 0.09) with a remarkable cutoff at E{sub c} = 81 {+-} 20 MeV, representing the softest spectrum observed among gamma-ray pulsars so far. The pulsar luminosity at E > 1 MeV is L{sub {gamma}} = 4.2{sup +0.5}{sub -0.2} x 10{sup 35} erg s{sup -1}, assuming a distance of 5.2 kpc, which implies a spin-down conversion efficiency to gamma rays of {approx}0.03. The unusual soft break in the spectrum of PSR B1509 - 58 has been interpreted in the framework of polar cap models as a signature of the exotic photon-splitting process in the strong magnetic field of this pulsar. In this interpretation, our spectrum constrains the magnetic altitude of the emission point(s) at 3 km above the neutron star surface, implying that the attenuation may not be as strong as formerly suggested because pair production can substitute photon splitting into regions of the magnetosphere where the magnetic field becomes too low to sustain photon splitting. In the case of an outer-gap scenario or the two-pole caustic model, better constraints on the geometry of the emission would be needed from the radio band in order to establish whether the conditions required by the models to reproduce AGILE light curves and spectra match the polarization measurements.« less

Pulsars at the Highest Energies: Questions for AGILE, Fermi (GLAST) and Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, D.J.

2008-01-01

Observational studies of gamma-ray pulsars languished in recent years, while theoretical studies made significant strides. Now, with new and improved gamma-ray telescopes coming online, opportunities present themselves for dramatic improvements in our understanding of these objects. The new facilities and better modeling of processes at work in high-energy pulsars should address a number of important open questions, some of which are summarized.

Enhancing Users' Participation in Business Process Modeling through Ontology-Based Training

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Macris, A.; Malamateniou, F.; Vassilacopoulos, G.

Successful business process design requires active participation of users who are familiar with organizational activities and business process modelling concepts. Hence, there is a need to provide users with reusable, flexible, agile and adaptable training material in order to enable them instil their knowledge and expertise in business process design and automation activities. Knowledge reusability is of paramount importance in designing training material on process modelling since it enables users participate actively in process design/redesign activities stimulated by the changing business environment. This paper presents a prototype approach for the design and use of training material that provides significant advantages to both the designer (knowledge - content reusability and semantic web enabling) and the user (semantic search, knowledge navigation and knowledge dissemination). The approach is based on externalizing domain knowledge in the form of ontology-based knowledge networks (i.e. training scenarios serving specific training needs) so that it is made reusable.

Implementing Extreme Programming in Distributed Software Project Teams: Strategies and Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maruping, Likoebe M.

Agile software development methods and distributed forms of organizing teamwork are two team process innovations that are gaining prominence in today's demanding software development environment. Individually, each of these innovations has yielded gains in the practice of software development. Agile methods have enabled software project teams to meet the challenges of an ever turbulent business environment through enhanced flexibility and responsiveness to emergent customer needs. Distributed software project teams have enabled organizations to access highly specialized expertise across geographic locations. Although much progress has been made in understanding how to more effectively manage agile development teams and how to manage distributed software development teams, managers have little guidance on how to leverage these two potent innovations in combination. In this chapter, I outline some of the strategies and challenges associated with implementing agile methods in distributed software project teams. These are discussed in the context of a study of a large-scale software project in the United States that lasted four months.

Onshore and Offshore Outsourcing with Agility: Lessons Learned

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kussmaul, Clifton

This chapter reflects on case study based an agile distributed project that ran for approximately three years (from spring 2003 to spring 2006). The project involved (a) a customer organization with key personnel distributed across the US, developing an application with rapidly changing requirements; (b) onshore consultants with expertise in project management, development processes, offshoring, and relevant technologies; and (c) an external offsite development team in a CMM-5 organization in southern India. This chapter is based on surveys and discussions with multiple participants. The several years since the project was completed allow greater perspective on both the strengths and weaknesses, since the participants can reflect on the entire life of the project, and compare it to subsequent experiences. Our findings emphasize the potential for agile project management in distributed software development, and the importance of people and interactions, taking many small steps to find and correct errors, and matching the structures of the project and product to support implementation of agility.

The impact of standard and hard-coded parameters on the hydrologic fluxes in the Noah-MP land surface model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thober, S.; Cuntz, M.; Mai, J.; Samaniego, L. E.; Clark, M. P.; Branch, O.; Wulfmeyer, V.; Attinger, S.

2016-12-01

Land surface models incorporate a large number of processes, described by physical, chemical and empirical equations. The agility of the models to react to different meteorological conditions is artificially constrained by having hard-coded parameters in their equations. Here we searched for hard-coded parameters in the computer code of the land surface model Noah with multiple process options (Noah-MP) to assess the model's agility during parameter estimation. We found 139 hard-coded values in all Noah-MP process options in addition to the 71 standard parameters. We performed a Sobol' global sensitivity analysis to variations of the standard and hard-coded parameters. The sensitivities of the hydrologic output fluxes latent heat and total runoff, their component fluxes, as well as photosynthesis and sensible heat were evaluated at twelve catchments of the Eastern United States with very different hydro-meteorological regimes. Noah-MP's output fluxes are sensitive to two thirds of its standard parameters. The most sensitive parameter is, however, a hard-coded value in the formulation of soil surface resistance for evaporation, which proved to be oversensitive in other land surface models as well. Latent heat and total runoff show very similar sensitivities towards standard and hard-coded parameters. They are sensitive to both soil and plant parameters, which means that model calibrations of hydrologic or land surface models should take both soil and plant parameters into account. Sensible and latent heat exhibit almost the same sensitivities so that calibration or sensitivity analysis can be performed with either of the two. Photosynthesis has almost the same sensitivities as transpiration, which are different from the sensitivities of latent heat. Including photosynthesis and latent heat in model calibration might therefore be beneficial. Surface runoff is sensitive to almost all hard-coded snow parameters. These sensitivities get, however, diminished in total runoff. It is thus recommended to include the most sensitive hard-coded model parameters that were exposed in this study when calibrating Noah-MP.

A Review of Agile and Lean Manufacturing as Issues in Selected International and National Research and Development Programs and Roadmaps

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Castro, Helio; Putnik, Goran D.; Shah, Vaibhav

2012-01-01

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to analyze international and national research and development (R&D) programs and roadmaps for the manufacturing sector, presenting how agile and lean manufacturing models are addressed in these programs. Design/methodology/approach: In this review, several manufacturing research and development programs and…

Teachers as Strategic Classroom Leaders: The Relationship of Their Cognitive and Behavioral Agility to Student Outcomes and Performance Evaluations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warkentien, Michael

2016-01-01

The purpose of this non-experimental study was to determine whether teacher cognitive and behavioral agility relates to student achievement as measured by their value-added model (VAM) score and their performance evaluation measured through the Marzano instructional practice (IP) framework, and whether that relationship is moderated by contextual…

Using formal methods to scope performance challenges for Smart Manufacturing Systems: focus on agility.

PubMed

Jung, Kiwook; Morris, K C; Lyons, Kevin W; Leong, Swee; Cho, Hyunbo

2015-12-01

Smart Manufacturing Systems (SMS) need to be agile to adapt to new situations by using detailed, precise, and appropriate data for intelligent decision-making. The intricacy of the relationship of strategic goals to operational performance across the many levels of a manufacturing system inhibits the realization of SMS. This paper proposes a method for identifying what aspects of a manufacturing system should be addressed to respond to changing strategic goals. The method uses standard modeling techniques in specifying a manufacturing system and the relationship between strategic goals and operational performance metrics. Two existing reference models related to manufacturing operations are represented formally and harmonized to support the proposed method. The method is illustrated for a single scenario using agility as a strategic goal. By replicating the proposed method for other strategic goals and with multiple scenarios, a comprehensive set of performance challenges can be identified.

Using formal methods to scope performance challenges for Smart Manufacturing Systems: focus on agility

PubMed Central

Jung, Kiwook; Morris, KC; Lyons, Kevin W.; Leong, Swee; Cho, Hyunbo

2016-01-01

Smart Manufacturing Systems (SMS) need to be agile to adapt to new situations by using detailed, precise, and appropriate data for intelligent decision-making. The intricacy of the relationship of strategic goals to operational performance across the many levels of a manufacturing system inhibits the realization of SMS. This paper proposes a method for identifying what aspects of a manufacturing system should be addressed to respond to changing strategic goals. The method uses standard modeling techniques in specifying a manufacturing system and the relationship between strategic goals and operational performance metrics. Two existing reference models related to manufacturing operations are represented formally and harmonized to support the proposed method. The method is illustrated for a single scenario using agility as a strategic goal. By replicating the proposed method for other strategic goals and with multiple scenarios, a comprehensive set of performance challenges can be identified. PMID:27141209

Generalized information fusion and visualization using spatial voting and data modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaenisch, Holger M.; Handley, James W.

2013-05-01

We present a novel and innovative information fusion and visualization framework for multi-source intelligence (multiINT) data using Spatial Voting (SV) and Data Modeling. We describe how different sources of information can be converted into numerical form for further processing downstream, followed by a short description of how this information can be fused using the SV grid. As an illustrative example, we show the modeling of cyberspace as cyber layers for the purpose of tracking cyber personas. Finally we describe a path ahead for creating interactive agile networks through defender customized Cyber-cubes for network configuration and attack visualization.

Insights into Global Health Practice from the Agile Software Development Movement

PubMed Central

Flood, David; Chary, Anita; Austad, Kirsten; Diaz, Anne Kraemer; García, Pablo; Martinez, Boris; Canú, Waleska López; Rohloff, Peter

2016-01-01

Global health practitioners may feel frustration that current models of global health research, delivery, and implementation are overly focused on specific interventions, slow to provide health services in the field, and relatively ill-equipped to adapt to local contexts. Adapting design principles from the agile software development movement, we propose an analogous approach to designing global health programs that emphasizes tight integration between research and implementation, early involvement of ground-level health workers and program beneficiaries, and rapid cycles of iterative program improvement. Using examples from our own fieldwork, we illustrate the potential of ‘agile global health’ and reflect on the limitations, trade-offs, and implications of this approach. PMID:27134081

Insights into Global Health Practice from the Agile Software Development Movement.

PubMed

Flood, David; Chary, Anita; Austad, Kirsten; Diaz, Anne Kraemer; García, Pablo; Martinez, Boris; Canú, Waleska López; Rohloff, Peter

2016-01-01

Global health practitioners may feel frustration that current models of global health research, delivery, and implementation are overly focused on specific interventions, slow to provide health services in the field, and relatively ill-equipped to adapt to local contexts. Adapting design principles from the agile software development movement, we propose an analogous approach to designing global health programs that emphasizes tight integration between research and implementation, early involvement of ground-level health workers and program beneficiaries, and rapid cycles of iterative program improvement. Using examples from our own fieldwork, we illustrate the potential of 'agile global health' and reflect on the limitations, trade-offs, and implications of this approach.

Biorobotics: using robots to emulate and investigate agile locomotion.

PubMed

Ijspeert, Auke J

2014-10-10

The graceful and agile movements of animals are difficult to analyze and emulate because locomotion is the result of a complex interplay of many components: the central and peripheral nervous systems, the musculoskeletal system, and the environment. The goals of biorobotics are to take inspiration from biological principles to design robots that match the agility of animals, and to use robots as scientific tools to investigate animal adaptive behavior. Used as physical models, biorobots contribute to hypothesis testing in fields such as hydrodynamics, biomechanics, neuroscience, and prosthetics. Their use may contribute to the design of prosthetic devices that more closely take human locomotion principles into account. Copyright © 2014, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Seeking consensus for cyberinfrastructure governance in the USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allison, M. Lee; Zanzkerkia, Eva

2014-05-01

Governance of geosciences cyberinfrastructure is a complex and essential undertaking, critical in enabling distributed knowledge communities to collaborate and communicate across disciplines, distances, and cultures. Advancing science with respect to "grand challenges," such as global change, Earth system observation, modeling, and prediction, and core fundamental science, depends not just on technical cyber systems, but also on social systems for strategic planning, decision-making, project management, learning, teaching, and building a community of practice. Simply put, a robust, agile technical system depends on an equally robust and adaptable social system. Cyberinfrastructure development is wrapped in social, organizational and governance challenges which may significantly impede technical progress and result in inefficiencies, duplication of effort, incompatibilities, wasted resources or user frustration. These issues are also the most time consuming to resolve due to significant institutional and social inertia: hence the urgency for developing a governance blueprint. An agile development process is underway for governance of transformative investments in geosciences cyberinfrastructure through the US National Science Foundation's EarthCube Program. Agile development is iterative and incremental, and promotes adaptive planning and rapid and flexible response. Such iterative deployment across a variety of EarthCube stakeholders encourages transparency, consensus, accountability, and inclusiveness. A broad coalition of stakeholder groups comprises an Assembly to serve as a preliminary venue for identifying, evaluating, and testing potential governance models. To offer opportunity for ensure broader end-user input and buy-in, a crowd-source approach engages stakeholders not involved otherwise in the Assembly. Developmental evaluators from the social sciences embedded in the project will provide real-time review and adjustments. In order to ensure an open and inclusive process, community-selected leaders play key roles through an Assembly Advisory Council. If consensus is reached on a governing framework, a community-selected demonstration governance demonstration pilot will help facilitate community convergence on system design.

An Investigation of Agility Issues in Scrum Teams Using Agility Indicators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pikkarainen, Minna; Wang, Xiaofeng

Agile software development methods have emerged and become increasingly popular in recent years; yet the issues encountered by software development teams that strive to achieve agility using agile methods are yet to be explored systematically. Built upon a previous study that has established a set of indicators of agility, this study investigates what issues are manifested in software development teams using agile methods. It is focussed on Scrum teams particularly. In other words, the goal of the chapter is to evaluate Scrum teams using agility indicators and therefore to further validate previously presented agility indicators within the additional cases. A multiple case study research method is employed. The findings of the study reveal that the teams using Scrum do not necessarily achieve agility in terms of team autonomy, sharing, stability and embraced uncertainty. The possible reasons include previous organizational plan-driven culture, resistance towards the Scrum roles and changing resources.

Update 2016: Considerations for Using Agile in DoD Acquisition

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-12-01

What Is Agile? 4 2.1 Agile Manifesto and Principles—A Brief History 4 2.2 A Practical Definition 6 2.3 Example Agile Method 6 2.4 Example Agile...5.8 Team Composition 45 5.9 Culture 46 6 Conclusion 48 Appendix A: Examples of Agile Methods 50 Appendix B: Common Objections to Agile 53...thank all those who have contributed to our knowledge of apply- ing “other than traditional” methods for software system acquisition and management over

What Does an Agile Coach Do?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davies, Rachel; Pullicino, James

The surge in Agile adoption has created a demand for project managers rather than direct their teams. A sign of this trend is the ever-increasing number of people getting certified as scrum masters and agile leaders. Training courses that introduce agile practices are easy to find. But making the transition to coach is not as simple as understanding what agile practices are. Your challenge as an Agile Coach is to support your team in learning how to wield their new Agile tools in creating great software.

Agile: From Software to Mission Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Trimble, Jay; Shirley, Mark; Hobart, Sarah

2017-01-01

To maximize efficiency and flexibility in Mission Operations System (MOS) design, we are evolving principles from agile and lean methods for software, to the complete mission system. This allows for reduced operational risk at reduced cost, and achieves a more effective design through early integration of operations into mission system engineering and flight system design. The core principles are assessment of capability through demonstration, risk reduction through targeted experiments, early test and deployment, and maturation of processes and tools through use.

Fostering soft skills in project-oriented learning within an agile atmosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chassidim, Hadas; Almog, Dani; Mark, Shlomo

2018-07-01

The project-oriented and Agile approaches have motivated a new generation of software engineers. Within the academic curriculum, the issue of whether students are being sufficiently prepared for the future has been raised. The objective of this work is to present the project-oriented environment as an influential factor that software engineering profession requires, using the second year course 'Software Development and Management in Agile Approach' as a case-study. This course combines academic topics, self-learned and soft skills implementation, the call for creativity, and the recognition of updated technologies and dynamic circumstances. The results of a survey that evaluated the perceived value of the course showed that the highest contribution of our environment was in the effectiveness of the team-work and the overall development process of the project.

Agile Text Mining for the 2014 i2b2/UTHealth Cardiac Risk Factors Challenge

PubMed Central

Cormack, James; Nath, Chinmoy; Milward, David; Raja, Kalpana; Jonnalagadda, Siddhartha R

2016-01-01

This paper describes the use of an agile text mining platform (Linguamatics’ Interactive Information Extraction Platform, I2E) to extract document-level cardiac risk factors in patient records as defined in the i2b2/UTHealth 2014 Challenge. The approach uses a data-driven rule-based methodology with the addition of a simple supervised classifier. We demonstrate that agile text mining allows for rapid optimization of extraction strategies, while post-processing can leverage annotation guidelines, corpus statistics and logic inferred from the gold standard data. We also show how data imbalance in a training set affects performance. Evaluation of this approach on the test data gave an F-Score of 91.7%, one percent behind the top performing system. PMID:26209007

Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) and agile lensing-based modules for communications, sensing and signal processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reza, Syed Azer

This dissertation proposes the use of the emerging Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and agile lensing optical device technologies to design novel and powerful signal conditioning and sensing modules for advanced applications in optical communications, physical parameter sensing and RF/optical signal processing. For example, these new module designs have experimentally demonstrated exceptional features such as stable loss broadband operations and high > 60 dB optical dynamic range signal filtering capabilities. The first part of the dissertation describes the design and demonstration of digital MEMS-based signal processing modules for communication systems and sensor networks using the TI DLP (Digital Light Processing) technology. Examples of such modules include optical power splitters, narrowband and broadband variable fiber optical attenuators, spectral shapers and filters. Compared to prior works, these all-digital designs have advantages of repeatability, accuracy, and reliability that are essential for advanced communications and sensor applications. The next part of the dissertation proposes, analyzes and demonstrates the use of analog opto-fluidic agile lensing technology for sensor networks and test and measurement systems. Novel optical module designs for distance sensing, liquid level sensing, three-dimensional object shape sensing and variable photonic delay lines are presented and experimentally demonstrated. Compared to prior art module designs, the proposed analog-mode modules have exceptional performances, particularly for extreme environments (e.g., caustic liquids) where the free-space agile beam-based sensor provide remote non-contact access for physical sensing operations. The dissertation also presents novel modules involving hybrid analog-digital photonic designs that make use of the different optical device technologies to deliver the best features of both analog and digital optical device operations and controls. Digital controls are achieved through the use of the digital MEMS technology and analog controls are realized by employing opto-fluidic agile lensing technology and acousto-optic technology. For example, variable fiber-optic attenuators and spectral filters are proposed using the hybrid design. Compared to prior art module designs, these hybrid designs provide a higher module dynamic range and increased resolution that are critical in various advanced system applications. In summary, the dissertation shows the added power of hybrid optical designs using both the digital and analog photonic signal processing versus just all-digital or all-analog module designs.

Embedding Agile Practices within a Plan-Driven Hierarchical Project Life Cycle

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Millard, W. David; Johnson, Daniel M.; Henderson, John M.

2014-07-28

Organizations use structured, plan-driven approaches to provide continuity, direction, and control to large, multi-year programs. Projects within these programs vary greatly in size, complexity, level of maturity, technical risk, and clarity of the development objectives. Organizations that perform exploratory research, evolutionary development, and other R&D activities can obtain the benefits of Agile practices without losing the benefits of their program’s overarching plan-driven structure. This paper describes application of Agile development methods on a large plan-driven sensor integration program. While the client employed plan-driven, requirements flow-down methodologies, tight project schedules and complex interfaces called for frequent end-to-end demonstrations to provide feedbackmore » during system development. The development process maintained the many benefits of plan-driven project execution with the rapid prototyping, integration, demonstration, and client feedback possible through Agile development methods. This paper also describes some of the tools and implementing mechanisms used to transition between and take advantage of each methodology, and presents lessons learned from the project management, system engineering, and developer’s perspectives.« less

Agility - The Danish Way (Briefing Charts)

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-01

unclassified b. ABSTRACT unclassified c. THIS PAGE unclassified Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8-98) Prescribed by ANSI Std Z39-18 ‘A’ PLAN… • Theory ...Social Military Economic Infrastructure Assessment Planning Execution Knowledge Base PMESII SAS 050 C2 Model – Sensemaking (INTELLIGENCE) C2...Warfighting COMMANDER Intelligence manages the sensemaking (ex SA/SU) – it is the make or break for battlespace agility. How we ‘observe’ and

Effect of Exercise Program Speed, Agility, and Quickness (SAQ) in Improving Speed, Agility, and Acceleration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azmi, K.; Kusnanik, N. W.

2018-01-01

This study aimed to analyze the effect of speed, agility and quickness training program to increase in speed, agility and acceleration. This study was conducted at 26 soccer players and divided into 2 groups with 13 players each group. Group 1 was given SAQ training program, and Group 2 conventional training program for 8 weeks. This study used a quantitative approach with quasi-experimental method. The design of this study used a matching-only design. Data was collected by testing 30-meter sprint (speed), agility t-test (agility), and run 10 meters (acceleration) during the pretest and posttest. Furthermore, the data was analyzed using paired sample t-test and independent t-test. The results showed: that there was a significant effect of speed, agility and quickness training program in improving in speed, agility and acceleration. In summary, it can be concluded that the speed, agility and quickness training program can improve the speed, agility and acceleration of the soccer players.

Model Based Systems Engineering on the Europa Mission Concept Study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bayer, Todd J.; Chung, Seung; Cole, Bjorn; Cooke, Brian; Dekens, Frank; Delp, Chris; Gontijo, I.; Lewis, Kari; Moshir, Mehrdad; Rasmussen, Robert;

Reactive Agility Performance in Handball; Development and Evaluation of a Sport-Specific Measurement Protocol

PubMed Central

Spasic, Miodrag; Krolo, Ante; Zenic, Natasa; Delextrat, Anne; Sekulic, Damir

2015-01-01

There is no current study that examined sport-specific tests of reactive-agility and change-of-direction-speed (CODS) to replicate real-sport environment in handball (team-handball). This investigation evaluated the reliability and validity of two novel tests designed to assess reactive-agility and CODS of handball players. Participants were female (25.14 ± 3.71 years of age; 1.77 ± 0.09 m and 74.1 ± 6.1 kg) and male handball players (26.9 ± 4.1 years of age; 1.90 ± 0.09 m and 93.90±4.6 kg). Variables included body height, body mass, body mass index, broad jump, 5-m sprint, CODS and reactive-agility tests. Results showed satisfactory reliability for reactive-agility-test and CODS-test (ICC of 0.85-0.93, and CV of 2.4-4.8%). The reactive-agility and CODS shared less than 20% of the common variance. The calculated index of perceptual and reactive capacity (P&RC; ratio between reactive-agility- and CODS-performance) is found to be valid measure in defining true-game reactive-agility performance in handball in both genders. Therefore, the handball athletes’ P&RC should be used in the evaluation of real-game reactive-agility performance. Future studies should explore other sport-specific reactive-agility tests and factors associated to such performance in sports involving agile maneuvers. Key points Reactive agility and change-of-direction-speed should be observed as independent qualities, even when tested over the same course and similar movement template The reactive-agility-performance of the handball athletes involved in defensive duties is closer to their non-reactive-agility-score than in their peers who are not involved in defensive duties The handball specific “true-game” reactive-agility-performance should be evaluated as the ratio between reactive-agility and corresponding CODS performance. PMID:26336335

Reactive Agility Performance in Handball; Development and Evaluation of a Sport-Specific Measurement Protocol.

PubMed

Spasic, Miodrag; Krolo, Ante; Zenic, Natasa; Delextrat, Anne; Sekulic, Damir

2015-09-01

There is no current study that examined sport-specific tests of reactive-agility and change-of-direction-speed (CODS) to replicate real-sport environment in handball (team-handball). This investigation evaluated the reliability and validity of two novel tests designed to assess reactive-agility and CODS of handball players. Participants were female (25.14 ± 3.71 years of age; 1.77 ± 0.09 m and 74.1 ± 6.1 kg) and male handball players (26.9 ± 4.1 years of age; 1.90 ± 0.09 m and 93.90±4.6 kg). Variables included body height, body mass, body mass index, broad jump, 5-m sprint, CODS and reactive-agility tests. Results showed satisfactory reliability for reactive-agility-test and CODS-test (ICC of 0.85-0.93, and CV of 2.4-4.8%). The reactive-agility and CODS shared less than 20% of the common variance. The calculated index of perceptual and reactive capacity (P&RC; ratio between reactive-agility- and CODS-performance) is found to be valid measure in defining true-game reactive-agility performance in handball in both genders. Therefore, the handball athletes' P&RC should be used in the evaluation of real-game reactive-agility performance. Future studies should explore other sport-specific reactive-agility tests and factors associated to such performance in sports involving agile maneuvers. Key pointsReactive agility and change-of-direction-speed should be observed as independent qualities, even when tested over the same course and similar movement templateThe reactive-agility-performance of the handball athletes involved in defensive duties is closer to their non-reactive-agility-score than in their peers who are not involved in defensive dutiesThe handball specific "true-game" reactive-agility-performance should be evaluated as the ratio between reactive-agility and corresponding CODS performance.

Agile Multi-Scale Decompositions for Automatic Image Registration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Murphy, James M.; Leija, Omar Navarro; Le Moigne, Jacqueline

2016-01-01

In recent works, the first and third authors developed an automatic image registration algorithm based on a multiscale hybrid image decomposition with anisotropic shearlets and isotropic wavelets. This prototype showed strong performance, improving robustness over registration with wavelets alone. However, this method imposed a strict hierarchy on the order in which shearlet and wavelet features were used in the registration process, and also involved an unintegrated mixture of MATLAB and C code. In this paper, we introduce a more agile model for generating features, in which a flexible and user-guided mix of shearlet and wavelet features are computed. Compared to the previous prototype, this method introduces a flexibility to the order in which shearlet and wavelet features are used in the registration process. Moreover, the present algorithm is now fully coded in C, making it more efficient and portable than the MATLAB and C prototype. We demonstrate the versatility and computational efficiency of this approach by performing registration experiments with the fully-integrated C algorithm. In particular, meaningful timing studies can now be performed, to give a concrete analysis of the computational costs of the flexible feature extraction. Examples of synthetically warped and real multi-modal images are analyzed.

Agile Development Methods for Space Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Trimble, Jay; Webster, Chris

2012-01-01

Main stream industry software development practice has gone from a traditional waterfall process to agile iterative development that allows for fast response to customer inputs and produces higher quality software at lower cost. How can we, the space ops community, adopt state of the art software development practice, achieve greater productivity at lower cost, and maintain safe and effective space flight operations? At NASA Ames, we are developing Mission Control Technologies Software, in collaboration with Johnson Space Center (JSC) and, more recently, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

Improving Air Force Command and Control Through Enhanced Agile Combat Support Planning, Execution, Monitoring, and Control Processes

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-01-01

Tripp, Lionel A. Galway , Timothy L. Ramey, Mahyar A. Amouzegar, and Eric Peltz (MR-1179-AF), 2000. This report describes a vision for the combat...Postures, Lionel  A. Galway , Robert S. Tripp, Timothy  L. Ramey, and John G. Drew (MR-1075-AF), 2000. This report describes how alternative resourcing of...Aerospace Forces: An Integrated Strate- gic Agile Combat Support Planning Framework, Robert S. Tripp, Lionel  A. Galway , Paul Killingsworth, Eric Peltz

Anatomy of a hash-based long read sequence mapping algorithm for next generation DNA sequencing.

PubMed

Misra, Sanchit; Agrawal, Ankit; Liao, Wei-keng; Choudhary, Alok

2011-01-15

Recently, a number of programs have been proposed for mapping short reads to a reference genome. Many of them are heavily optimized for short-read mapping and hence are very efficient for shorter queries, but that makes them inefficient or not applicable for reads longer than 200 bp. However, many sequencers are already generating longer reads and more are expected to follow. For long read sequence mapping, there are limited options; BLAT, SSAHA2, FANGS and BWA-SW are among the popular ones. However, resequencing and personalized medicine need much faster software to map these long sequencing reads to a reference genome to identify SNPs or rare transcripts. We present AGILE (AliGnIng Long rEads), a hash table based high-throughput sequence mapping algorithm for longer 454 reads that uses diagonal multiple seed-match criteria, customized q-gram filtering and a dynamic incremental search approach among other heuristics to optimize every step of the mapping process. In our experiments, we observe that AGILE is more accurate than BLAT, and comparable to BWA-SW and SSAHA2. For practical error rates (< 5%) and read lengths (200-1000 bp), AGILE is significantly faster than BLAT, SSAHA2 and BWA-SW. Even for the other cases, AGILE is comparable to BWA-SW and several times faster than BLAT and SSAHA2. http://www.ece.northwestern.edu/~smi539/agile.html.

Lean and Information Technology Toolkit

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Lean and Information Technology Toolkit is a how-to guide which provides resources to environmental agencies to help them use Lean Startup, Lean process improvement, and Agile tools to streamline and automate processes.

An investigation of fighter aircraft agility

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Valasek, John; Downing, David R.

1993-01-01

This report attempts to unify in a single document the results of a series of studies on fighter aircraft agility funded by the NASA Ames Research Center, Dryden Flight Research Facility and conducted at the University of Kansas Flight Research Laboratory during the period January 1989 through December 1993. New metrics proposed by pilots and the research community to assess fighter aircraft agility are collected and analyzed. The report develops a framework for understanding the context into which the various proposed fighter agility metrics fit in terms of application and testing. Since new metrics continue to be proposed, this report does not claim to contain every proposed fighter agility metric. Flight test procedures, test constraints, and related criteria are developed. Instrumentation required to quantify agility via flight test is considered, as is the sensitivity of the candidate metrics to deviations from nominal pilot command inputs, which is studied in detail. Instead of supplying specific, detailed conclusions about the relevance or utility of one candidate metric versus another, the authors have attempted to provide sufficient data and analyses for readers to formulate their own conclusions. Readers are therefore ultimately responsible for judging exactly which metrics are 'best' for their particular needs. Additionally, it is not the intent of the authors to suggest combat tactics or other actual operational uses of the results and data in this report. This has been left up to the user community. Twenty of the candidate agility metrics were selected for evaluation with high fidelity, nonlinear, non real-time flight simulation computer programs of the F-5A Freedom Fighter, F-16A Fighting Falcon, F-18A Hornet, and X-29A. The information and data presented on the 20 candidate metrics which were evaluated will assist interested readers in conducting their own extensive investigations. The report provides a definition and analysis of each metric; details of how to test and measure the metric, including any special data reduction requirements; typical values for the metric obtained using one or more aircraft types; and a sensitivity analysis if applicable. The report is organized as follows. The first chapter in the report presents a historical review of air combat trends which demonstrate the need for agility metrics in assessing the combat performance of fighter aircraft in a modern, all-aspect missile environment. The second chapter presents a framework for classifying each candidate metric according to time scale (transient, functional, instantaneous), further subdivided by axis (pitch, lateral, axial). The report is then broadly divided into two parts, with the transient agility metrics (pitch lateral, axial) covered in chapters three, four, and five, and the functional agility metrics covered in chapter six. Conclusions, recommendations, and an extensive reference list and biography are also included. Five appendices contain a comprehensive list of the definitions of all the candidate metrics; a description of the aircraft models and flight simulation programs used for testing the metrics; several relations and concepts which are fundamental to the study of lateral agility; an in-depth analysis of the axial agility metrics; and a derivation of the relations for the instantaneous agility and their approximations.

Systems view on spatial planning and perception based on invariants in agent-environment dynamics

PubMed Central

Mettler, Bérénice; Kong, Zhaodan; Li, Bin; Andersh, Jonathan

2015-01-01

Modeling agile and versatile spatial behavior remains a challenging task, due to the intricate coupling of planning, control, and perceptual processes. Previous results have shown that humans plan and organize their guidance behavior by exploiting patterns in the interactions between agent or organism and the environment. These patterns, described under the concept of Interaction Patterns (IPs), capture invariants arising from equivalences and symmetries in the interaction with the environment, as well as effects arising from intrinsic properties of human control and guidance processes, such as perceptual guidance mechanisms. The paper takes a systems' perspective, considering the IP as a unit of organization, and builds on its properties to present a hierarchical model that delineates the planning, control, and perceptual processes and their integration. The model's planning process is further elaborated by showing that the IP can be abstracted, using spatial time-to-go functions. The perceptual processes are elaborated from the hierarchical model. The paper provides experimental support for the model's ability to predict the spatial organization of behavior and the perceptual processes. PMID:25628524

Development of advanced Czochralski growth process to produce low cost 150 kg silicon ingots from a single crucible for technology readiness. [crystal growth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lane, R. L.

1981-01-01

Six growth runs used the Kayex-Hameo Automatic Games Logic (AGILE) computer based system for growth from larger melts in the Mod CG2000. The implementation of the melt pyrometer sensor allowed for dip temperature monitoring and usage by the operator/AGILE system. Use of AGILE during recharge operations was successfully evaluated. The tendency of crystals to lose cylindrical shape (spiraling) continued to be a problem. The hygrometer was added to the Furnace Gas Analysis System and used on several growth runs. The gas chromatograph, including the integrator, was also used for more accurate carbon monoxide concentration measurements. Efforts continued for completing the automation of the total Gas Analysis System. An economic analysis, based on revised achievable straight growth rate, is presented.

Agile text mining for the 2014 i2b2/UTHealth Cardiac risk factors challenge.

PubMed

Cormack, James; Nath, Chinmoy; Milward, David; Raja, Kalpana; Jonnalagadda, Siddhartha R

2015-12-01

This paper describes the use of an agile text mining platform (Linguamatics' Interactive Information Extraction Platform, I2E) to extract document-level cardiac risk factors in patient records as defined in the i2b2/UTHealth 2014 challenge. The approach uses a data-driven rule-based methodology with the addition of a simple supervised classifier. We demonstrate that agile text mining allows for rapid optimization of extraction strategies, while post-processing can leverage annotation guidelines, corpus statistics and logic inferred from the gold standard data. We also show how data imbalance in a training set affects performance. Evaluation of this approach on the test data gave an F-Score of 91.7%, one percent behind the top performing system. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Agility assessment using fuzzy logic approach: a case of healthcare dispensary.

PubMed

Suresh, M; Patri, Rojalin

2017-06-09

Agile concepts are not only beneficial for manufacturing sector but also for service sector such as healthcare. However, assessment of agility has been predominantly done in manufacturing enterprises. This study demonstrates a means to measure agility of a healthcare organization by assessing agility of a university dispensary. Its contribution to the knowledge base is twofold. First, it proposes a means to measure the agility of a healthcare organization and second, it identifies the attributes that prevent agile performance and outlines the suggestive measure to enhance its agile capabilities. A case study approach has been adopted and fuzzy logic has been employed to measure the agility of the case dispensary. At first, the measures of assessment which include four enablers, fifteen criteria and forty-five attributes have been identified from the literature and rated by the experts indicating the importance of the measures in the assessment. Then, the case dispensary has been assessed on those measures by collecting observed performance rating from decision makers. At last, Fuzzy logic has been applied on the performance rating data to analyze and interpret the agile capability of the dispensary. The findings suggest that transparent information flow, adequate salary and bonuses for caregivers, reading error in medical descriptions, in house/nearby pathology laboratory services, technical up-gradation of dispensary equipments and facilities, minimization of patient throughput time and adequate training programme for safety practices are the attributes that weakens agile capability of the University dispensary. The current agility of the dispensary was found to be 'Agile' which is average in relation to the agility labels. Attributes such as transparent information flow, adequate salary and bonuses for caregivers, elimination of reading error in medical descriptions, in house/nearby pathology laboratory services, technical up-gradation of dispensary equipments and facilities, minimization of patient throughput time and adequate training programme for safety practices are extremely crucial for enhancing agile capability of a healthcare organization.

Tools for Supporting Distributed Agile Project Planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xin; Maurer, Frank; Morgan, Robert; Oliveira, Josyleuda

Agile project planning plays an important part in agile software development. In distributed settings, project planning is severely impacted by the lack of face-to-face communication and the inability to share paper index cards amongst all meeting participants. To address these issues, several distributed agile planning tools were developed. The tools vary in features, functions and running platforms. In this chapter, we first summarize the requirements for distributed agile planning. Then we give an overview on existing agile planning tools. We also evaluate existing tools based on tool requirements. Finally, we present some practical advices for both designers and users of distributed agile planning tools.

End-to-end observatory software modeling using domain specific languages

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Filgueira, José M.; Bec, Matthieu; Liu, Ning; Peng, Chien; Soto, José

2014-07-01

The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) is a 25-meter extremely large telescope that is being built by an international consortium of universities and research institutions. Its software and control system is being developed using a set of Domain Specific Languages (DSL) that supports a model driven development methodology integrated with an Agile management process. This approach promotes the use of standardized models that capture the component architecture of the system, that facilitate the construction of technical specifications in a uniform way, that facilitate communication between developers and domain experts and that provide a framework to ensure the successful integration of the software subsystems developed by the GMT partner institutions.

Elements of an Art - Agile Coaching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lundh, Erik

This tutorial gives you a lead on becoming or redefining yourself as an Agile Coach. Introduction to elements and dimensions of state-of-the-art Agile Coaching. How to position the agile coach to be effective in a larger setting. Making the agile transition - from a single team to thousands of people. How to support multiple teams as a coach. How to build a coaches network in your company. Challenges when the agile coach is a consultant and the organization is large.

Rolling and tumbling: status of the SuperAGILE experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Del Monte, E.; Costa, E.; di Persio, G.; Donnarumma, I.; Evangelista, Y.; Feroci, M.; Lapshov, I.; Lazzarotto, F.; Mastropietro, M.; Morelli, E.; Pacciani, L.; Rapisarda, M.; Rubini, A.; Soffitta, P.; Tavani, M.; Argan, A.; Trois, A.

2010-07-01

The SuperAGILE experiment is the hard X-ray monitor of the AGILE mission. It is a 2 x one-dimensional imager, with 6-arcmin angular resolution in the energy range 18 - 60 keV and a field of view in excess of 1 steradian. SuperAGILE is successfully operating in orbit since Summer 2007, providing long-term monitoring of bright sources and prompt detection and localization of gamma-ray bursts. Starting on October 2009 the AGILE mission lost its reaction wheel and the satellite attitude is no longer stabilized. The current mode of operation of the AGILE satellite is a Spinning Mode, around the Sun-pointing direction, with an angular velocity of about 0.8 degree/s (corresponding to 8 times the SuperAGILE point spread function every second). In these new conditions, SuperAGILE continuously scans a much larger fraction of the sky, with much smaller exposure to each region. In this paper we review some of the results of the first 2.5 years of "standard" operation of SuperAGILE, and show how new implementations in the data analysis software allows to continue the hard X-ray sky monitoring by SuperAGILE also in the new attitude conditions.

The first AGILE low-energy (< 30 MeV) Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes catalog

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marisaldi, Martino; Fuschino, Fabio; Pittori, Carlotta; Verrecchia, Francesco; Giommi, Paolo; Tavani, Marco; Dietrich, Stefano; Price, Colin; Argan, Andrea; Labanti, Claudio; Galli, Marcello; Longo, Francesco; Del Monte, Ettore; Barbiellini, Guido; Giuliani, Andrea; Bulgarelli, Andrea; Gianotti, Fulvio; Trifoglio, Massimo; Trois, Alessio

2014-05-01

We present the first catalog of Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs) detected by the Minicalorimeter (MCAL) instrument on-board the AGILE satellite. The catalog includes 308 TGFs detected during the period March 2009 - July 2012 in the +/- 2.5° latitude band and selected to have the maximum photon energy up to 30 MeV. The characteristics of the AGILE events are analysed and compared to the observational framework established by the two other currently active missions capable of detecting TGFs from space, RHESSI and Fermi. A detailed model of the MCAL dead time is presented, which is fundamental to properly interpret our observations, particularly concerning duration, intensity and correlation with lightning sferics detected by the World Wide Lightning Location Network. The TGFs cumulative spectrum supports a low production altitude, in agreement with previous measurements. The AGILE TGF catalog below 30 MeV is publicly accessible online at the website of the ASI Science Data Center (ASDC) http://www.asdc.asi.it/mcaltgfcat/ In addition to the TGF sample properties we also present the catalog website functionalities available to users.

Joint Operations 2030 - Phase III Report: The JO 2030 Capability Set (Operations interarmees 2030 - Rapport Phase III: L’ensemble capacitaire JO 2030)

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-04-01

a ‘strategy as process’ manner to develop capabilities that are flexible, adaptable and robust. 3.4 Future structures The need for agile...to develop models of the future security environment 3.4.10 Planning Under Deep Uncertainty Future structures The need for agile, flexible and... Organisation NEC Network Enabled Capability NGO Non Government Organisation NII Networking and Information Infrastructure PVO Private Voluntary

Exploring the Role of Value Networks for Software Innovation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morgan, Lorraine; Conboy, Kieran

This paper describes a research-in-progress that aims to explore the applicability and implications of open innovation practices in two firms - one that employs agile development methods and another that utilizes open source software. The open innovation paradigm has a lot in common with open source and agile development methodologies. A particular strength of agile approaches is that they move away from 'introverted' development, involving only the development personnel, and intimately involves the customer in all areas of software creation, supposedly leading to the development of a more innovative and hence more valuable information system. Open source software (OSS) development also shares two key elements of the open innovation model, namely the collaborative development of the technology and shared rights to the use of the technology. However, one shortfall with agile development in particular is the narrow focus on a single customer representative. In response to this, we argue that current thinking regarding innovation needs to be extended to include multiple stakeholders both across and outside the organization. Additionally, for firms utilizing open source, it has been found that their position in a network of potential complementors determines the amount of superior value they create for their customers. Thus, this paper aims to get a better understanding of the applicability and implications of open innovation practices in firms that employ open source and agile development methodologies. In particular, a conceptual framework is derived for further testing.

