bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Egg-laying sequence influences egg mercury concentrations and egg size in three bird species: Implications for contaminant monitoring programs
Authors: Ackerman Joshua T. , Eagles-Smith Collin A. , Herzog Mark P. , Yee Julie L. , Hartman C. Alex 
Published: October 2015

Abstract

Bird eggs are commonly used in contaminant monitoring programs and toxicological risk assessments, but intraclutch variation and sampling methodology could influence interpretability. The authors examined the influence of egg-laying sequence on egg mercury concentrations and burdens in American avocets, black-necked stilts, and Forster's terns. The average decline in mercury concentrations between the first and last eggs laid was 33% for stilts, 22% for terns, and 11% for avocets, and most of this decline occurred between the first and second eggs laid (24% for stilts, 18% for terns, and 9% for avocets). Trends in egg size with egg-laying order were inconsistent among species, and overall differences in egg volume, mass, length, and width were &lt;3%. The authors summarized the literature, and among 17 species studied, mercury concentrations generally declined by 16% between the first and second eggs laid. Despite the strong effect of egg-laying sequence, most of the variance in egg mercury concentrations still occurred among clutches (75–91%) rather than within clutches (9%–25%). Using simulations, the authors determined that accurate estimation of a population's mean egg mercury concentration using only a single random egg from a subset of nests would require sampling &gt;60 nests to represent a large population (10% accuracy) or ≥14 nests to represent a small colony that contained &lt;100 nests (20% accuracy). Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:1458–1469. Published 2015 Wiley Periodicals Inc. on behalf of SETAC. This article is a US Government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.
Epigenetic role of CCAAT box‐binding transcription factor NF‐Y on ID gene family in human embryonic carcinoma cells
Authors: Moeinvaziri Farideh , Shahhoseini Maryam 
Published: October 2015

AbstractNuclear factor Y (NF‐Y) is a histone substitute protein that specifically binds to the CCAAT box of the target genes and thereby promotes their regulation. NF‐Y transcription factor, with defined CCAAT element‐binding activities, target a gene family that encodes a group of basic helix–loop–helix ID factors (ID1–ID4), with or without CCAAT box at their promoter region. In this study, the expressions of NF‐Y in mRNA and protein level were evaluated in a human embryonic carcinoma cell line, named NTera2, before and after 7 days induction of differentiation. We also looked into expression levels of ID genes in NTera2 cells during differentiation because of their critical role in development. By using chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with real‐time polymerase chain reaction, NF‐Y incorporation and acetylation/dimethylation of histone H3 at lysine 9 (H3K9ac/me2) was quantitatively evaluated on the regulatory regions of considered genes to monitor the changes in epigenetic markers at ID gene promoters throughout differentiation. The results demonstrated a marked down‐regulation of ID1, ID2, and ID3 genes, parallel to a loss of NF‐Y binding to the promoters of these genes. The data show that although the genes encoding NF‐Y complex remained expressed at mRNA level, NF‐YC is lost at the protein level onset of differentiation. Additionally, the epigenetic marks of H3K9ac and H3K9me2 at the target gene promoters decreased and increased, respectively, after 1 day of differentiation. It is suggested that, in the absence of NF‐Y binding, the corresponding regions adopt a heterochromatic nature, whereas when NF‐Y comes back after 7 days of differentiation, the ID1–3 promoters become again converted into active chromatin. The ID4 gene, lacking a CCAAT box, behaves differently and does not show any incorporation. This experiment implies for the first time that the presence of NF‐Y transcription factor plays a pivotal role in transcriptional regulation of ID genes in development. © 2015 IUBMB Life, 67(11):880–887, 2015
On the Definition of Terms in a Requirements Expression
Authors: Ryan Michael J. , Wheatcraft Louis S. , Dick Jeremy , Zinni Richard 
Published: October 2015

AbstractThe purpose of a requirement expression is to communicate clearly the needs of various entities into a formal language such that the intent is clearly understood by all involved: those whose job it is to implement the requirement, those responsible for proving the built system meets the requirement, and those responsible for proving the resulting system meets the needs of the relevant entity. Although many sources provide definitions of the terms associated with a requirement expression, there are only occasional agreements on common definitions, and the defined terms are too narrowly focused to be useful across the full requirements engineering domain. This paper proposes a cohesive set of definitions of the terms associated with a requirement expression. First, a framework for the transformation of needs into requirements is briefly discussed and existing definitions are presented from major relevant sources. These definitions are then analyzed and a cohesive set of definitions is offered for the key terms associated with a requirements expression: entity; need; requirement statement; and the requirement attributes that, along with the requirement statement itself, comprise the requirement expressions in a requirement set.
An Initial Ontology for System Qualities
Authors: Boehm Barry , Kukreja Nupul 
Published: October 2015

