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Pathway Variation Analysis (Pva): Modelling And Simulations, Nagesh Shukla, Sudi Lahiri, Darek Ceglarek Nov 2015

Pathway Variation Analysis (Pva): Modelling And Simulations, Nagesh Shukla, Sudi Lahiri, Darek Ceglarek

Nagesh Shukla

Maintaining a care pathway within a hospital to provide complex care to patients is associated with challenges related to variations from the pathway. This occurs due to ineffective decision-making processes, unclear process steps, the interactions, conflicting performance measures for speciality units, and the availability of resources. These variations from the care pathway or standard care delivery processes lead to longer patient waiting times and lower patient throughput. Traditional approaches to improve the pathway focus primarily on reducing variations within the care pathway such as bottlenecks or throughput within the pathway rather than examining variations from the care pathway. In this …


Intraindividual Variation In Urinary Iodine Concentrations: Effect Of Adjustment On Population Distribution Using Two And Three Repeated Spot Urine Collections, Karen E. Charlton, Marijka Batterham, Li Min Buchanan, Dorothy Mackerras Nov 2015

Intraindividual Variation In Urinary Iodine Concentrations: Effect Of Adjustment On Population Distribution Using Two And Three Repeated Spot Urine Collections, Karen E. Charlton, Marijka Batterham, Li Min Buchanan, Dorothy Mackerras

Dr Marijka Batterham

Objectives: To determine the effect of adjustment for intraindividual variation on estimations of urinary iodine concentrations (UIC), prevalence of iodine deficiency and population distribution of iodine status. Setting: Community-dwelling older adults from New South Wales, Australia. Participants: 84 healthy men and women aged 60–95 years were recruited prior to introduction of the mandatory iodine fortification programme. Primary and secondary outcome: measures UIC data were collected from three spot urine samples, each 1 week apart. Repeated measures analysis of variance were determined between-person (sb) and total (sobs) SDs. Adjusted UIC values were calculated as ((person's UIC−group mean)×(sb/sobs))+group mean, and a corrected …


Feature-Based Optimal Sensor Distribution For Six-Sigma Variation Diagnosis In Multi-Station Assembly Processes, Nagesh Shukla, Darek Ceglarek, Manoj Tiwari Apr 2015

Feature-Based Optimal Sensor Distribution For Six-Sigma Variation Diagnosis In Multi-Station Assembly Processes, Nagesh Shukla, Darek Ceglarek, Manoj Tiwari

Nagesh Shukla

This paper presents a novel feature-based sensor distribution approach for root cause analysis and diagnosis of product 6-sigma variation faults in multi-station assembly processes. Traditional approaches in sensor distribution are based on the assumption that measurement points can be selected at arbitrary locations on the part or subassembly. This causes challenges such as difficult calibration of measurement system, increased errors of measured features, and lack of explicit relations between measured features and geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T). In the proposed approach, we develop methodology to maximize the number of measurement points that are placed at critical design features called Key …


Reducing Unwarranted Variation In Healthcare Service Delivery Systems: Key Issues, Research Challenges And Potential Solutions, Nagesh Shukla, Senevi Kiridena, Nishikant Mishra Apr 2015

Reducing Unwarranted Variation In Healthcare Service Delivery Systems: Key Issues, Research Challenges And Potential Solutions, Nagesh Shukla, Senevi Kiridena, Nishikant Mishra

Nagesh Shukla

There is a growing need worldwide to increase the quality and productivity of healthcare services delivery. To this end, analysing and reducing unwarranted variations in healthcare has attracted much attention in recent times. However, current modelling and simulation approaches to reduce unwarranted variations suffer from numerous limitations. Consequently, service improvement efforts have often failed to deliver expected results. This paper discusses the key issues associated with reducing unwarranted variations in hospital service delivery systems, and proposes a research framework that aims at overcoming these issues. In doing so, it highlights the need for: accurately and efficiently modelling complex service delivery …


Variability Of Vitamins B1, B2 And Minerals Content In Baobab (Adansonia Digitata) Leaves In East And West Africa, Hyacinthe Traore, Charles Parkouda, Adama Korbo, Diarra Compaoré/Sérémé, Mamoudou H. Dicko Prof., Jan J. Svejgaard, Bréhima Diawara Nov 2014

