The Influence of Information Characteristics on Preliminary Design Concepts

Author(s):  
Willem G. Knoop

Abstract An experimental approach to discover the use of information in conceptual design will give a realistic insight of the information requirements. This can be used to specify future computer support systems, and improve their performance, especially in the conceptual stages of design. A method to observe the use of information in a conceptual design process has recently been developed. The method has been tested and fine-tuned through the observation of 10 design sessions. Valuable empirical data resides from this experiment. Data has been analysed in several perspectives. This paper presents the results of the activity/information analysis in relation with the quality of the design concept for which a rating system has been defined. A significant positive correlation was found between the amount of communicated information and the rating of the design. Furthermore, a discussion is given on the relation between information and the activities of the designer. Analysis activities are more communication intensive compared to synthesis and evaluation tasks.

Author(s):  
Willem G. Knoop ◽  
Ernest J. J. van Breemen ◽  
Joris S. M. Vergeest ◽  
Tjamme Wiegers

Abstract The expectations of computer tools to support the conceptual design phase are not yet met. An experimental approach to discover the use of information in conceptual design will give a realistic insight of the information requirements. This can be used to specify future computer support systems. A method to observe the use of information in a conceptual design process has recently been developed. The method has been tested and fine-tuned through the observation of 10 design sessions. Valuable empirical data resides from this experiment. Data has been analyzed in several perspectives. This paper presents the results of the activity/information analysis of the experiment in relation with the quality of the design concept. For the latter a rating system has been defined to quantify this. We have found a significant positive correlation of the amount of information that is communicated and the quality of the design. Furthermore a discussion is given on the relation between information and the activities of the designer. Analysis activities are more communication intensive compared to synthesis and evaluation tasks.


Author(s):  
Kenji Iino ◽  
Masayuki Nakao

Abstract Students at three graduate schools of mechanical engineering and adult groups in Japan have been taking conceptual design courses the authors teach. Among the three graduate schools, the 24 hour course, at the University of Tokyo, spread over 13 classes during 4 months, takes the students all the way from identifying their design goals, generating ideas, refining their designs, to building prototypes. The adult course students also spend long hours of building prototypes. Despite strong encouragement by the instructors for detail design, the students often leave their design concepts at rough stages without refining their ideas to the detail level needed for prototype building. Building a prototype from a design concept that is not fully expanded often results in efforts that lead to failure and retrial. Such back and forth between concepts and physical trial is unavoidable in design, however, if possible they better be kept at the minimum. The instructors, in their efforts to better motivate students to refine the designs, developed a metric “Level of Readiness (LOR) index” for evaluating how refined a design is. Students are better motivated to reach higher scores and this index that evaluate the quality of their designs, in terms of how detail they are, in numbers serves as a better incentive for the students than words from the instructors.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1098612X2199615
Author(s):  
Emily P Wheeler ◽  
Amanda L Abelson ◽  
Jane C Lindsey ◽  
Lois A Wetmore

Objectives The aim of this pilot study was to compare the quality of sedation and ease of intravenous (IV) catheter placement following sedation using two intramuscular (IM) sedation protocols in cats: hydromorphone, alfaxalone and midazolam vs hydromorphone and alfaxalone. Methods This was a prospective, randomized and blinded study. Cats were randomly assigned to receive an IM injection of hydromorphone (0.1 mg/kg), alfaxalone (1.5 mg/kg) and midazolam (0.2 mg/kg; HAM group), or hydromorphone (0.1 mg/kg) and alfaxalone (1.5 mg/kg; HA group). Sedation scoring (0–9, where 9 indicated maximum sedation) was performed at 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 mins from the time of injection. At 20 mins, an IV catheter placement score (0–10, where 10 indicated least resistance) was performed. Results Twenty-one client-owned adult cats were included in this study. Sedation and IV catheter placement scores were compared between groups using Wilcoxon rank sum tests. Peak sedation was significantly higher ( P = 0.002) in the HAM group (median 9; range 7–9) than in the HA group (median 7; range 3–9), and IV catheter placement scores were significantly higher ( P = 0.001) in the HAM group (median 9.5; range 7–10) compared with the HA group (median 7; range 4–9). Spearman correlations were calculated between IV catheter placement score and sedation scores. There was a significant positive correlation of average sedation over time (correlation 0.83; P <0.001) and sedation at 20 mins (correlation 0.76; P <0.001) with a higher, more favorable IV catheter placement score. Conclusions and relevance These preliminary results suggest that the addition of midazolam to IM alfaxalone and hydromorphone produced more profound sedation and greater ease of IV catheter placement than IM alfaxalone and hydromorphone alone.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 3469
Author(s):  
Ji Han ◽  
Pingfei Jiang ◽  
Peter R. N. Childs

Although products can contribute to ecosystems positively, they can cause negative environmental impacts throughout their life cycles, from obtaining raw material, production, and use, to end of life. It is reported that most negative environmental impacts are decided at early design phases, which suggests that the determination of product sustainability should be considered as early as possible, such as during the conceptual design stage, when it is still possible to modify the design concept. However, most of the existing concept evaluation methods or tools are focused on assessing the feasibility or creativity of the concepts generated, lacking the measurements of sustainability of concepts. The paper explores key factors related to sustainable design with regard to environmental impacts, and describes a set of objective measures of sustainable product design concept evaluation, namely, material, production, use, and end of life. The rationales of the four metrics are discussed, with corresponding measurements. A case study is conducted to demonstrate the use and effectiveness of the metrics for evaluating product design concepts. The paper is the first study to explore the measurement of product design sustainability focusing on the conceptual design stage. It can be used as a guideline to measure the level of sustainability of product design concepts to support designers in developing sustainable products. Most significantly, it urges the considerations of sustainability design aspects at early design phases, and also provides a new research direction in concept evaluation regarding sustainability.


