Ants' behavior leads to research method for optimizing product development time, costs

Jan. 29, 2013 ? Trying to find just the right balance of time spent in meetings and time performing tasks is a tough problem for managers, but a Wayne State University researcher believes the behavior of ants may provide a useful lesson on how to do it.

Using computer simulations derived from the characteristics of ants seeking food, Kai Yang, Ph.D., professor of industrial and systems engineering in the College of Engineering, has developed a mathematical model-based methodology to estimate the optimal amount of time spent to develop a product, as well as the cost, in overlapped product development. It is the latest in a series of projects he has worked on for Siemens North America.

"Non-discrete Ant Colony Optimisation (NdACO) to Optimise the Development Cycle Time and Cost in Overlapped Product Development," published recently in the International Journal of Production Research, utilizes the concept of concurrent engineering (CE), a systematic approach to product development based on parallel execution of tasks. The approach integrates several functions to reduce the development time and cost of a product while maintaining its quality. Co-authors include Satish Tyagi, Wayne State research assistant, and Anoop Verma, Ph.D., of the University of Iowa.

In CE, cross-functional teams communicate through several meetings, some before the beginning of project, categorized as precommunication, and some during execution of the project, called communication policy.

Because significant cost is incurred through those meetings, Yang said, it is necessary to investigate the cost-time trade-offs involved in the concurrent product development process to enhance work performance. Otherwise, applying the process can result in a larger number of iterations, or rework, adding to both time and cost.

"Currently, there is a lack of communication flow within organizations due to their large size, time differences, etc.," Yang said. "Therefore, the amount of precommunication and communication policy and the extent of overlapping stages should be meticulously determined to achieve the desired goals."

As product development moves forward, lack of communication from upstream decision-makers to downstream workers can leave the latter to operate without the latest available information to complete their task efficiently, he said.

Researchers studying ants' food-foraging behavior have noticed that changes in the pheromone trails left behind by the insects communicate the best ways for those that come after them to proceed. That led to the development of ant colony optimization (ACO) models, which Yang and his team are using.

Researchers believe their simulation model could reduce product definition time by as much as 50 percent, and lead to best practices that improve critical thinking and remove communication barriers. Such practices can be applied to large-sector manufacturing, health care and service companies, Yang said.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Wayne State University - Office of the Vice President for Research.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. S.K. Tyagi, Kai Yang, A. Verma. Non-discrete ant colony optimisation (NdACO) to optimise the development cycle time and cost in overlapped product development. International Journal of Production Research, 2013; 51 (2): 346 DOI: 10.1080/00207543.2011.633120

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/AkYtUmYv0G0/130129111751.htm

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Jackson Laboratory professor emeritus Douglas Coleman wins BBVA, King Faisal awards

Public release date: 29-Jan-2013
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Contact: Joyce Peterson
joyce.peterson@jax.org
207-288-6058
Jackson Laboratory

Prizes shared with Jeffrey Friedman of Rockefeller University and HHMI

Bar Harbor, Maine -- Douglas Coleman, Ph.D., a retired Jackson Laboratory scientist whose work established the first clues to a genetic component in obesity, has won two major international science awards: the Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biomedicine from the BBVA Foundation, based in Bilbao, Spain, and the King Faisal International Prize in Medicine from the Saudi Arabian King Faisal Foundation.

Coleman, 81, will share both prizes with Jeffrey Friedman, M.D., Ph.D., of Rockefeller University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

"I'm delighted and honored to be sharing these awards with Jeff Friedman," Coleman said, adding that receiving news of both awards on Monday was "pretty amazing. It's like a hole in one!"

Coleman conducted his groundbreaking work in the 1950s and 1960s, with Friedman building on Coleman's discoveries from the 1990s to today. Together their work showed that chemical and genetic factors -- not just willpower and eating habits -- are involved in appetite control and obesity, opening possibilities for future pharmaceutical treatments. Their work also demonstrated that fat is not simply a passive energy-storage site, as previously thought, but is an endocrine organ that produces important hormones.

The BBVA Foundation will present its award to the scientists at a ceremony in Spain in June. The Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biomedicine includes a 400,000-Euro (about $540,000) cash gift to be shared by the scientists. The Foundation is affiliated with BBVA (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria), one of Spain's largest banks.

In the announcement for the prestigious King Faisal International Prize in Medicine, the organizers noted that the scientists' work in identifying and characterizing the pathway of the hormone leptin "has had a major impact on our understanding of the biology of obesity," adding that this work provides "more illuminating views of the endocrine system."

At a ceremony in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in March, the scientists will each receive a certificate, a gold medal and a cash endowment of $100,000. The King Faisal International Prize in Medicine has been awarded annually since 1981. The King Faisal Foundation was established in 1977 by the late King Faisal ibn Abd Al Aziz, a son of Saudia Arabia's founder.