Survey-based analysis of risk factors for injury among dogs participating in agility training and competition events.

PubMed

Cullen, Kimberley L; Dickey, James P; Bent, Leah R; Thomason, Jeffrey J; Moëns, Noel M M

2013-10-01

To identify potential risk factors for agility-related injuries among dogs. Internet-based, retrospective, cross-sectional survey. 3,801 privately owned dogs participating in agility training or trials. A retrospective electronic survey was used to investigate potential risk factors for injury among dogs participating in agility-related activities. Respondents were handlers recruited through member lists of large canine agility associations in Canada and the United Kingdom and through promotion on an agility blog site. Variables evaluated included demographic information for handlers and dogs, exposure variables (eg, frequency of agility practice and competition in the past year), and use of preventive measures intended to keep dogs fit for agility (warmup, cooldown, or conditioning exercises; alternative therapeutic treatments [eg, acupuncture, massage, or chiropractic care]; or dietary supplement products). Data were collected from 1,669 handlers of 3,801 agility dogs internationally; 1,209 (32%) dogs incurred ≥ 1 injury. Previous injury (OR, 100.5), ≤ 4 years of agility experience for dogs (OR, 1.5), use of alternative therapeutic treatments (OR, 1.5), and Border Collie breed (OR, 1.7) were associated with increased odds of injury. Handlers having 5 to 10 or > 10 years of experience (OR, 0.8 and 0.6, respectively) and dogs having > 4 years of experience in the sport (OR, 0.6) were associated with decreased odds of injury. Specific factors were associated with agility-related injuries in dogs. Educational prevention strategies should target at-risk populations in an effort to reduce potential injuries. Future research should focus on the biomechanical factors associated with agility-related injuries.

Modelling of human-machine interaction in equipment design of manufacturing cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cochran, David S.; Arinez, Jorge F.; Collins, Micah T.; Bi, Zhuming

2017-08-01

This paper proposes a systematic approach to model human-machine interactions (HMIs) in supervisory control of machining operations; it characterises the coexistence of machines and humans for an enterprise to balance the goals of automation/productivity and flexibility/agility. In the proposed HMI model, an operator is associated with a set of behavioural roles as a supervisor for multiple, semi-automated manufacturing processes. The model is innovative in the sense that (1) it represents an HMI based on its functions for process control but provides the flexibility for ongoing improvements in the execution of manufacturing processes; (2) it provides a computational tool to define functional requirements for an operator in HMIs. The proposed model can be used to design production systems at different levels of an enterprise architecture, particularly at the machine level in a production system where operators interact with semi-automation to accomplish the goal of 'autonomation' - automation that augments the capabilities of human beings.

Evaluation of Basketball-Specific Agility: Applicability of Preplanned and Nonplanned Agility Performances for Differentiating Playing Positions and Playing Levels.

PubMed

Sekulic, Damir; Pehar, Miran; Krolo, Ante; Spasic, Miodrag; Uljevic, Ognjen; Calleja-González, Julio; Sattler, Tine

2017-08-01

Sekulic, D, Pehar, M, Krolo, A, Spasic, M, Uljevic, O, Calleja-González, J, and Sattler, T. Evaluation of basketball-specific agility: applicability of preplanned and nonplanned agility performances for differentiating playing positions and playing levels. J Strength Cond Res 31(8): 2278-2288, 2017-The importance of agility in basketball is well known, but there is an evident lack of studies examining basketball-specific agility performances in high-level players. The aim of this study was to determine the reliability and discriminative validity of 1 standard agility test (test of preplanned agility [change-of-direction speed] over T course, T-TEST), and 4 newly developed basketball-specific agility tests, in defining playing positions and performance levels in basketball. The study comprised 110 high-level male basketball players (height: 194.92 ± 8.09 cm; body mass: 89.33 ± 10.91 kg; age: 21.58 ± 3.92 years). The variables included playing position (Guard, Forward, Center), performance level (first division vs. second division), anthropometrics (body height, body mass, and percentage of body fat), T-TEST, nonplanned basketball agility test performed on dominant (BBAGILdom) and nondominant sides (BBAGILnond), and a preplanned (change-of-direction speed) basketball agility test performed on dominant (BBCODSdom) and nondominant sides (BBCODSnond). The reliability of agility tests was high (intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.81-0.95). Forwards were most successful in the T-TEST (F test: 13.57; p = 0.01). Guards outperformed Centers in BBCODSdom, BBCODSndom, BBAGILdom, and BBAGILnond (F test: 5.06, p = 0.01; 6.57, 0.01; 6.26, 0.01; 3.37, 0.04, respectively). First division Guards achieved better results than second division Guards in BBCODSdom (t: 2.55; p = 0.02; moderate effect size differences), BBAGILdom, and BBAGILnond (t: 3.04 and 3.06, respectively; both p = 0.01 and moderate effect size differences). First division Centers outperformed second division Centers in BBAGILdom (t: 2.50; p = 0.02; moderate effect size differences). The developed basketball-specific agility tests are applicable when defining position-specific agility. Both preplanned and nonplanned agilities are important qualities in differentiating between Guards of 2 performance levels. The results confirmed the importance of testing basketball-specific nonplanned agility when evaluating the performance level of Centers.

A Roadmap for Using Agile Development in a Traditional Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Streiffert, Barbara A.; Starbird, Thomas; Grenander, Sven

2006-01-01

One of the newer classes of software engineering techniques is called 'Agile Development'. In Agile Development software engineers take small implementation steps and, in some cases they program in pairs. In addition, they develop automatic tests prior to implementing their small functional piece. Agile Development focuses on rapid turnaround, incremental planning, customer involvement and continuous integration. Agile Development is not the traditional waterfall method or even a rapid prototyping method (although this methodology is closer to Agile Development). At Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) a few groups have begun Agile Development software implementations. The difficulty with this approach becomes apparent when Agile Development is used in an organization that has specific criteria and requirements handed down for how software development is to be performed. The work at the JPL is performed for the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA). Both organizations have specific requirements, rules and procedure for developing software. This paper will discuss the some of the initial uses of the Agile Development methodology, the spread of this method and the current status of the successful incorporation into the current JPL development policies.

Preparing your Offshore Organization for Agility: Experiences in India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Srinivasan, Jayakanth

Two strategies that have significantly changed the way we conventionally think about managing software development and sustainment are the family of development approaches collectively referred to as agile methods, and the distribution of development efforts on a global scale. When you combine the two strategies, organizations have to address not only the technical challenges that arise from introducing new ways of working, but more importantly have to manage the 'soft' factors that if ignored lead to hard challenges. Using two case studies of distributed agile software development in India we illustrate the areas that organizations need to be aware of when transitioning work to India. The key issues that we emphasize are the need to recruit and retain personnel; the importance of teaching, mentoring and coaching; the need to manage customer expectations; the criticality of well-articulated senior leadership vision and commitment; and the reality of operating in a heterogeneous process environment.

An agile implementation of SCRUM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gannon, Michele

Is Agile a way to cut corners? To some, the use of an Agile Software Development Methodology has a negative connotation - “ Oh, you're just not producing any documentation” . So can a team with no experience in Agile successfully implement and use SCRUM?

Agile Metrics: Progress Monitoring of Agile Contractors

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-01-01

epic. The short timeframe is usually called an itera- tion or, in Scrum -based teams, a sprint; multiple iterations make up a release [Lapham 2011...9769 [Rawsthorne 2012] Rawsthorne, Dan. Monitoring Scrum Projects with AgileEVM and Earned Business Value Metrics (EBV). 2012. http...AgileEVM – Earned Value Manage- ment in Scrum Projects.” Presented at Agile2006, 23-28 July 2006. [USAF 2008] United States Air Force. United

Development of Semantic Description for Multiscale Models of Thermo-Mechanical Treatment of Metal Alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Macioł, Piotr; Regulski, Krzysztof

2016-08-01

We present a process of semantic meta-model development for data management in an adaptable multiscale modeling framework. The main problems in ontology design are discussed, and a solution achieved as a result of the research is presented. The main concepts concerning the application and data management background for multiscale modeling were derived from the AM3 approach—object-oriented Agile multiscale modeling methodology. The ontological description of multiscale models enables validation of semantic correctness of data interchange between submodels. We also present a possibility of using the ontological model as a supervisor in conjunction with a multiscale model controller and a knowledge base system. Multiscale modeling formal ontology (MMFO), designed for describing multiscale models' data and structures, is presented. A need for applying meta-ontology in the MMFO development process is discussed. Examples of MMFO application in describing thermo-mechanical treatment of metal alloys are discussed. Present and future applications of MMFO are described.

Evaluation of Purine Salvage as a Chemotherapeutic Target in the Plasmodium yoelii Rodent Model

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-03-01

total RNA was extracted from the WT and the B3 and D1 clones of the KO parasite lines using the Trizol method on saponin lysed parasites. For each...group, RNA originating from the two mice was pooled. Total RNA integrity was checked using the Agilent Bioanalyzer (Agilent Technologies , Santa Clara...twice on the array. The array has been developed and previously evaluated with hybridizations of total RNA extracted from blood stages. Probe

Tailless Vectored Fighters Theory. Laboratory and Flight Tests, Including Vectorable Inlets/Nozzles and Tailless Flying Models vs. Pilot’s Tolerances Affecting Maximum Post-Stall Vectoring Agility.

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-07-01

nose bodyj Top view of velocity probe PropllerRotating shaft ’V Generator Aerodynamic shape like a small elevator RPV’s attitude Irrespctiveduring...28 Part It: Maximizing Thrust-Vectoring Control Power and Agility Metrics ............ 29 Laboratory & Flight...8217Ideal Standards’ - Ba- ror maximizing PST-TV-aglilty/rIlght-control power , iI - Extracting new TV-potentials to further reduce any righter’s optical

Flight dynamics research for highly agile aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nguyen, Luat T.

1989-01-01

This paper highlights recent results of research conducted at the NASA Langley Research Center as part of a broad flight dynamics program aimed at developing technology that will enable future combat aircraft to achieve greatly enhanced agility capability at subsonic combat conditions. Studies of advanced control concepts encompassing both propulsive and aerodynamic approaches are reviewed. Dynamic stall phenomena and their potential impact on maneuvering performance and stability are summarized. Finally, issues of mathematical modeling of complex aerodynamics occurring during rapid, large amplitude maneuvers are discussed.

Explaining the Obvious - How Do You Teach Agile?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lundh, Erik

Agile is now a hot topic and many organizations decide on adopting “agile” without really knowing how and why. This workshop will explore how fresh and seasoned agile coaches teach traditional and novel agile concepts, by example, with discussions. All participants are invited to show and tell about agile with an audience of peers. It might be the fresh first time with an audience, or golden hits that served you well for years.

Motivating Company Personnel by Applying the Semi-self-organized Teams Principle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumlander, Deniss

The only way nowadays to improve stability of software development process in the global rapidly evolving world is to be innovative and involve professionals into projects motivating them using both material and non material factors. In this paper self-organized teams are discussed. Unfortunately not all kind of organizations can benefit directly from agile method including applying self-organized teams. The paper proposes semi-self-organized teams presenting it as a new and promising motivating factor allowing deriving many positive sides of been self-organized and partly agile and been compliant to less strict conditions for following this innovating process. The semi-self organized teams are reliable at least in the short-term perspective and are simple to organize and support.

Fused deposition of ceramics: A comprehensive experimental, analytical and computational study of material behavior, fabrication process and equipment design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bellini, Anna

Customer-driven product customization and continued demand for cost and time savings have generated a renewed interest in agile manufacturing based on improvements on Rapid Prototyping (RP) technologies. The advantages of RP technologies are: (1) ability to shorten the product design and development time, (2) suitability for automation and decrease in the level of human intervention, (3) ability to build many geometrically complex shapes. A shift from "prototyping" to "manufacturing" necessitates the following improvements: (1) Flexibility in choice of materials; (2) Part integrity and built-in characteristics to meet performance requirements; (3) Dimensional stability and tolerances; (4) Improved surface finish. A project funded by ONR has been undertaken to develop an agile manufacturing technology for fabrication of ceramic and multi-component parts to meet various needs of the Navy, such as transducers, etc. The project is based on adaptation of a layered manufacturing concept since the program required that the new technology be developed based on a commercially available RP technology. Among various RP technologies available today, Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) has been identified as the focus of this research because of its potential versatility in the choice of materials and deposition configuration. This innovative approach allows for designing and implementing highly complex internal architectures into parts through deposition of different materials in a variety of configurations in such a way that the finished product exhibit characteristics to meet the performance requirements. This implies that, in principle, one can tailor-make the assemble of materials and structures as per specifications of an optimum design. The program objectives can be achieved only through accurate process modeling and modeling of material behavior. Oftentimes, process modeling is based on some type of computational approach where as modeling of material behavior is based on extensive experimental investigations. Studies are conducted in the following categories: (1) Flow modeling during extrusion and deposition; (2) Thermal modeling; (3) Flow control during deposition; (4) Product characterization and property determination for dimensional analysis; (5) Development of a novel technology based on a mini-extrusion system. Studies in each of these stages have involved experimental as well as analytical approaches to develop a comprehensive modeling.

Examination of the perceived agility and balance during a reactive agility task.

PubMed

Stirling, Leia; Eke, Chika; Cain, Stephen M

2018-01-01

In vehicle dynamics, it is commonly understood that there is an inverse relationship between stability and maneuverability. However, animal studies have found that stability and maneuverability can coincide. In this study, we examine humans running a reactive agility obstacle and consider the relationship between observational perceived agility and balance, as well as the relationship between quantified surrogates of agility and balance. Recreational athletes (n = 18) completed the agility task while wearing inertial measurement units (IMUs) on their body. The task was also video-recorded. An observational study was completed by a separate group of adults (n = 33) that were asked to view the videos and score each athlete on a Likert scale for balance and for agility. The data from the body-worn IMUs were used to estimate quantified surrogate measures for agility and balance, and to assess if the relationship between the quantified agility and balance was in the same direction as the perceived relationship from the Likert scale responses. Results indicate that athletes that were given a higher Likert agility score were also given a higher balance score (rs = 0.75,p < 0.001). Quantitative surrogates of agility and balance also showed this same relationship. Additional insights on technique for this reactive agility task were informed by the quantitative surrogates. We observed the importance of stepping technique in achieving the faster completion times. The fast performing athletes spent a greater proportion of the task in double support and lower overall time in single support indicating increased periods of static stability. The fast performing athletes did not have a higher body speed, but performed the task with a more efficient technique, using foot placement to enable heading changes, and thus may have had a more efficient path. Similar to animal studies, people use technique to enable agile strategies while also enabling increased balance across the task.

Towards seamless workflows in agile data science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klump, J. F.; Robertson, J.

2017-12-01

Agile workflows are a response to projects with requirements that may change over time. They prioritise rapid and flexible responses to change, preferring to adapt to changes in requirements rather than predict them before a project starts. This suits the needs of research very well because research is inherently agile in its methodology. The adoption of agile methods has made collaborative data analysis much easier in a research environment fragmented across institutional data stores, HPC, personal and lab computers and more recently cloud environments. Agile workflows use tools that share a common worldview: in an agile environment, there may be more that one valid version of data, code or environment in play at any given time. All of these versions need references and identifiers. For example, a team of developers following the git-flow conventions (github.com/nvie/gitflow) may have several active branches, one for each strand of development. These workflows allow rapid and parallel iteration while maintaining identifiers pointing to individual snapshots of data and code and allowing rapid switching between strands. In contrast, the current focus of versioning in research data management is geared towards managing data for reproducibility and long-term preservation of the record of science. While both are important goals in the persistent curation domain of the institutional research data infrastructure, current tools emphasise planning over adaptation and can introduce unwanted rigidity by insisting on a single valid version or point of truth. In the collaborative curation domain of a research project, things are more fluid. However, there is no equivalent to the "versioning iso-surface" of the git protocol for the management and versioning of research data. At CSIRO we are developing concepts and tools for the agile management of software code and research data for virtual research environments, based on our experiences of actual data analytics projects in the geosciences. We use code management that allows researchers to interact with the code through tools like Jupyter Notebooks while data are held in an object store. Our aim is an architecture allowing seamless integration of code development, data management, and data processing in virtual research environments.

Investigating the strategic antecedents of agility in humanitarian logistics.

PubMed

L'Hermitte, Cécile; Brooks, Benjamin; Bowles, Marcus; Tatham, Peter H

2017-10-01

This study investigates the strategic antecedents of operational agility in humanitarian logistics. It began by identifying the particular actions to be taken at the strategic level of a humanitarian organisation to support field-level agility. Next, quantitative data (n=59) were collected on four strategic-level capabilities (being purposeful, action-focused, collaborative, and learning-oriented) and on operational agility (field responsiveness and flexibility). Using a quantitative analysis, the study tested the relationship between organisational capacity building and operational agility and found that the four strategic-level capabilities are fundamental building blocks of agility. Collectively they account for 52 per cent of the ability of humanitarian logisticians to deal with ongoing changes and disruptions in the field. This study emphasises the need for researchers and practitioners to embrace a broader perspective of agility in humanitarian logistics. In addition, it highlights the inherently strategic nature of agility, the development of which involves focusing simultaneously on multiple drivers. © 2017 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2017.

Agile IT: Thinking in User-Centric Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Margaria, Tiziana; Steffen, Bernhard

We advocate a new teaching direction for modern CS curricula: extreme model-driven development (XMDD), a new development paradigm designed to continuously involve the customer/application expert throughout the whole systems' life cycle. Based on the `One-Thing Approach', which works by successively enriching and refining one single artifact, system development becomes in essence a user-centric orchestration of intuitive service functionality. XMDD differs radically from classical software development, which, in our opinion is no longer adequate for the bulk of application programming - in particular when it comes to heterogeneous, cross organizational systems which must adapt to rapidly changing market requirements. Thus there is a need for new curricula addressing this model-driven, lightweight, and cooperative development paradigm that puts the user process in the center of the development and the application expert in control of the process evolution.

A Literature Review on the Progression of Agile Manufacturing Paradigm and Its Scope of Application in Pump Industry

PubMed Central

Devadasan, S. R.; Sivaram, N. M.

2015-01-01

During the recent years, the manufacturing world has been witnessing the application of agile manufacturing paradigm. The literature review reported in this paper was carried out to study this progression. This literature review was carried out in two phases. In the first phase, the literature was reviewed to trace the origin of agile manufacturing paradigm and identify its enablers. Further, during this phase, the applications of agile manufacturing reported in literature arena were reviewed. It was also discernable that certain research works have been initiated to apply agile manufacturing paradigm in pump industry. During the second phase, the researches reported on applying agile manufacturing in pump industry were reviewed. At the end of this review, it was found that so far the implementation of agile manufacturing in pump industry has been examined by the researchers by considering only certain components of pumps. In fact, the holistic implementation of agile manufacturing in the pump industry is yet to be examined by the researchers. In the context of drawing this inference, this paper has been concluded by stating that high scope exists in examining the infusing of agility characteristics in designing and manufacturing of pumps. PMID:26065016

A Literature Review on the Progression of Agile Manufacturing Paradigm and Its Scope of Application in Pump Industry.

PubMed

Thilak, V M M; Devadasan, S R; Sivaram, N M

2015-01-01

During the recent years, the manufacturing world has been witnessing the application of agile manufacturing paradigm. The literature review reported in this paper was carried out to study this progression. This literature review was carried out in two phases. In the first phase, the literature was reviewed to trace the origin of agile manufacturing paradigm and identify its enablers. Further, during this phase, the applications of agile manufacturing reported in literature arena were reviewed. It was also discernable that certain research works have been initiated to apply agile manufacturing paradigm in pump industry. During the second phase, the researches reported on applying agile manufacturing in pump industry were reviewed. At the end of this review, it was found that so far the implementation of agile manufacturing in pump industry has been examined by the researchers by considering only certain components of pumps. In fact, the holistic implementation of agile manufacturing in the pump industry is yet to be examined by the researchers. In the context of drawing this inference, this paper has been concluded by stating that high scope exists in examining the infusing of agility characteristics in designing and manufacturing of pumps.

Gender-specific influences of balance, speed, and power on agility performance.

PubMed

Sekulic, Damir; Spasic, Miodrag; Mirkov, Dragan; Cavar, Mile; Sattler, Tine

2013-03-01

The quick change of direction (i.e., agility) is an important athletic ability in numerous sports. Because of the diverse and therefore hardly predictable manifestations of agility in sports, studies noted that the improvement in speed, power, and balance should result in an improvement of agility. However, there is evident lack of data regarding the influence of potential predictors on different agility manifestations. The aim of this study was to determine the gender-specific influence of speed, power, and balance on different agility tests. A total of 32 college-aged male athletes and 31 college-aged female athletes (age 20.02 ± 1.89 years) participated in this study. The subjects were mostly involved in team sports (soccer, team handball, basketball, and volleyball; 80% of men, and 75% of women), martial arts, gymnastics, and dance. Anthropometric variables consisted of body height, body weight, and the body mass index. Five agility tests were used: a t-test (T-TEST), zig-zag test, 20-yard shuttle test, agility test with a 180-degree turn, and forward-backward running agility test (FWDBWD). Other tests included 1 jumping ability power test (squat jump, SQJ), 2 balance tests to determine the overall stability index and an overall limit of stability score (both measured by Biodex Balance System), and 2 running speed tests using a straight sprint for 10 and 20 m (S10 and S20, respectively). A reliability analysis showed that all the agility tests were reliable. Multiple regression and correlation analysis found speed and power (among women), and balance (among men), as most significant predictors of agility. The highest Pearson's correlation in both genders is found between the results of the FWDBWD and S10M tests (0.77 and 0.81 for men and women, respectively; p < 0.05). Power, measured using the SQJ, is significantly (p < 0.05) related to FWDBWD and T-TEST results but only for women (-0.44; -0.41). The balance measures were significantly related to the agility performance for men but not for women. In addition to demonstrating a known relationship between speed and agility in both genders, and a small but statistically significant relationship between power and agility in women, these results indicate that balance should be considered as a potential predictor of agility in trained adult men.

Improved compliance by BPM-driven workflow automation.

PubMed

Holzmüller-Laue, Silke; Göde, Bernd; Fleischer, Heidi; Thurow, Kerstin

2014-12-01

Using methods and technologies of business process management (BPM) for the laboratory automation has important benefits (i.e., the agility of high-level automation processes, rapid interdisciplinary prototyping and implementation of laboratory tasks and procedures, and efficient real-time process documentation). A principal goal of the model-driven development is the improved transparency of processes and the alignment of process diagrams and technical code. First experiences of using the business process model and notation (BPMN) show that easy-to-read graphical process models can achieve and provide standardization of laboratory workflows. The model-based development allows one to change processes quickly and an easy adaption to changing requirements. The process models are able to host work procedures and their scheduling in compliance with predefined guidelines and policies. Finally, the process-controlled documentation of complex workflow results addresses modern laboratory needs of quality assurance. BPMN 2.0 as an automation language to control every kind of activity or subprocess is directed to complete workflows in end-to-end relationships. BPMN is applicable as a system-independent and cross-disciplinary graphical language to document all methods in laboratories (i.e., screening procedures or analytical processes). That means, with the BPM standard, a communication method of sharing process knowledge of laboratories is also available. © 2014 Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening.

Pervasive Agility and Agile Fires in Support of Decisive Action

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-29

Pervasive Agility and Agile Fires in Support of Decisive Action FORMAT: Civilian Research Project DATE: 29 March 2012 WORD COUNT : 12,599 PAGES: 54...will face, this pollenization may require creative measures, perhaps virtual or constructive scenarios. The National Training Center at Fort Irwin

Strategic agility for nursing leadership.

PubMed

Shirey, Maria R

2015-06-01

This department highlights change management strategies that may be successful in strategically planning and executing organizational change. In this article, the author discusses strategic agility as an important leadership competency and offers approaches for incorporating strategic agility in healthcare systems. A strategic agility checklist and infrastructure-building approach are presented.

Integrated Sensing and Processing in Missile Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-03-31

Nanoprobes: The Geometry of Processing and Sensing," H. A. Schmitt, et al., 5th Asian Control Conference, Melbourne, Australia, 2004, accepted. 17. [CR...Computers, Special session on "Signal Processing for Agile Sensors, Pacific Grove, CA, 7-10 November 2004, accepted. 20. [CI] "Computational Origami for

Relationship between agility and lower limb muscle strength, targeting university badminton players.

PubMed

Sonoda, Takuya; Tashiro, Yuto; Suzuki, Yusuke; Kajiwara, Yu; Zeidan, Hala; Yokota, Yuki; Kawagoe, Mirei; Nakayama, Yasuaki; Bito, Tsubasa; Shimoura, Kanako; Tatsumi, Masataka; Nakai, Kengo; Nishida, Yuichi; Yoshimi, Soyoka; Aoyama, Tomoki

2018-02-01

[Purpose] Targeting university badminton players, this study investigated the relationship between agility, which is associated with performance in badminton, and lower limb muscle strength, and examined which muscles influence agility. [Subjects and Methods] A total of 23 male university badminton players were evaluated for side-shuffle test scores and lower limb strength. The relationships between agility, lower limb strength, and duration of experience playing badminton were evaluated using a correlation analysis. Moreover, the relationship between agility and lower limb strength was evaluated by partial correlation analysis, adjusting for the effects of experience of each badminton player. [Results] The agility score correlated with hip extension and ankle plantar flexion strength, with adjustment for badminton experience. [Conclusion] This study suggests that hip extension training and improvement in ankle plantar flexion strength may improve agility.

ESTIMATION OF THE NEUTRINO FLUX AND RESULTING CONSTRAINTS ON HADRONIC EMISSION MODELS FOR Cyg X-3 USING AGILE DATA

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Baerwald, P.; Guetta, D.

2013-08-20

In this work, we give an estimate of the neutrino flux that can be expected from the microquasar Cyg X-3. We calculate the muon neutrino flux expected here on Earth as well as the corresponding number of neutrino events in the IceCube telescope based on the so-called hypersoft X-ray state of Cyg X-3. If the average emission from Cyg X-3 over a period of 5 yr were as high as during the used X-ray state, a total of 0.8 events should be observed by the full IceCube telescope. We also show that this conclusion holds by a factor of amore » few when we consider the other measured X-ray states. Using the correlation of AGILE data on the flaring episodes in 2009 June and July to the hypersoft X-ray state, we calculate that the upper limits on the neutrino flux given by IceCube are starting to constrain the hadronic models, which have been introduced to interpret the high-energy emission detected by AGILE.« less

Planned and reactive agility performance in semiprofessional and amateur basketball players.

PubMed

Lockie, Robert G; Jeffriess, Matthew D; McGann, Tye S; Callaghan, Samuel J; Schultz, Adrian B

2014-09-01

Research indicates that planned and reactive agility are different athletic skills. These skills have not been adequately assessed in male basketball players. To define whether 10-m-sprint performance and planned and reactive agility measured by the Y-shaped agility test can discriminate between semiprofessional and amateur basketball players. Ten semiprofessional and 10 amateur basketball players completed 10-m sprints and planned- and reactive-agility tests. The Y-shaped agility test involved subjects sprinting 5 m through a trigger timing gate, followed by a 45° cut and 5-m sprint to the left or right through a target gate. In the planned condition, subjects knew the cut direction. For reactive trials, subjects visually scanned to find the illuminated gate. A 1-way analysis of variance (P < .05) determined between-groups differences. Data were pooled (N = 20) for a correlation analysis (P < .05). The reactive tests differentiated between the groups; semiprofessional players were 6% faster for the reactive left (P = .036) and right (P = .029) cuts. The strongest correlations were between the 10-m sprints and planned-agility tests (r = .590-.860). The reactive left cut did not correlate with the planned tests. The reactive right cut moderately correlated with the 10-m sprint and planned right cut (r = .487-.485). The results reemphasized that planned and reactive agility are separate physical qualities. Reactive agility discriminated between the semiprofessional and amateur basketball players; planned agility did not. To distinguish between male basketball players of different ability levels, agility tests should include a perceptual and decision-making component.

EDGE3: A web-based solution for management and analysis of Agilent two color microarray experiments

PubMed Central

Vollrath, Aaron L; Smith, Adam A; Craven, Mark; Bradfield, Christopher A

2009-01-01

Background The ability to generate transcriptional data on the scale of entire genomes has been a boon both in the improvement of biological understanding and in the amount of data generated. The latter, the amount of data generated, has implications when it comes to effective storage, analysis and sharing of these data. A number of software tools have been developed to store, analyze, and share microarray data. However, a majority of these tools do not offer all of these features nor do they specifically target the commonly used two color Agilent DNA microarray platform. Thus, the motivating factor for the development of EDGE3 was to incorporate the storage, analysis and sharing of microarray data in a manner that would provide a means for research groups to collaborate on Agilent-based microarray experiments without a large investment in software-related expenditures or extensive training of end-users. Results EDGE3 has been developed with two major functions in mind. The first function is to provide a workflow process for the generation of microarray data by a research laboratory or a microarray facility. The second is to store, analyze, and share microarray data in a manner that doesn't require complicated software. To satisfy the first function, EDGE3 has been developed as a means to establish a well defined experimental workflow and information system for microarray generation. To satisfy the second function, the software application utilized as the user interface of EDGE3 is a web browser. Within the web browser, a user is able to access the entire functionality, including, but not limited to, the ability to perform a number of bioinformatics based analyses, collaborate between research groups through a user-based security model, and access to the raw data files and quality control files generated by the software used to extract the signals from an array image. Conclusion Here, we present EDGE3, an open-source, web-based application that allows for the storage, analysis, and controlled sharing of transcription-based microarray data generated on the Agilent DNA platform. In addition, EDGE3 provides a means for managing RNA samples and arrays during the hybridization process. EDGE3 is freely available for download at . PMID:19732451

EDGE(3): a web-based solution for management and analysis of Agilent two color microarray experiments.

PubMed

Vollrath, Aaron L; Smith, Adam A; Craven, Mark; Bradfield, Christopher A

2009-09-04

The ability to generate transcriptional data on the scale of entire genomes has been a boon both in the improvement of biological understanding and in the amount of data generated. The latter, the amount of data generated, has implications when it comes to effective storage, analysis and sharing of these data. A number of software tools have been developed to store, analyze, and share microarray data. However, a majority of these tools do not offer all of these features nor do they specifically target the commonly used two color Agilent DNA microarray platform. Thus, the motivating factor for the development of EDGE(3) was to incorporate the storage, analysis and sharing of microarray data in a manner that would provide a means for research groups to collaborate on Agilent-based microarray experiments without a large investment in software-related expenditures or extensive training of end-users. EDGE(3) has been developed with two major functions in mind. The first function is to provide a workflow process for the generation of microarray data by a research laboratory or a microarray facility. The second is to store, analyze, and share microarray data in a manner that doesn't require complicated software. To satisfy the first function, EDGE3 has been developed as a means to establish a well defined experimental workflow and information system for microarray generation. To satisfy the second function, the software application utilized as the user interface of EDGE(3) is a web browser. Within the web browser, a user is able to access the entire functionality, including, but not limited to, the ability to perform a number of bioinformatics based analyses, collaborate between research groups through a user-based security model, and access to the raw data files and quality control files generated by the software used to extract the signals from an array image. Here, we present EDGE(3), an open-source, web-based application that allows for the storage, analysis, and controlled sharing of transcription-based microarray data generated on the Agilent DNA platform. In addition, EDGE(3) provides a means for managing RNA samples and arrays during the hybridization process. EDGE(3) is freely available for download at http://edge.oncology.wisc.edu/.

Agile Methodology - Past and Future

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-05-01

Takeuchi & Nonaka HBR 1986, p139 RUGBY Waterfall Red vs Agile Black Team- . - Manifesto 2001 SCRUM GRAPHIC* * Adapted from Schwaber (2007) Agile...learning will help Agile manage its vision • Rugby : All Blacks 36 v England 12 Auckland, NZ (6/19/04) Glossary • AFB – Air Force Base • MCS - Maneuver

78 FR 64019 - Manufacturer of Controlled Substances; Notice of Registration; Agilent Technologies

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-10-25

...; Notice of Registration; Agilent Technologies By Notice dated May 24, 2013, and published in the Federal Register on June 4, 2013, 78 FR 33441, Agilent Technologies, 25200 Commercentre Drive, Lake Forest... of Agilent Technologies to manufacture the listed basic classes of controlled substances is...

Modelling fire-fighter responses to exercise and asymmetric infrared radiation using a dynamic multi-mode model of human physiology and results from the sweating agile thermal manikin.

PubMed

Richards, M G M; Fiala, D

2004-09-01

In this study, predicted dynamic physiological responses are compared with wear trials results for firefighter suits: impermeable (A), semi-permeable (B) and permeable (C), and underwear. Wear trials consisted of three rest phases and two moderate work phases, with a frontal infrared (IR) radiation exposure of 500 W/m2 for the last 15 min of each work phase. Simulations were performed by detailed modelling of the experimental boundary conditions, including the inhomogeneous IR radiation combined with clothing properties for still and walking conditions measured using the Sweating Agile thermal Manikin. Accounting for the effect of sweat gland activity suppression with increased skin wettedness, the predicted total moisture loss was insignificantly different (P<0.05) from the wear trial value for suits B and C but was 37% too high for suit A. Predicted evolution of core, mean skin and local skin temperatures agreed well with the wear trial results for all clothing. Root mean square deviations ranged from 0.11 degrees C to 0.26 degrees C for core temperatures and from 0.28 degrees C to 0.38 degrees C for mean skin temperatures, which where typically lower than the experimental error. Transient thermodynamic processes occurring within suit A may account for the delayed/reduced fall in core temperature following exercise.

End users transforming experiences into formal information and process models for personalised health interventions.

PubMed

Lindgren, Helena; Lundin-Olsson, Lillemor; Pohl, Petra; Sandlund, Marlene

2014-01-01

Five physiotherapists organised a user-centric design process of a knowledge-based support system for promoting exercise and preventing falls. The process integrated focus group studies with 17 older adults and prototyping. The transformation of informal medical and rehabilitation expertise and older adults' experiences into formal information and process models during the development was studied. As tool they used ACKTUS, a development platform for knowledge-based applications. The process became agile and incremental, partly due to the diversity of expectations and preferences among both older adults and physiotherapists, and the participatory approach to design and development. In addition, there was a need to develop the knowledge content alongside with the formal models and their presentations, which allowed the participants to test hands-on and evaluate the ideas, content and design. The resulting application is modular, extendable, flexible and adaptable to the individual end user. Moreover, the physiotherapists are able to modify the information and process models, and in this way further develop the application. The main constraint was found to be the lack of support for the initial phase of concept modelling, which lead to a redesigned user interface and functionality of ACKTUS.

Federated Process Framework in a Virtual Enterprise Using an Object-Oriented Database and Extensible Markup Language.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bae, Kyoung-Il; Kim, Jung-Hyun; Huh, Soon-Young

2003-01-01

Discusses process information sharing among participating organizations in a virtual enterprise and proposes a federated process framework and system architecture that provide a conceptual design for effective implementation of process information sharing supporting the autonomy and agility of the organizations. Develops the framework using an…

Applying Agile Principles in Teaching Undergraduate Information Technology Project Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Budu, Joseph

2018-01-01

This article describes how the traditional teaching and learning activities over the years have been challenged to be agile--easily adaptable to changing classroom conditions. Despite this new phenomenon, there is a perceived paucity of agile-in-teaching research. Available studies neither focus on the use of agile principles beyond delivering…

The Effect of Acceleration Sprint and Zig-zag Drill Combination to Increase Students’ Speed and Agility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bana, O.; Mintarto, E.; Kusnanik, N. W.

2018-01-01

The purpose of this research is to analyze the following factors: (1) how far the effect of exercise acceleration sprint on the speed and agility (2) how much influence the zig-zag drill combination to the speed and agility (3) and is there any difference between the effects of exercise acceleration sprint and practice zig-zag drill combination of the speed and agility. This research is quantitative with quasi-experimental approach. The design of this study is matching only design.This study was conducted on 33 male students who take part in extracurricular and divided into 3 groups with 11 students in each group. Group 1 was given training of acceleration sprint, group 2 was given zig-zag training combination drills of conventional and exercises for group 3, for 8 weeks. The data collection was using sprint 30 meter to test the speed and agility t-test to test agility. Data were analyzed using t-test and analysis of variance. The conclusion of the research is (1) there is a significant effect of exercise acceleration sprint for the speed and agility, (2) there is a significant influence combination zig-zag drills, on speed and agility (3) and exercise acceleration sprint have more effect on the speed and agility.

The Paving Stones: initial feed-back on an attempt to apply the AGILE principles for the development of a CubeSat space mission to Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Segret, Boris; Semery, Alain; Vannitsen, Jordan; Mosser, Benoît.; Miau, Jiun-Jih; Juang, Jyh-Ching; Deleflie, Florent

2014-08-01

The AGILE principles in the software industry seems well adapted to the paradigm of CubeSat missions that involve students for the development of space missions. Some of well-known engineering and program processes are revisited on the example of an interplanetary CubeSat mission profile that has been developed by several teams of students in various countries and at various educational levels since 02/2013. The lessons learned at adapting traditional space mission methods are emphasized and they produce a metaphoric image of paving stones.

The Effects of a 6-Week Plyometric Training Program on Agility

PubMed Central

Miller, Michael G.; Herniman, Jeremy J.; Ricard, Mark D.; Cheatham, Christopher C.; Michael, Timothy J.

2006-01-01

The purpose of the study was to determine if six weeks of plyometric training can improve an athlete's agility. Subjects were divided into two groups, a plyometric training and a control group. The plyometric training group performed in a six week plyometric training program and the control group did not perform any plyometric training techniques. All subjects participated in two agility tests: T-test and Illinois Agility Test, and a force plate test for ground reaction times both pre and post testing. Univariate ANCOVAs were conducted to analyze the change scores (post - pre) in the independent variables by group (training or control) with pre scores as covariates. The Univariate ANCOVA revealed a significant group effect F2,26 = 25.42, p=0.0000 for the T-test agility measure. For the Illinois Agility test, a significant group effect F2,26 = 27.24, p = 0.000 was also found. The plyometric training group had quicker posttest times compared to the control group for the agility tests. A significant group effect F2,26 = 7.81, p = 0.002 was found for the Force Plate test. The plyometric training group reduced time on the ground on the posttest compared to the control group. The results of this study show that plyometric training can be an effective training technique to improve an athlete's agility. Key Points Plyometric training can enhance agility of athletes. 6 weeks of plyometric training is sufficient to see agility results. Ground reaction times are decreased with plyometric training PMID:24353464

Quantifying performance on an outdoor agility drill using foot-mounted inertial measurement units.

PubMed

Zaferiou, Antonia M; Ojeda, Lauro; Cain, Stephen M; Vitali, Rachel V; Davidson, Steven P; Stirling, Leia; Perkins, Noel C

2017-01-01

Running agility is required for many sports and other physical tasks that demand rapid changes in body direction. Quantifying agility skill remains a challenge because measuring rapid changes of direction and quantifying agility skill from those measurements are difficult to do in ways that replicate real task/game play situations. The objectives of this study were to define and to measure agility performance for a (five-cone) agility drill used within a military obstacle course using data harvested from two foot-mounted inertial measurement units (IMUs). Thirty-two recreational athletes ran an agility drill while wearing two IMUs secured to the tops of their athletic shoes. The recorded acceleration and angular rates yield estimates of the trajectories, velocities and accelerations of both feet as well as an estimate of the horizontal velocity of the body mass center. Four agility performance metrics were proposed and studied including: 1) agility drill time, 2) horizontal body speed, 3) foot trajectory turning radius, and 4) tangential body acceleration. Additionally, the average horizontal ground reaction during each footfall was estimated. We hypothesized that shorter agility drill performance time would be observed with small turning radii and large tangential acceleration ranges and body speeds. Kruskal-Wallis and mean rank post-hoc statistical analyses revealed that shorter agility drill performance times were observed with smaller turning radii and larger tangential acceleration ranges and body speeds, as hypothesized. Moreover, measurements revealed the strategies that distinguish high versus low performers. Relative to low performers, high performers used sharper turns, larger changes in body speed (larger tangential acceleration ranges), and shorter duration footfalls that generated larger horizontal ground reactions during the turn phases. Overall, this study advances the use of foot-mounted IMUs to quantify agility performance in contextually-relevant settings (e.g., field of play, training facilities, obstacle courses, etc.).

Speed and agility of 12- and 14-year-old elite male basketball players.

PubMed

Jakovljevic, Sasa T; Karalejic, Milivoje S; Pajic, Zoran B; Macura, Marija M; Erculj, Frane F

2012-09-01

The aims of this study were (a) to identify and compare the speed and agility of 12- and 14-year-old elite male basketball players and (b) to investigate relations between speed and agility for both age groups of basketball players, to help coaches to improve their work. Sixty-four players aged 12 (M = 11.98 years, SD = 0.311) and 54 players aged 14 (M = 14.092 years, SD = 0.275) were tested. Three agility tests: agility t-test, zigzag agility drill, and agility run 4 × 15 m and 3 speed tests: 20-m run, 30-m run, and 50-m run were applied. Fourteen-year-old players achieved significantly better results in all speed and agility tests compared with 12-year-old players. The correlation coefficient (r = 0.81, p = 0.001) showed that 12-year-old players have the same ability in the 30- and 50-m runs. The other correlation coefficient (r = 0.59, p = 0.001) indicated that 20- and 30-m runs had inherently different qualities. The correlation coefficients between agility tests were <0.71, and therefore, each test in this group represents a specific task. In 14-year-old players, the correlation coefficients between the speed test results were <0.71. In contrast, the correlation coefficients between the agility tests were >0.71, which means that all the 3 tests represent the same quality. During the speed training of 12-year-old players, it is advisable to focus on shorter running distances, up to 30 m. During the agility training of the same players, it is useful to apply exercises with various complexities. In speed training of the 14-year-old players, the 30- and 50-m runs should be applied, and agility training should include more specific basketball movements and activities.

