A European Seal of Approval for 'gay' businesses: findings from an HIV-prevention pilot project.

Science.gov (United States)

Sherriff, Nigel; Gugglberger, Lisa

2014-05-01

'Gay' businesses can be important settings through which to deliver health promotion interventions to vulnerable populations, such as men who have sex with men (MSM) regarding HIV prevention. This article draws on data from the European Everywhere project, which represents the first scheme to develop and pre-test a common framework for HIV/STI prevention in 'gay' businesses across eight European countries. The scientific basis of the Everywhere framework was developed using a comprehensive consensus-building process over 30 months. This process included: formative scoping research; interviews with 54 'gay' businesses; meetings/workshops with representatives from project partners, 'gay' businesses, public health administrations and external experts; 15 interviews and three focus groups with project partners; a five-month pilot action phase in eight countries, together with support from the project's Advisory Group; and all Everywhere project partners including the Scientific Steering Committee. A voluntary European code setting out differentiated HIV/STI-prevention standards for 'gay' businesses (including sex venues, 'gay' and 'gay' friendly social spaces, travel agencies, hotels, dating websites) was developed and piloted in eight European cities. During a five-month pilot action, 83 'gay' businesses were certified with the Everywhere Seal of Approval representing a considerable increase on the expected pilot target of 30. Everywhere offers a major contribution to the public health and/or health promotion field in the form of a practical, policy-relevant, settings-based HIV-prevention framework for 'gay' businesses that is common across eight European countries. Findings suggest that a European-wide model of prevention is acceptable and feasible to businesses.

IMPORTANCE OF EARNED VALUE METHOD (EVA IN THE PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF PROJECTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MARGARITA JANESKA

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The economics of the projects is an important process in the project management. Effective control of projects is based on appropriate methods for monitoring, and the entire project, the timetable, cost, quality and risk. Unlike accounting aspects in project management are looking for information that allow insight into the status and trends of financial progress of the project. Such information provide a method of earned value. It is a key component for assessing the actual performance of the project. The method of earned value is a better indicator of the progress of the project in comparison to the classical method of comparing planned and actual costs. This method shows the profit in relation to actual costs at a specific time point. This method is the basis for calculating the index of the project performance. In this sense, MS Project provides many opportunities for quality control and monitoring of the realization of the projects. In this study will be described the architecture of this method, outlined the benefits of the application of this method, and the basic criteria that should satisfy project management to be able to apply it.

Alligator rivers analogue project. Final report; volume 1; summary of findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duerden, P.; Lever, D.A.; Sverjensky, D.A.; Townley, L.R.

1992-01-01

The Koongarra uranium ore deposit is located in the Alligator Rivers Region of the Northern Territory of Australia. Many of the processes that have controlled the development of this natural system are relevant to the performance assessment of radioactive waste repositories. An agreement was reached in 1987 by a number of agencies concerned with radioactive waste disposal to set up the International Alligator Rivers Analogue Project (ARAP) to study relevant aspects of the hydrological and geochemical evolution of the site. The Project ran for five years. The aims of the study were: to contribute to the production of reliable and realistic models for radionuclide migration within geological environments relevant to the assessment of the safety of radioactive waste repositories; to develop methods of validation of models using a combination of laboratory and field data associated with the Koongarra uranium deposit; and to encourage maximum interaction between modellers and experimentalists in achieving these objectives. It was anticipated that the substantial databases generated in the field and laboratory studies would then be used to develop and test geochemical and radionuclide transport models. The findings from the technical studies are discussed in the context of assessments of the long-term performance of geological repositories for radioactive wastes, which are being undertaken in many countries. They are also considered in an integrated 'Scenario Development' approach, aimed to understand the formation of the ore deposit. Despite their inherent uncertainties, the findings provide a basis for assessing the way in which radionuclides will migrate in environments with a variety of geologic settings and over a range of different geologic timescales. This summary report, which highlights the work and findings of the Alligator Rivers Analogue Project is one of a series of 16 volumes

The "Finding Physics" Project: Recognizing and Exploring Physics Outside the Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Beck, Judith; Perkins, James

2016-11-01

Students in introductory physics classes often have difficulty recognizing the relevance of physics concepts outside the confines of the physics classroom, lab, and textbook. Even though textbooks and instructors often provide examples of physics applications from a wide array of areas, students have difficulty relating physics to their own lives. Encouraging students to apply physics to their own surroundings helps them develop the critical analysis skills of a scientifically literate and competent citizen. Fink, in his book Creating Significant Learning Experiences, emphasizes the importance of constructing opportunities to help students connect what they learn in their academic courses with past and current life experiences and link them to possible future life experiences. Several excellent papers in this journal have presented labs and activities that address this concern by encouraging teachers to bring real-world examples into the classroom or to take students into the field for data collection and observation. Alternatively, Smith suggests a writing exercise in which his students identify and explain an event in terms of their understanding of physics. In this paper we present a multiphase exercise that challenges students to find their own examples of physics from outside the classroom and analyze them using the conceptual understanding and quantitative skills which they are developing in the classroom. The ultimate goal of the "Finding Physics" project is to improve students' learning through enhancing their recognition that, to quote one participant's end-of-course survey, "Physics is everywhere!"

FINDING SOLUTIONS AT THE WEST VALLEY DEMONSTRATION PROJECT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drake, John L.; Gramling, James M.; Houston, Helene M.

2003-01-01

The United States Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) faces a number of sizeable challenges as it begins to transform its mission from managing risk to reducing and eliminating risk throughout the DOE Complex. One of the greatest challenges being addressed by DOE-EM as this transformation takes place is accelerating the deactivation and decommissioning of thousands of facilities within the DOE Complex that were once used to support nuclear-related programs and projects. These facilities are now unused and aging. Finding solutions to complete the cleanup of these aging facilities more safely, efficiently, and effectively while reducing costs is critical to successfully meeting DOE-EM's cleanup challenge. The Large-Scale Demonstration and Deployment Project (LSDDP) of Hot Cells at the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) is a near-term project funded through the DOE's National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE-NETL) for the specific purpose of identifying, evaluating, demonstrating, and deploying commercially available technologies that are capable of streamlining the cleanup of hot cells in unused facilities while improving worker safety. Two DOE project sites are participating in this LSDDP: the WVDP site in West Valley, New York and the Hanford River Corridor Project (RCP) site in Richland, Washington. The WVDP site serves as the host site for the project. Technologies considered for demonstration and potential deployment at both LSDDP sites are targeted for application in hot cells that require the use of remote and semi-remote techniques to conduct various cleanup-related activities because of high radiation or high contamination levels. These hot cells, the type of cleanup activities being conducted, and technologies selected for demonstration are the main topics discussed in this paper. The range of cleanup-related activities addressed include in-situ characterization, size-reduction, contamination control, decontamination, in

76 FR 23642 - Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition Determinations: “Projects 95: Runa Islam”

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-27

... DEPARTMENT OF STATE [Public Notice: 7433] Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition Determinations: ``Projects 95: Runa Islam'' SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the following determinations... the exhibition ``Projects 95: Runa Islam'' imported from abroad for temporary exhibition within the...

75 FR 73059 - Record of Decision and Floodplain Statement of Findings for the Cushman Hydroelectric Project...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-11-29

... Floodplain Statement of Findings for the Cushman Hydroelectric Project, Mason County, Washington... Project in Mason County, Washington. These components include a new 3.6 megawatt (MW) powerhouse on the... components of the Cushman Hydroelectric Project in Mason County, Washington. These components include a new 3...

75 FR 3781 - Culturally Significant Object Imported for Exhibition; Determinations: “Projects 92: Yin Xiuzhen”

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-22

... DEPARTMENT OF STATE [Public Notice 6884] Culturally Significant Object Imported for Exhibition; Determinations: ``Projects 92: Yin Xiuzhen'' SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the following determinations... ``Projects 92: Yin Xiuzhen,'' imported from abroad for temporary exhibition within the United States, is of...

Innovative use of ICT in schools based on the findings in ELFE project

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Frederiksson, Ulf; Jedeskog, Gunilla; Plomp, T.

2008-01-01

The European e-Learning Forum for Education (ELFE) is a project initiated by the ETUCE (European Trade Union Committee on Education). An important objective of the project has been to study good experiences with implementing the use of ICT in schools. This objective has been broken down in seven

ACCIDENT PHENOMENA OF RISK IMPORTANCE PROJECT - Continued RESEARCH CONCERNING SEVERE ACCIDENT PHENOMENA AND MANAGEMENT IN Sweden

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rolandson, S.; Mueller, F.; Loevenhielm, G.

1997-01-01

Since 1988 all reactors in Sweden have mitigating measures, such as filtered vents, implemented. In parallel with the work of implementing these measures, a cooperation effort (RAMA projects) between the Swedish utilities and the Nuclear Power Inspectorate was performed to acquire sufficient knowledge about severe accident research work. The on-going project has the name Accident Phenomena of Risk Importance 3. In this paper, we will give background information about severe accident management in Sweden. In the Accident Phenomena of Risk Importance 3 project we will focus on the work concerning coolability of melted core in lower plenum which is the main focus of the In-vessel Coolability Task Group within the Accident Phenomena of Risk Importance 3 project. The Accident Phenomena of Risk Importance 3 project has joined on international consortium and the in-vessel cooling experiments are performed by Fauske and Associates, Inc. in Burr Ridge, Illinois, United States America, Sweden also intends to do one separate experiment with one instrument penetration we have in Swedish/Finnish BWR's. Other parts of the Accident Phenomena of Risk Importance 3 project, such as support to level 2 studies, the research at Royal Institute of Technology and participation in international programs, such as Cooperative Severe Accident Research Program, Advanced Containment Experiments and PHEBUS will be briefly described in the paper

A Framework for Categorizing Important Project Variables

Science.gov (United States)

Parsons, Vickie S.

2003-01-01

While substantial research has led to theories concerning the variables that affect project success, no universal set of such variables has been acknowledged as the standard. The identification of a specific set of controllable variables is needed to minimize project failure. Much has been hypothesized about the need to match project controls and management processes to individual projects in order to increase the chance for success. However, an accepted taxonomy for facilitating this matching process does not exist. This paper surveyed existing literature on classification of project variables. After an analysis of those proposals, a simplified categorization is offered to encourage further research.

Impact of problem finding on the quality of authentic open inquiry science research projects

Science.gov (United States)

Labanca, Frank

2008-11-01

Problem finding is a creative process whereby individuals develop original ideas for study. Secondary science students who successfully participate in authentic, novel, open inquiry studies must engage in problem finding to determine viable and suitable topics. This study examined problem finding strategies employed by students who successfully completed and presented the results of their open inquiry research at the 2007 Connecticut Science Fair and the 2007 International Science and Engineering Fair. A multicase qualitative study was framed through the lenses of creativity, inquiry strategies, and situated cognition learning theory. Data were triangulated by methods (interviews, document analysis, surveys) and sources (students, teachers, mentors, fair directors, documents). The data demonstrated that the quality of student projects was directly impacted by the quality of their problem finding. Effective problem finding was a result of students using resources from previous, specialized experiences. They had a positive self-concept and a temperament for both the creative and logical perspectives of science research. Successful problem finding was derived from an idiosyncratic, nonlinear, and flexible use and understanding of inquiry. Finally, problem finding was influenced and assisted by the community of practicing scientists, with whom the students had an exceptional ability to communicate effectively. As a result, there appears to be a juxtaposition of creative and logical/analytical thought for open inquiry that may not be present in other forms of inquiry. Instructional strategies are suggested for teachers of science research students to improve the quality of problem finding for their students and their subsequent research projects.

Social impacts of community renewable energy projects: findings from a woodfuel case study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rogers, Jennifer C.; Simmons, Eunice A.; Convery, Ian; Weatherall, Andrew

2012-01-01

There is much current interest in the potential of community-based renewable energy projects to contribute to transition towards low carbon energy systems. As well as displacing fossil fuel consumption by increasing renewable energy generation, projects are expected to have a range of social impacts which may result in additional positive sustainability outcomes. These include potential to increase: acceptance of renewable energy developments; awareness of renewable and sustainable energy technologies and issues; uptake of low carbon technologies; and sustainable/pro-environmental behaviours. To date however, there has been little investigation of whether and how these impacts occur. This paper presents results from qualitative research investigating the social impacts of a community woodfuel project as experienced by project participants and other local stakeholders. Findings show projects can raise awareness of renewable energy technologies and increase uptake of renewables. Overall the case study project successfully changed the local social context for development of woodfuel heating, reducing risk for all involved in the future development of this sector, particularly in the immediate locality. There was some evidence of increased engagement with wider sustainability issues but this was limited to direct participants, suggesting local projects need to be supported by wider systemic change to maximise impacts. - Highlights: ► We assessed the social impacts of a community woodfuel project. ► The project increased awareness and uptake of woodfuel heating. ► Impacts were achieved as a result of the locally-specific approach. ► Local projects can seed cultural change promoting transition to a low carbon society.

The importance of a project level risk management methodology for EU Structural and Investment Funds accession in Romania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicolae Ciprian

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Accessing EU funds is considered to be an important development chance for all type of beneficiaries in Romania: public bodies, nongovernmental organizations and firms. The grounds for this are the amount of funds available per beneficiary and the co financing rate (for example, the investment projects for firms amounted up to 5 million Euro of EU funding at a EU co financing rate up to 70%. As the Romanian responsible authorities strive to conduct a fast and smooth process, the reality shows the funds accession is rather unpredictable and costly, both in terms of time consumption and financial resources. Lots of causes contribute to this situation, amongst which the inefficient risk management conducted, both by the state authorities responsible with the EU funds management and by the beneficiaries of funds. The effects are visible: a poor absorption rate of the EU structural and cohesion funds (79,23% at the level of January 2017 for the 2007-2013 financial period. The authors' research follows the importance that risk management should have in the process of managing and accessing EU funds. The research methodology starts from the responses that 170 people involved in managing EU funded projects within 2007-2013 financial period gave to an online questionnaire carried on in 2016. The focus was to establish if and how risk management methodologies/procedures/guidelines were used within the implementation of projects and in what measure this kind of approach should be compulsory or optional for the financial period 2014-2020. The research methodology further implied the analysis of key issues for projects financing such as: feasibility and opportunity determination, budgeting, projects' evaluation, etc. The main finding of the research is that applicants and beneficiaries need to implement project level risk management methodologies. Based on this, the authors propose a guideline for drafting project level risk management methodologies, that

Project-based fieldwork: perspectives of graduate entry students and project sponsors.

Science.gov (United States)

Fortune, Tracy; McKinstry, Carol

2012-08-01

This article builds on an earlier viewpoint regarding the need for project-focussed fieldwork. It presents the findings of an evaluative study into the value of project placements undertaken by final year graduate entry master's students as part of a capstone subject. The authors argue that provision of project placements enable impending graduates to develop and implement macro level strategies to develop prevention, resource and service development skills often required of contemporary occupational therapy practitioners. A qualitative approach is adopted. Student cohorts from 2005 and 2006 completed open-ended, written questionnaires, and agency project sponsors were interviewed to obtain their perspectives of the project placement experience. Despite some concern that project placements might be undertaken at the expense of 'clinical' placements these findings reveal that projects managed by students were perceived by services to add great value enabling them to advance important priorities. Students and sponsors highlighted a range of positive learning outcomes, including the ability to work collaboratively with supervisors and develop advanced communication skills and political acumen. The success of such placements depends on supportive supervision from academic staff. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY: The findings promote project placements as a highly authentic aspect of work integrated learning enabling learners to draw together a range of attributes that support the ability to manage complex issues that have occupational relevance at a macro level. In addition, such experiences help learners to develop agency and political acumen both increasingly important capabilities for the contemporary workplace. © 2012 The Authors Australian Occupational Therapy Journal © 2012 Occupational Therapy Australia.

The Fermi LAT Very Important Project (VIP) List of Active Galactic Nuclei

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, David J.; Fermi Large Area Telescope Collaboration

2018-01-01

Using nine years of Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Large Area Telescope (LAT) observations, we have identified 30 projects for Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) that appear to provide strong prospects for significant scientific advances. This Very Important Project (VIP) AGN list includes AGNs that have good multiwavelength coverage, are regularly detected by the Fermi LAT, and offer scientifically interesting timing or spectral properties. Each project has one or more LAT scientists identified who are actively monitoring the source. They will be regularly updating the LAT results for these VIP AGNs, working together with multiwavelength observers and theorists to maximize the scientific return during the coming years of the Fermi mission. See https://confluence.slac.stanford.edu/display/GLAMCOG/VIP+List+of+AGNs+for+Continued+Study

Yucca Mountain Socioeconomic Project: The 1991 Nevada State telephone survey: Key findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Flynn, J.H.; Mertz, C.K.; Slovic, P.

1991-05-01

The 1991 Nevada State Telephone Survey was implemented by Decision Research on behalf of the State of Nevada, Agency for Nuclear Projects/Nuclear Waste Project Office (NWPO) as part of an ongoing socioeconomic impact assessment study. The scope of this survey was considerably smaller than a previous survey conducted in 1989 and focused more upon public evaluations of the Yucca Mountain repository program and the trust Nevadans currently addressing the siting issues. In order to provide place in key public officials who are Longitudinal data on the repository program, the 1991 questionnaire consisted of questions that were used in the 1989 NWPO survey which was conducted by Mountain West Research. As a result, the findings from this survey are compared with analogous items from the 1989 survey, and with the results from a survey commissioned by the Las Vegas Review-Journal and reported in their issue of October 21, 1990. The Review-Journal survey was conducted by Bruce Merri11 of the Arizona State University Media Research Center. A more complete comparison of the 1989 and 1991 surveys sponsored by NWPO is possible since the researchers at Decision Research had access to both these databases. The only source of information for the Review-Journal findings was the articles published in the Fall, 1990. The findings of the 1991 survey show that Nevadans oppose the federal government attempts to locate a high-level radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain. They support a policy of opposition on the part of Nevada officials. They believe that Nevadans should have the final say in whether to accept the repository or not, and they reject the proposition that benefits from the repository program will outweigh the harms. These findings are very similar to survey results from 1989 and 1990 and once again demonstrate very widespread public opposition by Nevadans to the current federal repository program

Prevalence of incidental findings on magnetic resonance imaging: Cuban project to map the human brain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hernandez Gonzalez, Gertrudis de los Angeles; Alvarez Sanchez, Marilet; Jordan Gonzalez, Jose

2010-01-01

To determine the prevalence of incidental findings in healthy subjects of the Cuban Human Brain Mapping Project sample, it was performed a retrospective descriptive study of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) obtained from 394 healthy subjects that make up the sample of the project, between 2006-2007, with an age range of 18 to 68 years (mean 33,12), of which 269 (68,27 %) are male and 125 (31,73 %) are women. It was shown that 40,36 % had one or more anomaly in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In total, the number of incidental findings was 188, 23,6 % of which were brain findings and 24,11 % were non-brain findings, among the latter, were the sinusopathy with 20,81 % and maxillary polyps with 3,30 %. The most prevalent brain findings were: intrasellar arachnoidocele, 11,93 %, followed by the prominence of the pituitary gland, 5,84 %, ventricular asymmetry, 1,77 % and bone defects, 1,02 %. Other brain abnormalities found with very low prevalence had no pathological significance, except for two cases with brain tumor, which were immediately sent to a specialist. Incidental findings in MRI are common in the general population (40,36 %), being the sinusopathy, and intrasellar arachnoidocele the most common findings. Asymptomatic individuals who have any type of structural abnormality provide invaluable information on the prevalence of these abnormalities in a presumably healthy population, which may be used as references for epidemiological studies

Imports of waste fuels for energy recovery in Sweden - Sub-Project 1; Import av avfall till energiutvinning i Sverige - Delprojekt 1 inom projektet Perspektiv paa framtida avfallsbehandling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sahlin, Jenny; Holmstroem, David; Bisaillon, Mattias

2013-09-01

Swedish imports of waste fuels may increase to 1.5 million tonnes by 2015, when new waste-fuelled combined heat and power plants are in operation; and to 2.5 million tonnes by 2020, if all planned capacity is built. This is the case if national targets for increased material recycling and biological treatment are reached; which means that smaller amounts of mixed waste remains for incineration. When the import of the waste fuel into Sweden has increased, also need of knowledge has increased, as well as the concerns and fears. The aim of the project 'Imports of waste to energy recovery in Sweden', therefore, is to create an improved basis for decisions and communications concerning the import of waste fuel, as well as to study its conditions, opportunities and obstacles. The target group is interested operators, representatives of public authorities and decision-makers. Data includes analysis of future imported quantities, possible import markets, policy instruments and its effects, concerns and fears, economic aspects and effects on climate change while importing the waste fuel. The project is one of five sub-projects in 'Perspectives on the future waste treatment'. The project has been carried out through data collection, computer modelling, interviews as well as discussion and analysis in the working and reference groups. The goal is estimated to having been reached, the results are already used. From media, there is an interest of the results, and the project has already been referred to and presented at conferences. The results are thus already well-spread.

Interim Evaluation of the Project P.A.T.H.S.: Findings Based on Different Datasets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel T. L. Shek

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Interim evaluation studies were carried out in order to examine the implementation details of the Tier 1 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes in Hong Kong. Quantitative results of the interim evaluation findings based on eight datasets collected from 2006 to 2009 are reported in this paper. Three hundred and seventy-eight schools were randomly selected to provide information on the implementation details of the program via face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews, and self-completed questionnaires. Results showed that a majority of the workers perceived that the students had positive responses to the program and the program was helpful to the students. In conjunction with other process evaluation findings, the present study suggests that the implementation quality of the Tier 1 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. is high. The present study also provides support for the effectiveness of the Tier 1 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong.

Regional Transmission Projects: Finding Solutions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The Keystone Center

2005-06-15

The Keystone Center convened and facilitated a year-long Dialogue on "Regional Transmission Projects: Finding Solutions" to develop recommendations that will help address the difficult and contentious issues related to expansions of regional electric transmission systems that are needed for reliable and economic transmission of power within and across regions. This effort brought together a cross-section of affected stakeholders and thought leaders to address the problem with the collective wisdom of their experience and interests. Transmission owners sat at the table with consumer advocates and environmental organizations. Representatives from regional transmission organizations exchanged ideas with state and federal regulators. Generation developers explored common interests with public power suppliers. Together, the Dialogue participants developed consensus solutions about how to begin unraveling some of the more intractable issues surrounding identification of need, allocation of costs, and reaching consensus on siting issues that can frustrate the development of regional transmission infrastructure. The recommendations fall into three broad categories: 1. Recommendations on appropriate institutional arrangements and processes for achieving regional consensus on the need for new or expanded transmission infrastructure 2. Recommendations on the process for siting of transmission lines 3. Recommendations on the tools needed to support regional planning, cost allocation, and siting efforts. List of Dialogue participants: List of Dialogue Participants: American Electric Power American Transmission Company American Wind Energy Association California ISO Calpine Corporation Cinergy Edison Electric Institute Environmental Defense Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Great River Energy International Transmission Company ISO-New England Iowa Public Utility Board Kanner & Associates Midwest ISO National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners National Association

Improvement of methods of evaluation of investment projects in the context of import substitution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kuvshinov M.S.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Due to the imposition of sanctions, based more on geopolitical interests, there were additional essential restrictions on sources of external credits, use of import raw materials and technologies, possibilities of attraction to work of the qualified employees which do not have the Russian nationality, participation in the international technology and scientific projects. At similar restrictions of different resources investment decisions are made extremely carefully, and especially careful and reasonable efficiency evaluation of the investments is required. Traditionally used techniques of efficiency evaluation of investment projects not fully consider strategic interests of owners of industrial enterprises and investors. Decrease in risks requires higher quality of project evaluation. In this work the method of multi-level consistently complex integral assessment of investment projects on an indicator of the integral indicator of their efficiency implementing consecutive selection of investment projects from a portfolio on essential indicators of commercial effectiveness, efficiency of production business activities, a financial state and productivity of activity is provided. The developed method of a complex assessment of investment projects is implemented for practical application by the software product allowing to create on the basis of economic-mathematical modeling specific recommendations in economic practice of industrial enterprises during the developing and implementation of investment strategies. The conclusion that for the Russian economy in the conditions of import substitution accounting of all set of interests of investors and owners of the enterprises provides development and implementation of reasonable investment strategies is drawn.

Incidental extracerebral findings on brain nonenhanced magnetic resonance imaging: frequency, nondetection rate, and clinical importance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Ming-Liang; Wei, Xiao-Er [School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People' s Hospital, Shanghai (China); Lu, Li-Yan [Nanjing Medical University, Department of Radiology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing (China); Li, Wen-Bin [School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People' s Hospital, Shanghai (China); Kashgar Prefecture Second People' s Hospital, Imaging Center, Kashgar (China)

2017-03-15

This study aims to elucidate the frequency, nondetection rate, and clinical importance of incidental extracerebral findings (IECFs) on brain nonenhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A total of 8284 brain MRIs performed between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2015 were evaluated for the presence of IECFs and the distribution of IECFs was analyzed. IECFs were categorized as E1 (clinically unimportant, e.g., sinus mucosal thickening); E2 (likely unimportant, e.g., pharyngeal mucosal symmetrical thickening); and E3 (potentially important, e.g., pharyngeal mucosal asymmetrical thickening). The nondetection rate was determined by comparing the results of the structured approach with the initial MRI reports. The medical records were examined for patients with E3 IECFs to assess clinical importance and outcome of these lesions. A total of 5992 IECFs were found in 4469 of the 8284 patients (54.0%). E1 findings constituted 82.2% (4924/5992) of all IECFs; E2 constituted 16.6% (995/5992) and E3 constituted 1.2% (73/5992). Overall IECFs and E1 findings were significantly more common in male patients (P < 0.05). Statistically significant difference was also seen between the different age groups (P < 0.001). The nondetection rate was 56.9% (3409/5992) for overall IECFs and 32.9% (24/73) for E3 IECFs. Of the 73 patients with E3 IECFs, 34 (46.6%) received final diagnosis and appropriate treatment during the study period. IECFs are prevalent in clinical patients on brain MR images with a nondetection rate of 32.9% for potentially important (E3) findings. The reporting of IECFs according to clinical importance is helpful for patients' management. (orig.)

Importance of ensembles in projecting regional climate trends

Science.gov (United States)

Arritt, Raymond; Daniel, Ariele; Groisman, Pavel

2016-04-01

We have performed an ensemble of simulations using RegCM4 to examine the ability to reproduce observed trends in precipitation intensity and to project future changes through the 21st century for the central United States. We created a matrix of simulations over the CORDEX North America domain for 1950-2099 by driving the regional model with two different global models (HadGEM2-ES and GFDL-ESM2M, both for RCP8.5), by performing simulations at both 50 km and 25 km grid spacing, and by using three different convective parameterizations. The result is a set of 12 simulations (two GCMs by two resolutions by three convective parameterizations) that can be used to systematically evaluate the influence of simulation design on predicted precipitation. The two global models were selected to bracket the range of climate sensitivity in the CMIP5 models: HadGEM2-ES has the highest ECS of the CMIP5 models, while GFDL-ESM2M has one of the lowestt. Our evaluation metrics differ from many other RCM studies in that we focus on the skill of the models in reproducing past trends rather than the mean climate state. Trends in frequency of extreme precipitation (defined as amounts exceeding 76.2 mm/day) for most simulations are similar to the observed trend but with notable variations depending on RegCM4 configuration and on the driving GCM. There are complex interactions among resolution, choice of convective parameterization, and the driving GCM that carry over into the future climate projections. We also note that biases in the current climate do not correspond to biases in trends. As an example of these points the Emanuel scheme is consistently "wet" (positive bias in precipitation) yet it produced the smallest precipitation increase of the three convective parameterizations when used in simulations driven by HadGEM2-ES. However, it produced the largest increase when driven by GFDL-ESM2M. These findings reiterate that ensembles using multiple RCM configurations and driving GCMs are

Horse Palace photovoltaic pilot project findings report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2009-06-15

This paper provided details of a solar photovoltaic (PV) feasibility study conducted as part of the Toronto Exhibition Place's 2010 energy self-sufficiency plan. The 100 kw plant was installed on the roof of the Horse Palace, and when first installed represented the largest urban PV array in Canada. The study was conducted to compare the performance of technology alternatives under otherwise common environmental and operating conditions, to build capacity to operate large roof-mounted PV systems in Toronto, and to gain experience with Ontario's renewable energy standard offer program (RESOP). The initial year of monitoring identified complications with inverters and monitoring equipment, shading issues, and problems with data collection and management. Interconnecting the project with the electricity grid to sell the produced power was a complicated and lengthy procedure. A problem with the baseline performance modeling that was used to assess the project was also identified. In 2008, the project produced 96,724 kWh. Simple payback for the project was estimated at 16.7 years. The plant is now participating in the RESOP and receiving monthly payments. 14 figs., 2 appendices.

Managing a project's legacy: implications for organizations and project management

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, Lynne P.; Hecht, Michael H.; Majchrzak, Ann

2003-01-01

Organizations that rely on projects to implement their products must find effective mechanisms for propagating lessons learned on one project throughout the organization. A broad view of what constitutes a project's 'legacy' is presented that includes not just the design products and leftover parts, but new processes, relationships, technology, skills, planning data, and performance metrics. Based on research evaluating knowledge reuse in innovative contexts, this paper presents an approach to project legacy management that focuses on collecting and using legacy knowledge to promote organizational learning and effective reuse, while addressing factors of post-project responsibility, information obsolescence, and the importance of ancillary contextual information. .

Key Findings from the U.S.-India Partnership for Climate Resilience Workshop on Development and Application of Downscaling Climate Projections

Science.gov (United States)

Kunkel, K.; Dissen, J.; Easterling, D. R.; Kulkarni, A.; Akhtar, F. H.; Hayhoe, K.; Stoner, A. M. K.; Swaminathan, R.; Thrasher, B. L.

2017-12-01

s part of the Department of State U.S.-India Partnership for Climate Resilience (PCR), scientists from NOAA NCEI, CICS-NC, Texas Tech University (TTU), Stanford University (SU), and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) held a workshop at IITM in Pune, India during 7-9 March 2017 on the development, techniques and applications of downscaled climate projections. Workshop participants from TTU, SU, and IITM presented state-of-the-art climate downscaling techniques using the ARRM method, NASA NEX climate products, CORDEX-South Asia and analysis tools for resilience planning and sustainable development. PCR collaborators in attendance included Indian practitioners, researchers and other NGO including the WRI Partnership for Resilience and Preparedness (PREP), The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), and NIH. The scientific techniques were provided to workshop participants in a software package written in R by TTU scientists and several sessions were devoted to hands-on experience with the software package. The workshop further examined case studies on the use of downscaled climate data for decision making in a range of sectors, including human health, agriculture, and water resources management as well as to inform the development of the India State Action Plans. This talk will discuss key outcomes including information needs for downscaling climate projections, importance of QA/QC of the data, key findings from select case studies, and the importance of collaborations and partnerships to apply downscaling projections to help inform the development of the India State Action Plans.

Agile project portfolio management, new solutions and new challenges: preliminary findings from a case study of an agile organization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Lars Kristian; Svejvig, Per

project management framework including two complementary perspectives. One perspective, denoted as classical project management (CPM), highlights key characteristics of traditional PPM practices. A second perspective, denoted as rethinking project management (RPM), highlights characteristics...... of progressive PPM practices. We investigate a large Danish company by applying the research question: “How does agile PPM manifests itself in a real organization and what are the observed pros and cons?” Surprisingly, when summa-rizing our results, we find some traits of concepts from the CPM perspective...... that are manifested in strict control of projects and programs. Furthermore, we find the traits of the RPM perspective more dominating than the CPM perspective, and these traits are mostly found to have desirable effects. CPM traits seem to improve the organi-zation’s ability to cope with uncertainty, a so...

An exploration study to find important factors influencing on expert systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Naser Azad

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Knowledge management plays an important role in modern management systems since many existing systems move towards learning organizations. Expert systems, on the other hand, are considered as the most popular techniques for adapting recent developments on knowledge management. This paper presents an empirical investigation to find important factors influencing adaptation of expert systems. The proposed study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale consists of 25 questions, distributes it among 258 people who have recently graduated from computer science and they are familiar with implementation of expert systems. Cronbach alpha is calculated as 0.730 and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy and Approx. Chi-Square are 0.748 and 1377.397, respectively. The study has implemented principal component analysis and the results have indicated that there were four factors influencing expert systems including systems management, intelligence systems, system analysis and specialized analysis.

The Importance of Investment Decisions in Project Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cosmina Mădălina Pop

2008-10-01

Full Text Available The financing decision alongside with investment decision represents the core of financial management. The paper presents the main steps in realizing investment projects, the option criteria used in pre-investment analysis, the techniques of financing the investments project, but also the methods of evaluation applied in selecting the most suitable project, accordingly with company’s developlment strategy and policy.

Infusing and sustaining aging content in social work education: findings from GeroRich projects.

Science.gov (United States)

Hash, Kristina M; Gottlieb, Jody; Harper-Dorton, Karen V; Crawley-Woods, Geraldine; Shelek-Furbee, Katherine; Smith, John David; Brown, Rita

2007-01-01

This article presents findings from experiences of 67 projects involved in GeroRich, an initiative funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation designed to infuse, enrich and sustain aging content in BSW and MSW curricula. Thematic qualitative analysis was used to uncover themes in answers to open-ended questions contained in End-of-Year 2 project reports. Content areas addressed by open-ended answers were: (1) successes and innovations, and (2) challenges requiring responses. Primary successes and innovations identified were as follows: curriculum enrichment, faculty and student involvement, student-learning activities and community. Challenges to be responded to were identified as lack of faculty involvement, competing demands on faculty and programs, and sustainability of project efforts. Examples of strategies implemented to overcome these obstacles include providing teaching resources, instituting financial and other supports, and developing strategic plans for sustaining content infusion post-funding. Experiences of the GeroRich projects offer practical considerations for other social work programs that accept the challenge of attracting and preparing students to work with the increasing population of older adults.

The pediatric resident training on tobacco project: baseline findings from the Parent/Guardian Tobacco Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Hymowitz, Norman; Schwab, Joseph; Haddock, Christopher keith; Pyle, Sara; Moore, Glenisha; Meshberg, Sarah

2005-07-01

Pediatricians have an important and unique role to play in the anti-tobacco arena. They may prevent relapse to smoking in women who stopped smoking during pregnancy, encourage parents to protect infants and young children from environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), prevent the onset of smoking in children and adolescents, and help patients and parents who smoke or use other forms of tobacco to quit. Unfortunately, few pediatricians intervene on tobacco use or ETS, and few pediatric residency training programs prepare residents to address tobacco. The Pediatric Residency Training on Tobacco Project is a 4-year randomized prospective study of the effectiveness of training pediatric residents to intervene on tobacco in patients and parents. In this paper, we present findings from the Baseline Parent/Guardian Tobacco Survey. Fifteen pediatric residency training programs participated in the Pediatric Residency Training on Tobacco Project, and they were assigned randomly to special and standard training conditions. The Baseline Parent/Guardian Tobacco Survey was administered to 1770 participants, a minimum of 100 from each site. The Parent/Guardian Survey was designed to describe the population under study. It addressed demographic information, family tobacco use, rules concerning smoking in the home and elsewhere, smoking behavior and beliefs, and parent/guardian reports of resident intervention on tobacco. Data analyses described the population served by Continuity Clinics associated with the pediatric residency training programs and determined the degree to which residents addressed tobacco in parents/guardians. The parents/guardians were primarily low-income African American and Hispanic females. Approximately 20% reported that they smoked cigarettes, and about 60% prohibited smoking in their home. Seventy percent of the parents reported that the resident asked about cigarette smoking, and about half indicated that the resident talked with them about ETS. However, only

An exploration study to find important factors influencing on brand identification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Naser Azad

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Building a famous brand often makes it possible to have sustainable growth in competitive market. A good brand name plays an important role on increasing word of mouth advertisement, the number of loyal customers and repurchase habits. However, in order to build a good brand, we need to create sustainable brand identification and to do this we need to determine influential factors. This paper presents an empirical investigation to find important factors influencing brand identification. The proposed study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale consists of 23 questions, distributes it among 400 people who purchase regularly from hyperstar and collects 400 filled ones. Cronbach alpha is calculated as 0.735. In addition, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy and Approx. Chi-Square are 0.784 and 2300.022, respectively. Based on the results of our survey, we have derived five factors including sense of brand, brand community, trust to brand, value of brand and personality of brand.

Cigarette tax avoidance and evasion: findings from the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project

Science.gov (United States)

Guindon, G. Emmanuel; Driezen, Pete; Chaloupka, Frank J.; Fong, Geoffrey T.

2014-01-01

Background Decades of research have produced overwhelming evidence that tobacco taxes reduce tobacco use and increase government tax revenue. The magnitude and effectiveness of taxes at reducing tobacco use provide an incentive for tobacco users, manufacturers and others, most notably criminal networks, to devise ways to avoid or evade tobacco taxes. Consequently, tobacco tax avoidance and tax evasion can reduce the public health and fiscal benefit of tobacco taxes. Objectives First, this study aims to document, using data from the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project (ITC), levels and trends in cigarette users’ tax avoidance and tax evasion behaviour in a sample of sixteen low-, middle- and high-income countries. Second, this study explores factors associated with cigarette tax avoidance and evasion. Methods We use data from ITC surveys conducted in 16 countries to estimate the extent and the type of cigarette tax avoidance/evasion between countries and across time. We use self-reported information about the source of a smoker’s last purchase of cigarettes or self-reported packaging information, or similar information gathered by the interviewers during face-to-face interviews to measure tax avoidance/evasion behaviours. We use generalized estimating equations (GEE) to explore individual-level factors that may affect the likelihood of cigarette tax avoidance or evasion in Canada, United States, United Kingdom and France. Findings We find prevalence estimates of cigarette tax avoidance/evasion vary substantially between countries and across time. In Canada, France and the United Kingdom, more than 10% of smokers report last purchasing cigarettes from low or untaxed sources while in Malaysia, some prevalence estimates suggest substantial cigarette tax avoidance/evasion. We also find important associations between household income and education and the likelihood to engage in tax avoidance/evasion. These associations, however, vary both in

Findings of, and reflections on, the Gender, Lifelong Learning and Social Class (GLAS project. A UK partnership based perspective.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sue Betts

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the main findings of GLAS, a two-year, EC co-funded project to address potential barriers to lifelong learning. In considering the genesis of the project, its structure and partnership, we will discuss findings from the perspective of UK partners, Linking London. We will show that tackling complex issues of social inclusion requires the creative use of processes and strategies which already exist within higher education, and conclude by making recommendations for future research and action.

Attitudes of Registered and Licensed Practical Nurses About the Importance of Families in Surgical Hospital Units: Findings From the Landspitali University Hospital Family Nursing Implementation Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Blöndal, Katrin; Zoëga, Sigridur; Hafsteinsdottir, Jorunn E; Olafsdottir, Olof Asdis; Thorvardardottir, Audur B; Hafsteinsdottir, Sigrun A; Sveinsdóttir, Herdis

2014-08-01

The purpose of this study was to examine attitudes of registered nurses and licensed practical nurses about the importance of the family in surgical hospital units before (T1) and after (T2) implementation of a Family Systems Nursing educational intervention based on the Calgary Family Assessment and Intervention Models. This study was part of the Landspitali University Hospital Family Nursing Implementation Project and used a nonrandomized, quasi-experimental design with nonequivalent group before and after and without a control group. There were 181 participants at T1 and 130 at T2. No difference was found in nurses' attitudes as measured by the Families Importance in Nursing Care-Nurses' Attitudes (FINC-NA) questionnaire, before and after the educational intervention. Attitudes toward families were favorable at both times. Analysis of demographic variables showed that age, work experience, and workplace (inpatient vs. outpatient units) had an effect on the nurses' attitudes toward families. The influence of work experience on attitudes toward family care warrants further exploration. © The Author(s) 2014.

Findings and recommendations of the competency based standards project for radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Egan, Ingrid

1993-01-01

In February 1992, the National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition funded a $150,000 research project for the development of Competency Based Standards for the professions of Medical Radiation Science (MRS). The four professions of MRS are now considered to be: Radiography, Radiation Therapy, Nuclear Medicine Science and Sonography. The four national documents have aimed at describing the performances of the MRS practitioner at entry level to the profession. Findings from survey and interviews indicate that the existing structure of the undergraduate courses should be reviewed with emphasis on: problem solving skills, theater radiography, paediatric radiography, image interpretation or radiography pathology as well as venepuncture, if accepted nationally. . 5 refs., 1 tab., 5 figs

The Importance of Haematological and Biochemical Findings in Patients with West Nile Virus Neuroinvasive Disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Urošević Aleksandar

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Background: West Nile virus neuroinvasive disease (WNND occurs in less than 1% of infected people. Leukocytosis with lymphocytopenia, mild anaemia, thrombocytopenia, elevated liver and muscle enzymes and hyponatremia are occasionally present in patients with WNND. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF findings resemble other viral neuroinfections. The purpose of this study is to present some of the most important laboratory findings of our patients with WNND and to evaluate their correlation with fatal outcome.

THE QUALITY IMPORTANCE IN A PROJECT MANAGEMENT COMPLEXITY ENVIRONMENT

OpenAIRE

Adrian UNGUREANU; Anca VARGA

2009-01-01

A project is a temporary endeaver undertaken to creat a unique product, service or result. The temporary nature of project indicates a definite beginning and end. The end is reached when the project’s objectives have been achieved or when the project is terminated becouse its objectives will not or cannot be met, when the need for the project no longer exist. Temporary does not necessarily mean short in duration. Temporary does not generally apply to the product, service, or result created by...

The importance of procurement negotiations for project success

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoezen, M; Volker, L.

2015-01-01

The allocation of a contract for public construction projects in Europe usually requires a European tender procedure. This has to do with the size, the use of public means and the complexity of this type of projects. Compared to regular partnerships, it is hard to develop trust between the buyer and

A structural and stochastic optimal model for projections of LNG imports and exports in Asia-Pacific

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tom Kompas

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The Asia-Pacific region, the largest and fastest growing liquefied natural gas (LNG market in the world, has been undergoing radical changes over the past few years. These changes include considerable additional supplies from North America and Australia, and a recent LNG price slump resulting from an oil-linked pricing mechanism and demand uncertainties. This paper develops an Asia-Pacific Gas Model (APGM, based on a structural, stochastic and optimising framework, providing a valuable tool for the projection of LNG trade in the Asia-Pacific region. With existing social-economic conditions, the model projects that Asia-Pacific LNG imports are expected to increase by 49.1 percent in 2020 and 95.7 percent in 2030, compared to 2013. Total LNG trade value is estimated to increase to US$127.2 billion in 2020 and US$199.0 billion in 2030. Future LNG trade expansion is mainly driven by emerging and large importers (i.e., China and India, and serviced, most importantly, by new supplies from Australia and the USA. The model's projected results are sensitive to changes in expected oil prices, pricing mechanisms, economic growth and energy policies, as well as unexpected geopolitical-economic events.

Project Half Double

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svejvig, Per; Gerstrøm, Anna; Frederiksen, Signe Hedeboe

The Half Double mission: Project Half Double has a clear mission. We want to succeed in finding a project methodology that can increase the success rate of our projects while increasing the development speed of new products and services. We are convinced that by doing so we can strengthen...... the competitiveness of Denmark and play an important role in the battle for jobs and future welfare. The overall goal is to deliver “Projects in half the time with double the impact” where projects in half the time should be understood as half the time to impact (benefit realization, effect is achieved......) and not as half the time for project execution. The Half Double project journey: It all began in May 2013 when we asked ourselves: How do we create a new and radical project paradigm that can create successful projects? Today we are a movement of hundreds of passionate project people, and it grows larger...

Show Me the Money: Importance of Crowdfunding Factors on Backers’ Decisions to Financially Support Kickstarter Campaigns

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rita Colistra

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Through the use of an online survey and supporting interviews of funders, this study explores which factors are most influential in people’s decisions to financially back Kickstarter projects. Findings suggest that Kickstarter has several distinct benefits for those who support its projects and offers them an experience that traditional production channels cannot. The results also indicate that backers typically feel involved in the process of creating the projects they support, and they are willing to take risks to see projects that are important to them come to fruition. This research helps to improve our understanding of the attitudes that drive Kickstarter funding, and it helps project creators know what aspects of their campaigns prospective supporters find most important.

On Services for Collaborative Project Management

Science.gov (United States)

Ollus, Martin; Jansson, Kim; Karvonen, Iris; Uoti, Mikko; Riikonen, Heli

This paper presents an approach for collaborative project management. The focus is on the support of collaboration, communication and trust. Several project management tools exist for monitoring and control the performance of project tasks. However, support of important intangible assets is more difficult to find. In the paper a leadership approach is identified as a management means and the use of new IT technology, especially social media for support of leadership in project management is discussed.

Child abuse. Important findings in radiology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Troeger, J.; Stegen, P.