AbstractThis paper presents an initial ontology for reasoning about a system's System Qualities (SQs), ilities, or non‐functional requirements (reliability, usability, affordability, etc.). The need for such an ontology is based primarily on two factors. One is the importance of getting the SQs sufficiently well defined that the system's definition, development and evolution result in a satisfactory balance of SQ values for the system's success‐critical stakeholders, given the frequent system shortfalls and overruns that occur when this balance is not achieved. The other is that current system acquisition and evolution guidance descriptions have numerous deficiencies and inconsistencies in their coverage of SQ considerations. This situation is becoming more serious as systems and their stakeholders become increasingly complex, dynamic, and diverse. This paper provides an elaboration of the needs, a set of initial SQ ontology elements and definitions, examples of their application to some key SQs and their relationships, and an identification of further research and development needed to make the ontology fully useful and evolvable.
Model‐Based System Patterns for Automated Ground Vehicle Platforms
Authors: Peterson Troy , Schindel William D. 
Published: October 2015

AbstractAutomated Ground Vehicle (AGV) platform research and engineering is proliferating across commercial, military, and consumer applications. Beyond diversity of form and application, AGVs can be manned or unmanned, and exhibit a broad range of automated control, from partial to full autonomy, making these vehicles strikingly diverse.This paper reports on application of Pattern‐Based Systems Engineering (PBSE) to representation of automated ground vehicle platforms. PBSE is based upon reusable, configurable S*Models conforming to the S*Metamodel, expressed in any modeling language and toolset. The INCOSE MBSE Initiative Patterns Challenge Team has been practicing PBSE across applications, reported in this and other IS2015 papers.A specialized class of Cyber‐Physical Systems, AGVs are subject to intense interest, creating new opportunities, risks, and complexities. To address the diversity and complexity of these systems, the Embedded Intelligence (EI) Pattern, another S*Pattern, is being applied by the team to illustrate its applicability to an AGV Platform Pattern.
Studying Flexible Design and Management Decision‐Making in Engineering Systems Using Simulation Games
Authors: Cardin Michel‐Alexandre , Yixin Jiang , Yue Howard Ka‐Ho , Haidong Fu 
Published: October 2015

AbstractThis paper presents the results of an empirical study of training procedures enabling flexibility in the design and management of emergency medical services (EMS) systems – an example of complex engineering system. The study relies on the development and use of a simulation gaming environment to study decision‐making dynamics under different treatment conditions. Evaluation of short‐term (explicit vs. control), long‐term (explicit vs. control), and in‐game (with vs. without) flexibility training procedures was completed to assess the main and interaction effects on lifecycle performance score (ΔS). Controlled experiments were conducted with forty‐six participants working on the design and management of an EMS system. Results show that in‐game training produces a statistically significant improvement on lifecycle performance score (ΔS). It means that in‐game training may be more effective than others at improving the quantitative performance (i.e. lifecycle performance score). The empirical study provides insights for developing and evaluating novel training approaches for flexibility in engineering systems
Do Teams Using Agile Methodology Need Modeling?
Authors: Osvalds Gundars , Lempia David L. 
Published: October 2015

AbstractSystem modeling, simulation and visualization enable the understanding of complex systems, an INCOSE Systems Engineering Vision for 2025. Modeling improves understand‐ing, increases quality and improves team performance. Agile Methodologies are used in de‐veloping complex systems. These Agile Methodologies improve quality and team performance with a shorter time to market and improved customer satisfaction. The approach described in this paper builds on the Agile Systems Engineering Framework by investigating who benefits from models on Agile Teams and what type and fidelity of models provide the benefits. As proposed in this paper the combination of agile development and modeling is a new concept that requires further data gathering and investigation to determine if it will result in im‐provement in productivity and risk reduction without losing the benefits of agile methodology.
System Life Cycle Trajectories: Tracking Innovation Paths Using System DNA
Authors: Schindel William D. 
Published: October 2015

AbstractSystems change configuration across life cycles. Systems in development change in‐progress developmental configurations. Evolving product lines and competing product models change configurations, over lives of product lines. Understanding system trajectories (paths of changing configurations) is important to understanding installation history, developmental progress, and competitive evolution.What to track? For living systems, physical form (phenotype) was the initial focus, but the study of genetic information (genotype) became vital. MBSE, Configuration Management (CM), Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Model Management (MM) disciplines and tools partially address engineered system needs. However, cyberwar, epidemics, and other threats raise pressure to accelerate rates and efficacy of system evolution, enhancing agility.This paper, part II of an IS2015 case for stronger MBSE semantics, applies “system DNA” trajectories, extends work reported by a System Sciences Working Group project at IW2014, and supports the IW2015 MBSE Workshop session on Agile Systems and the INCOSE Agile Systems Engineering Project.
Guidelines for creating systems
Authors: Kasser Joseph 
Published: October 2015

