Opt-out options in new product co-development partnerships

We study three contractual arrangements—co-development, licensing, and co-development with opt-out options—for the joint development of new products between a small and financially constrained innovator firm and a large technology company, as in the case of a biotech innovator and a major pharma company. We formulate our arguments in the context of a two-stage model, characterized by technical risk and stochastically changing cost and revenue projections. The model captures the main disadvantages of traditional co-development and licensing arrangements: in co-development the small firm runs a risk of running out of capital as future costs rise, while licensing for milestone and royalty (M&R) payments, which eliminates the latter risk, introduces inefficiency, as profitable projects might be abandoned. Counter to intuition we show that the biotech's payoff in a licensing contract is not monotonically increasing in the M&R terms. We also show that an option clause in a co-development contract that gives the small firm the right but not the obligation to opt out of co-development and into a pre-agreed licensing arrangement avoids the problems associated with fully committed co-development or licensing: the probability that the small firm will run out of capital is greatly reduced or completely eliminated and profitable projects are never abandoned.

Multiple color reflection in a single unit cell using double-layer electrochromic reaction

Multiple color states have been realized in single unit cell using double electrochromic (EC) reaction. The precise control of bistability in EC compounds which can maintain several colors on the two separated electrodes allows this new type of pixel to be realized. The specific electrical driving gives a way to maintain both sides in the reduced EC states and this colors overlapping in the vertical view direction can achieve the black state. The four color states (G, B, W, BK) in one cell/pixel can make a valuable progress to achieve a high quality color devices such like electronic paper, outdoor billboard, smart window and flexible display using external light source. © 2012 Optical Society of America.

Grand Challenges for Data Sensing and Analysis

A diverse group of experts proposed the 9 grand challenges outlined in this booklet. This expert task force was assembled by the ASCE TCCIT Data Sensing and Analysis (DSA) Committee and endorsed by the TRB AFH10(1) Construction IT joint subcommittee at the request of their membership. The task force did not rank the challenges selected, nor did it endorse particular approaches to meeting them. Rather than attempt to include every important goal for data sensing and analysis, the panel chose opportunities that were both achievable and sustainable to help people and the planet thrive. The panel’s conclusions were reviewed by several subject-matter experts. The DSA is offering an opportunity to comment on the challenges by contacting the task force chair via email at becerik@usc.edu.

Analysis of document-mining techniques and tools for technology intelligence: Discovering knowledge from technical documents

This research proposes a method for extracting technology intelligence (TI) systematically from a large set of document data. To do this, the internal and external sources in the form of documents, which might be valuable for TI, are first identified. Then the existing techniques and software systems applicable to document analysis are examined. Finally, based on the reviews, a document-mining framework designed for TI is suggested and guidelines for software selection are proposed. The research output is expected to support intelligence operatives in finding suitable techniques and software systems for getting value from document-mining and thus facilitate effective knowledge management. Copyright © 2012 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Change propagation analysis in complex technical systems

Understanding how and why changes propagate during engineering design is critical because most products and systems emerge from predecessors and not through clean sheet design. This paper applies change propagation analysis methods and extends prior reasoning through examination of a large data set from industry including 41,500 change requests, spanning 8 years during the design of a complex sensor system. Different methods are used to analyze the data and the results are compared to each other and evaluated in the context of previous findings. In particular the networks of connected parent, child and sibling changes are resolved over time and mapped to 46 subsystem areas. A normalized change propagation index (CPI) is then developed, showing the relative strength of each area on the absorber-multiplier spectrum between -1 and +1. Multipliers send out more changes than they receive and are good candidates for more focused change management. Another interesting finding is the quantitative confirmation of the "ripple" change pattern. Unlike the earlier prediction, however, it was found that the peak of cyclical change activity occurred late in the program driven by systems integration and functional testing. Patterns emerged from the data and offer clear implications for technical change management approaches in system design. Copyright © 2007 by ASME.

A presumed joint pdf model for turbulent combustion with varying equivalence ratio

Modeling of the joint probability density function of the mixture fraction and progress variable with a given covariance value is studied. This modeling is validated using experimental and direct numerical simulation (DNS) data. A very good agreement with experimental data of turbulent stratified flames and DNS data of a lifted hydrogen jet flame is obtained. The effect of using this joint pdf modeling to calculate the mean reaction rate with a flamelet closure in Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) calculation of stratified flames is studied. The covariance effect is observed to be large within the flame brush. The results obtained from RANS calculations using this modeling for stratified jet- and rod-stabilized V-flames are discussed and compared to the measurements as a posteriori validation for the joint probability density function model with the flamelet closure. The agreement between the computed and measured values of flame and turbulence quantities is found to be good. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Graphics processing unit cooling solutions: Acoustic characteristics

