Managing Dualities in Planned Change Initiatives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barge, J. Kevin; Lee, Michael; Maddux, Kristy; Nabring, Richard; Townsend, Bryan

2008-01-01

Dualities play an important role in creating the conditions for change and managing planned change initiatives. Building on Seo, Putnam, and Bartunek's (2003) work, this study focuses on the dualities associated with managing change processes. A case study of a planned change process called the Circle of Prosperity Initiative, a multi-stakeholder…

Focus on motivation in the work rehabilitation planning process: a qualitative study from the employer's perspective.

PubMed

Gard, Gunvor; Larsson, Agneta

2003-09-01

Since the working environment act was passed in 1991, employers in Sweden are to plan and control the working environment conditions in workplaces. They are responsible for organized rehabilitation at the workplace including the development of rehabilitation plans and a plan for interventions in order for a sick-listed client to be able to return to work. The aim of this study was to describe employers' experiences of how motivation can be improved in a work rehabilitation process. Qualitative interviews were performed with 10 employers who had employees that had taken part in a period of vocational rehabilitation at a rehabilitation center in the north of Sweden, over a 2-year period. The result showed that increased focus on motivation for change is needed in work rehabilitation. The clients' motivation for change could be improved by a focus on motivational conversations at the workplace aiming at motivation for change in their working and living conditions. The employers' power of initiative, competence, economic resources, and motivation are needed for creative solutions at the workplace.

Using multi-disciplinary strategic master facilities planning for organizations experiencing programmatic re-direction

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

Heubach, J.G.; Weimer, W.C.; Bruce, W.A.

Facility master planning is critical to the future productivity of a laboratory and the quality of worklife for the laboratory staff. For organizations undergoing programmatic re-direction, a master facility planning approach linked to the organization`s strategic planning process is even more important. Major changes in an organization such as programmatic re-direction can significantly impact a broad range of variables which exceed the expertise of traditional planning teams, e.g., capacity variability, work team organization, organizational culture, and work process simplification. By expanding the diversity of the participants of the planning team, there is a greater likelihood that a research organization`s scientific,more » organizational, economic, and employees` needs can be meshed in the strategic plan and facility plan. Recent recommendations from facility planners suggest drawing from diverse fields in building multi-disciplinary planning teams: Architecture, engineering, natural science, social psychology, and strategic planning (Gibson,1993). For organizations undergoing significant operational or culture change, the master facility planning team should also include members with expertise in organizational effectiveness, industrial engineering, human resources, and environmental psychology. A recent planning and design project provides an example which illustrates the use of an expanded multi-disciplinary team engaged in planning laboratory renovations for a research organization undergoing programmatic re-direction. The purpose of the proposed poster session is to present a multi-disciplinary master facility planning process linked to an organization`s strategic planning process or organizational strategies.« less

Medicare Part D Beneficiaries' Plan Switching Decisions and Information Processing.

PubMed

Han, Jayoung; Urmie, Julie

2017-03-01

Medicare Part D beneficiaries tend not to switch plans despite the government's efforts to engage beneficiaries in the plan switching process. Understanding current and alternative plan features is a necessary step to make informed plan switching decisions. This study explored beneficiaries' plan switching using a mixed-methods approach, with a focus on the concept of information processing. We found large variation in beneficiary comprehension of plan information among both switchers and nonswitchers. Knowledge about alternative plans was especially poor, with only about half of switchers and 2 in 10 nonswitchers being well informed about plans other than their current plan. We also found that helpers had a prominent role in plan decision making-nearly twice as many switchers as nonswitchers worked with helpers for their plan selection. Our study suggests that easier access to helpers as well as helpers' extensive involvement in the decision-making process promote informed plan switching decisions.

