WorldWideScience

Sample records for integration case study

  1. CASE STUDIES IN INTEGRATIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY PART 2 (EDITORIAL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gregor Žvelc

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Announcement of the special issue of the International Journal of Integrative Psychotherapy, which is dedicated to the exploration and discussion of an integrative psychotherapy case study.

  2. Integrating Educational Technologies into Teacher Education: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rawlins, Peter; Kehrwald, Benjamin

    2014-01-01

    This article is a case study of an integrated, experiential approach to improving pre-service teachers' understanding and use of educational technologies in one New Zealand teacher education programme. The study examines the context, design and implementation of a learning activity which integrated student-centred approaches, experiential…

  3. Integrative health coaching: an organizational case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolever, Ruth Q; Caldwell, Karen L; Wakefield, Jessica P; Little, Kerry J; Gresko, Jeanne; Shaw, Andrea; Duda, Linda V; Kosey, Julie M; Gaudet, Tracy

    2011-01-01

    The aim of this study was to describe integrative health (IH) coaching as developed in three different interventions offered through a major medical center, as a step toward further defining the field of health coaching. An organizational case study was conducted with document analysis and interviews. Interviewees were the first six IH coaches at Duke Integrative Medicine who provided 360 clients with individual and/or group coaching (two to 28 sessions) in a randomized clinical study and two work-site wellness programs. Qualitative analysis using the constant comparative method was conducted. Integrative health coaching is characterized by a process of self-discovery that informs goal setting and builds internal motivation by linking clients' goals to their values and sense of purpose. Time, commitment, and motivation are necessary in the IH coaching process. The underpinnings of IH coaching are distinct from the medical model, and the process is distinct from health education, executive coaching, and psychotherapy. Integrative health coaching fits well with the assumptions of integrative medicine and has a role in supporting behavior change. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  4. A Case Study for Business Integration as a Service

    OpenAIRE

    Chang, Victor

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents Business Integration as a Service (BIaaS) to allow two services to work together in the Cloud to achieve a streamline process. We illustrate this integration using two services; Return on Investment (ROI) Measurement as a Service (RMaaS) and Risk Analysis as a Service (RAaaS) in the case study at the University of Southampton. The case study demonstrates the cost-savings and the risk analysis achieved, so two services can work as a single service. Advanced techniques are u...

  5. Qualitative case study methodology in nursing research: an integrative review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anthony, Susan; Jack, Susan

    2009-06-01

    This paper is a report of an integrative review conducted to critically analyse the contemporary use of qualitative case study methodology in nursing research. Increasing complexity in health care and increasing use of case study in nursing research support the need for current examination of this methodology. In 2007, a search for case study research (published 2005-2007) indexed in the CINAHL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO, Sociological Abstracts and SCOPUS databases was conducted. A sample of 42 case study research papers met the inclusion criteria. Whittemore and Knafl's integrative review method guided the analysis. Confusion exists about the name, nature and use of case study. This methodology, including terminology and concepts, is often invisible in qualitative study titles and abstracts. Case study is an exclusive methodology and an adjunct to exploring particular aspects of phenomena under investigation in larger or mixed-methods studies. A high quality of case study exists in nursing research. Judicious selection and diligent application of literature review methods promote the development of nursing science. Case study is becoming entrenched in the nursing research lexicon as a well-accepted methodology for studying phenomena in health and social care, and its growing use warrants continued appraisal to promote nursing knowledge development. Attention to all case study elements, process and publication is important in promoting authenticity, methodological quality and visibility.

  6. Integrating Curriculum: A Case Study of Teaching Global Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferguson-Patrick, Kate; Reynolds, Ruth; Macqueen, Suzanne

    2018-01-01

    Despite widespread support for integrated approaches to teaching, classroom practice reveals a lack of implementation. This paper explores challenges and opportunities in teaching an integrated curriculum, and connects this with the contemporary notion of a twenty-first century curriculum and pedagogy. A case study of Global Education (GE) is used…

  7. 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....

  8. Carbon Market and Integrated Waste Solutions : a Case Study of ...

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

    Carbon Market and Integrated Waste Solutions : a Case Study of Indonesia ... dual purpose of helping developing countries achieve sustainable development ... with a view to devising integrated waste management solutions in urban centres ... and disseminate them through national, regional and international networks.

  9. Integrating Nuclear Energy to Oilfield Operations - Two Case Studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Robertson, Eric P.; Nelson, Lee O.; McKellar, Michael G.; Gandrik, Anastasia M.; Patterson, Mike W.

    2011-01-01

    Fossil fuel resources that require large energy inputs for extraction, such as the Canadian oil sands and the Green River oil shale resource in the western USA, could benefit from the use of nuclear power instead of power generated by natural gas combustion. This paper discusses the technical and economic aspects of integrating nuclear energy with oil sands operations and the development of oil shale resources. A high temperature gas reactor (HTGR) that produces heat in the form of high pressure steam (no electricity production) was selected as the nuclear power source for both fossil fuel resources. Both cases were based on 50,000 bbl/day output. The oil sands case was a steam-assisted, gravity-drainage (SAGD) operation located in the Canadian oil sands belt. The oil shale development was an in-situ oil shale retorting operation located in western Colorado, USA. The technical feasibility of the integrating nuclear power was assessed. The economic feasibility of each case was evaluated using a discounted cash flow, rate of return analysis. Integrating an HTGR to both the SAGD oil sands operation and the oil shale development was found to be technically feasible for both cases. In the oil sands case, integrating an HTGR eliminated natural gas combustion and associated CO2 emissions, although there were still some emissions associated with imported electrical power. In the in situ oil shale case, integrating an HTGR reduced CO2 emissions by 88% and increased natural gas production by 100%. Economic viabilities of both nuclear integrated cases were poorer than the non-nuclear-integrated cases when CO2 emissions were not taxed. However, taxing the CO2 emissions had a significant effect on the economics of the non-nuclear base cases, bringing them in line with the economics of the nuclear-integrated cases. As we move toward limiting CO2 emissions, integrating non-CO2-emitting energy sources to the development of energy-intense fossil fuel resources is becoming

  10. 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 ...

  11. Effectiveness of test driven development and continuous integration - a case study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Amrit, Chintan; Meijberg, Yoni

    2018-01-01

    In this article we describe the implementation of hybrid agile practices, namely Test Driven Development (TDD) and Continuous Integration (CI) at a Dutch SME. The quality and productivity outcomes of the case study were compared to a performance baseline set by a reference case, a preceding

  12. Control assessment for heat integrated systems. An industrial case study for ethanol recovery

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mauricio Iglesias, Miguel; Huusom, Jakob Kjøbsted; Sin, Gürkan

    2013-01-01

    Heat integration is essential for reducing the energy consumption of process industries. However, it may render the dynamic operation more interactive and difficult to control. This paper assesses the implications of heat integration in controllability and performance in energy reduction....... The assessment, both on open loop and closed loop, was carried out based on an industrial case study and compared to a modified case without heat integration. Although the heat integrated system displayed a certain deterioration of controllability, the control system made possible an efficient operation....... The reduction of energy consumption achieved thanks to heat integration was considerably larger than the losses due to poor control of the process, confirming the importance of heat integration in energy intensive processes....

  13. Case Study: Accelerating Process Improvement by Integrating the TSP and CMMI

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Wall, Daniel S; McHale, James; Pomeroy-Huff, Marsha

    2005-01-01

    .... This case study describes the process improvement efforts of both NAVAIR divisions and how they integrated the two SEI technologies to accelerate process improvement within their organizations...

  14. 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 ...

  15. An IoT-enabled supply chain integration framework : empirical case studies

    OpenAIRE

    Wakenshaw, Susan Y. L.; Maple, Carsten; Chen, Daqiang; Micillo, Rosario

    2017-01-01

    Supply chain integration is crucial for supply chain performance, particularly in industry 4.0. With the proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) and the use of cyber-physical systems, supply chain integration needs to be greatly enhanced. In this paper, we explore supply integration (process and application) in the supply chain network enabled by IoT. Using the case study method, we investigate technical and business applications of IoT in supply chains and how it can interface with the pro...

  16. Integrated Project Management: A Case Study in Integrating Cost, Schedule, Technical, and Risk Areas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Greg

    2004-01-01

    This viewgraph presentation describes a case study as a model for integrated project management. The ISS Program Office (ISSPO) developed replacement fluid filtration cartridges in house for the International Space Station (ISS). The presentation includes a step-by-step procedure and organizational charts for how the fluid filtration problem was approached.

  17. A Case Study of a Mixed Methods Study Engaged in Integrated Data Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schiazza, Daniela Marie

    2013-01-01

    The nascent field of mixed methods research has yet to develop a cohesive framework of guidelines and procedures for mixed methods data analysis (Greene, 2008). To support the field's development of analytical frameworks, this case study reflects on the development and implementation of a mixed methods study engaged in integrated data analysis.…

  18. Integrating transportation and production: an international study case

    OpenAIRE

    L Bertazzi; O Zappa

    2012-01-01

    The problem we study is inspired by the real case of Mesdan S.p.A., an Italian company worldwide leader in the textile machinery sector, which has two production units with two warehouses, one located in Italy (Brescia) and the other in China (Foshan). The critical point in this logistic system is the integration between production and transportation management, given the long distance between Brescia and Foshan. Shipments are performed by the means of different types of vehicles with differe...

  19. Building integrated care systems: a case study of Bidasoa Integrated Health Organisation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nuria Toro Polanco

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: This paper analyses the implementation of integrated care policies in the Basque Country through the deployment of an Integrated Health Organisation in Bidasoa area during the period 2011–2014. Structural, functional and clinical integration policies have been employed with the aim to deliver integrated and person-centred care for patients, especially for those living with chronic conditions.Methods: This organisational case study used multiple data sources and methods in a pragmatic and reflexive manner to build a picture of the organisational development over a 4-year period. In order to measure the progress of integration three concepts have been measured: (i readiness for chronicity measured with Assessment of Readiness for Chronicity in Healthcare Organisations tool; (ii collaboration between clinicians from different care levels measured with the D'Amour Questionnaire, and (iii overall impact of integration through several indicators based on the Triple Aim Framework.Results: The measurement of organisational readiness for chronicity showed improvements in five of the six areas under evaluation. Similarly the collaboration between professionals of different care levels showed a steady improvement in each of the 10 items. Furthermore, the Triple Aim-based indicators showed a better experience of care in terms of patients’ perceptions of care coordination; a reduction in hospital utilisation, particularly for patients with complex chronic conditions; and cost-containment in terms of per capita expenditure.Conclusion: There is a significant amount of data that shows that Bidasoa Integrated Health Organisation has progressed in terms of delivering integrated care for chronic conditions with a positive impact on several Triple Aim outcomes.

  20. Building integrated care systems: a case study of Bidasoa Integrated Health Organisation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nuria Toro Polanco

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: This paper analyses the implementation of integrated care policies in the Basque Country through the deployment of an Integrated Health Organisation in Bidasoa area during the period 2011–2014. Structural, functional and clinical integration policies have been employed with the aim to deliver integrated and person-centred care for patients, especially for those living with chronic conditions. Methods: This organisational case study used multiple data sources and methods in a pragmatic and reflexive manner to build a picture of the organisational development over a 4-year period. In order to measure the progress of integration three concepts have been measured: (i readiness for chronicity measured with Assessment of Readiness for Chronicity in Healthcare Organisations tool; (ii collaboration between clinicians from different care levels measured with the D'Amour Questionnaire, and (iii overall impact of integration through several indicators based on the Triple Aim Framework. Results: The measurement of organisational readiness for chronicity showed improvements in five of the six areas under evaluation. Similarly the collaboration between professionals of different care levels showed a steady improvement in each of the 10 items. Furthermore, the Triple Aim-based indicators showed a better experience of care in terms of patients’ perceptions of care coordination; a reduction in hospital utilisation, particularly for patients with complex chronic conditions; and cost-containment in terms of per capita expenditure. Conclusion: There is a significant amount of data that shows that Bidasoa Integrated Health Organisation has progressed in terms of delivering integrated care for chronic conditions with a positive impact on several Triple Aim outcomes.

  1. A retrospective likelihood approach for efficient integration of multiple omics factors in case-control association studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balliu, Brunilda; Tsonaka, Roula; Boehringer, Stefan; Houwing-Duistermaat, Jeanine

    2015-03-01

    Integrative omics, the joint analysis of outcome and multiple types of omics data, such as genomics, epigenomics, and transcriptomics data, constitute a promising approach for powerful and biologically relevant association studies. These studies often employ a case-control design, and often include nonomics covariates, such as age and gender, that may modify the underlying omics risk factors. An open question is how to best integrate multiple omics and nonomics information to maximize statistical power in case-control studies that ascertain individuals based on the phenotype. Recent work on integrative omics have used prospective approaches, modeling case-control status conditional on omics, and nonomics risk factors. Compared to univariate approaches, jointly analyzing multiple risk factors with a prospective approach increases power in nonascertained cohorts. However, these prospective approaches often lose power in case-control studies. In this article, we propose a novel statistical method for integrating multiple omics and nonomics factors in case-control association studies. Our method is based on a retrospective likelihood function that models the joint distribution of omics and nonomics factors conditional on case-control status. The new method provides accurate control of Type I error rate and has increased efficiency over prospective approaches in both simulated and real data. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  2. An Approach for Integrating Toxicogenomic Data in Risk Assessment: The Dibutyl Phthalate Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    An approach for evaluating and integrating genomic data in chemical risk assessment was developed based on the lessons learned from performing a case study for the chemical dibutyl phthalate. A case study prototype approach was first developed in accordance with EPA guidance and ...

  3. Integration of torrefaction in CHP plants – A case study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Starfelt, Fredrik; Tomas Aparicio, Elena; Li, Hailong; Dotzauer, Erik

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • We model the integration of a torrefaction reactor in a CHP plant. • Techno-economic analysis for the system is performed. • Flue gas integration of torrefaction show better performance. • Heat or electricity production is not compromised in the proposed system. - Abstract: Torrefied biomass shows characteristics that resemble those of coal. Therefore, torrefied biomass can be co-combusted with coal in existing coal mills and burners. This paper presents simulation results of a case study where a torrefaction reactor was integrated in an existing combined heat and power plant and sized to replace 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% of the fossil coal in one of the boilers. The simulations show that a torrefaction reactor can be integrated with existing plants without compromising heat or electricity production. Economic and sensitivity analysis show that the additional cost for integrating a torrefaction reactor is low which means that with an emission allowance cost of 37 €/ton CO 2 , the proposed integrated system can be profitable and use 100% renewable fuels. The development of subsidies will affect the process economy. The determinant parameters are electricity and fuel prices

  4. An approach for integrating toxicogenomic data in risk assessment: The dibutyl phthalate case study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Euling, Susan Y., E-mail: euling.susan@epa.gov [National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC (United States); Thompson, Chad M. [ToxStrategies, Inc., 23501 Cinco Ranch Blvd., Suite G265, Katy, TX 77494 (United States); Chiu, Weihsueh A. [National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC (United States); Benson, Robert [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8, Mail code 8P-W, 1595 Wynkoop Street, Denver, CO 80202 (United States)

    2013-09-15

    An approach for evaluating and integrating genomic data in chemical risk assessment was developed based on the lessons learned from performing a case study for the chemical dibutyl phthalate. A case study prototype approach was first developed in accordance with EPA guidance and recommendations of the scientific community. Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) was selected for the case study exercise. The scoping phase of the dibutyl phthalate case study was conducted by considering the available DBP genomic data, taken together with the entire data set, for whether they could inform various risk assessment aspects, such as toxicodynamics, toxicokinetics, and dose–response. A description of weighing the available dibutyl phthalate data set for utility in risk assessment provides an example for considering genomic data for future chemical assessments. As a result of conducting the scoping process, two questions—Do the DBP toxicogenomic data inform 1) the mechanisms or modes of action?, and 2) the interspecies differences in toxicodynamics?—were selected to focus the case study exercise. Principles of the general approach include considering the genomics data in conjunction with all other data to determine their ability to inform the various qualitative and/or quantitative aspects of risk assessment, and evaluating the relationship between the available genomic and toxicity outcome data with respect to study comparability and phenotypic anchoring. Based on experience from the DBP case study, recommendations and a general approach for integrating genomic data in chemical assessment were developed to advance the broader effort to utilize 21st century data in risk assessment. - Highlights: • Performed DBP case study for integrating genomic data in risk assessment • Present approach for considering genomic data in chemical risk assessment • Present recommendations for use of genomic data in chemical risk assessment.

  5. Integrated Hydrographical Basin Management. Study Case - Crasna River Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Visescu, Mircea; Beilicci, Erika; Beilicci, Robert

    2017-10-01

    Hydrographical basins are important from hydrological, economic and ecological points of view. They receive and channel the runoff from rainfall and snowmelt which, when adequate managed, can provide fresh water necessary for water supply, irrigation, food industry, animal husbandry, hydrotechnical arrangements and recreation. Hydrographical basin planning and management follows the efficient use of available water resources in order to satisfy environmental, economic and social necessities and constraints. This can be facilitated by a decision support system that links hydrological, meteorological, engineering, water quality, agriculture, environmental, and other information in an integrated framework. In the last few decades different modelling tools for resolving problems regarding water quantity and quality were developed, respectively water resources management. Watershed models have been developed to the understanding of water cycle and pollution dynamics, and used to evaluate the impacts of hydrotechnical arrangements and land use management options on water quantity, quality, mitigation measures and possible global changes. Models have been used for planning monitoring network and to develop plans for intervention in case of hydrological disasters: floods, flash floods, drought and pollution. MIKE HYDRO Basin is a multi-purpose, map-centric decision support tool for integrated hydrographical basin analysis, planning and management. MIKE HYDRO Basin is designed for analyzing water sharing issues at international, national and local hydrographical basin level. MIKE HYDRO Basin uses a simplified mathematical representation of the hydrographical basin including the configuration of river and reservoir systems, catchment hydrology and existing and potential water user schemes with their various demands including a rigorous irrigation scheme module. This paper analyzes the importance and principles of integrated hydrographical basin management and develop a case

  6. A pre-feasibility case study on integrated resource planning including renewables

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yilmaz, Pelin; Hakan Hocaoglu, M.; Konukman, Alp Er S.

    2008-01-01

    In recent years, economical and environmental constraints force governments and energy policy decision-makers to change the prominent characteristics of the electricity markets. Accordingly, depending on local conditions on the demand side, usage of integrated resource planning approaches in conjunction with renewable technologies has gained more importance. In this respect, an integrated resource planning option, which includes the design and optimization of grid-connected renewable energy plants, should be evaluated to facilitate a cost-effective and green solution to a sustainable future. In this paper, an integrated resource planning case is studied for an educational campus, located in Gebze, Turkey. It is found that for the considered campus, the integrated resource planning scenario that includes renewables as a supply-side option with existing time-of-use tariff may provide a cost-effective energy production, particularly for the high penetration level of the renewables

  7. Integrating solar PV (photovoltaics) in utility system operations: Analytical framework and Arizona case study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, Jing; Botterud, Audun; Mills, Andrew; Zhou, Zhi; Hodge, Bri-Mathias; Heaney, Mike

    2015-01-01

    A systematic framework is proposed to estimate the impact on operating costs due to uncertainty and variability in renewable resources. The framework quantifies the integration costs associated with sub-hourly variability and uncertainty as well as day-ahead forecasting errors in solar PV (photovoltaics) power. A case study illustrates how changes in system operations may affect these costs for a utility in the southwestern United States (Arizona Public Service Company). We conduct an extensive sensitivity analysis under different assumptions about balancing reserves, system flexibility, fuel prices, and forecasting errors. We find that high solar PV penetrations may lead to operational challenges, particularly during low-load and high solar periods. Increased system flexibility is essential for minimizing integration costs and maintaining reliability. In a set of sensitivity cases where such flexibility is provided, in part, by flexible operations of nuclear power plants, the estimated integration costs vary between $1.0 and $4.4/MWh-PV for a PV penetration level of 17%. The integration costs are primarily due to higher needs for hour-ahead balancing reserves to address the increased sub-hourly variability and uncertainty in the PV resource. - Highlights: • We propose an analytical framework to estimate grid integration costs for solar PV. • Increased operating costs from variability and uncertainty in solar PV are computed. • A case study of a utility in Arizona is conducted. • Grid integration costs are found in the $1.0–4.4/MWh range for a 17% PV penetration. • Increased system flexibility is essential for minimizing grid integration costs

  8. Case studies in the numerical solution of oscillatory integrals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adam, G.

    1992-06-01

    A numerical solution of a number of 53,249 test integrals belonging to nine parametric classes was attempted by two computer codes: EAQWOM (Adam and Nobile, IMA Journ. Numer. Anal. (1991) 11, 271-296) and DO1ANF (Mark 13, 1988) from the NAG library software. For the considered test integrals, EAQWOM was found to be superior to DO1ANF as it concerns robustness, reliability, and friendly user information in case of failure. (author). 9 refs, 3 tabs

  9. Techno-economic feasibility study of the integration of a commercial small-scale ORC in a real case study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cavazzini, G.; Dal Toso, P.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • The integration of a small-scale commercial ORC in a real case study was analyzed. • The possibility of recovering the waste heat produced by an ICE was considered. • A semi-empirical steady-state model of the commercial small scale ORC was created. • Both direct and indirect costs was considered in the business model. • The ORC integration was not economically feasible due to increased indirect costs. - Abstract: The ORC certainly represents a promising solution for recovering low-grade waste heat in industries. However, the efficiency of commercial small-scale ORC solutions is still too low in comparison with the high initial costs of the machine and the lack of simulation models specifically developed for commercial ORC systems prevents industries from defining an accurate business model to correctly evaluate the ORC integration in real industrial processes. This paper presents a techno-economic feasibility analysis of the integration of a small-scale commercial ORC in a real case study, represented by a highly-efficient industrial distillery. The integration is aimed at maximizing the electricity auto-production by exploiting the heat produced by an internal combustion engine, already partially recovered in internal thermal processes. To analyze the influence of the ORC integration on the industrial processes, a semi-empirical steady-state model of the commercial small scale ORC was created. The model made it possible to simulate the performance of the commercial ORC within a hypothetical scenario involving the use of the heat from the cooling water and from the exhaust gases of the internal combustion engine. A detailed thermo-dynamic analysis has been carried out to study the effects of the ORC integration on the plant’s energy system with particular focus on the two processes directly affected by ORC integration, namely vapor production and the drying process of the grape marc. The analysis highlighted the great importance in the

  10. 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.

  11. Integrating ergonomics in design processes: a case study within an engineering consultancy firm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sørensen, Lene Bjerg; Broberg, Ole

    2012-01-01

    This paper reports on a case study within an engineering consultancy firm, where engineering designers and ergonomists were working together on the design of a new hospital sterile processing plant. The objective of the paper is to gain a better understanding of the premises for integrating ergonomics into engineering design processes and how different factors either promote or limit the integration. Based on a grounded theory approach a model illustrating these factors is developed and different hypotheses about how these factors either promote and/or limit the integration of ergonomics into design processes is presented along with the model.

  12. Development of Integrative STEM Curriculum: A Multiple Case Study of Multi-Disciplinary Teams in Two Pennsylvania High Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rider-Bertrand, Joey H.

    At the start of the 21st century, STEM education was a new priority in many schools as the focus shifted from separate disciplines to integrative STEM education. Unfortunately, there was limited research to offer guidance to practitioners (Brown, 2012; Honey, Pearson & Schweingruber, 2014). This qualitative, multiple case study explored the experiences of two multi-disciplinary teams of secondary teachers from Pennsylvania who developed and implemented integrative STEM curriculum. Four teachers from a rural high school and four teachers from a suburban high school participated in the study. A document review of integrative STEM curriculum and semi-structured interviews were conducted to learn about the curriculum development process and teachers' perceptions regarding conditions that support or hinder success. Individual and cross-case analyses were performed to establish findings and themes. Although the individual case themes varied slightly, the cross-case themes and assertions that emerged provided highly sought after guidance to practitioners and added to the limited body of research on integrative STEM education. This study found that current curriculum models do not fit integrative STEM curriculum, the development process is fluid, and substantial administrative support and resources are necessary to develop, implement, and sustain integrative STEM education programs. The results offered implications for all educators, as well as two examples of how teachers navigated the terrain of integrative STEM curriculum.

  13. Integrated catchment modelling within a strategic planning and decision making process: Werra case study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dietrich, Jörg; Funke, Markus

    Integrated water resources management (IWRM) redefines conventional water management approaches through a closer cross-linkage between environment and society. The role of public participation and socio-economic considerations becomes more important within the planning and decision making process. In this paper we address aspects of the integration of catchment models into such a process taking the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) as an example. Within a case study situated in the Werra river basin (Central Germany), a systems analytic decision process model was developed. This model uses the semantics of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) activity model. As an example application, the catchment model SWAT and the water quality model RWQM1 were applied to simulate the effect of phosphorus emissions from non-point and point sources on water quality. The decision process model was able to guide the participants of the case study through the interdisciplinary planning and negotiation of actions. Further improvements of the integration framework include tools for quantitative uncertainty analyses, which are crucial for real life application of models within an IWRM decision making toolbox. For the case study, the multi-criteria assessment of actions indicates that the polluter pays principle can be met at larger scales (sub-catchment or river basin) without significantly compromising cost efficiency for the local situation.

  14. Campus and community micro grids integration of building integrated photovoltaic renewable energy sources: Case study of Split 3 area, Croatia - part A

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gašparović Goran

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Micro grids interconnect loads and distributed energy resources as a single controllable entity. New installations of renewable energy sources (RES in urban areas, such as Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV, provide opportunities to increase energy independence and diversify energy sources in the energy system. This paper explores the integration of RES into two case study communities in an urban agglomeration to provide optimal conditions to meet a share of the electrical loads. Energy planning case studies for decentralized generation of renewable energy are conducted in H2RES energy planning software for hourly energy balances. The results indicate that BIPV and PV in the case study communities can cover about 17% of the recorded electrical demand of both areas. On a yearly basis, there will be a 0.025 GWh surplus of PV production with a maximum value of 1.25 MWh in one hour of operation unless grid storage is used. This amounts to a total investment cost of 13.36 million EUR. The results are useful for proposing future directions for the various case study communities targeting sustainable development.

  15. Integration in New Product Development: Case Study in a Large Brazilian

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel Jugend

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available Proficiency in management activities undertaken in product development processes is regarded as a key competitive advantage for companies, particularly for high-tech industrial firms, which benefit from the important competitiveness factor of launching products with a differentiated technological content. This paper’s objective was to identify, through case study, practices for integration between the roles of R & D with others involved in product development in a large Brazilian company of industrial automation. The results suggest some management practices to improve the integration in new products development, such as the use of employees from marketing with knowledge and experience previously gained from R & D activities and uses the heavyweight product manager to solve synchronization problems between product and technology development.

  16. Ballet as Somatic Practice: A Case Study Exploring the Integration of Somatic Practices in Ballet Pedagogy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berg, Tanya

    2017-01-01

    This case study explores one teacher's integration of Alexander Technique and the work of neuromuscular retrainer Irene Dowd in ballet pedagogy to establish a somatic approach to teaching, learning, and performing ballet technique. This case study highlights the teacher's unique teaching method called IMAGE TECH for dancers (ITD) and offers…

  17. Automated granularity to integrate digital information: the "Antarctic Treaty Searchable Database" case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul Arthur Berkman

    2006-06-01

    Full Text Available Access to information is necessary, but not sufficient in our digital era. The challenge is to objectively integrate digital resources based on user-defined objectives for the purpose of discovering information relationships that facilitate interpretations and decision making. The Antarctic Treaty Searchable Database (http://aspire.nvi.net, which is in its sixth edition, provides an example of digital integration based on the automated generation of information granules that can be dynamically combined to reveal objective relationships within and between digital information resources. This case study further demonstrates that automated granularity and dynamic integration can be accomplished simply by utilizing the inherent structure of the digital information resources. Such information integration is relevant to library and archival programs that require long-term preservation of authentic digital resources.

  18. Evolution of Integrated Open Aquaculture Systems in Hungary: Results from a Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    József Popp

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This article presents the history of integrated farming in aquaculture through a Hungarian case study. The development of Hungarian integrated aquaculture is aligned with global trends. In the previous millennium, the utilization of the nutrients introduced into the system was the main aspect of the integration. In Hungary, technologies that integrated fish production with growing crops and animal husbandry appeared, including for example: large-scale fish-cum-rice production; fish-cum-duck production; and integrated pig-fish farming which were introduced in the second half of the 20th century. Today, the emphasis is on integrating the use of the kind of feed where the main goal is to minimize nutrient loads in the surrounding natural ecosystems and to maximize the utilization of the unit’s water resources. The various modern integrated freshwater aquaculture systems, such as intensive fish production combined with wetland, recirculation aquaculture system and multi-functional aquaculture, have proved their viability. However, the future opportunities for these systems have not always been properly recognized and acknowledged when the future of European aquaculture is discussed.

  19. Case-study application of venture analysis: the integrated energy utility. Volume 3. Appendices

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fein, E; Gordon, T J; King, R; Kropp, F G; Shuchman, H L; Stover, J; Hausz, W; Meyer, C

    1978-11-01

    The appendices for a case-study application of venture analysis for an integrated energy utility for commercialization are presented. The following are included and discussed: utility interviews; net social benefits - quantitative calculations; the financial analysis model; market penetration decision model; international district heating systems; political and regulatory environment; institutional impacts.

  20. Case Studies in Environment Integration

    Science.gov (United States)

    1991-12-01

    such as CADRE Teamwork and Frame Technology FrameMaker , are integrated. Future plans include integrating additional software development tools into...Pictures, Sabre C, and Interleaf or FrameMaker . Cad- re Technologies has announced integration agreements with Saber C and Pansophic, as well as offering...access to the Interleaf and FrameMaker documentation tools. While some of the current agreements between vendors to create tool coalitions are

  1. Environment And Genetics in Lung cancer Etiology (EAGLE study: An integrative population-based case-control study of lung cancer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Colombi Antonio

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Tobacco smoking is its primary cause, and yet the precise molecular alterations induced by smoking in lung tissue that lead to lung cancer and impact survival have remained obscure. A new framework of research is needed to address the challenges offered by this complex disease. Methods/Design We designed a large population-based case-control study that combines a traditional molecular epidemiology design with a more integrative approach to investigate the dynamic process that begins with smoking initiation, proceeds through dependency/smoking persistence, continues with lung cancer development and ends with progression to disseminated disease or response to therapy and survival. The study allows the integration of data from multiple sources in the same subjects (risk factors, germline variation, genomic alterations in tumors, and clinical endpoints to tackle the disease etiology from different angles. Before beginning the study, we conducted a phone survey and pilot investigations to identify the best approach to ensure an acceptable participation in the study from cases and controls. Between 2002 and 2005, we enrolled 2101 incident primary lung cancer cases and 2120 population controls, with 86.6% and 72.4% participation rate, respectively, from a catchment area including 216 municipalities in the Lombardy region of Italy. Lung cancer cases were enrolled in 13 hospitals and population controls were randomly sampled from the area to match the cases by age, gender and residence. Detailed epidemiological information and biospecimens were collected from each participant, and clinical data and tissue specimens from the cases. Collection of follow-up data on treatment and survival is ongoing. Discussion EAGLE is a new population-based case-control study that explores the full spectrum of lung cancer etiology, from smoking addiction to lung cancer outcome, through

  2. Integrative dynamic therapy for bulimia nervosa: An evidence-based case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richards, Lauren K; Shingleton, Rebecca M; Goldman, Rachel; Siegel, Deborah; Thompson-Brenner, Heather

    2016-06-01

    Both cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and psychodynamic psychotherapy are commonly used to treat eating disorders. To further investigate the effectiveness of integrative dynamic therapy (IDT) for bulimia nervosa (BN), our research group undertook a randomized, controlled pilot study comparing IDT with CBT for BN. The case described here was selected from a sample of N = 38 female patients with the symptoms of BN who enrolled in the study. IDT incorporated aspects of the first 4-week stage of CBT, including psychoeducation, self-monitoring, and regular eating. Subsequently, the treatment focused on emotional expression, emotion regulation (defenses), intrapsychic conflict, and interpersonal relationships. The objectives of the report are to demonstrate the effectiveness of an integrative approach to the treatment of eating disorders to address the symptoms of BN and personality issues using pre-, mid-, and posttreatment data, and to illustrate the patient and clinician reactions to each approach to treatment using excerpts from session transcripts and alliance data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  3. Integrated flood disaster management and spatial information : Case studies of Netherlands and India

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ghawana, T. (T.); Kaur, A. (A.); Neuvel, J.M.M. (J.M.M.); Ziatanova, Z. (Z.)

    2014-01-01

    Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., XL-8, 147-154, 2014www.int-arch-photogramm-remote-sens-spatial-inf-sci.net/XL-8/147/2014/doi:10.5194/isprsarchives-XL-8-147-2014Integrated flood disaster management and spatial information: Case studies ofNetherlands and IndiaS. Zlatanova1, T.

  4. Integrated Case Based and Rule Based Reasoning for Decision Support

    OpenAIRE

    Eshete, Azeb Bekele

    2009-01-01

    This project is a continuation of my specialization project which was focused on studying theoretical concepts related to case based reasoning method, rule based reasoning method and integration of them. The integration of rule-based and case-based reasoning methods has shown a substantial improvement with regards to performance over the individual methods. Verdande Technology As wants to try integrating the rule based reasoning method with an existing case based system. This project focu...

  5. Plagiarism, Cheating and Research Integrity: Case Studies from a Masters Program in Peru.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carnero, Andres M; Mayta-Tristan, Percy; Konda, Kelika A; Mezones-Holguin, Edward; Bernabe-Ortiz, Antonio; Alvarado, German F; Canelo-Aybar, Carlos; Maguiña, Jorge L; Segura, Eddy R; Quispe, Antonio M; Smith, Edward S; Bayer, Angela M; Lescano, Andres G

    2017-08-01

    Plagiarism is a serious, yet widespread type of research misconduct, and is often neglected in developing countries. Despite its far-reaching implications, plagiarism is poorly acknowledged and discussed in the academic setting, and insufficient evidence exists in Latin America and developing countries to inform the development of preventive strategies. In this context, we present a longitudinal case study of seven instances of plagiarism and cheating arising in four consecutive classes (2011-2014) of an Epidemiology Masters program in Lima, Peru, and describes the implementation and outcomes of a multifaceted, "zero-tolerance" policy aimed at introducing research integrity. Two cases involved cheating in graded assignments, and five cases correspond to plagiarism in the thesis protocol. Cases revealed poor awareness of high tolerance to plagiarism, poor academic performance, and widespread writing deficiencies, compensated with patchwriting and copy-pasting. Depending on the events' severity, penalties included course failure (6/7) and separation from the program (3/7). Students at fault did not engage in further plagiarism. Between 2011 and 2013, the Masters program sequentially introduced a preventive policy consisting of: (i) intensified research integrity and scientific writing education, (ii) a stepwise, cumulative writing process; (iii) honor codes; (iv) active search for plagiarism in all academic products; and (v) a "zero-tolerance" policy in response to documented cases. No cases were detected in 2014. In conclusion, plagiarism seems to be widespread in resource-limited settings and a greater response with educational and zero-tolerance components is needed to prevent it.

  6. Organizing vocational rehabilitation through interorganizational integration--a case study in Sweden.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wihlman, Ulla; Lundborg, Cecilia Stålsby; Holmström, Inger; Axelsson, Runo

    2011-01-01

    This study describes and analysis five years of experiences from organising an interorganisational project on vocational rehabilitation. A qualitative case study approach was used based on interviews, focus group discussions and documents. The aim was to analyse how and why the project was organised in the way it was in relation to theories of integration, organisational change and learning. The results show that the vocational rehabilitation project was initiated mainly for financial reasons. It was organised as a mechanistic system with the aim of producing different activities, where financial control and support from all the levels of the organisations involved was important. A new bureaucracy between the different authorities involved was built up, where the vertical (top-down) integration was more important than the horizontal. The result was scattered islands of interprofessional work in different teams, but without contacts between them. The project did not influence the processes or workflows of the organisations involved in the project, which would be important from a service-user perspective. It may therefore be questionnable to organise the development of interorganisational integration for vocational rehabilitation in a separate project organisation. Instead, interorganisational networks with focus on interconnections of processes and workflows may be more flexible and adaptable. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  7. The integration of occupational therapy into primary care: a multiple case study design

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Background For over two decades occupational therapists have been encouraged to enhance their roles within primary care and focus on health promotion and prevention activities. While there is a clear fit between occupational therapy and primary care, there have been few practice examples, despite a growing body of evidence to support the role. In 2010, the province of Ontario, Canada provided funding to include occupational therapists as members of Family Health Teams, an interprofessional model of primary care. The integration of occupational therapists into this model of primary care is one of the first large scale initiatives of its kind in North America. The objective of the study was to examine how occupational therapy services are being integrated into primary care teams and understand the structures supporting the integration. Methods A multiple case study design was used to provide an in-depth description of the integration of occupational therapy. Four Family Health Teams with occupational therapists as part of the team were identified. Data collection included in-depth interviews, document analyses, and questionnaires. Results Each Family Health Team had a unique organizational structure that contributed to the integration of occupational therapy. Communication, trust and understanding of occupational therapy were key elements in the integration of occupational therapy into Family Health Teams, and were supported by a number of strategies including co-location, electronic medical records and team meetings. An understanding of occupational therapy was critical for integration into the team and physicians were less likely to understand the occupational therapy role than other health providers. Conclusion With an increased emphasis on interprofessional primary care, new professions will be integrated into primary healthcare teams. The study found that explicit strategies and structures are required to facilitate the integration of a new professional group

  8. Integral Health Care As A Guiding Axis Of Medical Training: Case Studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alcides Viana de Lima Neto

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Objective: The aim is to report the experiences during the practical experiences in the territory assigned to a basic health unit provided by the module of Integral Health Care I. Methods: Case studies resulting from a process of critical reflections about practical experiences by medical students in a basic health unit from August to December 2015. Results: Through the module of Integral Health Care I, students were allowed to recognize the assigned area of a family health team, as well as to develop the territorialization process and to classify the demographic, epidemiological, socioeconomic and environmental profile in that place; in addition to perform other activities as a singular therapeutic project and intervention project. Conclusion: The activities developed motivated the students to be able to apply the concepts of family and community medicine in primary health care, in addition to bringing them closer to the reality of this work process. Descriptors: Integral Health Care; Family Health Strategy; Physician-Patient Relationship; Basic Health Unit.

  9. Integrating ICT in Kenyan Secondary Schools: An Exploratory Case Study of a Professional Development Programme

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tondeur, Jo; Krug, Don; Bill, Mike; Smulders, Maaike; Zhu, Chang

    2015-01-01

    This study explores the introduction of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Kenyan secondary schools. Specifically, it is a case study of four schools with no previous access to ICT. The professional development programme from which data for this study were drawn was designed to support teachers learning to integrate ICT in the…

  10. Effectiveness of integrating case studies in online and face-to-face instruction of pathophysiology: a comparative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saleh, Suha M; Asi, Yara M; Hamed, Kastro M

    2013-06-01

    Due to growing demand from students and facilitated by innovations in educational technology, institutions of higher learning are increasingly offering online courses. Subjects in the hard sciences, such as pathophysiology, have traditionally been taught in the face-to-face format, but growing demand for preclinical science courses has compelled educators to incorporate online components into their classes to promote comprehension. Learning tools such as case studies are being integrated into such courses to aid in student interaction, engagement, and critical thinking skills. Careful assessment of pedagogical techniques is essential; hence, this study aimed to evaluate and compare student perceptions of the use of case studies in face-to-face and fully online pathophysiology classes. A series of case studies was incorporated into the curriculum of a pathophysiology class for both class modes (online and face to face). At the end of the semester, students filled out a survey assessing the effectiveness of the case studies. Both groups offered positive responses about the incorporation of case studies in the curriculum of the pathophysiology class. This study supports the argument that with proper use of innovative teaching tools, such as case studies, online pathophysiology classes can foster a sense of community and interaction that is typically only seen with face-to-face classes, based on student responses. Students also indicated that regardless of class teaching modality, use of case studies facilitates student learning and comprehension as well as prepares them for their future careers in health fields.

  11. INTEGRATIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY AND MINDFULNESS: THE CASE OF SARA

    OpenAIRE

    Mihael Černetič

    2015-01-01

    The article explores the relationship between Integrative Psychotherapy and mindfulness on a theoretical as well as practical level. Although mindfulness is not an explicit constituent of Integrative Psychotherapy, the two are arguably a natural fit. Mindfulness has the potential to enhance internal and external contact, a central concept in Integrative Psychotherapy, as well as strengthen a client’s Adult ego state. This article presents a case study whereby Integrative Psychotherapy is ana...

  12. 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...

  13. The Integration of Socio-Economic Indicators in the CASBEE-UD Evaluation System: A Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesco Cappai

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The use of tools to measure the degree of sustainability of cities is the approach that receives the most attention in developed countries. However, studies of evaluation tools at the neighborhood level reveal that there are many weaknesses in the most widely-used evaluation systems (LEED-ND, BREEAM Communities, CASBEE-UD. There are ambiguities and gaps in weighting and in scoring and in most cases, there is no mechanism for local adaptability and participation. The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of the current situation by highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of these evaluation tools in order to integrate social and economic aspects for the improvement of the CASBEE-UD (neighborhood level evaluation tool. The selection of socio-economic aspects was made through the use of a multi criteria Analysis Hierarchical Process (AHP and a Geographic Integration System (GIS. The results of this case study indicate that most evaluation tools need to be revised because most do not include socio-economic aspects. We have demonstrated that applying the CASBEE-UD assessment tool integrated with socio-economic aspects to four boroughs in the City of Montreal can measure success by addressing the objectives of sustainable development.

  14. Environmental integrated impact assessment for waste treatment activity: methodology and case-study application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lonati, G.; Panzeri, A.

    2008-01-01

    A literature method for the environmental integrated impact assessment, according to the IPPC Directive, has been critically analysed and adjusted in order to be used for the environmental performance assessment of waste treatment activities. The assessment parameters, sorted in eight treatment and combined pollution categories, have been partly redefined and re balanced. The adjusted methodology has been applied to a real case-study, a chemical- physical waste treatment plant, in order to calculate the current performance (Actual Integrated Index) and the ideal performance (Actual Integrated Index) achievable by technical and operational improvements. The adjusted methodology has also been used as a decision support system, in order to estimate the value of the expected environmental performances improvement after the execution achievable from the introduction of a single one or a set of improvement actions. The valuation of the Integrated Index percentage reduction, along with the action achievable, made the best actions able to be identified, both in comparative way and in the cost-effective one. The results, 50 as Effective Integrated Index and 42 as Ideal Integrated Index, in a 10-100 scale, show a medium impact level and point out an appreciable improvement margin on all the environmental performances, especially in air emission control and water consumption [it

  15. Integrating Financial Aid and Financial Policies: Case Studies from Five States. Changing Direction: Integrating Higher Education Financial Aid and Financing Policies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, Boulder, CO.

    This report is a collection of five state case studies comprising a major component of the first phase of the project, "Changing Direction: Integrating Higher Education Financial Aid and Financing Policies." The project explored state-level strategies to better align financing and financial aid policies and support more informed decision…

  16. Role of innovative institutional structures in integrated governance. A case study of integrating health and nutrition programs in Chhattisgarh, India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalita, Anuska; Mondal, Shinjini

    2012-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to highlight the significance of integrated governance in bringing about community participation, improved service delivery, accountability of public systems and human resource rationalisation. It discusses the strategies of innovative institutional structures in translating such integration in the areas of public health and nutrition for poor communities. The paper draws on experience of initiating integrated governance through innovations in health and nutrition programming in the resource-poor state of Chhattisgarh, India, at different levels of governance structures--hamlets, villages, clusters, blocks, districts and at the state. The study uses mixed methods--i.e. document analysis, interviews, discussions and quantitative data from facilities surveys--to present a case study analyzing the process and outcome of integration. The data indicate that integrated governance initiatives improved convergence between health and nutrition departments of the state at all levels. Also, innovative structures are important to implement the idea of integration, especially in contexts that do not have historical experience of such partnerships. Integration also contributed towards improved participation of communities in self-governance, community monitoring of government programs, and therefore, better services. As governments across the world, especially in developing countries, struggle towards achieving better governance, integration can serve as a desirable process to address this. Integration can affect the decentralisation of power, inclusion, efficiency, accountability and improved service quality in government programs. The institutional structures detailed in this paper can provide models for replication in other similar contexts for translating and sustaining the idea of integrated governance. This paper is one of the few to investigate innovative public institutions of a and community mobilisation to explore this important, and under

  17. Integrated STEM in secondary education: A case study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    De Meester, Jolien; Dehaene, Wim; Knipprath, Heidi; Thielemans, Jan; De Cock, Mieke; Langie, Greet

    2015-01-01

    Despite many opportunities to study STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in Flemish secondary education, only a minority of pupils are actually pursuing STEM fields in higher education and jobs. One reason could be that they do not see the relevance of science and mathematics. In order to draw their pupils’ interest in STEM, a Belgian school started a brand new initiative: the school set up and implemented a first year course that integrates various STEM disciplines, hoping to provide an answer to the question pupils often ask themselves about the need to study math and science. The integrated curriculum was developed by the school’s teachers and a STEM education research group of the University of Leuven. To examine the pupils’ attitude towards STEM and STEM professions and their notion of relevance of STEM at the end of this one-year course, a post-test was administered to the group of pupils who attended the integrated STEM course (the experimental group) and to a group of pupils that took traditional, non-integrated STEM courses (the control group). The results reveal that attending the integrated STEM course is significantly related to pupils’ interest in STEM and notion of relevance of STEM. Another post-test was administered only to the experimental group to investigate pupils’ understanding of math and physics concepts and their relation when taught in an integrated way. The results reveal that the pupils have some conceptual understanding and can, to a certain extent, make a transfer of concepts across different STEM disciplines. However, the test results did point out that some additional introductory training in pure math context is needed.

  18. Improving Casing Integrity by Induction Brazing of Casing Connections

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ernens, Dennis; Hariharan, Hari; van Haaften, Willem Maarten; Pasaribu, Rihard; Jabs, Matthew; McKim, Richard

    2017-01-01

    Brazing technology allows metallurgical joining of dissimilar materials using a filler material. In this paper brazing technology applied to casing connections is presented. The initial application was triggered by challenges with mechanical and pressure integrity after expansion of casing

  19. Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Integration of a LITEE Case Study for a Freshman Level Mechanical Engineering Course at The University of Toledo

    Science.gov (United States)

    Franchetti, Matthew

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of the integration of a manufacturing case study to a freshman level mechanical engineering course at The University of Toledo. The approach to integrate this case study into the class was completed via weekly assignments analyzing the case, small group discussion, and weekly group discussion.…

  20. IEA Wind Task 24 Integration of Wind and Hydropower Systems; Volume 2: Participant Case Studies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Acker, T.

    2011-12-01

    This report describes the background, concepts, issues and conclusions related to the feasibility of integrating wind and hydropower, as investigated by the members of IEA Wind Task 24. It is the result of a four-year effort involving seven IEA member countries and thirteen participating organizations. The companion report, Volume 2, describes in detail the study methodologies and participant case studies, and exists as a reference for this report.

  1. Integration process of theoretical courses with design studios in undergraduate education: Case studies of architecture and interior design studios

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ozmehmet Ecehan

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The formulations of studios are the most critical problem of design studies, because the foundation of further architectural education is based on these design studios. This paper focuses on discussions of studiobased design learning systems and curriculum developments on integral design studios that aims significant and innovative frameworks. In this context, integrated design studios are the newest approaches of architectural education. In this education system every studio has its own integral course. Integral courses give support to the design studios. This support can be either theoretical or practical. Knowledge that is related with the context of the design studio can be explained in this integrated course in some cases, in some cases as simulation program can be explained in some parts of the course. The support of the integral courses to the studios must be evaluated deeply. This paper presents the positive parts and negative parts of the new integral studio approach in this context. By this way, strong and weak parts of this education system is put forward.

  2. Milestones in Implementation of an Integrated Management System in the Health Sector. Case Study Radiologische Netzwerk Rheinland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claus Nagel-Picioruş

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Healthcare organizations in Germany exploit the benefits of the ISO 9000 family of international standards as it became compulsory to implement a quality management system in accordance with ISO 9001 requirements. Until the innovative ISO 9001:2015 proposal it was no direct connection to the other management systems like risk management, knowledge management or environmental management. So far, only few bodies ensured interconnections between different systems of management or associated the quality management system with the strategic planning process. However, healthcare encapsulates supplementary requirements which affect a number of different systems. Additionally, the financial crisis has encouraged the trend to operate integrated reporting beyond financial aspects. This paper aims at presenting the experience on the development of integrated management and reporting system integrated in an organization belonging to the health sector. The work clarifies the steps towards merging distinctly regulated management systems (quality, health or environmental management with strategic planning and controlling, via a Balanced Dashboard (Balanced Scorecard - BSC as well as integrated reporting according to the model International Integrated Reporting Initiative (IIRI in a German medical company - Radiologische Netzwerk Rheinland - RNR AG. Using the case study method, the paper's purpose is to highlight approaches and results of the company that could support practitioners from medical area and bezound. The literature review clarified theoretical concepts while the case study allowed converging comprehensive information and knowledge accumulated by RNR AG, thus helping to bridge the gap between literature on total integrated management reporting and reporting system in healthcare.

  3. The case for integrated air quality and climate change policies

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Thambiran, Tirusha

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available integration of these two issues, and actions to support the implementation thereof, are presented in this paper using the city of Durban as a case study. The results from this case study suggest that in the short-to medium-term, local AQMPs can be used...

  4. A case study of data integration for aquatic resources using semantic web technologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gordon, Janice M.; Chkhenkeli, Nina; Govoni, David L.; Lightsom, Frances L.; Ostroff, Andrea C.; Schweitzer, Peter N.; Thongsavanh, Phethala; Varanka, Dalia E.; Zednik, Stephan

    2015-01-01

    Use cases, information modeling, and linked data techniques are Semantic Web technologies used to develop a prototype system that integrates scientific observations from four independent USGS and cooperator data systems. The techniques were tested with a use case goal of creating a data set for use in exploring potential relationships among freshwater fish populations and environmental factors. The resulting prototype extracts data from the BioData Retrieval System, the Multistate Aquatic Resource Information System, the National Geochemical Survey, and the National Hydrography Dataset. A prototype user interface allows a scientist to select observations from these data systems and combine them into a single data set in RDF format that includes explicitly defined relationships and data definitions. The project was funded by the USGS Community for Data Integration and undertaken by the Community for Data Integration Semantic Web Working Group in order to demonstrate use of Semantic Web technologies by scientists. This allows scientists to simultaneously explore data that are available in multiple, disparate systems beyond those they traditionally have used.

  5. Numbers, systems, people: how interactions influence integration. Insights from case studies of HIV and reproductive health services delivery in Kenya.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mayhew, Susannah H; Sweeney, Sedona; Warren, Charlotte E; Collumbien, Martine; Ndwiga, Charity; Mutemwa, Richard; Lut, Irina; Colombini, Manuela; Vassall, Anna

    2017-11-01

    Drawing on rich data from the Integra evaluation of integrated HIV and reproductive-health services, we explored the interaction of systems hardware and software factors to explain why some facilities were able to implement and sustain integrated service delivery while others were not. This article draws on detailed mixed-methods data for four case-study facilities offering reproductive-health and HIV services between 2009 and 2013 in Kenya: (i) time-series client flow, tracking service uptake for 8841 clients; (ii) structured questionnaires with 24 providers; (iii) in-depth interviews with 17 providers; (iv) workload and facility data using a periodic activity review and cost-instruments; and (v) contextual data on external activities related to integration in study sites. Overall, our findings suggested that although structural factors like stock-outs, distribution of staffing and workload, rotation of staff can affect how integrated care is provided, all these factors can be influenced by staff themselves: both frontline and management. Facilities where staff displayed agency of decision making, worked as a team to share workload and had management that supported this, showed better integration delivery and staff were able to overcome some structural deficiencies to enable integrated care. Poor-performing facilities had good structural integration, but staff were unable to utilize this because they were poorly organized, unsupported or teams were dysfunctional. Conscientious objection and moralistic attitudes were also barriers.Integra has demonstrated that structural integration is not sufficient for integrated service delivery. Rather, our case studies show that in some cases excellent leadership and peer-teamwork enabled facilities to perform well despite resource shortages. The ability to provide support for staff to work flexibly to deliver integrated services and build resilient health systems to meet changing needs is particularly relevant as health

  6. Fire protection system management in nuclear facilities: strengthening factor of integrated management system - a case study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Santos, Joao Regis dos

    2005-01-01

    The present study investigated and analyzed the importance of a system of integrated safety manage, environment and health in a nuclear installation, having as perspective, the fire protection manage. The inquiry was made using a qualitative research involving a case study, where the considered environment was the Reconversion and UO 2 Plant of the Industrias Nucleares do Brasil (INB), located in Resende, Rio de Janeiro and the studied population, the managers and the staff directly involved with the aspects related to the safety of the industrial complex of the related company. The motivation for the research was the search of a bigger interaction of the questions related to the safety, environment and health in the nuclear industry having, as axle of the investigation, the fire protection. As a result, it was observed that in a nuclear installation, although dealing with diversified safety processes, integration is possible and necessary, since there are more reasons for integration than otherwise. (author)

  7. A case Study of Work-Integrated Learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kerstin Grundén

    2004-10-01

    Full Text Available An evaluation study of work-integrated e-learning in the county administration of Sweden is reported and discussed. A web-based prototype (Diabas for in-house education dealing with the official registers, was developed and tested. The MOA-L model was used as a frame of reference for the evaluation study. In the model especially the consequences for the work situation, the work process and the quality of the service to the client was focussed. The present situation as well as the situation after the learners had passed the course was studied and compared. The initial analysis of the present situation regarding these aspects was seen as very important for the development process of the course. Similarities between the development of work-integrated learning courses and traditional system development work was analysed and discussed. Cultural aspects and management policies were seen as very important in order to motivate the learners to attend the course. The learners were on the whole satisfied with the pilot course. The flexible forms for the course was seen as important. The work situation and the work flow need to be adapted in order to facilitate the use of the new knowledge after the course.

  8. Integration issues of information engineering based I-CASE tools

    OpenAIRE

    Kurbel, Karl; Schnieder, Thomas

    1994-01-01

    Problems and requirements regarding integration of methods and tools across phases of the software-development life cycle are discussed. Information engineering (IE) methodology and I-CASE (integrated CASE) tools supporting IE claim to have an integrated view across major stages of enterprise-wide information-system development: information strategy planning, business area analysis, system design, and construction. In the main part of this paper, two comprehensive I-CASE tools, ADW (Applicati...

