A strategy for integrating product conceptualization and bid preparation

Collaboration with other members of the supply chain is one means by which small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) can compete in today’s global business environment. Thus, early stages of the new product development process involve both technical activities, e.g., product platform definition, and commercial activities, e.g., bidding for contracts. This paper introduces an integrated collaborative bidding and design system (CBDS) to help SMEs coordinate the two aspects. General sorting was employed for initial requirements acquisition and platform definition; while a self-organizing map (SOM) neural network was combined with a concurrent cost-schedule estimation strategy for refinement of design options and bid evaluation/preparation. A case study on cellular phone design was then applied for illustrating the proposed prototype system.     

Photo-patterning of sensor surfaces with biomolecular structures: characterisation using AFM and fluorescence microscopy

The miniaturisation of biosensors has resulted in the need to develop techniques for the high resolution patterning of different biological molecules onto surfaces. In this paper, we describe a procedure for the selective deposition of antibodies using biological self-assembly with photo-activation of a bound ligand, and we will detail methods which may subsequently be used to characterise the resultant biomolecular constructs.     

Lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase deficiency: identification of a causative gene mutation and a co-inherited protein polymorphism

We have recreated and expressed two known natural mutations within the LCAT gene which were reported on both alleles in a single case of familial LCAT deficiency. We demonstrate that the Ala-93-->Thr mutation is responsible for the biochemical defect while the Arg-158-->Cys mutation is a co-inherited natural polymorphism of LCAT which results in normal enzyme function.     

A comparative analysis of subchondral replacement with polymethylmethacrylate or autogenous bone grafts in dogs

A comparative analysis was made of subchondral replacement with polymethylmethacrylate and autogeneic bone grafts in defects in the medial femoral condyles of dogs. The defect produced a 50% reduction in subchondral stiffness. An in vitro preparation helped establish that subchondral stiffness returned to normal after reconstruction with polymethylmethacrylate. The in vivo model demonstrated a reduction in subchondral stiffness in both groups at three weeks, but the bone grafted side returned to normal and the methylmethacrylate side recovered to 79% of the control at 12 weeks. There were no deleterious effects on the articular cartilage in either group when analyzed histologically and biochemically. A marked increase in new bone formation and subchondral porosity was found in the polymethylmethacrylate groups. This study supports the clinical use of subchondral polymethylmethacrylate after the exteriorization and curettage of benign bone tumors such as giant cell tumors.     

Engineering Ethics: What? Why? How? And When?

Engineering ethics is professional ethics, as opposed to personal morality. It sets the standards for professional practice, and is only learned in a professional school or in professional practice. It is an essential part of professional education because it helps students deal with issues they will face in professional practice. The best way to teach engineering ethics is by using cases—not just the disaster cases that make the news, but the kinds of cases that an engineer is more likely to encounter. Many cases are available, and there are methods for analyzing them. Engineering ethics can be taught in a free-standing course, but there are strong arguments for introducing ethics in technical courses as well. Engineering is something that engineers do, and what they do has profound effects on others. If the subject of professional ethics is how members of a profession should, or should not, affect others in the course of practicing their profession, then engineering ethics is an essential aspect of engineering itself and education in professional responsibilities should be part of professional education in engineering, just as it is in law and medicine. Probably few engineering educators would disagree with these claims; their implementation in engineering education is another matter. We want to discuss the introduction of engineering ethics into engineering education in terms of four questions: What is engineering ethics? Why should it be emphasized in engineering education? How should it be taught? and When should it appear in the student's education?     

An unusual transcapitate fracture of the wrist

The lymphocyte proliferative response to PHA, Con A and PWM was studied in patients with lung tumors (stage I-IV) and other histological types. Disorders in the mitogen-induced lymphocyte activation were identified in more advanced tumors. Certain peculiarities of lymphocyte proliferative activity were found to be determined by histological pattern and localization. A method of evaluation of blasttransformation consequences with due account of lymphocyte functional activity in cancer patients is suggested.     

Gustatory thalamus lesions in tbe rat: I. Innate taste preferences and aversions.

Two experiments examined the innate taste preferences and aversions of rats with electrolytic lesions of the gustatory thalamus (GT). Contrary to previous research, GT lesions had only a minor influence on intake of the 4 basic-tastes as assessed with the 24-hr, 2-bottle preference test in Experiment 1. The same lesioned rats, when tested with the same stimuli in the 15-min, single-bottle procedure in Experiment 2, showed normal consumption patterns except for sucrose intake, which was attenuated. The conflicting findings of previous and present research are considered to result from differences in lesion size. The current data suggest that the GT has a relatively minor functional role in the unconditioned acceptance or rejection of sapid stimuli. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rational arithmetic representation of colour image pixels

Digital processing of colour images is becoming common using mainly the RGB or HSI representations. A new representation for the colour aspect of a colour image pixel is presented, capable of simple hardware realisation and fast processing using integer hardware. Applications are in object recognition using colour