A novel computational model to probe visual search deficits during motor performance

PubMed Central

Singh, Tarkeshwar; Fridriksson, Julius; Perry, Christopher M.; Tryon, Sarah C.; Ross, Angela; Fritz, Stacy

2016-01-01

Successful execution of many motor skills relies on well-organized visual search (voluntary eye movements that actively scan the environment for task-relevant information). Although impairments of visual search that result from brain injuries are linked to diminished motor performance, the neural processes that guide visual search within this context remain largely unknown. The first objective of this study was to examine how visual search in healthy adults and stroke survivors is used to guide hand movements during the Trail Making Test (TMT), a neuropsychological task that is a strong predictor of visuomotor and cognitive deficits. Our second objective was to develop a novel computational model to investigate combinatorial interactions between three underlying processes of visual search (spatial planning, working memory, and peripheral visual processing). We predicted that stroke survivors would exhibit deficits in integrating the three underlying processes, resulting in deteriorated overall task performance. We found that normal TMT performance is associated with patterns of visual search that primarily rely on spatial planning and/or working memory (but not peripheral visual processing). Our computational model suggested that abnormal TMT performance following stroke is associated with impairments of visual search that are characterized by deficits integrating spatial planning and working memory. This innovative methodology provides a novel framework for studying how the neural processes underlying visual search interact combinatorially to guide motor performance. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Visual search has traditionally been studied in cognitive and perceptual paradigms, but little is known about how it contributes to visuomotor performance. We have developed a novel computational model to examine how three underlying processes of visual search (spatial planning, working memory, and peripheral visual processing) contribute to visual search during a visuomotor task. We show that deficits integrating spatial planning and working memory underlie abnormal performance in stroke survivors with frontoparietal damage. PMID:27733596

A preliminary model of work during initial examination and treatment planning appointments.

PubMed

Irwin, J Y; Torres-Urquidy, M H; Schleyer, T; Monaco, V

2009-01-10

Objective This study's objective was to formally describe the work process for charting and treatment planning in general dental practice to inform the design of a new clinical computing environment.Methods Using a process called contextual inquiry, researchers observed 23 comprehensive examination and treatment planning sessions during 14 visits to 12 general US dental offices. For each visit, field notes were analysed and reformulated as formalised models. Subsequently, each model type was consolidated across all offices and visits. Interruptions to the workflow, called breakdowns, were identified.Results Clinical work during dental examination and treatment planning appointments is a highly collaborative activity involving dentists, hygienists and assistants. Personnel with multiple overlapping roles complete complex multi-step tasks supported by a large and varied collection of equipment, artifacts and technology. Most of the breakdowns were related to technology which interrupted the workflow, caused rework and increased the number of steps in work processes.Conclusion Current dental software could be significantly improved with regard to its support for communication and collaboration, workflow, information design and presentation, information content, and data entry.

Automated Procurement System (APS): Project management plan (DS-03), version 1.2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Murphy, Diane R.

1994-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is implementing an Automated Procurement System (APS) to streamline its business activities that are used to procure goods and services. This Project Management Plan (PMP) is the governing document throughout the implementation process and is identified as the APS Project Management Plan (DS-03). At this point in time, the project plan includes the schedules and tasks necessary to proceed through implementation. Since the basis of APS is an existing COTS system, the implementation process is revised from the standard SDLC. The purpose of the PMP is to provide the framework for the implementation process. It discusses the roles and responsibilities of the NASA project staff, the functions to be performed by the APS Development Contractor (PAI), and the support required of the NASA computer support contractor (CSC). To be successful, these three organizations must work together as a team, working towards the goals established in this Project Plan. The Project Plan includes a description of the proposed system, describes the work to be done, establishes a schedule of deliverables, and discusses the major standards and procedures to be followed.

Application of scenario analysis and multiagent technique in land-use planning: a case study on Sanjiang wetlands.

PubMed

Yu, Huan; Ni, Shi-Jun; Kong, Bo; He, Zheng-Wei; Zhang, Cheng-Jiang; Zhang, Shu-Qing; Pan, Xin; Xia, Chao-Xu; Li, Xuan-Qiong

2013-01-01

Land-use planning has triggered debates on social and environmental values, in which two key questions will be faced: one is how to see different planning simulation results instantaneously and apply the results back to interactively assist planning work; the other is how to ensure that the planning simulation result is scientific and accurate. To answer these questions, the objective of this paper is to analyze whether and how a bridge can be built between qualitative and quantitative approaches for land-use planning work and to find out a way to overcome the gap that exists between the ability to construct computer simulation models to aid integrated land-use plan making and the demand for them by planning professionals. The study presented a theoretical framework of land-use planning based on scenario analysis (SA) method and multiagent system (MAS) simulation integration and selected freshwater wetlands in the Sanjiang Plain of China as a case study area. Study results showed that MAS simulation technique emphasizing quantitative process effectively compensated for the SA method emphasizing qualitative process, which realized the organic combination of qualitative and quantitative land-use planning work, and then provided a new idea and method for the land-use planning and sustainable managements of land resources.

