Evaluation of “Codeve” methodology for teaching npd to virtual design teams

Studies on the effectiveness of New Product Development (NPD) in countries of partner organizations of EGPR (European Global Product Realisation) course discovered that the end phases of the process are most challenging. These are identification of market needs on one end and commercialization on the other. CODEVE (COllaborative DEsign in Virtual Environment) teaching methodology is developed within EGPR course. EGPR is joint educational project of four European universities running since 2004. CODEVE is tested through the Erasmus+ funded project called NARIP (Networked Activities for Realization of Innovative Products). The goal of developing this teaching methodology was to establish suitable means by which students can learn NPD process and how to implement it in their professional career. NARIP project is funded by EU over three years to develop, test and implement this methodology within partner academic institutions from the UK, Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary. It is expected that the recommendations resulting from this activity will be implemented in academia and industry across Europe and help companies to improve their NPD process. This paper presents findings of the student surveys from NARIP projects hosted by Zagreb and Budapest in 2015 and 2016 respectively. The study analyses the effectiveness of the NPD process, the engagement of students, knowledge generation of staff and other aspects of the performed NPD process. The analysis lead to recommendations of improving the CODEVE methodology which will be finally tested in the EGPR project hosted in the UK in 2017

Development of methodology for distributed collaborative design environment

This paper describes the CODEVE (COllaborative DEsign in Virtual Environment) methodology developed in a joint educational project of four European universities called NARIP (Networked Activities for Realization of Innovative Products). The ultimate goal of the NARIP NPD course is to develop a concept and produce a physical product prototype within one academic semester. In order to expose students to real life situations the prototype is being produced in close collaboration with an industrial partner. Elements of the NARIP course comprise: (1) project definition-according to agreement with the industrial partner, (2) lectures composed and adapted to address the specific needs of the current project and which are equally distributed to partner universities, (3) project work monitored by academics, with three distinct phases and review points, and (4) the final workshop that includes prototype manufacturing, assembly and testing, final presentation and exhibition. The paper presents the structure and details of the developed methodology as well as an overview of the course development history. The core of the CODEVE methodology is a set of comprehensive guidelines for students and teachers that are specially adapted and focused to the issues and problems that arise in distributed collaborative multidisciplinary design projects. The methodology focuses on management of complex projects, emphasizing the importance of research phases, prompt clarification of any issues and balanced distribution of project tasks. The methodology also promotes the use of various virtual/on-line collaboration tools to foster discussion and exchange of 3D sketches and models

Development of methodology for distributed collaborative design environment

This paper describes the CODEVE (COllaborative DEsign in Virtual Environment) methodology developed in a joint educational project of four European universities called NARIP (Networked Activities for Realization of Innovative Products). The ultimate goal of the NARIP NPD course is to develop a concept and produce a physical product prototype within one academic semester. In order to expose students to real life situations the prototype is being produced in close collaboration with an industrial partner. Elements of the NARIP course comprise: (1) project definition-according to agreement with the industrial partner, (2) lectures composed and adapted to address the specific needs of the current project and which are equally distributed to partner universities, (3) project work monitored by academics, with three distinct phases and review points, and (4) the final workshop that includes prototype manufacturing, assembly and testing, final presentation and exhibition. The paper presents the structure and details of the developed methodology as well as an overview of the course development history. The core of the CODEVE methodology is a set of comprehensive guidelines for students and teachers that are specially adapted and focused to the issues and problems that arise in distributed collaborative multidisciplinary design projects. The methodology focuses on management of complex projects, emphasizing the importance of research phases, prompt clarification of any issues and balanced distribution of project tasks. The methodology also promotes the use of various virtual/on-line collaboration tools to foster discussion and exchange of 3D sketches and models

Effect of family relatedness on characteristics of estimated IBD probabilities in relation to precision of QTL estimates

