Standardization

Pervasive and ubiquitous computing has the potential to make huge changes in the ways that we will learn throughout our lives. This paper presents a vision for the lifelong user model as a first class citizen, existing independently of any single application and controlled by the learner. The paper argues that this has a key role for a vision of personalized lifelong learning and for augmented cognition that enables learners to supplement their own knowledge with readily accessible digital information based on documents that they have accessed or used. The paper presents work that provides foundations for this vision. First, it outlines technical issues and research into approaches for addressing them. Then, it presents work on the interface between the learner and the lifelong user model, an aspect that is important because the human issues of control and privacy are so central. The final discussion and conclusions outline a roadmap for future research that will underpin this vision of the lifelong user model.

This paper provides insight into the development of System Verilog Assertions standardization efforts. Specifically it covers the evolution from Accellera 3.1a version to its current state of standardization (the upcoming SVA2012 release). Insight into the new features, changes and the reasons for the same exposes users of SVA to the direction the standard is evolving.

Het Groene Boekje of de Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal bestaat al sinds 1954. Mensen in het Nederlandse taalgebied die willen weten hoe ze een woord volgens de officiële regels moeten schrijven, kunnen het daarin opzoeken. Het is geen woordenboek en geeft in principe geen betekenisinformatie. Als dat al eens gedaan wordt, is het om te kunnen zien over welk van verschillende homografe woorden een artikel gaat. Zo heeft het nieuwe Groene Boekje drie lemma's 'pad' met achtereenvolgens de semantische informatie 'koffiepad', 'dier' en 'weg'.

This handbook is oriented toward the standardization of 1) methods
used to develop, analyze and publish mechanical property data for composite materials, 2) procedures
to allow design organizations to effectively use the property data published in Volume 2 of this
Handbook and other similar databases, and 3) general procedures for designing, analyzing and testing
composite structures. In many cases, the standardization is intended to address the needs and requirements
of the customer and regulatory agencies, while providing efficient engineering practices.

Cleanrooms are highly controlled environments, defined by
the air quality, and where certain physical and microbiological
requirements need to be met. Air quality is achieved through
a combination of airborne particulate control, such as through
high efficiency particulate air filters; high fresh air rates (air
movement and air changes); clean-up (or ‘recovery’) times;
pressure differentials, which concerns air direction;
temperature and humidity control (where necessary); cleaning
and disinfection; and staff behaviours and gowning. The
requirements for air quality, and the associated physical
aspects designed to achieve this, are contained within the
international standard ISO 14644.

Enterprise's adoption of cloud-based solutions is often hindered by problems associated with the integration of the cloud environment with onpremise systems. Currently, each cloud provider creates its proprietary application programing interfaces (APIs), which will complicate integration efforts for companies as they struggle to understand and manage these unique application interfaces in an interoperable way. This paper aims to address this challenge by providing recommendations to enterprises. The presented work is based on a quantitative study of 114 companies, which discuss current issues and future trends of integration and interoperability requirements for enterprise cloud application adoption and migration. The outcome of the discussion provides a guideline applicable to support decision makers, software architects and developers when considering to design and develop interoperable applications in order to avoid lock-in and integrate seamlessly into other cloud and on-premise systems.

Democracy is a highly desirable but contested concept in education. However, little is known about how current and future educators perceive, experience and relate to democracy, which could have a significant impact on how students learn about, and become involved in, civic engagement and democracy. This paper reports on a study of 129 College of Education students, finding that they generally have a narrow conceptualization of democracy, primarily focused on electoral politics, only weakly connecting it to education. Social justice, in particular, was highlighted as requiring more attention.

