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The design of auditorium chairs can directly reflect the image of public spaces. At present, the development of public furniture is relatively slow compared to household and office furniture. The design of auditorium chairs on the market is severely homogenized, relying on past experience and lacking scientific guidance. In order to create a better indoor public activity environment for users, from the perspective of user needs, first of all, 21 user needs for auditorium chairs were obtained through semi-structured interviews. Then, the Kano model was used to determine the attribute positioning of each demand. Finally, the FAST method was used to transform user demands into functions, assisting in the design optimization of hall chairs and promoting the future development of public furniture. The results indicate that the design of auditorium chairs must meet safety and stability, and the comfort and rechargeability of the seats are the most important needs of users. In the future, the functional design of auditorium chairs also needs to consider intelligent applications. The study applies a Kano-FAST integration method to the design innovation of auditorium chairs, providing data support for the development of furniture enterprise auditorium chairs and promoting product upgrading and optimization.

This article provides a systematic and in-depth study of the form, function, craftsmanship, usage, and cultural connotations of Qing Dynasty ritual vessels from an archaeological perspective. They are intended to clearly reveal the profound historical and cultural value carried by Qing Dynasty ritual vessels, as well as their practical impact on modern society. Through a combination of detailed archaeological data analysis and design theory, this article not only explores how the Qing Dynasty ritual vessels reflected the political concepts, cultural identity, aesthetic taste, and living habits of rulers but also further analyzes the influence and inheritance of these ritual vessels in the development of daily utensils in later generations. This article pays special attention to the materials, shapes, patterns, and colors of Qing Dynasty ritual vessels. It compares and analyzes the similarities and differences between these features and contemporary everyday objects, as well as their innovation and changes in modern design. This article also delves into the influence of Qing Dynasty ritual vessels from multiple perspectives, such as politics, economy, culture, and religion, providing readers with a new perspective to understand the social culture of the Qing Dynasty and the inspiration of Qing Dynasty ritual vessels on modern design ideas. This study not only deepens the academic understanding of Qing Dynasty ritual vessels but also provides essential theoretical support and practical guidance for practical fields, especially cultural heritage protection, and modern design innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study explored how human-centred design methodologies can improve clinician experience and reduce patient treatment anxiety in the application of a new dental local anaesthetic jet-injection system. An initial embodiment of the prototype injector, dubbed the 'Kiwi' injector, was developed to better understand the user experience during dental-injection procedures. Further design development was undertaken in two distinct phases. Stage one entailed the initial non-functional Kiwi injector model being used as a design probe to explore clinician views on its aesthetics and ergonomics. The second stage explored the clinician and patient experiences of the functional Kiwi Injector while administering a local anaesthetic to the patient. Stage one findings highlighted clinician satisfaction with the aesthetics of the non-functional prototype device but expressed the desire to make the device smaller. Stage two clinical study results highlighted an issue with the functional jet injector configuration, where the participating dental clinicians speculated that a greater bend in the wand and change of trigger position would significantly improve the Kiwi injector ergonomic performance. This research has demonstrated the benefits of applying a structured and staged human-centred user experience design process to inform the design of a new dental anaesthetic delivery device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Clothing must meet users' needs due to its direct impact on movement and comfort. For children, pants that support ease of use, care, and comfortable movement through functional design are essential for participation in healthy activity. Baseline data must inform design improvements. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to establish how frequent are the occurrence of negative or positive functional design characteristics in children's ready-to-wear pants, and to determine the characteristic differences between girls' and boys' pants. This analysis of 901 ready-to-wear children's pants revealed that positive functional design characteristics are more frequently included in boys' pants than girls', including knee gussets, pockets, longer inseams, reinforced knees, and easy-care fabric finishes. Conversely, negative functional design characteristics are more frequently included in girls' pants than boys', including narrow legs, low-rise waists, short inseams, faux drawstrings, faux pockets, and hand-wash-only fabrics. The study results provide direction for more functionally designed childrenswear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This study analyzed the functional design by investigating the distribution of clothing pressure of cycling knee brace using a three-dimensional virtual clothing program. Based on the average body size of Korean men in their 40 s, clothing pressure in wearing and cycling condition were collected on five knee brace products. According to the results, bonding fabric products had a high possibility of increasing inconvenience, as they had a higher clothing pressure at all measurement points and soared in motion application. It could be adjusted differently depending on the location by mixing materials or using details, so the design with thick pile fabric or velcro strap fastening added more pressure to the lower part of the knee. The length and circumference size also affected the clothing pressure. The design with tight upper and lower circumference pressured excessively the legs and rolled up and clumped together, while the one with loose lower circumference lacked the sufficient strength to support the knees. Also, the design with a curved outline due to the difference in the length of the front and back, increased the clothing pressure on the lower thigh or the upper calf. Therefore, the functional design of cycling knee braces requires comprehensive consideration of material thickness and structure, detailed size of length and circumference, fastening details, to reduce the pressure at the center and top of the knee and to support the lower part with proper pressure, as reflecting the pressure on the body location that come into contact during the motion.

In order to resolve the global crisis of fossil energy shortage and climate warming, the development of efficient energy storage devices is a significant topic at present. Supercapacitors as the novel type of energy storage devices have the unique advantages, including the fast charging/discharging behaviors, high-energy/power density, and stable cycling performance. Compared with traditional supercapacitors, flexible supercapacitors are environmentally friendly, light weight, small size and high safety. Therefore, flexible supercapacitors have a wide application prospect in emerging electronic devices. Due to its flexibility, biocompatibility, and structure designability, cellulose and its gel materials are gradually used as electrodes, separators and electrolytes in flexible supercapacitors. Several construction processes at molecular scale for high-performance cellulose gels are summarized. Meanwhile, this review covers the recent progress of developing the flexible supercapacitors and all-in-one supercapacitors based on cellulose functional gels. We finally discussed the potential challenges and opportunities for cellulose and its derived materials in new-style flexible supercapacitors and other electronic devices.