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A random QTL effects model uses a function of probabilities that two alleles in the same or in different animals at a particular genomic position are identical by descent (IBD). Estimates of such IBD probabilities and therefore, modeling and estimating QTL variances, depend on marker polymorphism, strength of linkage and linkage disequilibrium of markers and QTL, and the relatedness of animals in the pedigree. The effect of relatedness of animals in a pedigree on IBD probabilities and their characteristics was examined in a simulation study.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The study based on nine multi-generational family structures, similar to a pedigree structure of a real dairy population, distinguished by an increased level of inbreeding from zero to 28% across the studied population. Highest inbreeding level in the pedigree, connected with highest relatedness, was accompanied by highest IBD probabilities of two alleles at the same locus, and by lower relative variation coefficients. Profiles of correlation coefficients of IBD probabilities along the marked chromosomal segment with those at the true QTL position were steepest when the inbreeding coefficient in the pedigree was highest. Precision of estimated QTL location increased with increasing inbreeding and pedigree relatedness. A method to assess the optimum level of inbreeding for QTL detection is proposed, depending on population parameters.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>An increased overall relationship in a QTL mapping design has positive effects on precision of QTL position estimates. But the relationship of inbreeding level and the capacity for QTL detection depending on the recombination rate of QTL and adjacent informative marker is not linear.</p

Snowmass White Paper: Prospects of CP-violation measurements with the Higgs boson at future experiments

The search for CP violation in interactions of the Higgs boson with either fermions or bosons provides attractive reference measurements in the Particle Physics Community Planning Exercise (a.k.a. "Snowmass"). Benchmark measurements of CP violation provide a limited and well-defined set of parameters that could be tested at the proton, electron-positron, photon, and muon colliders, and compared to those achieved through study of virtual effects in electric dipole moment measurements. We review the current status of these CP-sensitive studies and provide projections to future measurements.Comment: Snowmass White Paper. 23 pages, 6 figure

Investigations into a putative role for the novel BRASSIKIN pseudokinases in compatible pollen-stigma interactions in Arabidopsis thaliana.

BACKGROUND: In the Brassicaceae, the early stages of compatible pollen-stigma interactions are tightly controlled with early checkpoints regulating pollen adhesion, hydration and germination, and pollen tube entry into the stigmatic surface. However, the early signalling events in the stigma which trigger these compatible interactions remain unknown. RESULTS: A set of stigma-expressed pseudokinase genes, termed BRASSIKINs (BKNs), were identified and found to be present in only core Brassicaceae genomes. In Arabidopsis thaliana Col-0, BKN1 displayed stigma-specific expression while the BKN2 gene was expressed in other tissues as well. CRISPR deletion mutations were generated for the two tandemly linked BKNs, and very mild hydration defects were observed for wild-type Col-0 pollen when placed on the bkn1/2 mutant stigmas. In further analyses, the predominant transcript for the stigma-specific BKN1 was found to have a premature stop codon in the Col-0 ecotype, but a survey of the 1001 Arabidopsis genomes uncovered three ecotypes that encoded a full-length BKN1 protein. Furthermore, phylogenetic analyses identified intact BKN1 orthologues in the closely related outcrossing Arabidopsis species, A. lyrata and A. halleri. Finally, the BKN pseudokinases were found to be plasma-membrane localized through the dual lipid modification of myristoylation and palmitoylation, and this localization would be consistent with a role in signaling complexes. CONCLUSION: In this study, we have characterized the novel Brassicaceae-specific family of BKN pseudokinase genes, and examined the function of BKN1 and BKN2 in the context of pollen-stigma interactions in A. thaliana Col-0. Additionally, premature stop codons were identified in the predicted stigma specific BKN1 gene in a number of the 1001 A. thaliana ecotype genomes, and this was in contrast to the out-crossing Arabidopsis species which carried intact copies of BKN1. Thus, understanding the function of BKN1 in other Brassicaceae species will be a key direction for future studies