NASA Remote Sensing Observations for Water Resource and Infrastructure Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Granger, S. L.; Armstrong, L.; Farr, T.; Geller, G.; Heath, E.; Hyon, J.; Lavoie, S.; McDonald, K.; Realmuto, V.; Stough, T.; Szana, K.

2008-12-01

Decision support tools employed by water resource and infrastructure managers often utilize data products obtained from local sources or national/regional databases of historic surveys and observations. Incorporation of data from these sources can be laborious and time consuming as new products must be identified, cleaned and archived for each new study site. Adding remote sensing observations to the list of sources holds promise for a timely, consistent, global product to aid decision support at regional and global scales by providing global observations of geophysical parameters including soil moisture, precipitation, atmospheric temperature, derived evapotranspiration, and snow extent needed for hydrologic models and decision support tools. However, issues such as spatial and temporal resolution arise when attempting to integrate remote sensing observations into existing decision support tools. We are working to overcome these and other challenges through partnerships with water resource managers, tool developers and other stakeholders. We are developing a new data processing framework, enabled by a core GIS server, to seamlessly pull together observations from disparate sources for synthesis into information products and visualizations useful to the water resources community. A case study approach is being taken to develop the system by working closely with water infrastructure and resource managers to integrate remote observations into infrastructure, hydrologic and water resource decision tools. We present the results of a case study utilizing observations from the PALS aircraft instrument as a proxy for NASA's upcoming Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission and an existing commercial decision support tool.

Role of pharmacoeconomic analysis in R&D decision making: when, where, how?

PubMed

Miller, Paul

2005-01-01

Pharmacoeconomics is vitally important to drug manufacturers in terms of communicating to external decision-makers (payers, prescribers, patients) the value of their products, achieving regulatory and reimbursement approval and contributing to commercial success. Since development of new drugs is long, costly and risky, and decisions must be made how to allocate considerable research and development (R&D) resources, pharmacoeconomics also has an essential role informing internal decision-making (within a company) during drug development. The use of pharmacoeconomics in early development phases is likely to enhance the efficiency of R&D resource use and also provide a solid foundation for communicating product value to external decision-makers further downstream, increasing the likelihood of regulatory (reimbursement) approval and commercial success. This paper puts the case for use of pharmacoeconomic analyses earlier in the development process and outlines five techniques (clinical trial simulation [CTS], option pricing [OP], investment appraisal [IA], threshold analysis [TA] and value of information [VOI] analysis) that can provide useful input into the design of clinical development programmes, portfolio management and optimal pricing strategy. CTS can estimate efficacy and tolerability profiles before clinical data are available. OP can show the value of different clinical programme designs, sequencing of studies and stop decisions. IA can compare expected net present value (NPV) of different product profiles or study designs. TA can be used to understand development drug profile requirements given partial data. VOI can assist risk management by quantifying uncertainty and assessing the economic viability of gathering further information on the development drug. No amount of pharmacoeconomic data can make a bad drug good; what it can do is enhance the drug developers understanding of the characteristics of that drug. Decision-making, in light of this information, is likely to be better than that without it, whether it leads to faster termination of uneconomic projects or the allocation of more appropriate resources to attractive projects.

Web-based decision support system to predict risk level of long term rice production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukhlash, Imam; Maulidiyah, Ratna; Sutikno; Setiyono, Budi

2017-09-01

Appropriate decision making in risk management of rice production is very important in agricultural planning, especially for Indonesia which is an agricultural country. Good decision would be obtained if the supporting data required are satisfied and using appropriate methods. This study aims to develop a Decision Support System that can be used to predict the risk level of rice production in some districts which are central of rice production in East Java. Web-based decision support system is constructed so that the information can be easily accessed and understood. Components of the system are data management, model management, and user interface. This research uses regression models of OLS and Copula. OLS model used to predict rainfall while Copula model used to predict harvested area. Experimental results show that the models used are successfully predict the harvested area of rice production in some districts which are central of rice production in East Java at any given time based on the conditions and climate of a region. Furthermore, it can predict the amount of rice production with the level of risk. System generates prediction of production risk level in the long term for some districts that can be used as a decision support for the authorities.

Decision Support Systems for Research and Management in Advanced Life Support

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rodriquez, Luis F.

2004-01-01

Decision support systems have been implemented in many applications including strategic planning for battlefield scenarios, corporate decision making for business planning, production planning and control systems, and recommendation generators like those on Amazon.com(Registered TradeMark). Such tools are reviewed for developing a similar tool for NASA's ALS Program. DSS are considered concurrently with the development of the OPIS system, a database designed for chronicling of research and development in ALS. By utilizing the OPIS database, it is anticipated that decision support can be provided to increase the quality of decisions by ALS managers and researchers.

Defining the Application Readiness of Products when Developing Earth Observing Remote Sensing Data Products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Escobar, V. M.

2017-12-01

Satellite remote sensing technology has contributed to the transformation of multiple earth science domains, putting space observations at the forefront of innovation in Earth Science. With new satellite missions being launched every year, new types of Earth Science data are being incorporated into science models and decision-making systems in a broad array of organizations. These applications help hazard mitigation and decision-making in government, private, and civic institutions working to reduce its impact on human wellbeing. Policy guidance and knowledge of product maturity can influence mission design as well as development of product applications in user organizations. Ensuring that satellite missions serve both the scientific and user communities without becoming unfocused and overly expensive is a critical outcome from engagement of user communities. Tracking the applications and product maturity help improve the use of data. NASA's Applications Readiness Levels reduce cost and increase the confidence in applications. ARLs help identify areas where NASA products are most useful while allowing the user to leverage products in early development as well as those ready for operational uses. By considering the needs of the user community early on in the mission-design process, agencies can use ARLs to ensure that satellites meet the needs of multiple constituencies and the development of products are integrated into user organizations organically. ARLs and user integration provide a perspective on the maturity and readiness of a products ability to influence policy and decision-making. This paper describes the mission application development process at NASA and within the Earth Science Directorate. We present the successes and challenges faced by NASA data users and explain how ARLs helps link NASA science to the appropriate policies and decision frameworks. The methods presented here can be adapted to other programs and institutions seeking to rapidly move scientific research to applications that have societal impact.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Radojcic, Riko; Nowak, Matt; Nakamoto, Mark

The status of the development of a Design-for-Stress simulation flow that captures the stress effects in packaged 3D-stacked Si products like integrated circuits (ICs) using advanced via-middle Through Si Via technology is outlined. The next set of challenges required to proliferate the methodology and to deploy it for making and dispositioning real Si product decisions are described here. These include the adoption and support of a Process Design Kit (PDK) that includes the relevant material properties, the development of stress simulation methodologies that operate at higher levels of abstraction in a design flow, and the development and adoption of suitablemore » models required to make real product reliability decisions.« less

LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT IN MANAGEMENT, PRODUCT AND PROCESS DESIGN, AND POLICY DECISION MAKING: A CONFERENCE REPORT

EPA Science Inventory

On 24 September 2003, life cycle assessment (LCA) practitioners and decision makers gathered at the InLCA/LCM Conference in Seattle, Washington, USA (see http://www.lcacenter.org/InLCA-LCM03/index.html) to discuss the role of LCA in management, product design, process development...

Early-stage valuation of medical devices: the role of developmental uncertainty.

PubMed

Girling, Alan; Young, Terry; Brown, Celia; Lilford, Richard

2010-08-01

At the concept stage, many uncertainties surround the commercial viability of a new medical device. These include the ultimate functionality of the device, the cost of producing it and whether, and at what price, it can be sold to a health-care provider (HCP). Simple assessments of value can be made by estimating such unknowns, but the levels of uncertainty may mean that their operational value for investment decisions is unclear. However, many decisions taken at the concept stage are reversible and will be reconsidered later before the product is brought to market. This flexibility can be exploited to enhance early-stage valuations. To develop a framework for valuing a new medical device at the concept stage that balances benefit to the HCP against commercial costs. This is done within a simplified stage-gated model of the development cycle for new products. The approach is intended to complement existing proposals for the evaluation of the commercial headroom available to new medical products. A model based on two decision gates can lead to lower bounds (underestimates) for product value that can serve to support a decision to develop the product. Quantifiable uncertainty that can be resolved before the device is brought to market will generally enhance early-stage valuations of the device, and this remains true even when some components of uncertainty cannot be fully described. Clinical trials and other evidence-gathering activities undertaken as part of the development process can contribute to early-stage estimates of value.

It's Not Just About More Data: Translation of Science and Decision Support Evaluation for Climate Impact Indicators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kenney, M. A.

2014-12-01

The U.S. Global Change Research Program is currently considering establishing a National Climate Indicators System, which would be a set of physical, ecological, and societal indicators that would communicate key aspects of climate changes, impacts, vulnerabilities, and preparedness to inform mitigation and adaptation decisions. Thus, over the past several years 150+ scientists and practitioners representing a range of expertise from the climate system to natural systems to human sectors have developed a set of indicator recommendations that could be used as a first step to establishing such an indicator system. These recommendations have been implemented into a pilot system, with the goal of working with stakeholder communities to evaluate the understandability of individual indicators and learn how users are combining indicators for their own understanding or decision needs through this multiple Federal agency decision support platform. This prototype system provides the perfect test bed for evaluating the translation of scientific data - observations, remote sensing, and citizen science data -- and data products, such as indicators, for decision-making audiences. Often translation of scientific information into decision support products is developed and improved given intuition and feedback. Though this can be useful in many cases, more rigorous testing using social science methodologies would provide greater assurance that the data products are useful for the intended audiences. I will present some initial research using surveys to assess the understandability of indicators and whether that understanding is influenced by one's attitude toward climate change. Such information is critical to assess whether products developed for scientists by scientists have been appropriately translated for non-scientists, thus assuring that the data will have some value for the intended audience. Such survey information will provide a data driven approach to further develop and improve the National Climate Indicators System and could be applied to improve other decision support systems.

Beyond the lab: observations on the process by which science successfully informs management and policy decisions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flores, S.

2012-12-01

Scientific findings inform management decisions and policy products through various ways, these include: synthesis reports, white papers, in-person and web-based seminars (webinars), communication from specialized staff, and seminal peer-reviewed journal articles. Scientists are often told that if they want their science to inform management decisions and policy products that they must: clearly and simply articulate discreet pieces of scientific information and avoid attaching advocacy messages to the science; however, solely relying on these tenants does not ensure that scientific products will infuse the realms of management and policy. The process by which science successfully informs management decisions and policy products rarely begins at the time the results come out of the lab, but rather, before the research is carried out. Having an understanding of the political climate, management needs, agency research agendas, and funding limitations, as well as developing a working relationship with the intended managers and policy makers are key elements to developing the kind of science results and products that often make an impact in the management and policy world. In my presentation I will provide case-studies from California (USA) to highlight the type of coastal, ocean and climate science that has been successful in informing management decisions and policy documents, as well as provide a state-level agency perspective on the process by which this occurs.

Developing a video intervention to model effective patient-physician communication and health-related decision-making skills for a multiethnic audience.

PubMed

Richter, D L; Greaney, M L; McKeown, R E; Cornell, C E; Littleton, M A; Pulley, L; Groff, J Y; Byrd, T L; Herman, C J

2001-01-01

The ENDOW study is a multisite, community-based project designed to improve decision-making and patient-physician communication skills for midlife African-American, white, and Hispanic women facing decisions about hysterectomy. Based on results of initial focus groups, a patient education video was developed in English and Spanish to serve as the centerpiece of various interventions. The video uses community women to model appropriate decision-making and patient-physician communication skills. Women in the target populations rated the video as useful to very useful and would recommend it to others. The use of theory-driven approaches and pilot testing of draft products resulted in the production of a well-accepted, useful video suitable for diverse populations in intervention sites in several states.

Decision-making in product portfolios of pharmaceutical research and development – managing streams of innovation in highly regulated markets

PubMed Central

Jekunen, Antti

2014-01-01

Decision-making is a core function of any drug development firm. Developing drugs demands a firm to be highly innovative, while at the same time the activity is strictly regulated. Successful drug development offers the right to apply for a long-term patent that confers exclusive marketing rights. This article addresses the issue of what constitutes an adequate portfolio of drugs for a drug development firm and how it might be managed successfully. The paper investigates decision-making in the industry and specifically in the development of oncology drugs from various perspectives: the need for decisions, their timing, decision-making at the project level, the optimal portfolio, tools for portfolio analysis, the evaluation of patents, and finally the importance of the drug portfolio. Drug development decisions as important organizational elements should get more emphasis, and decisions in drug portfolio using modern decision-making methods should be used more widely than what currently happens. Structured, informed decisions would help avoiding late terminations of drugs in Phase III development. An improved research and development pipeline and drug portfolio management are the major elements in the general strategy targeting success. PMID:25364229

Decision-making in product portfolios of pharmaceutical research and development--managing streams of innovation in highly regulated markets.

PubMed

Jekunen, Antti

2014-01-01

Decision-making is a core function of any drug development firm. Developing drugs demands a firm to be highly innovative, while at the same time the activity is strictly regulated. Successful drug development offers the right to apply for a long-term patent that confers exclusive marketing rights. This article addresses the issue of what constitutes an adequate portfolio of drugs for a drug development firm and how it might be managed successfully. The paper investigates decision-making in the industry and specifically in the development of oncology drugs from various perspectives: the need for decisions, their timing, decision-making at the project level, the optimal portfolio, tools for portfolio analysis, the evaluation of patents, and finally the importance of the drug portfolio. Drug development decisions as important organizational elements should get more emphasis, and decisions in drug portfolio using modern decision-making methods should be used more widely than what currently happens. Structured, informed decisions would help avoiding late terminations of drugs in Phase III development. An improved research and development pipeline and drug portfolio management are the major elements in the general strategy targeting success.

E-DECIDER Decision Support Gateway For Earthquake Disaster Response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glasscoe, M. T.; Stough, T. M.; Parker, J. W.; Burl, M. C.; Donnellan, A.; Blom, R. G.; Pierce, M. E.; Wang, J.; Ma, Y.; Rundle, J. B.; Yoder, M. R.

2013-12-01

Earthquake Data Enhanced Cyber-Infrastructure for Disaster Evaluation and Response (E-DECIDER) is a NASA-funded project developing capabilities for decision-making utilizing remote sensing data and modeling software in order to provide decision support for earthquake disaster management and response. E-DECIDER incorporates earthquake forecasting methodology and geophysical modeling tools developed through NASA's QuakeSim project in order to produce standards-compliant map data products to aid in decision-making following an earthquake. Remote sensing and geodetic data, in conjunction with modeling and forecasting tools, help provide both long-term planning information for disaster management decision makers as well as short-term information following earthquake events (i.e. identifying areas where the greatest deformation and damage has occurred and emergency services may need to be focused). E-DECIDER utilizes a service-based GIS model for its cyber-infrastructure in order to produce standards-compliant products for different user types with multiple service protocols (such as KML, WMS, WFS, and WCS). The goal is to make complex GIS processing and domain-specific analysis tools more accessible to general users through software services as well as provide system sustainability through infrastructure services. The system comprises several components, which include: a GeoServer for thematic mapping and data distribution, a geospatial database for storage and spatial analysis, web service APIs, including simple-to-use REST APIs for complex GIS functionalities, and geoprocessing tools including python scripts to produce standards-compliant data products. These are then served to the E-DECIDER decision support gateway (http://e-decider.org), the E-DECIDER mobile interface, and to the Department of Homeland Security decision support middleware UICDS (Unified Incident Command and Decision Support). The E-DECIDER decision support gateway features a web interface that delivers map data products including deformation modeling results (slope change and strain magnitude) and aftershock forecasts, with remote sensing change detection results under development. These products are event triggered (from the USGS earthquake feed) and will be posted to event feeds on the E-DECIDER webpage and accessible via the mobile interface and UICDS. E-DECIDER also features a KML service that provides infrastructure information from the FEMA HAZUS database through UICDS and the mobile interface. The back-end GIS service architecture and front-end gateway components form a decision support system that is designed for ease-of-use and extensibility for end-users.

Algorithm for decision support as the tool for control system of industries with variable assortment of products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ladaniuk, Anatolii; Ivashchuk, Viacheslav; Kisała, Piotr; Askarova, Nursanat; Sagymbekova, Azhar

2015-12-01

Conditions of diversification of enterprise products are involving for changes of higher levels of management hierarchy, so it's leading by tasks correcting and changing schedule for operating of production plans. Ordinary solve by combination of enterprise resource are planning and management execution system often has exclusively statistical content. So, the development of decision support system, that helps to use knowledge about subject for capabilities estimating and order of operation of production object is relevant in this time.

Methods Used to Support a Life Cycle of Complex Engineering Products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zakharova, Alexandra A.; Kolegova, Olga A.; Nekrasova, Maria E.; Eremenko, Andrey O.

2016-08-01

Management of companies involved in the design, development and operation of complex engineering products recognize the relevance of creating systems for product lifecycle management. A system of methods is proposed to support life cycles of complex engineering products, based on fuzzy set theory and hierarchical analysis. The system of methods serves to demonstrate the grounds for making strategic decisions in an environment of uncertainty, allows the use of expert knowledge, and provides interconnection of decisions at all phases of strategic management and all stages of a complex engineering product lifecycle.

Lean production tools and decision latitude enable conditions for innovative learning in organizations: a multilevel analysis.

PubMed

Fagerlind Ståhl, Anna-Carin; Gustavsson, Maria; Karlsson, Nadine; Johansson, Gun; Ekberg, Kerstin

2015-03-01

The effect of lean production on conditions for learning is debated. This study aimed to investigate how tools inspired by lean production (standardization, resource reduction, visual monitoring, housekeeping, value flow analysis) were associated with an innovative learning climate and with collective dispersion of ideas in organizations, and whether decision latitude contributed to these associations. A questionnaire was sent out to employees in public, private, production and service organizations (n = 4442). Multilevel linear regression analyses were used. Use of lean tools and decision latitude were positively associated with an innovative learning climate and collective dispersion of ideas. A low degree of decision latitude was a modifier in the association to collective dispersion of ideas. Lean tools can enable shared understanding and collective spreading of ideas, needed for the development of work processes, especially when decision latitude is low. Value flow analysis played a pivotal role in the associations. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

FORBEEF: A Forage-Livestock System Computer Model Used as a Teaching Aid for Decision Making.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stringer, W. C.; And Others

1987-01-01

Describes the development of a computer simulation model of forage-beef production systems, which is intended to incorporate soil, forage, and animal decisions into an enterprise scenario. Produces a summary of forage production and livestock needs. Cites positive assessment of the program's value by participants in inservice training workshops.…

Machine Vision Technology for the Forest Products Industry

Treesearch

Richard W. Conners; D.Earl Kline; Philip A. Araman; Thomas T. Drayer

1997-01-01

From forest to finished product, wood is moved from one processing stage to the next, subject to the decisions of individuals along the way. While this process has worked for hundreds of years, the technology exists today to provide more complete information to the decision makers. Virginia Tech has developed this technology, creating a machine vision prototype for...

FRAMEWORK FOR RESPONSIBLE DECISION-MAKING (FRED): A TOOL FOR ENVIRONMENTALLY PREFERABLE PRODUCTS

EPA Science Inventory

In support of the Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program of the USEPA, a decision-making tool based on life cycle assessment has been developed. This tool, the Framework for Responsible Environmental Decision-making or FRED, streamlines LCA by choosing a minimum list of im...

Price trend analysis and its implications for the development of new medical technologies.

PubMed

Brown, Alan; Meenan, Brian J; Young, Terry P

2007-01-01

It is assumed that a company will only develop a new medical technology if it has evidence that it will provide returns that are greater than the investment required to develop that technology and bring it to the market. The price that can be commanded for the new products and the volumes of the products that are sold determine, in large measure, the returns that will be made on the initial investment. Estimating the sales volumes and prices of products are critical factors in decision making during product development. Once in the market prices are not static. Rather they are affected by a range of factors. This paper considers the effect that market experience, represented by cumulative volume of sales, has on prices. How quickly the price declines in response to experience is dependent on a number of factors. How price trends from products already in the market can be used to inform investment decisions of new products and technologies is described.

Modeling Sustainability in Product Development and Commercialization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carlson, Robert C.; Rafinejad, Dariush

2008-01-01

In this article, the authors present the framework of a model that integrates strategic product development decisions with the product's impact on future conditions of resources and the environment. The impact of a product on stocks of nonrenewable sources and sinks is linked in a feedback loop to the cost of manufacturing and using the product…

Benchmarking Collaborative Inter and Intra-agency Enhancements to a Decision Support System for Global Crop Production Assessments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hutchinson, C. F.; van Leeuwen, W.; Doorn, B.; Drake, S.; Haithcoat, T.; Kaupp, V.; Likholetov, V.; Sheffner, E.; Tralli, D.

2008-12-01

The Office of Global Analysis/ International Production Assessment Branch (IGA/IPA; formerly the Production Estimates and Crop Assessment Division (PECAD)), of the United States Department of Agriculture - Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA-FAS) has been assimilates data and information products from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) into its operational decision support system (DSS). The intent is to improve monthly estimates of global production of selected agricultural commodities that are provided to the World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB). This research builds on the intermittent collaboration between USDA and NASA in remote sensing of agriculture since 1974. The goal of the research was to develop an approach to measure changes in system performance after the assimilation of NASA products. An important first step was to develop a baseline characterization of the DSS, the working environment and its constraints including the identification of issues and potential solutions. Both qualitative and quantitative information were gathered to benchmark IGA/IPA's DSS using data from questionnaires and interviews. An interactive risk management tool developed for NASA mission architecture design (DDP - Defect Detection and Prevention) was used to evaluate the effectiveness of various Mitigation options against potential Risks, with quantified attainment of Objectives being the most important benchmarking indicator to examine the effectiveness of the assimilation of NASA products into IGA/IPA's DSS. The collaborative benchmarking activities provided not only feedback about the benefits of DSS enhancement to USDA/FAS and NASA, but facilitated communication among DSS users, developers, and USDA management that helped to suggest future avenues for system development as well as improved intra- and interagency collaboration. From this research emerged a model for benchmarking DSSs that (1) promotes continuity and synergy within and between agencies, (2) accommodates scientific, operational and architectural dynamics, and (3) facilitates transfer of knowledge among researchers, management, and decision makers, as well as among decision making agencies.

What contributes to a technical purchasing decision maker's reliance on brand name for design decisions involving I&T products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coutoumanos, Vincent

The following research is intended to develop more formal mechanisms for collection, analysis, retention and dissemination of information relating to brand influence on high-technology products. Specifically, these high-technology products are associated with the engineering applications that likely would involve the loss of human life in the advent of catastrophic failure. The results of the study lead to an extension of theory involving marketing and product selection of "highly engineered" parts within the aerospace industry. The findings were separated into three distinct areas: 1) Information load will play a large role in the final design decision. If the designer is under a high level of information load during the time of a design decision, he or she likely will gravitate to the traditional design choice, regardless of the level of brand strength. 2) Even when strong brand names, like 3M, were offered as the non-traditional design choice, engineers gravitated to the traditional design choice that was presented in a mock Society for Manufacturing Engineers article. 3) Designer self-efficacy by itself will not often contribute to a decision maker's design choice. However, these data collected indicates that a combination of high designer self-efficacy moderated by high brand strength is likely to contribute significantly to a decision maker's decision. The post-hoc finding shows that many designers having high levels of self-efficacy could be developing a sense of comfort with strong brand names (like 3M) when making a design choice.

Key Decision Record Creation and Approval Module

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hebert, Barrt; Messer, Elizabeth A.; Albasini, Colby; Le, Thang; ORourke, William, Sr.; Stiglets, Tim; Strain, Ted

2012-01-01

Retaining good key decision records is critical to ensuring the success of a project or operation. Having adequately documented decisions with supporting documents and rationale can greatly reduce the amount of rework or reinvention over a project's, vehicle's, or facility's lifecycle. Stennis Space Center developed and uses a software tool that automates the Key Decision Record (KDR) process for its engineering and test projects. It provides the ability for a user to log key decisions that are made during the course of a project. By customizing Parametric Technology Corporation's (PTC) Windchill product, the team was able to log all information about a decision, and electronically route that information for approval. Customizing the Windchill product allowed the team to directly connect these decisions to the engineering data that it might affect and notify data owners of the decision. The user interface was created in JSP and Javascript, within the OOTB (Out of the Box) Windchill product, allowing users to create KDRs. Not only does this interface allow users to create and track KDRs, but it also plugs directly into the OOTB ability to associate these decision records with other relevant engineering data such as drawings, designs, models, requirements, or specifications

HEADROOM APPROACH TO DEVICE DEVELOPMENT: CURRENT AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS.

PubMed

Girling, Alan; Lilford, Richard; Cole, Amanda; Young, Terry

2015-01-01

The headroom approach to medical device development relies on the estimation of a value-based price ceiling at different stages of the development cycle. Such price-ceilings delineate the commercial opportunities for new products in many healthcare systems. We apply a simple model to obtain critical business information as the product proceeds along a development pathway, and indicate some future directions for the development of the approach. Health economic modelling in the supply-side development cycle for new products. The headroom can be used: initially as a 'reality check' on the viability of the device in the healthcare market; to support product development decisions using a real options approach; and to contribute to a pricing policy which respects uncertainties in the reimbursement outlook. The headroom provides a unifying thread for business decisions along the development cycle for a new product. Over the course of the cycle attitudes to uncertainty will evolve, based on the timing and manner in which new information accrues. Within this framework the developmental value of new information can justify the costs of clinical trials and other evidence-gathering activities. Headroom can function as a simple shared tool to parties in commercial negotiations around individual products or groups of products. The development of similar approaches in other contexts holds promise for more rational planning of service provision.

Using multicriteria decision analysis during drug development to predict reimbursement decisions.

PubMed

Williams, Paul; Mauskopf, Josephine; Lebiecki, Jake; Kilburg, Anne

2014-01-01

Pharmaceutical companies design clinical development programs to generate the data that they believe will support reimbursement for the experimental compound. The objective of the study was to present a process for using multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) by a pharmaceutical company to estimate the probability of a positive recommendation for reimbursement for a new drug given drug and environmental attributes. The MCDA process included 1) selection of decisions makers who were representative of those making reimbursement decisions in a specific country; 2) two pre-workshop questionnaires to identify the most important attributes and their relative importance for a positive recommendation for a new drug; 3) a 1-day workshop during which participants undertook three tasks: i) they agreed on a final list of decision attributes and their importance weights, ii) they developed level descriptions for these attributes and mapped each attribute level to a value function, and iii) they developed profiles for hypothetical products 'just likely to be reimbursed'; and 4) use of the data from the workshop to develop a prediction algorithm based on a logistic regression analysis. The MCDA process is illustrated using case studies for three countries, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain. The extent to which the prediction algorithms for each country captured the decision processes for the workshop participants in our case studies was tested using a post-meeting questionnaire that asked the participants to make recommendations for a set of hypothetical products. The data collected in the case study workshops resulted in a prediction algorithm: 1) for the United Kingdom, the probability of a positive recommendation for different ranges of cost-effectiveness ratios; 2) for Spain, the probability of a positive recommendation at the national and regional levels; and 3) for Germany, the probability of a determination of clinical benefit. The results from the post-meeting questionnaire revealed a high predictive value for the algorithm developed using MCDA. Prediction algorithms developed using MCDA could be used by pharmaceutical companies when designing their clinical development programs to estimate the likelihood of a favourable reimbursement recommendation for different product profiles and for different positions in the treatment pathway.

Using multicriteria decision analysis during drug development to predict reimbursement decisions

PubMed Central

Williams, Paul; Mauskopf, Josephine; Lebiecki, Jake; Kilburg, Anne

2014-01-01

Background Pharmaceutical companies design clinical development programs to generate the data that they believe will support reimbursement for the experimental compound. Objective The objective of the study was to present a process for using multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) by a pharmaceutical company to estimate the probability of a positive recommendation for reimbursement for a new drug given drug and environmental attributes. Methods The MCDA process included 1) selection of decisions makers who were representative of those making reimbursement decisions in a specific country; 2) two pre-workshop questionnaires to identify the most important attributes and their relative importance for a positive recommendation for a new drug; 3) a 1-day workshop during which participants undertook three tasks: i) they agreed on a final list of decision attributes and their importance weights, ii) they developed level descriptions for these attributes and mapped each attribute level to a value function, and iii) they developed profiles for hypothetical products ‘just likely to be reimbursed’; and 4) use of the data from the workshop to develop a prediction algorithm based on a logistic regression analysis. The MCDA process is illustrated using case studies for three countries, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain. The extent to which the prediction algorithms for each country captured the decision processes for the workshop participants in our case studies was tested using a post-meeting questionnaire that asked the participants to make recommendations for a set of hypothetical products. Results The data collected in the case study workshops resulted in a prediction algorithm: 1) for the United Kingdom, the probability of a positive recommendation for different ranges of cost-effectiveness ratios; 2) for Spain, the probability of a positive recommendation at the national and regional levels; and 3) for Germany, the probability of a determination of clinical benefit. The results from the post-meeting questionnaire revealed a high predictive value for the algorithm developed using MCDA. Conclusions Prediction algorithms developed using MCDA could be used by pharmaceutical companies when designing their clinical development programs to estimate the likelihood of a favourable reimbursement recommendation for different product profiles and for different positions in the treatment pathway.

Gender issues in livestock production: a case study of Zimbabwe.

PubMed

Mupawaenda, Anna C; Chawatama, Shingirai; Muvavarirwa, Plaxidia

2009-10-01

The importance of main streaming gender issues in development programmes is now recognized by governments and development agents. This paper evaluates the role of gender in smallholder livestock production using Zimbabwe as a case study. It draws on several studies and assesses the gender dimension in terms of access and control, decision making and, division of labour. It is shown that for mainly traditional and historical reasons men continue to dominate livestock production although the situation is gradually changing. Men eclipse women in terms of ownership of more valuable stock, the making of decisions and the control of livestock production. This suggests that gender is important in livestock production and must be considered among other factors. The complexity of the system is noted but more gender disaggregated quantitative data is required if gender is to be effectively mainstreamed in livestock development programmes.

Aiding Lay Decision Making Using a Cognitive Competencies Approach.

PubMed

Maule, A J; Maule, Simon

2015-01-01

Two prescriptive approaches have evolved to aid human decision making: just in time interventions that provide support as a decision is being made; and just in case interventions that educate people about future events that they may encounter so that they are better prepared to make an informed decision when these events occur. We review research on these two approaches developed in the context of supporting everyday decisions such as choosing an apartment, a financial product or a medical procedure. We argue that the lack of an underlying prescriptive theory has limited the development and evaluation of these interventions. We draw on recent descriptive research on the cognitive competencies that underpin human decision making to suggest new ways of interpreting how and why existing decision aids may be effective and suggest a different way of evaluating their effectiveness. We also briefly outline how our approach has the potential to develop new interventions to support everyday decision making and highlight the benefits of drawing on descriptive research when developing and evaluating interventions.

Aiding Lay Decision Making Using a Cognitive Competencies Approach

PubMed Central

Maule, A. J.; Maule, Simon

2016-01-01

Two prescriptive approaches have evolved to aid human decision making: just in time interventions that provide support as a decision is being made; and just in case interventions that educate people about future events that they may encounter so that they are better prepared to make an informed decision when these events occur. We review research on these two approaches developed in the context of supporting everyday decisions such as choosing an apartment, a financial product or a medical procedure. We argue that the lack of an underlying prescriptive theory has limited the development and evaluation of these interventions. We draw on recent descriptive research on the cognitive competencies that underpin human decision making to suggest new ways of interpreting how and why existing decision aids may be effective and suggest a different way of evaluating their effectiveness. We also briefly outline how our approach has the potential to develop new interventions to support everyday decision making and highlight the benefits of drawing on descriptive research when developing and evaluating interventions. PMID:26779052

Integrating NASA Earth Observations into the Global Indicator Framework for Monitoring the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crepps, G.; Gotschalk, E.; Childs-Gleason, L. M.; Favors, J.; Ruiz, M. L.; Allsbrook, K. N.; Rogers, L.; Ross, K. W.

2016-12-01

The NASA DEVELOP National Program conducts rapid 10-week feasibility projects that build decision makers' capacity to utilize NASA Earth observations in their decision making. Teams, in collaboration with partner organizations, conduct projects that create end products such as maps, analyses, and automated tools tailored for their partners' specific decision making needs. These projects illustrate the varied applications about which Earth observations can assist in making better informed decisions, such topics as land use changes, ecological forecasting, public health, and species habitats. As a capacity building program, DEVELOP is interested in understanding how these end products are utilized once the project is over and if Earth observations become a regular tool in the partner's decision making toolkit. While DEVELOP's niche is short-term projects, to assess the impacts of these projects, a longer-term scale is needed. As a result, DEVELOP has created a project strength metrics, and partner assessments, pre- and post-project, as well as a follow up form. This presentation explores the challenges in both quantitative and qualitative assessments of valuing the contributions of these Earth observation tools. This proposal lays out the assessment framework created within the program, and illustrates case studies in which projects have been assessed and long-term partner use of tools examined and quantified.

Building a Framework in Improving Drought Monitoring and Early Warning Systems in Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tadesse, T.; Wall, N.; Haigh, T.; Shiferaw, A. S.; Beyene, S.; Demisse, G. B.; Zaitchik, B.

2015-12-01

Decision makers need a basic understanding of the prediction models and products of hydro-climatic extremes and their suitability in time and space for strategic resource and development planning to develop mitigation and adaptation strategies. Advances in our ability to assess and predict climate extremes (e.g., droughts and floods) under evolving climate change suggest opportunity to improve management of climatic/hydrologic risk in agriculture and water resources. In the NASA funded project entitled, "Seasonal Prediction of Hydro-Climatic Extremes in the Greater Horn of Africa (GHA) under Evolving Climate Conditions to Support Adaptation Strategies," we are attempting to develop a framework that uses dialogue between managers and scientists on how to enhance the use of models' outputs and prediction products in the GHA as well as improve the delivery of this information in ways that can be easily utilized by managers. This process is expected to help our multidisciplinary research team obtain feedback on the models and forecast products. In addition, engaging decision makers is essential in evaluating the use of drought and flood prediction models and products for decision-making processes in drought and flood management. Through this study, we plan to assess information requirements to implement a robust Early Warning Systems (EWS) by engaging decision makers in the process. This participatory process could also help the existing EWSs in Africa and to develop new local and regional EWSs. In this presentation, we report the progress made in the past two years of the NASA project.

Small Group Dynamics and the Watergate Coverup: A Case Study of Groupthink.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cline, Rebecca J.

The decisions President Richard Nixon and his closest advisors made in the Watergate coverup were products of what Irving Janis calls "groupthink." Groupthink, a type of decision-making emphasizing unanimity over objective evaluation, develops when the decision makers (1) form a group of marked cohesiveness, (2) insulate themselves from…

Training in Decision-Making Strategies: An Approach to Enhance Students' Competence to Deal with Socio-Scientific Issues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gresch, Helge; Hasselhorn, Marcus; Bögeholz, Susanne

2013-01-01

Dealing with socio-scientific issues in science classes enables students to participate productively in controversial discussions concerning ethical topics, such as sustainable development. In this respect, well-structured decision-making processes are essential for elaborate reasoning. To foster decision-making competence, a computer-based…

Enhancing Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Product Commercialization: The Role of Science in Regulatory Decision-Making for the TE/RM Product Development.

PubMed

Bertram, Timothy A; Johnson, Peter C; Tawil, Bill J; Van Dyke, Mark; Hellman, Kiki B

2015-10-01

TERMIS-AM Industry Committee (TERMIS-AM/IC), in collaboration with the TERMIS-Europe (EU)/IC, conducted a symposium involving the European Medicines Agency and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) toward building an understanding of the rational basis for regulatory decision-making and providing a framework for decisions made during the evaluation of safety and efficacy of TE/RM technologies. This symposium was held in August 2012 during the TERMIS-WC in Vienna, Austria. Emerging from this international initiative by the European Union and the United States, representatives from the respective agencies demonstrated that there are ongoing interagency efforts for developing common national practices toward harmonization of regulatory requirements for the TE/RM products. To extend a broad-based understanding of the role of science in regulatory decision-making, TERMIS-AM/IC, in cooperation with the FDA, organized a symposium at the 2014 TERMIS-AM Annual Meeting, which was held in Washington, DC. This event provided insights from leaders in the FDA and TERMIS on the current status of regulatory approaches for the approved TE/RM products, the use of science in making regulatory decisions, and TE/RM technologies that are in the development pipeline to address unmet medical needs. A far-ranging discussion with FDA representatives, industrialists, physicians, regenerative medicine biologists, and tissue engineers considered the gaps in today's scientific and regulatory understanding of TE/RM technologies. The identified gaps represent significant opportunities to advance TE/RM technologies toward commercialization.

Comparison of Selected Weather Translation Products

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kulkarni, Deepak

2017-01-01

Weather is a primary contributor to the air traffic delays within the National Airspace System (NAS). At present, it is the individual decision makers who use weather information and assess its operational impact in creating effective air traffic management solutions. As a result, the estimation of the impact of forecast weather and the quality of ATM response relies on the skill and experience level of the decision maker. FAA Weather-ATM working groups have developed a Weather-ATM integration framework that consists of weather collection, weather translation, ATM impact conversion and ATM decision support. Some weather translation measures have been developed for hypothetical operations such as decentralized free flight, whereas others are meant to be relevant in current operations. This paper does comparative study of two different weather translation products relevant in current operations and finds that these products have strong correlation with each other. Given inaccuracies in prediction of weather, these differences would not be expected to be of significance in statistical study of a large number of decisions made with a look-ahead time of two hours or more.

Budgetary and Programmatic Fluctuations during the System Development and Demonstration Phase: A Case Study of the Marine Corps H-1 Upgrade Program

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-12-01

impact of economic change might include a closing factory, market manipulation, the signing of international trade 17 treaties, or the global...Refinement System Intergration System Demonstration Concept Decision BA C LRIP Full-Rate Production & Deployment System Development and Demonstration...BLOCK III Concept Exploration Component Advanced Development Concept and Technology Development System Intergration System Demonstration Decision Review

AgRISTARS: Foreign commodity production forecasting. Corn/soybean decision logic development and testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dailey, C. L.; Abotteen, K. M. (Principal Investigator)

1980-01-01

The development and testing of an analysis procedure which was developed to improve the consistency and objectively of crop identification using Landsat data is described. The procedure was developed to identify corn and soybean crops in the U.S. corn belt region. The procedure consists of a series of decision points arranged in a tree-like structure, the branches of which lead an analyst to crop labels. The specific decision logic is designed to maximize the objectively of the identification process and to promote the possibility of future automation. Significant results are summarized.

Using a Web-Based System to Estimate the Cost of Online Course Production

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gordon, Stuart; He, Wu; Abdous, M'hammed

2009-01-01

The increasing demand for online courses requires efficient and low cost production. Since the decision to develop online courses is often affected by financial factors, it is becoming increasingly important to determine, upfront, the cost of online course production. Many of the programs and educators interested in developing online courses…

Development of system decision support tools for behavioral trends monitoring of machinery maintenance in a competitive environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adeyeri, Michael Kanisuru; Mpofu, Khumbulani

2017-06-01

The article is centred on software system development for manufacturing company that produces polyethylene bags using mostly conventional machines in a competitive world where each business enterprise desires to stand tall. This is meant to assist in gaining market shares, taking maintenance and production decisions by the dynamism and flexibilities embedded in the package as customers' demand varies under the duress of meeting the set goals. The production and machine condition monitoring software (PMCMS) is programmed in C# and designed in such a way to support hardware integration, real-time machine conditions monitoring, which is based on condition maintenance approach, maintenance decision suggestions and suitable production strategies as the demand for products keeps changing in a highly competitive environment. PMCMS works with an embedded device which feeds it with data from the various machines being monitored at the workstation, and the data are read at the base station through transmission via a wireless transceiver and stored in a database. A case study was used in the implementation of the developed system, and the results show that it can monitor the machine's health condition effectively by displaying machines' health status, gives repair suggestions to probable faults, decides strategy for both production methods and maintenance, and, thus, can enhance maintenance performance obviously.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hale, M.A.; Craig, J.I.

Integrated Product and Process Development (IPPD) embodies the simultaneous application to both system and quality engineering methods throughout an iterative design process. The use of IPPD results in the time-conscious, cost-saving development of engineering systems. To implement IPPD, a Decision-Based Design perspective is encapsulated in an approach that focuses on the role of the human designer in product development. The approach has two parts and is outlined in this paper. First, an architecture, called DREAMS, is being developed that facilitates design from a decision-based perspective. Second, a supporting computing infrastructure, called IMAGE, is being designed. Agents are used to implementmore » the overall infrastructure on the computer. Successful agent utilization requires that they be made of three components: the resource, the model, and the wrap. Current work is focused on the development of generalized agent schemes and associated demonstration projects. When in place, the technology independent computing infrastructure will aid the designer in systematically generating knowledge used to facilitate decision-making.« less

Use of agents to implement an integrated computing environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hale, Mark A.; Craig, James I.

1995-01-01

Integrated Product and Process Development (IPPD) embodies the simultaneous application to both system and quality engineering methods throughout an iterative design process. The use of IPPD results in the time-conscious, cost-saving development of engineering systems. To implement IPPD, a Decision-Based Design perspective is encapsulated in an approach that focuses on the role of the human designer in product development. The approach has two parts and is outlined in this paper. First, an architecture, called DREAMS, is being developed that facilitates design from a decision-based perspective. Second, a supporting computing infrastructure, called IMAGE, is being designed. Agents are used to implement the overall infrastructure on the computer. Successful agent utilization requires that they be made of three components: the resource, the model, and the wrap. Current work is focused on the development of generalized agent schemes and associated demonstration projects. When in place, the technology independent computing infrastructure will aid the designer in systematically generating knowledge used to facilitate decision-making.

Principles of Classroom Management: A Professional Decision-Making Model, 7th Edition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levin, James; Nolan, James F.

2014-01-01

This text takes a decision-making model approach to classroom management. It provides teachers with a very practical system to influence students to choose to behave productively and to strive for academic success. This widely used text presents an array of decision-making options that guide teachers in developing positive, pro-social classroom…

Software Products

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

MAST is a decision support system to help in the management of dairy herds. Data is collected on dairy herds around the country and processed at regional centers. One center is Cornell University, where Dr. Lawrence Jones and his team developed MAST. The system draws conclusions from the data and summarizes it graphically. CLIPS, which is embedded in MAST, gives the system the ability to make decisions without user interaction. With this technique, dairy managers can identify herd problems quickly, resulting in improved animal health and higher milk quality. CLIPS (C Language Integrated Production System) was developed by NASA's Johnson Space Center. It is a shell for developing expert systems designed to permit research, development and delivery on conventional computers.

Public Marketing: An Alternative Policy Decision-Making Idea for Small Cities. Community Development Research Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meyers, James; And Others

The concept of public marketing presents a strategy for the systems approach to community development that would facilitate the community decision making process via improved communication. Basic aspects of the social marketing process include: (1) product policy; (2) channels of distribution; (3) pricing (perceived price vs quality and quantity…

Prototype development of user specific climate services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacob, Daniela

2017-04-01

Systematic consultations in the last years with representatives from sectors particularly affected by climate change have helped the Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS) to identify the most pressing needs of stakeholders from public and private sectors. Besides the development of innovative climate service products and methods, areas are also identified, for which intensive research activities have to be initiated. An example is the demand of decision makers for high-resolution climate change information needed at regional to local levels for their activities towards climate change adaptation. For questions concerning adaptation to climate change, no standard solutions can be provided. Different from mitigation measures, adaptation measures must be framed in accordance with the specific circumstances prevailing in the local situation. Here, individual solutions, which satisfy the individual requirements and needs, are necessary. They have to be developed in close co-operation with the customers and users. For example, the implications of climate change on strategic and operative decisions, e.g. in enterprises and urban planning, are becoming increasingly important. Therefore, high-quality consultancy for businesses and public administration is needed, in order to support decision makers in identifying associated risks and opportunities. For the development of prototype products, GERICS has framed a general methodological approach, including the idea generation, the iterative development, and the prototype testing in co-development with the user. High process transparency and high product quality are prerequisite for the success of a product. The co-development process ensures the best possible communication of user tailored climate change information for different target groups.

The perfect family: decision making in biparental care.

PubMed

Akçay, Erol; Roughgarden, Joan

2009-10-13

Previous theoretical work on parental decisions in biparental care has emphasized the role of the conflict between evolutionary interests of parents in these decisions. A prominent prediction from this work is that parents should compensate for decreases in each other's effort, but only partially so. However, experimental tests that manipulate parents and measure their responses fail to confirm this prediction. At the same time, the process of parental decision making has remained unexplored theoretically. We develop a model to address the discrepancy between experiments and the theoretical prediction, and explore how assuming different decision making processes changes the prediction from the theory. We assume that parents make decisions in behavioral time. They have a fixed time budget, and allocate it between two parental tasks: provisioning the offspring and defending the nest. The proximate determinant of the allocation decisions are parents' behavioral objectives. We assume both parents aim to maximize the offspring production from the nest. Experimental manipulations change the shape of the nest production function. We consider two different scenarios for how parents make decisions: one where parents communicate with each other and act together (the perfect family), and one where they do not communicate, and act independently (the almost perfect family). The perfect family model is able to generate all the types of responses seen in experimental studies. The kind of response predicted depends on the nest production function, i.e. how parents' allocations affect offspring production, and the type of experimental manipulation. In particular, we find that complementarity of parents' allocations promotes matching responses. In contrast, the relative responses do not depend on the type of manipulation in the almost perfect family model. These results highlight the importance of the interaction between nest production function and how parents make decisions, factors that have largely been overlooked in previous models.

Economic Benefits of Improved Information on Worldwide Crop Production: An Optimal Decision Model of Production and Distribution with Application to Wheat, Corn, and Soybeans

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Andrews, J.

1977-01-01

An optimal decision model of crop production, trade, and storage was developed for use in estimating the economic consequences of improved forecasts and estimates of worldwide crop production. The model extends earlier distribution benefits models to include production effects as well. Application to improved information systems meeting the goals set in the large area crop inventory experiment (LACIE) indicates annual benefits to the United States of $200 to $250 million for wheat, $50 to $100 million for corn, and $6 to $11 million for soybeans, using conservative assumptions on expected LANDSAT system performance.

Developing Climate Resilience Toolkit Decision Support Training Sectio

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Livezey, M. M.; Herring, D.; Keck, J.; Meyers, J. C.

2014-12-01

The Climate Resilience Toolkit (CRT) is a Federal government effort to address the U.S. President's Climate Action Plan and Executive Order for Climate Preparedness. The toolkit will provide access to tools and products useful for climate-sensitive decision making. To optimize the user experience, the toolkit will also provide access to training materials. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has been building a climate training capability for 15 years. The target audience for the training has historically been mainly NOAA staff with some modified training programs for external users and stakeholders. NOAA is now using this climate training capacity for the CRT. To organize the CRT training section, we collaborated with the Association of Climate Change Officers to determine the best strategy and identified four additional complimentary skills needed for successful decision making: climate literacy, environmental literacy, risk assessment and management, and strategic execution and monitoring. Developing the climate literacy skills requires knowledge of climate variability and change, as well as an introduction to the suite of available products and services. For the development of an environmental literacy category, specific topics needed include knowledge of climate impacts on specific environmental systems. Climate risk assessment and management introduces a process for decision making and provides knowledge on communication of climate information and integration of climate information in planning processes. The strategic execution and monitoring category provides information on use of NOAA climate products, services, and partnership opportunities for decision making. In order to use the existing training modules, it was necessary to assess their level of complexity, catalog them, and develop guidance for users on a curriculum to take advantage of the training resources to enhance their learning experience. With the development of this CRT training section, NOAA has made significant progress in sharing resources with the external community.

The Infusion of Dust Model Model Outputs into Public Health Decision Making - an Examination of Differential Adoption of SOAP and Open Geospatial Consortium Service Products into Public Health Decision Support Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benedict, K. K.

2008-12-01

Since 2004 the Earth Data Analysis Center, in collaboration with the researchers at the University of Arizona and George Mason University, with funding from NASA, has been developing a services oriented architecture (SOA) that acquires remote sensing, meteorological forecast, and observed ground level particulate data (EPA AirNow) from NASA, NOAA, and DataFed through a variety of standards-based service interfaces. These acquired data are used to initialize and set boundary conditions for the execution of the Dust Regional Atmospheric Model (DREAM) to generate daily 48-hour dust forecasts, which are then published via a combination of Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) services (WMS and WCS), basic HTTP request-based services, and SOAP services. The goal of this work has been to develop services that can be integrated into existing public health decision support systems (DSS) to provide enhanced environmental data (i.e. ground surface particulate concentration estimates) for use in epidemiological analysis, public health warning systems, and syndromic surveillance systems. While the project has succeeded in deploying these products into the target systems, there has been differential adoption of the different service interface products, with the simple OGC and HTTP interfaces generating much greater interest by DSS developers and researchers than the more complex SOAP service interfaces. This paper reviews the SOA developed as part of this project and provides insights into how different service models may have a significant impact on the infusion of Earth science products into decision making processes and systems.

The Development of a Rapid Prototyping Environment

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-12-01

constraints is a very complex, time- consuming and costly took. This situation can be iaproved by the use of adequate development methods and powerful support...was an essential factor in our decision . The previous development of CAPS tools utilized and assuumed the availa- bility of a Sun Workstation. There...the development of a production * 23 sys(tCm. An early decision was mIade to accept dependence upon the best locally avail- able resources. Portability

Our Changing Planet: The U.S. Climate Change Science Program for Fiscal Year 2006

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-11-01

any remaining uncertainties for the Amazon region of South America.These results are expected to greatly reduce errors and uncertainties concerning...changing the concentration of atmospheric CO2 are fossil -fuel burning, deforestation, land-use change, and cement production.These processes have...the initial phases of work on the remaining products. Specific plans for enhanced decision-support resources include: – Developing decision-support

Studies on Interpretive Structural Model for Forest Ecosystem Management Decision-Making

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Suqing; Gao, Xiumei; Zen, Qunying; Zhou, Yuanman; Huang, Yuequn; Han, Weidong; Li, Linfeng; Li, Jiping; Pu, Yingshan

Characterized by their openness, complexity and large scale, forest ecosystems interweave themselves with social system, economic system and other natural ecosystems, thus complicating both their researches and management decision-making. According to the theories of sustainable development, hierarchy-competence levels, cybernetics and feedback, 25 factors have been chosen from human society, economy and nature that affect forest ecosystem management so that they are systematically analyzed via developing an interpretive structural model (ISM) to reveal their relationships and positions in the forest ecosystem management. The ISM consists of 7 layers with the 3 objectives for ecosystem management being the top layer (the seventh layer). The ratio between agricultural production value and industrial production value as the bases of management decision-making in forest ecosystems becomes the first layer at the bottom because it has great impacts on the values of society and the development trends of forestry, while the factors of climatic environments, intensive management extent, management measures, input-output ratio as well as landscape and productivity are arranged from the second to sixth layers respectively.

A business man views commercial ventures in space.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scarff, D. D.; Bloom, H. L.

1973-01-01

Paper reviews technical, resource planning and marketing steps an industrial organization must perform in arriving at a decision to undertake space development and production of commercial products or services for Users on the ground. Technical elements are supported by particular examples. Analysis of required resources emphasizes facility and financial inter-relationships between commercial organizations and NASA. Marketing planning covers elements of profitability. Paper addresses questions related to protection of corporate stockholders and public interest, investment decision timing, budget variations. Paper concludes with observations on timeliness of planning shuttle-based commercial ventures and on key industry/NASA problems and decisions.

Increasing Sales by Developing Production Consortiums.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Christopher A.; Russo, Robert

Intended to help rehabilitation facility administrators increase organizational income from manufacturing and/or contracted service sources, this document provides a decision-making model for the development of a production consortium. The document consists of five chapters and two appendices. Chapter 1 defines the consortium concept, explains…

Avoiding Another Hollow Force: Optimizing the Joint Force Despite Sequestration

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-04-01

Vietnam, socio-economic factors and funding decisions that favored the development of advanced weapon systems rather than funding other vital requirements...funding decisions that favored the development of advanced weapon systems rather than funding other vital requirements such as manpower led to the...to factors such as inefficiencies in production, $29.6 billion to quantity changes, and $13.7 billion to research and development (R&D) cost growth

Developing a Vision: Incorporating Ecosystem Services into Decision Making - Proceedings of a Workshop

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hogan, Dianna; Arthaud, Greg; Goodman, Iris; Pattison, Malka; Sayre, Roger G.; Shapiro, Carl; Van Horne, Bea

2009-01-01

The production, location, use, and value of ecosystem services have become an important factor in resource management. Decisions relating to resource conservation and restoration, as well as development, require an understanding of the services provided by natural systems and the response of these systems to natural and human-induced change. Increased demands for development and the resulting pressures on ecosystem services have lent urgency to the need for an improved understanding of the value of natural capital. However, resource management decisions are often made without considering the importance and value of services resulting from natural systems.

Water Planning in Phoenix: Managing Risk in the Face of Climatic Uncertainty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gober, P.

2009-12-01

The Decision Center for a Desert City (DCDC) was founded in 2004 to develop scientifically-credible support tools to improve water management decisions in the face of growing climatic uncertainty and rapid urbanization in metropolitan Phoenix. At the center of DCDC's effort is WaterSim, a model that integrates information about water supply from groundwater, the Colorado River, and upstream watersheds and water demand from land use change and population growth. Decision levers enable users to manipulate model outcomes in response to climate change scenarios, drought conditions, population growth rates, technology innovations, lifestyle changes, and policy decisions. WaterSim allows users to examine the risks of water shortage from global climate change, the tradeoffs between groundwater sustainability and lifestyle choices, the effects of various policy decisions, and the consequences of delaying policy for the exposure to risk. WaterSim is an important point of contact for DCDC’s relationships with local decision makers. Knowledge, tools, and visualizations are co-produced—by scientists and policy makers, and the Center’s social scientists mine this co-production process for new insights about model development and application. WaterSim is less a static scientific product and more a dynamic process of engagement between decision makers and scientists.

Integrated strategic and tactical biomass-biofuel supply chain optimization.

PubMed

Lin, Tao; Rodríguez, Luis F; Shastri, Yogendra N; Hansen, Alan C; Ting, K C

2014-03-01

To ensure effective biomass feedstock provision for large-scale biofuel production, an integrated biomass supply chain optimization model was developed to minimize annual biomass-ethanol production costs by optimizing both strategic and tactical planning decisions simultaneously. The mixed integer linear programming model optimizes the activities range from biomass harvesting, packing, in-field transportation, stacking, transportation, preprocessing, and storage, to ethanol production and distribution. The numbers, locations, and capacities of facilities as well as biomass and ethanol distribution patterns are key strategic decisions; while biomass production, delivery, and operating schedules and inventory monitoring are key tactical decisions. The model was implemented to study Miscanthus-ethanol supply chain in Illinois. The base case results showed unit Miscanthus-ethanol production costs were $0.72L(-1) of ethanol. Biorefinery related costs accounts for 62% of the total costs, followed by biomass procurement costs. Sensitivity analysis showed that a 50% reduction in biomass yield would increase unit production costs by 11%. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The relationship between soil management and the Sustainable Development Goals: the case of global banana production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stoorvogel, Jetse; Segura, Rafael; Erima, Rockefeller

2017-04-01

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a good example of the increasing demand on our soil resources. Our soil resources play a central role in multiple SDGs while talking about poverty (SDG 1), food security (SDG 2), clean energy through biofuels (SDG 7), climate mitigation (SDG 13), and land degradation (SDG 15). This means that basic decisions on soil management are now placed in the context of multiple soil functions. A good example is the global production of bananas and plantains with a total harvested area of almost 10 million ha. While the export bananas played a central role in economic development, an even larger share of the production plays a role in food security. Nevertheless, the production is also criticized due the intensive use of agricultural chemicals (fertilizers and pesticides) and the risk of soil degradation in the monoculture plantations. Decisions on soil management are context specific and depending on the environment. In this study we will analyse and discuss three production environments from the Philippines, Uganda, and Costa Rica. The role of the SDGs in the regions is very different. Where SDG 1 and SDG15 play an important role in the Costa Rican situation, SDG 2 is more important in Uganda and the Philippines. Decisions on soil management strongly depend on the agro-ecology with the available technological packages. The technological packages include low external input farming, organic farming, precision agriculture, and so-called best management practices. While producers take decisions at the field and farm level, we are now increasingly forced for joined action at the regional level with the rapid spread of highly virulent crop diseases. The SDGs have major consequences for soil management but this study shows that, at the same time, they cannot be translated one-to-one to the farm level at which the management decisions are taken. Therefore, off-farm effects and externalities are often not considered in farm management except if they are explicitly being targeted by policies or other interventions. Specific attention is required to analyse the aggregated effect of soil management decisions at the regional level.

Co-Production of Actionable Science: Recommendations to the Secretary of Interior and a San Francisco Case Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Behar, D. H.; Pfeffer, W. T.; Beier, P.

2015-12-01

"Actionable Science provides data, analyses, projections, or tools that can support decisions regarding the management of the risks and impacts of climate change. It is ideally co-produced by scientists and decision makers and creates rigorous and accessible products to meet the needs of stakeholders. (Report to the Secretary of the Interior, Advisory Committee on Climate Change and Natural Resource Science (ACCCNRS), March 30, 2015)During one 17 month period ending in 2013, three major reports on sea level rise from three highly respected science providers produced three divergent estimates of sea level rise. These reports collectively flummoxed the lay reader seeking direction for adaptation planning. Guidance documents soon emerged from state entities which caused further confusion. The City and County of San Francisco began developing "Guidance for Incorporating Sea Level Rise into Capital Planning" in 2013 at the direction of San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee (http://onesanfrancisco.org/staff-resources/sea-level-rise-guidance/). The first task in developing this Guidance was to convert these highly technical reports into "actionable science." This required extensive expert elicitation to tease out their meaning and use value for decision making. This process, which resulted in detailed guidance on the use of SLR science in planning, is increasingly being called "co-production."Co-production requires both scientist and decision-maker to hear the other's perspective, reflect upon the decision-maker's precise needs, and translate peer review science into lay language and practical advice for decision making. The co-production dynamic was the subject of extensive discussion in the federal Advisory Committee on Climate Change and Natural Resource Science. The ACCCNRS recommendations (https://nccwsc.usgs.gov/acccnrs) include not only the new definition of Actionable Science cited above, but also a "How-To-Guide" that outlines principles for successfully creating a co-production environment and case studies highlighting where this has worked to date.This talk will summarize our state of understanding of "actionable science" and this new "co-production" dynamic within climate change science and planning, with focused reference on recent case studies, particularly San Francisco.

Planting density and silvicultural intensity impacts on loblolly pine stand development in the western gulf coastal plain through age 8

Treesearch

Michael B. Kane; Dehai Zhao; John W. Rheney; Michael G. Messina; Mohd S. Rahman; Nicholas Chappell

2012-01-01

Commercial plantation growers need to know how planting density and cultural regime intensity affect loblolly pine plantation productivity, development and value to make sound management decisions. This knowledge is especially important given the diversity of traditional products, such as pulpwood, chip-n-saw, and sawtimber, and potential products, such as bioenergy...