The researchers studied whether there was a bra style or brand preference in adolescent girls and adopted a hybrid approach to study the girls’ expectations for bras regarding the comfort, protection, and support they provide, with a view to assessing the function of the bras for adolescent girls. The research took samples from girls aged eight to 18 who are concentrated in Guangdong Province. The researchers found that teenage girls desire improved bras that are properly sized and fit for them, providing comfort, protection, and support. Additionally, the bras that adolescent girls want should not interfere with their daily study or sports activities. Underwear manufacturers can improve the bra design for teenage girls by incorporating the results of this study, ensuring healthy breast development and meeting their needs and expectations.

Virtual teaching with the help of virtual reality technology to realize two-way interactive thinking and innovative teaching to create a good virtual learning environment for vocal learners. This paper combines the activity form and learning content of the virtual learning environment, designs the virtual scene, realizes the virtual display and virtual operation with the help of virtual reality technology, and completes the physical modeling of the virtual reality teaching environment. Combined with the objectives of vocal music teaching and the teaching needs of teachers and students, respectively, the teacher’s end, the student’s end of the functional design, the virtual simulation teaching and interactive multimedia vocal music teaching combined, using B/S architecture as the basis, follow the MVC design mode, virtual interactive multimedia vocal music teaching system design. The database design utilizes a top-down approach to demand analysis, using the teaching-centered E-R model and focusing on the three elements of the actual teaching curriculum. The vocal music teaching system underwent environment-building analysis, functional and performance testing, and real-world application testing. The practical application test shows that 92.5% of the students think that the virtual interactive multimedia vocal teaching system has a very strong degree of participation, and 90% of the students think that the virtual interactive multimedia vocal teaching system has a better learning efficiency compared with the traditional teaching mode.

This paper presents the development of a 6-DOF (Degrees of Freedom) parallel robot for single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS). The concept of the robotic system is developed with respect to a medical protocol designed by the medical experts in the team targeting a SILS procedure in urology. The kinematic model of the robotic system was defined to determine the singularities that may occur during functioning. FEM analyses were performed to determine the components of the robotic structure that may compromise the rigidity of the robotic system, and these components were redesigned and integrated into the final design of the robot. To verify the kinematic model a series of numerical and graphical simulations were performed, while to test the functionality of the robotic system, a low-cost experimental model was developed. The accuracy of the experimental model was measured using an optical motion tracking system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzed the functional design by investigating the distribution of clothing pressure of cycling knee brace using a three-dimensional virtual clothing program. Based on the average body size of Korean men in their 40 s, clothing pressure in wearing and cycling condition were collected on five knee brace products. According to the results, bonding fabric products had a high possibility of increasing inconvenience, as they had a higher clothing pressure at all measurement points and soared in motion application. It could be adjusted differently depending on the location by mixing materials or using details, so the design with thick pile fabric or velcro strap fastening added more pressure to the lower part of the knee. The length and circumference size also affected the clothing pressure. The design with tight upper and lower circumference pressured excessively the legs and rolled up and clumped together, while the one with loose lower circumference lacked the sufficient strength to support the knees. Also, the design with a curved outline due to the difference in the length of the front and back, increased the clothing pressure on the lower thigh or the upper calf. Therefore, the functional design of cycling knee braces requires comprehensive consideration of material thickness and structure, detailed size of length and circumference, fastening details, to reduce the pressure at the center and top of the knee and to support the lower part with proper pressure, as reflecting the pressure on the body location that come into contact during the motion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growing concerns over the energy crisis and environmental pollution, fuel cells have attracted increasing attention. Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have promising prospects due to their economic efficiency, low noise, and minimal environmental pollution. However, the existing commercial testing systems for PEMFCs suffer from limited functionalities and lack of scalability. In this study, we propose the design of a testing platform specifically tailored for water-cooled PEMFCs with a power greater than 1 kW. The functionality of the testing platform is verified through static and dynamic testing, demonstrating its compliance with the required standards. Furthermore, a fault diagnosis model for fuel cell stacks is developed based on the back-propagation (BP) neural network, achieving an overall accuracy rate of over 95% for fault classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metamaterials with adjustable, sometimes unusual properties offer advantages over conventional materials with predefined mechanical properties in many technological applications. A group of metamaterials, called modular metamaterials or metastructures, are developed through the arrangement of multiple, mostly similar building blocks. These modular structures can be assembled using prefabricated modules and reconfigured to promote efficiency and functionality. Herein, a novel modular metastructure is developed by taking advantage of the high compliance of preprogrammable double‐spirals. First, the mechanical behavior of a four‐module metastructure under tension, compression, rotation, and sliding is simulated using the finite‐element method. Then, 3D printing and mechanical testing are used to illustrate the tunable anisotropic and asymmetric behavior of the spiral‐based metastructures in practice. The results show the simple reconfiguration of the presented metastructure toward the desired functions. The mechanical behavior of single double‐spirals and the characteristics that can be achieved through their combinations make our modular metastructure suitable for various applications in robotics, aerospace, and medical engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of clothing is one of the problems that come with ageing. Despite the need, there is no undershirt for women aged 65 and over in the market. In this study, first, a survey was conducted on the issues faced by women over the age of 65 while using undershirt. The functional and comfortable special undershirt for summer and winter was designed to solve and eliminate the problems by analysing the obtained results. In the study, first, 95%cotton/5%elastane, 95%bamboo/5%elastane, 95%viscose/5%elastane, cotton/bamboo/elastane, and cotton/viscose/elastane blended fabrics were produced in a single jersey knitting structure for summer undershirt. 100% cotton fabric was produced in the interlock knitting structure for winter undershirt. Second, these fabrics were pre-treated and the finishing treatments to provide some functional properties such as softness (cationic, microemulsion and macroemulsion silicones) and antibacterial properties were applied to these fabrics. After the finishing treatments, tests and analyses were carried out, and the fabric weight, elasticity and bursting strength tests were carried out to determine the physical properties of the fabrics. To determine the comfort properties of the fabrics, air permeability, water vapour permeability and thermal comfort properties tests were performed. According to the results, the functional and comfortable summer and winter undershirt were determined and produced for older women. At the end of the study, the opinions and suggestions of the people who wore them were evaluated by making clothing trials with the women's undershirts produced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the popularity of IoT (Internet of Things) technology, more and more engineering systems are integrated with context-aware functionalities. It is self-evident that functional analysis is a critical process for successful development of such context-aware systems (CASs). Since existing functional analysis approaches are primarily for developing traditional engineering systems, this paper aims at developing a structured approach for assisting engineers in carrying out functional analysis of CASs. Based on the concept of context from an interactive perspective, this research analyzes what constitutes the context of a CAS and its basic features. Then a structured approach for functional analysis is proposed, which systematically elaborates how to define and analyze the context of a CAS, how to identify functionalities from the context, and how to develop the functional structure of a CAS. A case study of the functional analysis of a self-service checkout system is employed to demonstrate the proposed approach, which shows that the proposed approach can help designers carry out functional analysis of CASs in an effective manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is known that the functionality of the product is determined by its structure, namely the textile structure, the constructive solution, the processing technology. The present paper concerns the aspect of the reasoned constructive functional design of the post-operative bra type products. The methods used to refer the matter included researches in the field using the specialized literature, patents, scientific articles, discussions with colleagues and specialists in related fields, as well in the medical field. The paper presents the results of the analysis of constructive statistical parameters of post-mastectomy bra type products, comparative analysis of the values of the constructive parameters of the patterns with the dimensions of the mammary gland and external breast prostheses. The actuality of the theme is determined by the lack of researches that would be the basis of the functional constructive design of the clothing products intended for women with amputations of the mammary glands. The work aims to identify the design method of bra products that allows the adaptation of the construction algorithm to the requirements and the characteristics imposed on the post-operative bra product and the development of the custom design algorithm. For the constructive parameters specific to the studied product, the statistical parameters are calculated. The results obtained are summed up by analyzing them in the form of graphs The study includes the identification of the initial data that need to be included in the design algorithm of the construction of the basic printing for main elements of the post-operative bra. The results of the study, the elaborated design algorithm will be used to elaborate the constructions necessary for further experiments.

