Calibrating software reliability models when the test environment does not match the user environment

Software failures have become the major factor that brings the system down or causes a degradation in the quality of service. For many applications, estimating the software failure rate from a user's perspective helps the development team evaluate the reliability of the software and determine the release time properly. Traditionally, software reliability growth models are applied to system test data with the hope of estimating the software failure rate in the field. Given the aggressive nature by which the software is exercised during system test, as well as unavoidable differences between the test environment and the field environment, the resulting estimate of the failure rate will not typically reflect the user‐perceived failure rate in the field. The goal of this work is to quantify the mismatch between the system test environment and the field environment. A calibration factor is proposed to map the failure rate estimated from the system test data to the failure rate that will be observed in the field. Non‐homogeneous Poisson process models are utilized to estimate the software failure rate in both the system test phase and the field. For projects that have only system test data, use of the calibration factor provides an estimate of the field failure rate that would otherwise be unavailable. For projects that have both system test data and previous field data, the calibration factor can be explicitly evaluated and used to estimate the field failure rate of future releases as their system test data becomes available. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cosmic dust and our origins

The small solid particles in the space between the stars provide the surfaces for the production of many simple and complex molecules. Processes involving the effects of ultraviolet irradiation of the thin (hundredth micron) mantles are shown to produce a wide range of molecules and ions also seen in comets. Some of the more complex ones inferred from laboratory experiments are expected to play an important role in the origin of life. An outline of the chemical evolution of interstellar dust as observed and as studied in the laboratory is presented. Observations of comets are shown to provide substantial evidence for their being fluffy aggregates of interstellar dust as it was in the protosolar nebula, i.e. the interstellar cloud which collapsed to form the solar system. The theory that comets may have brought the progenitors of life to the earth is summarized.     

Non-universal critical behaviour of heteronuclear dimers on a square lattice––A Monte Carlo study

Monte Carlo simulation within the grand canonical ensemble, the histogram reweighting technique, and finite size scaling analysis are used to explore the phase behaviour of heteronuclear dimers, composed of A and B type atoms, on a square lattice. We have found that for the models with attractive BB and AB nearest-neighbour energy, u_BB=u_AB=−1, and for non-repulsive energy between AA nearest-neighbour sites, u_AA<0, the system belongs to the universality class of the two-dimensional Ising model. However, when u_AA>0, the system exhibits a non-universal critical behaviour. We have evaluated the dependences of the critical point characteristics on the value of u_AA.     

In situ neutron diffraction study (300-1273 K) of non-stoichiometric strontium ferrite SrFeOx

The high-temperature cubic phase of non-stoichiometric strontium ferrite SrFeO_x (2.5≤x≤3.0) has been studied by in situ neutron powder diffraction in air over the temperature range 300-1273 K. The composition of SrFeO_x changes within the range 2.56≤x≤2.81 from 1273 to 673 K, respectively.Rietveld refinements of the diffraction patterns show that the high-temperature cubic phase of SrFeO_x is consistent with a face-centred Fm3c structure. This structure leads to agreement with previous density measurements. This cell allows the high-temperature structure of SrFeO_x to be described in terms of a solid solution of the composition end members. Cubic SrFeO_x at high temperature is found to closely obey Vegard's law. The density of cubic SrFeO_x is also found to exhibit a linear relationship with composition.     

生长温度对碳纳米管阴极场发射性能的影响

碳纳米管(Carbon Nanotubes,CNTs)场发射平面显示器(Field Emission Display,FED)与其他显示器比较显示了其独特优点,被认为是未来理想的平面显示器之一。碳纳米管阴极作为器件的核心部分,其性能的好坏直接影响显示器的性能。针对30~60英寸(76.2~152.4cm)大屏幕显示器所用的厚膜工艺,即采用丝网印刷法制备了碳纳米管阴极阵列,研究了化学气相沉积法在不同温度下生长的CNTs的场发射电流-电压特性,找到了适合FED用碳纳米管的最佳生长温度。结果表明生长温度越高(750℃),CNTs场发射性能越好。并用荧光粉阳极测试这些CNTs的场发射发光显示效果,验证了上述结论。     

宽带膜厚实时监控过程中膜层折射率的确定方法

为了准确计算出镀膜过程中每层膜的折射率，介绍了实时监控过程中确定膜层折射率的2种方法：一种是由实测的透射比光谱直接反算出膜层的折射率；另一种是用最小二乘法的优化算法实时拟合折射率。试验结果表明：在线反算适合单点监控，所得折射率误差小于2%。然而在实际镀膜过程中,由于宽带内膜层参数误差较大,一般大于25%。为此，采用最小二乘法拟合，即在整个宽光谱范围内采集每个波长点的信息，所得结果误差很小，一般都在2％～5%之间,有时可达到10%,在很大程度上提高了实际镀膜时膜厚监控的精度。     

掺钕聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯的光学特性

研究了制备的掺钕螯合物Nd(DBM)3Phen材料的吸收光谱、激发光谱、荧光光谱,应用Judd-Ofelt理论计算了该材料的强度参量．分析了钕离子激发态4F3／2的辐射寿命(631 μs)和4F3／2→4IJ′跃迁的受激发射截面和荧光分支比．     

弱(L_1,L_2)-BLD映射的正则性

本文首先将文［１］中的ＢＬＤ映射推广为弱（Ｌ１，Ｌ２）－ＢＬＤ映射，并证明了如下正则性结果：存在两个可积指数 Ｐ１＝Ｐ１（ｎ，Ｌ１，Ｌ２）＜ｎ＜ｑ１＝ｑ１（ｎ，Ｌ１，Ｌ２），使得对任意弱（Ｌ１，Ｌ２）－ＢＬＤ映射ｆ∈（Ω，Ｒｎ），都有ｆ∈（Ω，Ｒｎ），即ｆ为（Ｌ１，Ｌ２）－ＢＬＤ映射．     

Time delay as a key to apoptosis induction in the p53 network

A feedback mechanism that involves the proteins p53 and mdm2, induces cell death as a controlled response to severe DNA damage. A minimal model for this mechanism demonstrates that the response may be dynamic and connected with the time needed to translate the mdm2 protein. The response takes place if the dissociation constant k between p53 and mdm2 varies from its normal value. Although it is widely believed that it is an increase in k that triggers the response, we show that the experimental behaviour is better described by a decrease in the dissociation constant. The response is quite robust upon changes in the parameters of the system, as required by any control mechanism, except for few weak points, which could be connected with the onset of cancer. Received 8 May 2002 / Received in final form 9 July 2002 Published online 17 September 2002     

Asymptotique de la norme $L^2$ d'un cycle géodésique dans les revêtements de congruence d'une variété hyperbolique arithmétique

Let M be an arithmetic hyperbolic manifold and be a codimension 1 geodesic cycle. In this paper, we study the asymptotic growth of the -norm of the lifts of F in the congruence tower above M. We obtain an explicit value for the growth rate of this norm. In particular, we provide a new proof of a celebrated result of Millson [Mi] on the homology of the arithmetic hyperbolic manifolds. The method is quite general and gives a new way of getting non zero homology classes in certain locally symmetric spaces. Received: 20 April 2001; in final form: 26 September 2001 / Published online: 28 February 2002