In concurrent engineering, an attempt is made to perform design and other related activities simultaneously rather than in series as in the case of traditional design. This may result in a reduction of the duration of the design project, cost savings, and better quality of the final design. However, the concurrent engineering approach might increase the complexity of the design process and make it more difficult to manage. One way to reduce the complexity of a large scale design project is to apply decomposition. This paper presents a methodology for decomposition of a design process to enhance concurrency. The incidence matrix is used to represent the relationship between tasks and design parameters. The decomposition of a task-parameter incidence matrix is discussed. The constraint-variable decomposition, which is a special case of the task-parameter decomposition, is also presented for the management of constraints. Clustering of tasks involved in the design process allows one to determine a potential group of tasks that might be performed simultaneously or tasks that need a special attention during the design process. As a result of decomposition, the design cycle might be reduced. Another advantage of grouping tasks is the simplification of scheduling and management of the design project. Finally, the proposed approach provides a systematic way of decomposing a design problem into subproblems.

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A method using a commercially prepared colorimetric microdilution panel (ASTY; Kyokuto Pharmaceutical Industrial Co., Ltd.) was compared in four different laboratories with the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) reference microdilution method by testing 802 clinical isolates of Candida spp. (C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. tropicalis,C. parapsilosis, C. krusei, C. lusitaniae, C. guilliermondii, C. lipolytica, C. rugosa, and C. zeylanoides) against amphotericin B, 5-fluorocytosine (5FC), fluconazole, and itraconazole. Reference MIC endpoints were established after 48 h of incubation, and ASTY endpoints were established after 24 and 48 h of incubation. ASTY endpoints were determined to be the time at which the color of the first well changed from red (indicating growth) to purple (indicating growth inhibition) or blue (indicating no growth). Excellent agreement (within 2 dilutions) between the reference and colorimetric MICs was observed. Overall agreement was 93% at 24 h and 96% at 48 h. Agreement ranged from 90% with itraconazole and 5FC to 96% with amphotericin B at 24 h and from 92% with itraconazole to 99% with amphotericin B and 5FC at 48 h. The ASTY colorimetric microdilution panel method appears to be comparable to the NCCLS reference method for testing the susceptibilities of Candida spp. to a variety of antifungal agents.

The NASA/Smithsonian Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO; tempo.si.edu) satellite instrument will measure atmospheric pollution and much more over Greater North America at high temporal resolution (hourly or better in daylight, with selected observations at 10 minute or better sampling) and high spatial resolution (10 km 2 at the center of the field of regard). It will measure ozone (O 3 ) profiles (including boundary layer O 3 ), and columns of nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), nitrous acid (HNO 2 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), formaldehyde (H 2 CO), glyoxal (C 2 H 2 O 2 ), water vapor (H 2 O), bromine oxide (BrO), iodine oxide (IO), chlorine dioxide (OClO), as well as clouds and aerosols, foliage properties, and ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation. The instrument has been delivered and is awaiting spacecraft integration and launch in 2022. This talk describes a selection of TEMPO applications based on the TEMPO Green Paper living document (http://tempo.si.edu/publications.html).Applications to air quality and health will be summarized. Other applications presented include: biomass burning and O 3 production; aerosol products including synergy with GOES infrared measurements; lightning NO x ; soil NO x and fertilizer application; crop and forest damage from O 3 ; chlorophyll and primary productivity; foliage studies; halogens in coastal and lake regions; ship tracks and drilling platform plumes; water vapor studies including atmospheric rivers, hurricanes, and corn sweat; volcanic emissions; air pollution and economic evolution; high-resolution pollution versus traffic patterns; tidal effects on estuarine circulation and outflow plumes; air quality response to power blackouts and other exceptional events.