1995-01-01

Important clinical signs are hematoma at different ages and in uncommon locations. The principle imaging signs are subdural hematoma, brain contusion and multiple skeletal injuries sometimes at different ages. The parents or the persons responsible for care often neglect mentioning an injury. The principle signs are shown and a diagnostic flow chart is presented. (orig./MG) [de

Evaluation of a tuberculosis active case finding project in peri-urban areas, Myanmar: 2014-2016.

Science.gov (United States)

Aye, Sandar; Majumdar, Suman S; Oo, Myo Minn; Tripathy, Jaya Prasad; Satyanarayana, S; Kyaw, Nang Thu Thu; Kyaw, Khine Wut Yee; Oo, Nay Lynn; Thein, Saw; Thu, Myat Kyaw; Soe, Kyaw Thu; Aung, Si Thu

2018-05-01

We assessed the effect of an active case finding (ACF) project on tuberculosis (TB) case notification and the yields from a household and neigbourhood intervention (screening contacts of historical index TB patients diagnosed >24months ago) and a community intervention (screening attendants of health education sessions/mobile clinics). Cross-sectional analysis of project records, township TB registers and annual TB reports. In the household and neigbourhood intervention, of 56,709 people screened, 1,076 were presumptive TB and 74 patients were treated for active TB with a screening yield of 0.1% and a yield from presumptive cases of 6.9%. In the community intervention, of 162,881 people screened, 4,497 were presumptive TB and 984 were treated for active TB with a screening yield of 0.6% and yield from presumptive cases of 21.9%. Of active TB cases, 94% were new, 89% were pulmonary, 44% were bacteriologically-confirmed and 5% had HIV. Case notification rates per 100,000 in project townships increased from 142 during baseline (2011-2013) to 148 during intervention (2014-2016) periods. The yield from household and neigbourhood intervention was lower than community intervention. This finding highlights reconsidering the strategy of screening of contacts from historical index cases. Strategies to reach high-risk groups should be explored for future ACF interventions to increase yield of TB. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Strengthening government health and family planning programs: findings from an action research project in rural Bangladesh.

Science.gov (United States)

Simmons, R; Phillips, J F; Rahman, M

1984-01-01

An ongoing study at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) is based on the premise that public sector health and family planning programs can be improved through an assessment of the dysfunctional aspects of their operations, the development of problem-solving capabilities, and the transfer of strategies successfully tested in a small-scale pilot project. This paper reports findings from a field trial implemented in a subunit of the project area at an early stage of the project. Operational barriers to public sector program implementation are discussed with regard to the quantity of work, the quality of work, supplies and facilities, integration of health and family planning, and leadership, supervision, and decision making. Initial results of the ICDDR,B intervention on these managerial processes are also indicated.

Project Half Double

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svejvig, Per; Ehlers, Michael; Adland, Karoline Thorp

activities carried out within the framework of the projects. The formal part of Project Half Double was initiated in June 2015. We started out by developing, refining and testing the Half Double methodology on seven pilot projects in the first phase of the project, which will end June 2016. The current......Project Half Double has a clear mission to succeed in finding a project methodology that can increase the success rate of our projects while increasing the speed at which we generate new ideas and develop new products and services. Chaos and complexity should be seen as a basic condition...... and as an opportunity rather than a threat and a risk. We are convinced that by doing so, we can strengthen Denmark’s competitiveness and play an important role in the battle for jobs and future welfare. The overall goal is to deliver “projects in half the time with double the impact”, where projects in half the time...

Landscape ecological impact of climatic change some preliminary findings of the LICC Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boer, M.M.

1991-01-01

The main objectives of the LICC project are to address the potential effects of a future climatic change on (semi-) natural terrestrial ecosystems and landscapes in Europe; six case studies are covered: alpine regions, boreal and subartic regions, Mediterranean region, fluvial systems, wetlands and coastal dunes. Preliminary findings showed a serious lack in fundamental ecological knowledge. Assessment of potential effects involved changes in water and sediment fluxes, changes in the vegetation cover, species response, dispersal and migration in a fragmented landscape and modification of climate impacts by man

Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact: Kalina Geothermal Demonstration Project Steamboat Springs, Nevada

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

N/A

1999-02-22

The Department of Energy (DOE) has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) to provide the DOE and other public agency decision makers with the environmental documentation required to take informed discretionary action on the proposed Kalina Geothermal Demonstration project. The EA assesses the potential environmental impacts and cumulative impacts, possible ways to minimize effects associated with partial funding of the proposed project, and discusses alternatives to DOE actions. The DOE will use this EA as a basis for their decision to provide financial assistance to Exergy, Inc. (Exergy), the project applicant. Based on the analysis in the EA, DOE has determined that the proposed action is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human or physical environment, within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. Therefore, the preparation of an environmental impact statement is not required and DOE is issuing this Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI).

From Surveillance to Intervention: Overview and Baseline Findings for the Active City of Liverpool Active Schools and SportsLinx (A-CLASS Project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicola McWhannell

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This paper outlines the implementation of a programme of work that started with the development of a population-level children’s health, fitness and lifestyle study in 1996 (SportsLinx leading to selected interventions one of which is described in detail: the Active City of Liverpool, Active Schools and SportsLinx (A-CLASS Project. The A-CLASS Project aimed to quantify the effectiveness of structured and unstructured physical activity (PA programmes on children’s PA, fitness, body composition, bone health, cardiac and vascular structures, fundamental movement skills, physical self-perception and self-esteem. The study was a four-arm parallel-group school-based cluster randomised controlled trial (clinical trials no. NCT02963805, and compared different exposure groups: a high intensity PA (HIPA group, a fundamental movement skill (FMS group, a PA signposting (PASS group and a control group, in a two-schools-per-condition design. Baseline findings indicate that children’s fundamental movement skill competence levels are low-to-moderate, yet these skills are inversely associated with percentage body fat. Outcomes of this project will make an important contribution to the design and implementation of children’s PA promotion initiatives.

From Surveillance to Intervention: Overview and Baseline Findings for the Active City of Liverpool Active Schools and SportsLinx (A-CLASS) Project

Science.gov (United States)

McWhannell, Nicola; Henaghan, Jayne L.

2018-01-01

This paper outlines the implementation of a programme of work that started with the development of a population-level children’s health, fitness and lifestyle study in 1996 (SportsLinx) leading to selected interventions one of which is described in detail: the Active City of Liverpool, Active Schools and SportsLinx (A-CLASS) Project. The A-CLASS Project aimed to quantify the effectiveness of structured and unstructured physical activity (PA) programmes on children’s PA, fitness, body composition, bone health, cardiac and vascular structures, fundamental movement skills, physical self-perception and self-esteem. The study was a four-arm parallel-group school-based cluster randomised controlled trial (clinical trials no. NCT02963805), and compared different exposure groups: a high intensity PA (HIPA) group, a fundamental movement skill (FMS) group, a PA signposting (PASS) group and a control group, in a two-schools-per-condition design. Baseline findings indicate that children’s fundamental movement skill competence levels are low-to-moderate, yet these skills are inversely associated with percentage body fat. Outcomes of this project will make an important contribution to the design and implementation of children’s PA promotion initiatives.

9 CFR 327.13 - Foreign products offered for importation; reporting of findings to customs; handling of articles...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... importation; reporting of findings to customs; handling of articles refused entry. 327.13 Section 327.13... customs; handling of articles refused entry. (a)(1) Program inspectors shall report their findings as to... extreme circumstances warrant it; e.g., a dock workers' strike or an unforeseeable vessel delay. (6) If...

Public health impacts of city policies to reduce climate change: Findings from the URGENCHE EU-China project

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sabel, C.E.; Hiscock, R.; Asikainen, A.; Bi, J.; Depledge, M.; Van Den Elshout, S.; Friedrich, R.; Huang, G.; Hurley, F.; Jantunen, M.; Karakitsios, S.P.; Keuken, M.; Kingham, S.; Kontoroupis, P.; Kuenzli, N.; Liu, M.; Martuzzi, M.; Morton, K.; Mudu, P.; Niittynen, M.; Perez, L.; Sarigiannis, D.; Stahl-Timmins, W.; Tobollik, M.; Tuomisto, J.; Willers, S.

2016-01-01

Background: Climate change is a global threat to health and wellbeing. Here we provide findings of an international research project investigating the health and wellbeing impacts of policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in urban environments. Methods: Five European and two Chinese city

Deep vein thrombosis of lower extremity: What is the most important finding in duplex Doppler sonography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Yong Soo; Koh, Byung Hee; Cho, On Koo; Rhim, Hyun Chul; Seo, Heung Suk; Hahm, Chang Kok; Kwak, Jin Young [Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

1993-12-15

The positive findings of deep vein thrombosis on duplex Doppler ultrasonography such as intraluminal clot,non-compressibility of the venous lumen and abnormal or absent Doppler shift signal are well known. However, relatively hypoechoic thrombus is not always seen in sonography, and the vein is frequently compressible in partial thrombosis. In order to evaluate the most common and important findings of deep vein thrombosis, we analysed the findings at duplex Doppler ultrasound in 19 patients and compared the results with those of contrast venography in 11 patients. Duplex Doppler ultrasound examination of the common femoral and popliteal veins was performed for one extremity in 14 patients, and for both extremities in 5 (total 24 extremities). Contrast venography was performed for one extremity in 7 patients, and for both sides in 4 (total 15 extremities).Thrombosis was seen in 45.8%, non-compressibility of lumen in 75%, absent or decreased Doppler signal from common femoral vein in 95.8%. Thrombosis was seen in 41.7%, non-compressibility of lumen in 70.8%, absent or decreased Doppler shift signal from popliteal vein in 95.8%. We conclude that abnormal or absent Doppler shift signal is the most sensitive and important finding of the deep vein thrombosis

Promoting Energy-Balance Behaviors among Ethnically Diverse Adolescents: Overview and Baseline Findings of the Central Texas CATCH Middle School Project

Science.gov (United States)

Springer, Andrew E.; Kelder, Steven H.; Byrd-Williams, Courtney E.; Pasch, Keryn E.; Ranjit, Nalini; Delk, Joanne E.; Hoelscher, Deanna M.

2013-01-01

The Central Texas Coordinated Approach To Child Health (CATCH) Middle School Project is a 3.5-year school-based project aimed at promoting physical activity (PA), healthy eating, and obesity prevention among public middle school students in Texas. This article describes the CATCH intervention model and presents baseline findings from spring 2009.…

Geriatric cancer trends in the Middle-East: Findings from Lebanese cancer projections until 2025.

Science.gov (United States)

Haddad, Fady Gh; Kattan, Joseph; Kourie, Hampig R; El Rassy, Elie; Assi, Tarek; Adib, Salim M

2018-03-01

By 2020, 70% of all cancers will occur in patients aged 65years and older, causing an increase in related morbidity, mortality, and cost. This study projects cancer trends in the elderly population in Lebanon, a country experiencing accelerating aging trends. Findings will guide future policy decisions regarding geriatric oncology in Lebanon and the surrounding Arab world. Cancer incidence rates were derived for men and women 65years and above, divided into three age groups: 65-69years, 70-74years, and 75years and above. Raw data were obtained from the National Cancer Registry reports 2003-2010. The eight consecutive year data were used to project the incidence until 2025 using a logarithmic model. The Average Annual Percent Change in incidence rates was calculated to determine whether it would significantly increase, decrease, or remain stable over time. Incidence rates are projected to increase significantly in all age groups of both genders until 2025. In men, the fastest rise is expected in prostate cancer, followed by bladder, lung, colorectal, and NHL. In women, the rise will be fastest in breast, followed by colorectal, lung, NHL, and ovary. Projected rates increase faster in the "younger" age group 65-69 compared to the "oldest" ≥75, both in men and women. Only kidney and liver cancers continue to rise significantly after 75. Cancer incidence is projected to increase in individuals between 65 and 74years of age. Lebanese and Middle Eastern physicians must implement adapted therapeutic strategies in the management of the increasing caseload among frail, elderly patients. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Association between tax structure and cigarette consumption: findings from the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation (ITC) Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Shang, Ce; Lee, Hye Myung; Chaloupka, Frank J; Fong, Geoffrey T; Thompson, Mary; O'Connor, Richard J

2018-05-24

Recent studies show that greater price variability and more opportunities for tax avoidance are associated with tax structures that depart from a specific uniform one. These findings indicate that tax structures other than a specific uniform one may lead to more cigarette consumption. This paper aims to examine how cigarette tax structure is associated with cigarette consumption. We used survey data taken from the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project in 17 countries to conduct the analysis. Self-reported cigarette consumption was aggregated to average measures for each surveyed country and wave. The effect of tax structures on cigarette consumption was estimated using generalised estimating equations after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, average taxes and year fixed effects. Our study provides important empirical evidence of a relationship between tax structure and cigarette consumption. We find that a change from a specific to an ad valorem structure is associated with a 6%-11% higher cigarette consumption. In addition, a change from uniform to tiered structure is associated with a 34%-65% higher cigarette consumption. The results are consistent with existing evidence and suggest that a uniform and specific tax structure is the most effective tax structure for reducing tobacco consumption. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Procurement and quality control of components important to safety in nuclear engineering projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Zhihua; Zhang Yiyun

2006-01-01

The procurement and quality control of components is a very important work in the nuclear engineering. This paper introduces the project management techniques, such as how to make a plan of components purchase in nuclear engineering. This paper discussed the classification of components, evaluation of the potential suppliers, invitation of bids, exchange of design details with the suppliers, quality assurance and quality assurance audit, and the equipment checks before acceptance and some engineering experiences. (authors)

An exploration study to find important factors influencing on multi-dimensional organizational culture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Naser Azad

2013-08-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an empirical investigation to find important factors influencing multi-dimensional organizational culture. The proposed study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale consists of 21 questions, distributes it among 300 people who worked for different business units and collects 283 filled ones. Cronbach alpha is calculated as 0.799. In addition, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy and Approx. Chi-Square are 0.821 and 1395.74, respectively. The study has implemented principal component analysis and the results have indicated that there were four factors influencing organizational culture including, diversity in culture, connection based culture, integrated culture and structure of culture. In terms of diversity in culture, sensitivity to quality data and cultural flexibility are the most influential sub-factors while connection based marketing and relational satisfaction are two important sub-factors associated with diversity in culture. The study discusses other issues.

Development of a Pilot Data Management Infrastructure for Biomedical Researchers at University of Manchester – Approach, Findings, Challenges and Outlook of the MaDAM Project

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Meik Poschen

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Management and curation of digital data has been becoming ever more important in a higher education and research environment characterised by large and complex data, demand for more interdisciplinary and collaborative work, extended funder requirements and use of e-infrastructures to facilitate new research methods and paradigms. This paper presents the approach, technical infrastructure, findings, challenges and outlook (including future development within the successor project, MiSS of the ‘MaDAM: Pilot data management infrastructure for biomedical researchers at University of Manchester’ project funded under the infrastructure strand of the JISC Managing Research Data (JISCMRD programme. MaDAM developed a pilot research data management solution at the University of Manchester based on biomedical researchers’ requirements, which includes technical and governance components with the flexibility to meet future needs across multiple research groups and disciplines.

What parents find important in the support of a child with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Jansen, S L G; van der Putten, A A J; Vlaskamp, C

2013-05-01

The importance of a partnership between parents and professionals in the support of children with disabilities is widely acknowledged and is one of the key elements of 'family-centred care'. To what extent family-centred principles are also applied to the support of persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) is not yet known. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine what parents with a child with PIMD find important in the support of their child. In addition, we examined which child or parent characteristics influence these parental opinions. In total, 100 parents completed an adapted version of the Measure of Processes of Care. Mean unweighted and weighted scale scores were computed. Non-parametric tests were used to examine differences in ratings due to child (gender, age, type and number of additional disabilities, type of services used and duration of service use) and parent characteristics (gender, involvement with support and educational level). Parents rated situations related to 'Respectful and Supportive Care' and 'Enabling and Partnership' with averages of 7.07 and 6.87 respectively on a scale from 1 to 10. They were generally satisfied with the services provided, expressed in a mean score of 6.88 overall. The age of the child significantly affected the scores for 'Providing Specific Information about the Child'. Parents of children in the '6-12 years' age group gave significantly higher scores on this scale than did parents of children in the '≥17 years' age group (U = 288, r = -0.34). This study shows that parents with children with PIMD find family-centred principles in the professional support of their children important. Although the majority of parents are satisfied with the support provided for their children, a substantial minority of the parents indicated that they did not receive the support they find important. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Application of isotopes and radiation to increasing agricultural production - Phase 2. Indonesia. Project findings and recommendations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

This Phase 2 Project was primarily aimed at consolidating the advances made during the previous phase, formulating practical agricultural technologies which can be adopted by farmers, disseminating and applying these technologies, and enhancing the capability of the Centre for Application of Isotopes and Radiation (CAIR) to conduct agricultural research using nuclear and related techniques. Outputs generated by this project were generally in accordance with those anticipated in the Project Document. Some outputs have been transferred to the target beneficiaries (farmers) through existing systems of extension, in co-operation with the main implementing agency (BATAN). Other outputs have potential for further assessment, and may lead to practical applications in future. The rest remain as important contributions to scientific knowledge. The project has been managed to assure sustainability after project termination. A strong indication of such sustainability is evident in the on-going research and development work at CAIR and the adoption of transferred technologies by the end-users. To keep up with rapid global advancements in bio-science and technology, a new project on application of nuclear and related techniques in agricultural bio-science and technology would be needed in relation to the second long-term phase of the national development programmes. (author)

Finding The Most Important Actor in Online Crowd by Social Network Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Yuliana, I.; Santosa, P. I.; Setiawan, N. A.; Sukirman

2017-02-01

Billion of people create trillions of connections through social media every single day. The increasing use of social media has led to dramatic changes in the of way science, government, healthcare, entertainment and enterprise operate. Large-scale participation in Technology-Mediated Social Participation (TMSP) system has opened up incredible new opportunities to deploy online crowd. This descriptive-correlational research used social network analysis (SNA) on data gathered from Fanpage Facebook of Greenpeace Indonesia related to important critical issues, the bushfires in 2015. SNA identifies relations on each member by sociometrics parameter such as three centrality (degree, closeness and betweenesse) for measuring and finding the most important actor in the online community. This paper use Fruchterman Rein-gold algorithm to visualize the online community in a graph, while Clauset-Newman-Moore is a technique to identify groups in community. As the result found 3735 vertices related to actors, 6927 edges as relation, 14 main actors in size order and 22 groups in Greenpeace Indonesia online community. This research contributes to organize some information for Greenpeace Indonesia managing their potency in online community to identify human behaviour.

Importing statistical measures into Artemis enhances gene identification in the Leishmania genome project

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McDonagh Paul D

2003-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Seattle Biomedical Research Institute (SBRI as part of the Leishmania Genome Network (LGN is sequencing chromosomes of the trypanosomatid protozoan species Leishmania major. At SBRI, chromosomal sequence is annotated using a combination of trained and untrained non-consensus gene-prediction algorithms with ARTEMIS, an annotation platform with rich and user-friendly interfaces. Results Here we describe a methodology used to import results from three different protein-coding gene-prediction algorithms (GLIMMER, TESTCODE and GENESCAN into the ARTEMIS sequence viewer and annotation tool. Comparison of these methods, along with the CODONUSAGE algorithm built into ARTEMIS, shows the importance of combining methods to more accurately annotate the L. major genomic sequence. Conclusion An improvised and powerful tool for gene prediction has been developed by importing data from widely-used algorithms into an existing annotation platform. This approach is especially fruitful in the Leishmania genome project where there is large proportion of novel genes requiring manual annotation.

ADVERTISEMENTS FOR ICT PROJECT MANAGERS SHOW DIVERSITY BETWEEN SWEDISH EMPLOYERS’ AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATIONS’ VIEWS OF PM CERTIFICATIONS

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Siw Lundqvist

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Appointing ICT project managers is a delicate issue for management; not least since ICT projects are known to be unsuccessful in delivering the required product in time and on budget. Hence, it is even more important to find the “right” individual for the job. According to project management associations, certification in project management is a prerequisite for a project manager’s successful career. The appreciation of project management certifications among Swedish employers was studied using data collected from job advertisements for ICT project managers during four years (2010-2013. Judged on how the advertisements were worded the result indicates surprisingly low interest from the employers’ side, which conflicts with the project management associations statements about the certifications’ indispensable value for successful projects. Furthermore, it conflicts with a common understanding of certifications as essential for appointment as a project manager. The findings identify a possible gap between PM associations’ and employers’ views regarding the certifications’ value, and highlight the necessity of seriously considering whether it is worthwhile for the individuals to strive for, and for the organizations to promote certification, since it is costly in both time, effort and money.

An exploration study to find important factors influencing on authenticity of brand

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Naser Azad

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Building an appropriate brand always makes it possible to reach better market share in competitive market. This paper presents a study to find important factors influencing the authenticity of brand. The proposed study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale consists of 21 questions, distributes it among 400 people who purchase regularly from chain stores in city of Tehran, Iran and collects 388 filled ones. Cronbach alpha is calculated as 0.712. In addition, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy and Approx. Chi-Square are 0.748 and 1718.212, respectively. Based on the results of our survey, we have derived five factors including brand identification, brand registration, brand position, perception image from the brand and trust to brand.

Child welfare caseworkers as service brokers for youth in foster care: findings from project focus.

Science.gov (United States)

Dorsey, Shannon; Kerns, Suzanne E U; Trupin, Eric W; Conover, Kate L; Berliner, Lucy

2012-02-01

Youth in the foster care system have substantially higher rates of mental health needs compared to the general population, yet they rarely receive targeted, evidence-based practices (EBPs). Increasingly emerging in the literature on mental health services is the importance of "brokers" or "gateway providers" of services. For youth in foster care, child welfare caseworkers often play this role. This study examines caseworker-level outcomes of Project Focus, a caseworker training and consultation model designed to improve emotional and behavioral outcomes for youth in foster care through increased linkages with EBPs. Project Focus was tested through a small, randomized trial involving four child welfare offices. Caseworkers in the Project Focus intervention group demonstrated an increased awareness of EBPs and a trend toward increased ability to identify appropriate EBP referrals for particular mental health problems but did not have significantly different rates of actual referral to EBPs. Dose of consultation was associated with general awareness of EBPs. Implications for practice and outcomes for youth are discussed.

An empirical study on key factors for purchasing strategy on project based organizations: A case study of gas field development projects

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Aboulfazl Kazazi

2012-08-01

Full Text Available One of the primary concerns in development of oil and gas resources is to find the critical success factors associated with different important projects. Purchasing and procurement plays a key role in these projects. There is no doubt that in history of similar studies, there are not much studies to determine key factors. The proposed study of this paper presents an empirical study to find these factors in one of the most important gas filed in Iran is now South Pars Gas Field. The study distributes a questionnaire consists of various questions associated with purchasing activities. We investigate the feedbacks gathered from decision makers using factor analysis. The results of our survey reveal that there are three categories of organizational strategy, the relative importance of strategy and risk according to factor analysis. Each factor consists of many other factors and the relative importance of all factors are investigated.

Success and fail factors in sustainable real estate renovation projects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Volker, L.

2011-01-01

Sustainability remains an important issue for the construction industry. Yet, sustainable real estate developments are still considered as highly ambitious projects. To find out how and why sustainable renovation projects actually became sustainable we systematically evaluated 21 leading Dutch real

Improving food and agricultural production. Thailand. Project findings and recommendations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

This document is the terminal report of a United Nations Development Program project to improve food and agricultural production in Thailand by means of nuclear and related technology. The project resulted in improved mutant material to be made available to plant breeders as well as in reports and recommendations on soil-water-plant management practices and livestock management. An additional benefit has been the specialized training that has been provided to many researchers in the country through the project

Neighborhood Influences on Perceived Social Support Among Parents: Findings from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods

Science.gov (United States)

Tendulkar, Shalini A.; Koenen, Karestan C.; Dunn, Erin C.; Buka, Stephen; Subramanian, S. V.

2012-01-01

Background Social support is frequently linked to positive parenting behavior. Similarly, studies increasingly show a link between neighborhood residential environment and positive parenting behavior. However, less is known about how the residential environment influences parental social support. To address this gap, we examine the relationship between neighborhood concentrated disadvantage and collective efficacy and the level and change in parental caregiver perceptions of non-familial social support. Methodology/Principal Findings The data for this study came from three data sources, the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) Study's Longitudinal Cohort Survey of caregivers and their offspring, a Community Survey of adult residents in these same neighborhoods and the 1990 Census. Social support is measured at Wave 1 and Wave 3 and neighborhood characteristics are measured at Wave 1. Multilevel linear regression models are fit. The results show that neighborhood collective efficacy is a significant (ß = .04; SE = .02; p = .03), predictor of the positive change in perceived social support over a 7 year period, however, not of the level of social support, adjusting for key compositional variables and neighborhood concentrated disadvantage. In contrast concentrated neighborhood disadvantage is not a significant predictor of either the level or change in social support. Conclusion Our finding suggests that neighborhood collective efficacy may be important for inducing the perception of support from friends in parental caregivers over time. PMID:22493683

Factors Affecting Project Governance Of Arusha Archdiocesan Food Security And Livelihood Project In Monduli District Tanzania.

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Kisame Deogratious

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract This research project dealt with the factors affecting governance of Food security and livelihood projects a case study of the Food security and livelihood project that was implemented by AAIDRO in Monduli district and included 60 respondents all together. The specific objectives of this study intended to access the Leadership styles that are being used in project governance. The findings of the study indicated that 91.7 of the respondents were in favor of their leaders project governance styles it was portrayed that participative leadership style was being used by the leaders for project governance. Based on a sample of 60 project members this study had confirmed that a project leaders leadership roles like mentor facilitator innovator and coordinator are important in influencing project governance effectiveness which includes team mission goal achievement and empowerment open and honest communication

Strengthening the Role of Unmarried Fathers: Findings from the Co-Parent Court Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Marczak, Mary S; Becher, Emily H; Hardman, Alisha M; Galos, Dylan L; Ruhland, Ebony

2015-12-01

While the importance of fathers in unmarried coparent families is a strong area of social and political interest, a dearth of community-based interventions exists for supporting the role of fathers in at-risk families. The Co-Parent Court (CPC) was a 3-year demonstration project evaluating the effectiveness of a collaborative intervention to support unmarried coparents establishing paternity and improving their coparenting relationships and paternal involvement in their child's life. A randomized-control experimental design was employed. The paper will explore father involvement and coparent relationship outcomes. © 2015 Family Process Institute.

Geothermal energy: an important but disregarded form of renewable energy; geological situation, projects and economy in Austria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walker-Hertkorn, S.

2000-05-01

This study deals with the topic geothermal energy. Although geothermal energy is an important energy sector within the area of the renewable energies, the European policy downgraded this important, promising energy sector in 1999. Normally, geothermal energy cannot be regarded as a renewable energy source because the heat content of the Earth, the gravitational heat, the source heat, frictional heat and the decay of radioactive isotopes in the further process of geologic history will eventually be exhausted. However, we are referring here to many millions of years. At the present time, geothermal energy can thus be regarded as an inexhaustible renewable energy source. This work is focused on the geothermal situation in Austria. For many people, the term 'geothermal energy' is associated with countries such as Iceland, Italy (Larderello) and New Zealand. However, in Austria there are also innovative projects in the geothermal energy sector that only very few people know about. Some of these trend-setting projects are presented here. Regarding the total situation in Austria, the geothermal potential is described specifically for the Calcareous Alpine nappe and the Vienna Basin. Furthermore, the first results concerning successful injection in Upper Austria and up to now unconsidered locations for geothermal energy plants are presented. This work attempts to present the attractiveness of geothermal energy projects to the public, thus emphasizing the importance of discussing it again on the political level. (author)

An exploration study to find important factors influencing on decision support systems

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Naser Azad

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Decision Support Systems (DSSs are computer-based information systems for providing necessary supports for business or organizational decision-making activities. DSSs often serve the management, operations, and planning levels of all organizations and help to make decisions, which may be rapidly changing and not easily achieved in advance. This paper presents an empirical investigation to find important factors influencing DSSs. The proposed study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale consists of 36 questions, distributes it among 213 employees who work for different offices in municipality of Tehran, Iran. Cronbach alpha is calculated as 0.872. In addition, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy and Approx. Chi-Square are 0.782 and 1014.521, respectively. Based on the results of our survey, we have derived three factors including system, analysis and transaction.

Experiences of project developers around CDM projects in South Africa

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thurner, Thomas W.; Varughese, Arun

2013-01-01

Project developers in South Africa are puzzled with the long process of evaluating and registering their CDM projects. In addition to other obstacles, we find that South African big businesses are rather reluctant to engage in any new business activities such as CDM projects and municipalities often lack the necessary flexibility. This offers opportunities for small-scale project developers who spot the opportunities and find creative solutions to overcome these difficulties. - Highlights: • First paper analysing the experience of small project developers in South Africa. • Project developers in South Africa are puzzled with the long process. • South African big businesses are reluctant to engage in CDM projects. • Small-scale project developers spot opportunities and find creative solutions to overcome difficulties. • Also, we saw learning processes of South African administration in support of CDM projects

MR imaging diagnosis of posterior cruciate ligament injury: importance of ancillary findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwang, Kang Ik; Lee, Jong Hwa; Kim, Young Sun; Lee, Jung Hwoi; Ki, Tae Sung; Park, Jong Oag

1997-01-01

To evaluate the importance of two ancillary findings of anterior tibial plateau bruise/fracture and popliteus muscle strain on MR diagnosis of posterior cruicate ligament injury. We retrospectively evaluated 48 patients with confirmed posterior cruciate ligament tear. We studied the incidence of anterior tibial plateau injury and popliteus muscle strain, and the specificity of popliteus muscle strain with or without bony injury. A complete tear of the posterior cruciate ligament was noted in 37 cases, a partial tear in 11. Anterior tibial plateau lesion was found in 21 of 48 cases (44%); This total was made up of 17/37 PCL complete tears (46%) and 4/11 partial tears (36%). The difference in the incidence of complete and partial tears is not statistically significant. Popliteus muscle injury was found in 20 of 48 cases (42%), the total consisted of 19/37 PCL complete tears (51%) and 1/11 partial tears (10%). The incidence of 42% is relatively high, approximating that of bony injury. The difference in the incidence of complete and partial tears is statistically significant (p < 0.006). Specificity for posterior cruciate ligament tear is 69%(20/29), and when concomitant with anterior tibial plateau injury is 94%(16/17). As in the case of anterior cruciate ligament injury, these documented ancillary findings of anterior tibial plateau and popliteus muscle injuries are very helpful when MR diagnosis of posterior cruciate ligament injury itself and differentiation of partial and complete rupture are doubtful

Neighborhood influences on perceived social support among parents: findings from the project on human development in Chicago neighborhoods.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shalini A Tendulkar

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Social support is frequently linked to positive parenting behavior. Similarly, studies increasingly show a link between neighborhood residential environment and positive parenting behavior. However, less is known about how the residential environment influences parental social support. To address this gap, we examine the relationship between neighborhood concentrated disadvantage and collective efficacy and the level and change in parental caregiver perceptions of non-familial social support. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The data for this study came from three data sources, the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN Study's Longitudinal Cohort Survey of caregivers and their offspring, a Community Survey of adult residents in these same neighborhoods and the 1990 Census. Social support is measured at Wave 1 and Wave 3 and neighborhood characteristics are measured at Wave 1. Multilevel linear regression models are fit. The results show that neighborhood collective efficacy is a significant (ß = .04; SE = .02; p = .03, predictor of the positive change in perceived social support over a 7 year period, however, not of the level of social support, adjusting for key compositional variables and neighborhood concentrated disadvantage. In contrast concentrated neighborhood disadvantage is not a significant predictor of either the level or change in social support. CONCLUSION: Our finding suggests that neighborhood collective efficacy may be important for inducing the perception of support from friends in parental caregivers over time.

Key findings from the artist project on aerosol retention in a dry steam generator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dehbi, Abedeloahab; Suckow, Deltef; Lind, Tettaliisa; Guentat, Salih; Danner, Steffen; Mukin, Roman

2016-01-01

A steam generator tube rupture (SGTR) event with a stuck-open safety relief valve constitutes one of the most serious accident sequences in pressurized water reactors (PWRs) because it may create an open path for radioactive aerosol release into the environment. The release may be mitigated by the deposition of fission product particles on a steam generator's (SG's) dry tubes and structures or by scrubbing in the secondary coolant. However, the absence of empirical data, the complexity of the geometry, and the controlling processes have, until recently, made any quantification of retention difficult to justify. As a result, past risk assessment studies typically took little or no credit for aerosol retention in SGTR sequences. To provide these missing data, the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) initiated the Aerosol Trapping In Steam GeneraTor (ARTIST) Project, which aimed to thoroughly investigate various aspects of aerosol removal in the secondary side of a breached steam generator. Between 2003 and 2011, the PSI has led the ARTIST Project, which involved intense collaboration between nearly 20 international partners. This summary paper presents key findings of experimental and analytical work conducted at the PSI within the ARTIST program

Key findings from the artist project on aerosol retention in a dry steam generator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dehbi, Abedeloahab; Suckow, Deltef; Lind, Tettaliisa; Guentat, Salih; Danner, Steffen; Mukin, Roman [Nuclear Energy and Safety Research Department, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen (Switzerland)

2016-08-15

A steam generator tube rupture (SGTR) event with a stuck-open safety relief valve constitutes one of the most serious accident sequences in pressurized water reactors (PWRs) because it may create an open path for radioactive aerosol release into the environment. The release may be mitigated by the deposition of fission product particles on a steam generator's (SG's) dry tubes and structures or by scrubbing in the secondary coolant. However, the absence of empirical data, the complexity of the geometry, and the controlling processes have, until recently, made any quantification of retention difficult to justify. As a result, past risk assessment studies typically took little or no credit for aerosol retention in SGTR sequences. To provide these missing data, the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) initiated the Aerosol Trapping In Steam GeneraTor (ARTIST) Project, which aimed to thoroughly investigate various aspects of aerosol removal in the secondary side of a breached steam generator. Between 2003 and 2011, the PSI has led the ARTIST Project, which involved intense collaboration between nearly 20 international partners. This summary paper presents key findings of experimental and analytical work conducted at the PSI within the ARTIST program.

Key Findings from the Artist Project on Aerosol Retention in a Dry Steam Generator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdelouahab Dehbi

2016-08-01

Full Text Available A steam generator tube rupture (SGTR event with a stuck-open safety relief valve constitutes one of the most serious accident sequences in pressurized water reactors (PWRs because it may create an open path for radioactive aerosol release into the environment. The release may be mitigated by the deposition of fission product particles on a steam generator's (SG's dry tubes and structures or by scrubbing in the secondary coolant. However, the absence of empirical data, the complexity of the geometry, and the controlling processes have, until recently, made any quantification of retention difficult to justify. As a result, past risk assessment studies typically took little or no credit for aerosol retention in SGTR sequences. To provide these missing data, the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI initiated the Aerosol Trapping In Steam GeneraTor (ARTIST Project, which aimed to thoroughly investigate various aspects of aerosol removal in the secondary side of a breached steam generator. Between 2003 and 2011, the PSI has led the ARTIST Project, which involved intense collaboration between nearly 20 international partners. This summary paper presents key findings of experimental and analytical work conducted at the PSI within the ARTIST program.

An empirical study to find important factors on building national brand: An Iranian tourism case study

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Abolghasem Hakimipour

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Building national brand plays an important role on today's economy to attract interested tourists in visiting various countries. There are different factors impacting national brand such as advertisement, natural attraction, etc. In this paper, we perform an empirical investigation to find the impact of ten most important factors on building brand. The study designs and distributes a questionnaire among 384 international tourists who visited Iran during the year of 2010 and it uses factor analysis to group important factors. The results extract four groups; the first factor includes three most important components including satellite advertisement programs, public awareness on economical power and public awareness on specialized symposium and conferences. The second factor includes three other important factors, which are public awareness on human right, advertisement programs through distribution brushers and internet advertisement. The third factor includes two variables, which are public awareness on education and access to educational services and introducing cultural heritage. Finally, the last factor includes introducing natural attraction and advertisement programs through distribution brushers.

The anatomy and importance of project finance for oil and gas developments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Whyatt, A.S.

1992-01-01

This paper reports that project financing can be of great benefit to oil and gas projects because by separately identifying and securing assets and cashflows it can provide large sums not otherwise accessible to whole projects or to individual companies. Project financing is of interest to members of the SPE because it routinely requires the expertise of petroleum engineers and other professionals to vouch for the viability of petroleum projects and the recoverability of reserves. its essential attraction is that risk analysis and the application of precise professional criteria enable large projects and amounts to be financed, which otherwise might not occur. This is particularly the case when there are a number of participants in a large project, none of which is on its own able to support the finance. The growth in the average size of projects means that an increasing number of projects must be financed in this way or not be able to go forward

Import of biomass. Obstacles to imports of biomass. A stakeholder approach. Memo. Report on BUS ticket no. 26

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meeusen, M.; Kramer, K.J.; Vogelzang, T.

2004-01-01

In the discussion on imports of biomass a number of obstacles are mentioned. It is very important to know these barriers and to find out how they may be overcome. Questions to be answered are (1) Which are the main objections against import of biomass (negative impacts on biodiversity, competition with the production of food, disbalance of nutrients, etc); (2) Is it possible to quantify these objections?; and (3) What are the possibilities to overcome these barriers? The Biomass Upstream Steering committee (BUS), consisting of the participating consortium partners, was created to generate new ideas, select and rank the most promising ones to be worked out in more detail and to invite market parties to jointly set up R and D projects on upstream biomass

EMSODEV and EPOS-IP: key findings for effective management of EU research infrastructure projects

Science.gov (United States)

Materia, Paola; Bozzoli, Sabrina; Beranzoli, Laura; Cocco, Massimo; Favali, Paolo; Freda, Carmela; Sangianantoni, Agata

2017-04-01

-2019) is a project of 47 partners, 6 associate partners and several international organizations for a total of 25 countries involved. EPOS IP is a key step in EPOS' mission of a pan-European Earth science integrated platform. It will deliver not only a suite of domain-specific and multidisciplinary data and services in one platform, but also the legal, governance and financial frameworks to ensure the infrastructure future operation and sustainability (EPOS ERIC). INGV experience over the years indicates that effective management of EU RIs projects should contain 5 basic elements: 1.Defined life cycle and milestones: Map of phases, deliverables, key milestones and sufficiency criteria for each group involved in the project using project management tools and software. 2.Shared organization, systems, roles: Defined roles for team members and responsibilities for functional managers are crucial. Similarly, a system of communication and team involvement is essential to success. Leadership and interpersonal/organizational skills are also important. 3.Quality assurance: Quality dimension should be aligned to the project objectives and specific criteria should be identified for each phase of the project. 4.Tracking and variance analysis: Regular reports and periodic meetings of the teams are crucial to identify when things are off target. Schedule slips, cost overruns, open issues, new risks and problems must be dealt with as early as possible. 5.Impact assessment by monitoring the achievement of results and socio-economic impact.

Identifying the most critical project complexity factors using Delphi method: the Iranian construction industry

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Mohammad Mehdi Mozaffari

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Complexity is one of the most important issues influencing success of any construction project and there are literally different studies devoted to detect important factors increasing complexity of projects. During the past few years, there have been growing interests in developing mass construction projects in Iran. The proposed study of this paper uses Delphi technique to find out about important factors as barriers of construction projects in Iran. The results show that among 47 project complexity factors, 19 factors are more important than others are. The study groups different factors into seven categories including environmental, organizational, objectives, tasks, stakeholders, technological, information systems and determines the relative importance of each. In each group, many other sub group activities are determined and they are carefully investigated. The study provides some detailed suggestions on each category to reduce the complexity of construction project.

Geothermal energy in Italy - its importance, potential and projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berger, W.

2005-01-01

This article discusses the perspectives for the use of geothermal energy in Italy. Starting with an overview of the principles of the use of geothermal energy in general, the article goes on to review Italy's geothermal resources and their relevance to energy supply. Figures are given on the political situation in Italy concerning energy and the rapidly increasing demands made on electricity supply. Political support for renewable energy in Italy is looked at and models for financing projects are examined. Examples of geothermal energy projects are given and the perspectives for further developments in this industry are looked at

An exploration study to find important factors influencing on brand in rubber industry

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Mehrnaz Moshkelati

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Building a distinguished brand often makes it possible to have sustainable growth in competitive market. It also helps us sell products with higher price; attract reliable customers for long term relationships. This paper presents an empirical investigation to find important factors influencing rubber industry. The proposed study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale consists of 20 questions, distributes it among 300 people and collects 265 filled ones. Cronbach alpha is calculated as 0.756. In addition, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy and Approx. Chi-Square are 0.75 and 1292.573, respectively. Based on the results of our survey, we have derived six factors including brand transparency, expected quality, brand promises, brand support and brand sustainability.

Uncertainty in project phases: A framework for organisational change management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kreye, Melanie; Balangalibun, Sarah

2015-01-01

in the early stage of the change project but was delayed until later phases. Furthermore, the sources of uncertainty were found to be predominantly within the organisation that initiated the change project and connected to the project scope. Based on these findings, propositions for future research are defined......Uncertainty is an integral challenge when managing organisational change projects (OCPs). Current literature highlights the importance of uncertainty; however, falls short of giving insights into the nature of uncertainty and suggestions for managing it. Specifically, no insights exist on how...... uncertainty develops over the different phases of OCPs. This paper presents case-based evidence on different sources of uncertainty in OCPs and how these develop over the different project phases. The results showed some surprising findings as the majority of the uncertainty did not manifest itself...

Student Attitudes Towards and Impressions of Project Citizen

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Sara Winstead FRY

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Project Citizen is a civic education curriculum used across the United States and internationally, yet research about its impact on students is lacking in the literature. This article reports the results of a preliminary study designed to answer the following questions: What are students’ attitudes toward and perceptions of Project Citizen? How do their attitudes and perceptions compare to those of students who completed senior projects? Tenhigh school students and 23 first-year college students completed a questionnaire designed for this study. Our findings indicate that the high school students had positive perceptions of Project Citizen, and they self-reported anunderstanding and high levels of efficacy regarding civic responsibility. In contrast, the first-year college students had lower levels of efficacy regarding civic responsibility. Our findings suggest the importance of specific learning experiences to help students develop civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions, and indicate the need for further research into civic programs such as Project Citizen

Organizational Diagnosis in Project-Based Companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Behrouz Zarei

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to develop a new method for corporate diagnosis (CD. To this end, a method is developed for the diagnosis process of project-based companies. The article presents a case study in a large company where data have been collected through focus groups. Project delay, high project cost, and low profitability are examples of project deficiency in project-based companies. Such issues have made managers pay special attention to find effective solutions to improve them. Prominent factors are inappropriate strategy, structure, system, human resource management, and PMBOK(Project Management Body of Knowledge processes. Thus, CD and analysis is an important task in improvement of corporate performance. The CD model that is developed in this article could be used for project-based companies. The proposed method can be used for CD in any project-based company. This article provides an emphatic application of CD as a prerequisite for restructuring in project-based companies.

An exploration study to find important factors influencing on enterprise resource planning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Naser Azad

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Enterprise resource planning (ERP has become a necessary in many organizations and many business units have been trying to emerge into an integrated system. There are many advantages on having an efficient ERP but many corporations fail to reach a full operational ERP for many reasons. In this paper, we present an empirical investigation to find important factors influencing ERP implementation in one of the biggest Iranian automakers named Iran Khodro. The proposed study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale consists of 46 questions, distributes it among some managers in this firm. Cronbach alpha is calculated as 0.802. In addition, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy and Approx. Chi-Square are 0.788 and 1677.307, respectively. Based on the results of our survey, we have derived eight factors including intelligence information, customer comfort, structure oriented, resource management, process oriented, customer oriented, flexible structure and knowledge management.

[From Science to Law: Findings of Reha XI Project on Ascertaining the Need for Rehabilitation in Medical Service Assessments].

