WorldWideScience

Sample records for case study applying

  1. Applied philosophy and psychotherapy: Heraclitus as case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Johann Beukes

    2002-10-01

    Full Text Available This article investigates a recent attempt to apply philosophy within the discipline of psychotherapy and to investigate the somewhat undefined realm of philosophical counselling. After introducing the claims of this interdisciplinary exercise and after addressing the problems involved in crossing the boundaries between philosophy and psychotherapy, the article elaborates on  Alex Howard’s (2000 [Philosophy for counselling and psychotherapy: Pythagoras to post-modernism. London: Macmillan] attempt to make explicit use of philosophy in psychotherapy, using his interpretation and application of Heraclitus’ philosophy as case study.

  2. Guidelines for writing applied case studies in sport and exercise psychology

    OpenAIRE

    Keegan, Richard James

    2017-01-01

    While there has been a significant expansion of continued professional development opportunities in recent years, there has often, historically, been a reluctance for sport and exercise psychologists to both share, and receive feedback on their professional practice (Cotterill, Weston and Breslin, 2016). The recent development of the new Case Studies in Sport and Exercise Psychology journal, a flagship journal of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, supports an increasing appetite fo...

  3. Energy retrofit of commercial buildings. Case study and applied methodology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aste, N.; Del Pero, C. [Department of Building Environment Science and Technology (BEST), Politecnico di Milano, Via Bonardi 3, 20133 Milan (Italy)

    2013-05-15

    Commercial buildings are responsible for a significant share of the energy requirements of European Union countries. Related consumptions due to heating, cooling, and lighting appear, in most cases, very high and expensive. Since the real estate is renewed with a very small percentage each year and current trends suggest reusing the old structures, strategies for improving energy efficiency and sustainability should focus not only on new buildings, but also and especially on existing ones. Architectural renovation of existing buildings could provide an opportunity to enhance their energy efficiency, by working on the improvement of envelopes and energy supply systems. It has also to be noted that the measures aimed to improve the energy performance of buildings should pay particular attention to the cost-effectiveness of the interventions. In general, there is a lack of well-established methods for retrofitting, but if a case study achieves effective results, the adopted strategies and methodologies can be successfully replicated for similar kinds of buildings. In this paper, an iterative methodology for energy retrofit of commercial buildings is presented, together with a specific application on an existing office building. The case study is particularly significant as it is placed in an urban climatic context characterized by cold winters and hot summers; consequently, HVAC energy consumption is considerable throughout the year. The analysis and simulations of energy performance before and after the intervention, along with measured data on real energy performance, demonstrate the validity of the applied approach. The specifically developed design and refurbishment methodology, presented in this work, could be also assumed as a reference in similar operations.

  4. A comparative study of applying Mason’s Rule in the case of flow-graphs and bond-graphs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adriana Grava

    2009-05-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents two methods to analyzethe electric circuits using the flow-graphs and thebond-graphs studying the differences between thesemethods.As it can be noticed, the two methods are totallydifferent; their common point being Mason’s rule thatis applied in both cases but it is applied differently foreach type of graphs.

  5. Creating a Minor in Applied Data Science: Case Western Reserve University Engages Business Leaders to Produce T-Shaped Professionals. A BHEF Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Business-Higher Education Forum, 2016

    2016-01-01

    This case study examines how Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF) member Case Western Reserve University is integrating T-shaped skills into a minor in applied data science. Through the collaboration of its business and higher education members, BHEF launched the National Higher Education and Workforce Initiative to create new undergraduate…

  6. A Case Study in the Misrepresentation of Applied Behavior Analysis in Autism: The Gernsbacher Lectures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morris, Edward K

    2009-01-01

    I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabrics of their life. (Tolstoy, 1894) This article presents a case study in the misrepresentation of applied behavior analysis for autism based on Morton Ann Gernsbacher's presentation of a lecture titled “The Science of Autism: Beyond the Myths and Misconceptions.” Her misrepresentations involve the characterization of applied behavior analysis, descriptions of practice guidelines, reviews of the treatment literature, presentations of the clinical trials research, and conclusions about those trials (e.g., children's improvements are due to development, not applied behavior analysis). The article also reviews applied behavior analysis' professional endorsements and research support, and addresses issues in professional conduct. It ends by noting the deleterious effects that misrepresenting any research on autism (e.g., biological, developmental, behavioral) have on our understanding and treating it in a transdisciplinary context. PMID:22478522

  7. 10 CFR 708.8 - Does this part apply to pending cases?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Does this part apply to pending cases? 708.8 Section 708.8... this part apply to pending cases? The procedures in this part apply prospectively in any complaint proceeding pending on the effective date of this part. ...

  8. Case Study to Apply Work Difficulty Factors to Decommissioning Cost Estimates

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yun, Taesik; Jung, Hyejin; Oh, Jaeyoung; Kim, Younggook [KHNP CRI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-10-15

    This article is prepared as a guideline regarding how to apply the work difficult factor (WDF) when it comes to the estimates of the decommissioning costs. Although several cases of the decommissioning cost estimates have been made for a few commercial nuclear power plants, the different technical, site-specific economic assumptions used make it difficult to interpret those cost estimates and compare them with that of Kori-1. In addition, it is clear that we are supposed to experience difficulties being created in the process of the Kori-1 and the virtual inaccessibility to the limited areas at the pre-decommissioning stage. Estimating decommissioning costs is one of the most crucial processes since it encompasses all the spectrum of decommissioning activities from the planning to the last evaluation on whether the decommissioning has successfully been proceeded from the safety and economic perspectives. Here I suggested the activity dependent costs is only related to WDFs of the incumbent plant planning or undergone to be decommissioned since as a matter of fact, estimating WDFs is the core process to articulately scrutinize the practical costs to apply to Kori-1 project.

  9. Applying of component system development in object methodology, case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Milan Mišovič

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available To create computarization target software as a component system has been a very strong requirement for the last 20 years of software developing. Finally, the architectural components are self-contained units, presenting not only partial and overall system behavior, but also cooperating with each other on the basis of their interfaces. Among others, components have allowed flexible modification of processes the behavior of which is the foundation of components behavior without changing the life of the component system. On the other hand, the component system makes it possible, at design time, to create numerous new connections between components and thus creating modified system behaviors. This all enables the company management to perform, at design time, required behavioral changes of processes in accordance with the requirements of changing production and market.The development of software which is generally referred to as SDP (Software Development Process contains two directions. The first one, called CBD (Component–Based Development, is dedicated to the development of component–based systems CBS (Component–based System, the second target is the development of software under the influence of SOA (Service–Oriented Architecture. Both directions are equipped with their different development methodologies. The subject of this paper is only the first direction and application of development of component–based systems in its object–oriented methodologies. The requirement of today is to carry out the development of component-based systems in the framework of developed object–oriented methodologies precisely in the way of a dominant style. In some of the known methodologies, however, this development is not completely transparent and is not even recognized as dominant. In some cases, it is corrected by the special meta–integration models of component system development into an object methodology.This paper presents a case study

  10. Applied Nuclear Accountability Systems: A Case Study in the System Architecture and Development of NuMAC

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Campbell, Andrea Beth

    2004-01-01

    This is a case study of the NuMAC nuclear accountability system developed at a private fuel fabrication facility. This paper investigates nuclear material accountability and safeguards by researching expert knowledge applied in the system design and development. Presented is a system developed to detect and deter the theft of weapons grade nuclear material. Examined is the system architecture that includes: issues for the design and development of the system; stakeholder issues; how the system was built and evolved; software design, database design, and development tool considerations; security and computing ethics. (author)

  11. The improvement of environmental performances by applying ISO 14001 standard: A case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Živković Snežana

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the analysis of the advantages of applying ISO 14001 system in an environmental protection management system. The environmental protection management system which is not licensed, i.e., compatible with the principles and standard pre-conditions considerably increases the plausibility for ecological risk. There are some issues that remain to be solved in the areas which are not expressed by financial values only but also have a non-financial character with the aim of expanding markets, company image improvement and improvement of the environmental performance indicators. By improving a company’s environmental management system efficiency we expect to achieve the minimization and elimination of damaging influences on the environment which are the consequence of company’s activities. A case study in the Oil Refinery Belgrade (RNB analyses the implementation of the standard ISO 14001:2004 into its environment protection management system, particularly emphasizing the company’s own way of evaluating the environment aspects with the aim of establishing results of ecological performances indicators improvement. The average values of the first ecological indicator of the plant, the total amount of the waste waters in m3 per a ton of product, clearly show the downturn trend, which is confirmed by the proportional reduction of the second ecological plant indicator, that is by the flocculants consumption (Al2(SO43, Na2CO3 in kg per m3 of the waste water of the Oil Refinery of Belgrade for the given period 2008-2010. Case study RNB confirms the improvement of environmental performances using the ISO 14001 standard.

  12. Applying systematic review search methods to the grey literature: a case study examining guidelines for school-based breakfast programs in Canada.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Godin, Katelyn; Stapleton, Jackie; Kirkpatrick, Sharon I; Hanning, Rhona M; Leatherdale, Scott T

    2015-10-22

    Grey literature is an important source of information for large-scale review syntheses. However, there are many characteristics of grey literature that make it difficult to search systematically. Further, there is no 'gold standard' for rigorous systematic grey literature search methods and few resources on how to conduct this type of search. This paper describes systematic review search methods that were developed and applied to complete a case study systematic review of grey literature that examined guidelines for school-based breakfast programs in Canada. A grey literature search plan was developed to incorporate four different searching strategies: (1) grey literature databases, (2) customized Google search engines, (3) targeted websites, and (4) consultation with contact experts. These complementary strategies were used to minimize the risk of omitting relevant sources. Since abstracts are often unavailable in grey literature documents, items' abstracts, executive summaries, or table of contents (whichever was available) were screened. Screening of publications' full-text followed. Data were extracted on the organization, year published, who they were developed by, intended audience, goal/objectives of document, sources of evidence/resources cited, meals mentioned in the guidelines, and recommendations for program delivery. The search strategies for identifying and screening publications for inclusion in the case study review was found to be manageable, comprehensive, and intuitive when applied in practice. The four search strategies of the grey literature search plan yielded 302 potentially relevant items for screening. Following the screening process, 15 publications that met all eligibility criteria remained and were included in the case study systematic review. The high-level findings of the case study systematic review are briefly described. This article demonstrated a feasible and seemingly robust method for applying systematic search strategies to

  13. Case study: how to apply data mining techniques in a healthcare data warehouse.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silver, M; Sakata, T; Su, H C; Herman, C; Dolins, S B; O'Shea, M J

    2001-01-01

    Healthcare provider organizations are faced with a rising number of financial pressures. Both administrators and physicians need help analyzing large numbers of clinical and financial data when making decisions. To assist them, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center and Hitachi America, Ltd. (HAL), Inc., have partnered to build an enterprise data warehouse and perform a series of case study analyses. This article focuses on one analysis, which was performed by a team of physicians and computer science researchers, using a commercially available on-line analytical processing (OLAP) tool in conjunction with proprietary data mining techniques developed by HAL researchers. The initial objective of the analysis was to discover how to use data mining techniques to make business decisions that can influence cost, revenue, and operational efficiency while maintaining a high level of care. Another objective was to understand how to apply these techniques appropriately and to find a repeatable method for analyzing data and finding business insights. The process used to identify opportunities and effect changes is described.

  14. 12 CFR 585.110 - How do I apply for a case-by-case exemption?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... PROHIBITED SERVICE AT SAVINGS AND LOAN HOLDING COMPANIES Exemptions § 585.110 How do I apply for a case-by-case exemption? (a) Who may file. (1) A savings and loan holding company or a person who was convicted... exemption only for a designated position (or positions) with respect to a named savings and loan holding...

  15. Applying a contingency model of strategic decision making to the implementation of smoking bans: a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willemsen, M C; Meijer, A; Jannink, M

    1999-08-01

    A model of strategic decision making was applied to study the implementation of worksite smoking policy. This model assumes there is no best way of implementing smoking policies, but that 'the best way' depends on how decision making fits specific content and context factors. A case study at Wehkamp, a mail-order company, is presented to illustrate the usefulness of this model to understand how organizations implement smoking policies. Interview data were collected from representatives of Wehkamp, and pre- and post-ban survey data were collected from employees. After having failed to solve the smoking problem in a more democratic way, Wehkamp's top management choose a highly confrontational and decentralized decision-making approach to implement a complete smoking ban. This resulted in an effective smoking ban, but was to some extent at the cost of employees' satisfaction with the policy and with how the policy was implemented. The choice of implementation approach was contingent upon specific content and context factors, such as managers' perception of the problem, leadership style and legislation. More case studies from different types of companies are needed to better understand how organizational factors affect decision making about smoking bans and other health promotion innovations.

  16. Evaluation of Cases Applying to Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic to Receive Medical Board Report

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sibelnur Avcil

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate socio-demographic characteristics, application reasons and diagnoses of cases applying to child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient clinic in order to receive a medical board report. Materials and Methods: File data of 405 cases in the child and adolescent group (0-18 years, who applied to Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Outpatient clinics of Adnan Menderes University Faculty of Medicine between 1 November 2014 and 31 October 2015 in order to receive a medical board report, were retrospectively examined. Results: Average age of the cases was determined as 6.32±4.62 years, and 42.7% (173 were female and 57.3% (232 were male. When reasons of applications to medical board for the disabled were examined, it was found that the most frequent reason of application is to make them receive special education or to continue their special education at the rate of 66%; when diagnosis distribution of the cases was examined, the most frequent diagnoses included mild mental retardation (28.3%, borderline intellectual functioning (23.5%, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (13.6%, and learning disorder (12.6%. Conclusion: In our study, it was determined that the most frequent diagnosis in children applying to receive a medical board report was mild mental retardation and the most frequent reason of application was to receive special education report. The studies to be conducted with relation to cases applying to medical board for the disabled will help in formation of healthy demographic data about pathologies in our field and in approaching clinically to such cases.

  17. Managing change : Case study: HAMK University of Applied Sciences, Valkeakoski

    OpenAIRE

    Chau Thi Tra, Mi

    2012-01-01

    In response to changes imposed by the Finnish government on the Univer-sities of Applied Sciences system in the near future, HAMK has proactive-ly adopted several programmes to prepare for future challenges and rein-force the organization’s competitiveness. However, organizational change has never been an easy, straightforward issue and how to manage change effectively has become an interest to the organization. The study aims at providing suggestions for a more successful change im-pleme...

  18. Reverse case study: to think like a nurse.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beyer, Deborah A

    2011-01-01

    Reverse case study is a collaborative, innovative, active learning strategy that nurse educators can use in the classroom. Groups of students develop a case study and a care plan from a list of medications and a short two- to three-sentence scenario. The students apply the nursing process to thoroughly develop a complete case study written as a concept map. The strategy builds on previous learned information and applies the information to new content, thus promoting critical thinking and problem solving. Reverse case study has been used in both associate and baccalaureate nursing degree theory courses to generate discussion and assist students in thinking like a nurse. 2011, SLACK Incorporated.

  19. Case Study: Applying OpenEHR Archetypes to a Clinical Data Repository in a Chinese Hospital.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Min, Lingtong; Wang, Li; Lu, Xudong; Duan, Huilong

    2015-01-01

    openEHR is a flexible and scalable modeling methodology for clinical information and has been widely adopted in Europe and Australia. Due to the reasons of differences in clinical process and management, there are few research projects involving openEHR in China. To investigate the feasibility of openEHR methodology for clinical information modelling in China, this paper carries out a case study to apply openEHR archetypes to Clinical Data Repository (CDR) in a Chinese hospital. The results show that a set of 26 archetypes are found to cover all the concepts used in the CDR. Of all these, 9 (34.6%) are reused without change, 10 are modified and/or extended, and 7 are newly defined. The reasons for modification, extension and newly definition have been discussed, including granularity of archetype, metadata-level versus data-level modelling, and the representation of relationships between archetypes.

  20. A Psychobiographical Case Study

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    man, and cancer fighter. This psychobiographical case study entailed a psychosocial-historical ... does not draw more attention as a research method, as this approach has .... of the applied Levinsonian theory to the life of Jobs against the ...

  1. Probabilistic fracture mechanics applied for lbb case study: international benchmark

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Radu, V.

    2015-01-01

    An application of probabilistic fracture mechanics to evaluate the structural integrity for a case study chosen from experimental Mock-ups of FP7 STYLE project is described. The reliability model for probabilistic structural integrity, focused on the assessment of TWC in the pipe weld under complex loading (bending moment and residual stress) has been setup. The basic model is the model of fracture for through-wall cracked pipe under elastic-plastic conditions. The corresponding structural reliability approach is developed with the probabilities of failure associated with maximum load for crack initiation, net-section collapse but also the evaluation the instability loads. The probabilities of failure for a through-wall crack in a pipe subject to pure bending are evaluated by using crude Monte Carlo simulations. The results from the international benchmark are presented for the mentioned case in the context of ageing and lifetime management of pressure boundary/pressure circuit component. (authors)

  2. Identifying 'unhealthy' food advertising on television: a case study applying the UK Nutrient Profile model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jenkin, Gabrielle; Wilson, Nick; Hermanson, Nicole

    2009-05-01

    To evaluate the feasibility of the UK Nutrient Profile (NP) model for identifying 'unhealthy' food advertisements using a case study of New Zealand television advertisements. Four weeks of weekday television from 15.30 hours to 18.30 hours was videotaped from a state-owned (free-to-air) television channel popular with children. Food advertisements were identified and their nutritional information collected in accordance with the requirements of the NP model. Nutrient information was obtained from a variety of sources including food labels, company websites and a national nutritional database. From the 60 h sample of weekday afternoon television, there were 1893 advertisements, of which 483 were for food products or retailers. After applying the NP model, 66 % of these were classified as advertising high-fat, high-salt and high-sugar (HFSS) foods; 28 % were classified as advertising non-HFSS foods; and the remaining 2 % were unclassifiable. More than half (53 %) of the HFSS food advertisements were for 'mixed meal' items promoted by major fast-food franchises. The advertising of non-HFSS food was sparse, covering a narrow range of food groups, with no advertisements for fresh fruit or vegetables. Despite the NP model having some design limitations in classifying real-world televised food advertisements, it was easily applied to this sample and could clearly identify HFSS products. Policy makers who do not wish to completely restrict food advertising to children outright should consider using this NP model for regulating food advertising.

  3. THE CASE STUDY TASKS AS A BASIS FOR THE FUND OF THE ASSESSMENT TOOLS AT THE MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS FOR THE DIRECTION 01.03.02 APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTER SCIENCE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dina Aleksandrovna Kirillova

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The modern reform of the Russian higher education involves the implementation of competence-based approach, the main idea of which is the practical orientation of education. Mathematics is a universal language of description, modeling and studies of phenomena and processes of different nature. Therefore creating the fund of assessment tools for mathematical disciplines based on the applied problems is actual. The case method is the most appropriate mean of monitoring the learning outcomes, it is aimed at bridging the gap between theory and practice.The aim of the research is the development of methodical materials for the creating the fund of assessment tools that are based on the case-study for the mathematical analisis for direction «Applied Mathematics and Computer Science». The aim follows from the contradiction between the need for the introduction of case-method in the educational process in high school and the lack of study of the theoretical foundations of using of this method as applied to mathematical disciplines, insufficient theoretical basis and the description of the process of creating case-problems for use their in the monitoring of the learning outcomes.

  4. Applying Case-Based Reasoning in Supporting Strategy Decisions

    OpenAIRE

    S. M. Seyedhosseini; A. Makui; M. Ghadami

    2011-01-01

    Globalization and therefore increasing tight competition among companies, have resulted to increase the importance of making well-timed decision. Devising and employing effective strategies, that are flexible and adaptive to changing market, stand a greater chance of being effective in the long-term. In other side, a clear focus on managing the entire product lifecycle has emerged as critical areas for investment. Therefore, applying wellorganized tools to employ past experience in new case, ...

  5. Bioremediation case studies: Abstracts. Final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Devine, K.

    1992-03-01

    The report contains abstracts of 132 case studies of bioremediation technology applied to hazardous waste clean-up. It was prepared to compile bioremediation studies in a variety of locations and treating diverse contaminants, most of which were previously undocumented. All data are based on vendor-supplied information and there was no opportunity to independently confirm its accuracy. These 132 case studies, from 10 different biotechnology companies, provide users with reference information about on-going and/or completed field applications and studies. About two-thirds of the cases were at full-scale clean-up level with the remainder at pilot or laboratory scale. In 74 percent of the cases, soil was at least one of the media treated. Soil alone accounts for 46 percent of the cases. Petroleum-related wastes account for the largest contaminant with 82 cases. Thirty-one states are represented in the case studies

  6. Implications of applying methodological shortcuts to expedite systematic reviews: three case studies using systematic reviews from agri-food public health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pham, Mai T; Waddell, Lisa; Rajić, Andrijana; Sargeant, Jan M; Papadopoulos, Andrew; McEwen, Scott A

    2016-12-01

    The rapid review is an approach to synthesizing research evidence when a shorter timeframe is required. The implications of what is lost in terms of rigour, increased bias and accuracy when conducting a rapid review have not yet been elucidated. We assessed the potential implications of methodological shortcuts on the outcomes of three completed systematic reviews addressing agri-food public health topics. For each review, shortcuts were applied individually to assess the impact on the number of relevant studies included and whether omitted studies affected the direction, magnitude or precision of summary estimates from meta-analyses. In most instances, the shortcuts resulted in at least one relevant study being omitted from the review. The omission of studies affected 39 of 143 possible meta-analyses, of which 14 were no longer possible because of insufficient studies (studies generally resulted in less precise pooled estimates (i.e. wider confidence intervals) that did not differ in direction from the original estimate. The three case studies demonstrated the risk of missing relevant literature and its impact on summary estimates when methodological shortcuts are applied in rapid reviews. © 2016 The Authors. Research Synthesis Methods Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. © 2016 The Authors. Research Synthesis Methods Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  7. APPLIED KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN SMALL DESIGN FIRMS: CASE STUDY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christian Donin

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Knowledge is the new strategic imperative of organizations. The ability to manage knowledge is a crucial part of any organizations operational processes. The creation and diffusion of knowledge have become ever more important factors in competitiveness. This paper investigates the Knowledge Management and flow information and in small design firms. It is divided into three main parts. The first part of this paper describes the importance of Knowledge Management for organizations are described together with responsibilities needed to ensure successful Knowledge Management implementations and the Spiral of Organizational Knowledge Creation conception. The second part approaches literature available about process and organizational structure and information flow related to Brazilian design firms. Finally, this paper presents a case study of small design office of Civil Engineering identifying organizational process, verifying the types of communication practices and identifying the types of dynamic process of The Spiral of Organizational Knowledge Creation, KM strategy and dynamic through Knowledge Transfer.

  8. The role of radionuclide studies in emergency cases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nishimura, Tsunehiko; Hayashida, Kohei; Uehara, Toshiisa

    1982-01-01

    Radionuclide studies have been performed popularly because of its noninvasive and simple method recently. In this study, we applied this technique for the evaluation of emergency cases in cardiovascular diseases. There were 93 cases (1.5%) out of 6163 cases, done during 1981. The subjects were 34 cases of cardiac studies (9 cases of sup(99m)Tc-PYP myocardial imaging, 12 cases of thallium myocardial imaging, 13 cases of cardioangiography), 23 cases of peripheral diseases (12 cases of peripheral angiography, 11 cases of venography), 16 cases of pulmonary imaging, 10 cases of renal studies (6 cases of renal angiography, 9 cases of renal imaging) and 5 cases of brain angiography. These studies were proven to be useful clinically for the evaluation of emergency cases and follow-up studies. In the near future, ''emergency radionuclide studies'' would be benefit for the high-risk patients noninvasively. (author)

  9. Fulfillment of GMP standard, halal standard, and applying HACCP for production process of beef floss (Case study: Ksatria enterprise)

    Science.gov (United States)

    A'diat, Arkan Addien Al; Liquiddanu, Eko; Laksono, Pringgo Widyo; Sutopo, Wahyudi; Suletra, I. Wayan

    2018-02-01

    Along with the increasing number of the modern retail business in Indonesia, give an opportunity to small and medium enterprise (SME) to sell its products through the modern retailer. There are some obstacles faced by the SMEs, one of them is about product standard. Product standard that must be owned by SMEs are GMP standard and halal standard. This research was conducted to know the fulfillment by the beef floss enterprise in jagalan in fulfilling the GMP standard and halal. In addition, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system was applied to analyze the process. HACCP which used in this research was based on the seven principles in SNI (Indonesian National Standard) 01-4852-1998. The seven principles included hazard analysis, critical control point (CCP) determination, critical limit establishment, CCP monitor system establishment, corrective action establishment, verification, and also documentation establishment that must be applied in preparing HACCP plan. Based on this case study, it is concluded that there were 5 CCPs : the boiling process, roasting process, frying process, the beef floss draining process, and the packaging process.

  10. Comprehensive Environmental Assessment Applied to Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Flame-Retardant Coatings in Upholstery Textiles: A Case Study Presenting Priority Research Gaps for Future Risk Assessments (Final Report)

    Science.gov (United States)

    In September 2013, EPA announced the availability of the final report, Comprehensive Environmental Assessment Applied to Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Flame-Retardant Coatings in Upholstery Textiles: A Case Study Presenting Priority Research Gaps for Future Risk Assessments...

  11. Class 1 devices case studies in medical devices design

    CERN Document Server

    Ogrodnik, Peter J

    2014-01-01

    The Case Studies in Medical Devices Design series consists of practical, applied case studies relating to medical device design in industry. These titles complement Ogrodnik's Medical Device Design and will assist engineers with applying the theory in practice. The case studies presented directly relate to Class I, Class IIa, Class IIb and Class III medical devices. Designers and companies who wish to extend their knowledge in a specific discipline related to their respective class of operation will find any or all of these titles a great addition to their library. Class 1 Devices is a companion text to Medical Devices Design: Innovation from Concept to Market. The intention of this book, and its sister books in the series, is to support the concepts presented in Medical Devices Design through case studies. In the context of this book the case studies consider Class I (EU) and 510(k) exempt (FDA) . This book covers classifications, the conceptual and embodiment phase, plus design from idea to PDS. These title...

  12. Single-Case Designs and Qualitative Methods: Applying a Mixed Methods Research Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hitchcock, John H.; Nastasi, Bonnie K.; Summerville, Meredith

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this conceptual paper is to describe a design that mixes single-case (sometimes referred to as single-subject) and qualitative methods, hereafter referred to as a single-case mixed methods design (SCD-MM). Minimal attention has been given to the topic of applying qualitative methods to SCD work in the literature. These two…

  13. Objectivist case study research

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ridder, Hanne Mette Ochsner; Fachner, Jörg

    2016-01-01

    be achieved through the use of objectivist case study research. The strength of the case study design is that it allows for uncovering or suggesting causal relationships in real-life settings through an intensive and rich collection of data. According to Hilliard (1993), the opposite applies for extensive......In order to comprehend the impact of music therapy or music therapy processes, a researcher might look for an approach where the topic under investigation can be understood within a broader context. This calls for a rich inclusion of data and consequently a limited number of participants and may...... designs, in which a small amount of data is gathered on a large number of subjects. With the richness of data, the intensive design is ―the primary pragmatic reason for engaging in single-case or small N research‖ (p. 374) and for working from an idiographic rather than a nomothetic perspective....

  14. Case study of the interdisciplinary integration in an IST-E3 project

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jørgensen, Ulrik

    2002-01-01

    Case study of a specific IST-E3 project funded by the EU commissions 5th framework program. The case study highlights the difficulties in integrating different disciplinary approaches and suggests that a more openended research strategy should be applied by the commission.......Case study of a specific IST-E3 project funded by the EU commissions 5th framework program. The case study highlights the difficulties in integrating different disciplinary approaches and suggests that a more openended research strategy should be applied by the commission....

  15. A study on applying Ra needle interstitial brachytherapy for oral cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshida, Shunichi; Komiya, Yoshiaki; Uchida, Ikuhiro; Tashiro, Kazuyoshi

    1999-01-01

    To investigate applicability of Ra needle interstitial brachytherapy, 93 cases of oral squamous carcinoma were examined. The patients underwent Ra needle interstitial brachytherapy as thorough therapy in our hospital. The criteria of applying Ra needle interstitial brachytherapy was diameter of within 5 cm and depth within 2 cm of tumor size. Ra needle interstitial brachytherapy was applied to 82 cases of tongue, 10 cases of oral floor and one case of lower lip carcinomas. The local control rate was 92.5%, and secondary neck metastasis was 32.3% in all cases applied Ra needle interstitial brachytherapy. The results were not bad compared with surgical treatment. However, the 5-year cumulative survival rate was 64.9%, which was not good enough at the result to obtain a good local control rate and secondary neck metastasis rate. The result was relative to low treatment result of local recurrence cases with Ra needle interstitial brachytherapy. To improve the result, it is important to distinguish local recurrence from radioinduced ulcer, and to start early secondary treatment. The cases in which cervical lymph node metastasis was found as the first examination underwent neck dessection after Ra needle interstitial brachytherapy. The 5-year cumulative survival rate was 83.3% in N1 cases and 40.6% in N2 cases, and the result of N2 cases was poorer than N1 cases with a significant difference. The results indicate that a needle having a diameter of within 5 cm, depth of within 2 cm and less than N1 can be applied during Ra needle interstitial brachytherapy for complete cure of cancer. (author)

  16. Applying Quality Indicators to Single-Case Research Designs Used in Special Education: A Systematic Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moeller, Jeremy D.; Dattilo, John; Rusch, Frank

    2015-01-01

    This study examined how specific guidelines and heuristics have been used to identify methodological rigor associated with single-case research designs based on quality indicators developed by Horner et al. Specifically, this article describes how literature reviews have applied Horner et al.'s quality indicators and evidence-based criteria.…

  17. Landslide susceptibility modeling applying machine learning methods: A case study from Longju in the Three Gorges Reservoir area, China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Chao; Yin, Kunlong; Cao, Ying; Ahmed, Bayes; Li, Yuanyao; Catani, Filippo; Pourghasemi, Hamid Reza

    2018-03-01

    Landslide is a common natural hazard and responsible for extensive damage and losses in mountainous areas. In this study, Longju in the Three Gorges Reservoir area in China was taken as a case study for landslide susceptibility assessment in order to develop effective risk prevention and mitigation strategies. To begin, 202 landslides were identified, including 95 colluvial landslides and 107 rockfalls. Twelve landslide causal factor maps were prepared initially, and the relationship between these factors and each landslide type was analyzed using the information value model. Later, the unimportant factors were selected and eliminated using the information gain ratio technique. The landslide locations were randomly divided into two groups: 70% for training and 30% for verifying. Two machine learning models: the support vector machine (SVM) and artificial neural network (ANN), and a multivariate statistical model: the logistic regression (LR), were applied for landslide susceptibility modeling (LSM) for each type. The LSM index maps, obtained from combining the assessment results of the two landslide types, were classified into five levels. The performance of the LSMs was evaluated using the receiver operating characteristics curve and Friedman test. Results show that the elimination of noise-generating factors and the separated modeling of each landslide type have significantly increased the prediction accuracy. The machine learning models outperformed the multivariate statistical model and SVM model was found ideal for the case study area.

  18. Case Study: A Separation of Powers Lesson.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jenkins, Steve

    1986-01-01

    Presents a case study involving students in the issue of separation of powers as applied to the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act. Students examine the case of Jagdish Rai Chadha, an immigrant threatened with deportation whose problems resulted in 1983 U.S. Supreme Court decision declaring legislative veto provision of Immigration and…

  19. A Neuroanatomy Teaching Activity Using Case Studies and Collaboration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheldon, Jane P.

    2000-01-01

    Describes an activity for use in an introductory psychology course in which students collaborate and apply their neuroanatomy knowledge to three case studies. Provides a table with descriptions of and possible answers for the three case studies and discusses the students' responses. (CMK)

  20. Law enforcement-applied tourniquets: a case series of life-saving interventions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Callaway, David W; Robertson, Joshua; Sztajnkrycer, Matthew D

    2015-01-01

    Although the epidemiology of civilian trauma is distinct from that encountered in combat, in both settings, extremity hemorrhage remains a major preventable cause of potential mortality. The current paper describes the largest case series in the literature in which police officers arriving prior to emergency medical services applied commercially available field tourniquets to civilian victims of violent trauma. Although all 3 patients with vascular injury arrived at the receiving emergency department in extremis, they were successfully resuscitated and survived to discharge without major morbidity. While this outcome is likely multifactorial and highlights the exceptional care delivered by the modern trauma system, tourniquet application appears to have kept critically injured patients alive long enough to reach definitive trauma care. No patient had a tourniquet-related complication. This case series suggests that law enforcement officers can effectively identify indications for tourniquets and rapidly apply such life-saving interventions.

  1. Applying multilevel model to the relationship of dietary patterns and colorectal cancer: an ongoing case-control study in Córdoba, Argentina.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pou, Sonia Alejandra; Díaz, María del Pilar; Osella, Alberto Rubén

    2012-09-01

    Scientific literature has consistently shown the effects of certain diets on health but regional variations of dietary habits, and their relationship colorectal cancer (CRC) has been poorly studied in Argentina. Our aims were to identify dietary patterns and estimate their effect on CRC occurrence and to quantify the association between family history of CRC and CRC occurrence by applying multilevel models to estimate and interpret measures of variation. Principal components factor analysis was performed to identify dietary patterns that were then used in a multilevel logistic regression applied to an ongoing case-control data about dietary exposure and CRC occurrence taking into account familiar clustering. Three dietary patterns were identified: "Southern Cone pattern" (red meat, wine, and starchy vegetables), "High-sugar drinks pattern", and "Prudent pattern". The study considered 41 cases and 95 controls. There was a significant promoting effects on CRC of "Southern Cone" (OR 1.5, 95%CI 1.0-2.2) and "High-sugar drinks" (OR 3.8, 95%CI 2.0-7.1) patterns, whereas "Prudent pattern" (OR 0.3, 95%CI 0.2-0.4) showed a significant protective effect at third tertile level. BMI, use of NSAIDs, and to have medical insurance showed significant effects. Variance of the random effect of family history of CRC was highly significant. This novel approach for Argentina showed that Southern Cone and High-sugar drinks patterns were associated with a higher risk of CRC, whereas the Prudent pattern showed a protective effect. There was a significant clustering effect of family history of CRC.

  2. Using a Statistical-Numerical Procedure for the Selection of Pumps running as Turbines to be applied in Water Pipelines: Study Cases

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silvio Barbarelli

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available A combined method using statistical and numerical models has been developed by the authors for selecting a pump running as turbine to be applied in micro-hydro plants. The data of the hydrological site chosen for the installation (head and capacity allow the calculation of two conversion factors which identify the pump to use successfully as turbine in that place. Then, a one-dimensional model, starting from data available on the pumps manufacturers catalogues, reconstructs a virtual geometry of the pump running as turbine, and calculates the performances curves, head vs. capacity, efficiency vs. capacity, useful for identifying the operating point. Two study cases are presented to apply the proposed methodology, concerning the feasibility of the installation of a pump running as turbine in the purifier water plants of Casali and Sersale, located at 1,000 m above sea level (Calabria, South Italy.The assessment of the annual energy yield gives a confirmation of the effectiveness and convenience of using pumps running as turbines.

  3. Applied environmetrics. Simulation applied to the physical environment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Beer, T

    1988-02-01

    Environmetrics is the application of quantitative methods to all aspects of the social and natural environment. This includes forecasting, mathematical modelling, data analysis, and statistics. Applied Environmetrics as a discipline involves the analysis of environmental data through the use of packaged, or specially designed computer software. Two case studies of recent implementations of applied environmetrics within the Australian mining industry are dealt with. 3 figs., 5 refs.

  4. The reduction method of statistic scale applied to study of climatic change

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bernal Suarez, Nestor Ricardo; Molina Lizcano, Alicia; Martinez Collantes, Jorge; Pabon Jose Daniel

    2000-01-01

    In climate change studies the global circulation models of the atmosphere (GCMAs) enable one to simulate the global climate, with the field variables being represented on a grid points 300 km apart. One particular interest concerns the simulation of possible changes in rainfall and surface air temperature due to an assumed increase of greenhouse gases. However, the models yield the climatic projections on grid points that in most cases do not correspond to the sites of major interest. To achieve local estimates of the climatological variables, methods like the one known as statistical down scaling are applied. In this article we show a case in point by applying canonical correlation analysis (CCA) to the Guajira Region in the northeast of Colombia

  5. Making Design Decisions Visible: Applying the Case-Based Method in Designing Online Instruction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heng Luo,

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The instructional intervention in this design case is a self-directed online tutorial that applies the case-based method to teach educators how to design and conduct entrepreneurship programs for elementary school students. In this article, the authors describe the major decisions made in each phase of the design and development process, explicate the rationales behind them, and demonstrate their effect on the production of the tutorial. Based on such analysis, the guidelines for designing case-based online instruction are summarized for the design case.

  6. Applying Case-Based Method in Designing Self-Directed Online Instruction: A Formative Research Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, Heng; Koszalka, Tiffany A.; Arnone, Marilyn P.; Choi, Ikseon

    2018-01-01

    This study investigated the case-based method (CBM) instructional-design theory and its application in designing self-directed online instruction. The purpose of this study was to validate and refine the theory for a self-directed online instruction context. Guided by formative research methodology, this study first developed an online tutorial…

  7. Case Study: Testing with Case Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herreid, Clyde Freeman

    2015-01-01

    This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. This month's issue discusses using case studies to test for knowledge or lessons learned.

  8. Selected case studies of technology transfer from mission-oriented applied research

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Daellenbach, K.K.; Watts, R.L.; Young, J.K. [Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States); Abarcar, R.B. [Energetics, Inc., Columbia, MD (United States)

    1992-07-01

    The US Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Industrial Concepts Division (AICD) under the Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT) supports interdisciplinary applied research and exploratory development that will expand the knowledge base to enable industry to improve its energy efficiency and its capability to use alternative energy resources. AICD capitalizes on scientific and technical advances from the United States and abroad, applying them to address critical technical needs of American industry. As a result, AICD research and development products are many and varied, and the effective transfer of these products to diverse targeted users requires different strategies as well. This paper describes the products of AICD research, how they are transferred to potential users, and how actual transfer is determined.

  9. Methodological contribution to lean office implementation applied to a supply chain department : longitudinal case study analysis in a supply company of the health sector

    OpenAIRE

    Reinhard , Eric

    2017-01-01

    Like most industrial companies, the Paul Hartmann company firstly deployed the Lean approach in factories. The implementation of Lean Office basic principles is decided through the Office Excellence method (Kugel, 2010) in the procurement support department. This method applied in some major German companies since 2002 has not been scientifically tested yet. Our research aims at testing this method with a unique case study approach and evaluating its completeness in comparison to the Lean Off...

  10. Noise resistance applied to the study paints

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lanchas Garcia-Zarco, S.; Alfosin Perez, V.; Suarez Garcia, A.; Urrejola Madrinan, S.; Sanchez Bermudez, A.

    2015-01-01

    Electrochemical noise is one of the methods of analysis used to interpret the phenomenon of corrosion. It has a number of advantages over other methodology types including its simplicity, its low cost and the fact that it does not disturb the system. This methodology appears to be effective together with other techniques in metal-electrolyte systems. In this case the technique is applied on its own on commercial anti-corrosion paints for which no information is available from other techniques. The main result of this study reveals the effectiveness of the noise resistance parameter, which had already been tested in the lab, when it is used to explain how the paint system behaves in industry. (Author)

  11. Applying the Decoding the Disciplines Process to Teaching Structural Mechanics: An Autoethnographic Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tingerthal, John Steven

    2013-01-01

    Using case study methodology and autoethnographic methods, this study examines a process of curricular development known as "Decoding the Disciplines" (Decoding) by documenting the experience of its application in a construction engineering mechanics course. Motivated by the call to integrate what is known about teaching and learning…

  12. Case study of siting technology for underground nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hibino, Satoshi; Komada, Hiroya; Honsho, Shizumitsu; Fujiwara, Yoshikazu; Motojima, Mutsumi; Nakagawa, Kameichiro; Nosaki, Takashi

    1991-01-01

    Underground siting method is one of new feasible siting methods for nuclear power plants. This report presents the results on case studies on underground siting. Two sites of a steeply inclined and plateau like configurations were selected. 'Tunnel type cavern; all underground siting' method was applied for the steeply inclined configuration, and 'shaft type semi-cavern; partial underground siting' method was applied for the plateau like configuration. The following designs were carried out for these two sites as case studies; (1) conceptual designs, (2) geological surveys and rock mechanics tests, (3) stability analysis during cavern excavations, (4) seismic stability analysis of caverns during earthquake, (5) reinforcement designs for caverns, (6) drainage designs. The case studies showed that these two cases were fully feasible, and comparison between two cases revealed that the 'shaft type semi-cavern; partial underground siting' method was more suitable for Japanese islands. As a first step of underground siting, therefore, the authors recommend to construct a nuclear power plant by this method. (author)

  13. Applying the Creativity in Oder to Generate Innovation Projects: the Practical Case Study of a Didactic Strategy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eliana Maria dos Santos Pereira Alves

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available A current challenge in teaching practice is to transform classrooms into laboratories to exchange experiences in courses whose goal is to enhance the professional skills in a practical and meaningful way. The search for improvement demonstrates that, increasingly, professionals become aware that organizations coexist in highly competitive environments, seeking to conquer more markets based on sustainable competitive advantages demanding fast responses of its employees. Considering that the process of creativity can be stimulated through the establishment of a suitable environment, this study aims to discuss the application of a didactic strategy developed for this purpose. Using the single case study methodology, it was used the technique of unstructured observation (informal or single to carry out the collection and the recording of events that occurred during the strategy application. It discusses elements such as identifying opportunities, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship, seeking their relationships to understand how it is possible to motivate the generation of proposals for innovative projects in educational environments. As a result, it is presented the perceptions of teachers on the didactic strategy applied, emphasizing that a suitable environment for the development of ideas encourages the student to propose solutions for the improbabilities, creating innovative alternatives to the identified needs.

  14. Integrating knowledge generation with knowledge diffusion and utilization: a case study analysis of the Consortium for Applied Research and Evaluation in Mental Health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vingilis, Evelyn; Hartford, Kathleen; Schrecker, Ted; Mitchell, Beth; Lent, Barbara; Bishop, Joan

    2003-01-01

    Knowledge diffusion and utilization (KDU) have become a key focus in the health research community because of the limited success to date of research findings to inform health policies, programs and services. Yet, evidence indicates that successful KDU is often predicated on the early involvement of potential knowledge users in the conceptualization and conduct of the research and on the development of a "partnership culture". This study describes the integration of KDU theory with practice via a case study analysis of the Consortium for Applied Research and Evaluation in Mental Health (CAREMH). This qualitative study, using a single-case design, included a number of data sources: proposals, meeting minutes, presentations, publications, reports and curricula vitae of CAREMH members. CAREMH has adopted the following operational strategies to increase KDU capacity: 1) viewing research as a means and not as an end; 2) bringing the university and researcher to the community; 3) using participatory research methods; 4) embracing transdisciplinary research and interactions; and 5) using connectors. Examples of the iterative process between researchers and potential knowledge users in their contribution to knowledge generation, diffusion and utilization are provided. This case study supports the importance of early and ongoing involvement of relevant potential knowledge users in research to enhance its utilization potential. It also highlights the need for re-thinking research funding approaches.

  15. Self-rostering applied to case studies - An ILP method to construct a feasible schedule

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Uijland, Suzanne; van der Veen, Egbert; Hurink, Johann L.; Schutten, Johannes M.J.; Kjenstad, D.; Riise, A.; Nordlander, T.E.; McCollum, B.; Burke, E.

    We discuss the self-rostering problem, a concept receiving more and more attention from both theory and practice. We outline our methodology and discuss its application to a number of practical case studies.

  16. The modulation of upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders for a knowledge worker with chiropractic care and applied ergonomics: a case study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sherrod, Charles W.; Casey, George; Dubro, Robert E.; Johnson, Dale F.

    2013-01-01

    Objective This report describes the case management of musculoskeletal disorders for an employee in a college work environment using both chiropractic care and applied ergonomics. Clinical Findings A 54-year-old male office worker presented with decreased motor function in both wrists; intermittent moderate-to-severe headaches; and pain or discomfort in the neck, both shoulders, left hand and wrist, and lumbosacral region resulting from injuries sustained during recreational soccer and from excessive forces and awkward postures when interacting with his home and office computer workstations. Intervention and Results Ergonomic training, surveillance, retrofitted equipment with new furniture, and an emphasis on adopting healthy work-style behaviors were applied in combination with regular chiropractic care. Baseline ergonomic job task analysis identified risk factors and delineated appropriate control measures to improve the subject's interface with his office workstation. Serial reevaluations at 3-month, 1-year, and 2-year periods recorded changes to the participant's pain, discomfort, and work-style behaviors. At end of study and relative to baseline, pain scale improved from 4/10 to 2/10; general disability improved from 4 to 0; and hand grip strength (pounds) increased from 20 to 105 (left) and 45 to 100 (right). Healthy work habits and postures adopted in the 3-month to 1-year period regressed to baseline exposures for 3 of 6 risk priorities identified in the ergonomic job task analysis. Conclusion The patient responded positively to the intervention of chiropractic care and applied ergonomics. PMID:23997724

  17. A Combined Hydrological and Hydraulic Model for Flood Prediction in Vietnam Applied to the Huong River Basin as a Test Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dang Thanh Mai

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available A combined hydrological and hydraulic model is presented for flood prediction in Vietnam. This model is applied to the Huong river basin as a test case study. Observed flood flows and water surface levels of the 2002–2005 flood seasons are used for model calibration, and those of the 2006–2007 flood seasons are used for validation of the model. The physically based distributed hydrologic model WetSpa is used for predicting the generation and propagation of flood flows in the mountainous upper sub-basins, and proves to predict flood flows accurately. The Hydrologic Engineering Center River Analysis System (HEC-RAS hydraulic model is applied to simulate flood flows and inundation levels in the downstream floodplain, and also proves to predict water levels accurately. The predicted water profiles are used for mapping of inundations in the floodplain. The model may be useful in developing flood forecasting and early warning systems to mitigate losses due to flooding in Vietnam.

  18. Case Study of Resilient Baton Rouge: Applying Depression Collaborative Care and Community Planning to Disaster Recovery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robin Keegan

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Background: Addressing behavioral health impacts of major disasters is a priority of increasing national attention, but there are limited examples of implementation strategies to guide new disaster responses. We provide a case study of an effort being applied in response to the 2016 Great Flood in Baton Rouge. Methods: Resilient Baton Rouge was designed to support recovery after major flooding by building local capacity to implement an expanded model of depression collaborative care for adults, coupled with identifying and responding to local priorities and assets for recovery. For a descriptive, initial evaluation, we coupled analysis of documents and process notes with descriptive surveys of participants in initial training and orientation, including preliminary comparisons among licensed and non-licensed participants to identify training priorities. Results: We expanded local behavioral health service delivery capacity through subgrants to four agencies, provision of training tailored to licensed and non-licensed providers and development of advisory councils and partnerships with grassroots and government agencies. We also undertook initial efforts to enhance national collaboration around post-disaster resilience. Conclusion: Our partnered processes and lessons learned may be applicable to other communities that aim to promote resilience, as well as planning for and responding to post-disaster behavioral health needs.

  19. The study of the value of applying the special functions of DSA during uterine artery embolization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Ting; Zhao Zhenhua; Lv Weigong

    2007-01-01

    Objective: To study the value of applying the special functions of DSA during uterine artery embolization. Methods: 122 cases were performed uterine artery embolization, including 67 cases with traditional operation and 55 cases with applying the special functions of DSA: rotary DSA angiography, the best work position and road map technology. We recorded the correlative operative indices to compare and analyse the mean exposure time, the mean operative time, the mean dosage of contrast medium, the probability of vasospasm and injury of blood vessel during operation. Results: The mean exposure time, mean operative time and the mean dosage of contrast medium were reduced with the special functions of DSA during uterine artery embolization. There is significant difference between traditional operation and the operation applying the special functions of DSA (P<0.01). Conclusion: Applying the special functions of DSA during uterine artery embolization can reduce the operative time, operative risk and economic burden. (authors)

  20. [A Forensic Autopsy Case Applied for Asbestos-Related Disease].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Makihara, Kosuke; Hamada, Tetsuo; Kasai, Kentaro; Tanaka, Toshiko; Sato, Hiroaki

    2016-03-01

    We had a forensic autopsy case that required additive pathological examination for the asbestos-related lung disease compensatory application afterwards. A man in his sixties with a history of occupational asbestos inhalation who had neither visited a hospital nor received a physical examination received forensic autopsy because of his death from unknown cause. An inmate said, "He developed cough and dyspnea, and died in the progression of the symptoms." The autopsy revealed widespread pleural plaques on both sides of the parietal pleura and multiple tumors in both sides of the lungs. The cause of death was diagnosed as lung cancer. Additional pathological examination was asked by his family to certify that he had suffered from asbestos-related lung disease in order to apply to the Asbestos-related Damage Relief Law. The Japanese criteria of the compensation law of asbestos-related lung cancer is the detection of more than 5,000 asbestos bodies per gram of dry lung tissue, while his number of asbestos bodies was 4,860. Asbestos bodies were reported to be accumulated in the distal lung parenchyma with no pathological changes. The present lung samples were collected from proximal section around the tumor, which might have made the number of asbestos bodies less than the criteria. Both the number of patients suffering from asbestos-related lung disease and the number of forensic autopsy cases have increased in Japan. Collecting lung samples from the appropriate lung section is essential and should be noted when the lung cancer is suspected at forensic autopsy in order to apply for asbestos-related lung disease compensation.

  1. Analysis of Multidimensional Poverty: Theory and Case Studies ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    2009-08-18

    Aug 18, 2009 ... ... of applying a factorial technique, Multiple Correspondence Analysis, to poverty analysis. ... Analysis of Multidimensional Poverty: Theory and Case Studies ... agreement to support joint research projects in December 2017.

  2. Towards More Case Study Research in Entrepreneurship

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tom Duxbury

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Entrepreneurship as an emerging discipline has made good strides, but according to some, has fallen short of bringing its theory and literature up to the standards of others in the management sciences. Rich with the descriptive detail needed for insightful theory building in entrepreneurship, scholars have called for more case study research, particularly those incorporating non-retrospective and longitudinal observations. At the same time however, it has become rare to find such research published in A-level journals dedicated to entrepreneurship. A survey presented here of major entrepreneurship journals over the past six years revealed a publication rate of only 3% using the case study method. This presents a major impediment for developing fresh research in this field based upon the study of real cases. The author explores how the case study method has been applied to entrepreneurship research and provides recommendations for improved publication rates.

  3. Applying TEAM in Regional Sketch Planning: Three Case Studies in Atlanta, Orlando, St. Louis

    Science.gov (United States)

    This EPA report documents 3 case studies of the application of TEAM (Travel Efficiency Assessment Method) to develop, assess and quantify regional greenhouse gas and criteria pollutant emission reductions from travel efficiency strategies in a cost effecti

  4. Case study of an organic Rankine cycle applied for excess heat recovery: Technical, economic and policy matters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lemmens, Sanne; Lecompte, Steven

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Case study of an organic Rankine cycle for heat recovery from an industrial kiln. • The costs and financial feasibility of the system are discussed in detail. • The cost structure is most defined by the capital costs, annual costs are limited. • The system is financially feasible, but subsidies remain important. • The results are most sensitive to changes in load hours and electricity price. - Abstract: Many industrial processes inevitably produce excess heat as by-product. Recovering this heat is a matter of waste management and provides opportunities to improve the energy use efficiency. The excess heat can be used for heating purposes (e.g., in processes, or delivered to district heating systems or buildings) or to generate electricity. An increasingly applied technology for industrial excess heat recovery is the organic Rankine cycle (ORC), suitable to recover low-grade heat from 90 °C onwards. Although ORCs are studied intensively, few studies have examined the economics of commissioned ORC systems. This paper investigates a 375 kW_g_r_o_s_s ORC system employed for flue gas heat recovery from an industrial kiln in Flanders, Belgium. The purpose of the study is twofold: providing insight into a practical ORC case; and evaluating the financial feasibility while taking the specific policy circumstances into account. The financial appraisal takes account of the specific technical setup, the diverse costs of the system, the external economic parameters, and the policy circumstances in Europe, Belgium and Flanders. A sensitivity analysis illustrates the influence of each parameter on the results. The analysis demonstrates the dominance of the investment costs (4217 €_2_0_1_3/kW_g_r_o_s_s) in the expenses. Under the valid conditions the investment has a positive financial return, but the financial support from the government is indispensable. Finally, the sensitivity analysis reveals the importance of attaining sufficient load hours and the

  5. Case Studies Approach in Tourism Destination Branding Research

    OpenAIRE

    Adeyinka-Ojo S.F.; Nair V.; Khoo-Lattimore C.