Agile Data Management with the Global Change Information System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duggan, B.; Aulenbach, S.; Tilmes, C.; Goldstein, J.

2013-12-01

We describe experiences applying agile software development techniques to the realm of data management during the development of the Global Change Information System (GCIS), a web service and API for authoritative global change information under development by the US Global Change Research Program. Some of the challenges during system design and implementation have been : (1) balancing the need for a rigorous mechanism for ensuring information quality with the realities of large data sets whose contents are often in flux, (2) utilizing existing data to inform decisions about the scope and nature of new data, and (3) continuously incorporating new knowledge and concepts into a relational data model. The workflow for managing the content of the system has much in common with the development of the system itself. We examine various aspects of agile software development and discuss whether or how we have been able to use them for data curation as well as software development.

Towards Rapid Re-Certification Using Formal Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-07-22

profiles will help ensure that information assurance requirements are commensurate with risk and scalable based on an application’s changing external...20 Scalability Evaluation .......................................................................................................... 22...agility in certification processes. Software re-certification processes require significant expenditure in order to provide evidence of information

Towards agile large-scale predictive modelling in drug discovery with flow-based programming design principles.

PubMed

Lampa, Samuel; Alvarsson, Jonathan; Spjuth, Ola

2016-01-01

Predictive modelling in drug discovery is challenging to automate as it often contains multiple analysis steps and might involve cross-validation and parameter tuning that create complex dependencies between tasks. With large-scale data or when using computationally demanding modelling methods, e-infrastructures such as high-performance or cloud computing are required, adding to the existing challenges of fault-tolerant automation. Workflow management systems can aid in many of these challenges, but the currently available systems are lacking in the functionality needed to enable agile and flexible predictive modelling. We here present an approach inspired by elements of the flow-based programming paradigm, implemented as an extension of the Luigi system which we name SciLuigi. We also discuss the experiences from using the approach when modelling a large set of biochemical interactions using a shared computer cluster.Graphical abstract.

Agile Preparation within a Traditional Project Management Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Landry, Jeffrey P.; McDaniel, Rachel

2016-01-01

Agile software approaches have seen a steady rise over a decade and a half, but agile's place in the information systems (IS) undergraduate curriculum is far from settled. While agile concepts may arguably be taught in multiple places in the IS curriculum, this paper argues for its inclusion in a project management course. This paper builds on…

Agile Methods: Selected DoD Management and Acquisition Concerns

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-10-01

SIDRE Software Intensive Innovative Development and Reengineering/Evolution SLIM Software Lifecycle Management -Estimate SLOC source lines of code...ISBN #0321502752 Coaching Agile Teams Lyssa Adkins ISBN #0321637704 Agile Project Management : Creating Innovative Products – Second Edition Jim...Accessed July 13, 2011. [Highsmith 2009] Highsmith, J. Agile Project Management : Creating Innovative Products, 2nd ed. Addison- Wesley, 2009

A Case Study of Coordination in Distributed Agile Software Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hole, Steinar; Moe, Nils Brede

Global Software Development (GSD) has gained significant popularity as an emerging paradigm. Companies also show interest in applying agile approaches in distributed development to combine the advantages of both approaches. However, in their most radical forms, agile and GSD can be placed in each end of a plan-based/agile spectrum because of how work is coordinated. We describe how three GSD projects applying agile methods coordinate their work. We found that trust is needed to reduce the need of standardization and direct supervision when coordinating work in a GSD project, and that electronic chatting supports mutual adjustment. Further, co-location and modularization mitigates communication problems, enables agility in at least part of a GSD project, and renders the implementation of Scrum of Scrums possible.

Generic Airplane Model Concept and Four Specific Models Developed for Use in Piloted Simulation Studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoffler, Keith D.; Fears, Scott P.; Carzoo, Susan W.

1997-01-01

A generic airplane model concept was developed to allow configurations with various agility, performance, handling qualities, and pilot vehicle interface to be generated rapidly for piloted simulation studies. The simple concept allows stick shaping and various stick command types or modes to drive an airplane with both linear and nonlinear components. Output from the stick shaping goes to linear models or a series of linear models that can represent an entire flight envelope. The generic model also has provisions for control power limitations, a nonlinear feature. Therefore, departures from controlled flight are possible. Note that only loss of control is modeled, the generic airplane does not accurately model post departure phenomenon. The model concept is presented herein, along with four example airplanes. Agility was varied across the four example airplanes without altering specific excess energy or significantly altering handling qualities. A new feedback scheme to provide angle-of-attack cueing to the pilot, while using a pitch rate command system, was implemented and tested.

Built To Last: Using Iterative Development Models for Sustainable Scientific Software Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jasiak, M. E.; Truslove, I.; Savoie, M.

2013-12-01

In scientific research, software development exists fundamentally for the results they create. The core research must take focus. It seems natural to researchers, driven by grant deadlines, that every dollar invested in software development should be used to push the boundaries of problem solving. This system of values is frequently misaligned with those of the software being created in a sustainable fashion; short-term optimizations create longer-term sustainability issues. The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has taken bold cultural steps in using agile and lean development and management methodologies to help its researchers meet critical deadlines, while building in the necessary support structure for the code to live far beyond its original milestones. Agile and lean software development and methodologies including Scrum, Kanban, Continuous Delivery and Test-Driven Development have seen widespread adoption within NSIDC. This focus on development methods is combined with an emphasis on explaining to researchers why these methods produce more desirable results for everyone, as well as promoting developers interacting with researchers. This presentation will describe NSIDC's current scientific software development model, how this addresses the short-term versus sustainability dichotomy, the lessons learned and successes realized by transitioning to this agile and lean-influenced model, and the current challenges faced by the organization.

Agile hardware and software systems engineering for critical military space applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Philip M.; Knuth, Andrew A.; Krueger, Robert O.; Garrison-Darrin, Margaret A.

2012-06-01

The Multi Mission Bus Demonstrator (MBD) is a successful demonstration of agile program management and system engineering in a high risk technology application where utilizing and implementing new, untraditional development strategies were necessary. MBD produced two fully functioning spacecraft for a military/DOD application in a record breaking time frame and at dramatically reduced costs. This paper discloses the adaptation and application of concepts developed in agile software engineering to hardware product and system development for critical military applications. This challenging spacecraft did not use existing key technology (heritage hardware) and created a large paradigm shift from traditional spacecraft development. The insertion of new technologies and methods in space hardware has long been a problem due to long build times, the desire to use heritage hardware, and lack of effective process. The role of momentum in the innovative process can be exploited to tackle ongoing technology disruptions and allowing risk interactions to be mitigated in a disciplined manner. Examples of how these concepts were used during the MBD program will be delineated. Maintaining project momentum was essential to assess the constant non recurring technological challenges which needed to be retired rapidly from the engineering risk liens. Development never slowed due to tactical assessment of the hardware with the adoption of the SCRUM technique. We adapted this concept as a representation of mitigation of technical risk while allowing for design freeze later in the program's development cycle. By using Agile Systems Engineering and Management techniques which enabled decisive action, the product development momentum effectively was used to produce two novel space vehicles in a fraction of time with dramatically reduced cost.

Development of a fast, lean and agile direct pelletization process using experimental design techniques.

PubMed

Politis, Stavros N; Rekkas, Dimitrios M

2017-04-01

A novel hot melt direct pelletization method was developed, characterized and optimized, using statistical thinking and experimental design tools. Mixtures of carnauba wax (CW) and HPMC K100M were spheronized using melted gelucire 50-13 as a binding material (BM). Experimentation was performed sequentially; a fractional factorial design was set up initially to screen the factors affecting the process, namely spray rate, quantity of BM, rotor speed, type of rotor disk, lubricant-glidant presence, additional spheronization time, powder feeding rate and quantity. From the eight factors assessed, three were further studied during process optimization (spray rate, quantity of BM and powder feeding rate), at different ratios of the solid mixture of CW and HPMC K100M. The study demonstrated that the novel hot melt process is fast, efficient, reproducible and predictable. Therefore, it can be adopted in a lean and agile manufacturing setting for the production of flexible pellet dosage forms with various release rates easily customized between immediate and modified delivery.

SuperAGILE Services at ASDC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Preger, B.; Verrecchia, F.; Pittori, C.; Antonelli, L. A.; Giommi, P.; Lazzarotto, F.; Evangelista, Y.

2008-05-01

The Italian Space Agency Science Data Center (ASDC) is a facility with several responsibilities including support to all the ASI scientific missions as for management and archival of the data, acting as the interface between ASI and the scientific community and providing on-line access to the data hosted. In this poster we describe the services that ASDC provides for SuperAGILE, in particular the ASDC public web pages devoted to the dissemination of SuperAGILE scientific results. SuperAGILE is the X-Ray imager onboard the AGILE mission, and provides the scientific community with orbit-by-orbit information on the observed sources. Crucial source information including position and flux in chosen energy bands will be reported in the SuperAGILE public web page at ASDC. Given their particular interest, another web page will be dedicated entirely to GRBs and other transients, where new event alerts will be notified and where users will find all the available informations on the GRBs detected by SuperAGILE.

Agility in Team Sports: Testing, Training and Factors Affecting Performance.

PubMed

Paul, Darren J; Gabbett, Tim J; Nassis, George P

2016-03-01

Agility is an important characteristic of team sports athletes. There is a growing interest in the factors that influence agility performance as well as appropriate testing protocols and training strategies to assess and improve this quality. The objective of this systematic review was to (1) evaluate the reliability and validity of agility tests in team sports, (2) detail factors that may influence agility performance, and (3) identify the effects of different interventions on agility performance. The review was undertaken in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. We conducted a search of PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and SPORTDiscus databases. We assessed the methodological quality of intervention studies using a customized checklist of assessment criteria. Intraclass correlation coefficient values were 0.80-0.91, 0.10-0.81, and 0.81-0.99 for test time using light, video, and human stimuli. A low-level reliability was reported for youth athletes using the video stimulus (0.10-0.30). Higher-level participants were shown to be, on average, 7.5% faster than their lower level counterparts. Reaction time and accuracy, foot placement, and in-line lunge movement have been shown to be related to agility performance. The contribution of strength remains unclear. Efficacy of interventions on agility performance ranged from 1% (vibration training) to 7.5% (small-sided games training). Agility tests generally offer good reliability, although this may be compromised in younger participants responding to various scenarios. A human and/or video stimulus seems the most appropriate method to discriminate between standard of playing ability. Decision-making and perceptual factors are often propositioned as discriminant factors; however, the underlying mechanisms are relatively unknown. Research has focused predominantly on the physical element of agility. Small-sided games and video training may offer effective methods of improving agility, although practical issues may hinder the latter.

A Theory of Continuous Socialization for Organizational Renewal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Danielson, Monica Marie

2004-01-01

Current literature suggests that for sustained competitive success, organizations must have processes in place for continuous learning and adaptation. Any process, then, that appears to hinder agility should come under scrutiny. Examination of socialization theories revealed an intended outcome of perpetuating the organization's way of life, its…

Analyzing Strategic Business Rules through Simulation Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orta, Elena; Ruiz, Mercedes; Toro, Miguel

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) holds promise for business agility since it allows business process to change to meet new customer demands or market needs without causing a cascade effect of changes in the underlying IT systems. Business rules are the instrument chosen to help business and IT to collaborate. In this paper, we propose the utilization of simulation models to model and simulate strategic business rules that are then disaggregated at different levels of an SOA architecture. Our proposal is aimed to help find a good configuration for strategic business objectives and IT parameters. The paper includes a case study where a simulation model is built to help business decision-making in a context where finding a good configuration for different business parameters and performance is too complex to analyze by trial and error.

Fighter agility metrics, research, and test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liefer, Randall K.; Valasek, John; Eggold, David P.

1990-01-01

Proposed new metrics to assess fighter aircraft agility are collected and analyzed. A framework for classification of these new agility metrics is developed and applied. A completed set of transient agility metrics is evaluated with a high fidelity, nonlinear F-18 simulation provided by the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. Test techniques and data reduction methods are proposed. A method of providing cuing information to the pilot during flight test is discussed. The sensitivity of longitudinal and lateral agility metrics to deviations from the pilot cues is studied in detail. The metrics are shown to be largely insensitive to reasonable deviations from the nominal test pilot commands. Instrumentation required to quantify agility via flight test is also considered. With one exception, each of the proposed new metrics may be measured with instrumentation currently available. Simulation documentation and user instructions are provided in an appendix.

An Agile Enterprise Regulation Architecture for Health Information Security Management

PubMed Central

Chen, Ying-Pei; Hsieh, Sung-Huai; Chien, Tsan-Nan; Chen, Heng-Shuen; Luh, Jer-Junn; Lai, Jin-Shin; Lai, Feipei; Chen, Sao-Jie

2010-01-01

Abstract Information security management for healthcare enterprises is complex as well as mission critical. Information technology requests from clinical users are of such urgency that the information office should do its best to achieve as many user requests as possible at a high service level using swift security policies. This research proposes the Agile Enterprise Regulation Architecture (AERA) of information security management for healthcare enterprises to implement as part of the electronic health record process. Survey outcomes and evidential experiences from a sample of medical center users proved that AERA encourages the information officials and enterprise administrators to overcome the challenges faced within an electronically equipped hospital. PMID:20815748

An agile enterprise regulation architecture for health information security management.

PubMed

Chen, Ying-Pei; Hsieh, Sung-Huai; Cheng, Po-Hsun; Chien, Tsan-Nan; Chen, Heng-Shuen; Luh, Jer-Junn; Lai, Jin-Shin; Lai, Feipei; Chen, Sao-Jie

2010-09-01

Information security management for healthcare enterprises is complex as well as mission critical. Information technology requests from clinical users are of such urgency that the information office should do its best to achieve as many user requests as possible at a high service level using swift security policies. This research proposes the Agile Enterprise Regulation Architecture (AERA) of information security management for healthcare enterprises to implement as part of the electronic health record process. Survey outcomes and evidential experiences from a sample of medical center users proved that AERA encourages the information officials and enterprise administrators to overcome the challenges faced within an electronically equipped hospital.

Agile Methods in Air Force Sustainment: Status and Outlook

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-07-01

Schwaber ISBN10: 073561993X X X Agile Project Management : Creating Innovative Products – 2nd Edition Jim Highsmith ISBN 0321658396 X Agile...ISBN 0787974277 X Leading Change John Kotter ISBN 0875847471 X Leading Geeks: How to Manage and Lead the People Who Deliver Technology Paul ...Development: Achieving Enterprise Agility Alan Shalloway, Guy Beaver, and James R. Trott ISBN 0321532899 X Managing Transitions: Making the Most of

The mechanism and realization of a band-agile coaxial relativistic backward-wave oscillator

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ge, Xingjun; Zhang, Jun; Zhong, Huihuang

2014-11-03

The mechanism and realization of a band-agile coaxial relativistic backward-wave oscillator (RBWO) are presented. The operation frequency tuning can be easily achieved by merely altering the inner-conductor length. The key effects of the inner-conductor length contributing to the mechanical frequency tunability are investigated theoretically and experimentally. There is a specific inner-conductor length where the operation frequency can jump from one mode to another mode, which belongs to a different operation band. In addition, the operation frequency is tunable within each operation band. During simulation, the L-band microwave with a frequency of 1.61 GHz is radiated when the inner-conductor length ismore » 39 cm. Meanwhile, the S-band microwave with a frequency of 2.32 GHz is radiated when the inner-conductor length is 5 cm. The frequency adjustment bandwidths of L-band and S-band are about 8.5% and 2%, respectively. Moreover, the online mechanical tunability process is described in detail. In the initial experiment, the generated microwave frequencies remain approximately 1.59 GHz and 2.35 GHz when the inner-conductor lengths are 39 cm and 5 cm. In brief, this technical route of the band-agile coaxial RBWO is feasible and provides a guide to design other types of band-agile high power microwaves sources.« less

Full-length genome sequence of a simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infecting a captive agile mangabey (Cercocebus agilis) is closely related to SIVrcm infecting wild red-capped mangabeys (Cercocebus torquatus) in Cameroon

PubMed Central

Ahuka-Mundeke, Steve; Liegeois, Florian; Ayouba, Ahidjo; Foupouapouognini, Yacouba; Nerrienet, Eric; Delaporte, Eric; Peeters, Martine

2010-01-01

Simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs) are lentiviruses that infect an extensive number of wild African primate species. Here we describe for the first time SIV infection in a captive agile mangabey (Cercocebus agilis) from Cameroon. Phylogenetic analysis of the full-length genome sequence of SIVagi-00CM312 showed that this novel virus fell into the SIVrcm lineage and was most closely related to a newly characterized SIVrcm strain (SIVrcm-02CM8081) from a wild-caught red-capped mangabey (Cercocebus torquatus) from Cameroon. In contrast to red-capped mangabeys, no 24 bp deletion in CCR5 has been observed in the agile mangabey. Further studies on wild agile mangabeys are needed to determine whether agile and red-capped mangabeys are naturally infected with the same SIV lineage, or whether this agile mangabey became infected with an SIVrcm strain in captivity. However, our study shows that agile mangabeys are susceptible to SIV infection. PMID:20797968

Full-length genome sequence of a simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infecting a captive agile mangabey (Cercocebus agilis) is closely related to SIVrcm infecting wild red-capped mangabeys (Cercocebus torquatus) in Cameroon.

PubMed

Ahuka-Mundeke, Steve; Liegeois, Florian; Ayouba, Ahidjo; Foupouapouognini, Yacouba; Nerrienet, Eric; Delaporte, Eric; Peeters, Martine

2010-12-01

Simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs) are lentiviruses that infect an extensive number of wild African primate species. Here we describe for the first time SIV infection in a captive agile mangabey (Cercocebus agilis) from Cameroon. Phylogenetic analysis of the full-length genome sequence of SIVagi-00CM312 showed that this novel virus fell into the SIVrcm lineage and was most closely related to a newly characterized SIVrcm strain (SIVrcm-02CM8081) from a wild-caught red-capped mangabey (Cercocebus torquatus) from Cameroon. In contrast to red-capped mangabeys, no 24 bp deletion in CCR5 has been observed in the agile mangabey. Further studies on wild agile mangabeys are needed to determine whether agile and red-capped mangabeys are naturally infected with the same SIV lineage, or whether this agile mangabey became infected with an SIVrcm strain in captivity. However, our study shows that agile mangabeys are susceptible to SIV infection.

Procuring interoperability at the expense of usability: a case study of UK National Programme for IT assurance process.

PubMed

Krause, Paul; de Lusignan, Simon

2010-01-01

The allure of interoperable systems is that they should improve patient safety and make health services more efficient. The UK's National Programme for IT has made great strides in achieving interoperability; through linkage to a national electronic spine. However, there has been criticism of the usability of the applications in the clinical environment. Analysis of the procurement and assurance process to explore whether they predetermine usability. Processes separate developers from users, and test products against theoretical assurance models of use rather than simulate or pilot in a clinical environment. The current process appears to be effective for back office systems and high risk applications, but too inflexible for developing applications for the clinical setting. For clinical applications agile techniques are more appropriate. Usability testing should become an integrated part of the contractual process and be introduced earlier in the development process.

Parallelization of fine-scale computation in Agile Multiscale Modelling Methodology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Macioł, Piotr; Michalik, Kazimierz

2016-10-01

Nowadays, multiscale modelling of material behavior is an extensively developed area. An important obstacle against its wide application is high computational demands. Among others, the parallelization of multiscale computations is a promising solution. Heterogeneous multiscale models are good candidates for parallelization, since communication between sub-models is limited. In this paper, the possibility of parallelization of multiscale models based on Agile Multiscale Methodology framework is discussed. A sequential, FEM based macroscopic model has been combined with concurrently computed fine-scale models, employing a MatCalc thermodynamic simulator. The main issues, being investigated in this work are: (i) the speed-up of multiscale models with special focus on fine-scale computations and (ii) on decreasing the quality of computations enforced by parallel execution. Speed-up has been evaluated on the basis of Amdahl's law equations. The problem of `delay error', rising from the parallel execution of fine scale sub-models, controlled by the sequential macroscopic sub-model is discussed. Some technical aspects of combining third-party commercial modelling software with an in-house multiscale framework and a MPI library are also discussed.

Spectrum-agile hundred-watt-level high-power random fiber laser enabled by watt-level tunable optical filter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Jun; Xu, Jiangming; Song, Jiaxin; Wu, Hanshuo; Zhang, Hanwei; Wu, Jian; Zhou, Pu

2018-06-01

Through high-fidelity numerical modeling and careful system-parameter design, we demonstrate the spectral manipulation of a hundred-watt-level high-power random fiber laser (RFL) by employing a watt-level tunable optical filter. Consequently, a >100-W RFL with the spectrum-agile property is achieved. The central wavelength can be continuously tuned with a range of ∼20 nm, and the tuning range of the full width at half maximum linewidth, which is closely related to the central wavelength, covers ∼1.1 to ∼2.7 times of the minimum linewidth.

A Roadmap for using Agile Development in a Traditional System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Streiffert, Barbara; Starbird, Thomas

2006-01-01

I. Ensemble Development Group: a) Produces activity planning software for in spacecraft; b) Built on Eclipse Rich Client Platform (open source development and runtime software); c) Funded by multiple sources including the Mars Technology Program; d) Incorporated the use of Agile Development. II. Next Generation Uplink Planning System: a) Researches the Activity Planning and Sequencing Subsystem for Mars Science Laboratory (APSS); b) APSS includes Ensemble, Activity Modeling, Constraint Checking, Command Editing and Sequencing tools plus other uplink generation utilities; c) Funded by the Mars Technology Program; d) Integrates all of the tools for APSS.

SDN-Enabled Dynamic Feedback Control and Sensing in Agile Optical Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Likun

Fiber optic networks are no longer just pipelines for transporting data in the long haul backbone. Exponential growth in traffic in metro-regional areas has pushed higher capacity fiber toward the edge of the network, and highly dynamic patterns of heterogeneous traffic have emerged that are often bursty, severely stressing the historical "fat and dumb pipe" static optical network, which would need to be massively over-provisioned to deal with these loads. What is required is a more intelligent network with a span of control over the optical as well as electrical transport mechanisms which enables handling of service requests in a fast and efficient way that guarantees quality of service (QoS) while optimizing capacity efficiency. An "agile" optical network is a reconfigurable optical network comprised of high speed intelligent control system fed by real-time in situ network sensing. It provides fast response in the control and switching of optical signals in response to changing traffic demands and network conditions. This agile control of optical signals is enabled by pushing switching decisions downward in the network stack to the physical layer. Implementing such agility is challenging due to the response dynamics and interactions of signals in the physical layer. Control schemes must deal with issues such as dynamic power equalization, EDFA transients and cascaded noise effects, impairments due to self-phase modulation and dispersion, and channel-to-channel cross talk. If these issues are not properly predicted and mitigated, attempts at dynamic control can drive the optical network into an unstable state. In order to enable high speed actuation of signal modulators and switches, the network controller must be able to make decisions based on predictive models. In this thesis, we consider how to take advantage of Software Defined Networking (SDN) capabilities for network reconfiguration, combined with embedded models that access updates from deployed network monitoring sensors. In order to maintain signal quality while optimizing network resources, we find that it is essential to model and update estimates of the physical link impairments in real-time. In this thesis, we consider the key elements required to enable an agile optical network, with contributions as follows: • Control Framework: extended the SDN concept to include the optical transport network through extensions to the OpenFlow (OF) protocol. A unified SDN control plane is built to facilitate control and management capability across the electrical/packet-switched and optical/circuit-switched portions of the network seamlessly. The SDN control plane serves as a platform to abstract the resources of multilayer/multivendor networks. Through this platform, applications can dynamically request the network resources to meet their service requirements. • Use of In-situ Monitors: enabled real-time physical impairment sensing in the control plane using in-situ Optical Performance Monitoring (OPM) and bit error rate (BER) analyzers. OPM and BER values are used as quantitative indicators of the link status and are fed to the control plane through a high-speed data collection interface to form a closed-loop feedback system to enable adaptive resource allocation. • Predictive Network Model: used a network model embedded in the control layer to study the link status. The estimated results of network status is fed into the control decisions to precompute the network resources. The performance of the network model can be enhanced by the sensing results. • Real-Time Control Algorithms: investigated various dynamic resource allocation mechanisms supporting an agile optical network. Intelligent routing and wavelength switching for recovering from traffic impairments is achieved experimentally in the agile optical network within one second. A distance-adaptive spectrum allocation scheme to address transmission impairments caused by cascaded Wavelength Selective Switches (WSS) is proposed and evaluated for improving network spectral efficiency.

Strategy quantification using body worn inertial sensors in a reactive agility task.

PubMed

Eke, Chika U; Cain, Stephen M; Stirling, Leia A

2017-11-07

Agility performance is often evaluated using time-based metrics, which provide little information about which factors aid or limit success. The objective of this study was to better understand agility strategy by identifying biomechanical metrics that were sensitive to performance speed, which were calculated with data from an array of body-worn inertial sensors. Five metrics were defined (normalized number of foot contacts, stride length variance, arm swing variance, mean normalized stride frequency, and number of body rotations) that corresponded to agility terms defined by experts working in athletic, clinical, and military environments. Eighteen participants donned 13 sensors to complete a reactive agility task, which involved navigating a set of cones in response to a vocal cue. Participants were grouped into fast, medium, and slow performance based on their completion time. Participants in the fast group had the smallest number of foot contacts (normalizing by height), highest stride length variance (normalizing by height), highest forearm angular velocity variance, and highest stride frequency (normalizing by height). The number of body rotations was not sensitive to speed and may have been determined by hand and foot dominance while completing the agility task. The results of this study have the potential to inform the development of a composite agility score constructed from the list of significant metrics. By quantifying the agility terms previously defined by expert evaluators through an agility score, this study can assist in strategy development for training and rehabilitation across athletic, clinical, and military domains. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Consumer Juggernaut: Web-Based and Mobile Applications as Innovation Pioneer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Messerschmitt, David G.

As happened previously in electronics, software targeted at consumers is increasingly the focus of investment and innovation. Some of the areas where it is leading is animated interfaces, treating users as a community, audio and video information, software as a service, agile software development, and the integration of business models with software design. As a risk-taking and experimental market, and as a source of ideas, consumer software can benefit other areas of applications software. The influence of consumer software can be magnified by research into the internal organizations and processes of the innovative firms at its foundation.

Inbreeding avoidance, patch isolation and matrix permeability influence dispersal and settlement choices by male agile antechinus in a fragmented landscape.

PubMed

Banks, Sam C; Lindenmayer, David B

2014-03-01

Animal dispersal is highly non-random and has important implications for the dynamics of populations in fragmented habitat. We identified interpatch dispersal events from genetic tagging, parentage analyses and assignment tests and modelled the factors associated with apparent emigration and post-dispersal settlement choices by individual male agile antechinus (Antechinus agilis, a marsupial carnivore of south-east Australian forests). Emigration decisions were best modelled with on data patch isolation and inbreeding risk. The choice of dispersal destination by males was influenced by inbreeding risk, female abundance, patch size, patch quality and matrix permeability (variation in land cover). Males were less likely to settle in patches without highly unrelated females. Our findings highlight the importance of individual-level dispersal data for understanding how multiple processes drive non-randomness in dispersal in modified landscapes. Fragmented landscapes present novel environmental, demographic and genetic contexts in which dispersal decisions are made, so the major factors affecting dispersal decisions in fragmented habitat may differ considerably from unfragmented landscapes. We show that the spatial scale of genetic neighbourhoods can be large in fragmented habitat, such that dispersing males can potentially settle in the presence of genetically similar females after moving considerable distances, thereby necessitating both a choice to emigrate and a choice of where to settle to avoid inbreeding. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2013 British Ecological Society.

Team-based work and work system balance in the context of agile manufacturing.

PubMed

Yauch, Charlene A

2007-01-01

Manufacturing agility is the ability to prosper in an environment characterized by constant and unpredictable change. The purpose of this paper is to analyze team attributes necessary to facilitate agile manufacturing, and using Balance Theory as a framework, it evaluates the potential positive and negative impacts related to these team attributes that could alter the balance of work system elements and resulting "stress load" experienced by persons working on agile teams. Teams operating within the context of agile manufacturing are characterized as multifunctional, dynamic, cooperative, and virtual. A review of the literature relevant to each of these attributes is provided, as well as suggestions for future research.

The Bright γ-ray Flare of 3C 279 in 2015 June: AGILE Detection and Multifrequency Follow-up Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pittori, C.; Lucarelli, F.; Verrecchia, F.; Raiteri, C. M.; Villata, M.; Vittorini, V.; Tavani, M.; Puccetti, S.; Perri, M.; Donnarumma, I.; Vercellone, S.; Acosta-Pulido, J. A.; Bachev, R.; Benítez, E.; Borman, G. A.; Carnerero, M. I.; Carosati, D.; Chen, W. P.; Ehgamberdiev, Sh. A.; Goded, A.; Grishina, T. S.; Hiriart, D.; Hsiao, H. Y.; Jorstad, S. G.; Kimeridze, G. N.; Kopatskaya, E. N.; Kurtanidze, O. M.; Kurtanidze, S. O.; Larionov, V. M.; Larionova, L. V.; Marscher, A. P.; Mirzaqulov, D. O.; Morozova, D. A.; Nilsson, K.; Samal, M. R.; Sigua, L. A.; Spassov, B.; Strigachev, A.; Takalo, L. O.; Antonelli, L. A.; Bulgarelli, A.; Cattaneo, P.; Colafrancesco, S.; Giommi, P.; Longo, F.; Morselli, A.; Paoletti, F.

2018-04-01

We report the AGILE detection and the results of the multifrequency follow-up observations of a bright γ-ray flare of the blazar 3C 279 in 2015 June. We use AGILE and Fermi gamma-ray data, together with Swift X-ray andoptical-ultraviolet data, and ground-based GASP-WEBT optical observations, including polarization information, to study the source variability and the overall spectral energy distribution during the γ-ray flare. The γ-ray flaring data, compared with as yet unpublished simultaneous optical data that will allow constraints on the big blue bump disk luminosity, show very high Compton dominance values of ∼100, with the ratio of γ-ray to optical emission rising by a factor of three in a few hours. The multiwavelength behavior of the source during the flare challenges one-zone leptonic theoretical models. The new observations during the 2015 June flare are also compared with already published data and nonsimultaneous historical 3C 279 archival data.

Creating Value with Long Term R&D: The life science industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soloman, Darlene J. S.

2008-03-01

Agilent Laboratories looks to the future to identify, invest and enable technologies and applications that will nurture the world’s people, environment and economies, and help ensure Agilent’s continuing leadership. Following a brief introduction to Agilent Technologies and Agilent Laboratories, Solomon will discuss how innovation and long-term R&D are transcending traditional boundaries. Focusing on the life sciences industry, she will discuss current trends in R&D and the importance of measurement in advancing the industry. She will describe some of the challenges that are disrupting the pharmaceutical industry where significant and sustained investment in R&D has not translated into large numbers of block-buster therapeutics. Much of this gap results from the profound complexity of biological systems. New discoveries quickly generate new questions, which in turn drive more research and necessitate new business models. Solomon will highlight examples of Agilent’s long-range R&D in life sciences, emphasizing the importance of physics. She’ll conclude with the importance of creating sustainable value with R&D.

Some anthropologic characteristics of elite female handball players at different playing positions.

PubMed

Rogulj, Nenad; Srhoj, Vatromir; Nazor, Mirjana; Srhoj, Ljerka; Cavala, Marijana

2005-12-01

Differences in motor and psychologic variables according to playing positions were analyzed in a sample of 53 elite female handball players, members of junior and senior national team. Motor status included 8 variables for assessment of explosive strength of landing and throwing, agility, speed strength, movement frequency, and flexibility. Psychologic status was analyzed through 4 dimensions according to Eysenck: extroversion, psychotic behavior, neurotic behavior, and lie. The anthropologic features analyzed showed statistically significant differences. Considering motor abilities, differences were recorded in the variables for assessment of speed strength, agility and leg movement frequency, where wings predominated, whereas goalkeepers showed predominance in flexibility. In psychologic status, differences were present in the variable for assessment of extroversion, which was most pronounced in wings, whereas psychotic behavior was more expressed in those at pivot position. The differences were primarily consequential to the selection of players of a specific anthropologic profile for particular playing positions. The hypothesis of the impact of kinesiologic specificities of a particular playing position on the formation of the players' anthropologic profile should be scientifically tested. Study results may found application in training and contest practice, especially in forming anthropologic models for particular positions during the process of player selection.

A comparison of linear speed, closed-skill agility, and open-skill agility qualities between backcourt and frontcourt adult semiprofessional male basketball players.

PubMed

Scanlan, Aaron T; Tucker, Patrick S; Dalbo, Vincent J

2014-05-01

The measurement of fitness qualities relevant to playing position is necessary to inform basketball coaching and conditioning staff of role-related differences in playing groups. To date, sprinting and agility performance have not been compared between playing positions in adult male basketball players. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to describe and compare linear speed, closed-skill agility, and open-skill agility qualities between backcourt (point guard and shooting guard positions) and frontcourt (small forward, power forward, and center positions) semiprofessional basketball players. Six backcourt (mean ± SD: age, 24.3 ± 7.9 years; stature, 183.4 ± 4.0 cm; body mass, 85.5 ± 12.3 kg; VO2max, 51.9 ± 4.8 ml·kg(-1)·min(-1)) and 6 frontcourt (mean ± SD: age, 27.5 ± 5.5 years; stature, 194.4 ± 7.1 cm; body mass, 109.4 ± 8.8 kg; VO2max, 47.1 ± 5.0 ml·kg(-1)·min(-1)) adult male basketball players completed 20-m sprint, closed-skill agility, and open-skill agility performance tests. Magnitude-based inferences revealed that backcourt players (5 m, 1.048 ± 0.027 seconds; 10 m, 1.778 ± 0.048 seconds; 20 m, 3.075 ± 0.121 seconds) possessed likely quicker linear sprint times than frontcourt players (5 m, 1.095 ± 0.085 seconds; 10 m, 1.872 ± 0.127 seconds; 20 m, 3.242 ± 0.221 seconds). Conversely, frontcourt players (1.665 ± 0.096 seconds) held possible superior closed-skill agility performance than backcourt players (1.613 ± 0.111 seconds). In addition, unclear positional differences were apparent for open-skill agility qualities. These findings indicate that linear speed and change of direction speed might be differently developed across playing positions. Furthermore, position-related functions might similarly depend on the aspects of open-skill agility performance across backcourt and frontcourt players. Basketball coaching and conditioning staff should consider the development of position-targeted training drills to improve speed, agility, and cognitive qualities in players.

Information Models, Data Requirements, and Agile Data Curation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hughes, John S.; Crichton, Dan; Ritschel, Bernd; Hardman, Sean; Joyner, Ron

2015-04-01

The Planetary Data System's next generation system, PDS4, is an example of the successful use of an ontology-based Information Model (IM) to drive the development and operations of a data system. In traditional systems engineering, requirements or statements about what is necessary for the system are collected and analyzed for input into the design stage of systems development. With the advent of big data the requirements associated with data have begun to dominate and an ontology-based information model can be used to provide a formalized and rigorous set of data requirements. These requirements address not only the usual issues of data quantity, quality, and disposition but also data representation, integrity, provenance, context, and semantics. In addition the use of these data requirements during system's development has many characteristics of Agile Curation as proposed by Young et al. [Taking Another Look at the Data Management Life Cycle: Deconstruction, Agile, and Community, AGU 2014], namely adaptive planning, evolutionary development, early delivery, continuous improvement, and rapid and flexible response to change. For example customers can be satisfied through early and continuous delivery of system software and services that are configured directly from the information model. This presentation will describe the PDS4 architecture and its three principle parts: the ontology-based Information Model (IM), the federated registries and repositories, and the REST-based service layer for search, retrieval, and distribution. The development of the IM will be highlighted with special emphasis on knowledge acquisition, the impact of the IM on development and operations, and the use of shared ontologies at multiple governance levels to promote system interoperability and data correlation.

AGILE/GRID Science Alert Monitoring System: The Workflow and the Crab Flare Case

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bulgarelli, A.; Trifoglio, M.; Gianotti, F.; Tavani, M.; Conforti, V.; Parmiggiani, N.

2013-10-01

During the first five years of the AGILE mission we have observed many gamma-ray transients of Galactic and extragalactic origin. A fast reaction to unexpected transient events is a crucial part of the AGILE monitoring program, because the follow-up of astrophysical transients is a key point for this space mission. We present the workflow and the software developed by the AGILE Team to perform the automatic analysis for the detection of gamma-ray transients. In addition, an App for iPhone will be released enabling the Team to access the monitoring system through mobile phones. In 2010 September the science alert monitoring system presented in this paper recorded a transient phenomena from the Crab Nebula, generating an automated alert sent via email and SMS two hours after the end of an AGILE satellite orbit, i.e. two hours after the Crab flare itself: for this discovery AGILE won the 2012 Bruno Rossi prize. The design of this alert system is maximized to reach the maximum speed, and in this, as in many other cases, AGILE has demonstrated that the reaction speed of the monitoring system is crucial for the scientific return of the mission.

The impact of flying qualities on helicopter operational agility

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Padfield, Gareth D.; Lappos, Nick; Hodgkinson, John

1993-01-01

Flying qualities standards are formally set to ensure safe flight and therefore reflect minimum, rather than optimum, requirements. Agility is a flying quality but relates to operations at high, if not maximum, performance. While the quality metrics and test procedures for flying, as covered for example in ADS33C, may provide an adequate structure to encompass agility, they do not currently address flight at high performance. This is also true in the fixed-wing world and a current concern in both communities is the absence of substantiated agility criteria and possible conflicts between flying qualities and high performance. AGARD is sponsoring a working group (WG19) title 'Operational Agility' that deals with these and a range of related issues. This paper is condensed from contributions by the three authors to WG19, relating to flying qualities. Novel perspectives on the subject are presented including the agility factor, that quantifies performance margins in flying qualities terms; a new parameter, based on maneuver acceleration is introduced as a potential candidate for defining upper limits to flying qualities. Finally, a probabilistic analysis of pilot handling qualities ratings is presented that suggests a powerful relationship between inherent airframe flying qualities and operational agility.

Calibration of X-Ray diffractometer by the experimental comparison method

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dudka, A. P., E-mail: dudka@ns.crys.ras.ru

2015-07-15

A software for calibrating an X-ray diffractometer with area detector has been developed. It is proposed to search for detector and goniometer calibration models whose parameters are reproduced in a series of measurements on a reference crystal. Reference (standard) crystals are prepared during the investigation; they should provide the agreement of structural models in repeated analyses. The technique developed has been used to calibrate Xcalibur Sapphire and Eos, Gemini Ruby (Agilent) and Apex x8 and Apex Duo (Bruker) diffractometers. The main conclusions are as follows: the calibration maps are stable for several years and can be used to improve structuralmore » results, verified CCD detectors exhibit significant inhomogeneity of the efficiency (response) function, and a Bruker goniometer introduces smaller distortions than an Agilent goniometer.« less

What triggers the rising of an intraspecific biodiversity hotspot? Hints from the agile frog.

PubMed

Canestrelli, Daniele; Bisconti, Roberta; Sacco, Florinda; Nascetti, Giuseppe

2014-05-23

Hotspots of genetic diversity are regions of utmost importance for species survival and conservation, and their intimate link with the geographic location of glacial refugia has been well established. Nonetheless, the microevolutionary processes underlying the generation of hotspots in such regions have only recently become a fervent field of research. We investigated the phylogeographic and population genetic structure of the agile frog, Rana dalmatina, within its putative refugium in peninsular Italy. We found this region to harbour far more diversity, phylogeographic structure, and lineages of ancient origin than that by the rest of the species' range in Europe. This pattern appeared to be well explained by climate-driven microevolutionary processes that occurred during both glacial and interglacial epochs. Therefore, the inferred evolutionary history of R. dalmatina in Italy supports a view of glacial refugia as 'factories' rather than as repositories of genetic diversity, with significant implications for conservation strategies for hotspots.

Reliability and Validity of a New Test of Agility and Skill for Female Amateur Soccer Players

PubMed Central

Kutlu, Mehmet; Yapici, Hakan; Yilmaz, Abdullah

2017-01-01

Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the Agility and Skill Test, which had been recently developed to assess agility and skill in female athletes. Following a 10 min warm-up, two trials to test the reliability and validity of the test were conducted one week apart. Measurements were collected to compare soccer players’ physical performance in a 20 m sprint, a T-Drill test, the Illinois Agility Run Test, change-of-direction and acceleration, as well as agility and skill. All tests were completed following the same order. Thirty-four amateur female soccer players were recruited (age = 20.8 ± 1.9 years; body height = 166 ± 6.9 cm; body mass = 55.5 ± 5.8 kg). To determine the reliability and usefulness of these tests, paired sample t-tests, intra-class correlation coefficients, typical error, coefficient of variation, and differences between the typical error and smallest worthwhile change statistics were computed. Test results showed no significant differences between the two sessions (p > 0.01). There were higher intra-class correlations between the test and retest values (r = 0.94–0.99) for all tests. Typical error values were below the smallest worthwhile change, indicating ‘good’ usefulness for these tests. A near perfect Pearson correlation between the Agility and Skill Test (r = 0.98) was found, and there were moderate-to-large levels of correlation between the Agility and Skill Test and other measures (r = 0.37 to r = 0.56). The results of this study suggest that the Agility and Skill Test is a reliable and valid test for female soccer players and has significant value for assessing the integrative agility and skill capability of soccer players. PMID:28469760

Towards Agile Ontology Maintenance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luczak-Rösch, Markus

Ontologies are an appropriate means to represent knowledge on the Web. Research on ontology engineering reached practices for an integrative lifecycle support. However, a broader success of ontologies in Web-based information systems remains unreached while the more lightweight semantic approaches are rather successful. We assume, paired with the emerging trend of services and microservices on the Web, new dynamic scenarios gain momentum in which a shared knowledge base is made available to several dynamically changing services with disparate requirements. Our work envisions a step towards such a dynamic scenario in which an ontology adapts to the requirements of the accessing services and applications as well as the user's needs in an agile way and reduces the experts' involvement in ontology maintenance processes.