Science.gov (United States)

Kalwitzki, T; Huter, K; Runte, R; Breuninger, K; Janatzek, S; Gronemeyer, S; Gansweid, B; Rothgang, H

2017-03-01

Introduction: In the broad-based consortium project "Reha XI - Identifying rehabilitative requirements in medical service assessments: evaluation and implementation", a comprehensive analysis of the corresponding procedures was carried out by the medical services of the German Health Insurance Funds (MDK). On the basis of this analysis, a Good Practice Standard (GPS) for assessments was drawn up and scientifically evaluated. This article discusses the findings and applicability of the GPS as the basis for a nationwide standardized procedure in Germany as required by the Second Act to Strengthen Long-Term Care (PSG II) under Vol. XI Para. 18 (6) of the German Social Welfare Code. Method: The consortium project comprised four project phases: 1. Qualitative and quantitative situation analysis of the procedures for ascertaining rehabilitative needs in care assessments carried out by the MDK; 2. Development of a Good Practice Standard (GPS) in a structured, consensus-based procedure; 3. Scientific evaluation of the validity, reliability and practicability of the assessment procedure according to the GPS in the MDK's operational practice; 4. Survey of long-term care insurance funds with respect to the appropriateness of the rehabilitation recommendations drawn up by care assessors in line with the GPS for providing a qualified recommendation for the applicant. The evaluation carried out in the third project phase was subject to methodological limitations that may have given rise to distortions in the findings. Findings: On the basis of the situation analysis, 7 major thematic areas were identified in which improvements were implemented by applying the GPS. For the evaluation of the GPS, a total of 3 247 applicants were assessed in line with the GPS; in 6.3% of the applicants, an indication for medical rehabilitation was determined. The GPS procedure showed a high degree of reliability and practicability, but the values for the validity of the assessment procedure were

Importance of on-time decision making in energy sector based on perspectives: Case study new Stavalj project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zlatanović Dragan M.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Expression "Development conditions and perspectives" became important for numerous analyses in various industrial and social areas. Several strategic documents and studies in last two decades analysed projects with topics on perspectives of future development in Serbia. Various tools are used for development of such documents, based on recent scientific and numerical solutions, thus providing reliable assessment for strategic decision making. Almost all analyses tried to implement the theories and practical experiences through the prism of "sustainable development", which included establishment of most important sustainability parameters. Analysis and ranking presented in this paper considered the potential of the Stavalj coal deposit, near city of Sjenica in Serbia, and feasibility of construction project of new mine and thermal power plant. Basis for analysis was a hybrid assessment model which takes into account principles of sustainable development. The model incorporates quantified SWOT analysis, which applies to active underground mines in Serbia. Special attention was given to the parameters describing potential for development.

Smart use of data, information and communication: the INFORM-ed Best Local Practice Project--Grafton Base Hospital.

Science.gov (United States)

Lloyd, Sheree; Collie, Jean; McInnes, Alastair; King, Kevin; Lollback, Alison; Garland, Angie

This paper describes current progress for an information management project in a medium-sized rural hospital after the first four months of the one-year project. In particular, the article examines some of the project outcomes to date as these relate to the National Hospitals and Health Reform recommendations for the smart use of data, information and communication. The paper identifies a number of important challenges and issues that have been addressed by the project and proposes that the project findings may be used to inform similar projects in other settings. These findings relate to clinician requirements for reports, investment in human resources, development, and time for information management activities. An understanding of data collected, information systems, and presentation of clinician data are also important. The benefits of information sharing in assisting quality improvement activities are particularly relevant but, more importantly, they can engage and involve clinicians in the use of information. The importance of local data, information, and knowledge is described. Finally, issues for the health information management profession, such as working collegially and sharing knowledge and expertise, are outlined.

Investment feasibility tracking: the importance of measuring and tracking the success level of the project during commercialization phase

Science.gov (United States)

Saputra, Y. A.; Setyaningtyas, V. E. D.; Latiffianti, E.; Wijaya, S. H.; Ladamay, O. S. A.

2018-04-01

Measuring project success level is a challenging activity. This area of works has attracted many researchers to look deeper into the method of measurement, success factor identification, risk management, and many others relevant topics. However, the project management scope is limited until the project handover stage. After a project handover, the control of a project management changes from Project Management Team to the project owner/commercialization team. From an investor’s point of view, the success of a project delivery needs to be followed by the success of commercialization phase. This paper aims to present an approach on how we track and measure the progress and success level of a project investment in the commercialization phase. This is an interesting topic which probably often being forgotten in many practical case. Our proposed concept modify Freeman and Beale concept by estimating the variance between the Planned Net Present Value / Annual Worth (as it is in the Feasibility Study Document) and the Actual Net Present Value / Annual Worth (until the point time of evaluation). The gap will lead us to the next analysis and give us some important information, especially exposing whether our project investment performs better than the planning or underperformed. Some corrective actions can be suggested based on the provided information. Practical cases to exercise the concept is also provided and discussed; one case in a property sector in the middle of commercialization phase, and another case in a Power Plant investment approaching the end of commercialization phase.

Growth and Project Finance in the Least Developed Countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

la Cour, Lisbeth F.; Müller, Jennifer

2014-01-01

for economic growth in LDCs. We find that a higher regulatory quality, lower government consumption and a higher level of education helps increase growth. The significance of these variables are, however, not as consistently robust as the results for project finance.......This article examines the effects of project finance on economic growth in the least developed countries (LDC). Inspired by the neoclassical growth model we set up an econometric model to estimate the effects of project finance for a sample consisting of 38 of the least developed countries using...... data from the period 1994-2007. The results of our study suggest, that project finance has a significant positive effect on economic growth and therefore constitute an important source of financing in the selected set of countries. Additionally, the project sheds light on other factors of importance...

Family meals and adolescents: what have we learned from Project EAT (Eating Among Teens)?

Science.gov (United States)

Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne; Larson, Nicole I; Fulkerson, Jayne A; Eisenberg, Marla E; Story, Mary

2010-07-01

The purpose of the present paper is to provide an integrated overview of the research methodology and key findings from a decade of research on family meals as part of Project EAT (Eating Among Teens), a large, population-based study of adolescents. Focus groups conducted with 141 middle-school and high-school adolescents suggested the importance of family meals in influencing adolescents' food choices. These findings led to the inclusion of questions on family meals in the Project EAT-I survey, completed by 4746 middle-school and high-school students, and in the Project EAT-II longitudinal survey, completed by 2516 of the original participants five years later. A subset of 902 parents also participated in telephone interviews as part of Project EAT-I. Findings indicate that many adolescents and parents view family meals in a positive light, but there is great diversity in the context and frequency of family meal patterns in the homes of adolescents. Findings further suggest that family meals may have benefits in terms of dietary intake, disordered eating behaviours, substance use and psychosocial health. Findings from Project EAT, in conjunction with other research studies on family meals, suggest the importance of working with families to increase the frequency and improve the quality of family meals. Further research is needed in order to elucidate the pathways that underpin the relationships between family meals and health outcomes. Suggestions for a future research agenda based on what was learned from Project EAT are provided.

Effective Bug Finding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rivas, Iago Abal

Lightweight bug finders (also known as code scanners) are becoming popular, they scale well and can find simple yet common programming errors. It is now considered a good practice to integrate these tools as part of your development process. The Linux project, for instance, has an automated testing...... service, known as the Kbuild robot, that runs a few of these code scanners. In this project, I have carefully studied tens of historical Linux bugs, and I have found that many of these bugs, despite being conceptually simple, were not caught by any code scanning tool. The reason is that, by design, code...... scanners will find mostly superficial errors. Thus, when bugs span multiple functions, even if simple, they become undetectable by most code scanners. The studied set of historical bugs contained many of such cases. This PhD thesis proposes a bug-finding technique that is both lightweight and capable...

Important project financing by issue of bonds in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lazar Dreč

2016-11-01

Full Text Available This article deals with the development of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina based on the opening of infrastructure facilities for which funding is proposed to incorporate the issue of securities, primarily government bonds because there is a real basis for its demand deriving by banks, citizens and other organizations and institutions. The basic conditions for the functioning model of financing development and strategic projects by issuing securities herein include: a accelerate reforms and create the legal framework that will allow the establishment of important missing institutions for the business sector, b more efficient functioning of the executive and legislative bodies in Bosnia and Herzegovina on creating a favourable business environment, c the implementation of identified strategic commitment from all levels of government in relation to the creation of a single economic space, labour market, harmonization of entity policies and other policies that influence the overall business environment, d the development of infrastructure projects and power facilities, and e the inclusion of private funding and knowledge aimed at improving the construction and management of roads.

What drives continuous improvement project success in healthcare?

Science.gov (United States)

Stelson, Paul; Hille, Joshua; Eseonu, Chinweike; Doolen, Toni

2017-02-13

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present findings from a study of factors that affect continuous improvement (CI) project success in hospitals. Design/methodology/approach Quantitative regression analysis was performed on Likert scale survey responses. Qualitative thematic analysis was performed on open-ended survey responses and written reports on CI projects. Findings The paper identifies managerial and employee factors that affect project success. These factors include managerial support, communication, and affective commitment. Affective commitment is the extent to which employees perceive the change as being needed or necessary. Practical implications The results highlight how managerial decisions, approaches to communication - including communication before, during and after CI projects affect project success. The results also show that success depends on the way employees perceive proposed changes. This suggests the need for a more individualized approach to CI, lean, and broader change initiatives. Originality/value This research is the first to fuse project success and sustainability theory to CI projects, beyond Kaizen events, in healthcare environments. The research is particularly important at a time when healthcare organizations are required to make rapid changes with limited resources as they work toward outcome-based assessment and reimbursement rules.

Spent nuclear fuel project, Cold Vacuum Drying Facility human factors engineering (HFE) analysis: Results and findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garvin, L.J.

1998-01-01

This report presents the background, methodology, and findings of a human factors engineering (HFE) analysis performed in May, 1998, of the Spent Nuclear Fuels (SNF) Project Cold Vacuum Drying Facility (CVDF), to support its Preliminary Safety Analysis Report (PSAR), in responding to the requirements of Department of Energy (DOE) Order 5480.23 (DOE 1992a) and drafted to DOE-STD-3009-94 format. This HFE analysis focused on general environment, physical and computer workstations, and handling devices involved in or directly supporting the technical operations of the facility. This report makes no attempt to interpret or evaluate the safety significance of the HFE analysis findings. The HFE findings presented in this report, along with the results of the CVDF PSAR Chapter 3, Hazards and Accident Analyses, provide the technical basis for preparing the CVDF PSAR Chapter 13, Human Factors Engineering, including interpretation and disposition of findings. The findings presented in this report allow the PSAR Chapter 13 to fully respond to HFE requirements established in DOE Order 5480.23. DOE 5480.23, Nuclear Safety Analysis Reports, Section 8b(3)(n) and Attachment 1, Section-M, require that HFE be analyzed in the PSAR for the adequacy of the current design and planned construction for internal and external communications, operational aids, instrumentation and controls, environmental factors such as heat, light, and noise and that an assessment of human performance under abnormal and emergency conditions be performed (DOE 1992a)

Important accounting issues for carbon dioxide capture and storage projects under the UNFCCC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haefeli, S.; Bosi, M.; Philibert, C.

2005-01-01

Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) provides options for making continued use of fossil fuels more compatible with pollution abatement policies. This paper evaluated policy issues related to CCS, with particular focus on the geological sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) into geological storage sites. Before any carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) CCS activities can be included in the portfolio of climate change mitigation activities, several issues need to be resolved such as the development of appropriate accounting and baselines rules and monitoring modalities. Guidance and policies on baselines and the accounting of emission reductions are critical to ensure that CCS projects can benefit from CO 2 markets and are recognized under various mitigation schemes. This paper examined the major issues that should considered along with changes to current accounting approaches. Issues that need to be addressed in order to prepare national inventories for the inclusion of CCS under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and emission reduction schemes such as the European greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme were first presented, followed by an examination of CCS issues under project-based mechanisms such as the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism. The importance of clear definitions and monitoring guidelines for the proper accounting of CCS were also highlighted. 12 refs., 2 figs

Risk variables in evaluation of transport projects

Science.gov (United States)

Vařbuchta, Petr; Kovářová, Hana; Hromádka, Vít; Vítková, Eva

2017-09-01

Depending on the constantly increasing demands on assessment of investment projects, especially assessment of large-scale projects in transport and important European projects with wide impacts, there is constantly increasing focus on risk management, whether to find mitigations, creating corrective measures or their implementation in assessment, especially in the context of Cost-Benefit analysis. To project assessment is often used implementation of certain risk variables, which can generate negative impacts of project outputs in framework of assess. Especially in case of transportation infrastructure projects is taken much emphasis on the influence of risk variables. However, currently in case of assessment of transportation projects is in Czech Republic used a few risk variables, which occur in the most projects. This leads to certain limitation in framework of impact assessment of risk variables. This papers aims to specify a new risk variables and process of applying them to already executed project assessment. Based on changes generated by new risk variables will be evaluated differences between original and adapted assessment.

Important nonurgent imaging findings: use of a hybrid digital and administrative support tool for facilitating clinician communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Evan; Sanger, Joseph; Rosenkrantz, Andrew B

2015-01-01

A departmental tool that provides a digital/administrative solution for communication of important imaging findings was evaluated. The tool allows the radiologist to click a button to mark an examination for ordering physician follow-up with subsequent fax and confirmation. The tool's log was reviewed. Of 466 entries; 99.4% were successfully faxed with phone confirmation. Most common reasons for usage were lung nodule/mass (29.2%) and osseous fracture (12.4%). Subsequent clinical action was documented in 41.0% of entries. Our data show the reliability of the tool in assisting the communication of findings, as well as providing documentation of notification, with minimal workflow disruption. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Orchestrating Information Sharing among Intra- And Inter-Organisational Core Actors in a Large New Product Development Project - The Particular Role of The Project Manager

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jepsen, Lisbeth Brøde

The success of NPD projects of high-cost, engineering-intensive, and customized development products is largely dependent on information sharing with actors from customers regarding their specific requirements (Von Hippel, 1986). But information sharing is also necessary among actors from different...... information sharing among other intra- or inter-organisational actors during the progression of an NPD project. In other words, this study emphasises the importance of the PM’s relationships on a day-to-day basis in information sharing among intra- and inter-organisational actors during the phases of an NPD...... organisations. Further, the findings show that to orchestrate the information sharing during the NPD project, the PM relies on relationships with several core intra-organisational actors who are particularly important to the orchestrating of information sharing during the early phases of the NPD project...

Periodontal disease in the oldest-old living in Kungsholmen, Sweden: findings from the KEOHS project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holm-Pedersen, Poul; Russell, Stefanie Luise; Avlund, Kirsten

2006-01-01

AIMS: The Kungsholmen Elders Oral Health Study evaluated the oral health status of generally healthy, community-dwelling persons aged 80 years and over living in Stockholm, Sweden. This paper reports periodontal disease findings and evaluates the distribution by sociodemographic factors. METHODS......-analysis of the differences in proportion of participants with SP revealed that the difference by sex also increased by age. CONCLUSIONS: These findings document the substantial and ongoing impact of periodontal disease in a sample of generally healthy, community dwelling older adults and underscore the importance...... of continued periodontal disease prevention and treatment in the oldest-old....

Target prioritization and strategy selection for active case-finding of pulmonary tuberculosis: a tool to support country-level project planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Nishikiori, Nobuyuki; Van Weezenbeek, Catharina

2013-02-02

Despite the progress made in the past decade, tuberculosis (TB) control still faces significant challenges. In many countries with declining TB incidence, the disease tends to concentrate in vulnerable populations that often have limited access to health care. In light of the limitations of the current case-finding approach and the global urgency to improve case detection, active case-finding (ACF) has been suggested as an important complementary strategy to accelerate tuberculosis control especially among high-risk populations. The present exercise aims to develop a model that can be used for county-level project planning. A simple deterministic model was developed to calculate the number of estimated TB cases diagnosed and the associated costs of diagnosis. The model was designed to compare cost-effectiveness parameters, such as the cost per case detected, for different diagnostic algorithms when they are applied to different risk populations. The model was transformed into a web-based tool that can support national TB programmes and civil society partners in designing ACF activities. According to the model output, tuberculosis active case-finding can be a costly endeavor, depending on the target population and the diagnostic strategy. The analysis suggests the following: (1) Active case-finding activities are cost-effective only if the tuberculosis prevalence among the target population is high. (2) Extensive diagnostic methods (e.g. X-ray screening for the entire group, use of sputum culture or molecular diagnostics) can be applied only to very high-risk groups such as TB contacts, prisoners or people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. (3) Basic diagnostic approaches such as TB symptom screening are always applicable although the diagnostic yield is very limited. The cost-effectiveness parameter was sensitive to local diagnostic costs and the tuberculosis prevalence of target populations. The prioritization of appropriate target

Incidental abdominopelvic findings on expanded field-of-view lumbar spinal MRI: frequency, clinical importance, and concordance in interpretation by neuroimaging and body imaging radiologists

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maxwell, A.W.P.; Keating, D.P.; Nickerson, J.P.

2015-01-01

Aim: To characterize the frequency of identification, clinical importance, and concordance in interpretation of incidental abdominopelvic findings identified on routine lumbar spinal MRI using supplemental expanded field-of-view (FOV) coronal imaging. Materials and methods: All lumbar spinal MRI reports over a 12-month period were retrospectively reviewed for the presence of incidental abdominopelvic findings identified using expanded FOV coronal imaging. Medical records were used to identify those findings that received follow-up, which were then categorized according to final diagnosis and classified as “indeterminate,” “likely clinically unimportant,” and “likely clinically important”. All cases that received follow-up were blindly and independently re-reviewed by a neuroimaging radiologist and body-imaging radiologist, and reviewer performances were compared to assess for agreement with regard to lesion significance, need for follow-up, and other parameters. Results: In total, 2067 reports were reviewed: 687 (33.2%) featured one or more incidental abdominopelvic findings, and 102 (4.9%) findings received further evaluation. Of these, 11 (10.9%) were classified as “indeterminate,” 50 (49%) as “likely clinically unimportant,” and 41 (40.1%) were classified as “likely clinically important.” Excellent agreement was observed between the reviewing radiologists for all evaluated parameters. Conclusion: The addition of an expanded FOV coronal sequence to the standard lumbar spinal MRI protocol was associated with the identification of a large number of incidental abdominopelvic findings, the minority of which represent likely clinically important findings. Most incidental findings were confidently dismissed by a neuroimaging radiologist as likely clinically unimportant without utilization of additional clinical or radiographic resources. - Highlights: • Expanded field-of-view (FOV) MRI improves detection of important incidental findings. �

Relative importance of professional practice and engineering management competencies

Science.gov (United States)

Pons, Dirk

2016-09-01

Problem: The professional practice of engineering always involves engineering management, but it is difficult to know what specifically to include in the undergraduate curriculum. Approach: The population of New Zealand practising engineers was surveyed to determine the importance they placed on specific professional practice and engineering management competencies. Findings: Results show that communication and project planning were the two most important topics, followed by others as identified. The context in which practitioners use communication skills was found to be primarily with project management, with secondary contexts identified. The necessity for engineers to develop the ability to use multiple soft skills in an integrative manner is strongly supported by the data. Originality: This paper is one of only a few large-scale surveys of practising engineers to have explored the soft skill attributes. It makes a didactic contribution of providing a ranked list of topics which can be used for designing the curriculum and prioritising teaching effort, which has not previously been achieved. It yields the new insight that combinations of topics are sometimes more important than individual topics.

A Europe-wide system for assessing the quality of rivers using macroinvertebrates: the AQEM Project* and its importance for southern Europe (with special emphasis on Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joanna L. KEMP

2001-09-01

Full Text Available The AQEM Project aims to develop a Europe-wide system for monitoring the ecological quality of rivers using macroinvertebrates, to satisfy the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive. Three main types of anthropogenic perturbation are being investigated: morphological degradation, water (organic pollution and acidification (the last is not under investigation in Italy. The selection of reference and impaired study sites is discussed. Particular attention is paid to the problems encountered when defining reference conditions. The initial stages of the project highlighted the lack of a Europe-wide definition of river types. The future development of such a typology from the AQEM database is discussed. The standard AQEM data gathering methods are presented, from background information about sites to the microhabitat-based macroinvertebrate sampling method. The extended fieldwork methods used in Italy are described. These included the separate analysis of the invertebrate assemblages from each replicate, the recording of additional microhabitat variables for each replicate and the completion of large-scale survey techniques for each site (including RHS. The extended method was designed to enhance the important ecological information available from the dataset, particularly relevant in Italy where significant gaps exist in the taxonomic and ecological knowledge of many macroinvertebrate taxa. Preliminary and expected findings are presented, including examples of the range and habitat selection of two species of Ephemeroptera endemic to Italy, as well as data relating to the number of taxa found at a site with increasing numbers of microhabitat replicates taken. The importance of the AQEM Project not only for biomonitoring, but also for ecology, taxonomy and conservation, in Italy and for the south of Europe in general, is emphasised.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN FUNDRAISING FOR MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivan Coriolano Barros Durand Junior

2014-09-01

Full Text Available It is the constant growth of the public administration challenges in meeting the huge demand generated by the needs in education, health, housing, infrastructure and social assistance,which can rarely be met only by the usual collection of fees of the municipalities. Hence, and in order to properly document the uses of public resources, the Federal Government adopted a new instance on the release of public funds to meet the demands of the municipalities by requiring the production of projects. Thus, mechanisms have been developed in order to receive and review projects developed in municipal levels.

Europe's gas imports via pipelines. Projects and safety aspects; Europas Gasimporte durch Pipelines. Projekte und Sicherheitsaspekte

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goetz, R.

2008-08-15

By the year 2030 Europe's gas imports will have risen to approximately 200 bn m{sup 3}, necessitating the installation of new pipelines and LNG terminals. The largest growth in imports is not expected from Russia but from Africa and the Near East. An analysis of projected pipelines demonstrates these regions' contribution to securing Europe's gas supply. Because they help to establish market dominance or to fend off potential competitors these pipelines also serve corporate strategies. The most reliable supply will continue to come from Norway. By contrast, gas imports via pipelines from North Africa, Russia and the Persian Gulf all carry high risks of approximately the same degree. The greatest risks are associated with gas imports from the Caspian Sea.

The impact on healthcare, policy and practice from 36 multi-project research programmes: findings from two reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanney, Steve; Greenhalgh, Trisha; Blatch-Jones, Amanda; Glover, Matthew; Raftery, James

2017-03-28

We sought to analyse the impacts found, and the methods used, in a series of assessments of programmes and portfolios of health research consisting of multiple projects. We analysed a sample of 36 impact studies of multi-project research programmes, selected from a wider sample of impact studies included in two narrative systematic reviews published in 2007 and 2016. We included impact studies in which the individual projects in a programme had been assessed for wider impact, especially on policy or practice, and where findings had been described in such a way that allowed them to be collated and compared. Included programmes were highly diverse in terms of location (11 different countries plus two multi-country ones), number of component projects (8 to 178), nature of the programme, research field, mode of funding, time between completion and impact assessment, methods used to assess impact, and level of impact identified. Thirty-one studies reported on policy impact, 17 on clinician behaviour or informing clinical practice, three on a combined category such as policy and clinician impact, and 12 on wider elements of impact (health gain, patient benefit, improved care or other benefits to the healthcare system). In those multi-programme projects that assessed the respective categories, the percentage of projects that reported some impact was policy 35% (range 5-100%), practice 32% (10-69%), combined category 64% (60-67%), and health gain/health services 27% (6-48%). Variations in levels of impact achieved partly reflected differences in the types of programme, levels of collaboration with users, and methods and timing of impact assessment. Most commonly, principal investigators were surveyed; some studies involved desk research and some interviews with investigators and/or stakeholders. Most studies used a conceptual framework such as the Payback Framework. One study attempted to assess the monetary value of a research programme's health gain. The widespread

BODIES OF KNOWLEDGE IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT

OpenAIRE

Tamara Gvozdenovic; Mirjana Miljanovic; Aleksandar Jegdic; Zeljko Crnogorcic

2008-01-01

One of the main trends is standardization of project management. Some of the most important bodies of knowledge in project management, which were created by professional associations for project management are given in this paper. The main of the project management, apart from minimization of time, resources and costs, is to finish the project in the required quality, i.e. it is very important during the whole process of project management to provide realizing the project without any deviatio...

Congenital malformations of the external and middle ear: high-resolution CT findings of surgical import

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swartz, J.D.; Faerber, E.N.

1985-01-01

The external auditory canal, middle ear, and bulk of the ossicular chain develop from the first branchial groove, first and second branchial arches, and first pharyngeal pouch. Embryologic development of these structures is complex and only rarely are two anomalies identical. This study includes 11 cases of unilateral external auditory canal atresia and two cases of bilateral atresia. Eight cases (four bilateral) of isolated congenital ossicular anomalies are also included. Emphasis is placed on findings of surgical import. All patients were studied with computed tomography only, because it was believed that the bony and soft-tissue detail achieved is superior to that with conventional multidirectional tomography

E-Learning as an Important Component in “Blended Learning” in School Development Projects in Norway

OpenAIRE

Aasen, Ann Margareth

2013-01-01

E-learning is an important component in ཿblended learning࿝ in all of SePU`s projects and is used for additional education and development of competences. Blended learning is defined as learning facilitated by the effective combination of different modes of delivery, models of teaching, styles of learning, and based on transparent communication among all parties involved in development competences. In general, one of the challenges with improving the workplace is linked to employee training an...

Mid-Columbia Coho Reintroduction Feasibility Project : Final Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

United States. Bonneville Power Administration; Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation; Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife

1999-04-01

Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is proposing to fund research for 2 to 3 years on the feasibility of reintroducing coho salmon into mid-Columbia River basin tributaries. The research would take place in the Methow and Wenatchee river basins in Chelan and Okanogan Counties, Washington. BPA has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) (DOE/EA-1282) evaluating the proposed project. Based on the analysis in the EA, BPA has determined that the proposed action is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. Therefore, the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is not required, and BPA is issuing this Finding of No Significant Impact.

Mid-Columbia Coho Reintroduction Feasibility Project. Final Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-01-01

Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is proposing to fund research for 2 to 3 years on the feasibility of reintroducing coho salmon into mid-Columbia River basin tributaries. The research would take place in the Methow and Wenatchee river basins in Chelan and Okanogan Counties, Washington. BPA has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) (DOE/EA-1282) evaluating the proposed project. Based on the analysis in the EA, BPA has determined that the proposed action is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. Therefore, the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is not required, and BPA is issuing this Finding of No Significant Impact

Active Surveillance of Hansen's Disease (Leprosy): Importance for Case Finding among Extra-domiciliary Contacts

Science.gov (United States)

Moura, Maria L. N.; Dupnik, Kathryn M.; Sampaio, Gabriel A. A.; Nóbrega, Priscilla F. C.; Jeronimo, Ana K.; do Nascimento-Filho, Jose M.; Miranda Dantas, Roberta L.; Queiroz, Jose W.; Barbosa, James D.; Dias, Gutemberg; Jeronimo, Selma M. B.; Souza, Marcia C. F.; Nobre, Maurício L.

2013-01-01

Hansen's disease (leprosy) remains an important health problem in Brazil, where 34,894 new cases were diagnosed in 2010, corresponding to 15.3% of the world's new cases detected in that year. The purpose of this study was to use home visits as a tool for surveillance of Hansen's disease in a hyperendemic area in Brazil. A total of 258 residences were visited with 719 individuals examined. Of these, 82 individuals had had a previous history of Hansen's disease, 209 were their household contacts and 428 lived in neighboring residences. Fifteen new Hansen's disease cases were confirmed, yielding a detection rate of 2.0% of people examined. There was no difference in the detection rate between household and neighbor contacts (p = 0.615). The two groups had the same background in relation to education (p = 0.510), household income (p = 0.582), and the number of people living in the residence (p = 0.188). Spatial analysis showed clustering of newly diagnosed cases and association with residential coordinates of previously diagnosed multibacillary cases. Active case finding is an important tool for Hansen's disease control in hyperendemic areas, enabling earlier diagnosis, treatment, decrease in disability from Hansen's disease and potentially less spread of Mycobacterium leprae. PMID:23516645

Ambidextrous Leadership and Sustainability-Based Project Performance: The Role of Project Culture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junwei Zheng

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Most studies in the project management field emphasized the effects of leaders or managers, but these effects have rarely been examined at the project level. To cover this research gap, this study applies organizational ambidexterity theory to examine the effects among ambidextrous leadership, ambidextrous culture and sustainability-based project performance. Using a valid sample of 217 project leaders and members from Chinese construction projects, the method of multiple linear regression was adopted to assess the direct relationship among ambidextrous leadership, ambidextrous culture and project performance. Moreover, the bootstrapping technique through structural equation modeling, has been used to analyze the mediating effect of ambidextrous culture. Additionally, the sample data was divided into different groups according to the median value of the variables to conduct the ANOVA and to assess the within-group differences. The results indicated a positive and direct relationship that ambidextrous leadership has on project performance and ambidextrous culture. In addition, there was also a mediating impact of ambidextrous leadership on project performance via ambidextrous culture. Thus, ambidextrous leadership combined with transformational leadership as well as transactional leadership likely has a stronger positive impact on project performance through fostering the adaptive culture and consistent culture. Our findings contribute to an in-depth understanding of the role of the leader and culture for project outcomes. The project-based organization in construction projects could train project leaders’ ambidextrous leadership behavior to facilitate the formation of an ambidextrous culture and to increase project performance. Moreover, this study enriches the existing literature on leadership and project management by highlighting the important path of ambidextrous leadership and ambidextrous culture on the performance at the project level

BODIES OF KNOWLEDGE IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tamara Gvozdenovic

2008-03-01

Full Text Available One of the main trends is standardization of project management. Some of the most important bodies of knowledge in project management, which were created by professional associations for project management are given in this paper. The main of the project management, apart from minimization of time, resources and costs, is to finish the project in the required quality, i.e. it is very important during the whole process of project management to provide realizing the project without any deviations from the previously set quality standards. Basic processes of project quality management are: quality planning, quality assurance and quality control.

Literacy and students' interest on Geosciences - Findings and results of GEOschools project

Science.gov (United States)

Fermeli, Georgia; Steininger, Fritz; Dermitzakis, Michael; Meléndez, Guillermo; Page, Kevin

2014-05-01

GEOschools is a European project supported by the Lifelong Learning Programme. Among the main aims of the project were to investigate the interest secondary school students have on geosciences and the teaching strategies used. Also, the development of a guide for Geosciences Literacy at a European level (Fermeli et al., 2011). GEOschools' literacy framework proposal is based on a comparative analysis of geoscience curricula in the partner countries (Austria, Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal). Results of an "Interest Research" survey involved around 1750 students and 60 teachers from partner countries, combined with specific proposals by the project partners (Calonge et al., 2011). Results of the GEOschools "Interest research" survey evidence students show a higher interest in those topics which have a potentially higher social impact, such as mass extinctions, dinosaurs, geological hazards and disasters and origin and evolution of life (including human evolution). These results provide an evidence base to justify why curriculum content and teaching strategies can be made more effective through focusing mainly on such "interest topics", instead of trying to follow an excessively rigid, or academic, development of teaching programs (Fermeli et al., 2013). GEOschools literacy framework is summarized in 14 separate chapters, each including a brief description of the main themes of each subject, the intended learning outcomes as well as keywords and a bibliography. More particularly, the chapters of the framework describe what students should know and do, and how they should relate, as European citizens, to the geosciences. To face the challenges of the present and the future, modern citizens should be literate in natural sciences and, within the context of the geosciences, be able to: • Demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of basic principles, models, laws and terminology of Geosciences. • Know how and where to find and access scientifically reliable

Vague project start makes project success of outsourced software development projects uncertain

OpenAIRE

Savolainen, Paula

2010-01-01

peer-reviewed A definition of a project success includes at least three criteria: 1) meeting planning goals, 2) customer benefits, and 3) supplier benefits. This study aims to point out the importance of the definition of the project start, the project start date, and what work should be included in the project effort in order to ensure the supplier's benefits. The ambiguity of the project start risks the profitability of the project and therefore makes project success at least from suppli...

Finding a Solution-The Importance of Transparency

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dalton, J.; Atherton, E.

2002-02-28

In 1997 Nirex failed to obtain planning permission to build an underground laboratory (Rock Characterization Facility) near the Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria, North-West England. This stopped the UK's deep disposal programme. Since then there has been much discussion on how the UK should take the issue of long-term radioactive waste management forward. As part of its contribution to the ongoing debate, Nirex needed to reassess how its role in finding a long-term solution could be better played given its history. It has been suggested that the processes required to deal with such a contentious issue, the conduct of individuals and the structural relationships between organizations, all need to change if any progress is to be made. Specifically, one of the difficulties of the past was the lack of a mechanism to allow all stakeholders and the public to clearly see what had been decided and for what reasons. Nirex believes that central to these changes needs to be a strong ethical framework based on transparency. In order to assess the impact of these initiatives and its performance against them, Nirex commissioned (in 2001) an independent assessment of views from different stakeholder groups. The results of this assessment are presented. In summary, this showed that there is widespread support for these policies and the approach to increased focus on dialogue with stakeholders. In this latter respect, the way in which Nirex is now operating allows the stakeholders to have a direct access to, and influence on, its work programme and this is described.

Manpower development for nuclear power programme. China. Project findings and recommendations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Csik, B.J.

1992-01-01

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) project was conceived in April 1985, implementation was started on preliminary authorization by summer 1986, and it was approved and signed in early 1987. The duration was originally planned for three years with a UNDP input of US$ 1,657.500 (including Government cost sharing of US$ 280,000). The project is now essentially completed with a few items still pending, though committed as firmly planned, and the current cost estimate is US$ 1,707.617. The objective of the project was to assist in establishing long-term training programmes in two training centres in the People's Republic of China (Qinshan and Suzhou) and strengthen the training capabilities at these centres. The two centres are intended to provide specialized comprehensive training in basic and applied nuclear power engineering disciplines as well as in construction, operation and maintenance of nuclear power plants to technical personnel assigned to the nuclear power plants in the People's Republic of China

Define Project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Munk-Madsen, Andreas

2005-01-01

"Project" is a key concept in IS management. The word is frequently used in textbooks and standards. Yet we seldom find a precise definition of the concept. This paper discusses how to define the concept of a project. The proposed definition covers both heavily formalized projects and informally...... organized, agile projects. Based on the proposed definition popular existing definitions are discussed....

Identifying Coordination Problems in Software Development : Finding Mismatches between Software and Project Team Structures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Amrit, Chintan Amrit; van Hillegersberg, Jos; Kumar, Kuldeep

2012-01-01

Today’s dynamic and iterative development environment brings significant challenges for software project management. In distributed project settings, “management by walking around” is no longer an option and project managers may miss out on key project insights. The TESNA (TEchnical Social Network

Parental eating behaviours, home food environment and adolescent intakes of fruits, vegetables and dairy foods: longitudinal findings from Project EAT.

Science.gov (United States)

Arcan, Chrisa; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne; Hannan, Peter; van den Berg, Patricia; Story, Mary; Larson, Nicole

2007-11-01

To examine longitudinal associations of parental report of household food availability and parent intakes of fruits, vegetables and dairy foods with adolescent intakes of the same foods. This study expands upon the limited research of longitudinal studies examining the role of parents and household food availability in adolescent dietary intakes. Longitudinal study. Project EAT-II followed an ethnically and socio-economically diverse sample of adolescents from 1999 (time 1) to 2004 (time 2). In addition to the Project EAT survey, adolescents completed the Youth Adolescent Food-Frequency Questionnaire in both time periods, and parents of adolescents completed a telephone survey at time 1. General linear modelling was used to examine the relationship between parent intake and home availability and adolescent intake, adjusting for time 1 adolescent intakes. Associations were examined separately for the high school and young adult cohorts and separately for males and females in combined cohorts. The sample included 509 pairs of parents/guardians and adolescents. Vegetables served at dinner significantly predicted adolescent intakes of vegetables for males (P = 0.037), females (P = 0.009), high school (P = 0.033) and young adults (P = 0.05) at 5-year follow-up. Among young adults, serving milk at dinner predicted dairy intake (P = 0.002). Time 1 parental intakes significantly predicted intakes of young adults for fruit (P = 0.044), vegetables (P = 0.041) and dairy foods (P = 0.008). Parental intake predicted intake of dairy for females (P = 0.02). The findings suggest the importance of providing parents of adolescents with knowledge and skills to enhance the home food environment and improve their own eating behaviours.

Relation of project managers' personality and project performance: An approach based on value stream mapping

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maurizio Bevilacqua

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Purpose: This work investigates the influence of project managers’ personality on the success of a project in a Multinational Corporation. The methodology proposed for analyzing the project managers’ personality is based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.Design/methodology/approach: Forty projects carried out in 2012 by multinational corporation, concerning new product development (NPD, have been analyzed, comparing the profile of project managers with results obtained in terms of traditional performance indexes (time delay and over-budget of projects and performance indexes usually used in “Lean Production” sector (waste time and type of “wastes”. A detailed analysis of the most important “wastes” during the project development is carried out using the Value Stream Mapping (VSM technique.Findings and Originality/value: Relying on the Myers–Briggs personality instrument, results show that extroverted managers (as opposed to introverted managers carry out projects that show lower delay and lower waste time. Introverted managers often make “Over-processing” and “Defect” types of waste. Moreover, lower delay and over-budget have been shown by perceiving managers.Research limitations: Regarding the limitations of this work it is necessary to highlight that we collected data from project managers in a retrospective way. While we believe that several aspects of our data collection effort helped enhance the accuracy of the results, future research could conduct real-time case study research to get more detailed insights into the proposed relationships and avoid retrospective bias. Moreover we focused on a single respondent, the project manager. This helped us ensure that their interpretations played an important role in product development. But, we cannot examined the opinion of team members that could be different from project managers opinion regarding some questions.Originality/value: This research provides insight useful

Projections of the U.S. timber supply and demand situation to 2050 : draft findings from the USDA Forest Service 2000 RPA Timber Assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Richard Haynes; Darius Adams; Ralph Alig; David Brooks; Irene Durbak; James Howard; Peter Ince; David McKeever; John Mills; Ken Skog; Xiaoping. Zhou

2001-01-01

The Draft RPA Timber Assessment projects, over the next 50 years, the likelihood of increasing abundance of softwoods in the South and decreasing abundance of hardwoods in the South. These trends in supply, along with projected contributions from the North and West, imply U.S. consumption needs could be met without increasing net product imports and would not increase...

Project Communication in Functions, Process and Project-Oriented Industiral Companies

Science.gov (United States)

Samáková, Jana; Koltnerová, Kristína; Rybanský, Rudolf

2012-12-01

The article is focused on the project communication management. Industrial enterprises, which use project management must constantly search the new ways for improving. One of the possibilities is the change of management from a functional oriented to the projectoriented or process-oriented. Process-oriented and project-oriented companies have better project communication management during the all project life cycle. Communication in the project is a very important factor. According to the arguments of several authors, one of the biggest problem is that threaten the success of the project is just the communication. In each project is an important pillar - and that is communication. Only on the base of communication can the project move forward and achieve the target.

Neighborhood influences on perceived social support among parents: findings from the project on human development in Chicago neighborhoods.

Science.gov (United States)

Tendulkar, Shalini A; Koenen, Karestan C; Dunn, Erin C; Buka, Stephen; Subramanian, S V

2012-01-01

Social support is frequently linked to positive parenting behavior. Similarly, studies increasingly show a link between neighborhood residential environment and positive parenting behavior. However, less is known about how the residential environment influences parental social support. To address this gap, we examine the relationship between neighborhood concentrated disadvantage and collective efficacy and the level and change in parental caregiver perceptions of non-familial social support. The data for this study came from three data sources, the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) Study's Longitudinal Cohort Survey of caregivers and their offspring, a Community Survey of adult residents in these same neighborhoods and the 1990 Census. Social support is measured at Wave 1 and Wave 3 and neighborhood characteristics are measured at Wave 1. Multilevel linear regression models are fit. The results show that neighborhood collective efficacy is a significant (ß = .04; SE = .02; p = .03), predictor of the positive change in perceived social support over a 7 year period, however, not of the level of social support, adjusting for key compositional variables and neighborhood concentrated disadvantage. In contrast concentrated neighborhood disadvantage is not a significant predictor of either the level or change in social support. Our finding suggests that neighborhood collective efficacy may be important for inducing the perception of support from friends in parental caregivers over time.

Analysis of soybean production and import trends and its import factors in Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Ningrum, I. H.; Irianto, H.; Riptanti, E. W.

2018-03-01

This study aims to analyze the factors affecting soybean imports in Indonesia and to know the trend and projection of Indonesian soybean production as well as the import in 2016-2020. The basic method used in this research is the description analysis method. The data used are secondary data in the form of time series data from 1979-2015. Methods of data analysis using simultaneous equations model with 2SLS (Two Stage Least Square) method and Trend analysis. The results showed that the factors affecting soybean imports in Indonesia are consumption and production. Consumption has positive effect while production is negatively affected. The percentage changed in soybean imports is greater than the percentage change in consumption and production of soybeans. Consumption is positively influenced by imports and production, while production is influenced positively by consumption and negative by imports. The production trend of soybean in 2016-2020 has a tendency to increase with a percentage of 11.18% per year. Production in 2016 is projected at 1.110.537 tons while in 2020 it will increase to 1,721,350 tons. The import trend in 2016-2020 has a tendency to increase with an average percentage of 4.13% per year. Import in 2016 is projected at 2.224.188 tons while in 2020 it will increase to 2.611.270 tons.

Promoting bioethanol production through clean development mechanism: Findings and lessons learnt from ASIATIC project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gnansounou, Edgard; Bedniaguine, Denis; Dauriat, Arnaud

2005-12-15

Global climate change mitigation policies call for increasing use of biomass fuels as renewable substitutes to fossil energy resources. Quantified targets for biofuels introduction in to the market exist in the United States, the European Union, and a number of developing countries. In this context, mixing biologically produced ethanol with conventional gasoline represents an attractive technical option allowing for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and lessening the dependence on non-renewable petrol in the transportation sector. This paper investigates technological and socio-economic aspects of ethanol production in developing countries, particularly in China, with special focus on determining eligibility of bioethanol projects for Clean Development Mechanism. Basing on the findings of the ASIATIC study (Agriculture and Small to Medium Scale Industries in Peri-urban Areas through Ethanol Production for Transport In China), we analyse how alcohol fuels can be produced in a sustainable way with mutual benefits between rural and urban people. The bioethanol production cost and life cycle CO2 eq. emissions were calculated for six different types of feedstock: sugarcane, sugarcane molasses, sweet sorghum juice, cassava, corn, and sorghum bagasse. Implications of the CDM rules and procedures for bioethanol industry were examined under the angles of environmental and economical additionality, and conformity with the principles of sustainable development. It is found that the starch-based (cassava) ethanol production path has the greatest potential for market penetration in China, followed by the conversion route using sugar-based feedstock (sorghum juice, sugarcane molasses). Meanwhile, the lignocelluloses biomass - to - ethanol technology may represent the highest interest for implementation as Clean Development Mechanism project. (Author)

Locale-Specific Categorization of IT Projects for Proper Project Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Nasir

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper we aim to show that not only are the project management techniques important for small-scale projects, but following proper project management techniques is one of the most important requirements. However, there come slight variations in implementing project management techniques in small projects as compared with larger projects. Therefore, proper categorization of projects holds the key to success in many situations. Our paper will show that categorization of a project as small-scale or large-scale should always be locale specific. In this regards, we develop a criteria and evaluate how the projects are categorized as small-scale and large-scale in different parts of the world with focus on IT projects. This research concludes that some methods cannot be used for projects of different scales.

Why are small scale demonstration projects important for the future of CCS?

Science.gov (United States)

Leetaru, H. E.; Bauer, R. A.; McBride, J. H.; Freiburg, J. T.; Greenberg, S. E.

2017-12-01

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is moving toward large-scale commercial projects and the U.S. Department of Energy is supporting a new CarbonSAFE initiative to assist in the development of a 50 million tonnes geologic storage project. This type of large commercial CCS project will rely on lessons learned from smaller DOE CCS projects such as the Illinois Basin-Decatur Project (IBDP) and the Illinois Industrial Carbon Capture and Storage (IL-ICCS) Project located one mile north of IBDP. Over a three year period ending 2014 IBDP injected almost one million tonnes of CO2 into the Mt. Simon Sandstone, and the IL-ICCS project which commenced injection in 2017 will inject another four million tonnes over a four year period. The IBDP has recorded microseismic events within the study area through continuous downhole seismic monitoring before, during, and after injection. Monitoring shows that microseismicity increased during injection and originate not only in the Cambrian Mt. Simon Sandstone (the target reservoir), but also in the underlying Argenta clastics and deeper Precambrian igneous rocks as SW-NE elongate clusters aligned in strike to the maximum in situ stress direction. An interpretation of site 3D seismic reflection data suggests that much of the microseismicity is proximal to interpreted faults that extend from the basement up into the lowermost Mt. Simon strata. The faults proximally associated with microseismic activity are oriented parallel with respect to the maximum stress direction. The seismic monitoring of the IBDP indicate that the assessment of induced seismic potential associated with commercial-scale CCS requires not only identification of a suitable reservoir and its petrophysical characteristics, but also the extent and orientation of existing faults and their relation to regional stress orientation. Assessment of regional fault orientation using 3D seismic reflection data can be extremely useful to understanding the risks of induced seismicity

Factors influencing cost over-run in Indian construction projects

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Cindrela Devi A.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Construction cost is the most important criteria of project success and hence the construction project performance is generally expressed in terms of cost and its variance from the budget. In spite of having extant literature, cost estimation methods, cost indices etc., construction projects rarely meet the budgeted cost. This research study focuses on the construction cost overrun and to identify the various factors that affects the construction cost performance. Based on an extensive literature review and input from industry experts, sixty eight factors that causes cost overrun were identified for investigation. Further, a structured questionnaire survey was conducted among the industry experts and the collected data has been analysed statistically. It is concluded that the factors namely scope creep, construction delays, rework and practise of awarding the contract to the lowest bidder are most significant factors for construction cost overrun in non-infrastructural Indian projects. The relative importance of the listed factors used to guide the project team in addressing the cost related risks involved in the projects. The findings are expected to bridge the gap in the current construction cost management practices.