Background: Different laboratory assays are used to detect and measure specific IgE antibodies. No standard exists to assess their analytic performance. Objective: We sought to analyze reported specific IgE results from different laboratories on the same serum samples for their accuracy and precision. Methods: Blinded serum samples (26) containing variable levels of specific IgE to 17 common aeroallergens were sent on 3 different occasions through normal channels to 6 laboratories that used 5 different test procedures. Six samples were presented as a dilution series. Laboratory-assay performance was assessed by analyzing the reported results (n = 12,708) by using ordinary least squares regression with slope coefficients, the t statistic, SEs, confidence intervals, and R 2 values. These were compared with a theoretic ideal assay as the reference. Results: Analysis revealed that one system used in two different laboratories performed nearly as well as the ideal standard, with an overall average slope (0.97; range, 0.91-1.01), SE (0.05; range, 0.02-0.16), R 2 value (93%; range, 0.64-0.99), and coefficient of variation (10.3%; range, 6%-14%). Extensive variability was observed in the other 4 laboratory-assay systems with respect to overall average slope (0.76; range, 0.11-1.24), SE (0.19; range, 0.03-0.95), R 2 value (53%; range, 0.00-0.98), and coefficient of variation (19%; range, 5%-49%). For some specific allergens, some laboratories-assays were not able to detect serial dilutions of the same sample. Conclusions: One commercial system used in two different laboratories performed nearly as well as the ideal standard. Four of the laboratories-assays for specific IgE antibodies demonstrated substandard overall performance with multiple instances of poor precision and accuracy, particularly for certain allergens, such as weeds and molds.

Este artigo tem como objetivo principal apresentar e discutir os fundamentos da gestão da qualidade e da nova versão da NBR ISO 9001, incluindo a aplicação do enfoque por processos nos serviços de informação, com o objetivo de apoiar a melhoria dos processos implantados nestes serviços e principalmente apoiar seu gerenciamento, visando à otimização de recursos e à elevação dos níveis de satisfação dos clientes, itens considerados fundamentais pelas organizações que optam por programas relacionados à gestão da qualidade.

Bespace is a synchronous web3D lecture hall and performance system that seeks to tap the educational and entertainment potential of virtual space. Its underlying interactive methodology is focused on the efficient delivery of information within the space. The entire virtual environment is treated as a one interface. Principles of human computer interaction are applied to the activities, avatars, and architecture. The outcome is an environment that utilizes the power of a digitally created reality and does not sacrifice usability in pursuit of realistic appearances. Bespace’s interactive methodology seeks to implement the promises made by the early pioneers of virtual space. ACM Classification: H5.2 [Information interfaces and

Recent research in the field of security has evolved into trust issues, which are now one of the interesting research topics. A majority of current approaches proposes techniques that support users' trust processes, while a minority of them addresses the essence of trust. The latter approaches form the basis for the work presented in this paper. Outer manifestations of trust phenomenon are formalized in order to facilitate the development in this field. The main goal is to provide means for computable trust that can be used in a standardized way for contemporary internet-based applications, independently of its cognitive principles.

This study examines a “critical case” of one school district’s efforts to develop and implement a standards-based curriculum. The study was conducted from two competing perspectives that have dominated organizational analysis in education: the rational and the institutional. The findings demonstrate that the district took an expressly rationalistic approach by using standards and a corresponding criterion-referenced test to focus teachers’

Services. Security is a major concern when implementing mission-critical business transactions and such concern motivated the development of Web Services Security (WS-Security). However, the existing tools for configuring the security properties of Web Services give a technology-oriented view, and only assist in choosing the data to encrypt and selecting an encryption algorithm. The users must construct their own mental models of how the security configurations actually relate to business policies.

Standards process is seen as an important determinant of innovation within the ICT sector. However, not many studies have focused on the mechanism at work within the standards-making process. Therefore, to find out how the standards selection process work, this paper tries to describe the negotiations occur between different players during the standards setting process, which influence the outcome of the process itself. The analysis primarily focuses on the pre-standardization stage. The negotiations are classified into three main phases with different activities at each phase.