    2014-01-01

    A review of literature indicates that there are different types of qualitative research methods such as action research, content analysis, ethnography, grounded theory, historical analysis, phenomenology and case study. However, which approach is to be used depends on several factors such as the nature and objectives of the research. The aim of this paper is to focus on the research methodology aspects of applying case study as a research approach and its relevance in tourism destination bran...

  6. Applying Theory of Inventive Problem Solving to Develop Innovative Solutions: A Case Study

    OpenAIRE

    Y. H. Wang; C. C. Hsieh

    2016-01-01

    Good service design can increase organization revenue and consumer satisfaction while reducing labor and time costs. The problems facing consumers in the original serve model for eyewear and optical industry includes the following issues: 1. Insufficient information on eyewear products 2. Passively dependent on recommendations, insufficient selection 3. Incomplete records on progression of vision conditions 4. Lack of complete customer records. This study investigates the case of Kobayashi Op...

  7. Applying Value Stream Mapping Technique for Production Improvement in a Manufacturing Company: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeyaraj, K. L.; Muralidharan, C.; Mahalingam, R.; Deshmukh, S. G.

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to explain how value stream mapping (VSM) is helpful in lean implementation and to develop the road map to tackle improvement areas to bridge the gap between the existing state and the proposed state of a manufacturing firm. Through this case study, the existing stage of manufacturing is mapped with the help of VSM process symbols and the biggest improvement areas like excessive TAKT time, production, and lead time are identified. Some modifications in current state map are suggested and with these modifications future state map is prepared. Further TAKT time is calculated to set the pace of production processes. This paper compares the current state and future state of a manufacturing firm and witnessed 20 % reduction in TAKT time, 22.5 % reduction in processing time, 4.8 % reduction in lead time, 20 % improvement in production, 9 % improvement in machine utilization, 7 % improvement in man power utilization, objective improvement in workers skill level, and no change in the product and semi finished product inventory level. The findings are limited due to the focused nature of the case study. This case study shows that VSM is a powerful tool for lean implementation and allows the industry to understand and continuously improve towards lean manufacturing.

  8. APPLYING THE KUZNETS CURVE IN CASE OF ROMANIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jubenot Marie-Noelle

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The Romanian economy experienced a contrasting trend in recent years. Some of its features are similar to those of other Central and Eastern European Countries, that have joined the European Union in May 2004 and 2007, but some of them are very specific. Indicators of convergence and catching-up seem to show a GAP between Romania and other European countries, and even other CEEC. Indicators of convergence and catch-up are usually used to analyse the effectiveness of EU policies applied in all European countries. Apparent Romanian lag may be the result of too important weight of the rural sector in the economy. This sector is characterised, for example, by too many farms and very small agricultural holdings that induces a certain loss in productivity, also by low income and poverty. This result is consequence of both the story and original policy choices. This paper consists of two parts. In the first one, we detail the specificities of new member states and particularly Romanian. The second part allows analysing the link between the agricultural sector and development. Notably, the Kuznets curve can be used as a tool in order to better understand the mechanism of this link. The Kuznets hypothesis is applied to the case of Romania and allows us to draw some conclusions about the recent developments.

  9. Applying the Case Management CourTools: Finding from an Urban Trial Court

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Collins E. Ijoma

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available The National Center for State Courts (NCSC recently promulgated 10 trial court performance measures, referred to as CourTools. Measures 2, 3, 4, and 5 provide a methodology by which court managers can examine their management and processing of cases. The measures include clearance rate (measure 2, time to disposition (measure 3, age of active pending caseload (measure 4, and trial date certainty (measure 5. The objective of this research was threefold. The first aim was to assess the viability of using the case management measures to examine case processing trends in a New Jersey (NJ urban trial court. Each measure was reviewed to determine the tool’s applicability to the criminal division of the court. The second objective (pursued as a parallel to the first was to present the findings in the same context as the CourTools’ framework to determine its practicality. The final goal was to serve as a platform for other courts on the national and international level that do not yet use performance measures. These courts, diverse as they are, may use the methodologies and findings of this case study as a reference and guide to develop their own program to measure the court’s productivity and efficiency. To that end, this case study sought to answer the following questions in determining the applicability of the CourTools to the selected court and by extension, its potential for more universal application to other court systems. First, what is the relevance of measurements to the courts and why is it important, if at all? Second, what are the CourTools? Third, can the measurement model be applied to an actual court and if so, how is it executed and illustrated in practice? Finally, what are the implications of the findings for the court in question, as well as, other courts that seek to incorporate the CourTools to measure performance?

  10. CASE STUDY: Chile — Health, environment, and indigenous culture ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    2011-01-06

    Jan 6, 2011 ... CASE STUDY: Chile — Health, environment, and indigenous culture .... For example, the National Corporation for Indigenous Development (CONADI) ... Institute for Agriculture Development (INDAP), and applied research on ...

  11. Applying System Dynamics Approach to the Fast Fashion Supply Chain: Case Study of an SME in Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mariany W Lidia

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available The fashion industry is the biggest contributor among the 14 creative industries in Indonesia. Nowadays many apparel companies are shifting toward the vertical integration. Since speed is everything to be successful in the apparel industry, fast fashion retailers must quickly respond to the market demand. This papers aims to develop a model of the supply chain of a small and medium scale enterprise (SME of an apparel company in Indonesia and to propose a decision support system using System Dynamics (SD and helps the management to identify the best business strategy. Simulated scenarios can help the management to identify the most appropriate policy to be applied in the future. Case study method was used in this research where data were collected from a typical fast fashion firm in Indonesia that produces its own wares ranging from raw materials to be ready-to-wear clothes, has three stores, a warehouse and is running online sales system. We analyses the result of many simulations in a fashion company from an operational point of view and from them we derive suggestions about the future business strategy in a small and medium fashion company in Indonesia. Keywords: system dynamics, fast fashion, supply chain management, SME, Indonesia

  12. A Case Study in Elementary Statistics: The Florida Panther Population

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lazowski, Andrew; Stopper, Geffrey

    2013-01-01

    We describe a case study that was created to intertwine the fields of biology and mathematics. This project is given in an elementary probability and statistics course for non-math majors. Some goals of this case study include: to expose students to biology in a math course, to apply probability to real-life situations, and to display how far a…

  13. Software Engineering Researchers' Attitudes on Case Studies and Experiments: an Exploratory Survey

    OpenAIRE

    Tofan, Dan; Galster, Matthias; Avgeriou, Paris; Weyns, Danny

    2011-01-01

    Background: Case studies and experiments are research methods frequently applied in empirical software engineering. Experiments are well-­understood and their value as an empirical method is recognized. On the other hand, there seem to be different opinions on what constitutes a case study, and about the value of case studies as a thorough research method. Aim: We aim at exploring the attitudes of software engineering researchers on case studies and experiments. Furthermore, we investigate ho...

  14. Guiding web-based self-study in accounting basics : Case: Lahti University of Applied Sciences

    OpenAIRE

    Rohrweck, Johanna

    2017-01-01

    Accounting, and work life in general, is going through rapid changes. The political and financial environment forces the educational system to adapt to the new circumstances. How can Lahti University of Applied Sciences (LUAS) meet these challenges in the field of accounting? E-learning has been one answer to the new requirements in education, and developing web-based solutions is one of the institutions’ aims. This study begins with the intention of finding out the present situation of t...

  15. Integration of case study approach, project design and computer ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Integration of case study approach, project design and computer modeling in managerial accounting education ... Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences ... in the Laboratory of Management Accounting and Controlling Systems at the ...

  16. Development of PCR for WWTP based on a case study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Del Borghi, A.; Gallo, M.; Strazza, C.; Gaggero, P.L.

    2009-01-01

    In order to apply the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) to products or services, specific rules (PCR, Product Category Rules) have to be issued to ensure comparability among different declarations within the same service group. The aim of the present study is to describe the reasons leading to each choice in the development of PCR applied to collecting and treatment service of municipal wastewater and to evaluate, through life cycle analysis (LCA), their influence on the potential environmental impact of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), analysed as a case study. Specific data were collected during the year 2003 from an Italian active sludge treatment plant with separate wastewater and sludge treatment lines. The life-cycle approach applied to the case study shows that LCA represents an environmental management tool able both to communicate environmental information by the Type 3. environmental label EPD, and to look for different scenarios that can improve the environmental performance of the Collecting and Treatment Service of Municipal Wastewater. [it

  17. Sugarcane biorefineries: Case studies applied to the Brazilian sugar–alcohol industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Renó, Maria Luiza Grillo; Olmo, Oscar Almazán del; Palacio, José Carlos Escobar; Lora, Electo Eduardo Silva; Venturini, Osvaldo José

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Advanced system of co-generation improves the energy performance of biorefineries. • Sugarcane straw as additional source of fuel in the biorefinery resulted positive. • The farming and transport of sugarcane cause the main environmental impacts. - Abstract: The use of biomasses is becoming increasingly appealing alternative, to give an partial solution lack of energy, with an ecofriendly approach, having on sugarcane a solid fundament; that receives the new and valuable complement of the innovative concept of the biorefineries it is productive installations, that can be summarized as to reach the higher overall yield from the raw materials, with the lowest environmental impact, at minimum energy input and giving the maximum of the energy output. The biorefinery is the true valuable option of a wide diversification, with by-products like the single cell protein and biogas from the distillery vinasse, new oxidants like methanol, second generation biofuels, biobutanol, etc. In this context this paper presents a study of five different configurations of biorefineries. Each case study being a system based on an autonomous distillery or sugar mill with an annexed distillery and coproduction of methanol from bagasse. The paper includes the use of sugarcane harvest residues (mainly straw) and a BIG–GT plant (Biomass Integrated Gasification–Gas Turbine) as alternatives to fulfill the energy demands of the complex

  18. Determining significance in social impact assessments (SIA) by applying both technical and participatory approaches: Methodology development and application in a case study of the concentrated solar power plant NOORO I in Morocco

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Terrapon-Pfaff, Julia; Fink, Thomas; Viebahn, Peter; Jamea, El Mostafa

    2017-01-01

    One of the main objectives of impact assessments is to identify potentially significant impacts. However, determining this significance has received very limited attention as a procedural step in social impact assessments. Consequently, only limited research and documentation exists on approaches, survey tools and evaluation methods, especially with regard to participatory approaches and combined participatory-technical approaches. This study aims to address this research gap by developing and applying a joined participatory and technical impact significance evaluation. The approach is applied in a case study which analysed the livelihood impacts of the large-scale concentrated solar power plant NOOR O I in Ouarzazate, Morocco. The analysis shows that although different approaches and significance criteria must be applied when involving both local stakeholders and experts, the linked analysis offers more robust results and an improved basis for decision-making. Furthermore, it was observed in the case study that impacts affecting the social, cultural and political spheres were more often considered significant than impacts affecting the physical and material livelihood dimensions. Regarding sustainability assessments of large-scale renewable energy plants, these findings underline the importance (as for other large-scale infrastructure developments) of placing greater emphasis on the inclusion of social aspects in impact assessments. - Highlights: •Significance evaluation in social impact assessments lacks participatory aspects. •Combined participatory and technical impact significance evaluation developed •Application in a case study to analyse the livelihood impacts of a CSP plant •Involvement of local stakeholders and technical experts results in robust findings. •Social, cultural and political issues are often more relevant than material aspects.

  19. Mining Product Data Models: A Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristina-Claudia DOLEAN

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents two case studies used to prove the validity of some data-flow mining algorithms. We proposed the data-flow mining algorithms because most part of mining algorithms focuses on the control-flow perspective. First case study uses event logs generated by an ERP system (Navision after we set several trackers on the data elements needed in the process analyzed; while the second case study uses the event logs generated by YAWL system. We offered a general solution of data-flow model extraction from different data sources. In order to apply the data-flow mining algorithms the event logs must comply a certain format (using InputOutput extension. But to respect this format, a set of conversion tools is needed. We depicted the conversion tools used and how we got the data-flow models. Moreover, the data-flow model is compared to the control-flow model.

  20. Software Engineering Researchers' Attitudes on Case Studies and Experiments : an Exploratory Survey

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tofan, Dan; Galster, Matthias; Avgeriou, Paris; Weyns, Danny

    2011-01-01

    Background: Case studies and experiments are research methods frequently applied in empirical software engineering. Experiments are well-­understood and their value as an empirical method is recognized. On the other hand, there seem to be different opinions on what constitutes a case study, and

  1. Electronic Freight Management Case Studies : a Summary of Results

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-04-01

    The Electronic Freight Management (EFM) initiative is a USDOT-sponsored project that applies Web technologies that improve data and message transmissions between supply chain partners. The EFM implementation case studies contained in this document ex...

  2. Case based reasoning applied to medical diagnosis using multi-class classifier: A preliminary study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. Viveros-Melo

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Case-based reasoning (CBR is a process used for computer processing that tries to mimic the behavior of a human expert in making decisions regarding a subject and learn from the experience of past cases. CBR has demonstrated to be appropriate for working with unstructured domains data or difficult knowledge acquisition situations, such as medical diagnosis, where it is possible to identify diseases such as: cancer diagnosis, epilepsy prediction and appendicitis diagnosis. Some of the trends that may be developed for CBR in the health science are oriented to reduce the number of features in highly dimensional data. An important contribution may be the estimation of probabilities of belonging to each class for new cases. In this paper, in order to adequately represent the database and to avoid the inconveniences caused by the high dimensionality, noise and redundancy, a number of algorithms are used in the preprocessing stage for performing both variable selection and dimension reduction procedures. Also, a comparison of the performance of some representative multi-class classifiers is carried out to identify the most effective one to include within a CBR scheme. Particularly, four classification techniques and two reduction techniques are employed to make a comparative study of multiclass classifiers on CBR

  3. Applying threshold concepts to conservation management of dryland ecosystems: Case studies on the Colorado Plateau

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bowker, Matthew A.; Miller, Mark E.; Garman, Steven L.; Belote, Travis; Guntenspergen, Glenn R.

    2014-01-01

    Ecosystems may occupy functionally distinct alternative states, some of which are more or less desirable from a management standpoint. Transitions from state to state are usually associated with a particular trigger or sequence of triggers, such as the addition or subtraction of a disturbance. Transitions are often not linear, rather it is common to see an abrupt transition come about even though the trigger increases only incrementally; these are examples of threshold behaviors. An ideal monitoring program, such as the National Park Service’s Inventory and Monitoring Program, would quantify triggers, and be able to inform managers when measurements of a trigger are approaching a threshold so that management action can avoid an unwanted state transition. Unfortunately, both triggers and the threshold points at which state transitions occur are generally only partially known. Using case studies, we advance a general procedure to help identify triggers and estimate where threshold dynamics may occur. Our procedure is as follows: (1) Operationally define the ecosystem type being considered; we suggest that the ecological site concept of the Natural Resource Conservation Service is a useful system, (2) Using all available a priori knowledge to develop a state-and-transition model (STM), which defines possible ecosystem states, plausible transitions among them and likely triggers, (3) Validate the STM by verifying the existence of its states to the greatest degree possible, (4) Use the STM model to identify transitions and triggers likely to be detectable by a monitoring program, and estimate to the greatest degree possible the value of a measurable indicator of a trigger at the point that a state transition is imminent (tipping point), and values that may indicate when management intervention should be considered (assessment points). We illustrate two different methods for attaining these goals using a data-rich case study in Canyonlands National Park, and a data

  4. Applying the Kanban method in problem-based project work: a case study in a manufacturing engineering bachelor's programme at Aalborg University Copenhagen

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balve, Patrick; Krüger, Volker; Tolstrup Sørensen, Lene

    2017-11-01

    Problem-based learning (PBL) has proven to be highly effective for educating students in an active and self-motivated manner in various disciplines. Student projects carried out following PBL principles are very dynamic and carry a high level of uncertainty, both conditions under which agile project management approaches are assumed to be highly supportive. The paper describes an empirical case study carried out at Aalborg University Copenhagen involving students from two different semesters of a Bachelor of Science programme. While executing the study, compelling examples of how PBL and the agile project management method Kanban blend could be identified. A final survey reveals that applying Kanban produces noticeable improvements with respect to creating, assigning and coordinating project tasks. Other improvements were found in group communication, knowledge about the work progress with regards to both the individual and the collective and the students' way of continuously improving their own teamwork.

  5. Using Interpretive Qualitative Case Studies for Exploratory Research in Doctoral Studies: A Case of Information Systems Research in Small and Medium Enterprises

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shana R. Ponelis

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The use of the case study method has gained mainstream acceptance in both entrepreneurship and information systems research to develop conceptual and theoretical models that are novel, yet grounded in the literature. In spite of many texts on the case study method and the growing acceptance and use of thereof, there are relatively few examples that discuss how to apply the case study method. The purpose of this paper is to provide such an example by drawing upon the author’s research for her doctoral dissertation in the discipline of information systems and entrepreneurship research. First, the use of qualitative case studies as research method is motivated, then the importance of the research paradigm is discussed and the interpretivist research paradigm justified followed by a detailed discussion of the research design. The paper concludes with a discussion of lessons learned and recommendations based on the author’s experience with using the case study method. The practical yet theoretically founded approach of this paper may be useful to doctoral students who are considering or using the case study method. Equally, supervisors and others involved in research training may find this paper useful as an illustrative example of the case study method for their students.

  6. Cryostat design case studies, principles and engineering

    CERN Document Server

    2016-01-01

    This book enables the reader to learn the fundamental and applied aspects of practical cryostat design by examining previous design choices and resulting cryostat performance. Through a series of extended case studies the book presents an overview of existing cryostat design covering a wide range of cryostat types and applications, including the magnet cryostats that comprise the majority of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, space-borne cryostats containing sensors operating below 1 K, and large cryogenic liquid storage vessels. It starts with an introductory section on the principles of cryostat design including practical data and equations. This section is followed by a series of case studies on existing cryostats, describing the specific requirements of the cryostat, the challenges involved and the design choices made along with the resulting performance of the cryostat. The cryostat examples used in the studies are chosen to cover a broad range of cryostat applications and the authors of each case are ...

  7. A Case Study of Knowledge Exchange in a Hierarchical Mechanism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Indria Handoko

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available This research investigates knowledge exchange in an organization applying hierarchical mechanisms, and the influence of social interactions on knowledge flow across different levels of analysis. The research uses a qualitative case study method of an Indonesian automotive component-making company, applying semi-structured interviews, observations, and focus groups at interorganizational, internal company, and shop floor levels. The research main finding is that in an organization applying hierarchical mechanisms, social interactions that exist at one level are able to influence interactions at other levels, and that the interactions can both facilitate and inhibit knowledge exchange across levels and boundaries. The application of any formal mechanism at interorganizational level needs to consider both the dynamics operating at social level and the potentially disparate and contradictory effects it may have if its aim is to promote knowledge flow across levels. The application of in-depth exploratory case study research contributes to the conceptualization of relationships between knowledge exchange, social interactions, and governance mechanism.

  8. CASE STUDY CRITIQUE; UPPER CLINCH CASE STUDY

    Science.gov (United States)

    Case study critique: Upper Clinch case study (from Research on Methods for Integrating Ecological Economics and Ecological Risk Assessment: A Trade-off Weighted Index Approach to Integrating Economics and Ecological Risk Assessment). This critique answers the questions: 1) does ...

  9. Applied Epistemology and Understanding in Information Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gorichanaz, Tim

    2017-01-01

    Introduction: Applied epistemology allows information studies to benefit from developments in philosophy. In information studies, epistemic concepts are rarely considered in detail. This paper offers a review of several epistemic concepts, focusing on understanding, as a call for further work in applied epistemology in information studies. Method:…

  10. A Case Study: Applying Critical Thinking Skills to Computer Science and Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shannon, Li-Jen; Bennett, Judith

    2012-01-01

    A majority of incoming college freshmen and sophomores have not applied their critical thinking skills as part of their learning process. This paper investigates how students acquire their critical thinking skills while facing the copyright, fair use, and internet security challenges in this contemporary digital society. The findings show that 90…

  11. THE RELEVANCE OF DUESENBERRY CONSUMPTION THEORY! AN APPLIED CASE TO LATIN AMERICA

    OpenAIRE

    Parada Corrales, Jairo; Bacca Mejia, William

    2009-01-01

    In this paper we examine the to-date relevance of Duesenberry's Consumption Theory through an applied case to four economies in Latin America: Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia. Using annual time series of these countries we show that some empirical evidence of Duesenberry's theory still holds and should not be discarded in modern macroeconomics as it has happened in regular macro text books in mainstream economics. Duesenberry's theory includes important institutional factors that canno...

  12. Toolkit for healthcare facility design evaluation - some case studies

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    De Jager, Peta

    2007-10-01

    Full Text Available themes in approach. Further study is indicated, but preliminary research shows that, whilst these toolkits can be applied to the South African context, there are compelling reasons for them to be adapted. This paper briefly outlines these three case...

  13. Toolkit for healthcare facility design evaluation - some case studies.

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    De Jager, Peta

    2007-10-01

    Full Text Available themes in approach. Further study is indicated, but preliminary research shows that, whilst these toolkits can be applied to the South African context, there are compelling reasons for them to be adapted. This paper briefly outlines these three case...

  14. Learn and apply: using multi-sensory storytelling to gather knowledge about preferences and abilities of children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities--three case studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brug, Annet Ten; Van der Putten, Annette A J; Vlaskamp, Carla

    2013-12-01

    Knowledge about the preferences and abilities of children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMDs) is crucial for providing appropriate activities. Multi-sensory storytelling (MSST) can be an ideal activity for gathering such knowledge about children with PIMDs. The aim of this study was to analyse whether using MSST did lead to changes in teachers' knowledge about preferences and abilities and whether this knowledge was then applied in practice. Three dyads of children with PIMDs and their teachers read an MSST book 20 times during a 10-week period. A questionnaire designed to identify the teachers' current knowledge was filled in before the 1st and again after the 10th and 20th reading sessions. Also, the teachers were asked for their opinion about their newly gathered knowledge. In all three cases, changes in the teachers' knowledge were observed. However, teachers are insufficiently aware of their new knowledge and do not apply it in practice.

  15. [Clinical decision making: Fostering critical thinking in the nursing diagnostic process through case studies].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Müller-Staub, Maria; Stuker-Studer, Ursula

    2006-10-01

    Case studies, based on actual patients' situations, provide a method of clinical decision making to foster critical thinking in nurses. This paper describes the method and process of group case studies applied in continuous education settings. This method bases on Balints' case supervision and was further developed and combined with the nursing diagnostic process. A case study contains different phases: Pre-phase, selection phase, case delineation and case work. The case provider narratively tells the situation of a patient. This allows the group to analyze and cluster signs and symptoms, to state nursing diagnoses and to derive nursing interventions. Results of the case study are validated by applying the theoretical background and critical appraisal of the case provider. Learning effects of the case studies were evaluated by means of qualitative questionnaires and analyzed according to Mayring. Findings revealed the following categories: a) Patients' problems are perceived in a patient centred way, accurate nursing diagnoses are stated and effective nursing interventions implemented. b) Professional nursing tasks are more purposefully perceived and named more precise. c) Professional nursing relationship, communication and respectful behaviour with patients were perceived in differentiated ways. The theoretical framework is described in the paper "Clinical decision making and critical thinking in the nursing diagnostic process". (Müller-Staub, 2006).

  16. E-BANKING: A CASE STUDY OF ASKARI COMMERCIAL BANK PAKISTAN

    OpenAIRE

    Muhammad Shakil AHMAD; Shahid RASHID; Muhammad Tahir MASOOD; Ehtesham UL MUJEEB

    2011-01-01

    This paper has covered the operational issues related to e-banking as well as customer’s perception on usage of e-banking a case study of Askari Bank, Pakistan. 40 staff members and four customers are selected as sample for this study. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used to present the results. Descriptive statistics is applied to describe the demographic variables while for operational problems correlation was used. Finally cross case analysis present customers’ perception abo...

  17. Third Culture Kids and College Support: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holdren, Sarah Jennifer

    2013-01-01

    This single site case study applies the "Transition Cycle" framework (Pollock & Van Reken, 2009) to an institutionally-based, student-run support program for Third Culture Kids. The purpose of this study was to examine how Lewis and Clark College responded to the presence of Third Culture Kid, or Global Nomad, students on campus by…

  18. Integration of case study approach, project design and computer ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    pc

    2018-03-05

    Mar 5, 2018 ... computer modeling used as a research method applied in the process ... conclusions discuss the benefits for students who analyzed the ... accounting education process the case study method should not .... providing travel safety information to passengers ... from literature readings with practical problems.

  19. Syrians' Acceptance of Digital Lectures: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramadan, Reem

    2016-01-01

    Technology-based learning modules are mostly challenged by their acceptance. A single-case study and mixed research method are used to explore a unique situation of applying digital lectures at the postgraduate Programmes at the Faculty of Tourism at Damascus University as a solution for brain drain in the Syrian higher education system. Results…

  20. Case Studies Approach in Tourism Destination Branding Research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adeyinka-Ojo S.F.

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available A review of literature indicates that there are different types of qualitative research methods such as action research, content analysis, ethnography, grounded theory, historical analysis, phenomenology and case study. However, which approach is to be used depends on several factors such as the nature and objectives of the research. The aim of this paper is to focus on the research methodology aspects of applying case study as a research approach and its relevance in tourism destination branding research specifically on a single case study (SCS context. There are arguments that the SCS is a weak research strategy. Some of the potentials or shortcomings highlighted in the literature include the primitive nature of SCS, flexibility of sample technique, data collection method and data analysis. Others include lack of rigour, reliability, validity, credibility of findings and generalisation. This paper has adopted content analysis of the literature on tourism destination branding. Findings indicate that the quality of SCS can be verified using specific case study tactics for four design tests such as validity (construct, internal and external; and reliability using the case study protocol. Theoretical implication suggests that SCS is an empirical enquiry use to understand complex phenomena and favoured by practitioners.

  1. A price-responsive dispatching strategy for Vehicle-to-Grid: An economic evaluation applied to the case of Singapore

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pelzer, Dominik; Ciechanowicz, David; Aydt, Heiko; Knoll, Alois

    2014-06-01

    Employing electric vehicles as short-term energy storage could improve power system stability and at the same time create a new income source for vehicle owners. In this paper, the economic viability of this concept referred to as Vehicle-to-Grid is investigated. For this purpose, a price-responsive charging and dispatching strategy built upon temporally resolved electricity market data is presented. This concept allows vehicle owners to maximize returns by restricting market participation to profitable time periods. As a case study, this strategy is then applied using the example of Singapore. It is shown that an annual loss of S 1000 resulting from a non-price-responsive strategy as employed in previous works can be turned into a S 130 profit by applying the price-responsive approach. In addition to this scenario, realistic mobility patterns which restrict the temporal availability of vehicles are considered. In this case, profits in the range of S 21-S 121 are achievable. Returns in this order of magnitude are not expected to make Vehicle-to-Grid a viable business case, sensitivity analyses, however, show that improved technical parameters could increase profitability. It is further assumed that employing the price-responsive strategy to other national markets may yield significantly greater returns.

  2. Interest of the technical detection of the sentinel node applied to uterine cancers: about three cases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ech charraq, I.; Ben Rais, N.; Ech charra, I.; Albertini, A.F.

    2009-01-01

    Introduction The sentinel node technique (S.N.) was proposed in cervical cancers in order to optimise the diagnosis of metastases and the lymphatic micrometastases in the early stages while avoiding useless wide clearings out. The identification of this node is done by injection of a dye and/or a radioactive colloid and its ablation for pathological examination. Patients and methods We report the case of three patients followed for a uterine cancer having benefited from a lymphoscintigraphy before surgery. During the surgical procedure, the detection of the sentinel node was carried out after cervical injection of blue dye and using a gamma detection probe. Results The lymphoscintigraphy was positive for two cases with a positive detection for the three cases during the operation. The pathological study revealed a node metastasis for one case. The technical of the sentinel node applied to uterine cancers appears realizable essentially for uterine cancers of early stage (I). However the risk of false negative can be observed in advanced cancer (III), as it is the case of our patient having a negative lymphoscintigraphy. Conclusion The nuclear medicine is important in the detection of the sentinel node of various cancers, uterine cancer included, thus allowing an appropriate cardiologic management. (authors)

  3. Soil quality: Some basic considerations and case studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dale W. Johnson

    2010-01-01

    Some fundamental properties of soils that pertain to the concept of soil quality are discussed including a discussion of what can and cannot be changed with management.Case studies showing the effects of N-fixing vegetation and N-enrichment effects on invasive species are provided to illustrate the complications that may arise from applying one soil quality standard to...

  4. Censored Hurdle Negative Binomial Regression (Case Study: Neonatorum Tetanus Case in Indonesia)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuli Rusdiana, Riza; Zain, Ismaini; Wulan Purnami, Santi

    2017-06-01

    Hurdle negative binomial model regression is a method that can be used for discreate dependent variable, excess zero and under- and overdispersion. It uses two parts approach. The first part estimates zero elements from dependent variable is zero hurdle model and the second part estimates not zero elements (non-negative integer) from dependent variable is called truncated negative binomial models. The discrete dependent variable in such cases is censored for some values. The type of censor that will be studied in this research is right censored. This study aims to obtain the parameter estimator hurdle negative binomial regression for right censored dependent variable. In the assessment of parameter estimation methods used Maximum Likelihood Estimator (MLE). Hurdle negative binomial model regression for right censored dependent variable is applied on the number of neonatorum tetanus cases in Indonesia. The type data is count data which contains zero values in some observations and other variety value. This study also aims to obtain the parameter estimator and test statistic censored hurdle negative binomial model. Based on the regression results, the factors that influence neonatorum tetanus case in Indonesia is the percentage of baby health care coverage and neonatal visits.

  5. Draft Benzene Case Study Review - Second Prospective Report Study Science Advisory Board Review, March 2008

    Science.gov (United States)

    EPA developed a methodology for estimating the health benefits of benzene reductions and has applied it in a metropolitan-scale case study of the benefits of CAA controls on benzene emissions to accompany the main 812 analysis.

  6. Benzene Case Study Final Report - Second Prospective Report Study Science Advisory Board Review, July 2009

    Science.gov (United States)

    EPA developed a methodology for estimating the health benefits of benzene reductions and has applied it in a metropolitan-scale case study of the benefits of CAA controls on benzene emissions to accompany the main 812 analysis.

  7. Comparison of different spatial transformations applied to EEG data: A case study of error processing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cohen, M.X.

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to compare the effects of different spatial transformations applied to the same scalp-recorded EEG data. The spatial transformations applied are two referencing schemes (average and linked earlobes), the surface Laplacian, and beamforming (a distributed source

  8. Dynamic Models Applied to Landslides: Study Case Angangueo, MICHOACÁN, MÉXICO.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torres Fernandez, L.; Hernández Madrigal, V. M., , Dr; Capra, L.; Domínguez Mota, F. J., , Dr

    2017-12-01

    Most existing models for landslide zonification are static type, do not consider the dynamic behavior of the trigger factor. This results in a limited representation of the actual zonation of slope instability, present a short-term validity, cańt be applied for the design of early warning systems, etc. Particularly in Mexico, these models are static because they do not consider triggering factor such as precipitation. In this work, we present a numerical evaluation to know the landslide susceptibility, based on probabilistic methods. Which are based on the generation of time series, which are generated from the meteorological stations, having limited information an interpolation is made to generate the simulation of the precipitation in the zone. The obtained information is integrated in PCRaster and in conjunction with the conditioning factors it is possible to generate a dynamic model. This model will be applied for landslide zoning in the municipality of Angangueo, characterized by frequent logging of debris and mud flow, translational and rotational landslides, detonated by atypical precipitations, such as those recorded in 2010. These caused economic losses and humans. With these models, it would be possible to generate probable scenarios that help the Angangueo's population to reduce the risks and to carry out actions of constant resilience activities.

  9. Suburban landscape assessment applied to urban planning. Case study in Barcelona Metropolitan Region

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Serrano Giné

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Urban fringes set complex landscapes, in transition from rural to natural and urban, with fuzzy boundaries in mutual interdependence. The European Landscape Convention gives notorious importance to everyday landscapes, including those of suburban character. Few landscape evaluation researches are done in suburban areas, which is surprising considering its importance and abundance. This paper shows a methodology, yield on geographical information systems (GIS, for landscape assessment of suburban areas, useful in urban planning. Its main interest lies in a double assessment, which considers both landscape quality and landscape fragility, applied systematically. The procedure is applied in Muntanyes d’Ordal in the metropolitan area of Barcelona (Spain, an area with pronounced regional strengths and contrasted landscape values. Results are of important applicability and indicate a predominance of mean values, both for landscape quality and landscape fragility.

  10. Applying ecological models to communities of genetic elements: the case of neutral theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Linquist, Stefan; Cottenie, Karl; Elliott, Tyler A; Saylor, Brent; Kremer, Stefan C; Gregory, T Ryan

    2015-07-01

    A promising recent development in molecular biology involves viewing the genome as a mini-ecosystem, where genetic elements are compared to organisms and the surrounding cellular and genomic structures are regarded as the local environment. Here, we critically evaluate the prospects of ecological neutral theory (ENT), a popular model in ecology, as it applies at the genomic level. This assessment requires an overview of the controversy surrounding neutral models in community ecology. In particular, we discuss the limitations of using ENT both as an explanation of community dynamics and as a null hypothesis. We then analyse a case study in which ENT has been applied to genomic data. Our central finding is that genetic elements do not conform to the requirements of ENT once its assumptions and limitations are made explicit. We further compare this genome-level application of ENT to two other, more familiar approaches in genomics that rely on neutral mechanisms: Kimura's molecular neutral theory and Lynch's mutational-hazard model. Interestingly, this comparison reveals that there are two distinct concepts of neutrality associated with these models, which we dub 'fitness neutrality' and 'competitive neutrality'. This distinction helps to clarify the various roles for neutral models in genomics, for example in explaining the evolution of genome size. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  11. Project-Based Learning in Electronic Technology: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Li

    2015-01-01

    A case study of project-based learning (PBL) implemented in Tianjin University of Technology and Education is presented. This multidiscipline project is innovated to meet the novel requirements of industry while keeping its traditional effectiveness in driving students to apply knowledge to practice and problem-solving. The implementation of PBL…

  12. The use of Markov chains in forecasting wind speed: Matlab source code and applied case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ionuţ Alexandru Petre

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The ability to predict the wind speed has an important role for renewable energy industry which relies on wind speed forecasts in order to calculate the power a wind farm can produce in an area. There are several well-known methods to predict wind speed, but in this paper we focus on short-term wind forecasting using Markov chains. Often gaps can be found in the time series of the wind speed measurements and repeating the measurements is usually not a valid option. In this study it is shown that using Markov chains these gaps from the time series can be filled (they can be generated in an efficient way, but only when the missing data is for a short period of time. Also, the developed Matlab programms that are used in the case study, are included in the paper beeing presented and commented by the authors. In the case study data from a wind farm in Italy is used. The available data are as average wind speed at an interval of 10 minutes in the time period 11/23/2005 - 4/27/2006.

  13. Triangulating case-finding tools for patient safety surveillance: a cross-sectional case study of puncture/laceration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, Jennifer A; Gerwin, Daniel; Morlock, Laura; Miller, Marlene R

    2011-12-01

    To evaluate the need for triangulating case-finding tools in patient safety surveillance. This study applied four case-finding tools to error-associated patient safety events to identify and characterise the spectrum of events captured by these tools, using puncture or laceration as an example for in-depth analysis. Retrospective hospital discharge data were collected for calendar year 2005 (n=48,418) from a large, urban medical centre in the USA. The study design was cross-sectional and used data linkage to identify the cases captured by each of four case-finding tools. Three case-finding tools (International Classification of Diseases external (E) and nature (N) of injury codes, Patient Safety Indicators (PSI)) were applied to the administrative discharge data to identify potential patient safety events. The fourth tool was Patient Safety Net, a web-based voluntary patient safety event reporting system. The degree of mutual exclusion among detection methods was substantial. For example, when linking puncture or laceration on unique identifiers, out of 447 potential events, 118 were identical between PSI and E-codes, 152 were identical between N-codes and E-codes and 188 were identical between PSI and N-codes. Only 100 events that were identified by PSI, E-codes and N-codes were identical. Triangulation of multiple tools through data linkage captures potential patient safety events most comprehensively. Existing detection tools target patient safety domains differently, and consequently capture different occurrences, necessitating the integration of data from a combination of tools to fully estimate the total burden.

  14. Applying health education theory to patient safety programs: three case studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilkey, Melissa B; Earp, Jo Anne L; French, Elizabeth A

    2008-04-01

    Program planning for patient safety is challenging because intervention-oriented surveillance data are not yet widely available to those working in this nascent field. Even so, health educators are uniquely positioned to contribute to patient safety intervention efforts because their theoretical training provides them with a guide for designing and implementing prevention programs. This article demonstrates the utility of applying health education concepts from three prominent patient safety campaigns, including the concepts of risk perception, community participation, and social marketing. The application of these theoretical concepts to patient safety programs suggests that health educators possess a knowledge base and skill set highly relevant to patient safety and that their perspective should be increasingly brought to bear on the design and evaluation of interventions that aim to protect patients from preventable medical error.

  15. CASE STUDY: China — Young researchers battle poverty and ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    2010-12-14

    Dec 14, 2010 ... CASE STUDY: China — Young researchers battle poverty and bureaucracy in rural China ... And the “three pig rule” is just one example of the problems the local people ... Revenues were applied to system maintenance and all financial ... The researchers, of course, were trained in science, fieldwork, and ...

  16. Preliminary Study of Applying Phase Change Materials (PCM) for Containment Passive Cooling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ko, A Reum; Lee, Jeong Ik; Yoon, Ho Joon

    2016-01-01

    Most of Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) containments use fan cooler systems and containment spray systems. However, the importance of passive safety system has increased after the Fukushima accident. As the main passive safety system, Passive Containment Cooling System (PCCS), which utilizes natural phenomena to remove the heat released from the reactor, is suggested in the advanced pressurized water reactor (APWR). To increase the efficiency of passive cooling, additional passive containment cooling method using Phase Change Material (PCM) is suggested in this paper. For containment using PCMs, there are many advantages. Phase Change Material (PCM) is proposed as an additional passive containment cooling method to increase the efficiency of passive cooling in this paper. To apply proper PCMs to containment, commercially available PCMs were screened while reviewing thermophysical properties data and suggested selection criteria. A sensitivity study was also carried out to identify the effect of potential installation location of PCM using the CAP code. The pressure of containment in most cases showed slightly higher than that of the initial case. For the temperature of steam and water and humidity, similar results with the initial case were showed in most cases

  17. Preliminary Study of Applying Phase Change Materials (PCM) for Containment Passive Cooling

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ko, A Reum; Lee, Jeong Ik [KAIST, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Yoon, Ho Joon [KUSTAR, Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)

    2016-05-15

    Most of Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) containments use fan cooler systems and containment spray systems. However, the importance of passive safety system has increased after the Fukushima accident. As the main passive safety system, Passive Containment Cooling System (PCCS), which utilizes natural phenomena to remove the heat released from the reactor, is suggested in the advanced pressurized water reactor (APWR). To increase the efficiency of passive cooling, additional passive containment cooling method using Phase Change Material (PCM) is suggested in this paper. For containment using PCMs, there are many advantages. Phase Change Material (PCM) is proposed as an additional passive containment cooling method to increase the efficiency of passive cooling in this paper. To apply proper PCMs to containment, commercially available PCMs were screened while reviewing thermophysical properties data and suggested selection criteria. A sensitivity study was also carried out to identify the effect of potential installation location of PCM using the CAP code. The pressure of containment in most cases showed slightly higher than that of the initial case. For the temperature of steam and water and humidity, similar results with the initial case were showed in most cases.

  18. Roadmaster Roading Contractors Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hazel Taylor

    1999-01-01

    Full Text Available Systems analysis students seldom experience the practical difficulties of the initial investigation into a client’s requirements. They get little chance to practice the skills they need to investigate complex and confused problem situations, or to appreciate the wider organizational issues that can impact on a situation. This teaching case is designed to give students the opportunity to practice and apply investigation skills and to challenge them to consider the wider work environment when considering possible solutions to a problem situation. The case is conducted as a role-play, with students acting as systems analysts and teaching staff role-playing the clients. The students develop a report analyzing the client’s situation based on the issues that arise during the interviews. Feed-back sessions focus on discussing how well the students applied various interviewing strategies previously covered in lectures, and on the wider organizational problems that could impact proposed information system solutions.

  19. Colorimetry applied to the field of cultural heritage: examples of study cases

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Salvatore Lorusso

    2007-07-01

    Full Text Available For a few years now, the Dipartimento di Storie e Metodi per la Conservazione dei Beni Culturali of the Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna (sede di Ravenna has been creating a Diagnostic Laboratory for the study on the “system: cultural heritage/conservation environment”. In the present paper the results of different surveys concerning the use of colorimetry on different typologies of art works are reported: graphic documents (fig. 1; oil painting on board and canvas (fig. 2; wall painting (fig. 3; stony materials consolidated with ethyl silicate (fig. 4. Measurements of the chromatic parameters, according to the CIE L*a*b* chromaticity diagram and to the UNI 8941 Standard Coloured surfaces, were carried out with the spectrophotometric colorimeter Minolta CM-2600D model. The reference measurements (targets were carried out on every typology of works. Such targets, recorded on the tool or in the computer, could be considered in order to draw a comparison in time on the same studied surface. It is then possible to check the trend of the chromatic alteration as an effect of interaction of the environment of location-conservation with the art work and, then to determine the causes, i.e the environmental operating-factors. The measurements of the chromatic parameters for graphic documents and for wall paintings have also allowed us to establish if the modifications, caused by an inappropriate environment, must be linked to irreversible or reversible effects and, then, with the possibility of being removed. As regards wall paintings, the respect of the “noble patina” was showed, as established by the Card of Restoration, by means of the measurement of the + b* parameters (yellow degree. The studies on stony materials aimed at the evaluation of the chromatic alterations of the art works previously consolidated with various products based on ethyl silicates: different results were reached according to the different degree of stone

  20. Improving Diabetes Care in the Military Primary Care Clinic: Case Study Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-03-23

    This research study combines qualitative and quantitative methodology in reflectively exploring positive case studies to ascertain strategies that...enabled patients to engage in self-management. Moreover, this study seeks to better understand how applying the ADA Standards of Care in a military

  1. Applying the food technology neophobia scale in a developing country context. A case-study on processed matooke (cooking banana) flour in Central Uganda.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Steur, Hans; Odongo, Walter; Gellynck, Xavier

    2016-01-01

    The success of new food technologies largely depends on consumers' behavioral responses to the innovation. In Eastern Africa, and Uganda in particular, a technology to process matooke into flour has been introduced with limited success. We measure and apply the Food technology Neophobia Scale (FTNS) to this specific case. This technique has been increasingly used in consumer research to determine consumers' fear for foods produced by novel technologies. Although it has been successful in developed countries, the low number and limited scope of past studies underlines the need for testing its applicability in a developing country context. Data was collected from 209 matooke consumers from Central Uganda. In general, respondents are relatively neophobic towards the new technology, with an average FTNS score of 58.7%, which hampers the success of processed matooke flour. Besides socio-demographic indicators, 'risk perception', 'healthiness' and the 'necessity of technologies' were key factors that influenced consumer's preference of processed matooke flour. Benchmarking the findings against previous FTNS surveys allows to evaluate factor solutions, compare standardized FTNS scores and further lends support for the multidimensionality of the FTNS. Being the first application in a developing country context, this study provides a case for examining food technology neophobia for processed staple crops in various regions and cultures. Nevertheless, research is needed to replicate this method and evaluate the external validity of our findings. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Applying cost analyses to drive policy that protects children. Mercury as a case study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Leonardo Trasande; Clyde Schechter; Karla A. Haynes; Philip J. Landrigan [Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY (United States). Department of Community and Preventive Medicine

    2006-09-15

    Exposure in prenatal life to methylmercury (MeHg) has become the topic of intense debate in the United States after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposal in 2004 to reverse strict controls on emissions of mercury from coal-fired power plants that had been in effect for the preceding 15 years. This proposal failed to incorporate any consideration of the health impacts on children that would result from increased mercury emissions. We assessed the impact on children's health of industrial mercury emissions and found that between 316,588 and 637,233 babies are born with mercury-related losses of cognitive function ranging from 0.2 to 5.13 points. We calculated that decreased economic productivity resulting from diminished intelligence over a lifetime results in an aggregate economic cost in each annual birth cohort of $8.7 billion annually. $1.3 billion of this cost is attributable to mercury emitted from American coal-fired power plants. Downward shifts in intellectual quotient (IQ) are also associated with 1566 excess cases of mental retardation annually. This number accounts for 3.2% of MR cases in the United States. If the lifetime excess cost of a case of MR is $1,248,648 in 2000 dollars, then the cost of these excess cases of MR is $2.0 billion annually. Preliminary data suggest that more stringent mercury policy options would prevent thousands of cases of MR and billions of dollars over the next 25 years.

  3. Towards Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Implementation: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meaney, Miriam

    2006-01-01

    "Despite its central role in real-world geography, the Geographic Information System (GIS) has had little uptake to date in School Geography." (Wiegand, 2001) This statement can be accurately applied to the author's current school setting and was the focus of her and her colleagues' case study, commenced in 2004 and continued into 2005.…

  4. Methodology to characterize a residential building stock using a bottom-up approach: a case study applied to Belgium

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Samuel Gendebien

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available In the last ten years, the development and implementation of measures to mitigate climate change have become of major importance. In Europe, the residential sector accounts for 27% of the final energy consumption [1], and therefore contributes significantly to CO2 emissions. Roadmaps towards energy-efficient buildings have been proposed [2]. In such a context, the detailed characterization of residential building stocks in terms of age, type of construction, insulation level, energy vector, and of evolution prospects appears to be a useful contribution to the assessment of the impact of implementation of energy policies. In this work, a methodology to develop a tree-structure characterizing a residential building stock is presented in the frame of a bottom-up approach that aims to model and simulate domestic energy use. The methodology is applied to the Belgian case for the current situation and up to 2030 horizon. The potential applications of the developed tool are outlined.

  5. Identifiability of large-scale non-linear dynamic network models applied to the ADM1-case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nimmegeers, Philippe; Lauwers, Joost; Telen, Dries; Logist, Filip; Impe, Jan Van

    2017-06-01

    In this work, both the structural and practical identifiability of the Anaerobic Digestion Model no. 1 (ADM1) is investigated, which serves as a relevant case study of large non-linear dynamic network models. The structural identifiability is investigated using the probabilistic algorithm, adapted to deal with the specifics of the case study (i.e., a large-scale non-linear dynamic system of differential and algebraic equations). The practical identifiability is analyzed using a Monte Carlo parameter estimation procedure for a 'non-informative' and 'informative' experiment, which are heuristically designed. The model structure of ADM1 has been modified by replacing parameters by parameter combinations, to provide a generally locally structurally identifiable version of ADM1. This means that in an idealized theoretical situation, the parameters can be estimated accurately. Furthermore, the generally positive structural identifiability results can be explained from the large number of interconnections between the states in the network structure. This interconnectivity, however, is also observed in the parameter estimates, making uncorrelated parameter estimations in practice difficult. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  6. Lessons learned applying CASE methods/tools to Ada software development projects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blumberg, Maurice H.; Randall, Richard L.

    1993-01-01

    This paper describes the lessons learned from introducing CASE methods/tools into organizations and applying them to actual Ada software development projects. This paper will be useful to any organization planning to introduce a software engineering environment (SEE) or evolving an existing one. It contains management level lessons learned, as well as lessons learned in using specific SEE tools/methods. The experiences presented are from Alpha Test projects established under the STARS (Software Technology for Adaptable and Reliable Systems) project. They reflect the front end efforts by those projects to understand the tools/methods, initial experiences in their introduction and use, and later experiences in the use of specific tools/methods and the introduction of new ones.

  7. Applying voting theory in natural resource management: a case of multiple-criteria group decision support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laukkanen, Sanna; Kangas, Annika; Kangas, Jyrki

    2002-02-01

    Voting theory has a lot in common with utility theory, and especially with group decision-making. An expected-utility-maximising strategy exists in voting situations, as well as in decision-making situations. Therefore, it is natural to utilise the achievements of voting theory also in group decision-making. Most voting systems are based on a single criterion or holistic preference information on decision alternatives. However, a voting scheme called multicriteria approval is specially developed for decision-making situations with multiple criteria. This study considers the voting theory from the group decision support point of view and compares it with some other methods applied to similar purposes in natural resource management. A case study is presented, where the approval voting approach is introduced to natural resources planning and tested in a forestry group decision-making process. Applying multicriteria approval method was found to be a potential approach for handling some challenges typical for forestry group decision support. These challenges include (i) utilising ordinal information in the evaluation of decision alternatives, (ii) being readily understandable for and treating equally all the stakeholders in possession of different levels of knowledge on the subject considered, (iii) fast and cheap acquisition of preference information from several stakeholders, and (iv) dealing with multiple criteria.

  8. CASE STUDY: North Africa and Middle East — Breeding better barley

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    2011-01-06

    Jan 6, 2011 ... CASE STUDY: North Africa and Middle East — Breeding better barley — together ... In Syria, for example, "host farmers" in nine communities were ... and Yemen, the same approach is being applied to research on lentils.

  9. Applied data mining for business and industry

    CERN Document Server

    Giudici, Paolo

    2009-01-01

    The increasing availability of data in our current, information overloaded society has led to the need for valid tools for its modelling and analysis. Data mining and applied statistical methods are the appropriate tools to extract knowledge from such data. This book provides an accessible introduction to data mining methods in a consistent and application oriented statistical framework, using case studies drawn from real industry projects and highlighting the use of data mining methods in a variety of business applications. Introduces data mining methods and applications.Covers classical and Bayesian multivariate statistical methodology as well as machine learning and computational data mining methods.Includes many recent developments such as association and sequence rules, graphical Markov models, lifetime value modelling, credit risk, operational risk and web mining.Features detailed case studies based on applied projects within industry.Incorporates discussion of data mining software, with case studies a...

  10. Assessing Student Work to Support Curriculum Development: An Engineering Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saunders, Kevin; Brumm, Thomas; Brooke, Corly; Mickelson, Steve; Freeman, Steve

    2013-01-01

    Knowledge and abilities associated with interdisciplinary education include integrating knowledge across disciplines, applying knowledge to real-world situations, and demonstrating skills in creativity, teamwork, communication, and collaboration. This case study discusses how a departmental curriculum committee in Agricultural and Biosystems…

  11. International competitiveness and leakage: A case study of the European steel industry

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kuik, O.J.

