Northampton Community College

About: Northampton Community College is a education organization based out in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 3410 authors who have published 4582 publications receiving 130398 citations. The organization is also known as: Northampton County Area Community College.

Collision avoidance system

Abstract: A collision avoidance system particularly suited for automotive applications includes an electro-optical rangefinder scanner, retroreflectors on target vehicles, and a processing unit. The rangefinder supplies data on the range and angle of target vehicles to the processor, which monitors each target vehicle's position, speed and acceleration and constantly determines and updates target range, angle, velocity, acceleration and predicted separation distances. A warning signal or evasive manuever instructions are issued if the predicted separation at the time of intercept is below a minimum acceptable value.

Microwave acoustic materials, devices, and applications

Abstract: This paper surveys applications of acoustic waves in microwave devices. After a general and historical introduction to bulk acoustic waves (BAWs), surface acoustic waves (SAWs), practical wave types, and acoustoelectric transducers, a review is given of technologically important materials for microwave acoustic applications. Following this, we discuss BAW and SAW microwave devices and their technologies. Specifically reviewed are thin-film resonators and filters, transversal filters, and filters for correlative analog signal processing. Finally, an overview of the most important microwave applications is given, along with manufacturing and packaging issues.

Salivary antioxidants and periodontal disease status.

Abstract: Periodontal disease is a common chronic adult condition. The bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis has been implicated in the aetiology of this disease, which causes destruction of the connective tissue and bone around the root area of the tooth. It has been observed that invading P. gingivalis bacteria trigger the release of cytokines such as interleukin 8 and tumour necrosis factor a, leading to elevated numbers and activity of polymorphonucleocytes (PMN). As a result of stimulation by bacterial antigens, PMN produce the reactive oxygen species (ROS) superoxide via the respiratory burst as part of the host response to infection. Patients with periodontal disease display increased PMN number and activity. It has been suggested that this proliferation results in a high degree of ROS release, culminating in heightened oxidative damage to gingival tissue, periodontal ligament and alveolar bone. Antioxidant constituents in plasma have been well-documented, being chiefly ascorbate, albumin and urate, and these are known to display sensitivity to dietary antioxidant intakes. The concentration of antioxidants in saliva does not appear to mirror those of plasma. The extent of dietary influence upon salivary antioxidant status is unclear. Urate is the predominant salivary antioxidant, with albumin and ascorbate providing minor contributions. Previous research has found reduced salivary antioxidant activity in patients suffering from periodontal disease. An improved understanding of the role antioxidants play in periodontitis, and the influence of nutrition on antioxidant status, may lead to a possible nutritional strategy for the treatment of periodontal disease.

Towards a framework for integrating agile development and user-centred design

Abstract: Due to a number of similarities between user-centred design (UCD) and agile development, coupled with an appreciation that developers are rarely usability experts, it seems attractive to integrate these two approaches. However, although agile methods share some of the same aims as UCD, there are also distinct differences. These differences have made the use of these methods on development projects problematic. This paper reports a field study designed to investigate the use of agile methods alongside UCD in one particular organization. The aim of the study was to develop a framework for use by project teams wishing to integrate UCD practices with agile development. The study, its findings and five principles for integrating UCD and agile development arising from this work are discussed.

The implementation of enterprise resource planning packages in different organisational and national cultures

Abstract: Enterprise resource planning (ERP) packages provide generic off-the-shelf business and software solutions to customers. However, these packages are implemented in companies with different organisational and national cultures, and there is growing evidence that failure to adapt ERP packages to fit these cultures leads to projects that are expensive and late. This paper describes research that synthesises social science theories of culture to handle the impact of culture on ERP package implementation more efficiently. It describes a knowledge meta-schema for modelling the surface and the deeper manifestations of culture. It reports an empirical study into the implementation of SAP R/3's sales and distribution (SD) module in a large pharmaceuticals organisation in Scandinavia and the UK. Results provide evidence for an association between organisational culture and ERP implementation problems but no direct evidence for an association between national culture and implementation problems. Furthermore, results demonstrate that these diverse implementation problems can be caused by a mismatch between a small set of core values indicative of a customer's organisational culture. At the end of the paper, our predictions are reviewed, conclusions are made about them and about the work of the key authors of national and organisational culture, and future work is discussed.