Investigation of Multi-Criteria Decision Consistency: A Triplex Approach to Optimal Oilfield Portfolio Investment Decisions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qaradaghi, Mohammed

Complexity of the capital intensive oil and gas portfolio investments is continuously growing. It is manifested in the constant increase in the type, number and degree of risks and uncertainties, which consequently lead to more challenging decision making problems. A typical complex decision making problem in petroleum exploration and production (E&P) is the selection and prioritization of oilfields/projects in a portfolio investment. Prioritizing oilfields maybe required for different purposes, including the achievement of a targeted production and allocation of limited available development resources. These resources cannot be distributed evenly nor can they be allocated based on the oilfield size or production capacity alone since various other factors need to be considered simultaneously. These factors may include subsurface complexity, size of reservoir, plateau production and needed infrastructure in addition to other issues of strategic concern, such as socio-economic, environmental and fiscal policies, particularly when the decision making involves governments or national oil companies. Therefore, it would be imperative to employ decision aiding tools that not only address these factors, but also incorporate the decision makers' preferences clearly and accurately. However, the tools commonly used in project portfolio selection and optimization, including intuitive approaches, vary in their focus and strength in addressing the different criteria involved in such decision problems. They are also disadvantaged by a number of drawbacks, which may include lacking the capacity to address multiple and interrelated criteria, uncertainty and risk, project relationship with regard to value contribution and optimum resource utilization, non-monetary attributes, decision maker's knowledge and expertise, in addition to varying levels of ease of use and other practical and theoretical drawbacks. These drawbacks have motivated researchers to investigate other tools and techniques that can provide more flexibility and inclusiveness in the decision making process, such as Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods. However, it can be observed that the MCDM literature: 1) is primarily focused on suggesting certain MCDM techniques to specific problems without providing sufficient evidence for their selection, 2) is inadequate in addressing MCDM in E&P portfolio selection and prioritization compared with other fields, and 3) does not address prioritizing brownfields (i.e., developed oilfields). This research study aims at addressing the above drawbacks through combining three MCDM methods (i.e., AHP, PROMETHEE and TOPSIS) into a single decision making tool that can support optimal oilfield portfolio investment decisions by helping determine the share of each oilfield of the total development resources allocated. Selecting these methods is reinforced by a pre-deployment and post-deployment validation framework. In addition, this study proposes a two-dimensional consistency test to verify the output coherence or prioritization stability of the MCDM methods in comparison with an intuitive approach. Nine scenarios representing all possible outcomes of the internal and external consistency tests are further proposed to reach a conclusion. The methodology is applied to a case study of six major oilfields in Iraq to generate percentage shares of each oilfield of a total production target that is in line with Iraq's aspiration to increase oil production. However, the methodology is intended to be applicable to other E&P portfolio investment prioritization scenarios by taking the specific contextual characteristics into consideration.

Veal marketing could return more than traditional weaning

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

How profitable is a system of marketing early-weaned calves for veal production versus a traditional system based on more traditional weaning and marketing feeder calves? In an attempt to answer this question, decision support software (Decision Evaluator for the Cattle Industry, DECI) developed at...

Managing Biases in Product Development Teams: A Tale of Two Rocks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keene, Michael A.

2017-01-01

The management of product development teams is a challenging task, especially when success hinges on the ability to guide technical and nontechnical personnel through an effective decision-making process. The "Tale of Two Rocks" exercise illustrates how differing motivations and beliefs about new technologies can affect the decisions…

Communicating Glacier Change and Associated Impacts to Communities and Decision-makers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Timm, K.; Hood, E. W.; O'Neel, S.; Wolken, G. J.

2017-12-01

A critical, but often overlooked, part of making cryosphere science relevant to decision makers is ensuring that the communication and translation of scientific information is deliberate, dialogic, and the product of careful planning. This presentation offers several lessons learned from a team of scientists and a communication professional who have collaboratively produced several award-winning and repeatedly used communication products. Consisting of illustrations (for presentations, publications, and other uses), posters, and fact sheets, the products communicate how Alaska's glaciers are changing, how changing glaciers influence nearby ecosystems, and the natural hazards that emerge as glaciers recede and thin to a range of audiences, including community members, business owners, resource managers, and other decision makers. The success of these communication products can be attributed in part to six broad characteristics of the development process, which are based on the literature from science communication research and reflections from the team: connect, design, respect, iterate, share, and reflect. For example, connecting with other people is important because effective science communication is usually the product of a team of researchers and communication professionals. Connecting with the audience or stakeholders is also important for developing an understanding of their information needs. In addition, respect is essential, as this process relies on the diverse skills, experience, and knowledge that everyone brings to the endeavor. Also for consideration, developing a shared language and executing a scientifically accurate design takes synthesis and iteration, which must be accounted for in the project timeline. Taken together, these factors and others that will be described in the presentation can help improve the communication of cryosphere science and expand its utility for important societal decisions.

Supporting Coral Reef Ecosystem Management Decisions Appropriate to Climate Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hendee, J. C.; Fletcher, P.; Shein, K. A.

2013-05-01

There has been a perception that the myriad of environmental information products derived from satellite and other instrumental sources means ipso facto that there is a direct use for them by environmental managers. Trouble is, as information providers, for the most part we don't really know what decisions managers face daily, nor is it a trivial matter to ascertain the effect of management decisions on the environment, at least in a time frame that facilitates timely maintenance and enhancement of decision support software. To bridge this gap in understanding, we conducted a Needs Assessment (using methodology from the NOAA/Coastal Services Center's Product Design and Evaluation training program) from December, 2011 through May, 2012, in which we queried 15 resource managers in southeast Florida to identify the types of climate data and information products they needed to understand the effects of climate change in their region of purview, and how best these products should be delivered and subsequently enhanced or corrected. Our intent has been to develop a suite of software and information products customized specifically for environmental managers. This report summarizes our success to date, including a report on the development of software for gathering and presenting specific types of climate data, and a narrative about how some U.S. government sponsored efforts, such as Giovanni and TerraVis, as well as non-governmental sponsored efforts such as Marxan, Zonation, SimCLIM, and other off-the-shelf software might be customized for use in specific regions.

An analysis of wildfire prevention

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heineke, J. M.; Weissenberger, S.

1974-01-01

A model of the production of wildfire ignitions and damages is developed and used to determine wildland activity-regulation decisions, which minimize total expected cost-plus-loss due to wildfires. In this context, the implications of various policy decisions are considered. The resulting decision rules take a form that makes it possible for existing wildfire management agencies to readily adopt them upon collection of the required data.

Climate Modeling and Analysis with Decision Makers in Mind

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, A. D.; Jagannathan, K.; Calvin, K. V.; Lamarque, J. F.; Ullrich, P. A.

2016-12-01

There is a growing need for information about future climate conditions to support adaptation planning across a wide range of sectors and stakeholder communities. However, our principal tools for understanding future climate - global Earth system models - were not developed with these user needs in mind, nor have we developed transparent methods for evaluating and communicating the credibility of various climate information products with respect to the climate characteristics that matter most to decision-makers. Several recent community engagements have identified a need for "co-production" of knowledge among stakeholders and scientists. Here we highlight some of the barriers to communication and collaboration that must be overcome to improve the dialogue among researchers and climate adaptation practitioners in a meaningful way. Solutions to this challenge are two-fold: 1) new institutional arrangements and collaborative mechanisms designed to improve coordination and understanding among communities, and 2) a research agenda that explicitly incorporates stakeholder needs into model evaluation, development, and experimental design. We contrast the information content in global-scale model evaluation exercises with that required for in specific decision contexts, such as long-term agricultural management decisions. Finally, we present a vision for advancing the science of model evaluation in the context of predicting decision-relevant hydroclimate regime shifts in North America.

Exploring Challenges and Opportunities of Coproduction: USDA Climate Hub Efforts to Integrate Coproduction with Applied Research and Decision Support Tool Development in the Northwest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roesch-McNally, G.; Prendeville, H. R.

2017-12-01

A lack of coproduction, the joint production of new technologies or knowledge among technical experts and other groups, is arguably one of the reasons why much scientific information and resulting decision support systems are not very usable. Increasingly, public agencies and academic institutions are emphasizing the importance of coproduction of scientific knowledge and decision support systems in order to facilitate greater engagement between the scientific community and key stakeholder groups. Coproduction has been embraced as a way for the scientific community to develop actionable scientific information that will assist end users in solving real-world problems. Increasing the level of engagement and stakeholder buy-in to the scientific process is increasingly necessary, particularly in the context of growing politicization of science and the scientific process. Coproduction can be an effective way to build trust and can build-on and integrate local and traditional knowledge. Employing coproduction strategies may enable the development of more relevant and useful information and decision support tools that address stakeholder challenges at relevant scales. The USDA Northwest Climate Hub has increasingly sought ways to integrate coproduction in the development of both applied research projects and the development of decision support systems. Integrating coproduction, however, within existing institutions is not always simple, given that coproduction is often more focused on process than products and products are, for better or worse, often the primary focus of applied research and tool development projects. The USDA Northwest Climate Hub sought to integrate coproduction into our FY2017 call for proposal process. As a result we have a set of proposals and fledgling projects that fall along the engagement continuum (see Figure 1- attached). We will share the challenges and opportunities that emerged from this purposeful integration of coproduction into the work that we prioritized for funding. This effort highlights strategies for how federal agencies might consider how and whether to codify coproduction tenets into their collaborations and agenda setting.

Co-existence of agricultural production systems.

PubMed

Jank, Bernhard; Rath, Johannes; Gaugitsch, Helmut

2006-05-01

Strategies and best practices for the co-existence of GM and non-GM crops need to be developed and implemented with the participation of farmers and other stakeholders. According to the principle of 'subsidiarity', decisions should be made by the lowest authority possible. When applying this concept to the case of GM crops, the affected society should determine their use and management in a regional decision-making process. Public participation is better accomplished at a lower level, and democratic deficits in decision-making on GMOs are better resolved, enabling farmers to manage or avoid GM crops. Ultimately, voluntary GMO-free zones might be a tool for sustainable co-existence and GM-free production and GMO-free zones might create a specific image for marketing regional products and services, such as tourism.

Early decision-analytic modeling - a case study on vascular closure devices.

PubMed

Brandes, Alina; Sinner, Moritz F; Kääb, Stefan; Rogowski, Wolf H

2015-10-27

As economic considerations become more important in healthcare reimbursement, decisions about the further development of medical innovations need to take into account not only medical need and potential clinical effectiveness, but also cost-effectiveness. Already early in the innovation process economic evaluations can support decisions on development in specific indications or patient groups by anticipating future reimbursement and implementation decisions. One potential concept for early assessment is value-based pricing. The objective is to assess the feasibility of value-based pricing and product design for a hypothetical vascular closure device in the pre-clinical stage which aims at decreasing bleeding events. A deterministic decision-analytic model was developed to estimate the cost-effectiveness of established vascular closure devices from the perspective of the Statutory Health Insurance system. To identify early benchmarks for pricing and product design, three strategies of determining the product's value are explored: 1) savings from complications avoided by the new device; 2) valuation of the avoided complications based on an assumed willingness-to-pay-threshold (the efficiency frontier approach); 3) value associated with modifying the care pathways within which the device would be applied. Use of established vascular closure devices is dominated by manual compression. The hypothetical vascular closure device reduces overall complication rates at higher costs than manual compression. Maximum cost savings of only about €4 per catheterization could be realized by applying the hypothetical device. Extrapolation of an efficiency frontier is only possible for one subgroup where vascular closure devices are not a dominated strategy. Modifying care in terms of same-day discharge of patients treated with vascular closure devices could result in cost savings of €400-600 per catheterization. It was partially feasible to calculate value-based prices for the novel closure device which can be used to inform product design. However, modifying the care pathway may generate much more value from the payers' perspective than modifying the device per se. Manufacturers should thus explore the feasibility of combining reimbursement of their product with arrangements that make same-day discharge attractive also for hospitals. Due to the early nature of the product, the results are afflicted with substantial uncertainty.

Cooperation in the Classroom: Experimenting with R&D Cooperatives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goeree, Michelle S.; Hinloopen, Jeroen

2008-01-01

The authors describe a classroom experiment that illustrates the research and development investment incentives facing firms when technological spillovers are present. The game involves two stages in which student "sellers" first make investment decisions and then production decisions. The classroom game can be used to motivate…

Information support for decision making on dispatching control of water distribution in irrigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yurchenko, I. F.

2018-05-01

The research has been carried out on developing the technique of supporting decision making for on-line control, operational management of water allocation for the interfarm irrigation projects basing on the analytical patterns of dispatcher control. This technique provides an increase of labour productivity as well as higher management quality due to the improved level of automation, as well as decision making optimization taking into account diagnostics of the issues, solutions classification, information being required to the decision makers.

Integrated Model-Based Decisions for Water, Energy and Food Nexus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, X.; Vesselinov, V. V.

2015-12-01

Energy, water and food are critical resources for sustaining social development and human lives; human beings cannot survive without any one of them. Energy crises, water shortages and food security are crucial worldwide problems. The nexus of energy, water and food has received more and more attention in the past decade. Energy, water and food are closely interrelated; water is required in energy development such as electricity generation; energy is indispensable for collecting, treating, and transporting water; both energy and water are crucial inputs for food production. Changes of either of them can lead to substantial impacts on other two resources, and vice versa. Effective decisions should be based on thorough research efforts for better understanding of their complex nexus. Rapid increase of population has significantly intensified the pressures on energy, water and food. Addressing and quantifying their interactive relationships are important for making robust and cost-effective strategies for managing the three resources simultaneously. In addition, greenhouse gases (GHGs) are emitted in energy, water, food production, consequently making contributions to growing climate change. Reflecting environmental impacts of GHGs is also desired (especially, on the quality and quantity of fresh water resources). Thus, a socio-economic model is developed in this study to quantitatively address the complex connections among energy, water and food production. A synthetic problem is proposed to demonstrate the model's applicability and feasibility. Preliminary results related to integrated decisions on energy supply management, water use planning, electricity generation planning, energy facility capacity expansion, food production, and associated GHG emission control are generated for providing cost-effective supports for decision makers.

Applying the marketing mix (5 ps) to bionanotechnology.

PubMed

Tomczyk, Michael S

2011-01-01

This chapter, based on concepts developed for my book, NanoInnovation (Tomczyk, Nanoinnovation: What Every Manager Needs to Know, 2011), is one of the first attempts to evaluate nanotechnology in the context of the "marketing mix" - a conceptual challenge given that nanotechnology is not one product or even a set of products, but rather a technology that is incorporated in an expanding list exceeding a 1,000 products - encompassing materials, structures, processes, and devices. My purpose is to use this context to identify some of the critical issues and factors that will influence development of "nanotechnology markets" at this very early stage in the evolution of nanotechnology, and more specifically, bionanotechnology. As technological innovations continue to promote the market growth for nanotechnology, especially in the field of medicine and healthcare, sensemaking frameworks are needed to help decision makers keep pace with these evolving markets. One of the best frameworks is the "marketing mix" which has been used for decades to identify the controllable factors that decision makers can influence through marketing strategies. With so many game-changing innovations poised to move from nanotech research to commercialization, marketing issues are becoming increasingly important to decision makers in science/academia, business/venture development, and government/policymaking.

Collaborative, Sequential and Isolated Decisions in Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lewis, Kemper; Mistree, Farrokh

1997-01-01

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Commission on Industrial Productivity, in their report Made in America, found that six recurring weaknesses were hampering American manufacturing industries. The two weaknesses most relevant to product development were 1) technological weakness in development and production, and 2) failures in cooperation. The remedies to these weaknesses are considered the essential twin pillars of CE: 1) improved development process, and 2) closer cooperation. In the MIT report, it is recognized that total cooperation among teams in a CE environment is rare in American industry, while the majority of the design research in mathematically modeling CE has assumed total cooperation. In this paper, we present mathematical constructs, based on game theoretic principles, to model degrees of collaboration characterized by approximate cooperation, sequential decision making and isolation. The design of a pressure vessel and a passenger aircraft are included as illustrative examples.

The STARTEC Decision Support Tool for Better Tradeoffs between Food Safety, Quality, Nutrition, and Costs in Production of Advanced Ready-to-Eat Foods.

PubMed

Skjerdal, Taran; Gefferth, Andras; Spajic, Miroslav; Estanga, Edurne Gaston; de Cecare, Alessandra; Vitali, Silvia; Pasquali, Frederique; Bovo, Federica; Manfreda, Gerardo; Mancusi, Rocco; Trevisiani, Marcello; Tessema, Girum Tadesse; Fagereng, Tone; Moen, Lena Haugland; Lyshaug, Lars; Koidis, Anastasios; Delgado-Pando, Gonzalo; Stratakos, Alexandros Ch; Boeri, Marco; From, Cecilie; Syed, Hyat; Muccioli, Mirko; Mulazzani, Roberto; Halbert, Catherine

2017-01-01

A prototype decision support IT-tool for the food industry was developed in the STARTEC project. Typical processes and decision steps were mapped using real life production scenarios of participating food companies manufacturing complex ready-to-eat foods. Companies looked for a more integrated approach when making food safety decisions that would align with existing HACCP systems. The tool was designed with shelf life assessments and data on safety, quality, and costs, using a pasta salad meal as a case product. The process flow chart was used as starting point, with simulation options at each process step. Key parameters like pH, water activity, costs of ingredients and salaries, and default models for calculations of Listeria monocytogenes , quality scores, and vitamin C, were placed in an interactive database. Customization of the models and settings was possible on the user-interface. The simulation module outputs were provided as detailed curves or categorized as "good"; "sufficient"; or "corrective action needed" based on threshold limit values set by the user. Possible corrective actions were suggested by the system. The tool was tested and approved by end-users based on selected ready-to-eat food products. Compared to other decision support tools, the STARTEC-tool is product-specific and multidisciplinary and includes interpretation and targeted recommendations for end-users.

The STARTEC Decision Support Tool for Better Tradeoffs between Food Safety, Quality, Nutrition, and Costs in Production of Advanced Ready-to-Eat Foods

PubMed Central

Gefferth, Andras; Spajic, Miroslav; Estanga, Edurne Gaston; Vitali, Silvia; Pasquali, Frederique; Bovo, Federica; Manfreda, Gerardo; Mancusi, Rocco; Tessema, Girum Tadesse; Fagereng, Tone; Moen, Lena Haugland; Lyshaug, Lars; Koidis, Anastasios; Delgado-Pando, Gonzalo; Stratakos, Alexandros Ch.; Boeri, Marco; From, Cecilie; Syed, Hyat; Muccioli, Mirko; Mulazzani, Roberto; Halbert, Catherine

2017-01-01

A prototype decision support IT-tool for the food industry was developed in the STARTEC project. Typical processes and decision steps were mapped using real life production scenarios of participating food companies manufacturing complex ready-to-eat foods. Companies looked for a more integrated approach when making food safety decisions that would align with existing HACCP systems. The tool was designed with shelf life assessments and data on safety, quality, and costs, using a pasta salad meal as a case product. The process flow chart was used as starting point, with simulation options at each process step. Key parameters like pH, water activity, costs of ingredients and salaries, and default models for calculations of Listeria monocytogenes, quality scores, and vitamin C, were placed in an interactive database. Customization of the models and settings was possible on the user-interface. The simulation module outputs were provided as detailed curves or categorized as “good”; “sufficient”; or “corrective action needed” based on threshold limit values set by the user. Possible corrective actions were suggested by the system. The tool was tested and approved by end-users based on selected ready-to-eat food products. Compared to other decision support tools, the STARTEC-tool is product-specific and multidisciplinary and includes interpretation and targeted recommendations for end-users. PMID:29457031

Typewriting: In-Basket Exercises for Production Typewriting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stamps, Charles A.

1977-01-01

Describes the use of in-basket exercises, a nontraditional approach to teaching production typewriting, which (according to the author) enables students to increase their production typewriting speed, develop the ability to rely on their own decisions and interpretations of written instructions, learn the necessity for organization, and compose…

Decision: Earth.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Procter and Gamble Educational Services, Cincinnati, OH.

This Proctor and Gamble produced and teacher developed environmental education unit is designed to teach seventh through ninth grade students about making informed consumer product choices. The unit focuses on the concept of consumer product life cycle analysis, an approach to assessing the environmental impacts of a product at each stage in its…

Advancing Consumer Product Composition and Chemical Use Information to Facilitate Risk-Based Decision Making

EPA Science Inventory

This presentation describes EPA efforts to collect, model, and measure publically available consumer product data for use in exposure assessment. The development of the ORD Chemicals and Products database will be described, as will machine-learning based models for predicting ch...

Process to Product.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrison, Gary, Ed.; Mirkes, Donna Z., Ed.

Intended for educators who direct federally funded model projects, the booklet provides a framework for special education product development. In "Making Media Decisions," G. Richman explores procedures for selecting the most appropriate medium to carry the message of a given product. The fundamental questions are addressed: what is the goal; who…

Bi-Level Decision Making for Supporting Energy and Water Nexus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, X.; Vesselinov, V. V.

2016-12-01

The inseparable relationship between energy production and water resources has led to the emerging energy-water nexus concept, which provides a means for integrated management and decision making of these two critical resources. However, the energy-water nexus frequently involves decision makers with different and competing management objectives. Furthermore, there is a challenge that decision makers and stakeholders might be making decisions sequentially from a higher level to a lower level, instead of at the same decision level, whereby the objective of a decision maker at a higher level should be satisfied first. In this study, a bi-level decision model is advanced to handle such decision-making situations for managing the energy-water nexus. The work represents a unique contribution to developing an integrated decision-support framework/tool to quantify and analyze the tradeoffs between the two-level energy-water nexus decision makers. Here, plans for electricity generation, fuel supply, water supply, capacity expansion of the power plants and environmental impacts are optimized to provide effective decision support. The developed decision-support framework is implemented in Julia (a high-level, high-performance dynamic programming language for technical computing) and is a part of the MADS (Model Analyses & Decision Support) framework (http://mads.lanl.gov). To demonstrate the capabilities of the developed methodology, a series of analyses are performed for synthetic problems consistent with actual real-world energy-water nexus management problems.

Engineering tradeoff problems viewed as multiple objective optimizations and the VODCA methodology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morgan, T. W.; Thurgood, R. L.

1984-05-01

This paper summarizes a rational model for making engineering tradeoff decisions. The model is a hybrid from the fields of social welfare economics, communications, and operations research. A solution methodology (Vector Optimization Decision Convergence Algorithm - VODCA) firmly grounded in the economic model is developed both conceptually and mathematically. The primary objective for developing the VODCA methodology was to improve the process for extracting relative value information about the objectives from the appropriate decision makers. This objective was accomplished by employing data filtering techniques to increase the consistency of the relative value information and decrease the amount of information required. VODCA is applied to a simplified hypothetical tradeoff decision problem. Possible use of multiple objective analysis concepts and the VODCA methodology in product-line development and market research are discussed.

Developing an Analytical Framework: Incorporating Ecosystem Services into Decision Making - Proceedings of a Workshop

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hogan, Dianna; Arthaud, Greg; Pattison, Malka; Sayre, Roger G.; Shapiro, Carl

2010-01-01

The analytical framework for understanding ecosystem services in conservation, resource management, and development decisions is multidisciplinary, encompassing a combination of the natural and social sciences. This report summarizes a workshop on 'Developing an Analytical Framework: Incorporating Ecosystem Services into Decision Making,' which focused on the analytical process and on identifying research priorities for assessing ecosystem services, their production and use, their spatial and temporal characteristics, their relationship with natural systems, and their interdependencies. Attendees discussed research directions and solutions to key challenges in developing the analytical framework. The discussion was divided into two sessions: (1) the measurement framework: quantities and values, and (2) the spatial framework: mapping and spatial relationships. This workshop was the second of three preconference workshops associated with ACES 2008 (A Conference on Ecosystem Services): Using Science for Decision Making in Dynamic Systems. These three workshops were designed to explore the ACES 2008 theme on decision making and how the concept of ecosystem services can be more effectively incorporated into conservation, restoration, resource management, and development decisions. Preconference workshop 1, 'Developing a Vision: Incorporating Ecosystem Services into Decision Making,' was held on April 15, 2008, in Cambridge, MA. In preconference workshop 1, participants addressed what would have to happen to make ecosystem services be used more routinely and effectively in conservation, restoration, resource management, and development decisions, and they identified some key challenges in developing the analytical framework. Preconference workshop 3, 'Developing an Institutional Framework: Incorporating Ecosystem Services into Decision Making,' was held on October 30, 2008, in Albuquerque, NM; participants examined the relationship between the institutional framework and the use of ecosystem services in decision making.

Improving Decision-Making Activities for Meningitis and Malaria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ceccato, P.; Trzaska, S.; Perez, C.; Kalashnikova, O. V.; del Corral, J.; Cousin, R.; Blumenthal, M. B.; Connor, S.; Thomson, M. C.

2012-12-01

Public health professionals are increasingly concerned about the potential impact that climate variability and change can have on infectious disease. The International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) is developing new products to increase the public health community's capacity to understand, use, and demand the appropriate climate data and climate information to mitigate the public health impacts of climate on infectious disease, in particular Meningitis and Malaria. In this paper we present the new and improved products that have been developed for monitoring dust, temperature, rainfall and vectorial capacity model for monitoring and forecasting risks of Meningitis and Malaria epidemics. We also present how the products have been integrated into a knowledge system (IRI Data Library Map room, SERVIR) to support the use of climate and environmental information in climate-sensitive health decision-making.

Training in Decision-making Strategies: An approach to enhance students' competence to deal with socio-scientific issues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gresch, Helge; Hasselhorn, Marcus; Bögeholz, Susanne

2013-10-01

Dealing with socio-scientific issues in science classes enables students to participate productively in controversial discussions concerning ethical topics, such as sustainable development. In this respect, well-structured decision-making processes are essential for elaborate reasoning. To foster decision-making competence, a computer-based programme was developed that trains secondary school students (grades 11-13) in decision-making strategies. The main research question is: does training students to use these strategies foster decision-making competence? In addition, the influence of meta-decision aids was examined. Students conducted a task analysis to select an appropriate strategy prior to the decision-making process. Hence, the second research question is: does combining decision-making training with a task analysis enhance decision-making competence at a higher rate? To answer these questions, 386 students were tested in a pre-post-follow-up control-group design that included two training groups (decision-making strategies/decision-making strategies combined with a task analysis) and a control group (decision-making with additional ecological information instead of strategic training). An open-ended questionnaire was used to assess decision-making competence in situations related to sustainable development. The decision-making training led to a significant improvement in the post-test and the follow-up, which was administered three months after the training. Long-term effects on the quality of the students' decisions were evident for both training groups. Gains in competence when reflecting upon the decision-making processes of others were found, to a lesser extent, in the training group that received the additional meta-decision training. In conclusion, training in decision-making strategies is a promising approach to deal with socio-scientific issues related to sustainable development.

Towards sets of hazardous waste indicators. Essential tools for modern industrial management.

PubMed

Peterson, Peter J; Granados, Asa

2002-01-01

Decision-makers require useful tools, such as indicators, to help them make environmentally sound decisions leading to effective management of hazardous wastes. Four hazardous waste indicators are being tested for such a purpose by several countries within the Sustainable Development Indicator Programme of the United Nations Commission for Sustainable Development. However, these indicators only address the 'down-stream' end-of-pipe industrial situation. More creative thinking is clearly needed to develop a wider range of indicators that not only reflects all aspects of industrial production that generates hazardous waste but considers socio-economic implications of the waste as well. Sets of useful and innovative indicators are proposed that could be applied to the emerging paradigm shift away from conventional end-of-pipe management actions and towards preventive strategies that are being increasingly adopted by industry often in association with local and national governments. A methodological and conceptual framework for the development of a core-set of hazardous waste indicators has been developed. Some of the indicator sets outlined quantify preventive waste management strategies (including indicators for cleaner production, hazardous waste reduction/minimization and life cycle analysis), whilst other sets address proactive strategies (including changes in production and consumption patterns, eco-efficiency, eco-intensity and resource productivity). Indicators for quantifying transport of hazardous wastes are also described. It was concluded that a number of the indicators proposed could now be usefully implemented as management tools using existing industrial and economic data. As cleaner production technologies and waste minimization approaches are more widely deployed, and industry integrates environmental concerns at all levels of decision-making, it is expected that the necessary data for construction of the remaining indicators will soon become available.

Scalable software architectures for decision support.

PubMed

Musen, M A

1999-12-01

Interest in decision-support programs for clinical medicine soared in the 1970s. Since that time, workers in medical informatics have been particularly attracted to rule-based systems as a means of providing clinical decision support. Although developers have built many successful applications using production rules, they also have discovered that creation and maintenance of large rule bases is quite problematic. In the 1980s, several groups of investigators began to explore alternative programming abstractions that can be used to build decision-support systems. As a result, the notions of "generic tasks" and of reusable problem-solving methods became extremely influential. By the 1990s, academic centers were experimenting with architectures for intelligent systems based on two classes of reusable components: (1) problem-solving methods--domain-independent algorithms for automating stereotypical tasks--and (2) domain ontologies that captured the essential concepts (and relationships among those concepts) in particular application areas. This paper highlights how developers can construct large, maintainable decision-support systems using these kinds of building blocks. The creation of domain ontologies and problem-solving methods is the fundamental end product of basic research in medical informatics. Consequently, these concepts need more attention by our scientific community.

Life Cycle Assessment Software for Product and Process Sustainability Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vervaeke, Marina

2012-01-01

In recent years, life cycle assessment (LCA), a methodology for assessment of environmental impacts of products and services, has become increasingly important. This methodology is applied by decision makers in industry and policy, product developers, environmental managers, and other non-LCA specialists working on environmental issues in a wide…

Agricultural Model for the Nile Basin Decision Support System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van der Bolt, Frank; Seid, Abdulkarim

2014-05-01

To analyze options for increasing food supply in the Nile basin the Nile Agricultural Model (AM) was developed. The AM includes state-of-the-art descriptions of biophysical, hydrological and economic processes and realizes a coherent and consistent integration of hydrology, agronomy and economics. The AM covers both the agro-ecological domain (water, crop productivity) and the economic domain (food supply, demand, and trade) and allows to evaluate the macro-economic and hydrological impacts of scenarios for agricultural development. Starting with the hydrological information from the NileBasin-DSS the AM calculates the available water for agriculture, the crop production and irrigation requirements with the FAO-model AquaCrop. With the global commodity trade model MAGNET scenarios for land development and conversion are evaluated. The AM predicts consequences for trade, food security and development based on soil and water availability, crop allocation, food demand and food policy. The model will be used as a decision support tool to contribute to more productive and sustainable agriculture in individual Nile countries and the whole region.

Improving the relevance and impact of decision support research: A co-production framework and water management case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, R.; Kasprzyk, J. R.; Dilling, L.; Basdekas, L.; Kaatz, L.

2016-12-01

In light of the unpredictable effects of climate change and population shifts, responsible resource management will require new types of information and strategies going forward. For water utilities, this means that water supply infrastructure systems must be expanded and/or managed for changes in overall supply and increased extremes. Utilities have begun seeking innovative tools and methods to support planning and decision making, but there are limited channels through which they can gain exposure to emerging tools from the research world, and for researchers to uptake important real-world planning and decision context. A transdisciplinary team of engineers, social and climate scientists, and water managers designed this study to develop and apply a co-production framework which explores the potential of an emerging decision support tool to enhance flexibility and adaptability in water utility planning. It also demonstrates how to improve the link between research and practice in the water sector. In this study we apply the co-production framework to the use of Multiobjective Evolutionary Algorithms (MOEAs). MOEAs have shown promise in being able to generate and evaluate new planning alternatives but they have had little testing or application in water utilities. Anchored by two workshops, this study (1) elicited input from water managers from six water suppliers on the Front Range of Colorado, USA, to create a testbed MOEA application, and (2) evaluated the managers' responses to multiobjective optimization results. The testbed consists of a Front Range-relevant hypothetical water supply model, the Borg MOEA, hydrology and demand scenarios, and a set of planning decisions and performance objectives that drive the link between the algorithm and the model. In this presentation we describe researcher-manager interactions at the initial workshop that served to establish relationships and provide in-depth information to researchers about regional water management context. We also describe the development of, and experiences from, the second workshop which included activities for water managers to interact directly with MOEA testbed results. Finally, we evaluate the co-production framework itself and the potential for the feedback from managers to shape future development of decision support tools.

Clearing up the hazy road from bench to bedside: a framework for integrating the fourth hurdle into translational medicine.

PubMed

Rogowski, Wolf H; Hartz, Susanne C; John, Jürgen H

2008-09-24

New products evolving from research and development can only be translated to medical practice on a large scale if they are reimbursed by third-party payers. Yet the decision processes regarding reimbursement are highly complex and internationally heterogeneous. This study develops a process-oriented framework for monitoring these so-called fourth hurdle procedures in the context of product development from bench to bedside. The framework is suitable both for new drugs and other medical technologies. The study is based on expert interviews and literature searches, as well as an analysis of 47 websites of coverage decision-makers in England, Germany and the USA. Eight key steps for monitoring fourth hurdle procedures from a company perspective were determined: entering the scope of a healthcare payer; trigger of decision process; assessment; appraisal; setting level of reimbursement; establishing rules for service provision; formal and informal participation; and publication of the decision and supplementary information. Details are given for the English National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, the German Federal Joint Committee, Medicare's National and Local Coverage Determinations, and for Blue Cross Blue Shield companies. Coverage determination decisions for new procedures tend to be less formalized than for novel drugs. The analysis of coverage procedures and requirements shows that the proof of patient benefit is essential. Cost-effectiveness is likely to gain importance in future.

Constrained optimization via simulation models for new product innovation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pujowidianto, Nugroho A.

2017-11-01

We consider the problem of constrained optimization where the decision makers aim to optimize the primary performance measure while constraining the secondary performance measures. This paper provides a brief overview of stochastically constrained optimization via discrete event simulation. Most review papers tend to be methodology-based. This review attempts to be problem-based as decision makers may have already decided on the problem formulation. We consider constrained optimization models as there are usually constraints on secondary performance measures as trade-off in new product development. It starts by laying out different possible methods and the reasons using constrained optimization via simulation models. It is then followed by the review of different simulation optimization approach to address constrained optimization depending on the number of decision variables, the type of constraints, and the risk preferences of the decision makers in handling uncertainties.

Lessons from innovation in drug-device combination products.

PubMed

Couto, Daniela S; Perez-Breva, Luis; Saraiva, Pedro; Cooney, Charles L

2012-01-01

Drug-device combination products introduced a new dynamic on medical product development, regulatory approval, and corporate interaction that provide valuable lessons for the development of new generations of combination products. This paper examines the case studies of drug-eluting stents and transdermal patches to facilitate a detailed understanding of the challenges and opportunities introduced by combination products when compared to previous generations of traditional medical or drug delivery devices. Our analysis indicates that the largest barrier to introduce a new kind of combination products is the determination of the regulatory center that is to oversee its approval. The first product of a new class of combination products offers a learning opportunity for the regulator and the sponsor. Once that first product is approved, the leading regulatory center is determined, and the uncertainty about the entire class of combination products is drastically reduced. The sponsor pioneering a new class of combination products assumes a central role in reducing this uncertainty by advising the decision on the primary function of the combination product. Our analysis also suggests that this decision influences the nature (pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or medical devices) of the companies that will lead the introduction of these products into the market, and guide the structure of corporate interaction thereon. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Engaging Undergraduates in Soil Sustainability Decision-Making through an InTeGrate Module

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fortner, Sarah K.; Scherer, Hannah H.; Murphy, Martha A.

2016-01-01

Continued agricultural productivity hinges on understanding how to manage soil resources. A 2-week undergraduate introductory-level module: "A Growing Concern: Sustaining Soil Resources Through Local Decision Making" was collaboratively developed through the InTeGrate Project. InTeGrate modules and courses engage students in grand…

78 FR 8114 - Request for Information Regarding Financial Products Marketed to Students Enrolled in...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-02-05

... positive financial decision-making among young consumers. We also seek information to develop a clearer... the most important factors? (c) What type of information is helpful in making that decision? (d) How... record and subject to public disclosure. Sensitive personal information, such as account numbers or...

Regulating the economic evaluation of pharmaceuticals and medical devices: a European perspective.

PubMed

Cookson, Richard; Hutton, John

2003-02-01

Throughout the developed world, economic evaluation of costly new pharmaceuticals and medical devices became increasingly widespread and systematic during the 1990s. However, serious concerns remain about the validity and relevance of this economic evidence, and about the transparency and accountability of its use in public sector reimbursement decisions. In this article, we summarise current concerns in Europe, based on interviews with European health economists from industry, universities, research institutes and consulting firms. We identify five challenges for European policy-makers, and conclude that there is considerable scope for improving decision-making without damaging incentives to innovate. The challenges are: (1). full publication of the economic evidence used in reimbursement decisions; (2). the redesign of licensing laws to improve the relevance of economic data available at product launch; (3). harmonisation of economic evaluation methodologies; (4). development of methodologies for evaluation of health inequality impacts; and (5). negotiation of price-performance deals to facilitate the use of economic evidence in post-launch pricing review decisions, as information is gathered from studies of product performance in routine use.

Vocational Behavior, 1988: A Critical Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fitzgerald, Louise F.; Rounds, James B.

1989-01-01

Presents fourteenth annual review of professional literature on vocational behavior. Looks at several substantive areas of research: vocational choice, career development, decision making, interventions on career development and productivity, job search, industrial/organizational measurement issues, personnel issues, adjustment and development in…

Integrating NASA Earth Science Enterprise (ESE) Data Into Global Agricultural Decision Support Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teng, W.; Kempler, S.; Chiu, L.; Doraiswamy, P.; Liu, Z.; Milich, L.; Tetrault, R.

2003-12-01

Monitoring global agricultural crop conditions during the growing season and estimating potential seasonal production are critically important for market development of U.S. agricultural products and for global food security. Two major operational users of satellite remote sensing for global crop monitoring are the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP). The primary goal of FAS is to improve foreign market access for U.S. agricultural products. The WFP uses food to meet emergency needs and to support economic and social development. Both use global agricultural decision support systems that can integrate and synthesize a variety of data sources to provide accurate and timely information on global crop conditions. The Goddard Space Flight Center Earth Sciences Distributed Active Archive Center (GES DAAC) has begun a project to provide operational solutions to FAS and WFP, by fully leveraging results from previous work, as well as from existing capabilities of the users. The GES DAAC has effectively used its recently developed prototype TRMM Online Visualization and Analysis System (TOVAS) to provide ESE data and information to the WFP for its agricultural drought monitoring efforts. This prototype system will be evolved into an Agricultural Information System (AIS), which will operationally provide ESE and other data products (e.g., rainfall, land productivity) and services, to be integrated into and thus enhance the existing GIS-based, decision support systems of FAS and WFP. Agriculture-oriented, ESE data products (e.g., MODIS-based, crop condition assessment product; TRMM derived, drought index product) will be input to a crop growth model in collaboration with the USDA Agricultural Research Service, to generate crop condition and yield prediction maps. The AIS will have the capability for remotely accessing distributed data, by being compliant with community-based interoperability standards, enabling easy access to agriculture-related products from other data producers. The AIS? system approach will provide a generic mechanism for easily incorporating new products and making them accessible to users.

Design for life-cycle profit with simultaneous consideration of initial manufacturing and end-of-life remanufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kwak, Minjung; Kim, Harrison

2015-01-01

Remanufacturing is emerging as a promising solution for achieving green, profitable businesses. This article considers a manufacturer that produces new products and also remanufactured versions of the new products that become available at the end of their life cycle. For such a manufacturer, design decisions at the initial design stage determine both the current profit from manufacturing and future profit from remanufacturing. To maximize the total profit, design decisions must carefully consider both ends of product life cycle, i.e. manufacturing and end-of-life stages. This article proposes a decision-support model for the life-cycle design using mixed-integer nonlinear programming. With an aim to maximize the total life-cycle profit, the proposed model searches for an (at least locally) optimal product design (i.e. design specifications and the selling price) for the new and remanufactured products. It optimizes both the initial design and design upgrades at the end-of-life stage and also provides corresponding production strategies, including production quantities and take-back rate. The model is extended to a multi-objective model that maximizes both economic profit and environmental-impact saving. To illustrate, the developed model is demonstrated with an example of a desktop computer.

Adding Remote Sensing Data Products to the Nutrient Management Decision Support Toolbox

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lehrter, John; Schaeffer, Blake; Hagy, Jim; Spiering, Bruce; Blonski, Slawek; Underwood, Lauren; Ellis, Chris

2011-01-01

Some of the primary issues that manifest from nutrient enrichment and eutrophication (Figure 1) may be observed from satellites. For example, remotely sensed estimates of chlorophyll a (chla), total suspended solids (TSS), and light attenuation (Kd) or water clarity, which are often associated with elevated nutrient inputs, are data products collected daily and globally for coastal systems from satellites such as NASA s MODIS (Figure 2). The objective of this project is to inform water quality decision making activities using remotely sensed water quality data. In particular, we seek to inform the development of numeric nutrient criteria. In this poster we demonstrate an approach for developing nutrient criteria based on remotely sensed chla.

A nonlinear bi-level programming approach for product portfolio management.

PubMed

Ma, Shuang

2016-01-01

Product portfolio management (PPM) is a critical decision-making for companies across various industries in today's competitive environment. Traditional studies on PPM problem have been motivated toward engineering feasibilities and marketing which relatively pay less attention to other competitors' actions and the competitive relations, especially in mathematical optimization domain. The key challenge lies in that how to construct a mathematical optimization model to describe this Stackelberg game-based leader-follower PPM problem and the competitive relations between them. The primary work of this paper is the representation of a decision framework and the optimization model to leverage the PPM problem of leader and follower. A nonlinear, integer bi-level programming model is developed based on the decision framework. Furthermore, a bi-level nested genetic algorithm is put forward to solve this nonlinear bi-level programming model for leader-follower PPM problem. A case study of notebook computer product portfolio optimization is reported. Results and analyses reveal that the leader-follower bi-level optimization model is robust and can empower product portfolio optimization.

Integrating health economics modeling in the product development cycle of medical devices: a Bayesian approach.

PubMed

Vallejo-Torres, Laura; Steuten, Lotte M G; Buxton, Martin J; Girling, Alan J; Lilford, Richard J; Young, Terry

2008-01-01

Medical device companies are under growing pressure to provide health-economic evaluations of their products. Cost-effectiveness analyses are commonly undertaken as a one-off exercise at the late stage of development of new technologies; however, the benefits of an iterative use of economic evaluation during the development process of new products have been acknowledged in the literature. Furthermore, the use of Bayesian methods within health technology assessment has been shown to be of particular value in the dynamic framework of technology appraisal when new information becomes available in the life cycle of technologies. In this study, we set out a methodology to adapt these methods for their application to directly support investment decisions in a commercial setting from early stages of the development of new medical devices. Starting with relatively simple analysis from the very early development phase and proceeding to greater depth of analysis at later stages, a Bayesian approach facilitates the incorporation of all available evidence and would help companies to make better informed choices at each decision point.

PREFER: a European service providing forest fire management support products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eftychidis, George; Laneve, Giovanni; Ferrucci, Fabrizio; Sebastian Lopez, Ana; Lourenco, Louciano; Clandillon, Stephen; Tampellini, Lucia; Hirn, Barbara; Diagourtas, Dimitris; Leventakis, George

2015-06-01

PREFER is a Copernicus project of the EC-FP7 program which aims developing spatial information products that may support fire prevention and burned areas restoration decisions and establish a relevant web-based regional service for making these products available to fire management stakeholders. The service focuses to the Mediterranean region, where fire risk is high and damages from wildfires are quite important, and develop its products for pilot areas located in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France and Greece. PREFER aims to allow fire managers to have access to online resources, which shall facilitate fire prevention measures, fire hazard and risk assessment, estimation of fire impact and damages caused by wildfire as well as support monitoring of post-fire regeneration and vegetation recovery. It makes use of a variety of products delivered by space borne sensors and develop seasonal and daily products using multi-payload, multi-scale and multi-temporal analysis of EO data. The PREFER Service portfolio consists of two main suite of products. The first refers to mapping products for supporting decisions concerning the Preparedness/Prevention Phase (ISP Service). The service delivers Fuel, Hazard and Fire risk maps for this purpose. Furthermore the PREFER portfolio includes Post-fire vegetation recovery, burn scar maps, damage severity and 3D fire damage assessment products in order to support relative assessments required in context of the Recovery/Reconstruction Phase (ISR Service) of fire management.

A Roundtable Discussion: Combination Products: Twice the Challenge?

PubMed

Baird, Nolan; Binion, Steven B; Cammack, Jon; Paine, Stephanie Del; Gonzales, Rosemary; Passut, Jena; Weiner, John Barlow Barr

2015-01-01

Combination products are therapeutic or diagnostic medical products that combine drugs, devices, and/or biological products with one another. FDA developed a regulation (final rule) on Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMP) for combination products that became effective July 22, 2013 (21 CFR Part 4). AAMI recently developed a technical information report (TIR) that provides information on how to effectively implement FDA's regulation. The overall goal of the TIR is to aid informed, risk-based decisions in establishing CGMP operating systems that support development, manufacture, premarket regulatory evaluation, and ultimately commercialization of combination products. This article, a result of an discussion with industry and FDA representatives, explores the landscape of combination products, highlights important considerations in developing and seeking marketing clearance for these innovative products, and provides insight on trends in the area.

The current state of Bayesian methods in medical product development: survey results and recommendations from the DIA Bayesian Scientific Working Group.

PubMed

Natanegara, Fanni; Neuenschwander, Beat; Seaman, John W; Kinnersley, Nelson; Heilmann, Cory R; Ohlssen, David; Rochester, George

2014-01-01

Bayesian applications in medical product development have recently gained popularity. Despite many advances in Bayesian methodology and computations, increase in application across the various areas of medical product development has been modest. The DIA Bayesian Scientific Working Group (BSWG), which includes representatives from industry, regulatory agencies, and academia, has adopted the vision to ensure Bayesian methods are well understood, accepted more broadly, and appropriately utilized to improve decision making and enhance patient outcomes. As Bayesian applications in medical product development are wide ranging, several sub-teams were formed to focus on various topics such as patient safety, non-inferiority, prior specification, comparative effectiveness, joint modeling, program-wide decision making, analytical tools, and education. The focus of this paper is on the recent effort of the BSWG Education sub-team to administer a Bayesian survey to statisticians across 17 organizations involved in medical product development. We summarize results of this survey, from which we provide recommendations on how to accelerate progress in Bayesian applications throughout medical product development. The survey results support findings from the literature and provide additional insight on regulatory acceptance of Bayesian methods and information on the need for a Bayesian infrastructure within an organization. The survey findings support the claim that only modest progress in areas of education and implementation has been made recently, despite substantial progress in Bayesian statistical research and software availability. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The essential medicines list for a global patient population.

PubMed

Robertson, J; Hill, S R

2007-11-01

Thirty years after its inception, the role, audience, and contents of the global Essential Medicines List (EML) are reviewed. Challenges for decision makers in applying the principles of medicine selection based on efficacy, safety, burden of disease, and cost effectiveness are discussed and illustrated with recent decisions of the Expert Committee. Areas of controversy for decision makers are highlighted, and the advocacy role of the EML for both drug procurement and development of quality-assured products is described.

An Interactive Strategy for Solving Multi-Criteria Decision Making of Sustainable Land Revitalization Planning Problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayasari, Ruth; Mawengkang, Herman; Gomar Purba, Ronal

2018-02-01

Land revitalization refers to comprehensive renovation of farmland, waterways, roads, forest or villages to improve the quality of plantation, raise the productivity of the plantation area and improve agricultural production conditions and the environment. The objective of sustainable land revitalization planning is to facilitate environmentally, socially, and economically viable land use. Therefore it is reasonable to use participatory approach to fullfil the plan. This paper addresses a multicriteria decision aid to model such planning problem, then we develop an interactive approach for solving the problem.

Library Subject Guides: A Content Management Case Study at the Open University, UK

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wales, Tim

2005-01-01

Purpose: To share the experiences and challenges faced by the Open University Library (OUL) in developing a content management (CM) system for its subject guides. Design/methodology/approach: A summary of multi-format subject guide production at the OUL is provided to justify the decision to develop a new system for their production using a…

Informing Decisions with a Climate Synthesis Product: Implications for Regional Climate Services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guido, Z.; Hill, D.; Crimmins, M.; Ferguson, D. B.

2012-12-01

The demand for regional climate information is increasing and spurring efforts to provide a broad slate of climate services that inform policy and resource management and elevate general knowledge. Routine syntheses of existing climate-related information may be an effective strategy for connecting climate information to decision making, but few studies have formally assessed their contribution to informing decisions. During the 2010-2011 winter, drought conditions expanded and intensified in Arizona and New Mexico, creating an opportunity to develop and evaluate a pithy, monthly regional climate communication product—La Niña Drought Tracker—that synthesized and interpreted drought and climate information. Six issues were published and subsequently evaluated through an online survey. On average, 417 people consulted the publication each month. Many of the survey respondents indicated that they made at least one drought-related decision, and the product at least moderately influenced the majority of those decisions, some of which helped mitigate economic losses and reduce climate vulnerability. The product also improved understanding of climate and drought for more than 90 percent of the respondents and helped the majority of them better prepare for drought. These, and other results demonstrate that routine interpretation and synthesis of existing climate information can help enhance access to and understanding and use of climate information in decision-making. Moreover, developing regional, contextual knowledge within climate service programs can facilitate the implementation of activities like the Tracker that enhance the use of climate information without engaging in time-consuming collaborative processes that can prevent the timely production of the services. We present results from the case study of the Tracker and place it within the context of the challenges and opportunities associated with providing climate services, particularly those services that require several-to-many months of work but often do not generate substantial financial sponsorship. These medium-term climate services, like the Tracker, present formidable challenges. However, we argue, they are vital to satisfying stakeholder demand, creating new and strengthening existing partnerships, aiding decisions, advancing climate literacy, and fostering future projects—main goals of climate services.

The Future System for Roughmill Optimization

Treesearch

Richard W. Conners; D.Earl Kline; Philip A. Araman; Thomas T. Drayer

1997-01-01

From forest to finished product, wood is moved from one processing stage to the next, subject to the decisions of individuals along the way. While this process has worked for hundreds of years, the technology exists today to provide more complete information to the decision makers. Virginia Tech has developed this technology, creating a machine vision prototype for...

Using a model and forecasted weather to predict forage and livestock production for making stocking decisions in the coming growing season

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Forecasting peak standing crop (PSC) for the coming grazing season can help ranchers make appropriate stocking decisions to reduce enterprise risks. Previously developed PSC predictors were based on short-term experimental data (<15 yr) and limited stocking rates (SR) without including the effect of...

An Engineering Educator's Decision Support Tool for Improving Innovation in Student Design Projects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ozaltin, Nur Ozge; Besterfield-Sacre, Mary; Clark, Renee M.

2015-01-01

Learning how to design innovatively is a critical process skill for undergraduate engineers in the 21st century. To this end, our paper discusses the development and validation of a Bayesian network decision support tool that can be used by engineering educators to make recommendations that positively impact the innovativeness of product designs.…

Comparison of neurofuzzy logic and decision trees in discovering knowledge from experimental data of an immediate release tablet formulation.

PubMed

Shao, Q; Rowe, R C; York, P

2007-06-01

Understanding of the cause-effect relationships between formulation ingredients, process conditions and product properties is essential for developing a quality product. However, the formulation knowledge is often hidden in experimental data and not easily interpretable. This study compares neurofuzzy logic and decision tree approaches in discovering hidden knowledge from an immediate release tablet formulation database relating formulation ingredients (silica aerogel, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose and sodium carboxymethylcellulose) and process variables (dwell time and compression force) to tablet properties (tensile strength, disintegration time, friability, capping and drug dissolution at various time intervals). Both approaches successfully generated useful knowledge in the form of either "if then" rules or decision trees. Although different strategies are employed by the two approaches in generating rules/trees, similar knowledge was discovered in most cases. However, as decision trees are not able to deal with continuous dependent variables, data discretisation procedures are generally required.

How do international trade obligations affect policy options for obesity prevention? Lessons from recent developments in trade and tobacco control.

PubMed

von Tigerstrom, Barbara

2013-06-01

Regulatory measures, including taxes and subsidies on food and beverage products, food labelling requirements, regulation of food content and regulation of food marketing, have been proposed to encourage healthier eating and prevent obesity. The objective of this article is to explore the extent to which international trade agreements affect governments' choices to use such regulatory measures. It reviews key provisions of relevant World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements and their implications. Some insights can be gained by examining 2 recent developments in the WTO regarding tobacco control: a current dispute involving Australia's plain packaging law and its effect on trademarks, and a recent decision involving the United States law banning flavoured cigarettes. This decision said that the ban did not restrict trade more than necessary to fulfil its legitimate health objective, but it was discriminatory because it banned imported products (clove cigarettes) while exempting domestic products (menthol cigarettes) with similar characteristics. The conclusion we can draw from this decision is that WTO member states probably enjoy a significant degree of latitude in developing food regulations as part of an obesity prevention strategy, so long as those do not disproportionately affect imported products and therefore raise questions of discrimination. The approach taken in this case encourages the adoption of public health policies that are consistent with strong scientific evidence, but may restrict governments' ability to make political compromises, which could frustrate some proposals. The ongoing development of WTO law will continue to affect policy choices in public health. Copyright © 2013 Canadian Diabetes Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

On decentralized design: Rationale, dynamics, and effects on decision-making

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chanron, Vincent

The focus of this dissertation is the design of complex systems, including engineering systems such as cars, airplanes, and satellites. Companies who design these systems are under constant pressure to design better products that meet customer expectations, and competition forces them to develop them faster. One of the responses of the industry to these conflicting challenges has been the decentralization of the design responsibilities. The current lack of understanding of the dynamics of decentralized design processes is the main motivation for this research, and places value on the descriptive base. It identifies the main reasons and the true benefits for companies to decentralize the design of their products. It also demonstrates the limitations of this approach by listing the relevant issues and problems created by the decentralization of decisions. Based on these observations, a game-theoretic approach to decentralized design is proposed to model the decisions made during the design process. The dynamics are modeled using mathematical formulations inspired from control theory. Building upon this formalism, the issue of convergence in decentralized design is analyzed: the equilibrium points of the design space are identified and convergent and divergent patterns are recognized. This rigorous investigation of the design process provides motivation and support for proposing new approaches to decentralized design problems. Two methods are developed, which aim at improving the design process in two ways: decreasing the product development time, and increasing the optimality of the final design. The frame of these methods are inspired by eigenstructure decomposition and set-based design, respectively. The value of the research detailed within this dissertation is in the proposed methods which are built upon the sound mathematical formalism developed. The contribution of this work is two fold: rigorous investigation of the design process, and practical support to decision-making in decentralized environments.

Remote Sensing Applications to Water Quality Management in Florida

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lehrter, J. C.; Schaeffer, B. A.; Hagy, J.; Spiering, B.; Barnes, B.; Hu, C.; Le, C.; McEachron, L.; Underwood, L. W.; Ellis, C.; Fisher, B.

2013-12-01

Optical datasets from estuarine and coastal systems are increasingly available for remote sensing algorithm development, validation, and application. With validated algorithms, the data streams from satellite sensors can provide unprecedented spatial and temporal data for local and regional coastal water quality management. Our presentation will highlight two recent applications of optical data and remote sensing to water quality decision-making in coastal regions of the state of Florida; (1) informing the development of estuarine and coastal nutrient criteria for the state of Florida and (2) informing the rezoning of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. These efforts involved building up the underlying science to demonstrate the applicability of satellite data as well as an outreach component to educate decision-makers about the use, utility, and uncertainties of remote sensing data products. Scientific developments included testing existing algorithms and generating new algorithms for water clarity and chlorophylla in case II (CDOM or turbidity dominated) estuarine and coastal waters and demonstrating the accuracy of remote sensing data products in comparison to traditional field based measurements. Including members from decision-making organizations on the research team and interacting with decision-makers early and often in the process were key factors for the success of the outreach efforts and the eventual adoption of satellite data into the data records and analyses used in decision-making. Florida coastal water bodies (black boxes) for which remote sensing imagery were applied to derive numeric nutrient criteria and in situ observations (black dots) used to validate imagery. Florida ocean color applied to development of numeric nutrient criteria

Participatory Media.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Development Communication Report, 1979

1979-01-01

The first article in this report emphasizes the importance of user participation at the planning, decision-making, and production levels of small-scale instructional development in developing nations. Four subsequent articles also centered around user participation in Third World instructional development discuss folk theater as effective 2-way…

New Product Launching Ideas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiruthika, E.

2012-09-01

Launching a new product can be a tense time for a small or large business. There are those moments when you wonder if all of the work done to develop the product will pay off in revenue, but there are many things are can do to help increase the likelihood of a successful product launch. An open-minded consumer-oriented approach is imperative in todayís diverse global marketplace so a firm can identify and serve its target market, minimize dissatisfaction, and stay ahead of competitors. Final consumers purchase for personal, family, or household use. Finally, the kind of information that the marketing team needs to provide customers in different buying situations. In high-involvement decisions, the marketer needs to provide a good deal of information about the positive consequences of buying. The sales force may need to stress the important attributes of the product, the advantages compared with the competition; and maybe even encourage ìtrialî or ìsamplingî of the product in the hope of securing the sale. The final stage is the post-purchase evaluation of the decision. It is common for customers to experience concerns after making a purchase decision. This arises from a concept that is known as ìcognitive dissonance

Analysis of methods of processing of expert information by optimization of administrative decisions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Churakov, D. Y.; Tsarkova, E. G.; Marchenko, N. D.; Grechishnikov, E. V.

2018-03-01

In the real operation the measure definition methodology in case of expert estimation of quality and reliability of application-oriented software products is offered. In operation methods of aggregation of expert estimates on the example of a collective choice of an instrumental control projects in case of software development of a special purpose for needs of institutions are described. Results of operation of dialogue decision making support system are given an algorithm of the decision of the task of a choice on the basis of a method of the analysis of hierarchies and also. The developed algorithm can be applied by development of expert systems to the solution of a wide class of the tasks anyway connected to a multicriteria choice.

Quick Fix for Managing Risks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

Under a Phase II SBIR contract, Kennedy and Lumina Decision Systems, Inc., jointly developed the Schedule and Cost Risk Analysis Modeling (SCRAM) system, based on a version of Lumina's flagship software product, Analytica(R). Acclaimed as "the best single decision-analysis program yet produced" by MacWorld magazine, Analytica is a "visual" tool used in decision-making environments worldwide to build, revise, and present business models, minus the time-consuming difficulty commonly associated with spreadsheets. With Analytica as their platform, Kennedy and Lumina created the SCRAM system in response to NASA's need to identify the importance of major delays in Shuttle ground processing, a critical function in project management and process improvement. As part of the SCRAM development project, Lumina designed a version of Analytica called the Analytica Design Engine (ADE) that can be easily incorporated into larger software systems. ADE was commercialized and utilized in many other developments, including web-based decision support.

Learning from examples - Generation and evaluation of decision trees for software resource analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Selby, Richard W.; Porter, Adam A.

1988-01-01

A general solution method for the automatic generation of decision (or classification) trees is investigated. The approach is to provide insights through in-depth empirical characterization and evaluation of decision trees for software resource data analysis. The trees identify classes of objects (software modules) that had high development effort. Sixteen software systems ranging from 3,000 to 112,000 source lines were selected for analysis from a NASA production environment. The collection and analysis of 74 attributes (or metrics), for over 4,700 objects, captured information about the development effort, faults, changes, design style, and implementation style. A total of 9,600 decision trees were automatically generated and evaluated. The trees correctly identified 79.3 percent of the software modules that had high development effort or faults, and the trees generated from the best parameter combinations correctly identified 88.4 percent of the modules on the average.

Guidance for Product Category Rule Development, Version 1.0

EPA Science Inventory

Environmental claims based on life cycle assessment (LCA) can provide quantitative, full life cycle information on products in a format that can permit comparisons and thereby inform purchasing decisions. In recent years, a number of standards and guides have emerged for making b...

Pricing and inventory policies for Hi-tech products under replacement warranty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsao, Yu-Chung; Teng, Wei-Guang; Chen, Ruey-Shii; Chou, Wang-Ying

2014-06-01

Companies, especially in the Hi-tech (high-technology) industry (such as computer, communication and consumer electronic products), often provide a replacement warranty period for purchased items. In reality, simultaneously determining the price and inventory decisions under warranty policy is an important issue. The objective of this paper is to develop a joint pricing and inventory model for Hi-tech products under replacement warranty policy. In the first model, we consider a Hi-tech product feature in which the selling price is declining in a trend. We determine the optimal inventory level for each period and retail price for the first period while maximising the total profit. In the second model, we further determine the optimal retail price and inventory level for each period in the dynamic demand market. This study develops solution approaches to solve the problems described above. Numerical analysis discusses the influence of system parameters on the company's decisions and behaviours. The results of this study could serve as a reference for business managers or administrators.