    2014-01-01

    This study develops and applies an analytical framework for examining the determinants of carbon leakage and competitiveness. The study has a long-term perspective and focuses on the European steel industry. For the case study, a CGE model is used to develop feasible scenarios of the evolution of

  12. Team effectiveness in academic medical libraries: a multiple case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Elaine Russo

    2006-07-01

    The objective of this study is to apply J. Richard Hackman's framework on team effectiveness to academic medical library settings. The study uses a qualitative, multiple case study design, employing interviews and focus groups to examine team effectiveness in three academic medical libraries. Another site was selected as a pilot to validate the research design, field procedures, and methods to be used with the cases. In all, three interviews and twelve focus groups, with approximately seventy-five participants, were conducted at the case study libraries. Hackman identified five conditions leading to team effectiveness and three outcomes dimensions that defined effectiveness. The participants in this study identified additional characteristics of effectiveness that focused on enhanced communication, leadership personality and behavior, and relationship building. The study also revealed an additional outcome dimension related to the evolution of teams. Introducing teams into an organization is not a trivial matter. Hackman's model of effectiveness has implications for designing successful library teams.

  13. Team effectiveness in academic medical libraries: a multiple case study*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Russo Martin, Elaine

    2006-01-01

    Objectives: The objective of this study is to apply J. Richard Hackman's framework on team effectiveness to academic medical library settings. Methods: The study uses a qualitative, multiple case study design, employing interviews and focus groups to examine team effectiveness in three academic medical libraries. Another site was selected as a pilot to validate the research design, field procedures, and methods to be used with the cases. In all, three interviews and twelve focus groups, with approximately seventy-five participants, were conducted at the case study libraries. Findings: Hackman identified five conditions leading to team effectiveness and three outcomes dimensions that defined effectiveness. The participants in this study identified additional characteristics of effectiveness that focused on enhanced communication, leadership personality and behavior, and relationship building. The study also revealed an additional outcome dimension related to the evolution of teams. Conclusions: Introducing teams into an organization is not a trivial matter. Hackman's model of effectiveness has implications for designing successful library teams. PMID:16888659

  14. Case Study Research Methodology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mark Widdowson

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Commenting on the lack of case studies published in modern psychotherapy publications, the author reviews the strengths of case study methodology and responds to common criticisms, before providing a summary of types of case studies including clinical, experimental and naturalistic. Suggestions are included for developing systematic case studies and brief descriptions are given of a range of research resources relating to outcome and process measures. Examples of a pragmatic case study design and a hermeneutic single-case efficacy design are given and the paper concludes with some ethical considerations and an exhortation to the TA community to engage more widely in case study research.

  15. Joint perceptual decision-making: A case study in explanatory pluralism

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Abney, Drew; Dale, Rick; Yoshimi, Jeffrey

    2014-01-01

    and spatial scales, using appropriate methodological tools. Explanatory pluralism has been often described abstractly, but has rarely been applied to concrete cases. We present a case study of explanatory pluralism. We discuss three separate ways of studying the same phenomenon: a perceptual decision- making...... task (Bahrami et al., 2010), where pairs of subjects share information to jointly individuate an oddball stimulus among a set of distractors. Each approach analyzed the same corpus but targeted different units of analysis at different levels of description: decision-making at the behavioral level......, confidence sharing at the linguistic level, and acoustic energy at the physical level. We discuss the utility of explanatory pluralism for describing this complex, multiscale phenomenon, show ways in which this case study sheds new light on the concept of pluralism, and highlight good practices to critically...

  16. Project management case studies

    CERN Document Server

    Kerzner, Harold R

    2013-01-01

    A new edition of the most popular book of project management case studies, expanded to include more than 100 cases plus a ""super case"" on the Iridium Project Case studies are an important part of project management education and training. This Fourth Edition of Harold Kerzner''s Project Management Case Studies features a number of new cases covering value measurement in project management. Also included is the well-received ""super case,"" which covers all aspects of project management and may be used as a capstone for a course. This new edition:Contains 100-plus case studies drawn from re

  17. Comparison of risk-based decision-support systems for brownfield site rehabilitation: DESYRE and SADA applied to a Romanian case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stezar, I C; Pizzol, L; Critto, A; Ozunu, A; Marcomini, A

    2013-12-15

    Brownfield rehabilitation is an essential step for sustainable land-use planning and management in the European Union. In brownfield regeneration processes, the legacy contamination plays a significant role, firstly because of the persistent contaminants in soil or groundwater which extends the existing hazards and risks well into the future; and secondly, problems from historical contamination are often more difficult to manage than contamination caused by new activities. Due to the complexity associated with the management of brownfield site rehabilitation, Decision Support Systems (DSSs) have been developed to support problem holders and stakeholders in the decision-making process encompassing all phases of the rehabilitation. This paper presents a comparative study between two DSSs, namely SADA (Spatial Analysis and Decision Assistance) and DESYRE (Decision Support System for the Requalification of Contaminated Sites), with the main objective of showing the benefits of using DSSs to introduce and process data and then to disseminate results to different stakeholders involved in the decision-making process. For this purpose, a former car manufacturing plant located in the Brasov area, Central Romania, contaminated chiefly by heavy metals and total petroleum hydrocarbons, has been selected as a case study to apply the two examined DSSs. Major results presented here concern the analysis of the functionalities of the two DSSs in order to identify similarities, differences and complementarities and, thus, to provide an indication of the most suitable integration options. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Applying policy network theory to policy-making in China: the case of urban health insurance reform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Haitao; de Jong, Martin; Koppenjan, Joop

    2010-01-01

    In this article, we explore whether policy network theory can be applied in the People's Republic of China (PRC). We carried out a literature review of how this approach has already been dealt with in the Chinese policy sciences thus far. We then present the key concepts and research approach in policy networks theory in the Western literature and try these on a Chinese case to see the fit. We follow this with a description and analysis of the policy-making process regarding the health insurance reform in China from 1998 until the present. Based on this case study, we argue that this body of theory is useful to describe and explain policy-making processes in the Chinese context. However, limitations in the generic model appear in capturing the fundamentally different political and administrative systems, crucially different cultural values in the applicability of some research methods common in Western countries. Finally, we address which political and cultural aspects turn out to be different in the PRC and how they affect methodological and practical problems that PRC researchers will encounter when studying decision-making processes.

  19. Developing and pretesting case studies in dental and dental hygiene education: using the diffusion of innovations model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cragun, Deborah L; DeBate, Rita DiGioacchino; Severson, Herbert H; Shaw, Tracy; Christiansen, Steve; Koerber, Anne; Tomar, Scott L; Brown, Kelli McCormack; Tedesco, Lisa A; Hendricson, William D

    2012-05-01

    Case-based learning offers exposure to clinical situations that health professions students may not encounter in their training. The purposes of this study were to apply the Diffusion of Innovations conceptual framework to 1) identify characteristics of case studies that would increase their adoption among dental and dental hygiene faculty members and 2) develop and pretest interactive web-based case studies on sensitive oral-systemic health issues. The formative study spanned two phases using mixed methods (Phase 1: eight focus groups and four interviews; Phase 2: ten interviews and satisfaction surveys). Triangulation of quantitative and qualitative data revealed the following positive attributes of the developed case studies: relative advantage of active learning and modeling; compatibility with a variety of courses; observability of case-related knowledge and skills; independent learning; and modifiability for use with other oral-systemic health issues. These positive attributes are expected to increase the likelihood that dental and dental hygiene faculty members will adopt the developed case study once it is available for use. The themes identified in this study could be applied to the development of future case studies and may provide broader insight that might prove useful for exploring differences in case study use across dental and dental hygiene curricula.

  20. Conservative chiropractic management of urinary incontinence using applied kinesiology: a retrospective case-series report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cuthbert, Scott C; Rosner, Anthony L

    2012-03-01

    The purpose of this case series is to describe the chiropractic management of 21 patients with daily stress and occasional total urinary incontinence (UI). Twenty-one case files of patients 13 to 90 years of age with UI from a chiropractic clinic were reviewed. The patients had a 4-month to 49-year history of UI and associated muscle dysfunction and low back and/or pelvic pain. Eighteen wore an incontinence pad throughout the day and night at the time of their appointments because of unpredictable UI. Patients were evaluated for muscle impairments in the lumbar spine, pelvis, and pelvic floor and low back and/or hip pain. Positive manual muscle test results of the pelvis, lumbar spine muscles, and pelvic floor muscles were the most common findings. Lumbosacral dysfunction was found in 13 of the cases with pain provocation tests (applied kinesiology sensorimotor challenge); in 8 cases, this sensorimotor challenge was absent. Chiropractic manipulative therapy and soft tissue treatment addressed the soft tissue and articular dysfunctions. Chiropractic manipulative therapy involved high-velocity, low-amplitude manipulation; Cox flexion distraction manipulation; and/or use of a percussion instrument for the treatment of myofascial trigger points. Urinary incontinence symptoms resolved in 10 patients, considerably improved in 7 cases, and slightly improved in 4 cases. Periodic follow-up examinations for the past 6 years, and no less than 2 years, indicate that for each participant in this case-series report, the improvements of UI remained stable. The patients reported in this retrospective case series showed improvement in UI symptoms that persisted over time.

  1. Applying artificial intelligence technology to support decision-making in nursing: A case study in Taiwan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liao, Pei-Hung; Hsu, Pei-Ti; Chu, William; Chu, Woei-Chyn

    2015-06-01

    This study applied artificial intelligence to help nurses address problems and receive instructions through information technology. Nurses make diagnoses according to professional knowledge, clinical experience, and even instinct. Without comprehensive knowledge and thinking, diagnostic accuracy can be compromised and decisions may be delayed. We used a back-propagation neural network and other tools for data mining and statistical analysis. We further compared the prediction accuracy of the previous methods with an adaptive-network-based fuzzy inference system and the back-propagation neural network, identifying differences in the questions and in nurse satisfaction levels before and after using the nursing information system. This study investigated the use of artificial intelligence to generate nursing diagnoses. The percentage of agreement between diagnoses suggested by the information system and those made by nurses was as much as 87 percent. When patients are hospitalized, we can calculate the probability of various nursing diagnoses based on certain characteristics. © The Author(s) 2013.

  2. Nursing process applied to a mother gynecobstetric teenager: a case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nathalie Alfaro Vargas

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available The present article summarizes the intervention done towards an adolescent mother who had a twinpregnancy. The methodology used is the process of nursing attention; the process is divided into four stages: first,the stage of valuating in which information is gathered through the revision of the health file of the adolescent andthe application of the nursing history; the second stage is nursing diagnosis used to identify the problemspresented by the patient; the third stage is planning which includes the designing of objectives and actions thatwould lead the interventions. The previous information is summarized in the “Plan de Cuidados de Enfermería”based on the theory of Dorotea Orem. Finally, it was apply the stage of performing in which there wereimplemented actions with the adolescent mother; she obtained necessary information based on her needs for theimprovement of life quality. Comprehensive and timely intervention allowed the reduction of risks for the motherand her children and the use of Orem's theory allowed the teenager taking skills to cope with their new role asmother.

  3. Radioactive whey concentrate - a case to apply section 3 of the Radiation Protection Ordinance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sauer, G.W.; Zypries, B.

    1988-01-01

    According to the authors, section 4 StrlSchV does not apply, the case has to be handled applying section 3 StrlSchV (Radiation Protection Ordinance). This means that the storage, treatment and disposal of the radioactive whey concentrate is subject to licensing. Disposal as radioactive waste, however, will require a licence only if the limit given in section 4 IV, No. 2 lit. e, the 10 -4 -fold of the allowed radioactivity per gramme (i.e. 3700 Bq/kg) is exceeded. The averaged radioactivity data measured do exceed this limit. Only the transport of the radioactive whey concentrate does not fall under the provisions of the ordinances on road transport or rail transport of hazardons substances, as the limit given there is 74 Bq/g of specific activity. (orig./HP) [de

  4. Linking biomedical engineering ethics case study approach and policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dibrell, William; Dobie, Elizabeth Ann

    2007-01-01

    In this paper we link bioengineering case study methods to the development of policy. The case study approach to ethics is an excellent way to show the complex nature of practical/moral reasoning. This approach can, however, lead to a kind of overwhelming complexity. The individual nature of each case makes it difficult to identify the most important information and difficult to see what moral considerations are most relevant. In order to make the overwhelming complexity less debilitating, we present a framework for moral decision making derived from suggestions made by W.D. Ross and Virginia Held. Ross articulates the multiple sources of morality and Held deepens the discussion by reminding us of the foundational importance of care and sympathy to our moral natures. We show how to use the notion of prima facie duty and discuss moral conflict. In doing this, we show how the framework, applied to cases, can be of assistance in helping us develop policies and codes of ethics with sufficient plasticity to be useful in the complex world of the bioengineer.

  5. Assessment of global phase uncertainty in case-control studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    van Houwelingen Hans C

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In haplotype-based candidate gene studies a problem is that the genotype data are unphased, which results in haplotype ambiguity. The measure 1 quantifies haplotype predictability from genotype data. It is computed for each individual haplotype, and for a measure of global relative efficiency a minimum value is suggested. Alternatively, we developed methods directly based on the information content of haplotype frequency estimates to obtain global relative efficiency measures: and based on A- and D-optimality, respectively. All three methods are designed for single populations; they can be applied in cases only, controls only or the whole data. Therefore they are not necessarily optimal for haplotype testing in case-control studies. Results A new global relative efficiency measure was derived to maximize power of a simple test statistic that compares haplotype frequencies in cases and controls. Application to real data showed that our proposed method gave a clear and summarizing measure for the case-control study conducted. Additionally this measure might be used for selection of individuals, who have the highest potential for improving power by resolving phase ambiguity. Conclusion Instead of using relative efficiency measure for cases only, controls only or their combined data, we link uncertainty measure to case-control studies directly. Hence, our global efficiency measure might be useful to assess whether data are informative or have enough power for estimation of a specific haplotype risk.

  6. [Case and studies].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schubert, András

    2015-11-15

    Case studies and case reports form an important and ever growing part of scientific and scholarly literature. The paper deals with the share and citation rate of these publication types on different fields of research. In general, evidence seems to support the opinion that an excessive number of such publications may negatively influence the impact factor of the journal. In the literature of scientometrics, case studies (at least the presence of the term "case study" in the titles of the papers) have a moderate share, but their citation rate is practically equal to that of other publication types.

  7. Applying Climate Compatible Development and economic valuation to coastal management: A case study of Kenya's mangrove forests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huxham, Mark; Emerton, Lucy; Kairo, James; Munyi, Fridah; Abdirizak, Hassan; Muriuki, Tabitha; Nunan, Fiona; Briers, Robert A

    2015-07-01

    Mangrove forests are under global pressure. Habitat destruction and degradation persist despite longstanding recognition of the important ecological functions of mangroves. Hence new approaches are needed to help stakeholders and policy-makers achieve sound management that is informed by the best science. Here we explore how the new policy concept of Climate Compatible Development (CCD) can be applied to achieve better outcomes. We use economic valuation approaches to combine socio-economic data, projections of forest cover based on quantitative risk mapping and storyline scenario building exercises to articulate the economic consequences of plausible alternative future scenarios for the mangrove forests of the South Kenya coast, as a case study of relevance to many other areas. Using data from 645 household surveys, 10 focus groups and 74 interviews conducted across four mangrove sites, and combining these with information on fish catches taken at three landing sites, a mangrove carbon trading project and published data allowed us to make a thorough (although still partial) economic valuation of the forests. This gave a current value of the South Coast mangroves of USD 6.5 million, or USD 1166 ha(-1), with 59% of this value on average derived from regulating services. Quantitative risk mapping, projecting recent trends over the next twenty years, suggests a 43% loss of forest cover over that time with 100% loss at the most vulnerable sites. Much of the forest lost between 1992 and 2012 has not been replaced by high value alternative land uses hence restoration of these areas is feasible and may not involve large opportunity costs. We invited thirty eight stakeholders to develop plausible storyline scenarios reflecting Business as Usual (BAU) and CCD - which emphasises sustainable forest conservation and management - in twenty years time, drawing on local and regional expert knowledge of relevant policy, social trends and cultures. Combining these scenarios with

  8. Using systems thinking in patient safety: a case study on medicines management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brimble, Mandy; Jones, Aled

    2017-06-29

    Systems thinking is used as a way of understanding behaviours and actions in complex healthcare organisations. An important premise of the concept is that every action in a system causes a reaction elsewhere in that system. These reactions can lead to unintended consequences, sometimes long after the original action, and so are not always attributed to them. This article applies systems thinking to a medicines management case study, to highlight how quality-improvement practitioners can use the approach to underpin planning and implementation of patient-safety initiatives. The case study is specific to transcribing in children's hospices, but the strategies can be applied to other areas. The article explains that, while root cause analysis tools are useful for identifying the cause of, and possible solutions to, problems, they need to be considered carefully in terms of unintended consequences, and how the system into which the solution is implemented can be affected by the change. Analysis of problems using a systems-thinking approach can help practitioners to develop robust and well informed business cases to present to decision makers.

  9. Building theories from case study research: the progressive case study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Steenhuis, H.J.; de Bruijn, E.J.

    2006-01-01

    Meredith (1998) argues for more case and field research studies in the field of operations management. Based on a literature review, we discuss several existing approaches to case studies and their characteristics. These approaches include; the Grounded Theory approach which proposes no prior

  10. Sample size of the reference sample in a case-augmented study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghosh, Palash; Dewanji, Anup

    2017-05-01

    The case-augmented study, in which a case sample is augmented with a reference (random) sample from the source population with only covariates information known, is becoming popular in different areas of applied science such as pharmacovigilance, ecology, and econometrics. In general, the case sample is available from some source (for example, hospital database, case registry, etc.); however, the reference sample is required to be drawn from the corresponding source population. The required minimum size of the reference sample is an important issue in this regard. In this work, we address the minimum sample size calculation and discuss related issues. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  11. Journal of Applied Sciences and Environmental Management ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Journal of Applied Sciences and Environmental Management. ... Types Of Contributions. Original research papers; review articles; case studies and short communications. 3. Copyright ... Example: Chukwu, M; Olusegun, AW; Mohammed, SSD.

  12. FMCT verification: Case studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hui Zhang

    2001-01-01

    Full text: How to manage the trade-off between the need for transparency and the concern about the disclosure of sensitive information would be a key issue during the negotiations of FMCT verification provision. This paper will explore the general concerns on FMCT verification; and demonstrate what verification measures might be applied to those reprocessing and enrichment plants. A primary goal of an FMCT will be to have the five declared nuclear weapon states and the three that operate unsafeguarded nuclear facilities become parties. One focus in negotiating the FMCT will be verification. Appropriate verification measures should be applied in each case. Most importantly, FMCT verification would focus, in the first instance, on these states' fissile material production facilities. After the FMCT enters into force, all these facilities should be declared. Some would continue operating to produce civil nuclear power or to produce fissile material for non- explosive military uses. The verification measures necessary for these operating facilities would be essentially IAEA safeguards, as currently being applied to non-nuclear weapon states under the NPT. However, some production facilities would be declared and shut down. Thus, one important task of the FMCT verifications will be to confirm the status of these closed facilities. As case studies, this paper will focus on the verification of those shutdown facilities. The FMCT verification system for former military facilities would have to differ in some ways from traditional IAEA safeguards. For example, there could be concerns about the potential loss of sensitive information at these facilities or at collocated facilities. Eventually, some safeguards measures such as environmental sampling might be seen as too intrusive. Thus, effective but less intrusive verification measures may be needed. Some sensitive nuclear facilities would be subject for the first time to international inspections, which could raise concerns

  13. CASE STUDY: Nepal — A cleaner city and better health in Kathmandu

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    2003-04-07

    Apr 7, 2003 ... CASE STUDY: Nepal — A cleaner city and better health in Kathmandu .... Dr Joshi believes that blending science and a recognition of the social ... One example of where AMESH was applied was in analyzing why the ward ...

  14. Joint perceptual decision-making: A case study in explanatory pluralism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Drew Hamilton Abney

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Traditionally different approaches to the study of cognition have been viewed as competing explanatory frameworks. An alternative view, explanatory pluralism, regards different approaches to the study of cognition as complementary ways of studying the same phenomenon, at specific temporal and spatial scales, using appropriate methodological tools. Explanatory pluralism has been often described abstractly, but has rarely been applied to concrete cases. We present a case study of explanatory pluralism. We discuss three separate ways of studying the same phenomenon: a perceptual decision- making task (Bahrami et al., 2010, where pairs of subjects share information to jointly individuate an oddball stimulus among a set of distractors. Each approach analyzed the same corpus but targeted different units of analysis at different levels of description: decision-making at the behavioral level, confidence sharing at the linguistic level, and acoustic energy at the physical level. We discuss the utility of explanatory pluralism for describing this complex, multiscale phenomenon, show ways in which this case study sheds new light on the concept of pluralism, and highlight good practices to critically assess and complement approaches.

  15. Evaluating Electronic Customer Relationship Management Performance: Case Studies from Persian Automotive and Computer Industry

    OpenAIRE

    Safari, Narges; Safari, Fariba; Olesen, Karin; Shahmehr, Fatemeh

    2016-01-01

    This research paper investigates the influence of industry on electronic customer relationship management (e-CRM) performance. A case study approach with two cases was applied to evaluate the influence of e-CRM on customer behavioral and attitudinal loyalty along with customer pyramid. The cases covered two industries consisting of computer and automotive industries. For investigating customer behavioral loyalty and customer pyramid companies database were computed while for examining custome...

  16. Applied Gamification in Self-guided Exhibitions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vistisen, Peter; Selvadurai, Vashanth; Krishnasamy, Rameshnath Kala

    2018-01-01

    This paper contributes to the current understanding of applied digital gamification by providing insights from two design cases from the Danish aqua zoo, the North Sea Oceanarium, concerned with self-facilitated exhibitions. Grounded in a short review of the current state of art, we provide two...... empirical case examples, concerning a mobile augmented reality design and an Instagram service. Analyzing the design process behind these cases, we identify some of the challenges arising from applying gamification in practice, and whether these insights verify, extents or contradicts current examples...... of applied gamification research. Specifically, the cases provide insights to the challenge of on-boarding visitors into participating and using the designed products during their visit. In both cases, providing certain incentives for using the app or participating in the Instagram challenge, seemed...

  17. Methods of applying the 1994 case definition of chronic fatigue syndrome - impact on classification and observed illness characteristics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Unger, E R; Lin, J-M S; Tian, H; Gurbaxani, B M; Boneva, R S; Jones, J F

    2016-01-01

    Multiple case definitions are in use to identify chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Even when using the same definition, methods used to apply definitional criteria may affect results. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted two population-based studies estimating CFS prevalence using the 1994 case definition; one relied on direct questions for criteria of fatigue, functional impairment and symptoms (1997 Wichita; Method 1), and the other used subscale score thresholds of standardized questionnaires for criteria (2004 Georgia; Method 2). Compared to previous reports the 2004 CFS prevalence estimate was higher, raising questions about whether changes in the method of operationalizing affected this and illness characteristics. The follow-up of the Georgia cohort allowed direct comparison of both methods of applying the 1994 case definition. Of 1961 participants (53 % of eligible) who completed the detailed telephone interview, 919 (47 %) were eligible for and 751 (81 %) underwent clinical evaluation including medical/psychiatric evaluations. Data from the 499 individuals with complete data and without exclusionary conditions was available for this analysis. A total of 86 participants were classified as CFS by one or both methods; 44 cases identified by both methods, 15 only identified by Method 1, and 27 only identified by Method 2 (Kappa 0.63; 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 0.53, 0.73 and concordance 91.59 %). The CFS group identified by both methods were more fatigued, had worse functioning, and more symptoms than those identified by only one method. Moderate to severe depression was noted in only one individual who was classified as CFS by both methods. When comparing the CFS groups identified by only one method, those only identified by Method 2 were either similar to or more severely affected in fatigue, function, and symptoms than those only identified by Method 1. The two methods demonstrated substantial concordance. While Method 2

  18. The Implementation of Lesson Study in English Language Learning: A Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wakhid Nashruddin

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Lesson Study as a growing interest in the education world has attracted educators, experts, and professionals in the area to make use of it in improving the lessons—it also happens in Indonesia. Originally applied in the teaching of mathematics in Japan, now it turns to be used in other fields, and English is one of them. This paper highlights the guideline on Lesson Study and pictures its application in a private senior high school in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. The adaptation of Lesson Study is interesting since Japan and Indonesia have different cultural background. How Lesson Study is usually implemented in Japan and the US and how it is applied in Indonesia will be seen here. As this is a case study, it will only focus on a school and the result should not be used to generalize Lesson Study applications in Indonesia. Interview and observation were instruments used in this study. The interview was used to gain information on how Lesson Study was normally conducted and observation (and the researchers’ involvements was used to see the real implementation of Lesson Study. What happened during the implementation of Lesson Study and during the teaching and learning process become a great attention here.

  19. Forecasting dengue hemorrhagic fever cases using ARIMA model: a case study in Asahan district

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siregar, Fazidah A.; Makmur, Tri; Saprin, S.

    2018-01-01

    Time series analysis had been increasingly used to forecast the number of dengue hemorrhagic fever in many studies. Since no vaccine exist and poor public health infrastructure, predicting the occurrence of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) is crucial. This study was conducted to determine trend and forecasting the occurrence of DHF in Asahan district, North Sumatera Province. Monthly reported dengue cases for the years 2012-2016 were obtained from the district health offices. A time series analysis was conducted by Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) modeling to forecast the occurrence of DHF. The results demonstrated that the reported DHF cases showed a seasonal variation. The SARIMA (1,0,0)(0,1,1)12 model was the best model and adequate for the data. The SARIMA model for DHF is necessary and could applied to predict the incidence of DHF in Asahan district and assist with design public health maesures to prevent and control the diseases.

  20. Applied Genomics of Foodborne Pathogens

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    and customized source of information designed for and accessible to microbiologists interested in applying cutting-edge genomics in food safety and public health research. This book fills this void with a well-selected collection of topics, case studies, and bioinformatics tools contributed by experts......This book provides a timely and thorough snapshot into the emerging and fast evolving area of applied genomics of foodborne pathogens. Driven by the drastic advance of whole genome shot gun sequencing (WGS) technologies, genomics applications are becoming increasingly valuable and even essential...... at the forefront of foodborne pathogen genomics research....

  1. Counseling a Biracial Female College Student with an Eating Disorder: A Case Study Applying an Integrative Biopsychosocialcultural Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smart, Rebekah

    2010-01-01

    This case study describes short-term counseling with a young biracial woman experiencing an eating disorder. A biopsychosocialcultural conceptualization of the problem is described. The counseling approach is informed by feminist and multicultural theory and uses both interpersonal and cognitive behavior therapy. (Contains 1 figure.)

  2. Case Study in Public Administration: A Critical Review of Brazilian Scientific Production

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mariana Guerra

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a critical review of 47 articles published between 2006 and 2011 to identify how case studies have been applied in Brazilian research on public administration. In addition to their theoretical and methodological characteristics, four further specific topics of interest were addressed: (a what is meant by case study; (b the relationship between the phenomenon of interest and the case under investigation; (c the possibility of replication; and (d how the supposed method contributes towards the development of the field of public administration. The main inconsistencies found were: the methodological descriptions are confusing; the results are inconsistent compared with data gathering procedures and data analysis techniques; a lack of information about the number of interviewed individuals; and no descriptions of research variables. The results suggest the reviewed case studies present methodological inconsistencies and limitations, which undermine their scientific value and relevance to academic work in Brazil.

  3. Concept analysis of culture applied to nursing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marzilli, Colleen

    2014-01-01

    Culture is an important concept, especially when applied to nursing. A concept analysis of culture is essential to understanding the meaning of the word. This article applies Rodgers' (2000) concept analysis template and provides a definition of the word culture as it applies to nursing practice. This article supplies examples of the concept of culture to aid the reader in understanding its application to nursing and includes a case study demonstrating components of culture that must be respected and included when providing health care.

  4. Applied Gamification in Self-guided Exhibitions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vistisen, Peter; Selvadurai, Vashanth; Krishnasamy, Rameshnath Kala

    2018-01-01

    empirical case examples, concerning a mobile augmented reality design and an Instagram service. Analyzing the design process behind these cases, we identify some of the challenges arising from applying gamification in practice, and whether these insights verify, extents or contradicts current examples...... of applied gamification research. Specifically, the cases provide insights to the challenge of on-boarding visitors into participating and using the designed products during their visit. In both cases, providing certain incentives for using the app or participating in the Instagram challenge, seemed...

  5. Case Study: LCA Methodology Applied to Materials Management in a Brazilian Residential Construction Site

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    João de Lassio

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The construction industry is increasingly concerned with improving the social, economic, and environmental indicators of sustainability. More than ever, the growing demand for construction materials reflects increased consumption of raw materials and energy, particularly during the phases of extraction, processing, and transportation of materials. This work aims to help decision-makers and to promote life cycle thinking in the construction industry. For this purpose, the life cycle assessment (LCA methodology was chosen to analyze the environmental impacts of building materials used in the construction of a residence project in São Gonçalo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The LCA methodology, based on ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 guidelines, is applied with available databases and the SimaPro program. As a result, this work shows that there is a substantial waste of nonrenewable energy, increasing global warming and harm to human health in this type of construction. This study also points out that, for this type of Brazilian construction, ceramic materials account for a high percentage of the mass of a total building and are thus responsible for the majority of environmental impacts.

  6. Higher education provision using systems thinking approach - case studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dhukaram, Anandhi Vivekanandan; Sgouropoulou, Cleo; Feldman, Gerald; Amini, Ardavan

    2018-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to highlight the complexities involved in higher education provision and how systems thinking and socio-technical systems (STS) thinking approach can be used to understand the education ecosystem. Systems thinking perspective is provided using two case studies: the development of European Learner Mobility (EuroLM) service and the delivery of Enterprise System Management (ESM) course at the Birmingham City University, UK. The case studies present how systems thinking using STS approaches like applied organisational change and Cognitive Work Analysis can be used to capture a conceptual model of the education system for understanding the interactions and relationships between the people, technology, processes and the organisations. Using systems thinking perspective, EuroLM has developed a set of technical standards addressed to the European systems developers and ESM delivery ensures that students communicate and collaborate.

  7. Hannibal Lecter: Case study of a fictional character

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Repišti Selman

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to review the case of the imaginary character, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, based on content analysis of four books ('Hannibal', 'Hannibal Rising', 'Silence of the Lambs' and 'Red Dragon', four films with the same title and two seasons of 13 episodes of the serial 'Hannibal'. In the first part, the analysis refers to the consideration of the aforementioned case, taking into account the following diagnostic classifications: DSM-IV, DSM-5 and ICD-10. Then, we offered a description of Dr. Lecter's personality through modern models of personality structure: Big Five Model, HEXACO Model, The Big Seven Model, Two-factor Model and One-factor Model. In particular, we address the interpretation of behavioral patterns of this fictional character from the perspective of classical psychodynamic theory, and through the prism of a theoretical point of Jacques Lacan. In addition, his behavior is explained by applying the postulates of cognitive-behavioral paradigm as well as evolutionary psychology. At the end of the paper are listed conclusions, created as a synthesis of previous interpretations, or an eclectic approach used in these analyses. In addition, there are featured disadvantages of this type of analysis, in the form of methodological limitations of qualitative research in one subject (case studies and problems of differential diagnosis in the case of a controversial character such as Dr. Hannibal Lecter.

  8. Comparing the Reliability of Regular Topologies on a Backbone Network. A Case Study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cecilio, Sergio Labeage; Gutierrez Lopez, Jose Manuel; Riaz, M. Tahir

    2009-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to compare the reliability of regular topologies on a backbone network. The study is focused on a large-scale fiberoptic network. Different regular topological solutions as single ring, double ring or 4-Regular grid are applied to the case study, and compared in terms...

  9. MATURITY IN LOGISTICS PROJECT MANAGEMENT APPLIED TO AN AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY CEARENSE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Danilo Cavalcante de Vasconcelos

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available The present study aims to develop the concepts applied by the PMBOK in efficient management of logistics projects and production management through a case study, seeking the best use of resources used in projects. Thus, we used the analysis of a real case study in a comparative way with the indicators of the model PMMM - Maturity Model Project Management Sector - proposed by Prado (2003, and applied to an automotive company. The findings point to a low level of maturity in project management, demonstrating the need for corrective action.

  10. Performance management in a family business: a case study

    OpenAIRE

    Silva, Paulino; Silva, Rui

    2014-01-01

    This research, still at an early stage, and then presented in a poster format, intended to explain the management of organizational performance of a family business in the succession process using the case study method. The scripts for semi-structured interviews that will apply to managers, owners and other workers who are deemed suitable for the investigation, which include relatives of the owners of the company are being developed. For this work the model of organizational performance manag...

  11. Increasing market share through consumer marketing: a case study in obstetrics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kingsley, V H

    1986-05-01

    Consumers are becoming ever more selective in their choice of health care providers. Hospitals that are aware of local preferences and how to reach and influence consumers will gain a competitive advantage. Outlined in this article are consumer marketing techniques that can be utilized for all product lines. The concept is applied here as a case study in obstetrics.

  12. Final report on case studies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ljungberg, Daniel; McKelvey, Maureen; Lassen, Astrid Heidemann

    2012-01-01

    Case study as a research design means investigating a single or multiple instance(s) or setting(s) (i.e. a case) and its entire context to explain a phenomenon and its processes. This is achieved through detailed understanding, usually comprised of multiple sources of information. In this way, case...... studies attempt to provide as a complete an understanding of a (complex) phenomenon as possible. Within the AEGIS project, survey and case study research are complementary. They are complementary in the sense that the former can provide more generalizable evidence on a phenomenon in terms of cross......-sectional data, while the latter can provide more in-depth (qualitative) understanding on specific issues. In systematically examining the case studies, however, this report goes beyond a typical single case study. Here we provide a synthesis of 86 case studies. Multiple case studies, following similar focus...

  13. Intraoperative Injection vs Sponge-applied Mitomycin C during Trabeculectomy: One-year Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    S Khouri, Albert; Huang, Grace; Y Huang, Linda

    2017-01-01

    To determine the safety and efficacy of intraoperative injection of mitomycin C (MMC) against conventional sponge-applied MMC during trabeculectomy. This study was a retrospective, comparative case series. Thirty eyes with primary open-angle glaucoma underwent consecutive trabeculectomies with MMC injection (injection group), and thirty eyes with sponge-applied MMC were as controls (sponge group). Data were collected preoperatively and postoperatively at 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year after surgery. Demographic data, applanation intraocular pressure (IOP), best-corrected visual acuity (VA), number of glaucoma medications, postoperative interventions, postoperative complications, and number of visits within 3 months were recorded. In order to stratify data, proportion of eyes achieving >30% IOP reduction from baseline with or without glaucoma medications was calculated and defined as surgical success. Mean IOP reduction at 1 year was significant in both the injection and sponge groups from baseline (46.8 and 37.8% respectively). The injection group had overall lower postoperative IOP and comparable complete treatment success, defined as achieving >30% IOP reduction without glaucoma medications (p = 0.941). The number of postoperative visits within 3 months and the proportion of eyes needing 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) intervention were significantly lower in the injection group (p = 0.03, p = 0.04 respectively). Injection of MMC was as safe and effective as sponge application with comparable estimated complete treatment success, less need for visits within 3 months, and 5-FU intervention. Surgeons may consider intraopera-tive injection of MMC in appropriate patient cohorts given comparable safety and efficacy and several advantages over traditional sponge application. Further study in a prospective, larger, long-term manner is necessary to assess this modality. How to cite this article: Khouri AS, Huang G, Huang LY. Intraoperative Injection vs

  14. Analyzing Security Breaches in the U.S.: A Business Analytics Case-Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parks, Rachida F.; Adams, Lascelles

    2016-01-01

    This is a real-world applicable case-study and includes background information, functional organization requirements, and real data. Business analytics has been defined as the technologies, skills, and practices needed to iteratively investigate historical performance to gain insight or spot trends. You are asked to utilize/apply critical thinking…

  15. Adapted strategic plannig model applied to small business: a case study in the fitness area

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eduarda Tirelli Hennig

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available The strategic planning is an important management tool in the corporate scenario and shall not be restricted to big Companies. However, this kind of planning process in small business may need special adaptations due to their own characteristics. This paper aims to identify and adapt the existent models of strategic planning to the scenario of a small business in the fitness area. Initially, it is accomplished a comparative study among models of different authors to identify theirs phases and activities. Then, it is defined which of these phases and activities should be present in a model that will be utilized in a small business. That model was applied to a Pilates studio; it involves the establishment of an organizational identity, an environmental analysis as well as the definition of strategic goals, strategies and actions to reach them. Finally, benefits to the organization could be identified, as well as hurdles in the implementation of the tool.

  16. A case study in intra-abdominal sepsis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paul, Jasmeet S; Ridolfi, Timothy J

    2012-12-01

    Intra-abdominal infections are a common problem for the general surgeon and major sources of morbidity and mortality in the intensive care unit. Some of these patients present with peritonitis that can rapidly progress to septic shock. The basic principles of care include prompt resuscitation, antibiotics, and source control. This article will use a detailed case study to outline the management of a patient with severe intra-abdominal infection from diverticulitis from initial resuscitation to reconstruction. Components of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign as they pertain to surgical patients are discussed and updated, and the concept of damage control general surgery is applied. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  17. Engaging Students in Applied Electromagnetics at the University of San Diego

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lumori, M. L. D.; Kim, E. M.

    2010-01-01

    Two possible topical approaches that have been applied to teaching an upper-division undergraduate electrical engineering applied electromagnetics course are presented. Each approach was applied to one of two offerings of the course, taught in different semesters. In either case, the course includes the study of electromagnetic theory and…

  18. [Case-non case studies: Principles, methods, bias and interpretation].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faillie, Jean-Luc

    2017-10-31

    Case-non case studies belongs to the methods assessing drug safety by analyzing the disproportionality of notifications of adverse drug reactions in pharmacovigilance databases. Used for the first time in the 1980s, the last few decades have seen a significant increase in the use of this design. The principle of the case-non case study is to compare drug exposure in cases of a studied adverse reaction with that of cases of other reported adverse reactions and called "non cases". Results are presented in the form of a reporting odds ratio (ROR), the interpretation of which makes it possible to identify drug safety signals. This article describes the principle of the case-non case study, the method of calculating the ROR and its confidence interval, the different modalities of analysis and how to interpret its results with regard to the advantages and limitations of this design. Copyright © 2017 Société française de pharmacologie et de thérapeutique. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  19. Study guide for applied finite mathematics

    CERN Document Server

    Macri, Nicholas A

    1982-01-01

    Study Guide for Applied Finite Mathematics, Third Edition is a study guide that introduces beginners to the fundamentals of finite mathematics and its various realistic and relevant applications. Some applications of probability, game theory, and Markov chains are given. Each chapter includes exercises, and each set begins with basic computational ""drill"" problems and then progresses to problems with more substance.Comprised of 10 chapters, this book begins with exercises related to set theory and concepts such as the union and intersection of sets. Exercises on Cartesian coordinate

  20. Internships in the Applied Geography Curriculum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foster, Les; And Others

    1979-01-01

    Explains why an internship is a necessary part of an applied geography curriculum. Presents a case study of an internship program at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, Toronto, which emphasizes placement in an agency with the same specialization as the student and integration of course material and field experience. (Author/DB)

  1. A survey of students' performance on the piano: a case study of the ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Piano playing is one of the major courses under applied music studies in all departments of music in Nigeria. This course is compulsory for all the students either as a major or minor instrument as the case maybe. However, scholars have carried out different studies on the challenges of music students. However, The ...

  2. Forensic Polygraph in Crime Investigation: A Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aabad Ayoub

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available A polygraph is an instrument that measures and records physiological changes inside the body. In the absence of a valid physical evidence, polygraphy may be a useful technique to verify truthfulness or detect deception. The present study was conducted to determine the truthfulness of a suspect in a murder case that was referred to PFSA for a polygraph examination. The stomach contents of the examinee and the hyoid bone of the vicvtim were submitted to the department of toxicology and forensic pathology at the PFSA, respectively. In the present study, integrated zone comparison technique (IZCT and forensic assessment interview technique (FAINT designed for specific and multi issue testing were used to examine the suspect. Computerized Academy for Scientific Investigative training (ASIT Algorithm and weighted scoring were applied in IZCT and FAINT scoring, respectively. The suspect of this murder case was brought to PFSA for polygraph examination. During the initial interview, the suspect denied any involvement in the said case. However, after complete polygraph examination, the suspect was proven to have been deceptive and later on confessed to police officials. The polygraph examination of the suspect proved him deceptive which was later confirmed by his confession. His stomach did not contain any toxic/ sedative material.

  3. Causal Relation Analysis Tool of the Case Study in the Engineer Ethics Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suzuki, Yoshio; Morita, Keisuke; Yasui, Mitsukuni; Tanada, Ichirou; Fujiki, Hiroyuki; Aoyagi, Manabu

    In engineering ethics education, the virtual experiencing of dilemmas is essential. Learning through the case study method is a particularly effective means. Many case studies are, however, difficult to deal with because they often include many complex causal relationships and social factors. It would thus be convenient if there were a tool that could analyze the factors of a case example and organize them into a hierarchical structure to get a better understanding of the whole picture. The tool that was developed applies a cause-and-effect matrix and simple graph theory. It analyzes the causal relationship between facts in a hierarchical structure and organizes complex phenomena. The effectiveness of this tool is shown by presenting an actual example.

  4. Competitiveness based on logistic management: a real case study

    OpenAIRE

    García Márquez, Fausto Pedro; Peña García Pardo, Isidro; Ramos M. Nieto, Marta

    2014-01-01

    An efficient and effective logistic system is a strategic objective in any produc- tive business. This paper presents a real case study of a routing problem in a food industry firm. This problem is solved as a Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) using the Neural Net- work (NN) and Tabu Search (TS) algorithms. A customer selection based on a profitability analysis was carried out. The aforementioned algorithms were then applied, leading to a considerable reduction in the total logistic costs. This r...

  5. Study of nuclear morphometry on cytology specimens of benign and malignant breast lesions: A study of 122 cases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kashyap, Anamika; Jain, Manjula; Shukla, Shailaja; Andley, Manoj

    2017-01-01

    Breast cancer has emerged as a leading site of cancer among women in India. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) has been routinely applied in assessment of breast lesions. Cytological evaluation in breast lesions is subjective with a "gray zone" of 6.9-20%. Quantitative evaluation of nuclear size, shape, texture, and density parameters by morphometry can be of diagnostic help in breast tumor. To apply nuclear morphometry on cytological breast aspirates and assess its role in differentiating between benign and malignant breast lesions with derivation of suitable cut-off values between the two groups. The present study was a descriptive cross-sectional hospital-based study of nuclear morphometric parameters of benign and malignant cases. The study included 50 benign breast disease (BBD), 8 atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH), and 64 carcinoma cases. Image analysis was performed on Papanicolaou-stained FNAC slides by Nikon Imaging Software (NIS)-Elements Advanced Research software (Version 4.00). Nuclear morphometric parameters analyzed included 5 nuclear size, 2 shape, 4 texture, and 2 density parameters. Nuclear morphometry could differentiate between benign and malignant aspirates with a gradually increasing nuclear size parameters from BBD to ADH to carcinoma. Cut-off values of 31.93 μm 2 , 6.325 μm, 5.865 μm, 7.855 μm, and 21.55 μm for mean nuclear area, equivalent diameter, minimum feret, maximum ferret, and perimeter, respectively, were derived between benign and malignant cases, which could correctly classify 7 out of 8 ADH cases. Nuclear morphometry is a highly objective tool that could be used to supplement FNAC in differentiating benign from malignant lesions, with an important role in cases with diagnostic dilemma.

  6. Sensitivity study on heuristic rules applied to the neutronic optimization of cells for BWR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gonzalez C, J.; Martin del Campo M, C.; Francois L, J.L.

    2004-01-01

    The objective of this work is to verify the validity of the heuristic rules that have been applied in the processes of radial optimization of fuel cells. It was examined the rule with respect to the accommodation of fuel in the corners of the cell and it became special attention on the influence of the position and concentration of those pellets with gadolinium in the reactivity of the cell and the safety parameters. The evaluation behaved on designed cells violating the heuristic rules. For both cases the cells were analyzed between infinite using the HELIOS code. Additionally, for the second case, it was behaved a stage more exhaustive where it was used one of the studied cells that it completed those safety parameters and of reactivity to generate the design of an assemble that was used to calculate with CM-PRESTO the behavior of the nucleus during three operation cycles. (Author)

  7. Students' Research Experiences during Consulting Projects: Three Themes Emerging from Case Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phillips, Carissa M. Holler

    2010-01-01

    Student consulting projects, an advanced form of problem-based learning, allow students to apply the skills developed in their classes on behalf of client organizations. A review of selected case studies in business education and other management education literature shows that research is an integral part of this consulting process. More than…

  8. Review of GIF PR and PP Evaluation Case Study for Application to Pyroprocessing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, H. M.; Ahn, S. K.; Kwon, E. H.; Kim, H. D. [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-05-15

    This paper has summarized and reviewed the ESFR case study, as it relates to the application of the evaluation methods to pyroprocessing facilities as well as the sodium fast reactor fuel cycle in the future as a self-assessment study. The GIF PR and PP evaluation methodology and the case study both addressed physical protection, but this paper focuses only on proliferation resistance. It does not consider physical protection. The Generation IV International Forum (GIF) emphasizes proliferation resistance and physical protection (PR and PP) as one of the main aspects to be considered regarding future nuclear energy systems (NESs). As such, the PR and PP Working Group developed an evaluation methodology and applied it to the Example Sodium Fast Reactor (ESFR) as a case study. This paper has summarized and reviewed the ESFR case study, as it relates to the application of the evaluation methods to pyroprocessing facilities as well as the sodium fast reactor fuel cycle in the future as a self-assessment study. The GIF PR and PP evaluation methodology and the case study both addressed physical protection, but this paper focuses only on proliferation resistance. It does not consider physical protection.

  9. Review of GIF PR and PP Evaluation Case Study for Application to Pyroprocessing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, H. M.; Ahn, S. K.; Kwon, E. H.; Kim, H. D.

    2014-01-01

    This paper has summarized and reviewed the ESFR case study, as it relates to the application of the evaluation methods to pyroprocessing facilities as well as the sodium fast reactor fuel cycle in the future as a self-assessment study. The GIF PR and PP evaluation methodology and the case study both addressed physical protection, but this paper focuses only on proliferation resistance. It does not consider physical protection. The Generation IV International Forum (GIF) emphasizes proliferation resistance and physical protection (PR and PP) as one of the main aspects to be considered regarding future nuclear energy systems (NESs). As such, the PR and PP Working Group developed an evaluation methodology and applied it to the Example Sodium Fast Reactor (ESFR) as a case study. This paper has summarized and reviewed the ESFR case study, as it relates to the application of the evaluation methods to pyroprocessing facilities as well as the sodium fast reactor fuel cycle in the future as a self-assessment study. The GIF PR and PP evaluation methodology and the case study both addressed physical protection, but this paper focuses only on proliferation resistance. It does not consider physical protection

  10. Designed for Learning: A Case Study in Rethinking Teaching and Learning for a Large First Year Class

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldacre, Lisa; Bolt, Susan; Lambiris, Michael

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents a case study in which the principles of scholarship were applied to designing an approach to learning suitable for large classes. While this case study describes an Australian first year Business Law unit, the findings presented in this paper would be relevant to a wide range of teachers faced with large enrollments in first…

  11. ESR spectroscopy applied to the study of drugs radiosterilization: case of three nitroimidazoles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duroux, J.L.; Bernard, M.; Basly, J.P.; Penicaut, B.

    1996-01-01

    The use of ionizing radiation for sterilization of pharmaceuticals is now a well established technology. In this paper, we examined the time stability at ambient conditions and higher temperatures of free radicals produced after the gamma irradiation of three nitroimidazoles: metronidazole, ornidazole and ternidazole. The bi-exponential model used to fit the decay curves showed, in major cases, two simultaneous phases: the first corresponding to a fast 'pure' exponential decay; and, a second corresponding to a slowly 'quasi linear' decay, possibly due to a solid diffusion mechanism. (author)

  12. Meta-analysis of thirty-two case-control and two ecological radon studies of lung cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dobrzynski, Ludwik; Fornalski, Krzysztof W; Reszczynska, Joanna

    2018-03-01

    A re-analysis has been carried out of thirty-two case-control and two ecological studies concerning the influence of radon, a radioactive gas, on the risk of lung cancer. Three mathematically simplest dose-response relationships (models) were tested: constant (zero health effect), linear, and parabolic (linear-quadratic). Health effect end-points reported in the analysed studies are odds ratios or relative risk ratios, related either to morbidity or mortality. In our preliminary analysis, we show that the results of dose-response fitting are qualitatively (within uncertainties, given as error bars) the same, whichever of these health effect end-points are applied. Therefore, we deemed it reasonable to aggregate all response data into the so-called Relative Health Factor and jointly analysed such mixed data, to obtain better statistical power. In the second part of our analysis, robust Bayesian and classical methods of analysis were applied to this combined dataset. In this part of our analysis, we selected different subranges of radon concentrations. In view of substantial differences between the methodology used by the authors of case-control and ecological studies, the mathematical relationships (models) were applied mainly to the thirty-two case-control studies. The degree to which the two ecological studies, analysed separately, affect the overall results when combined with the thirty-two case-control studies, has also been evaluated. In all, as a result of our meta-analysis of the combined cohort, we conclude that the analysed data concerning radon concentrations below ~1000 Bq/m3 (~20 mSv/year of effective dose to the whole body) do not support the thesis that radon may be a cause of any statistically significant increase in lung cancer incidence.

  13. A Case Study in Corporate Social Responsibility

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sharon K. Kendrick

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available This case study promotes analysis through a brief investigation into the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR in the operation of a multinational corporation as evidenced by Google, Inc. The study focuses on a transnational company in order to observe the impact of CSR practice on a global level. The study will present implications of CSR for corporate management, corporate employees, state regulators, shareholders, and customers in general. In addition, the study will discuss consequences of poor CSR compliance for a multinational corporation. Questions for analysis include implications of CSR, employee retention, development of corporate culture, and evaluation of advantages and disadvantages of different CSR approaches. Upon conclusion of the study, suggestions are made for future collaborative efforts in corporate social responsibility as applied to psychological, sociological, and economical motives. Recruiting and training possibilities also present partnership opportunities for best practice sharing in regards to community, civic, and service engagement.

  14. 30 CFR 203.60 - Who may apply for royalty relief on a case-by-case basis in deep water in the Gulf of Mexico or...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ...-case basis in deep water in the Gulf of Mexico or offshore of Alaska? 203.60 Section 203.60 Mineral... basis in deep water in the Gulf of Mexico or offshore of Alaska? You may apply for royalty relief under... REDUCTION IN ROYALTY RATES OCS Oil, Gas, and Sulfur General Royalty Relief for Pre-Act Deep Water Leases and...