Agility and Speed Standards for Student Teenager Wrestlers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bayraktar, Isik

2017-01-01

The processes of talent identification and development provide serious advantages to success of athletes. The interpretation of the current situation in the process of the athletes' education gets more worth through the use of objective assessment, in other words using norm values. The observation of the talent by norms is important for each sport…

An Agile Course-Delivery Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Capellan, Mirkeya

2009-01-01

In the world of software development, agile methodologies have gained popularity thanks to their lightweight methodologies and flexible approach. Many advocates believe that agile methodologies can provide significant benefits if applied in the educational environment as a teaching method. The need for an approach that engages and motivates…

Focused Logistics: Putting Agility in Agile Logistics

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-05-19

list, ahead of companies like American Express, DuPont and Coca Cola ; Supports nearly 1,900 weapon systems; DLA manages eight supply chains and...35 7) Force Health Protection...Distribution, Information Fusion, Joint Theater Logistics Command and Control, Multinational Logistics, Joint Health Services Support, and Agile

Combining Agile and Traditional: Customer Communication in Distributed Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Korkala, Mikko; Pikkarainen, Minna; Conboy, Kieran

Distributed development is a radically increasing phenomenon in modern software development environments. At the same time, traditional and agile methodologies and combinations of those are being used in the industry. Agile approaches place a large emphasis on customer communication. However, existing knowledge on customer communication in distributed agile development seems to be lacking. In order to shed light on this topic and provide practical guidelines for companies in distributed agile environments, a qualitative case study was conducted in a large globally distributed software company. The key finding was that it might be difficult for an agile organization to get relevant information from a traditional type of customer organization, even though the customer communication was indicated to be active and utilized via multiple different communication media. Several challenges discussed in this paper referred to "information blackout" indicating the importance of an environment fostering meaningful communication. In order to evaluate if this environment can be created a set of guidelines is proposed.

Physical demand of seven closed agility drills.

PubMed

Atkinson, Mark; Rosalie, Simon; Netto, Kevin

2016-11-01

The present study aimed to quantify the demand of seven generic, closed agility drills. Twenty males with experience in invasion sports volunteered to participate in this study. They performed seven, closed agility drills over a standardised 30-m distance. Physical demand measures of peak velocity, total foot contacts, peak impacts, completion time, and maximum heart rate were obtained via the use of wearable sensor technologies. A subjective rating of perceived exertion (RPE) was also obtained. All measures, with the exception of maximum heart rates and RPE were able to delineate drills in terms of physical and physiological demand. The findings of this study exemplify the differences in demand of agility-type movements. Drill demand was dictated by the type of agility movement initiated with the increase in repetitiveness of a given movement type also contributing to increased demand. Findings from this study suggest agility drills can be manipulated to vary physical and physiological demand. This allows for the optimal application of training principles such as overload, progression, and periodisation.

Gamma-ray Astrophysics with AGILE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Longo, Francesco; Tavani, M.; Barbiellini, G.

2007-07-12

AGILE will explore the gamma-ray Universe with a very innovative instrument combining for the first time a gamma-ray imager and a hard X-ray imager. AGILE will be operational in spring 2007 and it will provide crucial data for the study of Active Galactic Nuclei, Gamma-Ray Bursts, unidentified gamma-ray sources. Galactic compact objects, supernova remnants, TeV sources, and fundamental physics by microsecond timing. The AGILE instrument is designed to simultaneously detect and image photons in the 30 MeV - 50 GeV and 15 - 45 keV energy bands with excellent imaging and timing capabilities, and a large field of view coveringmore » {approx} 1/5 of the entire sky at energies above 30 MeV. A CsI calorimeter is capable of GRB triggering in the energy band 0.3-50 MeV AGILE is now (March 2007) undergoing launcher integration and testing. The PLSV launch is planned in spring 2007. AGILE is then foreseen to be fully operational during the summer of 2007.« less

Automated phase mapping with AgileFD and its application to light absorber discovery in the V–Mn–Nb oxide system

DOE PAGES

Suram, Santosh K.; Xue, Yexiang; Bai, Junwen; ...

2016-11-21

Rapid construction of phase diagrams is a central tenet of combinatorial materials science with accelerated materials discovery efforts often hampered by challenges in interpreting combinatorial X-ray diffraction data sets, which we address by developing AgileFD, an artificial intelligence algorithm that enables rapid phase mapping from a combinatorial library of X-ray diffraction patterns. AgileFD models alloying-based peak shifting through a novel expansion of convolutional nonnegative matrix factorization, which not only improves the identification of constituent phases but also maps their concentration and lattice parameter as a function of composition. By incorporating Gibbs’ phase rule into the algorithm, physically meaningful phase mapsmore » are obtained with unsupervised operation, and more refined solutions are attained by injecting expert knowledge of the system. The algorithm is demonstrated through investigation of the V–Mn–Nb oxide system where decomposition of eight oxide phases, including two with substantial alloying, provides the first phase map for this pseudoternary system. This phase map enables interpretation of high-throughput band gap data, leading to the discovery of new solar light absorbers and the alloying-based tuning of the direct-allowed band gap energy of MnV 2O 6. Lastly, the open-source family of AgileFD algorithms can be implemented into a broad range of high throughput workflows to accelerate materials discovery.« less

Automated phase mapping with AgileFD and its application to light absorber discovery in the V–Mn–Nb oxide system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Suram, Santosh K.; Xue, Yexiang; Bai, Junwen

Rapid construction of phase diagrams is a central tenet of combinatorial materials science with accelerated materials discovery efforts often hampered by challenges in interpreting combinatorial X-ray diffraction data sets, which we address by developing AgileFD, an artificial intelligence algorithm that enables rapid phase mapping from a combinatorial library of X-ray diffraction patterns. AgileFD models alloying-based peak shifting through a novel expansion of convolutional nonnegative matrix factorization, which not only improves the identification of constituent phases but also maps their concentration and lattice parameter as a function of composition. By incorporating Gibbs’ phase rule into the algorithm, physically meaningful phase mapsmore » are obtained with unsupervised operation, and more refined solutions are attained by injecting expert knowledge of the system. The algorithm is demonstrated through investigation of the V–Mn–Nb oxide system where decomposition of eight oxide phases, including two with substantial alloying, provides the first phase map for this pseudoternary system. This phase map enables interpretation of high-throughput band gap data, leading to the discovery of new solar light absorbers and the alloying-based tuning of the direct-allowed band gap energy of MnV 2O 6. Lastly, the open-source family of AgileFD algorithms can be implemented into a broad range of high throughput workflows to accelerate materials discovery.« less

Agile Data Curation at a State Geological Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hills, D. J.

2015-12-01

State agencies, including geological surveys, are often the gatekeepers for myriad data products essential for scientific research and economic development. For example, the Geological Survey of Alabama (GSA) is mandated to explore for, characterize, and report Alabama's mineral, energy, water, and biological resources in support of economic development, conservation, management, and public policy for the betterment of Alabama's citizens, communities, and businesses. As part of that mandate, the GSA has increasingly been called upon to make our data more accessible to stakeholders. Even as demand for greater data accessibility grows, budgets for such efforts are often small, meaning that agencies must do more for less. Agile software development has yielded efficient, effective products, most often at lower cost and in shorter time. Taking guidance from the agile software development model, the GSA is working towards more agile data management and curation. To date, the GSA's work has been focused primarily on data rescue. By using workflows that maximize clear communication while encouraging simplicity (e.g., maximizing the amount of work not done or that can be automated), the GSA is bringing decades of dark data into the light. Regular checks by the data rescuer with the data provider (or their proxy) provides quality control without adding an overt burden on either party. Moving forward, these workflows will also allow for more efficient and effective data management.

Colaborated Architechture Framework for Composition UML 2.0 in Zachman Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hermawan; Hastarista, Fika

2016-01-01

Zachman Framework (ZF) is the framework of enterprise architechture that most widely adopted in the Enterprise Information System (EIS) development. In this study, has been developed Colaborated Architechture Framework (CAF) to collaborate ZF with Unified Modeling Language (UML) 2.0 modeling. The CAF provides the composition of ZF matrix that each cell is consist of the Model Driven architechture (MDA) from the various UML models and many Software Requirement Specification (SRS) documents. Implementation of this modeling is used to develops Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Because ERP have a coverage of applications in large numbers and complexly relations, it is necessary to use Agile Model Driven Design (AMDD) approach as an advanced method to transforms MDA into components of application modules with efficiently and accurately. Finally, through the using of the CAF, give good achievement in fullfilment the needs from all stakeholders that are involved in the overall process stage of Rational Unified Process (RUP), and also obtaining a high satisfaction to fullfiled the functionality features of the ERP software in PT. Iglas (Persero) Gresik.

Agile supply chain capabilities: emerging patterns as a determinant of competitive objectives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yusuf, Yahaya Y.; Adeleye, E. O.; Sivayoganathan, K.

2001-10-01

Turbulent change caused by factors such as changing customer and technological requirements threatens manufacturers through lower product life cycles, profits and bleak survival prospects. Therefore, several companies are stressing flexibility and agility in order to respond, real time, to the unique needs of customers and markets. However, the resource competencies required are often difficult to mobilise and retain by single companies. It is therefore imperative for companies to co-operate and leverage complementary competencies. To this end, legally separate and spatially distributed companies are becoming integrated through Internet-based technologies. The paper reviews emerging patterns in supply chain integration. It also explores the relationship between the emerging patterns and attainment of competitive objectives. The results reported in the paper are based on data from a survey by questionnaire. The survey involved 600 companies in the UK, as part of a larger study of agile manufacturing. The study was driven by a conceptual model, which relates supply chain practices to competitive objectives. The analysis involves the use of factor analysis to reduce research variables to a few principal components. Subsequently, multiple regression was conducted to study the relationship amongst the reduced variables. The results validate the proposed conceptual model and lend credence to current thinking that supply chain integration is a vital tool for competitive advantage.

Real-Time Data Display

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pedings, Marc

2007-01-01

RT-Display is a MATLAB-based data acquisition environment designed to use a variety of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware to digitize analog signals to a standard data format usable by other post-acquisition data analysis tools. This software presents the acquired data in real time using a variety of signal-processing algorithms. The acquired data is stored in a standard Operator Interactive Signal Processing Software (OISPS) data-formatted file. RT-Display is primarily configured to use the Agilent VXI (or equivalent) data acquisition boards used in such systems as MIDDAS (Multi-channel Integrated Dynamic Data Acquisition System). The software is generalized and deployable in almost any testing environment, without limitations or proprietary configuration for a specific test program or project. With the Agilent hardware configured and in place, users can start the program and, in one step, immediately begin digitizing multiple channels of data. Once the acquisition is completed, data is converted into a common binary format that also can be translated to specific formats used by external analysis software, such as OISPS and PC-Signal (product of AI Signal Research Inc.). RT-Display at the time of this reporting was certified on Agilent hardware capable of acquisition up to 196,608 samples per second. Data signals are presented to the user on-screen simultaneously for 16 channels. Each channel can be viewed individually, with a maximum capability of 160 signal channels (depending on hardware configuration). Current signal presentations include: time data, fast Fourier transforms (FFT), and power spectral density plots (PSD). Additional processing algorithms can be easily incorporated into this environment.

The Introduction of Agility into Albania.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith-Stevens, Eileen J.; Shkurti, Drita

1998-01-01

Describes a plan to introduce and achieve a national awareness of agility (and easy entry into the world market) for Albania through the relatively stable higher-education order. Agility's four strategic principles are enriching the customer, cooperating to enhance competitiveness, organizing to master change and uncertainty, and leveraging the…

Impact of flow unsteadiness on maneuvers and loads of agile aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jarrah, M. Ameen; Ashley, Holt

1989-01-01

A program of airload measurements on a family of low-aspect-ratio delta wings with sharp leading edges, subjected to large amplitude pitch transients with angles of attack up to 90 deg, is reviewed. Even for small values of the pitch-rate parameter, representative of maneuvers anticipated for agile aircraft, the force and moment overshoots can exceed by 50 percent their steady-state values. This is explained in terms of the hysteretic behavior of the breakdown locations of leading-edge vortices. An approximate theoretical model is proposed which includes the breakdown hysteresis as part of a three-term representation of the unsteady chordwise load distribution.

Laboratory- and field-based testing as predictors of skating performance in competitive-level female ice hockey.

PubMed

Henriksson, Tommy; Vescovi, Jason D; Fjellman-Wiklund, Anncristine; Gilenstam, Kajsa

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine whether field-based and/or laboratory-based assessments are valid tools for predicting key performance characteristics of skating in competitive-level female hockey players. Cross-sectional study. Twenty-three female ice hockey players aged 15-25 years (body mass: 66.1±6.3 kg; height: 169.5±5.5 cm), with 10.6±3.2 years playing experience volunteered to participate in the study. The field-based assessments included 20 m sprint, squat jump, countermovement jump, 30-second repeated jump test, standing long jump, single-leg standing long jump, 20 m shuttle run test, isometric leg pull, one-repetition maximum bench press, and one-repetition maximum squats. The laboratory-based assessments included body composition (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry), maximal aerobic power, and isokinetic strength (Biodex). The on-ice tests included agility cornering s-turn, cone agility skate, transition agility skate, and modified repeat skate sprint. Data were analyzed using stepwise multivariate linear regression analysis. Linear regression analysis was used to establish the relationship between key performance characteristics of skating and the predictor variables. Regression models (adj R (2)) for the on-ice variables ranged from 0.244 to 0.663 for the field-based assessments and from 0.136 to 0.420 for the laboratory-based assessments. Single-leg tests were the strongest predictors for key performance characteristics of skating. Single leg standing long jump alone explained 57.1%, 38.1%, and 29.1% of the variance in skating time during transition agility skate, agility cornering s-turn, and modified repeat skate sprint, respectively. Isokinetic peak torque in the quadriceps at 90° explained 42.0% and 32.2% of the variance in skating time during agility cornering s-turn and modified repeat skate sprint, respectively. Field-based assessments, particularly single-leg tests, are an adequate substitute to more expensive and time-consuming laboratory assessments if the purpose is to gain knowledge about key performance characteristics of skating.

Laboratory- and field-based testing as predictors of skating performance in competitive-level female ice hockey

PubMed Central

Henriksson, Tommy; Vescovi, Jason D; Fjellman-Wiklund, Anncristine; Gilenstam, Kajsa

2016-01-01

Objectives The purpose of this study was to examine whether field-based and/or laboratory-based assessments are valid tools for predicting key performance characteristics of skating in competitive-level female hockey players. Design Cross-sectional study. Methods Twenty-three female ice hockey players aged 15–25 years (body mass: 66.1±6.3 kg; height: 169.5±5.5 cm), with 10.6±3.2 years playing experience volunteered to participate in the study. The field-based assessments included 20 m sprint, squat jump, countermovement jump, 30-second repeated jump test, standing long jump, single-leg standing long jump, 20 m shuttle run test, isometric leg pull, one-repetition maximum bench press, and one-repetition maximum squats. The laboratory-based assessments included body composition (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry), maximal aerobic power, and isokinetic strength (Biodex). The on-ice tests included agility cornering s-turn, cone agility skate, transition agility skate, and modified repeat skate sprint. Data were analyzed using stepwise multivariate linear regression analysis. Linear regression analysis was used to establish the relationship between key performance characteristics of skating and the predictor variables. Results Regression models (adj R2) for the on-ice variables ranged from 0.244 to 0.663 for the field-based assessments and from 0.136 to 0.420 for the laboratory-based assessments. Single-leg tests were the strongest predictors for key performance characteristics of skating. Single leg standing long jump alone explained 57.1%, 38.1%, and 29.1% of the variance in skating time during transition agility skate, agility cornering s-turn, and modified repeat skate sprint, respectively. Isokinetic peak torque in the quadriceps at 90° explained 42.0% and 32.2% of the variance in skating time during agility cornering s-turn and modified repeat skate sprint, respectively. Conclusion Field-based assessments, particularly single-leg tests, are an adequate substitute to more expensive and time-consuming laboratory assessments if the purpose is to gain knowledge about key performance characteristics of skating. PMID:27574474

Agile Multi-Function Arrays

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-07-01

been put into place to guide the standards process. 6. If the balloting results in 75% approval then the draft standard is sub- mitted to the IEEE-SA...as functionality and timeliness. Such a design process presumably guided the design for the AMRFC test bed. The multifunction apertures for...Integrated Topside should be guided by the same design process. Engaging in a spiral design process will lead to the most effective selection of research

Agile Software Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Biju, Soly Mathew

2008-01-01

Many software development firms are now adopting the agile software development method. This method involves the customer at every level of software development, thus reducing the impact of change in the requirement at a later stage. In this article, the principles of the agile method for software development are explored and there is a focus on…

Teaching Agile Software Development: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Devedzic, V.; Milenkovic, S. R.

2011-01-01

This paper describes the authors' experience of teaching agile software development to students of computer science, software engineering, and other related disciplines, and comments on the implications of this and the lessons learned. It is based on the authors' eight years of experience in teaching agile software methodologies to various groups…

Enabling Agile Testing through Continuous Integration

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stolberg, Sean E.

2009-08-24

A Continuous Integration system is often considered one of the key elements involved in supporting an agile software development and testing environment. As a traditional software tester transitioning to an agile development environment it became clear to me that I would need to put this essential infrastructure in place and promote improved development practices in order to make the transition to agile testing possible. This experience report discusses a continuous integration implementation I lead last year. The initial motivations for implementing continuous integration are discussed and a pre and post-assessment using Martin Fowler's "Practices of Continuous Integration" is provided alongmore » with the technical specifics of the implementation. Finally, I’ll wrap up with a retrospective of my experiences implementing and promoting continuous integration within the context of agile testing.« less

"Metamorphosis": A Collaborative Leadership Model to Promote Educational Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gialamas, Stefanos; Pelonis, Peggy; Medeiros, Steven

2014-01-01

A school that holds as a central belief that knowledge is individually and socially constructed by learners who are active observers of the world, active questioners, agile problem posers and critical and creative problem solvers must evolve leadership models and organizational patterns that mirror this model of genuine and meaningful learning as…

Nonlinear feedback control for high alpha flight

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stalford, Harold

1990-01-01

Analytical aerodynamic models are derived from a high alpha 6 DOF wind tunnel model. One detail model requires some interpolation between nonlinear functions of alpha. One analytical model requires no interpolation and as such is a completely continuous model. Flight path optimization is conducted on the basic maneuvers: half-loop, 90 degree pitch-up, and level turn. The optimal control analysis uses the derived analytical model in the equations of motion and is based on both moment and force equations. The maximum principle solution for the half-loop is poststall trajectory performing the half-loop in 13.6 seconds. The agility induced by thrust vectoring capability provided a minimum effect on reducing the maneuver time. By means of thrust vectoring control the 90 degrees pitch-up maneuver can be executed in a small place over a short time interval. The agility capability of thrust vectoring is quite beneficial for pitch-up maneuvers. The level turn results are based currently on only outer layer solutions of singular perturbation. Poststall solutions provide high turn rates but generate higher losses of energy than that of classical sustained solutions.

The Perfect Process Storm: Integration of CMMI, Agile, and Lean Six Sigma

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-12-01

struggled over the past few decades with a blizzard of process improvement methodologies such as Total Quality Manage- ment (TQM), Kaizen , JIT...the Japanese Kaizen system, targeting quality, effort, employee involvement, willingness to change, communication, and elimina- tion of waste in...blizzard of process improvement methodologies such as Total Quality Management (TQM), Kaizen , JIT Production, and Re-Engineering. These operations are

Effects of Ankle Braces Upon Agility Course Performance in High School Athletes

PubMed Central

Beriau, Mark R.; Cox, William B.; Manning, James

1994-01-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of wearing the AircastTM Sports Stirrup, AircastTM Training brace, Swede-OTM brace, and DonJoyTM Ankle Ligament Protector while running an agility course. Eighty-five high school athletes with no history of ankle injury and no experience in wearing any ankle support served as subjects. Each subject participated in four separate testing sessions. During sessions 1 and 4, subjects ran the agility course under the control (unbraced) conditions. Sessions 2 and 3 consisted of randomly wearing the ankle braces while running the agility course. A questionnaire concerning support, comfort, and restriction was completed by each subject after wearing each of the braces. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures revealed that a significant difference existed between the agility times. Tukey's post hoc test indicated that a significant difference existed between each ankle brace and the control 2 agility times as well as a control 1 and control 2 time difference. The control time difference was attributed to a learning effect. An ANOVA with repeated measures of only the four braces revealed that a significant difference existed between the agility times. Tukey's post hoc test showed the only difference was between the DonJoy Ankle Ligament Protector and the Aircast Training brace. We concluded: 1) there is limited practical performance effect upon agility while wearing an ankle brace; and 2) an athlete's perceived comfort, support, and performance restriction are contributing factors that may directly influence the effectiveness of ankle bracing. PMID:16558284

Rapid, Agile Modeling Support for Human-Computer Interface Conceptual Design

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-12-01

12 5.6 COLIDES MODEL ...........................................................................................................12 5.7 LATENT...on the screen. This limitation is dealt with in the CoLiDeS model. 5.6 COLIDES MODEL CoLiDeS is an acronym for Comprehension-based Link model of...Deliberate Search (Blackmon, Kitajima, Polson, 2005; Blackmon, Kitajima, Polson, 2003; Blackmon, Polson, Kitajima , and Lewis, 2005). CoLideS is

An Examination of the Relationships between Agile Leadership Factors and Curriculum Reform in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Angela

2017-01-01

Leaders must be agile decision makers, engage in critical self-reflection, integrate reflection with action, and collaborate with those who are diverse in considerable ways to be successful in a multifaceted global environment. This quantitative study examines relationships between agile leadership factors and curriculum reform in higher education…

Agile Systems Engineering-Kanban Scheduling Subsection

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-03-10

including both online and standalone versions. RESEARCH GOALS The overall Agile SE Management Project research goals are to: 1. Identify agile...March 10, 2017 5 Establish a better technical project management and... Project Management ,” Master of Science Project , Stevens Institute, to be completed in May, 2017. • Smith, Jeffrey, “System of Systems Task

A Virtual World Workshop Environment for Learning Agile Software Development Techniques

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parsons, David; Stockdale, Rosemary

2012-01-01

Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) are the subject of increasing interest for educators and trainers. This article reports on a longitudinal project that seeks to establish a virtual agile software development workshop hosted in the Open Wonderland MUVE, designed to help learners to understand the basic principles of some core agile software…

Frequency agile optical parametric oscillator

DOEpatents

Velsko, Stephan P.

1998-01-01

The frequency agile OPO device converts a fixed wavelength pump laser beam to arbitrary wavelengths within a specified range with pulse to pulse agility, at a rate limited only by the repetition rate of the pump laser. Uses of this invention include Laser radar, LIDAR, active remote sensing of effluents/pollutants, environmental monitoring, antisensor lasers, and spectroscopy.

Organizational Agility and Complex Enterprise System Innovations: A Mixed Methods Study of the Effects of Enterprise Systems on Organizational Agility

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kharabe, Amol T.

2012-01-01

Over the last two decades, firms have operated in "increasingly" accelerated "high-velocity" dynamic markets, which require them to become "agile." During the same time frame, firms have increasingly deployed complex enterprise systems--large-scale packaged software "innovations" that integrate and automate…

Project-Method Fit: Exploring Factors That Influence Agile Method Use

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Diana K.

2013-01-01

While the productivity and quality implications of agile software development methods (SDMs) have been demonstrated, research concerning the project contexts where their use is most appropriate has yielded less definitive results. Most experts agree that agile SDMs are not suited for all project contexts. Several project and team factors have been…

Agile informatics: application of agile project management to the development of a personal health application.

PubMed

Chung, Jeanhee; Pankey, Evan; Norris, Ryan J

2007-10-11

We describe the application of the Agile method-- a short iteration cycle, user responsive, measurable software development approach-- to the project management of a modular personal health record, iHealthSpace, to be deployed to the patients and providers of a large academic primary care practice.

Agile Manifesto for Teaching and Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krehbiel, Timothy C.; Salzarulo, Peter A.; Cosmah, Michelle L.; Forren, John; Gannod, Gerald; Havelka, Douglas; Hulshult, Andrea R.; Merhout, Jeffrey

2017-01-01

A group of faculty members representing six colleges at a public university formed a learning community to study the Agile Way of Working--a method of workplace collaboration widely used in software development--and to determine whether the concepts, practices, and benefits of Agile are applicable to higher education settings. After more than two…

The Mediating Role of Organizational Learning in the Relationship of Organizational Intelligence and Organizational Agility.

PubMed

Bahrami, Mohammad Amin; Kiani, Mohammad Mehdi; Montazeralfaraj, Raziye; Zadeh, Hossein Fallah; Zadeh, Morteza Mohammad

2016-06-01

Organizational learning is defined as creating, absorbing, retaining, transferring, and application of knowledge within an organization. This article aims to examine the mediating role of organizational learning in the relationship of organizational intelligence and organizational agility. This analytical and cross-sectional study was conducted in 2015 at four teaching hospitals of Yazd city, Iran. A total of 370 administrative and medical staff contributed to the study. We used stratified-random method for sampling. Required data were gathered using three valid questionnaires including Alberkht (2003) organizational intelligence, Neefe (2001) organizational learning, and Sharifi and Zhang (1999) organizational agility questionnaires. Data analysis was done through R and SPSS 18 statistical software. The results showed that organizational learning acts as a mediator in the relationship of organizational intelligence and organizational agility (path coefficient = 0.943). Also, organizational learning has a statistical relationship with organizational agility (path coefficient = 0.382). Our findings suggest that the improvement of organizational learning abilities can affect an organization's agility which is crucial for its survival.

Test Methods for Robot Agility in Manufacturing.

PubMed

Downs, Anthony; Harrison, William; Schlenoff, Craig

2016-01-01

The paper aims to define and describe test methods and metrics to assess industrial robot system agility in both simulation and in reality. The paper describes test methods and associated quantitative and qualitative metrics for assessing robot system efficiency and effectiveness which can then be used for the assessment of system agility. The paper describes how the test methods were implemented in a simulation environment and real world environment. It also shows how the metrics are measured and assessed as they would be in a future competition. The test methods described in this paper will push forward the state of the art in software agility for manufacturing robots, allowing small and medium manufacturers to better utilize robotic systems. The paper fulfills the identified need for standard test methods to measure and allow for improvement in software agility for manufacturing robots.

ELECTRON ACCELERATION IN PULSAR-WIND TERMINATION SHOCKS: AN APPLICATION TO THE CRAB NEBULA GAMMA-RAY FLARES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kroon, John J.; Becker, Peter A.; Dermer, Charles D.

The γ -ray flares from the Crab Nebula observed by AGILE and Fermi -LAT reaching GeV energies and lasting several days challenge the standard models for particle acceleration in pulsar-wind nebulae because the radiating electrons have energies exceeding the classical radiation-reaction limit for synchrotron. Previous modeling has suggested that the synchrotron limit can be exceeded if the electrons experience electrostatic acceleration, but the resulting spectra do not agree very well with the data. As a result, there are still some important unanswered questions about the detailed particle acceleration and emission processes occurring during the flares. We revisit the problem usingmore » a new analytical approach based on an electron transport equation that includes terms describing electrostatic acceleration, stochastic wave-particle acceleration, shock acceleration, synchrotron losses, and particle escape. An exact solution is obtained for the electron distribution, which is used to compute the associated γ -ray synchrotron spectrum. We find that in our model the γ -ray flares are mainly powered by electrostatic acceleration, but the contributions from stochastic and shock acceleration play an important role in producing the observed spectral shapes. Our model can reproduce the spectra of all the Fermi -LAT and AGILE flares from the Crab Nebula, using magnetic field strengths in agreement with the multi-wavelength observational constraints. We also compute the spectrum and duration of the synchrotron afterglow created by the accelerated electrons, after they escape into the region on the downstream side of the pulsar-wind termination shock. The afterglow is expected to fade over a maximum period of about three weeks after the γ -ray flare.« less

Team Software Development for Aerothermodynamic and Aerodynamic Analysis and Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alexandrov, N.; Atkins, H. L.; Bibb, K. L.; Biedron, R. T.; Carpenter, M. H.; Gnoffo, P. A.; Hammond, D. P.; Jones, W. T.; Kleb, W. L.; Lee-Rausch, E. M.

2003-01-01

A collaborative approach to software development is described. The approach employs the agile development techniques: project retrospectives, Scrum status meetings, and elements of Extreme Programming to efficiently develop a cohesive and extensible software suite. The software product under development is a fluid dynamics simulator for performing aerodynamic and aerothermodynamic analysis and design. The functionality of the software product is achieved both through the merging, with substantial rewrite, of separate legacy codes and the authorship of new routines. Examples of rapid implementation of new functionality demonstrate the benefits obtained with this agile software development process. The appendix contains a discussion of coding issues encountered while porting legacy Fortran 77 code to Fortran 95, software design principles, and a Fortran 95 coding standard.

Agile rediscovering values: Similarities to continuous improvement strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Díaz de Mera, P.; Arenas, J. M.; González, C.

2012-04-01

Research in the late 80's on technological companies that develop products of high value innovation, with sufficient speed and flexibility to adapt quickly to changing market conditions, gave rise to the new set of methodologies known as Agile Management Approach. In the current changing economic scenario, we considered very interesting to study the similarities of these Agile Methodologies with other practices whose effectiveness has been amply demonstrated in both the West and Japan. Strategies such as Kaizen, Lean, World Class Manufacturing, Concurrent Engineering, etc, would be analyzed to check the values they have in common with the Agile Approach.

Relationships between training load, injury, and fitness in sub-elite collision sport athletes.

PubMed

Gabbett, Tim J; Domrow, Nathan

2007-11-01

The purpose of this study was to develop statistical models that estimate the influence of training load on training injury and physical fitness in collision sport athletes. The incidence of training injuries was studied in 183 rugby league players over two competitive seasons. Participants were assessed for height, body mass, skinfold thickness, vertical jump, 10-m, 20-m and 40-m sprint time, agility, and estimated maximal aerobic power in the off-season, pre-season, mid-season, and end-season. Training load and injury data were summarised into pre-season, early-competition, and late-competition training phases. Individual training load, fitness, and injury data were modelled using a logistic regression model with a binomial distribution and logit link function, while team training load and injury data were modelled using a linear regression model. While physical fitness improved with training, there was no association (P=0.16-0.99) between training load and changes in physical fitness during any of the training phases. However, increases in training load during the early-competition training phase decreased (P= 0.04) agility performance. A relationship (P= 0.01-0.04) was observed between the log of training load and odds of injury during each training phase, resulting in a 1.50 - 2.85 increase in the odds of injury for each arbitrary unit increase in training load. Furthermore, during the pre-season training phase there was a relationship (P= 0.01) between training load and injury incidence within the training load range of 155 and 590 arbitrary units. During the early and late-competition training phases, increases in training load of 175-620 arbitrary units and 145-410 arbitrary units, respectively, resulted in no further increase in injury incidence. These findings demonstrate that increases in training load, particularly during the pre-season training phase, increase the odds of injury in collision sport athletes. However, while increases in training load from 175 to 620 arbitrary units during the early-competition training phase result in no further increase in injury incidence, marked reductions in agility performances can occur. These findings suggest that reductions in training load during the early-competition training phase can reduce the odds of injury without compromising agility performances in collision sport athletes.

Short-Term High Intensity Plyometric Training Program Improves Strength, Power and Agility in Male Soccer Players

PubMed Central

Váczi, Márk; Tollár, József; Meszler, Balázs; Juhász, Ivett; Karsai, István

2013-01-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of a short-term in-season plyometric training program on power, agility and knee extensor strength. Male soccer players from a third league team were assigned into an experimental and a control group. The experimental group, beside its regular soccer training sessions, performed a periodized plyometric training program for six weeks. The program included two training sessions per week, and maximal intensity unilateral and bilateral plyometric exercises (total of 40 – 100 foot contacts/session) were executed. Controls participated only in the same soccer training routine, and did not perform plyometrics. Depth vertical jump height, agility (Illinois Agility Test, T Agility Test) and maximal voluntary isometric torque in knee extensors using Multicont II dynamometer were evaluated before and after the experiment. In the experimental group small but significant improvements were found in both agility tests, while depth jump height and isometric torque increments were greater. The control group did not improve in any of the measures. Results of the study indicate that plyometric training consisting of high impact unilateral and bilateral exercises induced remarkable improvements in lower extremity power and maximal knee extensor strength, and smaller improvements in soccer-specific agility. Therefore, it is concluded that short-term plyometric training should be incorporated in the in-season preparation of lower level players to improve specific performance in soccer. PMID:23717351

Short-term high intensity plyometric training program improves strength, power and agility in male soccer players.

PubMed

Váczi, Márk; Tollár, József; Meszler, Balázs; Juhász, Ivett; Karsai, István

2013-03-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of a short-term in-season plyometric training program on power, agility and knee extensor strength. Male soccer players from a third league team were assigned into an experimental and a control group. The experimental group, beside its regular soccer training sessions, performed a periodized plyometric training program for six weeks. The program included two training sessions per week, and maximal intensity unilateral and bilateral plyometric exercises (total of 40 - 100 foot contacts/session) were executed. Controls participated only in the same soccer training routine, and did not perform plyometrics. Depth vertical jump height, agility (Illinois Agility Test, T Agility Test) and maximal voluntary isometric torque in knee extensors using Multicont II dynamometer were evaluated before and after the experiment. In the experimental group small but significant improvements were found in both agility tests, while depth jump height and isometric torque increments were greater. The control group did not improve in any of the measures. Results of the study indicate that plyometric training consisting of high impact unilateral and bilateral exercises induced remarkable improvements in lower extremity power and maximal knee extensor strength, and smaller improvements in soccer-specific agility. Therefore, it is concluded that short-term plyometric training should be incorporated in the in-season preparation of lower level players to improve specific performance in soccer.

Impact of Business Intelligence and IT Infrastructure Flexibility on Competitive Advantage: An Organizational Agility Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Xiaofeng

2012-01-01

There is growing use of business intelligence (BI) for better management decisions in industry. However, empirical studies on BI are still scarce in academic research. This research investigates BI from an organizational agility perspective. Organizational agility is the ability to sense and respond to market opportunities and threats with speed,…

The Preparation of Cognitively Agile Principals for Turnaround Schools: A Leadership Preparation Programme Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reyes-Guerra, Daniel; Pisapia, John; Mick, Annie

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the ability of two educational leadership university programmes to improve the cognitive agility of their graduates. The research looked to discover whether the aspiring principals exited the programmes with an increased ability to employ cognitive agility--the ability to use the multiple thinking skills of…

Frequency agile optical parametric oscillator

DOEpatents

Velsko, S.P.

1998-11-24

The frequency agile OPO device converts a fixed wavelength pump laser beam to arbitrary wavelengths within a specified range with pulse to pulse agility, at a rate limited only by the repetition rate of the pump laser. Uses of this invention include Laser radar, LIDAR, active remote sensing of effluents/pollutants, environmental monitoring, antisensor lasers, and spectroscopy. 14 figs.

The Impacts of Agile Development Methodology Use on Project Success: A Contingency View

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tripp, John F.

2012-01-01

Agile Information Systems Development Methods have emerged in the past decade as an alternative manner of managing the work and delivery of information systems development teams, with a large number of organizations reporting the adoption & use of agile methods. The practitioners of these methods make broad claims as to the benefits of their…

Early AGILE gamma-ray observations of the recent Glitch in the Crab Pulsar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verrecchia, F.; Piano, G.; Tavani, M.; Pilia, M.; Pittori, C.; Lucarelli, F.; Bulgarelli, A.; Cardillo, M.; Fioretti, V.; Parmiggiani, N.; Striani, E.; Vercellone, S.; Donnarumma, I.; Gianotti, F.; Trifoglio, M.; Giuliani, A.; Mereghetti, S.; Caraveo, P.; Perotti, F.; Chen, A.; Argan, A.; Costa, E.; Del Monte, E.; Evangelista, Y.; Feroci, M.; Lazzarotto, F.; Lapshov, I.; Pacciani, L.; Soffitta, P.; Sabatini, S.; Vittorini, V.; Pucella, G.; Rapisarda, M.; Di Cocco, G.; Fuschino, F.; Galli, M.; Labanti, C.; Marisaldi, M.; Pellizzoni, A.; Trois, A.; Barbiellini, G.; Vallazza, E.; Longo, F.; Morselli, A.; Picozza, P.; Prest, M.; Lipari, P.; Zanello, D.; Cattaneo, P. W.; Rappoldi, A.; Colafrancesco, S.; Ferrari, A.; Paoletti, F.; Antonelli, A.; Giommi, P.; Salotti, L.; Valentini, G.; D'Amico, F.

2017-11-01

AGILE observed the Crab region in its spinning mode after the large glitch recently reported in the radio band (ATel #10939). At the glitch event time (T_0) the AGILE satellite was occulted by the Earth, and no observation of any relevant gamma-ray signal could be obtained by the GRID detector.

Interactive Spacecraft Trajectory Design Strategies Featuring Poincare Map Topology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schlei, Wayne R.

Space exploration efforts are shifting towards inexpensive and more agile vehicles. Versatility regarding spacecraft trajectories refers to the agility to correct deviations from an intended path or even the ability to adapt the future path to a new destination--all with limited spaceflight resources (i.e., small DeltaV budgets). Trajectory design methods for such nimble vehicles incorporate equally versatile procedures that allow for rapid and interactive decision making while attempting to reduce Delta V budgets, leading to a versatile trajectory design platform. A versatile design paradigm requires the exploitation of Poincare map topology , or the interconnected web of dynamical structures, existing within the chaotic dynamics of multi-body gravitational models to outline low-Delta V transfer options residing nearby to a current path. This investigation details an autonomous procedure to extract the periodic orbits (topology nodes) and correlated asymptotic flow structures (or the invariant manifolds representing topology links). The autonomous process summarized in this investigation (termed PMATE) overcomes discontinuities on the Poincare section that arise in the applied multi-body model (the planar circular restricted three-body problem) and detects a wide variety of novel periodic orbits. New interactive capabilities deliver a visual analytics foundation for versatile spaceflight design, especially for initial guess generation and manipulation. Such interactive strategies include the selection of states and arcs from Poincare section visualizations and the capabilities to draw and drag trajectories to remove dependency on initial state input. Furthermore, immersive selection is expanded to cull invariant manifold structures, yielding low-DeltaV or even DeltaV-free transfers between periodic orbits. The application of interactive design strategies featuring a dense extraction of Poincare map topology is demonstrated for agile spaceflight with a simple spacecraft rerouting scenario incorporating a very limited Delta V budget. In the Earth-Moon system, a low-DeltaV transfer from low Earth orbit (LEO) to the distant retrograde orbit (DRO) vicinity is derived with interactive topology-based design tactics. Finally, Poincare map topology is exploited in the Saturn-Enceladus system to explore a possible ballistic capture scenario around Enceladus.

An EMG study on characteristics of premotor and motor components in an agility reaction time test on athletes.

PubMed

Zhang, J; Chen, R; Wu, Y; Li, K; Wang, D; Liu, Y; Li, Y

2013-10-01

How do athletes control their foot movement so they can react fast in sports? Which component of the process may be more sensitive to training? These questions related to athletes' agility performance have long been important to the field of sport sciences, but are still unclear. The present study used surface electromyography (EMG) on the tibialis anterior (TA) and gastrocnemius medial (GM) of both left and right to assess if there would be any different contributions between premotor time (PRT) and motor time (MT) to the overall reaction time (RT). Fifty-five right-footed male college athletes (M=20.62 years old; SD=1.01) were required to respond to a random visual stimulus using foot movement as fast as possible in four different directions (i.e., forward and backward in their left or right foot). High correlation coefficients between PMT and RT in all four directions (ranging from 0.866 to 0.909) were revealed, but not between MT and RT (ranging from 0.131 to 0.336). Lateral and sagittal axes significantly interacted based on RT. The left forward direction was slowest among all directions. The process of decision making, not the preparation of execution, plays a significant role in fast and accurate reactive responses; the slowest RT in the forward direction of the left foot may be related to response programming. The corresponding training should be emphasized in order to improve athletes' agility performance.

Knowledge base and sensor bus messaging service architecture for critical tsunami warning and decision-support

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sabeur, Z. A.; Wächter, J.; Middleton, S. E.; Zlatev, Z.; Häner, R.; Hammitzsch, M.; Loewe, P.

2012-04-01

The intelligent management of large volumes of environmental monitoring data for early tsunami warning requires the deployment of robust and scalable service oriented infrastructure that is supported by an agile knowledge-base for critical decision-support In the TRIDEC project (TRIDEC 2010-2013), a sensor observation service bus of the TRIDEC system is being developed for the advancement of complex tsunami event processing and management. Further, a dedicated TRIDEC system knowledge-base is being implemented to enable on-demand access to semantically rich OGC SWE compliant hydrodynamic observations and operationally oriented meta-information to multiple subscribers. TRIDEC decision support requires a scalable and agile real-time processing architecture which enables fast response to evolving subscribers requirements as the tsunami crisis develops. This is also achieved with the support of intelligent processing services which specialise in multi-level fusion methods with relevance feedback and deep learning. The TRIDEC knowledge base development work coupled with that of the generic sensor bus platform shall be presented to demonstrate advanced decision-support with situation awareness in context of tsunami early warning and crisis management.

Accurate and agile digital control of optical phase, amplitude and frequency for coherent atomic manipulation of atomic systems.