The BBVN Foundation and King Faisal Foundation awards are the latest of several major scientific prizes that Drs. Coleman and Friedman have won. In October 2009, they received the Shaw Prize, the so-called "Nobel of the East," at a ceremony in Hong Kong. And on Oct. 1, 2010, they accepted the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award in New York. Coleman's other honors include election to the National Academy of Sciences in 1998 and the 2005 Gairdner Foundation Award.

###

The Jackson Laboratory is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institution based in Bar Harbor, Maine, with a facility in Sacramento, Calif., and a new genomic medicine institute in Farmington, Conn. It employs a total staff of more than 1,400. Its mission is to discover precise genomic solutions for disease and empower the global biomedical community in the shared quest to improve human health.

---

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?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 29-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Joyce Peterson
joyce.peterson@jax.org
207-288-6058
Jackson Laboratory

Prizes shared with Jeffrey Friedman of Rockefeller University and HHMI

Bar Harbor, Maine -- Douglas Coleman, Ph.D., a retired Jackson Laboratory scientist whose work established the first clues to a genetic component in obesity, has won two major international science awards: the Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biomedicine from the BBVA Foundation, based in Bilbao, Spain, and the King Faisal International Prize in Medicine from the Saudi Arabian King Faisal Foundation.

Coleman, 81, will share both prizes with Jeffrey Friedman, M.D., Ph.D., of Rockefeller University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

"I'm delighted and honored to be sharing these awards with Jeff Friedman," Coleman said, adding that receiving news of both awards on Monday was "pretty amazing. It's like a hole in one!"

Coleman conducted his groundbreaking work in the 1950s and 1960s, with Friedman building on Coleman's discoveries from the 1990s to today. Together their work showed that chemical and genetic factors -- not just willpower and eating habits -- are involved in appetite control and obesity, opening possibilities for future pharmaceutical treatments. Their work also demonstrated that fat is not simply a passive energy-storage site, as previously thought, but is an endocrine organ that produces important hormones.

The BBVA Foundation will present its award to the scientists at a ceremony in Spain in June. The Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biomedicine includes a 400,000-Euro (about $540,000) cash gift to be shared by the scientists. The Foundation is affiliated with BBVA (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria), one of Spain's largest banks.

In the announcement for the prestigious King Faisal International Prize in Medicine, the organizers noted that the scientists' work in identifying and characterizing the pathway of the hormone leptin "has had a major impact on our understanding of the biology of obesity," adding that this work provides "more illuminating views of the endocrine system."

At a ceremony in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in March, the scientists will each receive a certificate, a gold medal and a cash endowment of $100,000. The King Faisal International Prize in Medicine has been awarded annually since 1981. The King Faisal Foundation was established in 1977 by the late King Faisal ibn Abd Al Aziz, a son of Saudia Arabia's founder.

The BBVN Foundation and King Faisal Foundation awards are the latest of several major scientific prizes that Drs. Coleman and Friedman have won. In October 2009, they received the Shaw Prize, the so-called "Nobel of the East," at a ceremony in Hong Kong. And on Oct. 1, 2010, they accepted the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award in New York. Coleman's other honors include election to the National Academy of Sciences in 1998 and the 2005 Gairdner Foundation Award.

###

The Jackson Laboratory is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institution based in Bar Harbor, Maine, with a facility in Sacramento, Calif., and a new genomic medicine institute in Farmington, Conn. It employs a total staff of more than 1,400. Its mission is to discover precise genomic solutions for disease and empower the global biomedical community in the shared quest to improve human health.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/jl-jlp012913.php

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Andreessen: The Internet's Not Over - Business Insider

A decade after the dotcom bubble burst, big enterprise companies like SAP and Oracle were shocked that software-as-a-service and cloud computing could threaten them, says legendary venture capitalist Marc Andreessen.

"The joke about SAP has always been, it?s making [1950s] German manufacturing methodology, implemented in 1960s software technology, delivered to 1970s-style manufacturing organizations," he said in an interview with TechCrunch's Alexia Tsotsis.

After the dotcom crash, "They said, 'Oh, thank God we don?t have to worry about this Internet thing. It?s over. Stick a fork in it. It?s not going to be a big deal.' And then it turned out that it actually wasn?t over, and they still haven?t adjusted."

SAP responded by spending billions to acquire software-as-a-service companies SuccessFactors and Ariba.?

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison famously got it wrong, too, according to Andreessen.

"Larry Ellison in 2002 came out and gave a speech and said the correct model for enterprise software, enterprise computing, will last for 1,000 years."

While we couldn't find that speech, we do know that as late as 2008, Ellison was still dismissing cloud computing, famously calling the term? "complete gibberish." These days, however, Ellison takes credit for? inventing cloud computing when he backed NetSuite and Salesforce.com.