  15. The Use of Instructional Simulations to Support Classroom Teaching: A Crisis Communication Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shifflet, Mark; Brown, Jane

    2006-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate how exposure to classroom instruction affected the use of a computer simulation that was designed to provide students an opportunity to apply material presented in class. The study involved an analysis of a computer-based crisis communication case study designed for a college-level public relations…

  16. 2012 Annual Conference on Experimental and Applied Mechanics

    CERN Document Server

    Crone, Wendy; Jin, Helena; Sciammarella, Cesar; Furlong, Cosme; Furlong, Cosme; Chalivendra, Vijay; Song, Bo; Casem, Daniel; Antoun, Bonnie; Qi, H; Hall, Richard; Tandon, GP; Lu, Hongbing; Lu, Charles; Yoshida, Sanichiro; Shaw, Gordon; Prorok, Barton; Barthelat, François; Korach, Chad; Grande-Allen, K; Lipke, Elizabeth; Lykofatitits, George; Zavattieri, Pablo; Starman, LaVern; Patterson, Eann; Backman, David; Cloud, Gary; Vol.1 Dynamic Behavior of Materials; Vol.2 Challenges in Mechanics of Time-Dependent Materials and Processes in Conventional and Multifunctional Materials; Vol.3 Imaging Methods for Novel Materials and Challenging Applications; Vol.4 Experimental and Applied Mechanics; Vol.5 Mechanics of Biological Systems and Materials; Vol.6 MEMS and Nanotechnology; Vol.7 Composite Materials and Joining Technologies for Composites

    2013-01-01

    Experimental and Applied Mechanics, Volume 4: Proceedings of the 2012 Annual Conference on Experimental and Applied Mechanics, the fourth volume of seven from the Conference, brings together 54 contributions to this important area of research and engineering. The collection presents early findings and case studies on fundamental and applied aspects of Experimental and Applied Mechanics, including papers on:  Fracture & Fatigue Microscale & Microstructural Effects in Fatigue & Fracture Material Applications Composite Characterization Using Digital Image Correlation Techniques Multi-Scale Simulation and Testing of Composites Residual Stress Inverse Problems/Hybrid Methods Nano-Composites Microstructure Material Characterization Modeling and Uncertainty Quantification Impact Behavior of Composites.

  17. Case-control studies in neurosurgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nesvick, Cody L; Thompson, Clinton J; Boop, Frederick A; Klimo, Paul

    2014-08-01

    Observational studies, such as cohort and case-control studies, are valuable instruments in evidence-based medicine. Case-control studies, in particular, are becoming increasingly popular in the neurosurgical literature due to their low cost and relative ease of execution; however, no one has yet systematically assessed these types of studies for quality in methodology and reporting. The authors performed a literature search using PubMed/MEDLINE to identify all studies that explicitly identified themselves as "case-control" and were published in the JNS Publishing Group journals (Journal of Neurosurgery, Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics, Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, and Neurosurgical Focus) or Neurosurgery. Each paper was evaluated for 22 descriptive variables and then categorized as having either met or missed the basic definition of a case-control study. All studies that evaluated risk factors for a well-defined outcome were considered true case-control studies. The authors sought to identify key features or phrases that were or were not predictive of a true case-control study. Those papers that satisfied the definition were further evaluated using the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) checklist. The search detected 67 papers that met the inclusion criteria, of which 32 (48%) represented true case-control studies. The frequency of true case-control studies has not changed with time. Use of odds ratios (ORs) and logistic regression (LR) analysis were strong positive predictors of true case-control studies (for odds ratios, OR 15.33 and 95% CI 4.52-51.97; for logistic regression analysis, OR 8.77 and 95% CI 2.69-28.56). Conversely, negative predictors included focus on a procedure/intervention (OR 0.35, 95% CI 0.13-0.998) and use of the word "outcome" in the Results section (OR 0.23, 95% CI 0.082-0.65). After exclusion of nested case-control studies, the negative correlation between focus on a procedure

  18. The contribution of case study design to supporting research on Clubhouse psychosocial rehabilitation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raeburn, Toby; Schmied, Virginia; Hungerford, Catherine; Cleary, Michelle

    2015-10-01

    Psychosocial Clubhouses provide recovery-focused psychosocial rehabilitation to people with serious mental illness at over 300 sites in more than 30 countries worldwide. To deliver the services involved, Clubhouses employ a complex mix of theory, programs and relationships, with this complexity presenting a number of challenges to those undertaking Clubhouse research. This paper provides an overview of the usefulness of case study designs for Clubhouse researchers; and suggests ways in which the evaluation of Clubhouse models can be facilitated. The paper begins by providing a brief explanation of the Clubhouse model of psychosocial rehabilitation, and the need for ongoing evaluation of the services delivered. This explanation is followed by an introduction to case study design, with consideration given to the way in which case studies have been used in past Clubhouse research. It is posited that case study design provides a methodological framework that supports the analysis of either quantitative, qualitative or a mixture of both types of data to investigate complex phenomena in their everyday contexts, and thereby support the development of theory. As such, case study approaches to research are well suited to the Clubhouse environment. The paper concludes with recommendations for future Clubhouse researchers who choose to employ a case study design. While the quality of case study research that explores Clubhouses has been variable in the past, if applied in a diligent manner, case study design has a valuable contribution to make in future Clubhouse research.

  19. Intelligent method of plant dynamics behavior estimation by effectively applying similar cases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gofuku, Akio; Numoto, Atsushi; Yoshikawa, Hidekazu

    1994-01-01

    In order to accomplish efficient execution of a dynamic simulation of engineering systems, it is important to construct suitable mathematical models for the simulation. In the construction of the mathematical models, it is necessary to estimate the system's behavior to suppose the phenomena which are needed to be modeled. The case-based reasoning is considered to be a powerful tool to estimate the outline of system's behavior because we often estimate it from the similar cases which are stored as our experience or in literature. In this study, the technique based on similar cases is investigated to estimate the outline of time-responses of several important variables of pressurized water reactor (PWR) plants at a small break loss of coolant accident (SBLOCA). The registered cases in case base are gathered from various reports and the authors' numerical simulations related with SBLOCA of PWR plants. The functions to use in the case retrieval are formed from the characteristic features of SBLOCA of PWR plants. On the other hand, the rules to use in the case refinement are obtained from the qualitative and quantitative consideration of plants' behaviors of the cases in the case base. The applicability of the technique is discussed by two simple estimation trials of plant behavior. (author)

  20. Applying the WEAP Model to Water Resource

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gao, Jingjing; Christensen, Per; Li, Wei

    efficiency, treatment and reuse of water. The WEAP model was applied to the Ordos catchment where it was used for the first time in China. The changes in water resource utilization in Ordos basin were assessed with the model. It was found that the WEAP model is a useful tool for water resource assessment......Water resources assessment is a tool to provide decision makers with an appropriate basis to make informed judgments regarding the objectives and targets to be addressed during the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) process. The study shows how water resources assessment can be applied in SEA...... in assessing the effects on water resources using a case study on a Coal Industry Development Plan in an arid region in North Western China. In the case the WEAP model (Water Evaluation And Planning System) were used to simulate various scenarios using a diversity of technological instruments like irrigation...

  1. Theoretical Study of the Charge-Transfer State Separation within Marcus Theory: The C60-Anthracene Case Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Volpi, Riccardo; Nassau, Racine; Nørby, Morten Steen; Linares, Mathieu

    2016-09-21

    We study, within Marcus theory, the possibility of the charge-transfer (CT) state splitting at organic interfaces and a subsequent transport of the free charge carriers to the electrodes. As a case study we analyze model anthracene-C60 interfaces. Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulations on the cold CT state were performed at a range of applied electric fields, and with the fields applied at a range of angles to the interface to simulate the action of the electric field in a bulk heterojunction (BHJ) interface. The results show that the inclusion of polarization in our model increases CT state dissociation and charge collection. The effect of the electric field on CT state splitting and free charge carrier conduction is analyzed in detail with and without polarization. Also, depending on the relative orientation of the anthracene and C60 molecules at the interface, CT state splitting shows different behavior with respect to both applied field strength and applied field angle. The importance of the hot CT in helping the charge carrier dissociation is also analyzed in our scheme.

  2. The case study of biomaterials and biominerals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Del Hoyo Martínez, Carmen

    2013-04-01

    The teaching of biomaterials as case study by on-line platform , susceptible to develop both individually and in groups, got different objectives proposed by the European Higher Education System, among which include: participate actively in the teaching-learning process by students, interpreting situations, adapt processes and solutions. It also improves oral and written communication, analytical skills and synthesis and also the ability to think critically. Biomaterials have their origin in biominerals. These are solid inorganic compounds of defined structure, consisting of molecular control mechanisms that operate in biological systems. Its main functions are: structural support, a reservoir of essential elements, sensors, mechanical protection and storage of toxic elements. Following the demand of materials compatible with certain functional systems of our body, developed biomaterials. Always meet the condition of biocompatibility. Should be tolerated by the body and do not provoke rejection. This involves a comprehensive study of physiological conditions and the anatomy of the body where a biomaterial has to be implemented. The possibility of generating new materials from biominerals has a major impact in medicine and other fields could reach as geology, construction, crystallography, etc. While the study of these issues is in its infancy today, can be viewed as an impact on the art and future technology. Planning case study that students would prepare its report for discussion in subgroups. Occurs then the pooling of individual analysis, joint case discussion and adoption by the subgroup of a consensual solution to the problem. The teacher as facilitator and coordinator of the final case analysis, sharing leads to group-wide class and said the unanimous decision reached by the students and gives his opinion on the resolution of the case. REFERENCES D.P. Ausubel. Psicología Educativa. Un punto de vista cognoscitivo. Trillas. Ed. 1983. E.W. Eisner. Procesos

  3. Self-socialization: a case study of a parachute child.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Newman, Philip R; Newman, Barbara M

    2009-01-01

    The theoretical concept of self-socialization suggests that an individual is able to reflect on the self, formulate a vision of a future self, set goals, and take actions that create or alter the developmental trajectory. This case study of a parachute child illustrates how a person constructs her life from a very young age, drawing on a profound capacity for personal agency to overcome obstacles, identify resources, and internalize values to build a life structure. A model of the psychosocial process of self-socialization emerges from this case. Following the disruption of a well-defined trajectory, self-socialization is observed as a sequence of actions, reflection, correction, and new actions. Self-socialization is possible when a strong sense of self-efficacy is applied to attaining internalized values and goals.

  4. Value Assessment of Distribution Network Reconfiguration: A Danish Case Study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vaskantiras, Georgios; You, Shi

    2016-01-01

    . This paper presents a case study-based analysis to explore the potential value of reconfiguration in detail. The study is performed using a 10kV distribution grid of Denmark, while reconfiguration is applied to minimize the energy losses under both normal and post-fault conditions. The results show......Distribution network reconfiguration is a mechanism that can improve the distribution system performance from multiple perspectives. In the context of smart grid wherein the degrees of automation and intelligence are high, the potential value of network reconfiguration can be significant...

  5. Reflections on Tutoring Ancient Greek Philosophy: A Case Study of Teaching First-Year Undergraduates in the UK

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vázquez, Daniel

    2014-01-01

    This is a case study of my reflections on teaching a first-year undergraduate tutorial on Ancient Greek Philosophy in the UK. This study draws upon the notion of reflective practice as an essential feature of teaching, in this case applied to Higher Education. My aim is to show how a critical engagement with my teaching practices and the overall…

  6. Apply Lean Thinking in Project Management

    OpenAIRE

    Pham Ngoc, Lan

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this thesis was to study the effects of Lean Thinking in Project Management and how applying Lean Project Management could enhance the productivity of project work. The study was carried using theoretical research and collecting empirical data from three interviews and one case study at a local company. At the end of the study, the major project management problems at the company were identified and analyzed following Lean Principles. It was also pointed out where there...

  7. The "UIC German" Game App for the Enhancement of Foreign Language Learning--Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ryder, Robert; Machajewski, Szymon

    2017-01-01

    This qualitative case study reports the adoption of gamification in a college level foreign language courses. An exploratory approach allows the authors to describe how gamification was applied and what results were documented. A custom mobile app was adopted to increase engagement and interest of students in the specific field of study. External…

  8. Case Study: Mini-Case Studies: Small Infusions of Active Learning for Large-Lecture Courses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carloye, Lisa

    2017-01-01

    In this article, the author introduces the usage of case studies to be an excellent method for engaging students through stories. The author notes she developed a series of mini-case studies that can be implemented, with a little advance preparation, within a 10- to 15-minute window during lecture. What makes them "mini" case studies?…

  9. The Affordable Care Act: a case study for understanding and applying complexity concepts to health care reform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larkin, D Justin; Swanson, R Chad; Fuller, Spencer; Cortese, Denis A

    2016-02-01

    The current health system in the United States is the result of a history of patchwork policy decisions and cultural assumptions that have led to persistent contradictions in practice, gaps in coverage, unsustainable costs, and inconsistent outcomes. In working toward a more efficient health system, understanding and applying complexity science concepts will allow for policy that better promotes desired outcomes and minimizes the effects of unintended consequences. This paper will consider three applied complexity science concepts in the context of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA): developing a shared vision around reimbursement for value, creating an environment for emergence through simple rules, and embracing transformational leadership at all levels. Transforming the US health system, or any other health system, will be neither easy nor quick. Applying complexity concepts to health reform efforts, however, will facilitate long-term change in all levels, leading to health systems that are more effective, efficient, and equitable. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  10. Management of information security risks in a federal public institution: a case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jackson Gomes Soares Souza

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Public institutions bound to the Brazilian federal public sector must apply security measures, policies, procedures and guidelines as information assets protection measures. This case study sought to determine whether the management of information security risks is applied in a federal public institution according to Information Technology (I.T. managers perceptions and the results expose the importance of the roles played by people, responsibilities, policies, standards, procedures and their implementation aiming greater control of information security risks and opportunities related to information technology security.

  11. BioFleet case studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2007-01-01

    These six case studies examined the use of different biodiesel blends as fuel supply sources for businesses in British Columbia (BC). In the first case study, 6 municipalities participated in a pilot program designed to compare the performance of biodiesel and diesel fuels. Each municipality operated 2 base vehicles running on conventional diesel along with 2 similar vehicles which used biodiesel. Real time emissions tests and analyses of the vehicles using biodiesel were also conducted by 2 of the participating municipalities. All municipalities participating in the study agreed to purchase significant volumes of biodiesel. The second case study described a pilot study conducted by the City of Vancouver's equipment services branch in 2004. As a result of the study, the city now has over 530 types of equipment that use biodiesel. The third case study described a program designed by TSI Terminals in Vancouver to assess the emission reduction impact of using biodiesel at its port facility. Six different pieces of equipment were used to confirm that biodiesel could be used throughout the terminal. Test results confirmed that biodiesel blends could be used to reduce emissions. Overall emissions were reduced by 30 per cent. The fourth case study described a waste renderer that used a fleet of 36 trucks to deliver raw products to its plants. The company made the decision to use only biodiesel for its entire fleet of trucks. Since July 2005, the company has logged over 1.7 million km using biodiesel blends. The fifth case study described a salmon hatchery that switched from diesel to biodiesel in order to reduce emissions. The biodiesel blends are used to fuel the hatchery's 2 diesel generators. The hatchery has reduced emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) by an estimated 1800 tonnes annually. The sixth case study described how the Township of Langley has started using biodiesel for its entire fleet of of approximately 250 pieces of equipment. The township has not

  12. Retail optimization in Romanian metallurgical industry by applying of fuzzy networks concept

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ioana Adrian

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Our article presents possibilities of applying the concept Fuzzy Networks for an efficient metallurgical industry in Romania. We also present and analyze Fuzzy Networks complementary concepts, such as Expert Systems (ES, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP, Analytics and Intelligent Strategies (SAI. The main results of our article are based on a case study of the possibilities of applying these concepts in metallurgy through Fuzzy Networks. Also, it is presented a case study on the application of the FUZZY concept on the Romanian metallurgical industry.

  13. Noise resistance applied to the study of zinc rich paints

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Espada Recarey, L.; Sanchez Bermudez, A.; Urrejola Madrinan, S.; Bouzada Alvela, F.

    2001-01-01

    Electrochemical Noise has been one of the more useful analysis methods to the study the corrosion processes due to the fact that it is simple and cheap. The objective of this work is to check the efficiency of this technique when it is applied to the study of Rich Zinc Paints and specifically the Noise Resistance parameter which is very efficiency to study metal-electrolyte systems. Then this technique was applied to Rich Zinc Paints systems of which we have already information by means of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The outcomes of this paper show the efficiency of applying Noise Resistance technique to explain the behavior of this kind of systems. (Author) 18 refs

  14. Cost-Benefit Analysis of Financial Regulation: Case Studies and Implications

    OpenAIRE

    Coates, John

    2015-01-01

    Some members of Congress, the D.C. Circuit, and legal academia are promoting a particular, abstract form of cost-benefit analysis for financial regulation: judicially enforced quantification. How would CBA work in practice, if applied to specific, important, representative rules, and what is the alternative? Detailed case studies of six rules – (1) disclosure rules under Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404, (2) the SEC’s mutual fund governance reforms, (3) Basel III’s heightened capital requirements f...

  15. The assessment of scientific research: a case-study of CERN

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martin, B.R.; Minchin, Nigel; Skea, Jim; Peacock, Tim; Crouch, David

    1987-01-01

    The review aims to demonstrate that formal methods of evaluating research performance can play a valuable role in overcoming some of the problems with decision-making in basic science based on peer review. An approach which combines a number of research output indicators, including bibliometric measures derived from publication and citation analysis, is first outlined and then applied in a case study of the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, CERN, over the period 1961-1984. (author)

  16. Workspace Design: A case study applying participatory design principles of healthy workplaces in an industrial setting

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Broberg, Ole

    2010-01-01

    The Danish Workspace Design (WSD) research program is aimed to develop and trial a potential new concept for ergonomists and other workplace consultants who are to engage in socio-technical design processes. The objective of this paper is to report on the trial of the workspace design concept...... in a case involving the design and implementation of a new mixing technology in an industrial plant. The case showed how the WSD concept can contribute to an engineering design process. The WSD team took the role as workspace designer and by the participatory workshops achieved an impact on the technology...... project. In the role as workspace designer it was important for the WSD team to make sure that the achievements in the workshops were “transmitted” to and sustained in the ordinary engineering design process. In this case, it turned out that the artefacts such as a layout game board and documents...

  17. Innovative Solutions for Companies to Reduce Gender Gaps (UK Study Case)

    OpenAIRE

    Andrei ANGHELUTA; Larisa MIHOREANU; Carmen COSTEA

    2016-01-01

    For many years the gender gap has been a complex reality having economic implications and social decisiveness. No matter the percentage recently decreased, we still confront with social discriminations. In this paper we focused on the UK labour market so we developed a case study for a logistics company, using classification of the employees in different pay bands. Based on this study we created a state of the art human resource tool that can be applied worldwide and that help firms to analys...

  18. Describing Case Study Method and Identifying the Factors that Contribute to the Successful Conduct of Case Studies

    OpenAIRE

    Ahmad H. Juma'h; Mustafa Cavus

    2001-01-01

    This article has attempted to describe case study, the limitations and critiques on case study methodology and how the proponents have responded to these. Our special focus have been on the debate on theory building from case study research, and a framework for conducting case study research as well as the factors for a successful case study research. The overall conclusion is that the case study has been inappropriately used to generate theories.

  19. How To Set Up Your Own Small Business. Service Company Case Study. Manufacturing Firm Case Study. Retail Store Case Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fallek, Max

    This collection of case studies is intended for use in a course in setting up a small business. The first, a case study of the process of setting up a service company, covers analyzing the pros and cons of starting one's own business, assessing the competition and local market, and selecting a site for and financing the business. The principal…

  20. Case study of successful weld repair of a storage tank

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sinha, S; Ambrose, S.

    2012-01-01

    Weld repairs or modifications may be required for existing welded structures or components as a result of service damage or failure, or as a result of wear, corrosion or changed service condition. A case study of a repair to a large oil storage tank which failed in Australia by brittle fracture during modification is described to demonstrate the application of basic principles and good practice needed to produce successful repairs/modifications. Prevention of brittle fracture in welded steel structures requires consideration of the toughness at minimum temperature of the weld, the HAZ and the base material itself, applied and residual stress and 'equivalent crack' size. This case shows the importance of residual stress, repair planning and the care needed with old steels.

  1. Rethinking agency and medical adherence technology: applying Actor Network Theory to the case study of Digital Pills.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hurtado-de-Mendoza, Alejandra; Cabling, Mark L; Sheppard, Vanessa B

    2015-12-01

    Much literature surrounding medical technology and adherence posits that technology is a mechanism for social control. This assumes that the medical establishment can take away patients' agency. Although power relationships and social control can play a key role, medical technology can also serve as an agentive tool to be utilized. We (1) offer the alternative framework of Actor Network Theory to view medical technology, (2) discuss the literature on medication adherence and technology, (3) delve into the ramifications of looking at adherence as a network and (4) use Digital Pills as a case study of dispersed agency. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  2. Applied hydraulic transients

    CERN Document Server

    Chaudhry, M Hanif

    2014-01-01

    This book covers hydraulic transients in a comprehensive and systematic manner from introduction to advanced level and presents various methods of analysis for computer solution. The field of application of the book is very broad and diverse and covers areas such as hydroelectric projects, pumped storage schemes, water-supply systems, cooling-water systems, oil pipelines and industrial piping systems. Strong emphasis is given to practical applications, including several case studies, problems of applied nature, and design criteria. This will help design engineers and introduce students to real-life projects. This book also: ·         Presents modern methods of analysis suitable for computer analysis, such as the method of characteristics, explicit and implicit finite-difference methods and matrix methods ·         Includes case studies of actual projects ·         Provides extensive and complete treatment of governed hydraulic turbines ·         Presents design charts, desi...

  3. Theory Testing Using Case Studies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Møller, Ann-Kristina Løkke; Dissing Sørensen, Pernille

    2014-01-01

    The appropriateness of case studies as a tool for theory testing is still a controversial issue, and discussions about the weaknesses of such research designs have previously taken precedence over those about its strengths. The purpose of the paper is to examine and revive the approach of theory...... testing using case studies, including the associated research goal, analysis, and generalisability. We argue that research designs for theory testing using case studies differ from theorybuilding case study research designs because different research projects serve different purposes and follow different...... research paths....

  4. Integrated ground-water monitoring strategy for NRC-licensed facilities and sites: Case study applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Price, V.; Temples, T.; Hodges, R.; Dai, Z.; Watkins, D.; Imrich, J.

    2007-01-01

    This document discusses results of applying the Integrated Ground-Water Monitoring Strategy (the Strategy) to actual waste sites using existing field characterization and monitoring data. The Strategy is a systematic approach to dealing with complex sites. Application of such a systematic approach will reduce uncertainty associated with site analysis, and therefore uncertainty associated with management decisions about a site. The Strategy can be used to guide the development of a ground-water monitoring program or to review an existing one. The sites selected for study fall within a wide range of geologic and climatic settings, waste compositions, and site design characteristics and represent realistic cases that might be encountered by the NRC. No one case study illustrates a comprehensive application of the Strategy using all available site data. Rather, within each case study we focus on certain aspects of the Strategy, to illustrate concepts that can be applied generically to all sites. The test sites selected include:Charleston, South Carolina, Naval Weapons Station,Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, New York,The USGS Amargosa Desert Research Site in Nevada,Rocky Flats in Colorado,C-Area at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, andThe Hanford 300 Area.A Data Analysis section provides examples of detailed data analysis of monitoring data.

  5. Survival analysis for customer satisfaction: A case study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hadiyat, M. A.; Wahyudi, R. D.; Sari, Y.

    2017-11-01

    Most customer satisfaction surveys are conducted periodically to track their dynamics. One of the goals of this survey was to evaluate the service design by recognizing the trend of satisfaction score. Many researchers recommended in redesigning the service when the satisfaction scores were decreasing, so that the service life cycle could be predicted qualitatively. However, these scores were usually set in Likert scale and had quantitative properties. Thus, they should also be analyzed in quantitative model so that the predicted service life cycle would be done by applying the survival analysis. This paper discussed a starting point for customer satisfaction survival analysis with a case study in healthcare service.

  6. Theory testing using case studies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dissing Sørensen, Pernille; Løkke Nielsen, Ann-Kristina

    2006-01-01

    on the strengths of theory-testing case studies. We specify research paths associated with theory testing in case studies and present a coherent argument for the logic of theoretical development and refinement using case studies. We emphasize different uses of rival explanations and their implications for research...... design. Finally, we discuss the epistemological logic, i.e., the value to larger research programmes, of such studies and, following Lakatos, conclude that the value of theory-testing case studies lies beyond naïve falsification and in their contribution to developing research programmes in a progressive......Case studies may have different research goals. One such goal is the testing of small-scale and middle-range theories. Theory testing refers to the critical examination, observation, and evaluation of the 'why' and 'how' of a specified phenomenon in a particular setting. In this paper, we focus...

  7. Use of Comparative Case Study Methodology for US Public Health Policy Analysis: A Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dinour, Lauren M; Kwan, Amy; Freudenberg, Nicholas

    There is growing recognition that policies influence population health, highlighting the need for evidence to inform future policy development and reform. This review describes how comparative case study methodology has been applied to public health policy research and discusses the methodology's potential to contribute to this evidence. English-language, peer-reviewed articles published between 1995 and 2012 were sought from 4 databases. Articles were included if they described comparative case studies addressing US public health policy. Two researchers independently assessed the 20 articles meeting review criteria. Case-related characteristics and research design tactics utilized to minimize threats to reliability and validity, such as the use of multiple sources of evidence and a case study protocol, were extracted from each article. Although comparative case study methodology has been used to analyze a range of public health policies at all stages and levels, articles reported an average use of only 3.65 (out of 10) research design tactics. By expanding the use of accepted research design tactics, public health policy researchers can contribute to expanding the evidence needed to advance health-promoting policies.

  8. Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Flyvbjerg, Bent

    2006-01-01

    This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (a) theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (b) one cannot generalize from a single case, therefore, the single-case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (c) the case study is most...... useful for generating hypotheses, whereas other methods are more suitable for hypotheses testing and theory building; (d) the case study contains a bias toward verification; and (e) it is often difficult to summarize specific case studies. This article explains and corrects these misunderstandings one...

  9. Ransomware: A Research and a Personal Case Study of Dealing with this Nasty Malware

    OpenAIRE

    Azad Ali

    2017-01-01

    Aim/Purpose : Share research finding about ransomware, depict the ransomware work in a format that commonly used by researchers and practitioners and illustrate personal case experience in dealing with ransomware. Background: Author was hit with Ransomware, suffered a lot from it, and did a lot of research about this topic. Author wants to share findings in his research and his experience in dealing with the aftermath of being hit with ransomware. Methodology: Case study. Applying th...

  10. Parallel and distributed processing in two SGBDS: A case study

    OpenAIRE

    Francisco Javier Moreno; Nataly Castrillón Charari; Camilo Taborda Zuluaga

    2017-01-01

    Context: One of the strategies for managing large volumes of data is distributed and parallel computing. Among the tools that allow applying these characteristics are some Data Base Management Systems (DBMS), such as Oracle, DB2, and SQL Server. Method: In this paper we present a case study where we evaluate the performance of an SQL query in two of these DBMS. The evaluation is done through various forms of data distribution in a computer network with different degrees of parallelism. ...

  11. Applying social innovation theory to examine how community co-designed health services develop: using a case study approach and mixed methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farmer, Jane; Carlisle, Karen; Dickson-Swift, Virginia; Teasdale, Simon; Kenny, Amanda; Taylor, Judy; Croker, Felicity; Marini, Karen; Gussy, Mark

    2018-01-31

    Citizen participation in health service co-production is increasingly enacted. A reason for engaging community members is to co-design services that are locally-appropriate and harness local assets. To date, much literature examines processes of involving participants, with little consideration of innovative services are designed, how innovations emerge, develop and whether they sustain or diffuse. This paper addresses this gap by examining co-designed initiatives through the lens of social innovation - a conceptualisation more attuned to analysing grassroots innovation than common health services research approaches considering top-down, technical innovations. This paper considers whether social innovation is a useful frame for examining co-designed services. Eighty-eight volunteer community-based participants from six rural Australian communities were engaged using the same, tested co-design framework for a 12-month design and then 12-month implementation phase, in 24 workshops (2014-16). Mixed, qualitative data were collected and used to formulate five case studies of community co-designed innovations. A social innovation theory, derived from literature, was applied as an analytical frame to examine co-design cases at 3 stages: innovation growth, development and sustainability/diffusion. Social innovation theory was found relevant in examining and understanding what occurred at each stage of innovation development. Innovations themselves were all adaptations of existing ideas. They emerged due to local participants combining knowledge from local context, own experiences and exemplars. External facilitation brought resources together. The project provided a protective niche in which pilot innovations developed, but they needed support from managers and/or policymakers to be implemented; and to be compatible with existing health system practices. For innovations to move to sustainability/diffusion required political relationships. Challenging existing practice

  12. Electrochemical sensors applied to pollution monitoring: Measurement error and gas ratio bias - A volcano plume case study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberts, T. J.; Saffell, J. R.; Oppenheimer, C.; Lurton, T.

    2014-06-01

    There is an increasing scientific interest in the use of miniature electrochemical sensors to detect and quantify atmospheric trace gases. This has led to the development of ‘Multi-Gas' systems applied to measurements of both volcanic gas emissions, and urban air pollution. However, such measurements are subject to uncertainties introduced by sensor response time, a critical issue that has received limited attention to date. Here, a detailed analysis of output from an electrochemical SO2 sensor and two H2S sensors (contrasting in their time responses and cross-sensitivities) demonstrates how instrument errors arise under the conditions of rapidly fluctuating (by dilution) gas abundances, leading to scatter and importantly bias in the reported gas ratios. In a case study at Miyakejima volcano (Japan), electrochemical sensors were deployed at both the crater-rim and downwind locations, thereby exposed to rapidly fluctuating and smoothly varying plume gas concentrations, respectively. Discrepancies in the H2S/SO2 gas mixing ratios derived from these measurements are attributed to the sensors' differing time responses to SO2 and H2S under fluctuating plume conditions, with errors magnified by the need to correct for SO2 interference in the H2S readings. Development of a sensor response model that reproduces sensor t90 behaviour (the time required to reach 90% of the final signal following a step change in gas abundance) during calibration enabled this measurement error to be simulated numerically. The sensor response times were characterised as SO2 sensor (t90 ~ 13 s), H2S sensor without interference (t90 ~ 11 s), and H2S sensor with interference (t90 ~ 20 s to H2S and ~ 32 s to SO2). We show that a method involving data integration between periods of episodic plume exposure identifiable in the sensor output yields a less biased H2S/SO2 ratio estimate than that derived from standard analysis approaches. For the Miyakejima crater-rim dataset this method yields highly

  13. Contradictory values in the process of organizational change: a case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nebojsa Janicijevic

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Values have always been perceived as a guide for action at both individual and organizational levels. By showcasing an example of one Serbian company, the paper aims to present how employees and managers collective values can be inconsistent and contradictory, as well as the causes and effects of such a state of company system of values. The research was conducted by applying a case study method in a Serbian company comprising both qualitative and quantitative research techniques. The company was in the process of intensive organizational changes at the time of the research. The research has shown that it is possible for values of the employees and managers to be contradictory and that this contradiction is caused by radical changes both in the environment and in the organization itself. The research has also shown that this contradiction characterizes the Moving Phase in the process of organizational change, and that it is likely to disappear when company moves into the Refreezing Phase in the change process. The conclusions of this paper imply that the structure of collective values in organizations must be taken into account both in research and in practice of change management. Generalization of conclusions and implications is limited by the nature of the applied case study research method.

  14. Fuzzy-Set Case Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mikkelsen, Kim Sass

    2017-01-01

    Contemporary case studies rely on verbal arguments and set theory to build or evaluate theoretical claims. While existing procedures excel in the use of qualitative information (information about kind), they ignore quantitative information (information about degree) at central points of the analysis. Effectively, contemporary case studies rely on…

  15. Using Significant Geologic Hazards and Disasters to Focus Geoethics Case Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cronin, V. S.

    2015-12-01

    Ethics education since classical times has involved the consideration of stories, parables, myths, fables, allegories and histories. These are the ancient equivalents of case studies. Modern case studies are used in applied-ethics courses in law, engineering, business, and science. When used in a geoscience course, geoethical case studies can enrich a student's understanding of the relationships between issues of geoscience, engineering, sociology, business, public policy and law - all with an ethical dimension. Perhaps more importantly, real cases affected real people. Students develop a strong empathetic connection to the people involved, enhancing students' drive to understand the interconnected layers of the cases. Students might begin to appreciate that geoscientists can help to avoid or alleviate human suffering -- that their careers can have meaning and purpose beyond simply earning a paycheck. Geologic disasters in which losses could have been predicted, avoided or minimized are quite effective as cases. Coupling a "disaster" case with a comparable "hazard" case is particularly effective. For example, there are many places along the San Andreas Fault in California where [1] significant coseismic displacement has occurred during historical times, [2] structures that are still inhabited were built along or across active traces prior to the Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zoning Act in 1971, and [3] inhabited structures have been built legally since 1971 within a few tens of feet of active traces. The question students confront is whether society ought to allow habitable structures to be built very near to a major active fault. This topic allows students to work with issues of law, history, seismology, seismic site response, crustal deformation adjacent to active faults, building codes and, ultimately, ethics. Similar progressions can be developed for other major geologic hazards, both natural and man-made, such as floods, landslides, erosion along rivers and

  16. Case Study: Guidelines for Producing Videos to Accompany Flipped Cases

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prud'homme-Généreux, Annie; Schiller, Nancy A.; Wild, John H.; Herreid, Clyde Freeman

    2017-01-01

    Three years ago, the "National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science" (NCCSTS) was inspired to merge the case study and flipped classroom approaches. The resulting project aimed to create the materials required to teach a flipped course in introductory biology by assigning videos as homework and case studies in the classroom. Three…

  17. UAV archaeological reconstruction: The study case of Chamartin Hillfort (Avila, Spain)

    OpenAIRE

    Muñoz-Nieto, A. L.; Rodriguez-Gonzalvez, P.; Gonzales-Aguilera, D.; Fernandez-Hernandez, J.; Gomez-Lahoz, J.; Picon-Cabrera, I.; Herrero-Pascual, J. S.; Hernandez-Lopez, D.

    2014-01-01

    Photogrammetry from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) is a common technique for 3D modelling in a low-cost way. This technique is becoming essential to analyse the cultural heritage, e.g. historical buildings, monuments and archaeological remains in order not only to preserve them, but for disseminate accurate graphic information. The study case of Chamartin hillfort (Ávila, Spain) provided us the opportunity to apply automation techniques to generate geomatic products with high metric ...

  18. Five misunderstandings about case study research

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Flyvbjerg, Bent

    2004-01-01

    This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (1) Theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (2) One cannot generalize from a single case, therefore the single case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (3) The case study is most...... useful for generating hypotheses, while other methods aremore suitable for hypotheses testing and theory building; (4) The case study contains a bias toward verification; and (5) It is often difficult to summarize specific case studies. The article explains and corrects these misunderstandings one by one...... and concludes with the Kuhnian insight that a scientific discipline without a large number of thoroughly executed case studies is a discipline without systematic production of exemplars, and that a discipline without exemplars is an ineffective one. Social science may be strengthened by the execution of more...

  19. Innovative Solutions for Companies to Reduce Gender Gaps (UK Study Case

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrei ANGHELUTA

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available For many years the gender gap has been a complex reality having economic implications and social decisiveness. No matter the percentage recently decreased, we still confront with social discriminations. In this paper we focused on the UK labour market so we developed a case study for a logistics company, using classification of the employees in different pay bands. Based on this study we created a state of the art human resource tool that can be applied worldwide and that help firms to analyse the root causes and to reduce the gender gap.

  20. Ransomware: A Research and a Personal Case Study of Dealing with this Nasty Malware

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Azad Ali

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Aim/Purpose\t: Share research finding about ransomware, depict the ransomware work in a format that commonly used by researchers and practitioners and illustrate personal case experience in dealing with ransomware. Background: Author was hit with Ransomware, suffered a lot from it, and did a lot of research about this topic. Author wants to share findings in his research and his experience in dealing with the aftermath of being hit with ransomware. Methodology: Case study. Applying the literature review for a personal case study. Contribution: More knowledge and awareness about ransomware, how it attacks peoples’ computers, and how well informed users can be hit with this malware. Findings: Even advanced computer users can be hit and suffer from Ransomware attacks. Awareness is very helpful. In addition, this study drew in chart format what is termed “The Ransomware Process”, depicting in chart format the steps that ransomware hits users and collects ransom. Recommendations for Practitioners\t: Study reiterates other recommendations made for dealing with ransomware attacks but puts them in personal context for more effective awareness about this malware. Recommendation for Researchers: This study lays the foundation for additional research to find solutions to the ransomware problem. IT researchers are aware of chart representations to depict cycles (like SDLC. This paper puts the problem in similar representation to show the work of ransomware. Impact on Society: Society will be better informed about ransomware. Through combining research, illustrating personal experience, and graphically representing the work of ransomware, society at large will be better informed about the risk of this malware. Future Research: Research into solutions for this problem and how to apply them to personal cases.

  1. VIABILITY OF SOME APPLIED COST SYSTEMS IN MANUFACTURING FIRMS: EGYPT'S CASE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karim Mamdouh ABBAS

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available The present study aims to analyze viability of some applied cost systems. The population of the study is some Egyptian manufacturing firms. The number of received questionnaires was 385. The results indicated that , according to the application extent indicator, the currently cost systems in Egyptian manufacturing firms may be descendingly arranged as follows: Activity Based Costing (ABC system, Target Costing (TC system , Resource Consumption Accounting (RCA system, Activity Based Management (ABM ,Other systems, Theory of Constraints (TOC and Value Chain (VC analysis.

  2. Case Study: A Picture Worth a Thousand Words? Making a Case for Video Case Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pai, Aditi

    2014-01-01

    A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words. If a mere picture is worth a thousand words, how much more are "moving pictures" or videos worth? The author poses this not merely as a rhetorical question, but because she wishes to make a case for using videos in the traditional case study method. She recommends four main approaches of…

  3. Diagnostic/prognostic molecular cytogenetic follow-up applied in satellited marker cases

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Papenhausen, P.R.; Anderson, S.

    1994-09-01

    Special caution needs to be exercised in offering a good prognosis in Prader-Willi probe negative 15-derived marker cases, since it is clear that phenotypic effects can still be associated with the apparent presence of proximal sequences. We have had two postnatal cases in this category, one which was inherited from an unaffected paternal (non-mosaic) carrier, possibly demonstrating imprinting effects. Familial studies are continuing in this case. Although the D22/S9 locus appears diagnostic of cateye syndrome (CES), the dual specificity of the 14/22 centromeric probe leaves the possibility of a poor prognosis 14 derivation when the CES probe is negative. Therefore, it is imperative that proximal long arm 13, 14, 21 and more proximal 15 FISH probes be implemented so that a phenotypically correlated database may indicate the proper FISH probes necessary for accurate prognosis. Bisatellited markers is which a bipartite centromeric probe signal was found were considered to be higher risk than those with the single signal in counseling.

  4. Five misunderstandings about Case-study Research

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Flyvbjerg, Bent

    This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (1) Theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (2) One cannot generalize from a single case, therefore the single case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (3) The case study is most...... useful for generating hypotheses, while other methods aremore suitable for hypotheses testing and theory building; (4) The case study contains a bias toward verification; and (5) It is often difficult to summarize specific case studies. The article explains and corrects these misunderstandings one by one...... and concludes with the Kuhnian insight that a scientific discipline without a large number of thoroughly executed case studies is a discipline without systematic production of exemplars, and that a discipline without  exemplars is an ineffective one. Social science may be strengthened by the execution of more...

  5. Conservative management of post-surgical urinary incontinence in an adolescent using applied kinesiology: a case report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cuthbert, Scott C; Rosner, Anthony L

    2011-06-01

    This case report describes the successful treatment of an adolescent female suffering daily stress and occasional total urinary incontinence with applied kinesiology methods and chiropractic manipulative therapy. A 13-year-old female developed unpredictable urinary incontinence and right hip pain immediately following emergency open appendectomy surgery. The patient was forced to wear an incontinence pad throughout the day and night for 10 months because of unpredictable urinary incontinence. ASSESSMENT AND INTERVENTION: Chiropractic and applied kinesiology (AK) methods - a multi-modal diagnostic technique that utilizes manual muscle tests (MMT) for the detection of musculoskeletal impairments and specific AK techniques for correction of identified issues - were utilized to diagnose and treat this patient for muscle impairments in the lumbar spine and pelvis. Patient experienced a rapid resolution of her urinary incontinence and hip pain. A six-year follow-up confirmed complete resolution of symptoms. In this case, utilization of MMT allowed for the identification of several inhibited muscles. Utilizing the appropriate corrective techniques improved the strength of these muscles and resulted in their being graded as facilitated. Symptoms of urinary incontinence and hip pain resolved with this diagnostic and treatment approach. AK methods were useful for the discovery of a number of apparent causative factors underlying this patient's urinary incontinence and hip pain. Treatment for these pelvic-floor muscle and joint abnormalities resulted in rapid, long-lasting resolution of her urinary incontinence and hip pain.

  6. Text mining and visualization case studies using open-source tools

    CERN Document Server

    Chisholm, Andrew

    2016-01-01

    Text Mining and Visualization: Case Studies Using Open-Source Tools provides an introduction to text mining using some of the most popular and powerful open-source tools: KNIME, RapidMiner, Weka, R, and Python. The contributors-all highly experienced with text mining and open-source software-explain how text data are gathered and processed from a wide variety of sources, including books, server access logs, websites, social media sites, and message boards. Each chapter presents a case study that you can follow as part of a step-by-step, reproducible example. You can also easily apply and extend the techniques to other problems. All the examples are available on a supplementary website. The book shows you how to exploit your text data, offering successful application examples and blueprints for you to tackle your text mining tasks and benefit from open and freely available tools. It gets you up to date on the latest and most powerful tools, the data mining process, and specific text mining activities.

  7. Role of nutrition in pre-eclampsia and eclampsia cases, a case control study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Punyatoya Bej

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: Preeclampsia and eclampsia during pregnancy contribute to maternal and fetal morbidity as well as mortality. The identification of the role of maternal nutrition during pregnancy will help in reducing morbidity and mortality. Aims & Objective: The objective of this study is to find out the role of nutrition, in the form of total calorie, protein, fruits, iron, folic acid and calcium intake in the development of preeclampsia and eclampsia among pregnant women in a tertiary level hospital. Material Methods: After ethical approval and informed consent, 122 women who delivered beyond 22 weeks of gestation and diagnosed as preeclampsia or eclampsia were selected. Simultaneously, 122 controls with no diagnosis of preeclampsia or eclampsia were selected from the post natal ward. Cases and controls were administered the same pre-tested questionnaire containing questions related to food and micronutrient intake by cases and control. Results: Logistic regression was applied in the statistical analysis. The factors that were found to be significant predictors of risk for development of preeclampsia and eclampsia were higher calorie intake (adjusted Odds Ratio (OR 14.12 [6.41-43.23] P < 0.001, less protein intake (adjusted OR 3.87 [1.97-8.01] P < 0.001 during pregnancy. Fruits intake in both cases and controls were similar. 77.9% of cases and 84.4% of controls had taken iron tablets during their antenatal period. 75.4% of cases and 82.8% of controls had taken calcium tablets during their antenatal period. Iron and calcium intake is not significantly associated with development of preeclampsia and eclampsia. Conclusion: Higher calorie intake and less protein intake during pregnancy were associated with development of preeclampsia and eclampsia. Fruits intake, iron and calcium intake were not associated with development of preeclampsia and eclampsia

  8. Applying CASE Tools for On-Board Software Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brammer, U.; Hönle, A.

    For many space projects the software development is facing great pressure with respect to quality, costs and schedule. One way to cope with these challenges is the application of CASE tools for automatic generation of code and documentation. This paper describes two CASE tools: Rhapsody (I-Logix) featuring UML and ISG (BSSE) that provides modeling of finite state machines. Both tools have been used at Kayser-Threde in different space projects for the development of on-board software. The tools are discussed with regard to the full software development cycle.

  9. Stress and Coping in Higher Education: A Case Study of a Haitian American Woman Administrator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolfgang, Jeff Drayton; West-Olatunji, Cirecie A.; Overton, Jeanine; Shah, Bindi; Coral, Cristina

    2015-01-01

    The authors applied Relational-Cultural Theory (RCT) to conduct a case study of an Afro-Caribbean woman administrator to explore her perceptions of stress and coping in higher education. While much has been written about the challenges facing Black faculty and students, this study focused on the experiences of a Black woman administrator in a…

  10. A case study on business model innovations using Blockchain: focusing on financial institutions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    JaeShup Oh

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Purpose - Blockchain is a distributed ledger, in which the blocks containing transaction details are connected chronologically to form a series of chains, thus raising the possibility of improving the process and innovating business model for the financial institutions. The purpose of this paper is to study the actual cases of Blockchain applied in Korea in 2017, so that a vision of business model innovation of financial institutions can be drawn. Design/methodology/approach - The financial institutions in Korea are in the technology verification stage to introduce Blockchain technology. Since there is an insufficient amount of actual measurement data, case study method was adopted. The authors interviewed ICT officers of major banks in Korea. The purpose of the interview was to understand the relationship between Blockchain and business models of financial institutions, and the effects and challenges that Blockchain has on the business model of financial institutions. Findings - From the perspective of financial institutions, the emergence of Blockchain does not just have technical significance – emergence of highly efficient database system – but has the possibility that if the business model of existing financial intermediaries disappears or get reduced, the financial services relying on them can disappear altogether, or some of them can be replaced, and financial transaction patterns of consumers can be changed. As a case studies researched for this paper, it was discovered that the distributed characteristic of Blockchain cannot be applied when actually developing financial services.

  11. Governing integration through sports. A case study of civil society involvement in welfare policy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Agergaard, Sine; Michelsen la Cour, Annette

    2012-01-01

    governing techniques of the welfare state. To do so, a case study approach is applied. First of all, the article will describe the ways in which the issues of enhancing ethnic integration through sports is represented (thought of as a problem) by the involved public authorities and non-state actors using...

  12. The Intensive Dysphagia Rehabilitation Approach Applied to Patients With Neurogenic Dysphagia: A Case Series Design Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malandraki, Georgia A; Rajappa, Akila; Kantarcigil, Cagla; Wagner, Elise; Ivey, Chandra; Youse, Kathleen

    2016-04-01

    To examine the effects of the Intensive Dysphagia Rehabilitation approach on physiological and functional swallowing outcomes in adults with neurogenic dysphagia. Intervention study; before-after trial with 4-week follow-up through an online survey. Outpatient university clinics. A consecutive sample of subjects (N=10) recruited from outpatient university clinics. All subjects were diagnosed with adult-onset neurologic injury or disease. Dysphagia diagnosis was confirmed through clinical and endoscopic swallowing evaluations. No subjects withdrew from the study. Participants completed the 4-week Intensive Dysphagia Rehabilitation protocol, including 2 oropharyngeal exercise regimens, a targeted swallowing routine using salient stimuli, and caregiver participation. Treatment included hourly sessions twice per week and home practice for approximately 45 min/d. Outcome measures assessed pre- and posttreatment included airway safety using an 8-point Penetration Aspiration Scale, lingual isometric pressures, self-reported swallowing-related quality of life (QOL), and level of oral intake. Also, patients were monitored for adverse dysphagia-related effects. QOL and adverse effects were also assessed at the 4-week follow-up (online survey). The Intensive Dysphagia Rehabilitation approach was effective in improving maximum and mean Penetration Aspiration Scale scores (PDysphagia Rehabilitation approach was safe and improved physiological and some functional swallowing outcomes in our sample; however, further investigation is needed before it can be widely applied. Copyright © 2016 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Applied Semantic Web Technologies

    CERN Document Server

    Sugumaran, Vijayan

    2011-01-01

    The rapid advancement of semantic web technologies, along with the fact that they are at various levels of maturity, has left many practitioners confused about the current state of these technologies. Focusing on the most mature technologies, Applied Semantic Web Technologies integrates theory with case studies to illustrate the history, current state, and future direction of the semantic web. It maintains an emphasis on real-world applications and examines the technical and practical issues related to the use of semantic technologies in intelligent information management. The book starts with

  14. Model Proposition for the Fiscal Policies Analysis Applied in Economic Field

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Larisa Preda

    2007-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a study about fiscal policy applied in economic development. Correlations between macroeconomics and fiscal indicators signify the first steep in our analysis. Next step is a new model proposal for the fiscal and budgetary choices. This model is applied on the date of the Romanian case.

  15. Breast Cancer and Modifiable Lifestyle Factors in Argentinean Women: Addressing Missing Data in a Case-Control Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coquet, Julia Becaria; Tumas, Natalia; Osella, Alberto Ruben; Tanzi, Matteo; Franco, Isabella; Diaz, Maria Del Pilar

    2016-01-01

    A number of studies have evidenced the effect of modifiable lifestyle factors such as diet, breastfeeding and nutritional status on breast cancer risk. However, none have addressed the missing data problem in nutritional epidemiologic research in South America. Missing data is a frequent problem in breast cancer studies and epidemiological settings in general. Estimates of effect obtained from these studies may be biased, if no appropriate method for handling missing data is applied. We performed Multiple Imputation for missing values on covariates in a breast cancer case-control study of Córdoba (Argentina) to optimize risk estimates. Data was obtained from a breast cancer case control study from 2008 to 2015 (318 cases, 526 controls). Complete case analysis and multiple imputation using chained equations were the methods applied to estimate the effects of a Traditional dietary pattern and other recognized factors associated with breast cancer. Physical activity and socioeconomic status were imputed. Logistic regression models were performed. When complete case analysis was performed only 31% of women were considered. Although a positive association of Traditional dietary pattern and breast cancer was observed from both approaches (complete case analysis OR=1.3, 95%CI=1.0-1.7; multiple imputation OR=1.4, 95%CI=1.2-1.7), effects of other covariates, like BMI and breastfeeding, were only identified when multiple imputation was considered. A Traditional dietary pattern, BMI and breastfeeding are associated with the occurrence of breast cancer in this Argentinean population when multiple imputation is appropriately performed. Multiple Imputation is suggested in Latin America’s epidemiologic studies to optimize effect estimates in the future. PMID:27892664

  16. The spatial prediction of landslide susceptibility applying artificial neural network and logistic regression models: A case study of Inje, Korea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saro, Lee; Woo, Jeon Seong; Kwan-Young, Oh; Moung-Jin, Lee

    2016-02-01

    The aim of this study is to predict landslide susceptibility caused using the spatial analysis by the application of a statistical methodology based on the GIS. Logistic regression models along with artificial neutral network were applied and validated to analyze landslide susceptibility in Inje, Korea. Landslide occurrence area in the study were identified based on interpretations of optical remote sensing data (Aerial photographs) followed by field surveys. A spatial database considering forest, geophysical, soil and topographic data, was built on the study area using the Geographical Information System (GIS). These factors were analysed using artificial neural network (ANN) and logistic regression models to generate a landslide susceptibility map. The study validates the landslide susceptibility map by comparing them with landslide occurrence areas. The locations of landslide occurrence were divided randomly into a training set (50%) and a test set (50%). A training set analyse the landslide susceptibility map using the artificial network along with logistic regression models, and a test set was retained to validate the prediction map. The validation results revealed that the artificial neural network model (with an accuracy of 80.10%) was better at predicting landslides than the logistic regression model (with an accuracy of 77.05%). Of the weights used in the artificial neural network model, `slope' yielded the highest weight value (1.330), and `aspect' yielded the lowest value (1.000). This research applied two statistical analysis methods in a GIS and compared their results. Based on the findings, we were able to derive a more effective method for analyzing landslide susceptibility.

  17. The spatial prediction of landslide susceptibility applying artificial neural network and logistic regression models: A case study of Inje, Korea

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saro Lee

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study is to predict landslide susceptibility caused using the spatial analysis by the application of a statistical methodology based on the GIS. Logistic regression models along with artificial neutral network were applied and validated to analyze landslide susceptibility in Inje, Korea. Landslide occurrence area in the study were identified based on interpretations of optical remote sensing data (Aerial photographs followed by field surveys. A spatial database considering forest, geophysical, soil and topographic data, was built on the study area using the Geographical Information System (GIS. These factors were analysed using artificial neural network (ANN and logistic regression models to generate a landslide susceptibility map. The study validates the landslide susceptibility map by comparing them with landslide occurrence areas. The locations of landslide occurrence were divided randomly into a training set (50% and a test set (50%. A training set analyse the landslide susceptibility map using the artificial network along with logistic regression models, and a test set was retained to validate the prediction map. The validation results revealed that the artificial neural network model (with an accuracy of 80.10% was better at predicting landslides than the logistic regression model (with an accuracy of 77.05%. Of the weights used in the artificial neural network model, ‘slope’ yielded the highest weight value (1.330, and ‘aspect’ yielded the lowest value (1.000. This research applied two statistical analysis methods in a GIS and compared their results. Based on the findings, we were able to derive a more effective method for analyzing landslide susceptibility.