  9. Integrated Comprehensive Care - A Case Study in Nursing Leadership and System Transformation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wheatley, Laura; Doyle, Winnie; Evans, Cheryl; Gosse, Carolyn; Smith, Kevin

    2017-01-01

    Calls for transformational change of our healthcare system are increasingly clear, persuasive and insistent. They resonate at all levels, with those who fund, deliver, provide and receive care, and they are rooted in a deep understanding that the system, as currently rigidly structured, most often lacks the necessary flexibility to comprehensively meet the needs of patients across the continuum of care. The St. Joseph's Health System (SJHS) Integrated Comprehensive Care (ICC) Program, which bundles care and funding across the hospital to home continuum, has reduced fragmentation of care, and it has delivered improved outcomes for patients, providers and the system. This case study explores the essential contribution of nursing leadership to this successful transformation of healthcare service delivery.

  10. INTEGRATED SURVEY FOR ARCHITECTURAL RESTORATION: A METHODOLOGICAL COMPARISON OF TWO CASE STUDIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. Bianchi

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available A preliminary survey campaign is essential in projects of restoration, urban renewal, rebuilding or promotion of architectural heritage. Today several survey techniques allow full 3D object restitution and modelling that provides a richer description than simple 2D representations. However, the amount of data to collect increases dramatically and a trade-off between efficiency and productivity from one side and assuring accuracy and completeness of the results on the other must be found. Depending on the extent and the complexity of the task, a single technique or a combination of several ones might be employed. Especially when documentation at different scales and with different levels of detail are foreseen, the latter will likely be necessary. The paper describes two architectural surveys in Italy: the old village of Navelli (AQ, affected by the earthquake in 2009, and the two most relevant remains in Codiponte (MS, damaged by the earthquake in 2013, both in the context of a project of restoration and conservation. In both sites, a 3D survey was necessary to represent effectively the objects. An integrated survey campaign was performed in both cases, which consists of a GPS network as support for georeferencing, an aerial survey and a field survey made by laser scanner and close range photogrammetry. The two case studies, thanks to their peculiarities, can be taken as exemplar to wonder if the integration of different surveying techniques is today still mandatory or, considering the technical advances of each technology, it is in fact just optional.

  11. Integrating EMDR into an evolutionary-based therapy for depression: a case study

    OpenAIRE

    Krupnik, Valery

    2015-01-01

    Key Clinical Message We present an intervention in a case of major depression, where eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy was integrated into an evolutionary-based psychotherapy for depression. At the end of the treatment and at follow up assessment we observed a more accepting disposition and decreased depressive but not anxiety symptoms.

  12. Integrated marketing communication plan : Case company: Dr. Johanna Budwig

    OpenAIRE

    Pham, Van

    2013-01-01

    The study’s research topic is integrated marketing communication and this is a product-oriented thesis. This study is made to create an efficient integrated marketing communication plan for the case company Dr. Johanna Budwig. The main product line in focus is flaxseed oil, which is very healthy and also good in preventing different diseases including cancer. The company home market, Germany, is the target market of the study. The objective set by the company is to increase sales by 10000, wh...

  13. Integrating EMDR into an evolutionary-based therapy for depression: a case study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krupnik, Valery

    2015-01-01

    Key Clinical Message We present an intervention in a case of major depression, where eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy was integrated into an evolutionary-based psychotherapy for depression. At the end of the treatment and at follow up assessment we observed a more accepting disposition and decreased depressive but not anxiety symptoms. PMID:25984310

  14. Integrating Information and Communication Technology (ICT into University Teaching and Learning: A Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chan Yuen Fook

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available Over the past decade the push for academics to develop competencies in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT in teaching and learning has increased. Within the Malaysian context unfortunately, until now there has not been a holistic and conclusive study on the integration of ICT in higher education. This exploratory study examined the integration of ICT among academics for the enhancement of university teaching and learning. A descriptivecorrelational research methodology that employed a survey questionnaire was used in this case study. The data was analyzed using means, standard deviation, t-test, ANOVA, and correlation. The findings indicated that the ICT facilities in the higher instituion left much to be desired and the usage of ICT in teaching among the academics was not at a satisfactory level. Even though a majority of the acdemics are aware of the many benefits of ICT there still exists academics who hold firm to the importance of face-to-face interaction and the didactic role of the instructors. The findings also revealed that the integration of ICT into the classroom focuses mainly on teaching and learning rather than the technical knowhow about computers themselves and how this technology helps support users to participate in the integration of ICT into teaching and learning. However, most of the respondents have shown a keen willingness to adopt ICT in their future teaching and learning processes once proper training and relevant technical support are provided. The findings, in general, can help lecturers, IT staff and university management to manage the integration of ICT in university teaching and learning in a more organized manner. The findings also would enable the faculty to be more responsive to the needs of staff and students to effectively address the critical problems related to the integration of technology into university teaching and learning in ways that are both contextualized and authentic.

  15. A case study: Integrated work environment and organizational change

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Heubach, J.G.; Montgomery, J.C.; Weimer, W.C. [Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States); Heerwagen, J.H. [Battelle Seattle Research Center, WA (United States)

    1995-02-01

    The failure to integrate environmental and organizational interventions may help explain the lack of success of many change efforts. The high rate of failure for change efforts (50% to 90% failure rates) has been noted by many writers. While specific causes of failure are diverse, a common theme has been failure to consider the organization as a system. That is, either significant aspects of the organization were ignored during the intervention or potential impacts of changes on the elements were overlooked or underestimated. Our own training, technical literature, and professional culture lead us to limited understandings of complex organizations. Change agents must consider all relevant components of organizational performance if interventions are to be meaningful and successful. This study demonstrated the value of an integrated organizational intervention involving redesign of the physical environment, introduction of a new information system, work process improvement, and extended organizational development intervention. The outcomes were extremely positive. The cost of improvement efforts was found to be recaptured within a short time, easily justifying the expenditures. One conclusion from the study is that integrated interventions are very powerful. Integrating improvement of the physical environment with organizational development and technological innovation greatly enhances the likelihood of achieving a successful intervention.

  16. Translating the Elements of Health Governance for Integrated Care from Theory to Practice: A Case Study Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nicholson, Caroline; Hepworth, Julie; Burridge, Letitia; Marley, John; Jackson, Claire

    2018-01-31

    Against a paucity of evidence, a model describing elements of health governance best suited to achieving integrated care internationally was developed. The aim of this study was to explore how health meso-level organisations used, or planned to use, the governance elements. A case study design was used to offer two contrasting contexts of health governance. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants who held senior governance roles. Data were thematically analysed to identify if the elements of health governance were being used, or intended to be in the future. While all participants agreed that the ten elements were essential to developing future integrated care, most were not used. Three major themes were identified: (1) organisational versus system focus, (2) leadership and culture, and, (3) community (dis)engagement. Several barriers and enablers to the use of the elements were identified and would require addressing in order to make evidence-based changes. Despite a clear international policy direction in support of integrated care this study identified a number of significant barriers to its implementation. The study reconfirmed that a focus on all ten elements of health governance is essential to achieve integrated care.

  17. INTEGRATIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY AND MINDFULNESS: THE CASE OF SARA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mihael Černetič

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available The article explores the relationship between Integrative Psychotherapy and mindfulness on a theoretical as well as practical level. Although mindfulness is not an explicit constituent of Integrative Psychotherapy, the two are arguably a natural fit. Mindfulness has the potential to enhance internal and external contact, a central concept in Integrative Psychotherapy, as well as strengthen a client’s Adult ego state. This article presents a case study whereby Integrative Psychotherapy is analysed from the perspective of mindfulness. Within the course of therapy, parallels were observed between the client's increased mindfulness, improved internal and external contact, strengthened Adult ego state, mastery of introjections, as well as diminished feelings of guilt, improved mood, self care and ability to engage in appropriate separation and individuation. These gains support the conclusion that Integrative Psychotherapy and mindfulness are inherently related and that explicit incorporation of mindfulness may enhance the therapeutic process of Integrative Psychotherapy.

  18. 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.

  19. Experiences of Leaders in One Texas School District Integrating Social Media as a Communication Medium: Bounded Phenomenological Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, Bradley D.

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this bounded phenomenological case study was to investigate the experiences of leaders in one Texas school district integrating social media into communication practices. The participants in this study were twelve campus leaders, four district level leaders, and the superintendent of schools. The focus groups consisted of three…

  20. Clinical case in digital technology for nursing students' learning: An integrative review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hara, Cristina Yuri Nakata; Aredes, Natália Del Angelo; Fonseca, Luciana Mara Monti; Silveira, Renata Cristina de Campos Pereira; Camargo, Rosangela Andrade Aukar; de Goes, Fernanda Santos Nogueira

    2016-03-01

    This review aimed to analyze the available evidences in literature about clinical case studies inserted in digital technologies for nursing education, characterizing the technology resources and cognitive, procedural and attitudinal learnings. Integrative review of literature with the following steps: development of the research problem, data collection, data extraction and critic evaluation, data analysis and interpretation and presentation of results. The research question was: how does the clinical case study inserted in educational digital technology collaborate for cognitive, attitudinal and procedural learning of nursing students? data bases LILACS, PUBMED, CINAHL and Scopus. the search resulted in 437 studies: 136 from LILACS, 122 from PUBMED, 104 from Scopus and 75 from CINAHL. Of these, 143 did not meet the including criteria, 93 were duplicated and four studies were unavailable. After analyzing all abstracts based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, there were selected 197 studies and after full text analysis the final sample resulted in 21 primary studies. Case study use in educational digital technologies allowed the students to build different types of learning: cognitive learning (n 16 studies), attitudinal learning (n=12 studies) and procedural learning (n=8 studies). It is possible to conclude that case studies can collaborate with the students to develop different learnings which can be built integrate, continuous, informative and formative, aiming integral formation and aligned to policies of formation in nursing, both national and international. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Integration of Fuel Cell Micro-CHPs on Low. Voltage Grid: A Danish Case Study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    You, Shi; Marra, Francesco; Træholt, Chresten

    2012-01-01

    The future significance of fuel cell (FC) powered micro combined heat and power (micro-CHP) units in meeting the residential energy demands is set to increase, which may have a considerable impact on the low voltage (LV) grid. The objective of this paper is to investigate into the related technical...... issues using a Danish case study with different penetration levels of uncoordinated FC micro-CHPs. Based on the findings, it is recommended to design grid oriented integration strategies such as Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) for achieving future smart grids with a large roll out of distributed energy...

  2. Integrating Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Prolonged Exposure to Treat Co-Occurring Borderline Personality Disorder and PTSD: Two Case Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harned, Melanie S.; Linehan, Marsha M.

    2008-01-01

    Despite the high rate of trauma and PTSD among individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD), no studies have specifically evaluated the treatment of PTSD in a BPD population. These case studies illustrate the use of a protocol based on prolonged exposure therapy that can be integrated into standard dialectical behavior therapy to treat…

  3. Climate change impact and adaptation research requires integrated assessment and farming systems analysis: a case study in the Netherlands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Reidsma, P.; Wolf, J.; Kanellopoulos, A.; Schaap, B.F.; Mandryk, M.; Verhagen, J.; Ittersum, van M.K.

    2015-01-01

    Rather than on crop modelling only, climate change impact assessments in agriculture need to be based on integrated assessment and farming systems analysis, and account for adaptation at different levels. With a case study for Flevoland, the Netherlands, we illustrate that (1) crop models cannot

  4. Implementation of integrated care for diabetes mellitus type 2 by two Dutch care groups: a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Busetto, Loraine; Luijkx, Katrien; Huizing, Anna; Vrijhoef, Bert

    2015-08-21

    Even though previous research has demonstrated improved outcomes of integrated care initiatives, it is not clear why and when integrated care works. This study aims to contribute to filling this knowledge gap by examining the implementation of integrated care for type 2 diabetes by two Dutch care groups. An embedded single case study was conducted including 26 interviews with management staff, care purchasers and health professionals. The Context + Mechanism = Outcome Model was used to study the relationship between context factors, mechanisms and outcomes. Dutch integrated care involves care groups, bundled payments, patient involvement, health professional cooperation and task substitution, evidence-based care protocols and a shared clinical information system. Community involvement is not (yet) part of Dutch integrated care. Barriers to the implementation of integrated care included insufficient integration between the patient databases, decreased earnings for some health professionals, patients' insufficient medical and policy-making expertise, resistance by general practitioner assistants due to perceived competition, too much care provided by practice nurses instead of general practitioners and the funding system incentivising the provision of care exactly as described in the care protocols. Facilitators included performance monitoring via the care chain information system, increased earnings for some health professionals, increased focus on self-management, innovators in primary and secondary care, diabetes nurses acting as integrators and financial incentives for guideline adherence. Economic and political context and health IT-related barriers were discussed as the most problematic areas of integrated care implementation. The implementation of integrated care led to improved communication and cooperation but also to insufficient and unnecessary care provision and deteriorated preconditions for person-centred care. Dutch integrated diabetes care is still a

  5. Understanding the dynamics of sustainable change: A 20-year case study of integrated health and social care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klinga, Charlotte; Hasson, Henna; Andreen Sachs, Magna; Hansson, Johan

    2018-06-04

    Change initiatives face many challenges, and only a few lead to long-term sustainability. One area in which the challenge of achieving long-term sustainability is particularly noticeable is integrated health and social care. Service integration is crucial for a wide range of patients including people with complex mental health and social care needs. However, previous research has focused on the initiation, resistance and implementation of change, while longitudinal studies remain sparse. The objective of this study was therefore to gain insight into the dynamics of sustainable changes in integrated health and social care through an analysis of local actions that were triggered by a national policy. A retrospective and qualitative case-study research design was used, and data from the model organisation's steering-committee minutes covering 1995-2015 were gathered and analysed. The analysis generated a narrative case description, which was mirrored to the key elements of the Dynamic Sustainability Framework (DSF). The development of inter-sectoral cooperation was characterized by a participatory approach in which a shared structure was created to support cooperation and on-going quality improvement and learning based on the needs of the service user. A key management principle was cooperation, not only on all organisational levels, but also with service users, stakeholder associations and other partner organisations. It was shown that all these parts were interrelated and collectively contributed to the creation of a structure and a culture which supported the development of a dynamic sustainable health and social care. This study provides valuable insights into the dynamics of organizational sustainability and understanding of key managerial actions taken to establish, develop and support integration of health and social care for people with complex mental health needs. The service user involvement and regular reviews of service users' needs were essential in order

  6. Integrating the results of user research into medical device development: insights from a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Jennifer L; Barnett, Julie

    2012-07-19

    It is well established that considering users is an important aspect of medical device development. However it is also well established that there are numerous barriers to successfully conducting user research and integrating the results into product development. It is not sufficient to simply conduct user research, it must also be effectively integrated into product development. A case study of the development of a new medical imaging device was conducted to examine in detail how users were involved in a medical device development project. Two user research studies were conducted: a requirements elicitation interview study and an early prototype evaluation using contextual inquiry. A descriptive in situ approach was taken to investigate how these studies contributed to the product development process and how the results of this work influenced the development of the technology. Data was collected qualitatively through interviews with the development team, participant observation at development meetings and document analysis. The focus was on investigating the barriers that exist to prevent user data from being integrated into product development. A number of individual, organisational and system barriers were identified that functioned to prevent the results of the user research being fully integrated into development. The user and technological aspects of development were seen as separate work streams during development. The expectations of the developers were that user research would collect requirements for the appearance of the device, rather than challenge its fundamental concept. The manner that the user data was communicated to the development team was not effective in conveying the significance or breadth of the findings. There are a range of informal and formal organisational processes that can affect the uptake of user data during medical device development. Adopting formal decision making processes may assist manufacturers to take a more integrated and

  7. Integrating the results of user research into medical device development: insights from a case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martin Jennifer L

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background It is well established that considering users is an important aspect of medical device development. However it is also well established that there are numerous barriers to successfully conducting user research and integrating the results into product development. It is not sufficient to simply conduct user research, it must also be effectively integrated into product development. Methods A case study of the development of a new medical imaging device was conducted to examine in detail how users were involved in a medical device development project. Two user research studies were conducted: a requirements elicitation interview study and an early prototype evaluation using contextual inquiry. A descriptive in situ approach was taken to investigate how these studies contributed to the product development process and how the results of this work influenced the development of the technology. Data was collected qualitatively through interviews with the development team, participant observation at development meetings and document analysis. The focus was on investigating the barriers that exist to prevent user data from being integrated into product development. Results A number of individual, organisational and system barriers were identified that functioned to prevent the results of the user research being fully integrated into development. The user and technological aspects of development were seen as separate work streams during development. The expectations of the developers were that user research would collect requirements for the appearance of the device, rather than challenge its fundamental concept. The manner that the user data was communicated to the development team was not effective in conveying the significance or breadth of the findings. Conclusion There are a range of informal and formal organisational processes that can affect the uptake of user data during medical device development. Adopting formal decision

  8. Integrated Study of Lithofacies Identification—A Case Study in X Field, Sabah, Malaysia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jia Qi Ngui

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Understanding subsurface geology is essential for oil and gas exploration. Seismic facies interpretation is very useful in investigating this concept. The interpretation of the depositional setting of the X Field is achieved by integrating the seismic facies characteristics on 3D seismic data and well log data. Both the seismic and well log data are widely used in hydrocarbon exploration to map the subsurface, as they complement each other. Well logs yield the vertical resolution of the subsurface geology at the drilled well, whereas seismic data reveal the lateral continuity. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the integration of 3D seismic data and well log data for lithofacies identification. Interpretation and analysis of lithofacies is carried out through the integration of the characteristics of seismic reflections with well information (logs. Horizons are interpreted based on the variation in seismic reflections on the seismic section, which is caused by the change in geology within seismic sequences. Well logs give detailed information at the points where the wells were drilled. Interpolating between these points and extrapolating away from the points into undrilled areas can be helpful in providing a better geological knowledge of an area. The result of this integrated study depicts the lithofacies in the area. This integrated study will provide a better insight with higher degree of reliability to the facies distribution and depositional setting of the X Field. The geological and geophysical aspects of the field will be documented.

  9. A New Approach to Integrate Internet-of-Things and Software-as-a-Service Model for Logistic Systems: A Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shang-Liang Chen

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Cloud computing is changing the ways software is developed and managed in enterprises, which is changing the way of doing business in that dynamically scalable and virtualized resources are regarded as services over the Internet. Traditional manufacturing systems such as supply chain management (SCM, customer relationship management (CRM, and enterprise resource planning (ERP are often developed case by case. However, effective collaboration between different systems, platforms, programming languages, and interfaces has been suggested by researchers. In cloud-computing-based systems, distributed resources are encapsulated into cloud services and centrally managed, which allows high automation, flexibility, fast provision, and ease of integration at low cost. The integration between physical resources and cloud services can be improved by combining Internet of things (IoT technology and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS technology. This study proposes a new approach for developing cloud-based manufacturing systems based on a four-layer SaaS model. There are three main contributions of this paper: (1 enterprises can develop their own cloud-based logistic management information systems based on the approach proposed in this paper; (2 a case study based on literature reviews with experimental results is proposed to verify that the system performance is remarkable; (3 challenges encountered and feedback collected from T Company in the case study are discussed in this paper for the purpose of enterprise deployment.

  10. A New Approach to Integrate Internet-of-Things and Software-as-a-Service Model for Logistic Systems: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Shang-Liang; Chen, Yun-Yao; Hsu, Chiang

    2014-01-01

    Cloud computing is changing the ways software is developed and managed in enterprises, which is changing the way of doing business in that dynamically scalable and virtualized resources are regarded as services over the Internet. Traditional manufacturing systems such as supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), and enterprise resource planning (ERP) are often developed case by case. However, effective collaboration between different systems, platforms, programming languages, and interfaces has been suggested by researchers. In cloud-computing-based systems, distributed resources are encapsulated into cloud services and centrally managed, which allows high automation, flexibility, fast provision, and ease of integration at low cost. The integration between physical resources and cloud services can be improved by combining Internet of things (IoT) technology and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technology. This study proposes a new approach for developing cloud-based manufacturing systems based on a four-layer SaaS model. There are three main contributions of this paper: (1) enterprises can develop their own cloud-based logistic management information systems based on the approach proposed in this paper; (2) a case study based on literature reviews with experimental results is proposed to verify that the system performance is remarkable; (3) challenges encountered and feedback collected from T Company in the case study are discussed in this paper for the purpose of enterprise deployment. PMID:24686728

  11. A new approach to integrate Internet-of-things and software-as-a-service model for logistic systems: a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Shang-Liang; Chen, Yun-Yao; Hsu, Chiang

    2014-03-28

    Cloud computing is changing the ways software is developed and managed in enterprises, which is changing the way of doing business in that dynamically scalable and virtualized resources are regarded as services over the Internet. Traditional manufacturing systems such as supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), and enterprise resource planning (ERP) are often developed case by case. However, effective collaboration between different systems, platforms, programming languages, and interfaces has been suggested by researchers. In cloud-computing-based systems, distributed resources are encapsulated into cloud services and centrally managed, which allows high automation, flexibility, fast provision, and ease of integration at low cost. The integration between physical resources and cloud services can be improved by combining Internet of things (IoT) technology and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technology. This study proposes a new approach for developing cloud-based manufacturing systems based on a four-layer SaaS model. There are three main contributions of this paper: (1) enterprises can develop their own cloud-based logistic management information systems based on the approach proposed in this paper; (2) a case study based on literature reviews with experimental results is proposed to verify that the system performance is remarkable; (3) challenges encountered and feedback collected from T Company in the case study are discussed in this paper for the purpose of enterprise deployment.

  12. Curriculum Integration Using Enterprise Resource Planning: An Integrative Case Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cannon, David M.; Klein, Helen A; Koste, Lori L.; Magal, Simha R.

    2004-01-01

    Efforts to achieve greater curriculum integration in schools of business have included team teaching, student group projects, multidisciplinary cases, and, more recently, the use of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Although these approaches are beneficial, they tend to be implemented on an ad hoc basis rather than through curriculum…

  13. Evaluating program integration and the rise in collaboration: case study of a palliative care network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bainbridge, Daryl; Brazil, Kevin; Krueger, Paul; Ploeg, Jenny; Taniguchi, Alan; Darnay, Julie

    2011-01-01

    There is increasing global interest in using regional palliative care networks (PCNs) to integrate care and create systems that are more cost-effective and responsive. We examined a PCN that used a community development approach to build capacity for palliative care in each distinct community in a region of southern Ontario, Canada, with the goal of achieving a competent integrated system. Using a case study methodology, we examined a PCN at the structural level through a document review, a survey of 20 organizational administrators, and an interview with the network director. The PCN identified 14 distinct communities at different stages of development within the region. Despite the lack of some key features that would facilitate efficient palliative care delivery across these communities, administrators largely viewed the network partnership as beneficial and collaborative. The PCN has attempted to recognize specific needs in each local area. Change is gradual but participatory. There remain structural issues that may negatively affect the functioning of the PCN.

  14. Case Studies of Integrated Pedagogy in Vocational Education: A Three-Tier Approach to Empowering Vulnerable Youth in Urban Cambodia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, I-Hsuan

    2010-01-01

    This paper starts with the real-life issues pertaining to the educational, economic and socio-cultural vulnerability of young Cambodians; and the latter in turn has called for greater integrated stance in vocational education. A multiple-case study of nine educational NGOs located in four cities was conducted, whereby what constitutes an…

  15. An Integrative Psychotherapy Approach to Foster Community Engagement and Rehabilitation in Schizophrenia: A Case Study Illustration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kukla, Marina; Whitesel, Frankie; Lysaker, Paul H

    2016-02-01

    This case study illustrates the use of a long-term integrative psychotherapy approach with a middle- aged man with chronic schizophrenia and a mood disorder. The case of "Holst" describes a man with a history of insecure attachment and trauma who later went on to contract a serious chronic illness, precipitating the onset of psychotic symptoms, depression, and chronic suicidal ideation, resulting in multiple hospitalizations. Combining metacognition-oriented therapy with elements of cognitive behavioral therapy and psychiatric rehabilitation, this approach fostered significantly improved community functioning and attainment of personal goals over time. Through the journey of therapy, the patient also developed a more coherent narrative about his life, established a stable sense of self, and became an active agent in the world. This case illustration demonstrates that these three different approaches can be used in a sequential and complementary fashion to foster recovery in the midst of serious physical and mental illness. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  16. Semantic Web Ontology and Data Integration: a Case Study in Aiding Psychiatric Drug Repurposing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Chen; Sun, Jingchun; Tao, Cui

    2015-01-01

    There remain significant difficulties selecting probable candidate drugs from existing databases. We describe an ontology-oriented approach to represent the nexus between genes, drugs, phenotypes, symptoms, and diseases from multiple information sources. We also report a case study in which we attempted to explore candidate drugs effective for bipolar disorder and epilepsy. We constructed an ontology incorporating knowledge between the two diseases and performed semantic reasoning tasks with the ontology. The results suggested 48 candidate drugs that hold promise for further breakthrough. The evaluation demonstrated the validity our approach. Our approach prioritizes the candidate drugs that have potential associations among genes, phenotypes and symptoms, and thus facilitates the data integration and drug repurposing in psychiatric disorders.

  17. Integrated environmental risk assessment for petroleum-contaminated sites - a North American case study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Z.; Huang, G.H.; Chakma, A.

    1998-01-01

    In this study, an integrated risk assessment approach is proposed for evaluating environmental risks derived from petroleum-contaminated sites. The proposed approach is composed of (i) a hydrocarbon spill screening model (HSSM) which is used for simulating immiscible flow of released hydrocarbons in vadose zone, formation of lens in capillary fringe, dissolution of pollutants at water table, and transport of the pollutants to receptors, and (ii) a fuzzy relation analysis (FRA) model which is developed for comprehensively evaluating risks caused by a number of pollutants with different impact characteristics, based on the HSSM results. This hybrid HSSM-FRA approach was applied to a case study for a petroleum-contaminated site in western Canada, where soil and groundwater was contaminated by industrial wastes containing benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEXs). The results suggest that the HSSM-FRA can provide insight into the potential risk to the receptor of concern downward the aquifer and can serve as a basis for further remediation-related decision analysis. (author)

  18. An integrated fuzzy regression algorithm for energy consumption estimation with non-stationary data: A case study of Iran

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Azadeh, A; Seraj, O [Department of Industrial Engineering and Research Institute of Energy Management and Planning, Center of Excellence for Intelligent-Based Experimental Mechanics, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, P.O. Box 11365-4563 (Iran); Saberi, M [Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Tafresh (Iran); Institute for Digital Ecosystems and Business Intelligence, Curtin University of Technology, Perth (Australia)

    2010-06-15

    This study presents an integrated fuzzy regression and time series framework to estimate and predict electricity demand for seasonal and monthly changes in electricity consumption especially in developing countries such as China and Iran with non-stationary data. Furthermore, it is difficult to model uncertain behavior of energy consumption with only conventional fuzzy regression (FR) or time series and the integrated algorithm could be an ideal substitute for such cases. At First, preferred Time series model is selected from linear or nonlinear models. For this, after selecting preferred Auto Regression Moving Average (ARMA) model, Mcleod-Li test is applied to determine nonlinearity condition. When, nonlinearity condition is satisfied, the preferred nonlinear model is selected and defined as preferred time series model. At last, the preferred model from fuzzy regression and time series model is selected by the Granger-Newbold. Also, the impact of data preprocessing on the fuzzy regression performance is considered. Monthly electricity consumption of Iran from March 1994 to January 2005 is considered as the case of this study. The superiority of the proposed algorithm is shown by comparing its results with other intelligent tools such as Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN). (author)

  19. Integrated economic model of waste management: Case study for South Moravia region

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiří Hřebíček

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper introduces and discusses the developed integrated economic model of municipal waste management of the Czech Republic, which was developed by authors as a balanced network model for a set of sources (mostly municipalities of municipal solid waste connected with a set of chosen waste treatment facilities processing their waste. Model is implemented as a combination of several economic submodels including environmental and economic point of view. It enables to formulate the optimisation problem in a concise way and the resulting model is easily scalable. Model involves submodels of waste prevention, collection and transport optimization, submodels of waste energy utilization (incineration and biogas plants and material recycling (composting and submodel of landfilling. Its size (number of sources and facilities depends only upon available data. Its application is used in the case study of the South Moravia region with verification of using time series waste data. The results enable to improve decision making in waste management sector.

  20. The challenges to gender integration in the career fire services: a comparative case study of men in nursing

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-03-01

    pdf. 191 David F. Burrelli, Women in the Armed Forces (CRS Report No. 92008) ( Washington , DC: Congressional Research Service, 1998), 1, https...IB92008) Washington , DC: Congressional Research Service, 1998. https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=718051. Carreiras, Helena. Gender and the Military: Women ...GENDER INTEGRATION IN THE CAREER FIRE SERVICES: A COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY OF MEN IN NURSING by Anna L. Schermerhorn-Collins March 2017

  1. A case study of full integration of the arts into core subject area instruction in one East Texas secondary school

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leysath, Maggie

    This exploratory phenomenological case study investigated the influence the full integration of the arts into core subject instruction has on classroom environment, student academic achievement, and student engagement as perceived by administrators, teachers, and students in one East Texas secondary school. Participant interviews were analyzed using Creswell's (2012) six-step method for analyzing phenomenological studies. The researcher implemented three learning activities in which ceramics learning objectives were fully integrated with chemistry learning objectives. The first activity combined clay properties and pottery wheel throwing with significant numbers. The second activity combined glaze formulation with moles. The third combined stoichiometry with the increased glaze formula for students to glaze the bowls they made. Findings suggest the full integration of art in core subject area instruction has numerous positive effects. Participants reported improved academic achievement for all students including reluctant learners. Students, teachers, and the administrator reported greater participation in the art integrated activities. Participants perceived a need for further training for teachers and administrators for greater success.

  2. CMAM integration: Lessons learned from a case study on community-based child survival programmes in Bangladesh

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sadler, Kate; Puett, Chloe; Myatt, Mark

    2014-01-01

    Bangladesh ranks among the five countries with the highest burden of acute malnutrition in the world. Barisal Division is one of the poorest areas of southern Bangladesh, with low access to health care and high prevalence of malnutrition. This prospective cohort study examined the effectiveness and feasibility of adding the diagnosis and treatment of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) to the community case management (CCM) package delivered by community health workers (CHWs) outside health facilities in Bhola District, Barisal Division. CHWs were paid a monthly stipend of 800 Taka (US$11.80). A mid-upper arm circumference measurement and an oedema check for all children under three years old were introduced into routine CHW activities, including monthly growth monitoring and promotion sessions and household visits. CHWs provided ongoing sensitization to households and community members on the causes and consequences of SAM, encouraging early treatment seeking. Integration into the CCM package of services supported high quality of care for cases of SAM, and promoted program effectiveness. The recovery rate (92%), length of stay (37.4 days) and rate of weight gain (6.7 g/kg/day) were all significantly better than international Sphere standards. Further, the coverage achieved by CHWs in this program was 89% (CI 78%–96%), one of the highest levels achieved by SAM treatment services. CHWs achieved high quality of care, with 89% of workers attaining 90% error-free case management or higher in managing cases of SAM. In receiving SAM treatment within a package of integrated services, children treated by CHWs in this study had low levels of complications and co-morbidities. Doorstep delivery promoted early treatment in this remote area. Therefore cases were easier to treat and average caseloads appeared to be manageable for CHWs. While SAM treatment increased CHW workloads, this did not negatively affect the quality of other preventive and curative services delivered

  3. Implicit integration in a case of integrative visual agnosia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aviezer, Hillel; Landau, Ayelet N; Robertson, Lynn C; Peterson, Mary A; Soroker, Nachum; Sacher, Yaron; Bonneh, Yoram; Bentin, Shlomo

    2007-05-15

    We present a case (SE) with integrative visual agnosia following ischemic stroke affecting the right dorsal and the left ventral pathways of the visual system. Despite his inability to identify global hierarchical letters [Navon, D. (1977). Forest before trees: The precedence of global features in visual perception. Cognitive Psychology, 9, 353-383], and his dense object agnosia, SE showed normal global-to-local interference when responding to local letters in Navon hierarchical stimuli and significant picture-word identity priming in a semantic decision task for words. Since priming was absent if these features were scrambled, it stands to reason that these effects were not due to priming by distinctive features. The contrast between priming effects induced by coherent and scrambled stimuli is consistent with implicit but not explicit integration of features into a unified whole. We went on to show that possible/impossible object decisions were facilitated by words in a word-picture priming task, suggesting that prompts could activate perceptually integrated images in a backward fashion. We conclude that the absence of SE's ability to identify visual objects except through tedious serial construction reflects a deficit in accessing an integrated visual representation through bottom-up visual processing alone. However, top-down generated images can help activate these visual representations through semantic links.

  4. Unit and integration testing of Lustre programs: a case study from the nuclear industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thevenod-Fosse, P.

    1998-01-01

    LUSTRE belongs to the class of synchronous data flow languages which have been designed for programming reactive and real-time systems having safety-critical requirements. It is implemented in the SCADE tool. SCADE is a software development environment for real-time systems which consists of a graphical and textual editor, and a C code generator. In previous work, a testing approach specific to LUSTRE programs has been defined, which may be applied at either the unit or integration testing levels of a gradual testing process. The paper reports on an industrial case study we have performed to exemplify the feasibility of the testing strategy. The software module, called SRIC (Source Range Instrumentation channel), was developed by SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC in the SCADE environment. SRIC is extracted from a monitoring software system of a nuclear reactor: it approximates 2600 lines of C code automatically generated by SCADE. Section 2 outlines the testing strategy. Then, Section 3 presents the results related to the program SRIC, for which four testing levels were defined (unit testing followed by three successive integration testing levels). First conclusions and direction for future work are proposed in Section 4. (author)

  5. The case for an integrated approach to transition programmes at ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The case for developing intentional and vertically integrated transition programmes is tied to: the need to understand the desired behaviours and learning outcomes at each stage of a student's experience; an appreciation of the cognitive, psychosocial and identity development at different years of study; and a recognition of ...

  6. The integration of corporate social responsibility into the strategy of technology-intensive firms: a case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miha Škerlavaj

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a new perspective which calls for an integration of ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR into the company strategy as a source of competitive advantages. The research question we pose is how a company can successfully carry out this integration of CSR into its strategic management, for which a model that includes three stages – introduction, implementation and generalization of CSR – is presented. Based on an exploratory case study within a Spanish technology-intensive firm (Indra, we show the way this company has developed and implemented an explicit plan for the integration of ethical values and CSR initiatives into its corporate and business strategies. Although this company has established its own methodology in order to develop and implement CSR plans, it fits in essence to our three-stage model of CSR integration. In general, our analyses show a beneficial impact of the development and implementation of CSR plan for this technology-intensive company. In particular, it seems that the CSR plan enables companies to improve its’ internal and external (competitive context through a better exploration and exploitation of knowledge, its stable relationships with stakeholders and the development and improvement of intangible resources such as reputation or social capital. It is also shown that there are important factors to consider in order this process can successfully carried out, such as organizational culture, human resource practices or knowledge management systems. Future research will need to engage in largerscale confirmatory as well as longitudinal studies of the impact of CSR implementation for company performance.

  7. Integrating NRDA and CERCLA environmental evaluations at the Rocky Flats Plant: A case study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Knudsen, T.L.

    1993-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to briefly review cleanup regulations in reference to natural resource liability, protection, and restoration; to present a case study on the Rocky Flats Plant (RFP) showing how this DOE facility is approaching the task of integrating the ecological assessment/impact portion of three major regulatory mandates: Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) with the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) regulations using a flow chart depicting RCRA/CERCLA interim and final actions; to present what has and has not worked at the RFP; and, finally to suggest some technical strategies when planning for remediation and restoration in the NRD process that should be considered

  8. Methodology for Supply Chain Integration: A Case Study in the Artisan Industry of Footwear

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorge Raúl Pérez-Gallardo

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The supply chain is a major issue in a global market. The efficient relationship between supplier-producer-retailer conforms the perfect combination to achieve a high level of competitiveness according to the needs of increasingly demanding and changing markets. The difficulty of synchronizing the members within the SC is related to the inherent uncertain factors. This paper proposes a methodology for integrating the supply chain that can be applied in any type of business. To demonstrate its relevance, a case study is performed at a handmade shoe company. An improved demand forecasting, an optimal balanced production line, a proper inventory management of raw materials, and an efficient calculation of the delivery time to the customer represent some of the main results.

  9. Integrated Risk Research. Case of Study: Motozintla, Chiapas, Mexico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Novelo-Casanova, D. A.; Jaimes, M.

    2015-12-01

    This integrated risk research include the analysis of all components of individual constituents of risk such hazard identification, hazard exposure, and vulnerability. We determined risk to natural hazards in the community of Motozintla located in southern Mexico in the state of Chiapas (15.37ºN, 92.25ºW. Due to its geographical and geological location, this community is continuously exposed mainly to earthquakes, landslides and floods. We developed integrated studies and analysis of seismic zonation, landslides and flood susceptibility using standard methodologies. Vulnerability was quantified from data collected from local families interviews considering five social variables: characteristics of housing construction, availability of basic public services, family economic conditions, existing community plans for disaster preparedness, and risk perception. Local families surveyed were randomly selected considering a sample statistically significant. Our results were spatially represented using a Geographical Information System (GIS). Structural vulnerability curves were generated for typical housing constructions. Our integrated risk analysis demonstrates that the community of Motozintla has a high level of structural and socio-economical risk to floods and earthquakes. More than half of the population does not know any existing Civil Protection Plan and perceive that they are in high risk to landslides and floods. Although the community is located in a high seismic risk zone, most of the local people believe that cannot be impacted by a large earthquake. These natural and social conditions indicate that the community of Motozintla has a very high level of risk to natural hazards. This research will support local decision makers in developing an integrated comprehensive natural hazards mitigation and prevention program.

  10. Integrating strategic environmental assessment with industry planning: a case study of the Pasquai-Porcupine forest management plan, Saskatchewan, Canada.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noble, Bram F

    2004-03-01

    Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is gaining widespread recognition as a tool for integrating environmental considerations in policy, plan, and program development and decision-making. Notwithstanding the potential of SEA to improve higher-order decision processes, there has been very little attention given to integrating SEA with industry planning practices. As a result, the benefits of SEA have yet to be fully realized among industrial proponents. That said, SEA practice is ongoing, albeit informally and often under a different label, and is proving to be a valuable tool for industry planning and decision-making. Based on a case study of the Pasquai-Porcupine forest management plan in Saskatchewan, Canada, this paper illustrates how an integrated approach to SEA can contribute to industry environmental decision-making and can enhance the quality and deliverability of industry plans.

  11. Integrating Forensic Accounting Core Competency into the Study of Accounting. Case of Nigeria Tertiary Institutions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Samuel F. Johnson-Rokosu

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Fraud and forensic accounting education is a necessity in very corrupt corporate and government institutions across the globe. Accounting educators have been pressured to make changes to the accounting curriculum and to include courses in forensic accounting and fraud examination by professional organizations and legislators as fraud cases have mounted and academic were criticized for not preparing their students for this professional environment. Accounting graduate trained under the existing curriculum exhibit lesser knowledge, skills and abilities in fraud detection, prevention and deterrence. This study therefore examined the philosophical beliefs, behavioural science concepts and approaches that can be adopted in integrating a fraud/ forensic accounting (FFA into existing accounting curriculum. The study adopted mixed research methods, content analysis and quantitative method of data analysis was employed. This paper basically made use of the content analysis in analyzing the content of the existing accounting curriculum in Nigeria universities. This study involved selected universities in South West region of Nigeria using survey research method. Findings in this study revealed that most respondents would prefer integrating fraud/forensic accounting education into accounting curriculum by offering a separate fraud/forensic accounting courses. Also, the study revealed that fraud/ forensic accounting education has positive impact on student expertise, skepticism and fraud judgment. The study identified the following consideration that Accounting course developers need to consider before, during and after curriculum revision. Involvement of faculty; consider stakeholders opinion; accreditation agencies’ and governmental requirements; resources available; need for change; among others.

  12. Neuroscience data integration through mediation: An (FBIRN case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Naveen Ashish

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available We describe an application of the BIRN mediator to the integration of neuroscience experimental data sources. The BIRN mediator is a general purpose solution to the problem of providing integrated, semantically-consistent access to biomedical data from multiple, distributed, heterogeneous data sources. The system follows the mediation approach, where the data remains at the sources, providers maintain control of the data, and the integration system retrieves data from the sources in real-time in response to client queries. Our aim with this paper is to illustrate how domain-specific data integration applications can be developed quickly and in a principled way by using our general mediation technology. We describe in detail the integration of two leading, but radically different, experimental neuroscience sources, namely, the Human Imaging Database (HID, a relational database, and the eXtensible Neuroimaging Archive Toolkit (XNAT, an XML web services system. We discuss the steps, sources of complexity, effort and time required to build such applications, as well as outline directions of ongoing and future research on biomedical data integration.

  13. How Are Service Dogs for Adults with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Integrated with Rehabilitation in Denmark? A Case Study

    OpenAIRE

    Glintborg, Chalotte; Hansen, Tia G. B.

    2017-01-01

    Simple Summary The use of service dogs for adults with mental illnesses has become generally accepted. With reference to a single case study of a client with Post Traumatic Stress (PTSD), this study illustrates some of the potential advantages, but also note an important concern that appears to have gone unnoticed. The provision of service animals/therapy animals for adults with mental illnesses must be sufficiently informed by relevant knowledge and integrated with concurrent rehabilitation ...

  14. Transportation and socioeconomic impacts of bypasses on communities : an integrated synthesis of panel data, multilevel, and spatial econometric models with case studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-09-21

    Title: Transportation and Socioeconomic Impacts of Bypasses on Communities: An Integrated Synthesis of Panel Data, Multilevel, and Spatial Econometric Models with Case Studies. The title used at the start of this project was Transportation and Soc...

  15. A cloud-based production system for information and service integration: an internet of things case study on waste electronics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xi Vincent; Wang, Lihui

    2017-08-01

    Cloud computing is the new enabling technology that offers centralised computing, flexible data storage and scalable services. In the manufacturing context, it is possible to utilise the Cloud technology to integrate and provide industrial resources and capabilities in terms of Cloud services. In this paper, a function block-based integration mechanism is developed to connect various types of production resources. A Cloud-based architecture is also deployed to offer a service pool which maintains these resources as production services. The proposed system provides a flexible and integrated information environment for the Cloud-based production system. As a specific type of manufacturing, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) remanufacturing experiences difficulties in system integration, information exchange and resource management. In this research, WEEE is selected as the example of Internet of Things to demonstrate how the obstacles and bottlenecks are overcome with the help of Cloud-based informatics approach. In the case studies, the WEEE recycle/recovery capabilities are also integrated and deployed as flexible Cloud services. Supporting mechanisms and technologies are presented and evaluated towards the end of the paper.

  16. The integrable case of Adler-van Moerbeke. Discriminant set and bifurcation diagram

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ryabov, Pavel E.; Oshemkov, Andrej A.; Sokolov, Sergei V.

    2016-09-01

    The Adler-van Moerbeke integrable case of the Euler equations on the Lie algebra so(4) is investigated. For the L- A pair found by Reyman and Semenov-Tian-Shansky for this system, we explicitly present a spectral curve and construct the corresponding discriminant set. The singularities of the Adler-van Moerbeke integrable case and its bifurcation diagram are discussed. We explicitly describe singular points of rank 0, determine their types, and show that the momentum mapping takes them to self-intersection points of the real part of the discriminant set. In particular, the described structure of singularities of the Adler-van Moerbeke integrable case shows that it is topologically different from the other known integrable cases on so(4).

  17. Clinical results of HIS, RIS, PACS integration using data integration CASE tools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taira, Ricky K.; Chan, Hing-Ming; Breant, Claudine M.; Huang, Lu J.; Valentino, Daniel J.

    1995-05-01

    Current infrastructure research in PACS is dominated by the development of communication networks (local area networks, teleradiology, ATM networks, etc.), multimedia display workstations, and hierarchical image storage architectures. However, limited work has been performed on developing flexible, expansible, and intelligent information processing architectures for the vast decentralized image and text data repositories prevalent in healthcare environments. Patient information is often distributed among multiple data management systems. Current large-scale efforts to integrate medical information and knowledge sources have been costly with limited retrieval functionality. Software integration strategies to unify distributed data and knowledge sources is still lacking commercially. Systems heterogeneity (i.e., differences in hardware platforms, communication protocols, database management software, nomenclature, etc.) is at the heart of the problem and is unlikely to be standardized in the near future. In this paper, we demonstrate the use of newly available CASE (computer- aided software engineering) tools to rapidly integrate HIS, RIS, and PACS information systems. The advantages of these tools include fast development time (low-level code is generated from graphical specifications), and easy system maintenance (excellent documentation, easy to perform changes, and centralized code repository in an object-oriented database). The CASE tools are used to develop and manage the `middle-ware' in our client- mediator-serve architecture for systems integration. Our architecture is scalable and can accommodate heterogeneous database and communication protocols.

  18. Playing with Gladys: A case study integrating drama therapy with behavioural interventions for the treatment of selective mutism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oon, Phei Phei

    2010-04-01

    This case study examines an integrative approach combining drama therapy and the behavioural skill "shaping", as offered to Gladys, a 5-year-old girl diagnosed with selective mutism. This study found that shaping, when implemented in the context of play, with play as the primary reinforcer, elicited from Gladys vocalization and eventually speech within a very short time. Her vocalizations allowed her to enter dramatic play, which in turn propelled spontaneous speech. This article looks at how the three elements of dramatherapy - the playspace, role-playing and dramatic projection - brought about therapeutic changes for Gladys. Aside from spontaneous speech, Gladys also developed positive self-esteem and a heightened sense of spontaneity. Subsequently, these two qualities helped her generalize her speech to new settings on her own. Gladys's newly harnessed spontaneity further helped her become more sociable and resilient.This study advances the possibility of integrating a behavioural skill with drama therapy for the therapeutic benefits of a child with an anxiety-related condition like selective mutism.

  19. Case Study: Converting Paper-based Case Report Forms to an Electronic Format (e-CRF) with ACASI Self-Report Integration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mierzwa, Stan; Souidi, Samir; Akello, Carolyne; Etima, Juliane; Ssebagala, Richard; Nolan, Monica; Kabwigu, Samuel; Nakablito, Clemensia

    2017-01-01

    This paper will discuss the integration of electronic Case Report Forms (e-CRFs) into an already existing Android-based Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interview (ACASI) software solution that was developed for a public health project in Kampala, Uganda, the technical outcome results, and lessons learned that may be useful to other projects requiring or considering such a technology solution. The developed product can function without a connection to the Internet and allows for synchronizing collected data once connectivity is possible. Previously, only paper-based CRFs were utilized at the Uganda project site. A subset or select group of CRFs were targeted for integration with ACASI in order to test feasibility and success. Survey volume, error rate, and acceptance of the system, as well as the operational and technical design of the solution, will be discussed.

  20. Risks to Drinking Water from Oil and Gas Wellbore Construction and Integrity: Case Studies and Lessons Learned

    Science.gov (United States)

    This presentation examines various published reports from two drinking water contamination cases, and discuss the potential roles of wellbore construction and integrity and hydraulic fracturing in the resultant drinking water contamination.

  1. Integration testing through reusing representative unit test cases for high-confidence medical software.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shin, Youngsul; Choi, Yunja; Lee, Woo Jin

    2013-06-01

    As medical software is getting larger-sized, complex, and connected with other devices, finding faults in integrated software modules gets more difficult and time consuming. Existing integration testing typically takes a black-box approach, which treats the target software as a black box and selects test cases without considering internal behavior of each software module. Though it could be cost-effective, this black-box approach cannot thoroughly test interaction behavior among integrated modules and might leave critical faults undetected, which should not happen in safety-critical systems such as medical software. This work anticipates that information on internal behavior is necessary even for integration testing to define thorough test cases for critical software and proposes a new integration testing method by reusing test cases used for unit testing. The goal is to provide a cost-effective method to detect subtle interaction faults at the integration testing phase by reusing the knowledge obtained from unit testing phase. The suggested approach notes that the test cases for the unit testing include knowledge on internal behavior of each unit and extracts test cases for the integration testing from the test cases for the unit testing for a given test criteria. The extracted representative test cases are connected with functions under test using the state domain and a single test sequence to cover the test cases is produced. By means of reusing unit test cases, the tester has effective test cases to examine diverse execution paths and find interaction faults without analyzing complex modules. The produced test sequence can have test coverage as high as the unit testing coverage and its length is close to the length of optimal test sequences. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Acculturation Strategy, Integration Paradoxes and Educational Adaptation--A Case Study of Chinese Visiting Scholar's Family in the United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weidong, Li; Chen, Sisi

    2017-01-01

    In this case study, we developed a theoretical framework for examining the relationship between acculturation strategy and educational adaptation. By interviews and observations of one Chinese visiting scholar's family in the United States, we found that the family utilized "integration" as the acculturation strategy to adapt to the US…

  3. Applications of a Case Library of Technology Integration Stories for Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Feng-Kwei; Jonassen, David H.; Strobel, Johannes; Cernusca, Dawn

    2003-01-01

    Stories are the most natural form of communication and learning among humans. In this paper, we describe how we have designed and implemented an case library of technology integration stories to support pre-service and in-service teachers learning how to integrate technologies into their teaching. The case library was built using the artificial…

  4. Application of the critical pathway and integrated case teaching method to nursing orientation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goodman, D

    1997-01-01

    Nursing staff development programs must be responsive to current changes in healthcare. New nursing staff must be prepared to manage continuous change and to function competently in clinical practice. The orientation pathway, based on a case management model, is used as a structure for the orientation phase of staff development. The integrated case is incorporated as a teaching strategy in orientation. The integrated case method is based on discussion and analysis of patient situations with emphasis on role modeling and integration of theory and skill. The orientation pathway and integrated case teaching method provide a useful framework for orientation of new staff. Educators, preceptors and orientees find the structure provided by the orientation pathway very useful. Orientation that is developed, implemented and evaluated based on a case management model with the use of an orientation pathway and incorporation of an integrated case teaching method provides a standardized structure for orientation of new staff. This approach is designed for the adult learner, promotes conceptual reasoning, and encourages the social and contextual basis for continued learning.

  5. Integration of health technology assessment recommendations into organizational and clinical practice: A case study in Catalonia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gagnon, Marie-Pierre; Sánchez, Emília; Pons, Joan M V

    2006-01-01

    Evaluating the impact of recommendations based upon health technology assessment (HTA) represents a challenge for both HTA agencies and healthcare policy makers. This research sought to understand factors affecting the uptake of HTA recommendations to support decision making with respect to the introduction of three health technologies. Using a multidimensional framework, based upon a combination of theoretical models, a case study was conducted. A total of twenty-eight semistructured interviews were done with physicians from fifteen hospitals and other stakeholders in Catalonia. Interview content was analyzed iteratively and classified according to theoretical dimensions and contextual factors. At the sociopolitical level, factors related to the organization and financing of the health system were found to affect the utilization of HTA recommendations. At the healthcare organization level, existing collaborations between the hospital and the HTA agency favored the integration of recommendations into practices. Formalism in the organization also influenced the utilization of HTA recommendations. At the professional level, the high degree of autonomy of specialists, the importance of peers and collegial control, and the definition of professional roles and responsibilities influenced physicians' willingness to integrate HTA recommendations into their practice. This study offers a comprehensive framework to understand the complex dynamics that affect adoption of health technologies in organizational and professional practices. The findings suggest some avenues to promote the integration of HTA recommendations into practices and, thus, increase the utilization of scientific evidence to support decision making in health care.

  6. Case study: Preliminary assessment of integrated palm biomass biorefinery for bioethanol production utilizing non-food sugars from oil palm frond petiole

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abdullah, Sharifah Soplah Syed; Shirai, Yoshihito; Ali, Ahmad Amiruddin Mohd; Mustapha, Mahfuzah; Hassan, Mohd Ali

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Fermentable sugars production from oil palm frond by integrated technology concept. • Bioethanol production from oil palm frond sugars in a biorefinery. • Palm oil mills have sufficient excess energy and steam to support biorefinery. • The net energy ratio of bioethanol from oil palm frond petiole is 7.48. - Abstract: In this case study, a preliminary assessment on the bioethanol production from oil palm frond (OPF) petiole sugars within an integrated palm biomass biorefinery was carried out. Based on the case study of 4 neighbouring palm oil mills, approximately 55,600 t/y of fermentable sugars could be obtained from OPF petiole. The integrated biorefinery will be located at one of the 4 mills. The mill has potential excess energy comprising 3.64 GW h/y of electricity and 177,000 t/y of steam which are sufficient to run the biorefinery. With 33.9 million litres/y of bioethanol production, the specific production cost of bioethanol is estimated at $ 0.52/l bioethanol, compared to $ 0.31–0.34/l bioethanol produced from sugarcane and $ 0.49–0.60/l bioethanol from other lignocellulosics. The net energy ratio of 7.48 for bioethanol production from OPF provides a promising alternative for OPF utilization as a non-food sugar feedstock.

  7. Optimizing integrated reference cases in the OCTAVIUS project

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kvamsdal, Hanne M.; Ehlers, Sören; Kather, Alfons

    2016-01-01

    . This is important especially for the coal fired power plant, where integration of waste heat from the capture plant or the CO2 compressor intercoolers can lead to a significant increase in overall efficiency. The configuration of intercoolers for the CO2 compressor is adapted to achieve the highest overall...... the CESAR, CAESAR, and DECARBit projects, two reference power plants are modelled in Ebsilon®Professional. The first is an 800 MWe coal case, the second a 430 MWe natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) case. For each power plant two separate capture plants are considered: one using 30 wt% MEA as solvent system...... efficiency. For the natural gas combined cycle plant, integration is not that beneficial, since there is no heat sink available in the water steam cycle. In the end, the cost of electricity and cost of CO2 avoided is calculated for all four cases. While the CESAR1 solvent system in a conventional absorber...

  8. B2B collaboration method through trust values for e-supply chain integrator: a case study of Malaysian construction industry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ab. Aziz, Norshakirah; Ahmad, Rohiza; Dhanapal Durai, Dominic

    2011-12-01

    Limited trust, cooperation and communication have been identified as some of the issues that hinder collaboration among business partners. These one also true in the acceptance of e-supply chain integrator among organizations that involve in the same industry. On top of that, the huge number of components in supply chain industry also makes it impossible to include entire supply chain components in the integrator. Hence, this study intends to propose a method for identifying "trusted" collaborators for inclusion into an e-supply chain integrator. For the purpose of constructing and validating the method, the Malaysian construction industry is chosen as the case study due to its size and importance to the economy. This paper puts forward the background of the research, some relevant literatures which lead to trust values elements formulation, data collection from Malaysian Construction Supply Chain and a glimpse of the proposed method for trusted partner selection. Future work is also presented to highlight the next step of this research.