Meanwhile, in 2012, Oracle also acquired a bunch of cloud companies and started hyping up its Oracle Cloud.

Andreessen is on the board of Hewlett-Packard, which increasingly competes with Oracle, especially its growing hardware business.

The latest tech figure to say that the Internet is over is David Sacks.?Sacks believes that startups should stop trying to take out the big Internet players.

To that idea, Andreessen retorts, "People reach a point where they start to get a little bit too rich, maybe a little bit too old, and they start to say these things. And then so here we sit 10 years later and we are in the middle of a complete reinvention of everything in enterprise computing."

(Disclosure: Marc Andreessen is an investor in Business Insider.)

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/marc-andreessen-the-internet-is-not-over-2013-1

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Apple reportedly readying 128GB "Ultimate" iPad 4 for launch

No sooner was support for 128GB NAND flash storage capacities found in iOS 6 beta 5, than reports pop up saying Apple is readying 128GB "ultimate" versions of the iPad 4 for launch. The news come by way of Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac, who typically has excellent sources on imminent product releases.

We?ve gotten word from sources that Apple is preparing to release (in some fashion) a single, additional iPad model. This would be a new SKU for the current fourth-generation iPad with Retina display line. At this point, we do not have pricing information, so it is definitely difficult to pinpoint exactly what this new iPad model is.

The code names are listed as P101 Ultimate and P103 Ultimate. Gurman stresses that it's not a new iPad, or iPad 5, or anything like that, simply a new, higher capacity version of the current iPad 4, in both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + Cellular, and in both white and black.

In early 2008, Apple bumped the original iPhone from 8 to 16GB, so this type of new SKU launch isn't unprecedented. While it lacks the oomph of a completely new model, given that the iPad was refreshed in both March and October of 2012, it does at least give Apple something new on the market, and at 128GB, and presumably at the pricier end of the line-up, at the top of the market.

No word yet on 128GB versions of the iPad mini, or of the iPhone 5 or iPod touch 5.

Anyone compelled enough by big storage to consider a new purchase when/if he hit stores?

• iPad 4 review
• iPad 4 buyers guide

Source: 9to5Mac

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/z8gefaqflWA/story01.htm

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Business Resource: Online Biz Insiders | Third Hand Bookkeeping ...

Posted on 28. Jan, 2013 by Linda in VirtualConnections Newsletter, Windows Resources/Tips

My colleagues, Mary Motz and Carla Wilson, are co-hosts of a weekly internet video show called Online Biz Insiders. I thought you might enjoy it as they share such great resources and tips.

Each week Carla and Mary discuss ?secrets? for running an online business ? every subject from marketing, to operations, to software and resources, to social media and internet marketing. ? Last year, I was a special guest on their show, sharing tips for organizing your financials.

In mid-2012, they moved from an audio-only podcast to using Google+ Hangouts on Air to produce their weekly internet video show. ?Tune in each Thursday morning at 8:30am EST. ?You can watch their show live on Google+ at their page?or at their website at www.OnlineBizInsiders.com. If you can?t watch the show live, visit their page to see archived shows. ?Mary and Carla love feedback and show ideas. ?Feel free to email them at questions@onlinebizinsiders.com. ?Or follow them on Twitter at @onlinebizinsidr.

Tags: Business Strategists, Business Tips, marketing, Online Biz Insiders, social media

Source: http://www.yourextrahand.com/2013/01/online-biz-insiders/

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Military options for India in Kashmir

India has limited military options in Kashmir. It is very difficult for it to attack 'Pakistani administered Kashmir'. But at the same time Indian defense establishment should not abandon the state till a lasting solution is found for the Kashmir dispute.

Indian government is facing criticism, both internally and externally, for keeping the high presence of troops in the Kashmir Valley. The fact is no matter how suppressive it may appear to some, the presence is required. If Indian troops return to barracks, Pakistan can fuel more insurgency in Kashmir, making the comeback for Indian army more difficult. Another equally important thing is that troops are required all around the state to keep Jammu and Ladakh regions away from militancy. Any increase in militancy in these regions could increase militancy in the valley.

Recently, two Indian soldiers were killed in exchange of fire along the Line-of-Control (LoC) and one of the bodies was mutilated. It created rage all around India. Some argued about attacking Pakistan administered Kashmir. There were similar talks when Ajmal Kasab and his nine associates attacked Mumbai in 2008. The fact is that it never happened.

In order to understand things more closely, one needs to understand as to why the global media does not talk about Kashmir. The prompt reply would come that India is a big market and would be a global Asian power very soon. This is correct. But this is no reason for global media to ignore covering the Kashmir issue. After all, the White House and the State Department do not run American media. Moreover, there is always continuous talk about the Middle East dispute in the Western media even though Israel is America?s strongest ally in the Middle East and is a derivative Western power. India is neither America?s ally nor a Western country in derivative sense.

