Developing modular product family using GeMoCURE within an SME

Companies adopt the strategy of producing variety of products to be competitive and responsive to market. Product variation is becoming an important factor in companies' ability to accurately meet customer requirements. Ever increasing consumer options mean that customers have more choices than ever before which put commercial pressures on companies to continue to diversify. This can be a particular problem within Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) who do not always have the level of resources to meet these requirements. As such, methods are required that provide means for companies to be able to produce a wide range of products at the lowest cost and shortest time. This paper details a new modular product design methodology that provides a focus on developing modular product families. The methodology's function is described and a case study detailed of how it was used within an SME to define the company's product portfolio and create a new Generic Product Function Structure from which a new family of product variants can be developed. The methodology lends itself to modular re-use which has the potential to support rapid development and configuration of product variants

Vector cross product in n-dimensional vector space

The definition of vector cross product (VCP) introduced by Eckmann only exists in thethree- and the seven- dimensional vector space. In this paper, according to the orthogonal completeness, magnitude of basis vector cross product and all kinds of combinations of basis vector $\hat{e}_i$, the generalized definition of VCP in the odd n-dimensional vector space is given by introducing a cross term $X_{AB}$. In addition, the definition is validated by reducing the generalization definition to the fundamental three- and seven-dimensional vector space.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, comments are welcom

Application of context knowledge in supporting conceptual design decision making

Conceptual design is the most important phase of the product life cycle as the decisions taken at conceptual design stage affect the downstream phases (manufacture, assembly, use, maintenance, and disposal) in terms of cost, quality and function performed by the product. This research takes a holistic view by incorporating the knowledge related to the whole context (from the viewpoint of product, user, product's life cycle and environment in which the product operates) of a design problem for the consideration of the designer to make an informed decision making at the conceptual design stage. The design context knowledge comprising knowledge from these different viewpoints is formalised and a new model and corresponding computational framework is proposed to support conceptual design decision making using this formalised context knowledge. Using a case study, this paper shows the proof of the concept by selecting one concept among different design alternatives using design context knowledge thereby proactively supporting conceptual design decision making for an informed and effective decision making

Where Are All the Women?: Exploring the Research on the Under-Representation of Women in Computer Science

Women’s participation in computer science is important for many reasons, including playing a significant role in a country’s economic development. A skilled workforce is needed to remain competitive in the globalized world, especially in the area of computer science. This research aims to explore the recent research literature around the factors that contribute to women’s low participation in computer science. Key to this exploration is helping to answer the question: Why does the proportion of women in Western countries’ computing fields remain low, despite years of research and programs with the intention of increasing women’s participation in computing? In order to address this question, and employing a feminist theoretical lens, I conducted a comprehensive literature review. To some degree, I also analyzed my own autobiographical experiences in the field of computer science to better understand how gender relations shape that world. The current study concludes that the main factors that shape women’s low participation in computer science are gender stereotypes, a misunderstanding of science computer curriculum, “know-it-alls” learning environment, unfair work environment, and pay gap. All of these factors will be discussed using three explanatory lenses: psychological explanations, social factors and structural factors. In the end, I conclude with suggestions for how to increase the number of women within this field

The 2nd Place Solution for 2023 Waymo Open Sim Agents Challenge

In this technical report, we present the 2nd place solution of 2023 Waymo Open Sim Agents Challenge (WOSAC)[4]. We propose a simple yet effective autoregressive method for simulating multi-agent behaviors, which is built upon a well-known multimodal motion forecasting framework called Motion Transformer (MTR)[5] with postprocessing algorithms applied. Our submission named MTR+++ achieves 0.4697 on the Realism Meta metric in 2023 WOSAC. Besides, a modified model based on MTR named MTR_E is proposed after the challenge, which has a better score 0.4911 and is ranked the 3rd on the leaderboard of WOSAC as of June 25, 2023

Aryl piperazine suppresses cataractogenesis in a diabetic rat model via Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway

Purpose: To investigate the inhibitory potential of aryl piperazine on cataract formation in diabetic rats, and the underlying mechanism of action. Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats (7-week-old) were divided into 7 groups: control rats, untreated diabetic rats, and five aryl piperazine treatment groups given the drug at doses of 1, 2, 5, 10 and 15 mg/kg. Diabetes was induced in the rats via injection of streptozocin (STZ) in citrate buffer at a dose of 65 mg/kg. An ophthalmoscope was used to evaluate cataract formation, while GlucoLeader was used for the measurement of blood glucose level. Results: Aryl piperazine treatment significantly reduced blood glucose level from 6 to 12 weeks following administration of STZ, and prevented cataractogenesis in the diabetic rats (p < 0.05). Cataract score in the diabetic rats was also significantly decreased by aryl piperazine (p < 0.01). Aryl piperazine exposure reversed STZ-mediated decreases in antioxidant capacity (AOC) and glutathione (GSH) levels, enhanced glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activity and decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in diabetic rats (p < 0.05). It suppressed the expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and interleukin (IL)-1β in retinal tissues, while it upregulated the expressions of nuclear factor erythroid 2- related factor 2 (NRF2) and heme oxygenase (HO-1). Conclusion: Aryl piperazine suppresses cataractogenesis and reduces cataract score in diabetic rats by targeting oxidative stress. Moreover, in retinal tissues of diabetic rats, aryl piperazine activates Nrf2/mHO-1 signaling pathway. Thus, aryl piperazine has a potential for use in the prevention of cataracts

Exotic dynamics of rogue waves in the scalar and coupled nonlocal nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger equations

In this paper, general higher-order rogue wave solutions of the parity-time ($\mathcal {P}\mathcal {T}$) symmetric scalar and coupled nonlocal nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger equations (NLSEs) are calculated theoretically via a Darboux transformation by a separation of variable technique. Furthermore, in order to understand these solutions better, the main characteristics of the obtained solutions are explored clearly and conveniently. Our results show that the dynamics of these solutions exhibits rich patterns, most of which have no counterparts in the corresponding local equations.Comment: 25 pages,18 figure