The Importance of Ecology-Based Nature Education Project in Terms of Nature Integration and Understanding the Human-Ecosystem Relationship

Science.gov (United States)

Meydan, Ali

2011-01-01

The aim of this project is to define the importance of 12-day ecology-based education training upon integration with nature and understanding the human-ecosystem relationship. In accordance with this purpose, there has been collected some survey data interviewing with the participants of "Lake Beysehir National Park and Ecology-based Nature…

Tenure Issues in REDD+ Pilot Project Sites in Tanzania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Therese Dokken

2014-02-01

Full Text Available REDD+ has been proposed as a viable option for addressing climate change in the near term, and at relatively low cost. There is a broad consensus that clearly defined tenure rights are important for the implementation and success of REDD+, both to manage forests effectively and to protect local communities’ livelihoods. We use primary data from 23 villages in six REDD+ pilot sites in Tanzania to identify causes of deforestation and forest degradation, and tenure rights issues, at the village level prior to project implementation. Further, interviews with project proponents and examination of project documents yields insights into how the proponents plan to address tenure issues. Most villages perceive their tenure as secure and have exclusion rights, while collective action challenges are prevalent in villages experiencing deforestation and forest degradation. These findings suggest that the main tenure issues are related to internal institutional arrangements. While we find that tenure is high on the agenda for all the project proponents, they are mainly focusing on formalization and securing tenure rights from state to community level. Though we do find this to be a precondition for reducing deforestation and degradation, some of their focus should be shifted to strengthening village institutions and enhancing internal compliance.

Organizations, projects and culture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J. van Cleeff; Pieter van Nispen tot Pannerden

2016-01-01

Purpose: to explore and demonstrate the effects of organizational culture on projects, in particular project culture and project management style. Methodology/approach: descriptive and explorative; through students’ groups. Findings: the cultural relationship between organizations, their projects

Projective-anticipating, projective and projective-lag synchronization of chaotic systems with time-varying delays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng Cunfang; Guan Wei; Wang Yinghai

2013-01-01

We investigate different types of projective (projective-anticipating, projective and projective-lag) synchronization in unidirectionally nonlinearly coupled time-delayed chaotic systems with variable time delays. Based on the Krasovskii–Lyapunov approach, we find both the existence and sufficient stability conditions, using a general class of time-delayed chaotic systems related to optical bistable or hybrid optical bistable devices. Our method has the advantage that it requires only one nonlinearly coupled term to achieve different types of projective synchronization in time-delayed chaotic systems with variable time delays. Compared with other existing works, our result provides an easy way to achieve projective-anticipating, projective and projective-lag synchronization. Numerical simulations of the Ikeda system are given to demonstrate the validity of the proposed method. (paper)

Housing First for People With Severe Mental Illness Who Are Homeless: A Review of the Research and Findings From the At Home–Chez soi Demonstration Project

Science.gov (United States)

Aubry, Tim; Nelson, Geoffrey; Tsemberis, Sam

2015-01-01

Objective: To provide a review of the extant research literature on Housing First (HF) for people with severe mental illness (SMI) who are homeless and to describe the findings of the recently completed At Home (AH)–Chez soi (CS) demonstration project. HF represents a paradigm shift in the delivery of community mental health services, whereby people with SMI who are homeless are supported through assertive community treatment or intensive case management to move into regular housing. Method: The AH–CS demonstration project entailed a randomized controlled trial conducted in 5 Canadian cities between 2009 and 2013. Mixed methods were used to examine the implementation of HF programs and participant outcomes, comparing 1158 people receiving HF to 990 people receiving standard care. Results: Initial research conducted in the United States shows HF to be a promising approach, yielding superior outcomes in helping people to rapidly exit homelessness and establish stable housing. Findings from the AH–CS demonstration project reveal that HF can be successfully adapted to different contexts and for different populations without losing its fidelity. People receiving HF achieved superior housing outcomes and showed more rapid improvements in community functioning and quality of life than those receiving treatment as usual. Conclusions: Knowledge translation efforts have been undertaken to disseminate the positive findings and lessons learned from the AH–CS project and to scale up the HF approach across Canada. PMID:26720504

Effective Bug Finding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rivas, Iago Abal

Lightweight bug finders (also known as code scanners) are becoming popular, they scale well and can find simple yet common programming errors. It is now considered a good practice to integrate these tools as part of your development process. The Linux project, for instance, has an automated testing...... service, known as the Kbuild robot, that runs a few of these code scanners. In this project, I have carefully studied tens of historical Linux bugs, and I have found that many of these bugs, despite being conceptually simple, were not caught by any code scanning tool. The reason is that, by design, code...... by matching temporal bug-patterns against the control-flow graph of this program abstraction. I have implemented a proof-of-concept bug finder based on this technique, EBA, and confirmed that it is both scalable and effective at finding bugs. On a benchmark of historical Linux double-lock bugs, EBA was able...

3D DSA findings of uterine artery and its optimal projection position

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu Weifu; Zhang Aiwu; Zhou Chunze; Lu Dong; Xiao Jingkun; Wang Weiyu; Zhang Xingming; Zhang Zhengfeng; Hou Changlong

2011-01-01

Objective: to observe the origin site, anatomic features of uterine artery with 3D DSA and to discuss the optimal projection position in order to improve the success rate of super-selective catheterization of uterine artery. Methods: Prospective pelvic angiography was performed in 42 adult females (a total of 84 uterine arteries). 3D DSA was carried out with 206 ° rotation. 3D reconstruction of the obtained images was performed and the angiographic manifestations of the uterine artery were analyzed. The optimal projection position for the displaying of uterine artery was discussed. The quality of images obtained with the projection angle of 15 °-25 °, 25 °-35 ° and 35 °-45 ° was determined and the results were compared with each other. Results: The orifices of all 84 uterine arteries could be well demonstrated on 3D DSA images. The uterine artery was originated from the anterior trunk of internal iliac artery (n=58, 69%), from main stem of internal iliac artery (n=16, 19.1%), from internal pudenda artery (n=8, 9.5%) and from inferior gluteal artery (n=2, 2.4%). The best projection position to show the opening and route of the uterine artery was contralateral oblique view of 25-35 degrees (P<0.05). Conclusion: 3D DSA can clearly display the anatomy of the uterine artery, which is very helpful for the management of super-selective catheterization of uterine artery. The optimal projection position for uterine artery is contralateral oblique view of 25-35 degrees. (authors)

On the Relative Importance of Corporate Working Capital Determinants: Findings from the EU Countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julia Koralun-Bereźnicka

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The corporate finance literature traditionally abounds in both theoretical discussion and empirical research concerning financing and long-term investment decisions. Managing short-term resources appears to be a much less remarkable issue, despite this resource’s significant share of a firm’s balance sheet and the time and effort required to manage the current assets and liabilities. This article provides insights into the relative importance of the selected working capital determinants from the European Union perspective. The determinants considered in the study include both external and internal factors, specifically the country in which a company operates, its industrial classification and the firm size. Using more than 10,000 aggregated observations from a sample of firms from 13 industries, 9 countries and 3 group sizes, covering the period 2000-2009, the findings provide evidence that corporate working capital is most affected by country-specific factors, followed by industrial factors and firm size.

Predictors of Adolescent Breakfast Consumption: Longitudinal Findings from Project EAT

Science.gov (United States)

Bruening, Meg; Larson, Nicole; Story, Mary; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne; Hannan, Peter

2011-01-01

Objective: To identify predictors of breakfast consumption among adolescents. Methods: Five-year longitudinal study Project EAT (Eating Among Teens). Baseline surveys were completed in Minneapolis-St. Paul schools and by mail at follow-up by youth (n = 800) transitioning from middle to high school. Linear regression models examined associations…

How do ICT project managers manage project knowledge in the public sector? An empirical enquiry from the Victorian Public Sector in Australia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yakub Karagoz

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Projects are temporal organisation forms that are highly knowledge-intensive and play an important role in modern public (and private sector organisations. The effective and efficient creation, dissemination, application and conservation of relevant knowledge are a critical success factor in the management of projects. Yet, project management (PM and knowledge management (KM are two distinct disciplines. This paper explores the relationship between PM and KM by analysing the literature at the intersection of those disciplines and presenting the empirical results of a case study of the Victorian Public Sector (VPS in Australia. A series of 14 interviews were conducted to explore how ICT project managers manage project knowledge across the departments of the VPS. Findings show a strong preference among the participants for informal, face-to-face interactions and agile approaches to facilitate knowledge transfer and creation in ICT project environments.

Mismanagement Reasons of the Projects Execution Phase

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hatem Khaleefah Al-Agele

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The execution phase of the project is most dangerous and the most drain on the resources during project life cycle, therefore, its need to monitor and control by specialists to exceeded obstructions and achieve the project goals. The study aims to detect the actual reasons behind mismanagement of the execution phase. The study begins with theoretical part, where it deals with the concepts of project, project selection, project management, and project processes. Field part consists of three techniques: 1- brainstorming, 2- open interviews with experts and 3- designed questionnaire (with 49 reason. These reasons result from brainstorming and interviewing with experts., in order to find the real reasons behind mismanagement of the execution phase. The most important reasons which are negatively impact on management of the execution phase that proven by the study were (Inability of company to meet project requirements because it's specialized and / or large project, Multiple sources of decision and overlap in powers, Inadequate planning, Inaccurate estimation of cost, Delayed cash flows by owners, Poor performance of project manager, inefficient decision making process, and the Negative impact of people in the project area. Finally, submitting a set of recommendations which will contribute to overcome the obstructions of successful management of the execution phase.

A community's response to suicide through public art: stakeholder perspectives from the Finding the Light Within project.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohatt, Nathaniel V; Singer, Jonathan B; Evans, Arthur C; Matlin, Samantha L; Golden, Jane; Harris, Cathy; Burns, James; Siciliano, Catherine; Kiernan, Guy; Pelleritti, Margaret; Tebes, Jacob Kraemer

2013-09-01

Suicide is a preventable public health problem and a leading cause of death in the United States. Despite recognized need for community-based strategies for suicide prevention, most suicide prevention programs focus on individual-level change. This article presents seven first person accounts of Finding the Light Within, a community mobilization initiative to reduce the stigma associated with suicide through public arts participation that took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 2011 through 2012. The stigma associated with suicide is a major challenge to suicide prevention, erecting social barriers to effective prevention and treatment and enhancing risk factors for people struggling with suicidal ideation and recovery after losing a loved one to suicide. This project engaged a large and diverse audience and built a new community around suicide prevention through participatory public art, including community design and production of a large public mural about suicide, storytelling and art workshops, and a storytelling website. We present this project as a model for how arts participation can address suicide on multiple fronts-from raising awareness and reducing stigma, to promoting community recovery, to providing healing for people and communities in need.

Laying the Foundations: Early Findings from the New Mathways Project

Science.gov (United States)

Zachry Rutschow, Elizabeth; Diamond, John

2015-01-01

National studies reveal that 50 percent to 70 percent of community college students are required to take developmental, or remedial, math courses upon enrollment, and only 20 percent of developmental math students ever successfully complete a college-level math course. Taking up the challenge is the "New Mathways Project" (NMP),…

Radiological Findings in Children with Acute Pneumonia: Age More Important Than Infectious Agent

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wahlgren, H.; Mortensson, W.; Eriksson, M.; Finkel, Y.; Forsgren, M.; Leinonen, M.

2005-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate whether radiological findings and healing time in children with pneumonia are correlated to etiologic agent. Material and Methods: A total of 346 children with radiologically verified acute pneumonia, and with accomplished serological tests for bacteria and viruses, were included in the study. Five etiological groups were analysed: children with bacterial etiology only, with viral etiology only, with mixed bacterial and viral etiology, with Mycoplasma only, and children with no etiology. Results: The chest films of each etiological group were analysed and the findings were correlated to the children's age. The radiological findings did not differ between the etiological groups. Radiological findings correlated significantly with the patient's age. The radiological healing frequency at check-up X-ray was found to be significantly lower in children with mixed bacterial and viral etiology compared to children in each of the other groups and to the material as a whole. Conclusion: Conclusions about the etiology could not be drawn from the chest X-ray findings

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Mimicking Alzheimer Disease and Dementia With Lewy Bodies-Findings of FDG PET With 3-Dimensional Stereotactic Surface Projection.

Science.gov (United States)

Miyazawa, Nobuhiko

2017-05-01

A 78-year-old man received a diagnosis of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease based on symptoms and findings of MRI, FDG PET, and cerebrospinal fluid markers. PET with 3-dimensional stereotactic surface projection (3D-SSP) showed that the distribution of hypometabolism mimicked that of Alzheimer disease. A 68-year-old woman was treated under a diagnosis of convulsion. Findings of MRI, PET, familial history, and cerebrospinal fluid markers revealed familial Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. FDG PET with 3D-SSP disclosed that the hypometabolic pattern mimicked that of dementia with Lewy bodies. FDG PET with 3D-SSP can demonstrate similar patterns in various neurodegenerative disorders.

How Project Managers Really Manage: An Indepth Look at Some Managers of Large, Complex NASA Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Mulenburg, Gerald M.; Impaeilla, Cliff (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

This paper reports on a research study by the author that examined ten contemporary National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) complex projects. In-depth interviews with the project managers of these projects provided qualitative data about the inner workings of the project and the methodologies used in establishing and managing the projects. The inclusion of a variety of space, aeronautics, and ground based projects from several different NASA research centers helped to reduce potential bias in the findings toward any one type of project, or technical discipline. The findings address the participants and their individual approaches. The discussion includes possible implications for project managers of other large, complex, projects.

WEpods project : Finding the potential for automated road public transport

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Homem De Almeida Rodriguez Correia, G.

2016-01-01

Vehicle automation is developing rapidly, nevertheless a lot of wor k is still lacking, as we are not yet at a point where vehicles are able to drive themselves on a road without a human behind the wheel. One of the possibilities of automation is its use as public transport. In theWEpods project,

An exploration study to find important factors in market entrance: A case study of truck industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zoheir Khodamoradi

2013-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an empirical investigation to find important factors influencing market penetration in truck industry. The proposed study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale consists of 51 questions, distributes it among 300 people who worked for different truck industry related units and collects 262 filled ones. Cronbach alpha is calculated as 0.89. In addition, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy and Approx. Chi-Square are 0.845 and 3067.443, respectively. The study has implemented principal component analysis and the results have indicated that there were eight factors influencing entering truck making industry including adaptation strategies, new ideas, cost competitiveness, product capabilities, market characteristics, competition threats from external market environment and export accelerators.

Radiological Findings in Children with Acute Pneumonia: Age More Important Than Infectious Agent

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wahlgren, H.; Mortensson, W.; Eriksson, M.; Finkel, Y.; Forsgren, M.; Leinonen, M. [Astrid Lindgren' s Children' s Hospital, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm (Sweden). Depts. of Pediatric Radiology and Pediatrics

2005-07-01

Purpose: To evaluate whether radiological findings and healing time in children with pneumonia are correlated to etiologic agent. Material and Methods: A total of 346 children with radiologically verified acute pneumonia, and with accomplished serological tests for bacteria and viruses, were included in the study. Five etiological groups were analysed: children with bacterial etiology only, with viral etiology only, with mixed bacterial and viral etiology, with Mycoplasma only, and children with no etiology. Results: The chest films of each etiological group were analysed and the findings were correlated to the children's age. The radiological findings did not differ between the etiological groups. Radiological findings correlated significantly with the patient's age. The radiological healing frequency at check-up X-ray was found to be significantly lower in children with mixed bacterial and viral etiology compared to children in each of the other groups and to the material as a whole. Conclusion: Conclusions about the etiology could not be drawn from the chest X-ray findings.

Building Sustainable Smallholder Cooperatives in Emerging Market Economies: Findings from a Five-Year Project in Kenya

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John E. Meador

2016-07-01

Full Text Available A comparative study of two smallholder dairy cooperatives in Kenya examines the question: what factors are conducive to producing sustainable smallholder cooperatives that can gain entry into the vertical value chain in liberalized post-colonial economies? The relative weight of income advantage; selective individual incentives and, social capital on maintaining member patronage are assessed within variable environmental constraints and opportunities facing different cooperatives. The methodology includes case study observation of the cooperatives during a five-year period, as well as sample surveys of members and non-members that include indicators of dairy income; reasons why farmers elect to join or not join the cooperative; and assessments of the importance of different services provided by the cooperative. The findings show how the relative weight of specific incentives for cooperative membership can vary from one environment to another within the same nation. The most important finding is that maintaining sustainable smallholder cooperatives within an increasingly competitive environment depends on the ability of managers to create business strategies that are compatible with the cooperative’s environmental constraints but, at the same time, incentivize members’ patronage.

The market for sustainable projects. The rules of the game are the same but the game has changed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Biermans, M.; Le Grand, H.; Kerste, M.; Weda, J.

2009-07-01

If the Dutch cabinet wishes to realize the 20/20/20 targets (20% renewable energy, 20% energy saving in 2020 and 20% CO2 reduction compared to 1990), it is important that the capital market for sustainable projects functions well and that a sufficient number of projects find their way to this capital. This report describes the findings of the study of the functioning of the capital market for sustainable projects, taking a look at the question if it deviates compared to other projects. Moreover, the factors that are in the way of the capital market for sustainable projects are examined as well as the measures that could remove these limitations. [nl

Brands matter: Major findings from the Alcohol Brand Research Among Underage Drinkers (ABRAND) project.

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Sarah P; Siegel, Michael B; DeJong, William; Ross, Craig S; Naimi, Timothy; Albers, Alison; Skeer, Margie; Rosenbloom, David L; Jernigan, David H

Alcohol research focused on underage drinkers has not comprehensively assessed the landscape of brand-level drinking behaviors among youth. This information is needed to profile youth alcohol use accurately, explore its antecedents, and develop appropriate interventions. We collected national data on the alcohol brand-level consumption of underage drinkers in the United States and then examined the association between those preferences and several factors including youth exposure to brand-specific alcohol advertising, corporate sponsorships, popular music lyrics, and social networking sites, and alcohol pricing. This paper summarizes our findings, plus the results of other published studies on alcohol branding and youth drinking. Our findings revealed several interesting facts regarding youth drinking. For example, we found that: 1) youth are not drinking the cheapest alcohol brands; 2) youth brand preferences differ from those of adult drinkers; 3) underage drinkers are not opportunistic in their alcohol consumption, but instead consume a very specific set of brands; 4) the brands that youth are heavily exposed to in magazines and television advertising correspond to the brands they most often report consuming; and 5) youth consume more of the alcohol brands to whose advertising they are most heavily exposed. The findings presented here suggests that brand-level alcohol research will provide important insight into youth drinking behaviors, the factors that contribute to youth alcohol consumption, and potential avenues for effective public health surveillance and programming.

Project stakeholder management

CERN Document Server

Eskerod, Pernille

2013-01-01

Carrying out a project as planned is not a guarantee for success. Projects may fail because project management does not take the requirements, wishes and concerns of stakeholders sufficiently into account. Projects can only be successful though contributions from stakeholders. And in the end, it is the stakeholders that evaluate whether they find that the project is a success. To manage stakeholders effectively, you need to know your stakeholders, their behaviours and attitudes towards the project. In Project Stakeholder Management, the authors give guidance on how to adopt an analytical and s

Theory of affine projection algorithms for adaptive filtering

CERN Document Server

Ozeki, Kazuhiko

2016-01-01

This book focuses on theoretical aspects of the affine projection algorithm (APA) for adaptive filtering. The APA is a natural generalization of the classical, normalized least-mean-squares (NLMS) algorithm. The book first explains how the APA evolved from the NLMS algorithm, where an affine projection view is emphasized. By looking at those adaptation algorithms from such a geometrical point of view, we can find many of the important properties of the APA, e.g., the improvement of the convergence rate over the NLMS algorithm especially for correlated input signals. After the birth of the APA in the mid-1980s, similar algorithms were put forward by other researchers independently from different perspectives. This book shows that they are variants of the APA, forming a family of APAs. Then it surveys research on the convergence behavior of the APA, where statistical analyses play important roles. It also reviews developments of techniques to reduce the computational complexity of the APA, which are important f...

The Impact of Project Organizational Culture on the Performance of Construction Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luong Hai Nguyen

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Cultural influence has recently received significant attention from academics due to its vital role in the success or failure of a project. In the construction industry, several empirical investigations have examined the influence of culture on project management. The aim of this study is to determine the impact of project organizational culture on the performance of construction projects. A total of 199 completed construction projects in Vietnam with specific data gathering through questionnaires were analyzed. The findings reveal that contractor commitment to contract agreements is the most significant cultural factor affecting project performance. Goal alignment and reliance, contractor commitment, and worker orientation (i.e., commitment to workers contribute to improved overall performance and participant satisfaction. Contractor commitment and cooperative orientation enhance labor productivity, whereas goal alignment and trust and contractor commitment ensure learning performance (i.e., learning from experience. The findings of this study may assist construction professionals in implementing practices that can contribute to the sustainability and success of construction projects.

Leading global projects for professional and accidental project leaders

CERN Document Server

Moran, Robert T

2008-01-01

This book is a must-read for anyone responsible for projects and initiatives that span functional and geographical divides. Authors Moran and Youngdahl bring extensive experience and learning from industry practice to present a clear and straightforward treatment of the leadership skills and knowledge required to lead projects that are global in nature. They have written the first book of its kind to address the three essential skills of global project leaders - strategic project management, project leadership, and cross-cultural leadership. The authors argue that global project leadership is an essential skill in our project-based world and that we are all either intentional or accidental project leaders. Intentional project leaders pursue formal project management education and even certification whereas accidental project leaders find themselves leading global projects and initiatives as a result of a special assignment or promotion. Moran and Youndahl have found that the vast majority of global projects ...

Fabrication and quality assurance of some important components and sub-assemblies for Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dutta, N.G.; More, S.S.

2010-01-01

Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam (BHAVINI) is engaged in construction of 500 MWe prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam, Chennai. In this very important and prestigious national programmed M/s Kay Bouvet Engg. Pvt. Ltd. (M/s KBEPL) Satara is contributing in a major way by supplying many important sub-assemblies. M/s KBEPL is engaged in manufacturing, quality assurance and supply of many subassemblies of PFBR like under water trolley (UWT), shielding door, container and container storage rack (CSR), vessel in fuel transfer cell (FTC), personnel air lock (PAL), emergency air lock (EAL) and material air lock (MAL), absorber rod drive mechanism (ARDM) flask assembly and carriage in MAL etc. Two partition doors and four nos. of embedded parts (SS 304L) have already been supplied to Bhavini. The paper deals with manufacturing and Q.A. activities being carried out for supply of these important assemblies to PFBR projects. (author)

Prioritising Project Scope Definition Elements in Public Building Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammed K Fageha

2014-09-01

Full Text Available A complete definition of the scope of a project upfront during early stages ensures smooth and successful implementation during the project execution. This research identifies and prioritises project scope definition elements for public buildings in Saudi Arabia. Elements that could significantly contribute to complete project scope definition package at pre-project planning stage are identified and their interrelationship determined and prioritised. Using the Project Definition Rating Index (PDRI as a basis, the study uses analytical network process (ANP technique based on data obtained from project managers who have been involved in public sector projects in Saudi Arabia. Data collection and analysis was conducted in three steps. The first step involved identification of scope definition elements while the second involved an investigation into interrelationships among the elements. In the third step, ANP was used to determine the weight of the elements’ importance in terms of contribution to project scope definition completeness. Finally, Pareto analysis was used to prioritise and assess the distribution pattern of the elements. The outcome from this research is the prioritisation of project scope definition elements for public building projects in Saudi Arabia. The prioritised list developed indicates the importance of project scope definition elements. It should help project management teams identify elements to consider when evaluating project scope definition for completeness at the pre-project planning stage. Keywords: Project scope definition, pre-project planning, prioritising, public building projects, Saudi Arabia, Analytical Network Process (ANP

Risks management in project planning

OpenAIRE

Stankevičiūtė, Roberta

2017-01-01

Project management consists of two very important aspects – managing the right project and managing the project right. To know that you are managing the right project you need to ensure that your project is based on an actual requirement and that your project goal is relevant and beneficial. And professional project planning assists in managing project the right way. The project planning process is very time consuming and is one of the most important parts of the project management process. T...

The Organizing and Market Development of a Subcontracting Project to Vietnam : a Developing Export Market for Finland

OpenAIRE

Le, Thien

2010-01-01

Vietnam is one of the fastest developing countries in the world. Finland and Finnish companies have been doing more and more business in Vietnam in recent years. Understanding the environment and the business culture of the country of the utmost importance before entering the market. The goal of this project was to find a suitable subcontracting partner for the client company and thus to find information about the Vietnamese business culture. This project was carried out for Finpro which ...

Importance of projections, magnifications, and roentgen techniques in the evaluation of obstructions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sones, F.M. Jr.

1982-01-01

The authors describe their own technique for coronary angiography, using equipment which facilitates making exposures in craniocaudal or caudo-cranial projections in varying degrees of right or left obliquity up to 60 degrees. Each diagnostic problem must be approached on an individual basis but the usual procedure is two injections into the right coronary artery made in appropriate right and left anterior oblique projections, and four or five injections into the left coronary artery made in appropriate right and left anterior oblique projections. Decisions regarding the conduct of each study must be based on the angiographer's ability to observe and interpret the results of each injection with a properly designed television chain which presents exactly the same image as that being recorded by the cine camera. The problem of differentiating between organic obstruction and functional spasm is discussed and the magnification technique is described. (Auth./C.F.)

PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP – THE MOST IMPORTANT MODERN TOOLS OF SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF NATIONAL INVESTMENT PROJECTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. E. Zhukov

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Article is devoted to actual problems and prospects of perfection of public private partnership mechanisms at important social and economic investment projects realization. The analysis of foreign practice in the PPP field is carried out. Features of Russian PPP development model are considered. The main difficulties on this way are designated. Such as: absence of the normal competitive environment during the choice of the private partner-investor; absence of the qualified experts in the PPP; imperfect legislative base; corruption of officials, etc. Main offers of perfection of PPP-mechanism in Russia, accounting forthcoming modernization and innovative development of Russian economy are given.

Clustering ERP implementation project activities: a foundation for project size definition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janssens, G.; Kusters, R.J.; Heemstra, F.J.; Sadiq, A.; Reichert, M.; Schultz, K.; Trienekens, J.J.M.; Moller, C.; Kusters, R.J.

2007-01-01

The size of an ERP project can be a useful measurement for predicting the effort needed to complete an ERP implementation project. Because this measurement does not exist, research is needed to find a set of variables which can define the size of an ERP implementation project. This paper shows 21

SpaceWire Tiger Team Findings and Suggestions

Science.gov (United States)

Ishac, Joseph A.

2011-01-01

This technical report intends to highlight the key findings and recommendations of the SpaceWire Tiger Team for the CoNNeCT project. It covers findings which are technical in nature, covering design concepts and approaches.

The effectiveness of community-based cycling promotion: findings from the Cycling Connecting Communities project in Sydney, Australia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Merom Dafna

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Encouraging cycling is an important way to increase physical activity in the community. The Cycling Connecting Communities (CCC Project is a community-based cycling promotion program that included a range of community engagement and social marketing activities, such as organised bike rides and events, cycling skills courses, the distribution of cycling maps of the area and coverage in the local press. The aim of the study was to assess the effectiveness of this program designed to encourage the use of newly completed off-road cycle paths through south west Sydney, Australia. Methods The evaluation used a quasi-experimental design that consisted of a pre- and post-intervention telephone survey (24 months apart of a cohort of residents (n = 909 in the intervention area (n = 520 (Fairfield and Liverpool and a socio-demographically similar comparison area (n = 389 (Bankstown. Both areas had similar bicycle infrastructure. Four bicycle counters were placed on the main bicycle paths in the intervention and comparison areas to monitor daily bicycle use before and after the intervention. Results The telephone survey results showed significantly greater awareness of the Cycling Connecting Communities project (13.5% vs 8.0%, p Conclusion Despite relatively modest resources, the Cycling Connecting Communities project achieved significant increases in bicycle path use, and increased cycling in some sub-groups. However, this community based intervention with limited funding had very limited reach into the community and did not increase population cycling levels.

Finding the Most Preferred Decision-Making Unit in Data Envelopment Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shirin Mohammadi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Data envelopment analysis (DEA evaluates the efficiency of the transformation of a decision-making unit’s (DMU’s inputs into its outputs. Finding the benchmarks of a DMU is one of the important purposes of DEA. The benchmarks of a DMU in DEA are obtained by solving some linear programming models. Currently, the obtained benchmarks are just found by using the information of the data of inputs and outputs without considering the decision-maker’s preferences. If the preferences of the decision-maker are available, it is very important to obtain the most preferred DMU as a benchmark of the under-assessment DMU. In this regard, we present an algorithm to find the most preferred DMU based on the utility function of decision-maker’s preferences by exploring some properties on that. The proposed method is constructed based on the projection of the gradient of the utility function on the production possibility set’s frontier.

Structural Equation Model for Evaluating Factors Affecting Quality of Social Infrastructure Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shahid Hussain

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The quality of the constructed social infrastructure project has been considered a necessary measure for the sustainability of projects. Studies on factors affecting project quality have used various techniques and methods to explain the relationships between particular variables. Unexpectedly, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM has acquired very little concern in factors affecting project quality studies. To address this limitation in the body of knowledge, the objective of this study was to apply the SEM approach and build a model that explained and identified the critical factors affecting quality in social infrastructure projects. The authors developed a quantitative approach using smart-PLS version 3.2.7. This study shed light on the views of different experts based on their experience in public construction projects in Pakistan. Particularly, the authors aimed to find out the relationships between construction, stakeholders, materials, design, and external factors, and how these relate to project quality. The findings of this study revealed that the R2 value of the model was scored at 0.749, which meant that the five exogenous latent constructs collectively explained 74.9% of the variance in project quality. The Goodness-of-Fit of the model was 0.458. The construction related factor was the most important out of the five constructs. This study determined that better planning and monitoring and evaluation should be developed to better address and control the quality defects by decision-makers, project managers as well as contractors. These findings might support practitioners and decision makers to focus on quality related problems that might occur in their current or future projects.

Financing innovative technologies in wind projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vaughan, C.

2006-01-01

Methods of market entry and the financing of new technologies were discussed from the perspective of Clipper Windpower, a wind energy company based in the northeastern United States and Canada. Many new technology companies only consider private equity when seeking financing for new product development. However, financing for projects and products is only the first step to market entry. Wind projects are the financial equivalent of a high yield bond with mechanical risk. Many wind power projects with company equity can also be seen as a long term bond with upside in any given year. It is therefore important for wind developers to seek out strategic buyers for both product development and project development, in addition to finding sources of private equity. Clipper Windpower Inc. has developed a partnership with British Petroleum (BP), who hold an equity interest in the company. Both companies are now partnering on projects with Clipper turbines, and firm orders are in place for 2007 and 2008. As a result of the partnership, Clipper now has increased its financial strength in cash flows, balance sheets, and projected revenue. It was concluded that a successful partnership can increase the scale of wind power development, and bring financial sophistication to smaller companies with limited resources. refs., tabs., figs

Project-based production and project management : Findings and trends in research on temporary systems in multiple contexts

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pretorius, M.W.; Oerlemans, L.A.G.

2014-01-01

Globalisation is challenging almost every aspect of the political, economic, social and technological environment. Organisations, whether public or private, have to adapt their strategies and operations to stay competitive and efficient. Historically, organisations adopted project-based operations

The Importance of Experience Based Decommissioning Planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larsson, Arne; Lidar, Per; Hedin, Gunnar; Bergh, Niklas

2016-01-01

Decommissioning of a nuclear facility is an extensive and multidisciplinary task, which involves the management and technical actions associated with ceasing operation and thereafter the step-by-step transfer of the facility from an operating plant to an object under decommissioning. The decommissioning phase includes dismantling of systems and components, decontamination and clearance, demolition of buildings, remediation of any contaminated ground and finally a survey of the site. Several of these activities generate radioactive or potentially radioactive waste, which has to be managed properly prior to clearance or disposal. What makes decommissioning of nuclear installations unique is to large extent the radioactive waste management. No other industries have that complex regulatory framework for the waste management. If decommissioning project in the nuclear industry does not consider the waste aspects to the extent required, there is a large risk of failure causing a reduced trust by the regulators and other stakeholders as well as cost and schedule overruns. This paper will give an overview of important aspects and findings gathered during decades of planning and conducting decommissioning and nuclear facility modernization projects. (authors)

Critical Success Factors for Malaysian Construction Projects: An Investigative Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yee Cheong Yong

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Construction projects play an important role in the advancement of a nation through infrastructure development that leads to economic growth. They are planned carefully to accomplish certain goals. However, not all the projects achieved the goals as per planned. Many factors contribute to the successes and failures, and it becomes an interesting arena for research. The primary objective of this paper is to outline the development trend of project success measurement globally and locally. The research method employed was to make selected reviews on critical success factors' (CSFs literature and to compare international standards and progress in incorporating human behavioural aspects of project management to the situation in Malaysia. A somewhat similar pattern can be observed in Malaysia where the studies have departed from the usual criteria of time, cost and quality, to define project success in a more holistic way. However, the domestic industry has failed to respond to the emerging trend globally as there has yet been any widely published research on the importance of human-related factors towards project success. A consolidated framework of CSFs has therefore, been proposed in responding to the findings. This paper fulfils an identified need as there has been a dearth of research on the subject matter locally.

Washington Wildlife Mitigation Projects : Final Programmatic Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

United States. Bonneville Power Administration; Washington (State). Dept. of Fish and Wildlife.

1996-08-01

Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) proposes to fund the portion of the Washington Wildlife Mitigation Agreement (Agreement) pertaining to wildlife habitat mitigation projects to be undertaken in a cooperative effort with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). This Agreement serves to establish a monetary budget funded by BPA for projects proposed by Washington Wildlife Coalition members and approved by BPA to protect, mitigate, and improve wildlife and/or wildlife habitat within the State of Washington that has been affected by the construction of Federal dams along the Columbia River. This Environmental Assessment examines the potential environmental effects of acquiring and/or improving wildlife habitat within five different project areas. These project areas are located throughout Grant County and in parts of Okanogan, Douglas, Adams, Franklin, Kittias, Yakima, and Benton Counties. The multiple projects would involve varying combinations of five proposed site-specific activities (habitat improvement, operation and maintenance, monitoring and evaluation, access and recreation management, and cultural resource management). All required Federal, State, and tribal coordination, permits and/or approvals would be obtained prior to ground-disturbing activities.

Washington wildlife mitigation projects. Final programmatic environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-08-01

Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) proposes to fund the portion of the Washington Wildlife Mitigation Agreement (Agreement) pertaining to wildlife habitat mitigation projects to be undertaken in a cooperative effort with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). This Agreement serves to establish a monetary budget funded by BPA for projects proposed by Washington Wildlife Coalition members and approved by BPA to protect, mitigate, and improve wildlife and/or wildlife habitat within the State of Washington that has been affected by the construction of Federal dams along the Columbia River. This Environmental Assessment examines the potential environmental effects of acquiring and/or improving wildlife habitat within five different project areas. These project areas are located throughout Grant County and in parts of Okanogan, Douglas, Adams, Franklin, Kittias, Yakima, and Benton Counties. The multiple projects would involve varying combinations of five proposed site-specific activities (habitat improvement, operation and maintenance, monitoring and evaluation, access and recreation management, and cultural resource management). All required Federal, State, and tribal coordination, permits and/or approvals would be obtained prior to ground-disturbing activities

Nutrition and Physical Activity Policies and Practices in Family Child Care Homes in Oregon: Baseline Findings from the Healthy Home Child Care Project

Science.gov (United States)

Gunter, Katherine B.; Rice, Kelly R.; Trost, Stewart G.

2012-01-01

Baseline findings from the Healthy Home Child Care Project include data from Family Child Care Providers (FCCPs) in Oregon (n=53) who completed assessments of nutrition and physical activity policies and practices and BMI data for children in the care of FCCPs (n=205). Results show that a significant percentage of FCCPs failed to meet child care…

Number projection method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaneko, K.

1987-01-01

A relationship between the number projection and the shell model methods is investigated in the case of a single-j shell. We can find a one-to-one correspondence between the number projected and the shell model states

Co-ordinated research project: Ingestion and organ content of trace elements of importance in radiological protection (CRP: E4.30.08). Reference Asian man project, phase 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2000-01-01

The Second Research Coordination Meeting for the Co-ordinated Research Project (CRP) on 'Ingestion and Organ Content of Trace Elements of Importance in Radiological Protection: Reference Asian Man Project, Phase 2' was held at the China Institute for Radiation Protection (CIRP) in Taiyuan, People's Republic of China. During the first technical Session, an overview of the current status of the CRP was presented by the IAEA technical officer, Dr. Parr, and the responsible officer of the Central Reference Laboratory (NIRS, Japan), Dr. Kawamura. They drew attention to the agreed programme of work, as described in the project documentation, and the timetable foreseen for the CRP as summarized in table 1. In general, they concluded that the achievements of the CRP to-date appear to be good, particularly in relation to sample collection (in most countries) and quality control (the development of appropriate reference materials). However, some aspects of the work appear to be a little behind schedule, particularly (1) the final stages of preparation of total diet samples (because of delays in providing a suitable food blender), (2) the analysis of some of the elements of first priority (because of the non-availability, until now, of suitable analytical reference materials), and (3) in some countries, the collection of autopsy specimens. One country (Malaysia) has experienced considerable difficulties in implementing the project due to the retirement of the former Chief Scientific Investigator. For this reason it was unfortunately not possible for the Malaysian representative to be present at the RCM

Preoperative roentgendiagnostic of the naso-maxillary sinuses and operative findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vogel, H.; Probandt, G.; Herberhold, C.; Leitner, H.; Hoermann, K.; Hamburg Univ.

1982-01-01

The preoperative roentgenmorphology of the nasomaxillary sinuses was compared with the intraoperative findings. The dates of 285 patientes were evaluated. For the maxillary sinus there was correspondency in 85.7%. There were no differences in the cases explored with tomography. For the ethmoidal sinus there was correspondency in 89.5% and for the frontal sinus in 82.7%. The importance of the preoperative roentgenexamination with the standard-exposure in occipitomental projection was less the demonstration of the inflammation than of other findings. The sphenoidal sinus was best explored by tomography. The standardprojection did not always allow the differentiation of cystes, polypes and mucoceles in dieseased sinuses. The tomography was superior to the standardprojection. In tumorpatients the accompanying inflammation could not be separated from tumorinfiltration with certainty. (orig.) [de

Phase 1 studies summary of major findings of the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, South San Francisco Bay, California

Science.gov (United States)

Valoppi, Laura

2018-04-02

Wildlife, the Santa Clara Valley Water District, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.To implement the AMP, the PMT have selected and funded applied studies and monitoring projects to address key uncertainties. This information is used by the PMT to make decisions about current management of the project area and future restoration actions in order to meet project.This document summarizes the major scientific findings from studies conducted from 2009 to 2016, as part of the science program that was conducted in conjunction with Phase 1 restoration and management actions. Additionally, this report summarizes the management response to the study results under the guidance of the AMP framework and provides a list of suggested studies to be conducted in “Phase 2–A scorecard summarizing the Project’s progress toward meeting the AMP goals for a range of Project objectives.” The scoring to date indicates that the Project is meeting or exceeding expectations for sediment accretion and western snowy plover (Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus) recovery. There is uncertainty with respect to objectives for California gulls (Larus californicus), California least tern (Sternula antillarum), steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and regulatory water quality objectives. Water quality and algal blooms, specifically of the managed ponds, is indicated as trending negative. However, the vast majority of objectives are trending positive, including increased abundance for a number of bird guilds, increasing marsh habitat, maintenance of mudflats, visitor experience, estuarine fish numbers, and special-status marsh species numbers.

A simulation of 'schedule-cost' progress monitoring system in nuclear power project management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song Haitao; Huang Zhongping; Zhang Zemin; Wang Zikai

2010-01-01

The objective of project management is to find the optimal balance between progress and cost according to the project requirements. Traditional method always manages progress and cost separately. However, domestic and international experience indicated that the interactions between these two factors are crucial in the project implementation. Modern project managers have to manage and maintain a 'Progress - Cost' joint control framework. Such a model is applied into a sub-project of a nuclear power project using Simulink in this paper. It helps to identify and correct the deviations of the project. Earned Value Management is used by the project manager to quantify the cost of the project and progress of implementation. The budget plan value, actual value, earned value are three important parameters to measure cost and progress of the project. The experimental results illustrated that the method gives a more comprehensive performance evaluation of the project. (authors)

Finding Futures: A Spatio-Visual Experiment In Participatory Engagement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Davies, Sarah Rachael; Selin, Cynthia; Gano, Gretchen

2013-01-01

The Finding Futures Project explores innovative ways of deliberating the future of cities through an emphasis on embodied spatio-visual engagement with urban landscapes. The first instantiation of the project - which took place in Lisbon in 2011 - is reported through a discussion of the project's...

Increasing seat belt use through state-level demonstration projects : a compendium of initial findings

Science.gov (United States)

2008-08-01

This report summarizes the efforts and results from four of six State-level demonstration projects supported with cooperative agreements from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The projects were intended to increase seat belt use sta...

Project Management with IT Security Focus

OpenAIRE

Felician Alecu; Paul Pocatilu; Sergiu Capisizu

2011-01-01

The paper focus on the main key points related to the IT security project management. The most important lifecycle stages are identified: IT security project proposal definition, project organization, project planning, quality planning, project team organization, IT security project activities management and project closing. The most important success factors for IT security projects are the support of top-management, customer satisfaction, prevention over remediation and continuous progress....

Colour and inclusivity: a visual communication design project with older people.

Science.gov (United States)

da Silva, Fernando Moreira

2012-01-01

In an ideal world, inclusive products and services would be the standard and not the exception. This paper presents a systematic approach to an overlap between Visual Communication Design, Printed Colour and Inclusive Design, for older people, with the aim to develop of a set of research-based ageing and ergonomics-centred communication design guidelines and recommendations for printed material (analogical displays). The approach included an initial extensive literature review in the area of colour, older people and ergonomics issues and vision common diseases, communication design. The second phase was the implementation of an experiment to measure the different colour experiences of the participants in two sample groups (one in UK and another one in Portugal), using printed material, to find out the colours one should use in analogical communication material, being aware of the colour contrast importance (foreground versus background) and the difficulties experienced by older people to read and understand lettering, signs. As main contribution of this research project, we developed a set of guidelines and recommendations based on the reviewed literature and the sample groups' findings, trying to demonstrate the importance of these guidelines when conceiving a new communicational design project in a way this project will achieve vision comfort and understandability, especially for older people, in an inclusive design perspective.

eHealth for Remote Regions: Findings from Central Asia Health Systems Strengthening Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Sajwani, Afroz; Qureshi, Kiran; Shaikh, Tehniat; Sayani, Saleem

2015-01-01

Isolated communities in remote regions of Afghanistan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan and Tajikistan lack access to high-quality, low-cost health care services, forcing them to travel to distant parts of the country, bearing an unnecessary financial burden. The eHealth Programme under Central Asia Health Systems Strengthening (CAHSS) Project, a joint initiative between the Aga Khan Foundation, Canada and the Government of Canada, was initiated in 2013 with the aim to utilize Information and Communication Technologies to link health care institutions and providers with rural communities to provide comprehensive and coordinated care, helping minimize the barriers of distance and time. Under the CAHSS Project, access to low-cost, quality health care is provided through a regional hub and spoke teleconsultation network of government and non-government health facilities. In addition, capacity building initiatives are offered to health professionals. By 2017, the network is expected to connect seven Tier 1 tertiary care facilities with 14 Tier 2 secondary care facilities for teleconsultation and eLearning. From April 2013 to September 2014, 6140 teleconsultations have been provided across the project sites. Additionally, 52 new eLearning sessions have been developed and 2020 staff members have benefitted from eLearning sessions. Ethics and patient rights are respected during project implementation.

Some recent research findings on the social dynamics of environmental risk perception

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horlick-Jones, T.; Marchi, B. de; Del Zotto, M.; Pellizzoni, L.; Ungaro, D.; Prades Lopez, A.; Diaz Hidalgo, M.; Pidgeon, N.; Sime, J.