Emergency responders are being asked to react to a growing number of violent events and natural disasters as well as evolving threats, such as mass rioting and targeting of response personnel. The aim of this research was to develop modular PPE systems that protect the emergency responders from injury while acting/ operating effectively in hazardous environments and provide the highest level of protection against a range of possible threats. The modular PPE system, built upon a duty uniform, integrates state-of-the-art protective tehnologies; provides basic protection from most likely threats (for example: fire, extremes weather etc.); enhances daily-wear comfort; provide increased localized protection as needed (for example: knees, forearms); includes next-to-skin layer and outer layer to provide varying levels of protection as needed; the modular layers easily donned and undonned. This modular approach: i) provides several advantages, including preserving comfort and flexibility until the intervention mission requires the use of the next level of protection; ii) it is a guarantee that emergency responders are not in a position of choosing between their safety and the effectiveness of the mission; iii) the use of modular layers could be the most cost-effective option, because only certain layers may become damaged or be in need of decontamination following an incident.

Hydrogels and biological cartilage tissues are highly similar in structure and composition due to their unique characteristics such as high-water content and low friction coefficients. The introduction of hydrogel cartilage can effectively reduce the friction coefficient and wear coefficient of the original bone joint and the implanted metal bone joint (generally titanium alloy or stainless steel), which is considered as a perfect replacement material for artificial articular cartilage. How to accurately regulate the local tribological characteristics of hydrogel artificial cartilage according to patient weight and bone shape is one of the important challenges in the current clinical application field of medical hydrogels. In this study, the mechanism by which micro-pits improve the surface friction properties was studied. Ultraviolet lasers were used to efficiently construct micro-pits with different shapes on a polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel in one step. It was shown that by using such a maskless laser processing, the performance of each part of the artificial cartilage can be customized flexibly and effectively. We envision that the approach demonstrated in this article will provide an important idea for the development of a high-performance, continuous and accurate method for controlling surface friction properties of artificial cartilage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We surveyed molar surface morphology of bats of 281 extant and extinct species in 5 archaic and 19 extant families using scanning microscopy. We note the occurrence of structural features on talonid crests, the cristid obliqua, postcristid, and entocristid, and their absence in upper molars, even of the same species having them on lowers. We term the structures “carnassiform notches” (CN) for their resemblance to similar features on the carnassial teeth of carnivorans. A CN consists of a small cleft in the edge of a talonid shearing crest accompanied by an adjacent “accessory trough” on the basinward side of the notch. The CN occur in bats with tribosphenic molar morphology and insectivorous or insectivorous–omnivorous dietary habits. Of 19 extant families examined, eight include members that possess lower molars with a CN in at least the cristid obliqua: Megadermatidae, Nycteridae, Mystacinidae, Furipteridae, Thyropteridae, Phyllostomidae, Natalidae, and Vespertilionidae (Murininae and Kerivoulinae only). An extinct genus of Hipposideridae, Vaylatsia, shows CN although extant hipposiderids do not. In extinct families for which lower molar fossils are available, notches were not recognized on the talonids, indicating the condition is not plesiomorphic for bats and probably evolved convergently in different lineages. Where present, the CN or troughs are morphologically consistent within a family, and might serve in some cases as characters supporting phylogenetic analyses and clade diagnoses. CN and accessory troughs probably increase the functional efficiency at sectioning chitin by increasing the effective length of a crest while maintaining the same cusp-to-cusp distance and precise occlusal relationships, and by improving the food-capture area of the shearing blade during occlusion. The accessory troughs provide an immediately adjacent fragment-clearance area. The increased sophistication of this food-processing system might be particularly important in species that must quickly acquire, chew, and swallow their food and resume echolocating in flight. The common ancestor of bats probably did not have CN in its molars, and the presence of CN does not signal carnivory in bats.