1979 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Peters ◽  
K. N. Lamb

The foundations for numerous dams in proglacial and interglacial valleys in the Prairie provinces consist of soft alluvial soils. The deposits are up to 60 m deep, and contain thick layers of clay interspersed with lenses and layers of silt, sand, and gravel.This paper describes the damsite investigation and laboratory testing required, the design methods and construction procedures used, and the foundation performance observed during and after construction. A number of empirical relationships between index tests and physical properties of the soils, which provide useful guidelines for preliminary design, are presented.The design approach has gradually evolved from an empirical design with limited testing to a more rational design based on detailed investigations and thorough instrumentation. Increased reliance is placed on observational apparatus to monitor movements and pore pressures to confirm design assumptions as construction proceeds. The theoretical design is always checked with former designs of dams that have performed satisfactorily.Safe economical dams have been constructed in spite of large deformations and high pore pressures. Two case histories illustrate the wide range in dam design for alluvial foundations. The first shows an older design cross section with modifications required to ensure a stable dam, and the second describes a recently constructed dam that incorporates many of the latest design concepts.


Author(s):  
Karolina Bezerra ◽  
José Machado ◽  
Vitor Carvalho ◽  
Filomena Soares ◽  
Bruno Silva ◽  
...  

From Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) perspective it is important to have information regarding the type of care needed by bedridden elderly people (BEP) living in their homes, in order to support independence, autonomy and maximize their quality of life. Some basic tasks as eating, taking a bath and the hygiene cares may be difficult to execute, regarding that almost always the main caregiver is the other element of the couple (husband or wife). Following this trend, the development of mechatronic devices is of upmost importance in creating solutions to facilitate these tasks. This paper presents the conceptual design of a mechatronic system especially devoted to the assistance during the bath of BEP. Issues as reducing the number of caregivers to only one to assist the bath and reducing the system’s handling complexity (because most of the time it will be used by an aged person) are considered. Visits to rehabilitation centers and hospitals, and respective working meetings, are considered in the development of the proposed mechatronic system.


Author(s):  
Caik C. Macedo ◽  
Pedro H. S. Figueiredo ◽  
Nelcilaine R. B. Gonçalves ◽  
Clarita A. Afonso ◽  
Rosana M. Martins ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Neng Rosita Dewi ◽  
Argan Gani Asalam

In Indonesia, the largest income is through taxes to finance various state needs. Especially in the APBN, there is an important role that is owned by taxes, but tax revenues in the APBN in Indonesia have not been maximized. With not maximal tax revenue in Indonesia, discipline, awareness and compliance of taxpayers is very much needed to comply with applicable tax obligations. The purpose of this research is to be able to see the effect of socialization, sanctions, e-filing system, tariffs and quality of tax services on the compliance of individual UMKM taxpayers. This research uses quantitative primary data techniques. The population in this research is individual UMKM taxpayers registered at (KPP) Pratama Cimahi 2020 using convenience sampling and the sample used is 100 samples. This research uses a questionnaire with a Likert scale of 1-5 as the collection method. This research was analyzed using descriptive statistical analysis and multiple linear regression analysis. The results in this research state that socialization, sanctions, e-filing system, tariffs and quality of tax service services simultaneously (simultaneously) have a significant correlation to taxpayer compliance. In addition, the variables of socialization, sanctions and tariffs separately (partial) have a significant positive correlation with taxpayer compliance, but the variables of the e-filing system and service quality of the tax authorities separately (partial) do not have a significant correlation with taxpayer compliance


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Godfrey Bagonza ◽  
Anthony Muwagga Mugagga ◽  
Nicholas Itaaga

This study investigated the effect of Lecturers' Competence on the Quality of University graduates in Uganda. The study used both quantitative and qualitative methods to collect data from key university stakeholders. The study found a significant positive correlation between Lecturers' Competence and the quality of university graduates in Uganda.<br>


Author(s):  
R. Ratheesh ◽  
Bindu Mohandas ◽  
P. P. Venugopalan ◽  
A. K. Sarada ◽  
Suprej K. ◽  
...  

Background: Quality of life (QOL) is individuals' perceptions of their position in life. QOL of alcohol dependent patients is an area that has received relatively less attention compared to other alcohol related problems.Methods: A deaddiction centre based cross sectional study was done on 370 individuals using a predesigned questionnaire during the period of 2012-2013. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 17. Spearman’s rank correlation test was used to find association between the study variables.Results: The mean age of the study subjects was 38.08±8.46 years. The mean duration of drinking was 12.62±7.47 years. The overall score of the QOL and the perceived health in alcohol dependent patients was 3.19±0.89 and 3.01±0.98 respectively. The mean of the transformed scores of physical, psychological, social and environmental domains are 69.12±12.82, 57.84±12.81, 58.52±17.05, 68.62±10.23 respectively. Statistical analysis of age with physical, environmental and social domains showed a significant negative correlation; literacy status with QOL, perceived health, physical, psychological, social and environmental domains showed a significant positive correlation; socio economic status with QOL and psychological domain showed a significant positive correlation; duration of drinking with QOL, perceived health, physical and psychological domain showed a significant negative correlation.Conclusions: Harm from alcohol use is a major public health problem. Reducing the level of social and health harms from alcohol requires preparation and planning.


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