1998-01-01

Full text of publication follows: key themes: social dynamics of public risk perception; trust, tolerability, and risk management; discourses of environmental risk; implications for risk communication and environmental valuation; application of mixed qualitative/quantitative methods in risk perception research. This paper presents some of the key findings of a two-year comparative European study (the PRISP Project) on public perception of risks associated with industrial sites in the UK, Italy and Spain. The project utilised a mixed-method approach (comprising community ethnography, semi-structured interviews, questionnaire survey and focus groups), within a Grounded Theory framework, to examine the social dynamics of risk comprehension, tolerability and politics in settings adjacent to a range of industrial facilities. These often complex industrial zones present a portfolio of 'acute' and 'chronic' risks including hazards associated with sites regulated by the European Union COMAH Directive. Our findings have important implications for the regulation of both major accident hazard and pollution risks, risk communication programmes, industrial risk management practices and for the methodological basis of health and safety and environmental valuation techniques. (authors)

Impact of Project P.A.T.H.S. on adolescent developmental outcomes in Hong Kong: findings based on seven waves of data.

Science.gov (United States)

Shek, Daniel T L; Ma, Cecilia M S

2012-01-18

The present study examined the longitudinal impact of Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes) on adolescent developmental outcomes in Hong Kong. Using a longitudinal randomized group design, seven waves of data were collected from 24 experimental schools (n=4049 at wave 1) in which students participated in the Tier 1 Program of Project P.A.T.H.S. and 24 control schools (n=3797 at wave 1). Results based on individual growth curve modeling generally showed that, relative to the control participants, participants in the experimental group had: (a) a higher level of positive development; (b) a lower level of substance abuse; and (c) a lower level of delinquent behavior. Participants who regarded the program to be beneficial also showed higher levels of positive development and lower levels of problem behavior than did the control school students. The present findings suggest that Project P.A.T.H.S. is effective in promoting positive development and preventing adolescent problem behavior in Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong.

Examination of the relationship between project management critical success factors and project success of oil and gas drilling projects

Science.gov (United States)

Alagba, Tonye J.

Oil and gas drilling projects are the primary means by which oil companies recover large volumes of commercially available hydrocarbons from deep reservoirs. These types of projects are complex in nature, involving management of multiple stakeholder interfaces, multidisciplinary personnel, complex contractor relationships, and turbulent environmental and market conditions, necessitating the application of proven project management best practices and critical success factors (CSFs) to achieve success. Although there is some practitioner oriented literature on project management CSFs for drilling projects, none of these is based on empirical evidence, from research. In addition, the literature has reported alarming rates of oil and gas drilling project failure, which is attributable not to technical factors, but to failure of project management. The aim of this quantitative correlational study therefore, was to discover an empirically verified list of project management CSFs, which consistent application leads to successful implementation of oil and gas drilling projects. The study collected survey data online, from a random sample of 127 oil and gas drilling personnel who were members of LinkedIn's online community "Drilling Supervisors, Managers, and Engineers". The results of the study indicated that 10 project management factors are individually related to project success of oil and gas drilling projects. These 10 CSFs are namely; Project mission, Top management support, Project schedule/plan, Client consultation, Personnel, Technical tasks, Client acceptance, Monitoring and feedback, Communication, and Troubleshooting. In addition, the study found that the relationships between the 10 CSFs and drilling project success is unaffected by participant and project demographics---role of project personnel, and project location. The significance of these findings are both practical, and theoretical. Practically, application of an empirically verified CSFs list to oil

IT Project Management in Very Small Software Companies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shakir, Shahid Nadeem; Nørbjerg, Jacob

2013-01-01

In developing countries very small software companies (VSSCs) with only 1-10 employees play an important role both in the local economy and as providers of software and services to customers in other parts of the world. Understanding and improving their IT project management (ITPM) practices...... and challenges are, therefore, important in the local as well as the larger context of globalized software development. There is, however, very little research into small shop software practices in developing countries. The current paper explores actual ITPM practices in Pakistani VSSCs based on a qualitative...... study of seven Pakistani VSSCs. We find that some Pakistani ITPM practices are similar to what is reported from VSSCs in other parts of the world, while others seem to be related to the companies' position in the global software development chain. This paper is part of a larger research project aiming...

Project Temporalities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tryggestad, Kjell; Justesen, Lise; Mouritsen, Jan

2013-01-01

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how animals can become stakeholders in interaction with project management technologies and what happens with project temporalities when new and surprising stakeholders become part of a project and a recognized matter of concern to be taken...... into account. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a qualitative case study of a project in the building industry. The authors use actor-network theory (ANT) to analyze the emergence of animal stakeholders, stakes and temporalities. Findings – The study shows how project temporalities can...... multiply in interaction with project management technologies and how conventional linear conceptions of project time may be contested with the emergence of new non-human stakeholders and temporalities. Research limitations/implications – The study draws on ANT to show how animals can become stakeholders...

Project Management Performance Drivers

OpenAIRE

Ra’ad, Mohammed A.; Najdawi, Mohammad K.

2010-01-01

The practice of project management has gained enormous importance over the past several years in various business industries. “In industries as diverse as pharmaceuticals, software, and aerospace, projects drive business” (Wheatley). This gain of importance can be attributed to the magnitude of the impact project performance results in terms of time, cost, and scope have over the project performing entity. “On the basis of data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, part of the US De...

Critical Success Factors in Construction Projects (Governmental Projects as a Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hatem Khaleefah Al-Ageeli

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The importance of the construction sector and its Great role in the provision of services and infrastructure, reduce poverty, improve living conditions and improve the economic situation in the country, impose attention to the way in which the projects implemented for its improvement and to get successful projects. The objective of this research was to determine the criteria for success as well as critical success and failure factors that have a significant impact on project success. A selected 75 engineer (department managers, project managers and engineers are asked to fill the questionnaire form, Sixty-seven valid questionnaire forms were analyzed statistically to get search results, which were as follows : Twelve critical success factors, the most important factors of it were ("contractor financial efficiency ", " security ,political , economic stability ", "the project manager competence" and " Integration and clarity of contract documents " , thirteen critical failure factors, the most important factors of it were ("corruption " , " external circumstances ", "Financial difficulties of owner", and ten success criteria , the most important criteria of it were ("within allocated budget" , " within time period" , "Quality" .

IT Project Selection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Keld

2016-01-01

for initiation. Most of the research on project selection is normative, suggesting new methods, but available empirical studies indicate that many methods are seldom used in practice. This paper addresses the issue by providing increased understanding of IT project selection practice, thereby facilitating...... the development of methods that better fit current practice. The study is based on naturalistic decision-making theory and interviews with experienced project portfolio managers who, when selecting projects, primarily rely on political skills, experience and personal networks rather than on formal IT project......-selection methods, and these findings point to new areas for developing new methodological support for IT project selection....

Research on evaluation of enterprise project culture based on Denison model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yucheng Zeng

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to build enterprise project culture evaluation model and search for the best evaluation method for Chinese enterprise project culture on the basis of studying and drawing lessons from enterprise culture evaluation theory and method at home and abroad. Design/methodology/approach: Referring to the Denison enterprise culture evaluation model, this paper optimizes it according to the difference of enterprise project culture, designs the enterprise project culture evaluation model and proves the practicability of the model through empirical. Finding: This paper finds that it`s more applicable to use the Denison model for enterprise project culture evaluation through the comparative analysis of domestic and foreign enterprise culture evaluation theory and method, the systematic project culture management framework of Chinese enterprises has not yet formed through empirical research, and four factors in enterprise project culture have important influence on project operation performance improvement. Research limitations/implications: The research on evaluation of enterprise project culture based on Denison model is a preliminary attempt, the design of evaluation index system, evaluation model and scale structure also need to be improved, but the thinking of this paper in this field provides a valuable reference for future research. Practical Implications: This paper provides the support of theory and practice for evaluating the present situation of enterprise project culture construction and analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of project culture, which contributes to the "dialectical therapy" of enterprise project management, enterprise management and enterprise project culture construction. Originality/value: The main contribution of this paper is the introduction of Denison enterprise culture model. Combining with the actual situation of enterprises, this paper also builds the evaluation model for

Leadership success within disaster restoration projects.

Science.gov (United States)

Rapp, Randy R; Baroudi, Bassam

2014-01-01

Successful project managers draw their performance from essential leadership traits, as guided by their core values.Within disaster recovery, contractors who mitigate, repair, and reconstruct the built environment are often faced with challenges exceeding the norm. The effective leader is commonly expected to consider stakeholder motivations within distressing situations as well as other external and environmental factors when seeking to lead the project team to successful outcomes. This research is most concerned with leadership within the context of disaster restoration of the built environment. Its stimulus comes from the Restoration Industry Association (RIA)'s efforts to highlight leadership traits and core values for its Certified Restorer Body of Knowledge but would be of value to others associated with disaster recovery operations. Among organizations whose membership includes thousands of practitioners who restore and reconstruct the built environment after disasters, the RIA is the only one yet to formally and substantially research which core values and leader traits are deemed critical for the success of efforts to manage the means and methods applied on recovery job sites. Forty-six seasoned disaster restoration industry project professionals voluntarily responded to a survey questionnaire that sought their opinions about the traits and core values that they consider most important for successful disaster restoration project leadership. The most important leader traits were effective communication, professional competence, and leadership by example. The most important restoration industry values were integrity, compassion, and trustworthiness. The recognized imperative of compassion was unexpected in light of stereotypes often associated with construction-related contractors. This and other findings permit disaster response and recovery stakeholders to better understand qualities they should wish to see in leaders of contractor organizations, which

Public Value Creation Enabled by Healthcare IS Projects – a resource-based-view

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schlichter, Bjarne Rerup; Svejvig, Per; Laursen, Markus

Creation of value from IT projects is a recurring theme that has diffused into healthcare information sys-tems (HIS). By applying a resource-based-view on findings from a study on the optimisation project of an integrated health information system (HIS) we develop a framework of capabilities needed...... in a public HIS setting to create value. The framework consists of Professional- , Organisational-, Patient Perceived- and Employee Perceived-Value dimensions. HIS is partly overlooked in the public management literature and the aspect of emergence and (personal as well as organisational) learning plays...... an important role in the creation value in HIS-projects....

A path finding implementation for multi-layer networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dijkstra, F.; van der Ham, J.; Grosso, P.; de Laat, C.

2009-01-01

The goal of the OptIPuter project is to tightly couple research applications with dynamically allocated paths. Since OptIPuter is a multi-disciplinary project, the paths through the network often span multiple network domains, and the applications are challenged to find valid network connections

A path finding implementation for multi-layer network

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dijkstra, F.; Ham, J.J. van der; Grosso, P.; Laat, C. de

2009-01-01

The goal of the OptIPuter project is to tightly couple research applications with dynamically allocated paths. Since OptIPuter is a multi-disciplinary project, the paths through the network often span multiple network domains, and the applications are challenged to find valid network connections

Port projects put on hold as coal imports peak

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2007-07-15

UK ports and rail operators have invested heavily to improve available capacity, but now imports are leveling off. In January to May 2007, UK coal imports totalled 19.2 mt, a drop of 6% compared to the same period in 2006. Indigenous production dropped more drastically, 23.8% to 6.62 mt. UK coal demand will be determined by such factors as the Large Combustion Plant Directive. There appears to be a second wave in the 'dash for gas' generation game as gas prices have fallen. Investment at Immingham's terminal has enabled the UK to cope with increased coal imports. ABP is now considering another coal terminal outside the locks at Hull. These plans are outlined in the article. Coal handling at Newcastle is also reported. 3 figs., 1 photos.

Project management in Ghana: expectations, realities and barriers to use

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fred Venter

2005-05-01

Full Text Available This article reports the findings of an empirical study of the problems of developing Project Management (PM practice in Ghanaian organisations. Based on previous research and survey data, the characteristics of the project life cycle (PLC are used as a basis to examine the nature, type and severity of the problems encountered by organisations implementing projects. It is also used to determine the extent and relevance of PM usage: concepts, methods and application. It is concluded that although PM is important, legitimate and relevant, its practice in Ghana has been fraught with problems. Some recommendations for overcoming these problems are also made, and it is recommended that further research is required in order to ascertain the nature of PM practice and to gauge the attitudes and opinions of people involved in projects in Ghana.

Project management in Ghana: Expectations, realities and barriers to use

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel F. Ofori

2004-12-01

Full Text Available This article reports the findings of an empirical study of the problems of developing Project Management (PM practice in Ghanaian organisations. Based on previous research and survey data, the characteristics of the project life cycle (PLC are used as a basis to examine the nature, type and severity of the problems encountered by organisations implementing projects. It is also used to determine the extent and relevance of PM usage: concepts, methods and application. It is concluded that although PM is important, legitimate and relevant, its practice in Ghana has been fraught with problems. Some recommendations for overcoming these problems are also made, and it is recommended that further research is required in order to ascertain the nature of PM practice and to gauge the attitudes and opinions of people involved in projects in Ghana.

Study on the import dues system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Woo, Sung Keun [LG-Caltex Oil Co., Seoul (Korea)

2000-04-01

Since October 1979, Korea had implemented a petroleum project fund dues system to actively prepare for unstable international petroleum condition. However, as the size of operating a petroleum project fund was bigger and the influence of government on this fund became powerful, it was inserted in the government tax revenues as a {sup S}pecial account for energy and resource project{sup i}n March 1994 and its name was changed to import dues. In this study, it discusses the facts of import dues system, which exists only in Korea, and its policy directions since this system has been reviewed due to the economic development, liberalization of petroleum industry and inequity between alternative energy sources. 4 tabs.

The programme benefits of improving project team communication through a contact centre

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bond-Barnard, T. J.

2013-08-01

Full Text Available A South African national programme to repair government infrastructure uses a contact centre (or call centre to facilitate and manage communication. An important question is: How does the contact centre benefit the programme and its projects? This study discusses the findings of a survey that quantified the benefits of the programme when the communication between team members in the programme was improved by using a contact centre. The results show that, by using a contact centre to improve the communication between project team members, their perception of communication effectiveness, quality of project deliverables, service delivery, and customer satisfaction of the programme dramatically increases.

Social cost impact assessment of pipeline infrastructure projects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Matthews, John C., E-mail: matthewsj@battelle.org [Battelle, 7231 Palmetto Dr, Baton Rouge, LA 70808 (United States); Allouche, Erez N., E-mail: allouche@latech.edu [Louisiana Tech University (United States); Sterling, Raymond L., E-mail: sterling@latech.edu [Louisiana Tech University (United States)

2015-01-15

A key advantage of trenchless construction methods compared with traditional open-cut methods is their ability to install or rehabilitate underground utility systems with limited disruption to the surrounding built and natural environments. The equivalent monetary values of these disruptions are commonly called social costs. Social costs are often ignored by engineers or project managers during project planning and design phases, partially because they cannot be calculated using standard estimating methods. In recent years some approaches for estimating social costs were presented. Nevertheless, the cost data needed for validation of these estimating methods is lacking. Development of such social cost databases can be accomplished by compiling relevant information reported in various case histories. This paper identifies eight most important social cost categories, presents mathematical methods for calculating them, and summarizes the social cost impacts for two pipeline construction projects. The case histories are analyzed in order to identify trends for the various social cost categories. The effectiveness of the methods used to estimate these values is also discussed. These findings are valuable for pipeline infrastructure engineers making renewal technology selection decisions by providing a more accurate process for the assessment of social costs and impacts. - Highlights: • Identified the eight most important social cost factors for pipeline construction • Presented mathematical methods for calculating those social cost factors • Summarized social cost impacts for two pipeline construction projects • Analyzed those projects to identify trends for the social cost factors.

Social cost impact assessment of pipeline infrastructure projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matthews, John C.; Allouche, Erez N.; Sterling, Raymond L.

2015-01-01

A key advantage of trenchless construction methods compared with traditional open-cut methods is their ability to install or rehabilitate underground utility systems with limited disruption to the surrounding built and natural environments. The equivalent monetary values of these disruptions are commonly called social costs. Social costs are often ignored by engineers or project managers during project planning and design phases, partially because they cannot be calculated using standard estimating methods. In recent years some approaches for estimating social costs were presented. Nevertheless, the cost data needed for validation of these estimating methods is lacking. Development of such social cost databases can be accomplished by compiling relevant information reported in various case histories. This paper identifies eight most important social cost categories, presents mathematical methods for calculating them, and summarizes the social cost impacts for two pipeline construction projects. The case histories are analyzed in order to identify trends for the various social cost categories. The effectiveness of the methods used to estimate these values is also discussed. These findings are valuable for pipeline infrastructure engineers making renewal technology selection decisions by providing a more accurate process for the assessment of social costs and impacts. - Highlights: • Identified the eight most important social cost factors for pipeline construction • Presented mathematical methods for calculating those social cost factors • Summarized social cost impacts for two pipeline construction projects • Analyzed those projects to identify trends for the social cost factors

The TIMSS Videotape Classroom Study: Methods and Findings from an Exploratory Research Project on Eighth-Grade Mathematics Instruction in Germany, Japan, and the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Stigler, James W.; Gonzales, Patrick; Kawanaka, Takako; Knoll, Steffen; Serrano, Ana

1999-01-01

Describes the methods and preliminary findings of the Videotape Classroom Study, a video survey of eighth-grade mathematics lessons in Germany, Japan, and the United States. Part of the Third International Mathematics and Science study, this research project is the first study of videotaped records from national probability samples. (SLD)

Project Management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kampf, Constance

2009-01-01

In this video Associate Professor Constance Kampf talks about the importance project management. Not only as a tool in implementation, but also as a way of thinking, and as something that needs to be considered from idea conception......In this video Associate Professor Constance Kampf talks about the importance project management. Not only as a tool in implementation, but also as a way of thinking, and as something that needs to be considered from idea conception...

Virtual projects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svejvig, Per; Commisso, Trine Hald

2012-01-01

that the best practice knowledge has not permeated sufficiently to the practice. Furthermore, the appropriate application of information and communication technology (ICT) remains a big challenge, and finally project managers are not sufficiently trained in organizing and conducting virtual projects....... The overall implications for research and practice are to acknowledge virtual project management as very different to traditional project management and to address this difference.......Virtual projects are common with global competition, market development, and not least the financial crisis forcing organizations to reduce their costs drastically. Organizations therefore have to place high importance on ways to carry out virtual projects and consider appropriate practices...

The Importance of a Business Plan when Planning a ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The Importance of a Business Plan when Planning a Lexicographical Project* ... It is, however, an important step towards the establishment of a dictionary project. The compilation of a dictionary ... AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE ...

Your Project Management Coach Best Practices for Managing Projects in the Real World

CERN Document Server

Biafore, Bonnie

2012-01-01

A pragmatic approach to project management Many projects fail to deliver on time or on budget, or even to deliver a workable product that satisfies the customer. While good project management goes a long way towards ensuring success, managers often fail to follow the plans they implement. This unique guide helps you understand and successfully handle project management, once and for all. Covering practical ways to solve problems you'll typically face when managing actual projects, this pragmatic book takes you through a full project management lifecycle. You'll find ample tips, tricks, and bes

Finding-specific display presets for computed radiography soft-copy reading.

Science.gov (United States)

Andriole, K P; Gould, R G; Webb, W R

1999-05-01

Much work has been done to optimize the display of cross-sectional modality imaging examinations for soft-copy reading (i.e., window/level tissue presets, and format presentations such as tile and stack modes, four-on-one, nine-on-one, etc). Less attention has been paid to the display of digital forms of the conventional projection x-ray. The purpose of this study is to assess the utility of providing presets for computed radiography (CR) soft-copy display, based not on the window/level settings, but on processing applied to the image optimized for visualization of specific findings, pathologies, etc (i.e., pneumothorax, tumor, tube location). It is felt that digital display of CR images based on finding-specific processing presets has the potential to: speed reading of digital projection x-ray examinations on soft copy; improve diagnostic efficacy; standardize display across examination type, clinical scenario, important key findings, and significant negatives; facilitate image comparison; and improve confidence in and acceptance of soft-copy reading. Clinical chest images are acquired using an Agfa-Gevaert (Mortsel, Belgium) ADC 70 CR scanner and Fuji (Stamford, CT) 9000 and AC2 CR scanners. Those demonstrating pertinent findings are transferred over the clinical picture archiving and communications system (PACS) network to a research image processing station (Agfa PS5000), where the optimal image-processing settings per finding, pathologic category, etc, are developed in conjunction with a thoracic radiologist, by manipulating the multiscale image contrast amplification (Agfa MUSICA) algorithm parameters. Soft-copy display of images processed with finding-specific settings are compared with the standard default image presentation for 50 cases of each category. Comparison is scored using a 5-point scale with the positive scale denoting the standard presentation is preferred over the finding-specific processing, the negative scale denoting the finding

The influences of attributes, skills and knowledge of managers on refurbishment project performance

Science.gov (United States)

Ishak, Nurfadzillah

2018-02-01

Recently, the momentum on the growth of national building industry shows the increasing of the demand in refurbishment works becomes a trend spreading over the Malaysia. However, the potential of these activities normally related with the complexity in technical aspect compared to new build schemes. It will be reflecting on the unsatisfactory project performance. A competent manager is required to have the appropriate attributes, skills and knowledge in able to perform all the duties associated with managing the refurbishment building projects. Therefore, this paper is to identify the most appropriate attributes, skills and knowledge that required for managers to indicate the relationship between the influences on the refurbishment projects performance. This finding is indicate the importance of development the personal attributes, skills, and knowledge of managers and adds as benefit of raising the profile and image of managers in refurbishment building industry through a dissemination of the findings.

Sustainable Relations in International Development Cooperation Projects: The Role of Organizational Climate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cosimo Rota

2011-10-01

Full Text Available  The importance of the human side of project management to assess the success of international development project has not been fully considered yet. An analysis of the literature on the project success definition, focused on the success criteria and success factors, was carried out. The organization’s effectiveness, in terms of Relations Sustainability, emerged as a criteria integrating the "time, cost, performance" approach to define a project success. Based on previous research contributions on the factors influencing the organization’s effectiveness, the paper expands the analysis of the influence of Organizational Climate on the Relation Sustainability between project manager and project team involved in international cooperation for development. The statistical methods used include confirmatory factors analysis and structural equation modeling. The results carry implications for project management identifying five dimensions of Organizational Climate (trust, innovation, social cohesion, communication and job challenge influencing Relations Sustainability. This finding suggests that Organizational Climate contributes to project success by creating trust, stimulating commitment and generating satisfaction to overcome conflicts between project manager and project team.

Public health impacts of city policies to reduce climate change: findings from the URGENCHE EU-China project.

Science.gov (United States)

Sabel, Clive E; Hiscock, Rosemary; Asikainen, Arja; Bi, Jun; Depledge, Mike; van den Elshout, Sef; Friedrich, Rainer; Huang, Ganlin; Hurley, Fintan; Jantunen, Matti; Karakitsios, Spyros P; Keuken, Menno; Kingham, Simon; Kontoroupis, Periklis; Kuenzli, Nino; Liu, Miaomiao; Martuzzi, Marco; Morton, Katie; Mudu, Pierpaolo; Niittynen, Marjo; Perez, Laura; Sarigiannis, Denis; Stahl-Timmins, Will; Tobollik, Myriam; Tuomisto, Jouni; Willers, Saskia

2016-03-08

Climate change is a global threat to health and wellbeing. Here we provide findings of an international research project investigating the health and wellbeing impacts of policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in urban environments. Five European and two Chinese city authorities and partner academic organisations formed the project consortium. The methodology involved modelling the impact of adopted urban climate-change mitigation transport, buildings and energy policy scenarios, usually for the year 2020 and comparing them with business as usual (BAU) scenarios (where policies had not been adopted). Carbon dioxide emissions, health impacting exposures (air pollution, noise and physical activity), health (cardiovascular, respiratory, cancer and leukaemia) and wellbeing (including noise related wellbeing, overall wellbeing, economic wellbeing and inequalities) were modelled. The scenarios were developed from corresponding known levels in 2010 and pre-existing exposure response functions. Additionally there were literature reviews, three longitudinal observational studies and two cross sectional surveys. There are four key findings. Firstly introduction of electric cars may confer some small health benefits but it would be unwise for a city to invest in electric vehicles unless their power generation fuel mix generates fewer emissions than petrol and diesel. Second, adopting policies to reduce private car use may have benefits for carbon dioxide reduction and positive health impacts through reduced noise and increased physical activity. Third, the benefits of carbon dioxide reduction from increasing housing efficiency are likely to be minor and co-benefits for health and wellbeing are dependent on good air exchange. Fourthly, although heating dwellings by in-home biomass burning may reduce carbon dioxide emissions, consequences for health and wellbeing were negative with the technology in use in the cities studied. The climate-change reduction policies reduced

Adapting Project Management Practices to Research-Based Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Bahr, P.; Baker, T.; Corbin, B.; Keith, L.; Loerch, L.; Mullenax, C.; Myers, R.; Rhodes, B.; Skytland, N.

2007-01-01

From dealing with the inherent uncertainties in outcomes of scientific research to the lack of applicability of current NASA Procedural Requirements guidance documentation, research-based projects present challenges that require unique application of classical project management techniques. If additionally challenged by the creation of a new program transitioning from basic to applied research in a technical environment often unfamiliar with the cost and schedule constraints addressed by project management practices, such projects can find themselves struggling throughout their life cycles. Finally, supplying deliverables to a prime vehicle customer, also in the formative stage, adds further complexity to the development and management of research-based projects. The Biomedical Research and Countermeasures Projects Branch at NASA Johnson Space Center encompasses several diverse applied research-based or research-enabling projects within the newly-formed Human Research Program. This presentation will provide a brief overview of the organizational structure and environment in which these projects operate and how the projects coordinate to address and manage technical requirements. We will identify several of the challenges (cost, technical, schedule, and personnel) encountered by projects across the Branch, present case reports of actions taken and techniques implemented to deal with these challenges, and then close the session with an open forum discussion of remaining challenges and potential mitigations.

Understanding large social-ecological systems: introducing the SESMAD project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Cox

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This article introduces the Social-ecological systems meta-analysis database (SESMAD project, which is the project behind the case studies and synthetic articles contained in this special issue of the International Journal of the Commons. SESMAD is an internationally collaborative meta-analysis project that builds on previous seminally synthetic work on small-scale common-pool resource systems conducted at the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at Indiana University. This project is guided by the following research question: can the variables found to be important in explaining outcomes on small-scale systems be scaled up to explain outcomes in large-scale environmental governance? In this special issue we report on our findings thus far through a set of case studies of large-scale environmental governance, a paper that describes our conceptual advances, and a paper that compares these five case studies to further examine our central research question.

We Must Invest in Applied Knowledge of Computational Neurosciences and Neuroinformatics as an Important Future in Malaysia: The Malaysian Brain Mapping Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Sumari, Putra; Idris, Zamzuri; Abdullah, Jafri Malin

2017-03-01

The Academy of Sciences Malaysia and the Malaysian Industry-Government group for High Technology has been working hard to project the future of big data and neurotechnology usage up to the year 2050. On the 19 September 2016, the International Brain Initiative was announced by US Under Secretary of State Thomas Shannon at a meeting that accompanied the United Nations' General Assembly in New York City. This initiative was seen as an important effort but deemed costly for developing countries. At a concurrent meeting hosted by the US National Science Foundation at Rockefeller University, numerous countries discussed this massive project, which would require genuine collaboration between investigators in the realms of neuroethics. Malaysia's readiness to embark on using big data in the field of brain, mind and neurosciences is to prepare for the 4th Industrial Revolution which is an important investment for the country's future. The development of new strategies has also been encouraged by the involvement of the Society of Brain Mapping and Therapeutics, USA and the International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility.

The online good practice guide on job finding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Levinsen, Karin Tweddell; Ørngreen, Rikke; Andreasen, Lars Birch

2010-01-01

The Online Good Practice Guide on Job Finding is a result of the project L@JOST, 'Learn about finding jobs through digital storytelling', with the purpose of enhancing the employability possibilities of graduated students through the use of e-portfolio and digital storytelling....

Governance arrangements for IT project portfolio management qualitative insights and a quantitative modeling approach

CERN Document Server

Frey, Thorsten

2014-01-01

Due to the growing importance of IT-based innovations, contemporary firms face an excessive number of proposals for IT projects. As typically only a fraction of these projects can be implemented with the given capacity, IT project portfolio management as a relatively new discipline has received growing attention in research and practice in recent years.?Thorsten Frey demonstrates how companies are struggling to find the right balance between local autonomy and central overview about all projects in the organization. In this context, impacts of different contextual factors on the design of governance arrangements for IT project portfolio management are demonstrated. Moreover, consequences of the use of different organizational designs are analyzed. The author presents insights from a qualitative empirical study as well as a simulative approach.

Grounded Theory Study of Conflicts in Norwegian Agile Software Projects: The Project Managers’ Perspective

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Lubna Siddique

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to explore the process of conflicts in agile software projects. The purpose was to investigate the causes and consequences of these conflicts. For this purpose, we conducted a qualitative study involving agile software projects in Norway. Grounded theory was used to analyze the data and the interview findings are presented using Glaser´s Six C model (context, condition, causes, consequences, contingencies, and covariance. The research findings suggest that there are several causes of conflicts. These include: the role of the product owner, an inexperienced project manager, the customer’s lack of knowledge about methodology organizational hierarchy in public companies, contracting, personal egos, financial issues, not getting the right team. Consequences of conflicts include: decreased productivity, wastage of time and resources, diverted attention from project objectives loss of motivation, poor decision making, loss of communication. Based on interview data, different conflict strategies are suggested and these include appropriately skilled project manager, communication and negotiation, defining clear roles, stakeholder analysis, managing stakeholder´s expectations, discussion, finding the root cause of conflict. Project managers are using these strategies to avoid or resolve conflicts. The competencies required to handle these kind of conflicts are also discussed in the paper, while the implications of theory and practice of conflict management theory are also presented.

Virtual Project Teams

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjørn, Pernille

technology in six real-life virtual teams, two in industry and four in education, applying interpretative research and action research methods. Two main lines of investigation are pursued: the first involves an examination of the organisational issues related to groupware adaptation in virtual project teams......, professional disciplines, time differences and technology. This thesis comprises a general introduction, referred to as the summary report, and seven research papers, which deal in detail with the results and findings of the empirical cases. The summary report provides a general introduction to the research......, while the second looks at the social context and practices of virtual project teams. Two of the key findings are 1) that the process of groupware adaptation by virtual project teams can be viewed as a process of expanding and aligning the technological frames of the participants, which includes mutual...

Alternative legacies: Artist projects in history museums & the importance of context

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Lyndsey Boekenkamp

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The primary focus of this paper is to investigate why artists are drawn to working in history museums, and how an artist-driven critique of museum practices encourages dialogue about artistic and historical authority, and the role of the museum. Drawing from the fields of public history, art history, anthropology, and journalism, this study argues that artists play an important role in fostering multiple interpretations within traditional historical and academically informed museum practices. The primary theorists influencing this study include Art Historian, Douglas Crimp and his analysis of postmodernism; Professor of Art Education, Dipti Desai and her theory of ethnographic shift; Modern European Historian, Susan Crane and her theory of disruption or “excess of memory”; English Professor, Bettina Carbonell and her theory of “bearing witness”; and Patricia Romney’s analysis of Russian Philosopher, Mikhail Bakhtin and his theory of dialogism. As an outgrowth of this pre-existing scholarship, this study sought to prove that artists were better positioned to intervene in and manipulate traditional museum practices, not because they helped facilitate shared authority, but because they asserted their own artistic authority in the creation of alternative narratives. Through an analysis comparing Fred Wilson’s installation Liberty/Liberte—shown first in the 2006-2007 exhibition Legacies: Contemporary Artists Reflect on Slavery at the New-York Historical Society, and then in its current placement as part of the Historical Society’s official renovations—this study instead concludes that artists are more than capable of successful interventions in non-art environments – specifically, history museums. However, the context in which the artwork is placed, as well as the conversation between the artist and the institution throughout the duration of any project, has the power to make or break the success of these artist interventions.

Project Communications Management

OpenAIRE

José C. Santiago-Guevara; Mauricio Rojas-Contreras; Luis A. Esteban-Villamizar

2013-01-01

This article presents a review in relation to the object of study: Communications Management as an important factor in the management of projects. The review includes the most relevant and most renowned authors in the field of project management, focusing on telecommunications projects, which lets you define a communications management model.

The WPU Project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Janne Jul; Skov, Mikael B.; Stage, Jan

2009-01-01

The Web Portal Usability (WPU) project is working on usability engineering methods, which are important in the development of Web portals. These methods are tested with companies that design modern Web portals.......The Web Portal Usability (WPU) project is working on usability engineering methods, which are important in the development of Web portals. These methods are tested with companies that design modern Web portals....

Finding Important Terms for Patients in Their Electronic Health Records: A Learning-to-Rank Approach Using Expert Annotations

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Jiaping; Yu, Hong

2016-01-01

Background Many health organizations allow patients to access their own electronic health record (EHR) notes through online patient portals as a way to enhance patient-centered care. However, EHR notes are typically long and contain abundant medical jargon that can be difficult for patients to understand. In addition, many medical terms in patients’ notes are not directly related to their health care needs. One way to help patients better comprehend their own notes is to reduce information overload and help them focus on medical terms that matter most to them. Interventions can then be developed by giving them targeted education to improve their EHR comprehension and the quality of care. Objective We aimed to develop a supervised natural language processing (NLP) system called Finding impOrtant medical Concepts most Useful to patientS (FOCUS) that automatically identifies and ranks medical terms in EHR notes based on their importance to the patients. Methods First, we built an expert-annotated corpus. For each EHR note, 2 physicians independently identified medical terms important to the patient. Using the physicians’ agreement as the gold standard, we developed and evaluated FOCUS. FOCUS first identifies candidate terms from each EHR note using MetaMap and then ranks the terms using a support vector machine-based learn-to-rank algorithm. We explored rich learning features, including distributed word representation, Unified Medical Language System semantic type, topic features, and features derived from consumer health vocabulary. We compared FOCUS with 2 strong baseline NLP systems. Results Physicians annotated 90 EHR notes and identified a mean of 9 (SD 5) important terms per note. The Cohen’s kappa annotation agreement was .51. The 10-fold cross-validation results show that FOCUS achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC) of 0.940 for ranking candidate terms from EHR notes to identify important terms. When including term

Qanuqtuurniq—finding the balance: an IPY television series using community engagement

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Catherine L. Carry

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The three-part television broadcast Qanuqtuurniq—finding the balance was an International Polar Year communications and outreach project concerning Inuit health and wellness. The goal of this project was to engage the Inuit public and others in “real-time” dialogue about health and wellness issues and health research, and to deliver key messages. It was aired live in the Inuit language (with English captions/sub-titles from Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada, in May 2009 and simultaneously webcast. Qanuqtuurniq—finding the balance used an Inuit communications model for remote communities that was developed in the Arctic in 1994 by the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation/Inuit Communications. In Qanuqtuurniq—finding the balance more than 250 people were engaged through the use of a diverse range of methods, including content working groups, stakeholder input, music recordings, pre-recorded community programme videos, live and public screening of the broadcasts, live panels, live audiences, public phone-ins, Skype video-conferencing and real-time online chat, focus groups and e-mail. This article examines the project in light of the principles of “community engagement”, demonstrating that Qanuqtuurniq—finding the balance exemplifies community engagement in a number of significant ways, including heavily involving community members in the selection of the health theme content of the televised programmes and through the formation of focus groups. Based on challenges encountered during the Qanuqtuurniq—finding the balance project, the article offers recommendations for future projects.

Something of value Governance of Projects in the Project-Based Organisation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riis, Eva

2013-01-01

The paper presents a conceptual framework for studying Governance of Projects and issues of value in the project-based organisation. Attempts at exploring and conceptualising the issues in the current literature are reviewed. Issues pertinent to gaining value by Governance of Projects have mainly...... for a better understanding of Governance of Projects and value contribution. The findings presented here form the conceptual foundation for subsequent empirical studies of value by Governance of Projects....... been explored from the perspective of economic theory. Models found in the literature are not typically concerned with value for the implementing organisation as a whole; their scope is limited to the time just after project completion. No valid, empirically-based models of value creation by Governance...

Project studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Geraldi, Joana; Söderlund, Jonas

2018-01-01

Project organising is a growing field of scholarly inquiry and management practice. In recent years, two important developments have influenced this field: (1) the study and practice of projects have extended their level of analysis from mainly focussing on individual projects to focussing on micro......, and of the explanations of project practices they could offer. To discuss avenues for future research on projects and project practice, this paper suggests the notion of project studies to better grasp the status of our field. We combine these two sets of ideas to analyse the status and future options for advancing...... project research: (1) levels of analysis; and (2) type of research. Analysing recent developments within project studies, we observe the emergence of what we refer to as type 3 research, which reconciles the need for theoretical development and engagement with practice. Type 3 research suggests pragmatic...

Impact of government and corporate strategy on the performance of technology projects in road construction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Caerteling, Jasper; Halman, Johannes I.M.; Song, Michael; Song, Michael; Doree, Andries G.

2009-01-01

In this study, we focus on road construction and analyze technology development projects. Based on the business strategy literature and literature on technology policy, we test the relative importance of a firm's strategies and government as a buyer and champion. Our empirical findings stress the

The increasing importance of effective risk management in banking: Findings from Serbia

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Vukosavljević Dejan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The subject of the research presented in this paper is risk management, with a special study of banking sector. Research goals include determining the degree of importance and influence of risk management of internal and external risks to a more favorable environment for business success of banks in strategic terms, in the long run. In this sense, the key results of the empirical research on the territory of Serbia in 2015 on a sample of 34 financial institutions, of which 26 were banks, has been provided . The results were processed by statistical and mathematical methods and confirmed the validity of the defined hypotheses, that the importance of effective risk management in banking is growing, as well as the reporting system. The contribution of this research is in a scientific assessment of the importance of various risks, determination of the dominant theoretical and empirical knowledge supporting wider further research in this area in the banking industry.

The international Chernobyl project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonzalez, A.J.

1992-01-01

The findings of the International Chernobyl Project are summarized herewith. The project focused on four key issues related to the radiological consequences of the Chernobyl accident which are of concern to the population and policy makers: the true extent of the current contamination in inhabited areas of Belarus, Russia and the Ukraine; the past, current and future radiation exposure of the population; the actual and potential health effects; and the adequacy or measures being taken to protect the public. The project findings are expected to contribute towards alleviating the consequences of the accident by presenting factual information to allow future policy and worldwide assistance to be channelled to where it is most needed and where it can be best used. (author)

EVALUATION OF THE IMPORTANCE OF BIOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS IN RELATION TO ULTRASONOGRAPHIC FINDING IN ECTOPIC PREGNANCY DIAGNOSIS

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Dragan Lončar

2011-09-01

Full Text Available The implantation of the fertilized egg outside the uterine cavity leads to the development of ectopic pregnancy. The incidence of ectopic pregnancy is 1/100 births. The most common place of ectopic implantation of the fertilized ovum is the oviduct (98% with predilection for the ampullar part of the Fallopian tube. The aim of this study was to determine the predictive importance of beta-hCG and progesterone concentration compared to ultrasonographic finding in the ectopic pregnancy diagnosis.We examined 24 patients with ectopic pregnancies which we divided according to the days of amenorrhea into two groups: the first group with the total of 28 patients from 16–42 days and another group of 8 patients with amenorrhea longer than 42 days. The control group was comprised of 20 patients with vital intrauterine pregnancy, gestational age of 42-52 days. Blood samples for quantitative determination of hormones were collected on three occasions after 48 hours in the forenoon time in the examined and control group of pregnant women. Ultrasonographic examinations of all pregnant women were carried out immediately after blood sampling, with the trans-vaginal approach using "make loop" option, and measurements with an accuracy of 0.1 mm.Mean values for beta-hCG range from 698-1774 mlU/ml in the first group of pregnant women, and in the second group of 1896 mlU/ml to 4410 mlU/ml with a statistically significant difference compared to the values in the control group (p <0.001. The concentration of progesterone in the first group of women ranging from 41-70 nmol/l, and in the second group of 76-94 nmol/l which is also the statistically significant difference compared to the control group (p<0.002. We have shown that ultrasonographic finding with its parameters reliably predicts the values of biochemical parameters both in normal intrauterine pregnancy and in the case of ectopic pregnancy.Embryo viability and implantation place condition the values of

Finding optimal exact reducts

KAUST Repository

AbouEisha, Hassan M.

2014-01-01

The problem of attribute reduction is an important problem related to feature selection and knowledge discovery. The problem of finding reducts with minimum cardinality is NP-hard. This paper suggests a new algorithm for finding exact reducts

Project Management Yinyang: Coupling project success and client satisfaction

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Greg Stewart Usher

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Our research applies paradox theory to a project management construct to help project management researchers and practitioners understand the tensions that can exist between project success and client satisfaction. Our research highlights that although project success and client satisfaction are both present within a project management construct, they also belong to different functional systems. Project success and client satisfaction have different systemic-discourses and use different language games to convey information. These distinctions can create latent and sometimes salient tensions within the project management construct that project managers must understand, embrace, and work with. We have used a Grounded Theory (GT methodology to explore the lived experience of project managers, and from this have identified a phenomenon which we have termed project management yinyang. Project management yinyang is the state that exists when both project success and Client satisfaction are tightly coupled within the project management construct. Project management yinyang highlights that these two phenomena cannot be viewed as separate elements because the ‘seed’ of each exists within the other. And to truly achieve one, you must also achieve the other. Our findings indicate that in order to create project management yinyang the project manager must embrace a paradoxical yet holistic philosophy. They must understand the complementarity, interdependency, and structural coupling that exists between the positivist and interpretivist paradigms within the project management construct. They must understand how satisfaction (Yin and success (Yang are created through focus. Furthermore, they must understand how project management yinyang is separate from, but borne from, the convergence of the other two elements.

Sustainable livable housing: A review of what traditional urban areas residents find important

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Musibau Lukuman

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Sustainable livable housing is pre-condition for healthy living, improve quality of life and critical to economic and social survival. It also encompasses various aspects that predominantly depend on economic, social, cultural and environmental (ESCE conditions within the locality. To this end, this paper seeks to explore, classify and assess the sustainable livable housing attributes from the existing literatures through content analysis. A review of literature revealed a total of ninety two (92 constructs, which were further grouped nine (9 livable housing-related attributes groups. Well-structured questionnaires were administered to residents of traditional urban areas (TUA of Iwo Osun State, Nigeria with ninety two (92 constructs on Likert scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistic and relative importance index (RII. Out of (92 constructs from nine (9 livable housing-related attributes groups, the results identified seventy eight (78 important attributes (i.e. 35 most important and 43 important across groups and construct that TUA residents found important. Over RII was 0.409 for overall assessment of sustainable livable housing condition by TUA residents indicating that TUA residents are dissatisfied with their current housing conditions.

Flat-plate solar array project. Volume 8: Project analysis and integration

Science.gov (United States)

Mcguire, P.; Henry, P.

1986-01-01

Project Analysis and Integration (PA&I) performed planning and integration activities to support management of the various Flat-Plate Solar Array (FSA) Project R&D activities. Technical and economic goals were established by PA&I for each R&D task within the project to coordinate the thrust toward the National Photovoltaic Program goals. A sophisticated computer modeling capability was developed to assess technical progress toward meeting the economic goals. These models included a manufacturing facility simulation, a photovoltaic power station simulation and a decision aid model incorporating uncertainty. This family of analysis tools was used to track the progress of the technology and to explore the effects of alternative technical paths. Numerous studies conducted by PA&I signaled the achievement of milestones or were the foundation of major FSA project and national program decisions. The most important PA&I activities during the project history are summarized. The PA&I planning function is discussed and how it relates to project direction and important analytical models developed by PA&I for its analytical and assessment activities are reviewed.

Critical success factors influencing the performance of development projects: An empirical study of Constituency Development Fund projects in Kenya

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Debadyuti Das

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The present work attempts to identify critical success factors (CSFs influencing the performance of development projects based on their key performance indicators (KPIs. It has considered the case of Constituency Development Fund (CDF projects constructed between 2003 and 2011 in Kenya and secured the perceptions of 175 respondents comprising clients, consultants and contractors involved in the implementation of CDF projects on 30 success variables. Findings reveal that individual items constituting these six factors represent six CSFs namely project-related, client-related, consultant-related, contractor-related, supply chain-related, and external environment-related factor. The findings are also relevant to development projects undertaken in other developing countries.

Understanding the Meaning of “Project Success”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Goparaju Purna Sudhakar

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Fortune 500 organizations are executing their tasks using projects. Project management is the area of concentration across the world. Different stakeholders have a different perspective about project success. The meaning of project success had been explained in this article. In addition, the Project Critical Success Factors (CSFs were mentioned. The research of Standish Group on project success and project success metrics was presented. Earlier research on the meaning of project success and project critical success factors was highlighted. The works of Jeffery K. Pinto and Dennis P. Slevin, David and Adam, DeLone and McLean, and The Standish Group Research were discussed in this article. The methodology included secondary research based on literature view of prominent empirical studies and the literature reviews by making note of findings and observations from those studies. The initial literature collected led to further search of articles based on their references. The research findings indicate that the top of the most success factors for many projects include project objective, top management commitment, competent project team, and user involvement.