PubMed

Thom, Joseph; Wilpers, Guido; Riis, Erling; Sinclair, Alastair G

2013-08-12

We demonstrate a system for fast and agile digital control of laser phase, amplitude and frequency for applications in coherent atomic systems. The full versatility of a direct digital synthesis radiofrequency source is faithfully transferred to laser radiation via acousto-optic modulation. Optical beatnotes are used to measure phase steps up to 2π, which are accurately implemented with a resolution of ≤ 10 mrad. By linearizing the optical modulation process, amplitude-shaped pulses of durations ranging from 500 ns to 500 ms, in excellent agreement with the programmed functional form, are demonstrated. Pulse durations are limited only by the 30 ns rise time of the modulation process, and a measured extinction ratio of > 5 × 10(11) is achieved. The system presented here was developed specifically for controlling the quantum state of trapped ions with sequences of multiple laser pulses, including composite and bichromatic pulses. The demonstrated techniques are widely applicable to other atomic systems ranging across quantum information processing, frequency metrology, atom interferometry, and single-photon generation.

Thigh Muscle Activity, Knee Motion, and Impact Force During Side-Step Pivoting in Agility-Trained Female Basketball Players

PubMed Central

Wilderman, Danielle R; Ross, Scott E; Padua, Darin A

2009-01-01

Context: Improving neuromuscular control of hamstrings muscles might have implications for decreasing anterior cruciate ligament injuries in females. Objective: To examine the effects of a 6-week agility training program on quadriceps and hamstrings muscle activation, knee flexion angles, and peak vertical ground reaction force. Design: Prospective, randomized clinical research trial. Setting: Sports medicine research laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: Thirty female intramural basketball players with no history of knee injury (age  =  21.07 ± 2.82 years, height  =  171.27 ± 4.66 cm, mass  =  66.36 ± 7.41 kg). Intervention(s): Participants were assigned to an agility training group or a control group that did not participate in agility training. Participants in the agility training group trained 4 times per week for 6 weeks. Main Outcome Measure(s): We used surface electromyography to assess muscle activation for the rectus femoris, vastus medialis oblique, medial hamstrings, and lateral hamstrings for 50 milliseconds before initial ground contact and while the foot was in contact with the ground during a side-step pivot maneuver. Knee flexion angles (at initial ground contact, maximum knee flexion, knee flexion displacement) and peak vertical ground reaction force also were assessed during this maneuver. Results: Participants in the training group increased medial hamstrings activation during ground contact after the 6-week agility training program. Both groups decreased their vastus medialis oblique muscle activation during ground contact. Knee flexion angles and peak vertical ground reaction force did not change for either group. Conclusions: Agility training improved medial hamstrings activity in female intramural basketball players during a side-step pivot maneuver. Agility training that improves hamstrings activity might have implications for reducing anterior cruciate ligament sprain injury associated with side-step pivots. PMID:19180214

Research on rapid agile metrology for manufacturing based on real-time multitask operating system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Jihong; Song, Zhen; Yang, Daoshan; Zhou, Ji; Buckley, Shawn

1996-10-01

Rapid agile metrology for manufacturing (RAMM) using multiple non-contact sensors is likely to remain a growing trend in manufacturing. High speed inspecting systems for manufacturing is characterized by multitasks implemented in parallel and real-time events which occur simultaneously. In this paper, we introduce a real-time operating system into RAMM research. A general task model of a class-based object- oriented technology is proposed. A general multitask frame of a typical RAMM system using OPNet is discussed. Finally, an application example of a machine which inspects parts held on a carrier strip is described. With RTOS and OPNet, this machine can measure two dimensions of the contacts at 300 parts/second.

Integration of human factors principles in LARG organizations--a conceptual model.

PubMed

Figueira, Sara; Machado, V Cruz; Nunes, Isabel L

2012-01-01

Nowadays many companies are undergoing organizational transformations in order to meet the changing market demands. Thus, in order to become more competitive, supply chains (SC) are adopting new management paradigms to improve SC performance: lean, agile, resilient and green (LARG paradigms). The implementation of new production paradigms demands particular care with the issues related with Human Factors to avoid health and safety problems to workers and losses to companies. Thus, the successful introduction of these new production paradigms depends among others on a Human Factors oriented approach. This work presents a conceptual framework that allows integrating ergonomic and safety design principles during the different implementation phases of lean, agile, resilient and green practices.

Test Methods for Robot Agility in Manufacturing

PubMed Central

Downs, Anthony; Harrison, William; Schlenoff, Craig

2017-01-01

Purpose The paper aims to define and describe test methods and metrics to assess industrial robot system agility in both simulation and in reality. Design/methodology/approach The paper describes test methods and associated quantitative and qualitative metrics for assessing robot system efficiency and effectiveness which can then be used for the assessment of system agility. Findings The paper describes how the test methods were implemented in a simulation environment and real world environment. It also shows how the metrics are measured and assessed as they would be in a future competition. Practical Implications The test methods described in this paper will push forward the state of the art in software agility for manufacturing robots, allowing small and medium manufacturers to better utilize robotic systems. Originality / value The paper fulfills the identified need for standard test methods to measure and allow for improvement in software agility for manufacturing robots. PMID:28203034

Investigation into the impact of agility on conceptual fighter design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Engelbeck, R. M.

1995-01-01

The Agility Design Study was performed by the Boeing Defense and Space Group for the NASA Langley Research Center. The objective of the study was to assess the impact of agility requirements on new fighter configurations. Global trade issues investigated were the level of agility, the mission role of the aircraft (air-to-ground, multi-role, or air-to-air), and whether the customer is Air force, Navy, or joint service. Mission profiles and design objectives were supplied by NASA. An extensive technology assessment was conducted to establish the available technologies to industry for the aircraft. Conceptual level methodology is presented to assess the five NASA-supplied agility metrics. Twelve configurations were developed to address the global trade issues. Three-view drawings, inboard profiles, and performance estimates were made and are included in the report. A critical assessment and lessons learned from the study are also presented.

Laterality and performance of agility-trained dogs.

PubMed

Siniscalchi, Marcello; Bertino, Daniele; Quaranta, Angelo

2014-01-01

Correlations between lateralised behaviour and performance were investigated in 19 agility-trained dogs (Canis familiaris) by scoring paw preference to hold a food object and relating it to performance during typical agility obstacles (jump/A-frame and weave poles). In addition, because recent behavioural studies reported that visual stimuli of emotional valence presented to one visual hemifield at a time affect visually guided motor responses in dogs, the possibility that the position of the owner respectively in the left and in the right canine visual hemifield might be associated with quality of performance during agility was considered. Dogs' temperament was also measured by an owner-rated questionnaire. The most relevant finding was that agility-trained dogs displayed longer latencies to complete the obstacles with the owner located in their left visual hemifield compared to the right. Interestingly, the results showed that this phenomenon was significantly linked to both dogs' trainability and the strength of paw preference.

Supporting interoperability of collaborative networks through engineering of a service-based Mediation Information System (MISE 2.0)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benaben, Frederick; Mu, Wenxin; Boissel-Dallier, Nicolas; Barthe-Delanoe, Anne-Marie; Zribi, Sarah; Pingaud, Herve

2015-08-01

The Mediation Information System Engineering project is currently finishing its second iteration (MISE 2.0). The main objective of this scientific project is to provide any emerging collaborative situation with methods and tools to deploy a Mediation Information System (MIS). MISE 2.0 aims at defining and designing a service-based platform, dedicated to initiating and supporting the interoperability of collaborative situations among potential partners. This MISE 2.0 platform implements a model-driven engineering approach to the design of a service-oriented MIS dedicated to supporting the collaborative situation. This approach is structured in three layers, each providing their own key innovative points: (i) the gathering of individual and collaborative knowledge to provide appropriate collaborative business behaviour (key point: knowledge management, including semantics, exploitation and capitalisation), (ii) deployment of a mediation information system able to computerise the previously deduced collaborative processes (key point: the automatic generation of collaborative workflows, including connection with existing devices or services) (iii) the management of the agility of the obtained collaborative network of organisations (key point: supervision of collaborative situations and relevant exploitation of the gathered data). MISE covers business issues (through BPM), technical issues (through an SOA) and agility issues of collaborative situations (through EDA).

Supporting virtual enterprise design by a web-based information model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Dong; Barn, Balbir; McKay, Alison; de Pennington, Alan

2001-10-01

Development of IT and its applications have led to significant changes in business processes. To pursue agility, flexibility and best service to customers, enterprises focus on their core competence and dynamically build relationships with partners to form virtual enterprises as customer driven temporary demand chains/networks. Building the networked enterprise needs responsively interactive decisions instead of a single-direction partner selection process. Benefits and risks in the combination should be systematically analysed, and aggregated information about value-adding abilities and risks of networks needs to be derived from interactions of all partners. In this research, a hierarchical information model to assess partnerships for designing virtual enterprises was developed. Internet technique has been applied to the evaluation process so that interactive decisions can be visualised and made responsively during the design process. The assessment is based on the process which allows each partner responds to requirements of the virtual enterprise by planning its operational process as a bidder. The assessment is then produced by making an aggregated value to represent prospect of the combination of partners given current bidding. Final design is a combination of partners with the greatest total value-adding capability and lowest risk.

Future Technology Themes: 2030 to 2060

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-07-01

Rocket-Based Combined Cycle RF Radio Frequency RNA Ribonucleic Acid SA Situational Awareness SEAD Suppression of Enemy Air Defences SME...and re-routing light in information processing and optical communications ; or for processing radio signals in mobile phones [44]. UNCLASSIFIED DSTO...make use of network polymorphism technologies from 2020 onwards to create frequency -agile and adaptive14 communications links that would change network

Agile Mythbusting

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-01-01

0321502752 Coaching Agile Teams Lyssa Adkins ISBN #0321637704 Agile Project Management : Creating Innovative Products – Second Edition Jim Highsmith ISBN...Picatinny Arsenal Lapham, Wrubel Jan 2015 © 2015 Carnegie Mellon University. DoD Acquisition and Innovation Many regulated environments, like the DoD...NEED innovation and NEED incremental improvements to their systems. Many of them are now willing to consider changing their approach if they can do it

Terrestrial gamma-ray flashes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marisaldi, Martino; Fuschino, Fabio; Labanti, Claudio; Tavani, Marco; Argan, Andrea; Del Monte, Ettore; Longo, Francesco; Barbiellini, Guido; Giuliani, Andrea; Trois, Alessio; Bulgarelli, Andrea; Gianotti, Fulvio; Trifoglio, Massimo

2013-08-01

Lightning and thunderstorm systems in general have been recently recognized as powerful particle accelerators, capable of producing electrons, positrons, gamma-rays and neutrons with energies as high as several tens of MeV. In fact, these natural systems turn out to be the highest energy and most efficient natural particle accelerators on Earth. Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs) are millisecond long, very intense bursts of gamma-rays and are one of the most intriguing manifestation of these natural accelerators. Only three currently operative missions are capable of detecting TGFs from space: the RHESSI, Fermi and AGILE satellites. In this paper we review the characteristics of TGFs, including energy spectrum, timing structure, beam geometry and correlation with lightning, and the basic principles of the associated production models. Then we focus on the recent AGILE discoveries concerning the high energy extension of the TGF spectrum up to 100 MeV, which is difficult to reconcile with current theoretical models.

Toward agile control of a flexible-spine model for quadruped bounding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Byl, Katie; Satzinger, Brian; Strizic, Tom; Terry, Pat; Pusey, Jason

2015-05-01

Legged systems should exploit non-steady gaits both for improved recovery from unexpected perturbations and also to enlarge the set of reachable states toward negotiating a range of known upcoming terrain obstacles. We present a 4-link planar, bounding, quadruped model with compliance in its legs and spine and describe design of an intuitive and effective low-level gait controller. We extend our previous work on meshing hybrid dynamic systems and demonstrate that our control strategy results in stable gaits with meshable, low-dimension step- to-step variability. This meshability is a first step toward enabling switching control, to increase stability after perturbations compared with any single gait control, and we describe how this framework can also be used to find the set of n-step reachable states. Finally, we propose new guidelines for quantifying "agility" for legged robots, providing a preliminary framework for quantifying and improving performance of legged systems.

Agile Objects: Component-Based Inherent Survivability

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-12-01

pages 37-55, February 1990. [3] Clar, David D., Van Jacobson, John Romkey, and Howard Salwen. “An analysis of TCP processing overhead”. IEEE...www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/prodtech nol/acs/Default.asp 34. Chaum , D.L., Untraceable Electronic Mail, Return

Coaching for Better (Software) Buying Power in an Agile World

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-06-01

believes that DevOps , the process of warfighters and developers work- ing together throughout the project, is superior to volumes of detailed...ride on the Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES) infrastructure. This transformation is not easy. It requires a change in

What triggers the rising of an intraspecific biodiversity hotspot? Hints from the agile frog

PubMed Central

Canestrelli, Daniele; Bisconti, Roberta; Sacco, Florinda; Nascetti, Giuseppe

2014-01-01

Hotspots of genetic diversity are regions of utmost importance for species survival and conservation, and their intimate link with the geographic location of glacial refugia has been well established. Nonetheless, the microevolutionary processes underlying the generation of hotspots in such regions have only recently become a fervent field of research. We investigated the phylogeographic and population genetic structure of the agile frog, Rana dalmatina, within its putative refugium in peninsular Italy. We found this region to harbour far more diversity, phylogeographic structure, and lineages of ancient origin than that by the rest of the species' range in Europe. This pattern appeared to be well explained by climate-driven microevolutionary processes that occurred during both glacial and interglacial epochs. Therefore, the inferred evolutionary history of R. dalmatina in Italy supports a view of glacial refugia as ‘factories' rather than as repositories of genetic diversity, with significant implications for conservation strategies for hotspots. PMID:24853644

Evidencing the association between swimming capacities and performance indicators in water polo: a multiple regression study.

PubMed

Kontic, Dean; Zenic, Natasa; Uljevic, Ognjen; Sekulic, Damir; Lesnik, Blaz

2017-06-01

Swimming capacities are hypothesized to be important determinants of water polo performance but there is an evident lack of studies examining different swimming capacities in relation to specific offensive and defensive performance variables in this sport. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between five swimming capacities and six performance determinants in water polo. The sample comprised 79 high-level youth water polo players (all males, 17-18 years of age). The variables included six performance-related variables (agility in offence and defense, efficacy in offence and defense, polyvalence in offence and defense), and five swimming-capacity tests (water polo sprint test [15 m], swimming sprint test [25 m], short-distance [100 m], aerobic endurance [400 m] and an anaerobic lactate endurance test [4× 50 m]). First, multiple regressions were calculated for one-half of the sample of subjects which were then validated with the remaining half of the sample. The 25-m swim was not included in the regression analyses due to the multicollinearity with other predictors. The originally calculated regression models were validated for defensive agility (R=0.67 and R=0.55 for the original regression calculation and validation subsample, respectively) offensive agility (R=0.59 and R=0.61), and offensive efficacy (R=0.64 and R=0.58). Anaerobic lactate endurance is a significant predictor of offensive and defensive agility, while 15 m sprint significantly contributes to offensive efficacy. Swimming capacities are not found to be related to the polyvalence of the players. The most superior offensive performance can be expected from those players with a high level of anaerobic lactate endurance and advanced sprinting capacity, while anaerobic lactate endurance is recognized as most important quality in defensive duties. Future studies should observe players' polyvalence in relation to (theoretical) knowledge of technical and tactical tasks. Results reinforce the need for the cross-validation of the prediction-models in sport and exercise sciences.

ISS Double-Gimbaled CMG Subsystem Simulation Using the Agile Development Method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Inampudi, Ravi

2016-01-01

This paper presents an evolutionary approach in simulating a cluster of 4 Control Moment Gyros (CMG) on the International Space Station (ISS) using a common sense approach (the agile development method) for concurrent mathematical modeling and simulation of the CMG subsystem. This simulation is part of Training systems for the 21st Century simulator which will provide training for crew members, instructors, and flight controllers. The basic idea of how the CMGs on the space station are used for its non-propulsive attitude control is briefly explained to set up the context for simulating a CMG subsystem. Next different reference frames and the detailed equations of motion (EOM) for multiple double-gimbal variable-speed control moment gyroscopes (DGVs) are presented. Fixing some of the terms in the EOM becomes the special case EOM for ISS's double-gimbaled fixed speed CMGs. CMG simulation development using the agile development method is presented in which customer's requirements and solutions evolve through iterative analysis, design, coding, unit testing and acceptance testing. At the end of the iteration a set of features implemented in that iteration are demonstrated to the flight controllers thus creating a short feedback loop and helping in creating adaptive development cycles. The unified modeling language (UML) tool is used in illustrating the user stories, class designs and sequence diagrams. This incremental development approach of mathematical modeling and simulating the CMG subsystem involved the development team and the customer early on, thus improving the quality of the working CMG system in each iteration and helping the team to accurately predict the cost, schedule and delivery of the software.

Agile Methods in Air Force Sustainment: Status and Outlook

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-10-01

manage for it through iterations, anticipation and adaptation  unleash creativity and innovation by recognizing that individuals are the ultimate...073561993X X X Agile Project Management : Creating Innovative Products – 2nd Edition Jim Highsmith ISBN 0321658396 X Agile Retrospectives...X Leading Change John Kotter ISBN 0875847471 X Leading Geeks: How to Manage and Lead the People Who Deliver Technology Paul Glen ISBN

Architecting for Sustainable Software Delivery

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-06-01

14 CrossTalk—May/June 2012 RAPID AND AGILE STABILITY Architecting for Sustainable Software Delivery Ronald J. Koontz , Boeing Robert L. Nord...Figure 2, and additional architecture documentation can be found in the work of Koontz [9, 10, 11]. Designing for extensibility promotes continued...Mapping of Practices to Agile and Architecture Criteria CrossTalk—May/June 2012 19 RAPID AND AGILE STABILITY ABOUT THE AUTHORS Ronald J. Koontz

Analysis of Army Transformation and the Effects on Customer Ordering Behavior

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-01

operational scenarios ( Caldera and Shinseki, 2000:3). A responsive and agile force requires a responsive and agile logistics structure. The Army...assistance, disaster relief, peace-keeping, peace-making, and major theater wars ( Caldera and Shinseki, 2000:3). In fact, since 1995, the U.S. Army has...must be responsive, deployable, agile, versatile, lethal, survivable, and sustainable ( Caldera and Shinseki, 2000:4-5). Logistics Transformation

Modification of Agility Running Technique in Reaction to a Defender in Rugby Union

PubMed Central

Wheeler, Keane W.; Sayers, Mark G.L.

2010-01-01

Three-dimensional kinematic analysis examined agility running technique during pre-planned and reactive performance conditions specific to attacking ball carries in rugby union. The variation to running technique of 8 highly trained rugby union players was compared between agility conditions (pre-planned and reactive) and also agility performance speeds (fast, moderate and slow). Kinematic measures were used to determine the velocity of the centre of mass (COM) in the anteroposterior (running speed) and mediolateral (lateral movement speed) planes. The position of foot-strike and toe-off was also examined for the step prior to the agility side- step (pre-change of direction phase) and then the side-step (change of direction phase). This study demonstrated that less lateral movement speed towards the intended direction change occurred during reactive compared to pre-planned conditions at pre-change of direction (0.08 ± 0.28 m·s-1 and 0.42 ± 0.25 m·s-1, respectively) and change of direction foot-strikes (0.25 ± 0.42 m·s-1 and 0.69 ± 0.43 m·s-1, respectively). Less lateral movement speed during reactive conditions was associated with greater lateral foot displacement (44.52 ± 6.10% leg length) at the change of direction step compared to pre-planned conditions (41.35 ± 5.85%). Importantly, the anticipation abilities during reactive conditions provided a means to differentiate between speeds of agility performance, with faster performances displaying greater lateral movement speed at the change of direction foot- strike (0.52 ± 0.34 m·s-1) compared to moderate (0.20 ± 0.37 m·s-1) and slow (-0.08 ± 0.31 m·s-1). The changes to running technique during reactive conditions highlight the need to incorporate decision-making in rugby union agility programs. Key points Changes to running technique occur when required to make a decision. Fast agility performers use different stepping strategies in reactive conditions. Decision-making must be incorporated in agility training programs. PMID:24149639

Named Data Networking in Climate Research and HEP Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shannigrahi, Susmit; Papadopoulos, Christos; Yeh, Edmund; Newman, Harvey; Jerzy Barczyk, Artur; Liu, Ran; Sim, Alex; Mughal, Azher; Monga, Inder; Vlimant, Jean-Roch; Wu, John

2015-12-01

The Computing Models of the LHC experiments continue to evolve from the simple hierarchical MONARC[2] model towards more agile models where data is exchanged among many Tier2 and Tier3 sites, relying on both large scale file transfers with strategic data placement, and an increased use of remote access to object collections with caching through CMS's AAA, ATLAS' FAX and ALICE's AliEn projects, for example. The challenges presented by expanding needs for CPU, storage and network capacity as well as rapid handling of large datasets of file and object collections have pointed the way towards future more agile pervasive models that make best use of highly distributed heterogeneous resources. In this paper, we explore the use of Named Data Networking (NDN), a new Internet architecture focusing on content rather than the location of the data collections. As NDN has shown considerable promise in another data intensive field, Climate Science, we discuss the similarities and differences between the Climate and HEP use cases, along with specific issues HEP faces and will face during LHC Run2 and beyond, which NDN could address.

A methodology toward manufacturing grid-based virtual enterprise operation platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, Wenan; Xu, Yicheng; Xu, Wei; Xu, Lida; Zhao, Xianhua; Wang, Li; Fu, Liuliu

2010-08-01

Virtual enterprises (VEs) have become one of main types of organisations in the manufacturing sector through which the consortium companies organise their manufacturing activities. To be competitive, a VE relies on the complementary core competences among members through resource sharing and agile manufacturing capacity. Manufacturing grid (M-Grid) is a platform in which the production resources can be shared. In this article, an M-Grid-based VE operation platform (MGVEOP) is presented as it enables the sharing of production resources among geographically distributed enterprises. The performance management system of the MGVEOP is based on the balanced scorecard and has the capacity of self-learning. The study shows that a MGVEOP can make a semi-automated process possible for a VE, and the proposed MGVEOP is efficient and agile.

Agile development approach for the observatory control software of the DAG 4m telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Güçsav, B. Bülent; ćoker, Deniz; Yeşilyaprak, Cahit; Keskin, Onur; Zago, Lorenzo; Yerli, Sinan K.

2016-08-01

Observatory Control Software for the upcoming 4m infrared telescope of DAG (Eastern Anatolian Observatory in Turkish) is in the beginning of its lifecycle. After the process of elicitation-validation of the initial requirements, we have been focused on preparation of a rapid conceptual design not only to see the big picture of the system but also to clarify the further development methodology. The existing preliminary designs for both software (including TCS and active optics control system) and hardware shall be presented here in brief to exploit the challenges the DAG software team has been facing with. The potential benefits of an agile approach for the development will be discussed depending on the published experience of the community and on the resources available to us.

Attitude Estimation for Unresolved Agile Space Objects with Shape Model Uncertainty

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-01

Simulated lightcurve data using the Cook-Torrance [8] Bidirectional Reflectivity Distribution Function ( BRDF ) model was first applied in a batch estimation...framework to ellipsoidal SO models in geostationary orbits [9]. The Ashikhmin-Shirley [10] BRDF has also been used to study estimation of specular...non-convex 300 facet model and simulated lightcurves using a combination of Lambertian and Cook-Torrance (specular) BRDF models with an Unscented

Pathways to agility in the production of neutron generators

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stoltz, R.E.; Beavis, L.C.; Cutchen, J.T.

1994-02-01

This report is the result of a study team commissioned to explore pathways for increased agility in the manufacture of neutron generators. As a part of Sandia`s new responsibility for generator production, the goal of the study was to identify opportunities to reduce costs and increase flexibility in the manufacturing operation. Four parallel approaches (or pathways) were recommended: (1) Know the goal, (2) Use design leverage effectively, (3) Value simplicity, and (4) Configure for flexibility. Agility in neutron generator production can be enhanced if all of these pathways are followed. The key role of the workforce in achieving agility wasmore » also noted, with emphasis on ownership, continuous learning, and a supportive environment.« less

Investigation of a Graphical CONOPS Development Environment for Agile Systems Engineering - Phase 2

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-05-31

Westerman, Crawshaw , Hockey, and Sauer, 1998) for practitioners. Thus, CTA extends research by providing a toolbox of methods for understanding teams...drive process and performance. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. pp. 3-8. Shrayne, N. M., Westerman, S. J., Crawshaw , C. M

Future Research in Agile Systems Development: Applying Open Innovation Principles Within the Agile Organisation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Conboy, Kieran; Morgan, Lorraine

A particular strength of agile approaches is that they move away from ‘introverted' development and intimately involve the customer in all areas of development, supposedly leading to the development of a more innovative and hence more valuable information system. However, we argue that a single customer representative is too narrow a focus to adopt and that involvement of stakeholders beyond the software development itself is still often quite weak and in some cases non-existent. In response, we argue that current thinking regarding innovation in agile development needs to be extended to include multiple stakeholders outside the business unit. This paper explores the intra-organisational applicability and implications of open innovation in agile systems development. Additionally, it argues for a different perspective of project management that includes collaboration and knowledge-sharing with other business units, customers, partners, and other relevant stakeholders pertinent to the business success of an organisation, thus embracing open innovation principles.

Decision Science Challenges for C2 Agility

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-01

decision -making effectiveness , but also the adaptive capacities needed to assure the resilience of the decision -making process itself. New methods are... effectiveness , but also the adaptive capacities needed to assure the resilience of the decision -making process itself. New methods are needed to help...of the literature on human biases and limitations, and hence it has been formative of entire programs of resarch and development on

Bottleneck Analysis on the DoD Pre-Milestone B Acquisition Processes

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-04-01

Acquisition Processes Danielle Worger and Teresa Wu, Arizona State University Eugene Rex Jalao, Arizona State University and University of the...Danielle Worger and Teresa Wu, Arizona State University Eugene Rex Jalao, Arizona State University and University of the Philippines Christopher...Air Force Institute of Technology The RITE Approach to Agile Acquisition Timothy Boyce, Iva Sherman, and Nicholas Roussel Space and Naval Warfare

An Exploration of Cognitive Agility as Quantified by Attention Allocation in a Complex Environment

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-03-01

quantified by eye-tracking data collected while subjects played a military-relevant cognitive agility computer game (Make Goal), to determine whether...subjects played a military-relevant cognitive agility computer game (Make Goal), to determine whether certain patterns are associated with effective...Group and Control Group on Eye Tracking and Game Performance .....................36 3. Comparison between High and Low Performers on Eye tracking and

Accelerating Software Development through Agile Practices--A Case Study of a Small-Scale, Time-Intensive Web Development Project at a College-Level IT Competition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Xuesong; Dorn, Bradley

2012-01-01

Agile development has received increasing interest both in industry and academia due to its benefits in developing software quickly, meeting customer needs, and keeping pace with the rapidly changing requirements. However, agile practices and scrum in particular have been mainly tested in mid- to large-size projects. In this paper, we present…

Results of an Experimental Exploration of Advanced Automated Geospatial Tools: Agility in Complex Planning

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-06-01

AUTOMATED GEOSPATIAL TOOLS : AGILITY IN COMPLEX PLANNING Primary Topic: Track 5 – Experimentation and Analysis Walter A. Powell [STUDENT] - GMU...TITLE AND SUBTITLE Results of an Experimental Exploration of Advanced Automated Geospatial Tools : Agility in Complex Planning 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER...Std Z39-18 Abstract Typically, the development of tools and systems for the military is requirement driven; systems are developed to meet

A Comparison of 5, 10, 30 Meters Sprint, Modified T-Test, Arrowhead and Illinois Agility Tests on Football Referees

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muniroglu, Surhat; Subak, Erdem

2018-01-01

The ability of change of direction quickly, in other words agility, and short distance sprinting speed are two of the most important performance components for football referees. The tests used by FIFA and UEFA such as Cooper Test, Yo-Yo Intermittent Test, 40 × 75 m tests do not include testing the agility skills of the referees. However,…

Assessment of Specificity of the Badcamp Agility test for Badminton Players

PubMed Central

de França Bahia Loureiro, Luiz; Costa Dias, Mário Oliveira; Cremasco, Felipe Couto; da Silva, Maicon Guimarães; de Freitas, Paulo Barbosa

2017-01-01

Abstract The Badcamp agility test was created to evaluate agility of badminton players. The Badcamp is a valid and reliable test, however, a doubt about the need for the use of this test exists as simpler tests could provide similar information about agility in badminton players. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the specificity of the Badcamp, comparing the performance of badminton players and athletes from other sports in the Badcamp and the shuttle run agility test (SRAT). Sixty-four young male and female athletes aged between 14 and 16 years participated in the study. They were divided into 4 groups of 16 according to their sport practices: badminton, tennis, team sport (basketball and volleyball), and track and field. We compared the groups in both tests, the Badcamp and SRAT. The results revealed that the group of badminton players was faster compared to all other groups in the Badcamp. However, in the SRAT there were no differences among groups composed of athletes from open skill sports (e.g., badminton, tennis, and team sports), and a considerable reduction of the difference between badminton players and track and field athletes. Thus, we concluded that the Badcamp test is a specific agility test for badminton players and should be considered in evaluating athletes of this sport modality. PMID:28713471

Assessment of Specificity of the Badcamp Agility test for Badminton Players.

PubMed

de França Bahia Loureiro, Luiz; Costa Dias, Mário Oliveira; Cremasco, Felipe Couto; da Silva, Maicon Guimarães; de Freitas, Paulo Barbosa

2017-06-01

The Badcamp agility test was created to evaluate agility of badminton players. The Badcamp is a valid and reliable test, however, a doubt about the need for the use of this test exists as simpler tests could provide similar information about agility in badminton players. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the specificity of the Badcamp, comparing the performance of badminton players and athletes from other sports in the Badcamp and the shuttle run agility test (SRAT). Sixty-four young male and female athletes aged between 14 and 16 years participated in the study. They were divided into 4 groups of 16 according to their sport practices: badminton, tennis, team sport (basketball and volleyball), and track and field. We compared the groups in both tests, the Badcamp and SRAT. The results revealed that the group of badminton players was faster compared to all other groups in the Badcamp. However, in the SRAT there were no differences among groups composed of athletes from open skill sports (e.g., badminton, tennis, and team sports), and a considerable reduction of the difference between badminton players and track and field athletes. Thus, we concluded that the Badcamp test is a specific agility test for badminton players and should be considered in evaluating athletes of this sport modality.

The Impact of Load Carriage on Measures of Power and Agility in Tactical Occupations: A Critical Review.

PubMed

Joseph, Aaron; Wiley, Amy; Orr, Robin; Schram, Benjamin; Dawes, J Jay

2018-01-07

The current literature suggests that load carriage can impact on a tactical officer's mobility, and that survival in the field may rely on the officer's mobility. The ability for humans to generate power and agility is critical for performance of the high-intensity movements required in the field of duty. The aims of this review were to critically examine the literature investigating the impacts of load carriage on measures of power and agility and to synthesize the findings. The authors completed a search of the literature using key search terms in four databases. After relevant studies were located using strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, the studies were critically appraised using the Downs and Black Checklist and relevant data were extracted and tabled. Fourteen studies were deemed relevant for this review, ranging in percentage quality scores from 42.85% to 71.43%. Outcome measures used in these studies to indicate levels of power and agility included short-distance sprints, vertical jumps, and agility runs, among others. Performance of both power and agility was shown to decrease when tactical load was added to the participants. This suggests that the increase in weight carried by tactical officers may put this population at risk of injury or fatality in the line of duty.

The Impact of Load Carriage on Measures of Power and Agility in Tactical Occupations: A Critical Review

PubMed Central

Joseph, Aaron; Wiley, Amy; Dawes, J. Jay

2018-01-01

The current literature suggests that load carriage can impact on a tactical officer’s mobility, and that survival in the field may rely on the officer’s mobility. The ability for humans to generate power and agility is critical for performance of the high-intensity movements required in the field of duty. The aims of this review were to critically examine the literature investigating the impacts of load carriage on measures of power and agility and to synthesize the findings. The authors completed a search of the literature using key search terms in four databases. After relevant studies were located using strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, the studies were critically appraised using the Downs and Black Checklist and relevant data were extracted and tabled. Fourteen studies were deemed relevant for this review, ranging in percentage quality scores from 42.85% to 71.43%. Outcome measures used in these studies to indicate levels of power and agility included short-distance sprints, vertical jumps, and agility runs, among others. Performance of both power and agility was shown to decrease when tactical load was added to the participants. This suggests that the increase in weight carried by tactical officers may put this population at risk of injury or fatality in the line of duty. PMID:29316674

Using agility to combat cyber attacks.

PubMed

Anderson, Kerry

2017-06-01

Some incident response practitioners feel that they have been locked in a battle with cyber criminals since the popular adoption of the internet. Initially, organisations made great inroads in preventing and containing cyber attacks. In the last few years, however, cyber criminals have become adept at eluding defence security technologies and rapidly modifying their exploit strategies for financial or political gains. Similar to changes in military combat tactics, cyber criminals utilise distributed attack cells, real-time communications, and rapidly mutating exploits to minimise the potential for detection. Cyber criminals have changed their attack paradigm. This paper describes a new incident response paradigm aimed at combating the new model of cyber attacks with an emphasis on agility to increase the organisation's ability to respond rapidly to these new challenges.

A tomographic technique for the simultaneous imaging of temperature, chemical species, and pressure in reactive flows using absorption spectroscopy with frequency-agile lasers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cai, Weiwei; Kaminski, Clemens F., E-mail: cfk23@cam.ac.uk

2014-01-20

This paper proposes a technique that can simultaneously retrieve distributions of temperature, concentration of chemical species, and pressure based on broad bandwidth, frequency-agile tomographic absorption spectroscopy. The technique holds particular promise for the study of dynamic combusting flows. A proof-of-concept numerical demonstration is presented, using representative phantoms to model conditions typically prevailing in near-atmospheric or high pressure flames. The simulations reveal both the feasibility of the proposed technique and its robustness. Our calculations indicate precisions of ∼70 K at flame temperatures and ∼0.05 bars at high pressure from reconstructions featuring as much as 5% Gaussian noise in the projections.

The geometry of high angle of attack maneuvers and the implications for Gy-induced neck injuries.

PubMed

Newman, David G; Ostler, David

2011-08-01

Modern super agile fighter aircraft have significantly expanded maneuverability envelopes, often involving very high angles of attack (AOA) in the post-stall region. One such maneuver is the high AOA velocity vector roll. The geometry of this flight maneuver is such that during the roll there is a significant lateral C load imposed on the unrestrained head-neck complex of the pilot. A mathematical analysis of the geometric relationship determining the magnitude of +/- Gy acceleration during high AOA maneuvering was conducted. This preliminary mathematical model is able to predict the Gy load imposed on the head-neck complex of the pilot for a given set of flight maneuver parameters. The analysis predicts that at an AOA of 700 and with a roll rate of 100 degrees x s(-1), the lateral G developed will be approximately 3.5 Gy. Increasing the roll rate increases the lateral G component: at 200 degrees x s(-1) the Gy, load is more than 6 Gy. There are serious potential implications of super agile maneuvers on the neck of the pilot. The G environment experienced by the pilot of super agile aircraft is increasingly multiaxial, involving +/- Gx, +/- Gy, and +/- Gz. The level of lateral G developed during these dynamic flight maneuvers should not be underestimated, as such G loads can potentially lead to neck injuries. While aircraft become ever more capable, a full understanding of the biodynamic effects on the pilot while exploiting the agility of the aircraft still needs to be developed.

Analysis of the Association Between Motor and Anthropometric Variables with Change of Direction Speed and Reactive Agility Performance

PubMed Central

Sattler, Tine; Sekulić, Damir; Spasić, Miodrag; Perić, Mia; Krolo, Ante; Uljević, Ognjen; Kondrič, Miran

2015-01-01

There is an evident lack of studies examining the factors associated with reactive agility performances. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between anthropometrics, body composition, jumping capacity, reactive strength, and balance with a stop-and-go change of direction speed (CODS) and reactive agility. The total sample comprised 39 male (body height: 182.95 ± 5.19 cm; body mass: 80.66 ± 7.69 kg) and 34 female (body height: 171.45 ± 6.81 cm; body mass: 61.95 ± 6.70 kg) college-level athletes (21.9 ± 1.9 years of age). The variables included body height, body mass, the percentage of body fat (BF%), balance as measured by an overall-stability index, the countermovement jump (CMJ), a reactive-strength index (RSI), stop-and-go reactive agility, and stop-and-go CODS. To define the associations between motor and anthropometric variables with CODS and reactive agility, the participants were clustered into three achievement groups based on their CODS and reactive agility performances. The ANOVA showed a significant difference between the CODS-based achievement groups for the CMJ (F test = 3.45 and 3.60 for males and females, respectively; p < 0.05), the RSI (F test = 6.94 and 5.29 for males and females, respectively; p < 0.05), and balance (F test = 3.47; p < 0.05 for males). In females, the reactive agility achievement groups differed significantly in the RSI (F test = 6.46; p < 0.05), the CMJ (F test = 4.35; p < 0.05) and BF% (F test = 4.07; p < 0.05), which is further confirmed by discriminant canonical analysis (Can R = 0.74; p < 0.05). The results confirm the need for independent evaluation and training for both CODS and reactive agility performance in sports. PMID:26557198

Reliability and Factorial Validity of Non-Specific and Tennis-Specific Pre-Planned Agility Tests; Preliminary Analysis

PubMed Central

Sekulic, Damir; Uljevic, Ognjen; Peric, Mia; Spasic, Miodrag; Kondric, Miran

2017-01-01

Abstract Agility is an important quality in tennis, yet there is an evident lack of studies focussing on the applicability of tennis-specific agility performances and comparing them to equivalent non-specific agility performances. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and factorial validity of three tests of pre-planned agility, performed in specific (with a tennis racquet) and non-specific (without a tennis racquet) conditions. The sample consisted of 33 tennis players (13 males and 20 females; age: 18.3 ± 1.1 years and 18.6 ± 1.3 years; body height: 185.4 ± 51 cm and 169.3 ± 4.2 cm, 74.0 ± 4.4 kg and 61.2 ± 3.1 kg, respectively). The variables comprised three agility tests: a 20-yard test, a T-test and the Illinois test, all performed in both specific and non-specific conditions. Between-subject and within-subject reliability were found to be high (Cronbach Alpha: 0.93 to 0.98; Coefficient of Variation: 3 to 8%), with better within-subject reliability and stability of the measurement for specific tests. Pearson’s product moment correlations between the non-specific and specific agility performances were high (r ≥0.84), while factor analysis extracted only one significant latent dimension on the basis of the Guttman-Kaiser criterion. The results of the 20-yard test were better when the test was conducted in the specific conditions (t-test = 2.66; p < 0.05). For the Illinois test, superior results were recorded in the non-specific conditions (t-test = 2.96; p < 0.05), which can be explained by the test duration (about 20 s) and non-specific locomotion forms such as rotational movements. Considering the findings of the present study, when testing tennis-specific pre-planned agility, we suggest using tests of short duration (less than 10 s) and sport-specific types of locomotion. PMID:28210343

AGILE as a particle detector: Magnetospheric measurements of 10-100 MeV electrons in L shells less than 1.2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Argan, A.; Piano, G.; Tavani, M.; Trois, A.

2016-04-01

We study the capability of the AGILE gamma ray space mission in detecting magnetospheric particles (mostly electrons) in the energy range 10-100 MeV. Our measurements focus on the inner magnetic shells with L ≲ 1.2 in the magnetic equator. The instrument characteristics and a quasi-equatorial orbit of ˜500 km altitude make it possible to address several important properties of the particle populations in the inner magnetosphere. We review the on board trigger logic and study the acceptance of the AGILE instrument for particle detection. We find that the AGILE effective geometric factor (acceptance) is R≃50 cm2 sr for particle energies in the range 10-100 MeV. Particle event reconstruction allows to determine the particle pitch angle with the local magnetic field with good accuracy. We obtain the pitch angle distributions for both the AGILE "pointing" phase (July 2007 to October 2009) and the "spinning" phase (November 2009 to present). In spinning mode, the whole range (0-180 degrees) is accessible every 7 min. We find a pitch angle distribution of the "dumbbell" type with a prominent depression near α = 90° which is typical of wave-particle resonant scattering and precipitation in the inner magnetosphere. Most importantly, we show that AGILE is not affected by solar particle precipitation events in the magnetosphere. The satellite trajectory intersects magnetic shells in a quite narrow range (1.0 ≲ L ≲ 1.2); AGILE then has a high exposure to a magnetospheric region potentially rich of interesting phenomena. The large particle acceptance in the 10-100 MeV range, the pitch angle determination capability, the L shell exposure, and the solar-free background make AGILE a unique instrument for measuring steady and transient particle events in the inner magnetosphere.