  9. Vehicular Integration of Wireless Power Transfer Systems and Hardware Interoperability Case Studies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Onar, Omer C [ORNL; Campbell, Steven L [ORNL; Seiber, Larry Eugene [ORNL; White, Cliff P [ORNL; Chinthavali, Madhu Sudhan [ORNL

    2016-01-01

    Several wireless charging methods are under development or available as an aftermarket option in the light-duty automotive market. However, there are not a sufficient number of studies detailing the vehicle integration methods, particularly a complete vehicle integration with higher power levels. This paper presents the design, development, implementation, and vehicle integration of wireless power transfer (WPT)-based electric vehicle (EV) charging systems for various test vehicles. Before having the standards effective, it is expected that WPT technology first will be integrated as an aftermarket retrofitting approach. Inclusion of this technology on production vehicles is contingent upon the release of the international standards. The power stages of the system are introduced with the design specifications and control systems including the active front-end rectifier with power factor correction, high frequency power inverter, high frequency isolation transformer, coupling coils, vehicle side full-bridge rectifier and filter, and the vehicle battery. The operating principles of the control, and communications, systems are presented. Aftermarket conversion approaches including the WPT on-board charger (OBC) integration, WPT CHAdeMO integration, and WPT direct battery connection scenarios are described. The experiments are carried out using the integrated vehicles and the results obtained to demonstrate the system performance including the stage-by-stage efficiencies.

  10. Architectures for Green-Field Supply Chain Integration: Supply Chain Integration Design

    OpenAIRE

    Radanliev, Petar

    2015-01-01

    This paper applied case study research to design architectures for green-field supply chain integration. The integration design is based on a case study of a supply chain integration of 5 companies, operating in different, but supply chain complimenting industry sectors. The case study research is applied to design and validate the architectures in a real world scenario. The supply\\ud chain integration architectures enable the conversion of individual into integrated strategies. The architect...

  11. Analyzing an Integrated Planning Approach Among Planning Scale and Sector A Case Study of Malang City’s Vision as The City of Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akhmad Amirudin

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Integrated planning is more needed by government today because of the complexity of problems and limited resources. Integrated planning can undertake the problems by giving comprehensive solution and provide how much resources are needed to reach the goal. Integrated planning approach is implied to provide better tools to guide actions towards the development of cities, improvement of human conditions, and ultimately a better urbanism. So the research focused on integrated planning in Malang City based on Malang City’s vision, strategic planning, operational planning, budgeting planning in Malang City to achieve Malang City’s vision as the city of Education. In this study, researcher used qualitative method with descriptive research, which is a research process aims to describe the exact nature / something happened and took place on the research conducted. The research purpose is to identify and describe and analyze the process of Malang City Planning Agency integrate other planning scale and sector in developing planning; and to identify, describe and analyze the process of Malang City Planning Agency integrated all stakeholders in Integrated Planning process. This research use descriptive research method. The reason to use descriptive research method in this study because the principle objectives of this study aimed to describe, illustrate in a systematic, factual and accurate statement of the facts and the relationship between phenomenon. Then qualitative method was directed at the individual's background and a holistic (whole. So in this case should not isolate the individual or organization into a variable or hypothesis, but should view it as part of wholeness. The result of this research in the case study of Malang City has shown thatThe case study of Malang City showed that various sectors recognized but did not pay much attention to Malang City’s vision as City of Education in their plans; however, Regional Mid-term Development

  12. Integrating natural and social sciences to inspire public confidence in radioactive waste policy case study - Committee on radioactive waste management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Usher, Sam

    2007-01-01

    Integrating Natural and Social Sciences to Inspire Public Confidence in Radioactive Waste Policy Case Study: Committee on Radioactive Waste Management Implementing effective long-term radioactive waste management policy is challenging, and both UK and international experience is littered with policy and programme failures. Policy must not only be underpinned by sound science and technical rationale, it must also inspire the confidence of the public and other stakeholders. However, in today's modern society, communities will not simply accept the word of scientists for setting policy based purely on technical grounds. This is particularly so in areas where there are significant social and ethical issues, such as radioactive waste disposal. To develop and implement effective policy, governments, waste owners and implementing bodies must develop processes which effectively integrate both complex technical and scientific issues, with equally challenging social and ethical concerns. These integrating processes must marry often intricate technical issues with broad public and stakeholder engagement programmes, in programmes which can expect the highest levels of public scrutiny, and must invariably be delivered within challenging time and budget constraints. This paper considers a model for how such integrating processes can be delivered. The paper reviews, as a case study, how such challenges were overcome by the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM), which, in July 2006, made recommendations to the UK government for the establishment of a long-term radioactive waste policy. Its recommendations were underpinned by sound science, but also engendered public confidence through undertaking the largest and most significant deliberative public and stakeholder engagement programme on a complex policy issue in the UK. Effective decision-making was enabled through the integration of both proven and bespoke methodologies, including Multi-criteria Decision Analysis and

  13. Topological classification of the Goryachev integrable case in rigid body dynamics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nikolaenko, S S

    2016-01-01

    A topological analysis of the Goryachev integrable case in rigid body dynamics is made on the basis of the Fomenko-Zieschang theory. The invariants (marked molecules) which are obtained give a complete description, from the standpoint of Liouville classification, of the systems of Goryachev type on various level sets of the energy. It turns out that on appropriate energy levels the Goryachev case is Liouville equivalent to many classical integrable systems and, in particular, the Joukowski, Clebsch, Sokolov and Kovalevskaya-Yehia cases in rigid body dynamics, as well as to some integrable billiards in plane domains bounded by confocal quadrics -- in other words, the foliations given by the closures of generic solutions of these systems have the same structure. Bibliography: 15 titles

  14. The path dependency theory: analytical framework to study institutional integration. The case of France.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trouvé, Hélène; Couturier, Yves; Etheridge, Francis; Saint-Jean, Olivier; Somme, Dominique

    2010-06-30

    The literature on integration indicates the need for an enhanced theorization of institutional integration. This article proposes path dependence as an analytical framework to study the systems in which integration takes place. PRISMA proposes a model for integrating health and social care services for older adults. This model was initially tested in Quebec. The PRISMA France study gave us an opportunity to analyze institutional integration in France. A qualitative approach was used. Analyses were based on semi-structured interviews with actors of all levels of decision-making, observations of advisory board meetings, and administrative documents. Our analyses revealed the complexity and fragmentation of institutional integration. The path dependency theory, which analyzes the change capacity of institutions by taking into account their historic structures, allows analysis of this situation. The path dependency to the Bismarckian system and the incomplete reforms of gerontological policies generate the coexistence and juxtaposition of institutional systems. In such a context, no institution has sufficient ability to determine gerontology policy and build institutional integration by itself. Using path dependence as an analytical framework helps to understand the reasons why institutional integration is critical to organizational and clinical integration, and the complex construction of institutional integration in France.

  15. Tracking Global Fund HIV/AIDS resources used for sexual and reproductive health service integration: case study from Ethiopia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mookherji, Sangeeta; Ski, Samantha; Huntington, Dale

    2015-05-27

    The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria (GF) strives for high value for money, encouraging countries to integrate synergistic services and systems strengthening to maximize investments. The GF needs to show how, and how much, its grants support more than just HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria. Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) has been part of HIV/AIDS grants since 2007. Previous studies showed the GF PBF system does not allow resource tracking for SRH integration within HIV/AIDS grants. We present findings from a resource tracking case study using primary data collected at country level. Ethiopia was the study site. We reviewed data from four HIV/AIDS grants from January 2009-June 2011 and categorized SDAs and activities as directly, indirectly, or not related to SRH integration. Data included: GF PBF data; financial, performance, in-depth interview and facility observation data from Ethiopia. All HIV/AIDS grants in Ethiopia support SRH integration activities (12-100%). Using activities within SDAs, expenditures directly supporting SRH integration increased from 25% to 66% for the largest HIV/AIDS grant, and from 21% to 34% for the smaller PMTCT-focused grant. Using SDAs to categorize expenditures underestimated direct investments in SRH integration; activity-based categorization is more accurate. The important finding is that primary data collection could not resolve the limitations in using GF GPR data for resource tracking. The remedy is to require existing activity-based budgets and expenditure reports as part of PBF reporting requirements, and make them available in the grant portfolio database. The GF should do this quickly, as it is a serious shortfall in the GF guiding principle of transparency. Showing high value for money is important for maximizing impact and replenishments. The Global Fund should routinely track HIV/AIDs grant expenditures to disease control, service integration, and overall health systems strengthening. The current PBF system

  16. CASE technology and the Systems Development Life Cycle: a proposed integration of CASE tools with DoD STD-2167A

    OpenAIRE

    Batt, Gary Thomas

    1989-01-01

    Approved for public release; distribution unlimited The use of Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) t ools has been marketed as a remedy for the software development crisis by automating analysis, design, and coding. The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) has been employed in an attempt to ease the development backlog by applying structured methods to the development of software systems. This study reviews CASE tool components and the future of CASE integrated toolkits, compares a...

  17. [Coordination between pharmaceutical services for integrated pharmacotherapy: the case of Catalonia].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Costa, Karen Sarmento; Goldbaum, Moisés; Guayta-Escolies, Rafel; Modamio, Pilar; Mariño, Eduardo Luis; Tolsá, José Luis Segú

    2017-08-01

    Pharmaceutical policies have been considered strategies to contribute to the guarantee of care coordination and clinical integration. This study sought to describe the pharmaceutical services developed at different levels of care in the health network in Catalonia, as well as to identify and analyze the mechanisms and instruments that act as facilitators and/or barriers to the coordination of pharmacotherapy. This is a descriptive study of 12 cases of hospital pharmacy services, primary care and community pharmacies. Advances related to the perception, formalization and clinical and assistance coordination of the pharmaceutical services were identified. However, weaknesses and potential improvements in coordination were observed. The conclusion drawn was that the different tools and instruments implemented appear to facilitate a greater possibility of integration between pharmaceutical services and the latter with the health services network to contribute to integrated pharmacotherapy.

  18. Thermal-hydraulic study of integrated steam generator in PWR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Osakabe, Masahiro

    1989-01-01

    One of the safety aspects of innovative reactor concepts is the integration of steam generators (SGs) into the reactor vessel in the case of the pressurized water reactor (PWR). All of the reactor system components including the pressurizer are within the reactor vessel in the SG integrated PWR. The simple heat transfer code was developed for the parametric study of the integrated SG. The code was compared to the once-through 19-tube SG experiment and the good agreement between the experimental results and the code predictions was obtained. The assessed code was used for the parametric study of the integrated once-through 16 m-straight-tube SG installed in the annular downcomer. The proposed integrated SG as a first attempt has approximately the same tube size and pitch as the present PWR and the SG primary and secondary sides in the present PWR is inverted in the integrated PWR. Based on the study, the reactor vessel size of the SG integrated PWR was calculated. (author)

  19. Maintaining Research Integrity While Balancing Cultural Sensitivity: A Case Study and Lessons From the Field.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sibbald, Rebekah; Loiseau, Bethina; Darren, Benedict; Raman, Salem A; Dimaras, Helen; Loh, Lawrence C

    2016-04-01

    Contemporary emphasis on creating culturally relevant and context specific knowledge increasingly drives researchers to conduct their work in settings outside their home country. This often requires researchers to build relationships with various stakeholders who may have a vested interest in the research. This case study examines the tension between relationship development with stakeholders and maintaining study integrity, in the context of potential harms, data credibility and cultural sensitivity. We describe an ethical breach in the conduct of global health research by a arising from the ad-hoc participation of a community stakeholder external to the visiting research group. A framework for reflection is developed from a careful examination of underlying factors and presented with a discussion of consequences and mitigation measures. This framework aims to present lessons learned for researchers working abroad who might face similar situations in their work. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  20. Decision support for green supply chain operations by integrating dynamic simulation and LCA indicators: diaper case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adhitya, Arief; Halim, Iskandar; Srinivasan, Rajagopalan

    2011-12-01

    As the issue of environmental sustainability is becoming an important business factor, companies are now looking for decision support tools to assess the fuller picture of the environmental impacts associated with their manufacturing operations and supply chain (SC) activities. Lifecycle assessment (LCA) is widely used to measure the environmental consequences assignable to a product. However, it is usually limited to a high-level snapshot of the environmental implications over the product value chain without consideration of the dynamics arising from the multitiered structure and the interactions along the SC. This paper proposes a framework for green supply chain management by integrating a SC dynamic simulation and LCA indicators to evaluate both the economic and environmental impacts of various SC decisions such as inventories, distribution network configuration, and ordering policy. The advantages of this framework are demonstrated through an industrially motivated case study involving diaper production. Three distinct scenarios are evaluated to highlight how the proposed approach enables integrated decision support for green SC design and operation.

  1. Extending IM beyond the Reference Desk: A Case Study on the Integration of Chat Reference and Library-Wide Instant Messaging Network

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ian Chan

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Openfire is an open source IM network and a single unified application that meets the needs of chat reference and internal communications. In Fall 2009, the California State University San Marcos (CSUSM Library began use of Openfire and other Jive software instant messaging technologies, to simultaneously improve our existing IM-integrated chat reference software and implement an internal IM network. This case study describes the chat reference and internal communications environment at the CSUSM Library and the selection, implementation, and evaluation of Openfire. In addition, the authors discuss the benefits of deploying an integrated instant messaging and chat reference network.

  2. 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.

  3. DDG-1000 Missile Integration: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-03-01

    Systems. 14. SUBJECT TERMS Systems Engineering, Integration 15. NUMBER OF PAGES 137 16. PRICE CODE 17. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF REPORT...military tasks. These range from detection and engagement of sea- skimming anti-ship cruise missiles to discrimination of a ballistic missile warhead...is affordable, funding is available, market research was conducted, an 32 analysis of alternatives was completed, the JROC is in agreement

  4. Integrating commercial software in accelerator control- case study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pace, Alberto

    1994-01-01

    Using existing commercial software is the dream of any control system engineer for the development cost reduction that can reach one order of magnitude. This dream often vanishes when appears the requirement to have a uniform and consistent architecture through a wide number of components and applications. This makes it difficult to integrate several commercial packages that often impose different user interface and communication standards. This paper will describe the approach and standards that have been chosen for the CERN ISOLDE control system that have allowed several commercial packages to be integrated in the system as-they-are permitting the software development cost to be reduced to a minimum. (author). 10 refs., 2 tabs., 9 figs

  5. The structural integrity safety case for Sizewell B power station

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gerachty, J.E.

    1993-01-01

    This paper presents the safety case approach adopted for the components of the Sizewell 'B' Power Station for which a high degree of structural integrity is required. Such components include the Reactor Pressure Vessel, Steam Generator and Pressuriser for which Incredibility of Failure is claimed. The two parts of the case involve achievement and demonstration of integrity. This is achieved by extensive measures involving design, manufacture, materials and inspection. The demonstration has required a fracture mechanics approach. The specific role of inspection validation and its relation to critical defect size is described. (author)

  6. Challenges and Opportunities in the Integration of HIS : Case Study from Zanzibar

    OpenAIRE

    Nyella, Edwin

    2007-01-01

    This thesis presents an in-depth theoretically underpinned empirical analysis of the challenges to integrate the fragmented health information systems within the Zanzibar health care system. The research is situated in the broader topic of health sector reforms, which advocate and implement a number of healthcare organizational changes in which decentralization and integration of the disparate health information systems is one of them. The study sought to meet three objectives: 1) to under...

  7. A hybrid simulation approach for integrating safety behavior into construction planning: An earthmoving case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goh, Yang Miang; Askar Ali, Mohamed Jawad

    2016-08-01

    One of the key challenges in improving construction safety and health is the management of safety behavior. From a system point of view, workers work unsafely due to system level issues such as poor safety culture, excessive production pressure, inadequate allocation of resources and time and lack of training. These systemic issues should be eradicated or minimized during planning. However, there is a lack of detailed planning tools to help managers assess the impact of their upstream decisions on worker safety behavior. Even though simulation had been used in construction planning, the review conducted in this study showed that construction safety management research had not been exploiting the potential of simulation techniques. Thus, a hybrid simulation framework is proposed to facilitate integration of safety management considerations into construction activity simulation. The hybrid framework consists of discrete event simulation (DES) as the core, but heterogeneous, interactive and intelligent (able to make decisions) agents replace traditional entities and resources. In addition, some of the cognitive processes and physiological aspects of agents are captured using system dynamics (SD) approach. The combination of DES, agent-based simulation (ABS) and SD allows a more "natural" representation of the complex dynamics in construction activities. The proposed hybrid framework was demonstrated using a hypothetical case study. In addition, due to the lack of application of factorial experiment approach in safety management simulation, the case study demonstrated sensitivity analysis and factorial experiment to guide future research. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Case Studies, Ethics, Philosophy and Liberal Learning for the Management Profession

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rendtorff, Jacob Dahl

    2015-01-01

    Case studies can be an important methodology for ethics and philosophy in humanistic management and liberal education as well as in the social sciences because they integrate a deeper, reflective, philosophical, and ethical understanding of the organization. A case study approach based...... on philosophy of management contributes to putting into practice the Carnegie Foundation report Rethinking Undergraduate Education: Liberal Learning for the Profession. This approach is both inductive and deductive and very different from a soft Socratic approach to case studies such as the one often used...... in business schools following the Harvard method, wherein students are supposed to get knowledge through the reading of a case prepared by the teacher or from a business textbook. The aim of the case study is to analyze a concrete case and get general knowledge through the integrated analysis of the different...

  9. Corporate Culture Assessments in Integrative Oncology: A Qualitative Case Study of Two Integrative Oncology Centers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nadine Mittring

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The offer of “integrative oncology” is one option for clinics to provide safe and evidence-based complementary medicine treatments to cancer patients. As known from merger theories, corporate culture and integration models have a strong influence on the success of such integration. To identify relevant corporate culture aspects that might influence the success in two highly visible integrative oncology clinics, we interviewed physicians, nurses, practitioners, and managers. All interviews (11 in a German breast cancer clinic and 9 in an integrative medicine cancer service in the USA were audio-recorded, transcribed and analyzed with content analysis. According to the theoretical framework of mergers, each clinic selected a different integration type (“best of both worlds” and “linking”. Nonetheless, each developed a similar corporate culture that has a strong focus on research and safe and evidence-based treatments, and fosters a holistic and patient-centered approach. Structured communication within the team and with other departments had high relevance. Research was highlighted as a way to open doors and to facilitate a more general acceptance within the hospital. Conventional physicians felt unburdened by the provision of integrative medicine service but also saw problems in the time required for scheduled treatments, which often resulted in long waiting lists.

  10. Corporate culture assessments in integrative oncology: a qualitative case study of two integrative oncology centers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mittring, Nadine; Pérard, Marion; Witt, Claudia M

    2013-01-01

    The offer of "integrative oncology" is one option for clinics to provide safe and evidence-based complementary medicine treatments to cancer patients. As known from merger theories, corporate culture and integration models have a strong influence on the success of such integration. To identify relevant corporate culture aspects that might influence the success in two highly visible integrative oncology clinics, we interviewed physicians, nurses, practitioners, and managers. All interviews (11 in a German breast cancer clinic and 9 in an integrative medicine cancer service in the USA) were audio-recorded, transcribed and analyzed with content analysis. According to the theoretical framework of mergers, each clinic selected a different integration type ("best of both worlds" and "linking"). Nonetheless, each developed a similar corporate culture that has a strong focus on research and safe and evidence-based treatments, and fosters a holistic and patient-centered approach. Structured communication within the team and with other departments had high relevance. Research was highlighted as a way to open doors and to facilitate a more general acceptance within the hospital. Conventional physicians felt unburdened by the provision of integrative medicine service but also saw problems in the time required for scheduled treatments, which often resulted in long waiting lists.

  11. Carbon dioxide from integrated biomass energy systems - examples from case studies in USA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boman, U.

    1996-04-01

    This report is a result of a work by Vattenfall and Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to study a number of integrated biomass energy systems. The emphasis of this paper will be on the energy systems of the projects in Minnesota and New York. By introducing the dedicated feedstock supply system (DFSS), the amount of energy spent for production of crops can be reduced, the amount of fertilizers can be decreased, the soil can be improved, and a significant amount of energy will be produced, compared to an ordinary farm crop. Although the conversion of biomass to electricity in itself does not emit more CO 2 than is captured by the biomass through photosynthesis, there will be some CO 2 -emissions from the DFSS. External energy is required for the production of the biomass feedstock, and this energy is mainly based on fossil fuels. By using this input energy, CO 2 and other greenhouse gases are emitted. But, by utilizing fossil fuels as external input fuels for production of biomass, we would get about 10-15 times more electric energy per unit fossil fuel, than we would get if the fossil fuel was utilized in a power directly. Compared to traditional coal based electricity production, the CO 2 -emissions are in most cases reduced significantly. But the reduction rate is related to the process and the whole integrated system. The reduction could possibly be increased further, by introducing more efficient methods in farming, transportation, and handling, and by selecting the best methods or technologies for conversion of biomass fuel to electricity. 25 refs, 8 figs, 8 tabs

  12. Integrated Diabetes Care Delivered by Patients – A Case Study from Bulgaria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Verena Struckmann

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Increasing numbers of persons are living with multiple chronic diseases and unmet medical needs in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian ‘Diabetic care’ non-profit (DCNPO programme aims to provide comprehensive integrated care focusing on people with diabetes and their co-morbidities. Methods: The DCNPO programme was selected as one of eight ‘high potential’ programmes in the Innovating Care for People with Multiple Chronic Conditions (ICARE4EU project, covering 31 European countries. Data was first gathered with a questionnaire after which semi-structured interviews with project staff and participants were conducted during a site visit. Results: The programme trains diabetic patients to act as carers, case managers, self-management trainers and health system navigators for diabetic patients and their family. The programme improved care coordination and patient-centered care by offering free care delivered by a multidisciplinary team. It facilitates the collaboration between patients, volunteers, health providers and the community. Internal evaluations demonstrate reduced hospital admissions and avoidable amputations, with consequent cost savings for the health care system. Conclusion: Integrated care provided by volunteering patients can empower people suffering from diabetes and their co-morbidities and address health and social inequalities in resource-poor settings. It can also contribute to an increased trust and improved satisfaction among vulnerable patients with complex care needs.

  13. Environmental conflict analysis using an integrated grey clustering and entropy-weight method: A case study of a mining project in Peru.

    OpenAIRE

    Delgado-Villanueva, Kiko Alexi; Romero Gil, Inmaculada

    2016-01-01

    [EN] Environmental conflict analysis (henceforth ECA) has become a key factor for the viability of projects and welfare of affected populations. In this study, we propose an approach for ECA using an integrated grey clustering and entropy-weight method (The IGCEW method). The case study considered a mining project in northern Peru. Three stakeholder groups and seven criteria were identified. The data were gathered by conducting field interviews. The results revealed that for the groups urban ...

  14. Medieval Iceland, Greenland, and the New Human Condition: A case study in integrated environmental humanities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartman, Steven; Ogilvie, A. E. J.; Ingimundarson, Jón Haukur; Dugmore, A. J.; Hambrecht, George; McGovern, T. H.

    2017-09-01

    This paper contributes to recent studies exploring the longue durée of human impacts on island landscapes, the impacts of climate and other environmental changes on human communities, and the interaction of human societies and their environments at different spatial and temporal scales. In particular, the paper addresses Iceland during the medieval period (with a secondary, comparative focus on Norse Greenland) and discusses episodes where environmental and climatic changes have appeared to cross key thresholds for agricultural productivity. The paper draws upon international, interdisciplinary research in the North Atlantic region led by the North Atlantic Biocultural Organization (NABO) and the Nordic Network for Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies (NIES) in the Circumpolar Networks program of the Integrated History and Future of People on Earth (IHOPE). By interlinking analyses of historically grounded literature with archaeological studies and environmental science, valuable new perspectives can emerge on how these past societies may have understood and coped with such impacts. As climate and other environmental changes do not operate in isolation, vulnerabilities created by socioeconomic factors also beg consideration. The paper illustrates the benefits of an integrated environmental-studies approach that draws on data, methodologies and analytical tools of environmental humanities, social sciences, and geosciences to better understand long-term human ecodynamics and changing human-landscape-environment interactions through time. One key goal is to apply previously unused data and concerted expertise to illuminate human responses to past changes; a secondary aim is to consider how lessons derived from these cases may be applicable to environmental threats and socioecological risks in the future, especially as understood in light of the New Human Condition, the concept transposed from Hannah Arendt's influential framing of the human condition that is

  15. How to integrate Investment strategies and Finance strategies. Case: Messukeskus

    OpenAIRE

    Kolodiy, Oleg

    2013-01-01

    This Bachelor’s thesis examines an integration process of strategic planning, where an investment strategy is defined with financial planning in order to ensure long-term company success. The primary objective of the study is to determine present and emerging instruments available for a case company to finance their investments activities. The thesis consists of a theory section and an empirical section that deals with the commissioning party, a cooperative by form. The theory sectio...

  16. Integrating Social Responsibility into an Entrepreneurship Education Program: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maistry, Suriamurthee Moonsamy; Ramdhani, Jugathambal

    2010-01-01

    Entrepreneurship education in South Africa is often presented as a neutral discipline. Yet fundamental to any entrepreneurship education program should be the integration of key issues, such as ethics, values and social responsibility. This paper reports on a study that set out to explore student teachers experiences of engaging in an…

  17. Towards Integrated Team Practice: A Case of Malaysian Industrialised Building System (IBS Construction Projects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohd Nawi Mohd Nasrun

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Problems associated with fragmentation in the traditional construction process, such as isolation of professionals, lack of co-ordination between design and construction, and the sequential manner of its processes, has impacted on construction performance leading to a lack of integration, wastage, low productivity and efficiency. Integrated team practice is perceived as paramount. Unfortunately, there has a limitation of study focus on the dimension of fully integrated team especially for Malaysian Industrialised Building System (IBS projects. Accordingly, this research paper explores and identifies the dimension of fully integrated team from the traditional approach and conduct a validation process for implementing it in Malaysian IBS projects. The research presented uses interviews case study to obtain qualitative data. It was found that the dimension of fully integrated team from the traditional construction process could apply to the Malaysian IBS projects. Suggestions on how an integrated team practice in IBS design and construction process in order to minimise the fragmentation gaps will be concluded.

  18. Integrated safety case development for deep geological repositories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kawamura, Hideki; McKinley, Ian G.

    2008-01-01

    The paper will illustrate an 'integrated safety case', which involves combining both pre-closure and post-closure safety arguments from the point of view of a repository implementer, who must also ensure that projects are practical, acceptable and economic. The post-closure safety case is based on the performance of a number of barriers, which are established during construction, operation and closure. Such barriers must be confirmed using quality assured methods, supported, as required, by inspection and monitoring. The requirement for integrated assessment means that even the final process to end institutional control and transfer any liabilities from the implementer needs to be considered at present, even though this will undoubtedly be refined and tailored to the site characteristics over the many decades that will pass before this occurs. To illustrate the practical application of this approach, assessment of variants for remote-handled emplacement of the EBS for disposal of HLW in Japan will be discussed. (author)

  19. Increasing character value and conservation behavior through integrated ethnoscience chemistry in chemistry learning: A Case Study in The Department of Science Universitas Negeri Semarang.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sudarmin; Sumarni, Woro

    2018-04-01

    The purpose of this study was to obtain a factual picture of the improvement of students' conservation character and conservation behavior through the application integrated ethnoscience chemistry learning. This research was a case study on students majoring in the Department Of Science Mathematics and Natural Science Faculty Universitas Negeri Semarang. The subjects of the study were 30 students attending ethnoscience course in one of the teacher education institutions in the even semester of the academic year of 2016/2017. The subjects were given chemistry learning integrated into ethnoscience for eight weeks. The technique of data collection was done by using attitude scale arranged based on Likert scale. The data were analyzed by using qualitative descriptive. The results showed that the integrated ethnoscience chemistry learning contributed positively to the improvement of the character value and conservation behavior

  20. Hamlet's Suicide Soliloquy: A Case Study in Suicide Ideology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jenkins, Andrew P.

    This paper presents a secondary-level teaching technique that can be used in an integrated English and health education curriculum. The exercise provides students and teachers with a case study of a suicidal person for the purpose of teaching the warning signs of suicide, appropriate questioning, and referral skills. The case study uses Hamlet's…

  1. Coal Integrated Gasification Fuel Cell System Study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gregory Wotzak; Chellappa Balan; Faress Rahman; Nguyen Minh

    2003-08-01

    The pre-baseline configuration for an Integrated Gasification Fuel Cell (IGFC) system has been developed. This case uses current gasification, clean-up, gas turbine, and bottoming cycle technologies together with projected large planar Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) technology. This pre-baseline case will be used as a basis for identifying the critical factors impacting system performance and the major technical challenges in implementing such systems. Top-level system requirements were used as the criteria to evaluate and down select alternative sub-systems. The top choice subsystems were subsequently integrated to form the pre-baseline case. The down-selected pre-baseline case includes a British Gas Lurgi (BGL) gasification and cleanup sub-system integrated with a GE Power Systems 6FA+e gas turbine and the Hybrid Power Generation Systems planar Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) sub-system. The overall efficiency of this system is estimated to be 43.0%. The system efficiency of the pre-baseline system provides a benchmark level for further optimization efforts in this program.

  2. Integrating research with management: The case of Katavi National ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Integrating research with management: The case of Katavi National Park, Tanzania. ... national park: (i) reduced water flow caused by local damming of the Katuma River, ... to both management and policy makers for tackling these problems.

  3. Monitored retrievable storage (MRS) facility and salt repository integration: Engineering study report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1987-07-01

    This MRS Facility and Salt Repository Integration Study evaluates the impacts of an integrated MRS/Salt Repository Waste Management System on the Salt Repository Surface facilities' design, operations, cost, and schedule. Eight separate cases were studied ranging from a two phase repository design with no MRS facility to a design in which the repository only received package waste from the MRS facility for emplacement. The addition of the MRS facility to the Waste Management System significantly reduced the capital cost of the salt repository. All but one of the cases studied were capable of meeting the waste acceptance data. The reduction in the size and complexity of the Salt Repository waste handling building with the integration of the MRS facility reduces the design and operating staff requirements. 7 refs., 35 figs., 43 tabs

  4. Design and Use of a Proton Pump Inhibitor Case to Integrate Physiology, Pharmacology, and Biochemistry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Michael W.

    2014-01-01

    The use of drugs to integrate basic and clinical sciences is frequently used in a lecture format, but the availability of alternative pedagogical approaches that address higher-order learning are not widely available. The use of case studies and case-based projects to reinforce lectures can help link basic and clinical disciplines and promote…

  5. Mitigation Atmospheric Effects in Interferogram with Using Integrated Meris/modis Data and a Case Study Over Southern California

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, X.; Zhang, P.; Sun, Z.

    2018-04-01

    Interferometric synthetic aperture radar(InSAR), as a space geodetictechnology, had been testified a high potential means of earth observation providing a method fordigital elevation model (DEM) and surface deformation monitoring of high precision. However, the accuracy of the interferometric synthetic aperture radar is mainly limited by the effects of atmospheric water vapor. In order to effectively measure topography or surface deformations by synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR), it is necessary to mitigate the effects of atmospheric water vapor on the interferometric signals. This paper analyzed the atmospheric effects on the interferogram quantitatively, and described a result of estimating Precipitable Water Vapor (PWV) from the the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS), Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the ground-based GPS, compared the MERIS/MODIS PWV with the GPS PWV. Finally, a case study for mitigating atmospheric effects in interferogramusing with using the integration of MERIS and MODIS PWV overSouthern California is given. The result showed that such integration approach benefits removing or reducing the atmospheric phase contribution from the corresponding interferogram, the integrated Zenith Path Delay Difference Maps (ZPDDM) of MERIS and MODIS helps reduce the water vapor effects efficiently, the standard deviation (STD) of interferogram is improved by 23 % after the water vapor correction than the original interferogram.

  6. Post-acquisition integration of employees : a case study of Norsk Hydro

    OpenAIRE

    Winsjansen, Elisabeth; Wright, Harriet

    2013-01-01

    This study explores and investigates the integration of employees after a cross-border acquisition has been signed and closed. An exploratory study of Norsk Hydro has been conducted using a qualitative research design, with five in-depth interviews of employees from Norsk Hydro and from the organization’s divisions in Germany and Brazil. The number of cross-border acquisitions have increased in the past decades as a way of companies to renew their competitive positions in the g...

  7. Business Ethics and Integrity a Case Study on 300 U.S. Listed Companies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tinjala Diana-Maria

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Profit-maximizing behavior or moral integrity? Can companies have both? Our study takes a look at 300 U.S. based companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, and their way of dealing with business ethics. The research undertaken focuses on the content analysis method, using the corporate Codes of conduct and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR reports. The study reveals the evolution of the corporate ethics policies and programs throughout the years 2010- 2014. We also take a look at the most frequent controversies concerning business integrity, by sectors of activity

  8. Integrating Global Open Geo-Information for Major Disaster Assessment: A Case Study of the Myanmar Flood

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suju Li

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Major disasters typically impact large areas, cause considerable damages, and result in significant human and economic losses. The timely and accurate estimation of impacts and damages is essential to better understand disaster conditions and to support emergency response operations. Geo-information drawn from various sources at multi spatial-temporal scales can be used for disaster assessments through a synthesis of hazard, exposure, and post disaster information based on pertinent approaches. Along with the increased availability of open sourced data and cooperation initiatives, more global scale geo-information, including global land cover datasets, has been produced and can be integrated with other information for disaster dynamic damage assessment (e.g., impact estimation immediately after a disaster occurs, physical damage assessment during the emergency response stage, and comprehensive assessment following an emergency response. Residential areas and arable lands affected by the flood disaster occurring from July to August 2015 in Myanmar were assessed based on satellite images, GlobeLand30 data, and other global open sourced information as a study case. The results show that integrating global open geo-information could serve as a practical and efficient means of assessing damage resulting from major disasters worldwide, especially at the early emergency response stage.

  9. Integrating Surface Water Management in Urban and Regional Planning, Case Study of Wuhan in China

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Du, N.

    2010-01-01

    The main goal of the study is to examine and develop a spatial planning methodology that would enhance the sustainability of urban development by integrating the surface water system in the urban and regional planning process. Theoretically, this study proposes that proactive-integrated policy and

  10. A Local Dimension of Integration Policies? A Comparative Study of Berlin, Malmö, and Rotterdam

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    R. Dekker (Rianne); H. Emilsson (Henrik); B. Krieger (Bernhard); P.W.A. Scholten (Peter)

    2015-01-01

    textabstractThis study examines three theses on local integration policies by a qualitative comparative case study of integration policies in three cities in three different countries (Berlin, Malmö, and Rotterdam). We found little evidence of a congruent local dimension of integration policies.

  11. Using Clinical Gait Case Studies to Enhance Learning in Biomechanics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chester, Victoria

    2011-01-01

    Clinical case studies facilitate the development of clinical reasoning strategies through knowledge and integration of the basic sciences. Case studies have been shown to be more effective in developing problem-solving abilities than the traditional lecture format. To enhance the learning experiences of students in biomechanics, clinical case…

  12. Eclectic Therapy for Dual Diagnosis: A Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stamatia Soundia

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses the case of Helektra, a 28 year old female who was diagnosed with bulimia nervosa and borderline personality disorder using DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. The patient had referred herself to a state-run service in Athens, Greece. Therapy lasted for two and a half years. The patient’s therapeutic schedule included an integrated therapy model which was based on Fairburn`s diary (Fairburn, 1995, 2008 and on psychodynamic psychotherapy for personality disorders (McWilliams, 1994; Roberts, 1997. The findings of this case study are supportive of the benefits that have been associated in the psychological literature with the integration and eclectism of psychotherapeutic models.

  13. Facilitating Case Studies in Massage Therapy Clinical Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baskwill, Amanda

    2013-01-01

    The integration of evidence into reflective health care practice has been on the rise in recent years and is a phenomenon that has affected all health care professions, including massage therapy. Clinical case studies are a research design that follows one patient or subject, making the studies ideal for use in clinical practice. They are valuable for communicating information from clinical practice to the broader community. Case studies have face validity that may be more valuable to individual practitioners than homogeneous randomized controlled trials, as the practitioner may recognize a complex patient in the case report. At Humber College, Student Massage Therapists (SMTs) create, conduct, and communicate results of a clinical case study prior to graduation. This article describes the process and experience. PMID:23730397

  14. An integrated environmental decision support system for water pollution control based on TMDL--A case study in the Beiyun River watershed.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Shanghong; Li, Yueqiang; Zhang, Tianxiang; Peng, Yang

    2015-06-01

    This paper details the development and application of an integrated environmental decision support system (EDSS) for water pollution control based on total maximum daily load (TMDL). The system includes an infrastructure, simulation, and application platforms. Using the water pollution control of Beiyun River in China as a case study, the key development processes and technologies of the EDSS are discussed including relations and links between various environmental simulation models, and model integration, visualization and real-time simulation methods. A loose coupling method is used to connect the environmental models, and an XML file is used to complete data exchange between different models. Project configuration and scheme configuration are used for simulation data organization. The integration approach is easy to implement and enables different development languages and reuse of existing models. The EDSS has been applied to water environment management of Beiyun River, and can be applied to other geographic regions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. 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.

  16. An Integrated Textual Case-Based System A. Almu

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Almu: An Integrated Textual Case-Based System. 66. The semantic relationship in WordNet links the Four-. Part-Of-Speech of Nouns, Verbs, Adverbs and. Adjectives together to synonyms sets (Miller 1995). Therefore, the words or terms of the problem have to be tagged with their appropriate POS before passing them to the ...

  17. The Influence of Philosophical Perspectives in Integrative Research: a Conservation Case Study in the Cairngorms National Park

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna C. Evely

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available The benefits of increasing the contribution of the social sciences in the fields of environmental and conservation science disciplines are increasingly recognized. However, integration between the social and natural sciences has been limited, in part because of the barrier caused by major philosophical differences in the perspectives between these research areas. This paper aims to contribute to more effective interdisciplinary integration by explaining some of the philosophical views underpinning social research and how these views influence research methods and outcomes. We use a project investigating the motivation of volunteers working in an adaptive co-management project to eradicate American Mink from the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland as a case study to illustrate the impact of philosophical perspectives on research. Consideration of different perspectives promoted explicit reflection of the contributing researcher's assumptions, and the implications of his or her perspectives on the outcomes of the research. We suggest a framework to assist conservation research projects by: (1 assisting formulation of research questions; (2 focusing dialogue between managers and researchers, making underlying worldviews explicit; and (3 helping researchers and managers improve longer-term strategies by helping identify overall goals and objectives and by identifying immediate research needs.

  18. Test Automation Process Improvement A case study of BroadSoft

    OpenAIRE

    Gummadi, Jalendar

    2016-01-01

    This master thesis research is about improvement of test automation process at BroadSoft Finland as a case study. Test automation project recently started at BroadSoft but the project is not properly integrated in to existing process. Project is about converting manual test cases to automation test cases. The aim of this thesis is about studying existing BroadSoft test process and studying different test automation frameworks. In this thesis different test automation process are studied ...

  19. Integration of informal recycling sector in Brazil and the case of Sorocaba City.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silva de Souza Lima, Nathalia; Mancini, Sandro Donnini

    2017-07-01

    Catadores are people who collect and sell materials that can be recycled. This activity has been done informally in many countries for years. Recently, a recognition process has begun for the informal recycling sector, with public and private initiatives. In Brazil, catadores started out associating with each other in co-operatives in the 1980s. In 2010, the Solid Waste National Policy was approved, promoting the inclusion of theses co-operatives in the formal waste management system. However, only in 25 out of 5670 Brazilian municipalities have hired co-operatives as Private Service Providers. The integration of the informal sector has contributed with social, economic and environmental benefits; income generation, reduction of poverty and resource preservation are highlights. Although there was a legal progress, there are great challenges for various actors involved. This paper aims to diagnose the informal recycling sector, emphasizing the integration process that has happened in Brazil. For this, a substantial literature review and a case study were conducted, applying the tool 'InteRa' to the case of Sorocaba. The case showed that it is possible to improve the integration of catadores in the formal waste management system. The co-operatives achieve recycling rates of 2%, higher than the official national rate of 1%. However, we estimate that autonomous pickers increase total recycling in Sorocaba to 9%, still short of the 25% target via source segregation. Therefore, continuing the integration process will benefit both the pickers, and also the municipality through savings on landfill costs.

  20. Integrating care for older people with complex needs: key insights and lessons from a seven-country cross-case analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wodchis, Walter P; Dixon, Anna; Anderson, Geoff M; Goodwin, Nick

    2015-01-01

    To address the challenges of caring for a growing number of older people with a mix of both health problems and functional impairment, programmes in different countries have different approaches to integrating health and social service supports. The goal of this analysis is to identify important lessons for policy makers and service providers to enable better design, implementation and spread of successful integrated care models. This paper provides a structured cross-case synthesis of seven integrated care programmes in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, the UK and the USA. All seven programmes involved bottom-up innovation driven by local needs and included: (1) a single point of entry, (2) holistic care assessments, (3) comprehensive care planning, (4) care co-ordination and (5) a well-connected provider network. The process of achieving successful integration involves collaboration and, although the specific types of collaboration varied considerably across the seven case studies, all involved a care coordinator or case manager. Most programmes were not systematically evaluated but the two with formal external evaluations showed benefit and have been expanded. Case managers or care coordinators who support patient-centred collaborative care are key to successful integration in all our cases as are policies that provide funds and support for local initiatives that allow for bottom-up innovation. However, more robust and systematic evaluation of these initiatives is needed to clarify the 'business case' for integrated health and social care and to ensure successful generalization of local successes.

  1. THE METHODOLOGY OF THE ANALYSIS OF CASE STUDY THROUGH THE INTEGRATION OF THE ROMA MINORITY INTO THE SOCIAL SYSTEM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jelena Maksimović

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The Roma are an ethnic group that is spread throughout the world. Although there are poor ethnographic and historical notes about the origin of Roma on the basis of a study of legends and oral traditions, researchers who are engaged in Roma studies, often confirm that they originate from India. Their culture, habits, customs were mostly transmitted through the living word, from generation to generation. This research analyzed case studies of integration of the Roma minority in the social system. Special emphasis in research is aimed at analyzing stereotypes that arise from cultural patterns of Roma, given the fact that for them there are many different prejudices, while on the other hand, there is no access with critical analysis and does not indicate their specialty, which has its downside exactly in culture and patterns of behavior. The study analyzed how the traditional culture is important in the lives of Roma and how the social system treats this ethnic minority. Being a Rom in its original sense means to be human and to be equal with everyone, but paradoxically it is expected that non-Roma nation sets free of stereotypes and prejudices and to contribute to the integration and acceptance of Roma in our social system.

  2. arXiv Diagrammatic Hopf algebra of cut Feynman integrals: the one-loop case

    CERN Document Server

    Abreu, Samuel; Duhr, Claude; Gardi, Einan

    2017-12-15

    We construct a diagrammatic coaction acting on one-loop Feynman graphs and their cuts. The graphs are naturally identified with the corresponding (cut) Feynman integrals in dimensional regularization, whose coefficients of the Laurent expansion in the dimensional regulator are multiple polylogarithms (MPLs). Our main result is the conjecture that this diagrammatic coaction reproduces the combinatorics of the coaction on MPLs order by order in the Laurent expansion. We show that our conjecture holds in a broad range of nontrivial one-loop integrals. We then explore its consequences for the study of discontinuities of Feynman integrals, and the differential equations that they satisfy. In particular, using the diagrammatic coaction along with information from cuts, we explicitly derive differential equations for any one-loop Feynman integral. We also explain how to construct the symbol of any one-loop Feynman integral recursively. Finally, we show that our diagrammatic coaction follows, in the special case of o...

  3. Apotemnophilia or body integrity identity disorder: a case report review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bou Khalil, Rami; Richa, Sami

    2012-12-01

    Apotemnophilia or body integrity identity disorder (BIID) denotes a syndrome in which a person is preoccupied with the desire to amputate a healthy limb. In this report, we review the available case reports in the literature in order to enhance psychiatrists' and physicians' comprehension of this disorder. A search for the case reports available via MEDLINE was done since the first case report published by Money et al in 1977 till May 2011, using the following terms: apotemnophilia, self-demand amputation, body integrity identity disorder, and BIID. In all, 14 case reports were found relevant to our search. The desire to amputate one's healthy limb seems to be related to a major disturbance in the person's perception of one's own identity, where limb amputation can relieve temporarily the patient's feeling of distress without necessarily and uniformly adjusting the patient's own identity misperception. More investigations are needed in this domain in order to develop noninvasive treatment strategies that approach this aspect of the patient's distress within a globalist perspective. In addition, the health professionals' awareness regarding this disorder is required to ensure professional management of patients' suffering.

  4. 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.

  5. Savannah River Site RCRA/CERCLA/NEPA integrated investigation case study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clark, D.R.; Thomas, R.; Wilson, M.P.

    1992-01-01

    The Savannah River Site (SRS) is a US Department of Energy facility placed on the Superfund National Priority List in 1989. Numerous past disposal facilities and contaminated areas are undergoing the integrated regulatory remediation process detailed in the draft SRS Federal Facility Agreement. This paper will discuss the integration of these requirements by highlighting the investigation of the D-Area Burning/Rubble Pits, a typical waste unit at SRS

  6. The integration and evaluation of a social-media facilitated journal club to enhance the student learning experience of evidence-based practice: A case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferguson, Caleb; DiGiacomo, Michelle; Gholizadeh, Leila; Ferguson, Leila E; Hickman, Louise D

    2017-01-01

    Nurses are required to interpret and apply knowledge so communities will receive care based on best available evidence, as opposed to care that is simply based on tradition or authority. Fostering nursing students' critical appraisal skills will assist in their capacity to engage with, interpret and use best evidence. Journal clubs are frequently used approach to engage learners with research and develop critical appraisal skills. Given new flipped and blended approaches to teaching and learning there is need to rejuvenate how research is utilised and integrated within journal clubs to maximise engagement and translation of evidence. This paper provides a case study of a single site Australian university experience of transitioning a traditional physical journal club, to a social media-facilitated club within a postgraduate health subject to stimulate and facilitate engagement with the chosen manuscripts. This case study is based on our own experiences, supported by literature and includes qualitative comments obtained via student feedback surveys during November 2015. Case study. Social media-facilitated journal clubs offer an efficient way to continue developing critical appraisal skills in nursing students. The integration of a social media-facilitated journal clubs increased student attention, engagement with presented activities and overall student satisfaction within this evidence-based practice subject. Future rigorously-designed, large-scale studies are required to evaluate the impact of online journal clubs on the uptake of evidence-based practice, including those resulting in improved patient outcomes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Educators' motivation on integration of ICTs into pedagogy: case of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Educators' motivation on integration of ICTs into pedagogy: case of disadvantaged areas .... disciplines such as Information Sciences, Business and. Engineering, it has been noted ..... by a particular textbook. One has .... the ETHICS method.

  8. Preparing pre-service teachers to integrate technology into inquiry-based science education: Three case studies in The Netherlands

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tran, Trinh-Ba; Ed van den Berg, Ed; Beishuizen, Jos; Ellermeijer, Ton

    2015-01-01

    Integration of technology (e.g. measuring with sensors, video measurement, and modeling) into secondary-school science teaching is a need globally recognized. A central issue of incorporating these technologies in teaching is how to turn manipulations of equipment and software into manipulations of ideas. Therefore, preparation for pre-service teachers to apply ICT tools should be combined with the issues of minds-on inquiring and meaning-making. From this perspective, we developed a course within the post-graduate teacher-education program in the Netherlands. During the course, pre-service teachers learnt not only to master ICT skills but also to design, teach, and evaluate an inquiry-based lesson in which the ICT tool was integrated. Besides three life sessions, teachers’ learning scenario also consisted of individual tasks which teachers could carry out mostly in the school or at home with support materials and online assistance. We taught three iterations of the course within a design-research framework in 2013, 2014 and collected data on the teacher learning processes and outcomes. The analyses of these data from observation, interviews, questionnaires, and documents were to evaluate implementation of the course, then suggest for revisions of the course set-up, which was executed and then assessed again in a subsequent case study. Main outcomes of the three case studies can be summarized as follows: within a limited time (3 life sessions spread over 2–3 months), the heterogeneous groups of pre-service teachers achieved a reasonable level of competence regarding the use of ICT tools in inquiry-based lessons. The blended set-up with support materials, especially the Coach activities and the lesson-plan form for an ICT-integrated inquiry-based lesson, contributed to this result under the condition that the course participants really spent considerable time outside the life sessions. There was a need for more time for hands-on, in-group activities in life

  9. Preparing pre-service teachers to integrate technology into inquiry-based science education: Three case studies in The Netherlands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tran, Trinh-Ba; van den Berg, Ed; Ellermeijer, Ton; Beishuizen, Jos

    2016-05-01

    Integration of technology ( e.g. measuring with sensors, video measurement, and modeling) into secondary-school science teaching is a need globally recognized. A central issue of incorporating these technologies in teaching is how to turn manipulations of equipment and software into manipulations of ideas. Therefore, preparation for pre-service teachers to apply ICT tools should be combined with the issues of minds-on inquiring and meaning-making. From this perspective, we developed a course within the post-graduate teacher-education program in the Netherlands. During the course, pre-service teachers learnt not only to master ICT skills but also to design, teach, and evaluate an inquiry-based lesson in which the ICT tool was integrated. Besides three life sessions, teachers' learning scenario also consisted of individual tasks which teachers could carry out mostly in the school or at home with support materials and online assistance. We taught three iterations of the course within a design-research framework in 2013, 2014 and collected data on the teacher learning processes and outcomes. The analyses of these data from observation, interviews, questionnaires, and documents were to evaluate implementation of the course, then suggest for revisions of the course set-up, which was executed and then assessed again in a subsequent case study. Main outcomes of the three case studies can be summarized as follows: within a limited time (3 life sessions spread over 2-3 months), the heterogeneous groups of pre-service teachers achieved a reasonable level of competence regarding the use of ICT tools in inquiry-based lessons. The blended set-up with support materials, especially the Coach activities and the lesson-plan form for an ICT-integrated inquiry-based lesson, contributed to this result under the condition that the course participants really spent considerable time outside the life sessions. There was a need for more time for hands-on, in-group activities in life

  10. Electrolyzer Performance Analysis of an Integrated Hydrogen Power System for Greenhouse Heating. A Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simone Pascuzzi

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available A greenhouse containing an integrated system of photovoltaic panels, a water electrolyzer, fuel cells and a geothermal heat pump was set up to investigate suitable solutions for a power system based on solar energy and hydrogen, feeding a self-sufficient, geothermal-heated greenhouse. The electricity produced by the photovoltaic source supplies the electrolyzer; the manufactured hydrogen gas is held in a pressure tank. In these systems, the electrolyzer is a crucial component; the technical challenge is to make it work regularly despite the irregularity of the solar source. The focus of this paper is to study the performance and the real energy efficiency of the electrolyzer, analyzing its operational data collected under different operating conditions affected by the changeable solar radiant energy characterizing the site where the experimental plant was located. The analysis of the measured values allowed evaluation of its suitability for the agricultural requirements such as greenhouse heating. On the strength of the obtained result, a new layout of the battery bank has been designed and exemplified to improve the performance of the electrolyzer. The evaluations resulting from this case study may have a genuine value, therefore assisting in further studies to better understand these devices and their associated technologies.

  11. Integrated management software files action in case of fire

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moreno-Ventas Garcia, V.; Gimeno Serrano, F.

    2010-01-01

    The proper management of emergencies, is a challenge for which it is essential to be prepared. Integrated Software Performance Chips In case of fire and rapid access to information, make this application a must to effectively drive any emergency due to fire at any nuclear facility.

  12. Instituting Cultural Change at a Major Organization: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dulek, Ronald E.

    2015-01-01

    This article examines the development and implementation of a strategic cultural change program from a case study perspective. Initially, the article describes how the program was developed, including an explanation as to how a communication component was integrated into the program from inception. This integration helped reduce the anxiety that…

  13. Integrating Art into Places in Transition - Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston as a Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rembeza, Magdalena

    2017-10-01

    Among the many projects realized in public spaces, some are truly unique - and these are the ones that build the identity of a place. The aim of this paper is to examine how integrating art and cultural strategies into public space can enhance and reinforce the sense of a place. Particular attention is devoted to urban spaces that we call “places in transition”, where public art improves the city’s imaginative capacity, enlivens neighbourhoods, and sparks civic exchange. Research methods include multidisciplinary literature studies and a detailed case study of the Rose Kennedy Greenway (RKG) - a contemporary urban park in Boston, USA, intended to stitch together the various neighbourhoods surrounding downtown. The Greenway is also a place in transition, to which the Conservancy introduces innovative and contemporary art through temporary exhibitions, engaging people in experiences, interactions and dialogue with art. The five-year Public Art Strategy was supported by Fund for the Arts, a public art program of the New England Foundation for the Arts. The main vision of the project is to amplify the Greenway’s unique characteristic through art that is connective, innovative, and celebratory. There are the two main types of projects within the Public Art Strategy for the RKG: short-term projects called “Platforms” and long-term projects called “Magnets”. The particular conceptual framework is being developed to guide proposals: connection, interactivity, civic dialogue, ecology, and the environment. The article examines the case and analyses the important issues related to implementing art into a public space such as re-imagining places, short-term and long-term artistic interventions, arts and cultural programming.

  14. Six sigma tools in integrating internal operations of a retail pharmacy: a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Sameer; Kwong, Anthony M

    2011-01-01

    This study was initiated to integrate information and enterprise-wide healthcare delivery system issues specifically within an inpatient retail pharmacy operation in a U.S. community hospital. Six Sigma tools were used to examine the effects to an inpatient retail pharmacy service process. Some of the tools used include service blueprints, cause-effect diagram, gap analysis derived from customer and employee surveys, mistake proofing was applied in various business situations and results were analyzed to identify and propose process improvements and integration. The research indicates that the Six Sigma tools in this discussion are very applicable and quite effective in helping to streamline and integrate the pharmacy process flow. Additionally, gap analysis derived from two different surveys was used to estimate the primary areas of focus to increase customer and employee satisfaction. The results of this analysis were useful in initiating discussions of how to effectively narrow these service gaps. This retail pharmaceutical service study serves as a framework for the process that should occur for successful process improvement tool evaluation and implementation. Pharmaceutical Service operations in the U.S. that use this integration framework must tailor it to their individual situations to maximize their chances for success.

  15. ICT & innovation: a case of integration in a regional construction firm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Graham Brewer

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Construction firms in regional areas face considerable challenges to their competitiveness. Logistics, availability of suitable personnel, unfamiliarity with trading partners, and the tyranny of distance conspire to obstruct profitable engagement beyond their local area. Electronic information and communication technology (ICT such as web-based project management applications and other forms of collaborative data sharing have the potential to mitigate many of these obstacles, but have yet to gain widespread acceptance, particularly by smaller regional firms who question their cost effectiveness. The attitudes of decision-makers and the impact of their decisions on intra- and inter-firm culture lie at the heart of ICT-mediated innovation. This paper presents a case study of a specialist subcontractor located in regional New South Wales and its involvement in a New Zealand project, whose competitiveness arose from using ICT to integrate its own supply chain. It also provided additional value by triggering collaboration and integration in the broader project team. The case reveals that these outcomes were symptomatic of the organisational culture of the subcontractor, and were achieved through a combination of leadership, collaboration, flexibility and pragmatism, redolent of dynamic capabilities. 