This paper presents the development of a 6-DOF (Degrees of Freedom) parallel robot for single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS). The concept of the robotic system is developed with respect to a medical protocol designed by the medical experts in the team targeting a SILS procedure in urology. The kinematic model of the robotic system was defined to determine the singularities that may occur during functioning. FEM analyses were performed to determine the components of the robotic structure that may compromise the rigidity of the robotic system, and these components were redesigned and integrated into the final design of the robot. To verify the kinematic model a series of numerical and graphical simulations were performed, while to test the functionality of the robotic system, a low-cost experimental model was developed. The accuracy of the experimental model was measured using an optical motion tracking system.

User satisfaction with a product plays a direct role in the purchasing decisions. With the enrichment of material life and the growth of individual requirements, this satisfaction is derived from the requirement for functionality to aesthetics. Conventional product design methods normally focus on achieving the required functions where its design specifications are mainly related to certain functional or usability requirements. In recent years, researchers have made efforts to develop methods for supporting aesthetic design activities during the product conceptual design phase. However, most of these methods hardly consider product aesthetics or the consumers' emotional needs. Therefore, this study proposed a user-driven conceptual design specification integrating functional reasoning with aesthetic information analysis. The method consisted of two tasks, the construction of a mapping model and the implementation of the mapping model. Firstly, the mapping model was constructed for capturing the relationships between initial design specifications and user experience (UX). Secondly, the proposed design specifications were selected, refined, and optimized based on the mapping model. A case study on digital camera design was carried out to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method. The results showed that, compared with the initial design specification candidates, the UX was enhanced by applying the improved design specifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facilitated endogenous tissue engineering, as a facile and effective strategy, is emerging for use in bone tissue regeneration. However, the development of bioactive scaffolds with excellent osteo-inductivity to recruit endogenous stem cells homing and differentiation towards lesion areas remains an urgent problem. Chitosan (CS), with versatile qualities including good biocompatibility, biodegradability, and tunable physicochemical and biological properties is undergoing vigorously development in the field of bone repair. Based on this, the review focus on recent advances in chitosan-based scaffolds for facilitated endogenous bone regeneration. Initially, we introduced and compared the facilitated endogenous tissue engineering with traditional tissue engineering. Subsequently, the various CS-based bone repair scaffolds and their fabrication methods were briefly explored. Furthermore, the functional design of CS-based scaffolds in bone endogenous regeneration including biomolecular loading, inorganic nanomaterials hybridization, and physical stimulation was highlighted and discussed. Finally, the major challenges and further research directions of CS-based scaffolds were also elaborated. We hope that this review will provide valuable reference for further bone repair research in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additive Manufacturing has proven to be a valuable complement to conventional means of manufacturing. As it is a data-driven process, its flexible customization of part shapes and manufacturing parameters plays a crucial role for this development. This study investigates the novel possibilities enabled by laser-based powder bed fusion for the development of functionality driven design. As an example, open porosities are manufactured, structures known to be advantageous to flow and heat transfer applications. Samples are investigated by laboratory tests and 3D imaging to gain knowledge about application-related properties. The results contribute to correlating manufacturing parameters to resulting properties and thus to design future applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, no study was retrieved for scientifically design heating insoles and evaluating their actual effectiveness in improving body thermal comfort of occupational workers in extremely cold environments. To fill this gap, novel smart wireless charging heating insoles (SWHI) were developed, consisting of electrically heating pads targeted at the toe and heel regions. Seven young males were asked to perform twice repeated cycles of 50-min treadmill walking at 4.0 km/h and 20-min standing to simulate the occupational moderate intensity work in HEAT (i.e., safety boots with SWHI) and CON (i.e., boots with SWHI by removing heating system) inside a climatic chamber (−10 °C and 60% RH). Results demonstrated that HEAT could significantly elevate toe and heel temperatures (p <.05), remarkably improve feet- and whole-body thermal and comfort sensations (p <.05). The novel SWHI was highly suggested as an effective method for improving body thermal comfort of occupational workers in extremely cold environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: The proposed approach in this paper can help designers to generate novel design structure solutions from first principles in conceptual design (especially in the field of mechanical engineering). It could be regarded as a supplement to existing functional design approaches. (1) Background: Functional design is an activity that is part of conceptual design; it aims to clarify customer needs and develop the functional architecture and solution concepts for a product or system under development. The existing functional design approaches mainly focus on assisting designers in searching for design solutions to desired functions, which rely too much on established design knowledge. This type of approach is usually characterized by the relevant design analogy, especially case analogy, or structure analogy. However, this cannot help to generate new design solutions if there is little established design knowledge. (2) Methods: To overcome this limitation, working principle and property are designated as intermediate transformation variables. The corresponding mapping relationships, from function to working principle, and from working principle to property, are comprehensively discussed. Then, an extended functional design approach is proposed, which is characterized by the function (F)–working principle (WP)–property (P)–structure (S) mapping process. The conceptual design of a self-adaptive luggage transfer device is taken as an example to illustrate the proposed approach. (3) Conclusions: Based on the working principle and the desired property, how to generate a possible structure solution according to an expected function is clarified explicitly. The proposed approach could be regarded as a complement to the existing functional design approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The short-term rental market remains highly competitive, requiring that hosts should identify effective strategies to position their products for desirable performance. This study investigates the optimal balance beyond dyadic choice between differentiating from or conforming to competitors, in the dimensions of properties' functional and aesthetic design. We hypothesize U-shaped distinctiveness-performance relationships considering high legitimacy pressure and low strategy effectiveness in the short-term rental context. Moreover, the moderating effects of factors including online review volume and listing age are examined. Analyzing a sample of 99,757 Airbnb listings in Texas, the findings reveal different patterns of product positioning between functionality and aesthetics. The moderate degree of distinctiveness in functionalities leads to the worst performance while in aesthetics generating the best outcome. This study contributes to the hospitality literature by introducing and testing optimal distinctiveness within the short-term rental market. The findings also provide positioning guidance for short-term rental listings under different conditions. • We offer a simultaneous investigation of differentiation and conformity. • The distinctiveness-performance relationship is U-shaped for functional design. • Distinctiveness-performance has an inverted U-shaped for aesthetic design. • Findings are partially contrary to traditional industries such as lodging. • Legitimacy and experience explain the divergence from traditional industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to determine the influence of the washing and sterilization process in real hospital conditions on the microbial barrier properties of textile laminate used in medicine for protective clothing. The paper focuses on the functional design of three-layer laminate for medical footwear in surgery and in rooms where aseptic working conditions are required. The permeability and durability of the microbial barrier were determined after 0, 10 and 20 washing and sterilization procedures according to previously developed meth¬ods. Bacterial endospores of apathogenic species of the genera Geobacillus stearothermophilus and Bacillus atrophaeus were used. A functional design of the protective shoe cover was proposed. The results showed an extremely effective microbial barrier and the durability of the sample after 0, 10 and 20 washing and sterilization procedures, and over a period of one, two and three months.