Application of Scenario Analysis and Multiagent Technique in Land-Use Planning: A Case Study on Sanjiang Wetlands

PubMed Central

Ni, Shi-Jun; He, Zheng-Wei; Zhang, Cheng-Jiang; Zhang, Shu-Qing; Pan, Xin; Xia, Chao-Xu; Li, Xuan-Qiong

2013-01-01

Land-use planning has triggered debates on social and environmental values, in which two key questions will be faced: one is how to see different planning simulation results instantaneously and apply the results back to interactively assist planning work; the other is how to ensure that the planning simulation result is scientific and accurate. To answer these questions, the objective of this paper is to analyze whether and how a bridge can be built between qualitative and quantitative approaches for land-use planning work and to find out a way to overcome the gap that exists between the ability to construct computer simulation models to aid integrated land-use plan making and the demand for them by planning professionals. The study presented a theoretical framework of land-use planning based on scenario analysis (SA) method and multiagent system (MAS) simulation integration and selected freshwater wetlands in the Sanjiang Plain of China as a case study area. Study results showed that MAS simulation technique emphasizing quantitative process effectively compensated for the SA method emphasizing qualitative process, which realized the organic combination of qualitative and quantitative land-use planning work, and then provided a new idea and method for the land-use planning and sustainable managements of land resources. PMID:23818816

Towards an Intelligent Planning Knowledge Base Development Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chien, S.

1994-01-01

ract describes work in developing knowledge base editing and debugging tools for the Multimission VICAR Planner (MVP) system. MVP uses artificial intelligence planning techniques to automatically construct executable complex image processing procedures (using models of the smaller constituent image processing requests made to the JPL Multimission Image Processing Laboratory.

Facility Planning in the Construction Grants Program. Instructor Guide. Working for Clean Water: An Information Program for Advisory Groups.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buskirk, E. Drannon, Jr.; Cole, Charles A.

Wastewater facility planning is an essential component of the federal construction grants process. Presented in this instructor's guide is a one-hour presentation on facility planning intended for citizen advisory groups. The guide is part of the Working for Clean Water Project, which also includes a supplementary audiovisual presentation.…

Post-ASFA Permanency Planning for Children in Foster Care: Clinical and Ethical Considerations for Art Therapists

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malloy, Jennifer N.

2017-01-01

The process of determining permanent living arrangements for children residing in foster care is referred to as permanency planning. I provide a preliminary framework for art therapists working with foster children and their families during the permanency planning process, and identify clinical and ethical issues that have resulted from the…

Strategic Planning Process Exercise: A Semester-Long Experiential Approach to Engage Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Singh, Jitendra

2018-01-01

Strategic planning provides a sense of direction and can have a significant impact on the future of an organization. Students wanting to serve in leadership positions need to demonstrate a firm understanding of the concepts necessary to work on this complex process. Careful planning also ensures students' survival in a competitive business…

Building a vision for the future: strategic planning in a shared governance nursing organization.

PubMed

Baker, C; Beglinger, J E; Bowles, K; Brandt, C; Brennan, K M; Engelbaugh, S; Hallock, T; LaHam, M

2000-06-01

Today's health care delivery environment is marked by extreme turbulence and ever-increasing complexity. Now, more than ever, an organization's strategic plan must do more than outline a business plan. Rather, the strategic plan is a fundamental tool for building and sustaining an organizational vision for the future. The strong, dynamic strategic plan (1) represents a long-range vision for improving organizational performance, (2) provides a model for planning and implementing structures and processes for the management of outcomes, (3) reflects and shapes the organizational culture and customer focus, (4) provides decision support for difficult operational choices made day to day, and (5) integrates and aligns the work of the organization. This article describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of a methodology for strategic planning within a shared governance nursing organization. Built upon the strategic plan of the hospital, the process undertaken by the nursing organization reflects the following commitments: (1) to develop a strategic plan that is meaningful and part of daily work life at all levels of the nursing organization, (2) to make the plan practical and realistic through incremental building, (3) to locate and articulate accountability for each step, and (4) to build in a process for checking progress toward goal achievement and readjusting the plan as necessary.