Tau proteins and amyloid-␤ (A␤) peptides are the current recognized cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers used as an aid in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, there is no consensus on their clinical use due to non-qualified cutoff values, probably related to the observed high pre-analytical and analytical variability. Standardized pre-analytical protocols have therefore been proposed. Importantly, these recommend the use of polypropylene collection/sampling tubes while, to date, no broad comparison of these types of tubes has been conducted. In this study, we first compared, as part of a real clinical workflow, the impact of four different collection tubes on the CSF concentration of A␤ peptides (A␤ 42 ,A␤ 40) and total (hTau) and phosphorylated (P-Tau181P) tau proteins measured using routine ELISA kits. We then extended this study to 11 polypropylene tubes used by different clinical laboratories, and investigated their plastic polymer composition using differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier Transformed Infrared spectroscopy. Significant concentration variations linked solely to the use of different types of tubes were observed. This was particularly marked for A␤ peptides, with >50% disparity occurring in less than five minutes.

Flow cytometric enumeration of CD34 ' hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HPC) is the reference point for undertaking apheresis and evaluation of adequacy for PBSC engraftment. An external quality assurance (EQA) scheme for CD34 ' HPC enumeration has been operational in Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg (Benelux) since 1995. Within this group, a multicenter survey was held to validate the state-of-the-art methodology, i.e., multiparametric definition of HPC based on light scatter, expression of CD34 and CD45, and counting beads (i.e., 'single platform ISHAGE' method).

This paper analyzes several emerging transnational regulatory systems that engage, but are not centered on state legal systems. Driven primarily by civil society organizations, the new regulatory systems use conventional technical standard setting and certification techniques to establish market-leveraged, social and environmental regulatory programs. These programs resemble state regulatory programs in many important respects, and are increasingly legalized. Individual sectors generally have multiple regulatory programs that compete with, but also mimic and reinforce each other. While forestry is the most developed example, similar patterns are evident in agriculture, fisheries, apparel, and mining, among other sectors.

A partir da abordagem Aprendizagem Organizacional Baseada em Prática, este artigo se propõe a compreender o papel da aprendizagem na padronização de serviços. Foi realizado um estudo de caso em uma organização do segmento de serviços de beleza que conta com 50 unidades, das quais estudaram-se cinco. Os resultados indicam que a aprendizagem formal é ancorada pela prática e é pela aprendizagem informal que os profissionais adaptam as práticas ao contexto. Neste processo, o julgamento estético dá suporte ao que é considerado o padrão da organização, tornando a formação do gosto um dos aprendizados centrais para a padronização dos serviços.

Designing standardized exams for EFL undergraduates is a matter of great concern in pedagogical practices that assess learners’ academic achievements. This case study was conducted at Majmaah University, Saudi Arabia, to explore the significance of educational exam standardization and its impact on the process of implementation, leading to a balanced and equitable assessment of English language skills. During the study, 250 final English skill exam questions of two semesters were analyzed. A mixed-method approach using a questionnaire and Focused Group Discussion was adopted to collect relevant data. The quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS 16, and the qualitative data was processed by thematic analysis. The quantitative data results showed that questions were balanced, valid, and reliable in language skill exam papers designed for undergraduate English students. The qualitative data revealed four major themes – standardization of questions, the efficacy of Bloom’s taxonomy, assessment/evaluation, and alignment of the question with learning outcomes. These emerging themes highlighted the effectivness of standardizing exam papers, identified problems, and suggested ways of improvement. The study indicates that exams must be scrutinized for the sake of standardization in terms of maximum course coverage; the variety in the question item; clear, concise, and precise instructions; validity and reliability of exam papers; and the alignment of questions with the course and program learning outcomes to ensure the implementation of the revised Bloom’s taxonomy. The study suggests, to generalize the results, that further investigation should be done in another Saudi university for the sake of comparison.

In this paper we introduce a model as a foundation for het-erogeneous services, therefore unifying web services tech-nologies in SOA (Service Oriented Architecture), specif-ically, SOAP/WS * and RESTful models. This model ab-stracts away from service implementations, in order to verify and to enforce some important security properties.