Variability Of Vitamins B1, B2 And Minerals Content In Baobab (Adansonia Digitata) Leaves In East And West Africa, Hyacinthe Traore, Charles Parkouda, Adama Korbo, Diarra Compaoré/Sérémé, Mamoudou H. Dicko Prof., Jan J. Svejgaard, Bréhima Diawara

Pr. Mamoudou H. DICKO, PhD

The regional variability and age-age correlation on vitamin B1, vitamin B2 and minerals (Ca, Mg, P, K, Cu, Fe, Mn, Na, and Zn) concentration in baobab leaves were investigated. Baobab was cultivated from seeds from 11 african countries. Vitamins B1 and B2 content were assessed using microbiological VitaFast kits methods and minerals by atomic absorption and flame spectrometry methods. Overall, the results showed a higher content of vitamin B2 compared to vitamin B1 with the highest vitamin B2 content (1.04 +- 0.05 mg/100 g DM) from Senegal. The highest iron (Fe) content of 26.39 mg/100 g was found in baobab …


Method Variation In Calculating Perceived Change, Antonis C. Simintiras, Nina Reynolds Oct 2014

Method Variation In Calculating Perceived Change, Antonis C. Simintiras, Nina Reynolds

Nina Reynolds

Motivated by findings in the literature suggesting that error attributed to measures used in generating retrospective reports are excessive, this study explores error attributed to methods that individuals use for calculating change retrospectively. Preliminary findings indicate that method variation is present which, in turn, affects the reported change scores (i.e., the scores varied as a function of the calculation method used). These findings suggest that the accuracy and comparability of retrospective reporting might be improved if one controls for inter-individual calculation method variation. A brief discussion of the implications of the results along with suggestions for future research is provided.


Institution Building And Variation In The Formation Of The Australian Wool Market, David Merrett, Simon Ville Nov 2013

Institution Building And Variation In The Formation Of The Australian Wool Market, David Merrett, Simon Ville

Simon Ville

The relocation of the wool market from London to the major Australian port cities from the late nineteenth century required the formation of an institution to govern the auction business, namely the wool brokers' association. Regional variations, among Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, occurred in the structure and effectiveness of the institution despite each regional association having been formed around the same time, for the same purpose, and with an overlap of participating firms. We draw on institution theory to guide our account and find that the impact of legacy factors and differences in market conditions explain the regional variations.


Direct Observation Of Local Potassium Variation And Its Correlation To Electronic Inhomogeneity In (Ba1-Xkx)Fe2as 2 Pnictide, Wai Kong Yeoh, Baptiste Gault, X.Y. Cui, C. Zhu, P Moody, L. Li, Rongkun Zheng, Wenxian Li, Xiaolin Wang, S. X. Dou, G.L Sun, C T Lin, S P. Ringer Jun 2013

Direct Observation Of Local Potassium Variation And Its Correlation To Electronic Inhomogeneity In (Ba1-Xkx)Fe2as 2 Pnictide, Wai Kong Yeoh, Baptiste Gault, X.Y. Cui, C. Zhu, P Moody, L. Li, Rongkun Zheng, Wenxian Li, Xiaolin Wang, S. X. Dou, G.L Sun, C T Lin, S P. Ringer

Shi Xue Dou

Local fluctuations in the distribution of dopant atoms are thought to cause the nanoscale electronic disorder or phase separation in pnictide superconductors. Atom probe tomography has enabled the first direct observations of dopant species clustering in a K-doped 122-phase pnictide. First-principles calculations suggest the coexistence of static magnetism and superconductivity on a lattice parameter length scale over a wide range of dopant concentrations. Our results provide evidence for a mixed scenario of phase coexistence and phase separation, depending on local dopant atom distributions.


Removal Of Micropollutants By Membrane Bioreactor Under Temperature Variation, Faisal I. Hai, Karin Tessmer, Luong N. Nguyen, Jinguo Kang, William E. Price, Long Nghiem Dec 2012

Removal Of Micropollutants By Membrane Bioreactor Under Temperature Variation, Faisal I. Hai, Karin Tessmer, Luong N. Nguyen, Jinguo Kang, William E. Price, Long Nghiem