Exploring the decision to disclose the use of natural products among outpatients: a mixed-method study

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background There is little understanding of the reasons for the limited communication between patients and conventional healthcare professionals regarding patients’ use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). The purpose of this study is to explore the predictors of outpatients’ decision to disclose their use of natural products to conventional healthcare professionals. Methods A mixed method design was used. Quantitative data were obtained through a survey and qualitative data were obtained from semi-structured interviews. A total of 257 outpatients who fulfilled the criteria of having used natural products prior to the interview were recruited for this study. Subsequently, 39 patients of those who completed the survey were further selected to take part in an in-depth qualitative interview. Results Predictors of the decision to disclose the use of natural products to conventional healthcare professionals included age, frequency of clinic visits, knowledge of the natural products and the attitude towards the benefits of CAM use. The themes that emerged from the qualitative data included safeness of the natural products, consulting alternative sources of information, apprehension regarding the development of negative relationships with healthcare professionals and reactions from the healthcare professionals. Conclusions Understanding the factors and reasons affecting patients’ decision as to whether to disclose their use of natural products provides an opportunity for conventional healthcare professionals to communicate better with patients. It is important to encourage patients to disclose their use of natural products in order to provide responsible health care as well as increasing patient safety regarding medication usage. PMID:24245611

Toward a Hedonic Value Framework in Health Care.

PubMed

Basu, Anirban; Sullivan, Sean D

2017-02-01

In well-functioning markets, a hedonic pricing scheme can reflect the marginal valuation of various attributes of a differentiated product at market equilibrium. It serves as an important tool to inform pricing of a new product with a specific combination of attributes. Because health cannot be bought and sold in a market setting, and health care markets are distorted by insurance or government subsidies, direct valuation of a health intervention as a differentiated good through observed market prices is difficult. In this article, we discuss the rationale of using stated preference methods for developing a hedonic value framework for health insurance products to inform the decision on whether a product should be covered or subsidized by insurance, given its price. This value index will not reflect marginal value at market equilibrium, as in a hedonic pricing scheme, but would capture the distribution of marginal value in the population. We discuss how affordability concerns can be integrated into the development of a hedonic valuation model. We compare this framework with traditional cost-effectiveness analysis and also the existing value frameworks put forth by various organizations. The framework can be adopted to inform other decisions such as pricing. We argue that developing such a comprehensive and decision-theoretic value framework is feasible and, if successful, can serve to inform health care resource allocation in this country for decades to come in a systematic manner. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Resource Evaluation and Site Selection for Microalgae Production in India

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Milbrandt, A.; Jarvis, E.

2010-09-01

The study evaluates climate conditions, availability of CO2 and other nutrients, water resources, and land characteristics to identify areas in India suitable for algae production. The purpose is to provide an understanding of the resource potential in India for algae biofuels production and to assist policymakers, investors, and industry developers in their future strategic decisions.

Data-Driven Decision Making as a Tool to Improve Software Development Productivity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Mary Erin

2013-01-01

The worldwide software project failure rate, based on a survey of information technology software manager's view of user satisfaction, product quality, and staff productivity, is estimated to be between 24% and 36% and software project success has not kept pace with the advances in hardware. The problem addressed by this study was the limited…

Estimating postfire changes in production and value of Northern Rocky Mountain-Intermountain rangelands

Treesearch

David L. Peterson; Patrick J. Flowers

1984-01-01

A simulation model was developed to estimate postfire changes in the production and value of grazing lands in the Northern Rocky Mountain-Intermountain region. Ecological information and management decisions were used to simulate expected changes in production and value after wildfire in six major rangeland types: permanent forested range (ponderosa pine), transitory...

A Bayesian paradigm for decision-making in proof-of-concept trials.

PubMed

Pulkstenis, Erik; Patra, Kaushik; Zhang, Jianliang

2017-01-01

Decision-making is central to every phase of drug development, and especially at the proof of concept stage where risk and evidence must be weighed carefully, often in the presence of significant uncertainty. The decision to proceed or not to large expensive Phase 3 trials has significant implications to both patients and sponsors alike. Recent experience has shown that Phase 3 failure rates remain high. We present a flexible Bayesian quantitative decision-making paradigm that evaluates evidence relative to achieving a multilevel target product profile. A framework for operating characteristics is provided that allows the drug developer to design a proof-of-concept trial in light of its ability to support decision-making rather than merely achieve statistical significance. Operating characteristics are shown to be superior to traditional p-value-based methods. In addition, discussion related to sample size considerations, application to interim futility analysis and incorporation of prior historical information is evaluated.

Lidar postcards

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schreppel, Heather A.; Cimitile, Matthew J.

2011-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program develops and uses specialized technology to build high-resolution topographic and habitat maps. High-resolution maps of topography, bathymetry, and habitat describe important features affected by coastal-management decisions. The mapped information serves as a baseline for evaluating resources and tracking the effectiveness of resource- and conservation-management decisions. These data products are critical to researchers, decision makers, resource managers, planners, and the public. To learn more about Lidar (light detection and ranging) technology visit: http://ngom.usgs.gov/dsp/.

Improving Decision-Making Activities for Meningitis and Malaria

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ceccato, Pietro; Trzaska, Sylwia; Garcia-Pando, Carlos Perez; Kalashnikova, Olga; del Corral, John; Cousin, Remi; Blumenthal, M. Benno; Bell, Michael; Connor, Stephen J.; Thomson, Madeleine C.

2013-01-01

Public health professionals are increasingly concerned about the potential impact that climate variability and change can have on infectious disease. The International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) is developing new products to increase the public health community's capacity to understand, use and demand the appropriate climate data and climate information to mitigate the public health impacts of climate on infectious disease, in particular meningitis and malaria. In this paper, we present the new and improved products that have been developed for: (i) estimating dust aerosol for forecasting risks of meningitis and (ii) for monitoring temperature and rainfall and integrating them into a vectorial capacity model for forecasting risks of malaria epidemics. We also present how the products have been integrated into a knowledge system (IRI Data Library Map Room, SERVIR) to support the use of climate and environmental information in climate-sensitive health decision-making.

[Use of health technology assessment in decision-making processes by the Brazilian Ministry of Health on the incorporation of technologies in the Brazilian Unified National Health System].

PubMed

Novaes, Hillegonda Maria Dutilh; Elias, Flávia Tavares Silva

2013-11-01

Policies for scientific development and knowledge production in health have increased in recent decades. In Brazil, incentives for research, development, and innovation have been part of the National Health Act since 1990, and science and technology policies for health, including health technology assessment (HTA), have been implemented since 1994, as in many other countries. The emphasis is now on impact evaluation of HTA policies in the incorporation of technologies by health services and systems. The article presents a case study of HTA utilization in decision-making processes in the Brazilian Ministry of Health, analyzing participation by the Department of Science and Technology (DECIT), responsible for the production of assessments used in the Commission on Technology Incorporation (CITEC) of the Ministry of Health from 2008 to 2010. CITEC used 103 assessments in its decisions during this period, of which DECIT produced 80%. Nearly all were literature reviews on therapeutic technologies. An increase in knowledge production was observed. A methodological and political learning process appears to have occurred in the use of HTA, but its impact on Brazilian Unified National Health System remains unclear.

Determination of Economic Lot Size between Suppliers and Manufacturers for Imperfect Production System with Probabilistic Demand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuniar, S.; Wangsaputra, R.; Sinaga, A. T.

2018-03-01

This study aims to develop a combined economical lot size model between supplier and manufacturer for imperfect production processes with probabilistic demand patterns and constant lead times. The supplier side produces the product within a certain time interval then sent to the manufacturer with a certain amount of lot size. Imperfect supplier production systems are characterized by the probability of defective product (γ). The model decision variables are the lot size of the manufacturer's ordering, supplier lot size, and the reorder point of the manufacturer. The optimal decision variables are obtained by minimizing the total expected cost of the combined costs between the suppliers and the manufacturers borne by both parties. The model is built compared to the transactional partnership model, in which the supplier does not participate in the efficiency of its inventory system. A numerical example is given as an illustration of the JELS model and the transactional partnership model. Sensitivity analysis of the model is done by changing the parameters aimed at analyzing the behavior of the developed model.

THE USE OF CELLULAR AUTOMATA MODELING APPROACHES TO UNDERSTAND POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF GM PLANTS ON PLANT COMMUNITIES

EPA Science Inventory

The development of models is of interest to ecologists, regulators and developers, since it may assist theoretical understanding, decision making in experimental design, product development and risk assessment. A successful modeling methodology for investigating such characteris...

Organizing physics teacher professional education around productive habit development: A way to meet reform challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Etkina, Eugenia; Gregorcic, Bor; Vokos, Stamatis

2017-06-01

Extant literature on teacher preparation suggests that preservice teachers learn best when they are immersed in a community that allows them to develop dispositions, knowledge, and practical skills and share with the community a strong vision of what good teaching entails. However, even if the requisite dispositions, knowledge, and skills in pursuing the shared vision of good teaching are developed, the professional demands on a teacher's time are so great out of, and so complex during class time that if every decision requires multiple considerations and deliberations with oneself, the productive decisions might not materialize. We argue that the link between intentional decision making and actual teaching practice are teacher's habits (spontaneous responses to situational cues). Teachers unavoidably develop habits with practical experience and under the influence of knowledge and belief structures that in many ways condition the responses of teachers in their practical work. To steer new teachers away from developing unproductive habits directed towards "survival" instead of student learning, we propose that teacher preparation programs (e.g., in physics) strive to develop in preservice teachers strong habits of mind and practice that will serve as an underlying support structure for beginning teachers. We provide examples of physics teacher habits that are to be developed during the program, propose mechanisms for the development of such habits, and outline possible future research agendas around habits.

A sequential learning analysis of decisions in organizations to escalate investments despite continuing costs or losses

PubMed Central

Goltz, Sonia M.

1992-01-01

Reinforcement process may underlie decisions frequently found in organizations to escalate investments of time, money and other resources in strategies (e.g., product development, capital investment, plant expansion) that do not result in immediate reinforces. Whereas cognitive biases have been proffered in previous explanations, the present analysis suggested that this persistence is a form of resistance to extinction arising from experiences with past investments that were variably reinforced. This explanation was examined in two experiments by varying the pattern of returns and losses subjects experienced for investment decisions prior to experiencing a series losses. Consistent with the proposed explanation, two conditions resulted in higher levels of recommitment during continuous losses: (a) training using a variable schedule of partial reinforcement, and (b) no training on the task. Results indicate that behavior analysis can be used to understand and control situations in organizations that are prone to escalation, such as investments in the research and development of new product lines and extensions of further loans to customers. PMID:16795785

Resource allocation decisions in low-income rural households.

PubMed

Franklin, D L; Harrell, M W

1985-05-01

This paper is based on the theory that a society's nutritional well-being is both a cause and a consequence of the developmental process within that society. An approach to the choices made by poor rural households regarding food acquisition and nurturing behavior is emerging from recent research based on the new economic theory of household production. The central thesis of this approach is that household decisions related to the fulfillment of basic needs are strongly determined by decisions on the allocation of time to household production activities. Summarized are the results of the estimation of a model of household production and consumption behavior with data from a cross-sectional survey of 30 rural communities in Veraguas Province, Panama. The struture of the model consists of allocation of resources to nurturing activities and to production activities. The resources to be allocated are time and market goods, and in theory, these are allocated according to relative prices. The empirical results of this study are generally consistent with the predictions of the neoclassical economic model of household resource allocation. The major conclusions that time allocations and market price conditions matter in the determination of well-being in low-income rural households and, importantly, that nurturing decisions significantly affect the product and factor market behavior of these households form the basis for a discussion on implucations for agricultural and rural development. Programs and policies that seek nutritional improvement should be determined with explicit recognition of the value of time and the importance of timing in the decisions of the poor.

ETO - ENGINEERING TRADE-OFFS (SYSTEMS ANALYSIS BRANCH, SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGY DIVISION, NRMRL)

EPA Science Inventory

The ETO - Engineering Trade-Offs program is to develop a new, integrated decision-making approach to compare/contrast two or more states of being: a benchmark and an alternative, a change in a production process, alternative processes or products. ETO highlights the difference in...

Dairy cow culling strategies: making economical culling decisions.

PubMed

Lehenbauer, T W; Oltjen, J W

1998-01-01

The purpose of this report was to examine important economic elements of culling decisions, to review progress in development of culling decision support systems, and to discern some of the potentially rewarding areas for future research on culling models. Culling decisions have an important influence on the economic performance of the dairy but are often made in a nonprogrammed fashion and based partly on the intuition of the decision maker. The computer technology that is available for dairy herd management has made feasible the use of economic models to support culling decisions. Financial components--including profit, cash flow, and risk--are major economic factors affecting culling decisions. Culling strategies are further influenced by short-term fluctuations in cow numbers as well as by planned herd expansion. Changes in herd size affect the opportunity cost for postponed replacement and may alter the relevance of optimization strategies that assume a fixed herd size. Improvements in model components related to biological factors affecting future cow performance, including milk production, reproductive status, and mastitis, appear to offer the greatest economic potential for enhancing culling decision support systems. The ultimate value of any culling decision support system for developing economic culling strategies will be determined by its results under field conditions.

Behavioural modelling of irrigation decision making under water scarcity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foster, T.; Brozovic, N.; Butler, A. P.

2013-12-01

Providing effective policy solutions to aquifer depletion caused by abstraction for irrigation is a key challenge for socio-hydrology. However, most crop production functions used in hydrological models do not capture the intraseasonal nature of irrigation planning, or the importance of well yield in land and water use decisions. Here we develop a method for determining stochastic intraseasonal water use that is based on observed farmer behaviour but is also theoretically consistent with dynamically optimal decision making. We use the model to (i) analyse the joint land and water use decision by farmers; (ii) to assess changes in behaviour and production risk in response to water scarcity; and (iii) to understand the limits of applicability of current methods in policy design. We develop a biophysical model of water-limited crop yield building on the AquaCrop model. The model is calibrated and applied to case studies of irrigated corn production in Nebraska and Texas. We run the model iteratively, using long-term climate records, to define two formulations of the crop-water production function: (i) the aggregate relationship between total seasonal irrigation and yield (typical of current approaches); and (ii) the stochastic response of yield and total seasonal irrigation to the choice of an intraseasonal soil moisture target and irrigated area. Irrigated area (the extensive margin decision) and per-area irrigation intensity (the intensive margin decision) are then calculated for different seasonal water restrictions (corresponding to regulatory policies) and well yield constraints on intraseasonal abstraction rates (corresponding to aquifer system limits). Profit- and utility-maximising decisions are determined assuming risk neutrality and varying degrees of risk aversion, respectively. Our results demonstrate that the formulation of the production function has a significant impact on the response to water scarcity. For low well yields, which are the major concern for farmers in areas of aquifer depletion or recurrent drought, the stochastic model demonstrates that partial-area irrigation is optimal irrespective of the size of water supply restrictions. This effect is not produced by the aggregate model, which cannot account for the variability of the production function with changes in irrigated area that control intraseasonal irrigation application rates. In addition, the aggregate model overstates the willingness of a risk-averse farmer to adjust on the intensive margin in response to water supply restrictions. This is due to the inability of aggregate models to specify correctly the production risk associated with intensive margin adjustments. Consequently, aggregate models give unrealistic estimates of water demand and underestimate the negative impacts on profitability of declining groundwater resources. Reliance on aggregate models will limit the ability of socio-hydrology to guide policy responses to groundwater scarcity. Our stochastic methodology provides a more realistic tool to study the management of groundwater in coupled human-water systems.

DEVELOPING A TOOL FOR ENVIRONMENTALLY PREFERABLE PURCHASING

EPA Science Inventory

LCA-based guidance was developed by EPA under the Framework for Responsible Environmental Decision Making (FRED) effort to demonstrate how to conduct a relative comparison between product types to determine environmental preferability. It identifies data collection needs and iss...

Management Development at Hewlett-Packard.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nilsson, William P.

This presentation describes the principles and policies underlying the successful management development program at Hewlett-Packard Company, a manufacturer of electronic instruments and components. The company is organized into relatively independent product divisions with decentralized decision-making responsibilities, flexible working hours, and…

A strategy for regulatory action when new adverse effects of a licensed product emerge.

PubMed

Aronson, Jeffrey K; Price, Deirdre; Ferner, Robin E

2009-01-01

Regulatory agencies grant product licences (marketing authorizations) for medicinal products in the light of evidence that the balance between benefit and harm in the population is favourable. Here we consider a framework for allowing regulatory agencies to make rational decisions when reviewing product licences in the light of new information about harms that change that balance. The regulator can revoke the product licence, restrict the product's availability or change the 'label' in different ways. We examine the features of the adverse effect that may be relevant in making the decision: namely, individual differences in susceptibility; the possibility of monitoring; and the availability of protective strategies. The balance of benefit and harm, and the time-course and dose relation of the adverse effect play important roles in the decision-making process. We set out how these factors can help determine the logical response to new information on the balance between benefit and harm, and provide a series of relevant examples. We believe that when regulatory agencies have to decide how to amend the product licence of a drug when new serious adverse effects cause concern, they would find it useful to adopt a framework of this kind, using different strategies for different cases. Our proposed framework could also be useful in risk management planning during drug development.

A Social Report for Carroll County: Social Indicators for Rural Development. Sociology Report 134G.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marshall, Chris; And Others

Since the burden of improving quality of life is often squarely placed on the shoulders of public decision makers, this report (one of the products of Project 2142) provides a basis for assisting county-level decision makers in the planning process. Statistics that "indicate" the social well being or quality of life experienced by people…

10 CFR Appendix A to Subpart C of... - Procedures, Interpretations and Policies for Consideration of New or Revised Energy Conservation...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... PRODUCTS Energy and Water Conservation Standards Pt. 430, Subpt. C, App. A Appendix A to Subpart C of Part.... The Department seeks to make informed, strategic decisions about how to deploy its resources on the range of possible standards development activities, and to announce these prioritization decisions so...

10 CFR Appendix A to Subpart C of... - Procedures, Interpretations and Policies for Consideration of New or Revised Energy Conservation...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... PRODUCTS Energy and Water Conservation Standards Pt. 430, Subpt. C, App. A Appendix A to Subpart C of Part.... The Department seeks to make informed, strategic decisions about how to deploy its resources on the range of possible standards development activities, and to announce these prioritization decisions so...

Using Constructivist Case Study Methodology to Understand Community Development Processes: Proposed Methodological Questions to Guide the Research Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lauckner, Heidi; Paterson, Margo; Krupa, Terry

2012-01-01

Often, research projects are presented as final products with the methodologies cleanly outlined and little attention paid to the decision-making processes that led to the chosen approach. Limited attention paid to these decision-making processes perpetuates a sense of mystery about qualitative approaches, particularly for new researchers who will…

Graduate Education in Risk Analysis for Food, Agriculture, and Veterinary Medicine: Challenges and Opportunities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Correia, Ana-Paula; Wolt, Jeffrey D.

2010-01-01

The notion of risk in relation to food and food production has heightened the need to educate students to effectively deal with risk in relation to decision making from a science-based perspective. Curricula and related materials were developed and adopted to support graduate learning opportunities in risk analysis and decision making as applied…

Operational System-Impact Products for the Space Situational Awareness Environmental Effects Fusion System (SEEFS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quigley, S.; Scro, K.

2006-12-01

The Space Vehicles Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL/VSBX) and the Technology Applications Division of the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC/WXT) have combined efforts under the Rapid Prototyping Center (RPC) to design, develop, test, implement, and validate numerical and graphical products for the Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) Space Situational Awareness Environmental Effects Fusion System (SEEFS). These products are generated to analyze, specify, and forecast the effects of the near-earth space environment on Department of Defense weapons, navigation, communications, and surveillance systems. Jointly developed projects that have been completed as prototypes and are undergoing development for real-time operations include a SEEFS architecture and database, five system-impact products, and a high-level decision aid product. This first round of SEEFS products includes Solar Radio Burst Effects (SoRBE) on radar and satellite communications, Radar Auroral Clutter (RAC), Scintillation Effects on radar and satellite communications (RadScint and SatScint), and Satellite Surface and Deep Charge/Discharge (Char/D). The SEEFS architecture and database enable modular use and execution of SEEFS products, and the high-level Decision Aid shows the combined effects of all SEEFS product output on a given asset and on multi-asset missions. This presentation provides a general overview of the SEEFS program, along with details of the first round of products expected to be operational for use in exercises and/or real-time operations in 2007-2008.

A quality-based cost model for new electronic systems and products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shina, Sammy G.; Saigal, Anil

1998-04-01

This article outlines a method for developing a quality-based cost model for the design of new electronic systems and products. The model incorporates a methodology for determining a cost-effective design margin allocation for electronic products and systems and its impact on manufacturing quality and cost. A spreadsheet-based cost estimating tool was developed to help implement this methodology in order for the system design engineers to quickly estimate the effect of design decisions and tradeoffs on the quality and cost of new products. The tool was developed with automatic spreadsheet connectivity to current process capability and with provisions to consider the impact of capital equipment and tooling purchases to reduce the product cost.

Using health outcomes data to inform decision-making: formulary committee perspective.

PubMed

Janknegt, R

2001-01-01

When healthcare resources are limited, decisions about the treatments to fund can be complex and difficult to make, involving the careful balancing of multiple factors. The decisions taken may have far-reaching consequences affecting many people. Clearly, decisions such as the choice of products on a formulary must be taken using a selection process that is fully transparent and that can be justified to all parties concerned. Although everyone would agree that drug selection should be a rational process that follows the guidelines of evidence-based medicine, many other factors may play a role in decision-making. Although some of these are explicit and rational, others are less clearly defined, and decision-makers may be unaware of the influence exerted by some of these factors. In order to facilitate transparent decision-making that makes rational use of health outcomes information, the System of Objectified Judgement Analysis (SOJA) has been developed by the author. SOJA includes interactive software that combines the quality advantages of the 'top-down' approach to drug selection, based on a thorough literature review, with the compliance advantages of a 'bottom-up' approach, where the final decision is made by the individual formulary committee and not by the authors of the review. The SOJA method, based on decision-making processes in economics, ensures that health outcomes information is given appropriate weight. Such approaches are valuable tools in discussions about product selection for formularies.

The chiller`s role within a utility`s marketing strategy: Using chiller related products and services to win and retain customers. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1998-04-01

Commercial chillers are used in space and industrial process cooling. Approximately 3% of commercial buildings, representing 19% of all commercial floor space, are cooled by chillers. Consequently, every chiller represents significant electric (or gas) consumption. Chillers can comprise as much as 30% of a large office building`s electrical load. The selection decisions (electric versus gas, standard versus high efficiency, thermal storage or no thermal storage, etc.) for a new or replacement chiller will affect the customer`s energy consumption for twenty to thirty years. Consequently, this decision can play a major role in the customer`s relationship with the energy provider. However,more » even though these chiller decisions have a significant impact on the utility, today the utility has limited influence over these decisions. EPRI commissioned this study to develop understanding that will help utilities increase their influence over chiller decisions. To achieve this objective, this study looks at the customer`s behavior -- how they make chiller decisions, how the customer`s behavior and decisions are influenced today, and how these decisions might change in the future due to the impact of deregulation and changes in customer goals. The output of this project includes a list of product and service offerings that utilities and EPRI could offer to increase their influence over chiller decisions.« less

Coordinated Development and Deployment of Scenarios for Sustained Assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lipschultz, F.; Weaver, C. P.; Leidner, A. K.; Delgado, A.; Grambsch, A.

2017-12-01

There has been a clear need for a more coordinated Federal government approach for authoritative, climate-relevant scenarios to support growing demands by decision-makers, to meet stakeholder needs for consistent approaches and guidance, and to better address the needs of the impacts, adaptation and vulnerability community. To begin to satisfy these decision-support needs, in early 2015 the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) began coordinated production of scenario information for use across a suite of USGCRP activities. These have been implemented in the 4th National Climate Assessment (NCA4), the Climate Science Special Report and the Climate Resilience Toolkit (CRT), all of which are intended to help better organize, summarize, and communicate science to decision-makers as they think about our future. First, USGCRP introduced and implemented an explicit risk-framing approach across the entire scenario enterprise to encourage exploration of tail risks. A suite of scenario products was developed framed around three simplified storylines: `Lower', `Higher', and `Upper Bound' departures from current baselines. Second, USGCRP developed future climate information for the U.S. using Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 and RCP 4.5, including a weighted mean of Global Climate Models and adoption of an improved statistical downscaling approach across USGCRP products. Additional variables were derived from the downscaled parameters for use across USGCRP reports and in the CRT's Climate Explorer tool. Third, and given the need to address other tightly-coupled global changes in a more integrated way, a set of population, housing density, and impervious surface projections were developed based on global scenarios. In addition, USGCRP and the National Ocean Council developed scenarios of future sea-level rise and coastal-flood hazard for the U.S. and integrated them into existing Federal capabilities to support preparedness planning. To better convey these scenario components, next steps include capability for dynamic interaction between NCA4 products and CRT to permit users to explore and customize relevant information for their decision at spatial scales that matter to them, as well as links to more in-depth CRT content.

Disaster Response Tools for Decision Support and Data Discovery - E-DECIDER and GeoGateway

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glasscoe, M. T.; Donnellan, A.; Parker, J. W.; Granat, R. A.; Lyzenga, G. A.; Pierce, M. E.; Wang, J.; Grant Ludwig, L.; Eguchi, R. T.; Huyck, C. K.; Hu, Z.; Chen, Z.; Yoder, M. R.; Rundle, J. B.; Rosinski, A.

2015-12-01

Providing actionable data for situational awareness following an earthquake or other disaster is critical to decision makers in order to improve their ability to anticipate requirements and provide appropriate resources for response. E-DECIDER (Emergency Data Enhanced Cyber-Infrastructure for Disaster Evaluation and Response) is a decision support system producing remote sensing and geophysical modeling products that are relevant to the emergency preparedness and response communities and serves as a gateway to enable the delivery of actionable information to these communities. GeoGateway is a data product search and analysis gateway for scientific discovery, field use, and disaster response focused on NASA UAVSAR and GPS data that integrates with fault data, seismicity and models. Key information on the nature, magnitude and scope of damage, or Essential Elements of Information (EEI), necessary to achieve situational awareness are often generated from a wide array of organizations and disciplines, using any number of geospatial and non-geospatial technologies. We have worked in partnership with the California Earthquake Clearinghouse to develop actionable data products for use in their response efforts, particularly in regularly scheduled, statewide exercises like the recent May 2015 Capstone/SoCal NLE/Ardent Sentry Exercises and in the August 2014 South Napa earthquake activation. We also provided a number of products, services, and consultation to the NASA agency-wide response to the April 2015 Gorkha, Nepal earthquake. We will present perspectives on developing tools for decision support and data discovery in partnership with the Clearinghouse and for the Nepal earthquake. Products delivered included map layers as part of the common operational data plan for the Clearinghouse, delivered through XchangeCore Web Service Data Orchestration, enabling users to create merged datasets from multiple providers. For the Nepal response effort, products included models, damage and loss estimates, and aftershock forecasts that were posted to a NASA information site and delivered directly to end-users such as USAID, OFDA, World Bank, and UNICEF.

Do evidence summaries increase policy-makers' use of evidence from systematic reviews: A systematic review protocol.

PubMed

Petkovic, Jennifer; Welch, Vivian; Tugwell, Peter

2015-09-28

Systematic reviews are important for decision-makers. They offer many potential benefits but are often written in technical language, are too long, and do not contain contextual details which makes them hard to use for decision-making. There are many organizations that develop and disseminate derivative products, such as evidence summaries, from systematic reviews for different populations or subsets of decision-makers. This systematic review will assess the effectiveness of systematic review summaries on increasing policymakers' use of systematic review evidence and to identify the components or features of these summaries that are most effective. We will include studies of policy-makers at all levels as well as health-system managers. We will include studies examining any type of "evidence summary," "policy brief," or other products derived from systematic reviews that present evidence in a summarized form. The primary outcomes are the following: (1) use of systematic review summaries decision-making (e.g., self-reported use of the evidence in policy-making, decision-making) and (2) policy-maker understanding, knowledge, and/or beliefs (e.g., changes in knowledge scores about the topic included in the summary). We will conduct a systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), non-randomized controlled trials (NRCTs), controlled before-after studies (CBA), and interrupted time series (ITS) studies. The results of this review will inform the development of future systematic review summaries to ensure that systematic review evidence is accessible to and used by policy-makers making health-related decisions.

AWIPS II Application Development, a SPoRT Perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burks, Jason E.; Smith, Matthew; McGrath, Kevin M.

2014-01-01

The National Weather Service (NWS) is deploying its next-generation decision support system, called AWIPS II (Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System II). NASA's Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center has developed several software 'plug-ins' to extend the capabilities of AWIPS II. SPoRT aims to continue its mission of improving short-term forecasts by providing NASA and NOAA products on the decision support system used at NWS weather forecast offices (WFOs). These products are not included in the standard Satellite Broadcast Network feed provided to WFOs. SPoRT has had success in providing support to WFOs as they have transitioned to AWIPS II. Specific examples of transitioning SPoRT plug-ins to WFOs with newly deployed AWIPS II systems will be presented. Proving Ground activities (GOES-R and JPSS) will dominate SPoRT's future AWIPS II activities, including tool development as well as enhancements to existing products. In early 2012 SPoRT initiated the Experimental Product Development Team, a group of AWIPS II developers from several institutions supporting NWS forecasters with innovative products. The results of the team's spring and fall 2013 meeting will be presented. Since AWIPS II developers now include employees at WFOs, as well as many other institutions related to weather forecasting, the NWS has dealt with a multitude of software governance issues related to the difficulties of multiple remotely collaborating software developers. This presentation will provide additional examples of Research-to-Operations plugins, as well as an update on how governance issues are being handled in the AWIPS II developer community.

Output orientation in R and D: A better approach?. [decision making in R and D

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Black, G.

1974-01-01

Research and development management is examined as it might be performed under an output-oriented approach in which the company's needs for innovations in various product and production areas were identified. It is shown that a company's R and D program is the aggregate of its needs in various areas of its business. The planning, programming and budgeting approach is applied to R and D. The state of theory on R and D decision making in economics is summarized. Abstracts of articles concerning R and D in industry are included.

[Medical data warehousing as a generator of system component for decision support in health care].

PubMed

Catibusić, Sulejman; Hadzagić-Catibusić, Feriha; Zubcević, Smail

2004-01-01

Growth in role of data warehousing as strategic information for decision makers is significant. Many health institutions have data warehouse implementations in process of development or even in production. This article was made with intention to improve general understanding of data warehousing requirements form the point of view of end-users, and information system as well. For that reason, in this document advantages and arguments for implementation, techniques and methods of data warehousing, data warehouse foundation and exploration of information as final product of data warehousing process have been described.

A definition of high-level decisions in the engineering of systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Powell, Robert Anthony

The role of the systems engineer defines that he or she be proactive and guide the program manager and their customers through their decisions to enhance the effectiveness of system development---producing faster, better, and cheaper systems. The present lack of coverage in literature on what these decisions are and how they relate to each other may be a contributing factor to the high rate of failure among system projects. At the onset of the system development process, decisions have an integral role in the design of a system that meets stakeholders' needs. This is apparent during the design and qualification of both the Development System and the Operational System. The performance, cost and schedule of the Development System affect the performance of the Operational System and are affected by decisions that influence physical elements of the Development System. The performance, cost, and schedule of the Operational System is affected by decisions that influence physical elements of the Operational System. Traditionally, product and process have been designed using know-how and trial and error. However, the empiricism of engineers and program managers is limited which can, and has led to costly mistakes. To date, very little research has explored decisions made in the engineering of a system. In government, literature exists on procurement processes for major system development; but in general literature on decisions, how they relate to each other, and the key information requirements within one of two systems and across the two systems is not readily available. This research hopes to improve the processes inherent in the engineering of systems. The primary focus of this research is on department of defense (DoD) military systems, specifically aerospace systems and may generalize more broadly. The result of this research is a process tool, a Decision System Model, which can be used by systems engineers to guide the program manager and their customers through the decisions about concurrently designing and qualifying both the Development and Operational systems.

76 FR 42124 - Availability of the Incident Waste Management Planning and Response Tool

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-18

... to stabilize agriculture production, the food supply, and the economy, rapidly remove and effectively dispose of contaminated agriculture and food products or infected plants and animals, and decontaminate... further contamination or spread of disease. The IWMPRT is a suite of decision support tools developed by...

Business Case Analysis of the Towed Gilder Air Launched System (TGALS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Webb, Darryl W.; Nguyen, McLinton B.; Seibold, Robert W.; Wong, Frank C.; Budd, Gerald D.

2017-01-01

The Aerospace Corporation developed an integrated Business Case Analysis (BCA) model on behalf of the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC). This model evaluated the potential profitability of the Towed Glider Air Launched System (TGALS) concept, under development at AFRC, identifying potential technical, programmatic, and business decisions that could improve its business viability. The model addressed system performance metrics; development, production and operation cost estimates; market size and product service positioning; pricing alternatives; and market share.

Aiding alternatives assessment with an uncertainty-tolerant hazard scoring method.

PubMed

Faludi, Jeremy; Hoang, Tina; Gorman, Patrick; Mulvihill, Martin

2016-11-01

This research developed a single-score system to simplify and clarify decision-making in chemical alternatives assessment, accounting for uncertainty. Today, assessing alternatives to hazardous constituent chemicals is a difficult task-rather than comparing alternatives by a single definitive score, many independent toxicological variables must be considered at once, and data gaps are rampant. Thus, most hazard assessments are only comprehensible to toxicologists, but business leaders and politicians need simple scores to make decisions. In addition, they must balance hazard against other considerations, such as product functionality, and they must be aware of the high degrees of uncertainty in chemical hazard data. This research proposes a transparent, reproducible method to translate eighteen hazard endpoints into a simple numeric score with quantified uncertainty, alongside a similar product functionality score, to aid decisions between alternative products. The scoring method uses Clean Production Action's GreenScreen as a guide, but with a different method of score aggregation. It provides finer differentiation between scores than GreenScreen's four-point scale, and it displays uncertainty quantitatively in the final score. Displaying uncertainty also illustrates which alternatives are early in product development versus well-defined commercial products. This paper tested the proposed assessment method through a case study in the building industry, assessing alternatives to spray polyurethane foam insulation containing methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI). The new hazard scoring method successfully identified trade-offs between different alternatives, showing finer resolution than GreenScreen Benchmarking. Sensitivity analysis showed that different weighting schemes in hazard scores had almost no effect on alternatives ranking, compared to uncertainty from data gaps. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tobacco and Nicotine Product Testing

PubMed Central

Biener, Lois; Leischow, Scott J.; Zeller, Mitch R.

2012-01-01

Introduction: Tobacco product testing is a critical component of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (FSPTCA), which grants the Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco products. The availability of methods and measures that can provide accurate data on the relative health risks across types of tobacco products, brands, and subbrands of tobacco products on the validity of any health claims associated with a product, and on how consumers perceive information on products toxicity or risks is crucial for making decisions on the product's potential impact on public health. These tools are also necessary for making assessments of the impact of new indications for medicinal products (other than cessation) but more importantly of tobacco products that may in the future be marketed as cessation tools. Objective: To identify research opportunities to develop empirically based and comprehensive methods and measures for testing tobacco and other nicotine-containing products so that the best science is available when decisions are made about products or policies. Methods: Literature was reviewed to address sections of the FSPTCA relevant to tobacco product evaluation; research questions were generated and then reviewed by a committee of research experts. Results: A research agenda was developed for tobacco product evaluation in the general areas of toxicity and health risks, abuse liability, consumer perception, and population effects. Conclusion: A cohesive, systematic, and comprehensive assessment of tobacco products is important and will require building consensus and addressing some crucial research questions. PMID:21460383

Regional scale prioritisation for key ecosystem services, renewable energy production and urban development.

PubMed

Casalegno, Stefano; Bennie, Jonathan J; Inger, Richard; Gaston, Kevin J

2014-01-01

Although the importance of addressing ecosystem service benefits in regional land use planning and decision-making is evident, substantial practical challenges remain. In particular, methods to identify priority areas for the provision of key ecosystem services and other environmental services (benefits from the environment not directly linked to the function of ecosystems) need to be developed. Priority areas are locations which provide disproportionally high benefits from one or more service. Here we map a set of ecosystem and environmental services and delineate priority areas according to different scenarios. Each scenario is produced by a set of weightings allocated to different services and corresponds to different landscape management strategies which decision makers could undertake. Using the county of Cornwall, U.K., as a case study, we processed gridded maps of key ecosystem services and environmental services, including renewable energy production and urban development. We explored their spatial distribution patterns and their spatial covariance and spatial stationarity within the region. Finally we applied a complementarity-based priority ranking algorithm (zonation) using different weighting schemes. Our conclusions are that (i) there are two main patterns of service distribution in this region, clustered services (including agriculture, carbon stocks, urban development and plant production) and dispersed services (including cultural services, energy production and floods mitigation); (ii) more than half of the services are spatially correlated and there is high non-stationarity in the spatial covariance between services; and (iii) it is important to consider both ecosystem services and other environmental services in identifying priority areas. Different weighting schemes provoke drastic changes in the delineation of priority areas and therefore decision making processes need to carefully consider the relative values attributed to different services.

Regional Scale Prioritisation for Key Ecosystem Services, Renewable Energy Production and Urban Development

PubMed Central

Casalegno, Stefano; Bennie, Jonathan J.; Inger, Richard; Gaston, Kevin J.

2014-01-01

Although the importance of addressing ecosystem service benefits in regional land use planning and decision-making is evident, substantial practical challenges remain. In particular, methods to identify priority areas for the provision of key ecosystem services and other environmental services (benefits from the environment not directly linked to the function of ecosystems) need to be developed. Priority areas are locations which provide disproportionally high benefits from one or more service. Here we map a set of ecosystem and environmental services and delineate priority areas according to different scenarios. Each scenario is produced by a set of weightings allocated to different services and corresponds to different landscape management strategies which decision makers could undertake. Using the county of Cornwall, U.K., as a case study, we processed gridded maps of key ecosystem services and environmental services, including renewable energy production and urban development. We explored their spatial distribution patterns and their spatial covariance and spatial stationarity within the region. Finally we applied a complementarity-based priority ranking algorithm (zonation) using different weighting schemes. Our conclusions are that (i) there are two main patterns of service distribution in this region, clustered services (including agriculture, carbon stocks, urban development and plant production) and dispersed services (including cultural services, energy production and floods mitigation); (ii) more than half of the services are spatially correlated and there is high non-stationarity in the spatial covariance between services; and (iii) it is important to consider both ecosystem services and other environmental services in identifying priority areas. Different weighting schemes provoke drastic changes in the delineation of priority areas and therefore decision making processes need to carefully consider the relative values attributed to different services. PMID:25250775

Effective Decision Maker-Scientist Engagement:Climate Change Vulnerability Analysis of California's Water System to Using Decision Scaling.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwarz, A. M.; Ray, P.; Brown, C.; Wi, S.

2016-12-01

For nearly 2 years the California Department of Water Resources (CDWR) has been working with the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) to evaluate climate change vulnerabilities to the California State Water Project. Working cooperatively, the team has developed tools and methods to employ a decision scaling approach to CDWR's existing water system model (CalSim-II/CalLite 3.0). This presentation will discuss how and why this partnership came to be, the co-production model the team has developed to share expertise, the new understanding of the system that has been gained through the process, and current and future efforts to influence planning and investments based on the findings of the work. This cooperative decision-maker-with-scientist engagement is unique in that CDWR has not outsourced the application of the science to their systems, and instead has worked directly with UMass researchers to develop the process, produce results, and interpret findings. Further, CDWR staff has worked with UMass researchers to present results in ways that are more useable and actionable for decision-makers. As will be shown, many of these graphics allow the team to use the science differently to improve decision making.

Distortionary effects of a production-sharing fiscal system in a sequential modular offshore petroleum project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neves de Campos, Thiago

This research examines the distortionary effects of a discovered and undeveloped sequential modular offshore project under five different designs for a production-sharing agreement (PSA). The model differs from previous research by looking at the effect of taxation from the perspective of a host government, where the objective is to maximize government utility over government revenue generated by the project and the non-pecuniary benefits to society. This research uses Modern Asset Pricing (MAP) theory, which is able to provide a good measure of the asset value accruing to various stakeholders in the project combined with the optimal decision rule for the development of the investment opportunity. Monte Carlo simulation was also applied to incorporate into the model the most important sources of risk associated with the project and to account for non-linearity in the cash flows. For a complete evaluation of how the fiscal system affects the project development, an investor's behavioral model was constructed, incorporating three operational decisions: investment timing, capacity size and early abandonment. The model considers four sources of uncertainty that affect the project value and the firm's optimal decision: the long run oil price and short-run deviations from that price, cost escalation and the reservoir recovery rate. The optimizations outcomes show that all fiscal systems evaluated produce distortion over the companies' optimal decisions, and companies adjust their choices to avoid taxation in different ways according to the fiscal system characteristics. Moreover, it is revealed that fiscal systems with tax provisions that try to capture additional project profits based on production profitability measures leads to stronger distortions in the project investment and output profile. It is also shown that a model based on a fixed percentage rate is the system that creates the least distortion. This is because companies will be subjected to the same government share of profit oil independently of any operational decision which they can make to change the production profile to evade taxation.

Strategic Defense Initiative Demonstration/Validation Program Environmental Assessment. Exoatmospheric Reentry Vehicle Interception System (ERIS),

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-08-01

proceed to Demonstration/Validation for ERIS vould not preclude other technologies, nor vould it mandate the eventual Full-Scale Development or Production ...Full-Scale Development, and Production /Deployment. These four stages are separated by three major decision points (Milestones I, II, and III). Prior...percent facility population increase would require increased power plant gener- ating capacity. One concern is the nitrogen oxide emissions which is

The Expected Net Present Value of Developing Weight Management Drugs in the Context of Drug Safety Litigation.

PubMed

Chawla, Anita; Carls, Ginger; Deng, Edmund; Tuttle, Edward

2015-07-01

Following withdrawals, failures, and significant litigation settlements, drug product launches in the anti-obesity category slowed despite a large and growing unmet need. Litigation concerns, a more risk-averse regulatory policy, and the difficulty of developing a product with a compelling risk-benefit profile in this category may have limited innovators' expected return on investment and restricted investment in this therapeutic area. The objective of the study was to estimate perceived manufacturer risk associated with product safety litigation and increased development costs vs. revenue expectations on anticipated return on investment and to determine which scenarios might change a manufacturer's investment decision. Expected net present value of a weight-management drug entering pre-clinical trials was calculated for a range of scenarios representing evolving expectations of development costs, revenue, and litigation risk over the past 25 years. These three factors were based on published estimates, historical data, and analogs from other therapeutic areas. The main driver in expected net present value calculations is expected revenue, particularly if one assumes that litigation risk and demand are positively correlated. Changes in development costs associated with increased regulatory concern with potential safety issues for the past 25 years likely did not impact investment decisions. Regulatory policy and litigation risk both played a role in anti-obesity drug development; however, product revenue-reflecting efficacy at acceptable levels of safety-was by far the most important factor. To date, relatively modest sales associated with recent product introductions suggest that developing a product that is sufficiently efficacious with an acceptable level of safety continues to be the primary challenge in this market.

Collaboration and co-production of climate knowledge: lessons from a network on the front-line

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kettle, N.

2016-12-01

The science-practice gap is broadly considered a major barrier to the production and application of decision-relevant science. This study uses a social network analysis, based on 126 interviews, to analyze the roles and network ties among climate scientists, service providers, and decision makers in Alaska. Our research highlights the importance of key actors and significant differences in bonding and bridging ties across roles - structural characteristics that provide a basis for informing recommendations to build adaptive capacity and support the co-production of knowledge. Our findings also illustrate that some individuals in the network engage in multiple roles, suggesting that conceptualizing the science-practice interface as consisting of "producers" and "consumers" oversimplifies how individuals engage in climate science, services, and decision making. This research supports the notion that the development and use of climate information is a networked phenomenon. It also emphasizes the importance of centralized individuals who are capable of engaging in multiple roles for the transition of knowledge action.

Quantum Leap in Cartography as a requirement of Sustainable Development of the World

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tikunov, Vladimir S.; Tikunova, Iryna N.; Eremchenko, Eugene N.

2018-05-01

Sustainable development is one of the most important challenges for humanity and one of the priorities of the United Nations. Achieving sustainability of the whole World is a main goal of management at all levels - from personal to local to global. Therefore, decision making should be supported by relevant geospatial information system. Nevertheless, classical geospatial products, maps and GIS, violate fundamental demand of `situational awareness' concept, well-known philosophy of decision-making - same representation of situation within a same volume of time and space for all decision-makers. Basic mapping principles like generalization and projections split the universal single model of situation on number of different separate and inconsistent replicas. It leads to wrong understanding of situation and, after all - to incorrect decisions. In another words, quality of the sustainable development depends on effective decision-making support based on universal global scale-independent and projection-independent model. This new way for interacting with geospatial information is a quantum leap in cartography method. It is implemented in the so-called `Digital Earth' paradigm and geospatial services like Google Earth. Com-paring of both methods, as well as possibilities of implementation of Digital Earth in the sustain-able development activities, are discussed.

Rule-based optimization and multicriteria decision support for packaging a truck chassis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berger, Martin; Lindroth, Peter; Welke, Richard

2017-06-01

Trucks are highly individualized products where exchangeable parts are flexibly combined to suit different customer requirements, this leading to a great complexity in product development. Therefore, an optimization approach based on constraint programming is proposed for automatically packaging parts of a truck chassis by following packaging rules expressed as constraints. A multicriteria decision support system is developed where a database of truck layouts is computed, among which interactive navigation then can be performed. The work has been performed in cooperation with Volvo Group Trucks Technology (GTT), from which specific rules have been used. Several scenarios are described where the methods developed can be successfully applied and lead to less time-consuming manual work, fewer mistakes, and greater flexibility in configuring trucks. A numerical evaluation is also presented showing the efficiency and practical relevance of the methods, which are implemented in a software tool.

Simulation reduction using the Taguchi method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mistree, Farrokh; Lautenschlager, Ume; Erikstad, Stein Owe; Allen, Janet K.

1993-01-01

A large amount of engineering effort is consumed in conducting experiments to obtain information needed for making design decisions. Efficiency in generating such information is the key to meeting market windows, keeping development and manufacturing costs low, and having high-quality products. The principal focus of this project is to develop and implement applications of Taguchi's quality engineering techniques. In particular, we show how these techniques are applied to reduce the number of experiments for trajectory simulation of the LifeSat space vehicle. Orthogonal arrays are used to study many parameters simultaneously with a minimum of time and resources. Taguchi's signal to noise ratio is being employed to measure quality. A compromise Decision Support Problem and Robust Design are applied to demonstrate how quality is designed into a product in the early stages of designing.

A Decision Support System for Ecosystem-Based Management of Tropical Coral Reef Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muller-Karger, F. E.; Eakin, C.; Guild, L. S.; Nemani, R. R.; Hu, C.; Lynds, S. E.; Li, J.; Vega-Rodriguez, M.; Coral Reef Watch Decision Support System Team

2010-12-01

We review a new collaborative program established between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to augment the NOAA Coral Reef Watch decision-support system. NOAA has developed a Decision Support System (DSS) under the Coral Reef Watch (CRW) program to forecast environmental stress in coral reef ecosystems around the world. This DSS uses models and 50 km Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) to generate “HotSpot” and Degree Heating Week coral bleaching indices. These are used by scientists and resource managers around the world. These users, including National Marine Sanctuary managers, have expressed the need for higher spatial resolution tools to understand local issues. The project will develop a series of coral bleaching products at higher spatial resolution using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and AVHRR data. We will generate and validate products at 1 km resolution for the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, and test global assessments at 4 and 50 km. The project will also incorporate the Global Coral Reef Millennium Map, a 30-m resolution thematic classification of coral reefs developed by the NASA Landsat-7 Science Team, into the CRW. The Millennium Maps help understand the geomorphology of individual reefs around the world. The products will be available through the NOAA CRW and UNEP-WCMC web portals. The products will help users formulate policy options and management decisions. The augmented DSS has a global scope, yet it addresses the needs of local resource managers. The work complements efforts to map and monitor coral reef communities in the U.S. territories by NOAA, NASA, and the USGS, and is a contribution to international efforts in ecological forecasting of coral reefs under changing environments, coral reef research, resource management, and conservation. Acknowledgement: Funding is provided by the NASA Ecological Forecasting application area and by NOAA NESDIS.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fraile-Garcia, Esteban, E-mail: esteban.fraile@unirioja.es; Ferreiro-Cabello, Javier, E-mail: javier.ferreiro@unirioja.es; Qualiberica S.L.

The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) through its Technical Committee CEN/TC-350 is developing a series of standards for assessing the building sustainability, at both product and building levels. The practical application of the selection (decision making) of structural alternatives made by one-way slabs leads to an intermediate level between the product and the building. Thus the present study addresses this problem of decision making, following the CEN guidelines and incorporating relevant aspects of architectural design into residential construction. A life cycle assessment (LCA) is developed in order to obtain valid information for the decision making process (the LCA was developedmore » applying CML methodology although Ecoindicator99 was used in order to facilitate the comparison of the values); this information (the carbon footprint values) is contrasted with other databases and with the information from the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) of one of the lightening materials (expanded polystyrene), in order to validate the results. Solutions of different column disposition and geometries are evaluated in the three pillars of sustainable construction on residential construction: social, economic and environmental. The quantitative analysis of the variables used in this study enables and facilitates an objective comparison in the design stage by a responsible technician; the application of the proposed methodology reduces the possible solutions to be evaluated by the expert to 12.22% of the options in the case of low values of the column index and to 26.67% for the highest values. - Highlights: • Methodology for selection of structural alternatives in buildings with one-way slabs • Adapted to CEN guidelines (CEN/TC-350) for assessing the building sustainability • LCA is developed in order to obtain valid information for the decision making process. • Results validated comparing carbon footprint, databases and Env. Product Declarations • The proposal reduces the solutions to be evaluated to between 12.22 and 26.67%.« less

Successful development of recombinant DNA-derived pharmaceuticals.

PubMed

Werner, R G; Pommer, C H

1990-11-01

Successful development of recombinant DNA-derived pharmaceuticals, a new class of therapeutic agents, is determined by a variety of factors affecting the selection and positioning of the compound under development. For an efficient development it is of utmost importance that the mechanism of action of the compound selected be understood on a molecular level. The compound's potential therapeutical profile and a strong patent position are key positioning considerations, as well as vital elements in shortening the development phase and protecting innovation. Installation of an interdisciplinary project management team, along with a clear definition of team members' responsibilities, is required to avoid delays and improve communication during development. Selection of the organism to be used in production must take into consideration both the structure of the protein and the quality and safety of the final product. New technologies require a considerable investment in new manufacturing facilities and equipment. Often, the decision for such an investment must be made early and with a high degree of uncertainty. Desired product yield, expected dosage, and estimated market potential are the most important considerations in this decision. Following public disclosure of the plan to develop recombinant DNA-derived products, approval of the production plant and expansion or adaptation to the new process and technology may be delayed. For this reason, they should be considered as a critical step in the overall development phase. Recruitment of qualified staff is a time-consuming and critical element of the production process. Its impact on the product timeline should not be underestimated, especially if such technologies are new to the company. The entire production process must be validated in respect to identity, purity, and safety of the product to guarantee constant product quality, as well as for safety aspects in the environment. Adequate in-process and final product controls have to be established and specifications determined for release or rejection of batches for preclinical and clinical studies as well as for marketing. Preclinical testing is limited because recombinant DNA-derived proteins cannot be differentiated from naturally occurring human proteins, and because some proteins are species-specific.

Paediatric investigation plans for pain: painfully slow!

PubMed

Davies, Elin H; Ollivier, Cecile M; Saint Raymond, Agnes

2010-11-01

To examine the early impact of the Paediatric Regulation, which entered into force in Europe on 27 January 2007, on the development of pharmaceutical drugs in the therapeutic field of pain submitted to the Paediatric Committee (PDCO) and to the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Paediatric Investigations Plans (PIPs) submitted with a Decision (outcome) reached between September 2007 and March 2010 were included in the analysis. Of the 17 Paediatric Investigation Plans submitted, 14 have resulted in an EMA Decision, 3 were withdrawn by the applicants, 8 were granted a full waiver from development, and 1 resulted in a negative opinion. Decisions as issued included 15 clinical trials, with at least 1,282 children to be recruited into studies across five different products. Neonates were included in four of the products. The small number of submissions indicates a lack of new drugs being developed for the management of pain. Ethical concerns that too many vulnerable children will be recruited into clinical trials must be balanced against limiting the number of off-label prescribing and obtaining age-appropriate information on paediatric use. Now is an opportune time for clinicians, academics, learned societies and industry to collaborate for the benefit of children in pain.

Application of household production theory to selected natural-resource problems in less-developed countries

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mercer, D.E.

The objectives are threefold: (1) to perform an analytical survey of household production theory as it relates to natural-resource problems in less-developed countries, (2) to develop a household production model of fuelwood decision making, (3) to derive a theoretical framework for travel-cost demand studies of international nature tourism. The model of household fuelwood decision making provides a rich array of implications and predictions for empirical analysis. For example, it is shown that fuelwood and modern fuels may be either substitutes or complements depending on the interaction of the gross-substitution and income-expansion effects. Therefore, empirical analysis should precede adoption of anymore » inter-fuel substitution policies such as subsidizing kerosene. The fuelwood model also provides a framework for analyzing the conditions and factors determining entry and exit by households into the wood-burning subpopulation, a key for designing optimal household energy policies in the Third World. The international nature tourism travel cost model predicts that the demand for nature tourism is an aggregate of the demand for the individual activities undertaken during the trip.« less

Who has the D? How clear decision roles enhance organizational performance.

PubMed

Rogers, Paul; Blenko, Marcia

2006-01-01

Decisions are the coin of the realm in business. But even in highly respected companies, decisions can get stuck inside the organization like loose change. As a result, the entire decision-making process can stall, usually at one of four bottlenecks: global versus local, center versus business unit, function versus function, and inside versus outside partners. Decision-making bottlenecks can occur whenever there is ambiguity or tension over who gets to decide what. For example, do marketers or product developers get to decide the features of a new product? Should a major capital investment depend on the approval of the business unit that will own it, or should headquarters make the final call? Which decisions can be delegated to an outsourcing partner, and which must be made internally? Bain consultants Paul Rogers and Marcia Blenko use an approach called RAPID (recommend, agree, perform, input, and decide) to help companies unclog their decision-making bottlenecks by explicitly defining roles and responsibilities. For example, British American Tobacco struck a new balance between global and local decision making to take advantage of the company's scale while maintaining its agility in local markets. At Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a growth opportunity revealed the need to push more decisions down to the business units. And at the UK department-store chain John Lewis, buyers and sales staff clarified their decision roles in order to implement a new strategy for selling its salt and pepper mills. When revamping its decision-making process, a company must take some practical steps: Align decision roles with the most important sources of value, make sure that decisions are made by the right people at the right levels of the organization, and let the people who will live with the new process help design it.

The development of Operational Intervention Levels (OILs) for Soils - A decision support tool in nuclear and radiological emergency response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee Zhi Yi, Amelia; Dercon, Gerd; Blackburn, Carl; Kheng, Heng Lee

2017-04-01

In the event of a large-scale nuclear accident, the swift implementation of response actions is imperative. For food and agriculture, it is important to restrict contaminated food from being produced or gathered, and to put in place systems to prevent contaminated produce from entering the food chain. Emergency tools and response protocols exist to assist food control and health authorities but they tend to focus on radioactivity concentrations in food products as a means of restricting the distribution and sale of contaminated produce. Few, if any, emergency tools or protocols focus on the food production environment, for example radioactivity concentrations in soils. Here we present the Operational Intervention Levels for Soils (OIL for Soils) concept, an optimization tool developed at the IAEA to facilitate agricultural decision making and to improve nuclear emergency preparedness and response capabilities. Effective intervention relies on the prompt availability of radioactivity concentration data and the ability to implement countermeasures. Sampling in food and agriculture can be demanding because it may involve large areas and many sample types. In addition, there are finite resources available in terms of manpower and laboratory support. Consequently, there is a risk that timely decision making will be hindered and food safety compromised due to time taken to sample and analyse produce. However, the OILs for Soils concept developed based on experience in Japan can help in this situation and greatly assist authorities responsible for agricultural production. OILs for Soils - pre-determined reference levels of air dose rates linked to radionuclide concentrations in soils - can be used to trigger response actions particularly important for agricultural and food protection. Key considerations in the development of the OILs for Soils are: (1) establishing a pragmatic sampling approach to prioritize and optimize available resources and data requirements for decision making in agricultural sites: (2) creating a system that is adaptable to different countries, and; (3) developing a framework to calculate default values of OILs for Soils for application during an emergency. The OILs for Soils reference levels are calculated using a mathematical model. Empirical equations, paired with radionuclide data (e.g. Cs-134, Cs-137 and I-131) from the ICRU 53 report, are utilized to determine soil contamination from aerial monitoring air dose rate data. Modelling allows soil contamination values to be readily approximated and this is used to prioritize soil and food sampling sites. Reference levels are based on a model that considers radionuclide transfer factors for up-take into plants, soil density, and soil sampling depth. Decision actions for determined reference levels are suggested for processed foods, animal products, animal feed and crop products (including plants at the growing stage, mature stage, fallow farmland, and forestry products). With these steps, OILs for Soils provide practical guidance that will equip authorities to respond efficiently and help maintain the safety of the food supply during large-scale nuclear or radiological emergency situations.

Decision Models for Determining the Optimal Life Test Sampling Plans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nechval, Nicholas A.; Nechval, Konstantin N.; Purgailis, Maris; Berzins, Gundars; Strelchonok, Vladimir F.

2010-11-01

Life test sampling plan is a technique, which consists of sampling, inspection, and decision making in determining the acceptance or rejection of a batch of products by experiments for examining the continuous usage time of the products. In life testing studies, the lifetime is usually assumed to be distributed as either a one-parameter exponential distribution, or a two-parameter Weibull distribution with the assumption that the shape parameter is known. Such oversimplified assumptions can facilitate the follow-up analyses, but may overlook the fact that the lifetime distribution can significantly affect the estimation of the failure rate of a product. Moreover, sampling costs, inspection costs, warranty costs, and rejection costs are all essential, and ought to be considered in choosing an appropriate sampling plan. The choice of an appropriate life test sampling plan is a crucial decision problem because a good plan not only can help producers save testing time, and reduce testing cost; but it also can positively affect the image of the product, and thus attract more consumers to buy it. This paper develops the frequentist (non-Bayesian) decision models for determining the optimal life test sampling plans with an aim of cost minimization by identifying the appropriate number of product failures in a sample that should be used as a threshold in judging the rejection of a batch. The two-parameter exponential and Weibull distributions with two unknown parameters are assumed to be appropriate for modelling the lifetime of a product. A practical numerical application is employed to demonstrate the proposed approach.

Understanding Customer Product Choices: A Case Study Using the Analytical Hierarchy Process

Treesearch

Robert L. Smith; Robert J. Bush; Daniel L. Schmoldt

1996-01-01

The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to characterize the bridge material selection decisions of highway officials across the United States. Understanding product choices by utilizing the AHP allowed us to develop strategies for increasing the use of timber in bridge construction. State Department of Transportation engineers, private consulting engineers, and...

