Double sampling (x)over-bar control chart for a first-order autoregressive moving average process model

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

A software development process model for gesture-based interface

Gesture-based applications have particularities, since users interact in a natural way, much as they interact in the non-digital world. Hence, new requirements are needed on the software design process. This paper shows a software development process model for these applications, including requirement specification, design, implementation, and testing procedures. The steps and activities of the proposed model were tested through a game case study, which is a puzzle game. The puzzle is completed when all pieces of a painting are correctly positioned by the drag and drop action of users hand gesture. It also shows the results obtained of applying a heuristic evaluation on this game. © 2012 IEEE.

Development of a process model for the automatic miniload warehouse expansion

This paper provides an insight to the development of a process model for the essential expansion of the automatic miniload warehouse. The model is based on the literature research and covers four phases of a warehouse expansion: the preparatory phase, the current state analysis, the design phase and the decision making phase. In addition to the literature research, the presented model is based on a reliable data set and can be applicable with a reasonable effort to ensure the informed decision on the warehouse layout. The model is addressed to users who are usually employees of logistics department, and is oriented on the improvement of the daily business organization combined with the warehouse expansion planning.

A Nonstationary Space-Time Gaussian Process Model for Partially Converged Simulations

In the context of expensive numerical experiments, a promising solution for alleviating the computational costs consists of using partially converged simulations instead of exact solutions. The gain in computational time is at the price of precision in the response. This work addresses the issue of fitting a Gaussian process model to partially converged simulation data for further use in prediction. The main challenge consists of the adequate approximation of the error due to partial convergence, which is correlated in both design variables and time directions. Here, we propose fitting a Gaussian process in the joint space of design parameters and computational time. The model is constructed by building a nonstationary covariance kernel that reflects accurately the actual structure of the error. Practical solutions are proposed for solving parameter estimation issues associated with the proposed model. The method is applied to a computational fluid dynamics test case and shows significant improvement in prediction compared to a classical kriging model.

A Process Model of Complementarity and Substitution of Contractual and Relational Governance in IS Outsourcing

This paper develops a process model of how and why complementarity and substitution form over time between contractual and relational governance in the context of information systems outsourcing. Our analysis identifies four distinct process patterns that explain this formation as the outcome of interaction processes between key elements of both contractual and relational governance. These patterns unveil the dynamic nature of complementarity and substitution. In particular, we show that the relationship between contractual and relational governance oscillates between complementarity and substitution. Those oscillations are triggered mainly by three types of contextual events (goal fuzziness, goal conflict, and goal misalignment). Surprisingly, substitution of informal control did not occur as an immediate reaction to external events but emerged as a consequence of preceding complementarity. Thus, our study challenges the prevailing view of an either/or dichotomy of complementarity and substitution by showing that they are causally connected over time.

A Process Model of the Formation of Spatial Presence Experiences

In order to bridge interdisciplinary differences in Presence research and to establish connections between Presence and “older” concepts of psychology and communication, a theoretical model of the formation of Spatial Presence is proposed. It is applicable to the exposure to different media and intended to unify the existing efforts to develop a theory of Presence. The model includes assumptions about attention allocation, mental models, and involvement, and considers the role of media factors and user characteristics as well, thus incorporating much previous work. It is argued that a commonly accepted model of Spatial Presence is the only solution to secure further progress within the international, interdisciplinary and multiple-paradigm community of Presence research.

DISCHARGE PLANNING: A PROCESS MODEL

As the requirements for health care hospitalization have become more demanding, so has the discharge planning process become a more important part of the health services system. A thorough understanding of hospital discharge planning can, then, contribute to our understanding of the health services system. This study involved the development of a process model of discharge planning from hospitals. Model building involved the identification of factors used by discharge planners to develop aftercare plans, and the specification of the roles of these factors in the development of the discharge plan. The factors in the model were concatenated in 16 discrete decision sequences, each of which produced an aftercare plan.^ The sample for this study comprised 407 inpatients admitted to the M. D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institution at Houston, Texas, who were discharged to any site within Texas during a 15 day period. Allogeneic bone marrow donors were excluded from the sample. The factors considered in the development of discharge plans were recorded by discharge planners and were used to develop the model. Data analysis consisted of sorting the discharge plans using the plan development factors until for some combination and sequence of factors all patients were discharged to a single site. The arrangement of factors that led to that aftercare plan became a decision sequence in the model.^ The model constructs the same discharge plans as those developed by hospital staff for every patient in the study. Tests of the validity of the model should be extended to other patients at the MDAH, to other cancer hospitals, and to other inpatient services. Revisions of the model based on these tests should be of value in the management of discharge planning services and in the design and development of comprehensive community health services.^

A general two-process model describes the hydrogen exchange behavior of RNase A in unfolding conditions.

When NMR hydrogen exchange was used previously to monitor the kinetics of RNase A unfolding, some peptide NH protons were found to show EX2 exchange (detected by base catalysis) in addition to the expected EX1 exchange, whose rate is limited by the kinetic unfolding process. In earlier work, two groups showed independently that a restricted two-process model successfully fits published hydrogen exchange rates of native RNase A in the range 0-0.7 M guanidinium chloride. We find that this model predicts properties that are very different from the observed properties of the EX2 exchange reactions of RNase A in conditions where guanidine-induced unfolding takes place. The model predicts that EX2 exchange should be too fast to measure by the technique used, whereas it is readily measurable. Possible explanations for the contradiction are considered here, and we show that removing the restriction from the earlier two-process model is sufficient to resolve the contradiction; instead of specifying that exchange caused by global unfolding occurs by the EX2 mechanism, we allow it to occur by the general mechanism, which includes both the EX1 and EX2 cases. It is logical to remove this restriction because global unfolding of RNase A is known to give rise to EX1 exchange in these unfolding conditions. Resolving the contradiction makes it possible to determine whether populated unfolding intermediates contribute to the EX2 exchange, and this question is considered elsewhere. The results and simulations indicate that moderate or high denaturant concentrations readily give rise to EX1 exchange in native proteins. Earlier studies showed that hydrogen exchange in native proteins typically occurs by the EX2 mechanism but that high temperatures or pH values above 7 may give rise to EX1 exchange. High denaturant concentrations should be added to the list of variables likely to cause EX1 exchange.