A novel method for geometric quality assurance of rock joint replicas in direct shear testing-Part 2:Validation and mechanical replicability

Each rock joint is unique by nature which means that utilization of replicas in direct shear tests is required in experimental parameter studies.However,a method to acquire knowledge about the ability of the replicas to imitate the shear mechanical behavior of the rock joint and their dispersion in direct shear testing is lacking.In this study,a novel method is presented for geometric quality assurance of replicas.The aim is to facilitate generation of high-quality direct shear testing data as a prerequisite for reliable subsequent analyses of the results.In Part 1 of this study,two quality assurance parameters,smf and V_(Hp100),are derived and their usefulness for evaluation of geometric deviations,i.e.geometric reproducibility,is shown.In Part 2,the parameters are validated by showing a correlation between the parameters and the shear mechanical behavior,which qualifies the parameters for usage in the quality assurance method.Unique results from direct shear tests presenting comparisons between replicas and the rock joint show that replicas fulfilling proposed threshold values of σ_(mf)<0.06 mm and
|V_(Hp100)|
<0.2 mm have a narrow dispersion and imitate the shear mechanical behavior of the rock joint in all aspects apart from having a slightly lower peak shear strength.The wear in these replicas,which have similar morphology as the rock joint,is in the same areas as in the rock joint.The wear is slightly larger in the rock joint and therefore the discrepancy in peak shear strength derives from differences in material properties,possibly from differences in toughness.It is shown by application of the suggested method that the quality assured replicas manufactured following the process employed in this study phenomenologically capture the shear strength characteristics,which makes them useful in parameter studies.

A novel method for geometric quality assurance of rock joint replicas in direct shear testing-Part 1:Derivation of quality assurance parameters and geometric reproducibility

Since each rock joint is unique by nature,the utilization of replicas in direct shear testing is required to carry out experimental parameter studies.However,information about the ability of the replicas to simulate the shear mechanical behavior of the rock joint and their dispersion in direct shear testing is lacking.With the aim to facilitate generation of high-quality direct shear test data from replicas,a novel component in the testing procedure is introduced by presenting two parameters for geometric quality assurance.The parameters are derived from surface comparisons of three-dimensional(3D)scanning data of the rock joint and its replicas.The first parameter,smf,captures morphological deviations between the replica and the rock joint surfaces.smf is derived as the standard deviation of the deviations between the coordinate points of the replica and the rock joint.Four sources of errors introduced in the replica manufacturing process employed in this study could be identified.These errors could be minimized,yielding replicas with smf
0.06 mm.The second parameter is a vector,VHp100,which describes deviations with respect to the shear direction.It is the projection of the 100 mm long normal vector of the best-fit plane of the replica joint surface to the corresponding plane of the rock joint.

VHp100

was found to be less than or equal to 0.36 mm in this study.Application of these two geometric quality assurance parameters demonstrates that it is possible to manufacture replicas with high geometric similarity to the rock joint.In a subsequent paper(part 2),smf and VHp100 are incorporated in a novel quality assurance method,in which the parameters shall be evaluated prior to direct shear testing.Replicas having parameter values below established thresholds shall have a known and narrow dispersion and imitate the shear mechanical behavior of the rock joint.

Construction and Quality Assurance of Outstanding Applied Horticultural Talent Training Curriculum System under the Background of New Agricultural Science:A Case Study of Huaiyin Institute of Technology

Huaiyin Institute of Technology is taken as the research object.The content of horticulture curriculum system under the background of new agricultural science is constructed and elaborated,including theoretical curriculum system of"three platforms and seven curriculum groups"and practice system of"two platforms,three levels and four modules".Moreover,the quality assurance strategy of the curriculum system is discussed from three angles of enhancing professional emotion,enhancing professional practice and strengthening innovation ability,to reach the training objective of outstanding applied horticultural talents under the background of new agricultural science.