Long D Nghiem

The effects of controlled temperature variation in the range of 10–45 °C were assessed in a lab-scale MBR that treated synthetic municipal wastewater spiked with selected micropollutants. The effects were evaluated with respect to total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) removal, micropollutant removal, sludge growth, level of soluble microbial products (SMPs) in the mixed liquor and membrane fouling. Overall, the temperature shifts caused high variation in the TOC and TN levels in the reactor supernatant, however that in membrane-permeate was relatively more stable, substantiating the robustness of the MBR process. Results regarding the removal of micropollutants at ambient …


Removal Of Micropollutants By Membrane Bioreactor Under Temperature Variation, Faisal I. Hai, Karin Tessmer, Luong N. Nguyen, Jinguo Kang, William E. Price, Long Nghiem Oct 2012

Removal Of Micropollutants By Membrane Bioreactor Under Temperature Variation, Faisal I. Hai, Karin Tessmer, Luong N. Nguyen, Jinguo Kang, William E. Price, Long Nghiem

William E. Price

The effects of controlled temperature variation in the range of 10–45 °C were assessed in a lab-scale MBR that treated synthetic municipal wastewater spiked with selected micropollutants. The effects were evaluated with respect to total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) removal, micropollutant removal, sludge growth, level of soluble microbial products (SMPs) in the mixed liquor and membrane fouling. Overall, the temperature shifts caused high variation in the TOC and TN levels in the reactor supernatant, however that in membrane-permeate was relatively more stable, substantiating the robustness of the MBR process. Results regarding the removal of micropollutants at ambient …


Removal Of Micropollutants By Membrane Bioreactor Under Temperature Variation, Faisal I. Hai, Karin Tessmer, Luong N. Nguyen, Jinguo Kang, William E. Price, Long Nghiem Aug 2012

Removal Of Micropollutants By Membrane Bioreactor Under Temperature Variation, Faisal I. Hai, Karin Tessmer, Luong N. Nguyen, Jinguo Kang, William E. Price, Long Nghiem

Faisal I Hai

The effects of controlled temperature variation in the range of 10–45 °C were assessed in a lab-scale MBR that treated synthetic municipal wastewater spiked with selected micropollutants. The effects were evaluated with respect to total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) removal, micropollutant removal, sludge growth, level of soluble microbial products (SMPs) in the mixed liquor and membrane fouling. Overall, the temperature shifts caused high variation in the TOC and TN levels in the reactor supernatant, however that in membrane-permeate was relatively more stable, substantiating the robustness of the MBR process. Results regarding the removal of micropollutants at ambient …


Variation Of The Omega-3 Content Of Australian Food Products, Yasmine Probst, Rebecca L. Thorne, Jane E. O'Shea, Holley-Anne Jones, Riikka Karkkainen, Sophie Guenon, Linda C. Tapsell Jul 2012

Variation Of The Omega-3 Content Of Australian Food Products, Yasmine Probst, Rebecca L. Thorne, Jane E. O'Shea, Holley-Anne Jones, Riikka Karkkainen, Sophie Guenon, Linda C. Tapsell

L. C. Tapsell

Abstract from the 2008 Annual Scientific Meeting of the Nutrition Society of Australia, 30 November - 3 December 2008, Glenelg, Australia.


Design Procedure For Vertical Drains Considering A Linear Variation Of Lateral Permeability Within The Smear Zone, Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn, Buddhima Indraratna Dec 2011

Design Procedure For Vertical Drains Considering A Linear Variation Of Lateral Permeability Within The Smear Zone, Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn, Buddhima Indraratna

Buddhima Indraratna

A system of vertical drains with surcharge preloading is an effective method for promoting radial drainage and accelerated soil consolidation. This study presents a procedure for the design of vertical drains that significantly extends the previous technique proposed by the authors to include: (i) a linear reduction of lateral permeability in the smear zone, (ii) the effect of overlapping smear zones in a closely spaced drain network, and (iii) the gain in undrained shear strength due to consolidation. Design examples are provided for both single stage and multi-stage embankment construction demonstrating the convenient use of the proposed solutions in practical …


Comments On "War And Peace", Pamela S. Tolbert Jun 2011

Comments On "War And Peace", Pamela S. Tolbert

Pamela S Tolbert

[Excerpt] In "War and Peace," Baron, Dobbin, and Jennings provide an integrative analysis of the role of internal organizational requirements and external environmental forces in structuring the personnel function in modern organizations. To appreciate fully the scope of this contribution to organizational theory and research, it is useful to consider briefly the general development of studies of formal organizations over the last four decades.