Modelling of Command and Control Agility

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-01

in the system (Janlert & Stolterman 2010, Reiman & Oedewald 2007, Lintern 2012, Bahill & Gissing 1998). 4 The causes of C2 system complexity...Research Methodology for Information Systems Research. Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 24, Issue 3: 45-77. Reiman , T. & Oedewald, P

The Agile Approach with Doctoral Dissertation Supervision

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tengberg, Lars Göran Wallgren

2015-01-01

Several research findings conclude that many doctoral students fail to complete their studies within the allowable time frame, in part because of problems related to the research and supervision process. Surveys show that most doctoral students are generally satisfied with their dissertation supervision. However, these surveys also reveal some…

Combat Orders: An Analysis of the Tactical Orders Process

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-06-01

119 How Each System was Adapted to Doctrine .................. 120 T im e, the Critical Factor...Order ............................. 127 Decision Sequencing ... .......................... .............. ........................ 134 Adapting Tactical...overcentralization slows action and leads to inertia." 15 Agility Is the ability of friendly forces to act faster than the enemy. Initiative stresses the ability

Standard Systems Group (SSG) Technology Adoption Planning Workshop

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-04-01

11 Figure 2: Map of SEI Technologies Against SSG (Cluster Focused on Customer Issues...them could be consolidated. The objectives were grouped into three categories ( customer focused, internal operations, and innovation & learning... customers ! • Streamlined organization with agile processes • Recognized expertise in exploring and exploiting leading IT technologies • Enterprise

FODEM: A Multi-Threaded Research and Development Method for Educational Technology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Suhonen, Jarkko; de Villiers, M. Ruth; Sutinen, Erkki

2012-01-01

Formative development method (FODEM) is a multithreaded design approach that was originated to support the design and development of various types of educational technology innovations, such as learning tools, and online study programmes. The threaded and agile structure of the approach provides flexibility to the design process. Intensive…

Information Sharing for Computing Trust Metrics on COTS Electronic Components

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-09-01

8 a. Standard SDLCs ...........................8 b. The Waterfall Model ......................9 c. V -shaped Model ...development of a system. There are many well-known SDLC models , the most popular of which are: • Waterfall • V -shaped • Spiral • Agile a. Standard...the SDLC or applied to software and hardware distribution chain. A. JØSANG’S MODEL DEFINED Jøsang expresses "opinions" mathematically as: 1

The PDS4 Information Model and its Role in Agile Science Data Curation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hughes, J. S.; Crichton, D.

2017-12-01

PDS4 is an information model-driven service architecture supporting the capture, management, distribution and integration of massive planetary science data captured in distributed data archives world-wide. The PDS4 Information Model (IM), the core element of the architecture, was developed using lessons learned from 20 years of archiving Planetary Science Data and best practices for information model development. The foundational principles were adopted from the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model (ISO 14721), the Metadata Registry Specification (ISO/IEC 11179), and W3C XML (Extensible Markup Language) specifications. These provided respectively an object oriented model for archive information systems, a comprehensive schema for data dictionaries and hierarchical governance, and rules for rules for encoding documents electronically. The PDS4 Information model is unique in that it drives the PDS4 infrastructure by providing the representation of concepts and their relationships, constraints, rules, and operations; a sharable, stable, and organized set of information requirements; and machine parsable definitions that are suitable for configuring and generating code. This presentation will provide an over of the PDS4 Information Model and how it is being leveraged to develop and evolve the PDS4 infrastructure and enable agile curation of over 30 years of science data collected by the international Planetary Science community.

Research Institute for Autonomous Precision Guided Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-08

research on agile autonomous munitions, in direct support of the Air Force Research Laboratory Munitions Directorate (AFRL/MN). The grant was awarded with a...Flight had (5) research task areas: 1. Aeroforms and Actuation for Small and Micro Agile Air Vehicles 2. Sensing for Autonomous Control and...critical barriers in AAM, but are not covered in the scope of the AVCAAF (Vision-Based Control of Agile, Autonomous Micro Air Vehicles and Small UAVs

Smart Mirrors for Photorefractive Control of Light with Tim Bunning, RX - Agile Filters Application

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-11-08

AFRL-AFOSR-UK-TR-2017-0008 Smart Mirrors for photorefractive control of light with Tim Bunning, RX-- Agile filters application Luciano De Sio...photorefractive control of light with Tim Bunning, RX-- Agile filters application 5a.  CONTRACT NUMBER 5b.  GRANT NUMBER FA9550-14-1-0050 5c.  PROGRAM...photorefractive, switchable optical filters , liquide crystalline composite materials, Switchable reflective holographic gratings, polymer-dispersed liquid

An Examination of an Information Security Framework Implementation Based on Agile Values to Achieve Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Security Rule Compliance in an Academic Medical Center: The Thomas Jefferson University Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reis, David W.

2012-01-01

Agile project management is most often examined in relation to software development, while information security frameworks are often examined with respect to certain risk management capabilities rather than in terms of successful implementation approaches. This dissertation extended the study of both Agile project management and information…

Understanding Organizational Agility: A Work-Design Perspective

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-06-01

NG SDG Proactive Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes N/S N/S N/S Reactive Simultaneity of work design at three levels Yes Supply Chain Network Agility High Table...firm can take effective action to benefit itself and its customers. In analyzing representative supply - chain definitions of agility, the main theme...and Heppard 2000). Third, as effective supply chain management has come to be regarded as major source of competitive advantage for many firms

Inserting Agility in System Development

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-07-01

Agile IT Acquisition, IT Box, Scrum Inserting Agility in System Development Matthew R. Kennedy and Lt Col Dan Ward, USAF With the fast-paced nature...1,700 individuals and 71 countries, found Scrum and eXtreme Programming to be the most widely followed method- ologies (VersionOne, 2007). Other...University http://www.dau.mil 259 Defense ARJ, July 2012, Vol. 19 No. 3 : 249–264 Scrum Scrum is a framework used for project management, which is

AGILE detection of a rebrightening of the gamma-ray source AGL J2251-1239

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piano, G.; Pittori, C.; Tavani, M.; Lucarelli, F.; Verrecchia, F.; Giommi, P.; Cardillo, M.; Ursi, A.; Minervini, G.; Bulgarelli, A.; Parmiggiani, N.; Vercellone, S.; Fioretti, V.; Pilia, M.; Donnarumma, I.; Gianotti, F.; Trifoglio, M.; Giuliani, A.; Mereghetti, S.; Caraveo, P.; Perotti, F.; Chen, A.; Argan, A.; Costa, E.; Del Monte, E.; Evangelista, Y.; Feroci, M.; Lazzarotto, F.; Lapshov, I.; Pacciani, L.; Soffitta, P.; Sabatini, S.; Vittorini, V.; Pucella, G.; Rapisarda, M.; Di Cocco, G.; Fuschino, F.; Galli, M.; Labanti, C.; Marisaldi, M.; Pellizzoni, A.; Trois, A.; Barbiellini, G.; Vallazza, E.; Longo, F.; Morselli, A.; Picozza, P.; Prest, M.; Lipari, P.; Zanello, D.; Cattaneo, P. W.; Rappoldi, A.; Ferrari, A.; Colafrancesco, S.; Paoletti, F.; Antonelli, A.; Salotti, L.; Valentini, G.; D'Amico, F.

2018-01-01

AGILE is detecting again intense gamma-ray emission above 100 MeV from a source at Galactic coordinates (l, b) = (54.6, -58.4) +/- 0.9 deg (95% stat. c.l.) +/- 0.1 deg (syst.) (R.A., Dec. (J2000): 342.26, -12.74 deg), compatible with AGL J2251-1239 reported in a flaring state by AGILE on December 8, 2017 (ATel #11043, F. Lucarelli et al.).

Increasing agility in unmanned ground vehicles using variable internal mass and inertial properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nie, Chenghui; Cusi Van Dooren, Simo; Shah, Jainam; Spenko, Matthew

2009-05-01

Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV) that possess agility, or the ability to quickly change directions without a significant loss in speed, would have several advantages in field operations over conventional UGVs. The agile UGVs would have greater maneuverability in cluttered environments and improved obstacle avoidance capabilities. The UGVs would also be able to better recover from unwanted dynamic behaviors. This paper presents a novel method of increasing UGV agility by actively altering the location of the vehicle's center of mass during locomotion. This allows the vehicle to execute extreme dynamic maneuvers by controlling the normal force acting on the wheels. A theoretical basis for this phenomenon is presented and experimental results are shown that validate the approach.

Team Modelling: Survey of Experimental Platforms (Modelisation d’equipes : Examen de plate-formes experimentales)

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-09-01

Control Force Agility Shared Situational Awareness Attentional Demand Interoperability Network Based Operations Effect Based Operations Speed of...Command Self Synchronization Reach Back Reach Forward Information Superiority Increased Mission Effectiveness Humansystems® Team Modelling...communication effectiveness and Distributed Mission Training (DMT) effectiveness . The NASA Ames Centre - Distributed Research Facilities platform could

CLARA: CLAS12 Reconstruction and Analysis Framework

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gyurjyan, Vardan; Matta, Sebastian Mancilla; Oyarzun, Ricardo

2016-11-01

In this paper we present SOA based CLAS12 event Reconstruction and Analyses (CLARA) framework. CLARA design focus is on two main traits: real-time data stream processing, and service-oriented architecture (SOA) in a flow based programming (FBP) paradigm. Data driven and data centric architecture of CLARA presents an environment for developing agile, elastic, multilingual data processing applications. The CLARA framework presents solutions capable of processing large volumes of data interactively and substantially faster than batch systems.

The Development of Delta: Using Agile to Develop a Decision Aid for Pediatric Oncology Clinical Trial Enrollment.

PubMed

Robertson, Eden G; Wakefield, Claire E; Cohn, Richard J; O'Brien, Tracey; Ziegler, David S; Fardell, Joanna E

2018-05-04

The internet is increasingly being used to disseminate health information. Given the complexity of pediatric oncology clinical trials, we developed Delta, a Web-based decision aid to support families deciding whether or not to enroll their child with cancer in a clinical trial. This paper details the Agile development process of Delta and user testing results of Delta. Development was iterative and involved 5 main stages: a requirements analysis, planning, design, development, and user testing. For user testing, we conducted 13 eye-tracking analyses and think-aloud interviews with health care professionals (n=6) and parents (n=7). Results suggested that there was minimal rereading of content and a high level of engagement in content. However, there were some navigational problems. Participants reported high acceptability (12/13) and high usability of the website (8/13). Delta demonstrates the utility for the use of Agile in the development of a Web-based decision aid for health purposes. Our study provides a clear step-by-step guide to develop a Web-based psychosocial tool within the health setting. ©Eden G Robertson, Claire E Wakefield, Richard J Cohn, Tracey O'Brien, David S Ziegler, Joanna E Fardell. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 04.05.2018.

Multiwavelength studies of the blazars detected by AGILE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Filippo D'Ammando

2010-02-01

The discovery of emission in the gamma-ray domain from many Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) by EGRET on board the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory and the Cherenkov Telescopes was one of the most breakthrough of high energy astrophysics in the last 20 years, leading to the identification of a new class of AGNs: the blazars. Blazars are the most extreme subclass of AGNs, characterized by the emission of strong non-thermal radiation across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from radio to very high gamma-ray energies. This emission is interpreted as the result of the electromagnetic radiation from a relativistic jet that is viewed closely aligned to the line of sight of the observer, thus causing strong relativistic amplification. Considering that the large fraction of the total power of blazars is emitted in the gamma-rays, information in this energy band is crucial to study the different radiation models. More than ten years after the EGRET era, the AGILE satellite (and subsequently also the Fermi satellite) filled the gap in the MeV-GeV band giving further impulse to the study of the high-energy astrophysics phenomena in blazars. However, notwithstanding the importance of the information provided by the gamma-ray observations, correlated multiwavelength studies are the key to achieve a better understanding of the structure of the inner jet, the origin of the seed photons for the inverse Compton process and the emission mechanisms at work in blazars. Since its launch in April 2007, the AGILE satellite detected several blazars in high activity state: PKS 1510-089, S5 0716+714, 3C 454.3, 3C 273, 3C 279, W Comae, Mrk 421 and PG 1553+113. In this Thesis I will present the most interesting results on multifrequency analysis of these sources detected by AGILE in gamma-rays, together with the multiwavelength data from other observatories such as Spitzer, Swift, RXTE, Suzaku, INTEGRAL, MAGIC, VERITAS, as well as radio-to-optical coverage by means of GASP-WEBT and REM. This large multifrequency coverage gave me the opportunity to study the Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs) of these sources from radio to gamma-rays, the correlated variability in different energy bands and to investigate the mechanisms responsible for their emission, uncovering in some cases a more complex behaviour with respect to the standard models. The intense gamma-ray flares of S5 0716+714 observed by AGILE in September and October 2007 are among the highest fluxes detected by a BL Lac object and considering the redshift of the source (z = 0.31) the total power transported in the jet during these episodes approaches or slightly exceeds the maximum power generated by a spinning black hole of 10^9 solar masses, challenging the Blandford-Znajek mechanism and confirming the extreme energetics during these flares. The modeling of the SEDs of S5 0716+714 indicated as, even if the broad band emission appears in agreement with the synchrotron self Compton (SSC) paradigm, a more complex model with two SSC components is needed to interpret our data. The case of S5 0716+714 is not unique among the BL Lac objects, also for the multifrequency observation of Mrk 421 and W Comae in June 2008 a one-zone SSC model seems to be a good representation of the broad band spectrum, but the observations collected during the multiwavelength campaigns seem to open to more complex interpretations of the data. Moreover, the dominant emission mechanism in the gamma-ray band for Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars (FSRQs) is the inverse Compton scattering of external photons from the broad line region, but in some particular states also the contribution of seed photons from a hot corona (3C 454.3 in December 2007) or the accretion disk (3C 279) are shown to be important. Therefore, from the modeling of the different SEDs of BL Lacs and FSRQs observed by AGILE seems to emerge that the SSC and the external Compton (EC) frameworks, respectively, are good approximation for describing on average the high activity states of the two flavours of blazars, but going into details of the single observation more complex scenarios sometimes are requested. The possibility to obtain information over the entire electromagnetic spectrum during the multifrequency campaigns organized by AGILE gave me also the opportunity to investigate in some blazars the presence of Seyfert-like features, such as the little and big blue bumps (PKS 1510-089) and the Compton reflection component (3C 273). Moreover, we revealed in the FSRQ PKS 1510-089 some features typical of High-frequency peaked BL Lac objects, such a X-ray harder-when-brighter behaviour during March 2008 and a shift of the synchrotron peak towards higher frequencies during the huge flare of March 2009. Emission in optical and gamma-ray bands seems to be correlated during high activity states of blazars, but not strongly, with a possible lag of the gamma-ray flux with respect to optical one less than one day, both for FSRQs (e.g. 3C 454.3) and BL Lacs (S5 0716+714). On the other hand, during March 2009 a possible delay of the optical emission with respect to the gamma-ray one is detected for PKS 1510-089, suggesting a more complex behaviour in the optical/gamma-ray correlation, especially for FSRQs, where also a contribution of the thermal disk emission is clearly visible.

47 CFR 80.213 - Modulation requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... the 2900-3100 MHz band. Racons using frequency agile transmitting techniques must include circuitry... using frequency agile techniques must include circuitry designed to reduce interference caused by...

47 CFR 80.213 - Modulation requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... the 2900-3100 MHz band. Racons using frequency agile transmitting techniques must include circuitry... using frequency agile techniques must include circuitry designed to reduce interference caused by...

Single, Integrated, Service-Centric Model of Military Health System Governance

DTIC Science & Technology

and effectiveness of operational medical support. According to the Joint Concept for Health Services (JCHS), the need for integrated medical support...that keeps pace with the operational agility and organizational flexibility requirements to support globally integrated operations is clear. This

Enabling Design for Affordability: An Epoch-Era Analysis Approach

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-04-01

Analysis on the DoD Pre-Milestone B Acquisition Processes Danielle Worger and Teresa Wu, Arizona State University Eugene Rex Jalao, Arizona State...Management Best Practices Brandon Keller and J. Robert Wirthlin Air Force Institute of Technology The RITE Approach to Agile Acquisition Timothy Boyce...Change Kathryn Aten and John T . Dillard Naval Postgraduate School A Comparative Assessment of the Navy’s Future Naval Capabilities (FNC) Process

Surface friction alters the agility of a small Australian marsupial.

PubMed

Wheatley, Rebecca; Clemente, Christofer J; Niehaus, Amanda C; Fisher, Diana O; Wilson, Robbie S

2018-04-23

Movement speed can underpin an animal's probability of success in ecological tasks. Prey often use agility to outmanoeuvre predators; however, faster speeds increase inertia and reduce agility. Agility is also constrained by grip, as the foot must have sufficient friction with the ground to apply the forces required for turning. Consequently, ground surface should affect optimum turning speed. We tested the speed-agility trade-off in buff-footed antechinus ( Antechinus mysticus ) on two different surfaces. Antechinus used slower turning speeds over smaller turning radii on both surfaces, as predicted by the speed-agility trade-off. Slipping was 64% more likely on the low-friction surface, and had a higher probability of occurring the faster the antechinus were running before the turn. However, antechinus compensated for differences in surface friction by using slower pre-turn speeds as their amount of experience on the low-friction surface increased, which consequently reduced their probability of slipping. Conversely, on the high-friction surface, antechinus used faster pre-turn speeds in later trials, which had no effect on their probability of slipping. Overall, antechinus used larger turning radii (0.733±0.062 versus 0.576±0.051 m) and slower pre-turn (1.595±0.058 versus 2.174±0.050 m s -1 ) and turning speeds (1.649±0.061 versus 2.01±0.054 m s -1 ) on the low-friction surface. Our results demonstrate the interactive effect of surface friction and the speed-agility trade-off on speed choice. To predict wild animals' movement speeds, future studies should examine the interactions between biomechanical trade-offs and terrain, and quantify the costs of motor mistakes in different ecological activities. © 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Mechanical Analysis of the Acute Effects of a Heavy Resistance Exercise Warm-Up on Agility Performance in Court-Sport Athletes

PubMed Central

Sole, Christopher J.; Moir, Gavin L.; Davis, Shala E.; Witmer, Chad A.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the acute effects of heavy resistance exercise on agility performance in court-sport athletes. Five men (age: 20.6 ± 1.9 years; body mass: 79.36 ± 11.74 kg; body height: 1.93 ± 0.09 m) and five women (age 21.2 ± 2.7 years; body mass: 65.8 ± 10.18 kg; body height 1.77 ± 0.08 m) volunteered to participate in the present study. All subjects were NCAA Division II athletes who currently participated in tennis or basketball and all had previous resistance training experience of at least one year. In a counterbalanced design, agility performance during a 10 m shuttle test was assessed following either a dynamic warm-up (DW) or heavy resistance warm-up (HRW) protocol. The HRW protocol consisted of three sets of squats at 50, 60, and 90% of 1-RM. Agility performance was captured using an eight camera motion analysis system and the mechanical variables of stride length, stride frequency, stance time, flight time, average ground reaction force, as well as agility time were recorded. No significant differences were reported for the HRW and DW protocols for any of the mechanical variables (p>0.05), although there was a trend towards the HRW protocol producing faster agility times compared to the control protocol (p = 0.074). Based on the trend towards a significant effect, as well as individual results it is possible that HRW protocols could be used as an acute method to improve agility performance in some court-sport athletes. PMID:24511350

The AGILE Mission and Gamma-Ray Bursts

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Longo, Francesco; INFN, section of Trieste; Tavani, M.

2007-05-01

The AGILE Mission will explore the gamma-ray Universe with a very innovative instrument combining for the first time a gamma-ray imager and a hard X-ray imager. AGILE will be operational at the beginning of 2007 and it will provide crucial data for the study of Active Galactic Nuclei, Gamma-Ray Bursts, unidentified gamma-ray sources, Galactic compact objects, supernova remnants, TeV sources, and fundamental physics by microsecond timing. The AGILE instrument is designed to simultaneously detect and image photons in the 30 MeV - 50 GeV and 15 - 45 keV energy bands with excellent imaging and timing capabilities, and a largemore » field of view covering {approx} 1/5 of the entire sky at energies above 30 MeV. A CsI calorimeter is capable of GRB triggering in the energy band 0.3-50 MeV. The broadband detection of GRBs and the study of implications for particle acceleration and high energy emission are primary goals of the mission. AGILE can image GRBs with 2-3 arcminute error boxes in the hard X-ray range, and provide broadband photon-by photon detection in the 15-45 keV, 03-50 MeV, and 30 MeV-30 GeV energy ranges. Microsecond on-board photon tagging and a {approx} 100 microsecond gamma-ray detection deadtime will be crucial for fast GRB timing. On-board calculated GRB coordinates and energy fluxes will be quickly transmitted to the ground by an ORBCOMM transceiver. AGILE is now (January 2007) undergoing final satellite integration and testing. The PLS V launch is planned in spring 2007. AGILE is then foreseen to be fully operational during the summer of 2007.« less

SU-E-T-149: Electron Beam Profile Differences Between Elekta MLCi2 and Elekta Agility Treatment Heads

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wu, C; Hatcher, C

2014-06-01

Purpose: To report and investigate observed differences in electron beam profiles at various energies/applicators between Elekta MLCi2 and Agility treatment head on Elekta Infinity LINAC Methods: When we upgraded from MLCi2 to Agility on one of our Elekta Infinity LINAC's, electron beam PDDs and profiles were acquired for comparison purpose. All clinical electron energies (6/9/12/15/12/18 MeV) and electron applicators (6/10/14/20/25 square) were included in measurement. PDDs were acquired at 100 SSD in water (PTW MP3 water tank) with a plane-parallel ion chamber (PTW Roos). X and Y Profiles were acquired using IC Profiler (Sun Nuclear Corp.) at 1cm and maximummore » PDD depths (water equivalent). Results: All PDD curves match very well between MLCi2 and Agility treatment head. However, some significant differences on electron profiles were found. On Agility, even after increasing the default auto-tracking offset values for backup diaphragms in Y and MLC in X by 2.8 cm (the maximum allowed change is 3.0 cm), electron profiles still have rounder shoulders comparing to corresponding MLCi2 profiles. This difference is significantly more pronounced at larger applicators (20 and 25 square), for all electron energies. Conclusion: The significant design change between MLCi2 and Agility beam limiting device seems to affect exit electron beam profiles. In IEC1217 X direction, the main change on Agility is the removal of the original MLCi2 X backup diaphragms and replacing it with MLC leaves; In Y direction, the main change is the radius and materials on Y backup diaphragms.« less

Roles and Responsibilities in Feature Teams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eckstein, Jutta

Agile development requires self-organizing teams. The set-up of a (feature) team has to enable self-organization. Special care has to be taken if the project is not only distributed, but also large and more than one feature team is involved. Every feature team needs in such a setting a product owner who ensures the continuous focus on business delivery. The product owners collaborate by working together in a virtual team. Each feature team is supported by a coach who ensures not only the agile process of the individual feature team but also across all feature teams. An architect (or if necessary a team of architects) takes care that the system is technically sound. Contrariwise to small co-located projects, large global projects require a project manager who deals with—among other things—internal and especially external politics.

ARAGO: a robotic observatrory for the variable sky

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boer, Michel; Acker, Agnes; Atteia, Jean-Luc; Buchholtz, Gilles; Colas, Francois; Deleuil, Magali; Dennefeld, Michel; Desert, Jean-Michel; Dolez, Noel; Eysseric, J.; Ferlet, Roger; Ferrari, Marc; Jean, Pierre; Klotz, Alain; Kouach, Driss; Lecavelier des Etangs, Alain; Lemaitre, Gerard R.; Marcowith, Alexandre; Marquette, Jean-Babtiste; Meunier, Jean-Pierre; Mochkovitch, Robert; Pain, Reynald; Pares, Laurent; Pinna, Henri; Pinna, Roger; Provost, Lionel; Roques, Sylvie; Schneider, Jean; Sivan, Jean-Pierre; Soubiran, Caroline; Thiebaut, Carole; Vauclair, Gerard; Verchere, Richard; Vidal-Madjar, Alfred

2002-12-01

We present the Advanced Robotic Agile Observatory (ARAGO), a project for a large variability survey of the sky, in the range 10-8Hz (year) to 1Hz. Among its scientific objectives are the detection of cosmic gamma-ray bursts, both on alert and serendipitously, orphan afterglows, extrasolar planets, AGNs, quasar microlensing, variable and flare stars, trans-neptunian asteroids, Earth-grazers, orbital debris, etc. A large Education and Public Outreach program will be an important part of the project. The telescope itself will be made of Silicon Carbide, allowing, among other advantages, a very light weight and agile capabilities. ARAGO will be fully autonomous, i.e. there will be no human intervention from the request to the data processing and result dissemination, nor to assist night or day operations. ARAGO will start routine observation by mid-2005.

Smart Healthcare Agility Management - Tojisha Doctrine by Self-synchronization

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-01

impossibility at our age. One is the technology of space elevator and another is the space-walk tourism which the project has existed since the mid-20 th...In regards to the technologies of space-walk tourism , increase of patents related to the technologies of Pulse Detention Engine worldwide is some...medicine, and there is some reference cases such as "open agility" and "closed agility" is immersed in training specifically in sports science which

Potential Use of Agile Methods in Selected DoD Acquisitions: Requirements Development and Management

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-04-01

understanding of common Agile meth- ods, particularly Scrum and eXtreme Programming. For those unfamiliar with the basics of Agile development, the... Scrum (namely, the concepts of product owner, product backlog and self- organized teams) and eXtreme Programming (epics and user stories). These concepts...also been adopted as a requirements specification mechanism by many teams using Scrum , even if those teams don’t use other aspects of eXtreme

Development of an Agility Test for Badminton Players and Assessment of Its Validity and Test-Retest Reliability.

PubMed

Loureiro, Luiz de França Bahia; de Freitas, Paulo Barbosa

2016-04-01

Badminton requires open and fast actions toward the shuttlecock, but there is no specific agility test for badminton players with specific movements. To develop an agility test that simultaneously assesses perception and motor capacity and examine the test's concurrent and construct validity and its test-retest reliability. The Badcamp agility test consists of running as fast as possible to 6 targets placed on the corners and middle points of a rectangular area (5.6 × 4.2 m) from the start position located in the center of it, following visual stimuli presented in a luminous panel. The authors recruited 43 badminton players (17-32 y old) to evaluate concurrent (with shuttle-run agility test--SRAT) and construct validity and test-retest reliability. Results revealed that Badcamp presents concurrent and construct validity, as its performance is strongly related to SRAT (ρ = 0.83, P < .001), with performance of experts being better than nonexpert players (P < .01). In addition, Badcamp is reliable, as no difference (P = .07) and a high intraclass correlation (ICC = .93) were found in the performance of the players on 2 different occasions. The findings indicate that Badcamp is an effective, valid, and reliable tool to measure agility, allowing coaches and athletic trainers to evaluate players' athletic condition and training effectiveness and possibly detect talented individuals in this sport.

Search of GRB with AGILE Minicalorimeter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuschino, F.; Labanti, C.; Galli, M.; Marisaldi, M.; Bulgarelli, A.; Gianotti, F.; Trifoglio, M.; Argan, A.; Del Monte, E.; Donnarumma, I.; Feroci, M.; Lazzarotto, F.; Pacciani, L.; Tavani, M.; Trois, A.

2008-04-01

AGILE, the small scientific mission of the Italian Space Agency devoted to Hard-X and Gamma-ray astrophysics, was successfully launched on April 23, 2007. The AGILE payload is composed of a tungsten-silicon tracker (ST), operating in the gamma-ray energy range 30 MeV 50 GeV; Super-AGILE, an X-ray imager operating in the energy range 15 45 keV; the Minicalorimeter (MCAL) and an Anticoincidence shield. MCAL is a detector of about 1400 cm2 sensitive in the range 0.3 200 MeV, that can be used both as a slave of the ST to contribute to the AGILE Gamma Ray imaging Detector (GRID operative mode) and autonomously for detection of transient events (BURST operative mode). MCAL is made of 30 CsI(Tl) bar-shaped scintillation detectors with photodiode readout at both ends, arranged in two orthogonal layers. Energy and position of interaction can be derived from a proper composition of the signals readout at the bar's ends, absolute time tagging can be achieved with a μs resolution. The Burst logic deals with various rate-meters on different time scales, energy bands, and MCAL spatial zones. Different algorithms can be chosen for Burst triggering considering also the contribution of other detectors like Super AGILE. In this paper the various trigger logic will be reviewed as well as their on-ground test performed with a dedicated experimental setup.

The new deal at the top.

PubMed

Doz, Yves L; Kosonen, Mikko

2007-06-01

What makes a company strategically agile--able to alter its strategies and business models rapidly in response to major changes in its market space, and to do so repeatedly without major trauma? Three years of in-depth case research on a dozen large companies worldwide showed the authors that one key factor is a new leadership model at the top. Senior executives at agile companies assume collective rather than individual responsibility for results. They build interdependencies among units and divisions, motivating themselves to engage with one another, and carefully manage their dealings to promote collaboration that is frequent, intense, informal, open, and focused on shared issues and the long term. Challenges to conventional thinking are encouraged. This is the new deal, and it's not easy to strike, because it requires executives to act in ways that are far from comfortable. After all, the corporate ladder at most firms favors independent types with a deep need for power and autonomy. At executive meetings, disagreement is suppressed or expressed passive-aggressively, eroding any real sense of belonging to a team. Switching to the new deal almost always requires a huge shift in the company's culture, values, and norms of interaction. The authors describe three approaches to making the shift: Executives can be given formal responsibility not for a business unit but for different stages in the company's value chain. This worked well for SAP, which has a relatively focused business portfolio. When a company's portfolio is less uniform, like Nokia's, business and functional units can be organized to crisscross on a matrix. And when a company is widely diverse, like easyGroup, it can emphasize the learning opportunities that units with common business models may share.

Agile convolutional neural network for pulmonary nodule classification using CT images.

PubMed

Zhao, Xinzhuo; Liu, Liyao; Qi, Shouliang; Teng, Yueyang; Li, Jianhua; Qian, Wei

2018-04-01

To distinguish benign from malignant pulmonary nodules using CT images is critical for their precise diagnosis and treatment. A new Agile convolutional neural network (CNN) framework is proposed to conquer the challenges of a small-scale medical image database and the small size of the nodules, and it improves the performance of pulmonary nodule classification using CT images. A hybrid CNN of LeNet and AlexNet is constructed through combining the layer settings of LeNet and the parameter settings of AlexNet. A dataset with 743 CT image nodule samples is built up based on the 1018 CT scans of LIDC to train and evaluate the Agile CNN model. Through adjusting the parameters of the kernel size, learning rate, and other factors, the effect of these parameters on the performance of the CNN model is investigated, and an optimized setting of the CNN is obtained finally. After finely optimizing the settings of the CNN, the estimation accuracy and the area under the curve can reach 0.822 and 0.877, respectively. The accuracy of the CNN is significantly dependent on the kernel size, learning rate, training batch size, dropout, and weight initializations. The best performance is achieved when the kernel size is set to [Formula: see text], the learning rate is 0.005, the batch size is 32, and dropout and Gaussian initialization are used. This competitive performance demonstrates that our proposed CNN framework and the optimization strategy of the CNN parameters are suitable for pulmonary nodule classification characterized by small medical datasets and small targets. The classification model might help diagnose and treat pulmonary nodules effectively.

Effects of short-term two weeks low intensity plyometrics combined with dynamic stretching training in improving vertical jump height and agility on trained basketball players.

PubMed

Ramachandran, Selvam; Pradhan, Binita

2014-01-01

Sport specific training in basketball players should focus on vertical jump height and agility in consistent with demands of the sport. Since plyometrics training improves vertical jump height and agility, it can be useful training strategy to improve the performance of basketball players. A convenience sample of thirty professional basketball players were recruited. Following pre-intervention assessment, interventions using plyometrics training and dynamic stretching protocol was administered on the basketball players. The outcome measures were assessed before the intervention and at the end of first and second week. Statistically significant improvements in vertical jump height (31.68 ± 11.64 to 37.57 ± 16.74; P < 0.012) and agility (16.75 ± 2.49 to 16.51 ± 2.80; P <0.00) were observed between pretest--posttest measures and no changes in muscle girth and isometric muscle strength. The study concludes that short term two weeks plyometrics training combined with dynamic stretching as a useful sport specific training strategy to improve vertical jump height and agility on trained basketball players.

Effect of core strength training on dynamic balance and agility in adolescent badminton players.

PubMed

Ozmen, Tarik; Aydogmus, Mert

2016-07-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate effect of core strength training (CST) on core endurance, dynamic balance and agility in adolescent badminton players. Twenty adolescent (age = 10.8 ± 0.3 years; height = 140.6 ± 4.4 cm, weight = 33.9 ± 5.8 kg) badminton players were randomly divided into two groups as training group (TG) and control (CG) group. All subjects were evaluated with Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT), Illinois Agility Test, and the core endurance tests. The TG completed CST twice a week, for 6 weeks. There were significant increases in (p < 0.05) directions of SEBT and core endurance tests (p < 0.05). However, no significant change was observed for agility (p > 0.05). The CST resulted in significant gains in directions of the SEBT and core endurances in adolescent badminton players, but not in agility. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gamma-ray blazars: the combined AGILE and MAGIC views

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Persic, M.; De Angelis, A.; Longo, F.; Tavani, M.

The large FOV of the AGILE Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector (GRID), 2.5 sr, will allow the whole sky to be surveyed once every 10 days in the 30 MeV - 50 GeV energy band down to 0.05 Crab Units. This fact gives the opportunity of performing the first flux-limited, high-energy g-ray all-sky survey. The high Galactic latitude point-source population is expected to be largely dominated by blazars. Several tens of blazars are expected to be detected by AGILE (e.g., Costamante & Ghisellini 2002), about half of which accessible to the ground-based MAGIC Cherenkov telescope. The latter can then carry out pointed observations of this subset of AGILE sources in the 50GeV - 10TeV band. Given the comparable sensitivities of AGILE/GRID and MAGIC in adjacent energy bands where the emitted radiation is produced by the same (e.g., SSC) mechanism, we expect that most of these sources can be detected by MAGIC. We expect this broadband g-ray strategy to enable discovery by MAGIC of 10-15 previously unknown TeV blazars.

Effects of Plymetrics Training and Weight Training on selected Motor Ability Components among University Male Students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaikh, Alauddin; Mallick, Nazrul Islam

2012-11-01

Introduction: The aim of this study was to find out the effects of plyometrics training and weight training among university male students.Procedure: 60 male students from the different colleges of the Burdwan University were randomly selected as subjects and their age were 19-25 years served as Weight training Group (WTG), second group served as Plyometric Training Group (PTG) and the third group served as Control Group (CT). Eight weeks weight training and six weeks plyometric training were given for experiment accordingly. The control group was not given any training except of their routine. The selected subjects were measured of their motor ability components, speed, endurance, explosive power and agility. ANCOVA was calculation for statistical treatment.Finding: Plyometric training and weight training groups significantly increase speed, endurance, explosive power and agility.Conclusion: The plyometric training has significantly improved speed, explosive power, muscular endurance and agility. The weight training programme has significantly improved agility, muscular endurance, and explosive power. The plometric training is superior to weight training in improving explosive power, agility and muscular endurance.

Application of side-oblique image-motion blur correction to Kuaizhou-1 agile optical images.

PubMed

Sun, Tao; Long, Hui; Liu, Bao-Cheng; Li, Ying

2016-03-21

Given the recent development of agile optical satellites for rapid-response land observation, side-oblique image-motion (SOIM) detection and blur correction have become increasingly essential for improving the radiometric quality of side-oblique images. The Chinese small-scale agile mapping satellite Kuaizhou-1 (KZ-1) was developed by the Harbin Institute of Technology and launched for multiple emergency applications. Like other agile satellites, KZ-1 suffers from SOIM blur, particularly in captured images with large side-oblique angles. SOIM detection and blur correction are critical for improving the image radiometric accuracy. This study proposes a SOIM restoration method based on segmental point spread function detection. The segment region width is determined by satellite parameters such as speed, height, integration time, and side-oblique angle. The corresponding algorithms and a matrix form are proposed for SOIM blur correction. Radiometric objective evaluation indices are used to assess the restoration quality. Beijing regional images from KZ-1 are used as experimental data. The radiometric quality is found to increase greatly after SOIM correction. Thus, the proposed method effectively corrects image motion for KZ-1 agile optical satellites.

Architected Agile Solutions for Software-Reliant Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boehm, Barry; Lane, Jo Ann; Koolmanojwong, Supannika; Turner, Richard

Systems are becoming increasingly reliant on software due to needs for rapid fielding of “70% capabilities,” interoperability, net-centricity, and rapid adaptation to change. The latter need has led to increased interest in agile methods of software development, in which teams rely on shared tacit interpersonal knowledge rather than explicit documented knowledge. However, such systems often need to be scaled up to higher level of performance and assurance, requiring stronger architectural support. Several organizations have recently transformed themselves by developing successful combinations of agility and architecture that can scale to projects of up to 100 personnel. This chapter identifies a set of key principles for such architected agile solutions for software-reliant systems, provides guidance for how much architecting is enough, and illustrates the key principles with several case studies.

Agile Mcal, the Mini-Calorimeter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bastia, Paolo; Poulsen, Jens Michael; Monzani, Franco; Radaelli, Paolo; Marchesi, Paolo; Labanti, Claudio; Marisaldi, Martino; Fuschino, Fabio; Bulgarelli, Andrea

2006-04-01

AGILE is a scientific mission dedicated to gamma-ray astrophysics in space, and the mini-calorimeter MCAL is one of four detector systems on the satellite. The MCAL instrument is sensitive in the energy range: 300 keV - 100 MeV. It has two main functions: one autonomous mode for detection of impulsive cosmic events and the other as “a slave” supporting the energy measurements of the pair-conversion tracker. The AGILE Small Mission is funded by the Italian Space Agency (ASI), and the INAF-IASF section at Bologna has the scientific responsibility for MCAL. LABEN develops the MCAL instrument with its detectors and electronics. This paper gives an overview of the detectors on AGILE, and then it gives details on the design of MCAL, and finally we report on the tests at instrument level.

Implementing vertex dynamics models of cell populations in biology within a consistent computational framework.

PubMed

Fletcher, Alexander G; Osborne, James M; Maini, Philip K; Gavaghan, David J

2013-11-01

The dynamic behaviour of epithelial cell sheets plays a central role during development, growth, disease and wound healing. These processes occur as a result of cell adhesion, migration, division, differentiation and death, and involve multiple processes acting at the cellular and molecular level. Computational models offer a useful means by which to investigate and test hypotheses about these processes, and have played a key role in the study of cell-cell interactions. However, the necessarily complex nature of such models means that it is difficult to make accurate comparison between different models, since it is often impossible to distinguish between differences in behaviour that are due to the underlying model assumptions, and those due to differences in the in silico implementation of the model. In this work, an approach is described for the implementation of vertex dynamics models, a discrete approach that represents each cell by a polygon (or polyhedron) whose vertices may move in response to forces. The implementation is undertaken in a consistent manner within a single open source computational framework, Chaste, which comprises fully tested, industrial-grade software that has been developed using an agile approach. This framework allows one to easily change assumptions regarding force generation and cell rearrangement processes within these models. The versatility and generality of this framework is illustrated using a number of biological examples. In each case we provide full details of all technical aspects of our model implementations, and in some cases provide extensions to make the models more generally applicable. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Frequency-agile, rapid scanning cavity ring-down spectroscopy (FARS-CRDS) measurements of the (30012)←(00001) near-infrared carbon dioxide band

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Long, D. A.; Wójtewicz, S.; Miller, C. E.; Hodges, J. T.

2015-08-01

We present new high accuracy measurements of the (30012)←(00001) CO2 band near 1575 nm recorded with a frequency-agile, rapid scanning cavity ring-down spectrometer. The resulting spectra were fit with the partially correlated, quadratic-speed-dependent Nelkin-Ghatak profile with line mixing. Significant differences were observed between the fitted line shape parameters and those found in existing databases, which are based upon more simplistic line profiles. Absolute transition frequencies, which were referenced to an optical frequency comb, are given, as well as the other line shape parameters needed to model this line profile. These high accuracy measurements should allow for improved atmospheric retrievals of greenhouse gas concentrations by current and future remote sensing missions.

2011 Agile (Scrum) Workshop Held in Baltimore, Maryland on November 14-15, 2011

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-11-15

have success- fully implemented Agile Development within DoD. SUSI MCKEE OC2IS Program Manager, U.S. Air Force Susana V. McKee has 25 years of DoD T...AGILE WILL WORK IN DOD: THREE EXAMPLES u Ms. Kelly Goshorn, Patriot Excalibur (PEX) Program Manager, U.S. Air Force u Ms. Susi McKee, Operational...OPS PEX Team: Internal •Devs/SMEs/Testers •Architecture Committee •Etc. none Future implementation, not Current release Big R/ Little r I n

Frequency Agile Microwave Photonic Notch Filter in a Photonic Chip

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-10-21

AFRL-AFOSR-JP-TR-2016-0087 Frequency Agile Microwave Photonic Notch Filter in a Photonic Chip Benjamin Eggleton UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY Final Report 10...REPORT TYPE      Final 3.  DATES COVERED (From - To)      14 May 2014 to 13 May 2016 4.  TITLE AND SUBTITLE Frequency Agile Microwave Photonic Notch Filter ...primary objective is to explore a novel class microwave photonic (MWP) notch filter with a very narrow isolation bandwidth, an ultrahigh stopband

Toward a Leaner, More Agile Force: The Army in a Time of Fiscal Austerity

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-10-27

challenges. Toward a Leaner, More Agile Force: The Army in a Time of Fiscal Austerity Word Count: 1817 Toward a Leaner, More Agile Force: The...Army in a Time of Fiscal Austerity As the Department of Defense seeks to cut its budget, the overall force structure of the Army will continue to...degree of flexibility during previous instances of fiscal austerity , and that flexibility has not been lost. The Army is a learning organization as

How Lean the Machine: How Agile the Mind?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Atkinson, Simon Reay; Goodger, Amanda; Caldwell, Nicholas; Hossain, Liaquat

2012-01-01

Purpose: Competition for resources appears to be increasing at a time of political, security (including energy, food and climate) and economic change; leading to potential collapse. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to examine the impact of policies exercised at the macro level on methods and processes applied at the micro level through, for…

Mapping Next Generation Learning Spaces as a Designed Quality Enhancement Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leonard, Simon N.; Fitzgerald, Robert N.; Bacon, Matt; Munnerley, Danny

2017-01-01

The learning spaces of higher education are changing with collaborative, agile and technology-enabled spaces ever more popular. Despite the massive investment required to create these new spaces, current quality systems are poorly placed to account for the value they create. Such learning spaces are typically popular with students but the impact…

Using the Agile Development Methodology and Applying Best Practice Project Management Processes

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-12-01

side of this writing: Like finicky domestic helpers who announce that they ‘don’t do windows,’ I’ve often heard software developers state proudly...positioned or motivated, but rather because they were the least skilled developer (2012, 34). This result turned a team of what should be generalists

Real-time access of large volume imagery through low-bandwidth links

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phillips, James; Grohs, Karl; Brower, Bernard; Kelly, Lawrence; Carlisle, Lewis; Pellechia, Matthew

2010-04-01

Providing current, time-sensitive imagery and geospatial information to deployed tactical military forces or first responders continues to be a challenge. This challenge is compounded through rapid increases in sensor collection volumes, both with larger arrays and higher temporal capture rates. Focusing on the needs of these military forces and first responders, ITT developed a system called AGILE (Advanced Geospatial Imagery Library Enterprise) Access as an innovative approach based on standard off-the-shelf techniques to solving this problem. The AGILE Access system is based on commercial software called Image Access Solutions (IAS) and incorporates standard JPEG 2000 processing. Our solution system is implemented in an accredited, deployable form, incorporating a suite of components, including an image database, a web-based search and discovery tool, and several software tools that act in concert to process, store, and disseminate imagery from airborne systems and commercial satellites. Currently, this solution is operational within the U.S. Government tactical infrastructure and supports disadvantaged imagery users in the field. This paper presents the features and benefits of this system to disadvantaged users as demonstrated in real-world operational environments.