Implementation of Level-3 Autonomous Patient-Specific Quality Assurance with Automated Human Interactive Devices

Purpose: Patient-specific quality assurance (PSQA) requires manual operation of different workstations, which is time-consuming and error-prone. Therefore, developing automated solutions to improve efficiency and accuracy is a priority. The purpose of this study was to develop a general software interface with scripting on a human interactive device (HID) for improving the efficiency and accuracy of manual quality assurance (QA) procedures. Methods: As an initial application, we aimed to automate our PSQA workflow that involves Varian Eclipse treatment planning system, Elekta MOSAIQ oncology information system and PTW Verisoft application. A general platform, the AutoFrame interface with two imbedded subsystems—the AutoFlow and the PyFlow, was developed with a scripting language for automating human operations of aforementioned systems. The interface included three functional modules: GUI module, UDF script interpreter and TCP/IP communication module. All workstations in the PSQA process were connected, and most manual operations were automated by AutoFrame sequentially or in parallel. Results: More than 20 PSQA tasks were performed both manually and using the developed AutoFrame interface. On average, 175 (±12) manual operations of the PSQA procedure were eliminated and performed by the automated process. The time to complete a PSQA task was 8.23 (±0.78) minutes for the automated workflow, in comparison to 13.91 (±3.01) minutes needed for manual operations. Conclusion: We have developed the AutoFrame interface framework that successfully automated our PSQA procedure, and significantly reduced the time, human (control/clicking/typing) errors, and operators’ stress. Future work will focus on improving the system’s flexibility and stability and extending its operations to other QA procedures.

Innovation and Practice of Internal Quality Assurance System in Higher Education Institutions -- Taking Jingzhou Vocational and Technical College as an Example

Continuously improving the internal quality assurance system and promoting the innovative development of higher vocational education is a challenge that every higher vocational institution must solve on the road of diagnosis and improvement.To address the current dilemma of building internal quality assurance systems in higher education institutions,this study utilizes a case study approach.This study takes Jingzhou Vocational and Technical College as the research object for research.Conclusion:The excellent diagnosis and reform model and the effectiveness of diagnosis and reform in this school can provide new strategic ideas for the practice of diagnosis and reform for the high-quality development of higher education in Hubei.

Development of the Supply Chain Oriented Quality Assurance System for Aerospace Manufacturing SMEs and Its Implementation Perspectives

Aerospace manufacturing SMEs are continuously facing the challenge on managing their supply chain and complying with the aerospace manufacturing quality standard requirement due to their lack of resources and the nature of business. In this paper, the ERP system based approach is presented to quality control and assurance work in light of seamless integration of in-process production data and information internally and therefore managing suppliers more effectively and efficiently. The Aerospace Manufacturing Quality Assurance Standard(BS/EN9100) is one of the most recognised and essential protocols for developing the industry-operated-and-driven quality assurance systems. The research investigates using the ERP based system as an enabler to implement BS/EN9100 quality management system at manufacturing SMEs and the associated implementation and application perspectives. An application case study on a manufacturing SME is presented by using the SAP based implementation, which helps further evaluate and validate the approach and application system development.

Study on Evaluation of Supplier's Quality Assurance System

To be a worldwide competitor, enterprise needs to e va luate and select its supplier carefully. Generally, to evaluate a supplier, the evaluating effort is focused on the purchase price, delivery time, product quali ty, etc. The vendors’ quality assurance is seldom considered. However, it reflec ts the ability that a vendor can provide high quality but low cost products cont inuously and stably. In this paper, with the study on evaluation of supplier’s q uality assurance system, a set of methods and indices to supplier’s quality assu rance evaluation is introduced. The indices construct an index system, which is based on the ISO9000 series standards. According to the problem’s character and the requirement of evaluation, all the evaluation indices are set off to three k inds: general index, functional index and protective index. And the evaluation m ethod combines quantitative analysis with qualitative analysis. Firstly, a sensi tive factor model is constructed to estimate the contribution of factors that ha ve key effect on synthetic evaluation in supplier’s quality system. Then, those suppliers having low evaluating value are rejected. Secondly, fuzzy logic is int roduced to evaluate other suppliers synthetically. The rest suppliers are compar able. So, supplier’s quality assurance system can be evaluated in quantity. Afte r unification works, the evaluated suppliers can be ranked. And the best vendor can be selected out intuitively.