We surveyed molar surface morphology of bats of 281 extant and extinct species in 5 archaic and 19 extant families using scanning microscopy. We note the occurrence of structural features on talonid crests, the cristid obliqua, postcristid, and entocristid, and their absence in upper molars, even of the same species having them on lowers. We term the structures "carnassiform notches" (CN) for their resemblance to similar features on the carnassial teeth of carnivorans. A CN consists of a small cleft in the edge of a talonid shearing crest accompanied by an adjacent "accessory trough" on the basinward side of the notch. The CN occur in bats with tribosphenic molar morphology and insectivorous or insectivorous-omnivorous dietary habits. Of 19 extant families examined, eight include members that possess lower molars with a CN in at least the cristid obliqua: Megadermatidae, Nycteridae, Mystacinidae, Furipteridae, Thyropteridae, Phyllostomidae, Natalidae, and Vespertilionidae (Murininae and Kerivoulinae only). An extinct genus of Hipposideridae, Vaylatsia, shows CN although extant hipposiderids do not. In extinct families for which lower molar fossils are available, notches were not recognized on the talonids, indicating the condition is not plesiomorphic for bats and probably evolved convergently in different lineages. Where present, the CN or troughs are morphologically consistent within a family, and might serve in some cases as characters supporting phylogenetic analyses and clade diagnoses. CN and accessory troughs probably increase the functional efficiency at sectioning chitin by increasing the effective length of a crest while maintaining the same cusp-to-cusp distance and precise occlusal relationships, and by improving the food-capture area of the shearing blade during occlusion. The accessory troughs provide an immediately adjacent fragment-clearance area. The increased sophistication of this food-processing system might be particularly important in species that must quickly acquire, chew, and swallow their food and resume echolocating in flight. The common ancestor of bats probably did not have CN in its molars, and the presence of CN does not signal carnivory in bats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emergency responders are being asked to react to a growing number of violent events and natural disasters as well as evolving threats, such as mass rioting and targeting of response personnel. The aim of this research was to develop modular PPE systems that protect the emergency responders from injury while acting/operating effectively in hazardous environments and provide the highest level of protection against a range of possible threats. The modular PPE system, built upon a duty uniform, integrates state-of-the-art protective tehnologies; provides basic protection from most likely threats (for example: fire, extremes weather etc.); enhances daily-wear comfort; provide increased localized protection as needed (for example: knees, forearms); includes next-to-skin layer and outer layer to provide varying levels of protection as needed; the modular layers easily donned and undonned. This modular approach: i) provides several advantages, including preserving comfort and flexibility until the intervention mission requires the use of the next level of protection; ii) it is a guarantee that emergency responders are not in a position of choosing between their safety and the effectiveness of the mission; iii) the use of modular layers could be the most cost-effective option, because only certain layers may become damaged or be in need of decontamination following an incident. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is known that the functionality of the product is determined by its structure, namely the textile structure, the constructive solution, the processing technology. The present paper concerns the aspect of the reasoned constructive functional design of the post-operative bra type products. The methods used to refer the matter included researches in the field using the specialized literature, patents, scientific articles, discussions with colleagues and specialists in related fields, as well in the medical field. The paper presents the results of the analysis of constructive statistical parameters of post-mastectomy bra type products, comparative analysis of the values of the constructive parameters of the patterns with the dimensions of the mammary gland and external breast prostheses. The actuality of the theme is determined by the lack of researches that would be the basis of the functional constructive design of the clothing products intended for women with amputations of the mammary glands. The work aims to identify the design method of bra products that allows the adaptation of the construction algorithm to the requirements and the characteristics imposed on the post-operative bra product and the development of the custom design algorithm. For the constructive parameters specific to the studied product, the statistical parameters are calculated. The results obtained are summed up by analyzing them in the form of graphs The study includes the identification of the initial data that need to be included in the design algorithm of the construction of the basic printing for main elements of the post-operative bra. The results of the study, the elaborated design algorithm will be used to elaborate the constructions necessary for further experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study highlights use of the clothing taskscape (CT) to assess user needs, characterize design problems, and develop design criteria by considering relationships across people, their clothing, environments, activities, and tasks. Two case studies—a liquor store uniform and outdoor winter sporting clothing for seated clients—are used to illustrate how the CT may be operationalized. Data collection included observation and interviews to identify problems and determine design attributes needed in our respective clothing categories. Data were thematically analyzed. Findings in the uniform case study included problems related to uniform styling, fit, fabric, branding, and visual identity. Findings in the winter sporting clothing case study included procurement, garment styling, fit, branding, visual identity, storage of personal effects, storage of large-sized garments, and laundering practices. Use of the CT has the potential to guide designers toward more holistic assessment of the use scenario to assess user needs and develop design criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By introducing functional groups such as quaternary amine groups, sulfonic acid groups, triazine groups, and other mespore nanomaterials into the hydrogel, better separation effect of some organic framework materials has been obtained. Due to a reasonable design and preparation strategy, the hydrogel composite-modified silica can be used in the selective separation of various analytes such as pesticides, alkylbenzenes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, nucleosides/bases, benzoic acids, antibiotics, and carbohydrates. Through the exploration of chromatographic retention behavior, it is proved that the column can be used in mixed-mode liquid chromatography. The intra-day relative standard deviation for retention time of this new stationary phase is 0.12–0.16% (n = 10), and the inter-day relative standard deviation is less than 0.39% (n = 5). This new stationary phase can also be used for separation in complex samples. The limit of detection (LOD) for chlorotoluron in farm irrigation water is 0.21 µg/L and the linear range is 2–250 µg/L. After optimizing the chromatographic conditions, the highest efficiency of the hydrogel column in RPLC and HILIC modes has reached 32,400 plates/m (chlorobenzuron) and 41,300 plates/m (galactose). This new type of hydrogel composite is a porous network material with flexible functional design and simple preparation method and its application has been expanded in liquid chromatography separation successfully. The hydrogel composed of triallyl cyanate cross-linking agent and 3-(2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl) dimethylamine) propane-1-sulfonate (SBMA) monomer which were co-modified on the surface of mesoporous silica with MOF-919 for separation in mixed-mode liquid chromatography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Women prefer to wear a sports bra not only for exercising, but also during resting and daily activities, highlighting deficiencies in current sports bra designs. The purpose of this study was to design, develop, and evaluate a sports bra that offers responsive behavior, in terms of breast support and comfort, both during rest and running conditions. A biomimetic design framework guided the conceptual phase, and moisture responsive plant biomechanics offered a feasible functional model. Fourteen sports bras were developed and wear- tested using college athletes. The moisture responsive panels inside the bra absorbed the sweat generated during running, making the fabric thicker when wet (statistically significant via 3D body scanning results), while maintaining comfort and perceived breast support through sweaty conditions (confirmed via questionnaire results). Adjustments to the underbust band tightness should be pursued, aiming to further improve sports bra functionality, promoting women health and their lifestyles.