Design and evaluation of a Stochastic Optimal Feed-forward and Feedback Technology (SOFFT) flight control architecture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ostroff, Aaron J.; Proffitt, Melissa S.

1994-01-01

This paper describes the design and evaluation of a stochastic optimal feed-forward and feedback technology (SOFFT) control architecture with emphasis on the feed-forward controller design. The SOFFT approach allows the designer to independently design the feed-forward and feedback controllers to meet separate objectives and then integrate the two controllers. The feed-forward controller has been integrated with an existing high-angle-of-attack (high-alpha) feedback controller. The feed-forward controller includes a variable command model with parameters selected to satisfy level 1 flying qualities with a high-alpha adjustment to achieve desired agility guidelines, a nonlinear interpolation approach that scales entire matrices for approximation of the plant model, and equations for calculating feed-forward gains developed for perfect plant-model tracking. The SOFFT design was applied to a nonlinear batch simulation model of an F/A-18 aircraft modified for thrust vectoring. Simulation results show that agility guidelines are met and that the SOFFT controller filters undesired pilot-induced frequencies more effectively during a tracking task than a flight controller that has the same feedback control law but does not have the SOFFT feed-forward control.

SU-E-T-360: End-To-End Dosimetric Testing of a Versa HD Linear Accelerator with the Agility Head Modeled in Pinnacle3

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Saenz, D; Narayanasamy, G; Cruz, W

2015-06-15

Purpose: The Versa HD incorporates a variety of upgrades, primarily including the Agility head. The distinct dosimetric properties of the head from its predecessors combined with flattening-filter-free (FFF) beams require a new investigation of modeling in planning systems and verification of modeling accuracy. Methods: A model was created in Pinnacle{sup 3} v9.8 with commissioned beam data. Leaf transmission was modeled as <0.5% with maximum leaf speed of 3 cm/s. Photon spectra were tuned for FFF beams, for which profiles were modeled with arbitrary profiles rather than with cones. For verification, a variety of plans with varied parameters were devised, andmore » point dose measurements were compared to calculated values. A phantom of several plastic water and Styrofoam slabs was scanned and imported into Pinnacle{sup 3}. Beams of different field sizes, SSD, wedges, and gantry angles were created. All available photon energies (6 MV, 10 MV, 18 MV, 6 FFF, 10 FFF) as well four clinical electron energies (6, 9, 12, and 15 MeV) were investigated. The plans were verified at a calculation point (8 cm deep for photons, variable for electrons) by measurement with a PTW Semiflex ionization chamber. In addition, IMRT testing was performed with three standard plans (step and shoot IMRT, small and large field VMAT plans). The plans were delivered on the Delta4 IMRT QA phantom (ScandiDos, Uppsala, Sweden). Results: Homogeneous point dose measurement agreed within 2% for all photon and electron beams. Open field photon measurements along the central axis at 100 cm SSD passed within 1%. Gamma passing rates were >99.5% for all plans with a 3%/3mm tolerance criteria. The IMRT QA results for the first 23 patients yielded gamma passing rates of 97.4±2.3%. Conclusion: The end-to-end testing ensured confidence in the ability of Pinnacle{sup 3} to model photon and electron beams with the Agility head.« less

Agile

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Trimble, Jay Phillip

2013-01-01

This is based on a previous talk on agile development. Methods for delivering software on a short cycle are described, including interactions with the customer, the affect on the team, and how to be more effective, streamlined and efficient.

Forecasting Financial Priorities for Technology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ringle, Martin D.

1997-01-01

Argues that, with technology costs and revenue opportunities changing rapidly, colleges' future financial strategies concerning technology will have to be more agile and adaptable than ever. Presents financial models from 20 independent colleges and universities, and discusses how they have been used to define a financial strategy for technology…

Candidate control design metrics for an agile fighter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Murphy, Patrick C.; Bailey, Melvin L.; Ostroff, Aaron J.

1991-01-01

Success in the fighter combat environment of the future will certainly demand increasing capability from aircraft technology. These advanced capabilities in the form of superagility and supermaneuverability will require special design techniques which translate advanced air combat maneuvering requirements into design criteria. Control design metrics can provide some of these techniques for the control designer. Thus study presents an overview of control design metrics and investigates metrics for advanced fighter agility. The objectives of various metric users, such as airframe designers and pilots, are differentiated from the objectives of the control designer. Using an advanced fighter model, metric values are documented over a portion of the flight envelope through piloted simulation. These metric values provide a baseline against which future control system improvements can be compared and against which a control design methodology can be developed. Agility is measured for axial, pitch, and roll axes. Axial metrics highlight acceleration and deceleration capabilities under different flight loads and include specific excess power measurements to characterize energy meneuverability. Pitch metrics cover both body-axis and wind-axis pitch rates and accelerations. Included in pitch metrics are nose pointing metrics which highlight displacement capability between the nose and the velocity vector. Roll metrics (or torsion metrics) focus on rotational capability about the wind axis.

AstroCloud: An Agile platform for data visualization and specific analyzes in 2D and 3D

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molina, F. Z.; Salgado, R.; Bergel, A.; Infante, A.

2017-07-01

Nowadays, astronomers commonly run their own tools, or distributed computational packages, for data analysis and then visualizing the results with generic applications. This chain of processes comes at high cost: (a) analyses are manually applied, they are therefore difficult to be automatized, and (b) data have to be serialized, thus increasing the cost of parsing and saving intermediary data. We are developing AstroCloud, an agile visualization multipurpose platform intended for specific analyses of astronomical images (https://astrocloudy.wordpress.com). This platform incorporates domain-specific languages which make it easily extensible. AstroCloud supports customized plug-ins, which translate into time reduction on data analysis. Moreover, it also supports 2D and 3D rendering, including interactive features in real time. AstroCloud is under development, we are currently implementing different choices for data reduction and physical analyzes.

Software ``Best'' Practices: Agile Deconstructed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fraser, Steven

Software “best” practices depend entirely on context - in terms of the problem domain, the system constructed, the software designers, and the “customers” ultimately deriving value from the system. Agile practices no longer have the luxury of “choosing” small non-mission critical projects with co-located teams. Project stakeholders are selecting and adapting practices based on a combina tion of interest, need and staffing. For example, growing product portfolios through a merger or the acquisition of a company exposes legacy systems to new staff, new software integration challenges, and new ideas. Innovation in communications (tools and processes) to span the growth and contraction of both information and organizations, while managing the adoption of changing software practices, is imperative for success. Traditional web-based tools such as web pages, document libraries, and forums are not suf ficient. A blend of tweeting, blogs, wikis, instant messaging, web-based confer encing, and telepresence creates a new dimension of communication “best” practices.

Agile multicasting based on cascaded χ(2) nonlinearities in a step-chirped periodically poled lithium niobate.

PubMed

Ahlawat, Meenu; Bostani, Ameneh; Tehranchi, Amirhossein; Kashyap, Raman

2013-08-01

We experimentally demonstrate the possibility of agile multicasting for wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) networks, of a single-channel to two and seven channels over the C band, also extendable to S and L bands. This is based on cascaded χ(2) nonlinear mixing processes, namely, second-harmonic generation (SHG)-sum-frequency generation (SFG) and difference-frequency generation (DFG) in a 20-mm-long step-chirped periodically poled lithium niobate crystal, specially designed and fabricated for a 28-nm-wide SH-SF bandwidth centered at around 1.55 μm. The multiple idlers are simultaneously tuned by detuning the pump wavelengths within the broad SH-SF bandwidth. By selectively tuning the pump wavelengths over less than 10 and 6 nm, respectively, multicasting into two and seven idlers is successfully achieved across ~70 WDM channels within the 50 GHz International Telecommunication Union grid spacing.

Wavelength-Agile External-Cavity Diode Laser for DWDM

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pilgrim, Jeffrey S.; Bomse, David S.

2006-01-01

A prototype external-cavity diode laser (ECDL) has been developed for communication systems utilizing dense wavelength- division multiplexing (DWDM). This ECDL is an updated version of the ECDL reported in Wavelength-Agile External- Cavity Diode Laser (LEW-17090), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 25, No. 11 (November 2001), page 14a. To recapitulate: The wavelength-agile ECDL combines the stability of an external-cavity laser with the wavelength agility of a diode laser. Wavelength is modulated by modulating the injection current of the diode-laser gain element. The external cavity is a Littman-Metcalf resonator, in which the zeroth-order output from a diffraction grating is used as the laser output and the first-order-diffracted light is retro-reflected by a cavity feedback mirror, which establishes one end of the resonator. The other end of the resonator is the output surface of a Fabry-Perot resonator that constitutes the diode-laser gain element. Wavelength is selected by choosing the angle of the diffracted return beam, as determined by position of the feedback mirror. The present wavelength-agile ECDL is distinguished by design details that enable coverage of all 60 channels, separated by 100-GHz frequency intervals, that are specified in DWDM standards.

Archetype Model-Driven Development Framework for EHR Web System.

PubMed

Kobayashi, Shinji; Kimura, Eizen; Ishihara, Ken

2013-12-01

This article describes the Web application framework for Electronic Health Records (EHRs) we have developed to reduce construction costs for EHR sytems. The openEHR project has developed clinical model driven architecture for future-proof interoperable EHR systems. This project provides the specifications to standardize clinical domain model implementations, upon which the ISO/CEN 13606 standards are based. The reference implementation has been formally described in Eiffel. Moreover C# and Java implementations have been developed as reference. While scripting languages had been more popular because of their higher efficiency and faster development in recent years, they had not been involved in the openEHR implementations. From 2007, we have used the Ruby language and Ruby on Rails (RoR) as an agile development platform to implement EHR systems, which is in conformity with the openEHR specifications. We implemented almost all of the specifications, the Archetype Definition Language parser, and RoR scaffold generator from archetype. Although some problems have emerged, most of them have been resolved. We have provided an agile EHR Web framework, which can build up Web systems from archetype models using RoR. The feasibility of the archetype model to provide semantic interoperability of EHRs has been demonstrated and we have verified that that it is suitable for the construction of EHR systems.

An Integrated Toolset for Agile Systems Engineering Requirements Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-05-19

Tool STDUse Cases Collaboration Tool Data Mgmt T l 1 e a a managemen oo Run the test in the test lab, redline the STD Update the collaboration...Boeing Defense, Space & Security Lean-Agile Software A I t t d T l t fn n egra e oo se or Agile Systems Engineering Requirements Analysis Phyllis...Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration R l ti (EAR) h i l bl b t h th i th BOEING is a trademark of Boeing Management Company. Copyright © 2010

Control design for future agile fighters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Murphy, Patrick C.; Davidson, John B.

1991-01-01

The CRAFT control design methodology is presented. CRAFT stands for the design objectives addressed, namely, Control power, Robustness, Agility, and Flying Qualities Tradeoffs. The approach combines eigenspace assignment, which allows for direct specification of eigenvalues and eigenvectors, and a graphical approach for representing control design metrics that captures numerous design goals in one composite illustration. The methodology makes use of control design metrics from four design objective areas, namely, control power, robustness, agility, and flying qualities. An example of the CRAFT methodology as well as associated design issues are presented.

Universal mechatronics coordinator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muir, Patrick F.

1999-11-01

Mechatronic systems incorporate multiple actuators and sensor which must be properly coordinated to achieve the desired system functionality. Many mechatronic systems are designed as one-of-a-kind custom projects without consideration for facilitating future system or alterations and extensions to the current syste. Thus, subsequent changes to the system are slow, different, and costly. It has become apparent that manufacturing processes, and thus the mechatronics which embody them, need to be agile in order to more quickly and easily respond to changing customer demands or market pressures. To achieve agility, both the hardware and software of the system need to be designed such that the creation of new system and the alteration and extension of current system is fast and easy. This paper describes the design of a Universal Mechatronics Coordinator (UMC) which facilitates agile setup and changeover of coordination software for mechatronic systems. The UMC is capable of sequencing continuous and discrete actions that are programmed as stimulus-response pairs, as state machines, or a combination of the two. It facilitates the modular, reusable programing of continuous actions such as servo control algorithms, data collection code, and safety checking routines; and discrete actions such as reporting achieved states, and turning on/off binary devices. The UMC has been applied to the control of a z- theta assembly robot for the Minifactory project and is applicable to a spectrum of widely differing mechatronic systems.

Rule-Based Event Processing and Reaction Rules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paschke, Adrian; Kozlenkov, Alexander

Reaction rules and event processing technologies play a key role in making business and IT / Internet infrastructures more agile and active. While event processing is concerned with detecting events from large event clouds or streams in almost real-time, reaction rules are concerned with the invocation of actions in response to events and actionable situations. They state the conditions under which actions must be taken. In the last decades various reaction rule and event processing approaches have been developed, which for the most part have been advanced separately. In this paper we survey reaction rule approaches and rule-based event processing systems and languages.

Sigint Application for Polymorphous Computing Architecture (PCA): Wideband DF

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-08-01

Polymorphous Computing Architecture (PCA) program as stated by Robert Graybill is to Develop the computing foundation for agile systems by establishing...ubiquitous MUSIC algorithm rely upon an underlying narrowband signal model [8]. In this case, narrowband means that the signal bandwidth is less than...a wideband DF algorithm is needed to compensate for this model inadequacy. Among the various wideband DF techniques available, the coherent signal

Organizational Agility Model and Simulation

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-06-01

and response profile. Also, compensatory, anticipatory , adaptive, and learning behaviours (methods) are employed to modify stiffness and resistance...The hypothetical profile in Figure 1b shows some complexity changes for a major sporting event or...classical motion tracking problem using compensatory, anticipatory , adaptive, and learning behaviours. These behaviours modify the size, resistance, and

Agile Port and High Speed Ship Technologies, Vol 1: FY05 Projects 3-6 and 8-10

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-07-02

Computational Fluid Dynamics DTMB - David Taylor Model Basin JVR - Jet Velocity Ratio NSWCCD - Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division SDD - Systems...immature current state of the technology employed for the reactor system (multiple closed Brayton Cycle, Helium Cooled Gas reactors); (iii) several

A Multi-Agent System Approach for Distance Learning Architecture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turgay, Safiye

2005-01-01

The goal of this study is to suggest the agent systems by intelligence and adaptability properties in distance learning environment. The suggested system has flexible, agile, intelligence and cooperation features. System components are teachers, students (learners), and resources. Inter component relations are modeled and reviewed by using the…

Co-Teacher Perceptions of Lesson Planning in the Online Scripted Math Curriculum Inclusion Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pollock, Joseph

2017-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative single case embedded exploratory case study was to investigate high school inclusion co-teachers' perceptions of the shared planning process when developing lesson plans for "Agile Mind" (2015) and to determine how teachers work to do this within the constructs of the online scripted curriculum. The…

First-Year Students' Impressions of Pair Programming in CS1

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simon, Beth; Hanks, Brian

2008-01-01

Pair programming, as part of the Agile Development process, has noted benefits in professional software development scenarios. These successes have led to a rise in use of pair programming in educational settings, particularly in Computer Science 1 (CS1). Specifically, McDowell et al. [2006] has shown that students using pair programming in CS1 do…

Agility, gnosis, and graphaesthesia for the toes and fingers in children: normative data (ages 7-14 years).

PubMed

Richards, P M; Persinger, M A

2004-01-01

The differential representation of the toes/feet and fingers/hands along the medial and lateral surfaces of the cerebral cortices, respectively, may have diagnostic utility. Normative data for errors for toe and finger graphaesthesia and gnosis, as well as foot and finger agility, were collected for 86 children (ages 7 to 14). The fingers were more agile than the feet, and the right side of the body was more agile than the left side, regardless of age. A marked improvement in toe gnosis, but not in finger gnosis occurred in children after 11-12 years of age. A statistically significant interaction between laterality and gender was due to the greater numbers of errors for both toe and finger gnosis, displayed by girls for the left sides of their bodies compared to their right sides. This discrepancy was not significant for boys.

The Earth System Documentation (ES-DOC) Software Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greenslade, M. A.; Murphy, S.; Treshansky, A.; DeLuca, C.; Guilyardi, E.; Denvil, S.

2013-12-01

Earth System Documentation (ES-DOC) is an international project supplying high-quality tools & services in support of earth system documentation creation, analysis and dissemination. It is nurturing a sustainable standards based documentation eco-system that aims to become an integral part of the next generation of exa-scale dataset archives. ES-DOC leverages open source software, and applies a software development methodology that places end-user narratives at the heart of all it does. ES-DOC has initially focused upon nurturing the Earth System Model (ESM) documentation eco-system and currently supporting the following projects: * Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5); * Dynamical Core Model Inter-comparison Project (DCMIP); * National Climate Predictions and Projections Platforms Quantitative Evaluation of Downscaling Workshop. This talk will demonstrate that ES-DOC implements a relatively mature software development process. Taking a pragmatic Agile process as inspiration, ES-DOC: * Iteratively develops and releases working software; * Captures user requirements via a narrative based approach; * Uses online collaboration tools (e.g. Earth System CoG) to manage progress; * Prototypes applications to validate their feasibility; * Leverages meta-programming techniques where appropriate; * Automates testing whenever sensibly feasible; * Streamlines complex deployments to a single command; * Extensively leverages GitHub and Pivotal Tracker; * Enforces strict separation of the UI from underlying API's; * Conducts code reviews.

Aircraft Maneuvers for the Evaluation of Flying Qualities and Agility. Volume 1. Maneuver Development Process and Initial Maneuver Set

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-08-01

subtitled "Simulation Data," consists of detailed infonrnation on the design parmneter variations tested, subsequent statistical analyses conducted...used with confidence during the design process. The data quality can be examined in various forms such as statistical analyses of measure of merit data...merit, such as time to capture or nmaximurn pitch rate, can be calculated from the simulation time history data. Statistical techniques are then used

Agile Data Curation: A conceptual framework and approach for practitioner data management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, J. W.; Benedict, K. K.; Lenhardt, W. C.

2015-12-01

Data management occurs across a range of science and related activities such as decision-support. Exemplars within the science community operate data management systems that are extensively planned before implementation, staffed with robust data management expertise, equipped with appropriate services and technologies, and often highly structured. However, this is not the only approach to data management and almost certainly not the typical experience. The other end of the spectrum is often an ad hoc practitioner team, with changing requirements, limited training in data management, and resource constrained for both equipment and human resources. Much of the existing data management literature serves the exemplar community and ignores the ad hoc practitioners. Somewhere in the middle are examples where data are repurposed for new uses thereby generating new data management challenges. This submission presents a conceptualization of an Agile Data Curation approach that provides foundational principles for data management efforts operating across the spectrum of data generation and use from large science systems to efforts with constrained resources, limited expertise, and evolving requirements. The underlying principles to Agile Data Curation are a reapplication of agile software development principles to data management. The historical reality for many data management efforts is operating in a practioner environment so Agile Data Curation utilizes historical and current case studies to validate the foundational principles and through comparison learn lessons for future application. This submission will provide an overview of the Agile Data Curation, cover the foundational principles to the approach, and introduce a framework for gathering, classifying, and applying lessons from case studies of practitioner data management.

Mobility and Agility During Locomotion in the Mark III Space Suit.

PubMed

Cullinane, Conor R; Rhodes, Richard A; Stirling, Leia A

2017-06-01

The Mark III (MIII) space suit assembly (SSAs) implements a multibearing, hard-material hip brief assembly (HBA). We hypothesize that: 1) the MIII HBA restricts operator mobility and agility which manifests in effects to gait parameters; 2) the waist bearing provides rotational motion, partially alleviating the restrictions; and 3) there are resistive, speed-dependent torques associated with the spinning bearings which further diminish mobility and agility. A subject (Suited and Unsuited) performed two planetary tasks-walking forward (WF) and backward (WB). An analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post hoc comparisons were performed to determine interaction effects. Motion capture data was processed to obtain gait parameters: static base (m), dynamic base (m), step length (m), stride length (m), cadence (steps/min), center of mass speed (m · s-1), foot clearance (toe and heel) (m), and bearing angular velocities (° · s-1). The static base when Suited (0.355 m) was larger than Unsuited (0.263 m). The Suited dynamic base (pooled, 0.200 m) was larger than both Unsuited WF (0.081 m) and WB (0.107 m). When Suited, the operator had lower clearance heights. The waist bearings provided about 7.2° of rotation when WB and WF. The maximum torque, while WF, in the right upper and mid bearings was 15.6 ± 1.35 Nm and 16.3 ± 1.28 Nm. This study integrated suit component properties and the emergent biomechanics of the operator to investigate how biomechanics are affected. The human hip has three collocated degrees of freedom (DOFs), whereas the HBA has a single DOF per bearing. The results can inform requirements for future SSA and other wearable system designs and evaluations.Cullinane CR, Rhodes RA, Stirling LA. Mobility and agility during locomotion in the Mark III space suit. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2017; 88(6):589-596.

Agile Data Curation Case Studies Leading to the Identification and Development of Data Curation Design Patterns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benedict, K. K.; Lenhardt, W. C.; Young, J. W.; Gordon, L. C.; Hughes, S.; Santhana Vannan, S. K.

2017-12-01

The planning for and development of efficient workflows for the creation, reuse, sharing, documentation, publication and preservation of research data is a general challenge that research teams of all sizes face. In response to: requirements from funding agencies for full-lifecycle data management plans that will result in well documented, preserved, and shared research data products increasing requirements from publishers for shared data in conjunction with submitted papers interdisciplinary research team's needs for efficient data sharing within projects, and increasing reuse of research data for replication and new, unanticipated research, policy development, and public use alternative strategies to traditional data life cycle approaches must be developed and shared that enable research teams to meet these requirements while meeting the core science objectives of their projects within the available resources. In support of achieving these goals, the concept of Agile Data Curation has been developed in which there have been parallel activities in support of 1) identifying a set of shared values and principles that underlie the objectives of agile data curation, 2) soliciting case studies from the Earth science and other research communities that illustrate aspects of what the contributors consider agile data curation methods and practices, and 3) identifying or developing design patterns that are high-level abstractions from successful data curation practice that are related to common data curation problems for which common solution strategies may be employed. This paper provides a collection of case studies that have been contributed by the Earth science community, and an initial analysis of those case studies to map them to emerging shared data curation problems and their potential solutions. Following the initial analysis of these problems and potential solutions, existing design patterns from software engineering and related disciplines are identified as a starting point for the development of a catalog of data curation design patterns that may be reused in the design and execution of new data curation processes.

Architecture and performances of the AGILE Telemetry Preprocessing System (TMPPS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trifoglio, M.; Bulgarelli, A.; Gianotti, F.; Lazzarotto, F.; Di Cocco, G.; Fuschino, F.; Tavani, M.

2008-07-01

AGILE is an Italian Space Agency (ASI) satellite dedicated to high energy Astrophysics. It was launched successfully on 23 April 2007, and it has been operated by the AGILE Ground Segment, consisting of the Ground Station located in Malindi (Kenia), the Mission Operations Centre (MOC) and the AGILE Data Centre (ADC) established in Italy, at Telespazio in Fucino and at the ASI Science Data Centre (ASDC) in Frascati respectively. Due to the low equatorial orbit at ~ 530 Km. with inclination angle of ~ 2.5°, the satellite passes over the Ground Station every ~ 100'. During the visibility period of . ~ 12', the Telemetry (TM) is down linked through two separated virtual channels, VC0 and VC1. The former is devoted to the real time TM generated during the pass at the average rate of 50 Kbit/s and is directly relayed to the Control Centre. The latter is used to downlink TM data collected on the satellite on-board mass memory during the non visibility period. This generates at the Ground Station a raw TM file of up to 37 MByte. Within 20' after the end of the contact, both the real time and mass memory TM arrive at ADC through the dedicated VPN ASINet. Here they are automatically detected and ingested by the TMPPS pipeline in less than 5 minutes. The TMPPS archives each TM file and sorts its packets into one stream for each of the different TM layout. Each stream is processed in parallel in order to unpack the various telemetry field and archive them into suitable FITS files. Each operation is tracked into a MySQL data base which interfaces the TMPPS pipeline to the rest of the scientific pipeline running at ADC. In this paper the architecture and the performance of the TMPPS will be described and discussed.

Multi-objective Analysis for a Sequencing Planning of Mixed-model Assembly Line

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shimizu, Yoshiaki; Waki, Toshiya; Yoo, Jae Kyu

Diversified customer demands are raising importance of just-in-time and agile manufacturing much more than before. Accordingly, introduction of mixed-model assembly lines becomes popular to realize the small-lot-multi-kinds production. Since it produces various kinds on the same assembly line, a rational management is of special importance. With this point of view, this study focuses on a sequencing problem of mixed-model assembly line including a paint line as its preceding process. By taking into account the paint line together, reducing work-in-process (WIP) inventory between these heterogeneous lines becomes a major concern of the sequencing problem besides improving production efficiency. Finally, we have formulated the sequencing problem as a bi-objective optimization problem to prevent various line stoppages, and to reduce the volume of WIP inventory simultaneously. Then we have proposed a practical method for the multi-objective analysis. For this purpose, we applied the weighting method to derive the Pareto front. Actually, the resulting problem is solved by a meta-heuristic method like SA (Simulated Annealing). Through numerical experiments, we verified the validity of the proposed approach, and discussed the significance of trade-off analysis between the conflicting objectives.

Foreword: Additive Manufacturing: Interrelationships of Fabrication, Constitutive Relationships Targeting Performance, and Feedback to Process Control

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Carpenter, John S.; Beese, Allison M.; Bourell, David L.

Additive manufacturing (AM) offers distinct advantages over conventional manufacturing processes including the capability to both build and repair complex part shapes; to integrate and consolidate parts and thus overcome joining concerns; and to locally tailor material compositions as well as properties. Moreover, a variety of fields such as aerospace, military, automotive, and biomedical are employing this manufacturing technique as a way to decrease costs, increase manufacturing agility, and explore novel geometry/functionalities. In order to increase acceptance of AM as a viable processing method, pathways for qualifying both the material and the process need to be developed and, perhaps, standardized. Thismore » symposium was designed to serve as a venue for the international AM community—including government, academia, and industry—to define the fundamental interrelationships between feedstock, processing, microstructure, shape, mechanical behavior/materials properties, and function/performance. Eventually, insight into the connections between processing, microstructure, property, and performance will be achieved through experimental observations, theoretical advances, and computational modeling of physical processes. Finally, once this insight matures, AM will be able to move from the realm of making parts to making qualified materials that are certified for use with minimal need for post-fabrication characterization.« less

Foreword: Additive Manufacturing: Interrelationships of Fabrication, Constitutive Relationships Targeting Performance, and Feedback to Process Control

DOE PAGES

Carpenter, John S.; Beese, Allison M.; Bourell, David L.; ...

2015-06-26

Additive manufacturing (AM) offers distinct advantages over conventional manufacturing processes including the capability to both build and repair complex part shapes; to integrate and consolidate parts and thus overcome joining concerns; and to locally tailor material compositions as well as properties. Moreover, a variety of fields such as aerospace, military, automotive, and biomedical are employing this manufacturing technique as a way to decrease costs, increase manufacturing agility, and explore novel geometry/functionalities. In order to increase acceptance of AM as a viable processing method, pathways for qualifying both the material and the process need to be developed and, perhaps, standardized. Thismore » symposium was designed to serve as a venue for the international AM community—including government, academia, and industry—to define the fundamental interrelationships between feedstock, processing, microstructure, shape, mechanical behavior/materials properties, and function/performance. Eventually, insight into the connections between processing, microstructure, property, and performance will be achieved through experimental observations, theoretical advances, and computational modeling of physical processes. Finally, once this insight matures, AM will be able to move from the realm of making parts to making qualified materials that are certified for use with minimal need for post-fabrication characterization.« less

The Canonical Robot Command Language (CRCL).

PubMed

Proctor, Frederick M; Balakirsky, Stephen B; Kootbally, Zeid; Kramer, Thomas R; Schlenoff, Craig I; Shackleford, William P

2016-01-01

Industrial robots can perform motion with sub-millimeter repeatability when programmed using the teach-and-playback method. While effective, this method requires significant up-front time, tying up the robot and a person during the teaching phase. Off-line programming can be used to generate robot programs, but the accuracy of this method is poor unless supplemented with good calibration to remove systematic errors, feed-forward models to anticipate robot response to loads, and sensing to compensate for unmodeled errors. These increase the complexity and up-front cost of the system, but the payback in the reduction of recurring teach programming time can be worth the effort. This payback especially benefits small-batch, short-turnaround applications typical of small-to-medium enterprises, who need the agility afforded by off-line application development to be competitive against low-cost manual labor. To fully benefit from this agile application tasking model, a common representation of tasks should be used that is understood by all of the resources required for the job: robots, tooling, sensors, and people. This paper describes an information model, the Canonical Robot Command Language (CRCL), which provides a high-level description of robot tasks and associated control and status information.

The Canonical Robot Command Language (CRCL)

PubMed Central

Proctor, Frederick M.; Balakirsky, Stephen B.; Kootbally, Zeid; Kramer, Thomas R.; Schlenoff, Craig I.; Shackleford, William P.

2017-01-01

Industrial robots can perform motion with sub-millimeter repeatability when programmed using the teach-and-playback method. While effective, this method requires significant up-front time, tying up the robot and a person during the teaching phase. Off-line programming can be used to generate robot programs, but the accuracy of this method is poor unless supplemented with good calibration to remove systematic errors, feed-forward models to anticipate robot response to loads, and sensing to compensate for unmodeled errors. These increase the complexity and up-front cost of the system, but the payback in the reduction of recurring teach programming time can be worth the effort. This payback especially benefits small-batch, short-turnaround applications typical of small-to-medium enterprises, who need the agility afforded by off-line application development to be competitive against low-cost manual labor. To fully benefit from this agile application tasking model, a common representation of tasks should be used that is understood by all of the resources required for the job: robots, tooling, sensors, and people. This paper describes an information model, the Canonical Robot Command Language (CRCL), which provides a high-level description of robot tasks and associated control and status information. PMID:28529393

Arbovirus models to provide practical management tools for mosquito control and disease prevention in the Northern Territory, Australia.

PubMed

Jacups, Susan P; Whelan, Peter I; Harley, David

2011-03-01

Ross River virus (RRV) causes the most common human arbovirus disease in Australia. Although the disease is nonfatal, the associated arthritis and postinfection fatigue can be debilitating for many months, impacting on workforce participation. We sought to create an early-warning system to notify of approaching RRV disease outbreak conditions for major townships in the Northern Territory. By applying a logistic regression model to meteorologic factors, including rainfall, a postestimation analysis of sensitivity and specificity can create rainfall cut-points. These rainfall cut-points indicate the rainfall level above which previous epidemic conditions have occurred. Furthermore, rainfall cut-points indirectly adjust for vertebrate host data from the agile wallaby (Macropus agilis) as the life cycle of the agile wallaby is intricately meshed with the wet season. Once generated, cut-points can thus be used prospectively to allow timely implementation of larval survey and control measures and public health warnings to preemptively reduce RRV disease incidence. Cut-points are location specific and have the capacity to replace previously used models, which require data management and input, and rarely provide timely notification for vector control requirements and public health warnings. These methods can be adapted for use elsewhere.

Improving the Agility of the NATO Response Force (NRF)

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-04-01

the MCCE and the MIH helicopter task force. As 168 Hauser and Kernic eds., 140-141. 169 NATO...agility through unified efforts. Initiatives such as the MIH helicopter task force and the Movement Coordination Centre Europe (MCCE) are positive

Experiences with Extreme Programming

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sherrell, Linda; Krishna, Bhagavathy; Velaga, Natasha; Vejandla, Pavan; Satharla, Mahesh

2010-01-01

Agile methodologies have become increasingly popular among software developers as evidenced by industrial participation at related conferences. The popularity of agile practices over traditional techniques partly stems from the fact that these practices provide for more customer involvement and better accommodate rapidly changing requirements,…

Software ``Best'' Practices: Agile Deconstructed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fraser, Steven

This workshop will explore the intersection of agility and software development in a world of legacy code-bases and large teams. Organizations with hundreds of developers and code-bases exceeding a million or tens of millions of lines of code are seeking new ways to expedite development while retaining and attracting staff who desire to apply “agile” methods. This is a situation where specific agile practices may be embraced outside of their usual zone of applicability. Here is where practitioners must understand both what “best practices” already exist in the organization - and how they might be improved or modified by applying “agile” approaches.

Design of a Wireless Sensor System with the Algorithms of Heart Rate and Agility Index for Athlete Evaluation

PubMed Central

Li, Meina; Kim, Youn Tae

2017-01-01

Athlete evaluation systems can effectively monitor daily training and boost performance to reduce injuries. Conventional heart-rate measurement systems can be easily affected by artifact movement, especially in the case of athletes. Significant noise can be generated owing to high-intensity activities. To improve the comfort for athletes and the accuracy of monitoring, we have proposed to combine robust heart rate and agility index monitoring algorithms into a small, light, and single node. A band-pass-filter-based R-wave detection algorithm was developed. The agility index was calculated by preprocessing with band-pass filtering and employing the zero-crossing detection method. The evaluation was conducted under both laboratory and field environments to verify the accuracy and reliability of the algorithm. The heart rate and agility index measurements can be wirelessly transmitted to a personal computer in real time by the ZigBee telecommunication system. The results show that the error rate of measurement of the heart rate is within 2%, which is comparable with that of the traditional wired measurement method. The sensitivity of the agility index, which could be distinguished as the activity speed, changed slightly. Thus, we confirmed that the developed algorithm could be used in an effective and safe exercise-evaluation system for athletes. PMID:29039763

Maturity-Associated Variation in Functional Characteristics Of Elite Youth Tennis Players.

PubMed

Myburgh, Gillian K; Cumming, Sean P; Silva, Manuel Coelho E; Cooke, Karl; Malina, Robert M

2016-11-01

To evaluate relationships among skeletal maturity, body size, and functional capacities of elite junior tennis players. Participants were 88 elite British Junior tennis players (44 male; 44 female), 8-16 years of age (12.4 } 1.9 years). Skeletal age estimated maturty. Anthropometry, grip strength, countermovement jump, squat jump, forehand agility, backhand agility, Yo-Yo, 5-m, 10-m and 20-m sprints were measured. Comparative analysis for each sex was performed, relating advanced maturers (Male: 15; Female: 29) to a combination of on-time and late maturers (Male: 29; Female: 31). ANCOVAs were used to determine absolute differences between male and female players and between the 2 maturity subgroups, with chronological age as the covariate. Advanced maturity afforded male players advantages in absolute measures of grip strength, speed, upper and lower body power but not in acceleration, agility or aerobic endurance. Male players were significantly taller than females in the U13-U16 age group. Advanced maturity in female players afforded advantages in absolute measures of grip strength, agility and overhead power, but not in backhand agility, aerobic endurance or squat jump power. It is important that talent identification protocols consider the maturity of youth athletes to more satisfactorily address athletic potential rather than transient physical capabilities.

Advanced text and video analytics for proactive decision making

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bowman, Elizabeth K.; Turek, Matt; Tunison, Paul; Porter, Reed; Thomas, Steve; Gintautas, Vadas; Shargo, Peter; Lin, Jessica; Li, Qingzhe; Gao, Yifeng; Li, Xiaosheng; Mittu, Ranjeev; Rosé, Carolyn Penstein; Maki, Keith; Bogart, Chris; Choudhari, Samrihdi Shree

2017-05-01

Today's warfighters operate in a highly dynamic and uncertain world, and face many competing demands. Asymmetric warfare and the new focus on small, agile forces has altered the framework by which time critical information is digested and acted upon by decision makers. Finding and integrating decision-relevant information is increasingly difficult in data-dense environments. In this new information environment, agile data algorithms, machine learning software, and threat alert mechanisms must be developed to automatically create alerts and drive quick response. Yet these advanced technologies must be balanced with awareness of the underlying context to accurately interpret machine-processed indicators and warnings and recommendations. One promising approach to this challenge brings together information retrieval strategies from text, video, and imagery. In this paper, we describe a technology demonstration that represents two years of tri-service research seeking to meld text and video for enhanced content awareness. The demonstration used multisource data to find an intelligence solution to a problem using a common dataset. Three technology highlights from this effort include 1) Incorporation of external sources of context into imagery normalcy modeling and anomaly detection capabilities, 2) Automated discovery and monitoring of targeted users from social media text, regardless of language, and 3) The concurrent use of text and imagery to characterize behaviour using the concept of kinematic and text motifs to detect novel and anomalous patterns. Our demonstration provided a technology baseline for exploiting heterogeneous data sources to deliver timely and accurate synopses of data that contribute to a dynamic and comprehensive worldview.

Mobility and muscle strength in male former elite endurance and power athletes aged 66-91 years.

PubMed

Manderoos, S; Wasenius, N; Laine, M K; Kujala, U M; Mälkiä, E; Kaprio, J; Sarna, S; Bäckmand, H M; Kettunen, J A; Heinonen, O J; Jula, A M; Aunola, S; Eriksson, J G

2017-11-01

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to compare mobility and muscle strength in male former elite endurance and power athletes aged 66-91 years (n = 150; 50 men in both former elite athlete groups and in their control group). Agility, dynamic balance, walking speed, chair stand, self-rated balance confidence (ABC-scale), jumping height, and handgrip strength were assessed. Former elite power athletes had better agility performance time than the controls (age- and body mass index, BMI-adjusted mean difference -3.6 s; 95% CI -6.3, -0.8). Adjustment for current leisure time physical activity (LTPA) and prevalence of diseases made this difference non-significant (P = 0.214). The subjects in the power sports group jumped higher than the men in the control group (age- and BMI-adjusted mean differences for vertical squat jump, VSJ 4.4 cm; 95% CI 2.0, 6.8; for countermovement jump, CMJ 4.0 cm; 95% CI 1.7, 6.4). Taking current LTPA and chronic diseases for adjusting process did not improve explorative power of the model. No significant differences between the groups were found in the performances evaluating dynamic balance, walking speed, chair stand, ABC-scale, or handgrip strength. In conclusion, power athletes among the aged former elite sportsmen had greater explosive force production in their lower extremities than the men in the control group. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A Model for a Single Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Program Office Managing Joint ISR Capabilities

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-10-01

reduction in manning from the multiple program office structure to the new single program management model. Additional information regarding this...OFFICE MANAGING JOINT ISR CAPABILITIES by Angela E. Burris A Research Report Submitted to the Faculty In Partial Fulfillment of...research paper is to answer how a single management office could provide greater agility for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS); supporting Joint concepts

Agile and Lean Systems Engineering: Kanban in Systems Engineering

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-12-31

Rico (Boeing)  Garry Roedler (Lockheed Martin)  Karl Scotland (Rally Software, UK)  Alan Shalloway (NetObjectives)  Neil Shirk (Lockheed Martin... Neil Siegel (Northrop Grumman)  James Sutton (Jubata Group) Thanks are also due to the members of the SERC Research Council, particularly Barry...Commitment Model to Brownfield Systems Development, Proceedings, CSER 2009, April 2009. 14. Heath , B. et al. (2009). A survey of agent-based modeling

IT Software Development and IT Operations Strategic Alignment: An Agile DevOps Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hart, Michael

2017-01-01

Information Technology (IT) departments that include development and operations are essential to develop software that meet customer needs. DevOps is a term originally constructed from software development and IT operations. DevOps includes the collaboration of all stakeholders such as software engineers and systems administrators involved in the…

SAS-085 C2 Agility Model Validation Using Case Studies

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-06-01

civilians who sought refuge with UNAMIR. As the slaughter continued, UN peacekeeping forces stood by since they are forbidden to intervene, as this would...Cyber Common Operating Picture ( COP ) to help them analyze and respond to the challenge. The SSA and Cyber COP was created almost on the fly in a

An Agile Behavioral Model for Monitoring the Effects of Stimulant Medication in School Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Volpe, Robert J.; Heick, Patrick F.; Guerasko-Moore, David

2005-01-01

Students are increasingly being prescribed stimulant medication to treat the symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Although several authors have advocated specific procedures for monitoring the effects of this medication in school settings, recent evidence suggests that these procedures are not being used adequately. In this…

Cybersecurity Protection: Design Science Research toward an Intercloud Transparent Bridge Architecture (ITCOBRA)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Joe M.