Risk communication importance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cunha, Raquel Dalledone Siqueira da; Andrade, Delvonei Alves de, E-mail: raqueldalledonesiqueira@gmail.com, E-mail: delvonei@ipen.br [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN-SP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)

2013-07-01

Risk Communication has shown its importance in the elaboration of emergency plans in the Chemical industry. In the 90's, the UNEP developed the APELL (Awareness and Preparedness for Emergency at Local Level) plan, a risk management methodology used by dangerous chemical facilities. The methodology comprises the commitment of both Government and the community located in the risk area in the development of the emergency plan. In the nuclear sector, there is no similar methodology developed so far. However, establishing a communication channel between the nuclear segment and the community is essential. In Brazil, the construction of Angra 3 and the RMB (Multi Purpose Reactor) project stand as nuclear initiatives that improve the importance of a good communication to the public. Security issues of these projects are natural sources of concernment to the public, which is aggravated by events such as the Fukushima disaster. Without an effective communication about what means the presence of nuclear plants and reactors in a specific area, the interested public will only have an alarmist vision of the subject, given by those against these facilities. (author)

Risk communication importance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cunha, Raquel Dalledone Siqueira da; Andrade, Delvonei Alves de

2013-01-01

Risk Communication has shown its importance in the elaboration of emergency plans in the Chemical industry. In the 90's, the UNEP developed the APELL (Awareness and Preparedness for Emergency at Local Level) plan, a risk management methodology used by dangerous chemical facilities. The methodology comprises the commitment of both Government and the community located in the risk area in the development of the emergency plan. In the nuclear sector, there is no similar methodology developed so far. However, establishing a communication channel between the nuclear segment and the community is essential. In Brazil, the construction of Angra 3 and the RMB (Multi Purpose Reactor) project stand as nuclear initiatives that improve the importance of a good communication to the public. Security issues of these projects are natural sources of concernment to the public, which is aggravated by events such as the Fukushima disaster. Without an effective communication about what means the presence of nuclear plants and reactors in a specific area, the interested public will only have an alarmist vision of the subject, given by those against these facilities. (author)

Project Finance and Projects in the Energy Sector in Developing Countries

OpenAIRE

ERMELA KRIPA; HALIT XHAFA

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study is to show the importance of using project finance in infrastructure investments in developing countries. The paper will be focused only on one infrastructure sector, which is energy. Structurally, power project finance has involved largely buildown-transfer (BOT) project structures and long-term contracts. The projects largely reflect a rational allocation of risks among public and private participants. Private sponsors and lenders generally assume risks for complet...

Managing incidental findings in human subjects research: analysis and recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolf, Susan M; Lawrenz, Frances P; Nelson, Charles A; Kahn, Jeffrey P; Cho, Mildred K; Clayton, Ellen Wright; Fletcher, Joel G; Georgieff, Michael K; Hammerschmidt, Dale; Hudson, Kathy; Illes, Judy; Kapur, Vivek; Keane, Moira A; Koenig, Barbara A; Leroy, Bonnie S; McFarland, Elizabeth G; Paradise, Jordan; Parker, Lisa S; Terry, Sharon F; Van Ness, Brian; Wilfond, Benjamin S

2008-01-01

No consensus yet exists on how to handle incidental findings (IFs) in human subjects research. Yet empirical studies document IFs in a wide range of research studies, where IFs are findings beyond the aims of the study that are of potential health or reproductive importance to the individual research participant. This paper reports recommendations of a two-year project group funded by NIH to study how to manage IFs in genetic and genomic research, as well as imaging research. We conclude that researchers have an obligation to address the possibility of discovering IFs in their protocol and communications with the IRB, and in their consent forms and communications with research participants. Researchers should establish a pathway for handling IFs and communicate that to the IRB and research participants. We recommend a pathway and categorize IFs into those that must be disclosed to research participants, those that may be disclosed, and those that should not be disclosed.

Importance of including cultural practices in ecological restoration.

Science.gov (United States)

Wehi, Priscilla M; Lord, Janice M

2017-10-01

Ecosystems worldwide have a long history of use and management by indigenous cultures. However, environmental degradation can reduce the availability of culturally important resources. Ecological restoration aims to repair damage to ecosystems caused by human activity, but it is unclear how often restoration projects incorporate the return of harvesting or traditional life patterns for indigenous communities. We examined the incorporation of cultural use of natural resources into ecological restoration in the context of a culturally important but protected New Zealand bird; among award-winning restoration projects in Australasia and worldwide; and in the peer-reviewed restoration ecology literature. Among New Zealand's culturally important bird species, differences in threat status and availability for hunting were large. These differences indicate the values of a colonizing culture can inhibit harvesting by indigenous people. In Australasia among award-winning ecological restoration projects, restored areas beyond aesthetic or recreational use, despite many projects encouraging community participation. Globally, restoration goals differed among regions. For example, in North America, projects were primarily conservation oriented, whereas in Asia and Africa projects frequently focused on restoring cultural harvesting. From 1995 to 2014, the restoration ecology literature contained few references to cultural values or use. We argue that restoration practitioners are missing a vital component for reassembling functional ecosystems. Inclusion of sustainably harvestable areas within restored landscapes may allow for the continuation of traditional practices that shaped ecosystems for millennia, and also aid project success by ensuring community support. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

Smart Gun Technology project. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weiss, D.R.

1996-05-01

The goal of the Smart Gun Technology project is to eliminate the capability of an unauthorized user form firing a law officer`s firearm by implementing user-recognizing-and-authorizing (or {open_quotes}smart{close_quotes}) surety technologies. This project was funded by the National Institute of Justice. This report lists the findings and results of the project`s three primary objectives. First, to find and document the requirements for a smart firearm technology that law enforcement officers will value. Second, to investigate, evaluate, and prioritize technologies that meet the requirements for a law enforcement officer`s smart firearm. Third, to demonstrate and document the most promising technology`s usefulness in models of a smart firearm.

Project network-oriented materials management policy for complex projects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dixit, Vijaya; Srivastava, Rajiv K; Chaudhuri, Atanu

2015-01-01

This work devises a materials management policy integrated with project network characteristics of complex projects. It proposes a relative quantitative measure, overall criticality (OC), for prioritisation of items based on penalty incurred due to their non-availability. In complex projects...... managerial tacit knowledge which provides them enough flexibility to provide information in real form. Computed OC values can be used for items prioritisation and as shortage cost coefficient in inventory models. The revised materials management policy was applied to a shipbuilding project. OC values were......, practicing managers find it difficult to measure OC of items because of the subjective factors and intractable nature of penalties involved. However, using their experience, they can linguistically identify the antecedents and relate them to consequent OC. This work adopts Fuzzy Set Theory to capture...

Pollution! Find a STEM solution!

Science.gov (United States)

Takač, Danijela; Moćan, Marina

2016-04-01

Primary and secondary school Pantovčak is an innovative school in downtown Zagreb, Croatia. The school is involved in many projects concerning STEM education. Pollution! Find a STEM solution! is a two year long cross-curricular project that grew out of identified need to develop STEM and ICT skills more. Pisa results make evident that students' knowledge is poor and motivation for math and similar subjects is low. Implying priorities of European Commission, like e-learning, raises motivation and also develops basic skills and improves knowledge in science, math, physic, ICT. Main objectives are to increase students' interest in STEM education and careers and introduce them to all available new trends in technology, engineering and science in their region by visiting clean technology industries and strengthening links with them, to introduce some future digital jobs and prepare students for rapid technological changes by integrating ICT into classroom practice more, to highlight the importance of global environmental issues and improve the knowledge in the areas of sustainable development and renewable energy, to develop collaborative partnership between schools and the wider community in formal, non-formal and informal learning, to support multilingualism by publishing Open Educational Resources in 8 different languages and to strengthen the professional profile of the teaching profession. The project brings together 231 teachers and 2729 students from five different European countries in learning to think globally and work on activities that contribute to the community's well-being. There are altogether 33 activities, divided in 4 categories. STEM activities are focused on students building the devices for measuring air, light and noise pollution in their school and homes. They use the scientific method to analyze the data and compare the results with their peers to find a solution. Eskills, digital literacy and digital jobs are focused on introducing career

Managing uncertainty for sustainability of complex projects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brink, Tove

2017-01-01

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reveal how management of uncertainty can enable sustainability of complex projects. Design/methodology/approach – The research was conducted from June 2014 to May 2015 using a qualitative deductive approach among operation and maintenance actors in offshore...... wind farms. The research contains a focus group interview with 11 companies, 20 individual interviews and a seminar presenting preliminary findings with 60 participants. Findings – The findings reveal the need for management of uncertainty through two different paths. First, project management needs...... to join efforts. Research limitations/implications – Further research is needed to reveal the generalisability of the findings in other complex project contexts containing “unknown unknowns”. Practical implications – The research leads to the development of a tool for uncertainty management...

Managing projects using a project management approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marko D. Andrejić

2011-04-01

these objectives should be like. Requirements and effects of the application of project management The goal of the project management methodology is to assist the manager in all of these elements, but also to provide a uniform way of evaluating his performance as an objective comparison of indicators in all projects that are implemented in the system. Project management methodology Efficient business operations and fulfilling the requests of users, or buyers if business is done for the third parties, require modern planning and management of projects using computers and appropriate software. Given that the project management with the help of network models requires frequent and rapid processing of large amount of data, it is obvious that the application of computers in this area is of utmost importance. System of reporting on project implementation To achieve effective monitoring, control and implementation of control actions, it is necessary to organize an effective reporting system that will provide timely and realistic information about the real state of the project, in terms of job performing time, the resources spent and the costs of project implementation. Concept of risk management In any project there are many different risk events by type, the probability of appearance, manner and size of the impact of the project. The process of testing the nature of risk events in the project as well as their potential impact on the outcome of the project and their interdependence are realized through the risk analysis. Conclusion Methodologies of project management surged from these differences, when it became apparent that a unified approach to the problem of project managing does not meet the unique project requirements. Taking into account that in the future projects will become more complex and that the methodology of project management will be required to deal with such projects, a proper selection of methodology within the organization is extremely important.

Quality Cost in the Construction Industry ' Preliminary Findings in Malaysia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mukhtar Che Ali

2010-06-01

Full Text Available One of the key areas being emphasis in ISO 9001 Quality Management System (QMS is performance measurement towards continual improvement. Among the primary measuring tools is quality cost approach. Quality cost has been well practice in manufacturing sector but slowly gain its importance in construction industry. In fact Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK has reckoned quality cost as one of the tool and technique in few of its management processes. In view of such circumstances that has prompted an effort to undertake a study to ascertain the level of knowledge and practice on quality cost in Malaysian construction landscape. The targeted group of respondents was the personnel in the project management team. Capitalizing Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB National Electronic Tendering Initiatives (NETI road shows which were held in year 2007 throughout the country, the author was able to garner 263 respondents representing the project management team. Subsequently the data gathered from the completed forms were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS software. General findings indicated that the level of knowledge and practice on quality cost among the project management team were relatively low. One of the main contributing factors was poor knowledge in the area related to quality cost. Despite of such scenario most of the respondents showed their interest in acquiring knowledge in the field of quality cost. Hence quality cost approach is at the infancy stage in Malaysian construction industry.

Promoting gender parity in basic education: Lessons from a technical cooperation project in Yemen

Science.gov (United States)

Yuki, Takako; Mizuno, Keiko; Ogawa, Keiichi; Mihoko, Sakai

2013-06-01

Many girls are not sent to school in Yemen, despite basic education being free as well as compulsory for all children aged 6-15. Aiming to improve girls' enrolment by increasing parental and community involvement, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) offered a technical cooperation project in June 2005 called Broadening Regional Initiative for Developing Girls' Education (BRIDGE). Phase 1 of this project ran for three and a half years, piloting a participatory school management model supported by school grants in six districts of the Taiz Governorate in the Southwest of Yemen. To find out how successful this approach has been in a traditional society, the authors of this paper analysed the gender parity index (GPI) of the project's pilot schools. Based on data collected at three points in time (in the initial and final years of the project, and two years after the project's end), their findings suggest that interventions in school management which strongly emphasise girls' education can be effective in improving gender parity rather quickly, regardless of the schools' initial conditions. However, the authors also observe that the pilot schools' post-project performance in terms of gender parity is mixed. While the local government allocated budgets for school grants to all pilot schools even after the project's end, training and monitoring activities were cut back. The authors further observe that the variation in performance appears to be significantly correlated with school leaders' initial perceptions of gender equality and with the number of female teachers employed. These findings point to the importance of providing schools with continuous long-term guidance and of monitoring those which implement school improvement programmes.

Introduction to the Project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kuhn, Johan M.; Malchow-Møller, Nikolaj; Sørensen, Anders

In this note a short introduction to the project “Employment Effects of Entrepreneurs” is presented. First, we describe the purpose of the project; second, we present the background; third, we briefly describe the three papers that constitute the output of the project, and fourth, we discuss two...... important qualifications for the understanding of the contributions and results established in the project....

Project Management Communication 2.0

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Berggreen, Line; Kampf, Constance Elizabeth

2015-01-01

How can we understand project management communication practices for developing effective practices in professional and technical communication? In this article we explore an approach to project management that focuses on projects as having a technical documentation structure with content...... that is developed through social or interpersonal communication practices. Looking at the broader picture of project management which besides the implementation phase also includes conception, planning and closure, we see a project management framework that brings together both technical and social aspects...... of project communication. To understand how this works, we interviewed project managers about their understanding and strategy in communicating about the projects they lead. Findings demonstrate that more experienced project managers have a more nuanced understanding of project communication as both...

Root finding with threshold circuits

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Jeřábek, Emil

2012-01-01

Roč. 462, Nov 30 (2012), s. 59-69 ISSN 0304-3975 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA100190902; GA MŠk(CZ) 1M0545 Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : root finding * threshold circuit * power series Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 0.489, year: 2012 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304397512008006#

The Swedish satellite project Viking

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hultqvist, B.

1990-01-01

The Swedish satellite project Viking is described and related to earlier missions. Some new operational characteristics are discussed, including the real-time data analysis campaigns that were an important part of the project. Some areas of important scientific impact of the project are also described. Viking was specially designed and equipped for investigation of plasma physical acceleration and other processes in the transition region between hot and cold plasma on auroral latitude magnetic field lines

Financing of Chamera project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jain, A.K.; Chakraborty, D.K.

1994-01-01

Chamera Hydroelectric Project was selected by National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) as a pilot project for accelerated development of hydro-power in the country. This project was considered to have certain distinct specialties from different aspects in comparison with other projects. In the first place, the field investigation for the project was completed in a record time of only eight months by deploying the most modern techniques. Secondly, Chamera was the first NHPC project with external aid both technically and financially. The third and most important of all the specialties was in the planned reduction of construction period to 6 years from the original estimate of 8 years. Such reduction of gestation period was considered to be the direct outcome of modern method of management, monitoring and improved imported technology. The investment decision in the project was taken in April '84 with an estimated cost of energy at busbar 44.12 paise/unit exclusive of return on equity capital and royalty payable to the home state. The all inclusive rate of power was estimated 75.86 paise/unit. (author). 4 tabs

Disclosing finding and development costs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Janisch, M.L.

1998-01-01

The importance of finding and development costs in the petroleum industry and the issue of how they can be either manipulated or misunderstood was discussed. Finding and development costs are usually expressed in terms of $/BOE (barrel of oil equivalents) and reflect the total capital expenditures divided by the total reserves replaced and added. Various examples of the importance of finding and development costs in making investment decisions were used to illustrate the effects of potential bias by the resource company, and the need for care and understanding of what the numbers issued by the company actually mean. In general, low and consistent finding and development costs, combined with good netbacks, are the key to value added for shareholders. tabs

Science Projects | Akron-Summit County Public Library

Science.gov (United States)

Hours & Locations Main Library Science & Technology Division Science Projects Science Projects Have fun with science experiments. Whether you need to do a project for a school science fair or you want to be a mad scientist, our Science Project Index and other resources can get you started. Find how

Measures of risk importance and their applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vesely, W.E.; Davis, T.C.; Denning, R.S.; Saltos, N.

1983-07-01

This work is part of a project being conducted for the Division of Risk Analysis (DRA) of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The objectives of the project are to evaluate the importances of containment, the different safety functions, and other various contributers as assessed in probabilistic risk analyses and to identify generic conclusions regarding the importances. Effective display of the importances is an important part of these objectives. To address these objectives, measures of risk importance need to be first identified and then they need to be evaluated for the different risk analyses which have been performed. This report describes the risk importance measures that were defined and were applied to the risk analyses which were performed as part of the Reactor Safety Study Methodology Applications Program (RSSMAP). The risk importance measures defined in this report measure the importance of features not only with regard to risk reduction but also with regard to reliability assurance, or risk maintenance. The goal of this report is not to identify new mathematical formulas for risk importance but to show how importance measures can be interpreted and can be applied

An Accurate and Impartial Expert Assignment Method for Scientific Project Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mingliang Yue

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: This paper proposes an expert assignment method for scientific project review that considers both accuracy and impartiality. As impartial and accurate peer review is extremely important to ensure the quality and feasibility of scientific projects, enhanced methods for managing the process are needed. Design/methodology/approach: To ensure both accuracy and impartiality, we design four criteria, the reviewers’ fitness degree, research intensity, academic association, and potential conflict of interest, to express the characteristics of an appropriate peer review expert. We first formalize the expert assignment problem as an optimization problem based on the designed criteria, and then propose a randomized algorithm to solve the expert assignment problem of identifying reviewer adequacy. Findings: Simulation results show that the proposed method is quite accurate and impartial during expert assignment. Research limitations: Although the criteria used in this paper can properly show the characteristics of a good and appropriate peer review expert, more criteria/conditions can be included in the proposed scheme to further enhance accuracy and impartiality of the expert assignment. Practical implications: The proposed method can help project funding agencies (e.g. the National Natural Science Foundation of China find better experts for project peer review. Originality/value: To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first publication that proposes an algorithm that applies an impartial approach to the project review expert assignment process. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed method.

The Marketplace Variables in Successful and Unsuccessful NPD Projects in Technology Intensive Companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matti J. Haverila

2010-12-01

Our findings indicate that managers perceive the marketplace in multiple ways during the NPD process and also that differences exist in metric equivalence across successful and unsuccessful NPD projects. Also, although half of the marketplace variables are positively related to NPD success, managers in Finnish technology companies appear to attach higher relative importance to market attractiveness rather than market competitiveness variables. Marketplace variables appear to be less important than in the Korean and Chinese samples, and much more important than  in the Canadian sample in the Mishra et all study (1996, and similarly much more important than in the Cooper study (1979b.

The Dietary Patterns Methods Project: Synthesis of Findings across Cohorts and Relevance to Dietary Guidance1234

Science.gov (United States)

Liese, Angela D; Krebs-Smith, Susan M; Subar, Amy F; George, Stephanie M; Harmon, Brook E; Neuhouser, Marian L; Boushey, Carol J; Schap, TusaRebecca E; Reedy, Jill

2015-01-01

The Dietary Patterns Methods Project (DPMP) was initiated in 2012 to strengthen research evidence on dietary indices, dietary patterns, and health for upcoming revisions of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, given that the lack of consistent methodology has impeded development of consistent and reliable conclusions. DPMP investigators developed research questions and a standardized approach to index-based dietary analysis. This article presents a synthesis of findings across the cohorts. Standardized analyses were conducted in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, the Multiethnic Cohort, and the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study (WHI-OS). Healthy Eating Index 2010, Alternative Healthy Eating Index 2010 (AHEI-2010), alternate Mediterranean Diet, and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) scores were examined across cohorts for correlations between pairs of indices; concordant classifications into index score quintiles; associations with all-cause, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and cancer mortality with the use of Cox proportional hazards models; and dietary intake of foods and nutrients corresponding to index quintiles. Across all cohorts in women and men, there was a high degree of correlation and consistent classifications between index pairs. Higher diet quality (top quintile) was significantly and consistently associated with an 11–28% reduced risk of death due to all causes, CVD, and cancer compared with the lowest quintile, independent of known confounders. This was true for all diet index–mortality associations, with the exception of AHEI-2010 and cancer mortality in WHI-OS women. In all cohorts, survival benefit was greater with a higher-quality diet, and relatively small intake differences distinguished the index quintiles. The reductions in mortality risk started at relatively lower levels of diet quality. Higher scores on each of the indices, signifying higher diet quality, were associated with marked reductions in mortality

Highway project cost estimating and management.

Science.gov (United States)

2009-02-01

"This report provides detailed information about the project objectives, deliverables, and findings. The project team : thoroughly reviewed the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) structure, operations, and current procedures as : related to M...

Adaptive projective filters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dikusar, N.D.

1993-01-01

The new approach to solving of the finding problem is proposed. The method is based on Discrete Projective Transformations (DPT), the List Square Fitting (LSF) and uses the information feedback in tracing for linear or quadratic track segments (TS). The fast and stable with respect to measurement errors and background points recurrent algorithm is suggested. The algorithm realizes the family of digital adaptive projective filters (APF) with known nonlinear weight functions-projective invariants. APF can be used in adequate control systems for collection, processing and compression of data, including tracking problems for the wide class of detectors. 10 refs.; 9 figs

Determining the relative importance of figures in journal articles to find representative images

Science.gov (United States)

Müller, Henning; Foncubierta-Rodríguez, Antonio; Lin, Chang; Eggel, Ivan

2013-03-01

When physicians are searching for articles in the medical literature, images of the articles can help determining relevance of the article content for a specific information need. The visual image representation can be an advantage in effectiveness (quality of found articles) and also in efficiency (speed of determining relevance or irrelevance) as many articles can likely be excluded much quicker by looking at a few representative images. In domains such as medical information retrieval, allowing to determine relevance quickly and accurately is an important criterion. This becomes even more important when small interfaces are used as it is frequently the case on mobile phones and tablets to access scientific data whenever information needs arise. In scientific articles many figures are used and particularly in the biomedical literature only a subset may be relevant for determining the relevance of a specific article to an information need. In many cases clinical images can be seen as more important for visual appearance than graphs or histograms that require looking at the context for interpretation. To get a clearer idea of image relevance in articles, a user test with a physician was performed who classified images of biomedical research articles into categories of importance that can subsequently be used to evaluate algorithms that automatically select images as representative examples. The manual sorting of images of 50 journal articles of BioMedCentral with each containing more than 8 figures by importance also allows to derive several rules that determine how to choose images and how to develop algorithms for choosing the most representative images of specific texts. This article describes the user tests and can be a first important step to evaluate automatic tools to select representative images for representing articles and potentially also images in other contexts, for example when representing patient records or other medical concepts when selecting

Project management in the public sector: a bibliometric analysis (1988-2014

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diego Honorato Clemente

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The importance of management of projects in the public sector has manifested itself as a governmental initiative which ensures and contributes to governance and focusses on transparency, accountability, the efficient and effective use of public resources, the implementation of policies and changes and, principally, on the maintenance of public trust. This being the case, the aim of this study is to present a bibliometric study about the management of projects in the public sector in order to identify publication trends and theoretical currents within this field. Data was gathered from the Web of Science Core Collection database and the software Sitkis and Ucinet were utilized to generate the networks. Descriptive and network analyses such as reference articles, co-citations and key words are presented. Findings suggest that management and execution methods of construction and infrastructure projects, such as Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT and Public-Private Partnerships, are relevant within the field of project management in the public sector.

Project brief of pre-contract in project management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohd Jamil Hashim; Mohd Azmi Sidid Omar; Abdul Rahman Norazumin; Zakaria Dris; Abdul Murad Abu Bakar; Alwi Othman

2010-01-01

Project brief is a comprehensive document used in translating the user needs and requirement for the project implementation. This document is important for the designer as a main guidance towards establishing project details. Research shown that problem usually arises from not well-defined scope and needs by the user. With lack of information the designer tend to assume and interprets wrong translation. Other issues arise from project management are time, cost, budgetary, lack of communication and establishing quality management. Some ideas of improvement were gain by doing cross reference with JKR quality system management, workshop and brainstorming. It shows that an improvement of data collection system has to be integrating with some basic format details, drawings and declaration forms to be established. (author)

The Difficulty in Following Project Schedule as a Key Project Management Challenge: Family Firm Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joanna SADKOWSKA

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The problem of how to manage projects successfully has been gaining growing interest for the last decades. The aforementioned is mainly caused by the fact that project management offers a wide range of methods and tools which, when properly used, can stimulate long-term growth of businesses. As a consequence it offers a particular development opportunity for family enterprises which, due to their specificity, have to overcome many difficulties. The primary objective of this paper is to examine whether family enterprises perceive, and to what extent, the factor of following project schedule as a difficulty in the area of project management. 154 Polish family firms representing different sectors were surveyed. The results of regression analysis show that family firms with global range of business activities, on the contrary to those with local or regional ones, do not find the factor of following project schedule as a difficulty. This results manly from the tools employed and the maturity level they have reached in project management. The findings support the current discussion on the specificity and uniqueness of family businesses in relationship to the knowledge area of project management. It also contributes to filling the gap on understanding the functioning of family firms in the emerging economies of Eastern Europe.

The Dwarf Project: Vidojevica

Science.gov (United States)

Vince, O.

2013-05-01

The DWARF project is an important international project for observing eclipsing binary stars and searching for third companion which orbit around both stars. Recently, a group of researchers at the Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade joined this project using the 60 cm telescope at the Astronomical Station Vidojevica for observations. All the equipment and the human potential involved with this project from Serbia will be described in this paper.

Social risk perception: recent findings in Spain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prades-Lopez, A.; Martinez-Arias, R.; Diaz-Hidalgo, M.

1998-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to present our main results from a survey carried out in Spain in the context of social risk perception. This survey is included in a broad project (PRISP) sponsored by the UE and the national Civil Protection Service, and carried out simultaneously in three countries: Spain, Italy and UK. The project combined qualitative and quantitative assessment methods, although only survey results are presented here. A random sample of 600 subjects from two different Spanish communities close to a COMAH chemical site was selected for the research. Main findings regarding, differential perception between both community populations, sex differences, and 'bias perception' of risks among others have been achieved. Main dimensions were obtained by multidimensional scaling and Factor Analysis. Dimensions reported here are similar to the usual findings from the psychometric paradigm. (authors)

Mathematical Representation Ability by Using Project Based Learning on the Topic of Statistics

Science.gov (United States)

Widakdo, W. A.

2017-09-01

Seeing the importance of the role of mathematics in everyday life, mastery of the subject areas of mathematics is a must. Representation ability is one of the fundamental ability that used in mathematics to make connection between abstract idea with logical thinking to understanding mathematics. Researcher see the lack of mathematical representation and try to find alternative solution to dolve it by using project based learning. This research use literature study from some books and articles in journals to see the importance of mathematical representation abiliy in mathemtics learning and how project based learning able to increase this mathematical representation ability on the topic of Statistics. The indicators for mathematical representation ability in this research classifies namely visual representation (picture, diagram, graph, or table); symbolize representation (mathematical statement. Mathematical notation, numerical/algebra symbol) and verbal representation (written text). This article explain about why project based learning able to influence student’s mathematical representation by using some theories in cognitive psychology, also showing the example of project based learning that able to use in teaching statistics, one of mathematics topic that very useful to analyze data.

Defining Project Purchasing Activities - Exemplified by the Purchasing Practices in Offshore Wind Farm Projects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lutz, Salla

and limited learning outcomes from one project to another. Furthermore, the study reveals the importance of a more holistic approach to project purchasing practices by focusing on the entire life cycle of a project. Managerially it helps selling companies to understand the peculiar buying phases...

Exploring delay causes of road construction projects in

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Remon F. Aziz

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Construction delays are a common phenomenon in civil engineering projects in Egypt including road construction projects. Therefore, it is essential to study and analyze causes of road construction delays. This paper studied a list of construction delay causes gathered from literature having different types of construction, different countries, different periods and different numbers of delay causes and delay groups. A questionnaire and personal interviews have formed the basis of this paper listing 293 delay causes. The questionnaire survey was distributed to 500 construction participants and 389 were received who represent consultants, contractors and site/design engineers excluding the owner representing the government in road projects as one party only. Relative Importance Index (RII is calculated and according to the highest values the top twenty and the least twenty delay causes of construction projects in Egypt are determined. A case study is analyzed and compared to the most important delay causes in the paper. The test results reveal good correlation of causes and groups between contractors and site/design engineers and between consultants and site design engineers and a somewhat low correlation between contractors and consultants. So there are no root causes that can be taking for granted to be most or least effective delay causes. Proposed model for predicting actual road construction project duration was developed; a real case study tested the accuracy of proposed model. According to the analysis of case study, the most contributing causes and groups to delays were discussed, and some future recommendations were proposed in order to control and minimize delays in road construction projects. These findings can be helpful for project managers to mitigate the road construction delays in Egypt. In order to effectively overcome the road construction delays in developing countries, suggestions are made for fundamental and large�

Managemant of NASA's major projects

Science.gov (United States)

James, L. B.

1973-01-01

Approaches used to manage major projects are studied and the existing documents on NASA management are reviewed. The work consists of: (1) the project manager's role, (2) request for proposal, (3) project plan, (4) management information system, (5) project organizational thinking, (6) management disciplines, (7) important decisions, and (8) low cost approach.

Perspective on the personal and professional needs of the project leader in construction industry in Libya: a case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdul Hamid kadir Pakir

2010-05-01

Full Text Available The quality of leadership is one of the most important factors in determining the success and survival of groups and organizations. The purpose of this paper is to examine the leadership needs of the project manger in the Libyan construction companies. The objective was identified the most important and crucial personal and professional needs of the project manager. This study attempted to identify the needs of the project managers in the construction industry in Libya. The finding has shown that all managers surveyed basically agreed that adherence to law/legality, specific, concise and rational, followed by intuitive and open minded are ranked as the most crucial personal needs that should be acquired to become an effective project manager in the construction industry. On the other hand, attention to details, project focus, adherence to construction industries/ professional codes, time concious / constraints, problem solving were ranked as the crucial professional needs that required the respondents.

PROMOVER (PROMOTE) - A participative methodology in socio-environmental project formation and management

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carvalho, Edison; Danciguer, Lucilene; Virginio, Geraldo; Del Carlo, Sylene

2010-09-15

We present a program's findings in socio-environmental sustainable development (PROMOVER), implemented by GAIA/Shell Brasil partnership. Benefited communities were leaders in artisanal fisher communities, governmental and non-governmental organizations within Shell influence areas, at Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo states, Brazil. The main objective is to improve its economic activities in sustainable way. The program consisted of formation on socio-environmental project elaboration, follow-up and seminar presentation. It was an interactive and dynamic training, in which leaders discussed the importance of social entrepreneurship, citizen organizations, and the establishment of networks aimed to sustainable development. Community leaders concluded 10 projects, one was awarded.

PROMOVER (PROMOTE) - A participative methodology in socio-environmental project formation and management

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carvalho, Edison; Danciguer, Lucilene; Virginio, Geraldo; Del Carlo, Sylene

2010-09-15

We present a program's findings in socio-environmental sustainable development (PROMOVER), implemented by GAIA/Shell Brasil partnership. Benefited communities were leaders in artisanal fisher communities, governmental and non-governmental organizations within Shell influence areas, at Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo states, Brazil. The main objective is to improve its economic activities in sustainable way. The program consisted of formation on socio-environmental project elaboration, follow-up and seminar presentation. It was an interactive and dynamic training, in which leaders discussed the importance of social entrepreneurship, citizen organizations, and the establishment of networks aimed to sustainable development. Community leaders concluded 10 projects, one was awarded.

Embedded Linux projects using Yocto project cookbook

CERN Document Server

González, Alex

2015-01-01

If you are an embedded developer learning about embedded Linux with some experience with the Yocto project, this book is the ideal way to become proficient and broaden your knowledge with examples that are immediately applicable to your embedded developments. Experienced embedded Yocto developers will find new insight into working methodologies and ARM specific development competence.

Rural Residents’ Perception of Construction Project Delays in Pakistan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shahid Hussain

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The construction industry is one of the key sectors that facilitate sustainable economic and social development in the region. Currently, community development mechanisms are adopted by many developed and developing nations, aimed at enhancing economic growth and quality of life along with social welfare of the local community. This study reviews the rural residents’ perception of public construction project delays and aims to explore economic and social challenges confronted by residents, especially in rural areas in Pakistan. A questionnaire with 26 factors identified from the literature was sent to rural educated residents. Through a questionnaire survey, the opinions of rural residents were sought and tested. Based on 366 (73% valid responses, this study examined the socio-economic influencing factors. The findings of the study revealed that problems faced while traveling, increase the price of consumer goods, high transportation costs, lack of educational opportunities, more expenditures on education, and barriers to primary healthcare access were the top most important factors. Research results confirmed that the delays in construction projects negatively affect the socio-economic conditions of the rural community, which directly influence the rural dwells’ sustainable life. The research findings suggest that the practitioners in public sector organization make sure to execute the project on time and within the quality. Otherwise, it has negative socio-economic implications for the rural community.

Normal radiographic findings. 4. act. ed.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moeller, T.B.

2003-01-01

This book can serve the reader in three ways: First, it presents normal findings for all radiographic techniques including KM. Important data which are criteria of normal findings are indicated directly in the pictures and are also explained in full text and in summary form. Secondly, it teaches the systematics of interpreting a picture - how to look at it, what structures to regard in what order, and for what to look in particular. Checklists are presented in each case. Thirdly, findings are formulated in accordance with the image analysis procedure. All criteria of normal findings are defined in these formulations, which make them an important didactic element. (orig.)

Status of APE projects

CERN Document Server

Alfieri, R; Onofri, E; Bartoloni, A; Battista, C; Cabibbo, Nicola; Cosimi, M; Lonardo, A; Michelotti, A; Proietti, B; Rapuano, F; Rossetti, D; Sacco, G; Tassa, S; Torelli, M; Vicini, P; Pène, O; Errico, W; Magazzù, G; Sartori, L; Schiiano, F; Tripiccione, R; De Riso, P; Petronzio, Roberto; Destri, C; Frezzotti, R; Marchesini, G; Gensch, Ulrich; Jansen, K; Kretzschmann, A; Leich, H; Paschedag, N; Pleiter, D; Schwendicke, U; Simma, H; Sommer, Rainer; Sulanke, K; Wegner, P; Fucci, A; Martin, B; Pech, J; Panizzi, E; Petricola, A

2001-01-01

This talk is divided in two parts. In the first part, we will summarize the status of the APEmille project that will be completed by the end of the year. We will then devote the rest of the talk to the description of a new project for a multi-TeraFlop machine, ape NEXT. The interested reader will find a much more detailed discussion of all the items touched upon here in the full proposal of the project that will shortly appear on hep-lat. (9 refs).

Introduction to the Project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kuhn, Johan M.; Malchow-Møller, Nikolaj; Sørensen, Anders

In this note a short introduction to the project “Employment Effects of Entrepreneurs” is presented. First, we describe the purpose of the project; second, we present the background; third, we briefly describe the three papers that constitute the output of the project, and fourth, we discuss two ...... important qualifications for the understanding of the contributions and results established in the project.......In this note a short introduction to the project “Employment Effects of Entrepreneurs” is presented. First, we describe the purpose of the project; second, we present the background; third, we briefly describe the three papers that constitute the output of the project, and fourth, we discuss two...

Maintenance policy selection for ships: finding the most important criteria and considerations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Goossens, Adriaan; Basten, Robertus Johannes Ida

2016-01-01

Maintenance of technical capital assets is gaining increasing attention, as maintenance is an important contributor to reach the intended life-time of these expensive assets. This paper focusses on maintenance policy selection (MPS) for ships using the Analytic Hierarchy Process. It builds on

Mobile health systems for bipolar disorder: the relevance of non-functional requirements in MONARCA project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mayora, Oscar; Frost, Mads; Arnrich, Bert

2016-01-01

This paper presents a series of challenges for developing mobile health solutions for mental health as a result of MONARCA project three-year activities. The lessons learnt on the design, development and evaluation of a mobile health system for supporting the treatment of bipolar disorder....... The findings presented here are the result of over 3 years of activity within the MONARCA EU project. The challenges listed and detailed in this paper may be used in future research as a starting point for identifying important non-functional requirements involved in mobile health provisioning...

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

Project management in health informatics.

Science.gov (United States)

Ho, Jessica

2010-01-01

This chapter gives an educational overview of: * the concept of project management and its role in modern management * the generic project lifecycle process * processes used in developing a plan for the management of resources - time, cost, physical resources and people * the concept of managing risk in projects * communication processes and practices that are important to the management of projects.

Applying the Capital Jury Project Findings to Court-Martial Practice

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-11

Hollywood portrayals to shape our understanding of what happens inside the deliberation room.1 For example, in the movie 12 Angry Men,2 an 18-year old...we see in courts-martial for sexual assaults, where a tough merits case leads to a guilty finding, but the sentence is too light, in a normative...protect the stability and finality of verdicts, protect panel members from harassment and embarrassment, and to prevent unlawful command influence

Collaborative Contracting in Projects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Suprapto, M.

2016-01-01

Project practitioners have increasingly recognized the importance of collaborative relationships to ensure successful executions of projects. However, the ability to sustain and consistenly drive real collaborative attitudes and behavior for achieving the desired outcomes remains of enduring

The 5th National Audit Project (NAP5) on accidental awareness during general anaesthesia: summary of main findings and risk factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Pandit, J J; Andrade, J; Bogod, D G; Hitchman, J M; Jonker, W R; Lucas, N; Mackay, J H; Nimmo, A F; O'Connor, K; O'Sullivan, E P; Paul, R G; Palmer, J H MacG; Plaat, F; Radcliffe, J J; Sury, M R J; Torevell, H E; Wang, M; Hainsworth, J; Cook, T M

2014-10-01

We present the main findings of the 5th National Audit Project on accidental awareness during general anaesthesia. Incidences were estimated using reports of accidental awareness as the numerator, and a parallel national anaesthetic activity survey to provide denominator data. The incidence of certain/probable and possible accidental awareness cases was ~1:19 600 anaesthetics (95% CI 1:16 700-23 450). However, there was considerable variation across subtypes of techniques or subspecialties. The incidence with neuromuscular blockade was ~1:8200 (1:7030-9700), and without it was ~1:135 900 (1:78 600-299 000). The cases of accidental awareness during general anaesthesia reported to 5th National Audit Project were overwhelmingly cases of unintended awareness during neuromuscular blockade. The incidence of accidental awareness during caesarean section was ~1:670 (1:380-1300). Two thirds (82, 66%) of cases of accidental awareness experiences arose in the dynamic phases of anaesthesia, namely induction of and emergence from anaesthesia. During induction of anaesthesia, contributory factors included: use of thiopental; rapid sequence induction; obesity; difficult airway management; neuromuscular blockade; and interruptions of anaesthetic delivery during movement from anaesthetic room to theatre. During emergence from anaesthesia, residual paralysis was perceived by patients as accidental awareness, and commonly related to a failure to ensure full return of motor capacity. One third (43, 33%) of accidental awareness events arose during the maintenance phase of anaesthesia, most due to problems at induction or towards the end of anaesthesia. Factors increasing the risk of accidental awareness included: female sex; age (younger adults, but not children); obesity; anaesthetist seniority (junior trainees); previous awareness; out-of-hours operating; emergencies; type of surgery (obstetric, cardiac, thoracic); and use of neuromuscular blockade. The following factors were

Accuracy of past projections of US energy consumption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Neill, B.C.; Desai, Mausami

2005-01-01

Energy forecasts play a key role in development of energy and environmental policy. Evaluations of the accuracy of past projections can provide insight into the uncertainty that may be associated with current forecasts. They can also be used to identify sources of inaccuracies, and potentially lead to improvements in projections over time. Here we assess the accuracy of projections of US energy consumption produced by the Energy Information Administration over the period 1982-2000. We find that energy consumption projections have tended to underestimate future consumption. Projections 10-13 years into the future have had an average error of about 4%, and about half that for shorter time horizons. These errors mask much larger, offsetting errors in the projection of GDP and energy intensity (EI). GDP projections have consistently been too high, and EI projection consistently too low, by more than 15% for projections of 10 years or more. Further work on the source of these sizable inaccuracies should be a high priority. Finally, we find no evidence of improvement in projections of consumption, GDP, or EI since 1982

Project beneficiary participation and behavioural intentions promoting project sustainability: : The mediating role of psychological ownership

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aga, Deribe Assefa; Noorderhaven, Niels; Vallejo, B.

It is of great importance that development projects (especially those projects that target improving the livelihood of rural communities) continue to deliver their intended benefits over their intended economic life – we call this ‘project sustainability’. Applying an experimental design, our study

The Better Beginnings, Better Futures Project: Findings from Grade 3 to Grade 9

Science.gov (United States)

Peters, Ray DeV.; Bradshaw, Alison J.; Petrunka, Kelly; Nelson, Geoffrey; Herry, Yves; Craig, Wendy M.; Arnold, Robert; Parker, Kevin C. H.; Khan, Shahriar R.; Hoch, Jeffrey S.; Pancer, S. Mark; Loomis, Colleen; Belanger, Jean-Marc; Evers, Susan; Maltais, Claire; Thompson, Katherine; Rossiter, Melissa D.

2010-01-01

Although comprehensive and ecological approaches to early childhood prevention are commonly advocated, there are few examples of long-term follow-up of such programs. In this monograph, we investigate the medium- and long-term effects of an ecological, community-based prevention project for primary school children and families living in three…

The International Resilience Project Findings from the Research and the Effectiveness of Interventions.

Science.gov (United States)

Grotberg, Edith H.

This article discusses the nature of resilience in children, means to measure and verify it, and attempts to promote it through education; it also describes a study of parental, teacher and caregiver efforts to promote resilience in children. The International Resilience Project examined resilience factors children and their parents use in…

The Transmission of Family Food and Mealtime Practices From Adolescence to Adulthood: Longitudinal Findings From Project EAT-IV.

Science.gov (United States)

Watts, Allison; Berge, Jerica M; Loth, Katie; Larson, Nicole; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne

2018-02-01

To determine whether family food and mealtime practices experienced in adolescence are carried forward into parenthood. Baseline (Project Eating and Activity in Teens and Young Adults [EAT]-I) and 15-year follow-up (EAT-IV) survey data from a population-based cohort study (Project EAT). Cohort members identified as parents at follow-up (n = 727). To gain additional data about the practices of both parents in the household, significant others completed surveys at EAT-IV (n = 380). Frequency of family meals, healthfulness of foods at home, frequency of meals in front of the television, and expectations of being home for dinner. Linear regression models tested associations between parent food and mealtime practices reported at baseline and follow-up controlling for demographics. Healthy and unhealthy home food availability, expectations to be home for dinner, and eating in front of the television in adolescence predicted similar outcomes 15 years later among female parents (effect sizes range: β = .2-.3; P < .001), and to a lesser extent among males. Families ate more frequent family meals when either 1 or both parents reported frequent family meals as an adolescent compared with when neither parent reported frequent family meals as an adolescent. It is important to invest in parenting interventions that target healthful family food and mealtime practices because of the potential long-term impact on their own children's parenting practices. Copyright © 2017 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Students' Views of Assessment in Project-Led Engineering Education: Findings from a Case Study in Portugal

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandes, Sandra; Flores, Maria Assuncao; Lima, Rui Manuel

2012-01-01

According to the demands of the Bologna process, new educational methods and strategies are needed in order to enhance student-centred learning. Project work is one of those approaches. This paper aims to evaluate the impact of project-led education (PLE) on students' learning processes and outcomes, within the context of a first-year engineering…

IT Project Prioritization Process

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shollo, Arisa; Constantiou, Ioanna

2013-01-01

In most of the large companies IT project prioritization process is designed based on principles of evidencebased management. We investigate a case of IT project prioritization in a financial institution, and in particular, how managers practice evidence-based management during this process. We use...... a rich dataset built from a longitudinal study of the prioritization process for the IT projects. Our findings indicate that managers reach a decision not only by using evidence but from the interplay between the evidence and the judgment devices that managers employ. The interplay between evidence...

A highly redundant BAC library of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar: an important tool for salmon projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Koop Ben F

2005-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background As farming of Atlantic salmon is growing as an aquaculture enterprise, the need to identify the genomic mechanisms for specific traits is becoming more important in breeding and management of the animal. Traits of importance might be related to growth, disease resistance, food conversion efficiency, color or taste. To identify genomic regions responsible for specific traits, genomic large insert libraries have previously proven to be of crucial importance. These large insert libraries can be screened using gene or genetic markers in order to identify and map regions of interest. Furthermore, large-scale mapping can utilize highly redundant libraries in genome projects, and hence provide valuable data on the genome structure. Results Here we report the construction and characterization of a highly redundant bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC library constructed from a Norwegian aquaculture strain male of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar. The library consists of a total number of 305 557 clones, in which approximately 299 000 are recombinants. The average insert size of the library is 188 kbp, representing 18-fold genome coverage. High-density filters each consisting of 18 432 clones spotted in duplicates have been produced for hybridization screening, and are publicly available 1. To characterize the library, 15 expressed sequence tags (ESTs derived overgos and 12 oligo sequences derived from microsatellite markers were used in hybridization screening of the complete BAC library. Secondary hybridizations with individual probes were performed for the clones detected. The BACs positive for the EST probes were fingerprinted and mapped into contigs, yielding an average of 3 contigs for each probe. Clones identified using genomic probes were PCR verified using microsatellite specific primers. Conclusion Identification of genes and genomic regions of interest is greatly aided by the availability of the CHORI-214 Atlantic salmon BAC

On the importance of PURE - Public Understanding of Renewable Energy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Broman, Lars; Kandpal, Tara C.