AbstractA review of the INCOSE literature on systems engineering has shown that publications in systems engineering especially in systems engineering education tend to assume the system exists and then go on from there. Hence there is a need for guidance on conceptualizing and creating the system. This paper, written for both educators and practitioners provides some of that guidance by introducing and describing an iterative holistic process for conceptualizing and creating a system and/or situation, and determining which elements of the situation belong inside the system boundary and which elements remain outside, namely the paper describes the S2 process in the Nine‐System Model (Kasser and Zhao, 2014).
Differentiating System Architectures: Applying Architecture Measures
Authors: Carson Ronald S. 
Published: October 2015

AbstractHaving the right system architecture can facilitate system development and help manage life‐cycle costs. The wrong system architecture can make these more challenging because there may be missing program activities to address the key features of the selected architecture. For example, integrated architectures may require more design integration and analysis compared with federated (modular) architectures because of the tight coupling among subsystems. In the extreme case, the wrong architecture can lead to failure to satisfy all the requirements or obviate the possibility of future enhancements.How do we select the right system architecture? Can we differentiate a “good” from a “bad” system architecture, or a “better” vs. a “worse” one? When or why should we prefer “modular”, “open”, “service‐oriented”, or “integrated” as an architecture approach? The answers to such questions can help us with the system design of aircraft, space systems, networks, and other complex systems.This paper applies recent work of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) and International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) to evaluate examples of system architectures for different life‐cycle criteria. The paper reviews industry standard definitions of “architecture”, identifies the latest industry work on system architecture measurement, and applies the measurements to specific examples of system architectures. From this analysis an analyst can identify “acceptable” and “better” system architectures. It is shown that there is no universal statement of a “better” architecture because most selection criteria are program‐specific.
An Architecture‐based Enterprise Planning Process
Authors: Martin James N 
Published: October 2015

AbstractThere is a need to augment the traditional enterprise portfolio management process with a more robust process for managing the evolution of enterprise, program and system architectures. These architectures need to evolve towards a desired end state that best meets the needs and concerns of various stakeholders for the enterprise and the extent and variety of systems under its purview. This paper describes a six‐step process for managing architectures under these conditions. It has been implemented at some large government agencies and is based on best practices from government and industry. This process is one of those essential to implementing the relatively new practice of enterprise systems engineering.
Cooks, Recipes and Ingredients
Authors: Nolan Andy J. , Pickard Andrew C. 
Published: October 2015

AbstractTo make a meal, you need ingredients and a recipe. A recipe defines sequencing, quantities, timing etc. This is analogous to a project's processes (ingredients) and life‐cycle (recipe).For a project, the attributes of cost, schedule and quality are properties that emerge from the recipes and ingredients. But how important is the recipe? This paper has found instances where a project's recipe had a 16‐fold cost difference using the exact same ingredients. This suggests that a good cook can make a great meal almost regardless of the ingredients.Many Project Managers inadvertently become chiefs of their projects and create new recipes in their attempt to recover their project. However, few managers are aware of the outcome of the recipes they create. When things turn out unexpectedly, generally badly, they blame the ingredients and not the recipe.This paper shows how a business can characterize a recipe to meet business goals, define it in a structured way (a reference model) and then use that definition to plan and monitor a project. The method has been used at Rolls‐Royce since 2002 and has been shown to improve project success, halving the level of scrap and rework whilst holding schedule. In one case, this method brought a 45% cost reduction to a project with only a small increase to schedule.The concepts behind this paper are not new, but the notation used made it easy to define the ideal recipe, plan projects and to track them against the ideal recipe. This paper describes the background, benefits and methods to develop your own project recipes.This paper is aimed at project managers, process architects and systems engineers. It defines a unified language to bridge all three needs in a language that can be understood by all.
A Systems Engineering Framework for R&D Organizations
Authors: Lombardo Nicholas , Millard David , Sturges Mark 
Published: October 2015

AbstractResearch and development (R&D) organizations such as the U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories span the spectrum of R&D from basic science to operational support. They must address a wide range of project types (e.g., projects that produce knowledge as their primary product or that develop a first‐of‐a‐kind system), technology readiness levels, and client demands. Application of formal systems engineering processes (such as those supporting U.S. Department of Defense acquisitions) is often not warranted or affordable, particularly where it is uncertain whether a technology can meet key performance goals. To address these challenges, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has developed and is implementing a systems engineering framework that is highly tailorable and adaptable for the wide range of R&D that the laboratory executes. The framework applies the concepts of systems development‐related risk and technology maturity levels to tailor the systems engineering effort. This paper describes the framework and its implementation.
Change Agency for Systems Engineers
Authors: McKinney Dorothy , Arnold Eileen , Sheard Sarah 
Published: October 2015