Collaborating with Youth to Inform and Develop Tools for Psychotropic Decision Making

PubMed Central

Murphy, Andrea; Gardner, David; Kutcher, Stan; Davidson, Simon; Manion, Ian

2010-01-01

Introduction: Youth oriented and informed resources designed to support psychopharmacotherapeutic decision-making are essentially unavailable. This article outlines the approach taken to design such resources, the product that resulted from the approach taken, and the lessons learned from the process. Methods: A project team with psychopharmacology expertise was assembled. The project team reviewed best practices regarding medication educational materials and related tools to support decisions. Collaboration with key stakeholders who were thought of as primary end-users and target groups occurred. A graphic designer and a plain language consultant were also retained. Results: Through an iterative and collaborative process over approximately 6 months, Med Ed and Med Ed Passport were developed. Literature and input from key stakeholders, in particular youth, was instrumental to the development of the tools and materials within Med Ed. A training program utilizing a train-the-trainer model was developed to facilitate the implementation of Med Ed in Ontario, which is currently ongoing. Conclusion: An evidence-informed process that includes youth and key stakeholder engagement is required for developing tools to support in psychopharmacotherapeutic decision-making. The development process fostered an environment of reciprocity between the project team and key stakeholders. PMID:21037916

NASA's Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) Applications and Application Readiness Levels (ARLs)-An assessment of how all CMS ARLs provide societal benefit.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Escobar, V. M.; Sepulveda Carlo, E.; Delgado Arias, S.

2016-12-01

During the past six years, the NASA Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) Applications effort has been engaging with stakeholders in an effort to make the 52 CMS project user friendly and policy relevant. Congressionally directed, the CMS initiative is a NASA endeavor providing carbon data products that help characterize and understand carbon sources and sinks at local and international scales. All data are freely available, and scaled for local, state, regional, national and international-level resource management. To facilitate user feedback during development, as well as understanding for the type of use and application the CMS data products can provide, the Applications project utilizes the NASA Applied Sciences Program nine step Application Readiness Level (ARL) indices. These are used to track and manage the progression and distribution of funded projects. ARLs are an adaptation of NASA's technology readiness levels (TRLs) used for managing technology and risk and reflects the three main tiers of a project: research, development and deployment. The ARLs are scaled from 1 to 9, research and development (ARL1) to operational and/or decision making ready products (ARL9). The ARLS can be broken up into three phases: Phase 1, discovery and feasibility (ARL 1-3); Phase 2, development testing and validation (ARL 4-6); and Phase 3, integration into Partner's systems (ARL 7-9). The ARLs are designed to inform both scientist and end user of the product maturity and application capability. The CMS initiative has products that range across all ARLs, providing societal benefit at multiple scales. Lower ARLs contribute to formal documents such as the IPCC while others at higher levels provide decision support quantifying the value of carbon data for greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction planning. Most CMS products have an ARL 5, (validation of a product in a relevant environment), meaning the CMS carbon science is actively in a state of science-user engagement. For the user community, ARLs are a litmus test for knowing the type of user feedback and advocacy that can be implemented into the product design. For the scientist, ARLS help communicate (1) the maturity of their science to users who would like to use it for decision making and (2) the intended use of the product.

Intelligent Insight or Blind Arrogance? The Development of an Integrated Information System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dubois, Ronald; Freeman, Neil

1991-01-01

The first part in a two-part series about the development of an integrated management information system at Chaminade University (Hawaii) discusses decisions made about the system's integration and transportability, modularization, programing language, and productivity in the first five years. (MSE)

Disaggregating reserve-to-production ratios: An algorithm for United States oil and gas reserve development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, Charles William

Reserve-to-production ratios for oil and gas development are utilized by oil and gas producing states to monitor oil and gas reserve and production dynamics. These ratios are used to determine production levels for the manipulation of oil and gas prices while maintaining adequate reserves for future development. These aggregate reserve-to-production ratios do not provide information concerning development cost and the best time necessary to develop newly discovered reserves. Oil and gas reserves are a semi-finished inventory because development of the reserves must take place in order to implement production. These reserves are considered semi-finished in that they are not counted unless it is economically profitable to produce them. The development of these reserves is encouraged by profit maximization economic variables which must consider the legal, political, and geological aspects of a project. This development is comprised of a myriad of incremental operational decisions, each of which influences profit maximization. The primary purpose of this study was to provide a model for characterizing a single product multi-period inventory/production optimization problem from an unconstrained quantity of raw material which was produced and stored as inventory reserve. This optimization was determined by evaluating dynamic changes in new additions to reserves and the subsequent depletion of these reserves with the maximization of production. A secondary purpose was to determine an equation for exponential depletion of proved reserves which presented a more comprehensive representation of reserve-to-production ratio values than an inadequate and frequently used aggregate historical method. The final purpose of this study was to determine the most accurate delay time for a proved reserve to achieve maximum production. This calculated time provided a measure of the discounted cost and calculation of net present value for developing new reserves. This study concluded that the theoretical model developed by this research may be used to provide a predictive equation for each major oil and gas state so that a net present value to undiscounted net cash flow ratio might be calculated in order to establish an investment signal for profit maximizers. This equation inferred how production decisions were influenced by exogenous factors, such as price, and how policies performed which lead to recommendations regarding effective policies and prudent planning.

HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT FOR DECISION MAKING IN LATIN AMERICA: GOOD PRACTICE PRINCIPLES.

PubMed

Pichon-Riviere, Andrés; Soto, Natalie C; Augustovski, Federico Ariel; García Martí, Sebastián; Sampietro-Colom, Laura

2018-06-11

The aim of this study was to identify good practice principles for health technology assessment (HTA) that are the most relevant and of highest priority for application in Latin America and to identify potential barriers to their implementation in the region. HTA good practice principles proposed at the international level were identified and then explored during a deliberative process in a forum of assessors, funders, and product manufacturers. Forty-two representatives from ten Latin American countries participated. Good practice principles proposed at the international level were considered valid and potentially relevant to Latin America. Five principles were identified as priority and with the greatest potential to be strengthened at this time: transparency in the production of HTA, involvement of relevant stakeholders in the HTA process, mechanisms to appeal decisions, clear priority-setting processes in HTA, and a clear link between HTA and decision making. The main challenge identified was to find a balance between the application of these principles and the available resources in a way that would not detract from the production of reports and adaptation to the needs of decision makers. The main recommendation was to progress gradually in strengthening HTA and its link to decision making by developing appropriate processes for each country, without trying to impose, in the short-term, standards taken from examples at the international level without adequate adaptation of these to local contexts.

Surface Water and Flood Extent Mapping, Monitoring, and Modeling Products and Services for the SERVIR Regions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anderson, Eric

2016-01-01

SERVIR is a joint NASA - US Agency for International Development (USAID) project to improve environmental decision-making using Earth observations and geospatial technologies. A common need identified among SERVIR regions has been improved information for disaster risk reduction and in specific surface water and flood extent mapping, monitoring and forecasting. Of the 70 SERVIR products (active, complete, and in development), 4 are related to surface water and flood extent mapping, monitoring or forecasting. Visit http://www.servircatalog.net for more product details.

A Decision-making Model for a Two-stage Production-delivery System in SCM Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Ding-Zhong; Yamashiro, Mitsuo

A decision-making model is developed for an optimal production policy in a two-stage production-delivery system that incorporates a fixed quantity supply of finished goods to a buyer at a fixed interval of time. First, a general cost model is formulated considering both supplier (of raw materials) and buyer (of finished products) sides. Then an optimal solution to the problem is derived on basis of the cost model. Using the proposed model and its optimal solution, one can determine optimal production lot size for each stage, optimal number of transportation for semi-finished goods, and optimal quantity of semi-finished goods transported each time to meet the lumpy demand of consumers. Also, we examine the sensitivity of raw materials ordering and production lot size to changes in ordering cost, transportation cost and manufacturing setup cost. A pragmatic computation approach for operational situations is proposed to solve integer approximation solution. Finally, we give some numerical examples.

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

PubMed

Martin, Jennifer L; Barnett, Julie

2012-07-19

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

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

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background It is well established that considering users is an important aspect of medical device development. However it is also well established that there are numerous barriers to successfully conducting user research and integrating the results into product development. It is not sufficient to simply conduct user research, it must also be effectively integrated into product development. Methods A case study of the development of a new medical imaging device was conducted to examine in detail how users were involved in a medical device development project. Two user research studies were conducted: a requirements elicitation interview study and an early prototype evaluation using contextual inquiry. A descriptive in situ approach was taken to investigate how these studies contributed to the product development process and how the results of this work influenced the development of the technology. Data was collected qualitatively through interviews with the development team, participant observation at development meetings and document analysis. The focus was on investigating the barriers that exist to prevent user data from being integrated into product development. Results A number of individual, organisational and system barriers were identified that functioned to prevent the results of the user research being fully integrated into development. The user and technological aspects of development were seen as separate work streams during development. The expectations of the developers were that user research would collect requirements for the appearance of the device, rather than challenge its fundamental concept. The manner that the user data was communicated to the development team was not effective in conveying the significance or breadth of the findings. Conclusion There are a range of informal and formal organisational processes that can affect the uptake of user data during medical device development. Adopting formal decision making processes may assist manufacturers to take a more integrated and reflective approach to development, which should result in improved business decisions and a higher quality end product. PMID:22812565

Forest climate change Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment in Himalayas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chitale, V. S.; Shrestha, H. L.; Agarwal, N. K.; Choudhurya, D.; Gilani, H.; Dhonju, H. K.; Murthy, M. S. R.

2014-11-01

Forests offer an important basis for creating and safeguarding more climate-resilient communities over Hindu Kush Himalayan region. The forest ecosystem vulnerability assessment to climate change and developing knowledge base to identify and support relevant adaptation strategies is realized as an urgent need. The multi scale adaptation strategies portray increasing complexity with the increasing levels in terms of data requirements, vulnerability understanding and decision making to choose a particular adaptation strategy. We present here how such complexities could be addressed and adaptation decisions could be either directly supported by open source remote sensing based forestry products or geospatial analysis and modelled products. The forest vulnerability assessment under climate change scenario coupled with increasing forest social dependence was studied using IPCC Landscape scale Vulnerability framework in Chitwan-Annapurna Landscape (CHAL) situated in Nepal. Around twenty layers of geospatial information on climate, forest biophysical and forest social dependence data was used to assess forest vulnerability and associated adaptation needs using self-learning decision tree based approaches. The increase in forest fires, evapotranspiration and reduction in productivity over changing climate scenario was observed. The adaptation measures on enhancing productivity, improving resilience, reducing or avoiding pressure with spatial specificity are identified to support suitable decision making. The study provides spatial analytical framework to evaluate multitude of parameters to understand vulnerabilities and assess scope for alternative adaptation strategies with spatial explicitness.

A Comparative Review of Waivers Granted in Pediatric Drug Development by FDA and EMA from 2007-2013.

PubMed

Egger, Gunter F; Wharton, Gerold T; Malli, Suzanne; Temeck, Jean; Murphy, M Dianne; Tomasi, Paolo

2016-09-01

The European Union and the United States have different legal frameworks in place for pediatric drug development, which can potentially lead to different pediatric research requirements for the pharmaceutical industry. This manuscript compares pediatric clinical trial waivers granted by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This is a retrospective review comparing EMA's Paediatric Committee (PDCO) decisions with FDA's Pediatric Review Committee (PeRC) recommendations for all product-specific pediatric full waiver applications submitted to EMA from January 2007 through December 2013. Using baseline data from EMA, we matched product-specific waivers with their FDA equivalents during the study period. For single active substance products, PDCO and PeRC adopted similar opinions in 42 of 49 indications (86%). For fixed-dose combinations, PDCO and PeRC adopted similar opinions in 24 of 31 indications (77%). Despite the different legal frameworks, criteria, and processes of determination, the waiver decisions of the 2 agencies were similar in the majority of cases.

Knowledge Assisted Integrated Design of a Component and Its Manufacturing Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gautham, B. P.; Kulkarni, Nagesh; Khan, Danish; Zagade, Pramod; Reddy, Sreedhar; Uppaluri, Rohith

Integrated design of a product and its manufacturing processes would significantly reduce the total cost of the products as well as the cost of its development. However this would only be possible if we have a platform that allows us to link together simulations tools used for product design, performance evaluation and its manufacturing processes in a closed loop. In addition to that having a comprehensive knowledgebase that provides systematic knowledge guided assistance to product or process designers who may not possess in-depth design knowledge or in-depth knowledge of the simulation tools, would significantly speed up the end-to-end design process. In this paper, we propose a process and illustrate a case for achieving an integrated product and manufacturing process design assisted by knowledge support for the user to make decisions at various stages. We take transmission component design as an example. The example illustrates the design of a gear for its geometry, material selection and its manufacturing processes, particularly, carburizing-quenching and tempering, and feeding the material properties predicted during heat treatment into performance estimation in a closed loop. It also identifies and illustrates various decision stages in the integrated life cycle and discusses the use of knowledge engineering tools such as rule-based guidance, to assist the designer make informed decisions. Simulation tools developed on various commercial, open-source platforms as well as in-house tools along with knowledge engineering tools are linked to build a framework with appropriate navigation through user-friendly interfaces. This is illustrated through examples in this paper.

Making objective decisions in mechanical engineering problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raicu, A.; Oanta, E.; Sabau, A.

2017-08-01

Decision making process has a great influence in the development of a given project, the goal being to select an optimal choice in a given context. Because of its great importance, the decision making was studied using various science methods, finally being conceived the game theory that is considered the background for the science of logical decision making in various fields. The paper presents some basic ideas regarding the game theory in order to offer the necessary information to understand the multiple-criteria decision making (MCDM) problems in engineering. The solution is to transform the multiple-criteria problem in a one-criterion decision problem, using the notion of utility, together with the weighting sum model or the weighting product model. The weighted importance of the criteria is computed using the so-called Step method applied to a relation of preferences between the criteria. Two relevant examples from engineering are also presented. The future directions of research consist of the use of other types of criteria, the development of computer based instruments for decision making general problems and to conceive a software module based on expert system principles to be included in the Wiki software applications for polymeric materials that are already operational.

Acquisition and production of skilled behavior in dynamic decision-making tasks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kirlik, Alex

1990-01-01

Ongoing research investigating perceptual and contextual influences on skilled human performance in dynamic decision making environments is discussed. The research is motivated by two general classes of findings in recent decision making research. First, many studies suggest that the concrete context in which a task is presented has strong influences on the psychological processes used to perform the task and on subsequent performance. Second, studies of skilled behavior in a wide variety of task environments typically implicate the perceptual system as an important contributor to decision-making performance, either in its role as a mediator between the current decision context and stored knowledge, or as a mechanism capable of directly initiating activity through the development of a 'trained eye.' Both contextual and perceptual influences place limits on the ability of traditional utility-theoretic accounts of decision-making to guide display design, as variance in behavior due to contextual factors or the development of a perceptual skill is left unexplained. The author outlines a framework in which to view questions of perceptual and contextual influences on behavior and describe an experimental task and analysis technique which will be used to diagnose the possible role of perception in skilled decision making performance.

Visualizing Earth Science Data for Environmental Monitoring and Decision Support in Mesoamerica: The SERVIR Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hardin, D.; Graves, S.; Sever, T.; Irwin, D.

2005-05-01

In 2002 and 2003 NASA, the World Bank and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) joined with the Central American Commission for Environment and Development (CCAD) to develop an advanced decision support system for Mesoamerica (named SERVIR). Mesoamerica - composed of the seven Central American countries and the five southernmost states of Mexico - makes up only a small fraction of the world's land surface. However, the region is home to approximately eight percent of the planet's biodiversity (14 biosphere reserves, 31 Ramsar sites, 8 world heritage sites, 589 protected areas) and 45 million people including more than 50 different ethnic groups. Mesoamerica's biological and cultural diversity are severely threatened by human impact and natural disasters including extensive deforestation, illegal logging, water pollution, slash and burn agriculture, earthquakes, hurricanes, drought, and volcanic eruption. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA/MSFC), together with the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) and the SERVIR partners are developing state-of-the-art decision support tools for environmental monitoring as well as disaster prevention and mitigation in Mesoamerica. These partners are contributing expertise in space-based observation with information management technologies and intimate knowledge of local ecosystems to create a system that is being used by scientists, educators, and policy makers to monitor and forecast ecological changes, respond to natural disasters, and better understand both natural and human induced effects. The decision support and environmental monitoring data products are typically formatted as conventional two-dimensional, static and animated imagery. However, in addition to conventional data products and as a major portion of our research, we are employing commercial applications that generate three-dimensional interactive visualizations that allow data products to be viewed from multiple angles and at different scales. One of these is a 15 meter resolution mosaic of the entire Mesoamerican region. This paper gives an overview of the SERVIR project and its associated visualization methods.

Examining Challenges Related to the Production of Actionable Climate Knowledge for Adaptation Decision-Making: A Focus on Climate Knowledge System Producers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ernst, K.; Preston, B. L.; Tenggren, S.; Klein, R.; Gerger-Swartling, Å.

2017-12-01

Many challenges to adaptation decision-making and action have been identified across peer-reviewed and gray literature. These challenges have primarily focused on the use of climate knowledge for adaptation decision-making, the process of adaptation decision-making, and the needs of the decision-maker. Studies on climate change knowledge systems often discuss the imperative role of climate knowledge producers in adaptation decision-making processes and stress the need for producers to engage in knowledge co-production activities and to more effectively meet decision-maker needs. While the influence of climate knowledge producers on the co-production of science for adaptation decision-making is well-recognized, hardly any research has taken a direct approach to analyzing the challenges that climate knowledge producers face when undertaking science co-production. Those challenges can influence the process of knowledge production and may hinder the creation, utilization, and dissemination of actionable knowledge for adaptation decision-making. This study involves semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and participant observations to analyze, identify, and contextualize the challenges that climate knowledge producers in Sweden face as they endeavor to create effective climate knowledge systems for multiple contexts, scales, and levels across the European Union. Preliminary findings identify complex challenges related to education, training, and support; motivation, willingness, and culture; varying levels of prioritization; professional roles and responsibilities; the type and amount of resources available; and professional incentive structures. These challenges exist at varying scales and levels across individuals, organizations, networks, institutions, and disciplines. This study suggests that the creation of actionable knowledge for adaptation decision-making is not supported across scales and levels in the climate knowledge production landscape. Additionally, enabling the production of actionable knowledge for adaptation decision-making requires multi-level effort beyond the individual level.

Sensor to User - NASA/EOS Data for Coastal Zone Management Applications Developed from Integrated Analyses: Verification, Validation and Benchmark Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, Callie; Arnone, Robert

2006-01-01

The NASA Applied Sciences Program seeks to transfer NASA data, models, and knowledge into the hands of end-users by forming links with partner agencies and associated decision support tools (DSTs). Through the NASA REASoN (Research, Education and Applications Solutions Network) Cooperative Agreement, the Oceanography Division of the Naval Research Laboratory (NRLSSC) is developing new products through the integration of data from NASA Earth-Sun System assets with coastal ocean forecast models and other available data to enhance coastal management in the Gulf of Mexico. The recipient federal agency for this research effort is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The contents of this report detail the effort to further the goals of the NASA Applied Sciences Program by demonstrating the use of NASA satellite products combined with data-assimilating ocean models to provide near real-time information to maritime users and coastal managers of the Gulf of Mexico. This effort provides new and improved capabilities for monitoring, assessing, and predicting the coastal environment. Coastal managers can exploit these capabilities through enhanced DSTs at federal, state and local agencies. The project addresses three major issues facing coastal managers: 1) Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs); 2) hypoxia; and 3) freshwater fluxes to the coastal ocean. A suite of ocean products capable of describing Ocean Weather is assembled on a daily basis as the foundation for this semi-operational multiyear effort. This continuous realtime capability brings decision makers a new ability to monitor both normal and anomalous coastal ocean conditions with a steady flow of satellite and ocean model conditions. Furthermore, as the baseline data sets are used more extensively and the customer list increased, customer feedback is obtained and additional customized products are developed and provided to decision makers. Continual customer feedback and response with new improved products are required between the researcher and customer. This document details the methods by which these coastal ocean products are produced including the data flow, distribution, and verification. Product applications and the degree to which these products are used successfully within NOAA and coordinated with the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) is benchmarked.

A novel heuristic for optimization aggregate production problem: Evidence from flat panel display in Malaysia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Kuhali, K.; Hussain M., I.; Zain Z., M.; Mullenix, P.

2015-05-01

Aim: This paper contribute to the flat panel display industry it terms of aggregate production planning. Methodology: For the minimization cost of total production of LCD manufacturing, a linear programming was applied. The decision variables are general production costs, additional cost incurred for overtime production, additional cost incurred for subcontracting, inventory carrying cost, backorder costs and adjustments for changes incurred within labour levels. Model has been developed considering a manufacturer having several product types, which the maximum types are N, along a total time period of T. Results: Industrial case study based on Malaysia is presented to test and to validate the developed linear programming model for aggregate production planning. Conclusion: The model development is fit under stable environment conditions. Overall it can be recommended to adapt the proven linear programming model to production planning of Malaysian flat panel display industry.

A roadmap for cost-of-goods planning to guide economic production of cell therapy products.

PubMed

Lipsitz, Yonatan Y; Milligan, William D; Fitzpatrick, Ian; Stalmeijer, Evelien; Farid, Suzanne S; Tan, Kah Yong; Smith, David; Perry, Robert; Carmen, Jessica; Chen, Allen; Mooney, Charles; Fink, John

2017-12-01

Cell therapy products are frequently developed and produced without incorporating cost considerations into process development, contributing to prohibitively costly products. Herein we contextualize individual process development decisions within a broad framework for cost-efficient therapeutic manufacturing. This roadmap guides the analysis of cost of goods (COG) arising from tissue procurement, material acquisition, facility operation, production, and storage. We present the specific COG considerations related to each of these elements as identified through a 2013 International Society for Cellular Therapy COG survey, highlighting the differences between autologous and allogeneic products. Planning and accounting for COG at each step in the production process could reduce costs, allowing for more affordable market pricing to improve the long-term viability of the cell therapy product and facilitate broader patient access to novel and transformative cell therapies. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Cellular Therapy. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

USMC Acquisition Strategies For Cots Mobile Devices in the Tactical Environment

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-09-01

forms. Planned obsolescence is a designer and/or manufacturer approach that calls for product designs with artificially reduced life cycles (Seland...rapidly adopted by almost all cell phone manufacturers in short periods of time. Quick development of new products is deemed economical, and it is...Generally, a technology or product is considered obsolete when it is no longer being manufactured (Ward & Sohns, 2011). This decision to cease

Shrinking Sea Ice, Thawing Permafrost, Bigger Storms, and Extremely Limited Data - Addressing Information Needs of Stakeholders in Western Alaska Through Participatory Decisions and Collaborative Science.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murphy, K. A.; Reynolds, J.

2015-12-01

Communities, Tribes, and decision makers in coastal western Alaska are being impacted by declining sea ice, sea level rise, changing storm patterns and intensities, and increased rates of coastal erosion. Relative to their counterparts in the contiguous USA, their ability to plan for and respond to these changes is constrained by the region's generally meager or non-existent information base. Further, the information needs and logistic challenges are of a scale that perhaps can be addressed only through strong, strategic collaboration. Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) are fundamentally about applied science and collaboration, especially collaborative decision making. The Western Alaska LCC has established a process of participatory decision making that brings together researchers, agency managers, local experts from Tribes and field specialists to identify and prioritize shared information needs; develop a course of action to address them by using the LCC's limited resources to catalyze engagement, overcome barriers to progress, and build momentum; then ensure products are delivered in a manner that meets decision makers' needs. We briefly review the LCC's activities & outcomes from the stages of (i) collaborative needs assessment (joint with the Alaska Climate Science Center and the Alaska Ocean Observing System), (ii) strategic science activities, and (iii) product refinement and delivery. We discuss lessons learned, in the context of our recent program focused on 'Changes in Coastal Storms and Their Impacts' and current collaborative efforts focused on delivery of Coastal Resiliency planning tools and results from applied science projects. Emphasis is given to the various key interactions between scientists and decision makers / managers that have been promoted by this process to ensure alignment of final products to decision maker needs.

77 FR 41273 - Core Values and Characteristics of the Department

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-13

... the product of a 2-year collaborative and comprehensive development process, which was motivated by a... continuous improvement, and be thoughtful and decisive in leadership, accountable for their actions, willing...

A Hybrid-Cloud Science Data System Enabling Advanced Rapid Imaging & Analysis for Monitoring Hazards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hua, H.; Owen, S. E.; Yun, S.; Lundgren, P.; Moore, A. W.; Fielding, E. J.; Radulescu, C.; Sacco, G.; Stough, T. M.; Mattmann, C. A.; Cervelli, P. F.; Poland, M. P.; Cruz, J.

2012-12-01

Volcanic eruptions, landslides, and levee failures are some examples of hazards that can be more accurately forecasted with sufficient monitoring of precursory ground deformation, such as the high-resolution measurements from GPS and InSAR. In addition, coherence and reflectivity change maps can be used to detect surface change due to lava flows, mudslides, tornadoes, floods, and other natural and man-made disasters. However, it is difficult for many volcano observatories and other monitoring agencies to process GPS and InSAR products in an automated scenario needed for continual monitoring of events. Additionally, numerous interoperability barriers exist in multi-sensor observation data access, preparation, and fusion to create actionable products. Combining high spatial resolution InSAR products with high temporal resolution GPS products--and automating this data preparation & processing across global-scale areas of interests--present an untapped science and monitoring opportunity. The global coverage offered by satellite-based SAR observations, and the rapidly expanding GPS networks, can provide orders of magnitude more data on these hazardous events if we have a data system that can efficiently and effectively analyze the voluminous raw data, and provide users the tools to access data from their regions of interest. Currently, combined GPS & InSAR time series are primarily generated for specific research applications, and are not implemented to run on large-scale continuous data sets and delivered to decision-making communities. We are developing an advanced service-oriented architecture for hazard monitoring leveraging NASA-funded algorithms and data management to enable both science and decision-making communities to monitor areas of interests via seamless data preparation, processing, and distribution. Our objectives: * Enable high-volume and low-latency automatic generation of NASA Solid Earth science data products (InSAR and GPS) to support hazards monitoring. * Facilitate NASA-USGS collaborations to share NASA InSAR and GPS data products, which are difficult to process in high-volume and low-latency, for decision-support. * Enable interoperable discovery, access, and sharing of NASA observations and derived actionable products, and between the observation and decision-making communities. * Enable their improved understanding through visualization, mining, and cross-agency sharing. Existing InSAR & GPS processing packages and other software are integrated for generating geodetic decision support monitoring products. We employ semantic and cloud-based data management and processing techniques for handling large data volumes, reducing end product latency, codifying data system information with semantics, and deploying interoperable services for actionable products to decision-making communities.

Applying Evidence for Medical Technologies: Closing the Gap between R&D and Decision Maker Needs

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

In this interview, Dr Sean Tunis, former Director of the Office of Clinical Standards and Quality and Chief Medical Officer at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and current Director of the Center for Medical Technology Policy, discusses the need to align the demands of the industry on product development with provider and patient needs to ensure that products in the pipeline, especially those for chronic disease care, can actually provide clinical benefit. The question is how to make sure that new products and technologies are not only being approved by regulatory bodies but also serve real-world needs. This will also promote the acceptance of a product or service by all stakeholders—regulators, providers, payers, and purchasers—while meeting actual patient needs. Another question for payers and employers is how to create a benefit design that encourages the application of evidence in coverage decision-making toward value-based healthcare. PMID:25126286

Airline Operations Aid

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

C Language Integrated Production System (CLIPS), a NASA-developed expert systems program, is used by American Airlines for three purposes: as a rapid prototyping tool; to develop production prototypes; and to develop production application. An example of the latter is CLIPS' use in "Hub S1AAshing," a knowledge based system that recommends contingency plans when severe schedule reductions must be made. Hub S1AAshing has replaced a manual, labor intensive process. It saves time and allows Operations Control Coordinators to handle more difficult situations. Because the system assimilates much of the information necessary to facilitate educated decision making, it minimizes negative impact in situations where it is impossible to operate all flights.

Classifying Nanomaterial Risks Using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Linkov, I.; Steevens, J.; Chappell, M.; Tervonen, T.; Figueira, J. R.; Merad, M.

There is rapidly growing interest by regulatory agencies and stakeholders in the potential toxicity and other risks associated with nanomaterials throughout the different stages of the product life cycle (e.g., development, production, use and disposal). Risk assessment methods and tools developed and applied to chemical and biological material may not be readily adaptable for nanomaterials because of the current uncertainty in identifying the relevant physico-chemical and biological properties that adequately describe the materials. Such uncertainty is further driven by the substantial variations in the properties of the original material because of the variable manufacturing processes employed in nanomaterial production. To guide scientists and engineers in nanomaterial research and application as well as promote the safe use/handling of these materials, we propose a decision support system for classifying nanomaterials into different risk categories. The classification system is based on a set of performance metrics that measure both the toxicity and physico-chemical characteristics of the original materials, as well as the expected environmental impacts through the product life cycle. The stochastic multicriteria acceptability analysis (SMAA-TRI), a formal decision analysis method, was used as the foundation for this task. This method allowed us to cluster various nanomaterials in different risk categories based on our current knowledge of nanomaterial's physico-chemical characteristics, variation in produced material, and best professional judgement. SMAA-TRI uses Monte Carlo simulations to explore all feasible values for weights, criteria measurements, and other model parameters to assess the robustness of nanomaterial grouping for risk management purposes.1,2

Helping Resource Managers Understand Hydroclimatic Variability and Forecasts: A Case Study in Research Equity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartmann, H. C.; Pagano, T. C.; Sorooshian, S.; Bales, R.

2002-12-01

Expectations for hydroclimatic research are evolving as changes in the contract between science and society require researchers to provide "usable science" that can improve resource management policies and practices. However, decision makers have a broad range of abilities to access, interpret, and apply scientific research. "High-end users" have technical capabilities and operational flexibility capable of readily exploiting new information and products. "Low-end users" have fewer resources and are less likely to change their decision making processes without clear demonstration of benefits by influential early adopters (i.e., high-end users). Should research programs aim for efficiency, targeting high-end users? Should they aim for impact, targeting decisions with high economic value or great influence (e.g., state or national agencies)? Or should they focus on equity, whereby outcomes benefit groups across a range of capabilities? In this case study, we focus on hydroclimatic variability and forecasts. Agencies and individuals responsible for resource management decisions have varying perspectives about hydroclimatic variability and opportunities for using forecasts to improve decision outcomes. Improper interpretation of forecasts is widespread and many individuals find it difficult to place forecasts in an appropriate regional historical context. In addressing these issues, we attempted to mitigate traditional inequities in the scope, communication, and accessibility of hydroclimatic research results. High-end users were important in prioritizing information needs, while low-end users were important in determining how information should be communicated. For example, high-end users expressed hesitancy to use seasonal forecasts in the absence of quantitative performance evaluations. Our subsequently developed forecast evaluation framework and research products, however, were guided by the need for a continuum of evaluation measures and interpretive materials to enable low-end users to increase their understanding of probabilistic forecasts, credibility concepts, and implications for decision making. We also developed an interactive forecast assessment tool accessible over the Internet, to support resource decisions by individuals as well as agencies. The tool provides tutorials for guiding forecast interpretation, including quizzes that allow users to test their forecast interpretation skills. Users can monitor recent and historical observations for selected regions, communicated using terminology consistent with available forecast products. The tool also allows users to evaluate forecast performance for the regions, seasons, forecast lead times, and performance criteria relevant to their specific decision making situations. Using consistent product formats, the evaluation component allows individuals to use results at the level they are capable of understanding, while offering opportunity to shift to more sophisticated criteria. Recognizing that many individuals lack Internet access, the forecast assessment webtool design also includes capabilities for customized report generation so extension agents or other trusted information intermediaries can provide material to decision makers at meetings or site visits.

Development of WMS Capabilities to Support NASA Disasters Applications and App Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bell, J. R.; Burks, J. E.; Molthan, A.; McGrath, K. M.

2013-12-01

During the last year several significant disasters have occurred such as Superstorm Sandy on the East coast of the United States, and Typhoon Bopha in the Phillipines, along with several others. In support of these disasters NASA's Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center delivered various products derived from satellite imagery to help in the assessment of damage and recovery of the affected areas. To better support the decision makers responding to the disasters SPoRT quickly developed several solutions to provide the data using open Geographical Information Service (GIS) formats. Providing the data in open GIS standard formats allowed the end user to easily integrate the data into existing Decision Support Systems (DSS). Both Tile Mapping Service (TMS) and Web Mapping Service (WMS) were leveraged to quickly provide the data to the end-user. Development of the deliver methodology allowed quick response to rapidly developing disasters and enabled NASA SPoRT to bring science data to decision makers in a successful research to operations transition.

Development of WMS Capabilities to Support NASA Disasters Applications and App Development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bell, Jordan R.; Burks, Jason E.; Molthan, Andrew L.; McGrath, Kevin M.

2013-01-01

During the last year several significant disasters have occurred such as Superstorm Sandy on the East coast of the United States, and Typhoon Bopha in the Phillipines, along with several others. In support of these disasters NASA's Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center delivered various products derived from satellite imagery to help in the assessment of damage and recovery of the affected areas. To better support the decision makers responding to the disasters SPoRT quickly developed several solutions to provide the data using open Geographical Information Service (GIS) formats. Providing the data in open GIS standard formats allowed the end user to easily integrate the data into existing Decision Support Systems (DSS). Both Tile Mapping Service (TMS) and Web Mapping Service (WMS) were leveraged to quickly provide the data to the end-user. Development of the deliver methodology allowed quick response to rapidly developing disasters and enabled NASA SPoRT to bring science data to decision makers in a successful research to operations transition.

Development of Web Mapping Service Capabilities to Support NASA Disasters Applications/App Development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burks, Jason E.; Molthan, Andrew L.; McGrath, Kevin M.

2014-01-01

During the last year several significant disasters have occurred such as Superstorm Sandy on the East coast of the United States, and Typhoon Bopha in the Phillipines, along with several others. In support of these disasters NASA's Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center delivered various products derived from satellite imagery to help in the assessment of damage and recovery of the affected areas. To better support the decision makers responding to the disasters SPoRT quickly developed several solutions to provide the data using open Geographical Information Service (GIS) formats. Providing the data in open GIS standard formats allowed the end user to easily integrate the data into existing Decision Support Systems (DSS). Both Tile Mapping Service (TMS) and Web Mapping Service (WMS) were leveraged to quickly provide the data to the end-user. Development of the deliver methodology allowed quick response to rapidly developing disasters and enabled NASA SPoRT to bring science data to decision makers in a successful research to operations transition.

Development of Web Mapping Service Capabilities to Support NASA Disasters Applications / App Development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burks, Jason E.; Molthan, Andrew L.; McGrath, Kevin M.

2014-01-01

During the last year several significant disasters have occurred such as Superstorm Sandy on the East coast of the United States, and Typhoon Bopha in the Phillipines, along with several others. In support of these disasters NASA's Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center delivered various products derived from satellite imagery to help in the assessment of damage and recovery of the affected areas. To better support the decision makers responding to the disasters SPoRT quickly developed several solutions to provide the data using open Geographical Information Service (GIS) formats. Providing the data in open GIS standard formats allowed the end user to easily integrate the data into existing Decision Support Systems (DSS). Both Tile Mapping Service (TMS) and Web Mapping Service (WMS) were leveraged to quickly provide the data to the end-user. Development of the deliver methodology allowed quick response to rapidly developing disasters and enabled NASA SPoRT to bring science data to decision makers in a successful research to operations transition.

Developing a Dynamic SPARROW Water Quality Decision Support System Using NASA Remotely-Sensed Products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Hamdan, M. Z.; Smith, R. A.; Hoos, A.; Schwarz, G. E.; Alexander, R. B.; Crosson, W. L.; Srikishen, J.; Estes, M., Jr.; Cruise, J.; Al-Hamdan, A.; Ellenburg, W. L., II; Flores, A.; Sanford, W. E.; Zell, W.; Reitz, M.; Miller, M. P.; Journey, C. A.; Befus, K. M.; Swann, R.; Herder, T.; Sherwood, E.; Leverone, J.; Shelton, M.; Smith, E. T.; Anastasiou, C. J.; Seachrist, J.; Hughes, A.; Graves, D.

2017-12-01

The USGS Spatially Referenced Regression on Watershed Attributes (SPARROW) surface water quality modeling system has been widely used for long term, steady state water quality analysis. However, users have increasingly requested a dynamic version of SPARROW that can provide seasonal estimates of nutrients and suspended sediment to receiving waters. The goal of this NASA-funded project is to develop a dynamic decision support system to enhance the southeast SPARROW water quality model and finer-scale dynamic models for selected coastal watersheds through the use of remotely-sensed data and other NASA Land Information System (LIS) products. The spatial and temporal scale of satellite remote sensing products and LIS modeling data make these sources ideal for the purposes of development and operation of the dynamic SPARROW model. Remote sensing products including MODIS vegetation indices, SMAP surface soil moisture, and OMI atmospheric chemistry along with LIS-derived evapotranspiration (ET) and soil temperature and moisture products will be included in model development and operation. MODIS data will also be used to map annual land cover/land use in the study areas and in conjunction with Landsat and Sentinel to identify disturbed areas that might be sources of sediment and increased phosphorus loading through exposure of the bare soil. These data and others constitute the independent variables in a regression analysis whose dependent variables are the water quality constituents total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and suspended sediment. Remotely-sensed variables such as vegetation indices and ET can be proxies for nutrient uptake by vegetation; MODIS Leaf Area Index can indicate sources of phosphorus from vegetation; soil moisture and temperature are known to control rates of denitrification; and bare soil areas serve as sources of enhanced nutrient and sediment production. The enhanced SPARROW dynamic models will provide improved tools for end users to manage water quality in near real time and for the formulation of future scenarios to inform strategic planning. Time-varying SPARROW outputs will aid water managers in decision making regarding allocation of resources in protecting aquatic habitats, planning for harmful algal blooms, and restoration of degraded habitats, stream segments, or lakes.

The Database Business: Managing Today--Planning for Tomorrow. Profiting with New Products and Services.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berger, Mary C.; Bourne, Charles P.

1988-01-01

The first paper discusses the factors involved in a decision to provide document delivery services, including user needs, competitive climate, business potential, fit with current business, and logistics of providing the service. The second reviews the kinds of additional products that can be developed as a byproduct of conventional database…

Integrating land cover modeling and adaptive management to conserve endangered species and reduce catastrophic fire risk

USGS Publications Warehouse

Breininger, David; Duncan, Brean; Eaton, Mitchell J.; Johnson, Fred; Nichols, James

2014-01-01

Land cover modeling is used to inform land management, but most often via a two-step process, where science informs how management alternatives can influence resources, and then, decision makers can use this information to make decisions. A more efficient process is to directly integrate science and decision-making, where science allows us to learn in order to better accomplish management objectives and is developed to address specific decisions. Co-development of management and science is especially productive when decisions are complicated by multiple objectives and impeded by uncertainty. Multiple objectives can be met by the specification of tradeoffs, and relevant uncertainty can be addressed through targeted science (i.e., models and monitoring). We describe how to integrate habitat and fuel monitoring with decision-making focused on the dual objectives of managing for endangered species and minimizing catastrophic fire risk. Under certain conditions, both objectives might be achieved by a similar management policy; other conditions require tradeoffs between objectives. Knowledge about system responses to actions can be informed by developing hypotheses based on ideas about fire behavior and then applying competing management actions to different land units in the same system state. Monitoring and management integration is important to optimize state-specific management decisions and to increase knowledge about system responses. We believe this approach has broad utility and identifies a clear role for land cover modeling programs intended to inform decision-making.

Application of construal level and value-belief norm theories to undergraduate decision-making on a wildlife socio-scientific issue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sutter, A. McKinzie; Dauer, Jenny M.; Forbes, Cory T.

2018-06-01

One aim of science education is to develop scientific literacy for decision-making in daily life. Socio-scientific issues (SSI) and structured decision-making frameworks can help students reach these objectives. This research uses value belief norm (VBN) theory and construal level theory (CLT) to explore students' use of personal values in their decision-making processes and the relationship between abstract and concrete problematization and their decision-making. Using mixed methods, we conclude that the level of abstraction with which students problematise a prairie dog agricultural production and ecosystem preservation issue has a significant relationship to the values students used in the decision-making process. However, neither abstraction of the problem statement nor students' surveyed value orientations were significantly related to students' final decisions. These results may help inform teachers' understanding of students and their use of a structured-decision making tool in a classroom, and aid researchers in understanding if these tools help students remain objective in their analyses of complex SSIs.

Acquisition of linguistic procedures for printed words: neuropsychological implications for learning.

PubMed

Berninger, V W

1988-10-01

A microcomputerized experiment, administered to 45 children in the 2nd, 5th, and 8th month of first grade, manipulated three variables: (a) stimulus unit (whole word or letter-by-letter presentation), (b) nature of stimulus information (phonically regular words, phonically irregular words, nonsense words, and letter strings, which differ in whether phonemic, orthographic, semantic, and/or name codes are available), and (c) linguistic task (lexical decision, naming, and written reproduction). Letter-by-letter presentation resulted in more accurate lexical decision and naming but not more accurate written reproduction. Interactions between nature of stimulus information and linguistic task occurred. Throughout the year, accuracy was greater for lexical decision than for naming or written reproduction. The superiority of lexical decision cannot be attributed to the higher probability of correct responses on a binary choice task because only consistently correct responses on repeated trials were analyzed. The earlier development of lexical decision, a receptive task, than of naming or written reproduction, production tasks, suggests that hidden units (Hinton & Sejnowski, 1986) in tertiary cortical areas may abstract visual-linguistic associations in printed words before production units in primary cortical areas can produce printed words orally or graphically.

A center for commercial development of space: Real-time satellite mapping. Remote sensing-based agricultural information expert system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hadipriono, Fabian C.; Diaz, Carlos F.; Merritt, Earl S.

1989-01-01

The research project results in a powerful yet user friendly CROPCAST expert system for use by a client to determine the crop yield production of a certain crop field. The study is based on the facts that heuristic assessment and decision making in agriculture are significant and dominate much of agribusiness. Transfer of the expert knowledge concerning remote sensing based crop yield production into a specific expert system is the key program in this study. A knowledge base consisting of a root frame, CROP-YIELD-FORECAST, and four subframes, namely, SATELLITE, PLANT-PHYSIOLOGY, GROUND, and MODEL were developed to accommodate the production rules obtained from the domain expert. The expert system shell Personal Consultant Plus version 4.0. was used for this purpose. An external geographic program was integrated to the system. This project is the first part of a completely built expert system. The study reveals that much effort was given to the development of the rules. Such effort is inevitable if workable, efficient, and accurate rules are desired. Furthermore, abundant help statements and graphics were included. Internal and external display routines add to the visual capability of the system. The work results in a useful tool for the client for making decisions on crop yield production.

On the Performance Potential of Bioelectrochemical Life Support Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mansell, J. Matthew

2013-01-01

An area of growing multi-disciplinary research and revolutionary development for bio-processing on Earth is bioelectrochemical systems. These systems exploit the capability of many microorganisms to act as biocatalysts, enhancing the performance of electrochemical processes which convert low-value materials into valuable products. Many varieties of such processes hold potential value for space exploration as means to recycle metabolic waste and other undesirable materials or insitu resources into oxygen, water, and other valuable substances. However, the wide range of possible reactants, products, configurations, and operating parameters, along with the early stage of development and application on the ground necessitate thorough consideration of which, if any, possibilities could outperform existing technologies and should thus receive investment for space applications. In turn, the decision depends on the theoretical and practical limits of performance and the value of the reactant-product conversions within spaceflight scenarios, and should, to the greatest extent possible, be examined from the perspective of a fully designed, integrated system, rather than as an isolated unit lacking critical components like valves and pumps. Herein, we select a series of possible reactant-product conversions, develop concept process flow diagrams for each, and estimate theoretical and (where sufficient literature data allows) practical performance limitations of each. The objective was to estimate the costs, benefits, and risks of each concept in order to aid strategic decisions in the early-phase technology development effort.

Custom software development for use in a clinical laboratory

PubMed Central

Sinard, John H.; Gershkovich, Peter

2012-01-01

In-house software development for use in a clinical laboratory is a controversial issue. Many of the objections raised are based on outdated software development practices, an exaggeration of the risks involved, and an underestimation of the benefits that can be realized. Buy versus build analyses typically do not consider total costs of ownership, and unfortunately decisions are often made by people who are not directly affected by the workflow obstacles or benefits that result from those decisions. We have been developing custom software for clinical use for over a decade, and this article presents our perspective on this practice. A complete analysis of the decision to develop or purchase must ultimately examine how the end result will mesh with the departmental workflow, and custom-developed solutions typically can have the greater positive impact on efficiency and productivity, substantially altering the decision balance sheet. Involving the end-users in preparation of the functional specifications is crucial to the success of the process. A large development team is not needed, and even a single programmer can develop significant solutions. Many of the risks associated with custom development can be mitigated by a well-structured development process, use of open-source tools, and embracing an agile development philosophy. In-house solutions have the significant advantage of being adaptable to changing departmental needs, contributing to efficient and higher quality patient care. PMID:23372985

Custom software development for use in a clinical laboratory.

PubMed

Sinard, John H; Gershkovich, Peter

2012-01-01

In-house software development for use in a clinical laboratory is a controversial issue. Many of the objections raised are based on outdated software development practices, an exaggeration of the risks involved, and an underestimation of the benefits that can be realized. Buy versus build analyses typically do not consider total costs of ownership, and unfortunately decisions are often made by people who are not directly affected by the workflow obstacles or benefits that result from those decisions. We have been developing custom software for clinical use for over a decade, and this article presents our perspective on this practice. A complete analysis of the decision to develop or purchase must ultimately examine how the end result will mesh with the departmental workflow, and custom-developed solutions typically can have the greater positive impact on efficiency and productivity, substantially altering the decision balance sheet. Involving the end-users in preparation of the functional specifications is crucial to the success of the process. A large development team is not needed, and even a single programmer can develop significant solutions. Many of the risks associated with custom development can be mitigated by a well-structured development process, use of open-source tools, and embracing an agile development philosophy. In-house solutions have the significant advantage of being adaptable to changing departmental needs, contributing to efficient and higher quality patient care.

9 CFR 590.300 - Who may request an appeal inspection or review of an inspector's decision.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Who may request an appeal inspection or review of an inspector's decision. 590.300 Section 590.300 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY... PRODUCTS (EGG PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT) Appeal of An Inspection Or Decision § 590.300 Who may request an...

9 CFR 590.300 - Who may request an appeal inspection or review of an inspector's decision.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Who may request an appeal inspection or review of an inspector's decision. 590.300 Section 590.300 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY... PRODUCTS (EGG PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT) Appeal of An Inspection Or Decision § 590.300 Who may request an...

A Longitudinal Study of Students' Conceptualization of Ecological Processes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hellden, Gustav F.

During the last decades, an increasing awareness has developed that humankind will have to make important decisions about the environment which will demand substantive knowledge of critical ecological phenomena such as the production and decomposition of biomass (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). As a biology teacher the…

RECOVERY ACT - Methods for Decision under Technological Change Uncertainty and Risk Assessment for Integrated Assessment of Climate Change

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Webster, Mort David

2015-03-10

This report presents the final outcomes and products of the project as performed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The research project consists of three main components: methodology development for decision-making under uncertainty, improving the resolution of the electricity sector to improve integrated assessment, and application of these methods to integrated assessment. Results in each area is described in the report.

Remote Sensing Product Verification and Validation at the NASA Stennis Space Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stanley, Thomas M.

2005-01-01

Remote sensing data product verification and validation (V&V) is critical to successful science research and applications development. People who use remote sensing products to make policy, economic, or scientific decisions require confidence in and an understanding of the products' characteristics to make informed decisions about the products' use. NASA data products of coarse to moderate spatial resolution are validated by NASA science teams. NASA's Stennis Space Center (SSC) serves as the science validation team lead for validating commercial data products of moderate to high spatial resolution. At SSC, the Applications Research Toolbox simulates sensors and targets, and the Instrument Validation Laboratory validates critical sensors. The SSC V&V Site consists of radiometric tarps, a network of ground control points, a water surface temperature sensor, an atmospheric measurement system, painted concrete radial target and edge targets, and other instrumentation. NASA's Applied Sciences Directorate participates in the Joint Agency Commercial Imagery Evaluation (JACIE) team formed by NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to characterize commercial systems and imagery.

Error Analysis of CM Data Products Sources of Uncertainty

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hunt, Brian D.; Eckert-Gallup, Aubrey Celia; Cochran, Lainy Dromgoole

This goal of this project is to address the current inability to assess the overall error and uncertainty of data products developed and distributed by DOE’s Consequence Management (CM) Program. This is a widely recognized shortfall, the resolution of which would provide a great deal of value and defensibility to the analysis results, data products, and the decision making process that follows this work. A global approach to this problem is necessary because multiple sources of error and uncertainty contribute to the ultimate production of CM data products. Therefore, this project will require collaboration with subject matter experts across amore » wide range of FRMAC skill sets in order to quantify the types of uncertainty that each area of the CM process might contain and to understand how variations in these uncertainty sources contribute to the aggregated uncertainty present in CM data products. The ultimate goal of this project is to quantify the confidence level of CM products to ensure that appropriate public and worker protections decisions are supported by defensible analysis.« less

Managing maritime automobile terminals: an approach toward decision-support model for higher productivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beškovnik, Bojan; Twrdy, Elen

2011-12-01

The article describes actions and strategies to obtain higher productivity on maritime automobile terminals. The main focus is on elaboration of efficient and effective organizational structure to model and implement short-term, mid-term and long-term strategies. In addition, with an empiric approach we combined the analyses of current findings in important scientific papers and our acknowledgments in practical research of north Adriatic maritime automobile terminals. The main goal is to propose actions towards increasing system's productivity. Based on our research of the north Adriatic maritime automobile terminals and with Lambert's model an in-deep analysis of limiting factors, user's expectations and possibilities for productivity increase has been performed. Moreover, with our acknowledgments a three-level decision-support model is presented. With an adequate model implementation it is possible to efficiently develop and implement different strategies of productivity measurement and productivity increase, especially in the fields of internal transport productivity, entrance/exit truck gates operations and wagon manipulations. According to our observation a significant increase might be achieved in all three fields.

9 CFR 205.211 - Applicability of court decisions under the UCC.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... the UCC. 205.211 Section 205.211 Animals and Animal Products GRAIN INSPECTION, PACKERS AND STOCKYARDS... OF FARM PRODUCTS Interpretive Opinions § 205.211 Applicability of court decisions under the UCC. (a) Court decisions under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), about the scope of the “farm products...

9 CFR 205.211 - Applicability of court decisions under the UCC.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... the UCC. 205.211 Section 205.211 Animals and Animal Products GRAIN INSPECTION, PACKERS AND STOCKYARDS... OF FARM PRODUCTS Interpretive Opinions § 205.211 Applicability of court decisions under the UCC. (a) Court decisions under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), about the scope of the “farm products...

9 CFR 205.211 - Applicability of court decisions under the UCC.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... the UCC. 205.211 Section 205.211 Animals and Animal Products GRAIN INSPECTION, PACKERS AND STOCKYARDS... OF FARM PRODUCTS Interpretive Opinions § 205.211 Applicability of court decisions under the UCC. (a) Court decisions under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), about the scope of the “farm products...

9 CFR 205.211 - Applicability of court decisions under the UCC.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... the UCC. 205.211 Section 205.211 Animals and Animal Products GRAIN INSPECTION, PACKERS AND STOCKYARDS... OF FARM PRODUCTS Interpretive Opinions § 205.211 Applicability of court decisions under the UCC. (a) Court decisions under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), about the scope of the “farm products...

9 CFR 205.211 - Applicability of court decisions under the UCC.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... the UCC. 205.211 Section 205.211 Animals and Animal Products GRAIN INSPECTION, PACKERS AND STOCKYARDS... OF FARM PRODUCTS Interpretive Opinions § 205.211 Applicability of court decisions under the UCC. (a) Court decisions under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), about the scope of the “farm products...

40 CFR 203.5 - Suitable substitute decision.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Suitable substitute decision. 203.5... PROGRAMS LOW-NOISE-EMISSION PRODUCTS § 203.5 Suitable substitute decision. (a) If the Administrator... decide whether such product is a suitable substitute for any class or model or product being purchased by...

Beneficial uses of space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bloom, H. L.

1977-01-01

The study elicited over 100 ideas for Space Processing. Of the elicited ideas, more than 20% involved processing of biologicals, or related medical and life sciences applications. Among these were High Purity Separation of Isoenzymes, and Development of Biorhythms applications data. Program planning for four products is outlined. Experimentation and testing resulted in definition of nearly 70 series of tests in ground-based laboratories, sounding rockets, etc., and space shuttle. Development schedules established timing and interrelationships of decisions involved in carrying these products to the point of production. The potential profitability of the four products is determined. Resources needed to achieve full scale production included use of shuttle for transportation, for which cost apportionment model was developed. R and D resources for the four products totalled $46,000,000 with Isoenzymes requiring the smallest expenditure, $4,000,000. A computerized profitability model (INVEST) was used to determine the measures of profitability of each product. Results build confidence that there will be a payoff.

Virtual Factory Framework for Supporting Production Planning and Control.

PubMed

Kibira, Deogratias; Shao, Guodong

2017-01-01

Developing optimal production plans for smart manufacturing systems is challenging because shop floor events change dynamically. A virtual factory incorporating engineering tools, simulation, and optimization generates and communicates performance data to guide wise decision making for different control levels. This paper describes such a platform specifically for production planning. We also discuss verification and validation of the constituent models. A case study of a machine shop is used to demonstrate data generation for production planning in a virtual factory.

The combination of simulation and response methodology and its application in an aggregate production plan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Zhiming; Feng, Yuncheng

1988-08-01

This paper describes an algorithmic structure for combining simulation and optimization techniques both in theory and practice. Response surface methodology is used to optimize the decision variables in the simulation environment. A simulation-optimization software has been developed and successfully implemented, and its application to an aggregate production planning simulation-optimization model is reported. The model's objective is to minimize the production cost and to generate an optimal production plan and inventory control strategy for an aircraft factory.

Ergonomics and design: its principles applied in the industry.

PubMed

Tavares, Ademario Santos; Silva, Francisco Nilson da

2012-01-01

Industrial Design encompasses both product development and optimization of production process. In this sense, Ergonomics plays a fundamental role, because its principles, methods and techniques can help operators to carry out their tasks most successfully. A case study carried out in an industry shows that the interaction among Design, Production Engineering and Materials Engineering departments may improve some aspects concerned security, comfort, efficiency and performance. In this process, Ergonomics had shown to be of essential importance to strategic decision making to the improvement of production section.

Do probabilistic forecasts lead to better decisions?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramos, M. H.; van Andel, S. J.; Pappenberger, F.

2012-12-01

The last decade has seen growing research in producing probabilistic hydro-meteorological forecasts and increasing their reliability. This followed the promise that, supplied with information about uncertainty, people would take better risk-based decisions. In recent years, therefore, research and operational developments have also start putting attention to ways of communicating the probabilistic forecasts to decision makers. Communicating probabilistic forecasts includes preparing tools and products for visualization, but also requires understanding how decision makers perceive and use uncertainty information in real-time. At the EGU General Assembly 2012, we conducted a laboratory-style experiment in which several cases of flood forecasts and a choice of actions to take were presented as part of a game to participants, who acted as decision makers. Answers were collected and analyzed. In this paper, we present the results of this exercise and discuss if indeed we make better decisions on the basis of probabilistic forecasts.

Do probabilistic forecasts lead to better decisions?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramos, M. H.; van Andel, S. J.; Pappenberger, F.

2013-06-01

The last decade has seen growing research in producing probabilistic hydro-meteorological forecasts and increasing their reliability. This followed the promise that, supplied with information about uncertainty, people would take better risk-based decisions. In recent years, therefore, research and operational developments have also started focusing attention on ways of communicating the probabilistic forecasts to decision-makers. Communicating probabilistic forecasts includes preparing tools and products for visualisation, but also requires understanding how decision-makers perceive and use uncertainty information in real time. At the EGU General Assembly 2012, we conducted a laboratory-style experiment in which several cases of flood forecasts and a choice of actions to take were presented as part of a game to participants, who acted as decision-makers. Answers were collected and analysed. In this paper, we present the results of this exercise and discuss if we indeed make better decisions on the basis of probabilistic forecasts.

A programmable rules engine to provide clinical decision support using HTML forms.

PubMed

Heusinkveld, J; Geissbuhler, A; Sheshelidze, D; Miller, R

1999-01-01

The authors have developed a simple method for specifying rules to be applied to information on HTML forms. This approach allows clinical experts, who lack the programming expertise needed to write CGI scripts, to construct and maintain domain-specific knowledge and ordering capabilities within WizOrder, the order-entry and decision support system used at Vanderbilt Hospital. The clinical knowledge base maintainers use HTML editors to create forms and spreadsheet programs for rule entry. A test environment has been developed which uses Netscape to display forms; the production environment displays forms using an embedded browser.

Multiple objective optimization in reliability demonstration test

DOE PAGES

Lu, Lu; Anderson-Cook, Christine Michaela; Li, Mingyang

2016-10-01

Reliability demonstration tests are usually performed in product design or validation processes to demonstrate whether a product meets specified requirements on reliability. For binomial demonstration tests, the zero-failure test has been most commonly used due to its simplicity and use of minimum sample size to achieve an acceptable consumer’s risk level. However, this test can often result in unacceptably high risk for producers as well as a low probability of passing the test even when the product has good reliability. This paper explicitly explores the interrelationship between multiple objectives that are commonly of interest when planning a demonstration test andmore » proposes structured decision-making procedures using a Pareto front approach for selecting an optimal test plan based on simultaneously balancing multiple criteria. Different strategies are suggested for scenarios with different user priorities and graphical tools are developed to help quantify the trade-offs between choices and to facilitate informed decision making. As a result, potential impacts of some subjective user inputs on the final decision are studied to offer insights and useful guidance for general applications.« less

Co-creating Understanding in Water Use & Agricultural Resilience in a Multi-scale Natural-human System: Sacramento River Valley--California's Water Heartland in Transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fairbanks, D. H.; Brimlowe, J.; Chaudry, A.; Gray, K.; Greene, T.; Guzley, R.; Hatfield, C.; Houk, E.; Le Page, C.

2012-12-01

The Sacramento River Valley (SRV), valued for its $2.5 billion agricultural production and its biodiversity, is the main supplier of California's water, servicing 25 million people. . Despite rapid changes to the region, little is known about the collective motivations and consequences of land and water use decisions, or the social and environmental vulnerability and resilience of the SRV. The overarching research goal is to examine whether the SRV can continue to supply clean water for California and accommodate agricultural production and biodiversity while coping with climate change and population growth. Without understanding these issues, the resources of the SRV face an uncertain future. The defining goal is to construct a framework that integrates cross-disciplinary and diverse stakeholder perspectives in order to develop a comprehensive understanding of how SRV stakeholders make land and water use decisions. Traditional approaches for modeling have failed to take into consideration multi-scale stakeholder input. Currently there is no effective method to facilitate producers and government agencies in developing a shared representation to address the issues that face the region. To address this gap, researchers and stakeholders are working together to collect and consolidate disconnected knowledge held by stakeholder groups (agencies, irrigation districts, and producers) into a holistic conceptual model of how stakeholders view and make decisions with land and water use under various management systems. Our approach integrates a top-down approach (agency stakeholders) for larger scale management decisions with a conceptual co-creation and data gathering bottom-up approach with local agricultural producer stakeholders for input water and landuse decisions. Land use change models that combine a top-down approach with a bottom-up stakeholder approach are rare and yet essential to understanding how the social process of land use change and ecosystem function are linked. Data gathered in a survey of agency stakeholder perspectives on how producers operate with respect to crop types, fallowing and water transfers, production components and land changes were compared with monitoring data (1990-2011) covering two drought emergency time periods in the state. Results show that a synthesis is required between top-down and bottom-up approaches to understand land-use dynamics, as decision makers had a limited understanding on water and land-use decisions by land owners at the farm level. A major goal is to create a high level of transparency and stakeholder buy-in by co-developing a model of the system. The approach captures context-based parcel level changes that include the range of variability in natural-human systems such as decisions stakeholders make during drought vs. non-drought years. These decisions are crucial to understanding the tensions that current and future land-use change dynamics will place on the vulnerable hydrological system of the SRV. Knowledge gained through this effort will provide a rigorous conceptual understanding of how the primary land and water stakeholders in the SRV obtain and use water to accommodate competing interests of local agricultural production and resilience, environmental management, and regional and state water needs.