2013-09-15

Public understanding of science (PUS) is a central concept among science communicators. Public understanding of renewable energy (PURE) is proposed as an important sub-concept of PUS. The aim of this paper is to interest and invite renewable energy scientists to join a PURE research project. Four separate important questions for a PURE research project can be identified: (A) Is PURE important? (B) Which issues of PURE are the most important ones, according to renewable energy scientists? (C) What understanding of renewable energy has the general public today, worldwide? (D) How to achieve PURE?.

Website Policies / Important Links | DOepatents

Science.gov (United States)

Links Website Policies / Important Links Javascript Not Enabled OSTI Security Website Policies and first) Publication Date (oldest first) Close Clear All Find DOepatents Website Policies / Important Important Links Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from

Project Documentation as a Risk for Public Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vladěna Štěpánková

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Purpose of the article: The paper presents the different methodologies used for creating documentation and focuses on public projects and their requirements for this documentation. Since documentation is also incorporated in the overall planning of the project and its duration is estimated using expert qualified estimate, can any change in this documentation lead to project delays, or increase its cost as a result of consuming administration, and therefore the documentation is seen as a risk, which may threaten the project as a public contract by which a company trying to achieve and obtains it, and generally any project. Methodology/methods: There are used methods of obtaining information in this paper. These are mainly structured interviews in combination with a brainstorming, furthermore also been used questionnaire for companies dealing with public procurement. As a data processing program was used MS Excel and basic statistical methods based on regression analysis. Scientific aim: The article deals with the construction market in the Czech Republic and examines the impact of changes in project documentation of public projects on their turnover. Findings: In this paper we summarize the advantages and disadvantages of having project documentation. In the case of public contracts and changes in legislation it is necessary to focus on creating documentation in advance, follow the new requirements and try to reach them in the shortest possible time. Conclusions: The paper concludes with recommendations on how to proceed, if these changes and how to reduce costs, which may cause the risk of documentation.

Vulnerability in Determining the Cost of Information System Project to Avoid Loses

Science.gov (United States)

Haryono, Kholid; Ikhsani, Zulfa Amalia

2018-03-01

Context: This study discusses the priority of cost required in software development projects. Objectives: To show the costing models, the variables involved, and how practitioners assess and decide the priorities of each variable. To strengthen the information, each variable also confirmed the risk if ignored. Method: The method is done by two approaches. First, systematic literature reviews to find the models and variables used to decide the cost of software development. Second, confirm and take judgments about the level of importance and risk of each variable to the software developer. Result: Obtained about 54 variables that appear on the 10 models discussed. The variables are categorized into 15 groups based on the similarity of meaning. Each group becomes a variable. Confirmation results with practitioners on the level of importance and risk. It shown there are two variables that are considered very important and high risk if ignored. That is duration and effort. Conclusion: The relationship of variable rates between the results of literature studies and confirmation of practitioners contributes to the use of software business actors in considering project cost variables.

Computational performance of a projection and rescaling algorithm

OpenAIRE

Pena, Javier; Soheili, Negar

2018-01-01

This paper documents a computational implementation of a {\\em projection and rescaling algorithm} for finding most interior solutions to the pair of feasibility problems \\[ \\text{find} \\; x\\in L\\cap\\mathbb{R}^n_{+} \\;\\;\\;\\; \\text{ and } \\; \\;\\;\\;\\; \\text{find} \\; \\hat x\\in L^\\perp\\cap\\mathbb{R}^n_{+}, \\] where $L$ denotes a linear subspace in $\\mathbb{R}^n$ and $L^\\perp$ denotes its orthogonal complement. The projection and rescaling algorithm is a recently developed method that combines a {\\...

Raspberry Pi robotics projects

CERN Document Server

Grimmett, Richard

2015-01-01

This book is for enthusiasts who want to use the Raspberry Pi to build complex robotics projects. With the aid of the step-by-step instructions in this book, you can construct complex robotics projects that can move, talk, listen, see, swim, or fly. No previous Raspberry Pi robotics experience is assumed, but even experts will find unexpected and interesting information in this invaluable guide.

Northern Winter Climate Change: Assessment of Uncertainty in CMIP5 Projections Related to Stratosphere-Troposphere Coupling

Science.gov (United States)

Manzini, E.; Karpechko, A.Yu.; Anstey, J.; Shindell, Drew Todd; Baldwin, M.P.; Black, R.X.; Cagnazzo, C.; Calvo, N.; Charlton-Perez, A.; Christiansen, B.;

The Strategic Importance of Balochistan

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-01

projects require augmentation from skilled Punjabi labor. Militarily, it is important from a logistical standpoint as it provides a...Balochistan to a newly independent Greater Balochistan, but also their Pashtun regions need to join Afghanistan, leaving the Punjabi and Sindhi regions to

Project Investment and Project Financing: A study on Business Case and Financing Models

OpenAIRE

Wang, Simiao

2012-01-01

Uncertainty is a very significant factor that must be taken into consideration in project front-end phase management. By taking into uncertainty, the planners can to a great extent make sure that the business case could be accurate between specific intervals, hence business case can be based on to make decision. In a highly uncertain environment; the project sponsors should prefer other means to finance the project rather than using debt. Risk management is extremely important in project fina...

Forty project management strategies for the medical practice staff.

Science.gov (United States)

Hills, Laura Sachs

2010-01-01

Most every medical practice will embark at one time or another on a large and complex new project. The practice may, for instance, undertake a project in office construction or renovation, practice expansion, new technology, or a new large-scale event. The medical practice staff may find itself creating the project plan, overseeing its execution, and working through the plan day to day until its completion. In short, the staff may find itself responsible for project management. This article contains 40 specific, easy-to-implement project management strategies medical practice employees can use to manage both the large and small projects they undertake on behalf of the practice. It suggests effective project management strategies the staff can use before the onset of a new project as well as strategies to help define the project, to deliver the project, and to close and review the project. This article also describes five reasons medical practices often fail at project management and suggests more effective approaches that will ensure that the projects the medical practice undertakes are completed well, on time, and within budget.

Assessing the value of the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP) in Everglades restoration: an ecosystem service approach

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, Leslie A.; Keefe, Kelly; Huber, Christopher C.; Racevskis, Laila; Gregg, Reynolds; Thourot, Scott; Miller, Ian

2014-01-01

This study identifies a full range of ecosystem services that could be affected by a restoration project in the central Everglades and monetizes the economic value of a subset of these services using existing data. Findings suggest that the project will potentially increase many ecosystem services that have considerable economic value to society. The ecosystem services monetized within the scope of this study are a subset of the difference between the future-with the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP) and the future-without CEPP, and they totaled ~ $1.8 billion USD at a 2.5% discount rate. Findings suggest that the use of ecosystem services in project planning and communications may require acknowledgment of the difficulty of monetizing important services and the limitations associated with using only existing data and models. Results of this study highlight the need for additional valuation efforts in this region, focused on those services that are likely to be impacted by restoration activities but were notably challenging to value in this assessment due to shortages of data.

Next Generation Nuclear Plant Project Preliminary Project Management Plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dennis J. Harrell

2006-01-01

This draft preliminary project management plan presents the conceptual framework for the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) Project, consistent with the authorization in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. In developing this plan, the Idaho National Laboratory has considered three fundamental project planning options that are summarized in the following section. Each of these planning options is literally compliant with the Energy Policy Act of 2005, but each emphasizes different approaches to technology development risks, design, licensing and construction risks, and to the extent of commercialization support provided to the industry. The primary focus of this draft preliminary project management plan is to identify those activities important to Critical Decision-1, at which point a decision on proceeding with the NGNP Project can be made. The conceptual project framework described herein is necessary to establish the scope and priorities for the technology development activities. The framework includes: A reference NGNP prototype concept based on what is judged to be the lowest risk technology development that would achieve the needed commercial functional requirements to provide an economically competitive nuclear heat source and hydrogen production capability. A high-level schedule logic for design, construction, licensing, and acceptance testing. This schedule logic also includes an operational shakedown period that provides proof-of-principle to establish the basis for commercialization decisions by end-users. An assessment of current technology development plans to support Critical Decision-1 and overall project progress. The most important technical and programmatic uncertainties (risks) are evaluated, and potential mitigation strategies are identified so that the technology development plans may be modified as required to support ongoing project development. A rough-order-of-magnitude cost evaluation that provides an initial basis for budget planning. This

A Model of Successful School Leadership from the International Successful School Principalship Project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Gurr

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP has been actively conducting research about the work of successful principals since 2001. Findings from four project books and eight models derived from this project are synthesised into a model of successful school leadership. Building on Gurr, Drysdale and Mulford’s earlier model, the work of school leaders is described as engaging within the school context to influence student and school outcomes through interventions in teaching and learning, school capacity building, and the wider context. The qualities a leader brings to their role, a portfolio approach to using leadership ideas, constructing networks, collaborations and partnerships, and utilising accountability and evaluation for evidence-informed improvement, are important additional elements. The model is applicable to all in leadership roles in schools.

Project Management Effectiveness: the choice - formal or informal controls

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jon Heales

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Development failures and runaway projects in the information systems (IS area can result in substantial losses to organizations, either financially or to a company’s reputation. One important strategy in mitigating risk is the use of effective controls over IS projects. This research investigates the effectiveness of control mechanisms in IS projects, i.e., how they have been established, applied, and how they have evolved throughout the project. We conducted an in-depth study of six information systems projects with six different project managers. We found that formal controls were adopted on project elements with clearly defined project outcomes and informal controls were adopted mainly on project elements that were unclear and often related to people. Furthermore, formal controls were dominant at project initiation and in most cases these controls became less dominant over the project duration. These formal controls were more rigorously applied in external IS projects while informal controls increased in importance throughout the project duration in internally developed projects. We found the existence of informal controls to be very important in helping ensure successful project outcomes.

Radiographic findings in late-presenting congenital diaphragmatic hernia: helpful imaging findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muzzafar, Sofia; Swischuk, Leonard E.; Jadhav, Siddharth P.

2012-01-01

Imaging findings in delayed presentation of congenital diaphragmatic hernia can be confusing and misleading, resulting in a delay in diagnosis. To evaluate the often puzzling plain film findings of late-presenting CDH in an effort to determine whether any of the findings could be helpful in arriving at an early diagnosis. We reviewed and documented the plain film findings and clinical data in eight patients seen during the last 20 years with late-presenting CDH. IRB exempt status was obtained in this study. There were five boys and three girls. The age range was 4 months to 12 years with a mean of 2.4 years. Five children presented with acute respiratory problems while three presented with acute abdominal pain. Two children presented with both respiratory and abdominal findings and one also presented with hematemesis. Two children had radiographic findings that were not difficult to analyze while the remaining six had findings that posed initial diagnostic problems. Although not common, late-presenting CDH can result in confusing plain film radiographic findings and a delay in diagnosis. We found that the most important finding in analyzing these radiographs is in evaluating the location and position of the gastric bubble with the more common left-side hernias. (orig.)

Radiographic findings in late-presenting congenital diaphragmatic hernia: helpful imaging findings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Muzzafar, Sofia; Swischuk, Leonard E.; Jadhav, Siddharth P. [University of Texas Medical Branch, Department of Pediatric Radiology, Galveston, TX (United States)

2012-03-15

Imaging findings in delayed presentation of congenital diaphragmatic hernia can be confusing and misleading, resulting in a delay in diagnosis. To evaluate the often puzzling plain film findings of late-presenting CDH in an effort to determine whether any of the findings could be helpful in arriving at an early diagnosis. We reviewed and documented the plain film findings and clinical data in eight patients seen during the last 20 years with late-presenting CDH. IRB exempt status was obtained in this study. There were five boys and three girls. The age range was 4 months to 12 years with a mean of 2.4 years. Five children presented with acute respiratory problems while three presented with acute abdominal pain. Two children presented with both respiratory and abdominal findings and one also presented with hematemesis. Two children had radiographic findings that were not difficult to analyze while the remaining six had findings that posed initial diagnostic problems. Although not common, late-presenting CDH can result in confusing plain film radiographic findings and a delay in diagnosis. We found that the most important finding in analyzing these radiographs is in evaluating the location and position of the gastric bubble with the more common left-side hernias. (orig.)

Radiographic findings in late-presenting congenital diaphragmatic hernia: helpful imaging findings.

Science.gov (United States)

Muzzafar, Sofia; Swischuk, Leonard E; Jadhav, Siddharth P

2012-03-01

Imaging findings in delayed presentation of congenital diaphragmatic hernia can be confusing and misleading, resulting in a delay in diagnosis. To evaluate the often puzzling plain film findings of late-presenting CDH in an effort to determine whether any of the findings could be helpful in arriving at an early diagnosis. We reviewed and documented the plain film findings and clinical data in eight patients seen during the last 20 years with late-presenting CDH. IRB exempt status was obtained in this study. There were five boys and three girls. The age range was 4 months to 12 years with a mean of 2.4 years. Five children presented with acute respiratory problems while three presented with acute abdominal pain. Two children presented with both respiratory and abdominal findings and one also presented with hematemesis. Two children had radiographic findings that were not difficult to analyze while the remaining six had findings that posed initial diagnostic problems. Although not common, late-presenting CDH can result in confusing plain film radiographic findings and a delay in diagnosis. We found that the most important finding in analyzing these radiographs is in evaluating the location and position of the gastric bubble with the more common left-side hernias.

ST Implications in the CNGS Project

CERN Document Server

Wilhelmsson, M

2000-01-01

The CNGS project concerns the construction of a neutrino beam facility (CNGS = CERN Neutrino beam to Gran Sasso). A 450 GeV proton beam will be extracted from the SPS accelerator. This proton beam will hit a target a few hundred metres downstream from the extraction point (BA4). In the debris of the proton beam we will find pions which continue down a 1000 m, evacuated tunnel and a fraction of which decay into a neutrino beam. After this decay tunnel (1.1 km), a 'hadron stop' will separate the neutrinos, after which they will resume their journey down to a detector pit, outside Rome (Gran Sasso). The CERN facility has a total length of approximately 3 km. The ST division has an important share in the construction work, both of the above-mentioned tunnels as well as of all other infrastructure services, and this work concerns most of the groups in the division. This report will outline the technical design of the facility and explain how we, in the ST division, are involved in the project. The CERN council app...

The Little Black Book of Project Management

CERN Document Server

Thomsett, Michael C

2009-01-01

For nearly twenty years, The Little Black Book of Project Management has provided businesspeople everywhere with a quick and effective introduction to project management tools and methodology. The revised and updated third edition reflects the newest techniques, the latest project management software, as well as the most recent changes to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK™). Readers will find invaluable strategies for: • Organizing any project • Choosing the project team • Preparing a budget and sticking to it • Scheduling, flowcharting, and controlling a project • Preparing proj

R&D Project Valuation Considering Changes of Economic Environment: A Case of a Pharmaceutical R&D Project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jung Ho Park

2018-03-01

Full Text Available R&D project valuation is important for effective R&D portfolio management through decision making, related to the firm’s R&D productivity, sustainable management. In particular, scholars have emphasized the necessities of capturing option value in R&D and developed methods of real option valuation. However, despite suggesting various real option models, there are few studies on simultaneously employing mean-reverting stochastic process and Markov regime switching to describe the evolution of cash flow and to reflect time-varying parameters resulting from changes of economic environment. Therefore, we suggest a mean-reverting binomial lattice model under Markov regime switching and apply it to evaluate clinical development with project cases of the pharmaceutical industry. This study finds that decision making can be different according to the regime condition, thus the suggested model can capture risks caused by the uncertainty of the economic environment, represented by regime switching. Further, this study simulates the model according to rate parameter from 0.00 to 1.00 and risk-free interest rates for regimes 1 and 2 from ( r 1 = 4%, r 2 = 2% to ( r 1 = 7%, r 2 = 5%, and confirms the rigidity of the model. Therefore, in practice, the mean-reverting binomial lattice model under Markov regime switching proposed in this study for R&D project valuation contributes to assisting company R&D project managers make effective decision making considering current economic environment and future changes.

Pelagic Project Mauritania 2005-2006

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heessen, H.J.L.; Tjoe-Awie, P.J.; Haan, de D.; Ybema, M.S.

2007-01-01

The Pelagic Project Mauritania 2005-2006 was the continuation of two earlier, but similar, projects for the years 1998-2001 and 2002-2004. The project was carried out in cooperation between IMARES and IMROP and had as most important objectives to further the assessment of small pelagic species,

The TackSHS project - a collaborative H2020 project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Esteve Fernandez

2016-03-01

Full Text Available TackSHS is a new research project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme. It aims to improve our understanding of second-hand tobacco smoke and e-cigarette emissions and find ways of tackling the health burden caused by exposure to them. Within a fast changing environment, the project will try to elucidate the comprehensive impact that SHS and e-cigarette aerosols have on respiratory health of the European population and how health impacts vary according to socio-economic parameters with particular emphasis on specific vulnerable groups such as patients suffering from chronic lung diseases.

The term structure of credit spreads in project finance

OpenAIRE

Marco Sorge; Blaise Gadanecz

2004-01-01

This paper finds that the term structure of credit spreads in project finance is hump-shaped. This contrasts with other types of debt, where credit risk is shown instead to increase monotonically with maturity ceteris paribus. We emphasize a number of peculiar features of project finance structures that might underlie this finding, such as high leverage decreasing over time, long-term political risk guarantees and the sequential resolution of uncertainty along project advancement stages. Our ...

The importance of project networking for the replacement research reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Whitbourn, G.

2003-01-01

When the HIFAR research reactor was commissioned in 1958 it was both constructed and regulated by the then Australian Atomic Energy Commission. The situation now is much more complicated, with an independent regulator, The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) and oversight by national security agencies and the Australian Safeguards and Non proliferation Organisation (ASNO). In July 2000 ANSTO contracted INVAP SE a suitably qualified and experienced nuclear organisation based in Argentina to provide the Replacement Research Reactor (RRR). INVAP subcontracted an Australian entity, a joint venture between John Holland and Evans Deakin Industries (JHEDI) to provide resources in Australia. There is an international network of over 100 subcontractors providing services, products and materials to INVAP and JHEDI and a significant number of contractors providing project support services to ANSTO. The interaction of all these entities to provide the RRR is a significant networking challenge, involving a complex network of legal, contractual and functional relationships and communication processes

[Theme: Achieving Quality Laboratory Projects.[.

Science.gov (United States)

Shinn, Glen C.; And Others

1983-01-01

The theme articles present strategies for achieving quality laboratory projects in vocational agriculture. They describe fundamentals of the construction of quality projects and stress the importance of quality instruction. (JOW)

Website Policies / Important Links | Data Explorer

Science.gov (United States)

Website Policies / Important Links Javascript Not Enabled OSTI Security Website Policies and Important ) Publication Date (oldest first) Close Clear All Find DOE Data Explorer Website Policies / Important Links Science | Office of Scientific and Technical Information Website Policies / Important Links * Site Map

Delivering below the line in project management – A conceptual exploration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Udechukwu Ojiako

2013-06-01

Design/Methodology/Approach: The study is conceptual in nature and draws upon literature on complexity theory, expectations theories and stakeholder theory. Findings: The paper finds that there is a need to articulate a different assessment of project outcomes than has been traditionally undertaken. Such assessments may emphasise the perceptions of project clients formed through their experience of projects throughout the project lifecycle. Implications: This paper raises questions on whether the outcomes of projects are best ‘measured’ or ‘assessed’.

Effective e-learning for health professionals and students--barriers and their solutions. A systematic review of the literature--findings from the HeXL project.

Science.gov (United States)

Childs, Sue; Blenkinsopp, Elizabeth; Hall, Amanda; Walton, Graham

2005-12-01

In 2003/4 the Information Management Research Institute, Northumbria University, conducted a research project to identify the barriers to e-learning for health professionals and students. The project also established possible ways to overcome these barriers. The North of England Workforce Development Confederation funded the project. The project comprised a systematic review of the literature on barriers to and solutions/critical success factors for e-learning in the health field. Fifty-seven references were suitable for analysis. This review was supplemented by a questionnaire survey of learners and an interview study of learning providers to ensure that data identified from the literature were grounded in reality. The main barriers are: requirement for change; costs; poorly designed packages; inadequate technology; lack of skills; need for a component of face-to-face teaching; time intensive nature of e-learning; computer anxiety. A range of solutions can solve these barriers. The main solutions are: standardization; strategies; funding; integration of e-learning into the curriculum; blended teaching; user friendly packages; access to technology; skills training; support; employers paying e-learning costs; dedicated work time for e-learning. The authors argue that librarians can play an important role in e-learning: providing support and support materials; teaching information skills; managing and providing access to online information resources; producing their own e-learning packages; assisting in the development of other packages.

Severe fuel damage projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sdouz, G.

1987-10-01

After the descriptions of the generation of a Severe Fuel Damage Accident in a LWR the hypothetical course of such an accident is explained. Then the most significant projects are described. At each project the experimental facility, the most important results and the concluding models and codes are discussed. The selection of the projects is concentrated on the German Projekt Nukleare Sicherheit (PNS), tests performed at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) and smaller projects in France and Great Britain. 25 refs., 26 figs. (Author)

Important results to SAMG and recommendation for further developments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaltchev, S.; Vaklev, R.; Vassilev, P.

2007-01-01

The purpose of this presentation is to provide users of the Severe Accident Management Guidance (SAMG) with a single reference for information on work of the Phare project BG 0110 01. This presentation consolidates and integrates information that is dispersed throughout the reports and the documents produced by the project, which development has been divided in a phenomena investigation (mainly through analysis) and a SAMG (guidelines) part. Phenomena are covered in the presentation at a level of detail adequate for project participants and SAMG users, but the others might find it informative and useful. (authors)

APRI - Accident Phenomena of Risk Importance. Final Report; APRI - Accident Phenomena of Risk Importance. Slutrapport

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Frid, W. [Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate, Stockholm (Sweden); Hammar, L.; Soederman, E. [ES-konsult, Stockholm (Sweden)

1996-12-01

The APRI-project started in 1992 with participation of the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate (SKI) and the Swedish utilities. The Finnish utility TVO joined the project in 1993. The aim of the project has been to work with phenomenological questions in severe accidents, concentrating on the risk-dominating issues. The work is reported in separate sub-project reports, the present is the final report of the methodological studies as well as a final report for the total project. The research has led to clarifications of the risk complex, and ameliorated the basis for advanced probabilistic safety analyses, specially for the emission risks (PSA level 2) which are being studied at the Swedish plants. A new method has been tried for analysis of complicated accident courses, giving a possibility for systematic evaluation of the impact of different important phenomena (e.g. melt-through, high pressure melt-through with direct heating of the containment atmosphere, steam explosions). In this method, the phenomena are looked upon as top events of a `phenomena-tree`, illustrating how various conditions must be met before the top-event can happen. This method has been useful, in particular for applying `expert estimates`. 47 refs.

Projections of Three-Dimensional Regions

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez, Felix; Rosa, De La

2005-01-01

When first-year calculus students are interested in studying double integrals, they can find, in standard textbooks, a detailed description of the different regions of integration. The aims of this paper are: to give a criterion to select the plane that will be projected, to classify the projections, and to give a simple rule to obtain them.…

The role of project planning in project management

OpenAIRE

Klitsenko, A. I.; Клиценко, А. И.

2013-01-01

This article describes the importance of the process of project planning. The author gives irrefutable arguments concerning crucial role of project planning. This article presents the definition, objects and the main goal of project planning. The purpose of this article is to review such objects of project planning as project scope, risk and human resources. Данная статья описывает важность процесса проектного планирования. Автор дает неопровержимые доводы, касающиеся решающей роли проектн...

Project Portfolio Management Applications Testing

OpenAIRE

Paul POCATILU

2006-01-01

Many IT companies are running project simultaneously. In order to achieve the best results, they have to group to the project in portfolios, and to use specific software that helps to manage them. Project portfolio management applications have a high degree of complexity and they are very important for the companies that are using it. This paper focuses on some characteristics of the testing process for project portfolio management applications

Comparative analysis of milk yield and reproductive traits of Holstein-Friesian cows born in Turkey or imported from Italy and kept on farms under the Turkish-ANAFI project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yavuz Akbas

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This research investigated the milk yield, reproductive traits and productive life of Holstein-Friesian cows born in Turkeyor imported from Italy and raised on farms involved in the Turkish-ANAFI Project. A total of 2600 records for age at firstcalving, 4733 completed lactation records from 2080 cows, and 1130 productive life (from first calving to disposalrecords from 50 farms in the provinces of I•zmir, Manisa and Aydın under the Turkish-ANAFI Project were evaluated. Leastsquares means for age at first calving, 305-day milk yield, lactation milk yield, lactation duration, days open, days dry,and productive life were 28.2 months, 6232 kg, 6829 kg, 336.0 days, 138.0 days, 78.3 days, and 28.9 months, respectively.Corresponding least squares means for cows born in Turkey and imported from Italy were 28.8 and 27.6 months(P0.05, 6761 and 6897 kg (Pdays (P0.10, and 21.6 and 36.1 months (Pof Holstein-Friesian cows in herd-book herds under the project in the Aegean Region was satisfactory. However, therewere reproductive problems as shown by the length of days open. Shorter productive life of cows born in Turkey comparedto cows from Italy suggested that breeders tended to cull locally born cows at a younger age but that they tendedto keep imported cows in the herd for a longer period unless serious problems occurred.

Evaluation of a diabetes nurse specialist prescribing project.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkinson, Jill; Carryer, Jenny; Adams, Jeffery

2014-08-01

To evaluate the diabetes nurse specialist prescribing project with the aim of determining whether diabetes nurse specialist prescribing is safe and effective and to inform the implementation and extension of registered nurse prescribing. Registered nurses in many countries are able to prescribe medicines, but in New Zealand, prior to the diabetes nurse specialist project, nurse practitioners were the only nurses who could prescribe medicines. New regulations allowed the nurses to prescribe a limited number of prescription medicines. The study was a process and outcome clinical programme evaluation. The project took place between April-September 2011 and involved 12 diabetes nurse specialist in four localities. Quantitative data were collected from clinical records maintained by the diabetes nurse specialist for the project (1274 patients and 3402 prescribing events), from surveys with stakeholders (general practitioners, n = 30; team members, n = 19; and patients, n = 89) and audits from patient notes (n = 117) and prescriptions (n = 227), and qualitative data from interviews with project participants (n = 18) and patients (n = 19). All data were analysed descriptively. Diabetes nurse specialist prescribing was determined to be safe, of high quality and appropriate. It brought important benefits to the effectiveness of specialist diabetes services, was acceptable to patients and was supported by the wider healthcare team. These findings are consistent with the findings reported in the international literature about nurse prescribing in a range of different practice areas. Clarification of the education and competence requirements and resourcing for the ongoing supervision of nurses is recommended if the prescribing model is to be extended. Diabetes nurse specialist prescribing improved access to medicines by providing a more timely service. Nurses felt more satisfied with their work because they could independently provide a complete episode of care

Critical Success Factors in Construction Projects (Governmental Projects as a Case Study)

OpenAIRE

Hatem Khaleefah Al-Ageeli; Abdul Salam J. Ali Alzobaee

2016-01-01

The importance of the construction sector and its Great role in the provision of services and infrastructure, reduce poverty, improve living conditions and improve the economic situation in the country, impose attention to the way in which the projects implemented for its improvement and to get successful projects. The objective of this research was to determine the criteria for success as well as critical success and failure factors that have a significant impact on project success. A select...

The association between tax structure and cigarette price variability: findings from the ITC Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Shang, Ce; Chaloupka, Frank J; Fong, Geoffrey T; Thompson, Mary; O'Connor, Richard J

2015-07-01

Recent studies have shown that more opportunities exist for tax avoidance when cigarette excise tax structure departs from a uniform specific structure. However, the association between tax structure and cigarette price variability has not been thoroughly studied in the existing literature. To examine how cigarette tax structure is associated with price variability. The variability of self-reported prices is measured using the ratios of differences between higher and lower prices to the median price such as the IQR-to-median ratio. We used survey data taken from the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation (ITC) Project in 17 countries to conduct the analysis. Cigarette prices were derived using individual purchase information and aggregated to price variability measures for each surveyed country and wave. The effect of tax structures on price variability was estimated using Generalised Estimating Equations after adjusting for year and country attributes. Our study provides empirical evidence of a relationship between tax structure and cigarette price variability. We find that, compared to the specific uniform tax structure, mixed uniform and tiered (specific, ad valorem or mixed) structures are associated with greater price variability (p≤0.01). Moreover, while a greater share of the specific component in total excise taxes is associated with lower price variability (p≤0.05), a tiered tax structure is associated with greater price variability (p≤0.01). The results suggest that a uniform and specific tax structure is the most effective tax structure for reducing tobacco consumption and prevalence by limiting price variability and decreasing opportunities for tax avoidance. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Caring communities as collective learning process: findings and lessons learned from a participatory research project in Austria.

Science.gov (United States)

Wegleitner, Klaus; Schuchter, Patrick

2018-04-01

By now, the public health end-of-life care approach is well established and has induced diverse initiatives-subsumed under the concept of compassionate or caring communities-to engage the community in supporting vulnerable, dying people and their beloved ones. In the light of a participatory research project our paper examines the question: what are the deeper ideas behind caring communities and what constitutes a caring community? A multi-level analysis based on (I) qualitative research with focus groups and interviews with community members within the project; (II) the reflection of the role of participatory research in caring community initiatives, and (III) the meta-analysis of an international expert workshop, which allowed to discuss our experiences and insights in the light of international caring community models and expertise. Our analysis of qualities ("ingredients") of a caring community, from the perspective of community members, highlighted the importance of the co-creation of supportive care relationships in the local care web, through everyday life solidarity in the neighbourhood, appreciating and exchanging the wisdom of care, and also marked the role of professionals as enablers. Participatory research in caring community developments has the potential to engage and empower citizens, and to interlink existential care-stories with questions about the structural and political environments of appropriate end-of-life care. The caring community movement and public health end-of-life care has to maintain their critical potential against the commercialization and fragmentation of care (services), but also without "romanticizing" communities. Prospective caring community progresses need (I) an ecological health-promotion framework for action and (II) social learning processes along the existential experiences and the wisdom of community members, complementing each other. Organizing existential-political care dialogues can contribute to an ethic of caring

Finding Worst-Case Flexible Schedules using Coevolution

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Mikkel Thomas

2001-01-01

Finding flexible schedules is important to industry, since in many environments changes such as machine breakdowns or the appearance of new jobs can happen at short notice.......Finding flexible schedules is important to industry, since in many environments changes such as machine breakdowns or the appearance of new jobs can happen at short notice....

Project management metrics, KPIs, and dashboards a guide to measuring and monitoring project performance

CERN Document Server

Kerzner, Harold

2013-01-01

Today, with the growth of complex projects, stakeholder involvement in projects, advances in computer technology for dashboard designs, metrics, and key performance indicators for project management have become an important focus. This Second Edition of the bestselling book walks readers through everything from the basics of project management metrics and key performance indicators to establishing targets and using dashboards to monitor performance. The content is aligned with PMI's PMBOK Guide and stresses "value" as the main focal point.

Managing a sensitive project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Etcheber, Pascal

1998-01-01

A 'sensitive' project needs to be managed differently from a 'normal' project. This statement might seem simple enough. However, it does not seem to be a simple task to prove it in twenty minutes. This paper is an attempt to share with the audience some of the experiences the company had dealing with sensitive projects. It describes what a sensitive project is, though of all people, the 'nuclear' should know. Then the common mistakes are described, that are made in the hoping that some personal experiences are recognised. Finally the company's strategy is shown, how we foster third party support and the main tools to be used. Ultimately, success is ensured by having a sufficient quantity of allies. A sensitive project does not die because it has too many opponents, but because it has too few allies. Finding and helping allies to act is the thrust of our activity. It enables sensitive projects which deserve to succeed to do so, where traditional management fails miserably

Analysis of architect’s performance indicators in project delivery process

Science.gov (United States)

Marisa, A.

2018-03-01

Architect as a professional in the construction industry should possess a good performance in project delivery process. As a design professional, architect has an important role to ensure that the process is well-conducted by delivering a high-quality product for the clients. Thus, analyzing architect’s performance indicators is crucial in the project delivery process. This study aims to analyze the relative importance of architect performance indicators in project delivery process among registered architects in North Sumatera, Indonesia. A total of five indicators that measure architect performance in project delivery process were identified and 110 completed questionnaires were obtained and used for data analysis. A relative importance index is used to rank the relative importance of architect performance indicators. Results indicate that focus on the clients is the most important indicator of architect performance in project delivery process. This study demonstrates project communication as one of crucial indicators perceived by the architects for measuring their performance, and fills a knowledge gap on the importance of identifying the most important indicator for measuring architect performance from their own perspectives which previous studies have overlooked to improve performance assessment in project delivery process.

Choosing to Cofinance: Analysis of Project-Specific Alliances in the Movie Industry

OpenAIRE

Darius Palia; S. Abraham Ravid; Natalia Reisel

2008-01-01

We use a movie industry project-by-project dataset to analyze the choice of financing a project internally versus financing it through outside alliances. The results indicate that project risk is positively correlated with alliance formation. Movie studios produce a variety of films and tend to develop their safest projects internally. Our findings are consistent with internal capital market explanations. We find mixed evidence regarding resource pooling, i.e., sharing the cost of large proje...

The importance of centralities in dark network value chains

Science.gov (United States)

Toth, Noemi; Gulyás, László; Legendi, Richard O.; Duijn, Paul; Sloot, Peter M. A.; Kampis, George

2013-09-01

This paper introduces three novel centrality measures based on the nodes' role in the operation of a joint task, i.e., their position in a criminal network value chain. For this, we consider networks where nodes have attributes describing their "capabilities" or "colors", i.e., the possible roles they may play in a value chain. A value chain here is understood as a series of tasks to be performed in a specific order, each requiring a specific capability. The first centrality notion measures how many value chain instances a given node participates in. The other two assess the costs of replacing a node in the value chain in case the given node is no longer available to perform the task. The first of them considers the direct distance (shortest path length) between the node in question and its nearest replacement, while the second evaluates the actual replacement process, assuming that preceding and following nodes in the network should each be able to find and contact the replacement. In this report, we demonstrate the properties of the new centrality measures using a few toy examples and compare them to classic centralities, such as betweenness, closeness and degree centrality. We also apply the new measures to randomly colored empirical networks. We find that the newly introduced centralities differ sufficiently from the classic measures, pointing towards different aspects of the network. Our results also pinpoint the difference between having a replacement node in the network and being able to find one. This is the reason why "introduction distance" often has a noticeable correlation with betweenness. Our studies show that projecting value chains over networks may significantly alter the nodes' perceived importance. These insights might have important implications for the way law enforcement or intelligence agencies look at the effectiveness of dark network disruption strategies over time.

Project Reptile!

Science.gov (United States)

Diffily, Deborah

2001-01-01

Integrating curriculum is important in helping children make connections within and among areas. Presents a class project for kindergarten children which came out of the students' interests and desire to build a reptile exhibit. (ASK)

Collateral Projections Innervate the Mammillary Bodies and Retrosplenial Cortex: A New Category of Hippocampal Cells

Science.gov (United States)

O’Mara, Shane M.

2018-01-01

To understand the hippocampus, it is necessary to understand the subiculum. Unlike other hippocampal subfields, the subiculum projects to almost all distal hippocampal targets, highlighting its critical importance for external networks. The present studies, in male rats and mice, reveal a new category of dorsal subiculum neurons that innervate both the mammillary bodies (MBs) and the retrosplenial cortex (RSP). These bifurcating neurons comprise almost half of the hippocampal cells that project to RSP. The termination of these numerous collateral projections was visualized within the medial mammillary nucleus and the granular RSP (area 29). These collateral projections included subiculum efferents that cross to the contralateral MBs. Within the granular RSP, the collateral projections form a particularly dense plexus in deep Layer II and Layer III. This retrosplenial termination site colocalized with markers for VGluT2 and neurotensin. While efferents from the hippocampal CA fields standardly collateralize, subiculum projections often have only one target site. Consequently, the many collateral projections involving the RSP and the MBs present a relatively unusual pattern for the subiculum, which presumably relates to how both targets have complementary roles in spatial processing. Furthermore, along with the anterior thalamic nuclei, the MBs and RSP are key members of a memory circuit, which is usually described as both starting and finishing in the hippocampus. The present findings reveal how the hippocampus simultaneously engages different parts of this circuit, so forcing an important revision of this network. PMID:29527569

Predicting the importance of current papers.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klavans, Richard (SciTech Strategies, Inc., Berwyn, PA); Boyack, Kevin W.

2005-01-01

This article examines how well one can predict the importance of a current paper (a paper that is recently published in the literature). We look at three factors--journal importance, reference importance and author reputation. Citation-based measures of importance are used for all variables. We find that journal importance is the best predictor (explaining 22.3% out of a potential 29.1% of the variance in the data), and that this correlation value varies significantly by discipline. Journal importance is a better predictor of citation in Computer Science than in any other discipline. While the finding supports the present policy of using journal impact statistics as a surrogate for the importance of current papers, it calls into question the present policy of equally weighting current documents in text-based analyses. We suggest that future researchers take into account the expected importance of a document when attempting to describe the cognitive structure of a field.

The TIMSS Videotape Classroom Study: Methods and Findings from an Exploratory Research Project on Eighth-Grade Mathematics Instruction in Germany, Japan, and the United States. A Research and Development Report.

Science.gov (United States)

Stigler, James W.; Gonzales, Patrick; Kwanaka, Takako; Knoll, Steffen; Serrano, Ana

This report presents the methods and preliminary findings of the Videotape Classroom Study, a video study of eighth-grade mathematics lessons in Germany, Japan, and the United States. This exploratory research project is part of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). The study included 231 eighth-grade mathematics…

Time for Decarbonization of Conservation and Development Projects? The Political Ecology of Carbon Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pierre L. Ibisch

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The globe's first carbon projects were designed and implemented approximately 20 years ago following scientific insights that emissions of greenhouse gases needed to be mitigated. Visible in some of these early projects were the important aspects of social governance and local benefit sharing. The projects promised to be a panacea to environmental, social and economic problems in remote rural areas of developing countries. However, it took another decade before a wave of hundreds of carbon projects were launched. Many of the projects were offered under the mechanism of REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation, plus the role of conservation, sustainable forest management and carbon enhancement, as well as under a variety of voluntary schemes and national programs, public-private partnerships, and forestry-based investment initiatives. As decision-makers prepare the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climatic Change in Paris (COP21, Earthscan has released a book entitled `Carbon conflicts and forest landscapes in Africa', edited by Melissa Leach and Ian Scoones. According to the editors, the focus of the book is on what happens on the ground when carbon forestry projects arrive, what types of projects work, and, equally important, what doesn’t work.

Clinical Findings in Patients with Splenic Injuries: Are Injuries to the Left Lower Chest Important?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schneir, Aaron

2001-07-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to describe the clinical findings in patients with splenic injury and to determine if isolated left lower chest injury may be the single clinical indicator of splenic injury. The medical records of all adult blunt trauma patients with splenic injury over a 14 month period were reviewed. Significant left lower chest injury was considered present if the patient had left sided pleuritic chest pain with tenderness to ribs 7-12 or if these ribs were visualized as fractured on any imaging study. Patients were considered to have clinical findings suggestive of splenic injury if they had pre-hospital or emergency department hypotension, abdominal pain or tenderness, a Glasgow coma scale < 15, or gross hematuria. Ninety patients had splenic injury. Thirty-nine (43%. 95% CI 33, 54% patients had significant left lower chest injury. In five (6%. 95% CI 2, 12% patients, injury to this portion of the chest was the single indicator of splenic injury. Nearly half the patients with splenic injury will have significant injury to the left lower chest and this finding may be the only indicator of splenic injury.

Process-based project proposal risk management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alok Kumar

2016-12-01

Full Text Available We all are aware of the organizational omnipresence. Projects within the organizations are ubiquitous too. Projects achieve their goals successfully if they are planned, scheduled, controlled and implemented well. The project lifecycle of initiating, planning, scheduling, controlling and implementing are very well-planned by project managers and the organizations. Successful projects have well-developed risk management plans to deal with situations impacting projects. Like any other organisation, a university does try to access funds for different purposes too. For such organisations, running a project is not the issue, rather getting a project proposal approved to fund a project is the key. Project proposal processing is done by the nodal office in every organisation. Usually, these nodal offices help in administration and submission of a project proposal for accessing funds. Seldom are these nodal project offices within the organizations facilitate a project proposal approval by proactively reaching out to the project managers. And as project managers prepare project proposals, little or no attention is made to prepare a project proposal risk plan so as to maximise project acquisition. Risk plans are submitted while preparing proposals but these risk plans cater to a requirement to address actual projects upon approval. Hence, a risk management plan for project proposal is either missing or very little effort is made to treat the risks inherent in project acquisition. This paper is an integral attempt to highlight the importance of risk treatment for project proposal stage as an extremely important step to preparing the risk management plan made for projects corresponding to their lifecycle phases. Several tools and techniques have been proposed in the paper to help and guide either the project owner (proposer or the main organisational unit responsible for project management. Development of tools and techniques to further enhance project

Project Portfolio Management Applications Testing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul POCATILU

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Many IT companies are running project simultaneously. In order to achieve the best results, they have to group to the project in portfolios, and to use specific software that helps to manage them. Project portfolio management applications have a high degree of complexity and they are very important for the companies that are using it. This paper focuses on some characteristics of the testing process for project portfolio management applications

The importance of masticatory functional analysis in the diagnostic finding and treatment planning for prosthodontic rehabilitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Harry Laksono

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Background: The masticatory system as a biologic system is subjected to harmful influences of varying severity. Almost half of routine patients requesting prosthodontic treatment indicated at least one sign or symptom of temporomandibular disorders. Analysis of the masticatory system often neglected by dentist. Untreated temporomandibular disorders may significantly implicated in the perpetuation of the disorder and may interfere with routine prosthodontic clinical procedures. It would be resulted unsuccessful long term goal of prosthodontic rehabilitation because of the uncompleted diagnoses and treatment plan. Purpose: The purpose of this case report was to give the information of the importance of masticatory functional analysis in the diagnostic finding for treatment planning in the prosthodontic rehabilitation. Case: A 45 year - old male patient, partial dentate with reduced chewing efficiency, mild pain in right preauricular region in function, left click in opening mouth, severe attrition on all anterior lower teeth with vertical dimension of occlusion decreased due to loss of posterior support. He wanted to make a new denture. Case management: Record and analyze of active and passive mandibular movement, opening pathway, muscle and temporomandibular joints palpation, load testing, and vertical dimension of occlusion with manual functional analysis (MFA, occlusal condition and radiographic examination. Treatment plan was formulated into 3 phases: stabilization of the masticatory system, definitive treatment and periodical control. The result of this treatment excellent for 1 year evaluation after permanent cementation. Conclusion: Masticatory functional analysis is very important and must be done in the diagnosis finding for treatment planning in every case of prosthodontic rehabilitation.Latar belakang: Sistem pengunyahan sebagai sistem biologis sewaktu-waktu dapat terjadi gangguan dengan berbagai derajat keparahan. Hampir setengah dari

Efficient and Effective Project Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dusan Pene

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the article is to investigate different authorities and responsibilities of a project manager and of a project leader. Considering the fact that nowadays the project management is becoming the important factor in performing and leading the investments which are modified by modern leadership theories, we can say that the key element is the sovereign leadership of a manager and a project leader. The current multi-project environments and modern techniques at the project management area need the interdisciplinary leadership approach and at the same time they enable the strengthening of company’s competitive features so they are consistently satisfying high project expectations of the project investor or a client.