The article discusses a variety of issues, concerning functional zoning. These questions are being considered, starting from the wide-scale urban territories and up to small private plots and dwellings. The urban planning and design are being analyzed in accordance to the main classification features, i.e., in accordance to the number of population, planning schemes and planning structures. It is noted, that in the long run, the principles of zoning are highly dependent in the above-mentioned points of a master planning. The functional zoning of individual houses or flats are being considered with nearly the same method adopted. A dwelling division to functional zones depends upon its size, number of occupants, personal desires, etc.

Hydrogels and biological cartilage tissues are highly similar in structure and composition due to their unique characteristics such as high-water content and low friction coefficients. The introduction of hydrogel cartilage can effectively reduce the friction coefficient and wear coefficient of the original bone joint and the implanted metal bone joint (generally titanium alloy or stainless steel), which is considered as a perfect replacement material for artificial articular cartilage. How to accurately regulate the local tribological characteristics of hydrogel artificial cartilage according to patient weight and bone shape is one of the important challenges in the current clinical application field of medical hydrogels. In this study, the mechanism by which micro-pits improve the surface friction properties was studied. Ultraviolet lasers were used to efficiently construct micro-pits with different shapes on a polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel in one step. It was shown that by using such a maskless laser processing, the performance of each part of the artificial cartilage can be customized flexibly and effectively. We envision that the approach demonstrated in this article will provide an important idea for the development of a high-performance, continuous and accurate method for controlling surface friction properties of artificial cartilage.

User satisfaction with a product plays a direct role in the purchasing decisions. With the enrichment of material life and the growth of individual requirements, this satisfaction is derived from the requirement for functionality to aesthetics. Conventional product design methods normally focus on achieving the required functions where its design specifications are mainly related to certain functional or usability requirements. In recent years, researchers have made efforts to develop methods for supporting aesthetic design activities during the product conceptual design phase. However, most of these methods hardly consider product aesthetics or the consumers’ emotional needs. Therefore, this study proposed a user-driven conceptual design specification integrating functional reasoning with aesthetic information analysis. The method consisted of two tasks, the construction of a mapping model and the implementation of the mapping model. Firstly, the mapping model was constructed for capturing the relationships between initial design specifications and user experience (UX). Secondly, the proposed design specifications were selected, refined, and optimized based on the mapping model. A case study on digital camera design was carried out to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method. The results showed that, compared with the initial design specification candidates, the UX was enhanced by applying the improved design specifications.

