A New Software Reliability Framework —— A Extended Cleanroom Model

Cleanroom software engineering has been proven effective in improving software development quality while at the same time increasing reliability. To adapt to large software system development, the paper presents an extended the Cleanroom model, which integrates object-oriented method based on stimulus history, reversed engineering idea, automatic testing and reliability assessment into software development. The paper discusses the architecture and realizing technology of ECM.

Myopia induced by flickering light in guinea pigs: a detailed assessment on susceptibility of different frequencies

AIM: To investigate the effectiveness and feasibility of inducing myopia in guinea pigs by flickering light (FL) stimulation with different frequencies. METHODS: Seventy 2 -week-old guinea pigs were randomly assigned to six groups: five FL groups and a control group (n =12 for each). Animals in the five FL groups were raised under 500lx illumination with a duty diurnal cycle of 50% at a flash rate of 5, 1, 0.5, 0.25 and 0.1Hz respectively. Those in the control group were reared under steady 250lx illumination. Refraction, axial length, and radius of curvature were measured before and at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 weeks after treatment. At week 12, the eyeballs were taken out and three ocular dimensions and dry weight of sclera were measured. RESULTS: A myopic shift and axial eye length increase developed in the five FL groups. Stimulation at 0.5Hz caused greater changes in myopic shift, axial elongation, eyeball dimension, and dry weight of sclera than stimulation at other frequencies. Compared with controls, eyes in 0.5Hz group were approximately -5.5 ±1.5D more myopic with increase in horizontal, vertical, axial dimensions by 0.89 ±0.3mm, 0.69 ±0.2mm, 1.12 ±0.2mm respectively and with increase in dry weight of sclera by 0.44mg. CONCLUSION: Chronic exposure to periodic illumination at temporal frequency is attended by development of excessive ocular enlargement and myopic refractive error. Emmetropization could bedisrupted differently by frequency alteration.

Gaussian Process for a Single-channel EEG Decoder with Inconspicuous Stimuli and Eyeblinks

A single-channel electroencephalography(EEG)device,despite being widely accepted due to convenience,ease of deployment and suitability for use in complex environments,typically poses a great challenge for reactive brain-computer interface(BCI)applications particularly when a continuous command from users is desired to run a motorized actuator with different speed profiles.In this study,a combination of an inconspicuous visual stimulus and voluntary eyeblinks along with a machine learning-based decoder is considered as a new reactive BCI paradigm to increase the degree of freedom and minimize mismatches between the intended dynamic command and transmitted control signal.The proposed decoder is constructed based on Gaussian Process model(GPM)which is a nonparametric Bayesian approach that has the advantages of being able to operate on small datasets and providing measurements of uncertainty on predictions.To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method,the GPM is compared against other competitive techniques which include k-Nearest Neighbors,linear discriminant analysis,support vector machine,ensemble learning and neural network.Results demonstrate that a significant improvement can be achieved via the GPM approach with average accuracy reaching over 96%and mean absolute error of no greater than 0.8 cm/s.In addition,the analysis reveals that while the performances of other existing methods deteriorate with a certain type of stimulus due to signal drifts resulting from the voluntary eyeblinks,the proposed GPM exhibits consistent performance across all stimuli considered,thereby manifesting its generalization capability and making it a more suitable option for dynamic commands with a single-channel EEG-controlled actuator.

Calibration method of quartz accelerometer on dynamic centrifuge

This paper proposes a novel method for calibrating error coefficients of the quartz accelerometer faster on the dynamic centrifuge,which can generate a continuous dynamic acceleration excitation.Firstly,working principle and structure of the dynamic centrifuge are analyzed,the error sources and the uncertainty of the dynamic centrifuge are expounded,and relevant coordinate systems are established.Then,according to the characteristics of the input specific forces and the propagating methods of the error sources,the accurate input specific forces acted on the input reference axes of accelerometer are obtained.Based on the calibration error model of the accelerometer,the corresponding dynamic calibration method is proposed.Finally,the second-order and high-order coefficients of the acceleration error model are calibrated,and the calibration precision of the coefficients is analyzed.Compared with traditional calibration methods,the method proposed in this paper not only greatly enhances the calibration efficiency by reducing the installing positions of the accelerometer,but also separates the centrifuge errors from the outputs of the accelerometer,which improves the accuracy and efficiency of the calibration method simultaneously.

Effects of subconvulsive electrical stimulation to the hippocampus on emotionality and spatial learning and memory in rats

Objective To observe the effects of repeated subconvulsive electrical stimuli to the hippocampus on the emotional behavior and spatial learning and memory ability in rats.Methods One hundred and eight male Wistar rats were randomized into 3 groups. Animals in group SE (n = 42) were given subconvulsive electrical stimulation to the hippocampus through a constant pulsating current of 100 μA with an intratrain frequency of 25 Hz, pulse duration of 1 millisecond, train duration of 10 seconds and interstimulus interval of 7 minutes, 8 times a day, for 5 days. In the electrode control group or CE group (n = 33), animals were implanted with an electrode in the hippocampus, but were not stimulated. Group NC (n =33) animals received no electrode or any stimulation. The emotional behavior of experimental rats was examined by activity in an unfamiliar open field and resistance to capture from the open field, while the spatial learning and memory ability was measured during training in a Morris water maze.Results The stimulated rats tested 1 month after the last round of stimulation displayed substantial decreases in open field activity (scale: 10. 4±2. 3, P<0. 05) and increases in resistance to capture (scale: 2. 85±0. 56, P < 0. 01 ). The amount of time for rats in group SE to find the platform (latency) as a measurement for spatial bias was prolonged (29±7) seconds after 15 trials in the water maze, P<0. 05). The experimental rats swam aimlessly in all four pool quadrants during the probe trial in the Morris water maze.Conclusions Following repeated subconvulsive electrical stimuli to the hippocampus, rats displayed long-lasting significant abnormalities in emotional behavior, increased anxiety and defensiveness, enhanced ease to and delayed habituation to startlement, transitory spatial learning and memory disorder, which parallels many of the symptoms in posttraumatic stress disorder patients.