  16. ICT & innovation: a case of integration in a regional construction firm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Graham Brewer

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Construction firms in regional areas face considerable challenges to their competitiveness. Logistics, availability of suitable personnel, unfamiliarity with trading partners, and the tyranny of distance conspire to obstruct profitable engagement beyond their local area. Electronic information and communication technology (ICT such as web-based project management applications and other forms of collaborative data sharing have the potential to mitigate many of these obstacles, but have yet to gain widespread acceptance, particularly by smaller regional firms who question their cost effectiveness. The attitudes of decision-makers and the impact of their decisions on intra- and inter-firm culture lie at the heart of ICT-mediated innovation. This paper presents a case study of a specialist subcontractor located in regional New South Wales and its involvement in a New Zealand project, whose competitiveness arose from using ICT to integrate its own supply chain. It also provided additional value by triggering collaboration and integration in the broader project team. The case reveals that these outcomes were symptomatic of the organisational culture of the subcontractor, and were achieved through a combination of leadership, collaboration, flexibility and pragmatism, redolent of dynamic capabilities.

  17. The Glioma International Case-Control Study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Amirian, E. Susan; Armstrong, Georgina N; Zhou, Renke

    2016-01-01

    Decades of research have established only a few etiological factors for glioma, which is a rare and highly fatal brain cancer. Common methodological challenges among glioma studies include small sample sizes, heterogeneity of tumor subtypes, and retrospective exposure assessment. Here, we briefly...... describe the Glioma International Case-Control (GICC) Study (recruitment, 2010-2013), a study being conducted by the Genetic Epidemiology of Glioma International Consortium that integrates data from multiple data collection sites, uses a common protocol and questionnaire, and includes biospecimen...

  18. Integrating human health into environmental impact assessment: case studies of Canada's Northern mining resource sector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Noble, B.F.; Bronson, J.E.

    2005-01-01

    This paper examines the integration of human health considerations into environmental impact assessment (EIA) in the Canadian North. Emphasis is placed on the northern mining sector, where more land has been staked in the past decade than in the previous 50 years combined. Using information from interviews with northern EIA and health practitioners and reviews of selected project documents, we examined three principal mining case studies, northern Saskatchewan uranium mining operations, the Ekati diamond project, and the Voisey's Bay mine/mill project, to determine whether and how health considerations in EIA have evolved and the current nature and scope of health integration. Results suggest that despite the recognized link between environment and health and the number of high-profile megaprojects in Canada's North, human health, particularly social health, has not been given adequate treatment in northern EIA. Health considerations in EIA have typically been limited to physical health impacts triggered directly by project-induced environmental change, while social and other health determinants have been either not considered at all, or limited to those aspects of health and well-being that the project proponent directly controlled, namely employment opportunities and worker health and safety. In recent years, we have been seeing improvements in the scope of health in EIA to reflect a broader range of health determinants, including traditional land use and culture. However, there is still a need to adopt impact mitigation and enhancement measures that are sensitive to northern society, to monitor and follow up actual health impacts after project approval, and to ensure that mitigation and enhancement measures are effective. (author)

  19. Integrated production planning and water management in the food industry: A cheese production case study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pulluru, Sai Jishna; Akkerman, Renzo; Hottenrott, Andreas

    2017-01-01

    Efficient water management is increasingly relevant in the food industry. Exploiting water reuse opportunities in planning production activities is a key part of this. We study integrated water management and production planning in cheese production. For this, we develop a water-integrated lot

  20. Academic Capitalism and Academic Culture: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mendoza, Pilar; Berger, Joseph B.

    2008-01-01

    This case study investigated the impact of academic capitalism on academic culture by examining the perspectives of faculty members in an American academic department with significant industrial funding. The results of this study indicate that faculty members believe that the broad integrity of the academic culture remains unaffected in this…

  1. Case study on Integral Life Practice intervention for physical ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Findings indicated significant improvements in physical exercise, psychophysiological coherence, general health, psychological well-being, mental skills, mindfulness, mood, resilience, sense of coherence and spirituality. Findings endorse Integral Life Practice theoretical principles and practical guidelines for implementing ...

  2. Combining integrated river modelling and agent based social simulation for river management; The case study of the Grensmaas project

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Valkering, P.; Krywkow, Jorg; Rotmans, J.; van der Veen, A.; Douben, N.; van Os, A.G.

    2003-01-01

    In this paper we present a coupled Integrated River Model – Agent Based Social Simulation model (IRM-ABSS) for river management. The models represent the case of the ongoing river engineering project “Grensmaas”. In the ABSS model stakeholders are represented as computer agents negotiating a river

  3. Examining Current Beliefs, Practices and Barriers about Technology Integration: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsu, Pi-Sui

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to examine the current beliefs, practices and barriers concerning technology integration of Kindergarten through Grade Six teachers in the midwestern United States. The three data collection methods were online surveys with 152 teachers as well as interviews and observations with 8 teachers. The findings…

  4. Recovering Process from Child Sexual Abuse During Adulthood from an Integrative Approach to Solution-Focused Therapy: A Case Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonzalez, Carolina

    2017-10-01

    In recent times, strengths-based recovery approaches that focus on the present and build strategies that look toward the future have become popular. However, some cases require the consideration of experiences from previous stages of the clients' development. This single-case study explores the psychotherapeutic process of a middle-aged woman who presented with a history of child sexual abuse (incest) and a long-term adult diagnosis of depression that was treated in public health services. This psychotherapy involved an integrative approach to solution-focused therapy; specifically, the approach proposed by Yvonne Dolan to work with adult survivors of sexual abuse, in conjunction with techniques and strategies from the transtheoretical model. Measures incorporating therapeutic working alliance and outcomes were administered over sessions. Results showed positive outcomes from this therapeutic intervention, which remained at 3-month and 12-month follow-ups. Implications for practitioners' specialist practice in health services are discussed, given the complexity of comorbid mental health conditions with a history of child sexual abuse.

  5. Integration of DNA barcoding for the initial recordings of Lessepsian fishes: a case study of the Indo-Pacific slender ponyfish Equulites elongatus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakinan, S; Karahan, A; Ok, M

    2017-03-01

    In this study, the DNA barcode of a regional Lessepsian sighting of the slender ponyfish Equulites elongatus is integrated with morphometric and meristic descriptors as a case study to address further identification problems in the Mediterranean Sea. The study also aims to contribute to the regional mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I information pool, to support other potential uses. The initial sighting of E. elongatus from the north-eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey is provided from a trawl survey on 3 June 2015, where 76 specimens were captured during a 15 min tow. © 2016 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

  6. Case Studies, Ethics, Philosophy, and Liberal Learning for the Management Profession

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rendtorff, Jacob Dahl

    2015-01-01

    Case studies can be an important methodology for ethics and philosophy in humanistic management and liberal education as well as in the social sciences because they integrate a deeper, reflective, philosophical, and ethical understanding of the organization. A case study approach based on philosophy of management contributes to putting into…

  7. Case Studies of integrated hydrogen systems. International Energy Agency Hydrogen Implementing Agreement, Final report for Subtask A of task 11 - Integrated Systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schucan, T. [Paul Scherrer Inst., Villigen PSI (Switzerland)

    1999-12-31

    Within the framework of the International Energy Agency Hydrogen Implementing Agreement, Task 11 was undertaken to develop tools to assist in the design and evaluation of existing and potential hydrogen demonstration projects. Emphasis was placed on integrated systems, from input energy to hydrogen end use. Included in the PDF document are the Executive Summary of the final report and the various case studies. The activities of task 11 were focused on near- and mid-term applications, with consideration for the transition from fossil-based systems to sustainable hydrogen energy systems. The participating countries were Canada, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the United States. In order for hydrogen to become a competitive energy carrier, experience and operating data need to be generated and collected through demonstration projects. A framework of scientific principles, technical expertise, and analytical evaluation and assessment needed to be developed to aid in the design and optimization of hydrogen demonstration projects to promote implementation. The task participants undertook research within the framework of three highly coordinated subtasks that focused on the collection and critical evaluation of data from existing demonstration projects around the world, the development and testing of computer models of hydrogen components and integrated systems, and the evaluation and comparison of hydrogen systems. While the Executive Summary reflects work on all three subtasks, this collection of chapters refers only to the work performed under Subtask A. Ten projects were analyzed and evaluated in detail as part of Subtask A, Case Studies. The projects and the project partners were: Solar Hydrogen Demonstration Project, Solar-Wasserstoff-Bayern, Bayernwerk, BMW, Linde, Siemens (Germany); Solar Hydrogen Plant on Residential House, M. Friedli (Switzerland); A.T. Stuart Renewable Energy Test Site; Stuart Energy Systems (Canada); PHOEBUS Juelich

  8. A stochastic approach for quantifying immigrant integration: the Spanish test case

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agliari, Elena; Barra, Adriano; Contucci, Pierluigi; Sandell, Richard; Vernia, Cecilia

    2014-10-01

    We apply stochastic process theory to the analysis of immigrant integration. Using a unique and detailed data set from Spain, we study the relationship between local immigrant density and two social and two economic immigration quantifiers for the period 1999-2010. As opposed to the classic time-series approach, by letting immigrant density play the role of ‘time’ and the quantifier the role of ‘space,’ it becomes possible to analyse the behavior of the quantifiers by means of continuous time random walks. Two classes of results are then obtained. First, we show that social integration quantifiers evolve following diffusion law, while the evolution of economic quantifiers exhibits ballistic dynamics. Second, we make predictions of best- and worst-case scenarios taking into account large local fluctuations. Our stochastic process approach to integration lends itself to interesting forecasting scenarios which, in the hands of policy makers, have the potential to improve political responses to integration problems. For instance, estimating the standard first-passage time and maximum-span walk reveals local differences in integration performance for different immigration scenarios. Thus, by recognizing the importance of local fluctuations around national means, this research constitutes an important tool to assess the impact of immigration phenomena on municipal budgets and to set up solid multi-ethnic plans at the municipal level as immigration pressures build.

  9. A stochastic approach for quantifying immigrant integration: the Spanish test case

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Agliari, Elena; Barra, Adriano; Contucci, Pierluigi; Sandell, Richard; Vernia, Cecilia

    2014-01-01

    We apply stochastic process theory to the analysis of immigrant integration. Using a unique and detailed data set from Spain, we study the relationship between local immigrant density and two social and two economic immigration quantifiers for the period 1999–2010. As opposed to the classic time-series approach, by letting immigrant density play the role of ‘time’ and the quantifier the role of ‘space,’ it becomes possible to analyse the behavior of the quantifiers by means of continuous time random walks. Two classes of results are then obtained. First, we show that social integration quantifiers evolve following diffusion law, while the evolution of economic quantifiers exhibits ballistic dynamics. Second, we make predictions of best- and worst-case scenarios taking into account large local fluctuations. Our stochastic process approach to integration lends itself to interesting forecasting scenarios which, in the hands of policy makers, have the potential to improve political responses to integration problems. For instance, estimating the standard first-passage time and maximum-span walk reveals local differences in integration performance for different immigration scenarios. Thus, by recognizing the importance of local fluctuations around national means, this research constitutes an important tool to assess the impact of immigration phenomena on municipal budgets and to set up solid multi-ethnic plans at the municipal level as immigration pressures build. (paper)

  10. Extent of Integration of Priority Interventions into General Health Systems: A Case Study of Neglected Tropical Diseases Programme in the Western Region of Ghana.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mensah, Ernest O; Aikins, Moses K; Gyapong, Margaret; Anto, Francis; Bockarie, Moses J; Gyapong, John O

    2016-05-01

    The global health system has a large arsenal of interventions, medical products and technologies to address current global health challenges. However, identifying the most effective and efficient strategies to deliver these resources to where they are most needed has been a challenge. Targeted and integrated interventions have been the main delivery strategies. However, the health system discourse increasingly favours integrated strategies in the context of functionally merging targeted interventions with multifunctional health care delivery systems with a focus on strengthening country health systems to deliver needed interventions. Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) have been identified to promote and perpetuate poverty hence there has been global effort to combat these diseases. The Neglected Tropical Diseases Programme (NTDP) in Ghana has a national programme team and office, however, it depends on the multifunctional health delivery system at the regional and district level to implement interventions. The NTDP seeks further health system integration to accelerate achievement of coverage targets. The study estimated the extent of integration of the NTDP at the national, regional and district levels to provide evidence to guide further integration. The research design was a descriptive case study that interviewed key persons involved in the programme at the three levels of the health system as well as extensive document review. Integration was assessed on two planes-across health system functions-stewardship and governance, financing, planning, service delivery, monitoring and evaluation and demand generation; and across three administrative levels of the health system-national, regional and district. A composite measure of integration designated Cumulative Integration Index (CII) with a range of 0.00-1.00 was used to estimate extent of integration at the three levels of the health system. Service delivery was most integrated while financing and planning were

  11. A Steam Utility Network Model for the Evaluation of Heat Integration Retrofits – A Case Study of an Oil Refinery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sofie Marton

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a real industrial example in which the steam utility network of a refinery is modelled in order to evaluate potential Heat Integration retrofits proposed for the site. A refinery, typically, has flexibility to optimize the operating strategy for the steam system depending on the operation of the main processes. This paper presents a few examples of Heat Integration retrofit measures from a case study of a large oil refinery. In order to evaluate expected changes in fuel and electricity imports to the refinery after implementation of the proposed retrofits, a steam system model has been developed. The steam system model has been tested and validated with steady state data from three different operating scenarios and can be used to evaluate how changes to steam balances at different pressure levels would affect overall steam balances, generation of shaft power in turbines, and the consumption of fuel gas.

  12. Singularity analysis in nonlinear biomathematical models: Two case studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meletlidou, E.; Leach, P.G.L.

    2007-01-01

    We investigate the possession of the Painleve Property for certain values of the parameters in two biological models. The first is a metapopulation model for two species (prey and predator) and the second one is a study of a sexually transmitted disease, into which 'education' is introduced. We determine the cases for which the systems possess the Painleve Property, in particular some of the cases for which the equations can be directly integrated. We draw conclusions for these cases

  13. Foundation integrity assessment using integrated geophysical and geotechnical techniques: case study in crystalline basement complex, southwestern Nigeria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olayanju, G. M.; Mogaji, K. A.; Lim, H. S.; Ojo, T. S.

    2017-06-01

    The determination of parameters comprising exact depth to bedrock and its lithological type, lateral changes in lithology, and detection of fractures, cracks, or faults are essential to designing formidable foundations and assessing the integrity of civil engineering structures. In this study, soil and site characterization in a typical hard rock geologic terrain in southwestern Nigeria were carried out employing integrated geophysical and geotechnical techniques to address tragedies in civil engineering infrastructural development. The deployed geophysical measurements involved running both very low frequency electromagnetic (VLF-EM) and electrical resistivity methods (dipole-dipole imaging and vertical electrical sounding (VES) techniques) along the established traverses, while the latter technique entailed conducting geological laboratory sieve analysis and Atterberg limit-index tests upon the collected soil samples in the area. The results of the geophysical measurement, based on the interpreted VLF-EM and dipole-dipole data, revealed conductive zones and linear features interpreted as fractures/faults which endanger the foundations of public infrastructures. The delineation of four distinct geoelectric layers in the area—comprised of topsoil, lateritic/clayey substratum, weathered layer, and bedrock—were based on the VES results. Strong evidence, including high degree of decomposition and fracturing of underlying bedrock revealed by the VES results, confirmed the VLF-EM and dipole-dipole results. Furthermore, values in the range of 74.2%-77.8%, 55%-62.5%, 23.4%-24.5%, 7.7%-8.2%, 19.5%-22.4%, and 31.65%-38.25% were obtained for these geotechnical parameters viz soil percentage passing 0.075 mm sieve size, liquid limit, plasticity index, linear shrinkage, natural moisture content, and plastic limit, respectively, resulting from the geotechnical analysis of the soil samples. The comparatively analyzed geophysical and geotechnical results revealed a high

  14. Leading Integrated Schools: A Study of the Multicultural Perspectives of Northern Irish Principals

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGlynn, Claire

    2008-01-01

    This article is concerned with the sustained peace education initiative of integrated schooling and in particular with leadership responses to cultural diversity. Using a case study group of principals of integrated (mixed Catholic, Protestant and other) schools in Northern Ireland, the author explores how principals perceive and lead their…

  15. The Lavelle Affair: An Air Force Case Study in Ethics

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-06-01

    THE LAVELLE AFFAIR: AN AIR FORCE CASE STUDY IN ETHICS BY KRISTINA ELLIS A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE SCHOOL OF... ethical transgressions. As such, the story of General Lavelle’s wartime command experiences became a case study in ethics and integrity within Air...1 1 THE LIFE AND CAREER OF GENERAL LAVELLE 8 1 VIETNAM 14 2 CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS 25 2 ETHICAL

  16. Social Networking as a Platform for Role-Playing Scientific Case Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geyer, Andrea M.

    2014-01-01

    This work discusses the design and implementation of two online case studies in a face-to-face general chemistry course. The case studies were integrated into the course to emphasize the need for science literacy in general society, to enhance critical thinking, to introduce database searching, and to improve primary literature reading skills. An…

  17. Technology management: case study of an integrated health system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dahl, D H; McFarlan, T K

    1994-12-01

    Technology management has assumed a role of vital importance in today's health care environment. Capital reserves and operating income have been stretched by pervasive and expensive technologies, while overall reimbursement has been reduced. It is imperative for hospitals to develop and consistently use technology management processes that begin prior to a technology's introduction in the hospital and continue throughout its life cycle. At Samaritan Health System (SHS), an integrated health care delivery system based in Phoenix, technology management provides tools to improve decision making and assist in the system's integration strategy as well as control expenses. SHS uses a systemwide technology-specific plan to guide acquisition and/or funding decisions. This plan describes how particular technologies can help achieve SHS' organizational goals such as promoting system integration and/or improving patient outcomes while providing good economic value. After technologies are targeted in this systemwide plan they are prioritized using a two-stage capital prioritization process. The first stage of the capital prioritization process considers the quantitative and qualitative factors critical for equitable capital distribution across the system. The second stage develops a sense of ownership among the parties that affect and are affected by the allocation at a facility level. This process promotes an efficient, effective, equitable, and defensible approach to resource allocation and technology decision making. Minimizing equipment maintenance expenditures is also an integral part of technology management at SHS. The keys to reducing maintenance expenditures are having a process in place that supports a routine fiscal evaluation of maintenance coverage options and ensuring that manufacturers are obligated to provide critical maintenance resources at the time of equipment purchase. Maintenance service options under consideration in this report include full

  18. A case report for differential diagnosis: Integrative medicine vs child abuse.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ribeiro, Cristina Silveira; Rodrigues, Fernanda; Ribeiro, Catarina; Magalhães, Teresa

    2010-11-01

    The authors present the case of a ten-year-old Chinese boy who was taken to a hospital due to the presence of suspicious bruises on his body. The child was examined in the National Institute of Legal Medicine by forensic doctors and a forensic psychologist. Clinical characteristics of the case are summarized stressing that a better understanding of some kinds of integrative medicine (IM) may help to differentiate injuries resulting from those practices. This is the only and unique case diagnosed by the medico-legal services in Portugal. In fact a great range of IM practice has the potential to create confusion in the diagnosis of physical child abuse. This study focuses on the differential diagnosis of one specific kind of frequent skin injury usually seen in situations of both child abuse and IM (in this case TuiNa) - bruises. As the number of people who practice Traditional Chinese Medicine and other forms of IM increases in the Western world, the child protection community would benefit from familiarizing itselves with these practices to prevent social and/or legal conflicts that may arise from mistaken diagnoses of abuse. The objective of this case report is to emphasize the relevance of comprehensive and interdisciplinary evaluation of child abuse cases taking into account the specifics of each case, to achieve a proper diagnosis. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Self, Others and Society: A Case Study of University Integrative Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Booth, Alan; McLean, Monica; Walker, Melanie

    2009-01-01

    There is currently an over-emphasis on the economic aims of higher education at the expense of the aims of personal and social transformation. This article proposes a specific approach to integrating educational aims. It draws on the works of Jurgen Habermas and Martha Nussbaum to conceptualise integrative learning as a simultaneous focus on self,…

  20. On the Coplanar Integrable Case of the Twice-Averaged Hill Problem with Central Body Oblateness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vashkov'yak, M. A.

    2018-01-01

    The twice-averaged Hill problem with the oblateness of the central planet is considered in the case where its equatorial plane coincides with the plane of its orbital motion relative to the perturbing body. A qualitative study of this so-called coplanar integrable case was begun by Y. Kozai in 1963 and continued by M.L. Lidov and M.V. Yarskaya in 1974. However, no rigorous analytical solution of the problem can be obtained due to the complexity of the integrals. In this paper we obtain some quantitative evolution characteristics and propose an approximate constructive-analytical solution of the evolution system in the form of explicit time dependences of satellite orbit elements. The methodical accuracy has been estimated for several orbits of artificial lunar satellites by comparison with the numerical solution of the evolution system.

  1. Case study as a learning opportunity among nursing students in a ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    research were observed in order to maintain the integrity of the research. The research fi ndings suggest that the case study as a learning opportunity is effective in facilitating learning, as indicated by the following three categories: increase in critical thinking skills, increased theory and practice integration and increased ...

  2. Phenotypic integration and the evolution of signal repertoires: A case study of treefrog acoustic communication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reichert, Michael S; Höbel, Gerlinde

    2018-03-01

    Animal signals are inherently complex phenotypes with many interacting parts combining to elicit responses from receivers. The pattern of interrelationships between signal components reflects the extent to which each component is expressed, and responds to selection, either in concert with or independently of others. Furthermore, many species have complex repertoires consisting of multiple signal types used in different contexts, and common morphological and physiological constraints may result in interrelationships extending across the multiple signals in species' repertoires. The evolutionary significance of interrelationships between signal traits can be explored within the framework of phenotypic integration, which offers a suite of quantitative techniques to characterize complex phenotypes. In particular, these techniques allow for the assessment of modularity and integration, which describe, respectively, the extent to which sets of traits covary either independently or jointly. Although signal and repertoire complexity are thought to be major drivers of diversification and social evolution, few studies have explicitly measured the phenotypic integration of signals to investigate the evolution of diverse communication systems. We applied methods from phenotypic integration studies to quantify integration in the two primary vocalization types (advertisement and aggressive calls) in the treefrogs Hyla versicolor , Hyla cinerea, and Dendropsophus ebraccatus . We recorded male calls and calculated standardized phenotypic variance-covariance ( P ) matrices for characteristics within and across call types. We found significant integration across call types, but the strength of integration varied by species and corresponded with the acoustic similarity of the call types within each species. H. versicolor had the most modular advertisement and aggressive calls and the least acoustically similar call types. Additionally, P was robust to changing social competition

  3. Success and Failures of Acquisitions: A Case Study for a Chemical Company

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shainaaz MOOSA MUSTAFFA

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to perform a universal inspection of the processes adopted in acquisitions by concentrating on attributes which are speedily implemented in the industry. The approach to this research study was based on literature reviews to gain knowledge on the causes of failure and the factors attributed to the success of acquisitions in the case study concerning a chemical company. This method was applied to identify if the failures and successes researched are shown in the case study. The research study firstly looked at various approaches to acquisitions, namely, the pre-acquisition, post-acquisition and integration phases together with the motives for acquisitions. The study delves further into factors influencing the failures and successes of acquisitions. A notable body of research was consulted to focus on these factors. The research study highlights a framework incorporating the management of post-integration strategy concurrently with the people and the organisational goals. The key findings showed that the company lacked a formal integration plan, cultural integration, ad proper communication plans. This resulted in staff unrest and high attrition of staff from deal announcement date up to post integration, leading to high resistance from staff and poor people integration. The company did however achieve financial success through synergy realisation. This positive outcome could have been achieved quicker with the proper integration plans within the different phases of the acquisition. The knowledge attained from this study will hopefully add to the body of knowledge on acquisitions.

  4. It System Integration: Global Medical Acquisition of Health Tech Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Russo, Mark; White, Bruce

    2013-01-01

    Mergers and Acquisitions are just part of life in business. For example, in the health care technology field in 2012, Veritas Capital Partners acquired Thomson Reuters' Healthcare. Other major active acquisition companies included: Medical Transcription Billing, T-System Technologies and Sharecare. In this case study, a larger health technology…

  5. Integrated marketing communication in tourism – an analysis. Case study: Muntenia and Oltenia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aurelia-Felicia STĂNCIOIU

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available The multitude of factors interfering in the process of image formation and the way in which they act in a unique combination, similar to a genetic code for a consumer, influences the image study of a tourism destination in the direction of becoming a complex process. In the marketing activity of each destination, the analysis of the importance of destination’s resources represents an essential step, however, as the multifaceted tourism product presents (in combination with, as well as through other policies – price, distribution etc. a strong diversification, the distinction between the real, objective situation of the destination’s resources and the lack of their communication, on the one hand, and the distinction between the real situation and the way in which the resources are “presented” (in the direction of maximising or minimising them, on the other hand, can constitute a barrier in the path of formulating and/or fulfilling the marketing objectives and, respectively, the communication ones. In this context, in the authors’ opinion, in aid of a positioning strategy as accurate as possible – starting point in the integrated marketing communication strategy, a radiography of the tourism resources, their place and their reflection, in relation to those communicated through the different promotional instruments (examples, books, guides, online tourism agencies, social media etc., is permanently imposed, all the more in the case of a macrodestination like Romania, and should be carefully monitorised.

  6. Penalized differential pathway analysis of integrative oncogenomics studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Wieringen, Wessel N; van de Wiel, Mark A

    2014-04-01

    Through integration of genomic data from multiple sources, we may obtain a more accurate and complete picture of the molecular mechanisms underlying tumorigenesis. We discuss the integration of DNA copy number and mRNA gene expression data from an observational integrative genomics study involving cancer patients. The two molecular levels involved are linked through the central dogma of molecular biology. DNA copy number aberrations abound in the cancer cell. Here we investigate how these aberrations affect gene expression levels within a pathway using observational integrative genomics data of cancer patients. In particular, we aim to identify differential edges between regulatory networks of two groups involving these molecular levels. Motivated by the rate equations, the regulatory mechanism between DNA copy number aberrations and gene expression levels within a pathway is modeled by a simultaneous-equations model, for the one- and two-group case. The latter facilitates the identification of differential interactions between the two groups. Model parameters are estimated by penalized least squares using the lasso (L1) penalty to obtain a sparse pathway topology. Simulations show that the inclusion of DNA copy number data benefits the discovery of gene-gene interactions. In addition, the simulations reveal that cis-effects tend to be over-estimated in a univariate (single gene) analysis. In the application to real data from integrative oncogenomic studies we show that inclusion of prior information on the regulatory network architecture benefits the reproducibility of all edges. Furthermore, analyses of the TP53 and TGFb signaling pathways between ER+ and ER- samples from an integrative genomics breast cancer study identify reproducible differential regulatory patterns that corroborate with existing literature.

  7. Implementation of integrated care for diabetes mellitus type 2 by two Dutch care groups : A case study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Busetto, Loraine; Luijkx, Katrien; Huizing, Anna; Vrijhoef, H.J.M.

    2015-01-01

    Background Even though previous research has demonstrated improved outcomes of integrated care initiatives, it is not clear why and when integrated care works. This study aims to contribute to filling this knowledge gap by examining the implementation of integrated care for type 2 diabetes by two

  8. How Are Service Dogs for Adults with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Integrated with Rehabilitation in Denmark? A Case Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glintborg, Chalotte; Hansen, Tia G B

    2017-04-25

    A severe mental illness like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is known to have psychosocial consequences that can lead to a decreased quality of life. Research in Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) has revealed that the presence of a dog can have a positive effect on health, e.g., increase quality of life and lessen depression and anxiety. However, canine companionship is not a catch-all solution. Previous research has revealed methodological limitations that prohibit any clear conclusions, as well as a sparsity of critical reflection in anecdotal reports and case studies, which means that more research is needed to contextualize the findings. There has been an increasing interest in animal-assisted intervention in Denmark in recent years. Previously, authorities could only grant service dogs to adults with physical disabilities, but now this has been extended to adults with mental illnesses. Therefore, it has become important to explore how these service dogs are incorporated into rehabilitation practices in mental health, and how rehabilitation professionals react to the use of service dogs. This paper is a case study of a person who suffers from PTSD. This study examines how the person describes the significance of having a dog during her rehabilitation process, and how this is integrated with existing rehabilitation. The case study has been developed based on a semi-structured interview. A Thematic Content analysis was used to reveal dominant patterns and categories. This study revealed a lack of communication and collaboration between public administration (social service), service dog providers, health rehabilitation services, and providers of psychological treatment. It also revealed limited access for the dog to public services, limited success in incorporating the dog into goal-directed treatment and rehabilitation procedures, a strongly felt emotional support from the dog, and a perceived stigma by having the dog wearing a vest with he words "mentally ill

  9. Best practices in intercultural health: five case studies in Latin America

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mignone, Javier; Bartlett, Judith; O'Neil, John; Orchard, Treena

    2007-01-01

    The practice of integrating western and traditional indigenous medicine is fast becoming an accepted and more widely used approach in health care systems throughout the world. However, debates about intercultural health approaches have raised significant concerns. This paper reports findings of five case studies on intercultural health in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Suriname. It presents summary information on each case study, comparatively analyzes the initiatives following four main analytical themes, and examines the case studies against a series of the best practice criteria. PMID:17803820

  10. Integration between ground based and satellite SAR data in landslide mapping: The San Fratello case study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bardi, Federica; Frodella, William; Ciampalini, Andrea; Bianchini, Silvia; Del Ventisette, Chiara; Gigli, Giovanni; Fanti, Riccardo; Moretti, Sandro; Basile, Giuseppe; Casagli, Nicola

    2014-10-01

    The potential use of the integration of PSI (Persistent Scatterer Interferometry) and GB-InSAR (Ground-based Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry) for landslide hazard mitigation was evaluated for mapping and monitoring activities of the San Fratello landslide (Sicily, Italy). Intense and exceptional rainfall events are the main factors that triggered several slope movements in the study area, which is susceptible to landslides, because of its steep slopes and silty-clayey sedimentary cover. In the last three centuries, the town of San Fratello was affected by three large landslides, developed in different periods: the oldest one occurred in 1754, damaging the northeastern sector of the town; in 1922 a large landslide completely destroyed a wide area in the western hillside of the town. In this paper, the attention is focussed on the most recent landslide that occurred on 14 February 2010: in this case, the phenomenon produced the failure of a large sector of the eastern hillside, causing severe damages to buildings and infrastructures. In particular, several slow-moving rotational and translational slides occurred in the area, making it suitable to monitor ground instability through different InSAR techniques. PS-InSAR™ (permanent scatterers SAR interferometry) techniques, using ERS-1/ERS-2, ENVISAT, RADARSAT-1, and COSMO-SkyMed SAR images, were applied to analyze ground displacements during pre- and post-event phases. Moreover, during the post-event phase in March 2010, a GB-InSAR system, able to acquire data continuously every 14 min, was installed collecting ground displacement maps for a period of about three years, until March 2013. Through the integration of space-borne and ground-based data sets, ground deformation velocity maps were obtained, providing a more accurate delimitation of the February 2010 landslide boundary, with respect to the carried out traditional geomorphological field survey. The integration of GB-InSAR and PSI techniques proved to

  11. Cross section evaluation by spinor integration: The massless case in 4D

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Feng Bo; Huang Rijun; Jia Yin; Luo Mingxing; Wang Honghui

    2010-01-01

    To get the total cross section of one interaction from its amplitude M, one needs to integrate |M| 2 over phase spaces of all outgoing particles. Starting from this paper, we will propose a new method to perform such integrations, which is inspired by the reduced phase space integration of one-loop unitarity cut developed in the last few years. The new method reduces one constrained three-dimension momentum space integration to a one-dimensional integration, plus one possible Feynman parameter integration. There is no need to specify a reference framework in our calculation, since every step is manifestly Lorentz invariant by the new method. The current paper is the first paper of a series for the new method. Here we have exclusively focused on massless particles in 4D. There is no need to carve out a complicated integration region in the phase space for this particular simple case because the integration region is always simply [0,1].

  12. Service-Learning and Interior Design: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sterling, Mary

    2007-01-01

    The case study approach was used to analyze experiential learning through its three components: knowledge, action, and reflection. Two interior design courses were integrated through a university service-learning project. The restoration/adaptive reuse of a 95-year-old library building was to serve as a prototype for future off-campus…

  13. Integrating Entrepreneurship Education across University-Wide Curricula: The Case of Two Public Universities in Tanzania

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalimasi, Perpetua Joseph; Herman, Chaya

    2016-01-01

    This qualitative case study explores the integration of entrepreneurship education (EE) across the curricula in two public universities in Tanzania. Based on Shapero's model of the entrepreneurial event, the feasibility and desirability of EE in the selected universities are analysed. In-depth interviews and document analysis were used for data…

  14. Integrating management tools and concepts to develop an estuarine planning support system: A case study of the Humber Estuary, Eastern England.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lonsdale, Jemma-Anne; Weston, Keith; Barnard, Steve; Boyes, Suzanne J; Elliott, Michael

    2015-11-15

    Estuaries are important because of their multiple uses and users which often makes them challenging to manage since management must strike a balance between the needs of users, the estuaries' ecological and economic value and the context of multiple legislative drivers. To facilitate management we have therefore developed an Estuarine Planning Support System (EPSS) framework using the Humber Estuary, Eastern England, as a case study which integrates the current legislation tools and concepts. This integrated EPSS framework is an improvement on previous approaches for assessing cumulative impacts as it takes into account legislative drivers, management tools and other mechanisms for controlling plans/projects specific to the estuary. It therefore enables managers and users to assess and address both the current state and the way in which a new industrial, port or urban development could impact an estuary in an accessible and understandable framework. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Integrated energy optimisation for the cement industry: A case study perspective

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Swanepoel, Jan Adriaan; Mathews, Edward Henry; Vosloo, Jan; Liebenberg, Leon

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Integration of all energy-intensive components of a cement plant production process in a simulation package. • Uniquely, the simulation model incorporates constraints such as maintenance, production and dynamic energy costs. • The system was implemented on four different cement plants and a total energy cost saving of 7.1% was achieved. - Abstract: Energy costs play a major role in the cement production process. As much as 60% of total cost is allocated to energy and 18% to the consumption of electrical energy. Historically, energy cost savings were achieved by large infrastructure upgrades. These upgrades are often costly and lead to interruptions in production. In this paper the operation of all the energy intensive components of the cement production process are identified, modelled, integrated and optimised for minimum operational costs while meeting production targets. This integrated approach allows for simulation of the collective effect of individual production components. The system incorporates constraints such as maintenance, production and dynamic energy costs. No published research could be found where these constraints are incorporated into a single operational solution. The system was implemented on four cement plants and a total energy cost saving of 7% was achieved. This highlights the practical significance of an integrated approach to energy cost savings

  16. Optimizing decentralized renewable energy production by combining potentials and integrated environmental impact analysis. A case study in the Hannover region

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Palmas, Claudia; Siewert, Almut [Leibniz Univ. of Hannover (Germany). Dept. of Environmental Planning

    2013-07-01

    In Europe, the integration of decentralized renewable energy production in regional planning processes plays a crucial role. In particular, regions face a major challenge in order to set up renewable decentralized energy systems and incorporate them into the electricity grid. This paper presents a methodological concept and preliminary tests of applications in order to create an optimization model for an improved renewable energy development and planning practice: firstly, the energy potentials of micro renewable resources are estimated, and secondly the outcomes are combined with an estimation of resulting environmental impacts. Including these data into the spatial analysis, different scenarios can be developed in order to support decision making in landscape planning on the basis of environmental and landscape criteria as well as energy issues, including technical aspects and costs. The case study area is the Hannover region. First results show good energy potentials, which will be in a next step evaluated and combined with environmental impacts in order to improve energy efficiency by integrated renewable, decentralized power plants and energy mix. (orig.)

  17. A Model of Functional Integration and Conflict: The Case of Purchasing-Production in a Construction Company

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ellegaard, Chris; Koch, Christian

    2014-01-01

    into cross-functional conflict. Facing a conflicting functional relationship, managers must resort to conflict resolution methods, instead of attempting to integrate, as several integrative devices are not appropriate in conflicting interfaces. Originality/value – The proposed model contributes by connecting......Purpose – The purpose of this article is to generate theory on how functional integration and conflict interrelate by studying the interface between production and purchasing. Design/methodology/approach – An interpretive single case research methodology is adopted. The authors rely on in......-depth interviewing of managers in the production and purchasing functions of a construction company, as well as by its suppliers. Findings – Given low functional integration, antagonistic reasoning within each function and resultant conflicting behaviors are allowed to develop in a negative cycle, escalating...

  18. Environmental restoration: Integrating hydraulic control of groundwater, innovative contaminant removal technologies and wetlands restoration--A case study at SRS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lewis, C.M.; Serkiz, S.M.; Adams, J.; Welty, M.

    1992-01-01

    The groundwater remediation program at the F and H Seepage Basins, Savannah River Sits (SRS) is a case study of the integration of various environmental restoration technologies at a single waste site. Hydraulic control measures are being designed to mitigate the discharge of groundwater plumes to surface water. One of the primary constituents of the plumes is tritium. An extraction and reinjection scenario is being designed to keep the tritium in circulation in the shallow groundwater, until it can naturally decay. This will be accomplished by extracting groundwater downgradient of the waste sites, treatment, and reinjection of the tritiated water into the water table upgradient of the basins. Innovative in-situ technologies, including electrolytic migration, are being field tested at the site to augment the pump-treat-reinject system. The in-situ technologies target removal of contaminants which are relatively immobile, yet represent long term risks to human health and the environment. Wetland restoration is an integral part of the F and H remediation program. Both in-situ treatment of the groundwater discharging the wetlands to adjust the pH, and replacement of water loss due to the groundwater extraction program ar being considered. Toxicity studies indicate that drought and the effects of low pH groundwater discharge have been factors in observed tree mortality in wetlands near the waste sites

  19. Case Study Shows Disconnect on Civic Journalism's Role

    OpenAIRE

    Tully, M.; Harmsen, S.; Singer, J.; Ekdale, B.

    2017-01-01

    This in-depth case study examines attempts to transform a traditional newsroom to one oriented around civic journalism principles, offering a unique look at the resistance toward those principles even in a digital environment that facilitates new audience relationships. Civic journalism emphasizes understanding and addressing community concerns from a citizen perspective. This study finds that journalists still struggle to integrate citizens’ contributions into newsroom practice in meaningful...

  20. A Local Dimension of Integration Policies? A Comparative Study of Berlin, Malmö, and Rotterdam

    OpenAIRE

    Dekker, Rianne; Emilsson, Henrik; Krieger, Bernhard; Scholten, Peter

    2015-01-01

    textabstractThis study examines three theses on local integration policies by a qualitative comparative case study of integration policies in three cities in three different countries (Berlin, Malmö, and Rotterdam). We found little evidence of a congruent local dimension of integration policies. Local policies resemble their national policy frameworks fairly well in terms of policy approaches and domains. Our multi-level perspective shows that this is not the result of top-down hierarchical g...

  1. An ecosystem service approach to support integrated pond management: a case study using Bayesian belief networks--highlighting opportunities and risks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Landuyt, Dries; Lemmens, Pieter; D'hondt, Rob; Broekx, Steven; Liekens, Inge; De Bie, Tom; Declerck, Steven A J; De Meester, Luc; Goethals, Peter L M

    2014-12-01

    Freshwater ponds deliver a broad range of ecosystem services (ESS). Taking into account this broad range of services to attain cost-effective ESS delivery is an important challenge facing integrated pond management. To assess the strengths and weaknesses of an ESS approach to support decisions in integrated pond management, we applied it on a small case study in Flanders, Belgium. A Bayesian belief network model was developed to assess ESS delivery under three alternative pond management scenarios: intensive fish farming (IFF), extensive fish farming (EFF) and nature conservation management (NCM). A probabilistic cost-benefit analysis was performed that includes both costs associated with pond management practices and benefits associated with ESS delivery. Whether or not a particular ESS is included in the analysis affects the identification of the most preferable management scenario by the model. Assessing the delivery of a more complete set of ecosystem services tends to shift the results away from intensive management to more biodiversity-oriented management scenarios. The proposed methodology illustrates the potential of Bayesian belief networks. BBNs facilitate knowledge integration and their modular nature encourages future model expansion to more encompassing sets of services. Yet, we also illustrate the key weaknesses of such exercises, being that the choice whether or not to include a particular ecosystem service may determine the suggested optimal management practice. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Migration to Alma/Primo: A Case Study of Central Washington University

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ping Fu

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes how Central Washington University Libraries (CWUL interacted and collaborated with the Orbis Cascade Alliance (OCA Shared Integrated Library System’s (SILS Implementation Team and Ex Libris to process systems and data migration from Innovative Interfaces Inc.’s Millennium integrated library system to Alma/Primo, Ex Libris’ next-generation library management solution and discovery and delivery solution. A chronological review method was used for this case study to provide an overall picture of key migration events, tasks, and implementation efforts, including pre-migration cleanup, migration forms, integration with external systems, testing, cutover, post-migration cleanup, and reporting and fixing outstanding issues. A three-phase migration model was studied, and a questionnaire was designed to collect data from functional leads to determine staff time spent on the migration tasks. Staff time spent on each phase was analyzed and quantitated, with some top essential elements for the success of the migration identified through the case review and data analysis. An analysis of the Ex Libris’ Salesforce cases created during the migration and post-migration was conducted to be used for identifying roles of key librarians and staff functional leads during the migration.

  3. Using Smartphones to Assist People with Down Syndrome in Their Labour Training and Integration: A Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Javier Gomez

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This article describes a proposal and case study based on mobile phones and QR Codes to assist individuals with cognitive disabilities in their labour training and integration. This proposal, named AssisT-Task, is a full functional mobile application for Android smartphones and offers step-by-step guidance, establishing a learning method through task sequencing. It has been tested with a group of 10 users and 2 types of labour tasks. Through 7 recorded sessions, we compared the performance and the learning progress with the tool against the traditional assisting method, based on paper instructions. The results show that people with cognitive disabilities learnt and performed better and faster when using AssisT-Task than the traditional method, particularly on tasks that require cognitive effort rather than manual skills. This learning has proved to be essential to obtain an adequate degree of personal autonomy for people with cognitive impairment.

  4. Public Service Integrity Perception: Case Study In Kutai Kartanegara Regency, Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dyah Mutiarin

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper was aimed to measure the integrity of public service at Kutai Kartanegara Regency, East Borneo Province, Indonesia. The public service integrity can be seen from many perspective such as how the citizens satisfied with the public services provided by the government, how the public perception on combating corruption, and how success the government providing minimum service standard to the public at large. This three forms of public service integrity was the main focuses of this research in Kutai Kartanegara regency. The phenomenon of public service in Kutai Kartanegara Regency shown out of the tracks and missing to convey the importance of public service values, characterized by uncertainty of charges, time, and procedures. The research used the quantitative methods by scoring 3 indexes, which are the Citizen Satisfaction Index, Corruption Perception Index, and Minimum Service Standard Index. This research used Non-probability Sampling method, also Judgment Sampling procedure, in the development and compilation of the citizens satisfaction index. There were 57 local government agencies that served as the samples. The results of this research were the public service integrity perceptions in Kutai Kartanegara regency was need to be improved on the quantity and quality of public service delivery, commitment and efforts to create a clean government, transparency and accountability especially on e-procurement and to implement minimum service standards in every government offices.

  5. Aspects Referring Wind Energy Integration from the Power System Point of View in the Region of Southeast Europe. Study Case of Romania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simona-Vasilica Oprea

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Wind energy integration is a complex target that could refer to different aspects such as: grid capacity; power system; support scheme; environmental; social issues; etc. It is probably the less predictable renewable energy sources (RES due to its high volatility being difficult to be securely integrated into the power systems. This paper will focus on the wind energy integration from the power system point of view, emphasizing the case of Romania. Before going into the Romanian case, the paper analyzes the potential benefits of the regional approach in terms of power system integration, revealing that it can bring significant advantages by reducing the required power reserves or increasing wind power plants (WPP generation. Currently, the power system integration is one of the major obstacle to large scale wind energy penetration in the region of Southeast (SE Europe with high wind energy potential. The results of our research consist in proposing a model for estimating the balancing reserves sharing at regional level, comparing regional to country-by-country approach in terms of the power reserve requirements for balancing the operation of WPP. It definitely reveals that by regional Transmission System Operators (TSO coordination; less reserves are needed; therefore, the space for RES enlarges. We also propose a model for Romanian power system that is able to calculate the installed power of WPP that could operate without considerable interruptions. Also, the model estimates the additional power reserves required for larger wind energy integration. This perspective can provide interesting insights on what should be foreseen as reasonable behavior of the policy makers and investors.

  6. Integration of a solar thermal system in a medium-sized brewery using pinch analysis: Methodology and case study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eiholzer, Tobias; Olsen, Donald; Hoffmann, Sebastian; Sturm, Barbara; Wellig, Beat

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Methodologies to reduce energy consumption in batch processes are presented. • Pinch analysis is used to improve energy efficiency. • Integration potential for solar heat is presented on a Scottish brewery case study. • Governmental support is important in a company’s investment in renewables. - Abstract: In the food industry a major portion of thermal energy is required for low temperature applications (below 100 °C). As a consequence, there is a significant potential to substitute fossil fuels by the use of solar heat. This paper presents a methodology that first uses pinch analysis to optimize a medium-sized Scottish brewery from a direct heat recovery perspective followed by the integration of a solar thermal system. Both the time average model and time slice model were used to determine direct and indirect heat recovery potentials. In a second stage, an optimization of a chosen integration point was conducted to assess the viability of the resulting design concept. The economic analysis includes an assessment of the impact of restrictions in the UK government’s Renewable Heat Incentive program. It was determined that since solar thermal systems are financially supported up to an installed capacity of 200 kW, solar heat can only account for a maximum of 7.7% of the heat demand based on the investigated brewery. However, if there was no limitation in capacity, from an economic point of view, the solar fraction could almost be doubled drawing into question the need for the restriction. Nevertheless, a CO_2 saving potential of approximately 38 tons per year in conjunction with a payback period of 6.4 years was determined.

  7. Integrated package approach in delivering interventions during immunisation campaigns in a complex environment in Papua New Guinea: a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vince, John David; Datta, Siddhartha Sankar; Toikilik, Steven; Lagani, William

    2014-08-06

    Papua New Guinea's difficult and varied topography, poor transport infrastructure, changing dynamics of population and economy in recent times and understaffed and poorly financed health service present major challenges for successful delivery of vaccination and other preventative health interventions to both the rural majority and urban populations, thereby posing risks for vaccine preventable disease outbreaks in the country. The country has struggled to meet the vaccination coverage targets required for the eradication of poliomyelitis and elimination of measles. Escalation of inter and intra country migration resulting from major industrial developments, particularly in extraction industries, has substantially increased the risk of infectious disease importation. This case study documents the evolution of immunisation programmes since the introduction of supplementary immunisation activities (SIAs). Single antigen SIAs have advantages and disadvantages. In situations in which the delivery of preventative health interventions is difficult, it is likely that the cost benefit is greater for multiple than for single intervention. The lessons learned from the conduct of single antigen SIAs can be effectively used for programmes delivering multiple SIA antigens, routine immunisations, and other health interventions. This paper describes a successful and cost effective multiple intervention programme in Papua New Guinea. The review of the last SIA in Papua New Guinea showed relatively high coverage of all the interventions and demonstrated the operational feasibility of delivering multiple interventions in resource constrained settings. Studies in other developing countries such as Lesotho and Ethiopia have also successfully integrated health interventions with SIA. In settings such as Papua New Guinea there is a strong case for integrating supplementary immunisation activity with routine immunisation and other health interventions through a comprehensive outreach

  8. Civic engagement education: a case study of millennial in Langkawi ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Civic engagement education: a case study of millennial in Langkawi island and ... control through integrated marketing communication (IMC) and its exposure, ... The findings revealed a lot of strategies that need to be implemented by the ...

  9. System integration design in MEMS – A case study of ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    solutions in MEMS technology is very much felt that combine single chip integration .... chip are being used for temperature compensation and to balance the bridge configuration. ..... to the offset voltage, which reduces the span of the sensor.

  10. IGSC - Integration Group for the Safety Case

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2015-01-01

    Countries that rely on nuclear energy and materials have an ethical obligation to manage radioactive waste in a safe and environmentally responsible manner. For society to support the sustainable solutions envisaged, disposal concepts must be technologically sound and the safety of these concepts must be convincingly demonstrated. The Nuclear Energy Agency's Integration Group for the Safety Case (IGSC) establishes and documents the technical and scientific basis for developing and reviewing safety cases as a platform for dialogue among technical experts and as a tool for decision making. The IGSC addresses various strategic and policy aspects of radioactive waste management as the technical advisory body to the NEA Radioactive Waste Management Committee (RWMC) for all issues related to repository development. For more than two decades, the IGSC and its predecessor technical groups have promoted the exchange of national experience in evaluating and implementing geological repositories. IGSC activities foster consensus on best practices and encourage the development of innovative, advanced approaches covering the technical aspects at all stages of repository implementation, including: - strategies to characterise and evaluate potential disposal sites; - methods to design and test engineered barrier systems; - priorities for research and development programmes to improve the understanding of important processes and interactions; - tools for safety assessments; - techniques for the effective presentation and communication of the results of safety cases and other factors that provide the basis for increased confidence in the safety of geological disposal facilities. The IGSC has been instrumental in further developing the 'modern safety case', a concept that originally emerged from NEA work in the 1990's. Cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the European Commission (EC) has led to the worldwide adoption of this safety

  11. A Case Study of the Application of SAMR and TPACK for Reflection on Technology Integration into Two Social Studies Classrooms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilton, Jason Theodore

    2016-01-01

    As emerging technology continues to enter the social studies classroom, teachers need to approach integration of such technology in a systematic manner to ensure that such technology enhances the learning of their students. Currently, scholars of technology integration advocate for the use of one of two different models, either SAMR or TPACK. This…

  12. Study on simplified estimation of J-integral under thermal loading

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takahashi, Y.

    1993-01-01

    For assessing structural integrity or safety of nuclear power plants, strength of structures under the presence of flaws sometimes needs to be evaluated. Because relative large inelastic deformation is anticipated in the liquid metal reactor components even without flaws due to high operating temperature and large temperature gradients, inelastic effects should be properly taken into account in the flaw assessment procedures. It is widely recognized that J-integral and its variations - e.g. fatigue J-integral range and creep J-integral - play substantial roles in the flaw assessment under the presence of large inelastic deformation. Therefore their utilization has been promoted in the recent flaw assessment procedure both for low and high temperature plants. However, it is not very practical to conduct a detailed numerical computation for cracked structures to estimate the values of these parameters for the purpose of trailing crack growth history. Thus development of simplified estimation methods which do not require full numerical calculation for cracked structures is desirable. A method using normalized J-integral solutions tabulated in the handbook is a direct extension of linear fracture mechanics counterpart and it can be used for standard specimen and simple structural configurations subjected to specified loading type. The reference stress method has also been developed but in this case limit load solutions, which are often difficult to obtain for general stress distribution, are necessary instead of nonlinear J-integral solutions. However, both methods have been developed mainly for mechanical loading and thus applying these techniques to thermal stress problem is rather difficult except the cases where the thermal stress can be properly substituted by equivalent mechanical loading as in the case of simple thermal expansion loading. Therefore alternative approach should be pursued for estimating J-integral and their variations in thermal stress problems

  13. Improving tuberculosis case detection in underdeveloped multi-ethnic regions with high disease burden: a case study of integrated control program in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jun; Liu, Xiao-Qiu; Jiang, Shi-Wen; Li, Xue; Yu, Fei; Wang, Yan; Peng, Yong; Gu, Xiao-Ming; Sun, Yan-Ni; Zhang, Hui; Wang, Li-Xia

    2017-11-29

    In the underdeveloped multi-ethnic regions of China, high tuberculosis (TB) burden and regional inequity in access to healthcare service increase the challenge of achieving the End TB goals. Among all the provinces, the highest TB burden is reported in Xinjiang, where ethnic minorities and older people have suffered most. However, current case-finding strategy is inadequate given the complex social determinants and suboptimal case detection rates. Thus, we developed an integrated TB control program to improve case detection and conducted a pilot in Xinjiang from 2014 to 2015. In this case study, we summarized the activities and key findings. We also shared the experiences and challenges of implementing interventions and provided recommendations to inform the TB control program in the future. The pilot interventions were implemented in one selected town in Yining based on local TB control programs. By applying tailor-made educational materials, outreach TB educational activities were conducted in diverse ways. In 22 Masjids, the trained imams promoted TB education to the Muslims, covering 20,440 person-times in 88 delivered preaching sessions. In seven schools, 1944 students were educated by the teachers and contributed to educating 6929 family members. In the village communities, 13,073 residents participated in household education and screening. Among them, 12,292 people aged under 65 years were investigated for suspicious pulmonary TB symptoms, where six TB patients were diagnosed out of 89 TB suspects; 781 older people were mobilized for screening directly by chest X-ray, where 10 patients were diagnosed out of 692 participants. Supportive healthcare system, multi-sectoral cooperation and multi-channel financing mechanism were the successful experiences of implementation. The interventions were proved to be more effective than the previous performance: the number of TB suspects consulting doctors and patients detected increased by 50% and 26%, respectively

  14. Promoting Career Development in the Early Years of a Person's Life through Self- and Career Construction Counselling (Using an Integrated, Qualitative + Quantitative Approach): A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maree, Jacobus G.

    2018-01-01

    This article reports on the value of career construction counselling (integrating qualitative and quantitative strategies and associated techniques) for a young person. The participant was purposefully selected from a number of people who had sought career counselling in a private practice context. An intrinsic, single-case study design was…

  15. Corticospinal tract integrity and motor function following neonatal stroke: a case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gordon Anne L

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background New MRI techniques enable visualisation of corticospinal tracts and cortical motor activity. The objective of this case study was to describe the magnetic resonance evidence of corticospinal pathway reorganisation following neonatal stroke. Case presentation An 11 year old boy with a neonatal right middle cerebral artery territory ischaemic stroke was studied. Functional MRI was undertaken with a whole hand squeezing task, comparing areas of cortical activation between hands. White matter tracts, seeded from the area of peak activation in the cortex, were visualised using a diffusion weighted imaging probabilistic tractography method. Standardised evaluations of unilateral and bilateral motor function were undertaken. Clinically, the child presented with a left hemiparesis. Functional MRI demonstrated that movement of the hemiparetic hand resulted in activation in the ipsi-lesional (right hemisphere only. Diffusion tractography revealed pathways in the right (lesioned hemisphere tracked perilesionally to the cortical area identified by functional MRI. Conclusion Our case demonstrates that neonatal stroke is associated with maintenance of organization of corticospinal pathways sufficient to maintain some degree of hand function in the affected hemisphere. Functional MRI and diffusion weighted imaging tractography may inform our understanding of recovery, organisation and reorganisation and have the potential to monitor responses to intervention following neonatal stroke.