An Effective and Secure Quality Assurance System for a Computer Science Program

Improving the quality assurance (QA) processes and acquiring accreditation are top priorities for academic programs. The learning outcomes (LOs)assessment and continuous quality improvement represent core components ofthe quality assurance system (QAS). Current assessment methods suffer deficiencies related to accuracy and reliability, and they lack well-organized processes forcontinuous improvement planning. Moreover, the absence of automation, andintegration in QA processes forms a major obstacle towards developing efficientquality system. There is a pressing need to adopt security protocols that providerequired security services to safeguard the valuable information processed byQAS as well. This research proposes an effective methodology for LOs assessment and continuous improvement processes. The proposed approach ensuresmore accurate and reliable LOs assessment results and provides systematic wayfor utilizing those results in the continuous quality improvement. This systematicand well-specified QA processes were then utilized to model and implement automated and secure QAS that efficiently performs quality-related processes. Theproposed system adopts two security protocols that provide confidentiality, integrity, and authentication for quality data and reports. The security protocols avoidthe source repudiation, which is important in the quality reporting system. This isachieved through implementing powerful cryptographic algorithms. The QASenables efficient data collection and processing required for analysis and interpretation. It also prepares for the development of datasets that can be used in futureartificial intelligence (AI) researches to support decision making and improve thequality of academic programs. The proposed approach is implemented in a successful real case study for a computer science program. The current study servesscientific programs struggling to achieve academic accreditation, and gives rise tofully automating and integrating the QA processes and adopting modern AI andsecurity technologies to develop effective QAS.

Software Industry-oriented Education with Embedded Quality Assurance Mechanisms

This paper presents a broad range of suggestions on the concept of quality-assured industry-oriented higher education in software engineering,a central theme of the annual CEISIE(CEISEE this year) workshops since the first one held in Harbin,China,in 2005.It draws on the lessons of collaborative experiences involving academics and industrialists from Europe and China.These experiences make the case for a strong role for software industryoriented higher education in the production of the software architects,developers and engineers required for the future.

Application of Statistical Process Control for Setting Action Thresholds as Quality Assurance of Dose Verifications in External Beam Radiotherapy

Purpose: To test the concept of Statistical Process Control (SPC) as a Quality Assurance (QA) procedure for dose verifications in external beam radiation therapy in conventional and 3D Conformal Radiotherapy (3D-CRT) treatment of cervical cancer. Materials and Methods: A study of QA verification of target doses of 198 cervical cancer patients undergoing External Beam Radiotherapy (EBRT) treatments at two different cancer treatment centers in Kenya was conducted. The target doses were determined from measured entrance doses by the diode in vivo dosimetry. Process Behavior Charts (PBC) developed by SPC were applied for setting Action Thresholds (AT) on the target doses. The AT set was then proposed as QA limits for acceptance or rejection of verified target doses overtime of the EBRT process. Result and Discussion: Target doses for the 198 patients were calculated and SPC applied to test whether the action limits set by the Process Behavior Charts could be applied as QA for verified doses in EBRT. Results for the two sub-groups of n = 3 and n = 4 that were tested produced action thresholds which are within clinical dose specifications for both conventional AP/PA and 3D-CRT EBRT treatment techniques for cervical cancer. Conclusion: Action thresholds set by SPC were within the clinical dose specification of ±5% uncertainty for both conventional AP/PA and 3D-CRT EBRT treatment techniques for cervical cancer. So the concept of SPC could be applied in setting QA action limits for dose verifications in EBRT.

Evaluation of Patient-Specific Quality Assurance for Carbon Ion Radiotherapy Using Full Energy Scanning Method at QST Hospital

Purpose: Patient-specific QA (PSQA) measurements for carbon ion radiotherapy (CIRT) are critical components of processes designed to identify discrepancies between calculated and delivered doses. We report the results of PSQA conducted at the QST Hospital during the period from September 2017 to March 2018. Methods: We analyzed PSQA results for 1448 fields for 10 disease sites with various target volumes, target depths and number of energy layers. For the PSQA, all the planned beams were recalculated on a water phantom with treatment planning software. The recalculated dose distributions were compared with the measured distributions using a 2D ionization chamber array at three depths, including 95% of the area of the prescription dose. These recalculated dose distributions were evaluated using the 3%/3mm gamma index with a passing threshold of 90%. Results: The passing rates for prostate, head and neck, and bone and soft tissue were 96.8%, 99.3%, and 91.7%, respectively. Additionally, 94.7% of lung plans with low energy beams passed. Overall, the CIRT in the QST Hospital reached a high passing rate of more than 95%. Although the remaining 5% failed to pass, there was no dependence between measurement depth and disease sites in these failures. Conclusion: Using PSQA measurements, we confirmed consistency between the planned and delivered doses for CIRT using the full energy scanning method.