  18. Statistical learning techniques applied to epidemiology: a simulated case-control comparison study with logistic regression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Land Walker H

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background When investigating covariate interactions and group associations with standard regression analyses, the relationship between the response variable and exposure may be difficult to characterize. When the relationship is nonlinear, linear modeling techniques do not capture the nonlinear information content. Statistical learning (SL techniques with kernels are capable of addressing nonlinear problems without making parametric assumptions. However, these techniques do not produce findings relevant for epidemiologic interpretations. A simulated case-control study was used to contrast the information embedding characteristics and separation boundaries produced by a specific SL technique with logistic regression (LR modeling representing a parametric approach. The SL technique was comprised of a kernel mapping in combination with a perceptron neural network. Because the LR model has an important epidemiologic interpretation, the SL method was modified to produce the analogous interpretation and generate odds ratios for comparison. Results The SL approach is capable of generating odds ratios for main effects and risk factor interactions that better capture nonlinear relationships between exposure variables and outcome in comparison with LR. Conclusions The integration of SL methods in epidemiology may improve both the understanding and interpretation of complex exposure/disease relationships.

  19. The sociocultural perspective applied to mobility and road safety: a case study through social networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pilar Parra Contreras

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available This article explores the sociocultural paradigm as a theoretical framework to address mobility and road safety from the social sciences. This approach includes analysis of issues such as the uses and attributes of the car, cultural and social values associated with it, and the implications in processes in structuring and social exclusion. In order to this, we present a case study on alcohol and drugs and driving where we show the demographic, economic and occupational characteristics that mediate the different relation of the people with the car, but also their cultural characteristics, lifestyles and leisure. The research design combines data from a brief online survey with qualitative data such as tastes and preferences, from the social network Facebook. The analysis shows that there are groups of drivers who differ in their patterns of no dissociation in their consumption of alcohol / drugs and driving in terms of classical structural variables and lifestyles that are  reflected in their Facebook likes. The discussion and conclusions examine the need to analyze the social context in which road accident occurs and its usefulness in the design of awareness campaigns and intervention in road safety.

  20. Meeting Teacher Expectations in a DL Professional Development Programme--A Case Study for Sustained Applied Competence as Programme Outcome

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kruger, Cornè Gerda; Van Rensburg, Ona Janse; De Witt, Marike W.

    2016-01-01

    Meeting teacher expectations for a professional development programme (PDP) is expected to strengthen sustainable applied competence as programme outcome since teachers will be more motivated to apply the programme content in practice. A revised distance learning (DL) programme was augmented by a practical component comprising a work-integrated…

  1. IMPORTANCE OF APPLYING DATA ENVELOPMENT ANALYSIS IN CASE OF HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Labas Istvan

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Today, the saying predominates better and better according to which a strong target rationalism has to characterize the higher educational institutions due to the scarce resources and the limitlessness of user demands. Now in Hungary, the funding of higher educational system goes through a total transformation thus the leadership has continuously to reckon with the changes of environment and, in tune with these ones, has to modify the goals existing already. Nowadays, it becomes more and more important to measure the effectiveness of the organizations – organizational units pursuing the same or similar activities relative to each other. Benchmarking helps this procedure. Benchmarking is none other than such a tool of analysis and planning which allows comparing the organizations with the best of the competitors. Applying the method with regard to the higher educational institutions is really nothing but a procedure which focuses on comparing processes and results of the institutions’ different functional areas in order to bring to light the opportunities for the rationality as well as the quality and performance improvement. Those benefits could be managed and used as breakthrough possibilities which have been already developed/applied by other organizations and are given by the way leading to a more effective management.The main goal of my monograph is to show a kind of application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA method in the higher education. DEA itself is a performance measuring methodology which is a part of benchmarking and uses the linear programming as a method. By means of its application, the effectiveness of different decision-making units can be compared numerically. In our forcefully varying environment, the managerial decision making can be largely supported in each case by such information that is numerically able to identify which organizational units and activities are effective or less effective. Its advantage is that

  2. Theoretical pluralism in psychoanalytic case studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willemsen, Jochem; Cornelis, Shana; Geerardyn, Filip M; Desmet, Mattias; Meganck, Reitske; Inslegers, Ruth; Cauwe, Joachim M B D

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this study is to provide an overview of the scientific activity of different psychoanalytic schools of thought in terms of the content and production of case studies published on ISI Web of Knowledge. Between March 2013 and November 2013, we contacted all case study authors included in the online archive of psychoanalytic and psychodynamic case studies (www.singlecasearchive.com) to inquire about their psychoanalytic orientation during their work with the patient. The response rate for this study was 45%. It appears that the two oldest psychoanalytic schools, Object-relations psychoanalysis and Ego psychology or "Classical psychoanalysis" dominate the literature of published case studies. However, most authors stated that they feel attached to two or more psychoanalytic schools of thought. This confirms that the theoretical pluralism in psychoanalysis stretches to the field of single case studies. The single case studies of each psychoanalytic school are described separately in terms of methodology, patient, therapist, or treatment features. We conclude that published case studies features are fairly similar across different psychoanalytic schools. The results of this study are not representative of all psychoanalytic schools, as some do not publish their work in ISI ranked journals.

  3. Theoretical pluralism in psychoanalytic case studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willemsen, Jochem; Cornelis, Shana; Geerardyn, Filip M.; Desmet, Mattias; Meganck, Reitske; Inslegers, Ruth; Cauwe, Joachim M. B. D.

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this study is to provide an overview of the scientific activity of different psychoanalytic schools of thought in terms of the content and production of case studies published on ISI Web of Knowledge. Between March 2013 and November 2013, we contacted all case study authors included in the online archive of psychoanalytic and psychodynamic case studies (www.singlecasearchive.com) to inquire about their psychoanalytic orientation during their work with the patient. The response rate for this study was 45%. It appears that the two oldest psychoanalytic schools, Object-relations psychoanalysis and Ego psychology or “Classical psychoanalysis” dominate the literature of published case studies. However, most authors stated that they feel attached to two or more psychoanalytic schools of thought. This confirms that the theoretical pluralism in psychoanalysis stretches to the field of single case studies. The single case studies of each psychoanalytic school are described separately in terms of methodology, patient, therapist, or treatment features. We conclude that published case studies features are fairly similar across different psychoanalytic schools. The results of this study are not representative of all psychoanalytic schools, as some do not publish their work in ISI ranked journals. PMID:26483725

  4. Comparison of different spatial transformations applied to EEG data: A case study of error processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, Michael X

    2015-09-01

    The purpose of this paper is to compare the effects of different spatial transformations applied to the same scalp-recorded EEG data. The spatial transformations applied are two referencing schemes (average and linked earlobes), the surface Laplacian, and beamforming (a distributed source localization procedure). EEG data were collected during a speeded reaction time task that provided a comparison of activity between error vs. correct responses. Analyses focused on time-frequency power, frequency band-specific inter-electrode connectivity, and within-subject cross-trial correlations between EEG activity and reaction time. Time-frequency power analyses showed similar patterns of midfrontal delta-theta power for errors compared to correct responses across all spatial transformations. Beamforming additionally revealed error-related anterior and lateral prefrontal beta-band activity. Within-subject brain-behavior correlations showed similar patterns of results across the spatial transformations, with the correlations being the weakest after beamforming. The most striking difference among the spatial transformations was seen in connectivity analyses: linked earlobe reference produced weak inter-site connectivity that was attributable to volume conduction (zero phase lag), while the average reference and Laplacian produced more interpretable connectivity results. Beamforming did not reveal any significant condition modulations of connectivity. Overall, these analyses show that some findings are robust to spatial transformations, while other findings, particularly those involving cross-trial analyses or connectivity, are more sensitive and may depend on the use of appropriate spatial transformations. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. A Case Study of the Recognition of the Foundation Degree Qualification for Pharmacy Technicians

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herrera, Helena; Brown, David; Portlock, Jane

    2013-01-01

    The Foundation Degree (FD) is a work-related, intermediate-level higher education qualification. Issues around its recognition can affect success in attracting students where the literature suggests that uptake should be adequate. This research represented a case study which explored for the first time, whether the above applied to the FD for…

  6. Space-Based Space Surveillance Logistics Case Study: A Qualitative Product Support Element Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-12-01

    REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED Joint applied project 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE SPACE-BASED SPACE SURVEILLANCE LOGISTICS CASE STUDY: A QUALITATIVE ...INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK v ABSTRACT This research provides a qualitative analysis of the logistics impacts, effects, and sustainment challenges...provides a qualitative product support element-by-element review for both research questions. Chapters IV and V present the findings, results

  7. 451 Case studies Cardiac

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Marinda

    Case Studies. 29 ... A case of a 26-year-old ASA I physical status male undergoing septoplasty had an abrupt ... myocardial infarction, severe hypertensive crisis, cerebral .... or no formal management is required in an ASA I patient.8 One.

  8. Describing model of empowering managers by applying structural equation modeling: A case study of universities in Ardabil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maryam Ghahremani Germi

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Empowerment is still on the agenda as a management concept and has become a widely used management term in the last decade or so. The purpose of this research was describing model of empowering managers by applying structural equation modeling (SEM at Ardabil universities. Two hundred and twenty managers of Ardabil universities including chancellors, managers, and vice presidents of education, research, and studies participated in this study. Clear and challenging goals, evaluation of function, access to resources, and rewarding were investigated. The results indicated that the designed SEM for empowering managers at university reflects a good fitness level. As it stands out, the conceptual model in the society under investigation was used appropriately. Among variables, access to resources with 88 per cent of load factor was known as the affective variable. Evaluation of function containing 51 per cent of load factor was recognized to have less effect. Results of average rating show that evaluation of function and access to resources with 2.62 coefficients stand at first level. Due to this, they had great impact on managers' empowerment. The results of the analysis provided compelling evidence that model of empowering managers was desirable at Ardabil universities.

  9. Benefit-cost assessment programs: Costa Rica case study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clark, A.L.; Trocki, L.K.

    1991-01-01

    An assessment of mineral potential, in terms of types and numbers of deposits, approximate location and associated tonnage and grades, is a valuable input to a nation's economic planning and mineral policy development. This study provides a methodology for applying benefit-cost analysis to mineral resource assessment programs, both to determine the cost effectiveness of resource assessments and to ascertain future benefits to the nation. In a case study of Costa Rica, the benefit-cost ratio of a resource assessment program was computed to be a minimum of 4:1 ($10.6 million to $2.5 million), not including the economic benefits accuring from the creation of 800 mining sector and 1,200 support services jobs. The benefit-cost ratio would be considerably higher if presently proposed revisions of mineral policy were implemented and benefits could be defined for Costa Rica

  10. Metamorphic Testing Integer Overflow Faults of Mission Critical Program: A Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhanwei Hui

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available For mission critical programs, integer overflow is one of the most dangerous faults. Different testing methods provide several effective ways to detect the defect. However, it is hard to validate the testing outputs, because the oracle of testing is not always available or too expensive to get, unless the program throws an exception obviously. In the present study, the authors conduct a case study, where the authors apply a metamorphic testing (MT method to detect the integer overflow defect and alleviate the oracle problem in testing critical program of Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS. Experimental results show that, in revealing typical integer mutations, compared with traditional safety property testing method, MT with a novel symbolic metamorphic relation is more effective than the traditional method in some cases.

  11. A Case Study: Implementation of a Management System for the TRIGA Mark II Research Reactor at the Laboratory of Applied Nuclear Energy (LENA) of the University of Pavia, Italy. Annex I

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2013-01-01

    This annex provides an example for the implementation of a management system for operating organizations of research reactors, based on a case study in which the implementation of such a system has been completed. The case study relates the experience of the Applied Nuclear Energy Laboratory (hereafter referred to as LENA) of the University of Pavia, Italy. This example is used because of the recent completion of the implementation of an integrated management system, and also because of the specific characteristics of the organization (such as the limited number of staff, limited financial resources, etc.), which are often typical for organizations that operate smaller research reactors. Section I-1 gives a brief presentation of the organization, including the scope of work, the main activities performed, the organizational structure, the identification of interested parties and the applicable requirements and standards. Section I-2 describes the LENA Management System, the reasons for its implementation, the stages of its development and the processes involved. Some practical examples related to the development of the LENA Management System are discussed in Section I-3, indicating the choices made by the organization. In particular, Section I-3.12 shows the correlation between the LENA Management System processes and the processes considered in the main body of this publication.

  12. The Study Of Fiscal Sustainability For The Case Of Overindebted European Countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andreea STOIAN

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available This study aims in analysing the fiscal sustainability for the case of European countries most affected by the economic downturn and sovereign debt: Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain. For that purpose, we apply fiscal reaction function which indicates the speed and the size of government response to shocks on public debt. We use annual data ranged on 1995-2013. The results show that only for the cases of Italy and Portugal governments managed to fulfil the conditions for a sustainable fiscal policy. For these countries, the response is positive and immediate. On contrary, for Ireland we detect a negative reaction in the sense of a decreasing primary surplus to the increase of public debt by 1 p.p.. For the cases of Greece and Spain, the results are not statistically significant and we cannot conclude whether fiscal policy is sustainable or not. But we can emphasize a positive reaction to the increase of public debt cost in the case of Spain.

  13. To what extent does Tobler's law of geography apply to macroecology? A case study using American palms (Arecaceae)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bjorholm, Stine Wendelboe; Svenning, J.-C.; Skov, Flemming

    2008-01-01

    palms (Arecaceae) as an example, we assess the extent to which Tobler's first law applies to species richness and species composition, two fundamental aspects of ecological community structure. To shed light on the mechanisms driving distance decays in community structure, we also quantify the relative......Tobler's first law of geography, 'Everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things' also applies to biological systems as illustrated by a general and strong occurrence of geographic distance decay in ecological community similarity. Using American...

  14. The use of lidar images in Costa Rica : case studies applied in geology, engineering, and archaeology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ruiz, Paulo; Garro, Jose F.; Soto, Gerardo J.

    2014-01-01

    A historical review is made about evolution of technology Lidar (Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging). The improvements of this technology and additions from other technologies are annotated in the last 15 years. The information of the aerial and terrestrial lidar operation, technical parameters for data acquisition and resolutions are presented. The results from four studies are presented in Costa Rica: 1) The discovery of pre-Columbian trails in the area of Volcan Arenal, 2) A case of geological mapping and discovery of new volcanic structures in the North area of the Volcan Poas, 3) The characterization of a landslide near Palmares that represents a hazard for the road network, 4) A detail survey of a pre-Columbian sphere. The results from new Lidar will become more frequent in the following years because its cost will be more affordable. The transference of data between institutions will generate new applications in different fields. (author) [es

  15. Quantitative method for analysis of six anticoagulant rodenticides in faeces, applied in a case with repeated samples from a dog.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seljetun, Kristin Opdal; Eliassen, Elin; Karinen, Ritva; Moe, Lars; Vindenes, Vigdis

    2018-01-17

    Accidental poisoning with anticoagulant rodenticides is not uncommon in dogs, but few reports of the elimination kinetics and half-lives in this species have been published. Our objectives were to develop and validate a new method for the quantification of anticoagulant rodenticides in canine blood and faeces using reversed phase ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) and apply the method on a case of anticoagulant rodenticide intoxication. Sample preparation was liquid-liquid extraction. Six anticoagulant rodenticides were separated using a UPLC ® BEH C 18 -column with a mobile phase consisting of 5 mM ammonium formate buffer pH 10.2 and methanol. MS/MS detection was performed with positive electrospray ionization and two multiple reaction monitoring transitions. The limits of quantification were set at the levels of the lowest calibrator (1.5-2.7 ng/mL or ng/g). The method was successfully applied to a case from a dog accidentally poisoned with anticoagulant rodenticide. Coumatetralyl and brodifacoum concentrations were determined from serial blood and faecal samples. A terminal half-life of at least 81 days for coumatetralyl in blood was estimated, which is longer than previous reported in other species. A slow elimination of brodifacoum from the faeces was found, with traces still detectable in the faeces at day 513. This study offers a new method of detection and quantification of six frequently used anticoagulant rodenticides in canine faeces. Such drugs might cause serious health effects and it is important to be able to detect these drugs, to initiate proper treatment. The very long elimination half-lives detected in our study is important to be aware of in assessment of anticoagulant rodenticide burden to the environment.

  16. Business Ethics and Military Ethics : A Study in Comparative Applied Ethics

    OpenAIRE

    Shaw, William H.

    2012-01-01

    In the past three decades, philosophers have delved into applied ethics, pursuing a surprisingly wide range of practically oriented normative questions, and a number of fields of applied ethical research and teaching are flourishing. There have, however, been few comparative studies of different fields in applied ethics, but such studies can, I believe, teach us something. Accordingly, this essay compares and contrasts business ethics and military ethics as distinct disciplinar...

  17. CASE STUDY

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2011-06-02

    Jun 2, 2011 ... immunosuppression associated with HIV/AIDS puts them at a higher risk of developing oesophageal cancer. 47. CASE STUDY. A 49-year-old man was diagnosed as HIV infected, with a CD4 count of 60 cells/µl. He was started on an antiretroviral treatment regimen comprising zidovudine, lamivudine and ...

  18. Casing study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roche, P.

    2000-12-01

    An unorthodox method of casing drilling used by Tesco Corporation at a gas well in Wyoming to drill deeper using casings as drillpipe is discussed. The process involves either rotating the casing as drill string or using a downhole mud motor to rotate the bit. In this instance, the surface hole and the production hole were casing-drilled to a record 8,312 feet by rotating the casing. The 8 1/2-inch surface hole was drilled with 7-inch casing to 1,200 feet using a Tesco underreamer and a polycrystalline pilot bit; drilling and cementing was completed in 12 1/2 hours. The 6 1/4-inch production hole was drilled with 4 1/2-inch casing and the bottomhole assembly was retrieved after 191 hours rotating. This case was the first in which the entire well was casing-drilled from surface to TD. Penetration rate compared favorably with conventional methods: 12 1/2 hours for casing-drilling to 18.9 hours for conventional drilling, despite the fact that the casing-drilling technology is still in its infancy. It is suggested that casing-drilling has the potential to eliminate the need for the drillpipe entirely. If these expectations were to be realised, casing-drilling could be one of the most radical drilling changes in the history of the oil and gas industry. 1 photo.

  19. A contribution from fundamental and applied technetium chemistry to the nuclear waste disposal safety case

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Totskiy, Yury; Yalcintas, Ezgi; Huber, Florian; Gaona, Xavier; Schaefer, Thorsten; Altmaier, Marcus; Geckeis, Horst [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen (Germany). Inst. for Nuclear Waste Disposal; Kalmykov, Stepan [Lomonosov Moscow State Univ. (Russian Federation)

    2015-07-01

    concentrated solutions over the entire pH range. Complete and improved chemical, thermodynamic and activity (SIT, Pitzer) models were derived. The second part of this work focuses on applied Tc chemistry in near-natural systems. Interaction of Tc(VII) with crystalline rock material from a prospective repository site (Nizhnekansky massif, Russia) and from an underground research laboratory (AespoeHRL, Sweden) were studied. Drilling of the Aespoecores were performed under anoxic conditions. Part of the material was artificially oxidized to test the importance of sample preservation. Batch sorption studies under variation of the Tc(VII) concentration were performed in synthetic groundwater simulate to estimate the retention kinetics and R{sub s} values. For better understanding of the retention mechanisms, advanced surface sensitive analytics (XPS, XANES) were carried out and the data compared to reference systems. Tc migration behavior was further investigated by injections of Tc(VII)-containing groundwater simulant into the natural fracture in the unoxidized Aespoediorite core. The data obtained are compared with the results of batch sorption studies and will be used for subsequent geochemical reactive transport modeling. This work highlights the importance of combining fundamental Tc chemistry and applied studies in order to derive a comprehensive assessment of Tc mobilization and retention processes in support of the nuclear waste disposal Safety Case.

  20. School of English for Applied Economics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lidia K. Raitskaya

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Department of English Language № 5 was created at the Institute of Foreign Economic Relations in 2000, and since 2011 it has been working with the students of the Department of Applied Economics and Commerce. Department of English Language № 5 prepares training materials, multimedia courses, manuals and tutorials based on the up-to-date educational technologies. A series of textbooks and teaching materials was recently published by the Department. They are widely used in teaching business communication for Economists. This series include textbook "Commercial correspondence and documentation in English" by L.K. Raitskaya and L.V. Korovin, textbook "Business English with the use of case studies (case studies" edited by O.V. Desyatova? and textbook "Two-way translation of dialogues commercial content"by O.V. Desyatova.

  1. Usability requirements for buildings: a case study on primary schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duca, Gabriella

    2012-01-01

    This paper concerns an applied research aimed at applying the concept of usability, as derived form the standard ISO 9241/11, in the filed of building design, namely primary schools. Starting from the concept that space characteristics play a very relevant role in learning performances, the study presented here developed an original methodology for the assessment of effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction of buildings hosting primary schools, in order to create a school environment better supporting users in their tasks. Research core is the framework of usability requirements and their related markers, indicators and technical specification that has been formulated in order to check compliance of urban area, building, rooms and architectural details with users needs. Therefore, a detailed task analysis of pupils and teacher tasks has been carried out and two questionnaires addressed to a significant users panel have been formulated for satisfaction survey. Lastly, a matrix for an overall reading of gathered data has been set-up and criteria for usability assessment based on that data has been defined. The whole study has been developed within the case study of a primary school in the Naples city centre, whose contents and results are discussed.

  2. Production Leveling (Heijunka) Implementation in a Batch Production System: A Case Study

    OpenAIRE

    Araujo , Luciano Fonseca; Queiroz , Abelardo Alves

    2009-01-01

    International audience; This paper presents a case study of an implementation of a new method for Production Leveling designed for batch production. It includes prioritizing criteria of products and level production plan. Moreover, it was applied on a subsidiary of a multinational enterprise located on Brazil, which manufacturing processes comprise batch production in a make-to-stock policy. Regarding a qualitative assessment, evidences show that the company had deficient practices related to...

  3. Using Case Studies to Teach About Global Issues, The Sahel: The "Shore" of Disaster

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Susan J.

    1974-01-01

    Sahel is the Arabic word for "shore" and is applied to the Southern belt of the Sahara Desert now undergoing a severe drought. This article describes the lifestyle of a Tuareg herder as he and his family fight for survival. Discussion questions and possible solution to the problems are provided in the case study. (Author/DE)

  4. MRI case studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huggett, S.; Barber, J.

    1989-01-01

    Three case studies are presented to show the value of magnetic resonance imaging used in conjunction with other imaging techniques. In each case MRI proved a vital diagnostic tool and superior to CT in showing firstly the haematoma in a patient with aphasia and right-sided weakness, secondly the size of the disc herniation in a patient with severe leg and ankle pains and thirdly the existence of a metastatic lesion in a patient with a previous history of breast cancer. 11 figs

  5. ENGINEERING APPLIED TO FOOD PRODUCTION FORMULATED BY HYDROLYZED BAGASSE. A CASE OF STUDY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raúl Costales Sotelo

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Some aspects of the engineering applied to the production of formulated food by hydrolyzed bagasse are showed, as an alternative in which fibrous component with increased digestibility constitutes 77% of the portion together with molasses at 15.9%, for almost 93% the total foodstuff potentially possible to be provided for a traditional sugar industry. The others ingredients such as urea, salts and minerals are common in animal diet and also in animal health and physiology. Local agriculture can contribute significantly to this program but is not taken into account in this exercise. This alternative, possible and feasible under Cuban economy conditions is magnified by the argument of operating periods of production facilities during and exceed normal sugar mill campaign for animals confinement periods of 180 days or longer, avoiding not only animals mortality but gaining weight at a rate of 500 g/day in a dry season by the input of 12 kg of formulated product per day. We have a first hydrolyzed plant which represents the beginning of an investment program that covers four more replicates, scattered throughout the national territory and it will significantly reduce food deficits needed by cattle as the main element of care, obtained by dual purpose: milk and meat production.

  6. Quality function deployment in healthcare: a literature review and case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gremyr, Ida; Raharjo, Hendry

    2013-01-01

    This article aims to provide a literature review on the use of quality function deployment (QFD) in healthcare and a case study in order to provide contextual knowledge as a means of improving applications of QFD in healthcare. The literature search was done via Google Scholar, PubMed/MEDLINE, and Web of Science using the keywords "quality function deployment" and "healthcare"; focusing on journal publications and their related citations. The case study was done within a design for Six Sigma project (DFSS) in a Swedish hospital. Empirical data were collected through face-to-face interviews and project documentation. Four potentials (better understanding of customers' needs and wants, identification of opportunities for process improvement, effective system thinking approach, and better communication and more transparent process) and three antecedents (understanding the customer, understanding the customer's needs, and finding ways to prioritize and translate those needs) of QFD application in healthcare were identified from the literature review. From the case study, the application of QFD leads to an increased awareness of a complex multiple-customer concept, traceability of the improvement strategies in a more structured way, and the formation of a new process organization. A time study at one clinic (cardiology) before and after the project within which the QFD was used showed that the time spent on prescription of medication has decreased by more than 20 percent. This has increased the time that doctors can spend with their patients. This paper highlights the potentials and antecedents of applying QFD in healthcare from previous research. Furthermore, the practical findings obtained from applying QFD in the project can also provide some useful insights for practitioners. The novel contribution is two-fold. First, it is the identification of the potentials and antecedents of using QFD in healthcare context. Second, it is the findings and learning from a

  7. Practical considerations for sensitivity analysis after multiple imputation applied to epidemiological studies with incomplete data

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Background Multiple Imputation as usually implemented assumes that data are Missing At Random (MAR), meaning that the underlying missing data mechanism, given the observed data, is independent of the unobserved data. To explore the sensitivity of the inferences to departures from the MAR assumption, we applied the method proposed by Carpenter et al. (2007). This approach aims to approximate inferences under a Missing Not At random (MNAR) mechanism by reweighting estimates obtained after multiple imputation where the weights depend on the assumed degree of departure from the MAR assumption. Methods The method is illustrated with epidemiological data from a surveillance system of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in France during the 2001–2007 period. The subpopulation studied included 4343 HCV infected patients who reported drug use. Risk factors for severe liver disease were assessed. After performing complete-case and multiple imputation analyses, we applied the sensitivity analysis to 3 risk factors of severe liver disease: past excessive alcohol consumption, HIV co-infection and infection with HCV genotype 3. Results In these data, the association between severe liver disease and HIV was underestimated, if given the observed data the chance of observing HIV status is high when this is positive. Inference for two other risk factors were robust to plausible local departures from the MAR assumption. Conclusions We have demonstrated the practical utility of, and advocate, a pragmatic widely applicable approach to exploring plausible departures from the MAR assumption post multiple imputation. We have developed guidelines for applying this approach to epidemiological studies. PMID:22681630

  8. Syndromic analysis in child neuropsychology: A case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Solovieva Yu.

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Background. Neuropsychology is a science with its own specific concepts, terms, and methods of analysis of disturbances in psychological development. One of the essential concepts of neuropsychological methodology, according to A.R. Luria, is that of a neuropsychological syndrome, which takes into account both the functional organization of the brain and the behavioral system. However, this concept isn’t mentioned in the majority of his publications, and thus is not well known by neuropsychologists. There is no clear understanding of this concept within the works of modern neuropsychologists. This omission has a strong influence on the way analysis and interpretation of developmental difficulties is carried out today. Objective. The objective of this study is to present an example of the successful application of qualitative syndromic analysis to the case of a Mexican preschool child with developmental problems and learning disabilities. Design. The clinical analysis was applied to the case of a 6 year old girl with learning disabilities, whose difficulties had been attributed primarily to a low level of general brain activation. Results. The authors assert that the advantages of A.R. Luria’s syndromic approach to clinical cases of difficulties in development and learning disabilities, are that it opens up the potential for finding the general causes on different levels: neuronal maturation, brain mechanisms, activity and personality. Conclusion. The authors conclude that the topic of syndromic analysis in child neuropsychology requires further scientific discussion. The necessity for revising levels of analysis of clinical cases should be taken in account.

  9. COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THREE LINEAR SYSTEM SOLVER APPLIED TO FAST DECOUPLED LOAD FLOW METHOD FOR CONTINGENCY ANALYSIS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Syafii

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the assessment of fast decoupled load flow computation using three linear system solver scheme. The full matrix version of the fast decoupled load flow based on XB methods used in this study. The numerical investigations are carried out on the small and large test systems. The execution time of small system such as IEEE 14, 30, and 57 are very fast, therefore the computation time can not be compared for these cases. Another cases IEEE 118, 300 and TNB 664 produced significant execution speedup. The superLU factorization sparse matrix solver has best performance and speedup of load flow solution as well as in contigency analysis. The invers full matrix solver can solved only for IEEE 118 bus test system in 3.715 second and for another cases take too long time. However for superLU factorization linear solver can solved all of test system in 7.832 second for a largest of test system. Therefore the superLU factorization linear solver can be a viable alternative applied in contingency analysis.

  10. 2016 Annual Conference on Experimental and Applied Mechanics

    CERN Document Server

    Lamberson, Leslie; Kimberley, Jamie; Korach, Chad; Tekalur, Srinivasan; Zavattieri, Pablo; Yoshida, Sanichiro; Lamberti, Luciano; Sciammarella, Cesar; Ralph, W; Singh, Raman; Tandon, Gyaneshwar; Thakre, Piyush; Zavattieri, Pablo; Zhu, Yong; Zehnder, Alan; Zehnder, Alan; Carroll, Jay; Hazeli, Kavan; Berke, Ryan; Pataky, Garrett; Cavalli, Matthew; Beese, Alison; Xia, Shuman; Starman, La; Hay, Jennifer; Karanjgaokar, Nikhil; Quinn, Simon; Balandraud, Xavier; Cloud, Gary; Patterson, Eann; Backman, David

    2017-01-01

    Dynamic Behavior of Materials, Volume 1 of the Proceedings of the 2016 SEM Annual Conference& Exposition on Experimental and Applied Mechanics, the first volume of ten from the Conference, brings together contributions to this important area of research and engineering. The collection presents early findings and case studies on fundamental and applied aspects of Experimental Mechanics, including papers on: Quantitative Visualization Fracture & Fragmentation Dynamic Behavior of Low Impedance Materials Shock & Blast Dynamic Behavior of Composites Novel Testing Techniques Hybrid Experimental & Computational Methods Dynamic Behavior of Geo-materials General Material Behavior.

  11. Improving case study research in medical education: a systematised review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheek, Colleen; Hays, Richard; Smith, Janie; Allen, Penny

    2018-05-01

    Case study research (CSR) is a research approach that guides holistic investigation of a real phenomenon. This approach may be useful in medical education to provide critical analyses of teaching and learning, and to reveal the underlying elements of leadership and innovation. There are variations in the definition, design and choice of methods, which may diminish the value of CSR as a form of inquiry. This paper reports an analysis of CSR papers in the medical education literature. The review aims to describe how CSR has been used and how more consistency might be achieved to promote understanding and value. A systematised review was undertaken to quantify the number of CSR articles published in scholarly medical education journals over the last 10 years. A typology of CSR proposed by Thomas and Myers to integrate the various ways in which CSR is constructed was applied. Of the 362 full-text articles assessed, 290 were excluded as they did not meet the eligibility criteria; 76 of these were titled 'case study'. Of the 72 included articles, 50 used single-case and 22 multi-case design; 46 connected with theory and 26 were atheoretical. In some articles it was unclear what the subject was or how the subject was being analysed. In this study, more articles titled 'case study' failed than succeeded in meeting the eligibility criteria. Well-structured, clearly written CSR in medical education has the potential to increase understanding of more complex situations, but this review shows there is considerable variation in how it is conducted, which potentially limits its utility and translation into education practice. Case study research might be of more value in medical education if researchers were to follow more consistently principles of design, and harness rich observation with connection of ideas and knowledge to engage the reader in what is most interesting. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and The Association for the Study of Medical Education.

  12. Clinico-statistical study on the patients who were applied preoperative CT imaging for dental implant treatment in Iwate Medical University Hospital

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shoji, Satoru; Izumisawa, Mitsuru; Satoh, Hitoshi; Hoshino, Masayuki; Takahashi, Noriaki; Shozushima, Masanori; Nakasato, Tatsuhiko

    2007-01-01

    The diagnosis of jaw bones using X-ray computed tomography (CT) is important to determine placement of dental implants. A Clinico-statistical study were made on 490 cases which applied preoperative dental mutiplannar reconstructing CT (dental MPR) imaging for dental implant treatment in Iwate Medical University Hospital, during a five-year period from 2002 to 2006. The following results were obtained: The 490 cases consisted of 179 males and 311 females. They ranged in age from 16 to 80 years, the average age was 53.6 years old. The largest number of cases were in their 50's and, in most generations, there were more female cases than male. Similar cases have been increasing every year. Most patients were referred from other clinics to our hospital. Of the cases that underwent CT scanning more were mandible than maxilla. Implantation prearranged region revealed a predominance of mandible in anterior teeth, and maxilla in molar teeth. The cases that were using diagnostic surgical stents increased in the first three years, but were constant afterwards. (author)

  13. Qualitative Case Study Guidelines

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-11-01

    Introduction to Sociological Methods. 2nd ed. New York, McGraw-Hill 14. Denzin , N. K. and Lincoln , Y. S. (2011) The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative...The Art of Science. In: Denzin , N. K. and Lincoln , Y. S. (eds.) Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, Sage 19. GAO (1990) Case Study...Rinehart & Winston 39. Stake, R. E. (1994) Case Studies. In: Denzin , N. K. and Lincoln , Y. S. (eds.) Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, Sage

  14. Creating Regional Futures: A Scenario-Based Inter- and Transdisciplinary Case Study as a Model for Applied Student-Centred Learning in Geography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fromhold-Eisebith, Martina; Freyer, Bernhard; Mose, Ingo; Muhar, Andreas; Vilsmaier, Ulli

    2009-01-01

    Human geography students face changing qualification requirements due to a shift towards new topics, educational tasks and professional options regarding issues of spatial development. This "practical turn" raises the importance of inter- and transdisciplinary work, management and capability building skills, with case study projects and…

  15. Big Data Usage Patterns in the Health Care Domain: A Use Case Driven Approach Applied to the Assessment of Vaccination Benefits and Risks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liyanage, H.; Liaw, S-T.; Kuziemsky, C.; Mold, F.; Krause, P.; Fleming, D.; Jones, S.

    2014-01-01

    Summary Background Generally benefits and risks of vaccines can be determined from studies carried out as part of regulatory compliance, followed by surveillance of routine data; however there are some rarer and more long term events that require new methods. Big data generated by increasingly affordable personalised computing, and from pervasive computing devices is rapidly growing and low cost, high volume, cloud computing makes the processing of these data inexpensive. Objective To describe how big data and related analytical methods might be applied to assess the benefits and risks of vaccines. Method: We reviewed the literature on the use of big data to improve health, applied to generic vaccine use cases, that illustrate benefits and risks of vaccination. We defined a use case as the interaction between a user and an information system to achieve a goal. We used flu vaccination and pre-school childhood immunisation as exemplars. Results We reviewed three big data use cases relevant to assessing vaccine benefits and risks: (i) Big data processing using crowd-sourcing, distributed big data processing, and predictive analytics, (ii) Data integration from heterogeneous big data sources, e.g. the increasing range of devices in the “internet of things”, and (iii) Real-time monitoring for the direct monitoring of epidemics as well as vaccine effects via social media and other data sources. Conclusions Big data raises new ethical dilemmas, though its analysis methods can bring complementary real-time capabilities for monitoring epidemics and assessing vaccine benefit-risk balance. PMID:25123718

  16. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies - Vol 31 ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies. ... Object marking restrictions on Shona causative and applicative constructions · EMAIL ... A problem-oriented, form-focused course design for teaching isiZulu as an additional ...

  17. Leadership Strategies for Department Chairs and Program Directors: A Case Study Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Comer, Robert W.; Haden, N. Karl; Taylor, Robert L.; Thomas, D. Denee

    2002-01-01

    Reviews leadership challenges and management concepts in academic dentistry as they were applied in a case-based faculty development workshop, in order to provide a foundation for three cases that follow in subsequent articles. The workshop was structured to address leadership challenges relating to managing people, mission management, conflict…

  18. E-BANKING: A CASE STUDY OF ASKARI COMMERCIAL BANK PAKISTAN

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhammad Shakil AHMAD

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper has covered the operational issues related to e-banking as well as customer’s perception on usage of e-banking a case study of Askari Bank, Pakistan. 40 staff members and four customers are selected as sample for this study. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used to present the results. Descriptive statistics is applied to describe the demographic variables while for operational problems correlation was used. Finally cross case analysis present customers’ perception about e-banking practices. Analysis shows that customer is not ready to adopt new technology that why their satisfaction level with e-banking is low. Internet speed and government policies are not supportive for e-banking in Pakistan. Due to lack of trust on technology and low computer literacy rate, customer hesitates to adopt new technology. : In order to promote IT culture in Pakistan, government has to reduce the internet rate. to promote the benefits of e-banking on media so that more user get facilitated from e-banking services.

  19. A case study of cost-efficient staffing under annualized hours.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Veen, Egbert; Hans, Erwin W; Veltman, Bart; Berrevoets, Leo M; Berden, Hubert J J M

    2015-09-01

    We propose a mathematical programming formulation that incorporates annualized hours and shows to be very flexible with regard to modeling various contract types. The objective of our model is to minimize salary cost, thereby covering workforce demand, and using annualized hours. Our model is able to address various business questions regarding tactical workforce planning problems, e.g., with regard to annualized hours, subcontracting, and vacation planning. In a case study for a Dutch hospital two of these business questions are addressed, and we demonstrate that applying annualized hours potentially saves up to 5.2% in personnel wages annually.

  20. ANTI-DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICE AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT : A case study of a clubhouse community

    OpenAIRE

    Louko, Tiina

    2011-01-01

    Louko, Tiina. Anti-discriminatory practice and community development - A case study of a clubhouse community. Järvenpää, Spring 2011, 54 p. Diaconia University of Applied Sciences, Diak South Järvenpää. Degree Programme in Social Services. Bachelor´s Degree in Social Services. This study was conducted in the context of Eastern Helsinki Clubhouse, which is a community for mental health rehabilitees. The purpose of the research was to describe the clubhouse community from the aspects o...

  1. Experiencing conceptual change about teaching: A case study from astronomy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bailey, Janelle M.; Nagamine, Kentaro

    2012-06-01

    Understanding faculty motivations for and barriers to change is an important component of facilitating instructional reform efforts to improve student learning. This case study describes the process of adoption of learner-centered instructional strategies by an astronomy faculty member, Ken, as viewed through the lens of conceptual change. Specifically, we applied the Cognitive Reconstruction of Knowledge Model (CRKM) to understand why Ken was willing to change his instructional strategies, what barriers to and supports for change existed, and how he and his students were impacted by this change. Ken's statements and actions represented characteristics consistent with the CRKM. Notably, dissatisfaction, considered the primary motivator in many conceptual change models, was not of high importance in this case. Upon implementing learner-centered strategies, Ken's students performed better on a measure of knowledge about stellar properties, which served to reinforce his motivation to continue with learner-centered methods.

  2. Risk factors and therapy for goat mastitis in a hospital-based case-control study in Bangladesh.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koop, Gerrit; Islam, Md Nurul; Rahman, Md Mizanur; Khatun, Momena; Ferdous, Jinnat; Sayeed, Md Abu; Islam, Shariful; Ahaduzzaman, Md; Akter, Sazeda; Mannan, Abdul; Hassan, Mohammad Mahmudul; Dissanayake, Ravi; Hoque, Md Ahasanul

    2016-02-01

    Bangladesh has a large population of goats, which contribute to the income, nutrition and welfare of the households of many families. Mastitis in goats has a low incidence, but is often very severe, making veterinary care necessary. The aim of this study was to identify seasonality and risk factors for goat mastitis in a hospital-based matched case-control study in a teaching veterinary hospital in Chittagong, Bangladesh and to describe the range of antimicrobial treatments applied in this situation. Cases of mastitis and controls were drawn from the hospital patient recording system, along with their risk factor status. Multiple imputation was applied to deal with the missing values in the data analysis. Mastitis occurred somewhat more in the rainy season, and comprised about 3% of all goats admitted to the hospital during January 2011-June 2014. Free-ranging farming system, poor body condition score and non-native goat breeds were significantly associated with case status. Treatment of clinical mastitis was variable and unsystematic, but the use of gentamicin was commonly recorded. The need for more prudent and evidence-based antimicrobial therapies is discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Case Study: The Chemistry of Cocaine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dewprashad, Brahmadeo

    2011-01-01

    This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. This month's case study focuses on the chemistry of cocaine to teach a number of core concepts in organic chemistry. It also requires that students read and analyze an original research paper on…

  4. Agile software development and the barriers to transfer of knowledge: An interpretive case study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Heeager, Lise Tordrup; Nielsen, Peter Axel

    2013-01-01

    Agile practices to systems development are believed to depend largely on the developers’ competences, experience and knowledge and to a lesser degree on formal development processes and methods. In this paper we investigate the knowledge transfer and barriers to the transfer of agile development ...... to explain knowledge transfer and barriers, and (2) specifically explicate potential barriers hindering knowledge transfer of agile practices. This has implications for the implementation of agile development practices.......Agile practices to systems development are believed to depend largely on the developers’ competences, experience and knowledge and to a lesser degree on formal development processes and methods. In this paper we investigate the knowledge transfer and barriers to the transfer of agile development...... practices in an interpretive case study. The case company is a pharmaceutical firm where we studied how they develop software and how they transfer their own experience. Based on the literature we develop an initial framework of barriers to knowledge transfer and apply it to interpret the case study. From...

  5. ANP applied to electronics engineering project selection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Habib, M.

    2010-01-01

    Project selection in Electronics engineering is a complex decision-making process. This research paper illustrates an application of ANP/AHP process. The AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) is employed to break down large unstructured decision problems into manageable and measureable components. The ANP, as the general form of AHP, is powerful to deal with complex decisions where interdependence exists in a decision model. The research paper discusses the use of the ANP, a general form of Saaty's analytic Network process, as a model to evaluate the value of competing Electronics projects. The research paper concludes with a case study describing the implementation of this model at an engineering college, including data based on the actual use of the decision making model. The case study helps to verify that AHP is an effective and efficient decision-making tool. A major contribution of this work is to provide a methodology for assessing the best project. Despite a number of publications applying AHP in project selection, this is probably the first time that an attempt has been made to apply AHP in an electronics project selection in an engineering university environment. (author)

  6. eCompetence Case Studies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Helle Bækkelund

    2006-01-01

    In this paper we present some details of the processes undertaken in the European eCompetence Initiative. We present two illustrative and representative case studies. The research aims to identify and understand patterns of individual and organisational eCompetence approaches.......In this paper we present some details of the processes undertaken in the European eCompetence Initiative. We present two illustrative and representative case studies. The research aims to identify and understand patterns of individual and organisational eCompetence approaches....

  7. Case Study Methodology and Homelessness Research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jill Pable

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes the potential suitability of case study methodology for inquiry with the homeless population. It references a research study that uses case study research method to build theory. This study's topic is the lived experience of destitute individuals who reside in homeless shelters, and explores the homeless shelter built environment's potential influence on resident satisfaction and recovery. Case study methodology may be appropriate because it explores real-life contextual issues that characterize homelessness and can also accommodate the wide range of homeless person demographics that make this group difficult to study in a generalized fashion. Further, case study method accommodates the need within research in this area to understand individualized treatments as a potential solution for homelessness.

  8. Assembling a Case Study Tool Kit: 10 Tools for Teaching with Cases

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prud'homme-Généreux, Annie

    2017-01-01

    This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. The author shares the strategies and tools that teachers can use to manage a case study classroom effectively.

  9. Sustainability, resilience and governance of an urban food system: a case study of peri-urban Wuhan

    OpenAIRE

    Dolley, Jonathan

    2017-01-01

    While it is clear that urban food systems need to be made resilient so that broader sustainability\\ud goals can be maintained over time, it has been a matter of debate as to how resilience should be\\ud conceptualised when applied to social-ecological systems. Through a case study of peri-urban\\ud Wuhan, this research develops and applies a resilience based conceptual framework for periurban\\ud food systems analysis in order to explore the potential for an enhanced understanding of\\ud resilien...

  10. On misunderstandings in connection with case-studies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Flyvbjerg, Bent

    2005-01-01

    This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (1) Theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (2) One cannot generalize from a single case, therefore the single case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (3) The case study is most...

  11. Native flora rescue program: GASENE project case study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Serricchio, Claudio; Caldas, Flaviana V [PETROBRAS, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Akahori, Lisa [Telsan, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Jacomelli, Junior, Jose Almir [AGF Engenharia, Araucaria, PR (Brazil)

    2009-07-01

    Concerning the surrounding flora, the implementation of pipelines may cause fragmentation and isolation of the remaining natural vegetation, possibly changing the forest structure; thus raising the border effect; modifying the ratio of species and life forms, decreasing the vegetal diversity and/or causing a lack of connectivity among the remaining indigenous forest resources. In the case of pipelines, the most important environmental measure intended to mitigate the damage caused to the flora is the adoption of Indigenous Flora Rescue Programs. This paper is aimed at analyzing the programs currently applied during the implementation of the GASENE project, by conducting a case study. The main targets of such program are obtaining seeds and fruits with a view to subsidize the potential production of sapling to be further employed in the recovery of areas impacted by the pipeline works; and then relocate the most significant samples of species rescued from the suppressed areas in order to comprise forest areas adjacent to the pipeline's right-of-way. The programs had little differences in their methodology while being implemented, however, we consider that up to the present moment the results obtained in the preservation of species of native flora have been satisfactory. (author)

  12. [Applying Ethics, Placating Ethics, or Applying ourselves to Ethics? A Critical View of Environmental Ethics as Applied Ethics].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Serani Merlo, Alejandro

    2016-01-01

    There is actually a pervasive tendency to consider environmental ethics and bioethics as specific cases pertaining to a supposed kind of ″applied ethics″. Application can be understood in two different meanings: a concrete sense, as in technical applications, and a psychological meaning, as when we mentally apply ourselves to a task. Ethics has been always thought as a practical knowledge, in a ″praxical″ sense and not in a ″poietic″ one. Ethics has to do with ″ends″ not with ″means″; in this sense ethics is ″useless″. Since ethics has to do with the ultimate meaning of things, ethical choices give meaning to all practical activities. In that sense ethics instead of being useless must be considered as ″over-useful″ (Maritain). Nowadays politics tend to instrumentalize ethics in order to political objectives. The consequence has been the reconceptualization of specific ethics as applied ethics. Environmental ethics and bioethics are then submitted to politics following the logic of technical applications. Environmental ethics and bioethics considered as applied ethics are at risk to becoming not only useless, but also meaningless.

  13. Qualitative Case Study Research as Empirical Inquiry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellinger, Andrea D.; McWhorter, Rochell

    2016-01-01

    This article introduces the concept of qualitative case study research as empirical inquiry. It defines and distinguishes what a case study is, the purposes, intentions, and types of case studies. It then describes how to determine if a qualitative case study is the preferred approach for conducting research. It overviews the essential steps in…

  14. Social marketing's unique contribution to mental health stigma reduction and HIV testing: two case studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thackeray, Rosemary; Keller, Heidi; Heilbronner, Jennifer Messenger; Dellinger, Laura K Lee

    2011-03-01

    Since its inception in 2005, articles in Health Promotion Practice's social marketing department have focused on describing social marketing's unique contributions and the application of each to the practice of health promotion. This article provides a brief review of six unique features (marketing mix, consumer orientation, segmentation, exchange, competition, and continuous monitoring) and then presents two case studies-one on reducing stigma related to mental health and the other a large-scale campaign focused on increasing HIV testing among African American youth. The two successful case studies show that social marketing principles can be applied to a wide variety of topics among various population groups.

  15. Architecture and Design for Virtual Conferences: A Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrew Sempere

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a case study of the design issues facing a large multi-format virtual conference. The conference took place twice in two different years, each time using an avatar-based 3D world with spatialized audio including keynote, poster and social sessions. Between year 1 and 2, major adjustments were made to the architecture and design of the space, leading to improvement in the nature of interaction between the participants. While virtual meetings will likely never supplant the effectiveness of face-to-face meetings, this paper seeks to outline a few design principles learned from this experience, which can be applied generally to make computer mediated collaboration more effective.

  16. Applying Pareto multi-criteria decision making in concurrent engineering: A case study of polyethylene industry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akbar A. Tabriz

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Concurrent engineering (CE is one of the widest known techniques for simultaneous planning of product and process design. In concurrent engineering, design processes are often complicated with multiple conflicting criteria and discrete sets of feasible alternatives. Thus multi-criteria decision making (MCDM techniques are integrated into CE to perform concurrent design. This paper proposes a design framework governed by MCDM technique, which are in conflict in the sense of competing for common resources to achieve variously different performance objectives such as financial, functional, environmental, etc. The Pareto MCDM model is applied to polyethylene pipe concurrent design governed by four criteria to determine the best alternative design to Pareto-compromise design.

  17. Methodology for the case studies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Smits, M.J.W.; Woltjer, G.B.

    2017-01-01

    This document is about the methodology and selection of the case studies. It is meant as a guideline for the case studies, and together with the other reports in this work package can be a source of inform ation for policy officers, interest groups and researchers evaluating or performing impact

  18. Performable Case Studies in Ethics Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robeson, Richard; King, Nancy M P

    2017-09-12

    Bioethics education often includes the study of short stories, novels, plays, and films, because such materials present case examples that can highlight relevant issues and questions especially vividly for a wide range of students. In addition, creative writing is widely used in the education of health professional students and in continuing education settings for health professionals. There are very few academic or professional disciplines that do not use case studies, but the case study in dialogic form has not been standard practice for thousands of years. Dramatic arts casuistry-the creation and performance of short case studies designed specifically to raise bioethics issues for discussion-represents an application of literature and the medical humanities that is both unique and uniquely valuable. This essay describes the development and history of a course that has been successfully taught to medical students and graduate bioethics students, in which the class researches, writes, and performs a case study designed to elicit reflection and discussion about a topic and set of bioethics issues of current interest to both academic and general audiences. The model is also suited to the presentation and discussion of existing case studies, both live and via on-demand audio.

  19. Emotion, Engagement, and Case Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herreid, Clyde Freeman; Terry, David R.; Lemons, Paula; Armstrong, Norris; Brickman, Peggy; Ribbens, Eric

    2014-01-01

    Three college faculty taught large general biology classes using case studies and personal response systems (clickers). Each instructor taught the same eight cases in two different sections, except the questions within the cases differed. In one section the questions were lower order (LO) factual inquiries, and in the other they were largely…

  20. Chair Report Consultancy Meeting on Nuclear Security Assessment Methodologies (NUSAM) Transport Case Study Working Group

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shull, Doug [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

    2015-08-19

    The purpose of the consultancy assignment was to (i) apply the NUSAM assessment methods to hypothetical transport security table top exercise (TTX) analyses and (ii) document its results to working materials of NUSAM case study on transport. A number of working group observations, using the results of TTX methodologies, are noted in the report.

  1. Using Correspondence Analysis in Multiple Case Studies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kienstra, Natascha; van der Heijden, Peter G.M.

    2015-01-01

    In qualitative research of multiple case studies, Miles and Huberman proposed to summarize the separate cases in a so-called meta-matrix that consists of cases by variables. Yin discusses cross-case synthesis to study this matrix. We propose correspondence analysis (CA) as a useful tool to study

  2. Using correspondence analysis in multiple case studies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kienstra, N.H.H.; van der Heijden, P.G.M.