So what could be the reason? The segmentation! Kashmir would not be discussed in global media or in diplomatic circles overtly for three reasons: India would not overtly aim at Pakistani Kashmir militarily, would support the union of Kashmiri people and would support secretive talks over Kashmir. Such boosts the morale of Indian authorities and may keep others happy. The fact is that the whole of Kashmir territory is considered disputed. In view of that, Pakistani parts of Kashmir; the Northern Areas and 'Azad Kashmir' are disputed too. Even though Pakistan claims to have merged Northern Areas into its Union, India and the US do not recognize it.

Therefore, it becomes easier for India to attack Karachi than to attack Pakistani administered Kashmir. There is something ?disputed? about attacking people whose nationality is not yet decided. True that Pakistan has the military and even administrative control of Pakistani Kashmir and its military and intelligence agencies promote anti-Indian terrorist activities from inside the territory, but the fact is that for all practical reasons India has to ignore attacking Pakistani Kashmir. If Indian government takes a very precise and consistent position over the issue, then the world powers would make Kashmir an overt international issue.

That is the cost that India needs to pay in order to keep Kashmir away from becoming an overt international issue. India?s options are to contain militancy inside its administered areas by any legal means and not to pursue militants hotly inside Pakistani territory. India can not compare itself with Israel as the difference between Israel and Palestine is very huge and both are very small 'countries'. And as already discussed that the Middle East dispute is discussed almost daily somewhere in the Western media.

India has superiority over Pakistan in conventional matters and no matter how many threats Pakistan issues, the fact is that Pakistan can not attack India with nuclear weapons. If somehow India is able to attack Pakistan Kashmir without wishing to control it, then it would be a big gain for India and a big jolt to militancy in the region. It is altogether a different thing that the valley people may feel more distanced with Indian authorities thereafter.

India can think about reducing its presence in the valley but it would require the intervention of high offices of federal government. Both India and Pakistan need to discuss reducing their troops along the border and LoC and inside their respective parts of Kashmir. They should agree on a ceasefire and Pakistan should put on hold all militant activities inside Indian Kashmir. Both should see how their people in respective parts of Kashmir react to the proposed reduction in military operations. Sure, situation is neither symmetric nor equal for India and Pakistan but if the US is involved then India can buy time to effectively pursue its realistic and genuine policies towards Kashmiri people, particularly towards the valley people.

The best thing for Kashmir is to talk symbiotically and realistically. The fact is that Kashmir dispute can not be resolved by arguments and counter-arguments. The resolution requires granting concessions, allowing inconsistencies and inexactness. It requires understanding others? viewpoints other than asserting self?s. The argument of waging hot wars with Pakistan and carrying out surgical strikes as Israel does towards Hamas may not be the correct and realistic approach in Kashmir. Such opinion is based on uncontested consumerism induced nationalism.

The valley?s Muslims would never abandon their dominance. If India continues the same strategy then a day will come when the Valley would abandon its relationship with the rest of India. India should be realistic in its approach towards Kashmiri people and Pakistan should understand that because of its daring actions it can not dismember India and take revenge for the creation of Bangladesh and division of Kashmir. But India should be cautious about the cost of running India and Pakistan about omnipresent and omnipotent radicalization of the country.

Source: http://www.merinews.com/article/military-options-for-india-in-kashmir/15880924.shtml

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Would-be carjackers foiled by mysteries of the stick shift

Better than a car alarm? A car's stick shift was reportedly too much for a pair of would-be car thieves (Wikic??An attempted stick up was confounded by a car?s stick shift, when a would-be carjackers failed to understand the mechanics behind a manual transmission.

Randolph Bean tells WOFL FOX 35 that two men attempted to steal his 2002 yellow Corvette at gunpoint outside an Orlando hospital, but ended up running away after they couldn?t figure out how to drive his car.

"They apparently couldn't start it,? Bean 51, is quoted as saying in a police report. ?I had to tell him four different times to push in the clutch, because it's a standard transmission."

After several failed attempts, the thieves eventually fled the scene.

?My first thought was I guess we don't have driver's ed. in school anymore because no one knows how to drive a stick. And my second thing was, don't shoot me because you can't start the car,? Bean said. ?I'm trying to help you out here. You know. Thankfully they didn't."

However, the foiled carjackers did not leave entirely empty-handed. "They got away with my phone, they got my keys, they got my wallet," Randolph told the Fox affiliate.

Still, Randolph was pretty forgiving when asked what message he had for the ?handsome young men, who did not look like car thieves.?

?Guys turn your life around. You guys have got a lot going for you,? he said. ?Thank you for not taking my life for something silly as a car.?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/carjackers-foiled-mysteries-stick-shift-215110818.html

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