  16. Integrated continuous processing of proteins expressed as inclusion bodies: GCSF as a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kateja, Nikhil; Agarwal, Harshit; Hebbi, Vishwanath; Rathore, Anurag S

    2017-07-01

    Affordability of biopharmaceuticals continues to be a challenge, particularly in developing economies. This has fuelled advancements in manufacturing that can offer higher productivity and better economics without sacrificing product quality in the form of an integrated continuous manufacturing platform. While platform processes for monoclonal antibodies have existed for more than a decade, development of an integrated continuous manufacturing process for bacterial proteins has received relatively scant attention. In this study, we propose an end-to-end integrated continuous downstream process (from inclusion bodies to unformulated drug substance) for a therapeutic protein expressed in Escherichia coli as inclusion body. The final process consisted of a continuous refolding in a coiled flow inverter reactor directly coupled to a three-column periodic counter-current chromatography for capture of the product followed by a three-column con-current chromatography for polishing. The continuous bioprocessing train was run uninterrupted for 26 h to demonstrate its capability and the resulting output was analyzed for the various critical quality attributes, namely product purity (>99%), high molecular weight impurities (<0.5%), host cell proteins (<100 ppm), and host cell DNA (<10 ppb). All attributes were found to be consistent over the period of operation. The developed assembly offers smaller facility footprint, higher productivity, fewer hold steps, and significantly higher equipment and resin utilization. The complexities of process integration in the context of continuous processing have been highlighted. We hope that the study presented here will promote development of highly efficient, universal, end-to-end, fully continuous platforms for manufacturing of biotherapeutics. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 33:998-1009, 2017. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

  17. Nuclear Hybrid Energy Systems Initial Integrated Case Study Development and Analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Harrison, Thomas J. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Greenwood, Michael Scott [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

    2016-12-01

    The US Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy established the Nuclear Hybrid Energy System (NHES) project to develop a systematic, rigorous, technically accurate set of methods to model, analyze, and optimize the integration of dispatchable nuclear, fossil, and electric storage with an industrial customer. Ideally, the optimized integration of these systems will provide economic and operational benefits to the overall system compared to independent operation, and it will enhance the stability and responsiveness of the grid as intermittent, nondispatchable, renewable resources provide a greater share of grid power.

  18. How to Integrate HIV and Sexual and Reproductive Health Services in Namibia, the Epako Clinic Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tomas Zapata

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: During the past two decades, HIV and Sexual and Reproductive Health services in Namibia have been provided in silos, with high fragmentation. As a consequence of this, quality and efficiency of services in Primary Health Care has been compromised.  Methods: We conducted an operational research (observational pre-post study in a public health facility in Namibia. A health facility assessment was conducted before and after the integration of health services. A person-centred integrated model was implemented to integrate all health services provided at the health facility in addition to HIV and Sexual and Reproductive Health services. Comprehensive services are provided by each health worker to the same patients over time (longitudinality, on a daily basis (accessibility and with a good external referral system (coordination. Prevalence rates of time flows and productivity were done.  Results: Integrated services improved accessibility, stigma and quality of antenatal care services by improving the provider-patient communication, reducing the time that patients stay in the clinic in 16% and reducing the waiting times in 14%. In addition, nurse productivity improved 85% and the expected time in the health facility was reduced 24% without compromising the uptake of TB, HIV, outpatient, antenatal care or first visit family planning services. Given the success on many indicators resulting from integration of services, the goal of this paper was to describe “how” health services have been integrated, the “process” followed and presenting some “results” from the integrated clinic.  Conclusions: Our study shows that HIV and SRH services can be effectively integrated by following the person-centred integrated model. Based on the Namibian experience on “how” to integrate health services and the “process” to achieve it, other African countries can replicate the model to move away from the silo approach and contribute to

  19. Miller Table Company: A Profit Analysis Case Integrating Managerial Accounting, Microeconomics and Marketing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Louise

    2014-01-01

    This paper describes a unique integrative business case appropriate for use in a managerial accounting course or other business courses related to economics or marketing. The case describes a scenario in which a managerial accountant is assisting in business decisions relating to factors influencing the profitability of a small manufacturing…

  20. Integrated forward and reverse supply chain: A tire case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pedram, Ali; Yusoff, Nukman Bin; Udoncy, Olugu Ezutah; Mahat, Abu Bakar; Pedram, Payam; Babalola, Ayo

    2017-02-01

    This paper attempts to integrate both a forward and reverse supply chain to design a closed-loop supply chain network (CLSC). The problem in the design of a CLSC network is uncertainty in demand, return products and the quality of return products. Scenario analyses are generated to overcome this uncertainty. In contrast to the existing supply chain network design models, a new application of a CLSC network was studied in this paper to reduce waste. A multi-product, multi-tier mixed integer linear model is developed for a CLSC network design. The main objective is to maximize profit and provide waste management decision support in order to minimize pollution. The result shows applicability of the model in the tire industry. The model determines the number and the locations of facilities and the material flows between these facilities. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. System studies on Biofuel production via Integrated Biomass Gasification

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Andersson, Jim; Lundgren, Joakim [Luleaa Univ. of Technology Bio4Energy, Luleaa (Sweden); Malek, Laura; Hulteberg, Christian [Lund Univ., Lund (Sweden); Pettersson, Karin [Chalmers Univ. of Technology, Goeteborg (Sweden); Wetterlund, Elisabeth [Linkoeping Univ. Linkoeping (Sweden)

    2013-09-01

    A large number of national and international techno-economic studies on industrially integrated gasifiers for production of biofuels have been published during the recent years. These studies comprise different types of gasifiers (fluidized bed, indirect and entrained flow) integrated in different industries for the production of various types of chemicals and transportation fuels (SNG, FT-products, methanol, DME etc.) The results are often used for techno-economic comparisons between different biorefinery concepts. One relatively common observation is that even if the applied technology and the produced biofuel are the same, the results of the techno-economic studies may differ significantly. The main objective of this project has been to perform a comprehensive review of publications regarding industrially integrated biomass gasifiers for motor fuel production. The purposes have been to identify and highlight the main reasons why similar studies differ considerably and to prepare a basis for fair techno-economic comparisons. Another objective has been to identify possible lack of industrial integration studies that may be of interest to carry out in a second phase of the project. Around 40 national and international reports and articles have been analysed and reviewed. The majority of the studies concern gasifiers installed in chemical pulp and paper mills where black liquor gasification is the dominating technology. District heating systems are also well represented. Only a few studies have been found with mechanical pulp and paper mills, steel industries and the oil refineries as case basis. Other industries have rarely, or not at all, been considered for industrial integration studies. Surprisingly, no studies regarding integration of biomass gasification neither in saw mills nor in wood pellet production industry have been found. In the published economic evaluations, it has been found that there is a large number of studies containing both integration and

  2. IMPLEMENTING AN INTEGRATED HEALTH, SAFETY, AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: THE CASE OF A CONSTRUCTION COMPANY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Filippos Tepaskoualos

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Over the past two decades, there has been an increasing trend of organizations implementing simultaneously two or more management systems. The structural similarities of these systems - despite the diversity of their fields of application, such as occupational health and safety for OHSAS 18001, and environmental management for ISO 14001 - have enabled many organizations to integrate different systems into a single one, rather than implementing them separately from one another. The purpose of this paper is to examine in depth a case of integration of the ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 systems, using a construction company as a research setting, in order to draw conclusions about the level of integration achieved, as well as the benefits, the problems, and the critical success factors of this endeavour. The findings of this study show that both the company's devotion to the fulfillment of the critical success factors and the identical structure of the two systems under consideration have facilitated the successful outcome of integration. However, this does not automatically imply that the company adopted the idea of full integration. Instead, the maximization of integration benefits and the elimination of related problems was achieved through the company's conscious choice to proceed with partial integration, keeping separate manuals, policies, and risk management procedures for each system. This study will be useful in order to understand that partial integration is a perfectly acceptable and realistic solution that, under certain circumstances, may even have a better cost-benefit ratio than full integration.

  3. Fostering Integrated Learning and Faculty Collaboration through Curriculum Design: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Routhieaux, Robert L.

    2015-01-01

    Designing and implementing innovative curricula can enhance student learning while simultaneously fostering faculty collaboration. However, innovative curricula can also surface numerous challenges for faculty, staff, students, and administration. This case study documents the design and implementation of an innovative Master of Business…

  4. Integration of molecular typing results into tuberculosis surveillance in Germany—A pilot study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fiebig, Lena; Priwitzer, Martin; Richter, Elvira; Rüsch-Gerdes, Sabine; Haas, Walter; Niemann, Stefan; Brodhun, Bonita

    2017-01-01

    An integrated molecular surveillance for tuberculosis (TB) improves the understanding of ongoing TB transmission by combining molecular typing and epidemiological data. However, the implementation of an integrated molecular surveillance for TB is complex and requires thoughtful consideration of feasibility, demand, public health benefits and legal issues. We aimed to pilot the integration of molecular typing results between 2008 and 2010 in the German Federal State of Baden-Württemberg (population 10.88 Million) as preparation for a nationwide implementation. Culture positive TB cases were typed by IS6110 DNA fingerprinting and results were integrated into routine notification data. Demographic and clinical characteristics of cases and clusters were described and new epidemiological links detected after integrating typing data were calculated. Furthermore, a cross-sectional survey was performed among local public health offices to evaluate their perception and experiences. Overall, typing results were available for 83% of notified culture positive TB cases, out of which 25% were clustered. Age typing information allowed the identification of previously unknown epidemiological links in 11% of the clusters. In 59% of the clusters it was not possible to identify any epidemiological link. Clusters extending over different counties were less likely to have epidemiological links identified among their cases (OR = 11.53, 95% CI: 3.48–98.23). The majority of local public health offices found molecular typing useful for their work. Our study illustrates the feasibility of integrating typing data into the German TB notification system and depicts its added public health value as complementary strategy in TB surveillance, especially to uncover transmission events among geographically separated TB patients. It also emphasizes that special efforts are required to strengthen the communication between local public health offices in different counties to enhance TB control

  5. Integration of molecular typing results into tuberculosis surveillance in Germany-A pilot study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andrés, Marta; Göhring-Zwacka, Elke; Fiebig, Lena; Priwitzer, Martin; Richter, Elvira; Rüsch-Gerdes, Sabine; Haas, Walter; Niemann, Stefan; Brodhun, Bonita

    2017-01-01

    An integrated molecular surveillance for tuberculosis (TB) improves the understanding of ongoing TB transmission by combining molecular typing and epidemiological data. However, the implementation of an integrated molecular surveillance for TB is complex and requires thoughtful consideration of feasibility, demand, public health benefits and legal issues. We aimed to pilot the integration of molecular typing results between 2008 and 2010 in the German Federal State of Baden-Württemberg (population 10.88 Million) as preparation for a nationwide implementation. Culture positive TB cases were typed by IS6110 DNA fingerprinting and results were integrated into routine notification data. Demographic and clinical characteristics of cases and clusters were described and new epidemiological links detected after integrating typing data were calculated. Furthermore, a cross-sectional survey was performed among local public health offices to evaluate their perception and experiences. Overall, typing results were available for 83% of notified culture positive TB cases, out of which 25% were clustered. Age Germany (OR = 2.01, 95% CI: 1.44-2.80) were associated with clustering. At cluster level, molecular typing information allowed the identification of previously unknown epidemiological links in 11% of the clusters. In 59% of the clusters it was not possible to identify any epidemiological link. Clusters extending over different counties were less likely to have epidemiological links identified among their cases (OR = 11.53, 95% CI: 3.48-98.23). The majority of local public health offices found molecular typing useful for their work. Our study illustrates the feasibility of integrating typing data into the German TB notification system and depicts its added public health value as complementary strategy in TB surveillance, especially to uncover transmission events among geographically separated TB patients. It also emphasizes that special efforts are required to strengthen the

  6. Integrated Markov-neural reliability computation method: A case for multiple automated guided vehicle system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fazlollahtabar, Hamed; Saidi-Mehrabad, Mohammad; Balakrishnan, Jaydeep

    2015-01-01

    This paper proposes an integrated Markovian and back propagation neural network approaches to compute reliability of a system. While states of failure occurrences are significant elements for accurate reliability computation, Markovian based reliability assessment method is designed. Due to drawbacks shown by Markovian model for steady state reliability computations and neural network for initial training pattern, integration being called Markov-neural is developed and evaluated. To show efficiency of the proposed approach comparative analyses are performed. Also, for managerial implication purpose an application case for multiple automated guided vehicles (AGVs) in manufacturing networks is conducted. - Highlights: • Integrated Markovian and back propagation neural network approach to compute reliability. • Markovian based reliability assessment method. • Managerial implication is shown in an application case for multiple automated guided vehicles (AGVs) in manufacturing networks

  7. Transdisciplinary knowledge integration : cases from integrated assessment and vulnerability assessment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hinkel, J.

    2008-01-01

    Keywords: climate change, integrated assessment, knowledge integration, transdisciplinary research, vulnerability, vulnerability assessment.
    This thesis explores how transdisciplinary knowledge integration can be facilitated in the context of integrated assessments and vulnerability

  8. Identification of functionally related genes using data mining and data integration: a breast cancer case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zucchi Ileana

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The identification of the organisation and dynamics of molecular pathways is crucial for the understanding of cell function. In order to reconstruct the molecular pathways in which a gene of interest is involved in regulating a cell, it is important to identify the set of genes to which it interacts with to determine cell function. In this context, the mining and the integration of a large amount of publicly available data, regarding the transcriptome and the proteome states of a cell, are a useful resource to complement biological research. Results We describe an approach for the identification of genes that interact with each other to regulate cell function. The strategy relies on the analysis of gene expression profile similarity, considering large datasets of expression data. During the similarity evaluation, the methodology determines the most significant subset of samples in which the evaluated genes are highly correlated. Hence, the strategy enables the exclusion of samples that are not relevant for each gene pair analysed. This feature is important when considering a large set of samples characterised by heterogeneous experimental conditions where different pools of biological processes can be active across the samples. The putative partners of the studied gene are then further characterised, analysing the distribution of the Gene Ontology terms and integrating the protein-protein interaction (PPI data. The strategy was applied for the analysis of the functional relationships of a gene of known function, Pyruvate Kinase, and for the prediction of functional partners of the human transcription factor TBX3. In both cases the analysis was done on a dataset composed by breast primary tumour expression data derived from the literature. Integration and analysis of PPI data confirmed the prediction of the methodology, since the genes identified to be functionally related were associated to proteins close in the PPI network

  9. Integrating ergonomics into production system development--the Volvo Powertrain case.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neumann, W Patrick; Ekman, Marianne; Winkel, Jørgen

    2009-05-01

    Understanding the barriers and assists to integrating ergonomics into production system design remains a research issue. An action research case study at Volvo Powertrain/Sweden was conducted. Researchers worked collaboratively with the firm in efforts to improve the company's ability to handle ergonomics in their daily work of improving and developing production systems. Researchers observed and reflected collectively on the change process using field notes and recordings to support their observations. Observed integration barriers included both individual level issues like life events, and organisational aspects such as communication barriers between groups or assignment of tasks to people not involved in decision-making. Observed assists included the 'political reflective navigation' (c.f. Broberg, O., Hermund, I., 2004. The OHS consultant as a 'political reflective navigator' in technological change processes. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics 33 (4), 315-326) by the project owner to find new ways to overcome barriers and anchor ergonomics into the organisation. While special 'ergonomics' groups did not survive long, progress was observed in including ergonomics in regular design groups. A cross-functional workshop that fostered discussion across organisational boundaries helped shift focus from retrofitting systems to future production systems and improve engagement of engineering teams. Progress was marked by both success and setbacks and full integration appears to require more than 2 years time. It is concluded that support by senior managers should include succession planning for personnel that are key to the change effort.

  10. Faculty Workshops for Teaching Information Assurance through Hands-On Exercises and Case Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, Xiaohong; Williams, Kenneth; Yu, Huiming; Rorrer, Audrey; Chu, Bei-Tseng; Yang, Li; Winters, Kathy; Kizza, Joseph

    2017-01-01

    Though many Information Assurance (IA) educators agree that hands-on exercises and case studies improve student learning, hands-on exercises and case studies are not widely adopted due to the time needed to develop them and integrate them into curricula. Under the support of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarship for Service program, we…

  11. Integrated response toward HIV: a health promotion case study from China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Zhen; Wang, Debin; Yang, Sen; Duan, Mingyue; Bu, Pengbin; Green, Andrew; Zhang, Xuejun

    2011-06-01

    Integrated HIV response refers to a formalized, collaborative process among organizations in communities with HIV at-risk populations. It is a both comprehensive and flexible scheme, which may include community-based environment promotion, skill coalition, fund linkage, human resource collaboration and service system jointly for both HIV prevention and control. It enables decisions and actions responds over time. In 1997, the Chinese government developed a 10-year HIV project supported by World Bank Loan (H9-HIV/AIDS/STIs). It was the first integrated STI/HIV intervention project in China and provides a unique opportunity to explore the long-term comprehensive STI/HIV intervention in a low-middle income country setting. Significant outcomes were identified as development and promotion of the national strategic plan and its ongoing implementation; positive knowledge, behavioral and STI/HIV prevalence rate change; and valuable experiences for managing integrated HIV/STI intervention projects. Essential factors for the success of the project and the key tasks for the next step were identified and included well-designed intervention in rural and low economic regions, unified program evaluation framework and real-time information collection and assessment.

  12. Integrated Earthquake Risk Assessment in the Kathmandu Valley - A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schaper, Julia; Anhorn, Johannes; Khazai, Bijan; Nüsser, Marcus

    2013-04-01

    Rapid urban growth is a process which can be observed in cities worldwide. Managing these growing urban areas has become a major challenge for both governing bodies and citizens. Situated not only in a highly earthquake and landslide-prone area, but comprising also the cultural and political capital of Nepal, the fast expanding Kathmandu Valley in the Himalayan region is of particular interest. Vulnerability assessment has been an important tool for spatial planning in this already densely populated area. The magnitude 8.4 earthquake of Bihar in 1934 cost 8600 Nepalis their lives, destroyed 20% of the Kathmandu building stock and heavily damaged another 40%. Since then, Kathmandu has grown into a hub with over a million inhabitants. Rapid infrastructure and population growth aggravate the vulnerability conditions, particularly in the core area of Metropolitan Kathmandu. We propose an integrative framework for vulnerability and risk in Kathmandu Valley. In order to move towards a more systemic and integrated approach, we focus on interactions between natural hazards, physically engineered systems and society. High resolution satellite images are used to identify structural vulnerability of the building stock within the study area. Using object-based image analysis, the spatial dynamics of urban growth are assessed and validated using field data. Complementing this is the analysis of socio-economic attributes gained from databases and field surveys. An indicator-based vulnerability and resilience index will be operationalized using multi-attribute value theory and statistical methods such as principal component analysis. The results allow for a socio-economic comparison of places and their relative potential for harm and loss. The objective in this task is to better understand the interactions between nature and society, engineered systems and built environments through the development of an interdisciplinary framework on systemic seismic risk and vulnerability. Data

  13. Promoting the market and system integration of renewable energies through premium schemes—A case study of the German market premium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gawel, Erik; Purkus, Alexandra

    2013-01-01

    With the share of renewable energies within the electricity sector rising, improving their market and system integration is of increasing importance. By offering plant operators a premium on top of the electricity market price, premium schemes represent an option to increase the alignment of renewable electricity production with market signals, and have been implemented by several EU member states. This paper examines the case study of the German market premium scheme adopted in 2012. Building on an evaluation of early experiences, we discuss whether the market premium contributes to the aims of market and/or system integration (effectiveness), and what potential efficiency gains and additional costs of “administering integration” are associated with it (efficiency). While exposing renewables to price risks is not the scheme’s purpose, it has successfully increased participation in direct marketing. However, risks of overcompensating producers for marketing and balancing costs are high, and the benefits of gradually leading plant operators towards the market are questionable. Incentives for demand-oriented production are established, but they seem insufficient particularly in the case of intermittent renewable energy sources. To conclude, we provide an outlook on alternative designs of premium schemes, and discuss whether they seem better suited for addressing the challenges ahead. - Highlights: • Premium schemes are used to align renewable energy sources (RES) with market signals. • We examine the effectiveness and efficiency of the German market premium scheme. • Participation in direct marketing has increased, but so have support costs. • For intermittent RES, incentives for demand-oriented production are insufficient. • Efficiency gains from exposing RES to market risks entail several trade-offs

  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. Integrating Vocational and General Education: A Rudolf Steiner School. Case Study of the Hibernia School, Herne, Federal Republic of Germany. UIE Case Studies 1.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rist, Georg; Schneider, Peter

    This study describes and analyzes the Hibernia School where the aim of curriculum articulation in its essential vertical and horizontal dimensions has been successfully converted into actual practice. (Curriculum articulation means the equal representation and integration of three major components--artistic, practical, and academic learning.)…

  16. Financial Integration into EU: The Romanian Case

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ibrahim Bozkurt

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study is to investigate the determinants of integration between stock market of Romania and other stock markets of European Union (EU countries. Correlations between the stock returns represent the level of integration between the stock markets. Empirical analysis are performed with daily stock returns of 24 EU members including Romania for 2002-2012 period using panel data gravity models and correlations are investigated. Findings reveal that the following factors have significant and robust effects on the financial integration process of Romania with other 23 EU members; (i EU membership, (ii bilateral trade, (iii GDP per capita, (iv 2012 sovereign debt crisis and (v East European location. The results emphasize that intensifying economic relations with EU members can contribute the integration of Romanian stock market with other EU members. designed & hoste

  17. [Research and development of medical case database: a novel medical case information system integrating with biospecimen management].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pan, Shiyang; Mu, Yuan; Wang, Hong; Wang, Tong; Huang, Peijun; Ma, Jianfeng; Jiang, Li; Zhang, Jie; Gu, Bing; Yi, Lujiang

    2010-04-01

    To meet the needs of management of medical case information and biospecimen simultaneously, we developed a novel medical case information system integrating with biospecimen management. The database established by MS SQL Server 2000 covered, basic information, clinical diagnosis, imaging diagnosis, pathological diagnosis and clinical treatment of patient; physicochemical property, inventory management and laboratory analysis of biospecimen; users log and data maintenance. The client application developed by Visual C++ 6.0 was used to implement medical case and biospecimen management, which was based on Client/Server model. This system can perform input, browse, inquest, summary of case and related biospecimen information, and can automatically synthesize case-records based on the database. Management of not only a long-term follow-up on individual, but also of grouped cases organized according to the aim of research can be achieved by the system. This system can improve the efficiency and quality of clinical researches while biospecimens are used coordinately. It realizes synthesized and dynamic management of medical case and biospecimen, which may be considered as a new management platform.

  18. Slow Integral Manifolds and Control Problems in Critical and Twice Critical Cases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sobolev, Vladimir

    2016-01-01

    We consider singularly perturbed differential systems in cases where the standard theory to establish a slow integral manifold existence does not work. The theory has traditionally dealt only with perturbation problems near normally hyperbolic manifold of singularities and this manifold is supposed to isolated. Applying transformations we reduce the original singularly perturbed problem to a regularized one such that the existence of slow integral manifolds can be established by means of the standard theory. We illustrate our approach by several examples. (paper)

  19. Hybrid Decentralised Energy for Remote Communities: Case Studies and the Analysis of the Potential Integration of Rain Energy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ying Miao

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available For remote underdeveloped and sparsely populated regions, the use of national power grids to provide electricity can be both unsustainable and impractical. In recent years, decentralised renewable power has gained popularity, endowing social benefits to the local inhabitants through clean rural electrification. However, power reliability and system autonomy are often the primary technical concerns as current systems are largely single source reliant. Hybrid power systems that utilise multiple complementary renewables can help to reduce the dependency on conventional unclean options. A few selected case studies for both single source and hybrid power systems are reviewed, analysing critical success factors and evaluating existing difficulties. The additional integration of the novel rain-powered kinetic-to-electric generator technology to the existing hybrid model is analysed. As with development in general, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to bringing power to remote communities and the most sustainable solution should be found through analysing local resources, environmental conditions and maximising local involvement.

  20. Multiple Case Study of STEM in School-Based Agricultural Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stubbs, Eric A.; Myers, Brian E.

    2015-01-01

    This multiple case study investigated the integration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in three Florida high school agriculture programs. Observations, interviews, documents, and artifacts provided qualitative data that indicated the types of STEM knowledge taught. Variables of interest included student and teacher…

  1. Web services as applications' integration tool: QikProp case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laoui, Abdel; Polyakov, Valery R

    2011-07-15

    Web services are a new technology that enables to integrate applications running on different platforms by using primarily XML to enable communication among different computers over the Internet. Large number of applications was designed as stand alone systems before the concept of Web services was introduced and it is a challenge to integrate them into larger computational networks. A generally applicable method of wrapping stand alone applications into Web services was developed and is described. To test the technology, it was applied to the QikProp for DOS (Windows). Although performance of the application did not change when it was delivered as a Web service, this form of deployment had offered several advantages like simplified and centralized maintenance, smaller number of licenses, and practically no training for the end user. Because by using the described approach almost any legacy application can be wrapped as a Web service, this form of delivery may be recommended as a global alternative to traditional deployment solutions. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  2. Facilitating the transition from physiology to hospital wards through an interdisciplinary case study of septic shock.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Albert S; Berger, Kenneth I; Schwartz, David R; Slater, William R; Goldfarb, David S

    2014-04-12

    In order to develop clinical reasoning, medical students must be able to integrate knowledge across traditional subject boundaries and multiple disciplines. At least two dimensions of integration have been identified: horizontal integration, bringing together different disciplines in considering a topic; and vertical integration, bridging basic science and clinical practice. Much attention has been focused on curriculum overhauls, but our approach is to facilitate horizontal and vertical integration on a smaller scale through an interdisciplinary case study discussion and then to assess its utility. An interdisciplinary case study discussion about a critically ill patient was implemented at the end of an organ system-based, basic sciences module at New York University School of Medicine. Three clinical specialists-a cardiologist, a pulmonologist, and a nephrologist-jointly led a discussion about a complex patient in the intensive care unit with multiple medical problems secondary to septic shock. The discussion emphasized the physiologic underpinnings behind the patient's presentation and the physiologic considerations across the various systems in determining proper treatment. The discussion also highlighted the interdependence between the cardiovascular, respiratory, and renal systems, which were initially presented in separate units. After the session students were given a brief, anonymous three-question free-response questionnaire in which they were asked to evaluate and freely comment on the exercise. Students not only took away physiological principles but also gained an appreciation for various thematic lessons for bringing basic science to the bedside, especially horizontal and vertical integration. The response of the participants was overwhelmingly positive with many indicating that the exercise integrated the material across organ systems, and strengthened their appreciation of the role of physiology in understanding disease presentations and guiding

  3. ICT Integration in Mathematics Initial Teacher Training and Its Impact on Visualization: The Case of GeoGebra

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dockendorff, Monika; Solar, Horacio

    2018-01-01

    This case study investigates the impact of the integration of information and communications technology (ICT) in mathematics visualization skills and initial teacher education programmes. It reports on the influence GeoGebra dynamic software use has on promoting mathematical learning at secondary school and on its impact on teachers' conceptions…

  4. Transition Management: Case Study of an Energy Efficiency Technology Roadmap in Turkey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Şiir Kilkiş

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper integrates several streams of literature in transition management and proposes a holistic framework for its application in policy-making. Separate fields of study, such as motors of change and strategic intelligence tools, are unified in a single analytical process. The process involves five steps that may be repeated until a desired policy objective is achieved. The pilot, integrated technology roadmap process that has been launched in Turkey is analyzed as a case study. The Energy Efficiency Technology Roadmap has been completed with the participation of over 160 experts in 5 different stages. It involved the collection of over 349 Delfi statements, their consolidation for a Delfi survey with 16 statements, the analysis of the results, a focal group meeting to develop roadmaps for the 7 selected goals, and the consultation of the roadmaps to the sector. The paper concludes that an integrated technology roadmap process, as described in the pilot case study, provides an advanced version of transition management, which is needed to mobilize research, development, and innovation for sustainable development.

  5. Practitioner survey of the state of health integration in environmental assessment: The case of northern Canada

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Noble, Bram; Bronson, Jackie

    2006-01-01

    Based on a case study of health integration in Canadian northern EA, this paper further demonstrates the lack of consistent integration of health in EA practice. A survey was administered to northern EA and health practitioners, administrators and special interest groups to assess current northern health assessment practices, the scope of health in EA, EA performance with regard to health assessment and the perceived barriers to health integration. Results suggest that health is currently recognized as an important component of northern EA and is addressed in the majority of cases; however, health is addressed primarily during the pre-decision stages of EA and less often during post-decision follow-up and monitoring. Moreover, when health is addressed, attention is limited to the physical components of health and health impacts due to physical environmental change, with considerably less attention given to the social aspects of health. Results also suggest dissent between EA practitioners, health practitioners and other interests concerning the overall state of health in EA; however, there is consensus on the key challenges to improved integration, namely differences in understanding of the scope of health and expectations of EA to assess health impacts; limited coordination between EA and health practitioners; limited scope and requirements of current EA legislation for health assessment; and the lack of supporting EA methods and frameworks

  6. [Implementation and (cost-)effectiveness of case management for people with dementia and their informal caregivers: results of the COMPAS study].

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Mierlo, Lisa D; MacNeil-Vroomen, Janet; Meiland, Franka J M; Joling, Karlijn J; Bosmans, Judith E; Dröes, Rose Marie; Moll van Charante, Eric P; de Rooij, Sophia E J A; van Hout, Hein P J

    2016-12-01

    Different forms of case management for dementia have emerged over the past few years. In the COMPAS study (Collaborative dementia care for patients and caregivers study), two prominent Dutch case management forms were studied: the linkage and the integrated care form. Evaluation of the (cost)effectiveness of two dementia case management forms compared to usual care as well as factors that facilitated or impeded their implementation. A mixed methods design with a) a prospective, observational controlled cohort study with 2 years follow-up among 521 dyads of people with dementia and their primary informal caregiver with and without case management; b) interviews with 22 stakeholders on facilitating and impeding factors of the implementation and continuity of the two case management models. Outcome measures were severity and frequency of behavioural problems (NPI) for the person with dementia and mental health complaints (GHQ-12) for the informal caregiver, total met and unmet care needs (CANE) and quality adjusted life years (QALYs). Outcomes showed a better quality of life of informal caregivers in the integrated model compared to the linkage model. Caregivers in the control group reported more care needs than those in both case management groups. The independence of the case management provider in the integrated model facilitated the implementation, while the rivalry between multiple providers in the linkage model impeded the implementation. The costs of care were lower in the linkage model (minus 22 %) and integrated care model (minus 33 %) compared to the control group. The integrated care form was (very) cost-effective in comparison with the linkage form or no case management. The integrated care form is easy to implement.

  7. Carolina Offshore Wind Integration Case Study: Phases I and II Final Technical Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fallon, Christopher [Duke Energy Business Services, LLC, Charlotte, NC (United States); Piper, Orvane [Duke Energy Business Services, LLC, Charlotte, NC (United States); Hazelip, William [Duke Energy Business Services, LLC, Charlotte, NC (United States); Zhao, Yishan [Duke Energy Business Services, LLC, Charlotte, NC (United States); Salvador, Lisa [Duke Energy Business Services, LLC, Charlotte, NC (United States); Pruitt, Tom [Duke Energy Business Services, LLC, Charlotte, NC (United States); Peterson, Jeffrey [Duke Energy Business Services, LLC, Charlotte, NC (United States); Ashby, Rebecca [Duke Energy Business Services, LLC, Charlotte, NC (United States); Pierce, Bob [Duke Energy Business Services, LLC, Charlotte, NC (United States); Burner, Bob [Duke Energy Business Services, LLC, Charlotte, NC (United States); Daniel, John [ABB, Inc., Cary, NC (United States); Zhu, Jinxiang [ABB, Inc., Cary, NC (United States); Moore, Maria [ABB, Inc., Cary, NC (United States); Liu, Shu [ABB, Inc., Cary, NC (United States); Pennock, Ken [AWS Truepower, LLC, Albany, NY (United States); Frank, Jaclyn [AWS Truepower, LLC, Albany, NY (United States); Ibanez, Eduardo [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Heaney, Michael [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Bloom, Aaron [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Zhang, Yingchen [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Elliott, Dennis [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Seim, Harvey E. [Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC (United States)

    2015-04-30

    Duke Energy performed a phase 1 study to assess the impact of offshore wind development in the waters off the coasts of North Carolina and South Carolina. The study analyzed the impacts to the Duke Energy Carolinas electric power system of multiple wind deployment scenarios. Focusing on an integrated utility system in the Carolinas provided a unique opportunity to assess the impacts of offshore wind development in a region that has received less attention regarding renewables than others in the US. North Carolina is the only state in the Southeastern United States that currently has a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) which requires that 12.5% of the state’s total energy requirements be met with renewable resources by 2021. 12.5% of the state’s total energy requirements in 2021 equates to approximately 17,000 GWH of energy needed from renewable resources. Wind resources represent one of the ways to potentially meet this requirement. The study builds upon and augments ongoing work, including a study by UNC to identify potential wind development sites and the analysis of impacts to the regional transmission system performed by the NCTPC, an Order 890 planning entity of which DEC is a member. Furthermore, because the region does not have an independent system operator (ISO) or regional transmission organization (RTO), the study will provide additional information unique to non-RTO/ISO systems. The Phase 2 study builds on the results of Phase 1 and investigates the dynamic stability of the electrical network in Task 4, the operating characteristics of the wind turbines as they impact operating reserve requirements of the DEC utility in Task 5, and the production cost of integrating the offshore wind resources into the DEC generation fleet making comparisons to future planned operation without the addition of the wind resources in Task 6.

  8. Improving integration for integrated coastal zone management: an eight country study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Portman, M E; Esteves, L S; Le, X Q; Khan, A Z

    2012-11-15

    Integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) is a widely accepted approach for sustainable management of the coastal environment. ICZM emphasizes integration across sectors, levels of government, uses, stakeholders, and spatial and temporal scales. While improving integration is central to progress in ICZM, the role of and the achievement of integration remain understudied. To further study these two points, our research analyzes the performance of specific mechanisms used to support ICZM in eight countries (Belgium, India, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, UK, and Vietnam). The assessment is based on a qualitative comparative analysis conducted through the use of two surveys. It focuses on five ICZM mechanisms (environmental impact assessment; planning hierarchy; setback lines; marine spatial planning, and regulatory commission) and their role in improving integration. Our findings indicate that certain mechanisms enhance specific types of integration more effectively than others. Environmental impact assessment enhances science-policy integration and can be useful to integrate knowledge across sectors. Planning hierarchy and regulatory commissions are effective mechanisms to integrate policies across government levels, with the latter also promoting public-government integration. Setback lines can be applied to enhance integration across landscape units. Marine spatial planning is a multi-faceted mechanism with the potential to promote all types of integration. Policy-makers should adopt the mechanisms that are suited to the type of integration needed. Results of this study also contribute to evidence-based coastal management by identifying the most common impediments related to the mechanisms of integration in the eight studied countries. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Integrating Process Mining and Cognitive Analysis to Study EHR Workflow.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Furniss, Stephanie K; Burton, Matthew M; Grando, Adela; Larson, David W; Kaufman, David R

    2016-01-01

    There are numerous methods to study workflow. However, few produce the kinds of in-depth analyses needed to understand EHR-mediated workflow. Here we investigated variations in clinicians' EHR workflow by integrating quantitative analysis of patterns of users' EHR-interactions with in-depth qualitative analysis of user performance. We characterized 6 clinicians' patterns of information-gathering using a sequential process-mining approach. The analysis revealed 519 different screen transition patterns performed across 1569 patient cases. No one pattern was followed for more than 10% of patient cases, the 15 most frequent patterns accounted for over half ofpatient cases (53%), and 27% of cases exhibited unique patterns. By triangulating quantitative and qualitative analyses, we found that participants' EHR-interactive behavior was associated with their routine processes, patient case complexity, and EHR default settings. The proposed approach has significant potential to inform resource allocation for observation and training. In-depth observations helped us to explain variation across users.

  10. Nonlinear integrated resource strategic planning model and case study in China's power sector planning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yuan, Jiahai; Xu, Yan; Kang, Junjie; Zhang, Xingping; Hu, Zheng

    2014-01-01

    In this paper we expand the IRSP (integrated resource strategic planning) model by including the external cost of TPPs (traditional power plants) and popularization cost of EPPs (efficiency power plants) with nonlinear functions. Case studies for power planning in China during 2011–2021 are conducted to show the efficacy of the model. Scenarios are compiled to compare the pathways of power planning under different policies. Results show that: 1) wind power will become competitive with technical learning, but its installation is undesirable when the external cost of coal power is not internalized; 2) the existence of popularization cost will hinder EPPs' (efficiency power plants) deployment and pure market mechanism is not enough to deliver EPPs at socially desirable scale; 3) imposition of progressive emission tax on coal power at an average of 0.15–0.20 RMB/KWh can remedy the market distortion and promote the development of wind power by a significant margin; 4) nuclear power will grow stably when its external cost is set no more than 0.187 RMB per KWh, or 87% of its internal cost. The proposed model can serve as a useful tool for decision support in the process of power planning and policy formulation for national government. - Highlights: • Improve IRSP model by adding nonlinear external and popularization cost. • The model is used to conduct China's power sector planning in 2011–2021. • Simulate the impacts of alternative energy policies on planning results. • The model can be used for joint power sector planning and policy design

  11. Academic writing for business students: a case for a content and language integrated approach

    OpenAIRE

    Van Houtven, Tine; Kerkhofs, Goele; Peters, Elke

    2012-01-01

    Research has shown that many students (Dutch L1/L2) do not meet academic language requirements upon entering Flemish higher education (Peters, Van Houtven, El Morabit, 2010). Many universities feel compelled to help their first-year students bridge the gap between secondary and tertiary education. This paper reports on a case study at the Integrated Faculty of Business and Economics of the University of Leuven that investigated how a language-sensitive instructional approach could improve bus...

  12. General practitioners: Between integration and co-location. The case of primary care centers in Tuscany, Italy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barsanti, Sara; Bonciani, Manila

    2018-01-01

    Healthcare systems have followed several strategies aimed at integrating primary care services and professionals. Medical homes in the USA and Canada, and primary care centres across Europe have collocated general practitioners and other health and social professionals in the same building in order to boost coordination among services and the continuity of care for patients. However, in the literature, the impact of co-location on primary care has led to controversial results. This article analyses the possible benefits of the co-location of services in primary care focusing on the Italian model of primary care centres (Case della Salute) in terms of general practitioners' perception. We used the results of a web survey of general practitioners in Tuscany to compare the experiences and satisfaction of those general practitioners involved and not involved in a primary care centre, performed a MONAVA and ANOVA analysis. Our case study highlights the positive impact of co-location on the integration of professionals, especially with nurses and social workers, and on organizational integration, in terms of frequency of meeting to discuss about quality of care. Conversely, no significant differences were found in terms of either clinical or system integration. Furthermore, the collaboration with specialists is still weak. Considering the general practitioners' perspective in terms of experience and satisfaction towards primary care, co-location strategies is a necessary step in order to facilitate the collaboration among professionals and to prevent unintended consequences in terms of an even possible isolation of primary care as an involuntary 'disintegration of the integration'.

  13. Assessing environmental quality status by integrating chemical and biological effect data : The Cartagena coastal zone as a case

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Martínez-Gómez, Concepción; Fernández, Beatriz; Robinson, Craig D.; Campillo, J. Antonio; León, Víctor M.; Benedicto, José; Hylland, Ketil; Vethaak, A. Dick

    Cartagena coastal zone (W Mediterranean) was chosen for a practical case study to investigate the suitability of an integrated indicator framework for marine monitoring and assessment of chemicals and their effects, which was developed by ICES and OSPAR. Red mullet (Mullus barbatus) and the

  14. Lack of integration governance in ERP development: a case study on causes and effects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kähkönen, Tommi; Smolander, Kari; Maglyas, Andrey

    2017-09-01

    The development of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system starts actually after it has been implemented and taken into use. It is necessary to integrate ERP with other business information systems inside and outside the company. With the grounded theory, we aim to understand how integration challenges emerged in a large manufacturing enterprise when the long-term ERP system reached the beginning of its retirement. Structural changes, an information technology governance model, lack of organisational vision, having no architectural descriptions, lack of collaboration, cost cutting, and organisational culture made integration governance troublesome. As a consequence, the enterprise suffered from several undesired effects, such as complex integration scenarios between internal systems, and failing to provide its customers the needed information. The reduction of costs strengthened the organisational silos further and led to unrealised business process improvements. We provide practitioners with four recommendations. First, the organisational goals for integration should be exposed. Second, when evaluating the needs and impacts of integration, a documented architectural description about the system landscape needs to be utilised. Third, the role of IT should be emphasised in development decision-making, and fourth, collaboration is the core ingredient for successful integration governance.

  15. 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…

  16. The Complexity of Integrity Culture Change: A Case Study of a Liberal Arts College

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bertram Gallant, Tricia

    2007-01-01

    The concept of academic integrity has been resurrected in both literature and practice in response to a perceived problem of student academic dishonesty. Most specifically, academic integrity advocates suggest changing the student academic culture to normalize academic integrity and reduce occurrences of academic dishonesty. Theories of…

  17. The performance of integrated health care networks in continuity of care: a qualitative multiple case study of COPD patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sina Waibel

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Background: Integrated health care networks (IHN are promoted in numerous countries as a response to fragmented care delivery by providing a coordinated continuum of services to a defined population. However, evidence on their effectiveness and outcome is scarce, particularly considering continuity across levels of care; that is the patient's experience of connected and coherent care received from professionals of the different care levels over time. The objective was to analyse the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD patients’ perceptions of continuity of clinical management and information across care levels and continuity of relation in IHN of the public health care system of Catalonia.Methods: A qualitative multiple case study was conducted, where the cases are COPD patients. A theoretical sample was selected in two stages: (1 study contexts: IHN and (2 study cases consisting of COPD patients. Data were collected by means of individual, semi-structured interviews to the patients, their general practitioners and pulmonologists and review of records. A thematic content analysis segmented by IHN and cases with a triangulation of sources and analysists was carried out.Results: COPD patients of all networks perceived that continuity of clinical management was existent due to clear distribution of roles for COPD care across levels, rapid access to care during exacerbations and referrals to secondary care when needed; nevertheless, patients of some networks highlighted too long waiting times to non-urgent secondary care. Physicians generally agreed with patients, however, also indicated unclear distribution of roles, some inadequate referrals and long waiting times to primary care in some networks. Concerning continuity of information, patients across networks considered that their clinical information was transferred across levels via computer and that physicians also used informal communication mechanisms (e-mail, telephone; whereas

  18. Integrating data and mashup concepts in Hydro-Meteorological Research: the torrential rainfall event in Genoa (4th November 2011) case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bedrina, T.; Parodi, A.; Quarati, A.; Clematis, A.; Rebora, N.; Laiosa, D.

    2012-04-01

    One of the critical issues in Hydro-Meteorological Research (HMR) is a better exploitation of data archives according to a multidisciplinary perspective. Different Earth science databases offer a huge amount of observational data, which often need to be assembled, processed, combined accordingly HM scientists needs. The cooperation between scientists active in HMR and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is essential in the development of innovative tools and applications for manipulating, aggregating and re-arranging heterogeneous information in flexible way. In this paper it is described an application devoted to the collection and integration of HM datasets, originated by public or private sources, freely exposed via Web services API. This application uses the mashup, recently become very popular in many fields, (Chow S.-W., 2007) technology concepts. Such methodology means combination of data and/or programs published by external online sources into an integrated experience. Mashup seems to be a promising methodology to respond to the multiple data-related activities into which HM researchers are daily involved (e.g. finding and retrieving high volume data; learning formats and developing readers; extracting parameters; performing filtering and mask; developing analysis and visualization tools). The specific case study of the recent extreme rainfall event, occurred over Genoa in Italy on the 4th November 2011 is shown through the integration of semi-professional weather observational networks as free available data source in addition to official weather networks.

  19. Integrating ergonomics in design processes: a case study within an engineering consultancy firm

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Lene Bjerg; Broberg, Ole

    2012-01-01

    ergonomics into engineering design processes and how different factors either promote or limit the integration. Based on a grounded theory approach a model illustrating these factors is developed and different hypotheses about how these factors either promote and/or limit the integration of ergonomics...

  20. KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS. A CASE STUDY ON THE INTEGRATED REPORTS OF AN IT COMPANY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    GORGAN CĂTĂLINA

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Our analysis relies on the 2011 integrated report published by SAP, a European IT company included in the International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC Pilot Programme Business Network. The research methodology used is the analysis of the content as we search for a number of selected characteristics in the report and also for a set of key performance indicators (KPI. We use as references the guide provided by DVFA (Society of Investment Professionals in Germany and EFFAS (European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies – EFFAS (2010 for the software industry. The aim of our study is to analyse the way in which an IT company applies the guidelines recognised by the European Commission to identify and communicate the material nonfinancial information, in order to assess the organization’s abilities to create value on a short, medium and long term.

  1. Introducing integrated product and process development into the education of science and engineering undergraduates: a lecture course with an accompanying case-study programme at the ETH chemistry department.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fenner, K; Jödicke, G; Alean-Kirkpatrick, P; Hungerbühler, K

    2001-04-01

    Increased quality requirements in the development of chemical products and a growing awareness within society of the activities of chemical companies present a new challenge to the education of young scientists. Nowadays, the teaching of chemists, chemical engineers and environmental scientists at universities has to go beyond the traditional, discipline-orientated knowledge acquisition. The students also have to learn to work and communicate in interdisciplinary teams, to solve application-oriented tasks and to integrate scientific, economical, ecological and social aspects into their work. For this reason, a case-study programme was launched at the chemistry department of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. In this paper, we describe the organisational aspects of the programme, its inclusion into academic and industrial environments and summarise some of the scientific methodologies applied. One of the seven case-studies, an assessment of a modern insecticide, is presented in more detail. Finally, we discuss how far the case-study programme is suitable for introducing a new mode of knowledge production to universities.

  2. Crossover integral equation theory for the liquid structure study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lai, S.K.; Chen, H.C.

    1994-08-01

    The main purpose of this work is to report on a calculation that describes the role of the long-range bridge function [H. Iyetomi and S. Ichimaru, Phys. Rev. A 25, 2434 (1982)] as applied to the study of structure of simple liquid metals. It was found here that this bridge function accounts pretty well for the major part of long-range interactions but is physically inadequate for describing the short-range part of liquid structure. To improve on the theory we have drawn attention to the crossover integral equation method which, in essence, amounts to adding to the above bridge function a short-range correction of bridge diagrams. The suggested crossover procedure has been tested for the case of liquid metal Cs. Remarkably good agreement with experiment was obtained confirming our conjecture that the crossover integral equation approach as stressed in this work is potentially an appropriate theory for an accurate study of liquid structure possibly for the supercooled liquid regime. (author). 21 refs, 3 figs

  3. Case study: centralized wastewater treatment plant at Rawang Integrated Industrial Park

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ting Teo Ming; Khomsaton Abu Bakar; Zulkafli Ghazali; Khairul Zaman Mohd Dahlan

    2006-01-01

    Survey has been conducted at Rawang Integrated Industrial Park (RIIP) to investigate the possibility of setting up centralized industrial wastewater treatment plant. Rawang integrated industrial park is selected based on suggestion from department of environment. RIIP consists of about 150 industries with various type of activities operated in the area. Only 9 out of estimated 150 industries have individual wastewater treatment plant. The business activities of the 9 industries include food processing, textile, welding rods manufacturing, steel galvanizing and battery manufacturing. Wastewater generated by the industries are characterized by high oil and grease, cod, bod, organic matter, metal hydroxide and acidic. Besides that most of industries do the monitoring only once a month. This paper will also discuss the advantages of setting up of centralized industrial wastewater treatment plant to the government authorities, industries, people and environment. (Author)

  4. Contract Hog Production: A Case Study of Financial Arrangements

    OpenAIRE

    Ross, Brent; Barry, Peter

    2005-01-01

    A case study is presented about the financing arrangements, contract terms, and business relationships of a set of contract hog producers whose loans from community banks have been guaranteed by the Illinois Farm Development Authority. The results reflect the maturity and stability of contract hog production, although agribusiness and farmer integrators largely fill different market niches and contract with different types of producers.

  5. Structuring an integrated care system: interpreted through the enacted diversity of the actors involved – the case of a French healthcare network

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Corinne Grenier

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available Research question: We are looking at the process of structuring an integrated care system as an innovative process that swings back and forth between the diversity of the actors involved, local aspirations and national and regional regulations. We believe that innovation is enriched by the variety of the actors involved, but may also be blocked or disrupted by that diversity. Our research aims to add to other research, which, when questioning these integrated systems, analyses how the actors involved deal with diversity without really questioning it. Case study: The empirical basis of the paper is provided by case study analysis. The studied integrated care system is a French healthcare network that brings together healthcare professionals and various organisations in order to improve the way in which interventions are coordinated and formalised, in order to promote better detection and diagnosis procedures and the implementation of a care protocol. We consider this case as instrumental in developing theoretical proposals for structuring an integrated care system in light of the diversity of the actors involved. Results and discussion: We are proposing a model for structuring an integrated care system in light of the enacted diversity of the actors involved. This model is based on three factors: the diversity enacted by the leaders, three stances for considering the contribution made by diversity in the structuring process and the specific leading role played by those in charge of the structuring process.  Through this process, they determined how the actors involved in the project were differentiated, and on what basis those actors were involved. By mobilizing enacted diversity, the leaders are seeking to channel the emergence of a network in light of their own representation of that network. This model adds to published research on the structuring of integrated care systems.

  6. Structuring an integrated care system: interpreted through the enacted diversity of the actors involved – the case of a French healthcare network

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Corinne Grenier

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available Research question: We are looking at the process of structuring an integrated care system as an innovative process that swings back and forth between the diversity of the actors involved, local aspirations and national and regional regulations. We believe that innovation is enriched by the variety of the actors involved, but may also be blocked or disrupted by that diversity. Our research aims to add to other research, which, when questioning these integrated systems, analyses how the actors involved deal with diversity without really questioning it.Case study: The empirical basis of the paper is provided by case study analysis. The studied integrated care system is a French healthcare network that brings together healthcare professionals and various organisations in order to improve the way in which interventions are coordinated and formalised, in order to promote better detection and diagnosis procedures and the implementation of a care protocol. We consider this case as instrumental in developing theoretical proposals for structuring an integrated care system in light of the diversity of the actors involved.Results and discussion: We are proposing a model for structuring an integrated care system in light of the enacted diversity of the actors involved. This model is based on three factors: the diversity enacted by the leaders, three stances for considering the contribution made by diversity in the structuring process and the specific leading role played by those in charge of the structuring process.  Through this process, they determined how the actors involved in the project were differentiated, and on what basis those actors were involved. By mobilizing enacted diversity, the leaders are seeking to channel the emergence of a network in light of their own representation of that network. This model adds to published research on the structuring of integrated care systems.

  7. Integrated communication in retail fashion: a study of integration Between advertising and communication at the point of sale

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcela Bortotti Favero

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper aims to verify if there is integration and consistency between the messages and positioning used in communication campaigns propagated by television and print media in relation to existing communication at point of sale, the major department stores of fashion. The study is based on the importance of communication from the point of sale with in the compound of integrated communications. The research methodology involved multiple case studies, and the stores surveyed were: C&A, Riachue loand Marisa. Data collection took two steps: mapping of communication actions at the point of sale through visits and research of television campaigns and printed via virtual files. The analysis focused on the discourse promoted by the material and identified that there is a consistency in the message and also the similarity of communication these brands.

  8. Integrating Augmented Reality in Higher Education: A Multidisciplinary Study of Student Perceptions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delello, Julie A.; McWhorter, Rochell R.; Camp, Kerri M.

    2015-01-01

    Augmented reality (AR) is an emerging technology that blends physical objects with virtual reality. Through the integration of digital and print media, a gap between the "on and offline" worlds are merged, radically shifting student-computer interaction in the classroom. This research examined the results of a multiple case study on the…

  9. Project INTEGRATE - a common methodological approach to understand integrated health care in Europe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lucinda Cash-Gibson

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: The use of case studies in health services research has proven to be an excellent methodology for gaining in-depth understanding of the organisation and delivery of health care. This is particularly relevant when looking at the complexity of integrated healthcare programmes, where multifaceted interactions occur at the different levels of care and often without a clear link between the interventions (new and/or existing and their impact on outcomes (in terms of patients health, both patient and professional satisfaction and cost-effectiveness. Still, integrated care is seen as a core strategy in the sustainability of health and care provision in most societies in Europe and beyond. More specifically, at present, there is neither clear evidence on transferable factors of integrated care success nor a method for determining how to establish these specific success factors. The drawback of case methodology in this case, however, is that the in-depth results or lessons generated are usually highly context-specific and thus brings the challenge of transferability of findings to other settings, as different health care systems and different indications are often not comparable. Project INTEGRATE, a European Commission-funded project, has been designed to overcome these problems; it looks into four chronic conditions in different European settings, under a common methodology framework (taking a mixed-methods approach to try to overcome the issue of context specificity and limited transferability. The common methodological framework described in this paper seeks to bring together the different case study findings in a way that key lessons may be derived and transferred between countries, contexts and patient-groups, where integrated care is delivered in order to provide insight into generalisability and build on existing evidence in this field.Methodology: To compare the different integrated care experiences, a mixed-methods approach has

  10. Variable Step Integration Coupled with the Method of Characteristics Solution for Water-Hammer Analysis, A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turpin, Jason B.

    2004-01-01

    One-dimensional water-hammer modeling involves the solution of two coupled non-linear hyperbolic partial differential equations (PDEs). These equations result from applying the principles of conservation of mass and momentum to flow through a pipe, and usually the assumption that the speed at which pressure waves propagate through the pipe is constant. In order to solve these equations for the interested quantities (i.e. pressures and flow rates), they must first be converted to a system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) by either approximating the spatial derivative terms with numerical techniques or using the Method of Characteristics (MOC). The MOC approach is ideal in that no numerical approximation errors are introduced in converting the original system of PDEs into an equivalent system of ODEs. Unfortunately this resulting system of ODEs is bound by a time step constraint so that when integrating the equations the solution can only be obtained at fixed time intervals. If the fluid system to be modeled also contains dynamic components (i.e. components that are best modeled by a system of ODEs), it may be necessary to take extremely small time steps during certain points of the model simulation in order to achieve stability and/or accuracy in the solution. Coupled together, the fixed time step constraint invoked by the MOC, and the occasional need for extremely small time steps in order to obtain stability and/or accuracy, can greatly increase simulation run times. As one solution to this problem, a method for combining variable step integration (VSI) algorithms with the MOC was developed for modeling water-hammer in systems with highly dynamic components. A case study is presented in which reverse flow through a dual-flapper check valve introduces a water-hammer event. The predicted pressure responses upstream of the check-valve are compared with test data.