    2015-01-01

    In qualitative research of multiple case studies, Miles and Huberman proposed to summarize the separate cases in a so-called meta-matrix that consists of cases by variables. Yin discusses cross-case synthesis to study this matrix. We propose correspondence analysis (CA) as a useful tool to study

  3. Teaching Business French through Case Studies: Presentation of a Marketing Case.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Federico, Salvatore; Moore, Catherine

    The use of case studies as a means for teaching business French is discussed. The approach is advocated because of the realism of case studies, which are based on actual occurrences. Characteristics of a good case are noted: it tells a story, focuses on interest-arousing issues, is set in the past 10 years, permits empathy with the main…

  4. Case Study: Puttin' on the Ritz: How to Put Science into Cases

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herreid, Clyde Freeman

    2017-01-01

    There are multiple ways to put science into a case. This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. This month's issue discusses different ways of presenting science in case studies.

  5. 2014 Annual Conference on Experimental and Applied Mechanics

    CERN Document Server

    Korach, Chad; Zavattieri, Pablo; Prorok, Barton; Grande-Allen, K; Carroll, Jay; Daly, Samantha; Qi, H; Antoun, Bonnie; Hall, Richard; Lu, Hongbing; Arzoumanidis, Alex; Silberstein, Meredith; Furmanski, Jevan; Amirkhizi, Alireza; Gonzalez-Gutierrez, Joamin; Jin, Helena; Sciammarella, Cesar; Yoshida, Sanichiro; Lamberti, Luciano; Sottos, Nancy; Rowlands, Robert; Dannemann, Kathryn; Tandon, Gyaneshwar; Song, Bo; Casem, Daniel; Kimberley, Jamie; Starman, LaVern; Hay, Jennifer; Shaw, Gordon

    2015-01-01

    Proceedings of the 2014 Annual Conference on Experimental and Applied Mechanics, the seventh volume of eight from the Conference, brings together contributions to this important area of research and engineering.  The collection presents early findings and case studies on a wide range of areas, including: Soft Tissues Mechanics Natural Materials & Bio-Inspiration Tissue Engineering Cells Mechanics

  6. Case Study Observational Research: A Framework for Conducting Case Study Research Where Observation Data Are the Focus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morgan, Sonya J; Pullon, Susan R H; Macdonald, Lindsay M; McKinlay, Eileen M; Gray, Ben V

    2017-06-01

    Case study research is a comprehensive method that incorporates multiple sources of data to provide detailed accounts of complex research phenomena in real-life contexts. However, current models of case study research do not particularly distinguish the unique contribution observation data can make. Observation methods have the potential to reach beyond other methods that rely largely or solely on self-report. This article describes the distinctive characteristics of case study observational research, a modified form of Yin's 2014 model of case study research the authors used in a study exploring interprofessional collaboration in primary care. In this approach, observation data are positioned as the central component of the research design. Case study observational research offers a promising approach for researchers in a wide range of health care settings seeking more complete understandings of complex topics, where contextual influences are of primary concern. Future research is needed to refine and evaluate the approach.

  7. Beyond Clinical Case Studies in Psychoanalysis: A Review of Psychoanalytic Empirical Single Case Studies Published in ISI-Ranked Journals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meganck, Reitske; Inslegers, Ruth; Krivzov, Juri; Notaerts, Liza

    2017-01-01

    Single case studies are at the origin of both theory development and research in the field of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. While clinical case studies are the hallmark of psychoanalytic theory and practice, their scientific value has been strongly criticized. To address problems with the subjective bias of retrospective therapist reports and uncontrollability of clinical case studies, systematic approaches to investigate psychotherapy process and outcome at the level of the single case have been developed. Such empirical case studies are also able to bridge the famous gap between academic research and clinical practice as they provide clinically relevant insights into how psychotherapy works. This study presents a review of psychoanalytic empirical case studies published in ISI-ranked journals and maps the characteristics of the study, therapist, patient en therapies that are investigated. Empirical case studies increased in quantity and quality (amount of information and systematization) over time. While future studies could pay more attention to providing contextual information on therapist characteristics and informed consent considerations, the available literature provides a basis to conduct meta-studies of single cases and as such contribute to knowledge aggregation. PMID:29046660

  8. A case study for INPRO methodology based on Indian advanced heavy water reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anantharaman, K.; Saha, D.; Sinha, R.K.

    2004-01-01

    Under Phase 1A of the International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles (INPRO) a methodology (INPRO methodology) has been developed which can be used to evaluate a given energy system or a component of such a system on a national and/or global basis. The INPRO study can be used for assessing the potential of the innovative reactor in terms of economics, sustainability and environment, safety, waste management, proliferation resistance and cross cutting issues. India, a participant in INPRO program, is engaged in a case study applying INPRO methodology based on Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR). AHWR is a 300 MWe, boiling light water cooled, heavy water moderated and vertical pressure tube type reactor. Thorium utilization is very essential for Indian nuclear power program considering the indigenous resource availability. The AHWR is designed to produce most of its power from thorium, aided by a small input of plutonium-based fuel. The features of AHWR are described in the paper. The case study covers the fuel cycle, to be followed in the near future, for AHWR. The paper deals with initial observations of the case study with regard to fuel cycle issues. (authors)

  9. Case study: an ethical dilemma involving a dying patient.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pacsi, Alsacia L

    2008-01-01

    Nursing often deals with ethical dilemmas in the clinical arena. A case study demonstrates an ethical dilemma faced by healthcare providers who care for and treat Jehovah's Witnesses who are placed in a critical situation due to medical life-threatening situations. A 20-year-old, pregnant, Black Hispanic female presented to the Emergency Department (ED) in critical condition following a single-vehicle car accident. She exhibited signs and symptoms of internal bleeding and was advised to have a blood transfusion and emergency surgery in an attempt to save her and the fetus. She refused to accept blood or blood products and rejected the surgery as well. Her refusal was based on a fear of blood transfusion due to her belief in Bible scripture. The ethical dilemma presented is whether to respect the patient's autonomy and compromise standards of care or ignore the patient's wishes in an attempt to save her life. This paper presents the clinical case, identifies the ethical dilemma, and discusses virtue ethical theory and principles that apply to this situation.

  10. Farm management information systems: A case study on a German multifunctional farm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Husemann Christoph

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Accurate and easy to use Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS are of fundamental importance for a successful operational farm management. However, still today many farmers do not use FMISs for various reasons, like lack of knowledge and the complexity of many available FMISs. In particular for small to medium-sized farms and for multifunctional farms appropriate FMISs hardly exist. This paper aims on the deduction of a concrete FMIS from a general FMIS. The concrete FMIS has to focus on the needs of medium-sized and multifunctional farms. This means that the farmer has to be empowered to allocate the scarce resources of the farm. Therefore, we picked a German farm from the state North Rhine Westphalia as a case-study to apply a system analysis. The case study farm helps to identify and to analyze relevant material and information flows, production processes, and their interconnections and synergies.

  11. Applying incentive sensitization models to behavioral addiction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rømer Thomsen, Kristine; Fjorback, Lone; Møller, Arne

    2014-01-01

    The incentive sensitization theory is a promising model for understanding the mechanisms underlying drug addiction, and has received support in animal and human studies. So far the theory has not been applied to the case of behavioral addictions like Gambling Disorder, despite sharing clinical...... symptoms and underlying neurobiology. We examine the relevance of this theory for Gambling Disorder and point to predictions for future studies. The theory promises a significant contribution to the understanding of behavioral addiction and opens new avenues for treatment....

  12. Effort and accuracy during language resource generation: a pronunciation prediction case study

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Davel, M

    2006-11-01

    Full Text Available pronunciation dictionary as case study. We show that the amount of effort required to validate a 20,000-word pronunciation dictionary can be reduced sub- stantially by employing appropriate computational tools, when compared to both a fully manual validation... and correcting errors found, and finally, manually verifying a further portion of the resource in order to estimate its current accuracy. We apply this general approach to the task of developing pronunciation dictionaries. We demonstrate how the validation...

  13. Interpersonal processes in psychodynamic-interpersonal and cognitive behavioral group therapy: a systematic case study of two groups.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tasca, Giorgio A; Foot, Meredith; Leite, Catherine; Maxwell, Hilary; Balfour, Louise; Bissada, Hany

    2011-09-01

    This mixed method systematic case study applied an interpersonal stage model of the therapeutic process to examine interpersonal processes among a highly adherent Group Psychodynamic-Interpersonal Psychotherapy (GPIP) therapist and a highly adherent Group Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (GCBT) therapist and their groups of binge eating disordered (BED) patients. This is the first case study to apply the interpersonal stage model of psychotherapy to compare GCBT and GPIP methods and the first to apply the model to group therapy. Early-, middle-, and late-stage transcribed video recordings of sequential interactions among therapists and patients in each of these two time-limited group therapies were analyzed with the Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (SASB). We also provide qualitative presentations of the transcripts from each stage as context for the quantitative analyses. BED patients in both groups achieved positive outcomes for binge eating and depression. Consistent with their treatment model, the GPIP therapist was more autonomy-giving, whereas the GCBT therapist was more controlling/directive. The GPIP therapist and her group had high levels of interpersonal complementary interaction sequences in the early stage followed by lower complementarity in the middle stage. The GCBT therapist and her group showed a high-low-high pattern of complementarity across the three stage of therapy. However, overall the GPIP group had higher levels complementarity than the GCBT group. This mixed method case study of group processes based on an interpersonal stage model of psychotherapy suggested specific therapist behaviors in each modality to maximize positive therapeutic interactions at each stage of group therapy. (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved.

  14. HYDROGEOLOGIC CASE STUDIES

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hydrogeology is the foundation of subsurface site characterization for evaluations of monitored natural attenuation (MNA). Three case studies are presented. Examples of the potentially detrimental effects of drilling additives on ground-water samples from monitoring wells are d...

  15. Applying Portfolio Selection: A Case of Indonesia Stock Exchange

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Praptiningsih

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This study has three objectives. First, we investigate whether Modern Portfolio Theory can be applied on the financial decisions that made by investors or individual in order to increase their wealth through investment activities. Second, we examine the real behavior of each asset in terms of capital assets pricing models. Third, we determine whether our portfolio is the best model to produce a higher return in a given level of risk or a lowest risk in a particular level of return. It is found that three different stocks listed in the Indonesia Stock Exchange have a positive relationship with market returns. The reactions of the investor regarding these stocks are not influenced by each other. Lastly, the minimum variance portfolio (MVP point which represents the single portfolio with the lowest possible level of standard deviation, occurs when the expected return of portfolio is approximately 2.2 percent at a standard deviation of 8.8 percent.

  16. Assessing the operational life of flexible printed boards intended for continuous flexing applications : a case study.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Beck, David Franklin

    2011-01-01

    Through the vehicle of a case study, this paper describes in detail how the guidance found in the suite of IPC (Association Connecting Electronics Industries) publications can be applied to develop a high level of design assurance that flexible printed boards intended for continuous flexing applications will satisfy specified lifetime requirements.

  17. The applicability of constructivist user studies: how can constructivist inquiry inform service providers and systems designers? Constructivist inquiry, Case study, Systems design, User behaviour

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alison Pickard

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper has attempted to clarify the ways in which individual, holistic case studies, produced via the process of constructivist inquiry, can be tested for trustworthiness and applied to other, similar situations. Service providers and systems designers need contextual information concerning their users in order to design and provide systems and services that will function effectively and efficiently within those contexts. Abstract models can only provide abstract insight into human behaviour and this is rarely sufficient detail upon which to base the planning and delivery of a service. The methodological issues which surround the applicability of individual, holistic case studies are discussed, explaining the concept of 'contextual applicability.' The relevance and usefulness of in-depth case study research to systems designers and service providers is highlighted.

  18. Methodology Series Module 2: Case-control Studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Setia, Maninder Singh

    2016-01-01

    Case-Control study design is a type of observational study. In this design, participants are selected for the study based on their outcome status. Thus, some participants have the outcome of interest (referred to as cases), whereas others do not have the outcome of interest (referred to as controls). The investigator then assesses the exposure in both these groups. The investigator should define the cases as specifically as possible. Sometimes, definition of a disease may be based on multiple criteria; thus, all these points should be explicitly stated in case definition. An important aspect of selecting a control is that they should be from the same 'study base' as that of the cases. We can select controls from a variety of groups. Some of them are: General population; relatives or friends; and hospital patients. Matching is often used in case-control control studies to ensure that the cases and controls are similar in certain characteristics, and it is a useful technique to increase the efficiency of the study. Case-Control studies can usually be conducted relatively faster and are inexpensive - particularly when compared with cohort studies (prospective). It is useful to study rare outcomes and outcomes with long latent periods. This design is not very useful to study rare exposures. Furthermore, they may also be prone to certain biases - selection bias and recall bias.

  19. Economics of pyrolysis-based energy production and biochar utilization: A case study in Taiwan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kung, Chih-Chun; McCarl, Bruce A.; Cao, Xiaoyong

    2013-01-01

    Pyrolysis is an alternative form of renewable energy production and a potential source of greenhouse gas emissions mitigation. This study examines how poplar-based biochar can be applied in Taiwan for electricity generation and for soil improvement and to what extent it brings economic and environmental benefits. It is a preliminary study and focuses on the balances of different economic and environmental items. This paper reports on a case study examination of the economic and greenhouse gas implications of pyrolysis plus biochar utilization. The case study involves using poplar grown on set-aside land in Taiwan with the biochar applied to rice fields. We examine both fast and slow forms of pyrolysis and find how the profitability varies under different price structures. The results show that fast pyrolysis is more profitable than slow pyrolysis under current electricity price, GHG price and crop yield as the slow pyrolysis generates relatively less electricity but lower value product—biochar. We also find that fast pyrolysis and slow pyrolysis offset about 1.4 t and 1.57 t of CO 2 equivalent per ton of raw material, respectively. - Highlights: • Profitability varies due to sales revenue from electricity generation. • Neither fast pyrolysis nor slow pyrolysis is profitable under current electricity price. • Both systems offset about 1.4 t to 1.57 t of CO 2 equivalent per ton of raw material

  20. Catalog of NASA-Related Case Studies

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The OCKO has developed over 50 case studies to enhance learning at workshops, training, retreats and conferences. Case studies make mission knowledge attractive and...

  1. Increasing medical students' engagement in public health: case studies illustrating the potential role of online learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheringham, J; Lyon, A; Jones, A; Strobl, J; Barratt, H

    2016-09-01

    The value of e-learning in medical education is widely recognized but there is little evidence of its value in teaching medical students about public health. Such evidence is needed because medical students' engagement with public health has been low. We present three recent case studies from UK medical schools to illustrate diverse ways in which online approaches can increase medical students' engagement with learning public health. A comparative case study approach was used applying quantitative and qualitative data to examine engagement in terms of uptake/use amongst eligible students, acceptability and perceived effectiveness using an analytic framework based on Seven Principles of Effective Teaching. Across the three case studies, most (67-85%) eligible students accessed online materials, and rated them more favourably than live lectures. Students particularly valued opportunities to use e-learning flexibly in terms of time and place. Online technologies offered new ways to consolidate learning of key public health concepts. Although students found contributing to online discussions challenging, it provided opportunities for students to explore concepts in depth and enabled students that were uncomfortable speaking in face-to-face discussions to participate. E-learning can be applied in diverse ways that increase medical student engagement with public health teaching. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  2. Evaluation of Outsourcing in Nursing Services: A Case Study of Kashani Hospital, Isfahan in 2011

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferdosi, Masoud; Farahabadi, Ehsan; Mofid, Maryam; Rejalian, Farzaneh; Haghighat, Maryam; Naghdi, Parnaz

    2013-01-01

    Background: Hospitals need to focus on their core activities, thus outsourcing of services may be effective in some instances. However, monitoring and supervision is a vital mechanism to preserving and enhancing the quality of outsourced services, and to identify the benefits and losses occurred. The purpose of this study is evaluation of nursing services outsourced in a general hospital from different point of views. Methods: This is a descriptive and applied study done by case study (before and after) method. Outsourcing nursing services of clinical wards (ENT and Neurosurgery) of Kashani Hospital in 2011 has been studied. We extracted data from a handmade questionnaire about internal customer’s satisfaction and semi-structured interviews with officials, and also survey of financial and administrative documents and records related to the topic. Results: The findings indicate an increased number of graduated nurses per bed to fulfill the main objective of outsourcing in this case. But achieving this objective is accompanied with remarkable increased costs per bed after outsourcing. Besides, we noticed minor changes in internal customer satisfaction rate. Conclusion: While outsourcing should bring about staff and patients’ satisfaction and increase the efficiency and effectiveness, outsourcing nursing workforce singly, leaded to a loss of efficiency. Therefore, the applied outsourcing has not met the productivity for the hospital. PMID:23678338

  3. Evaluation of outsourcing in nursing services: a case study of kashani hospital, isfahan in 2011.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferdosi, Masoud; Farahabadi, Ehsan; Mofid, Maryam; Rejalian, Farzaneh; Haghighat, Maryam; Naghdi, Parnaz

    2013-03-01

    Hospitals need to focus on their core activities, thus outsourcing of services may be effective in some instances. However, monitoring and supervision is a vital mechanism to preserving and enhancing the quality of outsourced services, and to identify the benefits and losses occurred. The purpose of this study is evaluation of nursing services outsourced in a general hospital from different point of views. This is a descriptive and applied study done by case study (before and after) method. Outsourcing nursing services of clinical wards (ENT and Neurosurgery) of Kashani Hospital in 2011 has been studied. We extracted data from a handmade questionnaire about internal customer's satisfaction and semi-structured interviews with officials, and also survey of financial and administrative documents and records related to the topic. The findings indicate an increased number of graduated nurses per bed to fulfill the main objective of outsourcing in this case. But achieving this objective is accompanied with remarkable increased costs per bed after outsourcing. Besides, we noticed minor changes in internal customer satisfaction rate. While outsourcing should bring about staff and patients' satisfaction and increase the efficiency and effectiveness, outsourcing nursing workforce singly, leaded to a loss of efficiency. Therefore, the applied outsourcing has not met the productivity for the hospital.

  4. A finding in genetic polymorphism analysis study: A case of non-mosaic 47, XXX without manifestations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Xingyi; Ye, Zilan; Zhang, Xiaofang; Wang, Huijun; Liu, Chao

    2017-07-01

    Trisomy X (47, XXX) is a sex chromosome aneuploidy condition in which females have an extra X chromosome, compared to the 46, XX karyotype in typical females. There is considerable variation in the phenotype, with some individuals very mildly affected and others with more significant physical and psychological features. However, the trisomy X in this case, without any of these phenotype, is rarely reported. Here, we report a case found during DNA sample collection in a study of genetic polymorphism analysis of loci in Chinese ethnic group, of a female with neither laboratory or clinical signs of Triple X syndrome. She was born at her mother's 60years old and her father's 62years old. Advanced maternal age was found acting as a significant risk factor of Triplo-X. Moreover, her child are also born without manifestations of 47, XXX syndrome. Pedigree study demonstrated the normal karyotype of the children. A diagnosis of 47XXX was made on the basis of a chromosomal study. Therefore, laboratory investigations (including PCR amplification, more than two kinds of X-STR genotyping, G-banding karyotyping analysis and Pedigree study) are applied to rule out the possibility of Mosaicism (45, X0/47, XXX) and ascertain her 47XXX karyotype without mosaic. The objective of this study was to report a case of trisomy X, diagnostic investigation and management of the case, and to analysis the genetically possible reasons behind the case. To our knowledge, this case is a rare one, found in DNA sample collection for the estimation of gene frequency in the process of genetic polymorphism study, of non-mosaic 47, XXX without signs of physical syndrome and born healthy children. In this study, it revealed that the proportion of trisomy X would be more than official statistics and risk of systemic disabilities is lower than estimated. Moreover, we found out that sample mixture and mosaicism act as the interference factors in forensic test. Therefore, we draw the conclusion that

  5. Space-time clustering of non-hodgkin lymphoma using residential histories in a Danish case-control study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rikke Baastrup Nordsborg

    Full Text Available Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL is a frequent cancer and incidence rates have increased markedly during the second half of the 20(th century; however, the few established risk factors cannot explain this rise and still little is known about the aetiology of NHL. Spatial analyses have been applied in an attempt to identify environmental risk factors, but most studies do not take human mobility into account. The aim of this study was to identify clustering of NHL in space and time in Denmark, using 33 years of residential addresses. We utilised the nation-wide Danish registers and unique personal identification number that all Danish citizens have to conduct a register-based case-control study of 3210 NHL cases and two independent control groups of 3210 each. Cases were identified in the Danish Cancer Registry and controls were matched by age and sex and randomly selected from the Civil Registration System. Residential addresses of cases and controls from 1971 to 2003 were collected from the Civil Registration System and geocoded. Data on pervious hospital diagnoses and operations were obtained from the National Patient Register. We applied the methods of the newly developed Q-statistics to identify space-time clustering of NHL. All analyses were conducted with each of the two control groups, and we adjusted for previous history of autoimmune disease, HIV/AIDS or organ transplantation. Some areas with statistically significant clustering were identified; however, results were not consistent across the two control groups; thus we interpret the results as chance findings. We found no evidence for clustering of NHL in space and time using 33 years of residential histories, suggesting that if the rise in incidence of NHL is a result of risk factors that vary across space and time, the spatio-temporal variation of such factors in Denmark is too small to be detected with the applied method.

  6. Evaluating the governance model of hardware-dependent software ecosystems - a case study of the axis ecosystem

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wnuk, Krzysztof; Manikas, Konstantinos; Runeson, Per

    2014-01-01

    specifically, we evaluate the governance model applied by Axis, a network video and surveillance camera producer, that is the platform owner and orchestrator of the Application Development Partner (ADP) software ecosystem. We conduct an exploratory case study collecting data from observations and interviews...... and apply the governance model for prevention and improvement of the software ecosystem health proposed by Jansen and Cusumano. Our results reveal that although the governance actions do not address the majority of their governance model, the ADP ecosystem is considered a growing ecosystem providing...

  7. Applying e-health to case management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, J M

    2000-01-01

    The healthcare industry is only beginning to understand e-health. E-health can be defined as the use of technology to directly improve healthcare delivery-affording patients the opportunity to participate in their own healthcare management, provider, and institution. The market is changing rapidly, and innovations, partnerships, and mergers are taking place daily. For healthcare institutions, setting a long-term, yet adaptable e-health strategy is of vital importance for the continued success of the organization. For clinicians, an understanding of and familiarity with technologies can significantly improve workflow, organization, and patient interaction. For the patient, technology can be leveraged as a means to take initiative and responsibility for his/her own health. This article defines e-health and explains the implications and benefits of e-health to nurses and their patients. The article also identifies unique opportunities e-health/e-commerce can provide case managers in promoting patient connectivity, care management, and economy in cost of care.

  8. A 3D GIS METHOD APPLIED TO CATALOGING AND RESTORING: THE CASE OF AURELIAN WALLS AT ROME

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Canciani

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available The project involves architecture, archaeology, restoration, graphic documentation and computer imaging. The objective is development of a method for documentation of an architectural feature, based on a three-dimensional model obtained through laser scanning technologies, linked to a database developed in GIS environment. The case study concerns a short section of Rome's Aurelian walls, including the Porta Latina. The city walls are Rome's largest single architectural monument, subject to continuous deterioration, modification and maintenance since their original construction beginning in 271 AD. The documentation system provides a flexible, precise and easily-applied instrument for recording the full appearance, materials, stratification palimpsest and conservation status, in order to identify restoration criteria and intervention priorities, and to monitor and control the use and conservation of the walls over time. The project began with an analysis and documentation campaign integrating direct, traditional recording methods with indirect, topographic instrument and 3D laser scanning recording. These recording systems permitted development of a geographic information system based on three-dimensional modelling of separate, individual elements, linked to a database and related to the various stratigraphic horizons, the construction techniques, the component materials and their state of degradation. The investigations of the extant wall fabric were further compared to historic documentation, from both graphic and descriptive sources. The resulting model constitutes the core of the GIS system for this specific monument. The methodology is notable for its low cost, precision, practicality and thoroughness, and can be applied to the entire Aurelian wall and to other monuments.

  9. Case Study: Let's Get Personal--Putting Personality into Your Cases

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herreid, Clyde Freeman

    2017-01-01

    In this case study, the subject for discussion is the need to use teaching notes in order to add personality to case studies. Personality, it is said, is more important than policy, than demographics, than finances, or amorous peccadillos. Personality is essential. It is the interaction of people that capture our interest, yet, the question is…

  10. Case Study of 'moral injury' : Format Dutch Case Studies Project

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Korver, Sjaak; Walton, Martin N.; van Loenen, Guus

    2017-01-01

    The case study ‘Moral Injury’ traces care provided by a chaplain in a mental health institution to a former military marksman named Hans. Hans was in care at a specialized unit for military veterans with traumas. He sought contact with a chaplain “to set things right with God” and wanted the

  11. Assessing organisational governance maturity: A retail industry case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hendrik Marius Wessels

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available For any business to operate effectively, a governance framework that operates at the relevant maturity level is required. An organisational governance maturity framework is a tool that leadership can use to determine governance maturity. This study aims to determine whether the organisational governance maturity framework (developed by Wilkinson can be applied to the selected retail industry organisation to assess the maturity of the organisation’s governance, limited to the ‘leadership’ attribute. Firstly, a high-level literature review on ethical leadership, ethical decision-making, ethical foundation and culture (‘tone at the top’, and organisational governance and maturity was conducted. Secondly, a Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE listed South African-based company was selected for the empirical part of the study using a single case study research design. The empirical results confirmed that the organisational governance maturity framework can be used to determine the maturity level of organisational governance for the selected attribute of ‘leadership’

  12. Risks in major innovation projects, a multiple case study within a world's leading company in the fast moving consumer goods

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Keizer, J.A.; Halman, J.I.M.

    2009-01-01

    This paper investigates which risks characterise radical innovation projects. In-dept case studies were carried out via interviews and a questionnaire. The risk concept applied in this study includes three dimensions: certainty, controllability and impact. Three structural or unambiguous risks were

  13. Using a knowledge utilization framework to explore how findings from one study can be applied to other nursing contexts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olsen, P R; Bradbury-Jones, C

    2013-09-01

    To discuss the complexities of moving research into practice and through a case example, explore how empirical findings from one specific study could be applied to nursing in other contexts. The processes of moving research findings into practice are complex and multidimensional. In this paper, an innovative approach to social support, network-focused nursing (NFN), is used as a case example to illustrate these complexities. Social support is associated with better recovery and survival after illness and based on this, a NFN programme was developed in a Danish oncology youth unit. Subsequently, a research study was undertaken to investigate the programme and based on the findings, the concept NFN was developed. A knowledge utilization framework is used to explore how empirical findings from the NFN study could be applied to nursing more generally. Aligned with this, the specific considerations for implementing NFN are explicated. Strong leadership, education, management support and effective communication are critical factors for research utilization. Moving research into practice requires openness to new ideas. Nursing and healthcare policies therefore need to support environments in which creativity and innovation can flourish. NFN was developed in teenager and young adult cancer care, but its principles may be transferable to other clinical environments. It is important that nurse managers and policy makers ensure that support and education are available to nurses to facilitate moving research into practice. Moreover, resources need to be considered, particularly in countries where financial and organizational infrastructures may be weak. © 2013 The Authors. International Nursing Review © 2013 International Council of Nurses.

  14. Analysis the Appropriate using Standard Costing Applying in Land Cost Component of Real Estate Development Activities: A Case Study of PT Subur Agung

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elfrida Yanti

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Standard cost is generally used by manufacturing business, which direct material, labor, and factory overhead are cleared allocated. On real estate business in this case PT Subur Agung use standard cost based on three costs, raw land, land improvement and interest expense categories instead of direct material, direct labor and overhead. Developer use these cost to predict the project cost and estimate the pre-selling price, in accordance with the cost estimation classification matrix, the variance range is in the expected accuracy rate by testing the variance percentage between standard cost and actual cost. The additional similar projects in PT Subur Agung also follow the same scope. All these evidences have proved the appropriate using standard costing in land cost component of real estate development activities but how it applies this article will analyze in this particular project with using descriptive and exploratory method. The analysis started by knowing the conceptual situation of PT Subur Agung and the data was presented in tables and calculation with detail explanation. 

  15. Effects of Strategy Instruction in an EFL Reading Comprehension Course: A Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergio Lopera Medina

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Strategy instruction is useful in teaching contexts. This paper examines the effects of strategy instruction in an EFL reading comprehension course carried out with 26 undergraduate students at a Colombian university. As a research method, a case study was implemented. There were three instruments with which to collect data: reading comprehension tests, teacher's field notes and self-reflection in class at the strategy instruction phase, and a learning perception questionnaire. Given that students improved in reading comprehension, it would seem that reading strategy instruction is indeed very useful. Also, it was noted that when students applied reading strategies, they became more self-confident and this in turn enhanced their motivation. Finally, when students applied the reading strategy approach, the use of dictionaries decreased considerably.

  16. Schematic representation of case study research designs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosenberg, John P; Yates, Patsy M

    2007-11-01

    The paper is a report of a study to demonstrate how the use of schematics can provide procedural clarity and promote rigour in the conduct of case study research. Case study research is a methodologically flexible approach to research design that focuses on a particular case - whether an individual, a collective or a phenomenon of interest. It is known as the 'study of the particular' for its thorough investigation of particular, real-life situations and is gaining increased attention in nursing and social research. However, the methodological flexibility it offers can leave the novice researcher uncertain of suitable procedural steps required to ensure methodological rigour. This article provides a real example of a case study research design that utilizes schematic representation drawn from a doctoral study of the integration of health promotion principles and practices into a palliative care organization. The issues discussed are: (1) the definition and application of case study research design; (2) the application of schematics in research; (3) the procedural steps and their contribution to the maintenance of rigour; and (4) the benefits and risks of schematics in case study research. The inclusion of visual representations of design with accompanying explanatory text is recommended in reporting case study research methods.

  17. Dielectric spectroscopy technique applied to study the behaviour of irradiated polymer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saoud, R.; Soualmia, A.; Guerbi, C.A.; Benrekaa, N.

    2006-01-01

    Relaxation spectroscopy provides an excellent method for the study of motional processes in materials and has been widely applied to macromolecules and polymers. The technique is potentially of most interest when applied to irradiated systems. Application to the study of the structure beam-irradiated Teflon is thus an outstanding opportunity for the dielectric relaxation technique, particularly as this material exhibits clamping problems when subjected to dynamic mechanical relaxation studies. A very wide frequency range is necessary to resolve dipolar effects. In this paper, we discuss some significant results about the behavior and the modification of the structure of Teflon submitted to weak energy radiations

  18. Optical coherence tomography applied to tests of skin care products in humans--a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vasquez-Pinto, L M C; Maldonado, E P; Raele, M P; Amaral, M M; de Freitas, A Z

    2015-02-01

    When evaluating skin care products for human skin, quantitative test methods need to be simple, precise and reliable. Optical coherence tomography (OCT), provides high-resolution sectional images of translucent materials to a depth of a few millimeters, a technique usually applied to medical measurements in ophthalmology and dermatology. This study aimed to demonstrate the application of OCT as the main technique for monitoring changes in skin topography during tests of a wrinkle-reduction product in humans. We used a commercial OCT apparatus to perform clinical examinations of skin roughness in treated and non-treated sites in the periorbital region of thirty human voluntaries who were using an anti-aging product commercially available: Natura Chronos® Flavonóides de Passiflora 45+ FPS15, from Natura Cosméticos, Brazil. Measurements were performed days 0, 7, 14 and 28 of treatment. Equipment and software allowed real-time recording of skin roughness parameters and wrinkle depths. The OCT measurements have allowed the monitoring of changes in skin roughness, which have shown reduction in treated sites around 10%. The obtained depth distributions also indicate reduction in the occurrence of wrinkles deeper than 170 μm. The verified results are consistent with those typically obtained after successful treatment with modern anti-aging products. By using the OCT technique, it was possible to quantify changes in skin roughness and in the distribution of depths of skin wrinkles, with adequate sensitivity. OCT imaging allows the direct visualization of the skin topography with resolution of micrometers, a reliable and interactive tool for clinical use. Therefore, for the first time, we demonstrated the use of OCT technique to verify the efficacy of cosmetic products in real time. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  19. Family Owned Business Succession and Governance: a multiple case study in Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leonardo Roth

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available One of the main threats to the continuity of family owned business is the poor management of the succession process between generations of the family. This risk factor can be avoided when the process works properly and can also become a renewal and strengthening tool for organizations. The aim of this study is to evaluate the different factors that trigger the succession, as well as the various ways in which companies act and react to the process and the succession’s turbulence. The methodology used was a qualitative study of multiple cases in four representatives family owned organizations in south of Brazil. These families are going, either have passed or have chosen not to go through generational succession processes. The results show the process can be an opportunity to improve the company’s management. Moreover, it shows that there is no single model to follow, but good practices that can be applied to each case.

  20. Peace Corps Water/Sanitation Case Studies and Analyses. Appropriate Technologies for Development. Case Study CS-4.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Talbert, Diana E., Comp.

    This document provides an overview of Peace Corps water and sanitation activities, five case studies (Thailand, Yemen, Paraguay, Sierra Leone, and Togo), programming guidelines, and training information. Each case study includes: (1) background information on the country's geography, population, and economics; (2) information on the country's…

  1. Native flora rescue program: GASENE project case study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Serricchio, Claudio; Caldas, Flaviana V. [PETROBRAS, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Akahori, Lisa [Telsan, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Jacomelli Junior, Jose Almir [AGF Engenharia, Araucaria, PR (Brazil)

    2009-07-01

    Concerning the surrounding flora, the implementation of pipelines may cause fragmentation and isolation of the remaining natural vegetation, possibly changing the forest structure; thus raising the border effect; modifying the ratio of species and life forms, decreasing the vegetal diversity and/or causing a lack of connectivity among the remaining indigenous forest resources. In the case of pipelines, the most important environmental measure intended to mitigate the damage caused to the flora is the adoption of Indigenous Flora Rescue Programs. This paper is aimed at analyzing the programs currently applied during the implementation of the GASENE project, by conducting a case study. The main targets of such program are obtaining seeds and fruits with a view to subsidize the potential production of sapling to be further employed in the recovery of areas impacted by the pipeline works; and then relocate the most significant samples of species rescued from the suppressed areas in order to comprise forest areas adjacent to the pipeline's right-of-way. The programs had little differences in their methodology while being implemented, however, we consider that up to the present moment the results obtained in the preservation of species of native flora have been satisfactory. (author)

  2. Results of Three Case Studies for Assessing Motivators and Barriers ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ... data infrastructures (SDIs), particularly the South African SDI. It is our hope that these findings pertaining to motivators or barriers for interorganizational GIS data sharing (as it was applied to the three cases) will provide valuable lessons to guide organizations to develop and implement successful data sharing initiatives.

  3. Simpson's paradox: A statistician's case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chu, Kevin H; Brown, Nathan J; Pelecanos, Anita; Brown, Anthony Ft

    2018-02-26

    Gender equality and workforce diversity has recently been in the forefront of College discussions. Reasons for the difference between various groups may not be as they initially appeared. The results of comparing the outcome between two groups can sometimes be confounded and even reversed by an unrecognised third variable. This concept is known as Simpson's Paradox, and is illustrated here using a renowned case study on potential gender bias for acceptance to Graduate School at the University of California, Berkeley.  The investigation showed that males were 1.8 times more likely to be admitted to Graduate School than females in 1973. Initially it appeared that women were discriminated against in the selection process. However, when admissions were re-examined at individual Departments of the School, admission tended to be better for women than men in four of six Departments. This contradiction or paradox tells us that the association between admission and gender was dependent upon on Department.  The confounding effect of Department was defined by two characteristics. Firstly, a strong association between Department and admission: some Departments admitted much smaller percentages of applicants than others. Secondly, a strong association between Department and gender: females tended to apply to Departments with lower admission rates.  The explanation of differences between groups can be multifactorial. A search for possible confounders will assist in this understanding. This could apply whenever two groups initially appear to differ, but on closer analysis this difference is either unfounded, or even reversed by reference to a third, confounding variable. © 2018 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine.

  4. Conceptual modeling for identification of worst case conditions in environmental risk assessment of nanomaterials using nZVI and C60 as case studies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grieger, Khara Deanne; Hansen, Steffen Foss; Sørensen, Peter B.

    2011-01-01

    , especially given the vast variety and complexity of nanomaterials and their applications. As an approach to help optimize environmental risk assessments of nanomaterials, we apply the Worst-Case Definition (WCD) model to identify best estimates for worst-case conditions of environmental risks of two case......Conducting environmental risk assessment of engineered nanomaterials has been an extremely challenging endeavor thus far. Moreover, recent findings from the nano-risk scientific community indicate that it is unlikely that many of these challenges will be easily resolved in the near future...... studies which use engineered nanoparticles, namely nZVI in soil and groundwater remediation and C60 in an engine oil lubricant. Results generated from this analysis may ultimately help prioritize research areas for environmental risk assessments of nZVI and C60 in these applications as well as demonstrate...

  5. Geological-geophysical techniques applied to urban planning in karst hazardous areas. Case study of Zaragoza, NE Spain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pueyo Anchuela, O.; Soriano, A.; Casas Sainz, A.; Pocoví Juan, A.

    2009-12-01

    Industrial and urban growth must deal in some settings with geological hazards. In the last 50 years, the city of Zaragoza (NE Spain) has developed an increase of its urbanized area in a progression several orders higher than expected from its population increase. This fast growth has affected several areas around the city that were not usually used for construction. Maps of the Zaragoza city area at the end of the XIXth century and beginning of the XXth reveal the presence of karst hazards in several zones that can be observed in more modern data, as aerial photographs taken during a period ranging from 1927 to present. The urban and industrial development has covered many of these hazardous zones, even though potential risks were known. The origins of the karst problems are related to the solution of evaporites (mainly gypsum, glauberite and halite) that represent the Miocene substratum of the Zaragoza area underlying the Quaternary terraces and pediments related to the Ebro River and its tributaries. Historical data show the persistence of subsidence foci during long periods of time while in recent urbanized areas this stability is not shared, observing the increase of activity and/or radius affection in short periods of time after building over. These problems can be related to two factors: i) urban development over hazardous areas can increase the karst activity and ii) the affection radius is not properly established with the commonly applied methods. One way to develop these detailed maps can be related to the geophysical approach. The applied geophysical routine, dependent on the characteristics of the surveyed area, is based on potential geophysical techniques (magnetometry and gravimetry) and others related to the application of induced fields (EM and GPR). The obtained results can be related to more straightforward criteria as the detection of cavities in the subsoil and indirect indicators related to the long-term activity of the subsidence areas

  6. Applied Sports Nutrition Support, Dietary Intake and Body Composition Changes of a Female Athlete Completing 26 Marathons in 26 Days: A Case Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McManus, Chris J; Murray, Kelly A; Parry, David A

    2017-03-01

    The aim of this case study is to describe the nutrition practices of a female recreational runner (VO 2 max 48.9 ml · kg -1 · min -1 ) who completed 26 marathons (42.195 km) in 26 consecutive days. Information relating to the nutritional intake of female runners during multi-day endurance events is extremely limited, yet the number of people participating year-on-year continues to increase. This case study reports the nutrition intervention, dietary intake, body composition changes and performance in the lead-up and during the 26 days. Prior to undertaking the 26 marathon challenge, three consultations were held between the athlete and a sports nutrition advisor; planning and tailoring the general diet and race-specific strategies to the endurance challenge. During the marathons, the mean energy and fluid intake was 1039.7 ± 207.9 kcal (607.1 - 1453.2) and 2.39 ± 0.35 L (1.98 - 3.19). Mean hourly carbohydrate intake was 38.9 g·hr -1 . 11 days following the completion of the 26 marathons, body mass had reduced by 4.6 kg and lean body mass increasing by 0.53 kg when compared with 20 days prior. This case study highlights the importance of providing general and event-specific nutrition education when training for such an event. This is particularly prudent for multi-day endurance running events.

  7. Applying differential dynamic logic to reconfigurable biological networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Figueiredo, Daniel; Martins, Manuel A; Chaves, Madalena

    2017-09-01

    Qualitative and quantitative modeling frameworks are widely used for analysis of biological regulatory networks, the former giving a preliminary overview of the system's global dynamics and the latter providing more detailed solutions. Another approach is to model biological regulatory networks as hybrid systems, i.e., systems which can display both continuous and discrete dynamic behaviors. Actually, the development of synthetic biology has shown that this is a suitable way to think about biological systems, which can often be constructed as networks with discrete controllers, and present hybrid behaviors. In this paper we discuss this approach as a special case of the reconfigurability paradigm, well studied in Computer Science (CS). In CS there are well developed computational tools to reason about hybrid systems. We argue that it is worth applying such tools in a biological context. One interesting tool is differential dynamic logic (dL), which has recently been developed by Platzer and applied to many case-studies. In this paper we discuss some simple examples of biological regulatory networks to illustrate how dL can be used as an alternative, or also as a complement to methods already used. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Five case studies of multifamily weatherization programs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kinney, L; Wilson, T.; Lewis, G. [Synertech Systems Corp. (United States); MacDonald, M. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)

    1997-12-31

    The multifamily case studies that are the subject of this report were conducted to provide a better understanding of the approach taken by program operators in weatherizing large buildings. Because of significant variations in building construction and energy systems across the country, five states were selected based on their high level of multifamily weatherization. This report summarizes findings from case studies conducted by multifamily weatherization operations in five cities. The case studies were conducted between January and November 1994. Each of the case studies involved extensive interviews with the staff of weatherization subgrantees conducting multifamily weatherization, the inspection of 4 to 12 buildings weatherized between 1991 and 1993, and the analysis of savings and costs. The case studies focused on innovative techniques which appear to work well.

  9. Modeling of hydrothermal circulation applied to active volcanic areas. The case of Vulcano (Italy)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Todesco, M. [Dip. Scienze della Terra, Posa (Italy)

    1995-03-01

    Modeling of fluid and heat flows through porous media has been diffusely applied up to date to the study of geothermal reservoirs. Much less has been done to apply the same methodology to the study of active volcanoes and of the associated volcanic hazard. Hydrothermal systems provide direct information on dormant eruptive centers and significant insights on their state of activity and current evolution. For this reason, the evaluation of volcanic hazard is also based on monitoring of hydrothermal activity. Such monitoring, however, provides measurements of surface parameters, such as fluid temperature or composition, that often are only representative of the shallower portion of the system. The interpretation of these data in terms of global functioning of the hydrothermal circulation can therefore be highly misleading. Numerical modeling of hydrothermal activity provides a physical approach to the description of fluid circulation and can contribute to its understanding and to the interpretation of monitoring data. In this work, the TOUGH2 simulator has been applied to study the hydrothermal activity at Vulcano (Italy). Simulations involved an axisymmetric domain heated from below, and focused on the effects of permeability distribution and carbon dioxide. Results are consistent with the present knowledge of the volcanic system and suggest that permeability distribution plays a major role in the evolution of fluid circulation. This parameter should be considered in the interpretation of monitoring data and in the evaluation of volcanic hazard at Vulcano.

  10. Economic Evaluation of Hydrological Ecosystem Services in Mediterranean River Basins Applied to a Case Study in Southern Italy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcello Mastrorilli

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Land use affects eco-hydrological processes with consequences for floods and droughts. Changes in land use affect ecosystems and hydrological services. The objective of this study is the analysis of hydrological services through the quantification of water resources, pollutant loads, land retention capacity and soil erosion. On the basis of a quantitative evaluation, the economic values of the ecosystem services are estimated. By assigning an economic value to the natural resources and to the hydraulic system, the hydrological services can be computed at the scale of catchment ecosystem. The proposed methodology was applied to the basin “Bonis” (Calabria Region, Italy. The study analyses four land use scenarios: (i forest cover with good vegetative status (baseline scenario; (ii modification of the forest canopy; (iii variation in forest and cultivated surfaces; (iv insertion of impermeable areas. The simulations prove that the variations of the state of forest areas has considerable influence on the water balance, and then on the provided economic value. Small economic changes derive from reducing the impermeable areas. Increasing the agricultural area to 50% of the total, and reducing the forest surface, affects soil erosion, reduces the storage capacity of the water, and consequently the water harvesting. The suggested methodology can be considered a suitable tool for land planning.

  11. Preliminary Study on Impact Resistances of Fiber Reinforced Concrete Applied Nuclear Power Plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jin, Byeong Moo; Kim, Young Jin; Jeon, Se Jin

    2013-01-01

    Studies to improve the impact resistance depending upon design parameters for fiber reinforced concrete, such as type of fibers and application ratio, are in progress. Authors assessed first the impact resistance of concrete walls depending upon fiber types and missile impact velocities. The safety assessment of nuclear power plants against large civil aircraft crashes have been accomplished for normal concrete and fiber reinforced concretes in this study. Studies on the safety assessments on the nuclear power plants against large civil aircraft crashes are ongoing actively. As a step of evaluating the applicability of fiber reinforced concrete in means of ensuring more structural safety of the nuclear power plants against impact, the impact resistance for the 1% steel and 2% polyamide fiber reinforced concretes have been evaluated. For reactor containment building structures, it seem there is no impact resistance enhancement of fiber reinforced concrete applied to reactor containment building in the cases of impact velocity 150 m/sec considered in this study. However this results from the pre-stressing forces which introduce compressive stresses in concrete wall and dome section of reactor containment building. Nonetheless there may be benefits to apply fiber reinforced concrete to nuclear power plants. For double containment type reactor containment building, the outer structure is a reinforced concrete structure. The impact resistances for non pre-stressed cylindrical reactor containment buildings are enhanced by 23 to 47 % for 2 % polyamide fiber reinforced concretes and 1 % steel fiber reinforced concretes respectively. For other buildings such as auxiliary building, compound building and fuel storage building surrounding the reactor containment building, there are so many reinforced concrete walls which are anticipated some enhancements of impact resistance by using fiber reinforced concretes. And heavier or faster large civil aircraft impacts produce higher

  12. Preliminary Study on Impact Resistances of Fiber Reinforced Concrete Applied Nuclear Power Plants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jin, Byeong Moo; Kim, Young Jin; Jeon, Se Jin [Daewoo E and C Co. Ltd., Suwon (Korea, Republic of)

    2013-10-15

    Studies to improve the impact resistance depending upon design parameters for fiber reinforced concrete, such as type of fibers and application ratio, are in progress. Authors assessed first the impact resistance of concrete walls depending upon fiber types and missile impact velocities. The safety assessment of nuclear power plants against large civil aircraft crashes have been accomplished for normal concrete and fiber reinforced concretes in this study. Studies on the safety assessments on the nuclear power plants against large civil aircraft crashes are ongoing actively. As a step of evaluating the applicability of fiber reinforced concrete in means of ensuring more structural safety of the nuclear power plants against impact, the impact resistance for the 1% steel and 2% polyamide fiber reinforced concretes have been evaluated. For reactor containment building structures, it seem there is no impact resistance enhancement of fiber reinforced concrete applied to reactor containment building in the cases of impact velocity 150 m/sec considered in this study. However this results from the pre-stressing forces which introduce compressive stresses in concrete wall and dome section of reactor containment building. Nonetheless there may be benefits to apply fiber reinforced concrete to nuclear power plants. For double containment type reactor containment building, the outer structure is a reinforced concrete structure. The impact resistances for non pre-stressed cylindrical reactor containment buildings are enhanced by 23 to 47 % for 2 % polyamide fiber reinforced concretes and 1 % steel fiber reinforced concretes respectively. For other buildings such as auxiliary building, compound building and fuel storage building surrounding the reactor containment building, there are so many reinforced concrete walls which are anticipated some enhancements of impact resistance by using fiber reinforced concretes. And heavier or faster large civil aircraft impacts produce higher

  13. Case Study Application of the Biodiversity Security Index to Ranking Feasibility Studies for Ecosystem Restoration Projects of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-04-01

    ER D C/ EL C R- 16 -1 Ecosystem Management and Restoration Research Program Case Study Application of the Biodiversity Security Index... Biodiversity Security Index to Ranking Feasibility Studies for Ecosystem Restoration Projects of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Richard A. Cole... Biodiversity Security Index (BSI) was applied to 23 project sites ranked for restoration feasibility study annual funding by the U. S. Army Corps of

  14. Summary of case studies for cooperation mechanisms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Longa, Francesco Dalla; Klinge Jacobsen, Henrik; Hansen, Lise-Lotte Pade

    2012-01-01

    This document is a summary report highlighting the main aspect analyzed in the RES4LESS case studies. The document starts with an introductory chapter where the background that led to the selection of the case studies is outlined. In the following three chapters the case studies are presented, hi...

  15. Implementing Product Platforms: A Case Study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Ole Fiil; Mortensen, Niels Henrik

    2006-01-01

    The paper describes a case study dealing with the process of creating and implementing a product platform. The paper espessially deals with the fact that to obtain the benefits of platforms a permanent change in behaviour in product development must be ensured. This change in behaviour requires...... acceptance and approval from the organisation in general and the commitment from management to enforce agreed-upon decisions. The case study itself was performed in the Danish company LEGO Group. The case study had two objectives: To create a technical architecture and align this architecture...

  16. Applying Matched Sampling to Evaluate a University Tutoring Program for First-Year Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walvoord, Mark E.; Pleitz, Jacob D.

    2016-01-01

    Our study used a case-control matching design to assess the influence of a voluntary tutoring program in improving first-year students' Grade Point Averages (GPA). To evaluate program effectiveness, we applied case-control matching to obtain 215 pairs of students with or without participation in tutoring, but matched on high school GPA and…

  17. Applied Behavior Analysis and Statistical Process Control?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hopkins, B. L.

    1995-01-01

    Incorporating statistical process control (SPC) methods into applied behavior analysis is discussed. It is claimed that SPC methods would likely reduce applied behavior analysts' intimate contacts with problems and would likely yield poor treatment and research decisions. Cases and data presented by Pfadt and Wheeler (1995) are cited as examples.…

  18. Mathematical modeling in municipal solid waste management: case study of Tehran.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akbarpour Shirazi, Mohsen; Samieifard, Reza; Abduli, Mohammad Ali; Omidvar, Babak

    2016-01-01

    Solid Waste Management (SWM) in metropolises with systematic methods and following environmental issues, is one of the most important subjects in the area of urban management. In this regard, it is regarded as a legal entity so that its activities are not overshadowed by other urban activities. In this paper, a linear mathematical programming model has been designed for integrated SWM. Using Lingo software and required data from Tehran, the proposed model has been applied for Tehran SWM system as a case study. To determine the optimal status of the available system for Tehran's Solid Waste Management System (SWMS), a novel linear programming model is applied. Tehran has 22 municipal regions with 11 transfer stations and 10 processing units. By running of the model, the transfer stations and processing units are decreased to 10 and 6 units, respectively. The proposed model is an alternative method for improvement the SWMS by decreasing the transfer stations and processing units.

  19. Simulation as Logistic Support to Handling in the Warehouse: Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Janka Šaderová

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Manipulation processes represent an important part of the material management in a company. These processes run inside a company and represent an integrated chain of material flow. The current situation regarding the material manipulation is evaluated using the manipulation indicators which may serve as the basis for manipulation system rationalisation designs. The present case study is focused on the determination of an appropriate number of forklift trucks in a given operation and consists of three sections. The introductory section deals with the evaluation of forklift activities while applying the selected analysis and the selected indicators. Analysis results subsequently served as a basis for the calculation. The calculated number of trucks must be properly verified; the verification should be focused on whether the given number of forklifts is actually sufficient for the performance of the current activities. The activities were verified while applying the simulation. A simulation model was created using the Technomatix Plan Simulation software.