Design for Usability; practice-oriented research for user-centered product design.

PubMed

van Eijk, Daan; van Kuijk, Jasper; Hoolhorst, Frederik; Kim, Chajoong; Harkema, Christelle; Dorrestijn, Steven

2012-01-01

The Design for Usability project aims at improving the usability of electronic professional and consumer products by creating new methodology and methods for user-centred product development, which are feasible to apply in practice. The project was focused on 5 key areas: (i) design methodology, expanding the existing approach of scenario-based design to incorporate the interaction between product design, user characteristics, and user behaviour; (ii) company processes, barriers and enablers for usability in practice; (iii) user characteristics in relation to types of products and use-situations; (iv) usability decision-making; and (v) product impact on user behaviour. The project team developed methods and techniques in each of these areas to support the design of products with a high level of usability. This paper brings together and summarizes the findings.

Application of Geographical Information Systems and Remote Sensing technologies for assessing and monitoring malaria risk.

PubMed

Ceccato, P; Connor, S J; Jeanne, I; Thomson, M C

2005-03-01

Despite over 30 years of scientific research, algorithm development and multitudes of publications relating Remote Sensing (RS) information with the spatial and temporal distribution of malaria, it is only in recent years that operational products have been adopted by malaria control decision-makers. The time is ripe for the wealth of research knowledge and products from developed countries be made available to the decision-makers in malarious regions of the globe where this information is urgently needed. This paper reviews the capability of RS to provide useful information for operational malaria early warning systems. It also reviews the requirements for monitoring the major components influencing emergence of malaria and provides examples of applications that have been made. Discussion of the issues that have impeded implementation on a global scale and how those barriers are disappearing with recent economic, technological and political developments are explored; and help pave the way for implementation of an integrated Malaria Early Warning System framework using RS technologies.

An application of multiattribute decision analysis to the Space Station Freedom program. Case study: Automation and robotics technology evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Jeffrey H.; Levin, Richard R.; Carpenter, Elisabeth J.

1990-01-01

The results are described of an application of multiattribute analysis to the evaluation of high leverage prototyping technologies in the automation and robotics (A and R) areas that might contribute to the Space Station (SS) Freedom baseline design. An implication is that high leverage prototyping is beneficial to the SS Freedom Program as a means for transferring technology from the advanced development program to the baseline program. The process also highlights the tradeoffs to be made between subsidizing high value, low risk technology development versus high value, high risk technology developments. Twenty one A and R Technology tasks spanning a diverse array of technical concepts were evaluated using multiattribute decision analysis. Because of large uncertainties associated with characterizing the technologies, the methodology was modified to incorporate uncertainty. Eight attributes affected the rankings: initial cost, operation cost, crew productivity, safety, resource requirements, growth potential, and spinoff potential. The four attributes of initial cost, operations cost, crew productivity, and safety affected the rankings the most.

Paraconsistent Annotated Logic in Viability Analysis: an Approach to Product Launching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romeu de Carvalho, Fábio; Brunstein, Israel; Abe, Jair Minoro

2004-08-01

In this paper we present an application of the Para-analyzer, a logical analyzer based on the Paraconsistent Annotated Logic Pτ, introduced by Da Silva Filho and Abe in the decision-making systems. An example is analyzed in detail showing how uncertainty, inconsistency and paracompleteness can be elegantly handled with this logical system. As application for the Para-analyzer in decision-making, we developed the BAM — Baricenter Analysis Method. In order to make the presentation easier, we present the BAM applied in the viability analysis of product launching. Some of the techniques of Paraconsistent Annotated Logic have been applied in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Information Technolgy (Computer Sciences), etc..

The Regional Land Cover Monitoring System: Building regional capacity through innovative land cover mapping approaches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saah, D.; Tenneson, K.; Hanh, Q. N.; Aekakkararungroj, A.; Aung, K. S.; Goldstein, J.; Cutter, P. G.; Maus, P.; Markert, K. N.; Anderson, E.; Ellenburg, W. L.; Ate, P.; Flores Cordova, A. I.; Vadrevu, K.; Potapov, P.; Phongsapan, K.; Chishtie, F.; Clinton, N.; Ganz, D.

2017-12-01

Earth observation and Geographic Information System (GIS) tools, products, and services are vital to support the environmental decision making by governmental institutions, non-governmental agencies, and the general public. At the heart of environmental decision making is the monitoring land cover and land use change (LCLUC) for land resource planning and for ecosystem services, including biodiversity conservation and resilience to climate change. A major challenge for monitoring LCLUC in developing regions, such as Southeast Asia, is inconsistent data products at inconsistent intervals that have different typologies across the region and are typically made in without stakeholder engagement or input. Here we present the Regional Land Cover Monitoring System (RLCMS), a novel land cover mapping effort for Southeast Asia, implemented by SERVIR-Mekong, a joint NASA-USAID initiative that brings Earth observations to improve environmental decision making in developing countries. The RLCMS focuses on mapping biophysical variables (e.g. canopy cover, tree height, or percent surface water) at an annual interval and in turn using those biophysical variables to develop land cover maps based on stakeholder definitions of land cover classes. This allows for flexible and consistent land cover classifications that can meet the needs of different institutions across the region. Another component of the RLCMS production is the stake-holder engagement through co-development. Institutions that directly benefit from this system have helped drive the development for regional needs leading to services for their specific uses. Examples of services for regional stakeholders include using the RLCMS to develop maps using the IPCC classification scheme for GHG emission reporting and developing custom annual maps as an input to hydrologic modeling/flood forecasting systems. In addition to the implementation of this system and the service stemming from the RLCMS in Southeast Asia, it is planned to replicate the methods presented at the SERVIR-Hindu Kush Himalaya hub serving South Asia. Enhancements to the system will include change detection methods, enhanced biophysical models, and delivery systems.

Nanotoxicology and nanomedicine: making development decisions in an evolving governance environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rycroft, Taylor; Trump, Benjamin; Poinsatte-Jones, Kelsey; Linkov, Igor

2018-02-01

The fields of nanomedicine, risk analysis, and decision science have evolved considerably in the past decade, providing developers of nano-enabled therapies and diagnostic tools with more complete information than ever before and shifting a fundamental requisite of the nanomedical community from the need for more information about nanomaterials to the need for a streamlined method of integrating the abundance of nano-specific information into higher-certainty product design decisions. The crucial question facing nanomedicine developers that must select the optimal nanotechnology in a given situation has shifted from "how do we estimate nanomaterial risk in the absence of good risk data?" to "how can we derive a holistic characterization of the risks and benefits that a given nanomaterial may pose within a specific nanomedical application?" Many decision support frameworks have been proposed to assist with this inquiry; however, those based in multicriteria decision analysis have proven to be most adaptive in the rapidly evolving field of nanomedicine—from the early stages of the field when conditions of significant uncertainty and incomplete information dominated, to today when nanotoxicology and nano-environmental health and safety information is abundant but foundational paradigms such as chemical risk assessment, risk governance, life cycle assessment, safety-by-design, and stakeholder engagement are undergoing substantial reformation in an effort to address the needs of emerging technologies. In this paper, we reflect upon 10 years of developments in nanomedical engineering and demonstrate how the rich knowledgebase of nano-focused toxicological and risk assessment information developed over the last decade enhances the capability of multicriteria decision analysis approaches and underscores the need to continue the transition from traditional risk assessment towards risk-based decision-making and alternatives-based governance for emerging technologies.

7 CFR 70.100 - Who may request an appeal grading or review of a grader's decision.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT (CONTINUED) VOLUNTARY GRADING OF POULTRY PRODUCTS AND RABBIT PRODUCTS Grading of Poultry Products and Rabbit Products Appeal of A Grading Or Decision § 70.100 Who may request an appeal...

7 CFR 70.100 - Who may request an appeal grading or review of a grader's decision.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT (CONTINUED) VOLUNTARY GRADING OF POULTRY PRODUCTS AND RABBIT PRODUCTS Grading of Poultry Products and Rabbit Products Appeal of A Grading Or Decision § 70.100 Who may request an appeal...

FINAL TECHNICAL REPORT FOR FORESTRY BIOFUEL STATEWIDE COLLABORATION CENTER (MICHIGAN)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

LaCourt, Donna M.; Miller, Raymond O.; Shonnard, David R.

A team composed of scientists from Michigan State University (MSU) and Michigan Technological University (MTU) assembled to better understand, document, and improve systems for using forest-based biomass feedstocks in the production of energy products within Michigan. Work was funded by a grant (DE-EE-0000280) from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and was administered by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). The goal of the project was to improve the forest feedstock supply infrastructure to sustainably provide woody biomass for biofuel production in Michigan over the long-term. Work was divided into four broad areas with associated objectives: • TASK A: Developmore » a Forest-Based Biomass Assessment for Michigan – Define forest-based feedstock inventory, availability, and the potential of forest-based feedstock to support state and federal renewable energy goals while maintaining current uses. • TASK B: Improve Harvesting, Processing and Transportation Systems – Identify and develop cost, energy, and carbon efficient harvesting, processing and transportation systems. • TASK C: Improve Forest Feedstock Productivity and Sustainability – Identify and develop sustainable feedstock production systems through the establishment and monitoring of a statewide network of field trials in forests and energy plantations. • TASK D: Engage Stakeholders – Increase understanding of forest biomass production systems for biofuels by a broad range of stakeholders. The goal and objectives of this research and development project were fulfilled with key model deliverables including: 1) The Forest Biomass Inventory System (Sub-task A1) of feedstock inventory and availability and, 2) The Supply Chain Model (Sub-task B2). Both models are vital to Michigan’s forest biomass industry and support forecasting delivered cost, as well as carbon and energy balance. All of these elements are important to facilitate investor, operational and policy decisions. All other sub-tasks supported the development of these two tools either directly or by building out supporting information in the forest biomass supply chain. Outreach efforts have, and are continuing to get these user friendly models and information to decision makers to support biomass feedstock supply chain decisions across the areas of biomass inventory and availability, procurement, harvest, forwarding, transportation and processing. Outreach will continue on the project website at http://www.michiganforestbiofuels.org/ and http://www.michiganwoodbiofuels.org/« less

[Laparoscopic single patient use instruments: expensive outsourcing of product quality?].

PubMed

von Eiff, W; Ziegenbein, R

2000-01-01

The supply of medical goods is an important critical success factor in German hospitals. One major managerial area in the procurement concerns the decision between single patient use (SPU) and multiple patient use (MPU) products. Especially laparoscopic instruments which are generally expensive are a field of interest for decision makers. Due to a lack of quantifiable factors describing the two different forms of supply alternatives with their effects on effectivity and efficiency of the procurement process and the final use are often not taken into account. Since it is expected that in the future more and more laparoscopic instruments will be needed there is a necessity for finding a concept allowing the identification of the "right" product. The Center for Hospital Management (CKM) has the aim to develop a corresponding approach but needs the help of the reader.

Consumer Perception and Buying Decisions(The Pasta Study)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kazmi, Syeda Quratulain

2012-11-01

The project ìconsumer perception and buying behavior (the pasta studyî) is basically measures the development of perception through different variables and identify those factors which stimulate buying decision of consumer. Among various variables which effect consumer buying pattern I choose AWARENESS and AVAILABILITY of the product as two main variables which have strong effect on popularity and sale of pasta product. As my research is totally based on qualitative method thatís why I choose quota sampling technique and collect data by interviewing house wives resides in different areas of Karachi. The reason of choosing only house wives as respondent is that house wives can give true insight factors which hinder the popularity of pasta products in Pakistan. Focus group discussions have been conducted to extract findings. 30 house wives have been interviewed and their responses have been analyzed.

Task 1.13 -- Data collection and database development for clean coal technology by-product characteristics and management practices. Semi-annual report, July 1--December 31, 1996

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pflughoeft-Hassett, D.F.

1997-08-01

Information from DOE projects and commercial endeavors in fluidized-bed combustion and coal gasification is the focus of this task by the Energy and Environmental Research Center. The primary goal of this task is to provide an easily accessible compilation of characterization information on CCT (Clean Coal Technology) by-products to government agencies and industry to facilitate sound regulatory and management decisions. Supporting objectives are (1) to fully utilize information from previous DOE projects, (2) to coordinate with industry and other research groups, (3) to focus on by-products from pressurized fluidized-bed combustion (PFBC) and gasification, and (4) to provide information relevant tomore » the EPA evaluation criteria for the Phase 2 decision.« less

Using a Decision Support System to Optimize Production of Agricultural Crop Residue Biofeedstock

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Reed L. Hoskinson; Ronald C. Rope; Raymond K. Fink

2007-04-01

For several years the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has been developing a Decision Support System for Agriculture (DSS4Ag) which determines the economically optimum recipe of various fertilizers to apply at each site in a field to produce a crop, based on the existing soil fertility at each site, as well as historic production information and current prices of fertilizers and the forecast market price of the crop at harvest, for growing a crop such as wheat, potatoes, corn, or cotton. In support of the growing interest in agricultural crop residues as a bioenergy feedstock, we have extended the capability ofmore » the DSS4Ag to develop a variable-rate fertilizer recipe for the simultaneous economically optimum production of both grain and straw, and have been conducting field research to test this new DSS4Ag. In this paper we report the results of two years of field research testing and enhancing the DSS4Ag’s ability to economically optimize the fertilization for the simultaneous production of both grain and its straw, where the straw is an agricultural crop residue that can be used as a biofeedstock.« less

Hazardous Wastes: A Risk Benefit Framework Applied to Cadmium and Asbestos (1977)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This study develops a decision framework for evaluating hazardous waste standards in terms of social risks and product benefits. The analysis focuses of cadmium and asbestos as examples of land waste disposal problems.

Development of Chemical Process Design and Control for Sustainability

EPA Science Inventory

This contribution describes a novel process systems engineering framework that couples advanced control with sustainability evaluation and decision making for the optimization of process operations to minimize environmental impacts associated with products, materials, and energy....

Pilot Program for the Development of Classification and Accuracy Assessment Methods and Improved Accessibility for Landsat and Related GIS Data and Technology Transfer of These Methods to State and Local Governments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Limp, W. Fredrick

1996-01-01

This project has a single, comprehensive objective that is manifested in many tangible products and impacts throughout the state and the mid-south region. The primary objective or mission of this project is to expose the broadest possible cross-section of public sector decision makers responsible for developing and maintaining policy at the state, local and national levels, private sector professionals and students to the power, flexibility and utility of sensor based imagery and the mapping and interpretive products that are derived from these digital geodata. In accomplishing this mission this project has worked to provide hands-on exposure and training to primary and secondary teachers; developed and distributed instructional materials to students across the state; created an on-line archive of satellite images and related geographic data; implemented a service that enables users throughout the region and around the world to develop customized mapping products suitable for visualization and/or decision support from the comfort of their classroom or office via an internet connection to our facility; extended the use of sensor based imagery in natural resource management and commercial applications through a range of pilot research initiatives, demonstrations, presentations and professional papers.

Strategies to advance vaccine technologies for resource-poor settings.

PubMed

Kristensen, Debra; Chen, Dexiang

2013-04-18

New vaccine platform and delivery technologies that can have significant positive impacts on the effectiveness, acceptability, and safety of immunizations in developing countries are increasingly available. Although donor support for vaccine technology development is strong, the uptake of proven technologies by the vaccine industry and demand for them by purchasers continues to lag. This article explains the challenges and opportunities associated with accelerating the availability of innovative and beneficial vaccine technologies to meet critical needs in resource-poor settings over the next decade. Progress will require increased dialog between the public and private sectors around vaccine product attributes; establishment of specifications for vaccines that mirror programmatic needs; stronger encouragement of vaccine developers to consider novel technologies early in the product development process; broader facilitation of research and access to technologies through the formation of centers of excellence; the basing of vaccine purchase decisions on immunization systems costs rather than price per dose alone; possible subsidization of early technology adoption costs for vaccine producers that take on the risks of new technologies of importance to the public sector; and the provision of data to purchasers, better enabling them to make informed decisions that take into account the value of specific product attributes. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A framework for assessing water and proppant use and flowback water extraction associated with development of continuous petroleum resources

USGS Publications Warehouse

Haines, Seth S.; Cook, Troy; Thamke, Joanna N.; Davis, Kyle W.; Long, Andrew J.; Healy, Richard W.; Hawkins, Sarah J.; Engle, Mark A.

2014-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey is developing approaches for the quantitative assessment of water and proppant involved with possible future production of continuous petroleum deposits. The assessment approach is an extension of existing U.S. Geological Survey petroleum-assessment methods, and it aims to provide objective information that helps decision makers understand the tradeoffs inherent in resource-development decisions. This fact sheet provides an overview of U.S. Geological Survey assessments for quantities of water and proppant required for drilling and hydraulic fracturing and for flowback water extracted with petroleum; the report also presents the form of the intended assessment output information.

Going the Extra Mile: Making Climate Data and Information Usable for Decision Making (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garfin, G. M.

2013-12-01

Actionable science, defined as 'data, analysis, and forecasts that are sufficiently predictive, accepted and understandable to support decision-making,' is the holy grail for climate scientists engaged in working with decision makers, to provide the scientific basis for adaptation planning and decisions. The literature on boundary organizations and science translation offers guidelines and best practices for the generation of climate information that is useful and usable for policy and operational decisions. Guidelines emphasize understanding decision contexts and constraints, trust building, development of a shared vision of usable science, co-production of knowledge, iterative and sustained engagement, and the development and leveraging of knowledge networks and communities of practice. Some studies offer the advice that climate change is fraught with irreducible or slowly reducible uncertainties; hence, the adoption of adaptive risk management approaches is more valuable in the near-term than scientific effort to reduce uncertainty or combine data in novel ways. Nevertheless, many water resource managers still seek science that reduces uncertainties, assurance that the range of projections will not change, evidence of cause and effect (e.g., atmospheric circulation patterns linked to regional precipitation anomalies) and information that is as close to deterministic as possible. So, how does the scientific community move forward on initiatives that integrate paleoclimate, observations, and model projections, to inform water resource management? There are no simple answers, because the uses of climate and hydrological data and information are context dependent. Scientists have products -- data and information -- and they need to research characteristics of the consumers of their product. What is the consumer's operating procedure, and world view? How does the consumer handle uncertainty? What is their tolerance for risk? What social and political factors, environmental impact covenants, and professional standards constrain their use of new data sources, or combinations of data? What data do they currently use, and what are their protocols and standards for quality assurance? For individual projects, this may entail understanding data requirements, such as time step, format, techniques, abilities to change operational practices, and so on. It also may require an understanding of an organization's structure and internal communication. Are you working with upper management, middle management, technicians? Among those, who are early adopters, credible messengers, champions for your product? This endeavor, to get one's product into use, may also entail understanding use of data and information to inform decisions. For instance information may be consulted or used passively in deliberations; it may be used to communicate risk or justify actions; it may be incorporated directly into operational models, planning, and policy. As a community, scientists must make clear the uncertainties associated with products, the best practices for using a plethora of products, as well as the benefits -- in ways that are transparent and testable. As an analogue, consider the gap between the discovery of ENSO, the staggering impacts of the 1982-83 event, the successful prediction of the 1997-98 event, the regular incorporation of ENSO in seasonal prediction, public familiarity with 'El Nino,' and the persistent gap in forecast use.

Probabilistic Weather Information Tailored to the Needs of Transmission System Operators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alberts, I.; Stauch, V.; Lee, D.; Hagedorn, R.

2014-12-01

Reliable and accurate forecasts for wind and photovoltaic (PV) power production are essential for stable transmission systems. A high potential for improving the wind and PV power forecasts lies in optimizing the weather forecasts, since these energy sources are highly weather dependent. For this reason the main objective of the German research project EWeLiNE is to improve the quality the underlying numerical weather predictions towards energy operations. In this project, the German Meteorological Service (DWD), the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy and Energy System Technology, and three of the German transmission system operators (TSOs) are working together to improve the weather and power forecasts. Probabilistic predictions are of particular interest, as the quantification of uncertainties provides an important tool for risk management. Theoretical considerations suggest that it can be advantageous to use probabilistic information to represent and respond to the remaining uncertainties in the forecasts. However, it remains a challenge to integrate this information into the decision making processes related to market participation and power systems operations. The project is planned and carried out in close cooperation with the involved TSOs in order to ensure the usability of the products developed. It will conclude with a demonstration phase, in which the improved models and newly developed products are combined into a process chain and used to provide information to TSOs in a real-time decision support tool. The use of a web-based development platform enables short development cycles and agile adaptation to evolving user needs. This contribution will present the EWeLiNE project and discuss ideas on how to incorporate probabilistic information into the users' current decision making processes.

Decision Support Model for Selection Technologies in Processing of Palm Oil Industrial Liquid Waste

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishak, Aulia; Ali, Amir Yazid bin

2017-12-01

The palm oil industry continues to grow from year to year. Processing of the palm oil industry into crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel oil (PKO). The ratio of the amount of oil produced by both products is 30% of the raw material. This means that 70% is palm oil waste. The amount of palm oil waste will increase in line with the development of the palm oil industry. The amount of waste generated by the palm oil industry if it is not handled properly and effectively will contribute significantly to environmental damage. Industrial activities ranging from raw materials to produce products will disrupt the lives of people around the factory. There are many alternative technologies available to process other industries, but problems that often occur are difficult to implement the most appropriate technology. The purpose of this research is to develop a database of waste processing technology, looking for qualitative and quantitative criteria to select technology and develop Decision Support System (DSS) that can help make decisions. The method used to achieve the objective of this research is to develop a questionnaire to identify waste processing technology and develop the questionnaire to find appropriate database technology. Methods of data analysis performed on the system by using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and to build the model by using the MySQL Software that can be used as a tool in the evaluation and selection of palm oil mill processing technology.

Rules for biocatalyst and reaction engineering to implement effective, NAD(P)H-dependent, whole cell bioreductions

PubMed Central

Kratzer, Regina; Woodley, John M.; Nidetzky, Bernd

2016-01-01

Access to chiral alcohols of high optical purity is today frequently provided by the enzymatic reduction of precursor ketones. However, bioreductions are complicated by the need for reducing equivalents in the form of NAD(P)H. The high price and molecular weight of NAD(P)H necessitate in situ recycling of catalytic quantities, which is mostly accomplished by enzymatic oxidation of a cheap co-substrate. The coupled oxidoreduction can be either performed by free enzymes in solution or by whole cells. Reductase selection, the decision between cell-free and whole cell reduction system, coenzyme recycling mode and reaction conditions represent design options that strongly affect bioreduction efficiency. In this paper, each option was critically scrutinized and decision rules formulated based on well-described literature examples. The development chain was visualized as a decision-tree that can be used to identify the most promising route towards the production of a specific chiral alcohol. General methods, applications and bottlenecks in the set-up are presented and key experiments required to “test” for decision-making attributes are defined. The reduction of o-chloroacetophenone to (S)-1-(2-chlorophenyl)ethanol was used as one example to demonstrate all the development steps. Detailed analysis of reported large scale bioreductions identified product isolation as a major bottleneck in process design. PMID:26343336

Mechatronics design principles for biotechnology product development.

PubMed

Mandenius, Carl-Fredrik; Björkman, Mats

2010-05-01

Traditionally, biotechnology design has focused on the manufacture of chemicals and biologics. Still, a majority of biotechnology products that appear on the market today is the result of mechanical-electric (mechatronic) construction. For these, the biological components play decisive roles in the design solution; the biological entities are either integral parts of the design, or are transformed by the mechatronic system. This article explains how the development and production engineering design principles used for typical mechanical products can be adapted to the demands of biotechnology products, and how electronics, mechanics and biology can be integrated more successfully. We discuss three emerging areas of biotechnology in which mechatronic design principles can apply: stem cell manufacture, artificial organs, and bioreactors. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of Relative Importance Values as Contribution Weights for Evaluating Human Wellbeing: An Ecosystem Services Example

EPA Science Inventory

The dependence of society on the flows, valuation and provisioning of various capital driven services is key to understanding and developing linkages to human wellbeing. By extension, decision makers need knowledge and an array of products that allow them to think more broadly a...

The Relationship between Statistical Analysis Abilities and the Production of Research among Saudi Faculty Members

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Hattami, Abdulghani Ali Dawod; Al-Ahdal, Arif Ahmed Mohammed Hassa

2015-01-01

Scientific research plays an important role in creating growth and progress in developing countries (Greenstone, 2010). Developed countries have realized that importance and focused on conducting scientific researches to help them make valuable decisions. Many Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, are trying to encourage faculty members at all…

Developing a Benchmark Tool for Sustainable Consumption: An Iterative Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heiskanen, E.; Timonen, P.; Nissinen, A.; Gronroos, J.; Honkanen, A.; Katajajuuri, J. -M.; Kettunen, J.; Kurppa, S.; Makinen, T.; Seppala, J.; Silvenius, F.; Virtanen, Y.; Voutilainen, P.

2007-01-01

This article presents the development process of a consumer-oriented, illustrative benchmarking tool enabling consumers to use the results of environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) to make informed decisions. LCA provides a wealth of information on the environmental impacts of products, but its results are very difficult to present concisely…

The Adoption and Diffusion of Web Technologies into Mainstream Teaching.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hansen, Steve; Salter, Graeme

2001-01-01

Discusses various adoption and diffusion frameworks and methodologies to enhance the use of Web technologies by teaching staff. Explains the use of adopter-based models for product development; discusses the innovation-decision process; and describes PlatformWeb, a Web information system that was developed to help integrate a universities'…

76 FR 11440 - Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Decision and Order Granting a Waiver to...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-02

... Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Decision and Order Granting a Waiver to Electrolux From the... described in this notice. Today's decision prohibits Electrolux from making representations concerning the... Renewable Energy, Department of Energy. ACTION: Decision and Order. SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy...

The impact of ecolabel knowledge to purchase decision of green producton biology students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sigit, Diana Vivanti; Fauziah, Rizky; Heryanti, Erna

2017-08-01

The world needs real solutions to reduce the impact of environmental damages. Students as agents of changes have a role to overcome these problems. One of the important solution is to be a critical consumer who has purchase decisions in a green product. To show the quality of an environmental friendly product, it is then required an ecolabel on the green product which indicates that the product has been through the production processed and come from environmental friendly substances. The research aimed at finding out whether there was an impact of ecolabel knowledge with purchase decision of green product on biology students. This research was conducted in Biology Department. This research used a survey descriptive method. The population used was biology students of Universitas Negeri Jakarta while the sampling technique was done through simple random sampling technique with 147 respondents. Instrument used were ecolabel knowledge test and a questionnaire of green product purchase decision. The result of prerequisite test showed that the data was normally distributed and homogenous variance. The regression model obtained was Ŷ=77.083+ 0.370X. Meanwhile, the determinant coefficient (r2) obtained was 0.047 or 4.7% that mean ecolabel knowledge just contributed 4,71% to the green product purchase decision. These implied that many factors contributed in the purchase decision of green product instead of ecolabel knowledge.

Number of solutions effects in stem decision: support for the distinction between identification and production processes in priming.

PubMed

Barnhardt, Terrence M

2005-10-01

Three experiments explored the distinction between identification and production processes (e.g., Gabrieli et al., 1999). A stem decision test was introduced, in which participants were asked to state whether there were any English words that began with the presented three-letter stems. In Experiment 1, stem decision priming was robust for single-solution stems, but much reduced for many-solution stems. In Experiment 2, the solutions effect in stem decision was replicated in a within-subjects design, as was the contrast between the presence of priming in a many-solution stem completion test and the absence of priming in a many-solution stem decision test. In Experiment 3, for each critical many-solution stem in the stem decision test, participants studied three words that began with those three letters. Again, priming was not observed. These results were consistent with the notions that (a) many-solution stem completion relies on production processes, (b) the stem decision test eliminates production processes, and (c) single-solution priming relies on identification processes, regardless of whether the test is stem completion or stem decision.

Keeping Communication Continuous

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2003-01-01

General Dynamics Decision Systems employees have played a role in supplying telemetry, tracking, and control (TT&C) and other communications systems to NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense for over 40 years. Providing integrated communication systems and subsystems for nearly all manned and unmanned U.S. space flights, the heritage of this Scottsdale, Arizona-based company includes S-band transceivers that enabled millions of Americans to see Neil Armstrong and hear his prophetic words from the Moon in 1969. More recently, Decision Systems has collaborated with NASA s Goddard Space Flight Center to develop transponders, wireless communications devices that pick up and automatically respond to an incoming signal, for NASA s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS). Four generations of Decision Systems TDRSS transponders have been developed under Goddard s sponsorship. The company s Fourth Generation TDRSS User Transponder (TDRSS IV) allows low-Earth-orbiting spacecraft to communicate continuously with a single ground station at White Sands, New Mexico, through a constellation of geostationary relay satellites positioned at key locations around the Earth. In addition to the communications of forward link control commands and return link telemetry data, the TDRSS IV also supports spacecraft orbit tracking through coherent turn-around of a pseudo-noise ranging code and two-way Doppler tracking.When the NSBF adopted the use of global positioning system receivers for balloon position tracking, Decision Systems concluded that a simpler, noncoherent transceiver could provide the NSBF with the necessary TDRSS communications without the additional cost and complexity of a coherent transponder. The solution was to take the core design of the TDRSS IV Transponder, but remove the extra functionality that supported coherent turn-around. This would simplify the production effort, reduce the testing required, and result in a lower cost product with smaller size, weight, and power consumption. Once NSBF and Decision Systems agreed on a concept for this new product, known as the Multi-Mode Transceiver (MMT), the NSBF approached Goddard for approval and funding.

Joint Decisions on Production and Pricing with Strategic Consumers for Green Crowdfunding Products.

PubMed

Chen, Yuting; Zhang, Rong; Liu, Bin

2017-09-20

Green crowdfunding is developing as a novel and popular transaction method, which can largely improve the efficiency of raising initial funds and selling innovative green products or services. In this paper, we explore the creator's joint decisions regarding green crowdfunding products of different quality levels that can sufficiently satisfy consumer preferences. Firstly, considering the characteristics of a green crowdfunding product, we present four pricing strategies when substitutes exist. Then we propose the optimal pricing strategies to maximize the total profit for the creator under different circumstances, facing strategic and myopic consumers. Finally, for the heterogeneity of consumer valuations, we compare the total profits of the four pricing strategies under different values of the substitution coefficient to obtain the optimal pricing and product strategies under the coexistence of strategic and myopic consumers. According to the result, we find that when the fraction of high-type consumers and the gap between high and low valuations is big, or when they are both small, traditional single pricing shows its benefit. However, when the green crowdfunding products are better than their substitute, a line of green products is more likely to be optimal.

Joint Decisions on Production and Pricing with Strategic Consumers for Green Crowdfunding Products

PubMed Central

Chen, Yuting; Zhang, Rong

2017-01-01

Green crowdfunding is developing as a novel and popular transaction method, which can largely improve the efficiency of raising initial funds and selling innovative green products or services. In this paper, we explore the creator’s joint decisions regarding green crowdfunding products of different quality levels that can sufficiently satisfy consumer preferences. Firstly, considering the characteristics of a green crowdfunding product, we present four pricing strategies when substitutes exist. Then we propose the optimal pricing strategies to maximize the total profit for the creator under different circumstances, facing strategic and myopic consumers. Finally, for the heterogeneity of consumer valuations, we compare the total profits of the four pricing strategies under different values of the substitution coefficient to obtain the optimal pricing and product strategies under the coexistence of strategic and myopic consumers. According to the result, we find that when the fraction of high-type consumers and the gap between high and low valuations is big, or when they are both small, traditional single pricing shows its benefit. However, when the green crowdfunding products are better than their substitute, a line of green products is more likely to be optimal. PMID:28930198

Build loyalty in business markets.

PubMed

Narayandas, Das

2005-09-01

Companies often apply consumer marketing solutions in business markets without realizing that such strategies only hamper the acquisition and retention of profitable customers. Unlike consumers, business customers inevitably need customized products, quantities, or prices. A company in a business market must therefore manage customers individually, showing how its products or services can help solve each buyer's problems. And it must learn to reap the enormous benefits of loyalty by developing individual relationships with customers. To achieve these ends, the firm's marketers must become aware of the different types of benefits the company offers and convey their value to the appropriate executives in the customer company. It's especially important to inform customers about what the author calls nontangible nonfinancial benefits-above-and-beyond efforts, such as delivering supplies on holidays to keep customers' production lines going. The author has developed a simple set of devices-the benefit stack and the decision-maker stack-to help marketers communicate their firm's myriad benefits. The vendor lists the benefits it offers, then lists the customer's decision makers, specifying their concerns, motivations, and power bases. By linking the two stacks, the vendor can systematically communicate how it will meet each decision-maker's needs. The author has also developed a tool called a loyalty ladder, which helps a company determine how much time and money to spend on relationships with various customers. As customers become increasingly loyal, they display behaviors in a predictable sequence, from growing the relationship and providing word-of-mouth endorsements to investing in the vendor company. The author has found that customers follow the same sequence of loyalty behaviors in all business markets.

Get your science used—Six guidelines to improve your products

USGS Publications Warehouse

Perry, Suzanne C.; Blanpied, Michael L.; Burkett, Erin R.; Campbell, Nnenia M.; Carlson, Anders; Cox, Dale A.; Driedger, Carolyn L.; Eisenman, David P.; Fox-Glassman, Katherine T.; Hoffman, Sherry; Hoffman, Susanna M.; Jaiswal, Kishor S.; Jones, Lucile M.; Luco, Nicolas; Marx, Sabine M.; McGowan, Sean M.; Mileti, Dennis S.; Moschetti, Morgan P.; Ozman, David; Pastor, Elizabeth; Petersen, Mark D.; Porter, Keith A.; Ramsey, David W.; Ritchie, Liesel A.; Fitzpatrick, Jessica K.; Rukstales, Kenneth S.; Sellnow, Timothy L.; Vaughon, Wendy L.; Wald, David J.; Wald, Lisa A.; Wein, Anne; Zarcadoolas, Christina

2016-03-03

On the basis of research and practice into how people think, use tools, make decisions, and understand scientific/technical information, the social and behavioral scientists, marketers, and social-impact designers at the NSHM workshop provided remarkably consistent guidelines to develop successful science products, such as text, maps, and other products. In this report the guidelines are numbered for clarity, but they can be applied repeatedly, piecemeal, or out of order to fit each project and your resources.

Global economic-biophysical assessment of midterm scenarios for agricultural markets—biofuel policies, dietary patterns, cropland expansion, and productivity growth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delzeit, Ruth; Klepper, Gernot; Zabel, Florian; Mauser, Wolfram

2018-02-01

Land-use decisions are made at the local level. They are influenced both by local factors and by global drivers and trends. These will most likely change over time e.g. due to political shocks, market developments or climate change. Hence, their influence should be taken into account when analysing and projecting local land-use decisions. We provide a set of mid-term scenarios of global drivers (until 2030) for use in regional and local studies on agriculture and land-use. In a participatory process, four important drivers are identified by experts from globally distributed regional studies: biofuel policies, increase in preferences for meat and dairy products in Asia, cropland expansion into uncultivated areas, and changes in agricultural productivity growth. Their impact on possible future developments of global and regional agricultural markets are analysed with a modelling framework consisting of a global computable general equilibrium model and a crop growth model. The business as usual (BAU) scenario causes production and prices of crops to rise over time. It also leads to a conversion of pasture land to cropland. Under different scenarios, global price changes range between -42 and +4% in 2030 compared to the BAU. An abolishment of biofuel targets does not significantly improve food security while an increased agricultural productivity and cropland expansion have a stronger impact on changes in food production and prices.

Integrating Land Cover Modeling and Adaptive Management to Conserve Endangered Species and Reduce Catastrophic Fire Risk

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Breininger, David; Duncan, Brean; Eaton, Mitchell; Johnson, Fred; Nichols, James

2014-01-01

Land cover modeling is used to inform land management, but most often via a two-step process where science informs how management alternatives can influence resources and then decision makers can use this to make decisions. A more efficient process is to directly integrate science and decision making, where science allows us to learn to better accomplish management objectives and is developed to address specific decisions. Co-development of management and science is especially productive when decisions are complicated by multiple objectives and impeded by uncertainty. Multiple objectives can be met by specification of tradeoffs, and relevant uncertainty can be addressed through targeted science (i.e., models and monitoring). We describe how to integrate habitat and fuels monitoring with decision making focused on dual objectives of managing for endangered species and minimizing catastrophic fire risk. Under certain conditions, both objectives might be achieved by a similar management policy, but habitat trajectories suggest tradeoffs. Knowledge about system responses to actions can be informed by applying competing management actions to different land units in the same system state and by ideas about fire behavior. Monitoring and management integration is important to optimize state-specific management decisions and increase knowledge about system responses. We believe this approach has broad utility for and cover modeling programs intended to inform decision making.

Hybrid MCDA Methods to Integrate Multiple Ecosystem Services in Forest Management Planning: A Critical Review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uhde, Britta; Andreas Hahn, W.; Griess, Verena C.; Knoke, Thomas

2015-08-01

Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) is a decision aid frequently used in the field of forest management planning. It includes the evaluation of multiple criteria such as the production of timber and non-timber forest products and tangible as well as intangible values of ecosystem services (ES). Hence, it is beneficial compared to those methods that take a purely financial perspective. Accordingly, MCDA methods are increasingly popular in the wide field of sustainability assessment. Hybrid approaches allow aggregating MCDA and, potentially, other decision-making techniques to make use of their individual benefits and leading to a more holistic view of the actual consequences that come with certain decisions. This review is providing a comprehensive overview of hybrid approaches that are used in forest management planning. Today, the scientific world is facing increasing challenges regarding the evaluation of ES and the trade-offs between them, for example between provisioning and regulating services. As the preferences of multiple stakeholders are essential to improve the decision process in multi-purpose forestry, participatory and hybrid approaches turn out to be of particular importance. Accordingly, hybrid methods show great potential for becoming most relevant in future decision making. Based on the review presented here, the development of models for the use in planning processes should focus on participatory modeling and the consideration of uncertainty regarding available information.

Hybrid MCDA Methods to Integrate Multiple Ecosystem Services in Forest Management Planning: A Critical Review.

PubMed

Uhde, Britta; Hahn, W Andreas; Griess, Verena C; Knoke, Thomas

2015-08-01

Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) is a decision aid frequently used in the field of forest management planning. It includes the evaluation of multiple criteria such as the production of timber and non-timber forest products and tangible as well as intangible values of ecosystem services (ES). Hence, it is beneficial compared to those methods that take a purely financial perspective. Accordingly, MCDA methods are increasingly popular in the wide field of sustainability assessment. Hybrid approaches allow aggregating MCDA and, potentially, other decision-making techniques to make use of their individual benefits and leading to a more holistic view of the actual consequences that come with certain decisions. This review is providing a comprehensive overview of hybrid approaches that are used in forest management planning. Today, the scientific world is facing increasing challenges regarding the evaluation of ES and the trade-offs between them, for example between provisioning and regulating services. As the preferences of multiple stakeholders are essential to improve the decision process in multi-purpose forestry, participatory and hybrid approaches turn out to be of particular importance. Accordingly, hybrid methods show great potential for becoming most relevant in future decision making. Based on the review presented here, the development of models for the use in planning processes should focus on participatory modeling and the consideration of uncertainty regarding available information.

Using value-based total cost of ownership (TCO) measures to inform subsystem trade-offs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Radziwill, Nicole M.; DuPlain, Ronald F.

2010-07-01

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is a metric from management accounting that helps expose both the direct and indirect costs of a business decision. However, TCO can sometimes be too simplistic for "make vs. buy" decisions (or even choosing between competing design alternatives) when value and extensibility are more critical than total cost. A three-dimensional value-based TCO, which was developed to clarify product decisions for an observatory prior to Final Design Review (FDR), will be presented in this session. This value-based approach incorporates priority of requirements, satisfiability of requirements, and cost, and can be easily applied in any environment.

When push comes to shove: sites of vulnerability, personal transformation, and trafficked women's migration decisions.

PubMed

Yea, Sallie

2005-01-01

Discussions of the push and pull factors behind trafficked women's decisions to migrate abroad for tenuous work opportunities in the "entertainment" sector tend to variously privilege poverty, familial obligations, and, more recently, personal opportunism. This reinforces more general observations about motivations for "Third World" women who migrate to more developed regions globally. Although these factors are indeed important, the author's research has revealed the relevance of other explanations for migration decisions, including the prevalence of domestic violence, family dissolution, and escape from personal circumstances, which are themselves products of low self-esteem and sense of self-worth.

A Sensitivity Model (SM) approach to analyze urban development in Taiwan based on sustainability indicators

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huang Shuli; Yeh Chiatsung; Budd, William W.

2009-02-15

Sustainability indicators have been widely developed to monitor and assess sustainable development. They are expected to guide political decision-making based on their capability to represent states and trends of development. However, using indicators to assess the sustainability of urban strategies and policies has limitations - as they neither reflect the systemic interactions among them, nor provide normative indications in what direction they should be developed. This paper uses a semi-quantitative systematic model tool (Sensitivity Model Tools, SM) to analyze the role of urban development in Taiwan's sustainability. The results indicate that the natural environment in urban area is one ofmore » the most critical components and the urban economic production plays a highly active role in affecting Taiwan's sustainable development. The semi-quantitative simulation model integrates sustainability indicators and urban development policy to provide decision-makers with information about the impacts of their decisions on urban development. The system approach incorporated by this paper can be seen as a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for a sustainability assessment. The participatory process of expert participants for providing judgments on the relations between indicator variables is also discussed.« less

A Collaborative Decision Environment for UAV Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

D'Ortenzio, Matthew V.; Enomoto, Francis Y.; Johan, Sandra L.

2005-01-01

NASA is developing Intelligent Mission Management (IMM) technology for science missions employing long endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV's). The IMM groundbased component is the Collaborative Decision Environment (CDE), a ground system that provides the Mission/Science team with situational awareness, collaboration, and decisionmaking tools. The CDE is used for pre-flight planning, mission monitoring, and visualization of acquired data. It integrates external data products used for planning and executing a mission, such as weather, satellite data products, and topographic maps by leveraging established and emerging Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards to acquire external data products via the Internet, and an industry standard geographic information system (GIs) toolkit for visualization As a Science/Mission team may be geographically dispersed, the CDE is capable of providing access to remote users across wide area networks using Web Services technology. A prototype CDE is being developed for an instrument checkout flight on a manned aircraft in the fall of 2005, in preparation for a full deployment in support of the US Forest Service and NASA Ames Western States Fire Mission in 2006.

A Comparative Review of Waivers Granted in Pediatric Drug Development by FDA and EMA from 2007-2013

PubMed Central

Egger, Gunter F.; Wharton, Gerold T.; Malli, Suzanne; Temeck, Jean; Murphy, M. Dianne; Tomasi, Paolo

2016-01-01

Background The European Union and the United States have different legal frameworks in place for pediatric drug development, which can potentially lead to different pediatric research requirements for the pharmaceutical industry. This manuscript compares pediatric clinical trial waivers granted by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Methods This is a retrospective review comparing EMA’s Paediatric Committee (PDCO) decisions with FDA’s Pediatric Review Committee (PeRC) recommendations for all product-specific pediatric full waiver applications submitted to EMA from January 2007 through December 2013. Using baseline data from EMA, we matched product-specific waivers with their FDA equivalents during the study period. Results For single active substance products, PDCO and PeRC adopted similar opinions in 42 of 49 indications (86%). For fixed-dose combinations, PDCO and PeRC adopted similar opinions in 24 of 31 indications (77%). Conclusion Despite the different legal frameworks, criteria, and processes of determination, the waiver decisions of the 2 agencies were similar in the majority of cases. PMID:27274951

Making Online Products More Tangible: The Effect of Product Presentation Formats on Product Evaluations.

PubMed

Verhagen, Tibert; Vonkeman, Charlotte; van Dolen, Willemijn

2016-07-01

Although several studies have looked at the effects of online product presentations on consumer decision making, no study thus far has considered a potential key factor in online product evaluations: tangibility. The present study aims at filling this gap by developing and testing a model that relates different online product presentation formats to the three-dimensional concept of product tangibility. We test how the three tangibility dimensions influence perceived diagnosticity and, eventually, online purchase intentions. A between-subjects lab experiment (n = 366) was used to test the hypothesized effects of three common online product presentation formats (pictures vs. 360 spin rotation vs. virtual mirror). The results showed that out of these formats, virtual mirrors were superior in providing a sense of product tangibility, followed by the 360-spin rotation format and static pictures. Furthermore, in terms of predictive validity, two of the three tangibility dimensions significantly increased perceived diagnosticity, which, in turn, positively and strongly affected purchase intentions. Overall, our results add to previous works studying the relationships between online product presentation formats and consumer decision making. Also, they hold value for online practitioners by highlighting the potential benefits of applying technologically advanced product presentation formats such as the virtual mirror.

Enabling personalized cancer medicine decisions: The challenging pharmacological approach of PBPK models for nanomedicine and pharmacogenomics (Review).

PubMed

Vizirianakis, Ioannis S; Mystridis, George A; Avgoustakis, Konstantinos; Fatouros, Dimitrios G; Spanakis, Marios

2016-04-01

The existing tumor heterogeneity and the complexity of cancer cell biology critically demand powerful translational tools with which to support interdisciplinary efforts aiming to advance personalized cancer medicine decisions in drug development and clinical practice. The development of physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models to predict the effects of drugs in the body facilitates the clinical translation of genomic knowledge and the implementation of in vivo pharmacology experience with pharmacogenomics. Such a direction unequivocally empowers our capacity to also make personalized drug dosage scheme decisions for drugs, including molecularly targeted agents and innovative nanoformulations, i.e. in establishing pharmacotyping in prescription. In this way, the applicability of PBPK models to guide individualized cancer therapeutic decisions of broad clinical utility in nanomedicine in real-time and in a cost-affordable manner will be discussed. The latter will be presented by emphasizing the need for combined efforts within the scientific borderlines of genomics with nanotechnology to ensure major benefits and productivity for nanomedicine and personalized medicine interventions.

An Evidence Framework for Off-Patent Pharmaceutical Review (EFOR) for Health Technology Assessment in Emerging Markets.

PubMed

Brixner, Diana; Kaló, Zoltán; Maniadakis, Nikos; Kim, Kyoo; Wijaya, Kalman

2018-03-29

This article introduces an Evidence Framework for Off-Patent Pharmaceutical Review (EFOR), which establishes value-based criteria in a template that manufacturers use to provide evidence showing how their products meet those criteria. Health authorities in emerging markets can then use the evidence presented in the EFOR to evaluate off-patent pharmaceuticals (OPPs) in a consistent, transparent, and evidence-based manner to support policy decisions, including pricing, reimbursement, formulary listing, and drug procurement. A literature search found no multi-criteria evidence framework for evaluating OPPs in emerging markets. An International Outcomes Research Board (IORB) of academia and industry experts conducted extensive research, meetings, and workshops to define high-priority criteria to incorporate into an evidence-based health technology assessment (HTA) tool using the multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) technique. The resulting framework was further tailored for country-specific needs in workshops in three emerging countries (Kazakhstan, Vietnam, and Indonesia). The IORB defined nine criteria four categories (Product, Manufacturing, Service, and Value Assessment), which OPP manufacturers can use to provide evidence for reimbursement and health policy decision making. Then the IORB developed the EFOR as a base case document, which can be adapted and used as a template by health authorities in emerging countries. Emerging countries have a significant need for an HTA tool that balances affordability with accurate evidence showing the value differentiation of OPPs. The value attributes in this setting often are different from those in developed markets, which emphasize new products and have high regulation and manufacturing standards. The EFOR is an easy-to-use, adaptable framework that emerging countries can use to increase the consistency, transparency, and effectiveness of drug decision making. The open source EFOR is available as Supplemental Materials. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

SMART empirical approaches for predicting field performance of PV modules from results of reliability tests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hardikar, Kedar Y.; Liu, Bill J. J.; Bheemreddy, Venkata

2016-09-01

Gaining an understanding of degradation mechanisms and their characterization are critical in developing relevant accelerated tests to ensure PV module performance warranty over a typical lifetime of 25 years. As newer technologies are adapted for PV, including new PV cell technologies, new packaging materials, and newer product designs, the availability of field data over extended periods of time for product performance assessment cannot be expected within the typical timeframe for business decisions. In this work, to enable product design decisions and product performance assessment for PV modules utilizing newer technologies, Simulation and Mechanism based Accelerated Reliability Testing (SMART) methodology and empirical approaches to predict field performance from accelerated test results are presented. The method is demonstrated for field life assessment of flexible PV modules based on degradation mechanisms observed in two accelerated tests, namely, Damp Heat and Thermal Cycling. The method is based on design of accelerated testing scheme with the intent to develop relevant acceleration factor models. The acceleration factor model is validated by extensive reliability testing under different conditions going beyond the established certification standards. Once the acceleration factor model is validated for the test matrix a modeling scheme is developed to predict field performance from results of accelerated testing for particular failure modes of interest. Further refinement of the model can continue as more field data becomes available. While the demonstration of the method in this work is for thin film flexible PV modules, the framework and methodology can be adapted to other PV products.

NASA E-DECIDER Rapid Disaster Decision Support Products

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-09-03

A NASA-funded disaster decision support system, provided a number of rapid response map data products to decision makers at the California Earthquake Clearinghouse following its activation for the Aug. 24, 2014 magnitude 6.0 earthquake in Napa, California

Assessment of New Approaches in Geothermal Exploration Decision Making: Preprint

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Akar, S.; Young, K. R.

Geothermal exploration projects have significant amount of risk associated with uncertainties encountered in the discovery of the geothermal resource. Understanding when and how to proceed in an exploration program, and when to walk away from a site, are two of the largest challenges for increased geothermal deployment. Current methodologies for exploration decision making is left to subjective by subjective expert opinion which can be incorrectly biased by expertise (e.g. geochemistry, geophysics), geographic location of focus, and the assumed conceptual model. The aim of this project is to develop a methodology for more objective geothermal exploration decision making at a givenmore » location, including go-no-go decision points to help developers and investors decide when to give up on a location. In this scope, two different approaches are investigated: 1) value of information analysis (VOIA) which is used for evaluating and quantifying the value of a data before they are purchased, and 2) enthalpy-based exploration targeting based on reservoir size, temperature gradient estimates, and internal rate of return (IRR). The first approach, VOIA, aims to identify the value of a particular data when making decisions with an uncertain outcome. This approach targets the pre-drilling phase of exploration. These estimated VOIs are highly affected by the size of the project and still have a high degree of subjectivity in assignment of probabilities. The second approach, exploration targeting, is focused on decision making during the drilling phase. It starts with a basic geothermal project definition that includes target and minimum required production capacity and initial budgeting for exploration phases. Then, it uses average temperature gradient, reservoir temperature estimates, and production capacity to define targets and go/no-go limits. The decision analysis in this approach is based on achieving a minimum IRR at each phase of the project. This second approach was determined to be less subjective, since it requires less subjectivity in the input values.« less

76 FR 21879 - Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Decision and Order Granting a Waiver to LG...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-19

... Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Decision and Order Granting a Waiver to LG From the Department of...: This Decision and Order is effective April 19, 2011. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Michael G... described in this notice. Today's decision prohibits LG from making representations concerning the energy...

Development of a decision aid to inform patients' and families' renal replacement therapy selection decisions.

PubMed

Ameling, Jessica M; Auguste, Priscilla; Ephraim, Patti L; Lewis-Boyer, LaPricia; DePasquale, Nicole; Greer, Raquel C; Crews, Deidra C; Powe, Neil R; Rabb, Hamid; Boulware, L Ebony

2012-12-01

Few educational resources have been developed to inform patients' renal replacement therapy (RRT) selection decisions. Patients progressing toward end stage renal disease (ESRD) must decide among multiple treatment options with varying characteristics. Complex information about treatments must be adequately conveyed to patients with different educational backgrounds and informational needs. Decisions about treatment options also require family input, as families often participate in patients' treatment and support patients' decisions. We describe the development, design, and preliminary evaluation of an informational, evidence-based, and patient-and family-centered decision aid for patients with ESRD and varying levels of health literacy, health numeracy, and cognitive function. We designed a decision aid comprising a complementary video and informational handbook. We based our development process on data previously obtained from qualitative focus groups and systematic literature reviews. We simultaneously developed the video and handbook in "stages." For the video, stages included (1) directed interviews with culturally appropriate patients and families and preliminary script development, (2) video production, and (3) screening the video with patients and their families. For the handbook, stages comprised (1) preliminary content design, (2) a mixed-methods pilot study among diverse patients to assess comprehension of handbook material, and (3) screening the handbook with patients and their families. The video and handbook both addressed potential benefits and trade-offs of treatment selections. The 50-minute video consisted of demographically diverse patients and their families describing their positive and negative experiences with selecting a treatment option. The video also incorporated health professionals' testimonials regarding various considerations that might influence patients' and families' treatment selections. The handbook was comprised of written words, pictures of patients and health care providers, and diagrams describing the findings and quality of scientific studies comparing treatments. The handbook text was written at a 4th to 6th grade reading level. Pilot study results demonstrated that a majority of patients could understand information presented in the handbook. Patient and families screening the nearly completed video and handbook reviewed the materials favorably. This rigorously designed decision aid may help patients and families make informed decisions about their treatment options for RRT that are well aligned with their values.

Courses of Action to Optimize Heavy Bearings Cages

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szekely, V. G.

2016-11-01

The global expansion in the industrial, economically and technological context determines the need to develop products, technologies, processes and methods which ensure increased performance, lower manufacturing costs and synchronization of the main costs reported to the elementary values which correspond to utilization”. The development trend of the heavy bearing industry and the wide use of bearings determines the necessity of choosing the most appropriate material for a given application in order to meet the cumulative requirements of durability, reliability, strength, etc. Evaluation of commonly known or new materials represents a fundamental criterion, in order to choose the materials based on the cost, machinability and the technological process. In order to ensure the most effective basis for the decision, regarding the heavy bearing cage, in the first stage the functions of the product are established and in a further step a comparative analysis of the materials is made in order to establish the best materials which satisfy the product functions. The decision for selecting the most appropriate material is based largely on the overlapping of the material costs and manufacturing process during which the half-finished material becomes a finished product. The study is orientated towards a creative approach, especially towards innovation and reengineering by using specific techniques and methods applied in inventics. The main target is to find new efficient and reliable constructive and/or technological solutions which are consistent with the concept of sustainable development.

The purchase decision process and involvement of the elderly regarding nonprescription products.

PubMed

Reisenwitz, T H; Wimbish, G J

1997-01-01

The elderly or senior citizen is a large and growing market segment that purchases a disproportionate amount of health care products, particularly nonprescription products. This study attempts to examine the elderly's level of involvement (high versus low) and their purchase decision process regarding nonprescription or over-the-counter (OTC) products. Frequencies and percentages are calculated to indicate level of involvement as well as purchase decision behavior. Previous research is critiqued and managerial implications are discussed.

A programmable rules engine to provide clinical decision support using HTML forms.

PubMed Central

Heusinkveld, J.; Geissbuhler, A.; Sheshelidze, D.; Miller, R.

1999-01-01

The authors have developed a simple method for specifying rules to be applied to information on HTML forms. This approach allows clinical experts, who lack the programming expertise needed to write CGI scripts, to construct and maintain domain-specific knowledge and ordering capabilities within WizOrder, the order-entry and decision support system used at Vanderbilt Hospital. The clinical knowledge base maintainers use HTML editors to create forms and spreadsheet programs for rule entry. A test environment has been developed which uses Netscape to display forms; the production environment displays forms using an embedded browser. Images Figure 1 PMID:10566470

[Clinical-pharmacological aspects to accelerate the development process from the preclinical to the clinical phase/1st communication: The contribution of clinical pharmacology].

PubMed

Kuhlmann, Jochen

2004-01-01

To improve the transition from research to development a critical evaluation of the individual project by research and disease area teams is required to include input from pharmacology, toxicology, pharmacokinetics, galenics, clinical pharmacology, clinical as well as regulatory experts and marketing. Decisions on the individual development strategy should be made prior to the start of development and all projects should be reviewed at predefined stages throughout the product development life cycle. This ensures consistency of decision-making not only during the development of individual products but throughout the entire development pipeline. Studies in the exploratory stage of drug development should be designed for decision making in contrast to later clinical trials in the confirmatory stage that require power for proof-of-safety and proof-of-efficacy. The more thorough and profound studies have been carried out during this exploratory stage of drug development, the earlier a decision can be made on the continuation or discontinuation of further development, thus saving development time and money and assessing and considerably reducing the risk for the patients and increasing the success rate of the project in the later confirmatory effectiveness trial with an adequate number of subjects receiving the new therapy under typical conditions of use. Strategies which may be helpful to improve the quality of decisions in drug discovery and drug development are: discovery experiments should be done to critically evaluate the compound, the "killer" experiments should be done as early as possible, continuous effort on preclinical disease models is necessary to improve predictability of efficacy in patients ("humanized" research): genomic technology should be used to identify novel, disease-related targets and to characterise preclinical test systems, improvement of knowledge and experience concerning the relevance of new technologies for the clinical picture; genotyping of clinical trial patients to select patient groups which are likely to respond to treatment (pharmacogenomics), modelling and simulation of preclinical and clinical trials, integration of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic principles into drug development, assessment of the interaction potential (CYP-450, trasporter proteins and others), increasing use of biomarker/surrogate marker for rapid clinical feedback, involvement of the target population as soon as possible, applying statistical data analysis techniques for proving effectiveness, co-operation with high quality centers. To reach this goal clinical pharmacology must be fully integrated in the whole process from the candidate selection to its positioning within the market.

[Clinical-pharmacological aspects to accelerate the development process from the preclinical to the clinical phase/2nd communication: promising strategies].

PubMed

Kuhlmann, Jochen

2004-01-01

To improve the transition from research to development a critical evaluation of the individual project by research and disease area teams is required to include input from pharmacology, toxicology, pharmacokinetics, galenics, clinical pharmacology, clinical as well as regulatory experts and marketing. Decisions on the individual development strategy should be made prior to the start of development and all projects should be reviewed at predefined stages throughout the product development life cycle. This ensures consistency of decision-making not only during the development of individual products but throughout the entire development pipeline. Studies in the exploratory stage of drug development should be designed for decision making in contrast to later clinical trials in the confirmatory stage that require power for proof-of-safety and proof-of-efficacy. The more thorough and profound studies have been carried out during this exploratory stage of drug development, the earlier a decision can be made on the continuation or discontinuation of further development, thus saving development time and money and assessing and considerably reducing the risk for the patients and increasing the success rate of the project in the later confirmatory effectiveness trial with an adequate number of subjects receiving the new therapy under typical conditions of use. Strategies which may be helpful to improve the quality of decisions in drug discovery and drug development are: discovery experiments should be done to critically evaluate the compound, the "killer" experiments should be done as early as possible, continuous effort on preclinical disease models is necessary to improve predictability of efficacy in patients ("humanized" research): genomic technology should be used to identify novel, disease-related targets and to characterise preclinical test systems, improvement of knowledge and experience concerning the relevance of new technologies for the clinical picture, genotyping of clinical trial patients to select patient groups which are likely to respond to treatment (pharmacogenomics), modelling and simulation of preclinical and clinical trials, integration of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic principles into drug development, assessment of the interaction potential (CYP-450, trasporter proteins and others), increasing use of biomarker/surrogate marker for rapid clinical feedback, involvement of the target population as soon as possible, applying statistical data analysis techniques for proving effectiveness, co-operation with high quality centers. To reach this goal clinical pharmacology must be fully integrated in the whole process from the candidate selection to its positioning within the market.

Arctic Collaborative Environment: A New Multi-National Partnership for Arctic Science and Decision Support

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Laymon, Charles A,; Kress, Martin P.; McCracken, Jeff E.; Spehn, Stephen L.; Tanner, Steve

2011-01-01

The Arctic Collaborative Environment (ACE) project is a new international partnership for information sharing to meet the challenges of addressing Arctic. The goal of ACE is to create an open source, web-based, multi-national monitoring, analysis, and visualization decision-support system for Arctic environmental assessment, management, and sustainability. This paper will describe the concept, system architecture, and data products that are being developed and disseminated among partners and independent users through remote access.