  11. Web-Enabled Mechanistic Case Diagramming: A Novel Tool for Assessing Students' Ability to Integrate Foundational and Clinical Sciences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferguson, Kristi J; Kreiter, Clarence D; Haugen, Thomas H; Dee, Fred R

    2018-02-20

    As medical schools move from discipline-based courses to more integrated approaches, identifying assessment tools that parallel this change is an important goal. The authors describe the use of test item statistics to assess the reliability and validity of web-enabled mechanistic case diagrams (MCDs) as a potential tool to assess students' ability to integrate basic science and clinical information. Students review a narrative clinical case and construct an MCD using items provided by the case author. Students identify the relationships among underlying risk factors, etiology, pathogenesis and pathophysiology, and the patients' signs and symptoms. They receive one point for each correctly-identified link. In 2014-15 and 2015-16, case diagrams were implemented in consecutive classes of 150 medical students. The alpha reliability coefficient for the overall score, constructed using each student's mean proportion correct across all cases, was 0.82. Discrimination indices for each of the case scores with the overall score ranged from 0.23 to 0.51. In a G study using those students with complete data (n = 251) on all 16 cases, 10% of the variance was true score variance, and systematic case variance was large. Using 16 cases generated a G coefficient (relative score reliability) equal to .72 and a Phi equal to .65. The next phase of the project will involve deploying MCDs in higher-stakes settings to determine whether similar results can be achieved. Further analyses will determine whether these assessments correlate with other measures of higher-order thinking skills.

  12. 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…

  13. Integrated procedures and monitoring methodologies for thermographic investigations of architectural heritage: two applicative cases in Sicily, Italy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bianco, A.

    2013-01-01

    The paper explains some opportunities and limitations of thermographic investigations in terms of their capability to define the conservative conditions of architectural heritage and in terms of the historical recollection for a technical diagnosis. Different approaches are demonstrated in two case studies: the first integrates thermography with other investigative methods; the second combines thermographic monitoring with hygrothermal monitoring. (author)

  14. Dynamic Integrated Resource Strategic Planning Model: A Case Study of China’s Power Sector Planning into 2050

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yan Xu

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a Dynamic Integrated Resource Strategic Planning (DIRSP model based on a semi-Markov decision-making process. Considering the policy transfer probability matrix, we discuss the influence of different policy portfolios and input intensity on the timing and scale of low-carbon transition during the power planning process. In addition, we discuss various planning scenarios from a socio-technical system transition perspective. Scenarios are compiled to compare the pathways of power planning in China during 2015–2050 under different policies, including a typical reproduction pathway with unchanged policy that maintains the original coal-dominated technology pathway, a de-alignment/re-alignment pathway where renewable energy power technologies develop from niches to mainstream while the planning time for peak coal power moves ahead in 10–20 years due to subsidies to renewable and carbon tax policy, and the substitution and reconfiguration pathways in which renewable energy technologies compete with coal power in parallel, in which coal power will peak by 2020 while wind power and solar power will realize large-scale development by 2020 and 2030, respectively. Case study on power planning in China indicates that the methodology proposed in our study can enhance our understanding on the low-carbon transition process and the interaction between energy policy and transition pathway.

  15. Development of Integrated Assessment System for Underground Power Cable Performance: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turan, Faiz Mohd; Johan, Kartina; Soliha Sahimi, Nur; Nor, Nik Hisyamudin Muhd

    2017-08-01

    The basic operation of any electrical machines that is catered to serve needs of civilization involves electrical power which is the main source to trigger the internal mechanism in the machines then transfer the power to other form of energy such as mechanical, light, sound and etc. The supplies of electrical does not happen just by providing the source itself, it has load carrying agent which in many cases, user would refer to it as cable. Specifically, it is the power cable which its ampacity depends significantly on the operation temperature and load stress on it. Apart from having to focus on providing improvement on improving efficiency on the source itself, power cable plays and important role because without it, current ranging from low to high could not be transmitted and hence a failure of the power system generally. Studies have conducted to discuss whether which factor contributes relatively more to the causes of power cable failure or breakdown. Such factors can be narrowed down to the three major causes which are over temperature, over voltage and stress caused by over current. Over current is one of the factor which is depends on the usage of the power system itself. The higher the usage of the power system, higher the chances of over current to take place. This will then produce load stress on the cable which eventually destroy the insulator of the cable and slowly reach the core of the cable. It is believed that an assessment method should be implemented in order to predict the performance and failure rate of the power cable and use this prediction as reference rather than just letting power failure to happen anytime unpredictable which cause huge inconvenience to users and industries. Not only do a method should be implemented, it should be as easy to be used and understood by large range of users and integrated by a graphical user interface to be used. Therefore, this research will further narrow down on the approaches to do so and the location

  16. Preparing Public Relations and Advertising Students for the 21st Century: A Case Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carroll, Robert A.

    In 1993, the Task Force on Integrated Communications reported that public relations and advertising students would better be prepared to enter a changing communications industry through an "integrated" curriculum. This paper is a case study of how one university has attempted to meet that challenge. The work has resulted in the development of an…

  17. Academic capitalism and academic culture: A case study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pilar Mendoza

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available This case study investigated the impact of academic capitalism on academic culture by examining the perspectives of faculty members in an American academic department with significant industrial funding. The results of this study indicate that faculty members believe that the broad integrity of the academic culture remains unaffected in this department and they consider industrial sponsorship as a highly effective vehicle for enhancing the quality of education of students and pursuing their scientific interests. This study provides valuable insights to federal and institutional policiescreated to foster industry-academia partnerships and commercialization of academic research.

  18. Integrated marketing communication and the role of public relations therein : a case study of RAU

    OpenAIRE

    2012-01-01

    M.A. This study determines the role of public relations as a marketing communication function in RAU's integrated marketing communication approach. The research topic was selected for numerous reasons. Firstly, dramatic changes have occurred in the tertiary educational domain, which causes universities to adapt their marketing communication approaches. Based on these environmental changes, the Public Relations Division at RAU commissioned the study on the research topic, which is the secon...

  19. Integrated post mining landscape for sustainable land use: A case study in South Sumatera, Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdul Kodir

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Damages to coal mined land must be restored through reclamation efforts to provide optimum benefits. In addition to environmental improvements through conservation and protection, coal mined land also has the potential for economic development and the ability to provide social benefits to the community. This study aimed to (1 formulate a spatial plan for coal mined land in order for it to become an integrated and multifunctional landscape by integrating protected areas, conservation areas and cultivated areas that contains a variety of land uses to support sustainable development of the coal mine of PT Bukit Asam, Tanjung Enim, South Sumatera province; and (2 calculate the economic potential of the coal mined land. The methods used for data analysis were the Geographical Information System (GIS, a land suitability evaluation and a feasibility study (Net Present Value, Internal Rate Return and Benefit/Cost Ratio. The results found that the integrated spatial planning of land that had been used as a coal mine that considered sustainability could be implemented. In addition, a variety of businesses in the area of cultivation, including: plantation forests, cultivation of cajuput crops, aquaculture, and cattle farming should be developed. The potential profitable, pre-tax income until the closing of the mine in 2043 amounted to USD 91,295,530 (1 USD = Rp 13,329. If there is a source of a new economy after mining ends, the social conditions and environmental sustainability can be maintained.

  20. Integrability of geodesics in near-horizon extremal geometries: Case of Myers-Perry black holes in arbitrary dimensions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Demirchian, Hovhannes; Nersessian, Armen; Sadeghian, Saeedeh; Sheikh-Jabbari, M. M.

    2018-05-01

    We investigate dynamics of probe particles moving in the near-horizon limit of extremal Myers-Perry black holes in arbitrary dimensions. Employing ellipsoidal coordinates we show that this problem is integrable and separable, extending the results of the odd dimensional case discussed by Hakobyan et al. [Phys. Lett. B 772, 586 (2017)., 10.1016/j.physletb.2017.07.028]. We find the general solution of the Hamilton-Jacobi equations for these systems and present explicit expressions for the Liouville integrals and discuss Killing tensors and the associated constants of motion. We analyze special cases of the background near-horizon geometry were the system possesses more constants of motion and is hence superintegrable. Finally, we consider a near-horizon extremal vanishing horizon case which happens for Myers-Perry black holes in odd dimensions and show that geodesic equations on this geometry are also separable and work out its integrals of motion.

  1. Coaching Tutors: An Instrumental Case Study on Testing an Integrated Framework for Tutoring Sessions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holland, Alicia L.; Grant, Chris; Donthamsetty, Reshema

    2017-01-01

    The objective for the current qualitative case study was to examine participants' perceptions on the tutor coaching and session review frameworks. The location of the study was at the tutor coaches' place of business. At the beginning of the study, tutor coaches were trained on how to implement the tutoring coaching framework with their tutors,…

  2. Chronic care coordination by integrating care through a team-based, population-driven approach: a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Eeghen, Constance O; Littenberg, Benjamin; Kessler, Rodger

    2018-05-23

    Patients with chronic conditions frequently experience behavioral comorbidities to which primary care cannot easily respond. This study observed a Vermont family medicine practice with integrated medical and behavioral health services that use a structured approach to implement a chronic care management system with Lean. The practice chose to pilot a population-based approach to improve outcomes for patients with poorly controlled Type 2 diabetes using a stepped-care model with an interprofessional team including a community health nurse. This case study observed the team's use of Lean, with which it designed and piloted a clinical algorithm composed of patient self-assessment, endorsement of behavioral goals, shared documentation of goals and plans, and follow-up. The team redesigned workflows and measured reach (patients who engaged to the end of the pilot), outcomes (HbA1c results), and process (days between HbA1c tests). The researchers evaluated practice member self-reports about the use of Lean and facilitators and barriers to move from pilot to larger scale applications. Of 20 eligible patients recruited over 3 months, 10 agreed to participate and 9 engaged fully (45%); 106 patients were controls. Relative to controls, outcomes and process measures improved but lacked significance. Practice members identified barriers that prevented implementation of all changes needed but were in agreement that the pilot produced useful outcomes. A systematized, population-based, chronic care management service is feasible in a busy primary care practice. To test at scale, practice leadership will need to allocate staffing, invest in shared documentation, and standardize workflows to streamline office practice responsibilities.

  3. Self-amputation of a healthy hand: a case of body integrity identity disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sorene, E D; Heras-Palou, C; Burke, F D

    2006-12-01

    A case report is presented of self-amputation of a healthy hand. We have reviewed the literature and seek to broaden the scope of understanding of Body Integrity Identity Disorder. This rare condition can constitute a pitfall for the unsuspecting hand surgeon.

  4. Integrating Facebook in Upper Secondary Biology Instruction: A Case Study of Students' Situational Interest and Participation in Learning Communication

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dohn, Niels Bonderup; Dohn, Nina Bonderup

    2017-12-01

    The sciences are often perceived by students as irrelevant as they do not see the content of science as related to their daily lives. Web 2.0-mediated activities are characterized by user-driven content production, collaboration, and multi-way communication. It has been proposed that employing Web 2.0 in educational activities will promote richer opportunities for making learning personally meaningful, collaborative, and socially relevant. Since Facebook is already in use among youths, it potentially provides a communicative link between educational content and students' lives. The present study was conducted as a case study to provide an inductive, explorative investigation of whether and how the integration of Facebook into upper secondary biology can affect interest in biology and participation in learning communication. The results indicate that the coupling of formal and informal communication practices on Facebook serves to maintain interest and open up new learning possibilities while at the same time creating barriers to communication. These barriers are due to distractions, ethical issues, and a certain depreciation of the activities ensuing from the everydayness of Facebook as a communication platform. In conclusion, use of Facebook as an educational platform is not clearly good or bad.

  5. Student-Authored Case Studies as a Reflective Component of Teacher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosse-Richards, Kevin Andrews; Hemphill, Michael A.; Wilson, Wesley J.

    2015-01-01

    Field experiences are often conceptualized as integral to teacher education programming. However, there are often inconsistencies between the beliefs and values espoused in teacher education and those pre-service teachers encounter in schools that they must navigate to be successful. Among other strategies, writing case studies about their…

  6. A Case Study - On Patient Empowerment and Integration of Telemedicine to National Healthcare Services

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Urazimbetova, Surayya

    Patient empowerment in the digitalized healthcare can be supported by means of telemedicine. As opposed to Electronic Patient Records developed by a few large business suppliers for healthcare professionals, telemedical applications include innovative solutions of small-medium size suppliers...... and are targeted at specific groups of patients (e.g., hip operated or dermatology patients) and their care network. Based on an integration experiment we argue that in order to support the national visions for patient empowerment and connectedness of healthcare at the same time, it is necessary to achieve...... the integration of telemedicine to the national healthcare services on a business logic (functional) integration level. In this paper, (1) we identify the lack of business logic (functional) level integration opportunities for patient oriented telemedical applications with national healthcare services; (2) we...

  7. Nationwide implementation of integrated community case management of childhood illness in Rwanda

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mugeni, Catherine; Levine, Adam C; Munyaneza, Richard M; Mulindahabi, Epiphanie; Cockrell, Hannah C; Glavis-Bloom, Justin; Nutt, Cameron T; Wagner, Claire M; Gaju, Erick; Rukundo, Alphonse; Habimana, Jean Pierre; Karema, Corine; Ngabo, Fidele; Binagwaho, Agnes

    2014-01-01

    ABSTRACT Background: Between 2008 and 2011, Rwanda introduced integrated community case management (iCCM) of childhood illness nationwide. Community health workers in each of Rwanda's nearly 15,000 villages were trained in iCCM and equipped for empirical diagnosis and treatment of pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria; for malnutrition surveillance; and for comprehensive reporting and referral services. Methods: We used data from the Rwanda health management information system (HMIS) to calculate monthly all-cause under-5 mortality rates, health facility use rates, and community-based treatment rates for childhood illness in each district. We then compared a 3-month baseline period prior to iCCM implementation with a seasonally matched comparison period 1 year after iCCM implementation. Finally, we compared the actual changes in all-cause child mortality and health facility use over this time period with the changes that would have been expected based on baseline trends in Rwanda. Results: The number of children receiving community-based treatment for diarrhea and pneumonia increased significantly in the 1-year period after iCCM implementation, from 0.83 cases/1,000 child-months to 3.80 cases/1,000 child-months (P = .01) and 0.25 cases/1,000 child-months to 5.28 cases/1,000 child-months (P<.001), respectively. On average, total under-5 mortality rates declined significantly by 38% (P<.001), and health facility use declined significantly by 15% (P = .006). These decreases were significantly greater than would have been expected based on baseline trends. Conclusions: This is the first study to demonstrate decreases in both child mortality and health facility use after implementing iCCM of childhood illness at a national level. While our study design does not allow for direct attribution of these changes to implementation of iCCM, these results are in line with those of prior studies conducted at the sub-national level in other low-income countries. PMID:25276592

  8. Towards greener products. A case study of five international Finnish enterprises

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kautto, P.; Heiskanen, E.; Melanen, M.

    2002-01-01

    Product-oriented environmental policy has in recent years been widely discussed and the Commission of the European Communities has issued a Green Paper on Integrated Product Policy (IPP). At the same time, companies have envisaged changes in regulatory requirements and adopted various voluntary environmental initiatives in order to achieve competitive advantage. The main principle of integrated product policy is that products and their environmental effects are viewed from a life cycle perspective. The aim of this study was to evaluate how companies incorporate environmental aspects into their product development and how the product policy exercised by government influences to this process. Data were collected at five Finnish companies (KONE, elevators; Nokia, mobile phones; Stora Enso, packaging boards; Virke, textiles; YIT-Yhtymae, building construction) using a case study strategy. The importance of waste and environmental issues in the product development of the case companies appears to have grown in recent years. Environmental concerns have been integrated - in one way or another - into product development processes. However, the results of this integration are not yet fully visible. The principal pressures to incorporate environmental issues into product development have come from customers or through the anticipation or implementation of extended producer responsibility systems. Recognition of the environmental advantages of their own products, and the use of this in marketing has been an important starting-point for environmental initiatives at least at KONE and Virke. (orig.)

  9. Integrated learning in practical machine element design course: a case study of V-pulley design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tantrabandit, Manop

    2014-06-01

    To achieve an effective integrated learning in Machine Element Design course, it is of importance to bridge the basic knowledge and skills of element designs. The multiple core learning leads the pathway which consists of two main parts. The first part involves teaching documents of which the contents are number of V-groove formulae, standard of V-grooved pulleys, and parallel key dimension's formulae. The second part relates to the subjects that the students have studied prior to participating in this integrated learning course, namely Material Selection, Manufacturing Process, Applied Engineering Drawing, CAD (Computer Aided Design) animation software. Moreover, an intensive cooperation between a lecturer and students is another key factor to fulfill the success of integrated learning. Last but not least, the students need to share their knowledge within the group and among the other groups aiming to gain knowledge of and skills in 1) the application of CAD-software to build up manufacture part drawings, 2) assembly drawing, 3) simulation to verify the strength of loaded pulley by method of Finite Element Analysis (FEA), 4) the software to create animation of mounting and dismounting of a pulley to a shaft, and 5) an instruction manual. The end product of this integrated learning, as a result of the above 1 to 5 knowledge and skills obtained, the participating students can create an assembly derived from manufacture part drawings and a video presentation with bilingual (English-Thai) audio description of Vpulley with datum diameter of 250 mm, 4 grooves, and type of groove: SPA.

  10. Integrating Quality Matters into Hybrid Course Design: A Principles of Marketing Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, Mark R.

    2014-01-01

    Previous research supports the idea that the success of hybrid or online delivery modes is more a function of course design than delivery media. This article describes a case study of a hybrid Principles of Marketing course that implemented a comprehensive redesign based on design principles espoused by the Quality Matters Program, a center for…

  11. X-ray simulation for structural integrity for aerospace components - A case study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Surendra; Gray, Joseph

    2016-02-01

    The use of Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) has rapidly evolved from an emerging technology to the industry standards in Materials, Manufacturing, Chemical, Civil, and Aerospace engineering. Despite this the recognition of the ICME merits has been somewhat lacking within NDE community. This is due in part to the makeup of NDE practitioners. They are a very diverse but regimented group. More than 80% of NDE experts are trained and certified as NDT Level 3's and auditors in order to perform their daily inspection jobs. These jobs involve detection of attribute of interest, which may be a defect or condition or both, in a material. These jobs are performed in strict compliance with procedures that have been developed over many years by trial-and-error with minimal understanding of the underlying physics and interplay between the NDE methods setup parameters. It is not in the nature of these trained Level 3's experts to look for alternate or out-of-the box, solutions. Instead, they follow the procedures for compliance as required by regulatory agencies. This approach is time-consuming, subjective, and is treated as a bottleneck in today's manufacturing environments. As such, there is a need for new NDE tools that provide rapid, high quality solutions for studying structural and dimensional integrity in parts at a reduced cost. NDE simulations offer such options by a shortening NDE technique development-time, attaining a new level in the scientific understanding of physics of interactions between interrogating energy and materials, and reducing costs. In this paper, we apply NDE simulation (XRSIM as an example) for simulating X-Ray techniques for studying aerospace components. These results show that NDE simulations help: 1) significantly shorten NDE technique development-time, 2) assist in training NDE experts, by facilitating the understanding of the underlying physics, and 3) improve both capability and reliability of NDE methods in terms of

  12. Deep Kalman Filter: Simultaneous Multi-Sensor Integration and Modelling; A GNSS/IMU Case Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hosseinyalamdary, Siavash

    2018-04-24

    Bayes filters, such as the Kalman and particle filters, have been used in sensor fusion to integrate two sources of information and obtain the best estimate of unknowns. The efficient integration of multiple sensors requires deep knowledge of their error sources. Some sensors, such as Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), have complicated error sources. Therefore, IMU error modelling and the efficient integration of IMU and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) observations has remained a challenge. In this paper, we developed deep Kalman filter to model and remove IMU errors and, consequently, improve the accuracy of IMU positioning. To achieve this, we added a modelling step to the prediction and update steps of the Kalman filter, so that the IMU error model is learned during integration. The results showed our deep Kalman filter outperformed the conventional Kalman filter and reached a higher level of accuracy.

  13. High Prevalence of Human Papillomavirus in Colorectal Cancer in Hispanics: A Case-Control Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raul D. Bernabe-Dones

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The role of Human Papillomavirus (HPV in colorectal carcinogenesis remains elusive. Based on the high incidence of HPV-associated malignancies among Puerto Rican Hispanics, this study aimed to assess the prevalence of HPV infection and viral integration in colorectal tissues in order to evaluate its putative role in colorectal cancer (CRC. In this case-control study, the prevalence of HPV infection in CRC (cases n = 45 and normal colon mucosa from cancer-free subjects (controls n = 36 was assessed by a nested PCR strategy. HPV-16 genotyping was performed in HPV-positive tissues and the physical status of the HPV-16 genome was determined by E2 detection. HPV was detected in 19 of 45 (42.2% CRC cases (mean age 61.1 ± 10.7 years, 24 males and in 1 of 36 (2.8% controls (mean age 60.9 ± 9.6 years, 24 males with an OR = 25.58 (95% CI 3.21 to 203.49. HPV-16 was detected in 63.2% of the HPV-positive colorectal tumors; genome integration was observed in all HPV-16 positive cases. This is the first report showing the high prevalence of HPV infections in Caribbean Hispanic colorectal tumors. Despite evidence of HPV integration into the host genome, further mechanistic analysis examining HPV oncoprotein expression and the putative role of these oncoproteins in colorectal carcinogenesis is warranted.

  14. Integrated assessment for establishing an oil environmental vulnerability map: case study for the Santos Basin region, Brazil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romero, A F; Abessa, D M S; Fontes, R F C; Silva, G H

    2013-09-15

    The growth of maritime transport and oil exploitation activities may increase the risk of oil spills. Thus, plans and actions to prevent or mitigate impacts are needed to minimize the effects caused by oil. However, tools used worldwide to support contingency plans have not been integrated, thus leading to failure in establishing priority areas. This investigation aimed to develop indices of environmental vulnerability to oil (IEVO), by combining information about environmental sensibility to oil and results of numerical modeling of spilled oil. To achieve that, a case study concerning to oil spills scenarios in a subtropical coastal area was designed, and IEVOs were calculated and presented in maps, in order to make the information about the areas' vulnerability more easily visualized. For summer, the extension of coastline potentially affected by oil was approximately 150 km, and most of the coastline presented medium to high vulnerability. For winter, 230 km coastline would be affected, from which 75% were classified as medium to high vulnerability. Thus, IEVO maps allowed a rapid and clearer interpretation of the vulnerability of the mapped region, facilitating the planning process and the actions in response to an oil spill. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. A Spatial Data Infrastructure Integrating Multisource Heterogeneous Geospatial Data and Time Series: A Study Case in Agriculture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gloria Bordogna

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Currently, the best practice to support land planning calls for the development of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI capable of integrating both geospatial datasets and time series information from multiple sources, e.g., multitemporal satellite data and Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI. This paper describes an original OGC standard interoperable SDI architecture and a geospatial data and metadata workflow for creating and managing multisource heterogeneous geospatial datasets and time series, and discusses it in the framework of the Space4Agri project study case developed to support the agricultural sector in Lombardy region, Northern Italy. The main novel contributions go beyond the application domain for which the SDI has been developed and are the following: the ingestion within an a-centric SDI, potentially distributed in several nodes on the Internet to support scalability, of products derived by processing remote sensing images, authoritative data, georeferenced in-situ measurements and voluntary information (VGI created by farmers and agronomists using an original Smart App; the workflow automation for publishing sets and time series of heterogeneous multisource geospatial data and relative web services; and, finally, the project geoportal, that can ease the analysis of the geospatial datasets and time series by providing complex intelligent spatio-temporal query and answering facilities.

  16. Ontology Design Patterns: Bridging the Gap Between Local Semantic Use Cases and Large-Scale, Long-Term Data Integration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shepherd, Adam; Arko, Robert; Krisnadhi, Adila; Hitzler, Pascal; Janowicz, Krzysztof; Chandler, Cyndy; Narock, Tom; Cheatham, Michelle; Schildhauer, Mark; Jones, Matt; Raymond, Lisa; Mickle, Audrey; Finin, Tim; Fils, Doug; Carbotte, Suzanne; Lehnert, Kerstin

    2015-04-01

    Integrating datasets for new use cases is one of the common drivers for adopting semantic web technologies. Even though linked data principles enables this type of activity over time, the task of reconciling new ontological commitments for newer use cases can be daunting. This situation was faced by the Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO) as it sought to integrate its existing linked data with other data repositories to address newer scientific use cases as a partner in the GeoLink Project. To achieve a successful integration with other GeoLink partners, BCO-DMO's metadata would need to be described using the new ontologies developed by the GeoLink partners - a situation that could impact semantic inferencing, pre-existing software and external users of BCO-DMO's linked data. This presentation describes the process of how GeoLink is bridging the gap between local, pre-existing ontologies to achieve scientific metadata integration for all its partners through the use of ontology design patterns. GeoLink, an NSF EarthCube Building Block, brings together experts from the geosciences, computer science, and library science in an effort to improve discovery and reuse of data and knowledge. Its participating repositories include content from field expeditions, laboratory analyses, journal publications, conference presentations, theses/reports, and funding awards that span scientific studies from marine geology to marine ecology and biogeochemistry to paleoclimatology. GeoLink's outcomes include a set of reusable ontology design patterns (ODPs) that describe core geoscience concepts, a network of Linked Data published by participating repositories using those ODPs, and tools to facilitate discovery of related content in multiple repositories.

  17. The Relation of Shadow Systems and ERP Systems—Insights from a Multiple-Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Melanie Huber

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available ERP systems integrate a major part of all business processes and organizations include them in their IT service management. Besides these formal systems, there are additional systems that are rather stand-alone and not included in the IT management tasks. These so-called ‘shadow systems’ also support business processes but hinder a high enterprise integration. Shadow systems appear during their explicit detection or during software maintenance projects such as enhancements or release changes of enterprise systems. Organizations then have to decide if and to what extent they integrate the identified shadow systems into their ERP systems. For this decision, organizations have to compare the capabilities of each identified shadow system with their ERP systems. Based on multiple-case studies, we provide a dependency approach to enable their comparison. We derive categories for different stages of the dependency and base insights into integration possibilities on these stages. Our results show that 64% of the shadow systems in our case studies are related to ERP systems. This means that they share parts or all of their data and/or functionality with the ERP system. Our research contributes to the field of integration as well as to the discussion about shadow systems.

  18. Towards Effective International Work-Integrated Learning Practica in Development Studies: Reflections on the Australian Consortium for "In-Country" Indonesian Studies' Development Studies Professional Practicum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosser, Andrew

    2012-01-01

    In recent years, overseas work-integrated learning practica have become an increasingly important part of development studies curricula in "Northern" universities. This paper examines the factors that shape pedagogical effectiveness in the provision of such programmes, focusing on the case of the Australian Consortium for…

  19. Topological features of the Sokolov integrable case on the Lie algebra so(3,1)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Novikov, D V

    2014-01-01

    The integrable Sokolov case on so(3,1) ⋆ is investigated. This is a Hamiltonian system with two degrees of freedom, in which the Hamiltonian and the additional integral are homogeneous polynomials of degrees 2 and 4, respectively. It is an interesting feature of this system that connected components of common level surfaces of the Hamiltonian and the additional integral turn out to be noncompact. The critical points of the moment map and their indices are found, the bifurcation diagram is constructed, and the topology of noncompact level surfaces is determined, that is, the closures of solutions of the Sokolov system on so(3,1) are described. Bibliography: 24 titles

  20. Evaluating Consumer Product Life Cycle Sustainability with Integrated Metrics: A Paper Towel Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Integrated sustainability metrics provide an enriched set of information to inform decision-making. However, such approaches are rarely used to assess product supply chains. In this work, four integrated metrics—presented in terms of land, resources, value added, and stability—ar...

  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. INTEGRATING CASE-BASED REASONING, KNOWLEDGE-BASED APPROACH AND TSP ALGORITHM FOR MINIMUM TOUR FINDING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hossein Erfani

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available Imagine you have traveled to an unfamiliar city. Before you start your daily tour around the city, you need to know a good route. In Network Theory (NT, this is the traveling salesman problem (TSP. A dynamic programming algorithm is often used for solving this problem. However, when the road network of the city is very complicated and dense, which is usually the case, it will take too long for the algorithm to find the shortest path. Furthermore, in reality, things are not as simple as those stated in AT. For instance, the cost of travel for the same part of the city at different times may not be the same. In this project, we have integrated TSP algorithm with AI knowledge-based approach and case-based reasoning in solving the problem. With this integration, knowledge about the geographical information and past cases are used to help TSP algorithm in finding a solution. This approach dramatically reduces the computation time required for minimum tour finding.

  3. Towards integration of general practitioner posts and accident and emergency departments: a case study of two integrated emergency posts in the Netherlands

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kamphuis Helen CM

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Accident and emergency (A&E departments and general practitioner (GP posts are often used inappropriately, leading to overcrowding. In the Netherlands, increasingly more integrated emergency posts (IEPs are being created, integrating the care provided by GP posts and A&E departments, in order to improve the provision of the emergency care. Methods This explorative study compares the efficiency and patient and employee satisfaction in IEPs with those in two GP posts and two A&E departments. To this end, information was retrieved from hospital and GP patient records for the first quarter of the year before and of the year after the creation of IEPs. Patients and employees were sent a questionnaire to measure their satisfaction. Lastly, groups of hospital doctors, GPs, GP assistants, and nurses were interviewed. Results After the creation of IEPs, there was a shift of more than fifteen percent from secondary care to primary care for emergency consultations and waiting/consultation times were shortened by more than ten percent. Compared with the control settings, patients were more satisfied about telephone contact with an IEP, but professionals working at the IEP were less satisfied with several aspects of their work. Conclusion IEPs could be a promising innovation to organize emergency care more efficiently; however, it might take time to convince professionals of the possible advantages. Studies involving more IEPs and longer follow-up times are needed to determine whether such integration should be stimulated.

  4. Towards integration of general practitioner posts and accident and emergency departments: a case study of two integrated emergency posts in the Netherlands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kool, Rudolf B; Homberg, Daniel J; Kamphuis, Helen C M

    2008-11-04

    Accident and emergency (A&E) departments and general practitioner (GP) posts are often used inappropriately, leading to overcrowding. In the Netherlands, increasingly more integrated emergency posts (IEPs) are being created, integrating the care provided by GP posts and A&E departments, in order to improve the provision of the emergency care. This explorative study compares the efficiency and patient and employee satisfaction in IEPs with those in two GP posts and two A&E departments. To this end, information was retrieved from hospital and GP patient records for the first quarter of the year before and of the year after the creation of IEPs. Patients and employees were sent a questionnaire to measure their satisfaction. Lastly, groups of hospital doctors, GPs, GP assistants, and nurses were interviewed. After the creation of IEPs, there was a shift of more than fifteen percent from secondary care to primary care for emergency consultations and waiting/consultation times were shortened by more than ten percent. Compared with the control settings, patients were more satisfied about telephone contact with an IEP, but professionals working at the IEP were less satisfied with several aspects of their work. IEPs could be a promising innovation to organize emergency care more efficiently; however, it might take time to convince professionals of the possible advantages. Studies involving more IEPs and longer follow-up times are needed to determine whether such integration should be stimulated.

  5. Integrating Gender into World Bank Financed Transport Programs : Component 1. Case Study Summary and Final Report

    OpenAIRE

    IC Net

    2004-01-01

    The World Bank in November 2001 commissioned IC Net Limited of Japan to carry out a study titled 'Integrating Gender into World Bank Financed Transport Programs' in accord with the terms of reference (TOR) issued in June 2001. The study was financed by a grant from the Japanese Large Studies Trust Fund. The contract came into effect on 15 December 2001 and covers the period to 15 June 2004...

  6. Deep Kalman Filter: Simultaneous Multi-Sensor Integration and Modelling; A GNSS/IMU Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Siavash Hosseinyalamdary

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Bayes filters, such as the Kalman and particle filters, have been used in sensor fusion to integrate two sources of information and obtain the best estimate of unknowns. The efficient integration of multiple sensors requires deep knowledge of their error sources. Some sensors, such as Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU, have complicated error sources. Therefore, IMU error modelling and the efficient integration of IMU and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS observations has remained a challenge. In this paper, we developed deep Kalman filter to model and remove IMU errors and, consequently, improve the accuracy of IMU positioning. To achieve this, we added a modelling step to the prediction and update steps of the Kalman filter, so that the IMU error model is learned during integration. The results showed our deep Kalman filter outperformed the conventional Kalman filter and reached a higher level of accuracy.

  7. When ageing and disasters collide: Lessons from 16 international case studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Powell, S.; Plouffe, L.; Gorr, P.

    2009-01-01

    Sixteen case studies examined the impact of various natural disasters and conflict-related emergencies on older people, the strengths and gaps in emergency planning, response and recovery, and the contributions older people made to their families and communities. Case examples were chosen from both developed and developing countries. Older persons suffered disproportionate impacts in several cases. Regardless of the country's level of prosperity, those most affected tended to be economically disadvantaged, disabled or frail, women, socially isolated, or caregivers of family members. Emergency responders were often not aware of distinct needs or abilities of older persons and not equipped to respond appropriately. The best emergency practices recognised and included specific needs within mainstream efforts and integrated older persons in community planning, response and recovery activities. This paper presents the 'lessons learned' from these case studies and makes the case for greater attention to this segment of the population in emergency management. (authors)

  8. Optimation of Operation System Integration between Main and Feeder Public Transport (Case Study: Trans Jakarta-Kopaja Bus Services)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miharja, M.; Priadi, Y. N.

    2018-05-01

    Promoting a better public transport is a key strategy to cope with urban transport problems which are mostly caused by a huge private vehicle usage. A better public transport service quality not only focuses on one type of public transport mode, but also concerns on inter modes service integration. Fragmented inter mode public transport service leads to a longer trip chain as well as average travel time which would result in its failure to compete with a private vehicle. This paper examines the optimation process of operation system integration between Trans Jakarta Bus as the main public transport mode and Kopaja Bus as feeder public transport service in Jakarta. Using scoring-interview method combined with standard parameters in operation system integration, this paper identifies the key factors that determine the success of the two public transport operation system integrations. The study found that some key integration parameters, such as the cancellation of “system setoran”, passenger get in-get out at official stop points, and systematic payment, positively contribute to a better service integration. However, some parameters such as fine system, time and changing point reliability, and information system reliability are among those which need improvement. These findings are very useful for the authority to set the right strategy to improve operation system integration between Trans Jakarta and Kopaja Bus services.

  9. Integrated management software files action in case of fire; Software de gestion integral de fichas de actuacion en caso de incendio

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moreno-Ventas Garcia, V.; Gimeno Serrano, F.

    2010-07-01

    The proper management of emergencies, is a challenge for which it is essential to be prepared. Integrated Software Performance Chips In case of fire and rapid access to information, make this application a must to effectively drive any emergency due to fire at any nuclear facility.

  10. Integration of health and environment through health impact assessment: cases from three continents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Negev, Maya; Levine, Hagai; Davidovitch, Nadav; Bhatia, Rajiv; Mindell, Jennifer

    2012-04-01

    Despite the strong linkage between environment and health, institutions responsible for these fields operate in largely fragmented ways with limited interaction. As illustrated in the recent engagement between health and urban planning institutions, inter-institutional cooperation could support more effective and politically acceptable solutions for both local and global problems. Analysis of three case-studies, from three different continents, shows that HIA might serve to promote synergies among health and environmental disciplines in different local contexts, and could lead to institutional and procedural changes that promote health. Case examples provided supportive evidence for these effects, despite differences in approaches to HIA and governance levels. Obstacles to the use of HIA for inter-institutional integration also differed between countries. Lessons learned could support cooperation in other common interests of health and environment disciplines such as research, training and preparedness, and mitigation of public health emergencies related to the environment. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Life in the Cloud: A WorldShare Management Services Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartman, Robin R.

    2012-01-01

    A small, private academic library took the risk of moving from a traditional integrated library system to adopting a system "in the cloud." This case study presents the setting, history, and local needs of the library, including staffing challenges, and explains the decision-making rationale and process. A description of the library's transition…

  12. From Science to e-Science to Semantic e-Science: A Heliosphysics Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Narock, Thomas; Fox, Peter

    2011-01-01

    The past few years have witnessed unparalleled efforts to make scientific data web accessible. The Semantic Web has proven invaluable in this effort; however, much of the literature is devoted to system design, ontology creation, and trials and tribulations of current technologies. In order to fully develop the nascent field of Semantic e-Science we must also evaluate systems in real-world settings. We describe a case study within the field of Heliophysics and provide a comparison of the evolutionary stages of data discovery, from manual to semantically enable. We describe the socio-technical implications of moving toward automated and intelligent data discovery. In doing so, we highlight how this process enhances what is currently being done manually in various scientific disciplines. Our case study illustrates that Semantic e-Science is more than just semantic search. The integration of search with web services, relational databases, and other cyberinfrastructure is a central tenet of our case study and one that we believe has applicability as a generalized research area within Semantic e-Science. This case study illustrates a specific example of the benefits, and limitations, of semantically replicating data discovery. We show examples of significant reductions in time and effort enable by Semantic e-Science; yet, we argue that a "complete" solution requires integrating semantic search with other research areas such as data provenance and web services.

  13. Decision-making in palliative care: a reflective case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Birchall, Melissa

    2005-01-01

    Critical examination of the processes by which we as nurses judge and reach clinical decisions is important. It facilitates the maintenance and refinement of good standards of nursing care and the pinpointing of areas where improvement is needed. In turn this potentially could support broader validation of nurse expertise and contribute to emancipation of the nursing profession. As pure theory, clinical decision-making may appear abstract and alien to nurses struggling in 'the swampy lowlands' (Schon 1983) of the realities of practice. This paper explores some of the key concepts in decision-making theory by introducing, then integrating, them in a reflective case study. The case study, which examines a 'snapshot' of the patient and practitioner's journey, interwoven with theory surrounding clinical decision-making, may aid understanding and utility of concepts and theories in practice.

  14. eHealth in Denmark: a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kierkegaard, Patrick

    2013-12-01

    Denmark is widely regarded as a leading country in terms of eHealth integration and healthcare delivery services. The push for eHealth adoption over that past 20 years in the Danish health sector has led to the deployment of multiple eHealth technologies. However, in reality the Danish healthcare suffers from eHealth system fragmentation which has led to eHealth's inability to reach full potential in delivering quality healthcare service. This paper will presents a case study of the current state of eHealth in the Danish healthcare system and discuss the current challenges the country is facing today.

  15. Integrated Food studies education and research:

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Mette Weinreich; Hansen, Stine Rosenlund

    2018-01-01

    The research group Foodscapes Innovation and Networks has addressed integrated food studies issues in re-search and education since 2010. Based on experiences in the group, this paper aims at discussing the chal-lenges, learning outcomes and potentials for pushing an integrated thinking into rese......The research group Foodscapes Innovation and Networks has addressed integrated food studies issues in re-search and education since 2010. Based on experiences in the group, this paper aims at discussing the chal-lenges, learning outcomes and potentials for pushing an integrated thinking...... into research and education. It also addresses the challenges in integration when the methodological approaches and theoretical frameworks chosen are ontologically and epistemologically different. A discussion of the limitations of integration is thus also part of the paper. The conceptual framework...... of ontonorms (Mol, 2013) is suggested as a common point of departure for a further development of integration. This is suggested relevant due to the fact that it forces different traditions to reflect their own value-related basis and discuss implications of this approach in a broader sense. The common values...

  16. Committed to Differentiation and Engagement: A Case Study of Two American Secondary Social Studies Teachers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Derek Anderson

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available This case study examines two 10th-grade US History teachers who collaborated to create and implement an integrated, thematic eight-week unit on war with an emphasis differentiated instruction. Drawing on the National Council for the Social Studies (2010 framework for powerful and purposeful social studies instruction, the case study uses multiple sources of data, including 38 lesson observations, analyses of the teachers’ lesson plans and student work, and interviews of teachers. Initially, the teachers were successful at engaging students in simulations, small-group discussions, and higher-order thinking. As the unit progressed, however, the teachers reverted to transmission-style teaching with an emphasis on breadth over depth. Changing teaching practice requires overcoming barriers associated with prior experiences and deeply-held beliefs about teaching and learning.

  17. Communication in ecosystem management: a case study of cross-disciplinary integration in the assessment phase of the interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jakobsen, Christine Haugaard; McLaughlin, William J

    2004-05-01

    Effective communication is essential to the success of collaborative ecosystem management projects. In this paper, we investigated the dynamics of the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project's (ICBEMP) cross-disciplinary integration process in the assessment phase. Using a case study research design, we captured the rich trail of experience through conducting in-depth interviews and collecting information from internal and public documents, videos, and meetings related to the ICBEMP. Coding and analysis was facilitated by a qualitative analysis software, NVivo. Results include the range of internal perspectives on barriers and facilitators of cross-disciplinary integration in the Science Integration Team (SIT). These are arrayed in terms of discipline-based differences, organizational structures and activities, individual traits of scientists, and previous working relationships. The ICBEMP organization included a team of communication staffs (CT), and the data described the CT as a mixed group in terms of qualifications and educational backgrounds that played a major role in communication with actors external to the ICBEMP organization but a minor one in terms of internal communication. The data indicated that the CT-SIT communication was influenced by characteristics of actors and structures related to organizations and their cultures. We conclude that the ICBEMP members may not have had a sufficient level of shared understanding of central domains, such as the task at hand and ways and timing of information sharing. The paper concludes by suggesting that future ecosystem management assessment teams use qualified communications specialists to design and monitor the development of shared cognition among organization members in order to improve the effectiveness of communication and cross-disciplinary integration.

  18. A framework for the integration of ecosystem and human health in public policy: two case studies with infectious agents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koren, H.S.; Crawford-Brown, Douglas

    2004-01-01

    Despite that a significant body of published literature exists in the complex area of interconnection among the environment, ecosystems, and human activity, relatively little attention has been paid to the integration and analysis of ecological and human health data in the form of a conceptual model. Human and ecological health protection generally have been treated as separate domains of policy, with significant differences in both the analytic methods used to characterize risks and the policies developed for risk reduction. Understanding the relationships among population growth, development, natural resource use, the environment, human health, and ecosystems is an important area of both scientific inquiry and environmental policy. The present paper focuses on the development of a conceptual model for understanding disease causation, particularly infectious disease, and the implications of such a model for public policy. The conceptual model incorporates ecological and human health risk assessment information applied to case studies of two infectious diseases. This article takes an initial step toward formalizing the conceptual model so that research and assessment procedures can be developed

  19. 75 FR 15485 - Pipeline Safety: Workshop on Guidelines for Integrity Assessment of Cased Pipe

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-03-29

    ... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket ID...: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), DOT. ACTION: Notice of workshop. SUMMARY... ``Guidelines for Integrity Assessment of Cased Pipe in Gas Transmission Pipelines'' and related Frequently...

  20. Integrated Techniques for Analysis and Monitoring of Historical Monuments: the case of S.Giovanni al Sepolcro in Brindisi (Southern Italy).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calia, A.; Giannotta, M. T.; Masini, N.; Quarta, G.; Persico, R.

    2009-04-01

    Non destructive testing has been gaining a large interest in the field of the diagnostics applied to the cultural heritage. The exceptional and brittle nature of the investigated structures, in fact, discourages invasive investigation techniques even more than in other applications. In particular, non-destructive testing can be exploited for the detection of fractures or for the investigation of pillars and columns within churches of particular historical and/or architectural relevance. This has been recently done in the cathedral of Matera [1], and previously in the crypt of the Romanesque cathedral of Otranto [2]. In both cases, integrated prospecting has been performed, where GPR data have been considered together with acoustic sounding or resistive measurements and even microclimatic investigation. Integrated prospecting is a good help to perform not only the diagnosis of the structure but also its restoring and continuative preservation. In this contribution, we propose a case study where integrated methodologies have been adopted for the analysis of the conservation state of the architectural elements which constitute the church of S.Giovanni al Sepolcro, in Brindisi (Southern Italy). This church is a precious artifact of medieval age, which recently underwent restoration works. IBAM-CNR has been put in charge of the task to analyse the constitutive materials, the superficial finishing (paintings, patinas, plasters etc.) and the causes and the products of the decay. The information retrieved from the analysis of the materials have been fruitfully integrated with non-destructive testing of the structure. Some results will be shown at the conference. References [1] N. Masini, R. Persico, A. Guida, A. Pagliuca, "A Multifrequency and Multisensor Approach for the Study and the Restoration of Monuments: the Case of the Cathedral of Matera.", Advances in Geoscience, vol. 18, pp. 1-6, 2008. [2] G. Leucci, R. Persico, F. Soldovieri, "Detection of Fracture From GPR

  1. 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.

  2. Systematic literature review of integrated community case management and the private sector in Africa: Relevant experiences and potential next steps.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Awor, Phyllis; Miller, Jane; Peterson, Stefan

    2014-12-01

    Despite substantial investments made over the past 40 years in low income countries, governments cannot be viewed as the principal health care provider in many countries. Evidence on the role of the private sector in the delivery of health services is becoming increasingly available. In this study, we set out to determine the extent to which the private sector has been utilized in providing integrated care for sick children under 5 years of age with community-acquired malaria, pneumonia or diarrhoea. We reviewed the published literature for integrated community case management (iCCM) related experiences within both the public and private sector. We searched PubMed and Google/Google Scholar for all relevant literature until July 2014. The search terms used were "malaria", "pneumonia", "diarrhoea", "private sector" and "community case management". A total of 383 articles referred to malaria, pneumonia or diarrhoea in the private sector. The large majority of these studies (290) were only malaria related. Most of the iCCM-related studies evaluated introduction of only malaria drugs and/or diagnostics into the private sector. Only one study evaluated the introduction of drugs and diagnostics for malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea in the private sector. In contrast, most iCCM-related studies in the public sector directly reported on community case management of 2 or more of the illnesses. While the private sector is an important source of care for children in low income countries, little has been done to harness the potential of this sector in improving access to care for non-malaria-associated fever in children within the community. It would be logical for iCCM programs to expand their activities to include the private sector to achieve higher population coverage. An implementation research agenda for private sector integrated care of febrile childhood illness needs to be developed and implemented in conjunction with private sector intervention programs.

  3. 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.

  4. 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

  5. Food innovation and entrepreneurship in higher education: a case study

    OpenAIRE

    Susana C. Fonseca; Rita Pinheiro; Carla Barbosa; Alberta Araújo; Manuela Vaz-Velho; Rui Alves

    2015-01-01

    Food innovation and entrepreneurship are important topics in graduate food studies. Students should be challenged to promote an innovative attitude towards their future career in the food industry sector, as professionals working in a small and medium-sized enterprise, or in a large multinational company, or even as entrepreneurs with their own working projects. The present case study shows a curricular unit of a master course that intends to integrate the knowledge on new and sustainable tec...

  6. The impact of watershed management on coastal morphology: A case study using an integrated approach and numerical modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samaras, Achilleas G.; Koutitas, Christopher G.

    2014-04-01

    Coastal morphology evolves as the combined result of both natural- and human- induced factors that cover a wide range of spatial and temporal scales of effect. Areas in the vicinity of natural stream mouths are of special interest, as the direct connection with the upstream watershed extends the search for drivers of morphological evolution from the coastal area to the inland as well. Although the impact of changes in watersheds on the coastal sediment budget is well established, references that study concurrently the two fields and the quantification of their connection are scarce. In the present work, the impact of land-use changes in a watershed on coastal erosion is studied for a selected site in North Greece. Applications are based on an integrated approach to quantify the impact of watershed management on coastal morphology through numerical modeling. The watershed model SWAT and a shoreline evolution model developed by the authors (PELNCON-M) are used, evaluating with the latter the performance of the three longshore sediment transport rate formulae included in the model formulation. Results document the impact of crop abandonment on coastal erosion (agricultural land decrease from 23.3% to 5.1% is accompanied by the retreat of ~ 35 m in the vicinity of the stream mouth) and show the effect of sediment transport formula selection on the evolution of coastal morphology. Analysis denotes the relative importance of the parameters involved in the dynamics of watershed-coast systems, and - through the detailed description of a case study - is deemed to provide useful insights for researchers and policy-makers involved in their study.

  7. Great Lakes O shore Wind Project: Utility and Regional Integration Study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sajadi, Amirhossein [Case Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland, OH (United States); Loparo, Kenneth A. [Case Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland, OH (United States); D' Aquila, Robert [General Electric (GE), Albany, NY (United States); Clark, Kara [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Waligorski, Joseph G. [FirstEnergy, Akron, OH (United States); Baker, Scott [PJM Interconnection, Audubon, PA (United States)

    2016-06-30

    This project aims to identify transmission system upgrades needed to facilitate offshore wind projects as well as operational impacts of offshore generation on operation of the regional transmission system in the Great Lakes region. A simulation model of the US Eastern Interconnection was used as the test system as a case study for investigating the impact of the integration of a 1000MW offshore wind farm operating in Lake Erie into FirstEnergy/PJM service territory. The findings of this research provide recommendations on offshore wind integration scenarios, the locations of points of interconnection, wind profile modeling and simulation, and computational methods to quantify performance, along with operating changes and equipment upgrades needed to mitigate system performance issues introduced by an offshore wind project.

  8. From organizational integration to clinical integration: analysis of the path between one level of integration to another using official documents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mandza, Matey; Gagnon, Dominique; Carrier, Sébastien; Belzile, Louise; Demers, Louis

    2010-01-01

    Purpose Services’ integration comprises organizational, normative, economic, informational and clinical dimensions. Since 2004, the province of Quebec has devoted significant efforts to unify the governance of the main health and social care organizations of its various territories. Notwithstanding the uniformity of the national plan’s prescription, the territorial integration modalities greatly vary across the province. Theory This research is based upon a conceptual model of integration that comprises six components: inter-organizational partnership, case management, standardized assessment, a single entry point, a standardized service planning tool and a shared clinical file. Methods We conducted an embedded case study in six contrasted sites in terms of their level of integration. All documents prescribing the implementation of integration were retrieved and analyzed. Results and conclusions The analyzed documents demonstrate a growing local appropriation of the current integrative reform. Interestingly however, no link seems to exist between the quality of local prescriptions and the level of integration achieved in each site. This finding leads us to hypothesize that the variable quality of the operational accompaniment offered to implement these prescriptions is a variable in play.

  9. A workstation-integrated peer review quality assurance program: pilot study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    O’Keeffe, Margaret M; Davis, Todd M; Siminoski, Kerry

    2013-01-01

    The surrogate indicator of radiological excellence that has become accepted is consistency of assessments between radiologists, and the technique that has become the standard for evaluating concordance is peer review. This study describes the results of a workstation-integrated peer review program in a busy outpatient radiology practice. Workstation-based peer review was performed using the software program Intelerad Peer Review. Cases for review were randomly chosen from those being actively reported. If an appropriate prior study was available, and if the reviewing radiologist and the original interpreting radiologist had not exceeded review targets, the case was scored using the modified RADPEER system. There were 2,241 cases randomly assigned for peer review. Of selected cases, 1,705 (76%) were interpreted. Reviewing radiologists agreed with prior reports in 99.1% of assessments. Positive feedback (score 0) was given in three cases (0.2%) and concordance (scores of 0 to 2) was assigned in 99.4%, similar to reported rates of 97.0% to 99.8%. Clinically significant discrepancies (scores of 3 or 4) were identified in 10 cases (0.6%). Eighty-eight percent of reviewed radiologists found the reviews worthwhile, 79% found scores appropriate, and 65% felt feedback was appropriate. Two-thirds of radiologists found case rounds discussing significant discrepancies to be valuable. The workstation-based computerized peer review process used in this pilot project was seamlessly incorporated into the normal workday and met most criteria for an ideal peer review system. Clinically significant discrepancies were identified in 0.6% of cases, similar to published outcomes using the RADPEER system. Reviewed radiologists felt the process was worthwhile

  10. A workstation-integrated peer review quality assurance program: pilot study

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Background The surrogate indicator of radiological excellence that has become accepted is consistency of assessments between radiologists, and the technique that has become the standard for evaluating concordance is peer review. This study describes the results of a workstation-integrated peer review program in a busy outpatient radiology practice. Methods Workstation-based peer review was performed using the software program Intelerad Peer Review. Cases for review were randomly chosen from those being actively reported. If an appropriate prior study was available, and if the reviewing radiologist and the original interpreting radiologist had not exceeded review targets, the case was scored using the modified RADPEER system. Results There were 2,241 cases randomly assigned for peer review. Of selected cases, 1,705 (76%) were interpreted. Reviewing radiologists agreed with prior reports in 99.1% of assessments. Positive feedback (score 0) was given in three cases (0.2%) and concordance (scores of 0 to 2) was assigned in 99.4%, similar to reported rates of 97.0% to 99.8%. Clinically significant discrepancies (scores of 3 or 4) were identified in 10 cases (0.6%). Eighty-eight percent of reviewed radiologists found the reviews worthwhile, 79% found scores appropriate, and 65% felt feedback was appropriate. Two-thirds of radiologists found case rounds discussing significant discrepancies to be valuable. Conclusions The workstation-based computerized peer review process used in this pilot project was seamlessly incorporated into the normal workday and met most criteria for an ideal peer review system. Clinically significant discrepancies were identified in 0.6% of cases, similar to published outcomes using the RADPEER system. Reviewed radiologists felt the process was worthwhile. PMID:23822583

  11. Integrated Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy for Post-traumatic Stress and Psychotic Symptoms: A Case-Series Study Using Imaginal Reprocessing Strategies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nadine Keen

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Despite high rates of trauma in individuals with psychotic symptoms, post-traumatic stress symptoms are frequently overlooked in clinical practice. There is also reluctance to treat post-traumatic symptoms in case the therapeutic procedure of reprocessing the trauma exacerbates psychotic symptoms. Recent evidence demonstrates that it is safe to use reprocessing strategies in this population. However, most published studies have been based on treating post-traumatic symptoms in isolation from psychotic symptoms. The aims of the current case series were to assess the acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary effectiveness of integrating cognitive-behavioural approaches for post-traumatic stress and psychotic symptoms into a single protocol. Nine participants reporting distressing psychotic and post-traumatic symptoms were recruited from a specialist psychological therapies service for psychosis. Clients were assessed at five time points (baseline, pre, mid, end of therapy, and at 6+ months of follow-up by an independent assessor on measures of current symptoms of psychosis, post-traumatic stress, emotional problems, and well-being. Therapy was formulation based and individualised, depending on presenting symptoms and trauma type. It consisted of five broad, flexible phases, and included imaginal reprocessing strategies (reliving and/or rescripting. The intervention was well received, with positive post-therapy feedback and satisfaction ratings. Unusually for this population, no-one dropped out of therapy. Post therapy, all but one (88% of participants achieved a reliable improvement compared to pre-therapy on at least one outcome measure: post-traumatic symptoms (63%, voices (25%, delusions (50%, depression (50%, anxiety (36%, and well-being (40%. Follow-up assessments were completed by 78% (n = 7 of whom 86% (n = 6 maintained at least one reliable improvement. Rates of improvements following therapy (average of 44% across measures post

  12. Study of the asymptotic expansion of multiple integrals in mathematical physics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chako, N.