  20. Location of existing Case Studies on Open Education

    OpenAIRE

    Burke, Siobhan

    2014-01-01

    Members of the Open Education Special Interest Group have collected a selection of short case studies on Open Education. View all of the case studies at http://repository.alt.ac.uk/view/divisions/CaseStudies/ Location of existing Case Studies on Open Education: The following lists aims to capture and amalgamate the various different case study sources which have been created and developed within the UK around experiences of Open Educational Resources.

  1. national Case study

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This national case study reports on the development of a national network, ... system under the new policy), tends to be limited by content on problems and ... 20 credit programme; and within two Post Graduate Certificate of Education contexts, ...... descriptive with an issues focus (empirical) towards awareness production to.

  2. Writing case studies in information systems research

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Blonk, H.C.

    Case study research can be reported in different ways. This paper explores the various ways in which researchers may choose to write down their case studies and then introduces a subsequent typology of writing case studies. The typology is based on a 2 x 2 matrix, resulting in four forms of writing

  3. Serum Antibodies against Genitourinary Infectious Agents in Prostate Cancer and Benign Prostate Hyperplasia Patients: A Case-Control Study

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Hrbáček, J.; Urban, M.; Hamšíková, E.; Tachezy, R.; Eisenbruk, V.; Brabec, Marek; Heráček, J.

    2011-01-01

    Roč. 11, Art.no. 53 (2011), s. 1-10 ISSN 1471-2407 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : serum antibodies * prostate cancer * case-control study * logistic regression, calibration Subject RIV: BB - Applied Statistics, Operational Research Impact factor: 3.011, year: 2011

  4. Agent-based modelling in applied ethology: an exploratory case study of behavioural dynamics in tail biting in pigs

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boumans, I.J.M.M.; Hofstede, G.J.; Bolhuis, J.E.; Boer, de I.J.M.; Bokkers, E.A.M.

    2016-01-01

    Understanding behavioural dynamics in pigs is important to assess pig welfare in current intensive pig production systems. Agent-based modelling (ABM) is an approach to gain insight into behavioural dynamics in pigs, but its use in applied ethology and animal welfare science has been limited so far.

  5. Evaluation of PDA Technical Report No 33. Statistical Testing Recommendations for a Rapid Microbiological Method Case Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murphy, Thomas; Schwedock, Julie; Nguyen, Kham; Mills, Anna; Jones, David

    2015-01-01

    New recommendations for the validation of rapid microbiological methods have been included in the revised Technical Report 33 release from the PDA. The changes include a more comprehensive review of the statistical methods to be used to analyze data obtained during validation. This case study applies those statistical methods to accuracy, precision, ruggedness, and equivalence data obtained using a rapid microbiological methods system being evaluated for water bioburden testing. Results presented demonstrate that the statistical methods described in the PDA Technical Report 33 chapter can all be successfully applied to the rapid microbiological method data sets and gave the same interpretation for equivalence to the standard method. The rapid microbiological method was in general able to pass the requirements of PDA Technical Report 33, though the study shows that there can be occasional outlying results and that caution should be used when applying statistical methods to low average colony-forming unit values. Prior to use in a quality-controlled environment, any new method or technology has to be shown to work as designed by the manufacturer for the purpose required. For new rapid microbiological methods that detect and enumerate contaminating microorganisms, additional recommendations have been provided in the revised PDA Technical Report No. 33. The changes include a more comprehensive review of the statistical methods to be used to analyze data obtained during validation. This paper applies those statistical methods to analyze accuracy, precision, ruggedness, and equivalence data obtained using a rapid microbiological method system being validated for water bioburden testing. The case study demonstrates that the statistical methods described in the PDA Technical Report No. 33 chapter can be successfully applied to rapid microbiological method data sets and give the same comparability results for similarity or difference as the standard method. © PDA, Inc

  6. Sensitivity analysis of the use of Life Cycle Impact Assessment methods: a case study on building materials

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bueno, Cristiane; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; Rossignolo, Joao Adriano

    2016-01-01

    The main aim of this research is to perform a sensitivity analysis of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) case study to understand if the use of different Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) methods may lead to different conclusions by decision makers and stakeholders. A complete LCA was applied to non...

  7. Geographical information systems as a tool in limnological studies An applied case study in a shallow .lake of a plain area, Buenos Aires province, Argentina

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Quiroz, Orlando; Romanelli, Asuncion; Martinez, Daniel

    2009-01-01

    The understanding of the hydrological functioning and the interaction among the different water bodies in an area is essential when a sustainable use of the hydric resources is considered. The aim of the present paper is to assess both hydrological-limnological methods and GIS as an integrated methodology applied to the study of shallow lakes, and the hydrological behavior of shallow wetlands in plain areas. La Salada is an areic permanent shallow lake with an area of 5,78 km 2 located near La Dulce town (SE of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina). In this paper we applied methods and tools of the Geographical information Systems in order to assess both, the evolution and state of the wetland. Topographic profiles, showing the relationship among the lake and the other aquatic systems, and also a multi temporal assessment of the morphometric parameters were performed by using a Digital Terrain Model of the area. A sample grid was designed to obtain bathymetric, hydrogeochemical and isotopic data. The chemical water composition is homogeneous in area and depth. changes in the conductivity values along depth, the isotopic contents and the Gibbs diagram showed that the evaporation is the main process controlling the water chemistry. Physical-chemical parameters established water quality and uses of the lake.

  8. Conservation markets for wildlife management with case studies from whaling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerber, Leah R; Costello, Christopher; Gaines, Steven D

    2014-01-01

    Although market-based incentives have helped resolve many environmental challenges, conservation markets still play a relatively minor role in wildlife management. Establishing property rights for environmental goods and allowing trade between resource extractors and resource conservationists may offer a path forward in conserving charismatic species like whales, wolves, turtles, and sharks. In this paper, we provide a conceptual model for implementing a conservation market for wildlife and evaluate how such a market could be applied to three case studies for whales (minke [Balaenoptera acutorostrata], bowhead [Balaena mysticetus], and gray [Eschrictius robustus]). We show that, if designed and operated properly, such a market could ensure persistence of imperiled populations, while simultaneously improving the welfare of resource harvesters.

  9. Logistics Management in Retail Industry : A case study of 7-Eleven in Thailand

    OpenAIRE

    Supasansanee, Latika; Kasiphongphaisan, Patthaveekarn

    2009-01-01

    Master’s thesis in International Logistics and Supply Chain Management Title:  Logistics Management in Retail Industry: a case study 7-Eleven in Thailand Author:  Latika Supasansanee and Patthaveekarn Kasiphongphaisan Tutor:     Susanne Hertz and Benedikte Borgström Date:      June 1, 2009 Keywords: 7-Eleven Thailand, Logistics, Retail     Convenience, Distribution Center and Warehouse, IT-Apply in retail store, and Competitive advantage Introduction: In today’s challenging competition ...

  10. The Danish National Case Study Report

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brodersen, Søsser; Jørgensen, Michael Søgaard

    Three case studies from Danish science shops within the environmental field are analysed with respect to societal background, interaction between the involved actors and the societal impact of the co-operation. The report is one of the seven national case study reports from the EU...

  11. Using Case Studies in Calculus-based Physics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katz, Debora M.

    2006-12-01

    Do your students believe that the physics only works in your classroom or laboratory? Or do they see that physics underlies their everyday experience? Case studies in physics help students connect physics principles to their everyday experience. For decades, case studies have been used to teach law, medicine and biology, but they are rarely used in physics. I am working on a calculus-based physics textbook for scientists and engineers. Case studies are woven into each chapter. Stop by and get a case study to test out in your classroom. I would love to get your feedback.

  12. Modalities of Generalization Through Single Case Studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zittoun, Tania

    2017-06-01

    The value of case studies for theory building is still doubted in psychology. The paper argues for the importance of case studies and the possibility of generalizing from these for a specific sociocultural understanding of human development. The paper first clarifies the notion of abduction within case studies, drawing on pragmatists James and Peirce and expanding it with the work of Lewin, and argues that it is the core mechanism that allows generalization from case studies. The second section presents the possibility of generalizing from individual single case studies, for which not only the subjective perspective, but also the dynamics by which the social and cultural environment guide and enable the person's development, have to be accounted for. The third section elaborates the question of institutional case studies, where the challenge is to account both for institutional dynamics, and for persons' trajectories within; this is exemplified with an ongoing study on the process of obtaining citizenship in Switzerland. The paper briefly concludes by highlighting two possible implications of the paper, one concerning the process of theoretical reasoning, the other, the fact that sociocultural psychology could itself be seen as an institution in-the-making.

  13. Innovations in structuring article introductions: The case of Applied Linguistics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ling Lin

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available This study explores the rhetorical structure of introductions that are followed by an independent Literature Review (L section. It is motivated by an increasing use or even the prevalent use of both the introduction and L sections in the opening phase of empirical research articles in many disciplines and the lack of systematic genre-based investigation of introductions with a following L section. Based on a detailed examination of 30 introductions with a subsequent L section in Applied Linguistics, this study found that they generally can be classified into two categories according to their communicative functions and structures. They are the traditional CARS type that largely follows the classic “Create a Research Space” (CARS model and the innovative Two-move Orientation type. Some featured elements used in the introductions with a subsequent L are identified and the “Two-move Orientation” approach is formulated for the rhetorical structure of this new type of introductions. The interesting links between introduction and L are also suggested. The study contributes to our understanding of the structure and function of this important part-genre in a new generic context (that is, introductions being followed by an independent L section and illuminates the current genre-based teaching of introduction writing.

  14. Symbolic Interaction and Applied Social Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kotarba, Joseph A.

    2014-01-01

    In symbolic interaction, a traditional yet unfortunate and unnecessary distinction has been made between basic and applied research. The argument has been made that basic research is intended to generate new knowledge, whereas applied research is intended to apply knowledge to the solution of practical (social and organizational) problems. I will argue that the distinction between basic and applied research in symbolic interaction is outdated and dysfunctional. The masters of symbolic interactionist thought have left us a proud legacy of shaping their scholarly thinking and inquiry in response to and in light of practical issues of the day (e.g., Znaniecki, and Blumer). Current interactionist work continues this tradition in topical areas such as social justice studies. Applied research, especially in term of evaluation and needs assessment studies, can be designed to serve both basic and applied goals. Symbolic interaction provides three great resources to do this. The first is its orientation to dynamic sensitizing concepts that direct research and ask questions instead of supplying a priori and often impractical answers. The second is its orientation to qualitative methods, and appreciation for the logic of grounded theory. The third is interactionism’s overall holistic approach to interfacing with the everyday life world. The primary illustrative case here is the qualitative component of the evaluation of an NIH-funded, translational medical research program. The qualitative component has provided interactionist-inspired insights into translational research, such as examining cultural change in medical research in terms of changes in the form and content of formal and informal discourse among scientists; delineating the impact of significant symbols such as "my lab" on the social organization of science; and appreciating the essence of the self-concept "scientist" on the increasingly bureaucratic and administrative identities of medical researchers. This

  15. A comparison of economic evaluation models as applied to geothermal energy technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziman, G. M.; Rosenberg, L. S.

    1983-01-01

    Several cost estimation and financial cash flow models have been applied to a series of geothermal case studies. In order to draw conclusions about relative performance and applicability of these models to geothermal projects, the consistency of results was assessed. The model outputs of principal interest in this study were net present value, internal rate of return, or levelized breakeven price. The models used were VENVAL, a venture analysis model; the Geothermal Probabilistic Cost Model (GPC Model); the Alternative Power Systems Economic Analysis Model (APSEAM); the Geothermal Loan Guarantee Cash Flow Model (GCFM); and the GEOCOST and GEOCITY geothermal models. The case studies to which the models were applied include a geothermal reservoir at Heber, CA; a geothermal eletric power plant to be located at the Heber site; an alcohol fuels production facility to be built at Raft River, ID; and a direct-use, district heating system in Susanville, CA.

  16. Applied Sports Nutrition Support, Dietary Intake and Body Composition Changes of a Female Athlete Completing 26 Marathons in 26 Days: A Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chris J. McManus, Kelly A. Murray, David A. Parry

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this case study is to describe the nutrition practices of a female recreational runner (VO2max 48.9 ml·kg-1·min-1 who completed 26 marathons (42.195 km in 26 consecutive days. Information relating to the nutritional intake of female runners during multi-day endurance events is extremely limited, yet the number of people participating year-on-year continues to increase. This case study reports the nutrition intervention, dietary intake, body composition changes and performance in the lead-up and during the 26 days. Prior to undertaking the 26 marathon challenge, three consultations were held between the athlete and a sports nutrition advisor; planning and tailoring the general diet and race-specific strategies to the endurance challenge. During the marathons, the mean energy and fluid intake was 1039.7 ± 207.9 kcal (607.1 – 1453.2 and 2.39 ± 0.35 L (1.98 – 3.19. Mean hourly carbohydrate intake was 38.9 g·hr-1. 11 days following the completion of the 26 marathons, body mass had reduced by 4.6 kg and lean body mass increasing by 0.53 kg when compared with 20 days prior. This case study highlights the importance of providing general and event-specific nutrition education when training for such an event. This is particularly prudent for multi-day endurance running events.

  17. Implementation of case studies in undergraduate didactic nursing courses: a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dutra, Danette K

    2013-07-04

    The implementation of unfolding scenario-based case studies in the didactic classroom is associated with learner-centered education. The utilization of learner-centered pedagogies, such as case studies, removes the focus from the instructor and instead places it on the student. Learner-centered pedagogies are believed to improve students' levels of cognition. The purpose of this study was to examine how nurse educators are implementing the pedagogies of case studies in their undergraduate didactic courses. The goal was to examine, document, report, and, ultimately, implement the strategies. Purposeful sampling was utilized in this qualitative, multisite-designed study. For each of the four participants, three separate site visits were completed. Observations and post-observational interviews took place at each site visit. Transcribed data from interviews, observations, and course documents were imported into the computer program Nvivo8. Repetitive comparative analysis was utilized to complete the data coding process. The guiding research question of this study sought to investigate the implementation strategies of case studies in didactic nursing courses. The implementation of case studies by the participants reflected two primary patterns: Formal Implementation (FI) and Informal Implementation (II) of case studies. The FI of case studies was further divided into two subcategories: Formal Implementation of case studies used Inside the Classroom setting (FIIC) and Formal Implementation of cases studies used Outside of the Classroom (FIOC). Results of this investigation have led to an increased understanding of implementation strategies of unfolding scenario-based case studies in undergraduate nursing didactic courses. Data collected were rich in the description of specific methodologies for utilization of case studies and may serve as a resource for faculty in development of creative strategies to enhance the didactic classroom experience.

  18. Integration of ICT, Drama, and Language for Development of Children's Communicative Competence: Case Study in a Primary School

    OpenAIRE

    Giedrė STRAKŠIENĖ; Dalia BAZIUKAITĖ

    2009-01-01

    The paper addresses the issue of unusual ICT tool application in the development of communicative competences during drama classes. It also presents the practical implementation of a case study method with the application of ICT tools. The case method was used for an interesting combination of acquiring communicative competences including drama skills by means of applying modern computer software. The target group was the 3rd form pupils of Klaipeda primary school. The activities planned to c...

  19. Applying data mining techniques to medical time series: an empirical case study in electroencephalography and stabilometry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Anguera

    2016-01-01

    This paper illustrates the application of different knowledge discovery techniques for the purposes of classification within the above domains. The accuracy of this application for the two classes considered in each case is 99.86% and 98.11% for epilepsy diagnosis in the electroencephalography (EEG domain and 99.4% and 99.1% for early-age sports talent classification in the stabilometry domain. The KDD techniques achieve better results than other traditional neural network-based classification techniques.

  20. Intelligent Adaptation Process for Case Based Systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nassar, A.M.; Mohamed, A.H.; Mohamed, A.H.

    2014-01-01

    Case Based Reasoning (CBR) Systems is one of the important decision making systems applied in many fields all over the world. The effectiveness of any CBR system based on the quality of the storage cases in the case library. Similar cases can be retrieved and adapted to produce the solution for the new problem. One of the main issues faced the CBR systems is the difficulties of achieving the useful cases. The proposed system introduces a new approach that uses the genetic algorithm (GA) technique to automate constructing the cases into the case library. Also, it can optimize the best one to be stored in the library for the future uses. However, the proposed system can avoid the problems of the uncertain and noisy cases. Besides, it can simply the retrieving and adaptation processes. So, it can improve the performance of the CBR system. The suggested system can be applied for many real-time problems. It has been applied for diagnosis the faults of the wireless network, diagnosis of the cancer diseases, diagnosis of the debugging of a software as cases of study. The proposed system has proved its performance in this field

  1. International benchmarking of specialty hospitals. A series of case studies on comprehensive cancer centres

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    Background Benchmarking is one of the methods used in business that is applied to hospitals to improve the management of their operations. International comparison between hospitals can explain performance differences. As there is a trend towards specialization of hospitals, this study examines the benchmarking process and the success factors of benchmarking in international specialized cancer centres. Methods Three independent international benchmarking studies on operations management in cancer centres were conducted. The first study included three comprehensive cancer centres (CCC), three chemotherapy day units (CDU) were involved in the second study and four radiotherapy departments were included in the final study. Per multiple case study a research protocol was used to structure the benchmarking process. After reviewing the multiple case studies, the resulting description was used to study the research objectives. Results We adapted and evaluated existing benchmarking processes through formalizing stakeholder involvement and verifying the comparability of the partners. We also devised a framework to structure the indicators to produce a coherent indicator set and better improvement suggestions. Evaluating the feasibility of benchmarking as a tool to improve hospital processes led to mixed results. Case study 1 resulted in general recommendations for the organizations involved. In case study 2, the combination of benchmarking and lean management led in one CDU to a 24% increase in bed utilization and a 12% increase in productivity. Three radiotherapy departments of case study 3, were considering implementing the recommendations. Additionally, success factors, such as a well-defined and small project scope, partner selection based on clear criteria, stakeholder involvement, simple and well-structured indicators, analysis of both the process and its results and, adapt the identified better working methods to the own setting, were found. Conclusions The improved

  2. a Geodatabase for Multisource Data Applied to Cultural Heritage: the Case Study of Villa Revedin Bolasco

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guarnieri, A.; Masiero, A.; Piragnolo, M.; Pirotti, F.; Vettore, A.

    2016-06-01

    In this paper we present the results of the development of a Web-based archiving and documenting system aimed to the management of multisource and multitemporal data related to cultural heritage. As case study we selected the building complex of Villa Revedin Bolasco in Castefranco Veneto (Treviso, Italy) and its park. Buildings and park were built in XIX century after several restorations of the original XIV century area. The data management system relies on a geodatabase framework, in which different kinds of datasets were stored. More specifically, the geodatabase elements consist of historical information, documents, descriptions of artistic characteristics of the building and the park, in the form of text and images. In addition, we used also floorplans, sections and views of the outer facades of the building extracted by a TLS-based 3D model of the whole Villa. In order to manage and explore these rich dataset, we developed a geodatabase using PostgreSQL and PostGIS as spatial plugin. The Web-GIS platform, based on HTML5 and PHP programming languages, implements the NASA Web World Wind virtual globe, a 3D virtual globe we used to enable the navigation and interactive exploration of the park. Furthermore, through a specific timeline function, the user can explore the historical evolution of the building complex.

  3. A GEODATABASE FOR MULTISOURCE DATA APPLIED TO CULTURAL HERITAGE: THE CASE STUDY OF VILLA REVEDIN BOLASCO

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Guarnieri

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we present the results of the development of a Web-based archiving and documenting system aimed to the management of multisource and multitemporal data related to cultural heritage. As case study we selected the building complex of Villa Revedin Bolasco in Castefranco Veneto (Treviso, Italy and its park. Buildings and park were built in XIX century after several restorations of the original XIV century area. The data management system relies on a geodatabase framework, in which different kinds of datasets were stored. More specifically, the geodatabase elements consist of historical information, documents, descriptions of artistic characteristics of the building and the park, in the form of text and images. In addition, we used also floorplans, sections and views of the outer facades of the building extracted by a TLS-based 3D model of the whole Villa. In order to manage and explore these rich dataset, we developed a geodatabase using PostgreSQL and PostGIS as spatial plugin. The Web-GIS platform, based on HTML5 and PHP programming languages, implements the NASA Web World Wind virtual globe, a 3D virtual globe we used to enable the navigation and interactive exploration of the park. Furthermore, through a specific timeline function, the user can explore the historical evolution of the building complex.

  4. Using Case Studies to Enrich Field Experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Florio-Ruane, Susan; Clark, Christopher M.

    1990-01-01

    This paper discusses the use of field experience in teacher education and how it can be augmented by phenomenological case studies. It summarizes a particular case study involving three teacher education classes, noting that reflective analysis of cases can prepare students to observe in the field. (SM)

  5. Using Case Studies to Teach About Global Issues, Bali: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oswald, James M.

    1974-01-01

    The South Pacific island of Bali is used as a case study of overpopulation and food shortage. A brief description of the resources, the typical lifestyle of the Balinese farmer, and possible teaching techniques are given. (DE)

  6. Measuring and Maximising Research Impact in Applied Social Science Research Settings. Good Practice Guide

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stanwick, John; Hargreaves, Jo

    2012-01-01

    This guide describes the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) approach to measuring impact using examples from its own case studies, as well as showing how to maximise the impact of applied social science research. Applied social science research needs to demonstrate that it is relevant and useful both to public policy and…

  7. Routine for uncertainties evaluation: study case in mammography; Roteiro para avaliacao de incertezas: caso estudo em mamografia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Peixoto, J.G.P. [Instituto de Radioprotecao e Dosimetria (IRD/CNEN-RJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)]. E-mail: guiherm@ird.gov.br; Almeida, C.E.V de [Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ/LCR), RJ (Brazil). Lab. de Ciencias Radiologicas

    2005-03-15

    This paper gives a orientation in the identification of uncertainties in the measurement object and the influence magnitudes which directly affect the results of measurements. The entry magnitudes presented in this work applies exclusively for this study case, and their use depends of the professional for the choice of those entry magnitudes.

  8. Case-Based Fault Diagnostic System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohamed, A.H.

    2014-01-01

    Nowadays, case-based fault diagnostic (CBFD) systems have become important and widely applied problem solving technologies. They are based on the assumption that “similar faults have similar diagnosis”. On the other hand, CBFD systems still suffer from some limitations. Common ones of them are: (1) failure of CBFD to have the needed diagnosis for the new faults that have no similar cases in the case library. (2) Limited memorization when increasing the number of stored cases in the library. The proposed research introduces incorporating the neural network into the case based system to enable the system to diagnose all the faults. Neural networks have proved their success in the classification and diagnosis problems. The suggested system uses the neural network to diagnose the new faults (cases) that cannot be diagnosed by the traditional CBR diagnostic system. Besides, the proposed system can use the another neural network to control adding and deleting the cases in the library to manage the size of the cases in the case library. However, the suggested system has improved the performance of the case based fault diagnostic system when applied for the motor rolling bearing as a case of study

  9. Case-control vaccine effectiveness studies: Preparation, design, and enrollment of cases and controls.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verani, Jennifer R; Baqui, Abdullah H; Broome, Claire V; Cherian, Thomas; Cohen, Cheryl; Farrar, Jennifer L; Feikin, Daniel R; Groome, Michelle J; Hajjeh, Rana A; Johnson, Hope L; Madhi, Shabir A; Mulholland, Kim; O'Brien, Katherine L; Parashar, Umesh D; Patel, Manish M; Rodrigues, Laura C; Santosham, Mathuram; Scott, J Anthony; Smith, Peter G; Sommerfelt, Halvor; Tate, Jacqueline E; Victor, J Chris; Whitney, Cynthia G; Zaidi, Anita K; Zell, Elizabeth R

    2017-06-05

    Case-control studies are commonly used to evaluate effectiveness of licensed vaccines after deployment in public health programs. Such studies can provide policy-relevant data on vaccine performance under 'real world' conditions, contributing to the evidence base to support and sustain introduction of new vaccines. However, case-control studies do not measure the impact of vaccine introduction on disease at a population level, and are subject to bias and confounding, which may lead to inaccurate results that can misinform policy decisions. In 2012, a group of experts met to review recent experience with case-control studies evaluating the effectiveness of several vaccines; here we summarize the recommendations of that group regarding best practices for planning, design and enrollment of cases and controls. Rigorous planning and preparation should focus on understanding the study context including healthcare-seeking and vaccination practices. Case-control vaccine effectiveness studies are best carried out soon after vaccine introduction because high coverage creates strong potential for confounding. Endpoints specific to the vaccine target are preferable to non-specific clinical syndromes since the proportion of non-specific outcomes preventable through vaccination may vary over time and place, leading to potentially confusing results. Controls should be representative of the source population from which cases arise, and are generally recruited from the community or health facilities where cases are enrolled. Matching of controls to cases for potential confounding factors is commonly used, although should be reserved for a limited number of key variables believed to be linked to both vaccination and disease. Case-control vaccine effectiveness studies can provide information useful to guide policy decisions and vaccine development, however rigorous preparation and design is essential. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  10. A Study of Applying Digital Mobile Museum Guide

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chao-yun Chaucer Liang

    2003-09-01

    Full Text Available With the prosperous development of information technology, museums begin to apply new technology to enhance operation and communication efficiency. One of the information technology. Personal Digital Mobile, featuring light weight and mobility, can help museum to set up an interactive navigation system, which offering capability of user-controlled guidance and both broad and depth information. In this study, literature related to museum tour guide, digital mobile navigation, and multimedia interaction design were reviewed, and two examples were offered for reference. The first one example is Exploratorium in American, which is cooperated with HP labs to integrate wireless networking and PDA devices. The domestic example is the design project of the Personal Digital Mobile Guide for the Emperor Ch’ien-lung’s Grand Cultural Enterprise Exhibition in National Palace Museum, 2002. This paper introduces the techniques involved, interactive storyboard, interface design, color planning, electronic element planning, etc. The process of applying theory into creative project may help future researches in the related areas.[Article content in Chinese

  11. [Otomycosis and topical application of thimerosal: study of 152 cases].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tisner, J; Millán, J; Rivas, P; Adiego, I; Castellote, A; Valles, H

    1995-01-01

    To evaluate the effectiveness of the topical application of Timerosal (merthilate tintura) in mycosis involving the external auditory canal. The study includes 152 patients with the clinical, otoscopic and microscopic diagnosis of otomycosis. Results were assessed 72 hours and 10 days after the application. Bacteriological study was performed in 83 patients, finding Aspergilly niger in 54.0% of the cases, Candida albicans in 25.4%, Aspergillus fumigatus in 15.8% and Penicillium in 4.8%. Improvement at 72 h. was found in 66.4% and at 10 days in 93.4% of the patients. Bacteriological contamination was found in 6.6% of the total. In most of the patients, the otomycosis healed after cleaning of the external auditory canal and topical application of timerosal. This method is easy to apply, fast, effective, of low cost and few side effects.

  12. Septic Systems Case Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    A collection of septic systems case studies to help community planners, elected officials, health department staff, state officials, and interested citizens explore alternatives for managing their decentralized wastewater treatment systems.

  13. Contextualising case studies in entrepreneurship: A tandem approach to conducting a longitudinal cross-country case study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chetty, S. K.; Partanen, J.; Rasmussen, Erik Stavnsager

    2014-01-01

    Using predictive and effectuation logics as a framework, this research note explains how case study research was conducted to demonstrate rigour and relevance. The study involves a longitudinal cross-country case study on small and medium-sized firm growth and networks undertaken by research teams...... in three countries (Finland, Denmark and New Zealand) involving 33 firms. This research note outlines the implications of this research and provides valuable guidance and reflections upon opportunities for future research regarding the conduct of contextual studies in entrepreneurship without compromising...

  14. Fire safety case study of a railway tunnel: Smoke evacuation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    van Maele Karim

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available When a fire occurs in a tunnel, it is of great importance to assure the safety of the occupants of the tunnel. This is achieved by creating smoke-free spaces in the tunnel through control of the smoke gases. In this paper, results are presented of a study concerning the fire safety in a real scale railway tunnel test case. Numerical simulations are performed in order to examine the possibility of natural ventilation of smoke in inclined tunnels. Several aspects are taken into account: the length of the simulated tunnel section, the slope of the tunnel and the possible effects of external wind at one portal of the tunnel. The Fire Dynamics Simulator of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA, is applied to perform the simulations. The simulations show that for the local behavior of the smoke during the early stages of the fire, the slope of the tunnel is of little importance. Secondly, the results show that external wind and/or pressure conditions have a large effect on the smoke gases inside the tunnel. Finally, some idea for the value of the critical ventilation velocity is given. The study also shows that computational fluid dynamics calculations are a valuable tool for large scale, real life complex fire cases. .

  15. Justification of RFID Implementation. A Case Study of White Goods Manufacturer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gladysz Bartlomiej

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Radio Frequency Identification (RFID is a rapidly emerging technology with a wide range of impact and still not fully exploited potential applications. The impact of RFID is not limited to the area of its direct application. There are many possible benefits to be gained from RFID application, but it must be preceded with careful analysis as its implementation is not always reasonable. A new method for an assessment of RFID technology was presented and explained on the case of a white goods manufacturer. There was a lack of such a method allowing for relatively quick and flexible assessment, which is important for decision makers, who do not want to become involved in very sophisticated and time-consuming analysis at the early stage of decision making. The method supports early phases of decision making related to RFID implementation. Conclusions derived from the analysis of the case study confirmed that the method applied allows for rationalizing decision making and answers whether RFID could generate strategic advantage, in which area RFID should be applied, how RFID-supported processes will be executed and what benefits would be expected. previous papers focused only on answering specific questions from the above list, without showing a holistic approach. the approach to answer questions about execution of processes and benefits was not considered earlier at all. The paper illustrates details of using a new method of an assessment of RFID technology (ART using a real industrial example.

  16. Diagnostic and Prognostic Impact of pc-ASPECTS Applied to Perfusion CT in the Basilar Artery International Cooperation Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pallesen, Lars-Peder; Gerber, Johannes; Dzialowski, Imanuel; van der Hoeven, Erik J R J; Michel, Patrik; Pfefferkorn, Thomas; Ozdoba, Christoph; Kappelle, L Jaap; Wiedemann, Baerbel; Khomenko, Andrei; Algra, Ale; Hill, Michael D; von Kummer, Ruediger; Demchuk, Andrew M; Schonewille, Wouter J; Puetz, Volker

    2015-01-01

    The posterior circulation Acute Stroke Prognosis Early CT Score (pc-APECTS) applied to CT angiography source images (CTA-SI) predicts the functional outcome of patients in the Basilar Artery International Cooperation Study (BASICS). We assessed the diagnostic and prognostic impact of pc-ASPECTS applied to perfusion CT (CTP) in the BASICS registry population. We applied pc-ASPECTS to CTA-SI and cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebral blood volume (CBV), and mean transit time (MTT) parameter maps of BASICS patients with CTA and CTP studies performed. Hypoattenuation on CTA-SI, relative reduction in CBV or CBF, or relative increase in MTT were rated as abnormal. CTA and CTP were available in 27/592 BASICS patients (4.6%). The proportion of patients with any perfusion abnormality was highest for MTT (93%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 76%-99%), compared with 78% (58%-91%) for CTA-SI and CBF, and 46% (27%-67%) for CBV (P < .001). All 3 patients with a CBV pc-ASPECTS < 8 compared to 6/23 patients with a CBV pc-ASPECTS ≥ 8 had died at 1 month (RR 3.8; 95% CI, 1.9-7.6). CTP was performed in a minority of the BASICS registry population. Perfusion disturbances in the posterior circulation were most pronounced on MTT parameter maps. CBV pc-ASPECTS < 8 may indicate patients with high case fatality. Copyright © 2014 by the American Society of Neuroimaging.

  17. Study of weather and thermal comfort influence on sport performance: prognostic analysis applied to Rio de Janeiro's city marathon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pallotta, M.; Herdies, D. L.; Gonçalves, L. G.

    2013-05-01

    There is nowadays a growing interest in the influence and impacts of weather and climate in human life. The weather conditions analysis shows the utility of this type of tool when applied in sports. These conditions act as a differential in strategy and training, especially for outdoor sports. This study had as aim objective develop weather forecast and thermal comfort evaluation targeted to sports, and hoped that the results can be used to the development of products and weather service in the Olympic Games 2016 in Rio de Janeiro City. The use of weather forecast applied to the sport showed to be efficient for the case of Rio de Janeiro City Marathon, especially due to the high spatial resolution. The WRF simulations for the three marathons studied showed good results for temperature, atmospheric pressure, and relative humidity. On the other hand, the forecast of the wind showed a pattern of overestimation of the real situation in all cases. It was concluded that the WRF model provides, in general, more representative simulations from 36 hours in advance, and with 18 hours of integration they were even better, describing efficiently the synoptic situation that would be found. A review of weather conditions and thermal comfort at specific points of the marathon route showed that there are significant differences between the stages of the marathon, which makes possible to plan the competition strategy under the thermal comfort. It was concluded that a relationship between a situation more thermally comfortable (uncomfortable) and the best (worst) time in Rio de Janeiro City Marathon

  18. Case Study on Influence Factor Trend Analysis of the Accidents and Events of Nuclear Power Plants by applying Nuclear Safety Culture Framework

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, J. Y.; Park, Y. W.; Park, H.G.

    2016-01-01

    This study 1) established the standard based on frameworks of safety culture principles that show safety culture promotion goals, 2) analyzed the linkages with the frameworks that were established by analyzing each incident cause and weak point from selected 268 cases(rating over INES grade 1) among 4,088 cases (as of April 1, 2015). The 4,088 cases were selected as a result of database analysis from 702 accidents recorded in accident and rating evaluation reports that were published in the National Nuclear Safety Commission and overseas IRS (International Reporting System for operating Experience), and 3) finally conducted a trend analysis studies with these comprehensive results. From the investigations, followings were concluded. 1) In order to analyze the safety culture, analysis methodology is required. 2) Analytical methodology for building sustainable safety culture promoting a virtuous cycle system was developed 3) Among variety of process input data, 970 domestic and overseas incidents were selected as targets and 502 accidents were classified as safety culture related events by utilizing screen filter of IAEA GS-G-3.5 Appendix I and Framework (Nuclear Safety Culture Base Frame) developed by BEES, Inc. for safety culture analysis method. 4) As a result, complex safety culture influence factors for the one reason which was difficult to separate by conventional methods was able to be analyzed. 5) The cumulative data through the system was results of virtuous trend analysis rather than temporary results. Thus, it could be unique cultural factors of the domestic industry and could derive trend differences for domestic safety culture factors accordingly

  19. Case Study on Influence Factor Trend Analysis of the Accidents and Events of Nuclear Power Plants by applying Nuclear Safety Culture Framework

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, J. Y.; Park, Y. W.; Park, H.G. [KAIST, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-05-15

    This study 1) established the standard based on frameworks of safety culture principles that show safety culture promotion goals, 2) analyzed the linkages with the frameworks that were established by analyzing each incident cause and weak point from selected 268 cases(rating over INES grade 1) among 4,088 cases (as of April 1, 2015). The 4,088 cases were selected as a result of database analysis from 702 accidents recorded in accident and rating evaluation reports that were published in the National Nuclear Safety Commission and overseas IRS (International Reporting System for operating Experience), and 3) finally conducted a trend analysis studies with these comprehensive results. From the investigations, followings were concluded. 1) In order to analyze the safety culture, analysis methodology is required. 2) Analytical methodology for building sustainable safety culture promoting a virtuous cycle system was developed 3) Among variety of process input data, 970 domestic and overseas incidents were selected as targets and 502 accidents were classified as safety culture related events by utilizing screen filter of IAEA GS-G-3.5 Appendix I and Framework (Nuclear Safety Culture Base Frame) developed by BEES, Inc. for safety culture analysis method. 4) As a result, complex safety culture influence factors for the one reason which was difficult to separate by conventional methods was able to be analyzed. 5) The cumulative data through the system was results of virtuous trend analysis rather than temporary results. Thus, it could be unique cultural factors of the domestic industry and could derive trend differences for domestic safety culture factors accordingly.

  20. Hybrid Risk Management Methodology: A Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jacky Siu-Lun Ting

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available Risk management is a decision-making process involving considerations of political, social, economic and engineering factors with relevant risk assessments relating to a potential hazard. In the last decade, a number of risk management tools are introduced and employed to manage and minimize the uncertainty and threats realization to the organizations. However, the focus of these methodologies are different; in which companies need to adopt various risk management principles to visualize a full picture of the organizational risk level. Regarding to this, this paper presents a new approach of risk management that integrates Hierarchical Holographic Modeling (HHM, Enterprise Risk Management (ERM and Business Recovery Planning (BCP for identifying and assessing risks as well as managing the consequences of realized residual risks. To illustrate the procedures of the proposed methodology, a logistic company ABC Limited is chosen to serve as a case study Through applying HHM and ERM to investigate and assess the risk, ABC Limited can be better evaluated the potential risks and then took the responsive actions (e.g. BCP to handle the risks and crisis in near future.

  1. Developing and Using a Logic Model for Evaluation and Assessment of University Student Affairs Programming: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooper, Jeff

    2009-01-01

    This dissertation addresses theory and practice of evaluation and assessment in university student affairs, by applying logic modeling/program theory to a case study. I intend to add knowledge to ongoing dialogue among evaluation scholars and practitioners on student affairs program planning and improvement as integral considerations that serve…

  2. Case Study Research: Foundations and Methodological Orientations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Helena Harrison

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Over the last forty years, case study research has undergone substantial methodological development. This evolution has resulted in a pragmatic, flexible research approach, capable of providing comprehensive in-depth understanding of a diverse range of issues across a number of disciplines. Change and progress have stemmed from parallel influences of historical transformations in approaches to research and individual researcher's preferences, perspectives, and interpretations of this design. Researchers who have contributed to the development of case study research come from diverse disciplines with different philosophical perspectives, resulting in a variety of definitions and approaches. For the researcher new to using case study, such variety can create a confusing platform for its application. In this article, we explore the evolution of case study research, discuss methodological variations, and summarize key elements with the aim of providing guidance on the available options for researchers wanting to use case study in their work. URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1701195

  3. Explosion approach for external safety assessment: a case study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Johnson, D. Michael; Halford, Ann [Germanischer Lloyd, Loughborough (United Kingdom); Mendes, Renato F. [PETROBRAS S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

    2009-07-01

    Several questions related to the potential for explosions are explored as this became an important subject during an enterprise risk analysis. The understanding of explosions underwent a substantial evolution in the final 20 years of the 20{sup th} century following international research projects in Europe involving several research institutes, as well gas and oil companies. This led to the development of techniques that could be used to assess the potential consequences of explosions on oil, gas and petrochemical facilities. This paper presents an overview of the potential for explosions in communities close to industrial sites or pipelines right of way (RoW), where the standard explosion assessment methods cannot be applied. With reference to experimental studies, the potential for confined explosions in buildings and Vapor Cloud Explosions is explored. Vapor Cloud Explosion incidents in rural or urban areas are also discussed. The method used for incorporating possible explosion and fire events in risk studies is also described using a case study. Standard explosion assessment methodologies and a revised approach are compared as part of an on going evaluation of risk (author)

  4. A case study in pathway knowledgebase verification

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shah Nigam H

    2006-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Biological databases and pathway knowledgebases are proliferating rapidly. We are developing software tools for computer-aided hypothesis design and evaluation, and we would like our tools to take advantage of the information stored in these repositories. But before we can reliably use a pathway knowledgebase as a data source, we need to proofread it to ensure that it can fully support computer-aided information integration and inference. Results We design a series of logical tests to detect potential problems we might encounter using a particular knowledgebase, the Reactome database, with a particular computer-aided hypothesis evaluation tool, HyBrow. We develop an explicit formal language from the language implicit in the Reactome data format and specify a logic to evaluate models expressed using this language. We use the formalism of finite model theory in this work. We then use this logic to formulate tests for desirable properties (such as completeness, consistency, and well-formedness for pathways stored in Reactome. We apply these tests to the publicly available Reactome releases (releases 10 through 14 and compare the results, which highlight Reactome's steady improvement in terms of decreasing inconsistencies. We also investigate and discuss Reactome's potential for supporting computer-aided inference tools. Conclusion The case study described in this work demonstrates that it is possible to use our model theory based approach to identify problems one might encounter using a knowledgebase to support hypothesis evaluation tools. The methodology we use is general and is in no way restricted to the specific knowledgebase employed in this case study. Future application of this methodology will enable us to compare pathway resources with respect to the generic properties such resources will need to possess if they are to support automated reasoning.

  5. A case study in pathway knowledgebase verification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Racunas, Stephen A; Shah, Nigam H; Fedoroff, Nina V

    2006-04-08

    Biological databases and pathway knowledge-bases are proliferating rapidly. We are developing software tools for computer-aided hypothesis design and evaluation, and we would like our tools to take advantage of the information stored in these repositories. But before we can reliably use a pathway knowledge-base as a data source, we need to proofread it to ensure that it can fully support computer-aided information integration and inference. We design a series of logical tests to detect potential problems we might encounter using a particular knowledge-base, the Reactome database, with a particular computer-aided hypothesis evaluation tool, HyBrow. We develop an explicit formal language from the language implicit in the Reactome data format and specify a logic to evaluate models expressed using this language. We use the formalism of finite model theory in this work. We then use this logic to formulate tests for desirable properties (such as completeness, consistency, and well-formedness) for pathways stored in Reactome. We apply these tests to the publicly available Reactome releases (releases 10 through 14) and compare the results, which highlight Reactome's steady improvement in terms of decreasing inconsistencies. We also investigate and discuss Reactome's potential for supporting computer-aided inference tools. The case study described in this work demonstrates that it is possible to use our model theory based approach to identify problems one might encounter using a knowledge-base to support hypothesis evaluation tools. The methodology we use is general and is in no way restricted to the specific knowledge-base employed in this case study. Future application of this methodology will enable us to compare pathway resources with respect to the generic properties such resources will need to possess if they are to support automated reasoning.

  6. ASPECTS OF OBSTACLES FOR APPLYING ACTIVITY BASED COSTING (ABC SYSTEM IN EGYPTIAN FIRMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Petru STEFEA

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available The following investigation aims to determine the aspects of obstacles for applying Activity Based Costing (ABC system in the Egyptian case and the significant differences among the effects of such obstacles . The Study used the survey method to describe and analyze the obstacles in some Egyptian firms. The population of the study is Egyptian manufacturing firms. This survey used the number of 392 questionnaires that were used throughout the total of 23 Egyptian manufacturing firms, during the first half of 2013. Finally, the study found some influencing obstacles for applying this system (ABC and there were significant differences among the aspects of obstacles for applying ABC system in the Egyptian manufacturing firms.

  7. Vascular access surveillance: case study of a false paradigm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paulson, William D; Moist, Louise; Lok, Charmaine E

    2013-01-01

    The hemodialysis vascular access surveillance controversy provides a case study of how enthusiasm for a new test or treatment can lead to adoption of a false paradigm. Paradigms are the beliefs and assumptions shared by those in a field of knowledge, and are commonly included in clinical practice guidelines. The guidelines of the National Kidney Foundation Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative recommend that arteriovenous vascular accesses undergo routine surveillance for detection and correction of stenosis. This recommendation is based on the paradigm that surveillance of access blood flow or dialysis venous pressure combined with correction of stenosis improves access outcomes. However, the quality of evidence that supports this paradigm has been widely criticized. We tested the validity of the surveillance paradigm by applying World Health Organization (WHO) criteria for evaluating screening tests to a literature review of published vascular access studies. These criteria include four components: undesired condition, screening test, intervention, and desired outcome. The WHO criteria show that surveillance as currently practiced fails all four components and provides little or no significant benefit, suggesting that surveillance is a false paradigm. Once a paradigm is established, however, challenges to its validity are usually resisted even as new evidence indicates the paradigm is not valid. Thus, it is paramount to apply rigorous criteria when developing guidelines. Regulators may help promote needed changes in paradigms when cost and safety considerations coincide. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  8. Public private partnerships in tourism - a case study of Kerala Travel Mart

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shobha Menon

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper highlights the public private partnership nature of the Kerala Travel Mart ( KTM , a tourism trade show held in Kerala,India. The objective is to apply the theoretical framework from literature to analyse the effectiveness of the public private participatory nature of KTM. A case study approach has been adopted based on secondary data from Government records and from data compiled from KTM. KTM has been found to be a successful model for Public Private Partnership although there are some areas for improvement. This is the first such research study on the PPP nature of a collaborative venture in a destination which can be replicated by other destinations.

  9. Theme Park Investments: How to Beat the Average - A Case Study from the Netherlands

    OpenAIRE

    Pieter C. M. Cornelis

    2014-01-01

    (European) theme parks invest approximately 10 percent of their yearly turnover into new rides and park improvements. Without these investments these parks assume not to be a very competitive and appealing daytrip for their target audiences. However, the impact of investments in attracting new visitors is not well-known and seems to differ dramatically between parks. This paper presents a case study from the Netherlands in which a small amusement park applied a suggested, not yet proven, inve...

  10. How does a medium-sized enterprise shape an environmental strategy: a case study in two companies from Bogotá, Colombia Colombia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luisa Fernanda Latorre Carrillo

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Rev.esc.adm.neg This research study is based on Mintzberg´s theories (emerging and deliberate strategies as well as on Strategy as Practice. These theories are contrasted with the study outcomes of a multiple descriptive case done in two PyMES which are part of an Environmental Management Program of the Local Environmental Office of Bogota. This Case Study involved a service company and a production company which applied participative observation and a semi- structure interview as methods used to collect data. The authors accompanied both companies in the process of designing a strategic environmental plan, collecting information which revealed that the applied strategies were deliberate, led by middle manage-ment and arose as an answer to pressures exerted by the most stakeholders for the company. The results of this study showed the applicability of these conceptual frameworks to Colombian contexts and represented an important support to the study of environmental strategies in such contexts.

  11. Treatment of uncertainty through the interval smart/swing weighting method: a case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luiz Flávio Autran Monteiro Gomes

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available An increasingly competitive market means that many decisions must be taken, quickly and with precision, in complex, high risk scenarios. This combination of factors makes it necessary to use decision aiding methods which provide a means of dealing with uncertainty in the judgement of the alternatives. This work presents the use of the MAUT method, combined with the INTERVAL SMART/SWING WEIGHTING method. Although multicriteria decision aiding was not conceived specifically for tackling uncertainty, the combined use of MAUT and the INTERVAL SMART/SWING WEIGHTING method allows approaching decision problems under uncertainty. The main concepts which are involved in these two methods are described and their joint application to the case study concerning the selection of a printing service supplier is presented. The case study makes use of the WINPRE software as a support tool for the calculation of dominance. It is then concluded that the proposed approach can be applied to decision making problems under uncertainty.

  12. The Vroom and Yetton Normative Leadership Model Applied to Public School Case Examples.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sample, John

    This paper seeks to familiarize school administrators with the Vroom and Yetton Normative Leadership model by presenting its essential components and providing original case studies for its application to school settings. The five decision-making methods of the Vroom and Yetton model, including two "autocratic," two…

  13. Strategic analysis methodology for energy systems with remote island case study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krumdieck, Susan; Hamm, Andreas

    2009-01-01

    A strategic analysis methodology is presented for adaptive energy systems engineering to realize an optimal level of service in the context of a community's social, economic, and environmental position. The groundwork stage involves characterizing the social context, assessing available energy resources, identifying environmental issues, setting eco-resource limits, and quantifying socio-economic constraints for a given region. A spectrum of development options is then constructed according to the range of energy service levels identified for the sector under study. A spectrum of conceptual energy systems is generated and infrastructure investments and resource use are modeled. The outcome is a matrix of energy system investment possibilities for the range of energy demand levels reflecting the values, ideas, and expectations expressed by the community. These models are then used to assess technical feasibility and economic, environmental and social risk. The result is an easily understood graphical depiction of local aspirations, investment options, and risks which clearly differentiates development opportunities from non-viable concepts. The approach was applied to a case study on Rotuma, an isolated Pacific Island. The case study results show a clear development opportunity space for Rotuma where desired energy services are in balance with investment sources, resource availability, and environmental constraints.

  14. Applying Ethnography in Educational Change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schensul, Jean J.

    1985-01-01

    Explores reasons that anthropology has been applied only infrequently to the solution of education-related problems. Presents three case examples in which ethnographic research in the Hispanic community of Hartford, Connecticut, has been utilized to bring about changes in education-related services to Hispanics. (Author/GC)

  15. Collaboration and patient safety at an emergency department - a qualitative case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pedersen, Anna Helene Meldgaard; Rasmussen, Kurt; Grytnes, Regine; Nielsen, Kent Jacob

    2018-03-19

    Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how conflicts about collaboration between staff at different departments arose during the establishment of a new emergency department and how these conflicts affected the daily work and ultimately patient safety at the emergency department. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative single case study draws on qualitative semi-structured interviews and participant observation. The theoretical concepts "availability" and "receptiveness" as antecedents for collaboration will be applied in the analysis. Findings Close collaboration between departments was an essential precondition for the functioning of the new emergency department. The study shows how a lack of antecedents for collaboration affected the working relation and communication between employees and departments, which spurred negative feelings and reproduced conflicts. This situation was seen as a potential threat for the safety of the emergency patients. Research limitations/implications This study presents a single case study, at a specific point in time, and should be used as an illustrative example of how contextual and situational factors affect the working environment and through that patient safety. Originality/value Few studies provide an in-depth investigation of what actually takes place when collaboration between professional groups goes wrong and escalates, and how problems in collaboration may affect patient safety.

  16. Towards an interdisciplinary ICT applied ethics: language matters

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcelo Buzato

    Full Text Available Abstract: This study seeks to support an interdisciplinary, theory-practice integrated work on the applied ethics of information and communication technologies (ICT. Current work on applied ICT ethics is of a disciplinary nature and seeks to apply traditional philosophical norms to novel situations that are not easily identified by analogy to previous cases. I propose an alternative view in which ICTs are seen as a moral environment and ethical agents are seen as human-computer hybrids (cyborgs whose experiences acquire ethical value ecologically. To implement such a view, I propose employing two different kinds of semiotics: a semiotics of meaning-making that is open to the environmental effects of cyborg acts across scales, and a material semiotics that allows for interdisciplinary practitioners to recognize the modes of existence involved in the ethical issues and work out better means-ends relationships among the modes pertinent to each discipline.

  17. Stream computing for biomedical signal processing: A QRS complex detection case-study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murphy, B M; O'Driscoll, C; Boylan, G B; Lightbody, G; Marnane, W P

    2015-01-01

    Recent developments in "Big Data" have brought significant gains in the ability to process large amounts of data on commodity server hardware. Stream computing is a relatively new paradigm in this area, addressing the need to process data in real time with very low latency. While this approach has been developed for dealing with large scale data from the world of business, security and finance, there is a natural overlap with clinical needs for physiological signal processing. In this work we present a case study of streams processing applied to a typical physiological signal processing problem: QRS detection from ECG data.

  18. The creation of inter-ethnic images for studies in applied psychology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vanezis, Maria; Vanezis, Peter; Minnis, Helen; McMillan, Alison; Gillies, Marjorie; Smith, Shubulade

    2003-10-01

    The facial transformation programme, is an integral part of the computerised three-dimensional facial reconstruction system, employed at the University of Glasgow for forensic and historical cases. It was applied to the creation of inter-ethnic images for use in studies to assess the response of various groups to facial appearance in the assessment of racial stereotyping. We initially acquired a three-dimensional facial image from a young black (Negroid) male volunteer, using our optical laser scanning system. This image was then used as a template over a Caucasian skull to produce a reconstruction using facial criteria applicable to white (Caucasian) males. The other image used was that of the facial template of the black male. A commercially available electronic identikit system, E-FIT was then used to add appropriate hair styles and open eyes to both images. In addition, on the 'Caucasian reconstruction' we were able to reduce the contrast and lighting on the face. This was relatively straightforward as we were using greyscale images rather than colour. The shape of the nose and lips on the white male were also altered to be more in keeping with Caucasoid average measurements. The resulting images were shown to a group of second-year clinical psychology students and their responses are discussed. Similar images may also be used in studies of racial stereotyping in different categories of professionals such as police, prison personnel, probation officers, social workers, potential employers, doctors, and others, in order to assess the response to individuals by facial appearance.

