EVOKE: A Value-Driven Concept Selection Method for Early System Design

The development of new technologically advanced products requires the contribution from a range of skills and disciplines, which are often difficult to find within a single company or organization. Requirements establishment practices in Systems Engineering (SE), while ensuring coordination of activities and tasks across the supply network, fall short when it comes to facilitate knowledge sharing and negotiation during early system design. Empirical observations show that when system-level requirements are not available or not mature enough, engineers dealing with the development of long lead-time sub-systems tend to target local optima, rather than opening up the design space. This phenomenon causes design teams to generate solutions that do not embody the best possible configuration for the overall system. The aim of this paper is to show how methodologies for value-driven design may address this issue, facilitating early stage design iterations and the resolution of early stage design trade-offs. The paper describes how such methodologies may help gathering and dispatching relevant knowledge about the ‘design intent’ of a system to the cross-functional engineering teams, so to facilitate a more concurrent process for requirement elicitation in SE. The paper also describes EVOKE (Early Value Oriented design exploration with KnowledgE maturity), a concept selection method that allows benchmarking design options at sub-system level on the base of value-related information communicated by the system integrators. The use of EVOKE is exemplified in an industrial case study related to the design of an aero-engine component. EVOKE’s ability to raise awareness on the value contribution of early stage design concepts in the SE process has been further verified with industrial practitioners in ad-hoc design episodes.     

The expansion of GPCR transactivation-dependent signalling to include serine/threonine kinase receptors represents a new cell signalling frontier

G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signalling is mediated through transactivation-independent signalling pathways or the transactivation of protein tyrosine kinase receptors and the recently reported activation of the serine/threonine kinase receptors, most notably the transforming growth factor-β receptor family. Since the original observation of GPCR transactivation of protein tyrosine kinase receptors, there has been considerable work on the mechanism of transactivation and several pathways are prominent. These pathways include the “triple membrane bypass” pathway and the generation of reactive oxygen species. The recent recognition of GPCR transactivation of serine/threonine kinase receptors enormously broadens the GPCR signalling paradigm. It may be predicted that the transactivation of serine/threonine kinase receptors would have mechanistic similarities with transactivation of tyrosine kinase pathways; however, initial studies suggest that these two transactivation pathways are mechanistically distinct. Important questions are the relative importance of tyrosine and serine/threonine transactivation pathways, the contribution of transactivation to overall GPCR signalling, mechanisms of transactivation and the range of cell types in which this phenomenon occurs. The ultimate significance of transactivation-dependent signalling remains to be defined but it appears to be prominent and if so will represent a new cell signalling frontier.     

Reconsideration on Homogeneous Quadratic Riemann Boundary Value Problem

The homogeneous quadratic Riemann boundary value problem (1) with Hoelder continuous coefficients for the normal case was considered by the author in 1997. But the solutions obtained there are incomplete. Here its general method of solution is obtained.     

Abrupt climate change：Debate or action

Global abrupt climate changes have been documented by various climate records, including ice cores, ocean sediment cores, lake sediment cores, cave deposits, loess deposits and pollen records. The climate system prefers to be in one of two stable states, i.e. interstadial or stadial conditions, but not in between. The transition between two states has an abrupt character. Abrupt climate changes are, in general, synchronous in the northern hemisphere and tropical regions. The timescale for abrupt climate changes can be as short as a decade. As the impacts may be potentially serious, we need to take actions such as reducing CO2 emissions to the atmosphere.     

The Optimal Solution of the Model with Physical and Human Capital Adjustment Costs

We prove that the model with physical and human capital adjustment costs has optimal solution when the production function is increasing return and the structure of vetor fields of the model changes substantially when the prodution function from decreasing return turns to increasing return. And it is shown that the economy is improved when the coefficients of adjustment costs become small.     

自主机器人人工进化方法研究

在介绍人工进化研究状况的基础上 ,着重阐述了进化机器人学的关键问题 :基本概念、进化技术、进化计算和实验研究方法等 ,探索了进化机器人学未来的研究趋势及所面临的挑战 .     

厚板焊接柱的 曲线研究

本文利用数值积分法,考虑截面残余应力和跨中挠度为千分之一杆长的正弦半波状初弯曲,对50组焊接厚板Ⅰ型和箱形截面柱进行了计算分析,从而确定了该类柱子的稳定曲线取值,以供设计规定参考。     

用向量的矩阵表示法描述刚体运动

本文对文[1]中的有关公式用向量的矩阵表示法重新推导。此外还导出了一些有用的关系式。实践表明向量的矩阵表示法是描述刚体运动的有效工具,可以使问题变得简单明了,也便于分析各种方法之间的关系。     

Static extracting method of software intended behavior based on API functions invoking

The method of extracting and describing the intended behavior of software precisely has become one of the key points in the fields of software behavior＇s dynamic and trusted authentication. In this paper, the author proposes a specified measure of extracting SIBDS （software intended behaviors describing sets） statically from the binary executable using the software＇s API functions invoking, and also introduces the definition of the structure used to store the SIBDS in detail. Experimental results demonstrate that the extracting method and the storage structure definition offers three strong properties： （i） it can describe the software＇s intended behavior accurately; （ii） it demands a small storage expense; （iii） it provides strong capability to defend against mimicry attack.     

Comparison of Drought-Resistance about Three Wild Rocky-Grasses

In this experiment, using the methods of drought-stress in the pot and PEG simulative drought-stress, three native rocky-slope grasses Pogonatherum panideum（Lam.） Hack, Erioophorum comosum nees and Cynodon dactylon cultivated in the pots were selected as materials to study their drought-resistance by analyzing the indexes such as the leaf area index, the drying roots accumulation, the holding water ability of leaf, the relative conductance of leaf, the soluble protein, chlorophyll. At the same time, by comparing with membership function value of each index, the order of each grass drought-resistance was decided. The results showed that the drought-resistance of Erioophorum comosum nees was stronger than Cynodon dactylon and drought-resistance of Cynodon dactylon was stronger than Pogonatherum panideum （Lam.） Hack. The purpose of the experimental results was to find theoretical foundations for selecting and cultivating native protecting-slope vegetations to adapt to rocky slopes.