Meta-modelling, visualization and emulation of multi-dimensional data for virtual production intelligence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schulz, Wolfgang; Hermanns, Torsten; Al Khawli, Toufik

2017-07-01

Decision making for competitive production in high-wage countries is a daily challenge where rational and irrational methods are used. The design of decision making processes is an intriguing, discipline spanning science. However, there are gaps in understanding the impact of the known mathematical and procedural methods on the usage of rational choice theory. Following Benjamin Franklin's rule for decision making formulated in London 1772, he called "Prudential Algebra" with the meaning of prudential reasons, one of the major ingredients of Meta-Modelling can be identified finally leading to one algebraic value labelling the results (criteria settings) of alternative decisions (parameter settings). This work describes the advances in Meta-Modelling techniques applied to multi-dimensional and multi-criterial optimization by identifying the persistence level of the corresponding Morse-Smale Complex. Implementations for laser cutting and laser drilling are presented, including the generation of fast and frugal Meta-Models with controlled error based on mathematical model reduction Reduced Models are derived to avoid any unnecessary complexity. Both, model reduction and analysis of multi-dimensional parameter space are used to enable interactive communication between Discovery Finders and Invention Makers. Emulators and visualizations of a metamodel are introduced as components of Virtual Production Intelligence making applicable the methods of Scientific Design Thinking and getting the developer as well as the operator more skilled.

Simulating rotational grazing management.

PubMed

Cros, M J; Duru, M; Garcia, F; Martin-Clouaire, R

2001-09-01

Dairy systems predominantly based on rotational grazing are notoriously hard to manage. In order to ensure profitability, this type of production requires quite good organisation, planning, and operating capability on the part of the farmer. A simulation-based decision support system, called SEPATOU, has been developed for this purpose. At the core of the decision support approach lies an explicit and rigorous modelling of the management strategy that underlies a dairy farmer's decision-making behaviour (real or hypothetical). The SEPATOU system is a discrete-event simulator that reproduces the day-to-day dynamics of the farmer's decision process and the response of the controlled biophysical system for which models of grass growth, animal consumption, and milk production are used. SEPATOU provides the means to evaluate and compare tentative strategies by simulating their application throughout the production season under different hypothetical weather conditions. The relative worth of a strategy can be assessed by analysing the effects on the biophysical system and their variability across the representative range of possible conditions that is considered. The activities to be managed concern the type and amount of conserved feed, where to fertilise and how much, the choice of fields to harvest, and most importantly, which field to graze next. Typically, SEPATOU is designed to be used by extension services and farming system scientists. It is implemented in C++ and is currently undergoing a validation process with the intended users.

Critical product features' identification using an opinion analyzer.

PubMed

Shamim, Azra; Balakrishnan, Vimala; Tahir, Muhammad; Shiraz, Muhammad

2014-01-01

The increasing use and ubiquity of the Internet facilitate dissemination of word-of-mouth through blogs, online forums, newsgroups, and consumer's reviews. Online consumer's reviews present tremendous opportunities and challenges for consumers and marketers. One of the challenges is to develop interactive marketing practices for making connections with target consumers that capitalize consumer-to-consumer communications for generating product adoption. Opinion mining is employed in marketing to help consumers and enterprises in the analysis of online consumers' reviews by highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the products. This paper describes an opinion mining system based on novel review and feature ranking methods to empower consumers and enterprises for identifying critical product features from enormous consumers' reviews. Consumers and business analysts are the main target group for the proposed system who want to explore consumers' feedback for determining purchase decisions and enterprise strategies. We evaluate the proposed system on real dataset. Results show that integration of review and feature-ranking methods improves the decision making processes significantly.

A Multi-Period Optimization Model for Service Providers Using Online Reservation Systems: An Application to Hotels.

PubMed

Xu, Ming; Jiao, Yan; Li, Xiaoming; Cao, Qingfeng; Wang, Xiaoyang

2015-01-01

This paper presents a multi-period optimization model for high margin and zero salvage products in online distribution channels with classifying customers based on number of products required. Taking hotel customers as an example, one is regular customers who reserve rooms for one day, and the other is long term stay (LTS) customers who reserve rooms for a number of days. LTS may guarantee a specific amount of demand and generate opportunity income for a certain number of periods, meanwhile with risk of punishment incurred by overselling. By developing an operational optimization model and exploring the effects of parameters on optimal decisions, we suggest that service providers should make decisions based on the types of customers, number of products required, and duration of multi-period to reduce the loss of reputation and obtain more profit; at the same time, multi-period buying customers should buy products early. Finally, the paper conducts a numerical experiment, and the results are consistent with prevailing situations.

A Multi-Period Optimization Model for Service Providers Using Online Reservation Systems: An Application to Hotels

PubMed Central

Xu, Ming; Jiao, Yan; Li, Xiaoming; Cao, Qingfeng; Wang, Xiaoyang

2015-01-01

This paper presents a multi-period optimization model for high margin and zero salvage products in online distribution channels with classifying customers based on number of products required. Taking hotel customers as an example, one is regular customers who reserve rooms for one day, and the other is long term stay (LTS) customers who reserve rooms for a number of days. LTS may guarantee a specific amount of demand and generate opportunity income for a certain number of periods, meanwhile with risk of punishment incurred by overselling. By developing an operational optimization model and exploring the effects of parameters on optimal decisions, we suggest that service providers should make decisions based on the types of customers, number of products required, and duration of multi-period to reduce the loss of reputation and obtain more profit; at the same time, multi-period buying customers should buy products early. Finally, the paper conducts a numerical experiment, and the results are consistent with prevailing situations. PMID:26147663

Critical Product Features' Identification Using an Opinion Analyzer

PubMed Central

Shamim, Azra; Balakrishnan, Vimala

2014-01-01

The increasing use and ubiquity of the Internet facilitate dissemination of word-of-mouth through blogs, online forums, newsgroups, and consumer's reviews. Online consumer's reviews present tremendous opportunities and challenges for consumers and marketers. One of the challenges is to develop interactive marketing practices for making connections with target consumers that capitalize consumer-to-consumer communications for generating product adoption. Opinion mining is employed in marketing to help consumers and enterprises in the analysis of online consumers' reviews by highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the products. This paper describes an opinion mining system based on novel review and feature ranking methods to empower consumers and enterprises for identifying critical product features from enormous consumers' reviews. Consumers and business analysts are the main target group for the proposed system who want to explore consumers' feedback for determining purchase decisions and enterprise strategies. We evaluate the proposed system on real dataset. Results show that integration of review and feature-ranking methods improves the decision making processes significantly. PMID:25506612

Needs Assessment for the Use of NASA Remote Sensing Data in the Development and Implementation of Estuarine and Coastal Water Quality Standards

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spiering, Bruce; Underwood, Lauren; Ellis, Chris; Lehrter, John; Hagy, Jim; Schaeffer, Blake

2010-01-01

The goals of the project are to provide information from satellite remote sensing to support numeric nutrient criteria development and to determine data processing methods and data quality requirements to support nutrient criteria development and implementation. The approach is to identify water quality indicators that are used by decision makers to assess water quality and that are related to optical properties of the water; to develop remotely sensed data products based on algorithms relating remote sensing imagery to field-based observations of indicator values; to develop methods to assess estuarine water quality, including trends, spatial and temporal variability, and seasonality; and to develop tools to assist in the development and implementation of estuarine and coastal nutrient criteria. Additional slides present process, criteria development, typical data sources and analyses for criteria process, the power of remote sensing data for the process, examples from Pensacola Bay, spatial and temporal variability, pixel matchups, remote sensing validation, remote sensing in coastal waters, requirements for remotely sensed data products, and needs assessment. An additional presentation examines group engagement and information collection. Topics include needs assessment purpose and objectives, understanding water quality decision making, determining information requirements, and next steps.

Assessing the Cost of Global Biodiversity and Conservation Knowledge.

PubMed

Juffe-Bignoli, Diego; Brooks, Thomas M; Butchart, Stuart H M; Jenkins, Richard B; Boe, Kaia; Hoffmann, Michael; Angulo, Ariadne; Bachman, Steve; Böhm, Monika; Brummitt, Neil; Carpenter, Kent E; Comer, Pat J; Cox, Neil; Cuttelod, Annabelle; Darwall, William R T; Di Marco, Moreno; Fishpool, Lincoln D C; Goettsch, Bárbara; Heath, Melanie; Hilton-Taylor, Craig; Hutton, Jon; Johnson, Tim; Joolia, Ackbar; Keith, David A; Langhammer, Penny F; Luedtke, Jennifer; Nic Lughadha, Eimear; Lutz, Maiko; May, Ian; Miller, Rebecca M; Oliveira-Miranda, María A; Parr, Mike; Pollock, Caroline M; Ralph, Gina; Rodríguez, Jon Paul; Rondinini, Carlo; Smart, Jane; Stuart, Simon; Symes, Andy; Tordoff, Andrew W; Woodley, Stephen; Young, Bruce; Kingston, Naomi

2016-01-01

Knowledge products comprise assessments of authoritative information supported by standards, governance, quality control, data, tools, and capacity building mechanisms. Considerable resources are dedicated to developing and maintaining knowledge products for biodiversity conservation, and they are widely used to inform policy and advise decision makers and practitioners. However, the financial cost of delivering this information is largely undocumented. We evaluated the costs and funding sources for developing and maintaining four global biodiversity and conservation knowledge products: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems, Protected Planet, and the World Database of Key Biodiversity Areas. These are secondary data sets, built on primary data collected by extensive networks of expert contributors worldwide. We estimate that US$160 million (range: US$116-204 million), plus 293 person-years of volunteer time (range: 278-308 person-years) valued at US$ 14 million (range US$12-16 million), were invested in these four knowledge products between 1979 and 2013. More than half of this financing was provided through philanthropy, and nearly three-quarters was spent on personnel costs. The estimated annual cost of maintaining data and platforms for three of these knowledge products (excluding the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems for which annual costs were not possible to estimate for 2013) is US$6.5 million in total (range: US$6.2-6.7 million). We estimated that an additional US$114 million will be needed to reach pre-defined baselines of data coverage for all the four knowledge products, and that once achieved, annual maintenance costs will be approximately US$12 million. These costs are much lower than those to maintain many other, similarly important, global knowledge products. Ensuring that biodiversity and conservation knowledge products are sufficiently up to date, comprehensive and accurate is fundamental to inform decision-making for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. Thus, the development and implementation of plans for sustainable long-term financing for them is critical.

Assessing the Cost of Global Biodiversity and Conservation Knowledge

PubMed Central

Juffe-Bignoli, Diego; Brooks, Thomas M.; Butchart, Stuart H. M.; Jenkins, Richard B.; Boe, Kaia; Hoffmann, Michael; Angulo, Ariadne; Bachman, Steve; Böhm, Monika; Brummitt, Neil; Carpenter, Kent E.; Comer, Pat J.; Cox, Neil; Cuttelod, Annabelle; Darwall, William R. T.; Fishpool, Lincoln D. C.; Goettsch, Bárbara; Heath, Melanie; Hilton-Taylor, Craig; Hutton, Jon; Johnson, Tim; Joolia, Ackbar; Keith, David A.; Langhammer, Penny F.; Luedtke, Jennifer; Nic Lughadha, Eimear; Lutz, Maiko; May, Ian; Miller, Rebecca M.; Oliveira-Miranda, María A.; Parr, Mike; Pollock, Caroline M.; Ralph, Gina; Rodríguez, Jon Paul; Rondinini, Carlo; Smart, Jane; Stuart, Simon; Symes, Andy; Tordoff, Andrew W.; Young, Bruce; Kingston, Naomi

2016-01-01

Knowledge products comprise assessments of authoritative information supported by standards, governance, quality control, data, tools, and capacity building mechanisms. Considerable resources are dedicated to developing and maintaining knowledge products for biodiversity conservation, and they are widely used to inform policy and advise decision makers and practitioners. However, the financial cost of delivering this information is largely undocumented. We evaluated the costs and funding sources for developing and maintaining four global biodiversity and conservation knowledge products: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems, Protected Planet, and the World Database of Key Biodiversity Areas. These are secondary data sets, built on primary data collected by extensive networks of expert contributors worldwide. We estimate that US$160 million (range: US$116–204 million), plus 293 person-years of volunteer time (range: 278–308 person-years) valued at US$ 14 million (range US$12–16 million), were invested in these four knowledge products between 1979 and 2013. More than half of this financing was provided through philanthropy, and nearly three-quarters was spent on personnel costs. The estimated annual cost of maintaining data and platforms for three of these knowledge products (excluding the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems for which annual costs were not possible to estimate for 2013) is US$6.5 million in total (range: US$6.2–6.7 million). We estimated that an additional US$114 million will be needed to reach pre-defined baselines of data coverage for all the four knowledge products, and that once achieved, annual maintenance costs will be approximately US$12 million. These costs are much lower than those to maintain many other, similarly important, global knowledge products. Ensuring that biodiversity and conservation knowledge products are sufficiently up to date, comprehensive and accurate is fundamental to inform decision-making for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. Thus, the development and implementation of plans for sustainable long-term financing for them is critical. PMID:27529491

ENABLING SMART MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES FOR DECISION-MAKING SUPPORT

PubMed Central

Helu, Moneer; Libes, Don; Lubell, Joshua; Lyons, Kevin; Morris, KC

2017-01-01

Smart manufacturing combines advanced manufacturing capabilities and digital technologies throughout the product lifecycle. These technologies can provide decision-making support to manufacturers through improved monitoring, analysis, modeling, and simulation that generate more and better intelligence about manufacturing systems. However, challenges and barriers have impeded the adoption of smart manufacturing technologies. To begin to address this need, this paper defines requirements for data-driven decision making in manufacturing based on a generalized description of decision making. Using these requirements, we then focus on identifying key barriers that prevent the development and use of data-driven decision making in industry as well as examples of technologies and standards that have the potential to overcome these barriers. The goal of this research is to promote a common understanding among the manufacturing community that can enable standardization efforts and innovation needed to continue adoption and use of smart manufacturing technologies. PMID:28649678

Integrating health economics into the product development cycle: a case study of absorbable pins for treating hallux valgus.

PubMed

Vallejo-Torres, Laura; Steuten, Lotte; Parkinson, Bonny; Girling, Alan J; Buxton, Martin J

2011-01-01

The probability of reimbursement is a key factor in determining whether to proceed with or abandon a product during its development. The purpose of this article is to illustrate how the methods of iterative Bayesian economic evaluation proposed in the literature can be incorporated into the development process of new medical devices, adapting them to face the relative scarcity of data and time that characterizes the process. A 3-stage economic evaluation was applied: an early phase in which simple methods allow for a quick prioritization of competing products; a mid-stage in which developers synthesize the data into a decision model, identify the parameters for which more information is most valuable, and explore uncertainty; and a late stage, in which all relevant information is synthesized. A retrospective analysis was conducted of the case study of absorbable pins, compared with metallic fixation, in osteotomy to treat hallux valgus. The results from the early analysis suggest absorbable pins to be cost-effective under the beliefs and assumptions applied. The outputs from the models at the mid-stage analyses show the device to be cost-effective with a high probability. Late-stage analysis synthesizes evidence from a randomized controlled trial and informative priors, which are based on previous evidence. It also suggests that absorbable pins are the most cost-effective strategy, although the uncertainty in the model output increased considerably. This example illustrates how the method proposed allows decisions in the product development cycle to be based on the best knowledge that is available at each stage.

Consumer's Online Shopping Influence Factors and Decision-Making Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Xiangbin; Dai, Shiliang

Previous research on online consumer behavior has mostly been confined to the perceived risk which is used to explain those barriers for purchasing online. However, perceived benefit is another important factor which influences consumers’ decision when shopping online. As a result, an integrated consumer online shopping decision-making model is developed which contains three elements—Consumer, Product, and Web Site. This model proposed relative factors which influence the consumers’ intention during the online shopping progress, and divided them into two different dimensions—mentally level and material level. We tested those factors with surveys, from both online volunteers and offline paper surveys with more than 200 samples. With the help of SEM, the experimental results show that the proposed model and method can be used to analyze consumer’s online shopping decision-making process effectively.

An Integrated model for Product Quality Development—A case study on Quality functions deployment and AHP based approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maitra, Subrata; Banerjee, Debamalya

2010-10-01

Present article is based on application of the product quality and improvement of design related with the nature of failure of machineries and plant operational problems of an industrial blower fan Company. The project aims at developing the product on the basis of standardized production parameters for selling its products in the market. Special attention is also being paid to the blower fans which have been ordered directly by the customer on the basis of installed capacity of air to be provided by the fan. Application of quality function deployment is primarily a customer oriented approach. Proposed model of QFD integrated with AHP to select and rank the decision criterions on the commercial and technical factors and the measurement of the decision parameters for selection of best product in the compettitive environment. The present AHP-QFD model justifies the selection of a blower fan with the help of the group of experts' opinion by pairwise comparison of the customer's and ergonomy based technical design requirements. The steps invoved in implementation of the QFD—AHP and selection of weighted criterion may be helpful for all similar purpose industries maintaining cost and utility for competitive product.

Hybrid algorithms for fuzzy reverse supply chain network design.

PubMed

Che, Z H; Chiang, Tzu-An; Kuo, Y C; Cui, Zhihua

2014-01-01

In consideration of capacity constraints, fuzzy defect ratio, and fuzzy transport loss ratio, this paper attempted to establish an optimized decision model for production planning and distribution of a multiphase, multiproduct reverse supply chain, which addresses defects returned to original manufacturers, and in addition, develops hybrid algorithms such as Particle Swarm Optimization-Genetic Algorithm (PSO-GA), Genetic Algorithm-Simulated Annealing (GA-SA), and Particle Swarm Optimization-Simulated Annealing (PSO-SA) for solving the optimized model. During a case study of a multi-phase, multi-product reverse supply chain network, this paper explained the suitability of the optimized decision model and the applicability of the algorithms. Finally, the hybrid algorithms showed excellent solving capability when compared with original GA and PSO methods.

Models Used to Select Strategic Planning Experts for High Technology Productions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zakharova, Alexandra A.; Grigorjeva, Antonina A.; Tseplit, Anna P.; Ozgogov, Evgenij V.

2016-04-01

The article deals with the problems and specific aspects in organizing works of experts involved in assessment of companies that manufacture complex high-technology products. A model is presented that is intended for evaluating competences of experts in individual functional areas of expertise. Experts are selected to build a group on the basis of tables used to determine a competence level. An expert selection model based on fuzzy logic is proposed and additional requirements for the expert group composition can be taken into account, with regard to the needed quality and competence related preferences of decision-makers. A Web-based information system model is developed for the interaction between experts and decision-makers when carrying out online examinations.

Hybrid Algorithms for Fuzzy Reverse Supply Chain Network Design

PubMed Central

Che, Z. H.; Chiang, Tzu-An; Kuo, Y. C.

2014-01-01

In consideration of capacity constraints, fuzzy defect ratio, and fuzzy transport loss ratio, this paper attempted to establish an optimized decision model for production planning and distribution of a multiphase, multiproduct reverse supply chain, which addresses defects returned to original manufacturers, and in addition, develops hybrid algorithms such as Particle Swarm Optimization-Genetic Algorithm (PSO-GA), Genetic Algorithm-Simulated Annealing (GA-SA), and Particle Swarm Optimization-Simulated Annealing (PSO-SA) for solving the optimized model. During a case study of a multi-phase, multi-product reverse supply chain network, this paper explained the suitability of the optimized decision model and the applicability of the algorithms. Finally, the hybrid algorithms showed excellent solving capability when compared with original GA and PSO methods. PMID:24892057

Guidance to Facilitate Decisions for Sustainable Nanotechnology

EPA Science Inventory

Products that incorporate materials manufactured at the nano scale (i.e., nanoproducts) offer many potential benefits to society; however, these benefits must be weighed against potential “costs” to the environment and public health. This document was developed to provide a broad...

SEDAC data and applications development plan V(1)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chen, Robert S. (Compiler)

1995-01-01

This Data and Applications Development Plan describes how the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) at the Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) is responding to SEDAC's mission to develop new applications and information products that synthesize earth science and socioeconomic data in ways that support decision making. The SEDAC data and applications development effort is a primary means by which the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) program can help to ensure that the scientific investment embodied in NASA's Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE) program leads to tangible benefits to the American people. The Plan describes the major issues concerned with global climate change, identifies important decision makers and other users who would benefit from improved data and information, and assesses key opportunities for responding to the needs of these users and the scientists who work with them. It then details specific plans for developing selected integrated data products and services and for making them available to the target users on an operational basis. This report provides a summary of the activities performed in connection with NASA/GSFC Letter Contract NAS5-3263 for the period shown.

Fostering Synergies Among Organizations to put Climate in Context for Use in Decision Making

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garfin, G. M.; Parris, A.; Dow, K.; Meyer, R.; Close, S.

2016-12-01

Making science usable for decision making requires a knowledge of the social and institutional contexts of decision making, an ability to develop or tap into networks for sharing information and developing knowledge, a capacity for innovating or providing services, and a program for social learning to inform decisions and improve the processes of engagement and collaboration (i.e., mechanisms for feedback, evaluation, and changes in policy or practices). Active participation by and partnerships between researchers, practitioners, and decision-makers provides a foundation for making progress in each of the aforementioned areas of endeavor. In twenty years of incubating experimental climate services, the NOAA Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments program offers not a few ideas and examples of practices to foster synergies among organizations, that result in tangible benefits to decision-makers. Strategies include (a) designing explicit mutual learning through temporary institutions, such as workshop series, in order to develop social capital and knowledge networks (e.g., to co-develop and disseminate experimental forecasts); (b) articulating ground rules, roles, and responsibilities in managing the boundary between scientists and practitioners (e.g., in multi-partner climate adaptation planning processes); and (c) cross-training between scientists and practitioners, by embedding team members in other organizations or recruiting members from those organizations (e.g., Cooperative Extension). A promising strategy is boundary chaining, pioneered by the Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments, in which science information and service providers partner with other boundary organizations, to leverage networks, expertise, resources, and to reduce transaction costs. Partners with complementary strengths and roles can then, work iteratively and synergize to mediate the co-production of a combination of services for decision making, such as data and information, facilitation, and evaluation.

Productivity and turnover in PCPs: the role of staff participation in decision-making.

PubMed

Hung, Dorothy Y; Rundall, Thomas G; Cohen, Deborah J; Tallia, Alfred F; Crabtree, Benjamin F

2006-10-01

Efforts to redesign primary care practices are beginning to address how decisions are made in the practice setting. This study contributes to these efforts by examining associations between staff participation in decision-making, productivity, and turnover in primary care practices. The study is informed by organizational theories of participation that emphasize cognitive and affective influences on employee output and behavior. This research used data collected from primary care practices involved in a national initiative sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Cross-sectional survey data on organizational structures and attributes among 49 practices were analyzed. Regression analysis was used to examine associations among practice productivity, staff participation in decision-making, and formal structures such as staff meetings. Associations between staff turnover and participative decision-making were also examined. Staff participation in decisions regarding quality improvement, practice change, and clinical operations was positively associated with practice productivity, whereas formal structures such as staff meetings were not. In addition, higher levels of participation in decision-making were associated with reduced turnover among nonclinicians and administrative staff. Examination of organizational features is increasingly recognized as a key to improving primary care performance. Study findings suggest that one important strategy may be implementation of a participative model emphasizing greater staff involvement in practice decisions. This may enhance information-sharing, work satisfaction, and commitment to organizational decisions, all of which can lead to beneficial outcomes such as increased productivity and stability in primary care practices.

The Business of Co-Production: Assessing Efforts to Bridge Science and Decision-Making for Adaptation in California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Webber, S.; MacDonald, G. M.

2016-12-01

The last decades have seen scholars argue for a greater integration of science and decision-making in order to more effectively respond to climate change. It has been suggested that overcoming the gap between science, on the one hand, and policy-making and management, on the other, requires building bridges through methods of co-production, creating actionable science, or through boundary organizations. In this paper, we review attempts at co-production for policy-making and management in the context of climate change adaptation in California. Building on field research, including numerous interviews conducted with scientists and decision-makers who are co-producers of adaptation projects, we make three arguments. First, we show that an emphasis on co-production and science-informed climate change adaptation decision-making has bolstered a contract-oriented, and decentralized network-based model of producing climate science. Second, reviewing successes and failures in co-production - as reported in interviews - indicates that it is principally in cases of neatly defined, and spatially and temporarily narrow decision-making contexts, and with highly motivated decision-makers, that climate science is used. Finally, we suggest that the ideas of co-production and actionable science may have increased the institutional and organizational burden at the science-decision interface, lengthening the boundary-organization-chain rather than necessarily facilitating adaptive policy-making and management.

Innovation Forecasting

DTIC Science & Technology

1997-11-01

Hamel, G., Doz, Y., Prahalad , C., Collaborate With Your Competitors And Win, in Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation, 2nd ed., R...information should help management make better decisions with regard to strategic corporate planning, R&D management, product development, investment in new...different perspectives and act to influence its development toward their own interests [7]. As an example, in assessing national strategic value

Talking high-tech turkey: USDA uses new software to analyze habitat management scenarios

Treesearch

H. Michael Rauscher; John E. Spearman; C. Preston Fout; Robert H. Giles; Mark J. Twery

2001-01-01

Researchers at the USDA Forest Service, Northeastern and Southern Research Stations, with many collaborators, have been developing a computer software product called the NED Decision Support System. This program is designed to help forestry consultants and their private landowner clients develop goals, assess current and potential conditions, provide ways to study and...

Genomics in the land of regulatory science.

PubMed

Tong, Weida; Ostroff, Stephen; Blais, Burton; Silva, Primal; Dubuc, Martine; Healy, Marion; Slikker, William

2015-06-01

Genomics science has played a major role in the generation of new knowledge in the basic research arena, and currently question arises as to its potential to support regulatory processes. However, the integration of genomics in the regulatory decision-making process requires rigorous assessment and would benefit from consensus amongst international partners and research communities. To that end, the Global Coalition for Regulatory Science Research (GCRSR) hosted the fourth Global Summit on Regulatory Science (GSRS2014) to discuss the role of genomics in regulatory decision making, with a specific emphasis on applications in food safety and medical product development. Challenges and issues were discussed in the context of developing an international consensus for objective criteria in the analysis, interpretation and reporting of genomics data with an emphasis on transparency, traceability and "fitness for purpose" for the intended application. It was recognized that there is a need for a global path in the establishment of a regulatory bioinformatics framework for the development of transparent, reliable, reproducible and auditable processes in the management of food and medical product safety risks. It was also recognized that training is an important mechanism in achieving internationally consistent outcomes. GSRS2014 provided an effective venue for regulators andresearchers to meet, discuss common issues, and develop collaborations to address the challenges posed by the application of genomics to regulatory science, with the ultimate goal of wisely integrating novel technical innovations into regulatory decision-making. Published by Elsevier Inc.

The Role of Social Constructions and Biophysical Attributes of the Environment in Decision-Making in the Context of Biofuels and Rubber Production Partnership Regimes in Upland Philippines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montefrio, M. F.

2012-12-01

Burgeoning attention in biofuels and natural rubber has spurred interest among governments and private companies in integrating marginalized communities into global commodity markets. Upland farmers from diverse cultural backgrounds and biophysical settings today are deciding whether to agree with partnership proposals from governments and private firms to grow biofuels and natural rubber. In this paper, I examine whether upland farmers' socio-environmental constructions (evaluative beliefs, place satisfaction, and ecological worldviews) and the actual biophysical attributes (land cover and soil types) of upland environments, respectively, function as significant predictors of the intent and decisions of indigenous and non-indigenous farmers to cooperate with government and private actors to establish certain biofuel crops and natural rubber production systems in Palawan, Philippines. Drawing from ethnography and statistical analysis of household surveys, I propose that social constructions and the biophysical attributes of the environment are closely related with each other and in turn both influence individual decision-making behavior in resource-based production partnership regimes. This has significant implications on the resilience of socio-ecological systems, particularly agro-ecosystems, as certain upland farmers prefer to engage in intensive, monocrop production of biofuels and natural rubber on relatively more biodiverse areas, such as secondary forests and traditional shifting cultivation lands. The study aims to advance new institutional theories of resource management, particularly Ostrom's Institutional Analysis and Development and Socio-Ecological Systems frameworks, and scholarship on environmental decision-making in the context of collective action.

Development of an expert system for assessing trumpeter swan breeding habitat in the Northern Rocky Mountains.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sojda, Richard S.; Cornely, John E.; Howe, Adele E.

2002-01-01

A decision support system for the management of the Rocky Mountain Population of Trumpeter Swans (Cygnus buccinators) is being developed. As part of this, three expert systems are also in development: one for assessing the quality of Trumpeter Swan breeding habitat; one for making water level recommendations in montane, palustrine wetlands; and one for assessing the contribution a particular site can make towards meeting objectives from as flyway perspective. The focus of this paper is the development of the breeding habitat expert system, which currently consists of 157 rules. Out purpose is to provide decision support for issues that appear to be beyond the capability of a single persons to conceptualize and solve. We propose that by involving multiple experts in the development and use of the systems, management will be significantly improved. The knowledge base for the expert system has been developed using standard knowledge engineering techniques with a small team of ecological experts. Knowledge was then coded using production rules organized in decision trees using a commercial expert system development shell. The final system has been deployed on the world wide web.

Development of an Optimal Water Allocation Decision Tool for the Major Crops During the Water Deficit Period in the Southeast U.S.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Paudel, Krishna P.; Limaye, Ashutosh; Hatch, Upton; Cruise, James; Musleh, Fuad

2005-01-01

We developed a dynamic model to optimize irrigation application in three major crops (corn, cotton and peanuts) grown in the Southeast USA. Water supply amount is generated from an engineering model which is then combined with economic models to find the optimal amount of irrigation water to apply on each crop field during the six critical water deficit weeks in summer. Results indicate that water is applied on the crop with the highest marginal value product of irrigation. Decision making tool such as the one developed here would help farmers and policy makers to find the maximum profitable solution when water shortage is a serious concern.

Problem-Oriented Corporate Knowledge Base Models on the Case-Based Reasoning Approach Basis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gluhih, I. N.; Akhmadulin, R. K.

2017-07-01

One of the urgent directions of efficiency enhancement of production processes and enterprises activities management is creation and use of corporate knowledge bases. The article suggests a concept of problem-oriented corporate knowledge bases (PO CKB), in which knowledge is arranged around possible problem situations and represents a tool for making and implementing decisions in such situations. For knowledge representation in PO CKB a case-based reasoning approach is encouraged to use. Under this approach, the content of a case as a knowledge base component has been defined; based on the situation tree a PO CKB knowledge model has been developed, in which the knowledge about typical situations as well as specific examples of situations and solutions have been represented. A generalized problem-oriented corporate knowledge base structural chart and possible modes of its operation have been suggested. The obtained models allow creating and using corporate knowledge bases for support of decision making and implementing, training, staff skill upgrading and analysis of the decisions taken. The universal interpretation of terms “situation” and “solution” adopted in the work allows using the suggested models to develop problem-oriented corporate knowledge bases in different subject domains. It has been suggested to use the developed models for making corporate knowledge bases of the enterprises that operate engineer systems and networks at large production facilities.

A decision-making framework for total ownership cost management of complex systems: A Delphi study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

King, Russel J.

This qualitative study, using a modified Delphi method, was conducted to develop a decision-making framework for the total ownership cost management of complex systems in the aerospace industry. The primary focus of total ownership cost is to look beyond the purchase price when evaluating complex system life cycle alternatives. A thorough literature review and the opinions of a group of qualified experts resulted in a compilation of total ownership cost best practices, cost drivers, key performance factors, applicable assessment methods, practitioner credentials and potential barriers to effective implementation. The expert panel provided responses to the study questions using a 5-point Likert-type scale. Data were analyzed and provided to the panel members for review and discussion with the intent to achieve group consensus. As a result of the study, the experts agreed that a total ownership cost analysis should (a) be as simple as possible using historical data; (b) establish cost targets, metrics, and penalties early in the program; (c) monitor the targets throughout the product lifecycle and revise them as applicable historical data becomes available; and (d) directly link total ownership cost elements with other success factors during program development. The resultant study framework provides the business leader with incentives and methods to develop and implement strategies for controlling and reducing total ownership cost over the entire product life cycle when balancing cost, schedule, and performance decisions.

Cost/Effort Drivers and Decision Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seidel, Jonathan

2010-01-01

Engineering trade study analyses demand consideration of performance, cost and schedule impacts across the spectrum of alternative concepts and in direct reference to product requirements. Prior to detailed design, requirements are too often ill-defined (only goals ) and prone to creep, extending well beyond the Systems Requirements Review. Though lack of engineering design and definitive requirements inhibit the ability to perform detailed cost analyses, affordability trades still comprise the foundation of these future product decisions and must evolve in concert. This presentation excerpts results of the recent NASA subsonic Engine Concept Study for an Advanced Single Aisle Transport to demonstrate an affordability evaluation of performance characteristics and the subsequent impacts on engine architecture decisions. Applying the Process Based Economic Analysis Tool (PBEAT), development cost, production cost, as well as operation and support costs were considered in a traditional weighted ranking of the following system-level figures of merit: mission fuel burn, take-off noise, NOx emissions, and cruise speed. Weighting factors were varied to ascertain the architecture ranking sensitivities to these performance figures of merit with companion cost considerations. A more detailed examination of supersonic variable cycle engine cost is also briefly presented, with observations and recommendations for further refinements.

Optimization methods for gas liquefaction production in Algeria and for a firewater safety system for the Holy Area of Mina, in Saudi Arabia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chergui, B.

1986-01-01

The major part of this study deals specifically with problems encountered in liquefied-gas production in Algeria. However, its developed methodology could be applied to other industrial units of similar importance (petrochemical, pipeline, etc.). Capital costs as well as manpower, operations, and maintenance costs are very high in such production, especially in Algeria, a foreign-technology dependent country. Moreover, the technical complexity of an LNG plan constitutes a further incentive for the formulation of mathematical models as tools toward attaining management efficiency. These models can form the basis for Decision Support Systems for use as well in improving the operations of anymore » major national industrial plant. The remainder of the dissertation consists of a conception and a study for an optimal firewater safety system for the Holy Area of Mina, in Saudi Arabia, where fire outbreaks cause significant losses in lives and property damages during the yearly pilgrimage. Part of the contribution of this study lies in the guidelines established for a Decision Support System, which will improve the user's effectiveness as a decision maker.« less

Trends in the development of industrially assimilated renewable energy: the problem of resource restrictions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nizhegorodtsev, R. M.; Ratner, S. V.

2016-03-01

An analysis of the dynamics of the development of wind and solar energy and potential resource restrictions of the dissemination of these technologies of energy generation associated with intensive use of rare earth metals and some other mineral resources are presented. The technological prospects of various directions of decisions of the problem of resource restrictions, including escalating of volumes of extraction and production of necessary mineral components, creating substitutes of scarce materials and development of recycling are considered. The bottlenecks of each of the above-mentioned decisions were founded. Conclusions are drawn on the prospects of development of the Russian high-tech sectors of the economy in the context of the most probable decisions of the problem of resource restrictions of wind and solar energy. An increase in extraction and production of rare earth metals and some other materials, stimulation of domestic research and development (R&D) to create the permanent magnets of new types and new technologies of wind-powered generation, and reduction of the resource-demand and technology development of recycling the components of power equipment are the most prospective directions of progress. The innovations in these directions will be in demand on the European, Chinese, and North American markets in the near decades due to the end of the life cycle (approximately 30 years) of wind and solar energy projects started at the turn of the 20th-21st centuries (the beginning of exponential growth in plants). The private investors and relevant regional and federal government agencies can use the qualitative characteristics of the dynamics of industrially assimilated renewable energy to choose the most promising investment orientations in energy projects and selection of the most economically sound development methods of energy and related industries.

Mass balances for a biological life support system simulation model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Volk, Tyler; Rumel, John D.

1987-01-01

Design decisions to aid the development of future space-based biological life support systems (BLSS) can be made with simulation models. Here the biochemical stoichiometry is developed for: (1) protein, carbohydrate, fat, fiber, and lignin production in the edible and inedible parts of plants; (2) food consumption and production of organic solids in urine, feces, and wash water by the humans; and (3) operation of the waste processor. Flux values for all components are derived for a steady-state system with wheat as the sole food source.

The Decision to Publish Electronically.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Craig, Gary

1983-01-01

Argues that decision to publish a given intellectual product "electronically" is a business decision based on customer needs, available format alternatives, current business climate, and variety of already existing factors. Publishers are most influenced by customers' acceptance of new products and their own role as intermediaries in…

A role for two-stage pharmacoeconomic appraisal? Is there a role for interim approval of a drug for reimbursement based on modelling studies with subsequent full approval using phase III data?

PubMed

Hill, Suzanne; Freemantle, Nick

2003-01-01

Healthcare decision makers and pharmaceutical companies are increasingly using techniques of economic evaluation, particularly modelling, to assist them in their decisions about drug purchasing and drug development. The use of models in other types of policy decisions is also well established. One option, to shorten the time to a purchasing decision, would be for an interim decision for approval for reimbursement to be based on an economic model. Such a system would mainly benefit the drug development process and thus the pharmaceutical industry; however the approach could also lead to poor decision making, unethical marketing and withdrawal of drugs from the consumer. In this article, we consider the option of a two-stage economic appraisal process from the point of view of the seller, the purchaser and the patient and public. Although a two-stage process may offer some advantages in terms of early return on investment and access, there are significant disadvantages in terms of certainty about effects and public policy and expenditure. Until there are better methods of predicting the effectiveness of a new product, it is unlikely that interim decisions can be seen as a reasonable health policy alternative, although it seems likely that industry may continue to lobby for such an approach.

Reducing Subjectivity in Geothermal Exploration Decision Making (Presentation); NREL(National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Akar, S.; Young, K.

Geothermal exploration projects have a significant amount of risk associated with uncertainties encountered in the discovery of the geothermal resource. Two of the largest challenges for increased geothermal deployment are 1) understanding when and how to proceed in an exploration program, and 2) when to walk away from a site. Current methodologies for exploration decision-making are formulatedby subjective expert opinion which can be incorrectly biased by expertise (e.g. geochemistry, geophysics), geographic location of focus, and the assumed conceptual model. The aim of this project is to develop a methodology for more objective geothermal exploration decision making at a given location,more » including go/no-go decision points to help developers and investors decide when to give up on alocation. In this scope, two different approaches are investigated: 1) value of information analysis (VOIA) which is used for evaluating and quantifying the value of a data before they are purchased, and 2) enthalpy-based exploration targeting based on reservoir size, temperature gradient estimates, and internal rate of return (IRR). The first approach, VOIA, aims to identify the value of aparticular data when making decisions with an uncertain outcome. This approach targets the pre-drilling phase of exploration. These estimated VOIs are highly affected by the size of the project and still have a high degree of subjectivity in assignment of probabilities. The second approach, exploration targeting, is focused on decision making during the drilling phase. It starts with a basicgeothermal project definition that includes target and minimum required production capacity and initial budgeting for exploration phases. Then, it uses average temperature gradient, reservoir temperature estimates, and production capacity to define targets and go/no-go limits. The decision analysis in this approach is based on achieving a minimum IRR at each phase of the project. This secondapproach was determined to be less subjective, since numerical inputs come from the collected data. And it helps to facilitate communication between project managers and exploration geologists in making objective go/no-go decisions throughout the different project phases.« less

Toward the development of decision supporting tools that can be used for safe production and use of nanomaterials.

PubMed

Som, Claudia; Nowack, Bernd; Krug, Harald F; Wick, Peter

2013-03-19

Although researchers have intentionally produced and used nanomaterials for more than a century, nanotechnology has made its mark in most areas of daily life in the past 20 years. Now thousands of products contain nanoparticles, nanofibers, or nanostructured parts. Because some chemical products have caused severe problems to human health and to the environment, we should consider the overall biological and toxicological effects of nanomaterials as we decide whether to use them in various products. We should also reflect on the mechanisms for making these decisions, which may greatly influence the development, production, and use of such products. The preselection of appropriate materials during the early product design state should allow industry and applied researchers to mitigate the risks of these new materials. However, currently the human and ecological risks of the applied nanomaterials during their life cycle are unknown. A large set of physicochemical characteristics can determine the potential human and environmental exposure to and hazards from nanomaterials. Thus, researchers will need many years to gather and analyze all the data to perform a comprehensive risk assessment for engineered nanomaterials and to develop a sound decision making process. The ideal risk assessment approach would include cost-effective screening processes to target resources toward the risks of greatest concern. The outcome of the risk assessment is only as good as the quality of the data used. Unfortunately, the actual review process of most journals that publish on nanotoxicology focuses on "mechanistic studies and results" rather than a toxicologically relevant outcome. For example, journals often do not include studies that show no effect as worthy of publication ("no-effect-studies" dilemma), which can lead to misleading interpretations of toxicological data for hazard identification. However, even with insufficient data sets, researchers can produce a preliminary comparable risk assessment ("approximate" risk assessment). Researchers have already performed risk-based evaluations of nanomaterials grounded on the comparison of exposure concentrations with no-effect levels (as required for chemical risk assessment), examining generic nanomaterials such as "nano-TiO₂" but not specific forms or modifications. Even though these data sets on hazard and exposure are incomplete, they already provide the basis to illustrate the current state of knowledge and uncertainties. Therefore industry and applied researchers can calculate the probability that an adverse effect might occur and begin to balance the benefits and potential risks of an innovation. Based on the increasing numbers of nanotoxicology publications and funding programs, this Account reviews the decision support approaches that already exist to safely implement engineered nanomaterials during an early phase of innovation.

Periodic benefit-risk assessment using Bayesian stochastic multi-criteria acceptability analysis

PubMed Central

Li, Kan; Yuan, Shuai Sammy; Wang, William; Wan, Shuyan Sabrina; Ceesay, Paulette; Heyse, Joseph F.; Mt-Isa, Shahrul; Luo, Sheng

2018-01-01

Benefit-risk (BR) assessment is essential to ensure the best decisions are made for a medical product in the clinical development process, regulatory marketing authorization, post-market surveillance, and coverage and reimbursement decisions. One challenge of BR assessment in practice is that the benefit and risk profile may keep evolving while new evidence is accumulating. Regulators and the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) recommend performing periodic benefit-risk evaluation report (PBRER) through the product's lifecycle. In this paper, we propose a general statistical framework for periodic benefit-risk assessment, in which Bayesian meta-analysis and stochastic multi-criteria acceptability analysis (SMAA) will be combined to synthesize the accumulating evidence. The proposed approach allows us to compare the acceptability of different drugs dynamically and effectively and accounts for the uncertainty of clinical measurements and imprecise or incomplete preference information of decision makers. We apply our approaches to two real examples in a post-hoc way for illustration purpose. The proposed method may easily be modified for other pre and post market settings, and thus be an important complement to the current structured benefit-risk assessment (sBRA) framework to improve the transparent and consistency of the decision-making process. PMID:29505866

Status of the US EPA’s National Atlas of Ecosystem Services

EPA Science Inventory

The US Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) Ecosystem Services Research Program (ESRP) is focused on transdisciplinary research to develop tools to enable decision-makers at all levels of governance to proactively conserve ecosystems services. A major product from the ESRP ...

LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT IN THE U.S. EPA

EPA Science Inventory

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS SUCH AS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S GREEN PURCHASING MEASURE ARE STIMULATING NEW INTEREST IN LCA AT THE USEPA. ACTIVITIES UNDERWAY WILL HELP BUYERS MAKE ENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCT CHOICES EASY ACCESS TO LCA DATA, AND PROVIDE A DATABASE/DECISION TOOL FOR MUNICIPAL WAST...

Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System Not Ready for Production Decision (REDACTED)

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-07

Average Procurement Unit Cost CMDS Cruise Missile Defense Systems CPD Capability Production Document EMD Engineering and Manufacturing...Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics also determined that continuing test and evaluation of the two JLENS Engineering and Manufacturing...Program (Category ID) that was established in January 1996 and, during the audit, was in the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase of

Making the Connection between Environmental Science and Decision Making

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woodhouse, C. A.; Crimmins, M.; Ferguson, D. B.; Garfin, G. M.; Scott, C. A.

2011-12-01

As society is confronted with population growth, limited resources, and the impacts of climate variability and change, it is vital that institutions of higher education promote the development of professionals who can work with decision-makers to incorporate scientific information into environmental planning and management. Skills for the communication of science are essential, but equally important is the ability to understand decision-making contexts and engage with resource managers and policy makers. It is increasingly being recognized that people who understand the linkages between science and decision making are crucial if science is to better support planning and policy. A new graduate-level seminar, "Making the Connection between Environmental Science and Decision Making," is a core course for a new post-baccalaureate certificate program, Connecting Environmental Science and Decision Making at the University of Arizona. The goal of the course is to provide students with a basic understanding of the dynamics between scientists and decision makers that result in scientific information being incorporated into environmental planning, policy, and management decisions. Through readings from the environmental and social sciences, policy, and planning literature, the course explores concepts including scientific information supply and demand, boundary organizations, co-production of knowledge, platforms for engagement, and knowledge networks. Visiting speakers help students understand some of the challenges of incorporating scientific information into planning and decision making within institutional and political contexts. The course also includes practical aspects of two-way communication via written, oral, and graphical presentations as well as through the interview process to facilitate the transfer of scientific information to decision makers as well as to broader audiences. We aspire to help students develop techniques that improve communication and understanding between scientists and decision-makers, leading to enhanced outcomes in the fields of climate science, water resources, and ecosystem services.

Acquisition and production of skilled behavior in dynamic decision-making tasks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kirlik, Alex

1993-01-01

Summaries of the four projects completed during the performance of this research are included. The four projects described are: Perceptual Augmentation Aiding for Situation Assessment, Perceptual Augmentation Aiding for Dynamic Decision-Making and Control, Action Advisory Aiding for Dynamic Decision-Making and Control, and Display Design to Support Time-Constrained Route Optimization. Papers based on each of these projects are currently in preparation. The theoretical framework upon which the first three projects are based, Ecological Task Analysis, was also developed during the performance of this research, and is described in a previous report. A project concerned with modeling strategies in human control of a dynamic system was also completed during the performance of this research.

Understanding USGS user needs and Earth observing data use for decision making

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Z.

2016-12-01

US Geological Survey (USGS) initiated the Requirements, Capabilities and Analysis for Earth Observations (RCA-EO) project in the Land Remote Sensing (LRS) program, collaborating with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to jointly develop the supporting information infrastructure - The Earth Observation Requirements Evaluation Systems (EORES). RCA-EO enables us to collect information on current data products and projects across the USGS and evaluate the impacts of Earth observation data from all sources, including spaceborne, airborne, and ground-based platforms. EORES allows users to query, filter, and analyze usage and impacts of Earth observation data at different organizational level within the bureau. We engaged over 500 subject matter experts and evaluated more than 1000 different Earth observing data sources and products. RCA-EO provides a comprehensive way to evaluate impacts of Earth observing data on USGS mission areas and programs through the survey of 345 key USGS products and services. We paid special attention to user feedback about Earth observing data to inform decision making on improving user satisfaction. We believe the approach and philosophy of RCA-EO can be applied in much broader scope to derive comprehensive knowledge of Earth observing systems impacts and usage and inform data products development and remote sensing technology innovation.

A National Crop Progress Monitoring and Decision Support System Based on NASA Earth Science Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

di, L.; Yang, Z.

2009-12-01

Timely and accurate information on weekly crop progress and development is essential to a dynamic agricultural industry in the U. S. and the world. By law, the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) of the U. S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) is responsible for monitoring and assessing U.S. agricultural production. Currently NASS compiles and issues weekly state and national crop progress and development reports based on reports from knowledgeable state and county agricultural officials and farmers. Such survey-based reports are subjectively estimated for an entire county, lack spatial coverage, and are labor intensive. There has been limited use of remote sensing data to assess crop conditions. NASS produces weekly 1-km resolution un-calibrated AVHRR-based NDVI static images to represent national vegetation conditions but there is no quantitative crop progress information. This presentation discusses the early result for developing a National Crop Progress Monitoring and Decision Support System. The system will overcome the shortcomings of the existing systems by integrating NASA satellite and model-based land surface and weather products, NASS’ wealth of internal crop progress and condition data and Cropland Data Layers (CDL), and the Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) Common Land Units (CLU). The system, using service-oriented architecture and web service technologies, will automatically produce and disseminate quantitative national crop progress maps and associated decision support data at 250-m resolution, as well as summary reports to support NASS and worldwide users in their decision-making. It will provide overall and specific crop progress for individual crops from the state level down to CLU field level to meet different users’ needs on all known croplands. This will greatly enhance the effectiveness and accuracy of the NASS aggregated crop condition data and charts of and provides objective and scientific evidence and guidance for the adjustment of NASS survey data. This presentation will discuss the architecture, Earth observation data, and the crop progress model used in the decision support system.

Aerospace Engineering Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

VanDalsem, William R.; Livingston, Mary E.; Melton, John E.; Torres, Francisco J.; Stremel, Paul M.

1999-01-01

Continuous improvement of aerospace product development processes is a driving requirement across much of the aerospace community. As up to 90% of the cost of an aerospace product is committed during the first 10% of the development cycle, there is a strong emphasis on capturing, creating, and communicating better information (both requirements and performance) early in the product development process. The community has responded by pursuing the development of computer-based systems designed to enhance the decision-making capabilities of product development individuals and teams. Recently, the historical foci on sharing the geometrical representation and on configuration management are being augmented: Physics-based analysis tools for filling the design space database; Distributed computational resources to reduce response time and cost; Web-based technologies to relieve machine-dependence; and Artificial intelligence technologies to accelerate processes and reduce process variability. Activities such as the Advanced Design Technologies Testbed (ADTT) project at NASA Ames Research Center study the strengths and weaknesses of the technologies supporting each of these trends, as well as the overall impact of the combination of these trends on a product development event. Lessons learned and recommendations for future activities will be reported.

Coordinating two-period ordering and advertising policies in a dynamic market with stochastic demand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Junping; Wang, Shengdong; Min, Jie

2015-03-01

In this paper, we study the optimal two-stage advertising and ordering policies and the channel coordination issues in a supply chain composed of one manufacturer and one retailer. The manufacturer sells a short-life-cycle product through the retailer facing stochastic demand in dynamic markets characterised by price declines and product obsolescence. Following a two-period newsvendor framework, we develop two members' optimal ordering and advertising models under both the centralised and decentralised settings, and present the closed-form solutions to the developed models as well. Moreover, we design a two-period revenue-sharing contract, and develop sufficient conditions such that the channel coordination can be achieved and a win-win outcome can be guaranteed. Our analysis suggests that the centralised decision creates an incentive for the retailer to increase the advertising investments in two periods and put the purchase forward, but the decentralised decision mechanism forces the retailer to decrease the advertising investments in two periods and postpone/reduce its purchase in the first period. This phenomenon becomes more evident when demand variability is high.

The economic determinants of land degradation in developing countries

PubMed Central

Barbier, E. B.

1997-01-01

The following paper investigates the economic determinants of land degradation in developing countries. The main trends examined are rural households' decisions to degrade as opposed to conserve land resources, and the expansion of frontier agricultural activity that contributes to forest and marginal land conversion. These two phenomena appear often to be linked. In many developing areas, a poor rural household's decision whether to undertake long-term investment in improving existing agricultural land must be weighed against the decision to abandon this land and migrate to environmentally fragile areas. Economic factors play a critical role in determining these relationships. Poverty, imperfect capital markets and insecure land tenure may reinforce the tendency towards short-term time horizons in production decisions, and may bias land use decisions against long-term land management strategies. In periods of commodity booms and land speculation, wealthier households generally take advantage of their superior political and market power to ensure initial access to better quality resources, in order to capture a larger share of the resource rents. Poorer households are confined either to marginal environmental areas where resource rents are limited, or only have access to resources once they are degraded and rents dissipated.
Overall trends in land degradation and deforestation are examined, followed by an overview of rural households' resource management decisions with respect to land management, frontier agricultural expansion, and migration from existing agricultural land to frontiers. Finally, the discussion focuses on the scope for policy improvements to reduce economic constraints to effective land management.

Determinants of farmers' tree planting investment decision as a degraded landscape management strategy in the central highlands of Ethiopia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gessesse, B.; Bewket, W.; Bräuning, A.

2015-11-01

Land degradation due to lack of sustainable land management practices are one of the critical challenges in many developing countries including Ethiopia. This study explores the major determinants of farm level tree planting decision as a land management strategy in a typical framing and degraded landscape of the Modjo watershed, Ethiopia. The main data were generated from household surveys and analysed using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression model. The model significantly predicted farmers' tree planting decision (Chi-square = 37.29, df = 15, P<0.001). Besides, the computed significant value of the model suggests that all the considered predictor variables jointly influenced the farmers' decision to plant trees as a land management strategy. In this regard, the finding of the study show that local land-users' willingness to adopt tree growing decision is a function of a wide range of biophysical, institutional, socioeconomic and household level factors, however, the likelihood of household size, productive labour force availability, the disparity of schooling age, level of perception of the process of deforestation and the current land tenure system have positively and significantly influence on tree growing investment decisions in the study watershed. Eventually, the processes of land use conversion and land degradation are serious which in turn have had adverse effects on agricultural productivity, local food security and poverty trap nexus. Hence, devising sustainable and integrated land management policy options and implementing them would enhance ecological restoration and livelihood sustainability in the study watershed.

Determinants of farmers' tree-planting investment decisions as a degraded landscape management strategy in the central highlands of Ethiopia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gessesse, Berhan; Bewket, Woldeamlak; Bräuning, Achim

2016-04-01

Land degradation due to lack of sustainable land management practices is one of the critical challenges in many developing countries including Ethiopia. This study explored the major determinants of farm-level tree-planting decisions as a land management strategy in a typical farming and degraded landscape of the Modjo watershed, Ethiopia. The main data were generated from household surveys and analysed using descriptive statistics and a binary logistic regression model. The model significantly predicted farmers' tree-planting decisions (χ2 = 37.29, df = 15, P < 0.001). Besides, the computed significant value of the model revealed that all the considered predictor variables jointly influenced the farmers' decisions to plant trees as a land management strategy. The findings of the study demonstrated that the adoption of tree-growing decisions by local land users was a function of a wide range of biophysical, institutional, socioeconomic and household-level factors. In this regard, the likelihood of household size, productive labour force availability, the disparity of schooling age, level of perception of the process of deforestation and the current land tenure system had a critical influence on tree-growing investment decisions in the study watershed. Eventually, the processes of land-use conversion and land degradation were serious, which in turn have had adverse effects on agricultural productivity, local food security and poverty trap nexus. Hence, the study recommended that devising and implementing sustainable land management policy options would enhance ecological restoration and livelihood sustainability in the study watershed.

Advancing Sustainable Bioenergy: Evolving Stakeholder Interests and the Relevance of Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Timothy Lawrence; Bielicki, Jeffrey M.; Dodder, Rebecca S.; Hilliard, Michael R.; Ozge Kaplan, P.; Andrew Miller, C.

2013-02-01

The sustainability of future bioenergy production rests on more than continual improvements in its environmental, economic, and social impacts. The emergence of new biomass feedstocks, an expanding array of conversion pathways, and expected increases in overall bioenergy production are connecting diverse technical, social, and policy communities. These stakeholder groups have different—and potentially conflicting—values and cultures, and therefore different goals and decision making processes. Our aim is to discuss the implications of this diversity for bioenergy researchers. The paper begins with a discussion of bioenergy stakeholder groups and their varied interests, and illustrates how this diversity complicates efforts to define and promote "sustainable" bioenergy production. We then discuss what this diversity means for research practice. Researchers, we note, should be aware of stakeholder values, information needs, and the factors affecting stakeholder decision making if the knowledge they generate is to reach its widest potential use. We point out how stakeholder participation in research can increase the relevance of its products, and argue that stakeholder values should inform research questions and the choice of analytical assumptions. Finally, we make the case that additional natural science and technical research alone will not advance sustainable bioenergy production, and that important research gaps relate to understanding stakeholder decision making and the need, from a broader social science perspective, to develop processes to identify and accommodate different value systems. While sustainability requires more than improved scientific and technical understanding, the need to understand stakeholder values and manage diversity presents important research opportunities.

Advancing sustainable bioenergy: evolving stakeholder interests and the relevance of research.

PubMed

Johnson, Timothy Lawrence; Bielicki, Jeffrey M; Dodder, Rebecca S; Hilliard, Michael R; Kaplan, P Ozge; Miller, C Andrew

2013-02-01

The sustainability of future bioenergy production rests on more than continual improvements in its environmental, economic, and social impacts. The emergence of new biomass feedstocks, an expanding array of conversion pathways, and expected increases in overall bioenergy production are connecting diverse technical, social, and policy communities. These stakeholder groups have different-and potentially conflicting-values and cultures, and therefore different goals and decision making processes. Our aim is to discuss the implications of this diversity for bioenergy researchers. The paper begins with a discussion of bioenergy stakeholder groups and their varied interests, and illustrates how this diversity complicates efforts to define and promote "sustainable" bioenergy production. We then discuss what this diversity means for research practice. Researchers, we note, should be aware of stakeholder values, information needs, and the factors affecting stakeholder decision making if the knowledge they generate is to reach its widest potential use. We point out how stakeholder participation in research can increase the relevance of its products, and argue that stakeholder values should inform research questions and the choice of analytical assumptions. Finally, we make the case that additional natural science and technical research alone will not advance sustainable bioenergy production, and that important research gaps relate to understanding stakeholder decision making and the need, from a broader social science perspective, to develop processes to identify and accommodate different value systems. While sustainability requires more than improved scientific and technical understanding, the need to understand stakeholder values and manage diversity presents important research opportunities.

From Big Data to Small Transportable Products for Decision Support for Floods in Namibia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mandl, D.; Frye, S.; Cappelaere, P.; Policelli, F.; Handy, M.; Sohlberg, R. A.; Grossman, R.

2013-12-01

During the past four years, a team from NASA, Oklahoma University, University of Maryland and University of Chicago in collaboration with the Namibia Hydrological Services (NHS) has explored ways to provide decision support products for floods. The products include a variety of data including a hydrological model, ground measurements such as river gauges, and earth remote sensing data. This poster or presentation highlights the lessons learned in acquiring, storing, managing big data on the cloud and turning it into relevant products for GEOSS users. Technology that has been explored includes the use of Hadoop/MapReduce and Accumulo to process and manage the large data sets. OpenStreetMap was explored for use in cataloging water boundaries and enabling collaborative mapping of the base water mask and floods. A Flood Dashboard was created to customize displays of various data products. Finally, a higher level Geo-Social Application Processing Interface (API) was developed so that users can discover, generate products dynamically for their specific needs/societal benefit areas and then share them with their Community of Practice over social networks. Results of this experiment have included 100x reduction in size of some flood products, making it possible to distribute these products to mobile platforms and/or bandwidth-limited users.

Use of GIS-Based Sampling to Inform Food Security Assessments and Decision Making in Kenya

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wahome, A.; Ndubi, A. O.; Ndungu, L. W.; Mugo, R. M.; Flores Cordova, A. I.

2017-12-01

Kenya relies on agricultural production for supporting local consumption and other processing value chains. With changing climate in a rain-fed dependent agricultural production system, cropping zones are shifting and proper decision making will require updated data. Where up-to-date data is not available it is important that it is generated and passed over to relevant stakeholders to inform their decision making. The process of generating this data should be cost effective and less time consuming. The Kenyan State Department of Agriculture (SDA) runs an insurance programme for maize farmers in a number of counties in Kenya. Previously, SDA was using a list of farmers to identify the crop fields for this insurance programme. However, the process of listing of all farmers in each Unit Area of Insurance (UAI) proved to be tedious and very costly, hence need for an alternative approach, but acceptable sampling methodology. Building on the existing cropland maps, SERVIR, a joint NASA-USAID initiative that brings Earth observations (EO) for improved environmental decision making in developing countries, specifically its hub in Eastern and Soutehrn Africa developed a High Resolution Map based on 10m Sentinel satellite images from which a GIS based sampling frame for identifying maize fields was developed. Sampling points were randomly generated in each UAI and navigated to using hand-held GPS units for identification of maize farmers. In the GIS-based identification of farmers SDA uses 1 day to cover an area covered in 1 week by list identification of farmers. Similarly, SDA spends approximately 3,000 USD per sub-county to locate maize fields using GIS-based sampling as compared 10,000 USD they used to spend before. This has resulted in 70% cost reduction.