Planning Skills and Negotiator Goal Accomplishment: The Relationship between Self-Monitoring and Plan Generation, Plan Enactment, and Plan Consequences.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jordan, Jerry Monroe; Roloff, Michael E.

1997-01-01

Focuses on skills necessary for effective negotiation planning. Argues that the information processing tendencies of high self-monitors make them adept at negotiation planning. Extends existing work by relating self-monitoring to plan generation, enactment, and consequences. Indicates that self-monitoring is related to prenegotiation goal…

Implementation of a Web-Based Collaborative Process Planning System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Huifen; Liu, Tingting; Qiao, Li; Huang, Shuangxi

Under the networked manufacturing environment, all phases of product manufacturing involving design, process planning, machining and assembling may be accomplished collaboratively by different enterprises, even different manufacturing stages of the same part may be finished collaboratively by different enterprises. Based on the self-developed networked manufacturing platform eCWS(e-Cooperative Work System), a multi-agent-based system framework for collaborative process planning is proposed. In accordance with requirements of collaborative process planning, share resources provided by cooperative enterprises in the course of collaboration are classified into seven classes. Then a reconfigurable and extendable resource object model is built. Decision-making strategy is also studied in this paper. Finally a collaborative process planning system e-CAPP is developed and applied. It provides strong support for distributed designers to collaboratively plan and optimize product process though network.

The Technical Work Plan Tracking Tool

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chullen, Cinda; Leighton, Adele; Weller, Richard A.; Woodfill, Jared; Parkman, William E.; Ellis, Glenn L.; Wilson, Marilyn M.

2003-01-01

The Technical Work Plan Tracking Tool is a web-based application that enables interactive communication and approval of contract requirements that pertain to the administration of the Science, Engineering, Analysis, and Test (SEAT) contract at Johnson Space Center. The implementation of the application has (1) shortened the Technical Work Plan approval process, (2) facilitated writing and documenting requirements in a performance-based environment with associated surveillance plans, (3) simplified the contractor s estimate of the cost for the required work, and (4) allowed for the contractor to document how they plan to accomplish the work. The application is accessible to over 300 designated NASA and contractor employees via two Web sites. For each employee, the application regulates access according to the employee s authority to enter, view, and/or print out diverse information, including reports, work plans, purchase orders, and financial data. Advanced features of this application include on-line approval capability, automatic e-mail notifications requesting review by subsequent approvers, and security inside and outside the firewall.

How can the rehabilitation planning process at the workplace be improved? A qualitative study from employers' perspective.

PubMed

Larsson, Agneta; Gard, Gunvor

2003-09-01

Employers in Sweden are by law responsible for planning and controlling the working environment situation in their companies and for ensuring that any need for rehabilitation is noted as soon as possible and that action is taken. This includes developing a plan for rehabilitation. The aim of this study is to describe employers' experiences of the work rehabilitation planning process at the workplace, and how it can be improved with a focus on quality and cost-effectiveness. Qualitative interviews were performed with 10 employers of employee/s that had participated in vocational rehabilitation at a rehabilitation center in the North of Sweden. The results showed that employers were interested in detecting work rehabilitation needs and in taking action early. Rehabilitation at the workplace could be improved by development of routines, improved work relations and work technique, and environment in-service training at the workplace. Prevention was perceived as a prerequisite for a good result of rehabilitation. Attention to social and geographic conditions is needed. Organizational and financial limitations exist.

Outcome-Based School-to-Work Transition Planning for Students with Severe Disabilities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steere, Daniel E.; And Others

1990-01-01

A transition planning process that focuses on quality-of-life outcomes is presented. The process, which views employment not as an outcome but as a vehicle for the attainment of quality of life, involves six steps: orientation, personal profile development, identification of employment outcomes, measurement system, compatibility process, and…

Managing the construction bidding process : a move to simpler construction plan sets

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2001-01-31

This project was conducted to determine whether construction plan sets could be significantly simplified to speed the process of moving projects to construction. The work steps included a literature review, a telephone survey of highway agencies in s...

Novel technique for tracking manpower and work packages: a useful tool for the team and management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gill, R.; Gracia, G.; Lupton, R. H.; O'Mullane, W.

