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.     

太极的四维图象--大统一的宇宙结构

将<太极图>解析成太极图的四维图象,并根据<周易>的周而复始、生生不息的宇宙法则和现代物理学研究成果构画出太极宇宙模型,同时指出太极宇宙模型的基本特征及特点.根据太极宇宙模型、<周易>原理和现代科学成就提出并描述出大统一的宇宙结构图景,指出"炁天人合一"是易学思想的精髓、太极法则,即宇宙的主体时空观和宇宙的客观本体观的统一.本文提出的太极宇宙模型及大统一的宇宙结构与欧美等国科学家最近提出的循环宇宙、中空宇宙有异曲同工之妙.     

合理利用计算机辅助教学 提高旅游地理教学质量

计算机辅助教学与传统教学方法相比具有许多优越性，它是直观教学、视觉教学和听觉教学发展的结果，制作高质量的教学课件，合理使用计算机辅助教学，是提高旅游地理课教学质量的关键。     

提高投篮命中率初探

根据篮球教学的实践，对提高篮球投篮命中率问题，包括如何握球、瞄准点、投篮力量的运用、出手角度、出手速度、球的旋转、抛物线和入篮角等进行了剖析，为提高篮球教学和训练水平提供借鉴。     

生命伦理学及其四大基本原则

生命伦理学起源于1950年代,1970年代成为一门独立的学科.我国于1980年代初起步.生命伦理学的英文bioethics,由bio和ethics两个词组成,意即在进行生命科学研究时既要遵循生命科学规律,又要合乎伦理学的原则.     

高校青年教师的专业化发展策略

高校青年教师专业化应立足于自主发展,加强自身五个方面的修养,还要立足于提高和增强批判意识与创新能力、学习与研究能力、教育审美能力,从选用机制、竞争机制、利益机制和学术创新等方面建立起适合青年教师健康成长的环境,使青年教师专业化更好地发展.