Facilitated endogenous tissue engineering, as a facile and effective strategy, is emerging for use in bone tissue regeneration. However, the development of bioactive scaffolds with excellent osteo-inductivity to recruit endogenous stem cells homing and differentiation towards lesion areas remains an urgent problem. Chitosan (CS), with versatile qualities including good biocompatibility, biodegradability, and tunable physicochemical and biological properties is undergoing vigorously development in the field of bone repair. Based on this, the review focus on recent advances in chitosan-based scaffolds for facilitated endogenous bone regeneration. Initially, we introduced and compared the facilitated endogenous tissue engineering with traditional tissue engineering. Subsequently, the various CS-based bone repair scaffolds and their fabrication methods were briefly explored. Furthermore, the functional design of CS-based scaffolds in bone endogenous regeneration including biomolecular loading, inorganic nanomaterials hybridization, and physical stimulation was highlighted and discussed. Finally, the major challenges and further research directions of CS-based scaffolds were also elaborated. We hope that this review will provide valuable reference for further bone repair research in the future.

Carbohydrates play important and diverse roles in the fundamental processes of life. We have established a method for accurately and a large-scale synthesis of functional carbohydrates with diverse properties using a unique enzymatic method. Furthermore, various artificial glycan-conjugated molecules have been developed by adding these synthetic carbohydrates to macromolecules and to middle- and low-molecular-weight molecules with different properties. These glycan-conjugated molecules have biological activities comparable to or higher than those of natural compounds and present unique functions. In this review, several synthetic glycan-conjugated molecules are taken as examples to show design, synthesis, and function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional design is regarded as a design activity primarily aimed at clarifying customer needs, and developing the functional architecture and solution concepts for a system under development. Existing functional design approaches are mainly focused on how to assist designers in searching for solution principles for desired products, which, however, do not adequately take into account the interactions between a smart system under development and its environment, and cannot explicitly represent the complex functional logic of the system, resulting in that they cannot effectively assist designers in the functional design of smart systems. Therefore, this paper proposes a scenario-integrated approach for functional design of smart systems to address the above issues. Based on the concept of scenario in software engineering, the proposed approach explicitly elaborates how to employ scenarios to express subjective customer needs and how to generate the functional architectures and the corresponding solution concepts through a structured process. The functional design of the automated doors-unlocking system of a smart vehicle is employed to illustrate the proposed approach, which also demonstrates that the proposed approach is suitable for functional design of smart systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The functional design of a decision support system for a state-of-the-art vehicle sharing system (VSS) inevitably includes the selection or definition of methodologies for planning and managing the observed VSS. In this paper, our focus is on an innovative VSS that utilizes light electric vehicles. Our goal is to specify the functions of a comprehensive decision making solution for such a VSS through a qualitative and systematic literature and system analysis. To achieve this goal, we rely on the holistic VSS management framework developed in our previous research. As a result of our study, we identify possible solution methodologies or algorithms for implementing functions of the designed decision making solution, and propose the necessary adjustments for their application in the case of light electric vehicles, or note any research gap. With these findings, we provide justified guidance to practitioners in creating these solutions, with the aim of reducing development time. • We concentrate on an innovative light electric vehicle sharing system (LEVSS). • The holistic VSS management framework drives the design of a comprehensive and state-of-the-art decision support system for LEVSSs. • Based on our study, we propose solution methodologies for the main planning and management challenges. • The justified guidance to practitioners in creating these solutions aims to minimize development time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lightweight design can contribute to savings of consumed material in products and enhancing their energy efficiency during the use phase but also to a higher resource consumption at the beginning- and the end-of-life, challenging the implementation of a circular economy. Hence, this publication methodologically addresses the synergies and conflicts of lightweight design and design for circularity. The concept of the 'functional life cycle energy analysis' is presented, which foresees the division of a product architecture into functions with allocated energy consumptions as cross-stage indicator for the expected resource consumption along the entire product life cycle. Holistic optimization potentials within three life cycle stages can thus be derived as recommendations for action for future product generations. This allows engineers to rethink functional principles and supports decision making in the early design phases of implementing lightweight design and design for circularity. The methodology is illustrated by means of a robotics use case. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermoelectric materials, which can convert thermal behaviors into electrical properties, are widely used in thermoelectric power generation, friendly refrigeration, and wearable electronic devices. Compared to synthetic polymer materials, cellulose is one of the most sought-after natural polysaccharide polymers, mainly found in plants and some biological colonies. Cellulose can be designed as a flexible, ion/electron conductive ionogel material with robust mechanical properties through molecular-scale physical treatment, chemical-group substitution, topological network regulation, etc. Cellulosic functional materials, such as ionogels, show promising thermoelectric applications due to their structural/functional designability, rapid thermoelectric conversion, and good sustainability. In this review, we briefly introduced the structural characteristics, functionalization methods, and advanced thermoelectric applications of cellulose. Then, we discussed the design concept, current status, and application prospects (such as smart watches, electronic skins, health detectors, etc.) of cellulose ionogels for developing thermoelectric cells, sensors, and refrigerating units. Finally, we highlighted some key technologies and strategies to broaden the application prospects of cellulose-based gels for thermoelectricity and intelligent electronics. [Display omitted] ● Structure-design, composition regulation and functionalization of cellulosic thermoelectric ionogels are discussed in detail. ● The latest utilization of cellulose and its ionogels for thermoelectric devices are reviewed. ● The prospect and method for designing sustainable thermoelectric ionogels are thoroughly dissected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Underwear is a very important segment for people with sensitive skin and patients with dermatological diseases. Since it is in direct contact with skin, it has an important role in the postoperative period, in which it is used as a function of protection and support of the operative part of the body. The main task of the underwear for this purpose is to protect the skin from harmful effects such as microorganisms and to keep the skin’s condition in remission if no improvement can be achieved. In accordance with the specific requirements, a functional design of a medical undershirt with microbial barrier was proposed. Functional design was carried out based on previously published research. Digitization of the human body was carried out by 3D scanning and based on the cloud of points measures have been taken as well as defined forms of body parts for whom the cutting pattern is being developed. The model is divided into several zones where it is possible for each area to determine the required compression for the support.