Leadership of risk decision making in a complex, technology organization: The deliberative decision making model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flaming, Susan C.

2007-12-01

The continuing saga of satellite technology development is as much a story of successful risk management as of innovative engineering. How do program leaders on complex, technology projects manage high stakes risks that threaten business success and satellite performance? This grounded theory study of risk decision making portrays decision leadership practices at one communication satellite company. Integrated product team (IPT) leaders of multi-million dollar programs were interviewed and observed to develop an extensive description of the leadership skills required to navigate organizational influences and drive challenging risk decisions to closure. Based on the study's findings the researcher proposes a new decision making model, Deliberative Decision Making, to describe the program leaders' cognitive and organizational leadership practices. This Deliberative Model extends the insights of prominent decision making models including the rational (or classical) and the naturalistic and qualifies claims made by bounded rationality theory. The Deliberative Model describes how leaders proactively engage resources to play a variety of decision leadership roles. The Model incorporates six distinct types of leadership decision activities, undertaken in varying sequence based on the challenges posed by specific risks. Novel features of the Deliberative Decision Model include: an inventory of leadership methods for managing task challenges, potential stakeholder bias and debates; four types of leadership meta-decisions that guide decision processes, and aligned organizational culture. Both supporting and constraining organizational influences were observed as leaders managed major risks, requiring active leadership on the most difficult decisions. Although the company's engineering culture emphasized the importance of data-based decisions, the uncertainties intrinsic to satellite risks required expert engineering judgment to be exercised throughout. An investigation into the co-variation of decision methods with uncertainty suggests that perceived risk severity may serve as a robust indicator for choices about decision practices. The Deliberative Decision processes incorporate multiple organizational and cultural controls as cross-checks to mitigate potential parochial bias of individuals, stakeholder groups, or leaders. Overall the Deliberative Decision framework describes how expert leadership practices, supportive organizational systems along with aligned cultural values and behavioral norms help leaders drive high stakes risk decisions to closure in this complex, advanced-technology setting.

Skill Transfer and Virtual Training for IND Response Decision-Making: Project Summary and Next Steps

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-04-12

are likely to be very productive partners—independent video - game developers and academic game degree programs—are not familiar with working with...experimental validation. • Independent Video - Game Developers. Small companies and individuals that pursue video - game design and development can be...complexity, such as an improvised nuclear device (IND) detonation. The effort has examined game - based training methods to determine their suitability

Skill Transfer and Virtual Training for IND Response Decision-Making: Project Summary and Next Steps

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-01-01

to be very productive partners—independent video - game developers and academic game degree programs—are not familiar with working with government...experimental validation. • Independent Video - Game Developers. Small companies and individuals that pursue video - game design and development can be inexpensive...Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that examines alternative mechanisms for training and evaluation of emergency managers (EMs) to augment and

Who to Blame: Irrational Decision-Makers or Stupid Modelers? (Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Young Scientists Lecture)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madani, Kaveh

2016-04-01

Water management benefits from a suite of modelling tools and techniques that help simplifying and understanding the complexities involved in managing water resource systems. Early water management models were mainly concerned with optimizing a single objective, related to the design, operations or management of water resource systems (e.g. economic cost, hydroelectricity production, reliability of water deliveries). Significant improvements in methodologies, computational capacity, and data availability over the last decades have resulted in developing more complex water management models that can now incorporate multiple objectives, various uncertainties, and big data. These models provide an improved understanding of complex water resource systems and provide opportunities for making positive impacts. Nevertheless, there remains an alarming mismatch between the optimal solutions developed by these models and the decisions made by managers and stakeholders of water resource systems. Modelers continue to consider decision makers as irrational agents who fail to implement the optimal solutions developed by sophisticated and mathematically rigours water management models. On the other hand, decision makers and stakeholders accuse modelers of being idealist, lacking a perfect understanding of reality, and developing 'smart' solutions that are not practical (stable). In this talk I will have a closer look at the mismatch between the optimality and stability of solutions and argue that conventional water resources management models suffer inherently from a full-cooperation assumption. According to this assumption, water resources management decisions are based on group rationality where in practice decisions are often based on individual rationality, making the group's optimal solution unstable for individually rational decision makers. I discuss how game theory can be used as an appropriate framework for addressing the irrational "rationality assumption" of water resources management models and for better capturing the social aspects of decision making in water management systems with multiple stakeholders.

Realizing NASA's Goal of Societal Benefits From Earth Observations in Mesoamerica Through the SERVIR Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hardin, D. M.; Irwin, D.; Sever, T.; Graves, S.

2006-12-01

One of the goals of NASA's Applied Sciences Program is to manifest societal benefits from the vast store of Earth Observations through partnerships with public, private and academic organizations. The SERVIR project represents an early success toward this goal. By combining Earth Observations from NASA missions, results from environmental models and decision support tools from its partners the SERVIR project has produced an integrated systems solution that is yielding societal benefits for the region of Mesoamerica. The architecture of the SERVIR system consists of an operational facility in Panama with regional nodes in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Belize plus a Rapid Prototyping Center (RPC), located in Huntsville, Alabama. The RPC, funded by NASA's Applied Sciences Division, and developed by the Information Technology and Systems Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, produces scientifically strong decision support products and applications. When mature, the products and applications migrate to the operational center in Panama. There, they are available to environmental ministers and decision makers in Mesoamerica. In June 2004, the SERVIR project was contacted by the environmental ministry of El Salvador, which urgently requested remote sensing imagery of the location, direction, and extent of a HAB event off the coast of El Salvador and Guatemala. Using MODIS data the SERVIR team developed a value added product that predicts the location, direction, and extent of HABs. The products are produced twice daily and are used by the El Salvadoran and Guatemalan governments to alert their tourism and fishing industries of potential red tide events. This has enabled these countries to save millions of dollars for their industries as well as improve the health of harvested fish. In the area of short term weather forecasting the SERVIR team, in collaboration with the NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SpoRT) Center, generates 24 hour-forecasts twice daily utilizing the Weather Research and Forecast Model (WRF). Originally aimed at forecasts for the United States, the SPoRT team extended their work to cover the Mesoamerican region. Following testing at the RPC the system was installed in Panama and is currently producing forecasts that are used by tour guides, boat captains on river and ocean fishing tours, and cruise ship captains. This capability fits perfectly with NASA's goals since an existing project was modified, at minimal cost, to provide societal benefits to the population of a different geographic region. On June 30, 2006 several new applications matured and the inventory of decision support products was significantly expanded. As a result the SERVIR website was reorganized to reflect the changes. The degree of change was sufficient for the developers to designate it as a new release of SERVIR. The applications include a Real-Time Image Viewer, a customized version of NASA World Wind for Mesoamerica known as SERVIR- VIZ (developed by IAGT) and the SERVIR Data Portal (developed by the Water Center of the Humid Tropics Latin America and the Caribbean). The success of the SERVIR project is reflected by its choice by NASA as the decision support system for the Ecological Forecasting National Application. The SERVIR model is also under consideration for other regions of the globe. Potential areas for development are Africa, South America and the Caribbean.

Assessment Methodology for Process Validation Lifecycle Stage 3A.

PubMed

Sayeed-Desta, Naheed; Pazhayattil, Ajay Babu; Collins, Jordan; Chen, Shu; Ingram, Marzena; Spes, Jana

2017-07-01

The paper introduces evaluation methodologies and associated statistical approaches for process validation lifecycle Stage 3A. The assessment tools proposed can be applied to newly developed and launched small molecule as well as bio-pharma products, where substantial process and product knowledge has been gathered. The following elements may be included in Stage 3A: number of 3A batch determination; evaluation of critical material attributes, critical process parameters, critical quality attributes; in vivo in vitro correlation; estimation of inherent process variability (IPV) and PaCS index; process capability and quality dashboard (PCQd); and enhanced control strategy. US FDA guidance on Process Validation: General Principles and Practices, January 2011 encourages applying previous credible experience with suitably similar products and processes. A complete Stage 3A evaluation is a valuable resource for product development and future risk mitigation of similar products and processes. Elements of 3A assessment were developed to address industry and regulatory guidance requirements. The conclusions made provide sufficient information to make a scientific and risk-based decision on product robustness.

The social nature of engineering and its implications for risk taking.

PubMed

Ross, Allison; Athanassoulis, Nafsika

2010-03-01

Making decisions with an, often significant, element of risk seems to be an integral part of many of the projects of the diverse profession of engineering. Whether it be decisions about the design of products, manufacturing processes, public works, or developing technological solutions to environmental, social and global problems, risk taking seems inherent to the profession. Despite this, little attention has been paid to the topic and specifically to how our understanding of engineering as a distinctive profession might affect how we should make decisions under risk. This paper seeks to remedy this, firstly by offering a nuanced account of risk and then by considering how specific claims about our understanding of engineering as a social profession, with corresponding social values and obligations, should inform how we make decisions about risk in this context.

Optimal decision making modeling for copper-matte Peirce-Smith converting process by means of data mining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Yanpo; Peng, Xiaoqi; Tang, Ying; Hu, Zhikun

2013-07-01

To improve the operation level of copper converter, the approach to optimal decision making modeling for coppermatte converting process based on data mining is studied: in view of the characteristics of the process data, such as containing noise, small sample size and so on, a new robust improved ANN (artificial neural network) modeling method is proposed; taking into account the application purpose of decision making model, three new evaluation indexes named support, confidence and relative confidence are proposed; using real production data and the methods mentioned above, optimal decision making model for blowing time of S1 period (the 1st slag producing period) are developed. Simulation results show that this model can significantly improve the converting quality of S1 period, increase the optimal probability from about 70% to about 85%.

Fit for purpose: perspectives on rapid reviews from end-user interviews.

PubMed

Hartling, Lisa; Guise, Jeanne-Marie; Hempel, Susanne; Featherstone, Robin; Mitchell, Matthew D; Motu'apuaka, Makalapua L; Robinson, Karen A; Schoelles, Karen; Totten, Annette; Whitlock, Evelyn; Wilt, Timothy J; Anderson, Johanna; Berliner, Elise; Gozu, Aysegul; Kato, Elisabeth; Paynter, Robin; Umscheid, Craig A

2017-02-17

There is increasing demand for rapid reviews and timely evidence synthesis. The goal of this project was to understand end-user perspectives on the utility and limitations of rapid products including evidence inventories, rapid responses, and rapid reviews. Interviews were conducted with key informants representing: guideline developers (n = 3), health care providers/health system organizations (n = 3), research funders (n = 1), and payers/health insurers (n = 1). We elicited perspectives on important characteristics of systematic reviews, acceptable methods to streamline reviews, and uses of rapid products. We analyzed content of the interview transcripts and identified themes and subthemes. Key informants identified the following as critical features of evidence reviews: (1) originating from a reliable source (i.e., conducted by experienced reviewers from an established research organization), (2) addressing clinically relevant questions, and (3) trusted relationship between the user and producer. Key informants expressed strong preference for the following review methods and characteristics: use of evidence tables, quality rating of studies, assessments of total evidence quality/strength, and use of summary tables for results and conclusions. Most acceptable trade-offs to increase efficiencies were limiting the literature search (e.g., limiting search dates or language) and performing single screening of citations and full texts for relevance. Key informants perceived rapid products (particularly evidence inventories and rapid responses) as useful interim products to inform downstream investigation (e.g., whether to proceed with a full review or guideline, direction for future research). Most key informants indicated that evidence analysis/synthesis and quality/strength of evidence assessments were important for decision-making. They reported that rapid reviews in particular were useful for guideline development on narrow topics, policy decisions when a quick turn-around is needed, decision-making for practicing clinicians in nuanced clinical settings, and decisions about coverage by payers/health insurers. Rapid reviews may be more relevant within specific clinical settings or health systems; whereas, broad/national guidelines often need a traditional systematic review. Key informants interviewed in our study indicated that evidence inventories, rapid responses, and rapid reviews have utility in specific decisions and contexts. They indicated that the credibility of the review producer, relevance of key questions, and close working relationship between the end-user and producer are critical for any rapid product. Our findings are limited by the sample size which may have been too small to reach saturation for the themes described.

User-Driven Workflow for Modeling, Monitoring, Product Development, and Flood Map Delivery Using Satellites for Daily Coverage Over Texas May-June 2015

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Green, D. S.; Frye, S. W.; Wells, G. L.; Adler, R. F.; Brakenridge, R.; Bolten, J. D.; Murray, J. J.; Slayback, D. A.; Kirschbaum, D.; Wu, H.; Cappelaere, P. G.; Schumann, G.; Howard, T.; Flamig, Z.; Clark, R. A.; Stough, T.; Chini, M.; Matgen, P.

2015-12-01

Intense rainfall during late April and early May 2015 in Texas and Oklahoma led to widespread flooding in several river basins in that region. Texas state agencies were activated for the May-June floods and severe weather event that ensued for six weeks from May 8 until June 19 following Tropical Storm Bill. This poster depicts a case study where modeling flood potential informed decision making authorities for user-driven high resolution satellite acquisitions over the most critical areas and how experimental flood mapping techniques provided the capability for daily on-going monitoring of these events through the use of increased automation. Recent improvements in flood models resulting from higher frequency updates, better spatial resolution, and increased accuracy of now cast and forecast precipitation products coupled with advanced technology to improve situational awareness for decision makers. These advances enabled satellites to be tasked, data products to be developed and distributed, and feedback loops between the emergency authorities, satellite operators, and mapping researchers to deliver a daily stream of relevant products that informed deployment of emergency resources and improved management of the large-scale event across the local, state, and national levels. This collaboration was made possible through inter-agency cooperation on an international scale through the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites Flood Pilot activity that is supported in the USA by NASA, NOAA, and USGS and includes numerous civilian space agency assets from the European Space Agency along with national agencies from Italy, France, Germany, Japan, and others. The poster describes the inter-linking technology infrastructure, the development and delivery of mapping products, and the lessons learned for product improvement in the future.

Developing Adaptive Training in the Classroom

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-09-01

change to a training course: a pretest / posttest design and the use of control groups.39 The pretest / posttest comparison would entail administering the...U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Product 2009-10 Developing Adaptive Training in...the Classroom Rose A. Mueller-Hanson Personnel Decisions Research Institutes, Inc. Michelle M. Wisecarver U.S. Army Research Institute

Establishing a Framework for Quality

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lehman, Kirby

2006-01-01

The Jenks School District applies a continuous improvement approach that focuses on academics, arts, activities, athletics and attitude, weaving in leadership, professional development, technology and data-based decision making to prepare all learners to be productive, responsible citizens. Since 1998, the Jenks School District has embraced a…

Algorithmic Case Pedagogy, Learning and Gender

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bromley, Robert; Huang, Zhenyu

2015-01-01

Great investment has been made in developing algorithmically-based cases within online homework management systems. This has been done because publishers are convinced that textbook adoption decisions are influenced by the incorporation of these systems within their products. These algorithmic assignments are thought to promote learning while…

An independent assessment of the monthly PRISM gridded precipitation product in central Oklahoma

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The development of climate-informed decision support tools for agricultural management requires long-duration location-specific climatologies due to the extreme spatiotemporal variability of precipitation. The traditional source of precipitation data (rain gauges) are too sparsely located to fill t...

A comparison of major petroleum life cycle models

EPA Science Inventory

Many organizations have attempted to develop an accurate well-to-pump life cycle model of petroleum products in order to inform decision makers of the consequences of its use. Our paper studies five of these models, demonstrating the differences in their predictions and attemptin...

Beyond Needs Assessments: Marketing as Change Agent.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piland, William E.

1984-01-01

Views marketing techniques as agents of change providing valuable assistance to community college decision makers. Discusses the importance of a balance among the four P's of marketing (i.e., promotion, price, place, and product); and seven procedural steps in developing a sound marketing strategy. (DMM)

Factors driving aquaculture technology adoption

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Technology adoption has played a key role in the global development and increase in agricultural productivity. However, the decision to adopt a new technology on farms is complex. While the factors that drive the adoption of new technologies have been well studied in agriculture, less attention has ...

NASA's Software Bank (CLIPS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

C Language Integrated Production System (CLIPS) was used by Esse Systems to develop an expert system for clients who want to automate portions of their operations. The resulting program acts as a scheduling expert and automates routine, repetitive scheduling decisions, allowing employees to spend time on more creative projects.

Developing strategic planning of green supply chain in refinery CPO company

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hidayati, J.; Mumtaz, G.; Hasibuan, S.

2018-02-01

We are conducted a research at the company of the manufacturing CPO into cooking oil, margarine and materials of oleochemical industries. Today palm oil based industries are facing global challenges related to environmental issues. To against these challenges, it is necessary to have an environmentally friendly supply chain. However, the limited resource owned by the company requires the integrated environmental strategy with the company’s business strategy. The model is developed based on management orientation towards external pressure, internal key resources and competitive advantage that can be obtained as the decision factor. The decision-making method used is Analytical Network Process (ANP). The results obtained institutional pressure becomes the criterion with the greatest influence on green supply chain initiatives and sub criteria of customer desires and stakeholder integration having the most significant influence on green supply chain initiatives. There are five green alternative initiatives that can be done: green product design, greening upstream, greening production, greening downstream and greening post use. For green supply chain initiative, greening upstream is the best priority.

Eco-Efficiency Analysis of biotechnological processes.

PubMed

Saling, Peter

2005-07-01

Eco-Efficiency has been variously defined and analytically implemented by several workers. In most cases, Eco-Efficiency is taken to mean the ecological optimization of overall systems while not disregarding economic factors. Eco-Efficiency should increase the positive ecological performance of a commercial company in relation to economic value creation--or to reduce negative effects. Several companies use Eco-Efficiency Analysis for decision-making processes; and industrial examples of best practices in developing and implementing Eco-Efficiency have been reviewed. They clearly demonstrate the environmental and business benefits of Eco-Efficiency. An instrument for the early recognition and systematic detection of economic and environmental opportunities and risks for production processes in the chemical industry began use in 1997, since when different new features have been developed, leading to many examples. This powerful Eco-Efficiency Analysis allows a feasibility evaluation of existing and future business activities and is applied by BASF. In many cases, decision-makers are able to choose among alternative processes for making a product.

The stakeholder approach: a new perspective on developing and marketing clinical trials.

PubMed

Droms, Courtney M; Ferguson, Michael; Giuliano, Karen

2014-01-01

The use of evidence-based medical practice has become the standard for health care decision-making. Thus, it has become increasingly important for medical device manufactures to provide evidence for the efficacy of their products. As new products, services, and solutions are developed, it is important to perform a stakeholder analysis to assess clinical evidence needs. As evidenced by the variety of stakeholders in clinical trials, we expect that each has different interests in how clinical trials are developed, conducted, and promoted to the general public. This analysis of the stakeholders' concerns provides recommendations for marketing professionals on meeting the needs of these stakeholders.

Advancing Alternative Analysis: Integration of Decision Science.

PubMed

Malloy, Timothy F; Zaunbrecher, Virginia M; Batteate, Christina M; Blake, Ann; Carroll, William F; Corbett, Charles J; Hansen, Steffen Foss; Lempert, Robert J; Linkov, Igor; McFadden, Roger; Moran, Kelly D; Olivetti, Elsa; Ostrom, Nancy K; Romero, Michelle; Schoenung, Julie M; Seager, Thomas P; Sinsheimer, Peter; Thayer, Kristina A

2017-06-13

Decision analysis-a systematic approach to solving complex problems-offers tools and frameworks to support decision making that are increasingly being applied to environmental challenges. Alternatives analysis is a method used in regulation and product design to identify, compare, and evaluate the safety and viability of potential substitutes for hazardous chemicals. We assessed whether decision science may assist the alternatives analysis decision maker in comparing alternatives across a range of metrics. A workshop was convened that included representatives from government, academia, business, and civil society and included experts in toxicology, decision science, alternatives assessment, engineering, and law and policy. Participants were divided into two groups and were prompted with targeted questions. Throughout the workshop, the groups periodically came together in plenary sessions to reflect on other groups' findings. We concluded that the further incorporation of decision science into alternatives analysis would advance the ability of companies and regulators to select alternatives to harmful ingredients and would also advance the science of decision analysis. We advance four recommendations: a ) engaging the systematic development and evaluation of decision approaches and tools; b ) using case studies to advance the integration of decision analysis into alternatives analysis; c ) supporting transdisciplinary research; and d ) supporting education and outreach efforts. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP483.

Advancing Alternative Analysis: Integration of Decision Science

PubMed Central

Zaunbrecher, Virginia M.; Batteate, Christina M.; Blake, Ann; Carroll, William F.; Corbett, Charles J.; Hansen, Steffen Foss; Lempert, Robert J.; Linkov, Igor; McFadden, Roger; Moran, Kelly D.; Olivetti, Elsa; Ostrom, Nancy K.; Romero, Michelle; Schoenung, Julie M.; Seager, Thomas P.; Sinsheimer, Peter; Thayer, Kristina A.

2017-01-01

Background: Decision analysis—a systematic approach to solving complex problems—offers tools and frameworks to support decision making that are increasingly being applied to environmental challenges. Alternatives analysis is a method used in regulation and product design to identify, compare, and evaluate the safety and viability of potential substitutes for hazardous chemicals. Objectives: We assessed whether decision science may assist the alternatives analysis decision maker in comparing alternatives across a range of metrics. Methods: A workshop was convened that included representatives from government, academia, business, and civil society and included experts in toxicology, decision science, alternatives assessment, engineering, and law and policy. Participants were divided into two groups and were prompted with targeted questions. Throughout the workshop, the groups periodically came together in plenary sessions to reflect on other groups’ findings. Results: We concluded that the further incorporation of decision science into alternatives analysis would advance the ability of companies and regulators to select alternatives to harmful ingredients and would also advance the science of decision analysis. Conclusions: We advance four recommendations: a) engaging the systematic development and evaluation of decision approaches and tools; b) using case studies to advance the integration of decision analysis into alternatives analysis; c) supporting transdisciplinary research; and d) supporting education and outreach efforts. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP483 PMID:28669940

Allogeneic cell therapy bioprocess economics and optimization: downstream processing decisions.

PubMed

Hassan, Sally; Simaria, Ana S; Varadaraju, Hemanthram; Gupta, Siddharth; Warren, Kim; Farid, Suzanne S

2015-01-01

To develop a decisional tool to identify the most cost effective process flowsheets for allogeneic cell therapies across a range of production scales. A bioprocess economics and optimization tool was built to assess competing cell expansion and downstream processing (DSP) technologies. Tangential flow filtration was generally more cost-effective for the lower cells/lot achieved in planar technologies and fluidized bed centrifugation became the only feasible option for handling large bioreactor outputs. DSP bottlenecks were observed at large commercial lot sizes requiring multiple large bioreactors. The DSP contribution to the cost of goods/dose ranged between 20-55%, and 50-80% for planar and bioreactor flowsheets, respectively. This analysis can facilitate early decision-making during process development.

Decision analysis for conservation breeding: Maximizing production for reintroduction of whooping cranes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Smith, Des H.V.; Converse, Sarah J.; Gibson, Keith; Moehrenschlager, Axel; Link, William A.; Olsen, Glenn H.; Maguire, Kelly

2011-01-01

Captive breeding is key to management of severely endangered species, but maximizing captive production can be challenging because of poor knowledge of species breeding biology and the complexity of evaluating different management options. In the face of uncertainty and complexity, decision-analytic approaches can be used to identify optimal management options for maximizing captive production. Building decision-analytic models requires iterations of model conception, data analysis, model building and evaluation, identification of remaining uncertainty, further research and monitoring to reduce uncertainty, and integration of new data into the model. We initiated such a process to maximize captive production of the whooping crane (Grus americana), the world's most endangered crane, which is managed through captive breeding and reintroduction. We collected 15 years of captive breeding data from 3 institutions and used Bayesian analysis and model selection to identify predictors of whooping crane hatching success. The strongest predictor, and that with clear management relevance, was incubation environment. The incubation period of whooping crane eggs is split across two environments: crane nests and artificial incubators. Although artificial incubators are useful for allowing breeding pairs to produce multiple clutches, our results indicate that crane incubation is most effective at promoting hatching success. Hatching probability increased the longer an egg spent in a crane nest, from 40% hatching probability for eggs receiving 1 day of crane incubation to 95% for those receiving 30 days (time incubated in each environment varied independently of total incubation period). Because birds will lay fewer eggs when they are incubating longer, a tradeoff exists between the number of clutches produced and egg hatching probability. We developed a decision-analytic model that estimated 16 to be the optimal number of days of crane incubation needed to maximize the number of offspring produced. These results show that using decision-analytic tools to account for uncertainty in captive breeding can improve the rate at which such programs contribute to wildlife reintroductions. 

Advancing Consumer Product Composition and Chemical ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This presentation describes EPA efforts to collect, model, and measure publically available consumer product data for use in exposure assessment. The development of the ORD Chemicals and Products database will be described, as will machine-learning based models for predicting chemical function. Finally, the talk describes new mass spectrometry-based methods for measuring chemicals in formulation and articles. This presentation is an invited talk to the ICCA-LRI workshop "Fit-For-Purpose Exposure Assessments For Risk-Based Decision Making". The talk will share EPA efforts to characterize the components of consumer products for use in exposure assessment with the international exposure science community.

Situation-Assessment And Decision-Aid Production-Rule Analysis System For Nuclear Plant Monitoring And Emergency Preparedness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gvillo, D.; Ragheb, M.; Parker, M.; Swartz, S.

1987-05-01

A Production-Rule Analysis System is developed for Nuclear Plant Monitoring. The signals generated by the Zion-1 Plant are considered. A Situation-Assessment and Decision-Aid capability is provided for monitoring the integrity of the Plant Radiation, the Reactor Coolant, the Fuel Clad, and the Containment Systems. A total of 41 signals are currently fed as facts to an Inference Engine functioning in the backward-chaining mode and built along the same structure as the E-Mycin system. The Goal-Tree constituting the Knowledge Base was generated using a representation in the form of Fault Trees deduced from plant procedures information. The system is constructed in support of the Data Analysis and Emergency Preparedness tasks at the Illinois Radiological Emergency Assessment Center (REAC).

Integrating Efficiency of Industry Processes and Practices Alongside Technology Effectiveness in Space Transportation Cost Modeling and Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zapata, Edgar

2012-01-01

This paper presents past and current work in dealing with indirect industry and NASA costs when providing cost estimation or analysis for NASA projects and programs. Indirect costs, when defined as those costs in a project removed from the actual hardware or software hands-on labor; makes up most of the costs of today's complex large scale NASA space/industry projects. This appears to be the case across phases from research into development into production and into the operation of the system. Space transportation is the case of interest here. Modeling and cost estimation as a process rather than a product will be emphasized. Analysis as a series of belief systems in play among decision makers and decision factors will also be emphasized to provide context.

Empowering rural women's groups for strengthening economic linkages: some Indian experiments.

PubMed

Rajagopal

1999-05-01

Through organizing informal self-help groups (SHGs), rural women in India are provided credit and extension support for various production-oriented income-generating activities. These activities usually include garment-making, embroidery, food processing, bee-keeping, basketry, gem cutting, weaving, and knitting. SHGs are self-governed, with decisions about production and marketing taken collectively, although the group leader is responsible for identifying potential marketing centers and consumers. These groups represent a new culture in rural development, breaking with traditional bureaucracy and top-down management. Informal groups empower rural women to manage rural industries and make decisions collectively for their common economic interests. Experience with SHGs in Orissa, lessons from nongovernmental organization intervention, and a model for empowering poor people in a small town in Kerala are discussed.

Current Directions in Adding Value to Earth Observation Products for Decision Support

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryker, S. J.

2015-12-01

Natural resource managers and infrastructure planners face increasingly complex challenges, given competing demands for resources and changing conditions due to climate and land use change. These pressures create demand for high-quality, timely data; for both one-time decision support and long-term monitoring; and for techniques to articulate the value of resources in monetary and nonmonetary terms. To meet the need for data, the U.S. government invests several billion dollars per year in Earth observations collected from satellite, airborne, terrestrial, and ocean-based systems. Earth observation-based decision support is coming of age; user surveys show that these data are used in an increasing variety of analyses. For example, since the U.S. Department of the Interior/U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) 2008 free and open data policy for the Landsat satellites, downloads from the USGS archive have increased from 20,000 Landsat scenes per year to 10 million per year and climbing, with strong growth in both research and decision support fields. However, Earth observation-based decision support still poses users a number of challenges. Many of those Landsat downloads support a specialized community of remote sensing scientists, though new technologies promise to increase the usability of remotely sensed data for the larger GIS community supporting planning and resource management. Serving this larger community also requires supporting the development of increasingly interpretive products, and of new approaches to host and update products. For example, automating updates will add value to new essential climate variable products such as surface water extent and wildfire burned area extent. Projections of future urbanization in the southeastern U.S. are most useful when long-term land cover trends are integrated with street-level community data and planning tools. The USGS assessment of biological carbon sequestration in vegetation and shallow soils required a significant research investment in satellite and in situ measurements and biogeochemical and climate modeling, and is already providing decision support at a variety of scales; once operationalized, it will be a tool for adaptive management from field-scale soil and wetland conservation projects to national-scale policy.

Integrating Exposure into Chemical Alternatives Assessment ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Most alternatives assessments (AA) published to date are largely hazard-based rankings, and as such may not represent a fully informed consideration of the advantages and disadvantages of possible alternatives. With an assessment goal of identifying an alternative chemical that is more sustainable, other attributes beyond hazard are also important, including exposure, risk, life-cycle impacts, performance, cost, and social responsibility. Building on the 2014 recommendations by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences to improve AA decisions by including comparative exposure assessment, the HESISustainable Chemical Alternatives Technical Committee, which consists of scientists from academia, industry, government, and NGOs, has developed a qualitative comparative exposure approach. Conducting such a comparison can screen for alternatives that are expected to have a higher exposure potential, which could trigger a higher-tiered, more quantitative exposure assessment on the alternatives being considered. This talk will demonstrate an approach for including chemical- and product-related exposure information in a qualitative AA comparison. Starting from existing hazard AAs, a series of four chemical-product application scenarios were examined to test the concept, to understand the effort required, and to determine the value of exposure data in AA decision-making. The group has developed a classification approach for ingredient and product parameters to support compariso

A decision support system for real-time hydropower scheduling in a competitive power market environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shawwash, Ziad Khaled Elias

2000-10-01

The electricity supply market is rapidly changing from a monopolistic to a competitive environment. Being able to operate their system of reservoirs and generating facilities to get maximum benefits out of existing assets and resources is important to the British Columbia Hydro Authority (B.C. Hydro). A decision support system has been developed to help B.C. Hydro operate their system in an optimal way. The system is operational and is one of the tools that are currently used by the B.C. Hydro system operations engineers to determine optimal schedules that meet the hourly domestic load and also maximize the value B.C. Hydro obtains from spot transactions in the Western U.S. and Alberta electricity markets. This dissertation describes the development and implementation of the decision support system in production mode. The decision support system consists of six components: the input data preparation routines, the graphical user interface (GUI), the communication protocols, the hydraulic simulation model, the optimization model, and the results display software. A major part of this work involved the development and implementation of a practical and detailed large-scale optimization model that determines the optimal tradeoff between the long-term value of water and the returns from spot trading transactions in real-time operations. The postmortem-testing phase showed that the gains in value from using the model accounted for 0.25% to 1.0% of the revenues obtained. The financial returns from using the decision support system greatly outweigh the costs of building it. Other benefits are the savings in the time needed to prepare the generation and trading schedules. The system operations engineers now can use the time saved to focus on other important aspects of their job. The operators are currently experimenting with the system in production mode, and are gradually gaining confidence that the advice it provides is accurate, reliable and sensible. The main lesson learned from developing and implementing the system was that there is no alternative to working very closely with the intended end-users of the system, and with the people who have deep knowledge, experience and understanding of how the system is and should be operated.

The Application of Remotely Sensed Data and Models to Benefit Conservation and Restoration Along the Northern Gulf of Mexico Coast

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quattrochi, D. A.; Estes, M. G., Jr.; Al-Hamdan, M. Z.; Thom, R.; Woodruff, D.; Judd, C.; Ellis, J. T.; Swann, R.; Johnson, H., III

2010-12-01

New data, tools, and capabilities for decision making are significant needs in the northern Gulf of Mexico and other coastal areas. The goal of this project is to support NASA’s Earth Science Mission Directorate and its Applied Science Program and the Gulf of Mexico Alliance by producing and providing NASA data and products that will benefit decision making by coastal resource managers and other end users in the Gulf region. Data and research products are being developed to assist coastal resource managers adapt and plan for changing conditions by evaluating how climate changes and urban expansion will impact land cover/land use (LCLU), hydrodynamics, water properties, and shallow water habitats; to identify priority areas for conservation and restoration; and to distribute datasets to end-users and facilitating user interaction with models. The proposed host sites for data products are NOAA’s National Coastal Data Development Center Regional Ecosystem Data Management, and Mississippi-Alabama Habitat Database. Tools will be available on the Gulf of Mexico Regional Collaborative website with links to data portals to enable end users to employ models and datasets to develop and evaluate LCLU and climate scenarios of particular interest. These data will benefit the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program in ongoing efforts to protect and restore the Fish River watershed and around Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. The usefulness of data products and tools will be demonstrated at an end-user workshop.

IMPROVING THE EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY OF EVIDENCE PRODUCTION FOR HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT.

PubMed

Facey, Karen; Henshall, Chris; Sampietro-Colom, Laura; Thomas, Sarah

2015-01-01

Health Technology Assessment (HTA) needs to address the challenges posed by high cost, effective technologies, expedited regulatory approaches, and the opportunities provided by collaborative real-world evaluation of technologies. The Health Technology Assessment International (HTAi) Policy Forum met to consider these issues and the implications for evidence production to inform HTA. This paper shares their discussion to stimulate further debate. A background paper, presentations, group discussions, and stakeholder role play at the 2015 HTAi Policy Forum meeting informed this paper. HTA has an important role to play in helping improve evidence production and ensuring that the health service is ready to adopt effective technologies. It needs to move from simply informing health system decisions to also working actively to align stakeholder expectations about realistic evidence requirements. Processes to support dialogue over the health technology life cycle need to be developed that are mindful of limited resources, operate across jurisdictions and learn from past processes. Collaborations between health technology developers and health systems in different countries should be encouraged to develop evidence that will inform decision making. New analytical techniques emerging for real-world data should be harnessed to support modeling for HTA. A paradigm shift (to "Health Innovation System 2.0") is suggested where HTA adopts a more central, proactive role to support alignment within and amongst stakeholders over the whole life cycle of the technology. This could help ensure that evidence production is better aligned with patient and health system needs and so is more effective and efficient.

The Application of Remotely Sensed Data and Models to Benefit Conservation and Restoration Along the Northern Gulf of Mexico Coast

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quattrochi, Dale; Estes, Maurice, Jr.; Al-Hamdan, Mohammad; Thom, Ron; Woodruff, Dana; Judd, Chaeli; Ellis, Jean; Swann, Roberta; Johnson, Hoyt, III

2010-01-01

New data, tools, and capabilities for decision making are significant needs in the northern Gulf of Mexico and other coastal areas. The goal of this project is to support NASA s Earth Science Mission Directorate and its Applied Science Program and the Gulf of Mexico Alliance by producing and providing NASA data and products that will benefit decision making by coastal resource managers and other end users in the Gulf region. Data and research products are being developed to assist coastal resource managers adapt and plan for changing conditions by evaluating how climate changes and urban expansion will impact land cover/land use (LCLU), hydrodynamics, water properties, and shallow water habitats; to identify priority areas for conservation and restoration; and to distribute datasets to end-users and facilitating user interaction with models. The proposed host sites for data products are NOAA s National Coastal Data Development Center Regional Ecosystem Data Management, and Mississippi-Alabama Habitat Database. Tools will be available on the Gulf of Mexico Regional Collaborative website with links to data portals to enable end users to employ models and datasets to develop and evaluate LCLU and climate scenarios of particular interest. These data will benefit the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program in ongoing efforts to protect and restore the Fish River watershed and around Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. The usefulness of data products and tools will be demonstrated at an end-user workshop.

How drug life-cycle management patent strategies may impact formulary management.

PubMed

Berger, Jan; Dunn, Jeffrey D; Johnson, Margaret M; Karst, Kurt R; Shear, W Chad

2016-10-01

Drug manufacturers may employ various life-cycle management patent strategies, which may impact managed care decision making regarding formulary planning and management strategies when single-source, branded oral pharmaceutical products move to generic status. Passage of the Hatch-Waxman Act enabled more rapid access to generic medications through the abbreviated new drug application process. Patent expirations of small-molecule medications and approvals of generic versions have led to substantial cost savings for health plans, government programs, insurers, pharmacy benefits managers, and their customers. However, considering that the cost of developing a single medication is estimated at $2.6 billion (2013 dollars), pharmaceutical patent protection enables companies to recoup investments, creating an incentive for innovation. Under current law, patent protection holds for 20 years from time of patent filing, although much of this time is spent in product development and regulatory review, leaving an effective remaining patent life of 7 to 10 years at the time of approval. To extend the product life cycle, drug manufacturers may develop variations of originator products and file for patents on isomers, metabolites, prodrugs, new drug formulations (eg, extended-release versions), and fixed-dose combinations. These additional patents and the complexities surrounding the timing of generic availability create challenges for managed care stakeholders attempting to gauge when generics may enter the market. An understanding of pharmaceutical patents and how intellectual property protection may be extended would benefit managed care stakeholders and help inform decisions regarding benefit management.

Policy Driven Development: Flexible Policy Insertion for Large Scale Systems.

PubMed

Demchak, Barry; Krüger, Ingolf

2012-07-01

The success of a software system depends critically on how well it reflects and adapts to stakeholder requirements. Traditional development methods often frustrate stakeholders by creating long latencies between requirement articulation and system deployment, especially in large scale systems. One source of latency is the maintenance of policy decisions encoded directly into system workflows at development time, including those involving access control and feature set selection. We created the Policy Driven Development (PDD) methodology to address these development latencies by enabling the flexible injection of decision points into existing workflows at runtime , thus enabling policy composition that integrates requirements furnished by multiple, oblivious stakeholder groups. Using PDD, we designed and implemented a production cyberinfrastructure that demonstrates policy and workflow injection that quickly implements stakeholder requirements, including features not contemplated in the original system design. PDD provides a path to quickly and cost effectively evolve such applications over a long lifetime.

Science-based decision making in a high-risk energy production environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weiser, D. A.

2016-12-01

Energy production practices that may induce earthquakes require decisions about acceptable risk before projects begin. How much ground shaking, structural damage, infrastructure damage, or delay of geothermal power and other operations is tolerable? I review a few mitigation strategies as well as existing protocol in several U.S. states. Timely and accurate scientific information can assist in determining the costs and benefits of altering production parameters. These issues can also be addressed with probability estimates of adverse effects ("costs"), frequency of earthquakes of different sizes, and associated impacts of different magnitude earthquakes. When risk management decisions based on robust science are well-communicated to stakeholders, mitigation efforts benefit. Effective communications elements include a) the risks and benefits of different actions (e.g. using a traffic light protocol); b) the factors to consider when determining acceptable risk; and c) the probability of different magnitude events. I present a case example for The Geysers geothermal field in California, to discuss locally "acceptable" and "unacceptable" earthquakes and share nearby communities' responses to smaller and larger magnitude earthquakes. I use the USGS's "Did You Feel It?" data archive to sample how often felt events occur, and how many of those are above acceptable magnitudes (to both local residents and operators). Using this information, I develop a science-based decision-making framework, in the case of potentially risky earthquakes, for lessening seismic risk and other negative consequences. This includes assessing future earthquake probabilities based on past earthquake records. One of my goals is to help characterize uncertainties in a way that they can be managed; to this end, I present simple and accessible approaches that can be used in the decision making process.

Optimized production planning model for a multi-plant cultivation system under uncertainty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ke, Shunkui; Guo, Doudou; Niu, Qingliang; Huang, Danfeng

2015-02-01

An inexact multi-constraint programming model under uncertainty was developed by incorporating a production plan algorithm into the crop production optimization framework under the multi-plant collaborative cultivation system. In the production plan, orders from the customers are assigned to a suitable plant under the constraints of plant capabilities and uncertainty parameters to maximize profit and achieve customer satisfaction. The developed model and solution method were applied to a case study of a multi-plant collaborative cultivation system to verify its applicability. As determined in the case analysis involving different orders from customers, the period of plant production planning and the interval between orders can significantly affect system benefits. Through the analysis of uncertain parameters, reliable and practical decisions can be generated using the suggested model of a multi-plant collaborative cultivation system.

Security Requirements Management in Software Product Line Engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mellado, Daniel; Fernández-Medina, Eduardo; Piattini, Mario

Security requirements engineering is both a central task and a critical success factor in product line development due to the complexity and extensive nature of product lines. However, most of the current product line practices in requirements engineering do not adequately address security requirements engineering. Therefore, in this chapter we will propose a security requirements engineering process (SREPPLine) driven by security standards and based on a security requirements decision model along with a security variability model to manage the variability of the artefacts related to security requirements. The aim of this approach is to deal with security requirements from the early stages of the product line development in a systematic way, in order to facilitate conformance with the most relevant security standards with regard to the management of security requirements, such as ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 15408.

Three-Dimension Visualization for Primary Wheat Diseases Based on Simulation Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shijuan, Li; Yeping, Zhu

Crop simulation model has been becoming the core of agricultural production management and resource optimization management. Displaying crop growth process makes user observe the crop growth and development intuitionisticly. On the basis of understanding and grasping the occurrence condition, popularity season, key impact factors for main wheat diseases of stripe rust, leaf rust, stem rust, head blight and powdery mildew from research material and literature, we designed 3D visualization model for wheat growth and diseases occurrence. The model system will help farmer, technician and decision-maker to use crop growth simulation model better and provide decision-making support. Now 3D visualization model for wheat growth on the basis of simulation model has been developed, and the visualization model for primary wheat diseases is in the process of development.

Consumer protection act for digital products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hampel, Viktor E.

1996-03-01

This report proposes a `Consumer Protection Act for Digital Products' to support electronic commerce and to control the increasing abuse and lack of security on the national information highways. Patterned after the `Food and Drug Act of 1906 (21 USC)' and subsequent legislation, a new agency similar to that of the FDA would have the authority `to develop administrative policy with regard to the safety, effectiveness, and labeling of digital products and their communications for human use, and to review and evaluate new applications of such products.' Specifically, it is proposed that standards, originally developed by the defense industry for the labeling, enveloping, and authentication of digital products delivered to the Government, be extended to promote global electronic commerce by protecting the intellectual property rights of producers, establishing their liability for the end-use of digital products, and give consumers means for informed decision making and purchase.

Gender roles and relationships: Implications for water management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peter, G.

This study mainstreams gender at household level by showing how the gendered roles and relations between women and men influence access, allocation and use of resources in a rural community, Makhosini, in Swaziland. Implications of the identified gender roles and relationships for water management in Swaziland are highlighted. The working hypotheses of this study are (i) that gender-neutral development initiatives will benefit equally women and men at household level; and (ii) in Swaziland the trend toward irrigated agriculture for food security will have unequal impacts on men and women as access, allocation and use of key resources is highly gendered, privileging men as the value of the resource increases. In this study, a questionnaire was administered to sampled male and female heads of household as well as women under male heads. The heads were asked to indicate the roles they play and key decisions they make in resource use as heads of households. The women under male heads were also asked to indicate their roles and key decision responsibilities. The key resources considered were land and crops produced. Comparative analysis on roles and decisions made as well as access and use of resources and production was done by gender and between the women groups. The results show marked gender differences within households and across resources. Men were overwhelmingly involved in productive roles, giving low priority to reproductive roles. In contrast, priority of women’s roles were reproductive in nature. The key findings are that there were no significant differences in the roles of men and women as heads of households. Women as heads of households assume the same roles as those of men heads suggesting relative gender-neutrality. Also all women played “double-day” roles. However, the data reveals that men dominate decisions on crops to be grown, inputs to be used, disposal of the products and use of income obtained. Only a small percentage of women claimed influence over decisions on high-income generating crops such as sugarcane. A majority of women did demonstrate influence in the areas of key rainfed crops such as sweet potatoes and maize. The only area where women had full control was on grass used for making handicrafts. The implications for water resources management are that gender-blind decisions regarding the importance of irrigated crop production for household security may in fact remove decision-making capacity out of the hands of women so increasing the gendered-nature of food insecurity. At the same time, however, women household heads do show some influence in irrigated crop production and in high-value rainfed crop production. This suggests possibilities for in-building gender-neutral practices where high value crops are concerned.

75 FR 45623 - Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Decision and Order Granting a Waiver to...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-03

... Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Decision and Order Granting a Waiver to Samsung Electronics America...-014) that grants to Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (Samsung) a waiver from the DOE electric... Energy. Decision and Order In the Matter of: Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (Case No. RF- 014...

Development of a decision aid to inform patients’ and families’ renal replacement therapy selection decisions

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Few educational resources have been developed to inform patients’ renal replacement therapy (RRT) selection decisions. Patients progressing toward end stage renal disease (ESRD) must decide among multiple treatment options with varying characteristics. Complex information about treatments must be adequately conveyed to patients with different educational backgrounds and informational needs. Decisions about treatment options also require family input, as families often participate in patients’ treatment and support patients’ decisions. We describe the development, design, and preliminary evaluation of an informational, evidence-based, and patient-and family-centered decision aid for patients with ESRD and varying levels of health literacy, health numeracy, and cognitive function. Methods We designed a decision aid comprising a complementary video and informational handbook. We based our development process on data previously obtained from qualitative focus groups and systematic literature reviews. We simultaneously developed the video and handbook in “stages.” For the video, stages included (1) directed interviews with culturally appropriate patients and families and preliminary script development, (2) video production, and (3) screening the video with patients and their families. For the handbook, stages comprised (1) preliminary content design, (2) a mixed-methods pilot study among diverse patients to assess comprehension of handbook material, and (3) screening the handbook with patients and their families. Results The video and handbook both addressed potential benefits and trade-offs of treatment selections. The 50-minute video consisted of demographically diverse patients and their families describing their positive and negative experiences with selecting a treatment option. The video also incorporated health professionals’ testimonials regarding various considerations that might influence patients’ and families’ treatment selections. The handbook was comprised of written words, pictures of patients and health care providers, and diagrams describing the findings and quality of scientific studies comparing treatments. The handbook text was written at a 4th to 6th grade reading level. Pilot study results demonstrated that a majority of patients could understand information presented in the handbook. Patient and families screening the nearly completed video and handbook reviewed the materials favorably. Conclusions This rigorously designed decision aid may help patients and families make informed decisions about their treatment options for RRT that are well aligned with their values. PMID:23198793

A decade of marketing approval of gene and cell-based therapies in the United States, European Union and Japan: An evaluation of regulatory decision-making.

PubMed

Coppens, D G M; de Wilde, S; Guchelaar, H J; De Bruin, M L; Leufkens, H G M; Meij, P; Hoekman, J

2018-05-02

There is a widely held expectation of clinical advance with the development of gene and cell-based therapies (GCTs). Yet, establishing benefits and risks is highly uncertain. We examine differences in decision-making for GCT approval between jurisdictions by comparing regulatory assessment procedures in the United States (US), European Union (EU) and Japan. A cohort of 18 assessment procedures was analyzed by comparing product characteristics, evidentiary and non-evidentiary factors considered for approval and post-marketing risk management. Product characteristics are very heterogeneous and only three products are marketed in multiple jurisdictions. Almost half of all approved GCTs received an orphan designation. Overall, confirmatory evidence or indications of clinical benefit were evident in US and EU applications, whereas in Japan approval was solely granted based on non-confirmatory evidence. Due to scientific uncertainties and safety risks, substantial post-marketing risk management activities were requested in the EU and Japan. EU and Japanese authorities often took unmet medical needs into consideration in decision-making for approval. These observations underline the effects of implemented legislation in these two jurisdictions that facilitate an adaptive approach to licensing. In the US, the recent assessments of two chimeric antigen receptor-T cell (CAR-T) products are suggestive of a trend toward a more permissive approach for GCT approval under recent reforms, in contrast to a more binary decision-making approach for previous approvals. It indicates that all three regulatory agencies are currently willing to take risks by approving GCTs with scientific uncertainties and safety risks, urging them to pay accurate attention to post-marketing risk management. Copyright © 2018 International Society for Cellular Therapy. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Actionable Science Lessons Emerging from the Department of Interior Climate Science Center Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McMahon, G.; Meadow, A. M.; Mikels-Carrasco, J.

2015-12-01

The DOI Advisory Committee on Climate Change and Natural Resource Science (ACCCNRS) has recommended that co-production of actionable science be the core programmatic focus of the Climate Science Center enterprise. Efforts by the Southeast Climate Science Center suggest that the complexity of many climate adaptation decision problems (many stakeholders that can influence implementation of a decision; the problems that can be viewed at many scales in space and time; dynamic objectives with competing values; complex, non-linear systems) complicates development of research-based information that scientists and non-scientists view as comprehensible, trustworthy, legitimate, and accurate. Going forward, organizers of actionable science efforts should consider inclusion of a broad set of stakeholders, beyond formal decisionmakers, and ensure that sufficient resources are available to explore the interests and values of this broader group. Co-produced research endeavors should foster agency and collaboration across a wide range of stakeholders. We recognize that stakeholder agency may be constrained by scientific or political power structures that limit the ability to initiate discussion, make claims, and call things into question. Co-production efforts may need to be preceded by more descriptive assessments that summarize existing climate science in ways that stakeholders can understand and link with their concerns. Such efforts can build rapport and trust among scientists and non-scientists, and may help stakeholders and scientists alike to frame adaptation decision problems amenable to a co-production effort. Finally, university and government researchers operate within an evaluation structure that rewards researcher-driven science that, at the extreme, "throws information over the fence" in the hope that information users will make better decisions. Research evaluation processes must reward more consultative, collaborative, and collegial research approaches if researchers are to widely adopt co-production methods

Can Climate Information be relevant to decision making for Agriculture on the 1-10 year timescale? Case studies from southern Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fujisawa, Mariko

2016-04-01

Climate forecasts have been developed to assist decision making in sectors averse to, and affected by, climate risks, and agriculture is one of those. In agriculture and food security, climate information is now used on a range of timescales, from days (weather), months (seasonal outlooks) to decades (climate change scenarios). Former researchers have shown that when seasonal climate forecast information was provided to farmers prior to decision making, farmers adapted by changing their choice of planting seeds and timing or area planted. However, it is not always clear that the end-users' needs for climate information are met and there might be a large gap between information supplied and needed. It has been pointed out that even when forecasts were available, they were often not utilized by farmers and extension services because of lack of trust in the forecast or the forecasts did not reach the targeted farmers. Many studies have focused on the use of either seasonal forecasts or longer term climate change prediction, but little research has been done on the medium term, that is, 1 to 10 year future climate information. The agriculture and food system sector is one potential user of medium term information, as land use policy and cropping systems selection may fall into this time scale and may affect farmers' decision making process. Assuming that reliable information is provided and it is utilized by farmers for decision making, it might contribute to resilient farming and indeed to longer term food security. To this end, we try to determine the effect of medium term climate information on farmers' strategic decision making process. We explored the end-users' needs for climate information and especially the possible role of medium term information in agricultural system, by conducting interview surveys with farmers and agricultural experts. In this study, the cases of apple production in South Africa, maize production in Malawi and rice production in Tanzania will be presented. With case studies of various crops, we also aim to identify what climatic factors and timescale of prediction may be critical to what crop types of farmers, which may be of value to climate prediction community to further develop climate prediction useful for agricultural system.

Oil products prospects for an open trading regime

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wendt, E.A.

The author shows how an open trading regime for oil products can establish a bond of union and friendship and avoid the discord that often characterizes energy trade. Positive actions to implement the International Energy Agency decision to take a common approach rather than individual protectionist actions are the only way to resolve problems arising from growing imports of refined products in Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development countries. The US can show leadership in this effort, but it is unrealistic to expect US markets to remain open if others are closed.

Enhancing biomedical design with design thinking.

PubMed

Kemnitzer, Ronald; Dorsa, Ed

2009-01-01

The development of biomedical equipment is justifiably focused on making products that "work." However, this approach leaves many of the people affected by these designs (operators, patients, etc.) with little or no representation when it comes to the design of these products. Industrial design is a "user focused" profession which takes into account the needs of diverse groups when making design decisions. The authors propose that biomedical equipment design can be enhanced, made more user and patient "friendly" by adopting the industrial design approach to researching, analyzing, and ultimately designing biomedical products.

Building University Capacity to Visualize Solutions to Complex Problems in the Arctic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Broderson, D.; Veazey, P.; Raymond, V. L.; Kowalski, K.; Prakash, A.; Signor, B.

2016-12-01

Rapidly changing environments are creating complex problems across the globe, which are particular magnified in the Arctic. These worldwide challenges can best be addressed through diverse and interdisciplinary research teams. It is incumbent on such teams to promote co-production of knowledge and data-driven decision-making by identifying effective methods to communicate their findings and to engage with the public. Decision Theater North (DTN) is a new semi-immersive visualization system that provides a space for teams to collaborate and develop solutions to complex problems, relying on diverse sets of skills and knowledge. It provides a venue to synthesize the talents of scientists, who gather information (data); modelers, who create models of complex systems; artists, who develop visualizations; communicators, who connect and bridge populations; and policymakers, who can use the visualizations to develop sustainable solutions to pressing problems. The mission of Decision Theater North is to provide a cutting-edge visual environment to facilitate dialogue and decision-making by stakeholders including government, industry, communities and academia. We achieve this mission by adopting a multi-faceted approach reflected in the theater's design, technology, networking capabilities, user support, community relationship building, and strategic partnerships. DTN is a joint project of Alaska's National Science Foundation Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NSF EPSCoR) and the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), who have brought the facility up to full operational status and are now expanding its development space to support larger team science efforts. Based in Fairbanks, Alaska, DTN is uniquely poised to address changes taking place in the Arctic and subarctic, and is connected with a larger network of decision theaters that include the Arizona State University Decision Theater Network and the McCain Institute in Washington, DC.

Oil and Gas.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meyerhoff, Arthur A.

1983-01-01

Highlights worldwide oil and gas developments during 1982, focusing on production, drilling, and other activities/projects in specific countries and regional areas. Indicates that the most political actions (other than the U.S. decision not to protest further the Siberian pipeline project) were the continued Afghanistan and Iraq-Iran wars.…

Summary for policymakers: Unlocking the sustainable potential of land resources. Evaluation systems, strategies and tools

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Land evaluation can be used by national policymakers, international development organizations, farmers, and conservationists to increase productivity, biodiversity conservation success, and to promote innovation. Land evaluation helps make better decisions about how to use the land, and is therefore...

ReefLink Database: A decision support tool for Linking Coral Reefs and Society Through Systems Thinking

EPA Science Inventory

Coral reefs provide the ecological foundation for productive and diverse fish and invertebrate communities that support multibillion dollar reef fishing and tourism industries. Yet reefs are threatened by growing coastal development, climate change, and over-exploitation. A key i...

The Opportunities and Pitfalls of Applying Life Cycle Thinking to Nanoproducts and Nanomaterials

EPA Science Inventory

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a well-established methodology for evaluating the environmental impact of products, materials, and processes. LCA experts worldwide agree that existing LCA tools are capable of supporting the development of decisions on the use of nanomaterials and ...

Important Considerations When Choosing Forage Grasses - Research Developments on Quality and Management

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Seasonal changes in forage productivity and nutritive value will influence pasture management and ration balancing decisions by the producer. We determined seasonal yield and quality changes in the leaf and stem fraction of 10 temperate perennial grasses at two Wisconsin locations. After reaching ...

Integration of a Portfolio-based Approach to Evaluate Aerospace R and D Problem Formulation Into a Parametric Synthesis Tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oza, Amit R.

The focus of this study is to improve R&D effectiveness towards aerospace and defense planning in the early stages of the product development lifecycle. Emphasis is on: correct formulation of a decision problem, with special attention to account for data relationships between the individual design problem and the system capability required to size the aircraft, understanding of the meaning of the acquisition strategy objective and subjective data requirements that are required to arrive at a balanced analysis and/or "correct" mix of technology projects, understanding the meaning of the outputs that can be created from the technology analysis, and methods the researcher can use at effectively support decisions at the acquisition and conceptual design levels through utilization of a research and development portfolio strategy. The primary objectives of this study are to: (1) determine what strategy should be used to initialize conceptual design parametric sizing processes during requirements analysis for the materiel solution analysis stage of the product development lifecycle when utilizing data already constructed in the latter phase when working with a generic database management system synthesis tool integration architecture for aircraft design , and (2) assess how these new data relationships can contribute for innovative decision-making when solving acquisition hardware/technology portfolio problems. As such, an automated composable problem formulation system is developed to consider data interactions for the system architecture that manages acquisition pre-design concept refinement portfolio management, and conceptual design parametric sizing requirements. The research includes a way to: • Formalize the data storage and implement the data relationship structure with a system architecture automated through a database management system. • Allow for composable modeling, in terms of level of hardware abstraction, for the product model, mission model, and operational constraint model data blocks in the pre-design stages. • Allow the product model, mission model, and operational constraint model to be cross referenced with a generic aircraft synthesis capability to identify disciplinary analysis methods and processes. • Allow for matching, comparison, and balancing of the aircraft hardware portfolio to the associated developmental and technology risk metrics. • Allow for visualization technology portfolio decision space. The problem formulation architecture is finally implemented and verified for a generic hypersonic vehicle research demonstrator where a portfolio of technology hardware are measured for developmental and technology risks, prioritized by the researcher risk constraints, and the data generated delivered to a novel aircraft synthesis tool to confirm vehicle feasibility.

Quantifying ecosystem service trade-offs: the case of an urban floodplain in Vienna, Austria.

PubMed

Sanon, Samai; Hein, Thomas; Douven, Wim; Winkler, Peter

2012-11-30

Wetland ecosystems provide multiple functions and services for the well-being of humans. In urban environments, planning and decision making about wetland restoration inevitably involves conflicting objectives, trade-offs, uncertainties and conflicting value judgments. This study applied trade-off and multi criteria decision analysis to analyze and quantify the explicit trade-offs between the stakeholder's objectives related to management options for the restoration of an urban floodplain, the Lobau, in Vienna, Austria. The Lobau has been disconnected from the main channel of the Danube River through flood protection schemes 130 years ago that have reduced the hydraulic exchange processes. Urban expansion has also changed the adjacent areas and led to increased numbers of visitors, which hampers the maximum potential for ecosystem development and exerts additional pressure on the sensitive habitats in the national park area. The study showed that increased hydraulic connectivity would benefit several stakeholders that preferred the ecological development of the floodplain habitats. However, multiple uses including fishery, agriculture and recreation, exploring the maximum potential in line with national park regulations, were also possible under the increased hydraulic connectivity options. The largest trade-offs were quantified to be at 0.50 score between the ecological condition of the aquatic habitats and the drinking water production and 0.49 score between the ecological condition of the terrestrial habitats and the drinking water production. At this point, the drinking water production was traded-off with 0.40 score, while the ecological condition of the aquatic habitats and the ecological condition of the terrestrial habitats were traded off with 0.30 and 0.23 score, respectively. The majority of the stakeholders involved preferred the management options that increased the hydraulic connectivity compared with the current situation which was not preferred by any stakeholders. These findings highlight the need for targeted restoration measures. By that, it is recommended that additional measures to ensure reliable drinking water production should be developed, if the higher connectivity options would be implemented. In the next step it is recommended to include cost and flood risk criteria in the decision matrix for more specific developed measures. The research showed that pair-wise trade-off figures provided a useful means to elaborate and quantify the real trade-offs. Finally, the research also showed that the use of multi criteria decision analyses should be based on a participatory approach, in which the process of arriving at the final ranking should be equal or more important than the outcome of the ranking itself. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Land use and management in PR China: problems and strategies.