Study on Integrated Quality Assurance System in CIMS

Integrated Quality Assurance System (IQAS) is an important part of CIMS.This paper introduces the architecture of IQAS,elaborates the philosophy of quality assurance and quality control in CIMS.A type of function model is proposed.Meanwhile, details of the model are described.

Human Resource Management and Quality Assurance System to achieve Competitive Advantage

This study aims at the role of human resources management and quality assurance system to achieving the competitive advantage for the organization.Human resource management are the most important component among the organization’s components,because,even an organization owns all other resources(materials,financial,technological)without the appropriate,skilled and experienced human resources,failure will be the expected result.Addressing By the Mobilis Telecom company,the study and through exploring the recruitment resources and methods that used by the company,in hiring the best employees,and the role of these methods in achieving the competitive advantage in Telecommunications sector.The findings of the study were that the company success in the recruitment process was relying on the employment agencies,firstly and on the universities,secondly.Also the company aimed on maintaining quality assurance system through recruiting method that based on Telecommunications experience and advancement in studying.In order to achieve the competitive advantage,the Company focused on innovation and creating new products and services for its clients.The statistical analysis proved that there is a strong relationship between recruitment resources used by the Company and achieving the competitive advantage,Also a relationship between the quality assurance system of the employees and the ability to gain the competitive advantage.

A Quality Assurance Reference Framework for Assessing Educational Data

Digital educational content is gaining importance as an incubator of pedagogical methodologies in formal and informal online educational settings. Its educational efficiency is directly dependent on its quality, however educational content is more than information and data. This paper presents a new data quality framework for assessing digital educational content used for teaching in distance learning environments. The model relies on the ISO2500 series quality standard and beside providing the mechanisms for multi-facet quality assessment it also supports organizations that design, create, manage and use educational content with the quality tools (expressed as quality metrics and measurement methods) to provide a more efficient distance education experience. The model describes the quality characteristics of the educational material content using data and software quality characteristics.

Big data challenge for monitoring quality in higher education institutions using business intelligence dashboards

As big data becomes an apparent challenge to handle when building a business intelligence(BI)system,there is a motivation to handle this challenging issue in higher education institutions(HEIs).Monitoring quality in HEIs encompasses handling huge amounts of data coming from different sources.This paper reviews big data and analyses the cases from the literature regarding quality assurance(QA)in HEIs.It also outlines a framework that can address the big data challenge in HEIs to handle QA monitoring using BI dashboards and a prototype dashboard is presented in this paper.The dashboard was developed using a utilisation tool to monitor QA in HEIs to provide visual representations of big data.The prototype dashboard enables stakeholders to monitor compliance with QA standards while addressing the big data challenge associated with the substantial volume of data managed by HEIs’QA systems.This paper also outlines how the developed system integrates big data from social media into the monitoring dashboard.

A Study on the Challenges of Human-Centric Cyber-Security and the Guarantee of Information Quality

Information security and quality management are often considered two different fields. However, organizations must be mindful of how software security may affect quality control. This paper examines and promotes methods through which secure software development processes can be integrated into the Systems Software Development Life-cycle (SDLC) to improve system quality. Cyber-security and quality assurance are both involved in reducing risk. Software security teams work to reduce security risks, whereas quality assurance teams work to decrease risks to quality. There is a need for clear standards, frameworks, processes, and procedures to be followed by organizations to ensure high-level quality while reducing security risks. This research uses a survey of industry professionals to help identify best practices for developing software with fewer defects from the early stages of the SDLC to improve both the quality and security of software. Results show that there is a need for better security awareness among all members of software development teams.

Integration, Quality Assurance, and Usage of Global Aircraft Observations in CRA

This paper presents a detailed description of integration, quality assurance procedure, and usage of global aircraft observations for China's first generation global atmospheric reanalysis(CRA) product(1979–2018). An integration method named "classified integration" is developed. Aircraft observations from nine different sources are integrated into the Integrated Global Meteorological Observation Archive from Aircraft(IGMOAA), a new dataset from the National Meteorological Information Center(NMIC) of the China Meteorological Administration(CMA). IGMOAA consists of global aircraft temperature, wind, and humidity data from the surface to 100 h Pa, extending from 1973 to the present. Compared with observations assimilated in the Climate Forecast System Reanalysis(CFSR) of NCEP,the observation number of IGMOAA increased by 12.9% between 2010 and 2014, mainly as a result of adding more Chinese Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay(AMDAR) data. Complex quality control procedures for aircraft observations of NCEP are applied to detect data errors. Observations are compared with ERA-Interim reanalysis from 1979 to 2018 to investigate data quality of different types and aircraft, and subsequently to develop the blacklists for CRA. IGMOAA data have been assimilated in CRA in 2018 and are real-time updated at the CMA Data-as-a-Service(CMADaa S) platform. For CRA, the fits to observations improve over time. From 1994 to 2018, root-meansquare error(RMSE) of observations relative to CRA background decreases from 1.8 to 1.0℃ for temperature above 300 h Pa, and from 4.5 to 3 m s^(-1) for zonal wind. The RMSE for humidity appears to exhibit an apparent seasonal variation with larger errors in summer and smaller ones in winter.