    1968-01-01

    We have applied the method of stationary phase to evaluate double and multiple integrals of the type: (A) U(k) = g(x)e ikφ(x) d(x), (x)=(x 1 ,..., x n ) for large values of the parameter k. In the first part we have established in a rigorous manner the stationary phase method to double and multiple integrals of type (A). Furthermore we have obtained an asymptotic expansion of (A), if the amplitude and phase functions can be developed in a canonical form near the vicinity of critical or stationary points of the integral. This development contains as particular cases all those which are important in physical applications, especially, to diffraction and scattering of electromagnetic and corpuscular waves by optical systems, diffracting bodies and potential scatterers. In the second part we have considered the problem of convergence of the expansion of the principal contribution to the integral in the asymptotic sense of Poincare. The proof is based on the increasing method used in mathematical analysis. The third part is devoted to the derivation of various asymptotic series due to different types of critical or stationary points associated with the amplitude and phase functions. In the fourth part we have generalized the method to multiple integrals and to the case where the parameter k enter implicitly in the phase function The latter type of integrals extend the scope of the former type to a number of important physical problems; for instance, to the propagation of waves in dispersive and absorbing media. In the last chapter we have made a study and compared the results obtained by the application of the stationary phase method to the integrals (double) of diffraction and the results derived by using the Young-Rubinowicz method. Result of our analysis shows the equivalence of the two methods of approach to the problems of diffraction based, on one hand, on the Fresnel-Kirchhoff theory and, on the other hand, the Young-Rubinowicz theory, provided one interprets in

  13. Planning for integrated solid waste management at the industrial Park level: A case of Tianjin, China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Geng Yong; Zhu Qinghua; Haight, Murray

    2007-01-01

    Industrial parks play a significant role in the production and use of goods and services. The proper management of solid waste is a major challenge for industrial parks due to the large quantity of wastes and the variability of waste characteristics from these types of developments. Therefore, integrated solid waste management has become very crucial to the industrial park managers. Such an approach requires industrial park managers to assess the overall use of resources, and to seek waste reduction, reuse and recycling opportunities both at the individual company level and among different tenant companies. The adoption of this method can bring both economic and environmental benefits. This paper introduces the planning efforts of a real case in China. It first presents the basic information on Tianjin Economic Development Area (TEDA), and then introduces its current practices on solid waste management. The main focus of this paper is to describe how to plan an integrated solid waste management system at TEDA. Benefits and challenges are all identified and analyzed. The experiences and methods from this case study should be applied in other industrial parks so as to improve the overall eco-efficiency of the whole industrial park

  14. The "Total Worker Health" Concept: A Case Study in a Rural Workplace.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watkins, Cecilia; Macy, Gretchen; Golla, Vijay; Lartey, Grace; Basham, Jacqueline

    2018-05-01

    This case study was conducted to identify barriers of integration of health protection and health promotion in rural workplaces with tailored interventions that address the identified barriers. Data on a workplace's ability to integrate wellness programs and health protection programs were collected through a questionnaire along with a seven-question interview. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the quantitative data. Qualitative measures were assessed using thematic analysis. Based off the results of the assessments, the company received tailored training sessions. The largest hindrance to organizational support was time. However, improved knowledge about the need and importance of integration helped the participants to conceptualize and plan for more collaboration between departments. New ways to increase integration at workplaces, especially rural workplaces are needed. More comprehensive interventions that include management are also needed.

  15. Building integrated photovoltaic; Photovaltaique integre aux batiments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2004-01-01

    Durable, modular and flexible in use, as demonstrated by the different case studies in this publication, photovoltaic can replace diverse building elements, from glass facades to weather proof roofs. This leaflet towards architects describes aesthetic, technical, economic and environmental interest of building integrated photovoltaic. (author)

  16. Integrating Enterprise Resource Planning (SAP) in the Accounting Curriculum: A Systematic Literature Review and Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blount, Yvette; Abedin, Babak; Vatanasakdakul, Savanid; Erfani, Seyedezahra

    2016-01-01

    This study investigates how an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software package SAP was integrated into the curriculum of an accounting information systems (AIS) course in an Australian university. Furthermore, the paper provides a systematic literature review of articles published between 1990 and 2013 to understand how ERP systems were…

  17. [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.

  18. Opportunities in the integration of primary care and public health nursing: Two case exemplars on physical activity and nutrition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans-Agnew, Robin A; Mayer, Kala A; Miller, Lori L L

    2018-01-01

    The integration of primary care and public health nursing may provide new opportunities for transforming nursing practice that addresses population health. Effective programs emphasize multilevel approaches that include both downstream (education) and upstream (policy change) actions. The purpose of this article is to identify downstream and upstream nursing actions that integrate public health and primary care practice through two case exemplars concerning disparities in physical activity and nutrition. Describe two research case exemplars: (1) a secondary analysis of school physical activity policy for female adolescents in 36 public middle schools and (2) a focus group study of African American adults in a community kitchen program. In exemplar 1, school policies lacked population-based standards and presented structural disadvantages to African American girls who were already obese. In exemplar 2, participants found the community kitchen program to be more effective than the federally funded nutrition program. Integrating primary care and public health nursing could improve the tailoring of physical activity and nutrition programs to local populations by following core principles of community engagement, infrastructural sustainability, aligned leadership, and data sharing for population health improvement. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  19. 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…

  20. Sustainability Strategy and Management Control Systems in Family Firms. Evidence from a Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fabio Caputo

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to investigate how the integration of new forms of sustainable control systems (SCSs and traditional management control systems (MCSs, and the use of these control systems affect the integration of sustainability within organizational strategy. A qualitative case study based on a longitudinal investigation of an Italian family firm operating in an environment-sensitive context, the intermodal transport industry, has been used to trace the company’s pathway to sustainability integration based on the Gond et al. framework. The paper enriches the Gond et al. conceptualization providing evidence of the external and internal factors relevant in affecting the organization’s pathway towards sustainability integration. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the present study is the first analysis that investigates the integration of sustainability into organizational strategy in the context of family firms, from the point of view of performance management systems (PMSs.

  1. Stakeholders' perceptions of integrated community case management by community health workers: a post-intervention qualitative study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Denise L Buchner

    Full Text Available Integrated community case management (iCCM involves delivery of simple medicines to children with pneumonia, diarrhea and/or malaria by community health workers (CHWs. Between 2010 and 2012, an iCCM intervention trial was implemented by Healthy Child Uganda. This study used qualitative tools to assess whether project stakeholders perceived that iCCM improved access to care for children under five years of age.The intervention involved training and equipping 196 CHWs in 98 study villages in one sub-county in Uganda in iCCM. During the eight-month intervention, CHWs assessed sick children, provided antimalarials (coartem for fever, antibiotics (amoxicillin for cough and fast breathing, oral rehydration salts/zinc for diarrhea, and referred very sick children to health facilities. In order to examine community perceptions and acceptability of iCCM, post-intervention focus groups and key respondent interviews involving caregivers, health workers, CHWs and local leaders were carried out by experienced facilitators using semi-structured interview guides. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis techniques.Respondents reported increased access to health care for children as a result of iCCM. Access was reportedly closer to home, available more hours in a day, and the availability of CHWs was perceived as more reliable. CHW care was reported to be trustworthy and caring. Families reported saving money especially due to reduced transportation costs, and less time away from home. Respondents also perceived better health outcomes. Linkages between health facilities and communities were reportedly improved by the iCCM intervention due to the presence of trained CHWs in the community.iCCM delivered by CHWs may improve access to health care and is acceptable to families. Policymakers should continue to seek opportunities to implement and support iCCM, particularly in remote communities where there are health worker shortages.

  2. 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

  3. The co-integration analysis of factors affecting electricity consumption : a case study of Thailand

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kongruang, C. [Thaksin Univ., Songkhla (Thailand). Faculty of Economics and Business; Waewsak, J. [Thaksin Univ., Phatthalung (Thailand). Dept. of Physics, Solar and Wind Energy Research Lab

    2008-07-01

    A study was conducted in which the main determinants of electricity demand in Thailand were investigated. Time-series analysis methods were used, notably the unit root test, the Johansen co-integration test and an error correction model (ECM). The objective was to determine the factors affecting short and long-run electricity consumption. This paper presented annual time series data from 1971 to 2006. The unit root test revealed that all series are non-stationary. The Johansen co-integration test revealed the co-integration between variables and the existence of the long-term relationship between them. Electricity consumption accelerated with the increase in gross domestic product (GDP) and population. In contrast, an increase in commodity price would reduce electricity consumption. The coefficient of population indicated that an increase of 1 million in total population would result in an increase in electricity consumption of 0.099 per cent. Last, the results of ECM revealed that nearly 21 per cent of long-term disequilibrium is adjusted to the current period. The factors that affect electricity consumption include GDP growth, inflation rate and population growth. It was concluded that Thailand should prepare for additional power generation from clean energy sources such as solar, biomass and wind energy. Thailand's Energy Policy and Planning Office revealed that electricity consumption in 2008 would be over 130,000 GWh with per capita consumption at nearly 2,000 kWh. The power peak demand will be nearly 24,000 MW in 2008. This result was based on the forecasting model that considered only GDP growth. However, electricity consumption depends not only on the GDP growth, but also upon the other key variables such as population, electricity selling price, consumer price index and temperature. 17 refs., 5 tabs., 4 figs.

  4. Optimization of the radiation protection in industrial field: study of some practical cases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Muglioni, P.

    1998-01-01

    Two situations are studied: the case of stationary gauges where the situation is sure with little actions to do to optimize the radiation protection and the case of mobile sources where the sources can submit to important exposure. In these conditions, the best way to optimize the radiation protection is to integrate the constraints, to put in operation a dosimetry and to keep a correct level of radiation protection information. (N.C.)

  5. Perceptions of Plagiarism by STEM Graduate Students: A Case Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leonard, Michelle; Schwieder, David; Buhler, Amy; Bennett, Denise Beaubien; Royster, Melody

    2015-12-01

    Issues of academic integrity, specifically knowledge of, perceptions and attitudes toward plagiarism, are well documented in post-secondary settings using case studies for specific courses, recording discourse with focus groups, analyzing cross-cultural education philosophies, and reviewing the current literature. In this paper, the authors examine the perceptions of graduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines at the University of Florida regarding misconduct and integrity issues. Results revealed students' perceptions of the definition and seriousness of potential academic misconduct, knowledge of institutional procedures, and views on faculty actions, all with a focus on divergences between U.S. and internationally-educated students. The open-ended questions provide anecdotal evidence to highlight personal experiences, positive and negative, aimed at the faculty, international students and undergraduates. Combined, these findings outline an important part of the campus academic integrity culture at a major American university. Recommendations for local actions also are discussed.

  6. Developing a Program-Level Faith Integration Curriculum: A Case Study from Physics

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCoy, Bradley K.

    2014-01-01

    Integrating faith with academics possesses significant benefits for students, because it connects major disciplines to students' personal values and goals, prepares students to be effective and faithful professionals in their discipline and vocation, and develops students' understanding of the nature of their discipline. However, to…

  7. A CASE STUDY OF LUNTIAN MULTI-PURPOSE COOPERATIVE IN BARANGAY LALAIG, TIAONG, QUEZON, PHILIPPINES: A VERTICAL INTEGRATION APPROACH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M.V. Perilla

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available The Luntian Multi-Purpose Cooperative located in Tiaong, Quezon, Philippines. The Luntian MultiPurposecooperative focuses more on feed production as well as hog fattening. The LMC applied thevertical integration to develop the cooperative. They have their members as their primary costumers of theirfeeds. The cooperative’s business activity includes also meat shop, granting of production loan, microfinance,mobilization of saving deposits, aside from feed milling and hog fattening. Different agencies, industryorganizations and private institutions provide trainings, seminars, assistance, as well as credit for thecooperative.The aims of the study was to determine the present and discuss a noteworthy business issue (sof Luntian Multipurpose Cooperative, evaluate the business environment prevailing at a particular time ofthis case , assess the cooperative’s performance in terms of the four business functions , define the problemrelevant to the business issue(s being studied. The study used primary and secondary data. Primary datawere gathered through interviews with the key personnel, managers, and other informants of the LuntianMultipurpose Cooperative in order to obtain responses regarding the overall status of the cooperative includingits problem and plans. Secondary data were taken from files and documents, especially the history, backgroundinformation and financial statements. Other data were taken through research materials such as book,unpublished special problems and from some government institutions. The recommendation of this researchshowed that Luntian MPC should engage in establishing a communal farm as to become the primary sourceof hybrid piglets that their members would raised. The alternatives solution was establishing a breeding farmthat would ask for initial investment.

  8. Peer Support in Full-Service Partnerships: A Multiple Case Study Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siantz, Elizabeth; Henwood, Benjamin; Gilmer, Todd

    2017-07-01

    Peer providers are integral to Full Service Partnerships (FSPs), which are team-based mental health service models. Peer providers use principles of recovery to engage clients, but FSPs can vary in their recovery orientation. Whether and how peer recovery orientation reflects the organizational environments of FSPs is unclear. This qualitative study explored peer provider attitudes towards recovery within the organizational contexts of FSPs where they are employed. Case study analysis was conducted on eight purposively sampled FSPs using qualitative interviews with peer providers and program directors. In two cases, peer recovery attitudes diverged from those of their organizational context. In these cases, peer providers were champions for recovery, and used practice-based strategies to promote client autonomy despite working in settings with lower recovery orientation. Peer providers could be uniquely positioned to promote client autonomy in settings where organizational factors limit consumer choice.

  9. Environmental Sustainability Assessment of Integrated Food and Bioenergy Production with Case Studies from Ghana

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kamp, Andreas

    technologies appear relatively more attractive. Fruit and cocoa residue‐based biogas production in a fruit processing facility, with return of compost to pineapple farmers also proved to be a viable technology. It is recommended that relevant stakeholders explore the implementation of biogas and nutrient......The use of agricultural residues for the production of bioenergy offers tantalising prospects of reduced pollution and greater food sovereignty. Integrated food and bioenergy systems seek to optimise the joint production of food and energy. Integrated food and bioenergy systems may be evaluated...... and compared with other food and energy systems using Environmental Sustainability Assessment (ESA). This thesis investigates a range of integrated food and residuebased bioenergy production systems and provide methodological developments that are relevant for the assessment of such systems. The methodological...

  10. Nature-based integration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pitkänen, Kati; Oratuomi, Joose; Hellgren, Daniela

    Increased attention to, and careful planning of the integration of migrants into Nordic societies is ever more important. Nature based integration is a new solution to respond to this need. This report presents the results of a Nordic survey and workshop and illustrates current practices of nature...... based integration by case study descriptions from Denmark, Sweden Norway and Finland. Across Nordic countries several practical projects and initiatives have been launched to promote the benefits of nature in integration and there is also growing academic interest in the topic. Nordic countries have...... the potential of becoming real forerunners in nature based integration even at the global scale....

  11. 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…

  12. Integrated nonthermal treatment system study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Biagi, C.; Bahar, D.; Teheranian, B.; Vetromile, J.; Quapp, W.J.; Bechtold, T.; Brown, B.; Schwinkendorf, W.; Swartz, G.

    1997-01-01

    This report presents the results of a study of nonthermal treatment technologies. The study consisted of a systematic assessment of five nonthermal treatment alternatives. The treatment alternatives consist of widely varying technologies for safely destroying the hazardous organic components, reducing the volume, and preparing for final disposal of the contact-handled mixed low-level waste (MLLW) currently stored in the US Department of Energy complex. The alternatives considered were innovative nonthermal treatments for organic liquids and sludges, process residue, soil and debris. Vacuum desorption or various washing approaches are considered for treatment of soil, residue and debris. Organic destruction methods include mediated electrochemical oxidation, catalytic wet oxidation, and acid digestion. Other methods studied included stabilization technologies and mercury separation of treatment residues. This study is a companion to the integrated thermal treatment study which examined 19 alternatives for thermal treatment of MLLW waste. The quantities and physical and chemical compositions of the input waste are based on the inventory database developed by the US Department of Energy. The Integrated Nonthermal Treatment Systems (INTS) systems were evaluated using the same waste input (2,927 pounds per hour) as the Integrated Thermal Treatment Systems (ITTS). 48 refs., 68 figs., 37 tabs

  13. Integrated nonthermal treatment system study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Biagi, C.; Bahar, D.; Teheranian, B.; Vetromile, J. [Morrison Knudsen Corp. (United States); Quapp, W.J. [Nuclear Metals (United States); Bechtold, T.; Brown, B.; Schwinkendorf, W. [Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies Co., Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Swartz, G. [Swartz and Associates (United States)

    1997-01-01

    This report presents the results of a study of nonthermal treatment technologies. The study consisted of a systematic assessment of five nonthermal treatment alternatives. The treatment alternatives consist of widely varying technologies for safely destroying the hazardous organic components, reducing the volume, and preparing for final disposal of the contact-handled mixed low-level waste (MLLW) currently stored in the US Department of Energy complex. The alternatives considered were innovative nonthermal treatments for organic liquids and sludges, process residue, soil and debris. Vacuum desorption or various washing approaches are considered for treatment of soil, residue and debris. Organic destruction methods include mediated electrochemical oxidation, catalytic wet oxidation, and acid digestion. Other methods studied included stabilization technologies and mercury separation of treatment residues. This study is a companion to the integrated thermal treatment study which examined 19 alternatives for thermal treatment of MLLW waste. The quantities and physical and chemical compositions of the input waste are based on the inventory database developed by the US Department of Energy. The Integrated Nonthermal Treatment Systems (INTS) systems were evaluated using the same waste input (2,927 pounds per hour) as the Integrated Thermal Treatment Systems (ITTS). 48 refs., 68 figs., 37 tabs.

  14. Improvement of risk assessment by integrating toxicological and epidemiological approaches: the case of isoflavones

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Islam, M.A.

    2015-01-01

    Improvement of risk assessment by integrating toxicological and epidemiological approaches: the case of isoflavones

    PhD-thesis Mohammed Ariful Islam

    This thesis describes the results of a research project that aimed at the improvement of

  15. Diagnostic time in digital pathology: A comparative study on 400 cases

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aleksandar Vodovnik

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Numerous validation studies in digital pathology confirmed its value as a diagnostic tool. However, a longer time to diagnosis than traditional microscopy has been seen as a significant barrier to the routine use of digital pathology. As a part of our validation study, we compared a digital and microscopic diagnostic time in the routine diagnostic setting. Materials and Methods: One senior staff pathologist reported 400 consecutive cases in histology, nongynecological, and fine needle aspiration cytology (20 sessions, 20 cases/session, over 4 weeks. Complex, difficult, and rare cases were excluded from the study to reduce the bias. A primary diagnosis was digital, followed by traditional microscopy, 6 months later, with only request forms available for both. Microscopic slides were scanned at ×20, digital images accessed through the fully integrated laboratory information management system (LIMS and viewed in the image viewer on double 23” displays. A median broadband speed was 299 Mbps. A diagnostic time was measured from the point slides were made available to the point diagnosis was made or additional investigations were deemed necessary, recorded independently in minutes/session and compared. Results: A digital diagnostic time was 1841 and microscopic 1956 min; digital being shorter than microscopic in 13 sessions. Four sessions with shorter microscopic diagnostic time included more cases requiring extensive use of magnifications over ×20. Diagnostic time was similar in three sessions. Conclusions: A diagnostic time in digital pathology can be shorter than traditional microscopy in the routine diagnostic setting, with adequate and stable network speeds, fully integrated LIMS and double displays as default parameters. This also related to better ergonomics, larger viewing field, and absence of physical slide handling, with effects on both diagnostic and nondiagnostic time. Differences with previous studies included a design

  16. Leading with integrity: a qualitative research study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Storr, Loma

    2004-01-01

    This research paper gives an account of a study into the relationship between leadership and integrity. There is a critical analysis of the current literature for effective, successful and ethical leadership particularly, integrity. The purpose and aim of this paper is to build on the current notions of leadership within the literature, debate contemporary approaches, focussing specifically on practices within the UK National Health Service in the early 21st century. This leads to a discussion of the literature on ethical leadership theory, which includes public service values, ethical relationships and leading with integrity. A small study was undertaken consisting of 18 interviews with leaders and managers within a District General HospitaL Using the Repertory Grid technique and analysis 15 themes emerged from the constructs elicited, which were compared to the literature for leadership and integrity and other studies. As well as finding areas of overlap, a number of additional constructs were elicited which suggested that effective leadership correlates with integrity and the presence of integrity will improve organisational effectiveness. The study identified that perceptions of leadership character and behaviour are used to judge the effectiveness and integrity of a leader. However, the ethical implications and consequences of leaders' scope of power and influence such as policy and strategy are somewhat neglected and lacking in debate. The findings suggest that leaders are not judged according to the ethical nature of decision making, and leading and managing complex change but that the importance of integrity and ethical leadership correlated with higher levels of hierarchical status and that it is assumed by virtue of status and success that leaders lead with integrity. Finally, the findings of this study seem to suggest that nurse leadership capability is developing as a consequence of recent national investment.

  17. Hybrid-Wing-Body Vehicle Composite Fuselage Analysis and Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mukhopadhyay, Vivek

    2014-01-01

    Recent progress in the structural analysis of a Hybrid Wing-Body (HWB) fuselage concept is presented with the objective of structural weight reduction under a set of critical design loads. This pressurized efficient HWB fuselage design is presently being investigated by the NASA Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) project in collaboration with the Boeing Company, Huntington Beach. The Pultruded Rod-Stiffened Efficient Unitized Structure (PRSEUS) composite concept, developed at the Boeing Company, is approximately modeled for an analytical study and finite element analysis. Stiffened plate linear theories are employed for a parametric case study. Maximum deflection and stress levels are obtained with appropriate assumptions for a set of feasible stiffened panel configurations. An analytical parametric case study is presented to examine the effects of discrete stiffener spacing and skin thickness on structural weight, deflection and stress. A finite-element model (FEM) of an integrated fuselage section with bulkhead is developed for an independent assessment. Stress analysis and scenario based case studies are conducted for design improvement. The FEM model specific weight of the improved fuselage concept is computed and compared to previous studies, in order to assess the relative weight/strength advantages of this advanced composite airframe technology

  18. Explicit integration of some integrable systems of classical mechanics

    OpenAIRE

    Basak Gancheva, Inna

    2011-01-01

    The main objective of the thesis is the analytical and geometrical study of several integrable finite-dimentional dynamical systems of classical mechanics, which are closely related, namely: - the classical generalization of the Euler top: the Zhukovski-Volterra (ZV) system describing the free motion of a gyrostat, i.e., a rigid body carrying a symmetric rotator whose axis is fixed in the body; - the Steklov-Lyapunov integrable case of the Kirchhoff equations describing the motio...

  19. Organization and Integration of Learning Experiences in a Curriculum: A Case Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Everwijn, S. E. M.

    1983-01-01

    The literature on "organizers" by Ausubel, Earl, and Tyler provides clues to help teachers and students relate what has been learned in one subject to what is being learned in another. Problems of integration in a curriculum for student nurses are examined, and a solution to these problems is described. (RM)

  20. Is emergency management an integrated element of business continuity management? A case study with security professionals in Western Australia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frohde, Kenny; Brooks, David J

    Emergency management (EM) and business continuity management (BCM) frameworks incorporate various strategic and operational measures. Defined within a number of national and international standards and guidelines, such concepts may be integrated within one another to provide increased resilience to disruptive events. Nevertheless, there is a degree of dispute regarding concept integration among security and EM professionals and bodies of knowledge. In line with cognitive psychology exemplar-based concepts, such disputes may be associated with a lack of precision in communality in the approach to EM and BCM. This paper presents a two-stage study, where stage 1 critiqued national and international literature and stage 2 applied semi-structured interviews with security managers in Western Australia. Findings indicate the existence of contradictory views on EM and its integration within BCM. As such, this study concludes that EM is considered a vital component of BCM by the majority of security managers. However, there is broader dispute regarding its degree of integration. Understanding the underpinnings of such disputes will aid in raising the standards and application of professionalism within security, EM and BCM domains, supporting clarification and definition of professional boundaries.

  1. Retention of Differential and Integral Calculus: A Case Study of a University Student in Physical Chemistry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jukic Matic, Ljerka; Dahl, Bettina

    2014-01-01

    This paper reports a study on retention of differential and integral calculus concepts of a second-year student of physical chemistry at a Danish university. The focus was on what knowledge the student retained 14 months after the course and on what effect beliefs about mathematics had on the retention. We argue that if a student can quickly…

  2. Case management for at-risk elderly patients in the English integrated care pilots: observational study of staff and patient experience and secondary care utilisation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martin Roland

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: In 2009, the English Department of Health appointed 16 integrated care pilots which aimed to provide better integrated care. We report the quantitative results from a multi-method evaluation of six of the demonstration projects which used risk profiling tools to identify older people at risk of emergency hospital admission, combined with intensive case management for people identified as at risk. The interventions focused mainly on delivery system redesign and improved clinical information systems, two key elements of Wagner's Chronic Care Model.Methods: Questionnaires to staff and patients. Difference-in-differences analysis of secondary care utilisation using data on 3,646 patients and 17,311 matched controls, and changes in overall secondary care utilisation.Results: Most staff thought that care for their patients had improved. More patients reported having a care plan but they found it significantly harder to see a doctor or nurse of their choice and felt less involved in decisions about their care. Case management interventions were associated with a 9% increase in emergency admissions. We found some evidence of imbalance between cases and controls which could have biased this estimate, but simulations of the possible effect of unobserved confounders showed that it was very unlikely that the sites achieved their goal of reducing emergency admissions. However, we found significant reductions of 21% and 22% in elective admissions and outpatient attendance in the six months following an intervention, and overall inpatient and outpatient costs were significantly reduced by 9% during this period. Area level analyses of whole practice populations suggested that overall outpatient attendances were significantly reduced by 5% two years after the start of the case management schemes.Conclusion: Case management may result in improvements in some aspects of care and has the potential to reduce secondary care costs. However, to improve

  3. ICT integration in mathematics initial teacher training and its impact on visualization: the case of GeoGebra

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dockendorff, Monika; Solar, Horacio

    2018-01-01

    This case study investigates the impact of the integration of information and communications technology (ICT) in mathematics visualization skills and initial teacher education programmes. It reports on the influence GeoGebra dynamic software use has on promoting mathematical learning at secondary school and on its impact on teachers' conceptions about teaching and learning mathematics. This paper describes how GeoGebra-based dynamic applets - designed and used in an exploratory manner - promote mathematical processes such as conjectures. It also refers to the changes prospective teachers experience regarding the relevance visual dynamic representations acquire in teaching mathematics. This study observes a shift in school routines when incorporating technology into the mathematics classroom. Visualization appears as a basic competence associated to key mathematical processes. Implications of an early integration of ICT in mathematics initial teacher training and its impact on developing technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK) are drawn.

  4. A case study for the integration of predictive mineral potential maps

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Saro; Oh, Hyun-Joo; Heo, Chul-Ho; Park, Inhye

    2014-09-01

    This study aims to elaborate on the mineral potential maps using various models and verify the accuracy for the epithermal gold (Au) — silver (Ag) deposits in a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment assuming that all deposits shared a common genesis. The maps of potential Au and Ag deposits were produced by geological data in Taebaeksan mineralized area, Korea. The methodological framework consists of three main steps: 1) identification of spatial relationships 2) quantification of such relationships and 3) combination of multiple quantified relationships. A spatial database containing 46 Au-Ag deposits was constructed using GIS. The spatial association between training deposits and 26 related factors were identified and quantified by probabilistic and statistical modelling. The mineral potential maps were generated by integrating all factors using the overlay method and recombined afterwards using the likelihood ratio model. They were verified by comparison with test mineral deposit locations. The verification revealed that the combined mineral potential map had the greatest accuracy (83.97%), whereas it was 72.24%, 65.85%, 72.23% and 71.02% for the likelihood ratio, weight of evidence, logistic regression and artificial neural network models, respectively. The mineral potential map can provide useful information for the mineral resource development.

  5. Population-based family case-control proband study on familial aggregation of metabolic syndrome: finding from Taiwanese people involved in Keelung community-based integrated screening (KCIS no. 5).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiu, Yueh-Hsia; Lin, Wen-Yuan; Wang, Po-En; Chen, Yao-Der; Wang, Ting-Ting; Warwick, Jane; Chen, Tony Hsiu-Hsi

    2007-03-01

    A population-based case-control proband study was undertaken to elucidate familial aggregation, independent environmental factors, and the interaction between them. A total of 7308 metabolic syndrome (MET-S) cases were identified from the Keelung community-based integrated screening programme between 1999 and 2002. The study has a case-control/family sampling design. A total of 1417 case probands were randomly selected from 3225 metabolic syndrome cases and the corresponding 2458 controls selected from 16,519 subjects without metabolic syndrome by matching on sex, age (+/-3 years) and place of residence. The generalized estimation equation model was used to estimate odds ratios and corresponding 95% confidence intervals. The risk for having metabolic syndrome among family members for cases versus control probands was 1.56-fold (1.29-1.89) after controlling for significant environmental factors. Higher risk of metabolic syndrome was found in parents than spouse. Low education against high education had 2.06-fold (1.36-3.13) risk for metabolic syndrome. Betel quid chewing was positively associated with the risk of MET-S, with 1.99-fold (1.13-3.53) risk for 1-9 pieces and 1.76-fold (0.96-3.23) risk for >or=10 pieces compared with non-chewer. Moderate and high intensity of non-occupational exercise led to 21.0% (OR=0.79 (0.63-0.98)) and 26.0% (OR=0.74 (0.59-0.94)) reduction in the risk for metabolic syndrome, respectively. The frequent consumption of vegetable reduced 24.0% (OR=0.76 (0.62-0.92)) risk for MET-S. The frequent consumption of coffee was associated the increased risk for metabolic syndrome (OR=1.32 (1.07-1.64)). The present study confirmed the risk of metabolic syndrome not only has the tendency towards familial aggregation but is affected by independent effect of environmental or individual correlates.

  6. Integrated cognitive behavioral therapy for patients with substance use disorder and comorbid ADHD: two case presentations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Emmerik-van Oortmerssen, Katelijne; Vedel, Ellen; van den Brink, Wim; Schoevers, Robert A.

    2015-01-01

    Two cases of integrated cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT) for substance use disorder (SUD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are presented illustrating that ICBT is a promising new treatment option

  7. Integrating Customer Intimacy Into Radiology to Improve the Patient Perspective: The Case of Breast Cancer Screening.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chhor, Chloe M; Mercado, Cecilia L

    2016-02-01

    The customer intimacy business model has emerged as a key operational approach for health care organizations as they move toward patient-centered care. The question arises how the customer intimacy approach can be implemented in the clinical setting and whether it can help practitioners address problems and improve quality of care. Breast cancer screening and its emphasis on the patient perspective provides an interesting case study for understanding how the customer intimacy approach can be integrated into radiologic practice to improve the patient experience.

  8. Integrated environmental monitoring and multivariate data analysis-A case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eide, Ingvar; Westad, Frank; Nilssen, Ingunn; de Freitas, Felipe Sales; Dos Santos, Natalia Gomes; Dos Santos, Francisco; Cabral, Marcelo Montenegro; Bicego, Marcia Caruso; Figueira, Rubens; Johnsen, Ståle

    2017-03-01

    The present article describes integration of environmental monitoring and discharge data and interpretation using multivariate statistics, principal component analysis (PCA), and partial least squares (PLS) regression. The monitoring was carried out at the Peregrino oil field off the coast of Brazil. One sensor platform and 3 sediment traps were placed on the seabed. The sensors measured current speed and direction, turbidity, temperature, and conductivity. The sediment trap samples were used to determine suspended particulate matter that was characterized with respect to a number of chemical parameters (26 alkanes, 16 PAHs, N, C, calcium carbonate, and Ba). Data on discharges of drill cuttings and water-based drilling fluid were provided on a daily basis. The monitoring was carried out during 7 campaigns from June 2010 to October 2012, each lasting 2 to 3 months due to the capacity of the sediment traps. The data from the campaigns were preprocessed, combined, and interpreted using multivariate statistics. No systematic difference could be observed between campaigns or traps despite the fact that the first campaign was carried out before drilling, and 1 of 3 sediment traps was located in an area not expected to be influenced by the discharges. There was a strong covariation between suspended particulate matter and total N and organic C suggesting that the majority of the sediment samples had a natural and biogenic origin. Furthermore, the multivariate regression showed no correlation between discharges of drill cuttings and sediment trap or turbidity data taking current speed and direction into consideration. Because of this lack of correlation with discharges from the drilling location, a more detailed evaluation of chemical indicators providing information about origin was carried out in addition to numerical modeling of dispersion and deposition. The chemical indicators and the modeling of dispersion and deposition support the conclusions from the multivariate

  9. GE-42INTEGRATED RADIOGRAPHIC AND PHYLOGENETIC CASE STUDY OF A PRIMARY AND CONTRALATERAL RECURRENT GLIOMA

    OpenAIRE

    Nagarajan, Raman; Barajas, Ramon; Mazor, Tali; Phillips, Joanna; Ma, Jianhui; Hong, Chibo; Johnson, Brett; Dayal, Manisha; Cha, Soonmee; Nakamura, Jean; Berger, Mitchel; Chang, Susan; Furnari, Frank; Taylor, Barry; Costello, Joseph

    2014-01-01

    Extensive neuropil invasion is a hallmark of glioma growth and a subset of tumors demonstrate recurrence in the contralateral hemisphere without a path of tumor spread detected by MR imaging. We used an integrated genomic and radiographic approach to study a patient with a right nonenhancing insular mass histologically diagnosed as IDH1/2 wild-type anaplastic astrocytoma (AA) and a punctate nonenhancing T2 hyperintense focus within the left middle frontal gyrus subcortical white matter. Follo...

  10. Decision-Making for Supply Chain Integration Supply Chain Integration

    CERN Document Server

    Lettice, Fiona; Durowoju, Olatunde

    2012-01-01

    Effective supply chain integration, and the tight co-ordination it creates, is an essential pre-requisite for successful supply chain management.  Decision-Making for Supply Chain Integration is a practical reference on recent research in the area of supply chain integration focusing on distributed decision-making problems. Recent applications of various decision-making tools for integrating supply chains are covered including chapters focusing on: •Supplier selection, pricing strategy and inventory decisions in multi-level supply chains, •RFID-enabled distributed decision-making, •Operational risk issues and time-critical decision-making for sensitive logistics nodes, Modelling end to end processes to improve supply chain integration, and •Integrated systems to improve service delivery and optimize resource use. Decision-Making for Supply Chain Integration provides an insight into the tools and methodologies of this field with support from real-life case studies demonstrating successful application ...

  11. Integrated social facility location planning for decision support: Accessibility studies provide support to facility location and integration of social service provision

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Green, Cheri A

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available for two or more facilities to create an integrated plan for development Step 6 Costing of development plan Case Study Access norms and thresholds guidelines in accessibility analysis Appropriate norms/provision guidelines facilitate both service... access norms and threshold standards ?Test the relationship between service demand and the supply (service capacity) of the facility provision points within a defined catchment area ?Promote the ?right?sizing? of facilities relative to the demand...

  12. [Child abuse in Tlaxcala: a case-control study].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herrada-Huidobro, A; Nazar-Beutelspacher, A; Cassaball-Núñez, M; Vega-Ramos, R; Nava-Cruz, C B

    1992-01-01

    A longitudinal, retrospective and descriptive study about child abuse was carried out in the Hospitals of the Tlaxcala Secretariat of Health, Mexico. The information was obtained from hospitalized children's charts between January first and November 30, 1991. The charts included were those belonging to zero to 14 year old children with injuries, poisoning, and II-III degrees of malnutrition. Four child-abuse criteria were established: physical, sexual, non organic malnutrition and mixed (physical and non organic malnutrition). Two control groups were defined. Different patterns were observed between accidental and non accidental injuries, malnutrition and poisoning among the case and the control groups. The study provides useful information for the integral diagnosis of child abuse in hospitalized children.

  13. Development of plant dynamic analysis code for integrated self-pressurized water reactor (ISPDYN), and comparative study of pressure control methods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kusunoki, Tsuyoshi; Yokomura, Takeyoshi; Nabeshima, Kunihiko; Shimazaki, Junya; Shinohara, Yoshikuni.

    1988-01-01

    This report describes the development of plant dynamic analysis code (ISPDYN) for integrated self-pressurized water reactor, and comparative study of pressure control methods with this code. ISPDYN is developed for integrated self-pressurized water reactor, one of the trial design by JAERI. In the transient responses, the calculated results by ISPDYN are in good agreement with the DRUCK calculations. In addition, this report presents some sensitivity studies for selected cases. Computing time of this code is very short so as about one fifth of real time. The comparative study of self-pressurized system with forced-pressurized system by this code, for rapid load decrease and increase cases, has provided useful informations. (author)

  14. CanWEA Pan-Canadian wind integration study paper

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tremblay, Martin [GL Garrad Hassan Canada Inc, Ottawa, ON (Canada); Gardner, Paul [GL Garrad Hassan and Partners, Glasgow (United Kingdom); Price, Doug; Le, Don [GL Garrad Hassan America, San Diego, CA (United States)

    2010-07-01

    GL Garrad Hassan has been contracted by CanWEA to undertake a scoping study for a future Pan-Canadian Wide-Scale Wind Integration Study. The scoping study provides the methodology and the rationale on which the actual wind integration study and request for proposals will be based on. Major system operators and owners of each Canadian Province along with experts involved in major US wind integration studies have been consulted and contributed to the decisional process. This paper provides a summary of the factors considered in the study and outline the actual methodology that was adopted for the future Pan-Canadian wind integration study. (orig.)

  15. POOR QUALITY OF PRODUCT DESIGN AS A CAUSE OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH HAZARDS: A CASE STUDY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Janko D. Jovanović

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available Quality of product design, which is expected from manufacturers on world market these days, could be provided exclusively by integral approach to product design. Such approach aims to achievement of optimal design solution of product, which is in line with a number of requirements, conditions and limitations of functionality, technology, market and usage. Only those manufacturers who are able to provide such approach to product design have prospective on market. This paper deals with a case study of neglect of integral approach to product design and its consequencies, in order to spread awareness of necessity of its adoption. Scope of this case study is focused on bridge crane whose working vibrations are meant to be potential cause of occupational desease of spinal column of crane operator.

  16. Sustainable procurement portfolio management: a case study in a mining company

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tamires Magalhães de Mello

    Full Text Available Abstract Sustainable procurement is a solution to integrate environmental and social considerations in all steps of procurement process, in order to reduce impacts on human health, environment, and human rights. Despite the existence of important works in this area, more studies for determining how the principles related to sustainable development can be integrated to procurement strategies are needed. This study presents a case study in a mining company to evaluate the elements that should be considered for the implementation of sustainability concept in the contracting of services through the application of a sustainability portfolio model. Results show that the contracts of the internal movement's category of the studied company fit as Strategic Commodity, which means that the items in this category have a risk in the strategic supply, because they need investments made by the buyer in the relationship with the supplier.

  17. Design Integration of Facilities Management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Per Anker

    2009-01-01

    One of the problems in the building industry is a limited degree of learning from experiences of use and operation of existing buildings. Development of professional facilities management (FM) can be seen as the missing link to bridge the gap between building operation and building design....... Strategies, methods and barriers for the transfer and integration of operational knowledge into the design process are discussed. Multiple strategies are needed to improve the integration of FM in design. Building clients must take on a leading role in defining and setting up requirements and procedures...... on literature studies and case studies from the Nordic countries in Europe, including research reflections on experiences from a main case study, where the author, before becoming a university researcher, was engaged in the client organization as deputy project director with responsibility for the integration...

  18. Critical chain project management and drum-buffer-rope tools integration in construction industry - case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Piotr Cyplik

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: The concept of integrating the theory of constraints tools in reorganizing management system in a mechanical engineering company was presented in this article. The main aim of the concept is to enable the enterprise to satisfy the customers' expectations at reasonable costs, which allows for making a profit and creating an agile enterprise in the long run. Methods: Due to the individual character of the production process and service process in analyzed company, the described concept using theory of constraints project management (CCPM and manufacturing (DBR tools. The authors use performance levels conception to build an integration tool focused on the interaction and collaboration between different departments. The integration tool has been developed and verified in Polish manufacturing company. Results: In described model a tool compatible with CCPM operates on the level of the customer service process. Shop floor is controlled based on the DBR method. The authors hold that the integration of between TOC tools is of key importance. The integration of TOC tools dedicated to managing customer service and shop floor scheduling and controlling requires developing a mechanism for repeated transmitting the information between them. This mechanism has been developed. Conclusions: The conducted research showed that the developed tool integrating CCPM and DBR had a positive impact on the enterprise performance. It enables improving the company performance in meeting target group requirements by focusing on enhancing the efficiency of processes running in the company and tasks processed at particular work stations. The described model has been successfully implemented in one of the Polish mechanical engineering companies.

  19. 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.

  20. Evaluation of material integrity on electricity power steam generator cycles (turbine casing) component

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Histori; Benedicta; Farokhi; S A, Soedardjo; Triyadi, Ari; Natsir, M

    1999-01-01

    The evaluation of material integrity on power steam generator cycles component was done. The test was carried out on casing turbine which is made from Inconel 617. The tested material was taken from t anjung Priok plant . The evaluation was done by metallography analysis using microscope with magnification of 400. From the result, it is shown that the material grains are equiaxed

  1. SAM International Case Studies: DPV Analysis in Mexico

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McCall, James D [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2018-03-28

    Presentation demonstrates the use of the System Advisor Model (SAM) in international analyses, specifically Mexico. Two analyses are discussed with relation to SAM modelling efforts: 1) Customer impacts from changes to net metering and billing agreements and 2) Potential benefits of PV for Mexican solar customers, the Mexican Treasury, and the environment. Along with the SAM analyses, integration of the International Utility Rate Database (I-URDB) with SAM and future international SAM work are discussed. Presentation was created for the International Solar Energy Society's (ISES) webinar titled 'International use of the NREL System Advisor Model (SAM) with case studies'.

  2. Integrated design of superconducting accelerator magnets. A case study of the main quadrupole

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Russenschuck, S.; Calmon, F.; Lewin, M.; Paul, C.; Ramberger, S.; Rodriguez-Mateos, F.; Tortschanoff, T.; Verweij, A.; Wolf, R.

    1998-01-01

    This paper describes the software tool which has been developed for the design of the superconducting magnets for the large hadron collider (LHC) at CERN. Applied methods include numerical field calculation with a reduced vector-potential formulation, the application of vector-optimization methods, and the use of genetic as well as deterministic minimization algorithms. Together with the applied concept of features, the software tool is used as an approach towards integrated design of superconducting magnets. The main quadrupole magnet for the LHC, which was designed at CEA Saclay (France) using a different approach, was chosen as an example for the integrated design process. The paper focuses on the design issues and is not a project report on the main quadrupoles under construction. (orig.)

  3. Multidisciplinary integration in the context of integrated care – results from the North West London Integrated Care Pilot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matthew Harris

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Background: In the context of integrated care, Multidisciplinary Group (MDG meetings involve participants from diverse professional groups and organizations and are potential vehicles to advance efficiency improvements within the local health economy.  We advance a novel method to evaluate the effectiveness of MDGs by measuring the extent to which participants integrate within MDG meetings and whether this integration leads to improved working. Methods: We purposively selected four MDG meetings, and conducted a content analysis of audio-recorded and transcribed case discussions. Two coders independently coded utterances according to their ‘integrative intensity’ which was defined against three a priori independent domains – the Level (i.e. Individual, Collective and Systems; the Valence (Problem, Information and Solution; the Focus (Concrete and Abstract. Inter- and intra-rater reliability was tested with Kappa scores on one randomly selected Case Discussion.  Standardized weighted mean integration scores were calculated for Case Discussions across utterance deciles, indicating how integrative intensity changed during the conversations. Results: Twenty-three Case Discussions in four different MDG groups were transcribed and coded. Inter- and intra-rater reliability was good as shown by the Prevalence and Bias Adjusted Kappa Scores for one randomly selected Case Discussion.  There were differences in the proportion of utterances per participant type (Consultant 14.6%; Presenting GP 38.75%; Chair 7.8%; Non-Presenting GP 2.25%; Allied Health Professional 4.8%. Utterances were predominantly coded at low levels of integrative intensity; however there was a gradual increase (R2=0.66 in integrative intensity during the Case Discussions.  Based on analysis of the minutes and action points arising from the Case Discussions, this improved integration did not translate into actions moving forward. Interpretation: We characterize the MDGs as

  4. Four integration patterns

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bygstad, Bendik; Nielsen, Peter Axel; Munkvold, Bjørn Erik

    2010-01-01

    This paper aims to contribute to a theory of integration within the field of IS project management. Integration is a key IS project management issue when new systems are developed and implemented into an increasingly integrated information infrastructure in corporate and governmental organizations....... Expanding the perspective of traditional project management research, we draw extensively on central insights from IS research. Building on socio-technical IS research and Software Engineering research we suggest four generic patterns of integration: Big Bang, Stakeholder Integration, Technical Integration...... and Socio-Technical Integration. We analyze and describe the advantages and disadvantages of each pattern. The four patterns are ideal types. To explore the forces and challenges in these patterns three longitudinal case studies were conducted. In particular we investigate the management challenges for each...

  5. Integrating collaborative concept mapping in case based learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alfredo Tifi

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Different significance of collaborative concept mapping and collaborative argumentation in Case Based Learning are discussed and compared in the different perspectives of answering focus questions, of fostering reflective thinking skills and in managing uncertainty in problem solving in a scaffolded environment. Marked differences are pointed out between the way concepts are used in constructing concept maps and the way meanings are adopted in case based learning through guided argumentation activities. Shared concept maps should be given different scopes, as for example a as an advance organizer in preparing a background system of concepts that will undergo transformation while accompanying the inquiry activities on case studies or problems; b together with narratives, to enhance awareness of the situated epistemologies that are being entailed in choosing certain concepts during more complex case studies, and c after-learning construction of a holistic vision of the whole domain by means of the most inclusive concepts, while scaffoldedcollaborative writing of narratives and arguments in describing-treating cases could better serve as a source of situated-inspired tools to create-refine meanings for particular concepts.

  6. On the case of Goryachev-Chaplygin and new examples of integrable conservative systems on S^2

    OpenAIRE

    Selivanova, E. N.

    1998-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to describe a class of conservative systems on $S^2$ possessing an integral cubic in momenta. We prove that this class of systems consists off the case of Goryachev-Chaplygin, the one-parameter family of systems which has been found by the author in the previous paper (dg-ga/9711005) and a new two-parameter family of conservative systems on $S^2$ possessing an integral cubic in momenta.

  7. Integral or integrated marketing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Davčik Nebojša

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Marketing theorists and experts try to develop business efficient organization and to get marketing performance at higher, business integrated level since its earliest beginnings. The core issue in this paperwork is the dialectic and practical approach dilemma should we develop integrated or integral marketing approach in the organization. The presented company cases as well as dialectic and functional explanations of this dilemma clearly shows that integrated marketing is narrower approach than integral marketing if we take as focal point new, unique and completed entity. In the integration the essence is in getting different parts together, which do not have to make necessary the new entity. The key elements in the definition of the integral marketing are necessity and holistic, e.g. necessity to develop new, holistic entity.

  8. Box Integrals

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bailey, David H.; Borwein, Jonathan M.; Crandall, Richard E.

    2006-06-01

    By a "box integral" we mean here an expectation $\\langle|\\vec r - \\vec q|^s \\rangle$ where $\\vec r$runs over the unit $n$-cube,with $\\vec q$ and $s$ fixed, explicitly:\\begin eqnarray*&&\\int_01 \\cdots \\int_01 \\left((r_1 - q_1)2 + \\dots+(r_n-q_n)2\\right)^ s/2 \\ dr_1 \\cdots dr_n.\\end eqnarray* The study ofbox integrals leads one naturally into several disparate fields ofanalysis. While previous studies have focused upon symbolic evaluationand asymptotic analysis of special cases (notably $s = 1$), we workherein more generally--in interdisciplinary fashion--developing resultssuch as: (1) analytic continuation (in complex $s$), (2) relevantcombinatorial identities, (3) rapidly converging series, (4) statisticalinferences, (5) connections to mathematical physics, and (6)extreme-precision quadrature techniques appropriate for these integrals.These intuitions and results open up avenues of experimental mathematics,with a view to new conjectures and theorems on integrals of thistype.

  9. Export channel pricing management for integrated solutions

    OpenAIRE

    Roine, Henna; Sainio, Liisa-Maija; Saarenketo, Sami

    2012-01-01

    This article studies systems integrators' export channel pricing management for integrated solutions. We find support from our empirical case study for the notion that a systems integrator's export channel pricing strategy is multidimensional and dependent on international pricing environment and partner characteristics and that export partnerships have unique implications on a systems integrator's pricing process. The results show that giving up pricing control in export channel context may ...

  10. Quadratic integrals of motion for identical particle systems in quantum case

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brije, I.; Gonera, S.; Kosinski, P.; Maslanka, P.; Giller, S.

    2005-01-01

    One studied quantum dynamic systems of identical particles allowing for additional integral of motion being quadratic in pulses. It was found that there was an appropriate way to ensure order that enabled to convert the classical integrals of motion into their quantum analogues. One analyzed relation of the mentioned integrals with splitting of the variables in the Schroedinger equation [ru

  11. Structural integration of separation and reaction systems: I. Integration of stage-wise processes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mitrović Milan

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available The structural integration of separation processes, using multifunctional equipment, has been studied on four stage-wise liquid-liquid separations extraction, absorption, distillation, adsorption and on some combinations of these processes. It was shown for stage - wise processes that the ultimate aim of equipment integration is 3-way integration (by components by steps and by stages and that membrane multiphase contactors present concerning the equipment optimal solutions in many cases. First, by using partially integrated equipment and, later by developing fully integrated systems it was experimentally confirmed that structural 3-way integration produces much higher degrees of component separations and component enrichments in compact and safe equipment.

  12. Bitter Strawberries: The Construction of Differences in a Multicultural School: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    González-Faraco, Juan Carlos; Jiménez-Vicioso, Juan Ramón; Pérez-Moreno, Heliodoro Manuel

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents the results of a case study looking at the views of teachers and other educational professionals pertaining to the academic progress and general integration of immigrant schoolchildren in multicultural schools in the province of Huelva (Andalusia, Spain). It is organised into three sections: first, the geographical and social…

  13. Hamiltonian path integrals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prokhorov, L.V.

    1982-01-01

    Problems related to consideration of operator nonpermutability in Hamiltonian path integral (HPI) are considered in the review. Integrals are investigated using trajectories in configuration space (nonrelativistic quantum mechanics). Problems related to trajectory integrals in HPI phase space are discussed: the problem of operator nonpermutability consideration (extra terms problem) and corresponding equivalence rules; ambiguity of HPI usual recording; transition to curvilinear coordinates. Problem of quantization of dynamical systems with couplings has been studied. As in the case of canonical transformations, quantization of the systems with couplings of the first kind requires the consideration of extra terms

  14. Integrated technology selection for energy conservation and PAHs control in iron and steel industry: Methodology and case study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Li; Lu, Yonglong; Shi, Yajuan; Wang, Tieyu; Luo, Wei; Gosens, Jorrit; Chen, Peng; Li, Haiqian

    2013-01-01

    Energy conservation and PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon) control are two challenges for the iron and steel industry, especially where the industry has developed at high speed. How to select appropriate technologies to improve energy efficiency and control pollution from PAHs simultaneously is encountered by both the researchers and the decision makers. This study sets up a framework on technology selection and combination which integrates technology assessment, multiple objective programming and scenario analysis. It can predict proper technology combination for different emission controls, energy conservation targets and desired levels of production. An iron and steel factory in Southwestern China is cited as a case. It is shown that stricter PAHs control will drive the transformation from process control technology to alternative smelting technology. In low PAHs limit, 25% energy reduction is a threshold. Before inclusion of a restraint on energy consumption at 25% reduction, PAHs emission is the key limiting factor for the technology selection; while after inclusion of this restraint, energy consumption becomes the key limiting factor. The desired level of production will also influence the technology selection. This study can help decision makers to select appropriate technologies to meet the PAHs control objectives and energy conservation strategies in energy-intensive industries. - Highlights: ► We predict technical strategy for energy and PAHs reduction in iron and steel mill. ► With low PAHs control objectives, process control technologies are preferable. ► With medium and high PAHs control goals, alternative smelting technology is dominate. ► In low PAHs control objective, 25% energy reduction is a threshold

  15. Moveable Feast: A Distributed-Data Case Study Engine for Yotc

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mapes, B. E.

    2014-12-01

    The promise of YOTC, a richly detailed global view of the tropical atmosphere and its processes down to 1/4 degree resolution, can now be attained without a lot of downloading and programming chores. Many YOTC datasets are served online: all the global reanalyses, including the YOTC-specific ECMWF 1/4 degree set, as well as satellite data including IR and TRMM 3B42. Data integration and visualization are easy with a new YOTC 'case study engine' in the free, all-platform, click-to-install Integrated Data Viewer (IDV) software from Unidata. All the dataset access points, along with many evocative and adjustable display layers, can be loaded with a single click (and then a few minutes wait), using the special YOTC bundle in the Mapes IDV collection (http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/users/bmapes/MapesIDVcollection.html). Time ranges can be adjusted with a calendar widget, and spatial subset regions can be selected with a shift-rubberband mouse operation. The talk will showcase visualizations of several YOTC weather events and process estimates, and give a view of how these and any other YOTC cases can be reproduced on any networked computer.

  16. 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.

  17. HydroGEM, a hydrogen fuelled utility vehicle. Case study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hoevenaars, A.J.; Kraaij, G.J.; De Bruijne, M.; Weeda, M.

    2010-02-01

    This report describes the conversion of a Global Electric Motorcars (GEM, a Chrysler company) electric utility vehicle into a Fuel Cell Vehicle called HydroGEM, at the Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN). The report is prepared as a case study within the framework of Task 18 on 'Evaluation of Integrated Hydrogen Systems' of the IEA Hydrogen Implementing Agreement. The vehicle's fuel cell system was designed in 2005, manufactured and built into the vehicle in 2006 and operated from 2007 onwards. The design-choices, assembly, operation and maintenance-issues are presented and discussed.