PubMed

Cai, Y

1990-10-01

The conflict between population and land in China results from high population density, declining availability of arable land, decrease in cropland, overgrazing, inability to afford imported grain, and expansion of land use for urbanization. Unwise decisions have been made. These decisions have resulted in land degradation, soil erosion, deforestation, degradation of grasslands, waste of land for freight storage or waste disposal due to low grain prices, and nonagricultural constructions on croplands. Ineffective land management problems are identified as: 1) the lack of an economic means of guiding land use and land is not valued; the lack of any mechanism to ensure economic land use including public lands which are not accounted for with rent; 2) the lack of integration of departments into the decision making structure and too many departments making decisions about the same land; 3) the lack of choice in land use which results in higher government departments being unaware of local conditions, and the lack of appropriate investment which results in short-term exploitation; and 4) surveys are inadequate for decision making. The strategies suggested for improvement in land use management include low resources expenditure in production and appropriate goods consumption. The goal is to sustain subsistence with gradual improvement through development. Land resources must be conserved and the environment protected. The solutions to depend on food imports or reduce the nutritional level deny the equally plausible solution to generate a higher level of input. The profit motive and scientific agricultural practices could accomplish this end. Reclamation for cropland is possible for 8 million hectares of wasteland in wide areas in Sanjiang Plain and 3.4 million hectares in small pockets in Eastern Monsoon China. Traditional agriculture must be transformed and an optimum scale of land operation established. Land tenure reform is necessary. Regional conditions must prevail as the guiding principles. Several implementation strategies are suggested: controlling population growth and establishing a balance between expenditure and land productivity, expanding and conserving forest areas, increasing agricultural investment, reforming land tenure, adjusting land product prices, strengthening land administration, developing other industries, and reforming economic and political systems.

Public Health Applications of Remotely-sensed Environmental Datasets for the Conterminous United States

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Al-Hamdan, Mohammad; Crosson, William; Economou, Sigrid; Estes, Marice Jr; Estes, Sue; Hemmings, Sarah; Kent, Shia; Puckett, Mark; Quattrochi, Dale; Wade, Gina

2013-01-01

NASA Marshall Space Flight Center is collaborating with the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Public Health Informatics to address issues of environmental health and enhance public health decision-making using NASA remotely-sensed data and products. The objectives of this study are to develop high-quality spatial data sets of environmental variables, link these with public health data from a national cohort study, and deliver the linked data sets and associated analyses to local, state and federal end-user groups. Three daily environmental data sets were developed for the conterminous U.S. on different spatial resolutions for the period 2003-2008: (1) spatial surfaces of estimated fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposures on a 10-km grid using the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ground observations and NASA's MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data; (2) a 1-km grid of Land Surface Temperature (LST) using MODIS data; and (3) a 12-km grid of daily Incoming Solar Radiation (Insolation) and heat-related products using the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS) forcing data. These environmental data sets were linked with public health data from the UAB REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) national cohort study to determine whether exposures to these environmental risk factors are related to cognitive decline, stroke and other health outcomes. These environmental datasets and the results of the public health linkage analyses will be disseminated to end-users for decision-making through the CDC Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER) system and through peer-reviewed publications respectively. The linkage of these data with the CDC WONDER system substantially expands public access to NASA data, making their use by a wide range of decision makers feasible. By successful completion of this research, decision-making activities, including policy-making and clinical decision-making, can be positively affected through utilization of the data products and analyses provided on the CDC WONDER system.

TAMU: A New Space Mission Operations Paradigm

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meshkat, Leila; Ruszkowski, James; Haensly, Jean; Pennington, Granvil A.; Hogle, Charles

2011-01-01

The Transferable, Adaptable, Modular and Upgradeable (TAMU) Flight Production Process (FPP) is a model-centric System of System (SoS) framework which cuts across multiple organizations and their associated facilities, that are, in the most general case, in geographically diverse locations, to develop the architecture and associated workflow processes for a broad range of mission operations. Further, TAMU FPP envisions the simulation, automatic execution and re-planning of orchestrated workflow processes as they become operational. This paper provides the vision for the TAMU FPP paradigm. This includes a complete, coherent technique, process and tool set that result in an infrastructure that can be used for full lifecycle design and decision making during any flight production process. A flight production process is the process of developing all products that are necessary for flight.

An integrated modeling framework for exploring flow regime and water quality changes with increasing biofuel crop production in the U.S. Corn Belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yaeger, Mary A.; Housh, Mashor; Cai, Ximing; Sivapalan, Murugesu

2014-12-01

To better address the dynamic interactions between human and hydrologic systems, we develop an integrated modeling framework that employs a System of Systems optimization model to emulate human development decisions which are then incorporated into a watershed model to estimate the resulting hydrologic impacts. The two models are run interactively to simulate the coevolution of coupled human-nature systems, such that reciprocal feedbacks between hydrologic processes and human decisions (i.e., human impacts on critical low flows and hydrologic impacts on human decisions on land and water use) can be assessed. The framework is applied to a Midwestern U.S. agricultural watershed, in the context of proposed biofuels development. This operation is illustrated by projecting three possible future coevolution trajectories, two of which use dedicated biofuel crops to reduce annual watershed nitrate export while meeting ethanol production targets. Imposition of a primary external driver (biofuel mandate) combined with different secondary drivers (water quality targets) results in highly nonlinear and multiscale responses of both the human and hydrologic systems, including multiple tradeoffs, impacting the future coevolution of the system in complex, heterogeneous ways. The strength of the hydrologic response is sensitive to the magnitude of the secondary driver; 45% nitrate reduction target leads to noticeable impacts at the outlet, while a 30% reduction leads to noticeable impacts that are mainly local. The local responses are conditioned by previous human-hydrologic modifications and their spatial relationship to the new biofuel development, highlighting the importance of past coevolutionary history in predicting future trajectories of change.

40 CFR 203.5 - Suitable substitute decision.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Section 203.5 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) NOISE ABATEMENT PROGRAMS LOW-NOISE-EMISSION PRODUCTS § 203.5 Suitable substitute decision. (a) If the Administrator determines that a product is a low-noise-emission product, then within one hundred and eighty (180) days of...

Knowledge mobilisation for policy development: implementing systems approaches through participatory dynamic simulation modelling.

PubMed

Freebairn, Louise; Rychetnik, Lucie; Atkinson, Jo-An; Kelly, Paul; McDonnell, Geoff; Roberts, Nick; Whittall, Christine; Redman, Sally

2017-10-02

Evidence-based decision-making is an important foundation for health policy and service planning decisions, yet there remain challenges in ensuring that the many forms of available evidence are considered when decisions are being made. Mobilising knowledge for policy and practice is an emergent process, and one that is highly relational, often messy and profoundly context dependent. Systems approaches, such as dynamic simulation modelling can be used to examine both complex health issues and the context in which they are embedded, and to develop decision support tools. This paper reports on the novel use of participatory simulation modelling as a knowledge mobilisation tool in Australian real-world policy settings. We describe how this approach combined systems science methodology and some of the core elements of knowledge mobilisation best practice. We describe the strategies adopted in three case studies to address both technical and socio-political issues, and compile the experiential lessons derived. Finally, we consider the implications of these knowledge mobilisation case studies and provide evidence for the feasibility of this approach in policy development settings. Participatory dynamic simulation modelling builds on contemporary knowledge mobilisation approaches for health stakeholders to collaborate and explore policy and health service scenarios for priority public health topics. The participatory methods place the decision-maker at the centre of the process and embed deliberative methods and co-production of knowledge. The simulation models function as health policy and programme dynamic decision support tools that integrate diverse forms of evidence, including research evidence, expert knowledge and localised contextual information. Further research is underway to determine the impact of these methods on health service decision-making.

Development of a Climate Resilience Screening Index (CRSI) ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

A Climate Resilience Screening Index is being developed that is applicable at multiple scales for the United States. Those scales include national, state, county and community. The index will be applied at the first three scales and at selected communities. The index was developed in order to explicitly include domains, indicators and metrics addressing environmental, economic and societal aspects of climate resilience. In addition, the index uses indicators and metrics that assess ecosystem, economic, governance and social services at these scales. Finally, we are developing forecasting approaches that can relate intended changes in services and governance to likely levels of changes in the resiliency of communities to climate change impacts. The present challenge is the incorporation of the index, its relationships to governance and the developing forecasting tools into Federal decision-making across US government and into state/county/community decision-making across the US. Governmental acceptance of changes to policies often can be just as challenging as the initial technical acceptance of the index and its relation to climate change. Climate Resilience Index is a requested product by ORD AA and EPA Administrator through SHC Program. Index needed to assess states', counties', and communities' abilities of recovery from climate events. Audience: Internal EPA (Administrator, IO, OLEM, OW and OAR) and external (states, counties and communities). Product

Productivity improvement using discrete events simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hazza, M. H. F. Al; Elbishari, E. M. Y.; Ismail, M. Y. Bin; Adesta, E. Y. T.; Rahman, Nur Salihah Binti Abdul

2018-01-01

The increasing in complexity of the manufacturing systems has increased the cost of investment in many industries. Furthermore, the theoretical feasibility studies are not enough to take the decision in investing for that particular area. Therefore, the development of the new advanced software is protecting the manufacturer from investing money in production lines that may not be sufficient and effective with their requirement in terms of machine utilization and productivity issue. By conducting a simulation, using accurate model will reduce and eliminate the risk associated with their new investment. The aim of this research is to prove and highlight the importance of simulation in decision-making process. Delmia quest software was used as a simulation program to run a simulation for the production line. A simulation was first done for the existing production line and show that the estimated production rate is 261 units/day. The results have been analysed based on utilization percentage and idle time. Two different scenarios have been proposed based on different objectives. The first scenario is by focusing on low utilization machines and their idle time, this was resulted in minimizing the number of machines used by three with the addition of the works who maintain them without having an effect on the production rate. The second scenario is to increase the production rate by upgrading the curing machine which lead to the increase in the daily productivity by 7% from 261 units to 281 units.

Computational algorithm to evaluate product disassembly cost index

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeid, Ibrahim; Gupta, Surendra M.

2002-02-01

Environmentally conscious manufacturing is an important paradigm in today's engineering practice. Disassembly is a crucial factor in implementing this paradigm. Disassembly allows the reuse and recycling of parts and products that reach their death after their life cycle ends. There are many questions that must be answered before a disassembly decision can be reached. The most important question is economical. The cost of disassembly versus the cost of scrapping a product is always considered. This paper develops a computational tool that allows decision-makers to calculate the disassembly cost of a product. The tool makes it simple to perform 'what if' scenarios fairly quickly. The tool is Web based and has two main parts. The front-end part is a Web page and runs on the client side in a Web browser, while the back-end part is a disassembly engine (servlet) that has disassembly knowledge and costing algorithms and runs on the server side. The tool is based on the client/server model that is pervasively utilized throughout the World Wide Web. An example is used to demonstrate the implementation and capabilities of the tool.

Social Sensors (S2ensors): A Kind of Hardware-Software-Integrated Mediators for Social Manufacturing Systems Under Mass Individualization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ding, Kai; Jiang, Ping-Yu

2017-09-01

Currently, little work has been devoted to the mediators and tools for multi-role production interactions in the mass individualization environment. This paper proposes a kind of hardware-software-integrated mediators called social sensors (S2ensors) to facilitate the production interactions among customers, manufacturers, and other stakeholders in the social manufacturing systems (SMS). The concept, classification, operational logics, and formalization of S2ensors are clarified. S2ensors collect subjective data from physical sensors and objective data from sensory input in mobile Apps, merge them into meaningful information for decision-making, and finally feed the decisions back for reaction and execution. Then, an S2ensors-Cloud platform is discussed to integrate different S2ensors to work for SMSs in an autonomous way. A demonstrative case is studied by developing a prototype system and the results show that S2ensors and S2ensors-Cloud platform can assist multi-role stakeholders interact and collaborate for the production tasks. It reveals the mediator-enabled mechanisms and methods for production interactions among stakeholders in SMS.

Computer Applications in Social Studies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, Charles S.

1988-01-01

Examines "Decisions, Decisions-Revolutionary Wars: Choosing Sides," an Apple II software package that emphasizes student decision-making about the nature of revolutions. Targeted at grades 5-12, the product covers a broad range of issues. Concludes that "Decisions, Decisions" models an effective decision-making process and has…

Developing Public Health Regulations for Marijuana: Lessons From Alcohol and Tobacco

PubMed Central

Kilmer, Beau; Wagenaar, Alexander C.; Chaloupka, Frank J.; Caulkins, Jonathan P.

2014-01-01

Until November 2012, no modern jurisdiction had removed the prohibition on the commercial production, distribution, and sale of marijuana for nonmedical purposes—not even the Netherlands. Government agencies in Colorado and Washington are now charged with granting production and processing licenses and developing regulations for legal marijuana, and other states and countries may follow. Our goal is not to address whether marijuana legalization is a good or bad idea but, rather, to help policymakers understand the decisions they face and some lessons learned from research on public health approaches to regulating alcohol and tobacco over the past century. PMID:24825201

Single-tier city logistics model for single product

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saragih, N. I.; Nur Bahagia, S.; Suprayogi; Syabri, I.

2017-11-01

This research develops single-tier city logistics model which consists of suppliers, UCCs, and retailers. The problem that will be answered in this research is how to determine the location of UCCs, to allocate retailers to opened UCCs, to assign suppliers to opened UCCs, to control inventory in the three entities involved, and to determine the route of the vehicles from opened UCCs to retailers. This model has never been developed before. All the decisions will be simultaneously optimized. Characteristic of the demand is probabilistic following a normal distribution, and the number of product is single.

Conformance Testing: Measurement Decision Rules

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mimbs, Scott M.

2010-01-01

The goal of a Quality Management System (QMS) as specified in ISO 9001 and AS9100 is to provide assurance to the customer that end products meet specifications. Measuring devices, often called measuring and test equipment (MTE), are used to provide the evidence of product conformity to specified requirements. Unfortunately, processes that employ MTE can become a weak link to the overall QMS if proper attention is not given to the measurement process design, capability, and implementation. Documented "decision rules" establish the requirements to ensure measurement processes provide the measurement data that supports the needs of the QMS. Measurement data are used to make the decisions that impact all areas of technology. Whether measurements support research, design, production, or maintenance, ensuring the data supports the decision is crucial. Measurement data quality can be critical to the resulting consequences of measurement-based decisions. Historically, most industries required simplistic, one-size-fits-all decision rules for measurements. One-size-fits-all rules in some cases are not rigorous enough to provide adequate measurement results, while in other cases are overly conservative and too costly to implement. Ideally, decision rules should be rigorous enough to match the criticality of the parameter being measured, while being flexible enough to be cost effective. The goal of a decision rule is to ensure that measurement processes provide data with a sufficient level of quality to support the decisions being made - no more, no less. This paper discusses the basic concepts of providing measurement-based evidence that end products meet specifications. Although relevant to all measurement-based conformance tests, the target audience is the MTE end-user, which is anyone using MTE other than calibration service providers. Topics include measurement fundamentals, the associated decision risks, verifying conformance to specifications, and basic measurement decisions rules.

The Role of Computational Modeling and Simulation in the Total Product Life Cycle of Peripheral Vascular Devices

PubMed Central

Morrison, Tina M.; Dreher, Maureen L.; Nagaraja, Srinidhi; Angelone, Leonardo M.; Kainz, Wolfgang

2018-01-01

The total product life cycle (TPLC) of medical devices has been defined by four stages: discovery and ideation, regulatory decision, product launch, and postmarket monitoring. Manufacturers of medical devices intended for use in the peripheral vasculature, such as stents, inferior vena cava (IVC) filters, and stent-grafts, mainly use computational modeling and simulation (CM&S) to aid device development and design optimization, supplement bench testing for regulatory decisions, and assess postmarket changes or failures. For example, computational solid mechanics and fluid dynamics enable the investigation of design limitations in the ideation stage. To supplement bench data in regulatory submissions, manufactures can evaluate the effects of anatomical characteristics and expected in vivo loading environment on device performance. Manufacturers might also harness CM&S to aid root-cause analyses that are necessary when failures occur postmarket, when the device is exposed to broad clinical use. Once identified, CM&S tools can then be used for redesign to address the failure mode and re-establish the performance profile with the appropriate models. The Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) wants to advance the use of CM&S for medical devices and supports the development of virtual physiological patients, clinical trial simulations, and personalized medicine. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to describe specific examples of how CM&S is currently used to support regulatory submissions at different phases of the TPLC and to present some of the stakeholder-led initiatives for advancing CM&S for regulatory decision-making. PMID:29479395

The Role of Computational Modeling and Simulation in the Total Product Life Cycle of Peripheral Vascular Devices.

PubMed

Morrison, Tina M; Dreher, Maureen L; Nagaraja, Srinidhi; Angelone, Leonardo M; Kainz, Wolfgang

2017-01-01

The total product life cycle (TPLC) of medical devices has been defined by four stages: discovery and ideation, regulatory decision, product launch, and postmarket monitoring. Manufacturers of medical devices intended for use in the peripheral vasculature, such as stents, inferior vena cava (IVC) filters, and stent-grafts, mainly use computational modeling and simulation (CM&S) to aid device development and design optimization, supplement bench testing for regulatory decisions, and assess postmarket changes or failures. For example, computational solid mechanics and fluid dynamics enable the investigation of design limitations in the ideation stage. To supplement bench data in regulatory submissions, manufactures can evaluate the effects of anatomical characteristics and expected in vivo loading environment on device performance. Manufacturers might also harness CM&S to aid root-cause analyses that are necessary when failures occur postmarket, when the device is exposed to broad clinical use. Once identified, CM&S tools can then be used for redesign to address the failure mode and re-establish the performance profile with the appropriate models. The Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) wants to advance the use of CM&S for medical devices and supports the development of virtual physiological patients, clinical trial simulations, and personalized medicine. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to describe specific examples of how CM&S is currently used to support regulatory submissions at different phases of the TPLC and to present some of the stakeholder-led initiatives for advancing CM&S for regulatory decision-making.

Using Co-production to Enhance Co-production: Cultivating institutional capacity through exchange between climate science, social science, and practice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalafatis, S.

2015-12-01

Many climate scientists and boundary organizations have accumulated years of experience providing decision support for climate adaptation related to landscape change. The Great Lakes Integrated Sciences + Assessments (GLISA) is one such organization that has developed a reputation for providing stakeholders with climate change decision support throughout the Great Lakes region of North America. After five years of applied outreach, GLISA climate scientists working with practitioners identified three common limitations across projects that were slowing down the use of information, describing them as mismatched terminology, unrealistic expectations, and disordered integration. Discussions with GLISA-affiliated social scientists revealed compelling parallels between these observations and the existing social science literature on the persistent "usability gap" in information use as well as opportunities to preemptively overcome these barriers. The discovery of these overlaps between the climate scientists' experience of barriers and the social science literature as well as strategies to systematically address them demonstrate the potential for boundary organizations to act as incubators of more and more efficient co-production over time. To help illustrate these findings, this presentation also provides an example of decision-making for adaptation in the face of landscape change in which GLISA scientists assisted Isle Royale National Park with assessing the implications of future ecological transitions for current wildlife management efforts.

Linking knowledge with action in the pursuit of sustainable water-resources management

PubMed Central

Jacobs, Katharine; Lebel, Louis; Buizer, James; Addams, Lee; Matson, Pamela; McCullough, Ellen; Garden, Po; Saliba, George; Finan, Timothy

2016-01-01

Managing water for sustainable use and economic development is both a technical and a governance challenge in which knowledge production and sharing play a central role. This article evaluates and compares the role of participatory governance and scientific information in decision-making in four basins in Brazil, Mexico, Thailand, and the United States. Water management institutions in each of the basins have evolved during the last 10–20 years from a relatively centralized water-management structure at the state or national level to a decision structure that involves engaging water users within the basins and the development of participatory processes. This change is consistent with global trends in which states increasingly are expected to gain public acceptance for larger water projects and policy changes. In each case, expanded citizen engagement in identifying options and in decision-making processes has resulted in more complexity but also has expanded the culture of integrated learning. International funding for water infrastructure has been linked to requirements for participatory management processes, but, ironically, this study finds that participatory processes appear to work better in the context of decisions that are short-term and easily adjusted, such as water-allocation decisions, and do not work so well for longer-term, high-stakes decisions regarding infrastructure. A second important observation is that the costs of capacity building to allow meaningful stakeholder engagement in water-management decision processes are not widely recognized. Failure to appreciate the associated costs and complexities may contribute to the lack of successful engagement of citizens in decisions regarding infrastructure. PMID:20080611

A technique for predicting clear-wood production in hardwood stems: A model for evaluating hardwood plantation development and management

Treesearch

Christopher M. Oswalt; Wayne K. Clatterbuck; Dave R. Larsen

2011-01-01

The management of artificial hardwood stands suffers from a paucity of information. As a result, many managers and scientists turn to conventional pine plantation management as a source for informing silvicultural decisions. Such an approach when managing hardwoods ignores the development occurring in natural hardwood stands, which produce stems prized for their growth...

F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft (F-35)

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-12-01

Critical Design Review; announcing the decision to terminate development of an alternate Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS); completing the 2nd F-35B...the 100th aircraft from the production facility at Fort Worth, Texas; and resolving lingering technical design shortfalls to include the F-35C...emphasis on: regular design reviews, systems engineering discipline, software development planning with baseline review boards, and focused metrics

Relevance of behavioral and social models to the study of consumer energy decision making and behavior

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Burns, B.A.

This report reviews social and behavioral science models and techniques for their possible use in understanding and predicting consumer energy decision making and behaviors. A number of models and techniques have been developed that address different aspects of the decision process, use different theoretical bases and approaches, and have been aimed at different audiences. Three major areas of discussion were selected: (1) models of adaptation to social change, (2) decision making and choice, and (3) diffusion of innovation. Within these three areas, the contributions of psychologists, sociologists, economists, marketing researchers, and others were reviewed. Five primary components of the modelsmore » were identified and compared. The components are: (1) situational characteristics, (2) product characteristics, (3) individual characteristics, (4) social influences, and (5) the interaction or decision rules. The explicit use of behavioral and social science models in energy decision-making and behavior studies has been limited. Examples are given of a small number of energy studies which applied and tested existing models in studying the adoption of energy conservation behaviors and technologies, and solar technology.« less

Developing an Interactive Data Visualization Tool to Assess the Impact of Decision Support on Clinical Operations.

PubMed

Huber, Timothy C; Krishnaraj, Arun; Monaghan, Dayna; Gaskin, Cree M

2018-05-18

Due to mandates from recent legislation, clinical decision support (CDS) software is being adopted by radiology practices across the country. This software provides imaging study decision support for referring providers at the point of order entry. CDS systems produce a large volume of data, providing opportunities for research and quality improvement. In order to better visualize and analyze trends in this data, an interactive data visualization dashboard was created using a commercially available data visualization platform. Following the integration of a commercially available clinical decision support product into the electronic health record, a dashboard was created using a commercially available data visualization platform (Tableau, Seattle, WA). Data generated by the CDS were exported from the data warehouse, where they were stored, into the platform. This allowed for real-time visualization of the data generated by the decision support software. The creation of the dashboard allowed the output from the CDS platform to be more easily analyzed and facilitated hypothesis generation. Integrating data visualization tools into clinical decision support tools allows for easier data analysis and can streamline research and quality improvement efforts.

76 FR 13169 - Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Decision and Order Granting a Waiver to...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-10

... Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Decision and Order Granting a Waiver to Samsung Electronics America... Electronics America, Inc. (Samsung) a waiver from the DOE clothes washer test procedure for determining the.... Decision and Order In the Matter of: Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (Case No. CW- 014) I. Background and...

The Development and Validation of a Generic Instrument, QoDoS, for Assessing the Quality of Decision Making.

PubMed

Donelan, Ronan; Walker, Stuart; Salek, Sam

2016-01-01

The impact of decision-making during the development and the regulatory review of medicines greatly influences the delivery of new medicinal products. Currently, there is no generic instrument that can be used to assess the quality of decision-making. This study describes the development of the Quality of Decision-Making Orientation Scheme QoDoS(©) instrument for appraising the quality of decision-making. Semi-structured interviews about decision-making were carried out with 29 senior decision makers from the pharmaceutical industry (10), regulatory authorities (9) and contract research organizations (10). The interviews offered a qualified understanding of the subjective decision-making approach, influences, behaviors and other factors that impact such processes for individuals and organizations involved in the delivery of new medicines. Thematic analysis of the transcribed interviews was carried out using NVivo8® software. Content validity was carried out using qualitative and quantitative data by an expert panel, which led to the developmental version of the QoDoS. Further psychometric evaluations were performed, including factor analysis, item reduction, reliability testing and construct validation. The thematic analysis of the interviews yielded a 94-item initial version of the QoDoS(©) with a 5-point Likert scale. The instrument was tested for content validity using a panel of experts for language clarity, completeness, relevance and scaling, resulting in a favorable agreement by panel members with an intra-class correlation coefficient value of 0.89 (95% confidence interval = 0.56, 0.99). A 76-item QoDoS(©) (version 2) emerged from content validation. Factor analysis produced a 47-item measure with four domains. The 47-item QoDoS(©) (version 3) showed high internal consistency (n = 120, Cronbach's alpha = 0.89), high reproducibility (n = 20, intra-class correlation = 0.77) and a mean completion time of 10 min. Reliability testing and construct validation was successfully performed. The QoDoS(©) is both reliable and valid for use. It has the potential for extensive use in medicines development by both the pharmaceutical industry and regulatory authorities. The QoDoS(©) can be used to assess the quality of decision-making and to inform decision makers of the factors that influence decision-making.

Conceptual Framework To Extend Life Cycle Assessment Using Near-Field Human Exposure Modeling and High-Throughput Tools for Chemicals.

PubMed

Csiszar, Susan A; Meyer, David E; Dionisio, Kathie L; Egeghy, Peter; Isaacs, Kristin K; Price, Paul S; Scanlon, Kelly A; Tan, Yu-Mei; Thomas, Kent; Vallero, Daniel; Bare, Jane C

2016-11-01

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a decision-making tool that accounts for multiple impacts across the life cycle of a product or service. This paper presents a conceptual framework to integrate human health impact assessment with risk screening approaches to extend LCA to include near-field chemical sources (e.g., those originating from consumer products and building materials) that have traditionally been excluded from LCA. A new generation of rapid human exposure modeling and high-throughput toxicity testing is transforming chemical risk prioritization and provides an opportunity for integration of screening-level risk assessment (RA) with LCA. The combined LCA and RA approach considers environmental impacts of products alongside risks to human health, which is consistent with regulatory frameworks addressing RA within a sustainability mindset. A case study is presented to juxtapose LCA and risk screening approaches for a chemical used in a consumer product. The case study demonstrates how these new risk screening tools can be used to inform toxicity impact estimates in LCA and highlights needs for future research. The framework provides a basis for developing tools and methods to support decision making on the use of chemicals in products.

Supply chain optimization for pediatric perioperative departments.

PubMed

Davis, Janice L; Doyle, Robert

2011-09-01

Economic challenges compel pediatric perioperative departments to reduce nonlabor supply costs while maintaining the quality of patient care. Optimization of the supply chain introduces a framework for decision making that drives fiscally responsible decisions. The cost-effective supply chain is driven by implementing a value analysis process for product selection, being mindful of product sourcing decisions to reduce supply expense, creating logistical efficiency that will eliminate redundant processes, and managing inventory to ensure product availability. The value analysis approach is an analytical methodology for product selection that involves product evaluation and recommendation based on consideration of clinical benefit, overall financial impact, and revenue implications. Copyright © 2011 AORN, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Exploiting the Free Landsat Archive for Operational Monitoring of Ecosystem Condition and Change Across the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

BrowndeColstoun, Eric

2010-01-01

For the first time, all imagery acquired by the Landsat series of satellites is being made available by the USGS to users at no cost. This represents a key opportunity to use Landsat in a truly operational monitoring framework: large regions of the U.S. such as the Chesapeake Bay Watershed can now be analyzed using "wall-to-wall" imagery at timescales from approximately 1 month to several years. With the future launch of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) and Decadal Survey missions such as the hyperspectral HyspIRI, it is imperative to develop robust processing systems to perform annual ecosystem assessments over large regions such as the Chesapeake Bay. We have been working at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) to develop an integrative framework for inserting 30m, annual, Landsat based data and derived products into the existing decision support system for the Bay, with a particular focus on ecosystem condition and changes over the entire watershed. The basic goal is to use a 'stack' of Landsat imagery with 40% or less cloud cover to produce multi-date (2005-2009 period), cloud/shadow/gap-free composited surface reflectance products that will support the creation of watershed scale land cover/ use products and the monitoring of ecosystem change across the Bay. Our scientific focus extends beyond the conventional definition of land cover (i.e. a classification of vegetation type) as we propose to monitor both changes in surface type (e.g. forest to urban), vegetation structure (e.g. forest disturbance due to logging or insect damage), as well as winter crop cover. These processes represent a continuum from large, interannual changes in land cover type, to subtler, intra-annual changes associated with short-term disturbance. The free Landsat data are being processed to surface reflectance and composited using the existing Landsat Ecosystem Disturbance Adaptive Processing System here at NASA/ GSFC, and land cover products (type, tree cover, impervious cover, winter cover) are being produced using well-established decision tree and regression tree algorithms. The goal of this session is to present the data products that we have been developing to the Bay science community and to discuss potential avenues for improvements and usage of the products for decision support.

A Decision Support System for Evaluating and Selecting Information Systems Projects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Hepu; Wibowo, Santoso

2009-01-01

This chapter presents a decision support system (DSS) for effectively solving the information systems (IS) project selection problem. The proposed DSS recognizes the multidimensional nature of the IS project selection problem, the availability of multicriteria analysis (MA) methods, and the preferences of the decision-maker (DM) on the use of specific MA methods in a given situation. A knowledge base consisting of IF-THEN production rules is developed for assisting the DM with a systematic adoption of the most appropriate method with the efficient use of the powerful reasoning and explanation capabilities of intelligent DSS. The idea of letting the problem to be solved determines the method to be used is incorporated into the proposed DSS. As a result, effective decisions can be made for solving the IS project selection problem. An example is presented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed DSS for solving the problem of selecting IS projects in real world situations.

Spatial decision support system to evaluate crop residue energy potential by anaerobic digestion.

PubMed

Escalante, Humberto; Castro, Liliana; Gauthier-Maradei, Paola; Rodríguez De La Vega, Reynel

2016-11-01

Implementing anaerobic digestion (AD) in energy production from crop residues requires development of decision tools to assess its feasibility and sustainability. A spatial decision support system (SDSS) was constructed to assist decision makers to select appropriate feedstock according to biomethanation potential, identify the most suitable location for biogas facilities, determine optimum plant capacity and supply chain, and evaluate associated risks and costs. SDSS involves a spatially explicit analysis, fuzzy multi-criteria analysis, and statistical and optimization models. The tool was validated on seven crop residues located in Santander, Colombia. For example, fique bagasse generates about 0.21millionm(3)CH4year(-1) (0.329m(3)CH4kg(-1) volatile solids) with a minimum profitable plant of about 2000tonyear(-1) and an internal rate of return of 10.5%. SDSS can be applied to evaluate other biomass resources, availability periods, and co-digestion potential. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Overview of the European Medicines Agency's Development of Product-Specific Bioequivalence Guidelines.

PubMed

Sullivan, Jane O'; Blake, Kevin; Berntgen, Michael; Salmonson, Tomas; Welink, Jan

2017-12-05

The European Medicines Agency's (EMA) product-specific bioequivalence guidelines outline harmonized regulatory requirements for studies to demonstrate bioequivalence for products that may have particular needs due to their pharmacokinetics, in addition to those outlined in general guidance. As such they are potentially very useful to the pharmaceutical industry in the development of generic medicinal products and to regulatory authorities for harmonized decision-making. Since their introduction in 2013, EMA product-specific bioequivalence guidelines continue to increase in number, and as of June 2017, encompass a number of different pharmacotherapeutic groups and pharmaceutical forms. This article further elucidates the processes involved for stakeholders and reviews the Agency's experience with the development of these guidelines, including the scientific issues witnessed with their advancement. A comparison with the United States Food and Drug Administration approach to similar guidelines is also provided. © 2017 The Authors Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

A recent Cleanroom success story: The Redwing project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hausler, Philip A.

1992-01-01

Redwing is the largest completed Cleanroom software engineering project in IBM, both in terms of lines of code and project staffing. The product provides a decision-support facility that utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) technology for predicting and preventing complex operating problems in an MVS environment. The project used the Cleanroom process for development and realized a defect rate of 2.6 errors/KLOC, measured from first execution. This represents the total amount of errors that were found in testing and installation at three field test sites. Development productivity was 486 LOC/PM, which included all development labor expended in design specification through completion of incremental testing. In short, the Redwing team produced a complex systems software product with an extraordinarily low error rate, while maintaining high productivity. All of this was accomplished by a project team using Cleanroom for the first time. An 'introductory implementation' of Cleanroom was defined and used on Redwing. This paper describes the quality and productivity results, the Redwing project, and how Cleanroom was implemented.

Idea Project Final Report, A Sequential Hypothesis Testing-Based Decision-Making System For Freeway Incident Response

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1995-10-01

THIS INVESTIGATION WAS COMPLETED AS PART OF THE ITS-IDEA PROGRAM WHICH IS ONE OF THREE IDEA PROGRAMS MANAGED BY THE TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD (TRB) TO FOSTER INNOVATIONS IN SURFACE TRANSPORTATION. IT FOCUSES ON PRODUCTS AND RESULT FOR THE DEVELOP...

Designing the Widget: A Group Decision and Negotiation Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delise, Lisa A.; Mello, Abby L.

2017-01-01

The Widget design task is an in-class, experiential exercise that affords students the opportunity to develop interpersonal skills in group negotiation. Students engage in new product design in committees of two dyads where one dyad represents Consumer Research and the other represents Strategic Management. Task information creates different…

Organization of functional interaction of corporate information systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Safronov, V. V.; Barabanov, V. F.; Podvalniy, S. L.; Nuzhnyy, A. M.

2018-03-01

In this article the methods of specialized software systems integration are analyzed and the concept of seamless integration of production decisions is offered. In view of this concept developed structural and functional schemes of the specialized software are shown. The proposed schemes and models are improved for a machine-building enterprise.

Co-constructive development of a green chemistry-based model for the assessment of nanoparticles synthesis

EPA Science Inventory

Nanomaterials are extensively used in several industry sectors due to the improved properties they empower commercial products with. There is a pressing need to produce these materials more sustainably. This paper proposes a Multiple Criteria Decision Aiding (MCDA) approach to as...

Condition of Education in the Commonwealth: 2016 Data Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy, 2016

2016-01-01

The "2016 Data Report" identifies and measures state-level indicators linked to outcomes to inform decision-making among Massachusetts education leaders. These indicators focus on critical stages in learning and development from school readiness and early learning to the emergence of a strong and productive workforce. Important…

Development of photosynthetic response curves and their integration into a decision-support tool for floriculture growers

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Irradiance, CO2, and temperature are critical inputs for photosynthesis and crop growth. They are also environmental parameters which growers can control in protected horticulture production systems. We evaluated the photosynthetic response of 13 herbaceous ornamentals (Begonia × hiemalis, Begonia...

Professional Noticing: Learning to Teach Responsively

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Jonathan; Fisher, Molly H.; Jong, Cindy; Schack, Edna O.; Krause, Lisa R.; Kasten, Sarah

2015-01-01

In the buzzing activity of the mathematics classroom, teaching in a way that effectively responds to and furthers students' thinking can be quite challenging. Given that teachers' instructional decisions will directly influence students' learning, it is extremely important to develop the sorts of practices that lead to productive in-the-moment…

National Best Practices Manual for Building High Performance Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Department of Energy, Washington, DC. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Rebuild America EnergySmart Schools program provides school boards, administrators, and design staff with guidance to help make informed decisions about energy and environmental issues important to school systems and communities. This document is part of the suite of products developed to promoteenergy efficiency…

76 FR 14592 - Safety Management System; Withdrawal

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-17

...-06A] RIN 2120-AJ15 Safety Management System; Withdrawal AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA... (``product/ service providers'') to develop a Safety Management System (SMS). The FAA is withdrawing the... management with a set of robust decision-making tools to use to improve safety. The FAA received 89 comments...

Strategic planning: health plan perspective.

PubMed

Mills, P S

1990-01-01

The managed care industry is one of the most dynamic industries in the health care business. The development of new products, formation of alliances, changes in legislation and other types of changes are regular occurrences. This kind of dynamic environment makes it more important than ever to use strategic planning to guide management decisions.

Learning to Create Ad Strategies for "Different" Target Audiences.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Treise, Debbie; Wagner, Elaine

1999-01-01

Describes a focus group exercise used with advertising creative- and strategy-development students that was designed to cultivate awareness of the ethnic consumers' purchase-decision process. Offers an overview of the project's stages, describes the assignment, and notes that members of the original-product focus group also reviewed students'…

Boundary work for implementing adaptive management: A water sector application.

PubMed

Adem Esmail, Blal; Geneletti, Davide; Albert, Christian

2017-09-01

Boundary work, defined as effort to mediate between knowledge and action, is a promising approach for facilitating knowledge co-production for sustainable development. Here, we investigate a case study of knowledge co-production, to assess the applicability of boundary work as a conceptual framework to support implementing adaptive management in the water sector. We refer to a boundary work classification recently proposed by Clark et al., (2016), based on three types of knowledge uses, i.e. enlightenment, decision-, and negotiation-support, and three types of sources, i.e. personal expertise, single, and multiple communities of expertise. Our empirical results confirm boundary work has been crucial for the three types of knowledge use. For enlightenment and decision-support, effective interaction among knowledge producers and users was achieved through diverse boundary work practices, including joint agenda setting, and sharing of data and expertise. This initial boundary work eased subsequent knowledge co-production for decision-support and negotiations, in combination with stepping up of cooperation between relevant actors, suitable legislation and pressure for problem solving. Our analysis highlighted the temporal dimension matters - building trust around enlightenment first, and then using this as a basis for managing knowledge co-production for decision-, and negotiation support. We reconfirmed that boundary work is not a single time achievement, rather is a dynamic process, and we emphasized the importance of key actors driving the process, such as water utilities. Our results provide a rich case study of how strategic boundary work can facilitate knowledge co-production for adaptive management in the water sector. The boundary work practices employed here could also be transferred to other cases. Water utilities, as intermediaries between providers and beneficiaries of the important water-related ecosystem service of clean water provision, can indeed serve as key actors for initiating such boundary work practices. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Process modeling and supply chain design for advanced biofuel production based on bio-oil gasification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Qi

As a potential substitute for petroleum-based fuel, second generation biofuels are playing an increasingly important role due to their economic, environmental, and social benefits. With the rapid development of biofuel industry, there has been an increasing literature on the techno-economic analysis and supply chain design for biofuel production based on a variety of production pathways. A recently proposed production pathway of advanced biofuel is to convert biomass to bio-oil at widely distributed small-scale fast pyrolysis plants, then gasify the bio-oil to syngas and upgrade the syngas to transportation fuels in centralized biorefinery. This thesis aims to investigate two types of assessments on this bio-oil gasification pathway: techno-economic analysis based on process modeling and literature data; supply chain design with a focus on optimal decisions for number of facilities to build, facility capacities and logistic decisions considering uncertainties. A detailed process modeling with corn stover as feedstock and liquid fuels as the final products is presented. Techno-economic analysis of the bio-oil gasification pathway is also discussed to assess the economic feasibility. Some preliminary results show a capital investment of 438 million dollar and minimum fuel selling price (MSP) of $5.6 per gallon of gasoline equivalent. The sensitivity analysis finds that MSP is most sensitive to internal rate of return (IRR), biomass feedstock cost, and fixed capital cost. A two-stage stochastic programming is formulated to solve the supply chain design problem considering uncertainties in biomass availability, technology advancement, and biofuel price. The first-stage makes the capital investment decisions including the locations and capacities of the decentralized fast pyrolysis plants and the centralized biorefinery while the second-stage determines the biomass and biofuel flows. The numerical results and case study illustrate that considering uncertainties can be pivotal in this supply chain design and optimization problem. Also, farmers' participation has a significant effect on the decision making process.

Water-food-energy nexus index: analysis of water-energy-food nexus of crop's production system applying the indicators approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

El-Gafy, Inas

2017-10-01

Analysis the water-food-energy nexus is the first step to assess the decision maker in developing and evaluating national strategies that take into account the nexus. The main objective of the current research is providing a method for the decision makers to analysis the water-food-energy nexus of the crop production system at the national level and carrying out a quantitative assessment of it. Through the proposed method, indicators considering the water and energy consumption, mass productivity, and economic productivity were suggested. Based on these indicators a water-food-energy nexus index (WFENI) was performed. The study showed that the calculated WFENI of the Egyptian summer crops have scores that range from 0.21 to 0.79. Comparing to onion (the highest scoring WFENI,i.e., the best score), rice has the lowest WFENI among the summer food crops. Analysis of the water-food-energy nexus of forty-two Egyptian crops in year 2010 was caried out (energy consumed for irrigation represent 7.4% of the total energy footprint). WFENI can be applied to developed strategies for the optimal cropping pattern that minimizing the water and energy consumption and maximizing their productivity. It can be applied as a holistic tool to evaluate the progress in the water and agricultural national strategies. Moreover, WFENI could be applied yearly to evaluate the performance of the water-food-energy nexus managmant.

Periodic benefit-risk assessment using Bayesian stochastic multi-criteria acceptability analysis.

PubMed

Li, Kan; Yuan, Shuai Sammy; Wang, William; Wan, Shuyan Sabrina; Ceesay, Paulette; Heyse, Joseph F; Mt-Isa, Shahrul; Luo, Sheng

2018-04-01

Benefit-risk (BR) assessment is essential to ensure the best decisions are made for a medical product in the clinical development process, regulatory marketing authorization, post-market surveillance, and coverage and reimbursement decisions. One challenge of BR assessment in practice is that the benefit and risk profile may keep evolving while new evidence is accumulating. Regulators and the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) recommend performing periodic benefit-risk evaluation report (PBRER) through the product's lifecycle. In this paper, we propose a general statistical framework for periodic benefit-risk assessment, in which Bayesian meta-analysis and stochastic multi-criteria acceptability analysis (SMAA) will be combined to synthesize the accumulating evidence. The proposed approach allows us to compare the acceptability of different drugs dynamically and effectively and accounts for the uncertainty of clinical measurements and imprecise or incomplete preference information of decision makers. We apply our approaches to two real examples in a post-hoc way for illustration purpose. The proposed method may easily be modified for other pre and post market settings, and thus be an important complement to the current structured benefit-risk assessment (sBRA) framework to improve the transparent and consistency of the decision-making process. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evaluating the State of Water Management in the Rio Grande/Bravo Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ortiz Partida, Jose Pablo; Sandoval-Solis, Samuel; Diaz Gomez, Romina

2017-04-01

Water resource modeling tools have been developed for many different regions and sub-basins of the Rio Grande/Bravo (RGB). Each of these tools has specific objectives, whether it is to explore drought mitigation alternatives, conflict resolution, climate change evaluation, tradeoff and economic synergies, water allocation, reservoir operations, or collaborative planning. However, there has not been an effort to integrate different available tools, or to link models developed for specific reaches into a more holistic watershed decision-support tool. This project outlines promising next steps to meet long-term goals of improved decision support tools and modeling. We identify, describe, and synthesize water resources management practices in the RGB basin and available water resources models and decision support tools that represent the RGB and the distribution of water for human and environmental uses. The extent body of water resources modeling is examined from a perspective of environmental water needs and water resources management and thereby allows subsequent prioritization of future research and monitoring needs for the development of river system modeling tools. This work communicates the state of the RGB science to diverse stakeholders, researchers, and decision-makers. The products of this project represent a planning tool to support an integrated water resources management framework to maximize economic and social welfare without compromising vital ecosystems.

Coordinating vendor-buyer decisions for imperfect quality items considering trade credit and fully backlogged shortages

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khanna, Aditi; Gautam, Prerna; Jaggi, Chandra K.

2016-03-01

Supply chain management has become a critical issue for modern business environments. In today's world of cooperative decision-making, individual decisions in order to reduce inventory costs may not lead to an overall optimal solution. Coordination is necessary among participants of supply chain to achieve better performance. There are legitimate and important efforts from the vendor to enhance the relation with buyer; one such effort is offering trade credit which has been a driver of growth and development of business between them. The cost of financing is a core consideration in effective financial management, in general and in context of business. Also, due to imperfect production a vendor may produce defective items which results in shortages. Motivated with these aspects, an integrated vendor-buyer inventory model is developed for imperfect quality items with allowable shortages; in which the vendor offers credit period to the buyer for payment. The objective is to minimize the total joint annual costs incurred by the vendor and the buyer by using integrated decision making approach. The expected total annual integrated cost is derived and a solution procedure is provided to find the optimal solution. Numerical analysis shows that the integrated model gives an impressive cost reduction, in comparison to independent decision policies by the vendor and the buyer.

9 CFR 355.39 - Appeals from decisions made under this part.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Appeals from decisions made under this part. 355.39 Section 355.39 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT... AND VOLUNTARY INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION CERTIFIED PRODUCTS FOR DOGS, CATS, AND OTHER CARNIVORA...

9 CFR 355.39 - Appeals from decisions made under this part.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Appeals from decisions made under this part. 355.39 Section 355.39 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT... AND VOLUNTARY INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION CERTIFIED PRODUCTS FOR DOGS, CATS, AND OTHER CARNIVORA...

Advancing sustainable bioenergy: Evolving stakeholder interests and the relevance of research

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johnson, Timothy L; Bielicki, Dr Jeffrey M; Dodder, Rebecca

2013-01-01

The sustainability of future bioenergy production rests on more than continual improvements in its environmental, economic, and social impacts. The emergence of new biomass feedstocks, an expanding array of conversion pathways, and expected increases in overall bioenergy production are connecting diverse technical, social, and policy communities. These stakeholder groups have different and potentially conflicting values and cultures, and therefore different goals and decision making processes. Our aim is to discuss the implications of this diversity for bioenergy researchers. The paper begins with a discussion of bioenergy stakeholder groups and their varied interests, and illustrates how this diversity complicates efforts tomore » define and promote sustainable bioenergy production. We then discuss what this diversity means for research practice. Researchers, we note, should be aware of stakeholder values, information needs, and the factors affecting stakeholder decision making if the knowledge they generate is to reach its widest potential use. We point out how stakeholder participation in research can increase the relevance of its products, and argue that stakeholder values should inform research questions and the choice of analytical assumptions. Finally, we make the case that additional natural science and technical research alone will not advance sustainable bioenergy production, and that important research gaps relate to understanding stakeholder decision making and the need, from a broader social science perspective, to develop processes to identify and accommodate different value systems. While sustainability requires more than improved scientific and technical understanding, the need to understand stakeholder values and manage diversity presents important research opportunities.« less

Locus of decision making in multinational corporations and its relationship to subsidiary performance

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Goehle, D.G.

1978-01-01

A conceptual model was developed which drew from the existing research in organization theory, comparative management, and international business which assisted in the delineation of the relevant variables and suggested the nature of their relationship to the locus of decision making. The conceptual model incorporated certain corporate and subsidiary factors considered an influence on the determination of the locus of decision making. Corporate factors included product line or industry, size and complexity of international operations, organization structure, availability of managerial talent, and corporate philosophy. Subsidiary characteristics included subsidiary age and size, availability of local managerial talent, geographic distance from headquartersmore » and other affiliated units, and subsidiary environmental characteristics. The locus of desicion making was measured by the level of participation the headquarters and subsidiary management had in decision making for twenty-nine decisions, representing six functional areas. Levels of participation for headquarters and subsidiary managers were measured for each decision based on responses to a five-point scale of decision process categories which indicated varying levels of headquarters and subsidiary participation. The sample included ten US multinational corporations representing five industries: pharmaceuticals, tire and rubber, automobiles, capital equipment, and food processing.« less

Decision-problem state analysis methodology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dieterly, D. L.

1980-01-01

A methodology for analyzing a decision-problem state is presented. The methodology is based on the analysis of an incident in terms of the set of decision-problem conditions encountered. By decomposing the events that preceded an unwanted outcome, such as an accident, into the set of decision-problem conditions that were resolved, a more comprehensive understanding is possible. All human-error accidents are not caused by faulty decision-problem resolutions, but it appears to be one of the major areas of accidents cited in the literature. A three-phase methodology is presented which accommodates a wide spectrum of events. It allows for a systems content analysis of the available data to establish: (1) the resolutions made, (2) alternatives not considered, (3) resolutions missed, and (4) possible conditions not considered. The product is a map of the decision-problem conditions that were encountered as well as a projected, assumed set of conditions that should have been considered. The application of this methodology introduces a systematic approach to decomposing the events that transpired prior to the accident. The initial emphasis is on decision and problem resolution. The technique allows for a standardized method of accident into a scenario which may used for review or the development of a training simulation.

Bridging the Gap: Tailor-made Information Products for Decision Makers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mandler, B. E.; Rose, C. A.; Gonzales, L. M.; Boland, M. A.

2016-12-01

The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is launching a new information platform designed to link decision makers with information generated by geoscientific research. Decision makers, especially those at the state and local level, frequently need scientific information but do not always have easy access to it, while scientists create new knowledge but often lack opportunities to communicate this knowledge more broadly to the people who need it the most. Major differences in communication styles and language can also hinder the use of scientific information by decision makers. AGI is building an online portfolio of case studies and fact sheets that are based on cutting-edge research presented in a format and style that meets the needs and expectations of decision makers. Based on discussions with state and local decision makers around the country, AGI has developed a template for these products. Scientists are invited to write short (500-700-word) summaries of their research and the ways in which it provides useful tools and information to decision makers. We are particularly interested in showcasing actionable information derived from basic or applied research. Researchers are encouraged to contact AGI to discuss topics that may be an appropriate basis for case studies or fact sheets, and AGI may also contact researchers based on scientific needs identified during our discussions with decision makers. All submissions will be edited and reviewed by AGI staff and an external peer review team before being published online and made available to decision makers through AGI's Critical Issues web platform and extensive professional networks. Publicizing the results of scientific research to key legislative, regulatory, advisory, and engaged citizen groups and individuals broadens the impact of scientists' research and highlights the value and importance of the geosciences to society. By presenting the information in a format that is designed with the end-user in mind, this initiative provides a much-needed service to decision makers at all levels and serves the geoscience community by increasing the distribution and dissemination of research findings. We will discuss early results and challenges from this program, and feedback from state and local decision makers.

Study of the outlook for the development of the gas industry in Russia and analysis of risk associated with this process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eliseeva, O. A.; Luk'yanova, A. S.; Tarasov, A. E.

2010-12-01

The gas industry in Russia will develop under conditions of the persistence of existing risks and emergence of the new ones caused by the world financial crisis, increased uncertainty in estimating world prices for natural gas, together with disturbed balance between interests of gas producers and consumers, and threat of loss of the competitiveness of Russian natural gas on foreign markets. In this context, in choosing a strategy of the development of the gas industry and its production-and-financial program, it is necessary to carry out a risk analysis of optimum decisions. Specific features of carrying out a risk analysis and results of the risk analysis of strategic decisions that would provide enhanced steadiness and the effectiveness of the development of the gas industry under conditions of the uncertainty of both external and internal factors are presented.

[The added value of information summaries supporting clinical decisions at the point-of-care.

PubMed

Banzi, Rita; González-Lorenzo, Marien; Kwag, Koren Hyogene; Bonovas, Stefanos; Moja, Lorenzo

2016-11-01

Evidence-based healthcare requires the integration of the best research evidence with clinical expertise and patients' values. International publishers are developing evidence-based information services and resources designed to overcome the difficulties in retrieving, assessing and updating medical information as well as to facilitate a rapid access to valid clinical knowledge. Point-of-care information summaries are defined as web-based medical compendia that are specifically designed to deliver pre-digested, rapidly accessible, comprehensive, and periodically updated information to health care providers. Their validity must be assessed against marketing claims that they are evidence-based. We periodically evaluate the content development processes of several international point-of-care information summaries. The number of these products has increased along with their quality. The last analysis done in 2014 identified 26 products and found that three of them (Best Practice, Dynamed e Uptodate) scored the highest across all evaluated dimensions (volume, quality of the editorial process and evidence-based methodology). Point-of-care information summaries as stand-alone products or integrated with other systems, are gaining ground to support clinical decisions. The choice of one product over another depends both on the properties of the service and the preference of users. However, even the most innovative information system must rely on transparent and valid contents. Individuals and institutions should regularly assess the value of point-of-care summaries as their quality changes rapidly over time.

Advancing coupled human-earth system models: The integrated Earth System Model Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomson, A. M.; Edmonds, J. A.; Collins, W.; Thornton, P. E.; Hurtt, G. C.; Janetos, A. C.; Jones, A.; Mao, J.; Chini, L. P.; Calvin, K. V.; Bond-Lamberty, B. P.; Shi, X.

2012-12-01

As human and biogeophysical models develop, opportunities for connections between them evolve and can be used to advance our understanding of human-earth systems interaction in the context of a changing climate. One such integration is taking place with the Community Earth System Model (CESM) and the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM). A multi-disciplinary, multi-institution team has succeeded in integrating the GCAM integrated assessment model of human activity into CESM to dynamically represent the feedbacks between changing climate and human decision making, in the context of greenhouse gas mitigation policies. The first applications of this capability have focused on the feedbacks between climate change impacts on terrestrial ecosystem productivity and human decisions affecting future land use change, which are in turn connected to human decisions about energy systems and bioenergy production. These experiments have been conducted in the context of the RCP4.5 scenario, one of four pathways of future radiative forcing being used in CMIP5, which constrains future human-induced greenhouse gas emissions from energy and land activities to stabilize radiative forcing at 4.5 W/m2 (~650 ppm CO2 -eq) by 2100. When this pathway is run in GCAM with the climate feedback on terrestrial productivity from CESM, there are implications for both the land use and energy system changes required for stabilization. Early findings indicate that traditional definitions of radiative forcing used in scenario development are missing a critical component of the biogeophysical consequences of land use change and their contribution to effective radiative forcing. Initial full coupling of the two global models has important implications for how climate impacts on terrestrial ecosystems changes the dynamics of future land use change for agriculture and forestry, particularly in the context of a climate mitigation policy designed to reduce emissions from land use as well as energy systems. While these initial experiments have relied on offline coupling methodologies, current and future experiments are utilizing a single model code developed to integrate GCAM into CESM as a component of the land model. This unique capability facilitates many new applications to scientific questions arising from human and biogeophysical systems interaction. Future developments will further integrate the energy system decisions and greenhouse gas emissions as simulated in GCAM with the appropriate climate and land system components of CESM.

Aerospace Engineering Systems and the Advanced Design Technologies Testbed Experience

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

VanDalsem, William R.; Livingston, Mary E.; Melton, John E.; Torres, Francisco J.; Stremel, Paul M.

1999-01-01

Continuous improvement of aerospace product development processes is a driving requirement across much of the aerospace community. As up to 90% of the cost of an aerospace product is committed during the first 10% of the development cycle, there is a strong emphasis on capturing, creating, and communicating better information (both requirements and performance) early in the product development process. The community has responded by pursuing the development of computer-based systems designed to enhance the decision-making capabilities of product development individuals and teams. Recently, the historical foci on sharing the geometrical representation and on configuration management are being augmented: 1) Physics-based analysis tools for filling the design space database; 2) Distributed computational resources to reduce response time and cost; 3) Web-based technologies to relieve machine-dependence; and 4) Artificial intelligence technologies to accelerate processes and reduce process variability. The Advanced Design Technologies Testbed (ADTT) activity at NASA Ames Research Center was initiated to study the strengths and weaknesses of the technologies supporting each of these trends, as well as the overall impact of the combination of these trends on a product development event. Lessons learned and recommendations for future activities are reported.

Study on utilization of advanced composites in commercial aircraft wing structures. Volume 1: Executive summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sakata, I. F.; Ostrom, R. B.; Cardinale, S. V.

1978-01-01

The effort required by commercial transport manufacturers to accomplish the transition from current construction materials and practices to extensive use of composites in aircraft wings was investigated. The engineering and manufacturing disciplines which normally participate in the design, development, and production of an aircraft were employed to ensure that all of the factors that would enter a decision to commit to production of a composite wing structure were addressed. A conceptual design of an advanced technology reduced energy aircraft provided the framework for identifying and investigating unique design aspects. A plan development effort defined the essential technology needs and formulated approaches for effecting the required wing development. The wing development program plans, resource needs, and recommendations are summarized.

Risk, regulation and biotechnology: the case of GM crops.

PubMed

Smyth, Stuart J; Phillips, Peter W B

2014-07-03

The global regulation of products of biotechnology is increasingly divided. Regulatory decisions for genetically modified (GM) crops in North America are predictable and efficient, with numerous countries in Latin and South America, Australia and Asia following this lead. While it might have been possible to argue that Europe's regulations were at one time based on real concerns about minimizing risks and ensuring health and safety, it is increasingly apparent that the entire European Union (EU) regulatory system for GM crops and foods is now driven by political agendas. Countries within the EU are at odds with each other as some have commercial production of GM crops, while others refuse to even develop regulations that could provide for the commercial release of GM crops. This divide in regulatory decision-making is affecting international grain trade, creating challenges for feeding an increasing global population.

Application of best practice approaches for designing decision support tools: The preparatory education about clinical trials (PRE-ACT) study

PubMed Central

Fleisher, Linda; Ruggieri, Dominique G.; Miller, Suzanne M.; Manne, Sharon; Albrecht, Terrance; Buzaglo, Joanne; Collins, Michael A.; Katz, Michael; Kinzy, Tyler G.; Liu, Tasnuva; Manning, Cheri; Charap, Ellen Specker; Millard, Jennifer; Miller, Dawn M.; Poole, David; Raivitch, Stephanie; Roach, Nancy; Ross, Eric A.; Meropol, Neal J.

2014-01-01

Objective This article describes the rigorous development process and initial feedback of the PRE-ACT (Preparatory Education About Clinical Trials) web-based- intervention designed to improve preparation for decision making in cancer clinical trials. Methods The multi-step process included stakeholder input, formative research, user testing and feedback. Diverse teams (researchers, advocates and developers) participated including content refinement, identification of actors, and development of video scripts. Patient feedback was provided in the final production period and through a vanguard group (N = 100) from the randomized trial. Results Patients/advocates confirmed barriers to cancer clinical trial participation, including lack of awareness and knowledge, fear of side effects, logistical concerns, and mistrust. Patients indicated they liked the tool’s user-friendly nature, the organized and comprehensive presentation of the subject matter, and the clarity of the videos. Conclusion The development process serves as an example of operationalizing best practice approaches and highlights the value of a multi-disciplinary team to develop a theory-based, sophisticated tool that patients found useful in their decision making process. Practice implications Best practice approaches can be addressed and are important to ensure evidence-based tools that are of value to patients and supports the usefulness of a process map in the development of e-health tools. PMID:24813474

The Determination of Production and Distribution Policy in Push-Pull Production Chain with Supply Hub as the Junction Point

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sinaga, A. T.; Wangsaputra, R.

2018-03-01

The development of technology causes the needs of products and services become increasingly complex, diverse, and fluctuating. This causes the level of inter-company dependencies within a production chains increased. To be able to compete, efficiency improvements need to be done collaboratively in the production chain network. One of the efforts to increase efficiency is to harmonize production and distribution activities in the production chain network. This paper describes the harmonization of production and distribution activities by applying the use of push-pull system and supply hub in the production chain between two companies. The research methodology begins with conducting empirical and literature studies, formulating research questions, developing mathematical models, conducting trials and analyses, and taking conclusions. The relationship between the two companies is described in the MINLP mathematical model with the total cost of production chain as the objective function. Decisions generated by the mathematical models are the size of production lot, size of delivery lot, number of kanban, frequency of delivery, and the number of understock and overstock lot.