  19. The Development of the Silurian Trilobite Aulacopleura koninckii Reconstructed by Applying Inferred Growth and Segmentation Dynamics: A Case Study in Paleo-Evo-Devo

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nigel C. Hughes

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Fossilized growth series provide rare glimpses into the development of ancient organisms, illustrating descriptively how size and shape changed through ontogeny. Occasionally fossil preservation is such that it is feasible to test alternative possibilities about how ancient development was regulated. Here we apply inferred developmental parameters pertaining to size, shape, and segmentation in the abundant and well-preserved 429 Myr old trilobite Aulacopleura koninckii that we have investigated previously to reconstruct the post-embryonic ontogeny of this ancient arthropod. Our published morphometric analyses associated with model testing have shown that: specification of the adult number of trunk segments (polymorphic in this species was determined precociously in ontogeny; that growth regulation was targeted (i.e., compensatory, such that each developmental stage exhibited comparable variance in size and shape; and that growth gradients operating along the main body axis, both during juvenile and adult ontogeny, resulted from a form of growth control based on positional specification. While such developmental features are common among extant organisms, our results represent the oldest evidence for them within Metazoa. Herein, the novel reconstruction of the development of Aulacopleura koninckii permits visualization of patterns of relative and absolute growth and segmentation as never before possible for a fossilized arthropod ontogeny. By conducting morphometric analysis of appropriate data sets it is thus possible to move beyond descriptive ontogenetic studies and to address questions of high interest for evolutionary developmental biology using data from fossils, which can help elucidate both how developmental processes themselves evolve and how they affect the evolution of organismal body patterning. By extending similar analyses to other cases of exceptional preservation of fossilized ontogeny, we can anticipate beginning to realize the

  20. Case studies on age-management in organisations: report on organisational case studies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Punte, E.; Conen, W.S.; Schippers, J.; Henkens, C.J.I.M.

    2011-01-01

    The acquisition of case studies was thwarted by the economic crisis and the feeling of being ‘over-researched’ by potential organisations. Although organisations in some sectors (e.g. chemical manufacturing) reported the worst part of the economic crisis was behind, many organisations indicated

  1. Case Study: What Makes a Good Case, Revisited: The Survey Monkey Tells All

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herried, Clyde Freeman; Prud'homme-Genereux, Annie; Schiller, Nancy A.; Herreid, Ky F.; Wright, Carolyn

    2016-01-01

    This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. In this month's issue the authors provide a more definitive answer to the "What Makes a Good Case?" question based on a just-completed Survey Monkey survey given to NCCSTS teachers.

  2. MO-E-BRB-00: PANEL DISCUSSION: SBRT/SRS Case Studies - Lung

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2016-06-15

    In this interactive session, lung SBRT patient cases will be presented to highlight real-world considerations for ensuring safe and accurate treatment delivery. An expert panel of speakers will discuss challenges specific to lung SBRT including patient selection, patient immobilization techniques, 4D CT simulation and respiratory motion management, target delineation for treatment planning, online treatment alignment, and established prescription regimens and OAR dose limits. Practical examples of cases, including the patient flow thought the clinical process are presented and audience participation will be encouraged. This panel session is designed to provide case demonstration and review for lung SBRT in terms of (1) clinical appropriateness in patient selection, (2) strategies for simulation, including 4D and respiratory motion management, and (3) applying multi imaging modality (4D CT imaging, MRI, PET) for tumor volume delineation and motion extent, and (4) image guidance in treatment delivery. Learning Objectives: Understand the established requirements for patient selection in lung SBRT Become familiar with the various immobilization strategies for lung SBRT, including technology for respiratory motion management Understand the benefits and pitfalls of applying multi imaging modality (4D CT imaging, MRI, PET) for tumor volume delineation and motion extent determination for lung SBRT Understand established prescription regimes and OAR dose limits.

  3. ASSESSING SPATIAL DATA QUALITY OF PARTICIPATORY GIS STUDIES: A CASE STUDY IN CAPE TOWN

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. Musungu

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Participatory GIS (PGIS has been prescribed by scholars who sought to find a means to enable more equitable access to GIS data, diversifying the types of knowledge captured by a GIS and re-engineering GIS software. The popularity of PGIS is evident in the various studies and contexts in which it has been utilised. These include studies in risk assessment, land administration, resource management, crime mapping and urban design to mention but a few. Despite the popularity of PGIS as a body of research, little has been done in the analysis of the quality of PGIS information. The study investigated the use of data quality criteria commonly used in traditional GIS systems and shows that it is possible to apply the criteria used in traditional GIS to PGIS. It provides a starting point for PGIS studies to assess the quality of the product. Notably, this a reflective exercise on one case study, but the methodologies used in this study have been replicated in many others undertaken by Community Based Organisations as well as Non-Governmental Organisations. Therefore the findings are relevant to such projects.

  4. Assessing Spatial Data Quality of Participatory GIS Studies: a Case Study in Cape Town

    Science.gov (United States)

    Musungu, K.

    2015-10-01

    Participatory GIS (PGIS) has been prescribed by scholars who sought to find a means to enable more equitable access to GIS data, diversifying the types of knowledge captured by a GIS and re-engineering GIS software. The popularity of PGIS is evident in the various studies and contexts in which it has been utilised. These include studies in risk assessment, land administration, resource management, crime mapping and urban design to mention but a few. Despite the popularity of PGIS as a body of research, little has been done in the analysis of the quality of PGIS information. The study investigated the use of data quality criteria commonly used in traditional GIS systems and shows that it is possible to apply the criteria used in traditional GIS to PGIS. It provides a starting point for PGIS studies to assess the quality of the product. Notably, this a reflective exercise on one case study, but the methodologies used in this study have been replicated in many others undertaken by Community Based Organisations as well as Non-Governmental Organisations. Therefore the findings are relevant to such projects.

  5. Associative visual agnosia: a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Charnallet, A; Carbonnel, S; David, D; Moreaud, O

    2008-01-01

    We report a case of massive associative visual agnosia. In the light of current theories of identification and semantic knowledge organization, a deficit involving both levels of structural description system and visual semantics must be assumed to explain the case. We suggest, in line with a previous case study, an alternative account in the framework of (non abstractive) episodic models of memory.

  6. Negotiating Narrative Identity in Intercultural Contexts - the Role of Applied Theatre

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heidi M. Haraldsen

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study is to investigate how applied theatre can facilitate arenas and methods to support identity development particularly favorable to an intercultural context, explored through the concept of narrative identity. Identity and identity processes may be extra challenging to people with intercultural backgrounds. Research shows that how you master your identity affects how you master your life. A case study of two intercultural applied theatre projects was used to address the research question. The article builds on the experiences of two drama teachers and one teaching artist / artistic leader. The interpretation and analysis of the theory related to practice makes visible how aesthetic processes of negotiating and staging life stories (narratives, through applied theatre methods, facilitate participant's exploring, constructing, re-constructing and meta-reflecting own identity.

  7. Case Study on Logistics Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shahryar Sorooshian

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents research carried out at a medium‐size manufacturing organization in east Asia. The study tries to highlight the importance of supply chain management; specifically, our aim for this study is to understand logistics and performance measurement in the logistics and supply chain, and we include a theoretical discussion of online data collected and a case study of the logistic performance of a real organization. The study also examines the performance of the selected company, identifies the problems and provides recommendations for improvements. This study can be a guide for business advisers and those interested in analysing company performance, especially from a logistics viewpoint. We also suggest the methodology of this case study for those who want to have a better understanding of a business environment before starting their own business, or for benchmarking practice during strategic planning.

  8. Two-Dimensional Depth-Averaged Beach Evolution Modeling: Case Study of the Kizilirmak River Mouth, Turkey

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Baykal, Cüneyt; Ergin, Ayşen; Güler, Işikhan

    2014-01-01

    investigated by satellite images, physical model tests, and one-dimensional numerical models. The current study uses a two-dimensional depth-averaged numerical beach evolution model, developed based on existing methodologies. This model is mainly composed of four main submodels: a phase-averaged spectral wave......This study presents an application of a two-dimensional beach evolution model to a shoreline change problem at the Kizilirmak River mouth, which has been facing severe coastal erosion problems for more than 20 years. The shoreline changes at the Kizilirmak River mouth have been thus far...... transformation model, a two-dimensional depth-averaged numerical waveinduced circulation model, a sediment transport model, and a bottom evolution model. To validate and verify the numerical model, it is applied to several cases of laboratory experiments. Later, the model is applied to a shoreline change problem...

  9. An analysis of Indonesia’s information security index: a case study in a public university

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yustanti, W.; Qoiriah, A.; Bisma, R.; Prihanto, A.

    2018-01-01

    Ministry of Communication and Informatics of the Republic of Indonesia has issued the regulation number 4-2016 about Information Security Management System (ISMS) for all kind organizations. Public university as a government institution must apply this standard to assure its level of information security has complied ISO 27001:2013. This research is a preliminary study to evaluate the readiness of university IT services (case study in a public university) meets the requirement of ISO 27001:2013 using the Indonesia’s Information Security Index (IISI). There are six parameters used to measure the level of information security, these are the ICT role, governance, risk management, framework, asset management and technology. Each parameter consists of serial questions which must be answered and convert to a numeric value. The result shows the level of readiness and maturity to apply ISO 27001 standard.

  10. Patient-Centered Medical Home Undergraduate Internship, Benefits to a Practice Manager: Case Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sasnett, Bonita; Harris, Susie T; White, Shelly

    Health services management interns become practice facilitators for primary care clinics interested in pursuing patient-centered recognition for their practice. This experience establishes a collaborative relationship between the university and clinic practices where students apply their academic training to a system of documentation to improve the quality of patient care delivery. The case study presents the process undertaken, benefits, challenges, lessons learned, and recommendations for intern, practice mangers, and educators. The practice manager benefits as interns become Patient-Centered Medical Home facilitators and assist practice managers in the recognition process.

  11. CASE STUDY

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    HIV infection has several oral manifestations, including oral candidiasis and oral hairy leucoplakia. Occasionally unusual presentations requiring rigorous investigations are seen, and in these cases the diagnosis sometimes remains a dilemma owing to limited investigation facilities.1-3 We present the case of a patient who.

  12. Evaluating the Impact of the U.S. National Toxicology Program: A Case Study on Hexavalent Chromium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Yun; Holmgren, Stephanie; Andrews, Danica M K; Wolfe, Mary S

    2017-02-01

    Evaluating the impact of federally funded research with a broad, methodical, and objective approach is important to ensure that public funds advance the mission of federal agencies. We aimed to develop a methodical approach that would yield a broad assessment of National Toxicology Program's (NTP's) effectiveness across multiple sectors and demonstrate the utility of the approach through a case study. A conceptual model was developed with defined activities, outputs (products), and outcomes (proximal, intermediate, distal) and applied retrospectively to NTP's research on hexavalent chromium (CrVI). Proximal outcomes were measured by counting views of and requests for NTP's products by external stakeholders. Intermediate outcomes were measured by bibliometric analysis. Distal outcomes were assessed through Web and LexisNexis searches for documents related to legislation or regulation changes. The approach identified awareness of NTP's work on CrVI by external stakeholders (proximal outcome) and citations of NTP's research in scientific publications, reports, congressional testimonies, and legal and policy documents (intermediate outcome). NTP's research was key to the nation's first-ever drinking water standard for CrVI adopted by California in 2014 (distal outcome). By applying this approach to a case study, the utility and limitations of the approach were identified, including challenges to evaluating the outcomes of a research program. This study identified a broad and objective approach for assessing NTP's effectiveness, including methodological needs for more thorough and efficient impact assessments in the future. Citation: Xie Y, Holmgren S, Andrews DMK, Wolfe MS. 2017. Evaluating the impact of the U.S. National Toxicology Program: a case study on hexavalent chromium. Environ Health Perspect 125:181-188; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP21.

  13. Capability Approach for well-being Evaluation in Regional Development Planning : Case Study in Magelang Regency. Central java, Indonesia

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pramono, Retno Widodo Dwi

    2016-01-01

    The thesis uses Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach (1993, 2000) to devise a set of criteria to evaluate the well-being and quality of life of economic groups in a case study of Magelang, a small rural area in Central Java, Indonesia. In applying this method, the researcher examines how the spatial

  14. Associative Visual Agnosia: A Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Charnallet

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available We report a case of massive associative visual agnosia. In the light of current theories of identification and semantic knowledge organization, a deficit involving both levels of structural description system and visual semantics must be assumed to explain the case. We suggest, in line with a previous case study [1], an alternative account in the framework of (non abstractive episodic models of memory [4].

  15. Associative Visual Agnosia: A Case Study

    OpenAIRE

    Charnallet, A.; Carbonnel, S.; David, D.; Moreaud, O.

    2008-01-01

    We report a case of massive associative visual agnosia. In the light of current theories of identification and semantic knowledge organization, a deficit involving both levels of structural description system and visual semantics must be assumed to explain the case. We suggest, in line with a previous case study [1], an alternative account in the framework of (non abstractive) episodic models of memory [4].

  16. Applying Corpus-Based Findings to Form-Focused Instruction: The Case of Reported Speech

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barbieri, Federica; Eckhardt, Suzanne E. B.

    2007-01-01

    Arguing that the introduction of corpus linguistics in teaching materials and the language classroom should be informed by theories and principles of SLA, this paper presents a case study illustrating how corpus-based findings on reported speech can be integrated into a form-focused model of instruction. After overviewing previous work which…

  17. Two-stage case-control association study of dopamine-related genes and migraine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pardo Julio

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background We previously reported risk haplotypes for two genes related with serotonin and dopamine metabolism: MAOA in migraine without aura and DDC in migraine with aura. Herein we investigate the contribution to migraine susceptibility of eight additional genes involved in dopamine neurotransmission. Methods We performed a two-stage case-control association study of 50 tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs, selected according to genetic coverage parameters. The first analysis consisted of 263 patients and 274 controls and the replication study was composed by 259 cases and 287 controls. All cases were diagnosed according to ICHD-II criteria, were Spanish Caucasian, and were sex-matched with control subjects. Results Single-marker analysis of the first population identified nominal associations of five genes with migraine. After applying a false discovery rate correction of 10%, the differences remained significant only for DRD2 (rs2283265 and TH (rs2070762. Multiple-marker analysis identified a five-marker T-C-G-C-G (rs12363125-rs2283265-rs2242592-rs1554929-rs2234689 risk haplotype in DRD2 and a two-marker A-C (rs6356-rs2070762 risk haplotype in TH that remained significant after correction by permutations. These results, however, were not replicated in the second independent cohort. Conclusion The present study does not support the involvement of the DRD1, DRD2, DRD3, DRD5, DBH, COMT, SLC6A3 and TH genes in the genetic predisposition to migraine in the Spanish population.

  18. Assessment of the Methodological Rigor of Case Studies in the Field of Management Accounting Published in Journals in Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kelly Cristina Mucio Marques

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to assess the methodological rigor of case studies in management accounting published in Brazilian journals. The study is descriptive. The data were collected using documentary research and content analysis, and 180 papers published from 2008 to 2012 in accounting journals rated as A2, B1, and B2 that were classified as case studies were selected. Based on the literature, we established a set of 15 criteria that we expected to be identified (either explicitly or implicitly in the case studies to classify those case studies as appropriate from the standpoint of methodological rigor. These criteria were partially met by the papers analyzed. The aspects less aligned with those proposed in the literature were the following: little emphasis on justifying the need to understand phenomena in context; lack of explanation of the reason for choosing the case study strategy; the predominant use of questions that do not enable deeper analysis; many studies based on only one source of evidence; little use of data and information triangulation; little emphasis on the data collection method; a high number of cases in which confusion between case study as a research strategy and as data collection method were detected; a low number of papers reporting the method of data analysis; few reports on a study's contributions; and a minority highlighting the issues requiring further research. In conclusion, the method used to apply case studies to management accounting must be improved because few studies showed rigorous application of the procedures that this strategy requires.

  19. Nanomaterial Case Studies: Nanoscale Titanium Dioxide ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    This draft document presents two case studies of nanoscale titanium dioxide (nano-TiO2) used (1) to remove arsenic from drinking water and (2) as an active ingredient in topical sunscreen. The draft case studies are organized around a comprehensive environmental assessment approach that combines a product life cycle framework with the risk assessment paradigm. The document does not draw conclusions about potential risks. Rather, the case studies are intended to help identify what needs to be known in order to conduct a comprehensive environmental assessment of the potential risks related to nano-TiO2. This draft document is part of a process that will inform the development of EPA’s research strategy to support nanomaterial risk assessments. The complex properties of various nanomaterials make evaluating them in the abstract or with generalizations difficult if not impossible. Thus, this document focuses on two specific uses of nano-TiO2, as a drinking water treatment and as topical sunscreen. These case studies do not represent completed or even preliminary assessments; rather, they present the structure for identifying and prioritizing research needed to support future assessments.

  20. Superficial basal cell carcinoma treated with 70% trichloroacetic acid applied topically: a case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chiriac A

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Anca Chiriac,1–3 Piotr Brzezinski,4 Cosmin Moldovan,5 Cristian Podoleanu,6 Marius Florin Coros,7 Simona Stolnicu8 1Department of Dermatology, Nicolina Medical Center, Iasi, 2Department of Dermatology, Apollonia University, Iasi, 3Department of Dermatology, P. Poni Research Institute, Romanian Academy Iasi, Romania; 4Department of Dermatology, 6th Military Support Unit, Utska, Poland; 5Department of Histology, 6Department of Cardiology, 7Department of Surgery, 8Department of Pathology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Targu‑Mures, Targu-Mures, Romania Background: Basal cell carcinoma (BCC is the most common form of skin cancer, affecting millions of people worldwide. The treatment concept for BCCs is the surgical one, but it is costly, as such, searching for alternative medical therapeutics is justified. Aim: To highlight the efficacy of high concentration (70% trichloroacetic acid (TCA as a choice therapy for low-risk BCC. Method and patient: Authors present, for the first time, the use of a high concentration TCA applied once a week for 2 consecutive weeks with a toothpick, on a patient with BCC on the right preauricular area. Results: On examination 4 weeks later, the lesion was not clinically and dermatoscopically evidenced. Conclusion: High concentration TCA could be an effective and safe, non-invasive choice of therapy for low-risk BCC, easy to perform, not expensive, with good cosmetic results, especially for patients who are not likely to undergo invasive or expensive treatments. Keywords: basal cell carcinoma, therapy, trichloroacetic acid, dermatology

  1. Heterophobia: Subverting Heterosexual Hegemony through Intermedial Applied Performance for Young People

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phillips, Hannah

    2016-01-01

    This article responds to intermediality through a case study of an intermedial applied performance for young people. "Heterophobia," a hybrid fusion of live performance, digital technology, social media and urban street art, aimed to challenge homophobia in schools and online. Intermediality was used as a tool to enhance young people's…

  2. Cluster detection methods applied to the Upper Cape Cod cancer data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ozonoff David

    2005-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background A variety of statistical methods have been suggested to assess the degree and/or the location of spatial clustering of disease cases. However, there is relatively little in the literature devoted to comparison and critique of different methods. Most of the available comparative studies rely on simulated data rather than real data sets. Methods We have chosen three methods currently used for examining spatial disease patterns: the M-statistic of Bonetti and Pagano; the Generalized Additive Model (GAM method as applied by Webster; and Kulldorff's spatial scan statistic. We apply these statistics to analyze breast cancer data from the Upper Cape Cancer Incidence Study using three different latency assumptions. Results The three different latency assumptions produced three different spatial patterns of cases and controls. For 20 year latency, all three methods generally concur. However, for 15 year latency and no latency assumptions, the methods produce different results when testing for global clustering. Conclusion The comparative analyses of real data sets by different statistical methods provides insight into directions for further research. We suggest a research program designed around examining real data sets to guide focused investigation of relevant features using simulated data, for the purpose of understanding how to interpret statistical methods applied to epidemiological data with a spatial component.

  3. A study on "mobbing" in maritime field: a case study in the Turkish maritime industry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kum, Serdar; Ertas, Yildiray

    2016-01-01

    Nowadays, there are many reasons for people to be stressful and restless in their working environments. One of the reasons leading to this situation is known as "mobbing". The term "mobbing" means "bullying of an individual by a group". It usually happens among employees. The main effects of mobbing are the generation of stress and reduction of employee performance at work. In general, research shows that mobbing is particularly common in the public sector. The aim of this research is to understand the frequency of mobbing on employees in the Turkish maritime industry as a case study. In this study, a questionnaire survey on ship, shipyard, public and private company workers was applied to understand how often employees are exposed to mobbing. After analysing the results, it is also aimed to obtain information about the reasons and causes of mobbing, and then we can get some advice for this issue.

  4. Social network analysis applied to team sports analysis

    CERN Document Server

    Clemente, Filipe Manuel; Mendes, Rui Sousa

    2016-01-01

    Explaining how graph theory and social network analysis can be applied to team sports analysis, This book presents useful approaches, models and methods that can be used to characterise the overall properties of team networks and identify the prominence of each team player. Exploring the different possible network metrics that can be utilised in sports analysis, their possible applications and variances from situation to situation, the respective chapters present an array of illustrative case studies. Identifying the general concepts of social network analysis and network centrality metrics, readers are shown how to generate a methodological protocol for data collection. As such, the book provides a valuable resource for students of the sport sciences, sports engineering, applied computation and the social sciences.

  5. Case-control studies in diabetes. Do they really use a case-control design?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramos, Analía; Mendoza, Lilian Cristina; Rabasa, Fernanda; Bolíbar, Ignasi; Puig, Teresa; Corcoy, Rosa

    2017-07-01

    Studies defined as case-control do not always use this design. We aimed to estimate the frequency of mislabelled case-control studies in published articles in the area of diabetes and to identify the predictors of incorrect labelling. We searched Medline and Web of Science for articles with "diabetes" and "case control" in title and filtered for language (English/Romance) and period (January 2010-December 2014). Inclusion criteria were: (1) statement to use a case-control design in title, (2) to be a final full-length publication and (3) to have original data in the area of diabetes. Three independent reviewers went through titles, looked for full texts and reviewed them. Discrepancies were settled with a fourth reviewer. Expert epidemiologist advice was requested in case of doubt. case-control mislabelling; addressed predictors: publication year, journal impact factor and journal subject. proportion of mislabelled CC articles and assessment of predictors by multivariate logistic regression analysis. We retrieved 362 articles, 251 of them fulfilling inclusion criteria. The proportion of mislabelled CC studies was 43.8% (confidence interval 95% 37.7-50.0%). Most mislabelled studies had a cross-sectional design (82.7%). Predictors of mislabelling were publication year, journal impact factor and journal area. A relevant subset of studies defined as case-control in the area of diabetes correspond to mislabelled cross-sectional studies. Incorrect labelling misleads readers regarding the interpretation of results and the cause-effect hypothesis. Researchers, reviewers and editors should be aware of and commit to settle this issue.

  6. Educational Potential of Case-Study Technology

    OpenAIRE

    Fedorinova, Zoya; Vorobeva, Victoria; Malyanova, Marina

    2015-01-01

    This article presents the results of phenomenological and typological analysis of case-study technology educational potential. The definition “educational potential of case-study technology” is given, the main characteristics of which are changed in communication and collaborative activity quality, appearance of educational initiatives, change of participants’ position in learning process, formation of “collective subject” in collaborative activity, increase of learning (subject) results. Dep...

  7. Case Studies - Cervical Cancer

    Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

    Dr. Alan Waxman, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of New Mexico and chair of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) committee for the underserved, talks about several case studies for cervical cancer screening and management.

  8. Nuclear forensics case studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fedchenko, Vitaly

    2016-01-01

    The objective of this presentation is to share three case studies from the Institute of Transuranium Elements (ITU) which describe the application of nuclear forensics to events where nuclear and other radioactive material was found to be out of regulatory control

  9. Real or Illusory? Case Studies on the Public Perception of Environmental Health Risks in the North West of England

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stewart, Alex G; Luria, Paolo; Reid, John; Lyons, Mary; Jarvis, Richard

    2010-01-01

    Applied research in a public health setting seeks to provide professionals with insights and knowledge into complex environmental issues to guide actions that reduce inequalities and improve health. We describe ten environmental case studies that explore the public perception of health risk. We employed logical analysis of components of each case study and comparative information to generate new evidence. The findings highlight how concerns about environmental issues measurably affect people’s wellbeing and led to the development of new understanding about the benefits of taking an earlier and more inclusive approach to risk communication that can now be tested further. PMID:20617024

  10. Applying controlled non-uniform deformation for in vitro studies of cell mechanobiology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balestrini, Jenna L; Skorinko, Jeremy K; Hera, Adriana; Gaudette, Glenn R; Billiar, Kristen L

    2010-06-01

    Cells within connective tissues routinely experience a wide range of non-uniform mechanical loads that regulate many cell behaviors. In this study, we developed an experimental system to produce complex strain patterns for the study of strain magnitude, anisotropy, and gradient effects on cells in culture. A standard equibiaxial cell stretching system was modified by affixing glass coverslips (5, 10, or 15 mm diameter) to the center of 35 mm diameter flexible-bottomed culture wells. Ring inserts were utilized to limit applied strain to different levels in each individual well at a given vacuum pressure thus enabling parallel experiments at different strain levels. Deformation fields were measured using high-density mapping for up to 6% applied strain. The addition of the rigid inclusion creates strong circumferential and radial strain gradients, with a continuous range of stretch anisotropy ranging from strip biaxial to equibiaxial strain and radial strains up to 24% near the inclusion. Dermal fibroblasts seeded within our 2D system (5 mm inclusions; 2% applied strain for 2 days at 0.2 Hz) demonstrated the characteristic orientation perpendicular to the direction of principal strain. Dermal fibroblasts seeded within fibrin gels (5 mm inclusions; 6% applied strain for 8 days at 0.2 Hz) oriented themselves similarly and compacted their surrounding matrix to an increasing extent with local strain magnitude. This study verifies how inhomogeneous strain fields can be produced in a tunable and simply constructed system and demonstrates the potential utility for studying gradients with a continuous spectrum of strain magnitudes and anisotropies.

  11. Disaster waste management in Italy: Analysis of recent case studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gabrielli, Francesco; Amato, Alessia; Balducci, Susanna; Magi Galluzzi, Lorenzo; Beolchini, Francesca

    2018-01-01

    The geomorphology of the Italian territory causes the incidence of many disasters like earthquakes and floods, with the consequent production of large volumes of waste. The management of such huge flows, produced in a very short time, may have a high impact on the whole emergency response. Moreover, historical data related to disaster waste management are often not easily accessible; on the other hand, the availability of data concerning previous events could support the emergency managers, that have to take a decision in a very short time. In this context, the present paper analyses four relevant recent case studies in Italy, dealing with disaster waste management after geologic and hydrologic natural events. Significant differences have been observed in the quantity and types of generated wastes, and, also, in the management approach. Such differences are mainly associated with the kind of disaster (i.e. earthquake vs. flood), to the geographical location (i.e. internal vs. coastal area), to the urbanisation level (i.e. industrial vs. urban). The study allowed the identification of both strengths and weaknesses of the applied waste management strategies, that represent "lessons to learn" for future scenarios. Even though it deals with Italian case studies, this manuscript may have a high impact also at international level, making available for the first-time emergency waste management data, that are considered an indispensable support for decision makers. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Analysis of eco-innovation with triple helix approach: case-study of biofloc catfish farming in Yogyakarta

    Science.gov (United States)

    Purwadi, D.; Nurlaily, I.

    2018-03-01

    Concerning environmental into focus of innovation process will expand the number of actor involved. Eco-innovation and triple helix are often frameworks applied to analyse how environmental concern are integrated in innovation process and how different stakeholder groups are having inter relation. Case study from biofloc catfish farming in Yogyakarta is presented to demonstrate a possible approach for researching the success of triple helix frameworks. This case is considered on basic of the result of a survey among farmers, academician and government. The paper concludes the creating of full triple helix encounters problem in practice. It also includes suggestion for further research on fisheries development.

  13. Applying MDA to SDR for Space to Model Real-time Issues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blaser, Tammy M.

    2007-01-01

    NASA space communications systems have the challenge of designing SDRs with highly-constrained Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) resources. A study is being conducted to assess the effectiveness of applying the MDA Platform-Independent Model (PIM) and one or more Platform-Specific Models (PSM) specifically to address NASA space domain real-time issues. This paper will summarize our experiences with applying MDA to SDR for Space to model real-time issues. Real-time issues to be examined, measured, and analyzed are: meeting waveform timing requirements and efficiently applying Real-time Operating System (RTOS) scheduling algorithms, applying safety control measures, and SWaP verification. Real-time waveform algorithms benchmarked with the worst case environment conditions under the heaviest workload will drive the SDR for Space real-time PSM design.

  14. Applied physics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1980-01-01

    The Physics Division research program that is dedicated primarily to applied research goals involves the interaction of energetic particles with solids. This applied research is carried out in conjunction with the basic research studies from which it evolved

  15. Barriers to collaboration among tourism industry stakeholders. Case study: Mashhad Metropolis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Farhad Azizpour

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available In a tourist destination there are usually various stakeholders with different goals. Achieving cooperation and integration among them is a major concern for policy makers and urban managers. In this regard, the role of tourist destination management becomes important more than ever. Therefore, cooperation between organizations can be an effective model but very little researches have been done about this topic. To fill the gap, this study tends to analyze the collaboration between tourism-related public and private institutions in the city of Mashhad.This study applies qualitative case study methodology approach. Data are collected using semi-structured interview. The results showed that the main factors affecting the non-collaboration between related-tourism organizations in Mashhad city include: lack of a systematic approach, weak legal structure, poor planning, lack of integrated tourism management, and the weakness of the policy-making system.

  16. Determining the optimal mix of federal and contract fire crews: a case study from the Pacific Northwest.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geoffrey H. Donovan

    2006-01-01

    Federal land management agencies in the United States are increasingly relying on contract crews as opposed to agency fire crews. Despite this increasing reliance on contractors, there have been no studies to determine what the optimal mix of contract and agency fire crews should be. A mathematical model is presented to address this question and is applied to a case...

  17. Case study - Czechoslovakia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kovar, P.

    1986-01-01

    In the lecture Case Study - Czechoslovakia with the sub-title 'Unified System of Personnel Preparation for Nuclear Programme in Czechoslovakia' the actual status and the current experience of NPP personnel training and preparation in Czechoslovakia are introduced. The above mentioned training system is presented and demonstrated by the story of a proxy person who is going to become shift engineer in a nuclear power plant in Czechoslovakia. (orig./HP)

  18. Quantifying an Integral Ecology Framework: A Case Study of the Riverina, Australia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wheeler, Sarah A.; Haensch, Juliane; Edwards, Jane; Schirmer, Jackie; Zuo, Alec

    2018-02-01

    Communities in Australia's Murray-Darling Basin face the challenge of trying to achieve social, economic, and environmental sustainability; but experience entrenched conflict about the best way to achieve a sustainable future, especially for small rural communities. Integral ecology is a philosophical concept that seeks to address community, economic, social, and environmental sustainability simultaneously. Its inclusive processes are designed to reduce stakeholder conflict. However, to date the application of the integral ecology concept has been largely qualitative in nature. This study developed a quantitative integral ecology framework, and applied this framework to a case study of the Riverina, in the Murray-Darling Basin. Seventy-seven community-focused initiatives were assessed, ranked, and quantified. The majority of the community-focused ranked initiatives did not exhibit all aspects of integral ecology. Initiatives typically prioritized either (1) economic and community development or (2) environmental health; rarely both together. The integral ecology framework developed here enables recommendations on future community initiatives and may provide a pathway for community leaders and other policy-makers to more readily apply integral ecology objectives. Further research refining the framework's operationalization, application and implementation to a wider-scale may enhance communities' capacity to develop and grow sustainably.

  19. Reliability Models Applied to a System of Power Converters in Particle Accelerators

    OpenAIRE

    Siemaszko, D; Speiser, M; Pittet, S

    2012-01-01

    Several reliability models are studied when applied to a power system containing a large number of power converters. A methodology is proposed and illustrated in the case study of a novel linear particle accelerator designed for reaching high energies. The proposed methods result in the prediction of both reliability and availability of the considered system for optimisation purposes.

  20. Core ethical values of radiological protection applied to Fukushima case: reflecting common morality and cultural diversities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kurihara, Chieko; Cho, Kunwoo; Toohey, Richard E

    2016-12-01

    The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) has established Task Group 94 (TG94) to develop a publication to clarify the ethical foundations of the radiological protection system it recommends. This TG identified four core ethical values which structure the system: beneficence and non-maleficence, prudence, justice, and dignity. Since the ICRP is an international organization, its recommendations and guidance should be globally applicable and acceptable. Therefore, first this paper presents the basic principles of the ICRP radiological protection system and its core ethical values, along with a reflection on the variation of these values in Western and Eastern cultural traditions. Secondly, this paper reflects upon how these values can be applied in difficult ethical dilemmas as in the case of the emergency and post-accident phases of a nuclear power plant accident, using the Fukushima case to illustrate the challenges at stake. We found that the core ethical values underlying the ICRP system of radiological protection seem to be quite common throughout the world, although there are some variations among various cultural contexts. Especially we found that 'prudence' would call for somewhat different implementation in each cultural context, balancing and integrating sometime conflicting values, but always with objectives to achieve the well-being of people, which is itself the ultimate aim of the radiological protection system.

  1. Diachronic Analysis of Parking Usage: The Case Study of Brescia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Riccardo Bonotti

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The paper proposes a methodology for the investigation of the space-time relations between public services and individual mobility, by checking the space-time efficiency of the allocation of public and private parking areas. The methodology has been applied to the case study of Brescia, in northern Italy. The spatial distribution of car parking has been assessed as well as the usage variations during the day. First of all, the location and the density of parking areas within the city has been taken into account, and represented to show the spatial coverage of car parking supply. Then, the temporal issue has been considered, since the degree of use of each parking area varies within the time of the day. Therefore, the degree of use of each parking area has been mapped at three significant instant of the day (10.00 a.m.; 01.00 p.m. and 04.00 p.m.. This kind of analysis is particularly helpful to highlight the availability of parking areas during the day. The results of the analysis, even if referred to a case study, can be extended to similar situations as the methodology of the analysis has a broaden sound meaning. The aim of the paper is to illustrate a method to develop mobility policies and plans.

  2. Study of Phase Change Materials Applied to CPV Receivers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zun-Hao Shih

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available There are lots of factors which can directly affect output efficiency of photovoltaic device. One of them is high temperature which would cause adverse effect to solar cell. When solar cell is operated in high temperature, the cell’s output efficiency will become low. Therefore, improving thermal spreading of solar cell is an important issue. In this study, we focused on finding new materials to enhance the thermal dispreading and keep the temperature of solar cell as low as possible. The new materials are different from conventional metal ones; they are called “phase change materials (PCMs” which are mainly applied to green buildings. We chose two kinds of PSMs to study their thermal dispreading ability and to compare them with traditional aluminum material. These two kinds of PCMs are wax and lauric acid. We made three aluminum-based cuboids as heat sinking units and two of them were designed with hollow space to fill in the PCMs. We applied electric forward bias on solar cells to simulate the heat contributed from the concentrated sunlight. Then we observed the thermal distribution of these three kinds of thermal spreading materials. Two levels of forward biases were chosen to test the samples and analyze the experiment results.

  3. Using Case Studies to Teach Courtesy Strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, Patrick

    1990-01-01

    Explains some courtesy techniques that technical professionals can use to deal with interpersonal problems that arise in writing situations. Presents three case studies with sample responses to show how case studies can teach these courtesy strategies to technical writing students. (MM)

  4. Numerical study of the influence of applied voltage on the current balance factor of single layer organic light-emitting diodes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu, Fei-ping; Liu, Xiao-bin; Xing, Yong-zhong

    2014-01-01

    Current balance factor (CBF) value, the ratio of the recombination current density and the total current density of a device, has an important function in fluorescence-based organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), as well as in the performance of the organic electrophosphorescent devices. This paper investigates the influence of the applied voltage of a device on the CBF value of single layer OLED based on the numerical model of a bipolar single layer OLED with organic layer trap free and without doping. Results show that the largest CBF value can be achieved when the electron injection barrier (ϕ n ) is equal to the hole injection barrier (ϕ p ) in the lower voltage region at any instance. The largest CBF in the higher voltage region can be achieved in the case of ϕ n  > ϕ p under the condition of electron mobility (μ 0n ) > hole mobility (μ 0p ), whereas the result for the case of μ 0n   0p , is opposite. The largest CBF when μ 0n  = μ 0p can be achieved in the case of ϕ n  = ϕ p in the entire region of the applied voltage. In addition, the CBF value of the device increases with increasing applied voltage. The results obtained in this paper can present an in-depth understanding of the OLED working mechanism and help in the future fabrication of high efficiency OLEDs

  5. ICOM-ICTOP 14 October 2015 Workshop : Applying Global Theory to Local Practice

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ariese, C.E.; Con, Aguilar E.O.; Martin, J.A.

    2015-01-01

    This workshop is connected to the presentation ‘Transforming global theory to local practice: Case studies from museums and education in the Caribbean’ and provides a practical and creative exercise for participants. The objective of the workshop is to support participants in exploring how to apply

  6. Patterned genital injury in cases of rape - A case-control study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Astrup, Birgitte Schmidt; Ravn, Pernille; Thomsen, Jørgen Lange

    2013-01-01

    A pattern of genital injury that separates trauma seen in sexual assault cases from trauma seen following consensual sexual intercourse has been a matter of debate. This study aimed at clarifying the question by eliminating as many confounders as possible in a prospective, case-control setup. A t...

  7. Calculating the Efficiency of Steam Boilers Based on Its Most Effecting Factors: A Case Study

    OpenAIRE

    Nabil M. Muhaisen; Rajab Abdullah Hokoma

    2012-01-01

    This paper is concerned with calculating boiler efficiency as one of the most important types of performance measurements in any steam power plant. That has a key role in determining the overall effectiveness of the whole system within the power station. For this calculation, a Visual-Basic program was developed, and a steam power plant known as El-Khmus power plant, Libya was selected as a case study. The calculation of the boiler efficiency was applied by using heating ...

  8. Mathematical modelling with case studies using Maple and Matlab

    CERN Document Server

    Barnes, B

    2014-01-01

    Introduction to Mathematical ModelingMathematical models An overview of the book Some modeling approaches Modeling for decision makingCompartmental Models Introduction Exponential decay and radioactivity Case study: detecting art forgeries Case study: Pacific rats colonize New Zealand Lake pollution models Case study: Lake Burley Griffin Drug assimilation into the blood Case study: dull, dizzy, or dead? Cascades of compartments First-order linear DEs Equilibrium points and stability Case study: money, money, money makes the world go aroundModels of Single PopulationsExponential growth Density-

  9. Applying data mining methods to the assessment of soil contamination and carbon sequestration under Mediterranean Climate. The case study of Guadiamar basin (SW Spain).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muñoz Vallés, Sara; Pino-Mejías, Rafael; Blanco-Velázquez, Francisco J.; Anaya-Romero, María

    2017-04-01

    In the present background of increasing access to vast datasets of soil and environmental records, the application of the newest analytical techniques and approaches for modelling offer excellent opportunities to define recommendations and simulate processes for land degradation and management. In this regard, data mining techniques have been successfully applied in different fields of environmental sciences, performing an innovative tool to explore relevant questions and providing valuable results and useful applications through an efficient management and analysis of large and heterogeneous datasets. Soil Organic matter, pH and trace elements in soil perform close relationships, with ability to alter each other and lead to emerging, synergic properties for soils. In addition, effects associated to climate and land use change promotes mechanisms of feedback that could amplify the negative effects of soil contamination on human health, biodiversity conservation and soil ecosystem services maintenance. The aim of this study was to build and compare several data mining models for the prediction of potential and interrelated functions of soil contamination and carbon sequestration by soils. In this context, under the framework of the EU RECARE project (Preventing and Remediating degradation of Soils in Europe through Land Care), the Guadiamar valley (SW Spain) is used as case study. The area was affected by around four hm3 of acid waters and two hm3 of mud rich in heavy metals, resulting from a mine spill, in 1998, where more than 4,600 ha of agricultural and pasture land were affected. The area was subjected to a large-scale phyto-management project, and consequently protected as "Green Corridor". In this study, twenty environmental variables were taken into account and several base models for supervised classification problems were selected, including linear and quadratic discriminant analysis, logistic regression, neural networks and support vector machines. A

  10. The economic value of remote sensing information: a case study of agricultural production and groundwater vulnerability using applied environmental science and hydrogeospatial methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forney, W.; Bernknopf, R. L.; Mishra, S.; Raunikar, R. P.

    2011-12-01

    William M. Forney1*, Richard L. Bernknopf1, Shruti K. Mishra2, Ronald P. Raunikar1. 1=Western Geographic Science Center, US Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California. 2=Contractor, Western Geographic Science Center, US Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California *=Contact author, wforney@usgs.gov, 650-329-4237. Does remote sensing information provide economic benefits to society and can those benefits be valued? Can resource management and policy be better informed by coupling past and present earth observations with groundwater nitrate measurements? Using an integrated assessment approach, the USGS's research applies an established conceptual framework to answer these questions as well as estimate the value of information (VOI) for remote sensing imagery. The approach uses moderate resolution land imagery (MRLI) data from the Landsat and Advanced Wide Field Sensor satellites that has been classified by the National Agricultural Statistics Service into the Cropland Data Layer (CDL). Within the constraint of the US Environmental Protection Agency's public health threshold for potable groundwater resources, we model the relationship between a population of the CDL's land uses and the evolution of nitrate (NO3-) contamination of aquifers in a case study region in northeastern Iowa. Using source data from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the USGS's National Water Quality Assessment Program, the approach uses multi-scaled, environmental science models to address dynamic, biophysical process models of nitrogen fate and transport at specific sites (wells) and at landscape scale (35 counties) in order to assess groundwater vulnerability. In addition to the ecosystem service of potable groundwater, this effort focuses on particular agricultural goods and land uses: corn, soybeans and livestock manure management. Results of this four-year study will be presented, including: 1) the integrated models of the assessment approach, 2) mapping the range of vulnerabilities

  11. Making a case for case studies in psychotherapy training

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mackrill, Thomas Edward; Iwakabe, Shigeru

    2013-01-01

    articulated explicitly or researched systematically in spite of its cardinal importance. An analysis of the role of case studies in psychotherapy training is presented. Reading, watching, or hearing about cases can offer novice psychotherapists access to a closed world; access to psychological theory...... in action; access to whole courses of therapy; access to different approaches; access to significant moments; access to the therapeutic relationship; access to a wide range of client types; access to working in different contexts; and the opportunity of identifying with therapists and clients. Writing...

  12. Physicians' pharmacogenomics information needs and seeking behavior: a study with case vignettes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heale, Bret S E; Khalifa, Aly; Stone, Bryan L; Nelson, Scott; Del Fiol, Guilherme

    2017-08-01

    Genetic testing, especially in pharmacogenomics, can have a major impact on patient care. However, most physicians do not feel that they have sufficient knowledge to apply pharmacogenomics to patient care. Online information resources can help address this gap. We investigated physicians' pharmacogenomics information needs and information-seeking behavior, in order to guide the design of pharmacogenomics information resources that effectively meet clinical information needs. We performed a formative, mixed-method assessment of physicians' information-seeking process in three pharmacogenomics case vignettes. Interactions of 6 physicians' with online pharmacogenomics resources were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for prominent themes. Quantitative data included information-seeking duration, page navigations, and number of searches entered. We found that participants searched an average of 8 min per case vignette, spent less than 30 s reviewing specific content, and rarely refined search terms. Participants' information needs included a need for clinically meaningful descriptions of test interpretations, a molecular basis for the clinical effect of drug variation, information on the logistics of carrying out a genetic test (including questions related to cost, availability, test turn-around time, insurance coverage, and accessibility of expert support).Also, participants sought alternative therapies that would not require genetic testing. This study of pharmacogenomics information-seeking behavior indicates that content to support their information needs is dispersed and hard to find. Our results reveal a set of themes that information resources can use to help physicians find and apply pharmacogenomics information to the care of their patients.

  13. CLOSE RANGE HYPERSPECTRAL IMAGING INTEGRATED WITH TERRESTRIAL LIDAR SCANNING APPLIED TO ROCK CHARACTERISATION AT CENTIMETRE SCALE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. H. Kurz

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Compact and lightweight hyperspectral imagers allow the application of close range hyperspectral imaging with a ground based scanning setup for geological fieldwork. Using such a scanning setup, steep cliff sections and quarry walls can be scanned with a more appropriate viewing direction and a higher image resolution than from airborne and spaceborne platforms. Integration of the hyperspectral imagery with terrestrial lidar scanning provides the hyperspectral information in a georeferenced framework and enables measurement at centimetre scale. In this paper, three geological case studies are used to demonstrate the potential of this method for rock characterisation. Two case studies are applied to carbonate quarries where mapping of different limestone and dolomite types was required, as well as measurements of faults and layer thicknesses from inaccessible parts of the quarries. The third case study demonstrates the method using artificial lighting, applied in a subsurface scanning scenario where solar radiation cannot be utilised.

  14. Evaluating EML Modeling Tools for Insurance Purposes: A Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mikael Gustavsson

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available As with any situation that involves economical risk refineries may share their risk with insurers. The decision process generally includes modelling to determine to which extent the process area can be damaged. On the extreme end of modelling the so-called Estimated Maximum Loss (EML scenarios are found. These scenarios predict the maximum loss a particular installation can sustain. Unfortunately no standard model for this exists. Thus the insurers reach different results due to applying different models and different assumptions. Therefore, a study has been conducted on a case in a Swedish refinery where several scenarios previously had been modelled by two different insurance brokers using two different softwares, ExTool and SLAM. This study reviews the concept of EML and analyses the used models to see which parameters are most uncertain. Also a third model, EFFECTS, was employed in an attempt to reach a conclusion with higher reliability.

  15. Research partnerships with local communities: two case studies from Papua New Guinea and Australia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Almany, G. R.; Hamilton, R. J.; Williamson, D. H.; Evans, R. D.; Jones, G. P.; Matawai, M.; Potuku, T.; Rhodes, K. L.; Russ, G. R.; Sawynok, B.

    2010-09-01

    Partnerships between scientists and local communities can increase research capacity and data delivery while improving management effectiveness through enhanced community participation. To encourage such collaboration, this study demonstrates how these partnerships can be formed, drawing on two case studies in coral reef ecosystems in very different social settings (Papua New Guinea and Australia). In each case, steps towards successfully engaging communities in research were similar. These included: (1) early engagement by collaborating organizations to build trust, (2) ensuring scientific questions have direct relevance to the community, (3) providing appropriate incentives for participation, and (4) clear and open communication. Community participants engaged in a variety of research activities, including locating and capturing fishes, collecting and recording data (weight, length and sex), applying external tags, and removing otoliths (ear bones) for ageing and elemental analysis. Research partnerships with communities enhanced research capacity, reduced costs and, perhaps more importantly, improved the likelihood of long-term community support for marine protected areas (MPAs).

  16. Application of activity theory to analysis of human-related accidents: Method and case studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoon, Young Sik; Ham, Dong-Han; Yoon, Wan Chul

    2016-01-01

    This study proposes a new approach to human-related accident analysis based on activity theory. Most of the existing methods seem to be insufficient for comprehensive analysis of human activity-related contextual aspects of accidents when investigating the causes of human errors. Additionally, they identify causal factors and their interrelationships with a weak theoretical basis. We argue that activity theory offers useful concepts and insights to supplement existing methods. The proposed approach gives holistic contextual backgrounds for understanding and diagnosing human-related accidents. It also helps identify and organise causal factors in a consistent, systematic way. Two case studies in Korean nuclear power plants are presented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method. Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) was also applied to the case studies. The results of using HFACS were then compared with those of using the proposed method. These case studies showed that the proposed approach could produce a meaningful set of human activity-related contextual factors, which cannot easily be obtained by using existing methods. It can be especially effective when analysts think it is important to diagnose accident situations with human activity-related contextual factors derived from a theoretically sound model and to identify accident-related contextual factors systematically. - Highlights: • This study proposes a new method for analysing human-related accidents. • The method was developed based on activity theory. • The concept of activity system model and contradiction was used in the method. • Two case studies in nuclear power plants are presented. • The method is helpful to consider causal factors systematically and comprehensively.

  17. The application of systems thinking concepts, methods, and tools to global health practices: An analysis of case studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilkinson, Jessica; Goff, Morgan; Rusoja, Evan; Hanson, Carl; Swanson, Robert Chad

    2018-06-01

    This review of systems thinking (ST) case studies seeks to compile and analyse cases from ST literature and provide practitioners with a reference for ST in health practice. Particular attention was given to (1) reviewing the frequency and use of key ST terms, methods, and tools in the context of health, and (2) extracting and analysing longitudinal themes across cases. A systematic search of databases was conducted, and a total of 36 case studies were identified. A combination of integrative and inductive qualitative approaches to analysis was used. Most cases identified took place in high-income countries and applied ST retrospectively. The most commonly used ST terms were agent/stakeholder/actor (n = 29), interdependent/interconnected (n = 28), emergence (n = 26), and adaptability/adaptation (n = 26). Common ST methods and tools were largely underutilized. Social network analysis was the most commonly used method (n = 4), and innovation or change management history was the most frequently used tool (n = 11). Four overarching themes were identified; the importance of the interdependent and interconnected nature of a health system, characteristics of leaders in a complex adaptive system, the benefits of using ST, and barriers to implementing ST. This review revealed that while much has been written about the potential benefits of applying ST to health, it has yet to completely transition from theory to practice. There is however evidence of the practical use of an ST lens as well as specific methods and tools. With clear examples of ST applications, the global health community will be better equipped to understand and address key health challenges. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  18. Identification of Ambiguity in the Case Study Research Typology

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grünbaum, Niels Nolsøe

    2015-01-01

    . Relevant to varied levels and scales of case study use, the aim of this collection is to provide readers with a comprehensive overview of where we are now with case study research, so that they may better judge their own applications of the case study. From definitions to interdisciplinary methods......The purpose of this four volume collection is to provide an accessible selection of the best writing on case study in the English language internationally. Such a collection is timely and highly relevant to students, researchers and academics in higher education, especially when the case......, this set will address the practical case study by offering a structured selection of some of the best modern and classic writing on the case study in article form, together with a synoptic editorial introduction and overview of the field of research....

  19. Present status and problems of radionuclide studies in emergency cases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ogawa, Kiyoshi

    1983-01-01

    Scintigraphy is just right for diagnosing emergency cases due to its noninvasive and simple method, but emergency radionuclide studies have not become practical as a result of difficulty problems. Recently, nuclear medical devices have become easier to use in operations. It is become of this, that I have submitted this report regarding the problems of radionuclide studies in emergency cases. There were 101 cases (1.4 %) out of 7,310 cases for the year period Sept. 1981 - Aug. 1982. The studies consisted of 12 brain imaging cases, 9 plumonary imaging cases, 22 cardiac study cases (cardio-angiography cases 8, 99m-Tc-PYP myocardium imaging cases 12, 201-Tl myocardium imaging cases 2), 12 renal study cases, 11 G.I. blood loss cases, 35 peripheral angiography cases. In the near future, we will have to be ready to perform emergency radionuclide studies if the need arises. (author)

  20. SCA12 case study

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Home; Journals; Journal of Genetics; Volume 88; Issue 1. Utilizing linkage disequilibrium information from Indian Genome Variation Database for mapping mutations: SCA12 case study. Samira Bahl Ikhlak Ahmed The Indian Genome Variation Consortium Mitali Mukerji. Research Article Volume 88 Issue 1 April 2009 pp 55- ...