The change in acoustic characteristics in personal computers to console gaming and home entertainment systems with the change in the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), is presented. The tests are carried out using identical configurations of the software and system hardware. The prime components of the hardware used in the project are central processing unit, motherboard, hard disc drive, memory, power supply, optical drive, and additional cooling system. The results from the measurements taken for each GPU tested are analyzed and compared. The test results are obtained using a photo tachometer and reflective tape adhered to one particular fan blade. The test shows that loudness is a psychoacoustic metric developed by Zwicker and Fastal that aims to quantify how loud a sound is perceived as compared to a standard sound. The acoustic experiment reveals that the inherent noise generation mechanism increases with the increase of the complexity of the cooling solution.

Transducer and base compliance alter the in situ 6 dof force measured from muscle during an isometric contraction in a multi-joint limb.

Although musculoskeletal models are commonly used, validating the muscle actions predicted by such models is often difficult. In situ isometric measurements are a possible solution. The base of the skeleton is immobilized and the endpoint of the limb is rigidly attached to a 6-axis force transducer. Individual muscles are stimulated and the resulting forces and moments recorded. Such analyses generally assume idealized conditions. In this study we have developed an analysis taking into account the compliances due to imperfect fixation of the skeleton, imperfect attachment of the force transducer, and extra degrees of freedom (dof) in the joints that sometimes become necessary in fixed end contractions. We use simulations of the rat hindlimb to illustrate the consequences of such compliances. We show that when the limb is overconstrained, i.e., when there are fewer dof within the limb than are restrained by the skeletal fixation, the compliances of the skeletal fixation and of the transducer attachment can significantly affect measured forces and moments. When the limb dofs and restrained dofs are matched, however, the measured forces and moments are independent of these compliances. We also show that this framework can be used to model limb dofs, so that rather than simply omitting dofs in which a limb does not move (e.g., abduction at the knee), the limited motion of the limb in these dofs can be more realistically modeled as a very low compliance. Finally, we discuss the practical implications of these results to experimental measurements of muscle actions.

Transverse cracking of a simple lap joint under axial load

The failure mode of axially loaded simple, single lap joints formed between thin adherends which are flexible in bending is conventionally described as one of axial peeling. We have observed - using high-speed photography - that it is also possible for failure to be preceded by the separation front, or crack, moving in a transverse direction, i.e. perpendicular to the direction of the axial load. A simple energy balance analysis suggests that the critical load for transverse failure is the same as that for axial separation for both flexible lap joints, where the bulk of the stored elastic energy lies in the adhesive, and structural lap joints in which the energy stored in the adherends dominates. The initiation of the failure is dependent on a local increases in either stress or strain energy to some critical values. In the case of a flexible joint, this will occur within the adhesive layer and the critical site will be close to one of the corners of the joint overlap from which the separation front can proceed either axially or transversely. These conclusions are supported by a finite element analysis of a joint formed between adherends of finite width by a low modulus adhesive. © 2012 Taylor & Francis.

Development of a time and space resolved sampling probe diagnostic for engine exhaust hydrocarbons

In order to understand how unburned hydrocarbons emerge from SI engines and, in particular, how non-fuel hydrocarbons are formed and oxidized, a new gas sampling technique has been developed. A sampling unit, based on a combination of techniques used in the Fast Flame Ionization Detector (FFID) and wall-mounted sampling valves, was designed and built to capture a sample of exhaust gas during a specific period of the exhaust process and from a specific location within the exhaust port. The sampling unit consists of a transfer tube with one end in the exhaust port and the other connected to a three-way valve that leads, on one side, to a FFID and, on the other, to a vacuum chamber with a high-speed solenoid valve. Exhaust gas, drawn by the pressure drop into the vacuum chamber, impinges on the face of the solenoid valve and flows radially outward. Once per cycle during a specified crank angle interval, the solenoid valve opens and traps exhaust gas in a storage unit, from which gas chromatography (GC) measurements are made. The port end of the transfer tube can be moved to different locations longitudinally or radially, thus allowing spatial resolution and capturing any concentration differences between port walls and the center of the flow stream. Further, the solenoid valve's opening and closing times can be adjusted to allow sampling over a window as small as 0.6 ms during any portion of the cycle, allowing resolution of a crank angle interval as small as 15°CA. Cycle averaged total HC concentration measured by the FFID and that measured by the sampling unit are in good agreement, while the sampling unit goes one step further than the FFID by providing species concentrations. Comparison with previous measurements using wall-mounted sampling valves suggests that this sampling unit is fully capable of providing species concentration information as a function of air/fuel ratio, load, and engine speed at specific crank angles. © Copyright 1996 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.