The Research of Stakeholder Power Impact on Project Implementation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Artur Biskupek

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose of the article: The article show summarized information about stakeholders and their role in project implementation based on literature review. The second part of the article is dedicated for the research about stakeholder influence on project implementation. The only condition to participate in the survey was managing projects. Although the respondents are employed in the area of south Poland, they implement projects all over Poland. The research tool was a questionnaire which was sent by e-mail to the respondents. 90 project managers from the area of south Poland were invited to join the project, and 62 people sent back a completed questionnaire. Methodology/methods: The research was done by a questionnaire with twenty two question, which was divided into three parts. The first part was the imprint, which consisted of three questions. The second part consisted of two questions, which concerned the way of defining the word “stakeholder”. The third part concerned the topic of the research and consisted of seventeen questions. Scientific aim: The aim of the article is presenting the results of the research which was done, to show the research results of project stakeholder influence on the project implementation. Findings: The results received from the survey in the process of analysis and interpretation allow to put forward a thesis that stakeholders as a whole group are significant for the implementation of the whole project. Their impact is so important that it is possible to tell that they decide also about the project success or failure. Conclusions: The respondents show that stakeholders affect every area in large extent or very big extent. The fact has been proved in table 1 which shows the most frequently chosen answers by responders. However, by conducted analysis by the standard deviation it is possible to see a large dispersion of the results.

Normal radiographic findings. 4. act. ed.; Roentgennormalbefunde

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moeller, T.B. [Gemeinschaftspraxis fuer Radiologie und Nuklearmedizin, Dillingen (Germany)

2003-07-01

This book can serve the reader in three ways: First, it presents normal findings for all radiographic techniques including KM. Important data which are criteria of normal findings are indicated directly in the pictures and are also explained in full text and in summary form. Secondly, it teaches the systematics of interpreting a picture - how to look at it, what structures to regard in what order, and for what to look in particular. Checklists are presented in each case. Thirdly, findings are formulated in accordance with the image analysis procedure. All criteria of normal findings are defined in these formulations, which make them an important didactic element. (orig.)

Forecast Inaccuracies in Power Plant Projects From Project Managers' Perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

Sanabria, Orlando

Guided by organizational theory, this phenomenological study explored the factors affecting forecast preparation and inaccuracies during the construction of fossil fuel-fired power plants in the United States. Forecast inaccuracies can create financial stress and uncertain profits during the project construction phase. A combination of purposeful and snowball sampling supported the selection of participants. Twenty project managers with over 15 years of experience in power generation and project experience across the United States were interviewed within a 2-month period. From the inductive codification and descriptive analysis, 5 themes emerged: (a) project monitoring, (b) cost control, (c) management review frequency, (d) factors to achieve a precise forecast, and (e) factors causing forecast inaccuracies. The findings of the study showed the factors necessary to achieve a precise forecast includes a detailed project schedule, accurate labor cost estimates, monthly project reviews and risk assessment, and proper utilization of accounting systems to monitor costs. The primary factors reported as causing forecast inaccuracies were cost overruns by subcontractors, scope gaps, labor cost and availability of labor, and equipment and material cost. Results of this study could improve planning accuracy and the effective use of resources during construction of power plants. The study results could contribute to social change by providing a framework to project managers to lessen forecast inaccuracies, and promote construction of power plants that will generate employment opportunities and economic development.

Structuring a mega-project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kutryk, T. [Husky Oil Operations Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada)

2004-07-01

This paper presented an overview of mega-project management. Issues concerning scope, cost and schedule were discussed, with reference to the idea that a choice must be made from the outset as to which of the 3 is a main priority. The importance of preparation and the development of a fully resourced plan was emphasized. The use of the parametric 4-D model was discussed. Lessons that the construction industry may learn from manufacturers were presented along with issues of contract development and the role and importance of the project manager. Issues concerning performance measurement were reviewed, including lagging indicators. Project division factors were also discussed, with reference to data lags, naturally concurrent processes and over the fence units. A case study of Walmart was presented. Project design packages and long lead time items were discussed, as were issues concerning human resources. Functional units were examined in relation to zones of influence and unit integration. Various combinations of zones of influence were presented. Issues concerning span of control and varying relationships within a project were discussed. It was emphasized that great deeds can be accomplished by attracting the best people. tabs., figs.

Perceived cultural importance and actual self-importance of values in cultural identification.

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Ching; Chiu, Chi-yue; Tam, Kim-pong; Lee, Sau-lai; Lau, Ivy Yee-man; Peng, Siqing

2007-02-01

Cross-cultural psychologists assume that core cultural values define to a large extent what a culture is. Typically, core values are identified through an actual self-importance approach, in which core values are those that members of the culture as a group strongly endorse. In this article, the authors propose a perceived cultural importance approach to identifying core values, in which core values are values that members of the culture as a group generally believe to be important in the culture. In 5 studies, the authors examine the utility of the perceived cultural importance approach. Results consistently showed that, compared with values of high actual self-importance, values of high perceived cultural importance play a more important role in cultural identification. These findings have important implications for conceptualizing and measuring cultures. ((c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved).

Themeaning and Role of Projects in contemporary Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Waldemar Walczak

2010-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of the paper is to present and explain the important role and meanings of projects for modern organizations. The particular attention was paid on differing project’s features and premises that substantiate incremental interest of project management methodic of diagnosis key conditionality, which has fundamental meaning for correct planning of project venture. Important element of led analysis was presenting and discussing project limitation and key processes related with project preparation phase. A very significant accent of led consideration are recommendations for management practice related with identifying the needs, expectations and stakeholders influence on project success, as well as calling particular attention on benefits gained by organizations due to realized project.

Hypothalamic Projections to the Optic Tectum in Larval Zebrafish

Science.gov (United States)

Heap, Lucy A.; Vanwalleghem, Gilles C.; Thompson, Andrew W.; Favre-Bulle, Itia; Rubinsztein-Dunlop, Halina; Scott, Ethan K.

2018-01-01

The optic tectum of larval zebrafish is an important model for understanding visual processing in vertebrates. The tectum has been traditionally viewed as dominantly visual, with a majority of studies focusing on the processes by which tectal circuits receive and process retinally-derived visual information. Recently, a handful of studies have shown a much more complex role for the optic tectum in larval zebrafish, and anatomical and functional data from these studies suggest that this role extends beyond the visual system, and beyond the processing of exclusively retinal inputs. Consistent with this evolving view of the tectum, we have used a Gal4 enhancer trap line to identify direct projections from rostral hypothalamus (RH) to the tectal neuropil of larval zebrafish. These projections ramify within the deepest laminae of the tectal neuropil, the stratum album centrale (SAC)/stratum griseum periventriculare (SPV), and also innervate strata distinct from those innervated by retinal projections. Using optogenetic stimulation of the hypothalamic projection neurons paired with calcium imaging in the tectum, we find rebound firing in tectal neurons consistent with hypothalamic inhibitory input. Our results suggest that tectal processing in larval zebrafish is modulated by hypothalamic inhibitory inputs to the deep tectal neuropil. PMID:29403362

Hypothalamic Projections to the Optic Tectum in Larval Zebrafish

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucy A. Heap

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The optic tectum of larval zebrafish is an important model for understanding visual processing in vertebrates. The tectum has been traditionally viewed as dominantly visual, with a majority of studies focusing on the processes by which tectal circuits receive and process retinally-derived visual information. Recently, a handful of studies have shown a much more complex role for the optic tectum in larval zebrafish, and anatomical and functional data from these studies suggest that this role extends beyond the visual system, and beyond the processing of exclusively retinal inputs. Consistent with this evolving view of the tectum, we have used a Gal4 enhancer trap line to identify direct projections from rostral hypothalamus (RH to the tectal neuropil of larval zebrafish. These projections ramify within the deepest laminae of the tectal neuropil, the stratum album centrale (SAC/stratum griseum periventriculare (SPV, and also innervate strata distinct from those innervated by retinal projections. Using optogenetic stimulation of the hypothalamic projection neurons paired with calcium imaging in the tectum, we find rebound firing in tectal neurons consistent with hypothalamic inhibitory input. Our results suggest that tectal processing in larval zebrafish is modulated by hypothalamic inhibitory inputs to the deep tectal neuropil.

PROJECT - RESOURCE MANAGEMENT OF INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION: ANTHROPOLOGICAL PROJECTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Galina Aleksandrovna Ignat’eva

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the research was to denote a way to solve the problem of education mana-gement ΄s insufficient efficiency considered from the point of view of education opportunities to influence on the formation of mechanisms for sustainable development of society as a whole and its educational component. The concept «project-resource management of innovation in education» regarded on the basis of the anthropological project-transforming paradigm. Conceptually-categorical context presented by conceptual cluster composed of coordinated concepts «project», «resource», «educational reality», «organizational-resource potential», «project commonality». In the theoretical part of the study on the basis of analysis of the normative and exploratory approaches to educational innovations organization and management it was established the search approach ΄s leading role in the methodological substantiation of project-resource management. The study have indicated that in the presence of variable models of innovation management in education, corresponding to various predictive models of continuing education post-industrial society, project-resource management is an universal mechanism for the transition from separate innovation΄s precedents to the an authentic reality of innovative education. In the technological part of the study the main concern was to submit the project-resource management by the management goal’s system, each of which includes the specific management actions, projected results and the organizational forms. The project-resource management ΄s professional – activity context of the study showed evolution of managerial positions: an effective performer – an effective leader – strategist, implemented during the transition from directly directive management to the project management and further to the project-resource management. Based on the findings identified the key factors of initiatively-problem projects

Application and importance of cost-benefit analysis in energy efficiency projects implemented in public buildings: The case of Serbia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Đurovic Dejan M.

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The main objective of this paper is to present the advantages of using Cost-Benefit analysis in energy efficiency projects implemented in public buildings, and to prove the hypothesis that Cost-Benefit analysis boosts the effectiveness and efficiency of the said type of projects. The paper offers theoretical and practical explanation of the implementation of Cost-Benefit analysis in the relevant area. Since energy efficiency projects in public buildings usually represent a part of a broader portfolio of similar projects and their implementation demands allocation of substantial financial resources, communities are often be interested in achieving maximal economic and non-economic benefits. This paper aims to demonstrate that Cost-Benefit analysis can represent an excellent contribution when attempting to select the projects for implementation within a broader portfolio of energy efficiency projects in public buildings. This hypothesis was demonstrated by putting a greater emphasis on non-economic benefits and the costs arising from implementation of the aforementioned types of projects. In addition, a practical test of this hypothesis was performed through the implementation of an energy efficiency portfolio in public buildings, worth several tens of millions of dollars - the Serbian Energy Efficiency Project. The paper concludes that the use of Cost-Benefit analysis can help us to effectively evaluate and manage projects of this type aimed at achieving maximum benefits for the community in question.

Embodiment of the interpersonal nexus: revealing qualitative research findings on shoulder surgery patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Glass N

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Nel Glass, K Robyn OgleSchool of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Australian Catholic University, Fitzroy, VIC, AustraliaBackground: The paper reports on the importance of the interpersonal nexus within qualitative research processes, from a recent research project on patient experiences of shoulder surgery. Our aim is to reveal the importance of qualitative research processes and specifically the role of the interpersonal nexus in generating quality data. Literature related to the importance of human interactions and interpersonal communication processes in health-related research remains limited. Shoulder surgery has been reported to be associated with significant postoperative pain. While shoulder surgery research has investigated various analgesic techniques to determine key efficacy and minimization of adverse side effects, little has been reported from the patient perspective.Methods: Following institutional ethics approval, this project was conducted in two private hospitals in Victoria, Australia, in 2010. The methods included a survey questionnaire, semistructured interviews, and researcher-reflective journaling. Researcher-reflective journaling was utilized to highlight and discuss the interpersonal nexus.Results: This research specifically addresses the importance of the contributions of qualitative methods and processes to understanding patient experiences of analgesic efficacy and shoulder surgery. The results reveal the importance of the established research process and the interwoven interpersonal nexus between the researcher and the research participants. The interpersonal skills of presencing and empathetic engagement are particularly highlighted.Conclusion: The authors attest the significance of establishing an interpersonal nexus in order to reveal patient experiences of shoulder surgery. Interpersonal emotional engagement is particularly highlighted in data collection, in what may be otherwise understated and overlooked

Bulgaria: Introduction of Informatics in Education of Children. Project Findings and Recommendations. Terminal Report.

Science.gov (United States)

United Nations Development Programme, Geneva (Switzerland).

In 1987, the Bulgarian government and cooperating international agencies launched the program, "Children in the Information Age," a project aimed at: conducting and promoting national research into, exchange of information about, development and application of, practical training in, and methods and techniques for the introduction of…

New challenges for Life Sciences flight project management

Science.gov (United States)

Huntoon, C. L.

1999-01-01

Scientists have conducted studies involving human spaceflight crews for over three decades. These studies have progressed from simple observations before and after each flight to sophisticated experiments during flights of several weeks up to several months. The findings from these experiments are available in the scientific literature. Management of these flight experiments has grown into a system fashioned from the Apollo Program style, focusing on budgeting, scheduling and allocation of human and material resources. While these areas remain important to the future, the International Space Station (ISS) requires that the Life Sciences spaceflight experiments expand the existing project management methodology. The use of telescience with state-the-art information technology and the multi-national crews and investigators challenges the former management processes. Actually conducting experiments on board the ISS will be an enormous undertaking and International Agreements and Working Groups will be essential in giving guidance to the flight project management Teams forged in this matrix environment must be competent to make decisions and qualified to work with the array of engineers, scientists, and the spaceflight crews. In order to undertake this complex task, data systems not previously used for these purposes must be adapted so that the investigators and the project management personnel can all share in important information as soon as it is available. The utilization of telescience and distributed experiment operations will allow the investigator to remain involved in their experiment as well as to understand the numerous issues faced by other elements of the program The complexity in formation and management of project teams will be a new kind of challenge for international science programs. Meeting that challenge is essential to assure success of the International Space Station as a laboratory in space.

Color image quality in projection displays: a case study

Science.gov (United States)

Strand, Monica; Hardeberg, Jon Y.; Nussbaum, Peter

2005-01-01

Recently the use of projection displays has increased dramatically in different applications such as digital cinema, home theatre, and business and educational presentations. Even if the color image quality of these devices has improved significantly over the years, it is still a common situation for users of projection displays that the projected colors differ significantly from the intended ones. This study presented in this paper attempts to analyze the color image quality of a large set of projection display devices, particularly investigating the variations in color reproduction. As a case study, a set of 14 projectors (LCD and DLP technology) at Gjovik University College have been tested under four different conditions: dark and light room, with and without using an ICC-profile. To find out more about the importance of the illumination conditions in a room, and the degree of improvement when using an ICC-profile, the results from the measurements was processed and analyzed. Eye-One Beamer from GretagMacbeth was used to make the profiles. The color image quality was evaluated both visually and by color difference calculations. The results from the analysis indicated large visual and colorimetric differences between the projectors. Our DLP projectors have generally smaller color gamut than LCD projectors. The color gamuts of older projectors are significantly smaller than that of newer ones. The amount of ambient light reaching the screen is of great importance for the visual impression. If too much reflections and other ambient light reaches the screen, the projected image gets pale and has low contrast. When using a profile, the differences in colors between the projectors gets smaller and the colors appears more correct. For one device, the average ΔE*ab color difference when compared to a relative white reference was reduced from 22 to 11, for another from 13 to 6. Blue colors have the largest variations among the projection displays and makes them

Constrained bayesian inference of project performance models

OpenAIRE

Sunmola, Funlade

2013-01-01

Project performance models play an important role in the management of project success. When used for monitoring projects, they can offer predictive ability such as indications of possible delivery problems. Approaches for monitoring project performance relies on available project information including restrictions imposed on the project, particularly the constraints of cost, quality, scope and time. We study in this paper a Bayesian inference methodology for project performance modelling in ...

Evaluation of the RAIN project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stuanes, A.; Dickson, W.; Jenkins, A.; Rasmussen, L.; Stordal, F.

1991-11-01

This report presents a scientific assessment of the RAIN project. It describes the main hypotheses tested and the applied methods. The major results of the research are highlighted and discussed, and they are placed in the perspective of national and international acid rain research. An important part of the RAIN project has been to provide information to the public about the acid rain problem, and in this way it has performed an important background role in influencing political decisions and legislation. The RAIN project is regarded as a cost effective research effort, and the novel approach and capital investment will enable further manipulation studies at these sites in the future. It is recommended that the project is continued in the immediate future, with some modification to answer specific questions resulting from the collected data. 24 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab

Toward a model of socializing project team members : An integrative approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Batistič, S.; Kenda, R.

2018-01-01

Project work is becoming more and more important in everyday business, as is staffing the right newcomers for the project. Recognizing that not all new project team workers possess equally important specific knowledge, skills and abilities for the success of projects, we draw on project management,

Agile Project Management with Scrum

CERN Document Server

Schwaber, Ken

2009-01-01

The rules and practices for Scrum-a simple process for managing complex projects-are few, straightforward, and easy to learn. But Scrum's simplicity itself-its lack of prescription-can be disarming, and new practitioners often find themselves reverting to old project management habits and tools and yielding lesser results. In this illuminating series of case studies, Scrum co-creator and evangelist Ken Schwaber identifies the real-world lessons-the successes and failures-culled from his years of experience coaching companies in agile project management. Through them, you'll understand how to

Consumer engagement: An insight from smart grid projects in Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gangale, Flavia; Mengolini, Anna; Onyeji, Ijeoma

2013-01-01

This paper provides an insight into consumer engagement in smart grid projects in Europe. Projects analysed are those included in the catalogue annexed in the JRC Report “Smart Grid projects in Europe: lessons learned and current developments”. The analysis suggests an increase in the interest in consumer engagement projects at European level and a strong focus on the residential sector, and emphasises the key importance of public funding to support these projects. The study also reveals that projects involving consumers are characterised by the pursuit of two main objectives: gaining deeper knowledge of consumer behaviour (observing and understanding the consumer) and motivating and empowering consumers to become active energy customers (engaging the consumer). The paper reviews the main activities undertaken to obtain these objectives and highlights trends and developments in the field. Finally, the paper discusses obstacles to consumer engagement and the strategies adopted by the projects surveyed to tackle them, highlighting the need to build consumer trust and to design targeted campaigns taking into consideration different consumer segments. The conclusions are in line with findings and analyses presented in the literature and underscore the need for further research and action at European level. - Highlights: • Consumers' key role in the success of the future electricity system (smart grids). • Survey on consumer engagement experiences in European smart grid projects. • Focus is on observing and understanding the consumers and on engaging them. • Trust and confidence as central elements. • Need to take into consideration different consumer segments/motivational factors

Timely loss recognition and termination of unprofitable projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anup Srivastava

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Ideally, firms should discontinue projects that become unprofitable. Managers, however, continue to operate such projects because of their limited employment horizons and empire-building motivations (Jensen, 1986; Ball, 2001. Prior studies suggest that timely loss recognition in accounting earnings enables lenders, shareholders, and boards of directors to identify unprofitable projects; thereby, enabling them to force managers to discontinue such projects before large value erosion occurs. However, this conjecture has not been tested empirically. Consistent with this notion, we find that timely loss recognition increases the likelihood of timely closures of unprofitable projects. Moreover, managers, by announcing late discontinuations of such projects, reveal their inability to select good projects and/or to contain losses, when projects turn unprofitable. Accordingly, thereafter, the fund providers and board of directors are likely to demand improved timeliness of loss recognition and stringent scrutiny of firms’ capital expenditure plans. Consistently, we find that firms that announce large discontinuation losses reduce capital expenditures and improve timeliness of loss recognition in subsequent years. Our study provides evidence that timely loss reporting affects “real” economic decisions and creates economic benefits.

Marlim project finance; 'Project finance' de Marlim

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

D' Almeida, Albino Lopes [PETROBRAS, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2004-07-01

Project Finance is often used worldwide to raise the funds to develop big projects, particularly in the area of power and infra-structure. It is designed to support a singular project and a specific purpose company is created to obtain the financing. The debt payment is secured by the enterprise's cash flow, avoiding real guarantee requirements. The lenders receive the future revenues and the property of the assets to be built. The risks are mitigated by agreements exhaustively negotiated among the parties. One of the most important Project Finances performed in Brazil is the Marlim Project, structured in order to complete the development of the Marlim oil field. This is the biggest Brazilian oil field, producing more than 500,000 barrels a day, almost 35% of the national production. This paper presents the general concepts related to this type of financing and general information about the project, including its structuring, negotiation and closing. The total commitment reaches US$ 1.5 billion obtained in both domestic and international markets through equity, bridge loan, bonds and commercial papers. Its whole life is 10 years, using 2 special purpose companies in its configuration. (author)

Effectiveness of antismoking media messages and education among adolescents in Malaysia and Thailand: findings from the international tobacco control southeast Asia project.

Science.gov (United States)

Zawahir, Shukry; Omar, Maizurah; Awang, Rahmat; Yong, Hua-Hie; Borland, Ron; Sirirassamee, Buppha; Fong, Geoffrey T; Hammond, David

2013-02-01

Finding ways to discourage adolescents from taking up smoking is important because those who begin smoking at an earlier age are more likely to become addicted and have greater difficulty in quitting. This article examined whether anti smoking messages and education could help to reduce smoking susceptibility among adolescents in two Southeast Asian countries and to explore the possible moderating effect of country and gender. Data came from Wave 1 of the International Tobacco Control Southeast Asia Project (ITC-SEA) survey conducted in Malaysia (n = 1,008) and Thailand (n = 1,000) where adolescents were asked about receiving antismoking advice from nurses or doctors, being taught at schools about the danger of smoking, noticing antismoking messages, knowledge of health effects of smoking, beliefs about the health risks of smoking, smoking susceptibility, and demographic information. Data were analyzed using chi-square tests and logistic regression models. Overall, significantly more Thai adolescents reported receiving advice from their nurses or doctors about the danger of smoking (p < .001), but no country difference was observed for reported antismoking education in schools and exposure to antismoking messages. Multivariate analyses revealed that only provision of antismoking education at schools was significantly associated with reduced susceptibility to smoking among female Malaysian adolescents (OR = 0.26). Higher knowledge of smoking harm and higher perceived health risk of smoking were associated with reduced smoking susceptibility among Thai female (OR = 0.52) and Malaysian male adolescents (OR = 0.63), respectively. Educating adolescents about the dangers of smoking in schools appears to be the most effective means of reducing adolescents' smoking susceptibility in both countries, although different prevention strategies may be necessary to ensure effectiveness for male and female adolescents.

The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management

CERN Document Server

Verzuh, Eric

2011-01-01

An updated and revised edition of the bestselling guide to managing projects For any professional responsible for coordinating projects among different departments, across executive levels, or with technical complexity, The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management offers comprehensive instruction on how to deliver on time and on budget. Get the step-by-step advice you need to find the right sponsor, clarify objectives, and set realistic schedules and budget projections. This Fourth Edition of the 200,000-copy bestseller now covers critical new topics including: software and IT projects, agile te

The Piniariarneq Project: Inughuit hunters map their important hunting areas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, Kasper Lambert; Flora, Janne; Oberborbeck Andersen, Astrid

industrialisation of the High Arctic in the near future. Mapping of important resource areas of local, human communities have also been conducted on numerous occasions, but has generally received much less attention, and often results from such efforts are difficult to integrate with biological data. Here, we...

Review of the project risk management plan in the capital projects organization at ConocoPhillips

OpenAIRE

Meidell, Camilla

2011-01-01

Master's thesis in Risk management Project Risk Management (PRM) has in recent years become an important aspect of business organization and project management. There has always been a requirement for some risk management at COPNO. However about 3 years ago the process became much more defined and has become a requirement for the contingency used on projects to be based upon the risking process. Since risk management in projects is a requirement in the CP organization it is ...

The Association between Tax Structure and Cigarette Price Variability: Findings from the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation (ITC) Project

Science.gov (United States)

Shang, Ce; Chaloupka, Frank J.; Fong, Geoffrey T; Thompson, Mary; O’Connor, Richard J

2015-01-01

Background Recent studies have shown that more opportunities exist for tax avoidance when cigarette excise tax structure departs from a uniform specific structure. However, the association between tax structure and cigarette price variability has not been thoroughly studied in the existing literature. Objective To examine how cigarette tax structure is associated with price variability. The variability of self-reported prices is measured using the ratios of differences between higher and lower prices to the median price such as the IQR-to-median ratio. Methods We used survey data taken from the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation (ITC) Project in 17 countries to conduct the analysis. Cigarette prices were derived using individual purchase information and aggregated to price variability measures for each surveyed country and wave. The effect of tax structures on price variability was estimated using Generalised Estimating Equations after adjusting for year and country attributes. Findings Our study provides empirical evidence of a relationship between tax structure and cigarette price variability. We find that, compared to the specific uniform tax structure, mixed uniform and tiered (specific, ad valorem or mixed) structures are associated with greater price variability (p≤0.01). Moreover, while a greater share of the specific component in total excise taxes is associated with lower price variability (p≤0.05), a tiered tax structure is associated with greater price variability (p≤0.01). The results suggest that a uniform and specific tax structure is the most effective tax structure for reducing tobacco consumption and prevalence by limiting price variability and decreasing opportunities for tax avoidance. PMID:25855641

Health-related quality of life among US military personnel injured in combat: findings from the Wounded Warrior Recovery Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Woodruff, Susan I; Galarneau, Michael R; McCabe, Cameron T; Sack, Daniel I; Clouser, Mary C

2018-05-01

Little is known about the long-term, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of those wounded in combat during Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and New Dawn. The present study described the overall HRQOL for a large group of US service members experiencing mild-to-severe combat-related injuries, and assessed the unique contribution of demographics, service- and injury-related characteristics, and mental health factors on long-term HRQOL. The Wounded Warrior Recovery Project examines patient-reported outcomes in a cohort of US military personnel wounded in combat. Participants were identified from the Expeditionary Medical Encounter Database, a US Navy-maintained deployment health database, and invited to complete a web-based survey. At the time of this study, 3245 service members consented and completed the survey. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were conducted to assess the unique contribution of each set of antecedents on HRQOL scores. HRQOL was uniquely associated with a number of demographics, and service- and injury-related characteristics. Nevertheless, screening positive for posttraumatic stress disorder (B = - .09; P < .001), depression (B = - .10; P < .001), or both as a set (B = - .19; P < .001) were the strongest predictors of lower long-term HRQOL. Postinjury HRQOL among service members wounded in combat was associated with service and injury experience, and demographic factors, but was most strongly linked with current mental health status. These findings underscore the significance of mental health issues long after injury. Further, findings reinforce that long-term mental health screening, services, and treatment are needed for those injured in combat.

The Southern Forest Futures Project: technical report

Science.gov (United States)

David N. Wear; John G. Greis

2013-01-01

Please visit the Southern Forest Futures Project website for more information.The Southern Forest Futures Project provides a science-based “futuring” analysis of the forests of the 13 States of the Southeastern United States. With findings...

Project Leadership and Quality Performance of Construction Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SPG Buba

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Background: The construction industry in Nigeria, is pigeonholed by poor quality of construction products as a result of the inherent corruption in the country. Lack of purposeful leadership and inappropriate choice of leadership styles in the industry have been attributed to project failure. Abandoned and failed projects are more predominant in the public sector which litters every corner of the country. Objectives: The objective of this paper is to assess the impact of leadership styles on quality performance criteria of public projects in Nigeria. Methodology: A total of 43 questionnaires were distributed to 3 key groups of respondents (Quantity Surveyors, Builders, and Architects who are project managers in Nigeria. Descriptive and Inferential statistics were used to analyse the data using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS. Likert Scale was used to measure the independent variables (leadership style: facilitative, coaching, delegating and directing; and the level of achievement of projects based on the dependent variables (quality and function performance criteria which are: achieving highest aesthetic quality; and functional building that fits its purpose. Findings: The study revealed that Directing is the major leadership style used by project managers in Nigeria. Amongst the leadership styles which has the most impact on quality performance indicators is also directing which has the most relative influence on achieving highest aesthetic quality and functional building that fits its purpose. Conclusion/Recommendation/Way forward: The underlying relationship between Directing leadership styles and the performance criteria of achieving highest aesthetic quality and functional building that fits its purpose will be beneficial to the Nigerian construction environment.

Security Risk Assessment in Software Development Projects

OpenAIRE

Svendsen, Heidi

2017-01-01

Software security is increasing in importance, linearly with vulnerabilities caused by software flaws. It is not possible to spend all the project s resources on software security. To spend the resources given to security in an effective way, one should know what is most important to protect. By performing a risk analysis the project know which vulnerabilities they face. A risk analysis will prioritise the vulnerabilities, and when the vulnerabilities are prioritised the project know where th...

Keep Talking & Monitoring: the importance of longitudinal research & community-based monitoring to support sustainable land management in southern Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Dougill, Andrew; Stringer, Lindsay

2015-04-01

Projects come and go with researchers, development practioners and government staff initiating new forms of community engagement in environmental monitoring and land management practices. We analyse interventions from Botswana and Swaziland and highlight that for benefits to be long-lived and lead to sustainable land management, requires community engagement in project design, implementation and for project outputs to be used in developing community-led environmental monitoring tools that can then help to guide local decision-making systems. We stress the vital importance of continued participatory engagement of researchers with community leaders and key government staff beyond the timeframe of their initial research such that longitudinal research approaches can realise significant benefits to all concerned. In dynamic (non-equilibrium) dryland environments, it is vitally important that research approaches address temporal and spatial variability by mapping patterns of change, using a range of participatory tools to enhance understandings of the causes of land degradation and the opportunities for shifts towards more sustainable land management. Decision-support tools, such as rangeland assessment guides produced for various Kalahari rangeland settings in Botswana (via a UNEP project and affiliated research), provide opportunities to support more sustainable land management. However, at present benefits are not being fully realised as project and research staff move on after projects end. Similarly, findings from mixed farming systems in Swaziland (assessing a JICA-funded project) show problems in maintaining new institutional structures to manage rangeland degradation, whilst issues on arable areas associated with parasitic weeds (Striga asiatica) remain problematic. Findings from longitudinal research in Swaziland also show that community understandings of environmental problems have evolved over 10 years and identify new problems associated with intensified

Solmap: Project In India's Solar Resource Assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Indradip Mitra

2014-12-01

Full Text Available India launched Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission in 2009, which aims to set up 20 000 MW of grid connected solar power, besides 2 000 MW equivalent of off-grid applications and cumulative growth of solar thermal collector area to 20 million m2 by 2022. Availability of reliable and accurate solar radiation data is crucial to achieve the targets. As a result of this initiative, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE of Government of India (GoI has awarded a project to Centre for Wind Energy Technology (C-WET, Chennai in the year 2011 to set up 51 Solar Radiation Resource Assessment (SRRA stations using the state-of-the-art equipment in various parts of the country, especially the sites with high potential for solar power. The GoI project has synergy with SolMap project, which is implemented by the Deutsche GesellschaftfürInternationaleZusammenarbeit (GIZ in cooperation with the MNRE. SolMap project is contributing to SRRA project in establishing quality checks on the data obtained as per International protocols and helping data processing to generate investment grade data. The paper highlights the details of SRRA stations and an attempt has been made to present some of the important results of quality control and data analysis with respect to GHI and DNI. While our analysis of the data over one year finds that intensity and profile of the insolation are not uniform across the geographic regions, the variability in DNI is particularly high. Strong influence of monsoon is also identified. SRRA infrastructure aims to develop investment grade solar radiation resource information to assist project activities under the National Solar Mission of India.

Clinically relevant incidental cardiovascular findings in CT examinations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Voigt, P.; Fahnert, J.; Kahn, T.; Surov, A.; Schramm, D.; Bach, A.G.

2017-01-01

Incidental cardiovascular findings are a frequent phenomenon in computed tomography (CT) examinations. As the result of a dedicated PubMed search this article gives a systemic overview of the current literature on the most important incidental cardiovascular findings, their prevalence and clinical relevance. The majority of incidental cardiovascular findings are of only low clinical relevance; however, highly relevant incidental findings, such as aortic aneurysms, thromboses and thromboembolic events can also occasionally be found, especially in oncology patients. The scans from every CT examination should also be investigated for incidental findings as they can be of decisive importance for the further clinical management of patients, depending on their clinical relevance. (orig.) [de

Applying GRADE-CERQual to qualitative evidence synthesis findings-paper 2: how to make an overall CERQual assessment of confidence and create a Summary of Qualitative Findings table.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewin, Simon; Bohren, Meghan; Rashidian, Arash; Munthe-Kaas, Heather; Glenton, Claire; Colvin, Christopher J; Garside, Ruth; Noyes, Jane; Booth, Andrew; Tunçalp, Özge; Wainwright, Megan; Flottorp, Signe; Tucker, Joseph D; Carlsen, Benedicte

2018-01-25

The GRADE-CERQual (Confidence in Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research) approach has been developed by the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) Working Group. The approach has been developed to support the use of findings from qualitative evidence syntheses in decision making, including guideline development and policy formulation. CERQual includes four components for assessing how much confidence to place in findings from reviews of qualitative research (also referred to as qualitative evidence syntheses): (1) methodological limitations, (2) coherence, (3) adequacy of data and (4) relevance. This paper is part of a series providing guidance on how to apply CERQual and focuses on making an overall assessment of confidence in a review finding and creating a CERQual Evidence Profile and a CERQual Summary of Qualitative Findings table. We developed this guidance by examining the methods used by other GRADE approaches, gathering feedback from relevant research communities and developing consensus through project group meetings. We then piloted the guidance on several qualitative evidence syntheses before agreeing on the approach. Confidence in the evidence is an assessment of the extent to which a review finding is a reasonable representation of the phenomenon of interest. Creating a summary of each review finding and deciding whether or not CERQual should be used are important steps prior to assessing confidence. Confidence should be assessed for each review finding individually, based on the judgements made for each of the four CERQual components. Four levels are used to describe the overall assessment of confidence: high, moderate, low or very low. The overall CERQual assessment for each review finding should be explained in a CERQual Evidence Profile and Summary of Qualitative Findings table. Structuring and summarising review findings, assessing confidence in those findings using CERQual and creating a CERQual Evidence

Project and Sports Events Management

OpenAIRE

Sebastian Madalin MUNTEANU

2011-01-01

This paper tries to capture the importance it holds the project management in socio-cultural sector which stands out when we refer to the sport. So when we talk about project management in sport, to consider a much larger vision, a new project management perspective, they involve a responsibility for the implementation of an event with global impact on very long term. Sports projects, as history shows us, played a significant role in developing societies. Also, all major sports industry proje...

The Personal Genome Project Canada: findings from whole genome sequences of the inaugural 56 participants.

Science.gov (United States)

Reuter, Miriam S; Walker, Susan; Thiruvahindrapuram, Bhooma; Whitney, Joe; Cohn, Iris; Sondheimer, Neal; Yuen, Ryan K C; Trost, Brett; Paton, Tara A; Pereira, Sergio L; Herbrick, Jo-Anne; Wintle, Richard F; Merico, Daniele; Howe, Jennifer; MacDonald, Jeffrey R; Lu, Chao; Nalpathamkalam, Thomas; Sung, Wilson W L; Wang, Zhuozhi; Patel, Rohan V; Pellecchia, Giovanna; Wei, John; Strug, Lisa J; Bell, Sherilyn; Kellam, Barbara; Mahtani, Melanie M; Bassett, Anne S; Bombard, Yvonne; Weksberg, Rosanna; Shuman, Cheryl; Cohn, Ronald D; Stavropoulos, Dimitri J; Bowdin, Sarah; Hildebrandt, Matthew R; Wei, Wei; Romm, Asli; Pasceri, Peter; Ellis, James; Ray, Peter; Meyn, M Stephen; Monfared, Nasim; Hosseini, S Mohsen; Joseph-George, Ann M; Keeley, Fred W; Cook, Ryan A; Fiume, Marc; Lee, Hin C; Marshall, Christian R; Davies, Jill; Hazell, Allison; Buchanan, Janet A; Szego, Michael J; Scherer, Stephen W

2018-02-05

The Personal Genome Project Canada is a comprehensive public data resource that integrates whole genome sequencing data and health information. We describe genomic variation identified in the initial recruitment cohort of 56 volunteers. Volunteers were screened for eligibility and provided informed consent for open data sharing. Using blood DNA, we performed whole genome sequencing and identified all possible classes of DNA variants. A genetic counsellor explained the implication of the results to each participant. Whole genome sequencing of the first 56 participants identified 207 662 805 sequence variants and 27 494 copy number variations. We analyzed a prioritized disease-associated data set ( n = 1606 variants) according to standardized guidelines, and interpreted 19 variants in 14 participants (25%) as having obvious health implications. Six of these variants (e.g., in BRCA1 or mosaic loss of an X chromosome) were pathogenic or likely pathogenic. Seven were risk factors for cancer, cardiovascular or neurobehavioural conditions. Four other variants - associated with cancer, cardiac or neurodegenerative phenotypes - remained of uncertain significance because of discrepancies among databases. We also identified a large structural chromosome aberration and a likely pathogenic mitochondrial variant. There were 172 recessive disease alleles (e.g., 5 individuals carried mutations for cystic fibrosis). Pharmacogenomics analyses revealed another 3.9 potentially relevant genotypes per individual. Our analyses identified a spectrum of genetic variants with potential health impact in 25% of participants. When also considering recessive alleles and variants with potential pharmacologic relevance, all 56 participants had medically relevant findings. Although access is mostly limited to research, whole genome sequencing can provide specific and novel information with the potential of major impact for health care. © 2018 Joule Inc. or its licensors.

Organization of project management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmidt, R.

1975-01-01

When speaking about interfaces within a project and their management, one has to understand and define what an interface is. In general, each component facing another one and each person working on a project with another person represents an interface. Therefore a project will consist practically in its entirety of interfaces with components and people sandwiched between them. This paper is limited to the most important interfaces with a focus on the problems occuring at them and their resolution. (orig.) [de

Charge- and parity-projected Hartree-Fock method for the strong tensor correlation and its application to the alpha particle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugimoto, Satoru; Ikeda, Kiyomi; Toki, Hiroshi

2004-01-01

We propose a new mean-field-type framework which can treat the strong correlation induced by the tensor force. To treat the tensor correlation we break the charge and parity symmetries of a single-particle state and restore these symmetries of the total system by the projection method. We perform the charge and parity projections before variation and obtain a Hartree-Fock-like equation, which is solved self-consistently. We apply the Hartree-Fock-like equation to the alpha particle and find that by breaking the parity and charge symmetries, the correlation induced by the tensor force is obtained in the projected mean-field framework. We emphasize that the projection before the variation is important to pick up the tensor correlation in the present framework

The international Chernobyl project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-01-01

This article summarizes the official report of the International Advisory Committee at the conference of the International Chernobyl Project held in Vienna, May 1991. More details will be found in the actual report, ''The International Chernobyl Project: An Overview'' (INI22:066284/5). Measurements and assessments carried out under the project provided general corroboration of the levels of surface cesium-137 contamination reported in the official maps. The project also concluded that the official procedures for estimating radiation doses to the population were scientifically sound, although they generally resulted in overestimates of two- to threefold. The project could find no marked increase in the incidence of leukemia or cancer, but reported absorbed thyroid doses in children might lead to a statistically detectable rise in the incidence of thyroid tumors. Significant non-radiation-related health disorders were found, and the accident had substantial psychological consequences in terms of anxiety and stress. The project concluded that the protective measures taken were too extreme, and that population relocation and foodstuff restrictions should have been less extensive

Some Findings Concerning Requirements in Agile Methodologies

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez, Pilar; Yagüe, Agustín; Alarcón, Pedro P.; Garbajosa, Juan

Agile methods have appeared as an attractive alternative to conventional methodologies. These methods try to reduce the time to market and, indirectly, the cost of the product through flexible development and deep customer involvement. The processes related to requirements have been extensively studied in literature, in most cases in the frame of conventional methods. However, conclusions of conventional methodologies could not be necessarily valid for Agile; in some issues, conventional and Agile processes are radically different. As recent surveys report, inadequate project requirements is one of the most conflictive issues in agile approaches and better understanding about this is needed. This paper describes some findings concerning requirements activities in a project developed under an agile methodology. The project intended to evolve an existing product and, therefore, some background information was available. The major difficulties encountered were related to non-functional needs and management of requirements dependencies.

A Collaborative Approach to Defining the Usefulness of Impact: Lessons from a Knowledge Exchange Project Involving Academics and Social Work Practitioners

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkinson, Heather; Gallagher, Michael; Smith, Mark

2012-01-01

This paper reports on a knowledge exchange project involving academics and practitioners in six local authority social work departments. It contributes to recent debates about the coproduction of knowledge, presenting findings in three key areas: the importance of relationships for knowledge exchange; "what works" for practitioners…

An O-"fish"-ial Research Project

Science.gov (United States)

Newman, James; Krustchinsky, Rick; Vanek, Karen; Nguyen, Kim-Thoa

2009-01-01

In this "O-"fish"-ial" research project, third-grade students use multiple resources to research several fish species, write a research paper and develop a PowerPoint presentation to communicate their findings. In addition, students actually examine these species up close with samples from the local market, and then conclude the project with a…

Characterizing Density and Complexity of Imported Cargos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Birrer, Nathaniel [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Divin, Charles [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Glenn, Steven [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Martz, Harry [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2017-08-01

X-ray inspection systems are used to detect radiological and nuclear threats in imported cargo. In order to better understand performance of these systems, system imaging capabilities and the characteristics of imported cargo need to be determined. This project involved calculation of the modulation transfer function as a metric of system imaging performance and a study of the density and inhomogeneity of imported cargos, which have been shown to correlate with human analysts, threat detection performance.

Project description and crowdfunding success: an exploratory study.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Mi Jamie; Lu, Baozhou; Fan, Weiguo Patrick; Wang, G Alan

2018-01-01

Existing research on antecedent of funding success mainly focuses on basic project properties such as funding goal, duration, and project category. In this study, we view the process by which project owners raise funds from backers as a persuasion process through project descriptions. Guided by the unimodel theory of persuasion, this study identifies three exemplary antecedents (length, readability, and tone) from the content of project descriptions and two antecedents (past experience and past expertise) from the trustworthy cue of project descriptions. We then investigate their impacts on funding success. Using data collected from Kickstarter, a popular crowdfunding platform, we find that these antecedents are significantly associated with funding success. Empirical results show that the proposed model that incorporated these antecedents can achieve an accuracy of 73 % (70 % in F-measure). The result represents an improvement of roughly 14 percentage points over the baseline model based on informed guessing and 4 percentage points improvement over the mainstream model based on basic project properties (or 44 % improvement of mainstream's performance over informed guessing). The proposed model also has superior true positive and true negative rates. We also investigate the timeliness of project data and find that old project data is gradually becoming less relevant and losing predictive power to newly created projects. Overall, this study provides evidence that antecedents identified from project descriptions have incremental predictive power and can help project owners evaluate and improve the likelihood of funding success.

Project Management in Public Administration. TPM – Total Project Management Maturity Model. The Case of Slovenian Public Administration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gordana ŽURGA

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the article is to present the importance of project management for the functioning of public administration, and its contribution to the realization of the developmental goals of the government. For this, integration of strategic management and project management is of vital importance. The methodology used is a combination of literature review, a case study of project management in public administration of the Republic of Slovenia, and development of a maturity model of project management in public administration, with its verifi cation on the case of Slovenia. The main contribution of the study is development of TPM – Total Project Management maturity model for public administration. Upon the TPM maturity model, project management in Slovene public administration is assessed and discussed. Out of fi ve maturity levels, the results for project management in Slovene public administration are: management of projects – level 2 (initiated, management of programs of projects – level 2 (initiated, management of portfolios of projects – level 3 (implemented, organizational support for project management – level 3 (implemented, HRM for project management – level 2 (initiated, and integration of project management and strategic management – level 3 (implemented. General fi ndings and recommendations in this respect are drawn, together with indicated areas for possible further research and investigation.

How Do Contractors Select Suppliers for Greener Construction Projects? The Case of Three Swedish Companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shahin Mokhlesian

2014-06-01

Full Text Available There are many studies of contractor selection based on clients and the selection of suppliers by contractors. However, supplier selection specifically related to green construction projects has been much less studied. Green construction differs from conventional construction because of differences in its underlying principles and use of environmentally-friendly materials and technologies. This paper studies how procurers in contractor companies in Sweden adopt green projects and how contractor perception of supplier mastery of green knowledge affects supplier selection. The investigation is based on a set of semi-structured interviews conducted among three large contractors in Sweden. A main finding is that the perceived differences between green and conventional projects do not change supplier selection dramatically. An implication is that “greener projects” is a more appropriate denotation than “green project”. Evidence shows that suppliers’ green knowledge is an important factor in supplier selection, as respondents rated suppliers’ knowledge of green projects as very important, and to fix his, there was a consensus among respondents about the need for close collaboration between contractors and suppliers. To ensure knowledge acquisition from suppliers and to increase their competitive advantage over rivals, contractors collaborate with their suppliers in a partnering setting. It is anticipated that the results of this study will be used to fill the gap in the literature on supplier selection in green projects and can also be used for construction firms contemplating getting involved in green projects.

The relative importance of social media for accessing, finding, and engaging with news

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Rasmus Kleis; Schrøder, Kim Christian

2014-01-01

, but also important country-to-country differences, in particular in terms of how widespread the more active and participatory forms of media use are. Surprisingly, these differences do not correspond to differences in levels of internet use, suggesting that more than mere availability shapes the role...