The reasons that drive construction companies to innovate, as well as the processes they use, have not yet been fully explored in the specialized literature. This paper describes the "hows" and "whys" behind the push for innovation in a construction company. The research method is founded on a review of current theory and practice, as well as a case study, based on a medium-sized construction company which implemented and certified an innovation management system, as established by the Spanish standard UNE 166002. The studies conducted by the authors over a five-year period generated a set of 18 propositions reflecting an explanatory model of innovation management. This paper reports on the validation of the *Manuscript Click here to download Manuscript: tradCOENG-1402_Manuscript.doc model; the results fully corroborate 15 of these propositions. The conclusions of this research are limited by the small amount of experience accumulated to date about the standardization of these systems. Therefore the proposed model should be challenged or improved at a future date with a larger number of companies, more mature in innovation management, and with externally certified systems available.

Objective: Linga Mathirai is traditional Siddha medicine. The medicinal plants and the herbal preparations are preferred; nowadays, due to minimal side effects and the presence of abundant antioxidants and micronutrients which possesses a better therapeutic efficiency. According to the World Health organization, the herbal medicines have been defined as those containing plant parts or plant materials in raw state or processed form containing active principles. The Siddha system of medicine encompasses around 600 medicinal plants in materia medica. Methods: Physicochemical analysis such as pH, ash values, and loss on drying is done and biochemical analysis of acid and basic radicals. Instrumental analysis of Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) for analyze the functional groups in the test drug, scanning electron microscope (SEM) for determine the particle size of the drug, and inductively coupled plasma-optic emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) for heavy metal analysis. Result: For standardization, organoleptic characters were done in that pH is 7.6, ash value is 1.379%, water-soluble ash is 0.294%, acid-insoluble ash is 0.871%, loss on drying in 105 is 0.483%, and disintegration time is 23 min. The functional group were analyzed by FT-IR. Then, in SEM, it has nano and microparticles. Finally, in ICP-OES, heavy metals are in permissible limits. Conclusion: This standardization helps this drug to develop in future and also to evaluate these drug scientifically by determine the toxicity of the drug and pharmacological effect.

Historically, medical sociologists have used the interrelated concepts of objectification, commodification, and standardization to point to the pathologies of modern medicine, such as the depersonalization of care and the effects of bureaucratic control. More recent work in science studies, economic sociology, and sociology of health and illness, however, has begun to explore how the social processes of objectification, commodification, and standardization produce a wide variety of biomedical achievements. We provide a theoretical synthesis of this emerging body of scholarship centered upon the intended and unintended consequences of objectification, commodification, and standardization to improve health. We then outline a research agenda that would result from a more comprehensive assessment of how these processes manifest themselves in clinical care.

The present chapter explores the essential stages in designing and developing the questionnaires and offers a basic introduction to beginners who are at the preliminary stages of their research. The study was approached purely from a theoretical perspective and various issues and challenges have been addressed including the length of questionnaires, how to distribute a questionnaire and how to analyze the data. The study concluded that researchers often rely on the previously developed questionnaire rather than developing the new one because it requires the knowledge and expertise. For novice researchers, developing entirely a new questionnaire requires a basic understanding of the format of the questionnaire, length of the questionnaire and how to distribute a questionnaire. Therefore, the chapter presents a systematic way to develop a questionnaire keeping in view all the issues and problems faced by researchers who are engaged in study for a thesis or in other research projects.

The ASCP is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The ASCP designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit ™ per article. This activity qualifies as an American Board of Pathology Maintenance of Certification Part II Self-Assessment Module.

Lack of standardization of terminology in low back pain (LBP) research has significantly impeded progress in this area. The diversity in existing definitions for a 'recurrence of an episode of LBP' and 'recurrent LBP' is an important example. The variety of definitions used by researchers working in this area has prevented comparison of results between trials and made meta-analyses of this data unfeasible. The aim of this study was to use a modified Delphi approach to gain consensus on definitions for a 'recurrence of an episode of LBP' (e.g. outcome event) and for 'recurrent LBP' (e.g. patient population). Existing definitions for both constructs were classified into the main features comprising the definition (e.g. 'duration of pain') and the items that defined each feature (e.g. 'pain lasting at least 24 h'). In each round, participants were asked to rate the importance of each feature to a definition of a 'recurrence of an episode of LBP', and a definition of 'recurrent LBP' and rank the items (defining each feature) in order of decreasing importance. Forty-six experts in LBP research, from nine different countries, participated in this study. Four rounds were completed with responses rates of 94, 91, 83, and 97% in rounds 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Consensus definitions were reached in both areas with 95% of panel members supporting the definition of a 'recurrence of an episode of LBP' and 92% of panel members supporting the definition of 'recurrent LBP'. Future research is necessary to evaluate these definitions.