2013-01-01

This dissertation uses design science research and engineering to develop a cloud-based simulator for modeling next-generation cybersecurity protection frameworks in the United States. The claim is made that an agile and neutral framework extending throughout the cyber-threat plane is needed for critical infrastructure protection (CIP). This…

Agility in Business School Education through Richness and Reach: A Conceptual Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gupta, Nakul; Bharadwaj, Sangeeta Shah

2013-01-01

Purpose: Pedagogy today has become a function of technology and this relationship becomes all the more promising when used to address the educational needs of the constantly changing and fast evolving business school education. Business schools today are responsible for empowering future managers and leaders with not only the knowledge and…

Repurposing Existing Material for Performance Support.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harvey, Francis A.; Nelson, Adam

1995-01-01

Presents an overview of performance support systems (PSS), describes their role in promoting productivity in agile organizations, and discusses issues related to developing effective performance support using existing orientation, training, or procedural manuals. Topics include strategic principles of agility, and adding value when incorporating…

Transformative Learning in Human Resource Development: Successes in Scholarly Practitioner Applications--Conflict Management, Discursive Processes in Diversity and Leadership Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fisher-Yoshida, Beth; Geller, Kathy D.; Wasserman, Ilene C.

2005-01-01

Today's complex global environment calls for leaders to be agile decision makers, engage in critical self-reflection, integrate reflection with action, and partner with those who are different in significant ways. These capabilities and skills are the core qualities of transformative learning. This paper weaves research findings that explore…

Seven durable ideas.

PubMed

Glaser, John P

2008-01-01

Partners Healthcare, and its affiliated hospitals, have a long track record of accomplishments in clinical information systems implementations and research. Seven ideas have shaped the information systems strategies and tactics at Partners; centrality of processes, organizational partnerships, progressive incrementalism, agility, architecture, embedded research, and engage the field. This article reviews the ideas and discusses the rationale and steps taken to put the ideas into practice.

Seven Durable Ideas

PubMed Central

Glaser, John P.

2008-01-01

Partners Healthcare, and its affiliated hospitals, have a long track record of accomplishments in clinical information systems implementations and research. Seven ideas have shaped the information systems strategies and tactics at Partners; centrality of processes, organizational partnerships, progressive incrementalism, agility, architecture, embedded research, and engage the field. This article reviews the ideas and discusses the rationale and steps taken to put the ideas into practice. PMID:18308978

Agile deployment and code coverage testing metrics of the boot software on-board Solar Orbiter's Energetic Particle Detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parra, Pablo; da Silva, Antonio; Polo, Óscar R.; Sánchez, Sebastián

2018-02-01

In this day and age, successful embedded critical software needs agile and continuous development and testing procedures. This paper presents the overall testing and code coverage metrics obtained during the unit testing procedure carried out to verify the correctness of the boot software that will run in the Instrument Control Unit (ICU) of the Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) on-board Solar Orbiter. The ICU boot software is a critical part of the project so its verification should be addressed at an early development stage, so any test case missed in this process may affect the quality of the overall on-board software. According to the European Cooperation for Space Standardization ESA standards, testing this kind of critical software must cover 100% of the source code statement and decision paths. This leads to the complete testing of fault tolerance and recovery mechanisms that have to resolve every possible memory corruption or communication error brought about by the space environment. The introduced procedure enables fault injection from the beginning of the development process and enables to fulfill the exigent code coverage demands on the boot software.

A Comparative Assessment of the Navy’s Future Naval Capabilities (FNC) Process and Joint Staff Capability Gap Assessment Process as Related to Pacific Commands (PACOM) Integrated Priority List Submission

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-04-01

University Eugene Rex Jalao, Arizona State University and University of the Philippines Christopher Auger, Lars Baldus, Brian Yoshimoto, J. Robert...Approach to Agile Acquisition Timothy Boyce, Iva Sherman, and Nicholas Roussel Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific Challenge-Based...Problem Solving as a Mechanism for Adaptive Change Kathryn Aten and John T . Dillard Naval Postgraduate School A Comparative Assessment of the Navy’s

Sensory enhancing insoles improve athletic performance during a hexagonal agility task.

PubMed

Miranda, Daniel L; Hsu, Wen-Hao; Gravelle, Denise C; Petersen, Kelsey; Ryzman, Rachael; Niemi, James; Lesniewski-Laas, Nicholas

2016-05-03

Athletes incorporate afferent signals from the mechanoreceptors of their plantar feet to provide information about posture, stability, and joint position. Sub-threshold stochastic resonance (SR) sensory enhancing insoles have been shown to improve balance and proprioception in young and elderly participant populations. Balance and proprioception are correlated with improved athletic performance, such as agility. Agility is defined as the ability to quickly change direction. An athlete's agility is commonly evaluated during athletic performance testing to assess their ability to participate in a competitive sporting event. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of SR insoles during a hexagonal agility task routinely used by coaches and sports scientists. Twenty recreational athletes were recruited to participate in this study. Each athlete was asked to perform a set of hexagonal agility trials while SR stimulation was either on or off. Vicon motion capture was used to measure feet position during six successful trials for each stimulation condition. Stimulation condition was randomized in a pairwise fashion. The study outcome measures were the task completion time and the positional accuracy of footfalls. Pairwise comparisons revealed a 0.12s decrease in task completion time (p=0.02) with no change in hopping accuracy (p=0.99) when SR stimulation was on. This is the first study to show athletic performance benefits while wearing proprioception and balance improving equipment on healthy participants. With further development, a self-contained sensory enhancing insole device could be used by recreational and professional athletes to improve movements that require rapid changes in direction. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Computerized Agility Training Improves Change-of-Direction and Balance Performance Independently of Footwear in Young Adults.

PubMed

Paquette, Max R; Schilling, Brian K; Bravo, Joshua D; Peel, Shelby A; Li, Yuhua; Townsend, Robert J

2017-03-01

Understanding the effects of training in different footwear on sporting performance would be useful to coaches and athletes. This study compared the effects of computerized agility training using 3 types of footwear on change-of-direction and balance performance in young adults. Thirty recreationally active young adults (M age  = 22.8 ± 3.1 years; M height  = 1.71 ± 0.7 m; M bodymass  = 73.4 ± 10.3 kg) were randomly assigned to a 6-week computerized agility training intervention in 1 of 3 footwear groups (n = 10/group): barefoot, minimal footwear, or traditional shoes. Participants had no previous barefoot or minimal-footwear training experience. Dependent variables included change-of-direction test time to completion, Star Excursion Balance Test, and single-leg stability evaluation. Testing was performed at the start of the training program, after 2 weeks, after 4 weeks, and at the end of the training program. No group or time interactions were found for any of the dependent variables. Time main effects were observed for the performance measures of change of direction, Star Excursion, and single-leg-with-eyes-open stability evaluation. Participants improved in all 3 tests as early as 2 weeks into the intervention, with improvements continuing through the entire 6-week intervention. The lack of interaction and footwear effects suggests that agility and balance improvements during foot agility training are independent of footwear in a recreationally active young-adult population. Computerized agility training improves change-of-direction and balance performance within 2 weeks of training implementation. Future studies should consider footwear training effects in different populations, including frail older adults and athletes.

A comparison of assisted, resisted, and common plyometric training modes to enhance sprint and agility performance.

PubMed

Khodaei, Kazem; Mohammadi, Abbas; Badri, Neda

2017-10-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of assisted, resisted and common plyometric training modes to enhance sprint and agility performance. Thirty active young males (age 20.67±1.12, height 174.83±4.69, weight 63.45±7.51) volunteered to participate in this study that 24 completed testing. The participants were randomly assigned into different groups: assisted, resisted and common plyometric exercises groups. Plyometric training involved three sessions per week for 4 weeks. The volume load of plyometric training modes was equated between the groups. The posttest was performed after 48 hours of the last training session. Between-group differences were analyzed with the ANCOVA and LSD post-hoc tests, and within-group differences were analyzed by a paired t-test. The findings of the present study indicated that 0-10-m, 20-30-m sprint time and the Illinois Agility Test time significantly decreased in the assisted and resisted plyometrics modes compared to the common plyometric training mode (P≤0.05). Also, the 0-10-m, 0-30-m sprint time and agility T-test time was significantly reduced with resisted plyometrics modes compared to the assisted and common plyometric modes (P≤0.05). There was no significant difference in the 10-20-m sprint time among the three plyometric training modes. The results of this study demonstrated that assisted and resisted plyometrics modes with elastic bands were effective methods to improve sprint and agility performance than common plyometric training in active males. Also, the resisted plyometrics mode was superior than the assisted plyometrics mode to improving sprint and agility tasks.

Agile Machining and Inspection Non-Nuclear Report (NNR) Project

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lazarus, Lloyd

This report is a high level summary of the eight major projects funded by the Agile Machining and Inspection Non-Nuclear Readiness (NNR) project (FY06.0422.3.04.R1). The largest project of the group is the Rapid Response project in which the six major sub categories are summarized. This project focused on the operations of the machining departments that will comprise Special Applications Machining (SAM) in the Kansas City Responsive Infrastructure Manufacturing & Sourcing (KCRIMS) project. This project was aimed at upgrading older machine tools, developing new inspection tools, eliminating Classified Removable Electronic Media (CREM) in the handling of classified Numerical Control (NC) programsmore » by installing the CRONOS network, and developing methods to automatically load Coordinated-Measuring Machine (CMM) inspection data into bomb books and product score cards. Finally, the project personnel leaned perations of some of the machine tool cells, and now have the model to continue this activity.« less

Scrum-Based Learning Environment: Fostering Self-Regulated Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Linden, Tanya

2018-01-01

Academics teaching software development courses are experimenting with teaching methods aiming to improve students' learning experience and learning outcomes. Since Agile software development is gaining popularity in industry due to positive effects on managing projects, academics implement similar Agile approaches in student-centered learning…

76 FR 14690 - Manufacturer of Controlled Substances; Notice of Registration

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-17

... December 3, 2010, (75 FR 75498), Agilent Technologies, 25200 Commercentre Drive, Lake Forest, California... determined that the registration of Agilent Technologies to manufacture the listed basic classes of... Technologies to ensure that the company's registration is consistent with the public interest. The...

Vision and agility training in community dwelling older adults: incorporating visual training into programs for fall prevention.

PubMed

Reed-Jones, Rebecca J; Dorgo, Sandor; Hitchings, Maija K; Bader, Julia O

2012-04-01

This study aimed to examine the effect of visual training on obstacle course performance of independent community dwelling older adults. Agility is the ability to rapidly alter ongoing motor patterns, an important aspect of mobility which is required in obstacle avoidance. However, visual information is also a critical factor in successful obstacle avoidance. We compared obstacle course performance of a group that trained in visually driven body movements and agility drills, to a group that trained only in agility drills. We also included a control group that followed the American College of Sports Medicine exercise recommendations for older adults. Significant gains in fitness, mobility and power were observed across all training groups. Obstacle course performance results revealed that visual training had the greatest improvement on obstacle course performance (22%) following a 12 week training program. These results suggest that visual training may be an important consideration for fall prevention programs. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

High-energy Gamma-Ray Activity from V404 Cygni Detected by AGILE during the 2015 June Outburst

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Piano, G.; Munar-Adrover, P.; Tavani, M.

The AGILE satellite detected transient high-energy γ -ray emission from the X-ray binary V404 Cygni, during the 2015 June outburst observed in radio, optical, X-ray, and soft γ -ray frequencies. The activity was observed by AGILE in the 50–400 MeV energy band, between 2015 June 24 UT 06:00:00 and 2015 June 26 UT 06:00:00 (MJD 57197.25–57199.25), with a detection significance of ∼4.3 σ . The γ -ray detection, consistent with a contemporaneous observation by Fermi -LAT, is correlated with a bright flare observed at radio and hard X-ray frequencies, and with a strong enhancement of the 511 keV line emission,more » possibly indicating plasmoid ejections in a lepton-dominated transient jet. The AGILE observations of this binary system are compatible with a microquasar scenario in which transient jets are responsible for the high-energy γ -ray emission.« less

The Mini-Calorimeter on-board AGILE: The first year in space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marisaldi, M.; Labanti, C.; Fuschino, F.; Galli, M.; Argan, A.; Bulgarelli, A.; Di Cocco, G.; Gianotti, F.; Tavani, M.; Trifoglio, M.; Trois, A.

2009-04-01

AGILE, the Italian space mission dedicated to gamma-ray and hard-X astrophysics, was successfully launched on 23rd April 2007 and is currently fully operative. The Mini-Calorimeter (MCAL) on-board the AGILE satellite is a scintillation detector made of 20 kg of segmented CsI(Tl) scintillator with photodiode readout with a total geometrical area of 1400 cm2. MCAL can work both as a slave of the AGILE Silicon tracker and as an independent detector for gamma-ray bursts (GRB) detection in the 300 keV - 100 MeV energy range. Despite its limited thickness, due to weight constraints, MCAL has proven to successfully self-trigger GRBs at MeV energies providing photon-by-photon data with less than 2 μs time resolution and almost all-sky detection capabilities. The instrument design and characteristics, as well as the in-flight performance after one year of operation in space and the scientific results obtained so far are reviewed and discussed.

Design and construction of the Mini-Calorimeter of the AGILE satellite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Labanti, C.; Marisaldi, M.; Fuschino, F.; Galli, M.; Argan, A.; Bulgarelli, A.; Di Cocco, G.; Gianotti, F.; Tavani, M.; Trifoglio, M.

2009-01-01

AGILE is a small space mission of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) devoted to gamma-ray and hard-X astrophysics, successfully launched on April 23, 2007. The AGILE Payload is composed of three instruments: a gamma-ray imager based on a tungsten-silicon tracker (ST), for observations in the gamma ray energy range 30 MeV-50 GeV, a Silicon based X-ray detector, SuperAGILE (SA), for imaging in the range 18-60 keV and a CsI(Tl) Mini-Calorimeter (MCAL) that detects gamma rays or charged particles energy loss in the range 300 keV-100 MeV. MCAL is composed of 30 CsI(Tl) scintillator bars with photodiode readout at both ends, arranged in two orthogonal layers. MCAL can work both as a slave of the ST and as an independent gamma-ray detector for transients and gamma-ray bursts detection. In this paper a detailed description of MCAL is presented together with its performance.

Clustering-based urbanisation to improve enterprise information systems agility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Imache, Rabah; Izza, Said; Ahmed-Nacer, Mohamed

2015-11-01

Enterprises are daily facing pressures to demonstrate their ability to adapt quickly to the unpredictable changes of their dynamic in terms of technology, social, legislative, competitiveness and globalisation. Thus, to ensure its place in this hard context, enterprise must always be agile and must ensure its sustainability by a continuous improvement of its information system (IS). Therefore, the agility of enterprise information systems (EISs) can be considered today as a primary objective of any enterprise. One way of achieving this objective is by the urbanisation of the EIS in the context of continuous improvement to make it a real asset servicing enterprise strategy. This paper investigates the benefits of EISs urbanisation based on clustering techniques as a driver for agility production and/or improvement to help managers and IT management departments to improve continuously the performance of the enterprise and make appropriate decisions in the scope of the enterprise objectives and strategy. This approach is applied to the urbanisation of a tour operator EIS.

Total Sleep Deprivation and Recovery Sleep Affect the Diurnal Variation of Agility Performance: The Gender Differences.

PubMed

Romdhani, Mohamed; Hammouda, Omar; Smari, Khawla; Chaabouni, Yassine; Mahdouani, Kacem; Driss, Tarak; Souissi, Nizar

2018-05-30

Romdhani, M, Hammouda, O, Smari, K, Chaabouni, Y, Mahdouani, K, Driss, T, and Souissi, N. Total sleep deprivation and recovery sleep affect the diurnal variation of agility performance: The gender differences. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2018-This study aimed to investigate the effects of time-of-day, 24 and 36 hours of total sleep deprivation (TSD), and recovery sleep (RS) on repeated-agility performances. Twenty-two physical education students (11 male and 11 female students) completed 5 repeated modified agility T-test (RMAT) sessions (i.e., 2 after normal sleep night [NSN] [at 07:00 and 17:00 hours], 2 after TSD [at 07:00 hours, i.e., 24-hour TSD and at 17:00 hours, i.e., 36-hour TSD], and 1 after RS at 17:00 hours). The RMAT index decreased from the morning to the afternoon after NSN (p < 0.05, d = 1.05; p < 0.01, d = 0.73) and after TSD (p < 0.001, d = 0.92; d = 1.08), respectively, for total time (TT) and peak time (PT). This finding indicates a diurnal variation in repeated agility, which persisted after TSD. However, the diurnal increase in PT was less marked in the female group after NSN (2.98 vs. 6.24%). Moreover, TT and PT increased, respectively, after 24-hour TSD (p < 0.001; d = 0.84, d = 0.87) and 36-hour TSD (p < 0.001, d = 1.12; p < 0.01, d = 0.65). Female participants' PT was less affected by 24-hour TSD (1.76 vs. 6.81%) compared with male participants' PT. After 36-hour TSD, the amount of decrease was not different between groups, which increased the diurnal amplitude of PT only for male participants. Total sleep deprivation suppressed the diurnal increase of PT and increased the diurnal amplitude of oral temperature only in women. Nevertheless, RS normalized the sleep-loss-induced performance disruption. Conclusively, sleep loss and RS differently affect repeated-agility performance of men and women during the day. Sleep extension postdeprivation could have potent restorative effect on repeated-agility performances, and female participants could extract greater benefits.

Archetype Model-Driven Development Framework for EHR Web System

PubMed Central

Kimura, Eizen; Ishihara, Ken

2013-01-01

Objectives This article describes the Web application framework for Electronic Health Records (EHRs) we have developed to reduce construction costs for EHR sytems. Methods The openEHR project has developed clinical model driven architecture for future-proof interoperable EHR systems. This project provides the specifications to standardize clinical domain model implementations, upon which the ISO/CEN 13606 standards are based. The reference implementation has been formally described in Eiffel. Moreover C# and Java implementations have been developed as reference. While scripting languages had been more popular because of their higher efficiency and faster development in recent years, they had not been involved in the openEHR implementations. From 2007, we have used the Ruby language and Ruby on Rails (RoR) as an agile development platform to implement EHR systems, which is in conformity with the openEHR specifications. Results We implemented almost all of the specifications, the Archetype Definition Language parser, and RoR scaffold generator from archetype. Although some problems have emerged, most of them have been resolved. Conclusions We have provided an agile EHR Web framework, which can build up Web systems from archetype models using RoR. The feasibility of the archetype model to provide semantic interoperability of EHRs has been demonstrated and we have verified that that it is suitable for the construction of EHR systems. PMID:24523991

A New Approach to Ballistic Missile Defense for Countering Antiaccess/Area-Denial Threats from Precision-Guided Weapons

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-04-01

performance esti- mates. Four notional developments of the PAA surrogate were mod- eled , with burnout velocities of 5 km/second and 6 km/second (40...his weapon on the intended target. Interceptor Models The notional baseline surface-launch interceptor was modeled with 3.5 km/second burnout ...agility. The AWL upper-tier interceptor was modeled, based on employment from an F-35A.11 In general the upper-tier interceptor has a burnout

Project Management Life Cycle Models to Improve Management in High-rise Construction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burmistrov, Andrey; Siniavina, Maria; Iliashenko, Oksana

2018-03-01

The paper describes a possibility to improve project management in high-rise buildings construction through the use of various Project Management Life Cycle Models (PMLC models) based on traditional and agile project management approaches. Moreover, the paper describes, how the split the whole large-scale project to the "project chain" will create the factor for better manageability of the large-scale buildings project and increase the efficiency of the activities of all participants in such projects.

IsoMAP (Isoscape Modeling, Analysis, and Prediction)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, C. C.; Bowen, G. J.; Zhang, T.; Zhao, L.; West, J. B.; Liu, Z.; Rapolu, N.

2009-12-01

IsoMAP is a TeraGrid-based web portal aimed at building the infrastructure that brings together distributed multi-scale and multi-format geospatial datasets to enable statistical analysis and modeling of environmental isotopes. A typical workflow enabled by the portal includes (1) data source exploration and selection, (2) statistical analysis and model development; (3) predictive simulation of isotope distributions using models developed in (1) and (2); (4) analysis and interpretation of simulated spatial isotope distributions (e.g., comparison with independent observations, pattern analysis). The gridded models and data products created by one user can be shared and reused among users within the portal, enabling collaboration and knowledge transfer. This infrastructure and the research it fosters can lead to fundamental changes in our knowledge of the water cycle and ecological and biogeochemical processes through analysis of network-based isotope data, but it will be important A) that those with whom the data and models are shared can be sure of the origin, quality, inputs, and processing history of these products, and B) the system is agile and intuitive enough to facilitate this sharing (rather than just ‘allow’ it). IsoMAP researchers are therefore building into the portal’s architecture several components meant to increase the amount of metadata about users’ products and to repurpose those metadata to make sharing and discovery more intuitive and robust to both expected, professional users as well as unforeseeable populations from other sectors.

GAMMA-RAY OBSERVATIONS OF CYGNUS X-1 ABOVE 100 MeV IN THE HARD AND SOFT STATES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sabatini, S.; Tavani, M.; Del Santo, M.

2013-04-01

We present the results of multi-year gamma-ray observations by the AGILE satellite of the black hole binary system Cygnus X-1. In a previous investigation we focused on gamma-ray observations of Cygnus X-1 in the hard state during the period mid-2007/2009. Here we present the results of the gamma-ray monitoring of Cygnus X-1 during the period 2010/mid-2012 which includes a remarkably prolonged 'soft state' phase (2010 June-2011 May). Previous 1-10 MeV observations of Cyg X-1 in this state hinted at a possible existence of a non-thermal particle component with substantial modifications of the Comptonized emission from the inner accretion disk. Ourmore » AGILE data, averaged over the mid-2010/mid-2011 soft state of Cygnus X-1, provide a significant upper limit for gamma-ray emission above 100 MeV of F{sub soft} < 20 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -8} photons cm{sup -2} s{sup -1} , excluding the existence of prominent non-thermal emission above 100 MeV during the soft state of Cygnus X-1. We discuss theoretical implications of our findings in the context of high-energy emission models of black hole accretion. We also discuss possible gamma-ray flares detected by AGILE. In addition to a previously reported episode observed by AGILE in 2009 October during the hard state, we report a weak but important candidate for enhanced emission which occurred at the end of 2010 June (2010 June 30 10:00-2010 July 2 10:00 UT) exactly coinciding with a hard-to-soft state transition and before an anomalous radio flare. An appendix summarizes all previous high-energy observations and possible detections of Cygnus X-1 above 1 MeV.« less

MULTIWAVELENGTH OBSERVATIONS OF 3C 454.3. II. THE AGILE 2007 DECEMBER CAMPAIGN

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Donnarumma, I.; Pucella, G.; Vittorini, V.

2009-12-20

We report on the second Astrorivelatore Gamma a Immagini Leggero (AGILE) multiwavelength campaign of the blazar 3C 454.3 during the first half of 2007 December. This campaign involved AGILE, Spitzer, Swift, Suzaku, the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT) consortium, the Rapid Eye Mount (REM), and the Multicolor Imaging Telescopes for Survey and Monstrous Explosions (MITSuME) telescopes, offering a broadband coverage that allowed for a simultaneous sampling of the synchrotron and inverse Compton (IC) emissions. The two-week AGILE monitoring was accompanied by radio to optical monitoring by WEBT and REM, and by sparse observations in mid-infrared and soft/hard X-ray energy bandsmore » performed by means of Target of Opportunity observations by Spitzer, Swift, and Suzaku, respectively. The source was detected with an average flux of approx250 x 10{sup -8} photons cm{sup -2} s{sup -1} above 100 MeV, typical of its flaring states. The simultaneous optical and gamma-ray monitoring allowed us to study the time lag associated with the variability in the two energy bands, resulting in a possible approx

Sidestep and crossover lower limb kinematics during a prolonged sport-like agility test.

PubMed

Potter, Danielle; Reidinger, Kellie; Szymialowicz, Rebecca; Martin, Thomas; Dione, Donald; Feinn, Richard; Wallace, David; Garbalosa, Juan C

2014-10-01

Non-contact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in athletes occur more often towards the end of athletic competitions. However, the exact mechanisms of how prolonged activity increases the risk for ACL injuries are not clear. To determine the effect of prolonged activity on the hip and knee kinematics observed during self-selected cutting maneuvers performed in a timed agility test. Nineteen female Division I collegiate soccer players completed a self-selected cutting agility test until they were unable to meet a set performance time (one standard deviation of the average baseline trial). Using the 3D dimensional coordinate data the cut type was identified by the principle investigators. The 3D hip and knee angles at 32ms post heel strike were analyzed using a two-factor, linear mixed model to assess the effect of prolonged activity and cut type on the recorded mean hip and knee angles. Athletes performed either sidestep or crossover cuts. An effect of cut type and prolonged activity was seen at the hip and knee. During the prolonged activity trials, the knee was relatively more adducted and both the hip and knee were less flexed than during the baseline trials regardless of cut type. Regardless of activity status, during sidestep cuts, the hip was more internally rotated and abducted, and less flexed than during crossover cuts while the knee was more abducted and less flexed during the sidestep than crossover cuts. During a sport-like agility test, prolonged activity appears to predispose the athlete to position their knee in a more extended and abducted posture and their hip in a more extended posture. This position has been suggested to place stress on the ACL and potentially increase the risk for injury. Clinicians may want to consider the effects of prolonged activity on biomechanical risk factors for sustaining ACL injuries in the design of intervention strategies to prevent ACL injuries. Level 4.

IMAGE: Simulation for Understanding Complex Situations and Increasing Future Force Agility

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-12-01

IMAGE: SIMULATION FOR UNDERSTANDING COMPLEX SITUATIONS AND INCREASING FUTURE FORCE AGILITY Michel Lizotte, François Bernier, Marielle Mokhtari ...Valcartier TM, 2008. [Bernier et al., 2007] Bernier, F., Boivin, E., DuCharme, M., Lizotte, M., Mokhtari , M., Pestov, I., and Pous- sart, D., Selection

Creating IT agility.

PubMed

Glaser, John

2008-04-01

Seven steps healthcare organizations can take to improve IT agility are: Pay attention to the capabilities of IT applications. Establish short project phases. Stage the release of capital and new IT positions. Cross-train IT staff. Adopt technology standards. Shorten IT plan time horizons. Align IT with organizational strategies and priorities.

75 FR 11920 - Agilent Technologies, Eesof Division, Including On-Site Leased Workers From Volt and Managed...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-12

... software and related services including quality assurance and learning products, marketing, product development, marketing and administration. The company reports that on-site leased workers from Managed..., Santa Clara, California, and the Everett, Washington locations of Agilent Technologies, EEsof Division...

Operation Breakthrough for Continuous Self-Systems Improvement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Given, Barbara K.

1994-01-01

Operation Breakthrough, in which graduate student interns teach life skills to adolescents with learning disabilities, provided an impetus for identifying a profile of learning and work habits necessary for production of an agile workforce. Agile learning for self-systems improvement calls for self-empowered learning, collaborative learning,…

Effects of Preventative Ankle Taping on Planned Change-of-Direction and Reactive Agility Performance and Ankle Muscle Activity in Basketballers

PubMed Central

Jeffriess, Matthew D.; Schultz, Adrian B.; McGann, Tye S.; Callaghan, Samuel J.; Lockie, Robert G.

2015-01-01

This study investigated the effects of preventative ankle taping on planned change-of-direction and reactive agility performance and peak ankle muscle activity in basketballers. Twenty male basketballers (age = 22.30 ± 3.97 years; height = 1.84 ± 0.09 meters; body mass = 85.96 ± 11.88 kilograms) with no ankle pathologies attended two testing sessions. Within each session, subjects completed six planned and six reactive randomized trials (three to the left and three to the right for each condition) of the Y-shaped agility test, which was recorded by timing lights. In one session, subjects had both ankles un-taped. In the other, both ankles were taped using a modified subtalar sling. Peak tibialis anterior, peroneus longus (PL), peroneus brevis (PB), and soleus muscle activity was recorded for both the inside and outside legs across stance phase during the directional change, which was normalized against 10-meter sprint muscle activity (nEMG). Both the inside and outside cut legs during the change-of-direction step were investigated. Repeated measures ANOVA determined performance time and nEMG differences between un-taped and taped conditions. There were no differences in planned change-of-direction or reactive agility times between the conditions. Inside cut leg PL nEMG decreased when taped for the planned left, reactive left, and reactive right cuts (p = 0.01). Outside leg PB and soleus nEMG increased during the taped planned left cut (p = 0.02). There were no other nEMG changes during the cuts with taping. Taping did not affect change-of-direction or agility performance. Inside leg PL activity was decreased, possibly due to the tape following the line of muscle action. This may reduce the kinetic demand for the PL during cuts. In conclusion, ankle taping did not significantly affect planned change-of-direction or reactive agility performance, and did not demonstrate large changes in activity of the muscle complex in healthy basketballers. Key points Ankle taping using the modified subtalar sling will not affect planned change-of-direction or reactive agility performance as measured by the Y-shaped agility test in healthy male basketball players. Ankle taping using the modified subtalar sling will also generally not affect the activity of the muscles about the ankle. There was some indication for reductions in the activity of the PL in the inside leg of certain cuts. The tape used for the modified subtalar sling may have supported the line of action of the PL, which could reduce the kinetic demand placed on this muscle, and provide a potential fatigue-reducing component for cutting actions. The subtalar sling taping of the ankle in healthy basketball players did not have any adverse effects on the muscle activity of the ankle-foot complex during planned change-of-direction or reactive agility performance tasks. PMID:26664285

Patency© and agile© capsules

PubMed Central

Caunedo-Álvarez, Ángel; Romero-Vazquez, Javier; Herrerias-Gutierrez, Juan M

2008-01-01

Small bowel strictures can be missed by current diagnostic methods. The Patency capsule is a new non-endoscopic dissolvable capsule which has as an objective of checking the patency of digestive tract, in a non-invasive manner. The available clinical trials have demonstrated that the Patency© capsule is a good tool for assessment of the functional patency of the small bowel, and it allows identification of those patients who can safely undergo a capsule endoscopy, despite clinical and radiographic evidence of small-bowel obstruction. Some cases of intestinal occlusion have been reported with the Patency© capsule, four of them needed surgery. So, a new capsule with two timer plugs (Agile© capsule) has been recently developed in order to minimize the risk of occlusion. This new device stars its dissolution process earlier (30 h after ingestion) and its two timer plugs have been designed to begin the disintegration even when the device is blocked in a tight stricture. PMID:18785278

Promising Practices in Professional Growth & Support: "Case Study of Agile Mind"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Education Resource Strategies, 2013

2013-01-01

Four organizations with promising practices in teacher Professional Growth & Support have significantly raised outcomes for low-income students. The charter management networks, Achievement First and Aspire Public Schools, and the two reform organizations, Teach Plus and Agile Mind, have successfully increased student achievement with a…

Agile Objects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

German, Senta; Harris, Jim

2017-01-01

In this article, the authors argue that the art-historical canon, however it is construed, has little relevance to the selection of objects for museum-based teaching. Their contention is that all objects are fundamentally agile and capable of interrogation from any number of disciplinary standpoints, and that the canon of museum education,…

Lean and Agile: An Epistemological Reflection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Browaeys, Marie-Joelle; Fisser, Sandra

2012-01-01

Purpose: The aim of the paper is to contribute to the discussion of treating the concepts of lean and agile in isolation or combination by presenting an alternative view from complexity thinking on these concepts, considering an epistemological approach to this topic. Design/methodology/approach: The paper adopts an epistemological approach, using…

Automation Activities that Support C2 Agility to Mitigate Type 7 Risks

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-01

on business trip • Space ship runs into space junk What are the probabilities for these events in a 45-year career time frame? Event that...representation that information system understands State- Space Diagram Common Agility Space (CAS) A simple C2 organization representation

Agile Bodies: A New Imperative in Neoliberal Governance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gillies, Donald

2011-01-01

Modern business discourse suggests that a key bulwark against market fluctuation and the threat of failure is for organizations to become "agile'", a more dynamic and proactive position than that previously afforded by mere "flexibility". The same idea is also directed at the personal level, it being argued that the…

Knowledge Sharing through Pair Programming in Learning Environments: An Empirical Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kavitha, R. K.; Ahmed, M. S.

2015-01-01

Agile software development is an iterative and incremental methodology, where solutions evolve from self-organizing, cross-functional teams. Pair programming is a type of agile software development technique where two programmers work together with one computer for developing software. This paper reports the results of the pair programming…

How rolling forecasting facilitates dynamic, agile planning.

PubMed

Miller, Debra; Allen, Michael; Schnittger, Stephanie; Hackman, Theresa

2013-11-01

Rolling forecasting may be used to replace or supplement the annual budget process. The rolling forecast typically builds on the organization's strategic financial plan, focusing on the first three years of plan projections and comparing the strategic financial plan assumptions with the organization's expected trajectory. Leaders can then identify and respond to gaps between the rolling forecast and the strategic financial plan on an ongoing basis.

Software Acquisition Patterns of Failure and How to Recognize Them

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-04-01

Acquisition Processes Danielle Worger and Teresa Wu, Arizona State University Eugene Rex Jalao, Arizona State University and University of the Philippines...Robert Wirthlin Air Force Institute of Technology The RITE Approach to Agile Acquisition Timothy Boyce, Iva Sherman, and Nicholas Roussel Space...the Joint Capabilities Technology Demonstration Office: Ad Hoc Problem Solving as a Mechanism for Adaptive Change Kathryn Aten and John T . Dillard

Capturing Creative Program Management Best Practices

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-04-01

Maryland Bottleneck Analysis on the DoD Pre-Milestone B Acquisition Processes Danielle Worger and Teresa Wu, Arizona State University Eugene Rex Jalao...Creative Program Management Best Practices Brandon Keller and J. Robert Wirthlin Air Force Institute of Technology The RITE Approach to Agile ...Mechanism for Adaptive Change Kathryn Aten and John T . Dillard Naval Postgraduate School A Comparative Assessment of the Navy’s Future Naval Capabilities

Open Technology Development: Roadmap Plan

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-04-01

65 RECOMMENDATION 1: APPROVE AND FUND AN OTD STRIKE TEAM................. 67 Senior Leadership...negotiated, rather than an innate property of the product. Software’s replicability also means it can be incorporated into other software systems without...to leverage an open code development model, DoD would provide the market incentives to increase the agility and competitiveness of the industrial

Physical Fitness Percentiles of German Children Aged 9–12 Years: Findings from a Longitudinal Study

PubMed Central

Golle, Kathleen; Muehlbauer, Thomas; Wick, Ditmar; Granacher, Urs

2015-01-01

Background Generating percentile values is helpful for the identification of children with specific fitness characteristics (i.e., low or high fitness level) to set appropriate fitness goals (i.e., fitness/health promotion and/or long-term youth athlete development). Thus, the aim of this longitudinal study was to assess physical fitness development in healthy children aged 9–12 years and to compute sex- and age-specific percentile values. Methods Two-hundred and forty children (88 girls, 152 boys) participated in this study and were tested for their physical fitness. Physical fitness was assessed using the 50-m sprint test (i.e., speed), the 1-kg ball push test, the triple hop test (i.e., upper- and lower- extremity muscular power), the stand-and-reach test (i.e., flexibility), the star run test (i.e., agility), and the 9-min run test (i.e., endurance). Age- and sex-specific percentile values (i.e., P10 to P90) were generated using the Lambda, Mu, and Sigma method. Adjusted (for change in body weight, height, and baseline performance) age- and sex-differences as well as the interactions thereof were expressed by calculating effect sizes (Cohen’s d). Results Significant main effects of Age were detected for all physical fitness tests (d = 0.40–1.34), whereas significant main effects of Sex were found for upper-extremity muscular power (d = 0.55), flexibility (d = 0.81), agility (d = 0.44), and endurance (d = 0.32) only. Further, significant Sex by Age interactions were observed for upper-extremity muscular power (d = 0.36), flexibility (d = 0.61), and agility (d = 0.27) in favor of girls. Both, linear and curvilinear shaped curves were found for percentile values across the fitness tests. Accelerated (curvilinear) improvements were observed for upper-extremity muscular power (boys: 10–11 yrs; girls: 9–11 yrs), agility (boys: 9–10 yrs; girls: 9–11 yrs), and endurance (boys: 9–10 yrs; girls: 9–10 yrs). Tabulated percentiles for the 9-min run test indicated that running distances between 1,407–1,507 m, 1,479–1,597 m, 1,423–1,654 m, and 1,433–1,666 m in 9- to 12-year-old boys and 1,262–1,362 m, 1,329–1,434 m, 1,392–1,501 m, and 1,415–1,526 m in 9- to 12-year-old girls correspond to a “medium” fitness level (i.e., P40 to P60) in this population. Conclusions The observed differences in physical fitness development between boys and girls illustrate that age- and sex-specific maturational processes might have an impact on the fitness status of healthy children. Our statistical analyses revealed linear (e.g., lower-extremity muscular power) and curvilinear (e.g., agility) models of fitness improvement with age which is indicative of timed and capacity-specific fitness development pattern during childhood. Lastly, the provided age- and sex-specific percentile values can be used by coaches for talent identification and by teachers for rating/grading of children’s motor performance. PMID:26544848

System identification and sensorimotor determinants of flight maneuvers in an insect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sponberg, Simon; Hall, Robert; Roth, Eatai

Locomotor maneuvers are inherently closed-loop processes. They are generally characterized by the integration of multiple sensory inputs and adaptation or learning over time. To probe sensorimotor processing we take a system identification approach treating the underlying physiological systems as dynamic processes and altering the feedback topology in experiment and analysis. As a model system, we use agile hawk moths (Manduca sexta), which feed from real and robotic flowers while hovering in mid air. Moths rely on vision and mechanosensation to track floral targets and can do so at exceptionally low luminance levels despite hovering being a mechanically unstable behavior that requires neural feedback to stabilize. By altering the sensory environment and placing mechanical and visual signals in conflict we show a surprisingly simple linear summation of visual and mechanosensation produces a generative prediction of behavior to novel stimuli. Tracking performance is also limited more by the mechanics of flight than the magnitude of the sensory cue. A feedback systems approach to locomotor control results in new insights into how behavior emerges from the interaction of nonlinear physiological systems.

Applying Task-Technology Fit Model to the Healthcare Sector: a Case Study of Hospitals' Computed Tomography Patient-Referral Mechanism.

PubMed

Chen, Ping-Shun; Yu, Chun-Jen; Chen, Gary Yu-Hsin

2015-08-01

With the growth in the number of elderly and people with chronic diseases, the number of hospital services will need to increase in the near future. With myriad of information technologies utilized daily and crucial information-sharing tasks performed at hospitals, understanding the relationship between task performance and information system has become a critical topic. This research explored the resource pooling of hospital management and considered a computed tomography (CT) patient-referral mechanism between two hospitals using the information system theory framework of Task-Technology Fit (TTF) model. The TTF model could be used to assess the 'match' between the task and technology characteristics. The patient-referral process involved an integrated information framework consisting of a hospital information system (HIS), radiology information system (RIS), and picture archiving and communication system (PACS). A formal interview was conducted with the director of the case image center on the applicable characteristics of TTF model. Next, the Icam DEFinition (IDEF0) method was utilized to depict the As-Is and To-Be models for CT patient-referral medical operational processes. Further, the study used the 'leagility' concept to remove non-value-added activities and increase the agility of hospitals. The results indicated that hospital information systems could support the CT patient-referral mechanism, increase hospital performance, reduce patient wait time, and enhance the quality of care for patients.

Collaboration, Communication and Co-ordination in Agile Software Development Practice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robinson, Hugh; Sharp, Helen

This chapter analyses the results of a series of observational studies of agile software developmentagile software development teams, identifying commonalities in collaboration, co-ordination and communication activities. Pairing and customer collaborationcustomer collaboration are focussed on to illustrate the nature of collaboration and communication, as are two simple physical artefacts that emerged through analysis as being an information-rich focal point for the co-ordination of collaboration and communication activities. The analysis shows that pairingpairing has common characteristics across all teams, while customer collaboration differs between the teams depending on the application and organisational context of development.

Frequency-agile terahertz-wave parametric oscillator in a ring-cavity configuration.

PubMed

Minamide, Hiroaki; Ikari, Tomofumi; Ito, Hiromasa

2009-12-01

We demonstrate a frequency-agile terahertz wave parametric oscillator (TPO) in a ring-cavity configuration (ring-TPO). The TPO consists of three mirrors and a MgO:LiNbO(3) crystal under noncollinear phase-matching conditions. A novel, fast frequency-tuning method was realized by controlling a mirror of the three-mirror ring cavity. The wide tuning range between 0.93 and 2.7 THz was accomplished. For first demonstration using the ring-TPO, terahertz spectroscopy was performed as the verification of the frequency-agile performance, measuring the transmission spectrum of the monosaccharide glucose. The spectrum was obtained within about 8 s in good comparison to those of Fourier transform infrared spectrometer.

A Hybrid Vortex Sheet / Point Vortex Model for Unsteady Separated Flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Darakananda, Darwin; Eldredge, Jeff D.; Colonius, Tim; Williams, David R.

2015-11-01

The control of separated flow over an airfoil is essential for obtaining lift enhancement, drag reduction, and the overall ability to perform high agility maneuvers. In order to develop reliable flight control systems capable of realizing agile maneuvers, we need a low-order aerodynamics model that can accurately predict the force response of an airfoil to arbitrary disturbances and/or actuation. In the present work, we integrate vortex sheets and variable strength point vortices into a method that is able to capture the formation of coherent vortex structures while remaining computationally tractable for control purposes. The role of the vortex sheet is limited to tracking the dynamics of the shear layer immediately behind the airfoil. When parts of the sheet develop into large scale structures, those sections are replaced by variable strength point vortices. We prevent the vortex sheets from growing indefinitely by truncating the tips of the sheets and transfering their circulation into nearby point vortices whenever the length of sheet exceeds a threshold. We demonstrate the model on a variety of canonical problems, including pitch-up and impulse translation of an airfoil at various angles of attack. Support by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (FA9550-14-1-0328) with program manager Dr. Douglas Smith is gratefully acknowledged.