  18. Integrative Psychotherapy ‘Revisited’

    OpenAIRE

    Marye O’Reilly-Knapp

    2017-01-01

    This article revisits aspects of the theory and methods of Integrative Psychotherapy as written and discussed by Richard G. Erskine, PhD and others. A case study demonstrates the use of Integrative Psychotherapy as the basis for therapeutic interventions that allow the client to interpret early experiences of relational failures, via a relationally based psychotherapy. Revisiting the theory and methods of Integrative Psychotherapy served to further validate the core of IP and its value as a ...

  19. BASINs and WEPP Climate Assessment Tools (CAT): Case Study Guide to Potential Applications (Final Report)

    Science.gov (United States)

    EPA announced the release of the final report, BASINs and WEPP Climate Assessment Tools (CAT): Case Study Guide to Potential Applications. This report supports application of two recently developed water modeling tools, the Better Assessment Science Integrating point & ...

  20. A Framework for Understanding Post-Merger Information Systems Integration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Alaranta, Maria; Kautz, Karlheinz

    2012-01-01

    This paper develops a theoretical framework for the integration of information systems (IS) after a merger or an acquisition. The framework integrates three perspectives: a structuralist, an individualist, and an interactive process perspective to analyze and understand such integrations....... The framework is applied to a longitudinal case study of a manufacturing company that grew through an acquisition. The management decided to integrate the production control IS via tailoring a new system that blends together features of existing IS. The application of the framework in the case study confirms...... several known impediments to IS integrations. It also identifies a number of new inhibitors, as well as known and new facilitators that can bring post-merger IS integration to a success. Our findings provide relevant insights to researching and managing post-merger IS integrations. They emphasize...

  1. Estimating the cost of referral and willingness to pay for referral to higher-level health facilities: a case series study from an integrated community case management programme in Uganda.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nanyonjo, Agnes; Bagorogoza, Benson; Kasteng, Frida; Ayebale, Godfrey; Makumbi, Fredrick; Tomson, Göran; Källander, Karin

    2015-08-28

    Integrated community case management (iCCM) relies on community health workers (CHWs) managing children with malaria, pneumonia, diarrhoea, and referring children when management is not possible. This study sought to establish the cost per sick child referred to seek care from a higher-level health facility by a CHW and to estimate caregivers' willingness to pay (WTP) for referral. Caregivers of 203 randomly selected children referred to higher-level health facilities by CHWs were interviewed in four Midwestern Uganda districts. Questionnaires and document reviews were used to capture direct, indirect and opportunity costs incurred by caregivers, CHWs and health facilities managing referred children. WTP for referral was assessed through the 'bidding game' approach followed by an open-ended question on maximum WTP. Descriptive analysis was conducted for factors associated with referral completion and WTP using logistic and linear regression methods, respectively. The cost per case referred to higher-level health facilities was computed from a societal perspective. Reasons for referral included having fever with a negative malaria test (46.8%), danger signs (29.6%) and drug shortage (37.4%). Among the referred, less than half completed referral (45.8%). Referral completion was 2.8 times higher among children with danger signs (p = 0.004) relative to those without danger signs, and 0.27 times lower among children who received pre-referral treatment (p average cost per case referred was US$ 4.89 and US$7.35 per case completing referral. For each unit cost per case referred, caregiver out of pocket expenditure contributed 33.7%, caregivers' and CHWs' opportunity costs contributed 29.2% and 5.1% respectively and health facility costs contributed 39.6%. The mean (SD) out of pocket expenditure was US$1.65 (3.25). The mean WTP for referral was US$8.25 (14.70) and was positively associated with having received pre-referral treatment, completing referral and increasing

  2. Strategic Orientation Towards Sustainable Innovation: A Case Study in a Brazilian University

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mauri Leodir Löbler

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available The technological development that results from innovation can lead to considerable environmental impact. Yet, companies and other stakeholders have not done enough to develop strategies for minimizing waste management. The present study contributes to research in this area, by empirically examining the link between the management of technological innovation and sustainability. A case study was carried out to examine the extent to which there is strategic orientation towards both technological innovation and sustainability in a large public university in Brazil. The results show the importance of integrating sustainability activities within the organisation’s corporate strategy: although the researched organisation had sufficient theoretical knowledge about waste management, the lack of an integrated strategy led to uncoordinated attempts at recycling within the university.

  3. Mindful Self-Hypnosis for Self-Care: An Integrative Model and Illustrative Case Example.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elkins, Gary R; Roberts, R Lynae; Simicich, Lauren

    2018-07-01

    The combination of mindfulness and self-hypnosis could provide a tool that is easily implemented by individuals who want to care for their well-being in times of high stress. Each discipline has been shown to be effective in relieving stress, and integration could further facilitate change while creating a tool that is highly accessible. There are many similarities between the two practices, such as focusing of attention and the emphasis on mind-body connection. However, important distinctions in psychological (e.g., self-monitoring) and neural (e.g., functional connectivity) elements are noted. A theory of how integrated mindful self-hypnosis may create change is presented. An illustrative case example of mindful self-hypnosis practice and a self-hypnosis transcript are provided.

  4. Quality by design case study: an integrated multivariate approach to drug product and process development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Jun; Kaul, Goldi; Cai, Chunsheng; Chatlapalli, Ramarao; Hernandez-Abad, Pedro; Ghosh, Krishnendu; Nagi, Arwinder

    2009-12-01

    To facilitate an in-depth process understanding, and offer opportunities for developing control strategies to ensure product quality, a combination of experimental design, optimization and multivariate techniques was integrated into the process development of a drug product. A process DOE was used to evaluate effects of the design factors on manufacturability and final product CQAs, and establish design space to ensure desired CQAs. Two types of analyses were performed to extract maximal information, DOE effect & response surface analysis and multivariate analysis (PCA and PLS). The DOE effect analysis was used to evaluate the interactions and effects of three design factors (water amount, wet massing time and lubrication time), on response variables (blend flow, compressibility and tablet dissolution). The design space was established by the combined use of DOE, optimization and multivariate analysis to ensure desired CQAs. Multivariate analysis of all variables from the DOE batches was conducted to study relationships between the variables and to evaluate the impact of material attributes/process parameters on manufacturability and final product CQAs. The integrated multivariate approach exemplifies application of QbD principles and tools to drug product and process development.

  5. Emotion and self-regulation in deliberate personal change: A case study analysis

    OpenAIRE

    Lopes, Paulo Nuno; Coyle, Adrian; Gallie, Jack

    2014-01-01

    Two young adults’ experiences of deliberate personal change in the realms of study habits and social interaction were examined using a qualitative, interview-based case study approach. Both talked about an aspect of their behavior that they had changed and one that they would like to change. Thematic analysis was used to interpret their stories and reach an integrative and contextualized understanding of their individual developmental trajectories. Our analysis explored the use of motivated r...

  6. Impaired Integration of Emotional Faces and Affective Body Context in a Rare Case of Developmental Visual Agnosia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aviezer, Hillel; Hassin, Ran. R.; Bentin, Shlomo

    2011-01-01

    In the current study we examined the recognition of facial expressions embedded in emotionally expressive bodies in case LG, an individual with a rare form of developmental visual agnosia who suffers from severe prosopagnosia. Neuropsychological testing demonstrated that LG‘s agnosia is characterized by profoundly impaired visual integration. Unlike individuals with typical developmental prosopagnosia who display specific difficulties with face identity (but typically not expression) recognition, LG was also impaired at recognizing isolated facial expressions. By contrast, he successfully recognized the expressions portrayed by faceless emotional bodies handling affective paraphernalia. When presented with contextualized faces in emotional bodies his ability to detect the emotion expressed by a face did not improve even if it was embedded in an emotionally-congruent body context. Furthermore, in contrast to controls, LG displayed an abnormal pattern of contextual influence from emotionally-incongruent bodies. The results are interpreted in the context of a general integration deficit in developmental visual agnosia, suggesting that impaired integration may extend from the level of the face to the level of the full person. PMID:21482423

  7. Regulatory road maps for the integration of intermittent electricity generation: Methodology development and the case of The Netherlands

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Welle, Adriaan J. van der; Joode, Jeroen de

    2011-01-01

    The envisaged increase in the share of electricity generation from intermittent renewable energy sources (RES-E) like wind and photovoltaics will pose challenges to the existing electricity system. A successful integration of these sources requires a cost-efficient use of system flexibility. The literature on the options to improve system flexibility, and thus the costs of successfully integrating intermittent electricity generating units, is still growing but what is lacking is an overarching systematic view on when to adopt which option in particular energy systems. This paper aims to bridge this gap in literature. We use existing insights on market and network integration of intermittent electricity sources within a regulatory road map framework. The framework allows policy makers and other electricity system stakeholders to arrive at a consistent strategy in dealing with integration issues over a longer period of time. In this contribution we present and explain the framework and apply it for the case of The Netherlands. - Highlights: → Successful integration of intermittent electricity generation requires a cost-efficient use of system flexibility. → An overarching systematic view on when to adopt which flexibility option in particular energy systems was lacking. → We identify a consistent strategy in dealing with integration issues over a longer period of time. → We present this regulatory road map framework and apply it for the case of The Netherlands.

  8. An integrated computer aided system for integrated design of chemical processes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gani, Rafiqul; Hytoft, Glen; Jaksland, Cecilia

    1997-01-01

    In this paper, an Integrated Computer Aided System (ICAS), which is particularly suitable for solving problems related to integrated design of chemical processes; is presented. ICAS features include a model generator (generation of problem specific models including model simplification and model ...... form the basis for the toolboxes. The available features of ICAS are highlighted through a case study involving the separation of binary azeotropic mixtures. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd....

  9. Innovation and Business Model: a case study about integration of Innovation Funnel and Business Model Canvas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fábio Luiz Zandoval Bonazzi

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Unlike the past, currently, thinking about innovation refers to a reflection of value cocreation through strategic alliances, customer approach and adoption of different business models. Thus, this study analyzed and described the innovation process of company DSM, connecting it to concepts of organizational development strategies and the theory of business model. This is a basic interpretive qualitative research, developed by means of a single case study conducted through interviews and documentary analysis. This study enabled us to categorize the company business model as an open, unbundled and innovative model, which makes innovation a dependent variable of this internal configuration of value creation and value capture. As a theoretical contribution, we highlight the convergence and complementarity of the “Business Model Canvas” tool and “Innovation Funnel,” used here, to analyze the empirical case.

  10. Climate change, water security and the need for integrated policy development: the case of on-farm infrastructure investment in the Australian irrigation sector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maraseni, T N; Mushtaq, S; Reardon-Smith, K

    2012-01-01

    The Australian Government is currently addressing the challenge of increasing water scarcity through significant on-farm infrastructure investment to facilitate the adoption of new water-efficient pressurized irrigation systems. However, it is highly likely that conversion to these systems will increase on-farm energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, suggesting potential conflicts in terms of mitigation and adaptation policies. This study explored the trade-offs associated with the adoption of more water efficient but energy-intensive irrigation technologies by developing an integrated assessment framework. Integrated analysis of five case studies revealed trade-offs between water security and environmental security when conversion to pressurized irrigation systems was evaluated in terms of fuel and energy-related emissions, except in cases where older hand-shift sprinkler irrigation systems were replaced. These results suggest that priority should be given, in implementing on-farm infrastructure investment policy, to replacing inefficient and energy-intensive sprinkler irrigation systems such as hand-shift and roll-line. The results indicated that associated changes in the use of agricultural machinery and agrochemicals may also be important. The findings of this study support the use of an integrated approach to avoid possible conflicts in designing national climate change mitigation and adaptation policies, both of which are being developed in Australia. (letter)

  11. 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...

  12. Customer Integration during Innovation Development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedrosa, Alex

    2012-01-01

    of companies’ growing interest in effectively collaborating with customers, research has investigated the importance of firm–customer interaction during innovation development. However, despite valuable insights into the performance-enhancing effects of customer integration, research has thus far overlooked......To stay viable, companies need to increase their innovation development investments over time. However, successful innovation development also cannot happen without customers, and thus companies seek opportunities to enhance their knowledge of current and future customer needs. As a result...... the activities companies should engage in when integrating customers during innovation development. Thus, this study investigates how and when customer-oriented companies engage in customer interaction during innovation development. Using a multiple case study design, this study examines four substantive cases...

  13. Integration and Typologies of Vulnerability to Climate Change: A Case Study from Australian Wheat Sheep Zones

    OpenAIRE

    Jianjun Huai

    2016-01-01

    Although the integrated indicator methods have become popular for assessing vulnerability to climate change, their proliferation has introduced a confusing array of scales and indicators that cause a science-policy gap. I argue for a clear adaptation pathway in an ?integrative typology? of regional vulnerability that matches appropriate scales, optimal measurements and adaptive strategies in a six-dimensional and multi-level analysis framework of integration and typology inspired by the ?5W1H...

  14. Integrated flood disaster management and spatial information : Case studies of Netherlands and India

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zlatanova, S.; Ghawana, T.; Kaur, A.; Neuvel, J.M.M.

    2014-01-01

    Spatial Information is an integral part of flood management practices which include risk management & emergency response processes. Although risk & emergency management activities have their own characteristics, for example, related to the time scales, time pressure, activities & actors involved, it

  15. An Optimisation Study on Integrating and Incentivising Thermal Energy Storage (TES in a Dwelling Energy System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gbemi Oluleye

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available In spite of the benefits from thermal energy storage (TES integration in dwellings, the penetration rate in Europe is 5%. Effective fiscal policies are necessary to accelerate deployment. However, there is currently no direct support for TES in buildings compared to support for electricity storage. This could be due to lack of evidence to support incentivisation. In this study, a novel systematic framework is developed to provide a case in support of TES incentivisation. The model determines the costs, CO2 emissions, dispatch strategy and sizes of technologies, and TES for a domestic user under policy neutral and policy intensive scenarios. The model is applied to different building types in the UK. The model is applied to a case study for a detached dwelling in the UK (floor area of 122 m2, where heat demand is satisfied by a boiler and electricity imported from the grid. Results show that under a policy neutral scenario, integrating a micro-Combined Heat and Power (CHP reduces the primary energy demand by 11%, CO2 emissions by 21%, but with a 16 year payback. Additional benefits from TES integration can pay for the investment within the first 9 years, reducing to 3.5–6 years when the CO2 levy is accounted for. Under a policy intensive scenario (for example considering the Feed in Tariff (FIT, primary energy demand and CO2 emissions reduce by 17 and 33% respectively with a 5 year payback. In this case, the additional benefits for TES integration can pay for the investment in TES within the first 2 years. The framework developed is a useful tool is determining the role TES in decarbonising domestic energy systems.

  16. Integrated cognitive behavioral therapy for patients with Substance Use Disorder and Comorbid ADHD : Two case presentations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Emmerik-van Oortmerssen, Katelijne; Vedel, Ellen; van den Brink, Wir; Schoevers, Robert A.

    Two cases of integrated cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT) for substance use disorder (SUD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are presented illustrating that ICBT is a promising new treatment option. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Glocal clinical registries: pacemaker registry design and implementation for global and local integration--methodology and case study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kátia Regina da Silva

    Full Text Available The ability to apply standard and interoperable solutions for implementing and managing medical registries as well as aggregate, reproduce, and access data sets from legacy formats and platforms to advanced standard formats and operating systems are crucial for both clinical healthcare and biomedical research settings.Our study describes a reproducible, highly scalable, standard framework for a device registry implementation addressing both local data quality components and global linking problems.We developed a device registry framework involving the following steps: (1 Data standards definition and representation of the research workflow, (2 Development of electronic case report forms using REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture, (3 Data collection according to the clinical research workflow and, (4 Data augmentation by enriching the registry database with local electronic health records, governmental database and linked open data collections, (5 Data quality control and (6 Data dissemination through the registry Web site. Our registry adopted all applicable standardized data elements proposed by American College Cardiology / American Heart Association Clinical Data Standards, as well as variables derived from cardiac devices randomized trials and Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium. Local interoperability was performed between REDCap and data derived from Electronic Health Record system. The original data set was also augmented by incorporating the reimbursed values paid by the Brazilian government during a hospitalization for pacemaker implantation. By linking our registry to the open data collection repository Linked Clinical Trials (LinkedCT we found 130 clinical trials which are potentially correlated with our pacemaker registry.This study demonstrates how standard and reproducible solutions can be applied in the implementation of medical registries to constitute a re-usable framework. Such approach has the potential to

  18. Customer Integration in Service Innovation: An Exploratory Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tim Straub

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Prominent industry projects, as well as an extensive literature suggest the importance of customer integration for companies’ innovation success. This appears to be especially true for service firms, which inherently build on customer interaction. Despite this appreciation of the approach, there are comparably few empirical analyses of the positive and negative effects of customer integration. In this exploratory study, we build on established customer role concepts to study the status quo of customer integration in industry, as well as reservations against the roles and negative experiences from customer integration projects. The study reveals a gap between reservations and actual negative experiences in losing know-how, as well as a positive effect of experience in customer integration on perceived benefits for the company.

  19. Energy Quality Management for a Micro Energy Network Integrated with Renewables in a Tourist Area: A Chinese Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hai Lu

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available For a tourist area (TA, energy utilization is mostly concentrated in certain period of time. Therefore, the peak load is several times more than the average load. A Micro Energy Network Integrated with Renewables (MENR system is considered as a potential solution to mitigate this problem. To design an appropriate MENR system, a multi-objective energy quality management (EQM method based on the Genetic Algorithm is proposed. Here, EQM aims at reducing the primary energy consumption and optimizing the energy shares of various renewables in a MENR system. In addition to minimizing life-cycle costs and maximizing the exergy efficiency of a MENR system, the issue of system reliability is addressed. Then, a case study is presented, where the EQM method is applied to a TA located in Dali, China. Three possible reference MENR scenarios are analyzed. After confirming the reference scenarios, advanced MENR scenarios with improved system reliability are discussed. The rest of the work is dedicated to investigating the effects of various energy storage systems (ESSs parameters and the number of electric vehicles (EVs on MENR scenarios. The results suggest that there are significant differences between various MENR scenarios depending on the number of EVs and the investment reduction of ESSs.

  20. Biogas plants site selection integrating Multicriteria Decision Aid methods and GIS techniques: A case study in a Portuguese region

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Silva, Sandra; Alçada-Almeida, Luís; Dias, Luís C.

    2014-01-01

    This work addresses the problem of determining the most suitable sites for locating biogas plants using dairy manure as feedstock, specifically in the Entre-Douro-e-Minho Region in Portugal. A Multicriteria Spatial Decision Support System is developed to tackle this complex multicriteria decision-making problem, involving constraints and many environmental, economic, safety, and social factors. The approach followed combines the use of a Geographic Information System (GIS) to manage and process spatial information with the flexibility of Multicriteria Decision Aid (MCDA) to assess factual information (e.g. soil type, slope, infrastructures) with more subjective information (e.g. expert opinion). The MCDA method used is ELECTRE TRI, an outranking-type method that yields a classification of the possible alternatives. The results of the performed analysis show that the use of ELECTRE TRI is suitable to address real-world problems of land suitability, leading towards a flexible and integrated assessment. - Highlights: • We present a spatial multi-criteria methodology to decide biogas plants siting. • Methodology combines ELECTRE TRI with GIS for spatial analysis. • Constraints and environmental, economic and social factors have been identified. • The methodology is illustrated with application to a case study in the EDM Region. • A suitability map was generated, identifying the most suitable biogas plant locations

  1. Multisensory integration: the case of a time window of gesture-speech integration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Obermeier, Christian; Gunter, Thomas C

    2015-02-01

    This experiment investigates the integration of gesture and speech from a multisensory perspective. In a disambiguation paradigm, participants were presented with short videos of an actress uttering sentences like "She was impressed by the BALL, because the GAME/DANCE...." The ambiguous noun (BALL) was accompanied by an iconic gesture fragment containing information to disambiguate the noun toward its dominant or subordinate meaning. We used four different temporal alignments between noun and gesture fragment: the identification point (IP) of the noun was either prior to (+120 msec), synchronous with (0 msec), or lagging behind the end of the gesture fragment (-200 and -600 msec). ERPs triggered to the IP of the noun showed significant differences for the integration of dominant and subordinate gesture fragments in the -200, 0, and +120 msec conditions. The outcome of this integration was revealed at the target words. These data suggest a time window for direct semantic gesture-speech integration ranging from at least -200 up to +120 msec. Although the -600 msec condition did not show any signs of direct integration at the homonym, significant disambiguation was found at the target word. An explorative analysis suggested that gesture information was directly integrated at the verb, indicating that there are multiple positions in a sentence where direct gesture-speech integration takes place. Ultimately, this would implicate that in natural communication, where a gesture lasts for some time, several aspects of that gesture will have their specific and possibly distinct impact on different positions in an utterance.

  2. Integrating linked open data in mobile augmented reality applications - a case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silviu Vert

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we develop a model and implement a prototype that integrates user-generated linked open data and open government data in a mobile augmented reality tourism application that works in the browser of the mobile device. We present some challenges met in this endeavour and solutions to overcome them, as well as propose further issues that should be addressed by research in this field.

  3. Integrative Psychotherapy ‘Revisited’

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marye O’Reilly-Knapp

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available This article revisits aspects of the theory and methods of Integrative Psychotherapy as written and discussed by Richard G. Erskine, PhD and others. A case study demonstrates the use of Integrative Psychotherapy as the basis for therapeutic interventions that allow the client to interpret early experiences of relational failures, via a relationally based psychotherapy. Revisiting the theory and methods of Integrative Psychotherapy served to further validate the core of IP and its value as a cohesive and comprehensive psychotherapy.

  4. Integrated Renovation Process

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Galiotto, Nicolas; Heiselberg, Per; Knudstrup, Mary-Ann

    2016-01-01

    renovation to be overcome. The homeowners were better integrated and their preferences and immaterial values were better taken into account. To keep the decision-making process economically viable and timely, the process as known today still needs to be improved, and new tools need to be developed....... This paper presents a new scheme: the integrated renovation process. One successful case study is introduced, and recommendations for future developments needed in the field are provided....

  5. Case Mix Management Systems: An Opportunity to Integrate Medical Records and Financial Management System Data Bases

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rusnak, James E.

    1987-01-01

    Due to previous systems selections, many hospitals (health care facilities) are faced with the problem of fragmented data bases containing clinical, demographic and financial information. Projects to select and implement a Case Mix Management System (CMMS) provide an opportunity to reduce the number of separate physical files and to migrate towards systems with an integrated data base. The number of CMMS candidate systems is often restricted due to data base and system interface issues. The hospital must insure the CMMS project provides a means to implement an integrated on-line hospital information data base for use by departments in operating under a DRG-based Prospective Payment System. This paper presents guidelines for use in selecting a Case Mix Mangement System to meet the hospital's financial and operations planning, budgeting, marketing, and other management needs, while considering the data base implications of the implementation.

  6. Integrating query of relational and textual data in clinical databases: a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fisk, John M; Mutalik, Pradeep; Levin, Forrest W; Erdos, Joseph; Taylor, Caroline; Nadkarni, Prakash

    2003-01-01

    The authors designed and implemented a clinical data mart composed of an integrated information retrieval (IR) and relational database management system (RDBMS). Using commodity software, which supports interactive, attribute-centric text and relational searches, the mart houses 2.8 million documents that span a five-year period and supports basic IR features such as Boolean searches, stemming, and proximity and fuzzy searching. Results are relevance-ranked using either "total documents per patient" or "report type weighting." Non-curated medical text has a significant degree of malformation with respect to spelling and punctuation, which creates difficulties for text indexing and searching. Presently, the IR facilities of RDBMS packages lack the features necessary to handle such malformed text adequately. A robust IR+RDBMS system can be developed, but it requires integrating RDBMSs with third-party IR software. RDBMS vendors need to make their IR offerings more accessible to non-programmers.

  7. Assessing environmental quality status by integrating chemical and biological effect data: The Cartagena coastal zone as a case.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martínez-Gómez, Concepción; Fernández, Beatriz; Robinson, Craig D; Campillo, J Antonio; León, Víctor M; Benedicto, José; Hylland, Ketil; Vethaak, A Dick

    2017-03-01

    Cartagena coastal zone (W Mediterranean) was chosen for a practical case study to investigate the suitability of an integrated indicator framework for marine monitoring and assessment of chemicals and their effects, which was developed by ICES and OSPAR. Red mullet (Mullus barbatus) and the Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) were selected as target species. Concentrations of contaminants in sediment and biota, and contaminant-related biomarkers were analysed. To assess environmental quality in the Cartagena coastal zone with respect to chemical pollution, data were assessed using available assessment criteria, and then integrated for different environmental matrices. A qualitative scoring method was used to rank the overall assessments into selected categories and to evaluate the confidence level of the final integrated assessment. The ICES/OSPAR integrated assessment framework, originally designed for the North Atlantic, was found to be applicable for Mediterranean species and environmental matrices. Further development of assessment criteria of chemical and biological parameters in sediments and target species from the Mediterranean will, however, be required before this framework can be fully applied for determining Good Environmental Status (GES) of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive in these regions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Case study Sylt - Consequences and integrated assessment of climate change. Final report; Klimaaenderung und Kueste. Fallstudie Sylt - Integrative Analyse und Bewertung der Folgen von Klimaaenderungen. Endbericht

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fraenzle, O; Sterr, H; Daschkeit, A

    2001-05-01

    This final report deals with the structure of the 'case study Sylt' against the background of climate change and possible consequences. In cooperation with the other projects of the case study an instrument is developed which maintains interdisciplinary communication and cooperation. First the 'System Sylt' is described to identify and specify the relevant aspects of functional relationships between the natural and the social system. The focal points are (1) the first-order impacts of climate change, (2) the potential ecological changes in the near future and (3) the image of the North-Sea island Sylt. With regard to the image of Sylt we find some discrepancies existing between a statical respectively a dynamical view; these discrepancies are inherent parts of the future development. All results are seen in the context of 'Integrated Coastal Zone Management' (ICZM) to derive general and specific recommendations for political action and further research. (orig.) [German] Vor dem Hintergrund von Annahmen bezueglich der zukuenftigen klimatischen Entwicklung werden die Konzeption sowie die Vorgehensweise der integrativen Analyse im Rahmen der Fallstudie Sylt dargestellt. Unter Anbindung an das Sylt-GIS wird ein Instrument entwickelt und erprobt, das die (bislang seltene) fachuebergreifende Analyse von Klimafolgen unterstuetzt. Diese muendet zunaechst in eine Darstellung des 'Systems Sylt' auf der Grundlage der wichtigsten Prozesse und Randbedingungen. Die auf dieser Basis identifizierten Kernberichte des 'Systems Sylt' werden in einem weiteren exemplarisch und unter Einbezug des in den disziplinaeren Teilvorhaben der Fallstudie erarbeiteten Wissens einer vertiefenden Analyse unterzogen. Dabei wird erstens auf den Bereich der Folgen eines moeglichen Klimawandels eingegangen, zweitens auf vergangene und zukuenftig moegliche oekologische Veraenderungen und drittens auf das Sylt-Image. Durch eine detailliertere Analyse des Sylt-Image kann aufgezeigt werden, dass sich eine

  9. Case study Sylt - Consequences and integrated assessment of climate change. Final report; Klimaaenderung und Kueste. Fallstudie Sylt - Integrative Analyse und Bewertung der Folgen von Klimaaenderungen. Endbericht

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fraenzle, O.; Sterr, H.; Daschkeit, A.

    2001-05-01

    This final report deals with the structure of the 'case study Sylt' against the background of climate change and possible consequences. In cooperation with the other projects of the case study an instrument is developed which maintains interdisciplinary communication and cooperation. First the 'System Sylt' is described to identify and specify the relevant aspects of functional relationships between the natural and the social system. The focal points are (1) the first-order impacts of climate change, (2) the potential ecological changes in the near future and (3) the image of the North-Sea island Sylt. With regard to the image of Sylt we find some discrepancies existing between a statical respectively a dynamical view; these discrepancies are inherent parts of the future development. All results are seen in the context of 'Integrated Coastal Zone Management' (ICZM) to derive general and specific recommendations for political action and further research. (orig.) [German] Vor dem Hintergrund von Annahmen bezueglich der zukuenftigen klimatischen Entwicklung werden die Konzeption sowie die Vorgehensweise der integrativen Analyse im Rahmen der Fallstudie Sylt dargestellt. Unter Anbindung an das Sylt-GIS wird ein Instrument entwickelt und erprobt, das die (bislang seltene) fachuebergreifende Analyse von Klimafolgen unterstuetzt. Diese muendet zunaechst in eine Darstellung des 'Systems Sylt' auf der Grundlage der wichtigsten Prozesse und Randbedingungen. Die auf dieser Basis identifizierten Kernberichte des 'Systems Sylt' werden in einem weiteren exemplarisch und unter Einbezug des in den disziplinaeren Teilvorhaben der Fallstudie erarbeiteten Wissens einer vertiefenden Analyse unterzogen. Dabei wird erstens auf den Bereich der Folgen eines moeglichen Klimawandels eingegangen, zweitens auf vergangene und zukuenftig moegliche oekologische Veraenderungen und drittens auf das Sylt-Image. Durch eine detailliertere Analyse des

  10. [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.

  11. Sustaining Environmental Pedagogy in Times of Educational Conservatism: A Case Study of Integrated Curriculum Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharpe, Erin; Breunig, Mary

    2009-01-01

    Although the global call for environmental education is persistent, on a local or regional level, this call can be confronted by educational policies that drive environmental education out of the curriculum. This paper reports on a qualitative case study of the factors contributing to the sustainability of three teacher-driven integrated…

  12. Integrating farming and #páramo# conservation: A case study from Colombia

    OpenAIRE

    Robineau, Ophélie; Chatelet, Martin; Soulard, Christophe-Toussaint; Michel-Dounias, Isabelle; Posner, Joshua

    2010-01-01

    The Colombian environmental policy voted in 1993, which was to strengthen the protection of natural resources - particularly biodiversity and water - is totally unfavorable to farming in the strategic páramo ecosystem. However, many rural development practitioners and researchers believe that an integrated management of the páramo is possible, and that farming activities can be part of the solution along this agriculture-conservation frontier. This issue has become particularly acute on the R...

  13. Integration of borehole and seismic data to unravel complex stratigraphy: Case studies from the Mannville Group, Western Canada

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarzalejo Silva, Sabrina Ester

    Understanding the stratigraphic architecture of geologically complex reservoirs, such as the heavy oil deposits of Western Canada, is essential to achieve an efficient hydrocarbon recovery. Borehole and 3-D seismic data were integrated to define the stratigraphic architecture and generate 3-dimensional geological models of the Mannville Group in Saskatchewan. The Mannville is a stratigraphically complex unit formed of fluvial to marine deposits. Two areas in west-central and southern Saskatchewan were examined in this study. In west-central Saskatchewan, the area corresponds to a stratigraphically controlled heavy oil reservoir with production from the undifferentiated Dina-Cummings Members of the Lower Cretaceous Mannville Group. The southern area, although non-prospective for hydrocarbons, shares many similarities with time-equivalent strata in areas of heavy oil production. Seismic sequence stratigraphic principles together with log signatures permitted the subdivision of the Mannville into different packages. An initial geological model was generated integrating seismic and well-log data Multiattribute analysis and neural networks were used to generate a pseudo-lithology or gamma-ray volume. The incorporation of borehole core data to the model and the subsequent integration with the lithological prediction were crucial to capture the distribution of reservoir and non-reservoir deposits in the study area. The ability to visualize the 3-D seismic data in a variety of ways, including arbitrary lines and stratal or horizon slicing techniques helped the definition of stratigraphic features such as channels and scroll bars that affect fluid flow in hydrocarbon producing areas. Small-scale heterogeneities in the reservoir were not resolved due to the resolution of the seismic data. Although not undertaken in this study, the resulting stratigraphic framework could be used to help construct a static reservoir model. Because of the small size of the 3-D seismic surveys

  14. Biosocial Conservation: Integrating Biological and Ethnographic Methods to Study Human-Primate Interactions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Setchell, Joanna M; Fairet, Emilie; Shutt, Kathryn; Waters, Siân; Bell, Sandra

    2017-01-01

    Biodiversity conservation is one of the grand challenges facing society. Many people interested in biodiversity conservation have a background in wildlife biology. However, the diverse social, cultural, political, and historical factors that influence the lives of people and wildlife can be investigated fully only by incorporating social science methods, ideally within an interdisciplinary framework. Cultural hierarchies of knowledge and the hegemony of the natural sciences create a barrier to interdisciplinary understandings. Here, we review three different projects that confront this difficulty, integrating biological and ethnographic methods to study conservation problems. The first project involved wildlife foraging on crops around a newly established national park in Gabon. Biological methods revealed the extent of crop loss, the species responsible, and an effect of field isolation, while ethnography revealed institutional and social vulnerability to foraging wildlife. The second project concerned great ape tourism in the Central African Republic. Biological methods revealed that gorilla tourism poses risks to gorillas, while ethnography revealed why people seek close proximity to gorillas. The third project focused on humans and other primates living alongside one another in Morocco. Incorporating shepherds in the coproduction of ecological knowledge about primates built trust and altered attitudes to the primates. These three case studies demonstrate how the integration of biological and social methods can help us to understand the sustainability of human-wildlife interactions, and thus promote coexistence. In each case, an integrated biosocial approach incorporating ethnographic data produced results that would not otherwise have come to light. Research that transcends conventional academic boundaries requires the openness and flexibility to move beyond one's comfort zone to understand and acknowledge the legitimacy of "other" kinds of knowledge. It is

  15. Facilitative Project Management: Constructing A Model For Integrated Change Implementation By Utilizing Case Studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Veronica Hodgson

    2003-11-01

    Die teorie van veranderingsbestuur is omvattend. Organisasies moet op konstante wyse daarby aanpas en dit integreer. In Post-Apartheid Suid-Afrika bou ons tans ’n ras geïntegreerde besigheidsomgewing en gemeenskap, en benut dit maksimaal in ons toetrede tot die mededingende wêreld besigheidsarena. Huidige navorsing het bevind dat die meeste veranderingsinitiatiewe faal weens weerstand teen verandering wat deur swak konseptualisering en beplanning, en ’n gebrek aan behoorlike integrering van mense en die besigheidsdimensies van verandering veroorsaak is. Die model om ’n suksesvolle veranderingsprogram te implementeer, sal ontwerp word met geredelik beskikbare vaardighede en tegnieke. Die ontwikkeling en toetsing sal binne die konteks van drie gevallestudies plaasvind.

  16. Wellbore Integrity Network

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carey, James W. [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Bachu, Stefan [Alberta Innovates

    2012-06-21

    In this presentation, we review the current state of knowledge on wellbore integrity as developed in the IEA Greenhouse Gas Programme's Wellbore Integrity Network. Wells are one of the primary risks to the successful implementation of CO{sub 2} storage programs. Experimental studies show that wellbore materials react with CO{sub 2} (carbonation of cement and corrosion of steel) but the impact on zonal isolation is unclear. Field studies of wells in CO{sub 2}-bearing fields show that CO{sub 2} does migrate external to casing. However, rates and amounts of CO{sub 2} have not been quantified. At the decade time scale, wellbore integrity is driven by construction quality and geomechanical processes. Over longer time-scales (> 100 years), chemical processes (cement degradation and corrosion) become more important, but competing geomechanical processes may preserve wellbore integrity.

  17. Integrated care: theory to practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stokes, Jonathan; Checkland, Kath; Kristensen, Søren Rud

    2016-10-01

    'Integrated care' is pitched as the solution to current health system challenges. In the literature, what integrated care actually involves is complex and contested. Multi-disciplinary team case management is frequently the primary focus of integrated care when implemented internationally. We examine the practical application of integrated care in the NHS in England to exemplify the prevalence of the case management focus. We look at the evidence for effectiveness of multi-disciplinary team case management, for the focus on high-risk groups and for integrated care more generally. We suggest realistic expectations of what integration of care alone can achieve and additional research questions. © The Author(s) 2016.

  18. Integrated socio-environmental modelling: A test case in coastal Bangladesh

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lazar, Attila

    2013-04-01

    Delta regions are vulnerable with their populations and ecosystems facing multiple threats in the coming decades through extremes of poverty, environmental and ecological stress and land degradation. External and internal processes initiate these threats/changes and results in for example water quality and health risk issues, declining agricultural productivity and sediment starvation all of which directly affecting the local population. The ESPA funded "Assessing Health, Livelihoods, Ecosystem Services and Poverty Alleviation In Populous Deltas" project (2012-16) aims to provide policy makers with the knowledge and tools to enable them to evaluate the effects of policy decisions on people's livelihoods. It considers coastal Bangladesh in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta: one of the world's most dynamic and significant deltas. This is being done by a multidisciplinary and multinational team of policy analysts, social and natural scientists and engineers using a participatory, holistic approach to formally evaluate ecosystem services and poverty in the context of the wide range of changes that are occurring. An integrated model with relevant feedbacks is being developed to explore options for management strategies and policy formulation for ecosystem services, livelihoods and health in coastal Bangladesh. This requires the continuous engagement with stakeholders through the following steps: (1) system characterisation, (2) research question definition, (3) data and model identification, (4) model validation and (5) model application. This presentation will focus on the first three steps. Field-based social science and governance related research are on the way. The bio-physical models have been selected and some are already set up for the study area. These allow preliminary conceptualisation of the elements and linkages of the deltaic socio-environmental system and thus the preliminary structure of the integrated model. This presentation describes these steps

  19. Case study teaching method improves student performance and perceptions of learning gains.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonney, Kevin M

    2015-05-01

    Following years of widespread use in business and medical education, the case study teaching method is becoming an increasingly common teaching strategy in science education. However, the current body of research provides limited evidence that the use of published case studies effectively promotes the fulfillment of specific learning objectives integral to many biology courses. This study tested the hypothesis that case studies are more effective than classroom discussions and textbook reading at promoting learning of key biological concepts, development of written and oral communication skills, and comprehension of the relevance of biological concepts to everyday life. This study also tested the hypothesis that case studies produced by the instructor of a course are more effective at promoting learning than those produced by unaffiliated instructors. Additionally, performance on quantitative learning assessments and student perceptions of learning gains were analyzed to determine whether reported perceptions of learning gains accurately reflect academic performance. The results reported here suggest that case studies, regardless of the source, are significantly more effective than other methods of content delivery at increasing performance on examination questions related to chemical bonds, osmosis and diffusion, mitosis and meiosis, and DNA structure and replication. This finding was positively correlated to increased student perceptions of learning gains associated with oral and written communication skills and the ability to recognize connections between biological concepts and other aspects of life. Based on these findings, case studies should be considered as a preferred method for teaching about a variety of concepts in science courses.

  20. Case Study Teaching Method Improves Student Performance and Perceptions of Learning Gains

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kevin M. Bonney

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Following years of widespread use in business and medical education, the case study teaching method is becoming an increasingly common teaching strategy in science education. However, the current body of research provides limited evidence that the use of published case studies effectively promotes the fulfillment of specific learning objectives integral to many biology courses. This study tested the hypothesis that case studies are more effective than classroom discussions and textbook reading at promoting learning of key biological concepts, development of written and oral communication skills, and comprehension of the relevance of biological concepts to everyday life. This study also tested the hypothesis that case studies produced by the instructor of a course are more effective at promoting learning than those produced by unaffiliated instructors. Additionally, performance on quantitative learning assessments and student perceptions of learning gains were analyzed to determine whether reported perceptions of learning gains accurately reflect academic performance. The results reported here suggest that case studies, regardless of the source, are significantly more effective than other methods of content delivery at increasing performance on examination questions related to chemical bonds, osmosis and diffusion, mitosis and meiosis, and DNA structure and replication. This finding was positively correlated to increased student perceptions of learning gains associated with oral and written communication skills and the ability to recognize connections between biological concepts and other aspects of life. Based on these findings, case studies should be considered as a preferred method for teaching about a variety of concepts in science courses.

  1. The Effects of CLIL on Oral Comprehension and Production: A Longitudinal Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pérez Cañado, María Luisa; Lancaster, Nina Karen

    2017-01-01

    This article reports on the outcomes of a longitudinal case study to gauge the impact of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) on two of the least researched language skills: oral comprehension and production. It worked with 24 students in the fourth grade of Compulsory Secondary Education in a public school in Andalusia (southern Spain)…

  2. A Case Study in Integrating Multiple E-commerce Standards via Semantic Web Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Yang; Hillman, Donald; Setio, Basuki; Heflin, Jeff

    Internet business-to-business transactions present great challenges in merging information from different sources. In this paper we describe a project to integrate four representative commercial classification systems with the Federal Cataloging System (FCS). The FCS is used by the US Defense Logistics Agency to name, describe and classify all items under inventory control by the DoD. Our approach uses the ECCMA Open Technical Dictionary (eOTD) as a common vocabulary to accommodate all different classifications. We create a semantic bridging ontology between each classification and the eOTD to describe their logical relationships in OWL DL. The essential idea is that since each classification has formal definitions in a common vocabulary, we can use subsumption to automatically integrate them, thus mitigating the need for pairwise mappings. Furthermore our system provides an interactive interface to let users choose and browse the results and more importantly it can translate catalogs that commit to these classifications using compiled mapping results.

  3. It's on Us: A Case Study of Academic Integrity in A Mid-Western Community College

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parnther, Ceceilia

    2016-01-01

    Academic ethics and integrity are necessary elements of a quality education. The need for academic integrity education on campuses has been well documented (Bertram Gallant, 2008, 2016; Bertram Gallant & Drinan, 2006; Liebler, 2009; McCabe, Butterfield, & Trevino, 2004). Academic integrity is a cornerstone of the learning process (Bretag…

  4. Cranial neuronavigation with direct integration of 11C methionine positron emission tomography (PET) data - results of a pilot study in 32 surgical cases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Braun, V.; Dempf, S.; Richter, H.P.; Weller, R.; Reske, S.-N.; Schanchenmayr, W.

    2002-01-01

    MRI detects small intracranial lesions, but has difficulties in differentiating between tumor, gliosis and edema. 11 C methionine-PET may help to overcome this problem. For its appropriate intra-operative use, it must be integrated into neuronavigation. We present the results of our pilot study with this method. 32 patients with 34 intracranial lesions detected by MRI underwent additional 11 C methionine-PET, because the pathophysiological behavior or the tumor delineation was unclear. All lesions were treated surgically. In 25 patients PET data could be integrated directly into cranial neuronavigation. 11 C methionine uptake was observed in 27/34 lesions, 26 of them were tumors: 14 malignant and 7 benign gliomas, 3 gliomas without further histological typing, one Ewing sarcoma and one non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Only one 11 C methionine positive lesion was non-tumorous: it was staged as post-irradiation necrosis in a patient operated on for a malignant glioma. 3/7 11 C-methionine negative lesions were classified as gliosis (n = 2) and M. Whipple (n = 1), but 4/7 were tumors: 2 astrocytomas WHO o II, 1 DNT and one astrocytoma WHO o III. The sensitivity of 11 C methionine-PET was 87 %, the specificity 75 %, the positive predictive value 96 % and the negative predictive value 43 %. In all tumorous cases with positive tracer uptake the borderline area of the tumor was better defined by C methionine-PET than by MRI. Interpretation: A positive 11 C methionine-PET is highly suspicious of a tumor, a negative one does not exclude it. 11 C methionine-PET seems to be more sensitive than MRI for differentiating between tumor and edema or gliosis. Simultaneous integration MRI and 11 C methionine-PET into cranial neuronavigation can facilitate cross total tumor removal in glioma surgery. (author)

  5. Integrating Community Engagement with Management Education: A Case Study of ENT300014 Social Innovation Internship

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ngui, Kwang-Sing; Voon, Mung-Ling; Lee, Miin-Huui

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of an academic service learning course in a foreign university branch campus in Malaysia, and its outcomes in terms of student learning. Drawing on the transformative learning theory and case study research, it discusses three forms of learning that characterise the students'…

  6. Barriers to Successful Implementation of Technology Integration in Educational Settings: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laferrière, T.; Hamel, C.; Searson, M.

    2013-01-01

    Representing issues discussed at the EduSummIT 2011 relative to essential conditions and barriers to successful technology integration, this article presents a systemic analysis of barriers that needed to be overcome for an information technology initiative (Remote Networked School project) to be successfully implemented. The analysis was…

  7. Sugarcane agricultural-industrial facilities and greenhouses integration

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Silva, Andres da [Estufas Agricolas Comercio e Assessoria Ltda. (EACEA), SP (Brazil)

    2012-07-01

    This chapter approaches Brazilian greenhouse market and technology, food market trends, integration of bioethanol distilleries with GH production, recovering CO{sub 2} from fermentation process, recovering low temperature energy, using vinasse and bagasse in GH processes, examples of integrated GH in the world, a tomato integrated GH study case, and a business model.

  8. Health worker perceptions of integrating mobile phones into community case management of malaria in Saraya, Senegal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blanas, Demetri A; Ndiaye, Youssoupha; MacFarlane, Matthew; Manga, Isaac; Siddiqui, Ammar; Velez, Olivia; Kanter, Andrew S; Nichols, Kim; Hennig, Nils

    2015-05-01

    Although community case management of malaria increases access to life-saving care in isolated settings, it contends with many logistical challenges. Mobile phone health information technology may present an opportunity to address a number of these barriers. Using the wireless adaptation of the technology acceptance model, this study assessed availability, ease of use, usefulness, and job relevance of mobile phones by health workers in Saraya, Senegal. This study conducted seven key informant interviews with government health workers, and three focus groups and 76 surveys with lay health workers. Principal findings included that mobile phones are already widely available and used, and that participants valued using phones to address training, stock management, programme reporting, and transportation challenges. By documenting widespread use of mobile phones and health worker perceptions of their most useful applications, this paper provides a framework for their integration into the community case management of malaria programme in Saraya, Senegal. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  9. Improved Attitude and Achievement: A Case Study of an Elementary School Academic Advisement Intervention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamrath, Barry; Brooker, Teresa

    2018-01-01

    School counselors are often called upon to develop and implement academic interventions. In this case study of one urban elementary school, a school counselor conducted a small group academic advisement intervention. The results suggest that integrating the activities into the elementary school counseling program can be an effective Response to…

  10. INTEGRATION IN THE CHAIN: A CASE STUDY ON THE COLLABORATION IN THE CHAIN OF A RESALE COMPANY OF PARTS FOR INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Inês Shinobu Chubachi

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available The increasing market competition makes companies seek better results, through partnerships with suppliers, and it isnecessary to analyze and adapt to the requirements of customers and market. Thus, for the realization of this article, it is based on concepts of Logistics according to supply chain, intending to analyze operational processes and suggest improvements in results and competitive gains for collaboration in the chain of trade in pieces of industrial equipment company in the Greater São Paulo region. Therefore, we conducted literature searches through books and articles, as well as a case study, which in general, revealed that the supply chain of the studied company has great potential for improvement it once has modest integration actions compared to a model with a strategic focus and some deviations compared to the academic literature. Research results have shown issues such as ignorance of the subject proposed by the employees as well as the need to create alternatives to maximize the interaction between the sectors within the organization contributing more competitive solutions in addition to providing agility in the process as a whole. To carry out further research, it is recommended further study regarding the implementation of management information systems to improve some processes and, consequently, the outcome of that organization.

  11. An Object Model for Integrating Diverse Remote Sensing Satellite Sensors: A Case Study of Union Operation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chuli Hu

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available In the Earth Observation sensor web environment, the rapid, accurate, and unified discovery of diverse remote sensing satellite sensors, and their association to yield an integrated solution for a comprehensive response to specific emergency tasks pose considerable challenges. In this study, we propose a remote sensing satellite sensor object model, based on the object-oriented paradigm and the Open Geospatial Consortium Sensor Model Language. The proposed model comprises a set of sensor resource objects. Each object consists of identification, state of resource attribute, and resource method. We implement the proposed attribute state description by applying it to different remote sensors. A real application, involving the observation of floods at the Yangtze River in China, is undertaken. Results indicate that the sensor inquirer can accurately discover qualified satellite sensors in an accurate and unified manner. By implementing the proposed union operation among the retrieved sensors, the inquirer can further determine how the selected sensors can collaboratively complete a specific observation requirement. Therefore, the proposed model provides a reliable foundation for sharing and integrating multiple remote sensing satellite sensors and their observations.

  12. Neuroeconomics and Integrated Care

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Torben

    2012-01-01

    Background: Fragmented specialized care for the frail elderly as claimed by WHO needs horizontal integration across settings. The home of the patient seems to be a promising place to integrate hospital care, primary care and social services for high-risk discharges where the quality...... of rehabilitation makes a difference. Objective: The study aims to reveal how integrated home care may be organised to improve quality of care as compared to usual hospital care. Method: A qualitative case study of the use of a neuroeconomic model in relation to multidisciplianry collaboration on a RCT...... of integrated home care for stroke patients. Results: (1) The classical understanding of CNS is that of a dual system of ANS and Cortex. The new neuroeconomic understanding is that of a reciprocal balance of Limbic System (LS) and Neocortex (NC). This applies directly in favour of integrated homecare compared...

  13. Vulnerability studies and integrated assessments for hazard risk reduction in Pittsburgh, PA (Invited)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klima, K.

    2013-12-01

    Today's environmental problems stretch beyond the bounds of most academic disciplines, and thus solutions require an interdisciplinary approach. For instance, the scientific consensus is changes in the frequency and severity of many types of extreme weather events are increasing (IPCC 2012). Yet despite our efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, we continue to experience severe weather events such as Superstorm Sandy, record heat and blizzards, and droughts. These natural hazards, combined with increased vulnerability and exposure, result in longer-lasting disruptions to critical infrastructure and business continuity throughout the world. In order to protect both our lives and the economy, we must think beyond the bounds of any one discipline to include an integrated assessment of relevant work. In the wake of recent events, New York City, Washington, DC, Chicago, and a myriad of other cities have turned to their academic powerhouses for assistance in better understanding their vulnerabilities. This talk will share a case study of the state of integrated assessments and vulnerability studies of energy, transportation, water, real estate, and other main sectors in Pittsburgh, PA. Then the talk will use integrated assessment models and other vulnerability studies to create coordinated sets of climate projections for use by the many public agencies and private-sector organizations in the region.

  14. Integrating Assessment into Recurring Information Literacy Instruction: A Case Study from LIS Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Searing, Susan E.

    2007-01-01

    Information literacy instruction is integrated into the distance education program in library and information science (LEEP) at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). This article describes the LEEP program and the library services provided to its students. Published research on LEEP and related topics in librarianship is reviewed.…

  15. 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.

  16. 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

  17. Integrated economy - energy - environment policy analysis : a case study for the People's Republic of China

    OpenAIRE

    Zhang, Z.

    1996-01-01


    This study is the first systematic and comprehensive attempt to deal with the economic implications of carbon abatement for the Chinese economy in the light of the economics of climate change, of which this dissertation is the results. It consists of nine chapters. After a brief introduction, Chapter 2 discusses some economic aspects of climate change. This in turn will serve as a good guide to pursuing the case study for CO 2

  18. A Case Study with an Identified Bully: Policy and Practice Implications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huddleston, Lillie

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Objective: Bullying is a serious public health problem that may include verbal or physical injury as well as social isolation or exclusion. As a result, research is needed to establish a database for policies and interventions designed to prevent bullying and its negative effects. This paper presented a case study that contributed to the literature by describing an intervention for bullies that has implications for research, practice and related policies regarding bullying.Methods: An individualized intervention for an identified bully was implemented using the Participatory Culture-Specific Intervention Model (PCSIM; Nastasi, Moore, & Varjas, 2004 with a seventh-grade middle school student. Ecological and culture-specific perspectives were used to develop and implement the intervention that included psychoeducational sessions with the student and consultation with the parent and school personnel. A mixed methods intervention design was used with the following informants: the target student, the mother of the student, a teacher and the school counselor. Qualitative data included semi-structured interviews with the parent, teacher and student, narrative classroom observations and evaluation/feedback forms filled out by the student and interventionist. Quantitative data included the following quantitative surveys (i.e., Child Posttraumatic Stress Reaction Index [CPTS-RI] and the Behavior Assessment Scale for Children, 2nd Edition. Both qualitative and quantitative data were used to evaluate the acceptability, integrity and efficacy of this intervention.Results: The process of intervention design, implementation and evaluation are described through an illustrative case study. Qualitative and quantitative findings indicated a decrease in internalizing, externalizing and bullying behaviors as reported by the teacher and the mother, and a high degree of acceptability and treatment integrity as reported by multiple stakeholders.Conclusion: This case

  19. The role of water and sediment connectivity in integrated flood management: a case study on the island of Saint Lucia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jetten, Victor; van Westen, Cees; Ettema, Janneke; van den Bout, Bastian

    2016-04-01

    Disaster Risk Management combines the effects of natural hazards in time and space, with elements at risk, such as ourselves, infrastructure or other elements that have a value in our society. The risk in this case is defined as the sum of potential consequences of one or more hazards and can be expressed as potential damages. Generally, we attempt to reduce risk by better risk management, such as increase of resilience, protection and spatial planning. Caribbean islands are hit by hurricanes and tropical storms with a frequency of 1 to 2 every 10 years, with devastating consequences in terms of flash floods and landslides. The islands basically consist of a central (volcanic) mountain range, with medium and small sized catchments radiating outward towards the ocean. The coastal zone is inhabited, while the ring road network is essential for functioning of the island. An example of a case study is given for the island of Saint Lucia. Recorded rainfall intensities during tropical storms of 12 rainfall stations surpass 200 mm/h, causing immediate flash floods. Very often however, sediment is a forgotten variable in flash flood management: protection and mitigation measures as well as spatial planning all focus on the hydrology, the extent and depth of flood water, and sometimes of flood velocities. With recent developments, the opensource model LISEM includes hydrology and runoff, flooding, and erosion, transport and deposition both in runoff, channel flow and flood waters. We will discuss the practical solutions we implemented in connecting slopes, river channels and floodplains in terms of water and sediment, and the strength and weaknesses we have encountered so far. Catchment analysis shows two main effects: on the one hand in almost all cases upstream flooding serves as a temporary water storage that prevents further damage downstream, while on the other hand, erosion upstream often blocks bridges and decreases channel storage downstream, which increases the

  20. Achieving competitiveness through supply chain integration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Arlbjørn, Jan Stentoft; Wong, Chee Yew; Seerup, Søren

    2007-01-01

    Supply chain development can take place in several steps, from functional optimisation, then internal integration, dyadic integration and last, integration in chains and networks. Before external integration gives true value, order in own house must be achieved. This paper presents a case study...... of a Danish manufacturer that has gone through a major transformation process, and the paper intends to discuss how such a Business Process Reengineering (BPR) project aimed to achieve internal integration. The paper demonstrates how improved competitiveness can be obtained through a synchronous...