Diversity and ecology are fashionable words in educational research". That is what I heard from linguists at a linguistic conference in Algeria in June, 2013. I am Kabyle (Arabic for "tribal people"). Kabyles come from the North East of Algeria and belong to the Indigenous, Imazighen family. Tamazight, the Indigenous language family of North Africa, is rich due to the diversity of the people and the locations where it is spoken.

We present a new strong normalisation proof for a λ-calculus with interleaving strictly positive inductive types λ µ which avoids the use of impredicative reasoning, i.e., the theorem of Knaster-Tarski. Instead it only uses predicative, i.e., strictly positive inductive definitions on the metalevel. To achieve this we show that every strictly positive operator on types gives rise to an operator on saturated sets which is not only monotone but also (deterministically) set based-a concept introduced by Peter Aczel in the context of intuitionistic set theory. We also extend this to coinductive types using greatest fixpoints of strictly monotone operators on the metalevel.

ABSTRACT Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework for the standardisation of the work breakdown structure (WBS) for building projects. This is based on the premise that buildings in general retain basic elemental options, and that there is a commonality of activities in the procurement of building projects. Design/methodology/approach – To achieve the objective, the general practice of developing the WBS is investigated. This is achieved by means of an industry-wide questionnaire survey designed to identify the most widely used criteria among UK construction organisations in segregating building works into packages. The survey also investigates the sequencing of these criteria across the WBS hierarchy. Findings – The findings reveal that the most frequently used decomposition criteria in the formulation of WBS for building projects are elements, work sections, physical location and construction aids. The proposed framework is presented as a hierarchical decomposition of a building project based on these criteria. It allows for flexibility in level of detail while maintaining a rigid sequencing of the criteria based on their frequency of use. Originality/value – This paper reports on a specific part of an EPSRC funded project that aims to investigate the application of computer vision techniques to the on-site measurement of construction progress. The part reported in this paper addresses planning issues that will lead to automatic generation of work packages. Previous studies have focused on automating the planning aspect by associating individual components with schedule information. However, large construction projects usually consist of thousands of components. Planning and tracking progress at the level of the component is unrealistic in these instances. The standardisation framework reported in this paper will form the basis for automating the formulation of work packages, thus providing a uniform basis for tracking progress (based on computer vision) during project execution.

Bringing together 12 original essays, Shaping the American Interior maps out, for the first time, the development and definition of the field of interiors in the United States in the period from 1870 until 1960. Its interdisciplinary approach encompasses a broad range of people, contexts, and practices, revealing the design of the interior as a collaborative modern enterprise comprising art, design, manufacture, commerce, and identity construction. Rooted in the expansion of mass production and consumption in the last years of the nineteenth century, new and diverse structures came to define the field and provide formal and informal contexts for design work. Intertwined with, but distinct from, architecture and merchandising, interiors encompassed a diffuse range of individuals, institutions, and organizations engaged in the definition of identity, the development of expertise, and the promotion of consumption. This volume investigates the fluid pre-history of the American profession of interior design, charting attempts to commoditize taste, shape modern conceptions of gender and professionalism, define expertise and authority through principles and standards, marry art with industry and commerce, and shape mass culture in the United States.

Different age structures in two populations complicate any comparison of their levels of mortality. Many methods exist which provide death rates or mortality indices adjusted for age and other factors. Such summary measures inevitably lose information, but they are useful for the initial examination of large quantities of data and for the presentation of results. This paper reviews a number of techniques available for producing age-adjusted death rates or mortality indices, emphasizing their historical development. Formulae are given for their calculation. The appropriate context for using each method, and its associated disadvantages are described.