Comparison of pencil beam and Monte Carlo calculations with ion chamber array measurements for patient-specific quality assurance

Objective:To determine under what conditions and criteria comparisons between calculations made with the current clinical treatment planning system(Syngo)and an in-house built TPS(TIMPS)would allow skipping of in-beam portal-specific measurements.Methods:Measurements were made with an array of 24 ion chambers in a water phantom for 227 proton and 313 carbon ion portals with and without a range shifter(RS).These measurements were compared with calculations performed with Syngo and TIMPS using metrics of average dose difference and Gamma index.Results:For proton portals without RS,if a Gamma comparison between TIMPS and Syngo passed using criteria of 90%of tested points being within 3%and 3 mm,then 74%of measurements would agree with both TIMPS and Syngo.For proton portals with RS,more than 80%of measurements would agree with both calculations using the same criteria.For carbon ion portals without RS,if a Gamma evaluation between TIMPS and Syngo passed with criteria of 90%of tested points being within 2%and 2 mm,85%of measurements would agree with both cal-culations.For carbon ion portals with RS,if a Gamma evaluation between TIMPS and Syngo passed with criteria of 90%of tested points being within 3%and 3 mm,60%of measurements would agree with both calculations.Conclusions:Both the pencil beam algorithm in Syngo and the FDC algorithm in TIMPS can provide accurate dose calculations in water for most clinical portals.For about 75%of portals,physicists can perform comparisons of calculations instead of phantom measurements to verify Syngo calculations thereby saving a large amount of beam time.There are some portals,however,such as for low-energy protons without RS and high-energy carbon ions,where agreement between the two calculations and measurements are not yet satisfactory to allow the elimination of all measurements.

Quality assurance test and failure analysis of SiPM arrays of GECAM satellites

Background The Gravitational wave high-energy Electromagnetic Counterpart All-sky Monitor(GECAM)satellite developed a SiPM-based gamma-ray detector to monitor the gravitational wave-related GRBs and guide subsequent observations in other wavelengths of EM.Purpose As all the available SiPM devices belong to commercial grade,quality assurance tests need to be performed in accordance with the aerospace specifcations.Methods In the SiPM application of GECAM,quality assurance experiments were conducted.The mechanism of the failure of SiPM devices was analyzed during the development process.Result Based on the quality assurance test results,the fnal pass rate of SiPM array was 95%.Based on the failure analysis,it was found that a piece of SiPM had a leakage channel after longtime operation due to device defects.Conclusion According to the accumulated experience,in the reliability test of SiPM,it is necessary to pay special attention to test the impedance of each pin of SiPM to ground and confrm that the power switch state of SiPM is controllable.

Study on Factors Influencing the Quality of Automatic Monitoring Data of Pollution Sources and Technical Assurance Measures

Automatic monitoring data of pollution sources is an important basis for environmental supervision and management.At present,it is difficult to guarantee the quality of automatic monitoring data of pollution sources,and it is difficult to play the role of the monitoring data.In response to this problem,the factors influencing the quality of automatic monitoring data of pollution sources were analyzed in detail,and technical assurance measures for the quality of automatic monitoring data of pollution sources in Shandong Province were studied.Besides,the dynamic management and control idea of automatic monitoring of pollution sources was proposed,and specific technical measures were analyzed from five aspects of standardizing automatic monitoring equipment of pollution sources,improving the data collection and transmission system,establishing a mechanism for reporting operating status information of monitoring equipment,setting alarm rules and alarm processing procedures,and statistically analyzing the operating status of the equipment.Practice has proved that the dynamic management and control system can effectively ensure the quality of automatic monitoring data of pollution sources.