AbstractINCOSE aims to establish thought leadership and help the world tackle large problems and complex issues. Systems engineering can enable rational problem solving that considers multiple stakeholder needs and interconnections of many interacting parts. Yet many systems engineers have trouble influencing decisions within their own organization, leaving doubt as to the path from engineering technical systems to establishing thought leadership in the greater world.This paper describes the process of leading change, called “change agency,” as an evolution of a technical systems engineering career. Change agency makes use of skills learned in engineering, as extended to the social world. Learning change agency requires systems engineers to identify new skills, acquire new knowledge, and adapt to new philosophies, in order to prepare for, plan, and implement intelligent and lasting change.This paper begins with two stories of change that systems engineers have participated in, and asks whether standard, technical systems engineering would be enough to ensure the change is implemented. Then it shows the evolution required from standard systems engineering knowledge and skills to the knowledge and skills required to be a good Change Agent. Steps required to identify, plan, and implement a change are discussed. The story endings are shared with an explanation of the results. An appendix describes a self‐assessment tool to help the systems engineer identify which aspects of change agency should be the first to be developed further.
Addressing the Rural Context in Literacies Research
Authors: Azano Amy Price 
Published: October 2015

AbstractThe article features a discussion about rural contexts in literacy research. Rural students compose a significant portion of K–12 students, and rural schools have unique challenges, such as limited funding and resources. However, as a field of literacy researchers, we do not privilege place equitably across multiple contexts. The article serves as a call to action for literacy researchers and educators to promote greater social justice and address educational inequities for rural students.
Synthesis of self‐assembled IL‐1Ra‐presenting nanoparticles for the treatment of osteoarthritis
Authors: Agarwal Rachit , Volkmer Tiago M. , Wang Peiyi , Lee L. Andrew , Wang Qian , García Andrés J. 
Published: October 2015

AbstractOsteoarthritis is a progressive joint disease that results in degradation of cartilage in load‐bearing joints. Pain and inflammation in the joint are the hallmarks of this condition, which further exacerbate the cartilage destruction and health of the patient. It is hence imperative to treat the joint inflammation at the earliest. Interleukin 1 (IL‐1) blockade by IL‐1 receptor antagonist (IL‐1Ra) has shown promise in the clinic but this therapy suffers from rapid clearance, high doses, and frequent intervention. Use of carrier particles that result in longer residence time has been proposed. Here we have synthesized a new class of nanoparticles presenting IL‐1Ra on the surface and with tunable size from 300 to 700 nm. These IL‐1Ra‐poly(2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate)‐pyridine nanoparticles are cytocompatible and stable in serum‐containing solutions for several days. Our results further demonstrate that these nanoparticles are capable of blocking IL‐1β signaling in an NF‐κB inducible reporter cell line. These engineered nanoparticles are promising for localized intra‐articular delivery in joint space to reduce inflammation in osteoarthritis and other inflammatory diseases. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 104A: 595–599, 2016.
Trichostatin A, an Inhibitor of Histone Deacetylase, Inhibits the Viability and Invasiveness of Hypoxic Rheumatoid Arthritis Fibroblast‐Like Synoviocytes via PI3K/Akt Signaling
Authors: Zhang Yong , Zhang Bo 
Published: October 2015

ABSTRACTThis study was undertaken to explore the effects of trichostatin A (TSA), an inhibitor of histone deacetylase, on the viability, apoptosis, and invasiveness of hypoxic rheumatoid arthritis fibroblast‐like synoviocytes (RA FLSs). RA FLSs were exposed to hypoxia for 24 h in the presence or absence of 2 μM TSA and tested for cell viability, apoptosis, invasion, and gene expression. The involvement of the phosphatidylinositol‐3‐kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway was checked. TSA significantly inhibited the viability and induced apoptosis of hypoxic RA FLSs, compared to vehicle control. TSA blocked hypoxia‐induced invasion of RA FLSs during Matrigel invasion assays and reduced the expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP‐2 and MMP‐9) and PI3K and phosphorylation of Akt. Overexpression of constitutively active Akt reversed TSA‐mediated suppression of invasiveness and downregulation of MMP‐2 and MMP‐9. Our results indicate the antisurvival and antiinvasive activities of TSA in hypoxic RA FLSs, which is associated with inactivation of PI3K/Akt signaling.