(1) Background: Functional design is an activity that is part of conceptual design; it aims to clarify customer needs and develop the functional architecture and solution concepts for a product or system under development. The existing functional design approaches mainly focus on assisting designers in searching for design solutions to desired functions, which rely too much on established design knowledge. This type of approach is usually characterized by the relevant design analogy, especially case analogy, or structure analogy. However, this cannot help to generate new design solutions if there is little established design knowledge. (2) Methods: To overcome this limitation, working principle and property are designated as intermediate transformation variables. The corresponding mapping relationships, from function to working principle, and from working principle to property, are comprehensively discussed. Then, an extended functional design approach is proposed, which is characterized by the function (F)–working principle (WP)–property (P)–structure (S) mapping process. The conceptual design of a self-adaptive luggage transfer device is taken as an example to illustrate the proposed approach. (3) Conclusions: Based on the working principle and the desired property, how to generate a possible structure solution according to an expected function is clarified explicitly. The proposed approach could be regarded as a complement to the existing functional design approach.

A redesign procedure used for introducing new functional properties in innovative gym equipment is here reported. It is based on a metal replacement action where a tempered steel was firstly replaced by an aluminum alloy and then by high strength-to-weight fiber-reinforced polymers. The effect of fiber properties (as strength and volume ratio) and plies stacking sequences (as thicknesses and orientation) were investigated. Numerical analyses, done by Ansys ACP, allowed evaluating the stressstrain behavior in realistic boundaries and quasi-static loads, comparing materials and layouts in terms of stiffness. The single-layered shell method with additional integration points was preferred as a technique for discretizing composite laminates. Maximum Principal Stress and Maximum Distortion Energy (Tsai-Hill) were applied as anisotropic failure criteria. Changes in geometry were also considered given their relevant effects on parts and processes. Specifically, this paper is focused on a representative component of the main kinematic chain (the 'forearm') and details the different redesign phases for that part. The chosen solution consisted of 14 layers of unidirectional and bidirectional carbon fiber-reinforced pre-pregs, offering a 68 % weight reduction with respect to a solid aluminum component with equal stiffness. The part was manufactured by hand lay-up and cured in autoclave. This redesign practice was extended to the rest of the equipment allowing its transformation into an exoskeleton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An open area of research for complex, cyber‐physical systems is how to adequately support decision making using reliability and failure data early in the systems engineering process. Having meaningful reliability and failure data available early offers information to decision makers at a point in the design process where decisions have a high impact to cost ratio. When applied to conceptual system design, widely used methods such as probabilistic risk analysis (PRA) and failure modes effects and criticality analysis (FMECA) are limited by the availability of data and often rely on detailed representations of the system. Further, existing methods for system reliability and failure methods have not addressed failure propagation in conceptual system design prior to selecting candidate architectures. Consideration given to failure propagation primarily focuses on the basic representation where failures propagate forward. In order to address the shortcomings of existing reliability and failure methods, this paper presents the function failure propagation potential methodology (FFPPM) to formalize the types of failure propagation and quantify failure propagation potential for complex, cyber‐physical systems during the conceptual stage of system design. Graph theory is leveraged to model and quantify the connectedness of the functional block diagram (FBD) to develop the metrics used in FFPPM. The FFPPM metrics include (i) the summation of the reachability matrix, (ii) the summation of the number of paths between nodes (i.e., functions) i and j for all i and j, and (iii) the degree and degree distribution. In plain English, these metrics quantify the reachability between functions in the graph, the number of paths between functions, and the connectedness of each node. The FFPPM metrics can then be used to make candidate architecture selection decisions and be used as early indicators for risk. The unique contribution of this research is to quantify failure propagation potential during conceptual system design of complex, cyber‐physical systems prior to selecting candidate architectures. FFPPM has been demonstrated using the example of an emergency core cooling system (ECCS) system in a pressurized water reactor (PWR). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To more comprehensively support clinical management of patients in our hospital, we redesigned the diagnostic Total Testing Process (TTP) from request to report. To that end, clinical needs were identified and a vision on Total Laboratory Automation (TLA) of the TTP was developed. The Delft Systems Engineering Approach was used for mapping a desirable laboratory testing process. The desirable "To Be" diagnostic process was tendered and the translation of a functional design into a specific TLA-configuration – compliant with the vision and the predefined functional design – was accomplished using a competitive dialogue tender variant (based on art. 29 of the EU guideline 2014/24). Realization of this high-end TLA-solution enabled a high-quality testing process with numerous improvements such as clear and supportive digital request forms, specimen consolidation, track and trace and non-conformity registration at the specimen level, better blood management (∼40% less blood sampled), lean and in line processing with increased productivity (42% rise in test productivity per capita), and guaranteed total turn-around-times of medical tests (95% of TLA-rooted in line tests are reported <120 min). The approach taken for improving the brain-to-brain loop of medical testing, as fundament for better diagnostic stewardship, is explained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the advances in functional structure modeling, the underlying models are lacking formalism and a consistent basis for successive reasoning. Many researchers have worked on functional structures and in standardizing their vocabulary while some undertook the task of benchmarking the process of creating it, although the effects of functional structure modeling methods and strategies on further stages of conceptual design during concept generation have not been discussed in depth. In the present research, a new procedural algorithmic approach for the functional structure is developed and demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]