2014-08-01

In these times of austerity it is becoming more and more important to justify the need for manpower to management. Additionally, with the fast pace of today's projects the need for tools that facilitate teams to not only plan, but also track their work, are essential. The practice of planning work packages and the associated manpower has been about for a while but little is done to really cross-check that planning against reality. In this paper these elements are brought together through a number of tools that make up the end to end process of planning, tracking and reporting of work package progress and manpower usage.

Usefulness and engagement with a guided workbook intervention (WorkPlan) to support work related goals among cancer survivors.

PubMed

Schumacher, Lauren; Armaou, Maria; Rolf, Pauline; Sadhra, Steven; Sutton, Andrew John; Zarkar, Anjali; Grunfeld, Elizabeth A

2017-10-04

Returning to work after cancer is associated with improved physical and psychological functioning, but managing this return can be a challenging process. A workbook based intervention (WorkPlan) was developed to support return-to-work among cancer survivors. The aim of this study was to explore how participants using the workbook engaged with the intervention and utilised the content of the intervention in their plan to return-to-work. As part of a feasibility randomised controlled trial, 23 participants from the intervention group were interviewed 4-weeks post intervention. Interviews focussed on intervention delivery and data was analysed using Framework analysis. Participants revealed a sense of empowerment and changes in their outlook as they transitioned from patient to employee, citing the act of writing as a medium for creating their own return-to-work narrative. Participants found the generation of a return-to-work plan useful for identifying potential problems and solutions, which also served as a tool for aiding discussion with the employer on return-to-work. Additionally, participants reported feeling less uncertain and anxious about returning to work. Timing of the intervention in coordination with ongoing cancer treatments was crucial to perceived effectiveness; participants identified the sole or final treatment as the ideal time to receive the intervention. The self-guided workbook supports people diagnosed with cancer to build their communication and planning skills to successfully manage their return-to-work. Further research could examine how writing plays a role in this process. Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN56342476 . Retrospectively registered 14 October 2015.

ABA Southern Region Burn disaster plan: the process of creating and experience with the ABA southern region burn disaster plan.

PubMed

Kearns, Randy D; Cairns, Bruce A; Hickerson, William L; Holmes, James H

2014-01-01

The Southern Region of the American Burn Association began to craft a regional plan to address a surge of burn-injured patients after a mass casualty event in 2004. Published in 2006, this plan has been tested through modeling, exercise, and actual events. This article focuses on the process of how the plan was created, how it was tested, and how it interfaces with other ongoing efforts on preparedness. One key to success regarding how people respond to a disaster can be traced to preexisting relationships and collaborations. These activities would include training or working together and building trust long before the crisis. Knowing who you can call and rely on when you need help, within the context of your plan, can be pivotal in successfully managing a disaster. This article describes how a coalition of burn center leaders came together. Their ongoing personal association has facilitated the development of planning activities and has kept the process dynamic. This article also includes several of the building blocks for developing a plan from creation to composition, implementation, and testing. The plan discussed here is an example of linking leadership, relationships, process, and documentation together. On the basis of these experiences, the authors believe these elements are present in other regions. The intent of this work is to share an experience and to offer it as a guide to aid others in their regional burn disaster planning efforts.

Promoting cross-sector partnerships in child welfare: qualitative results from a five-state strategic planning process.

PubMed

Collins-Camargo, Crystal; Armstrong, Mary I; McBeath, Bowen; Chuang, Emmeline

2013-01-01

Little is known about effective strategic planning for public and private child welfare agencies working together to serve families. During a professionally facilitated, strategic planning event, public and private child welfare administrators from five states explored partnership challenges and strengths with a goal of improving collaborative interactions in order to improve outcomes for children and families. Summarizing thematic results of session notes from the planning event, this article describes effective strategies for facilitation of such processes as well as factors that challenge or promote group processes. Implications for conducting strategic planning in jurisdictions seeking to improve public/private partnerships are discussed.

PlanWorks: A Debugging Environment for Constraint Based Planning Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Daley, Patrick; Frank, Jeremy; Iatauro, Michael; McGann, Conor; Taylor, Will

2005-01-01

Numerous planning and scheduling systems employ underlying constraint reasoning systems. Debugging such systems involves the search for errors in model rules, constraint reasoning algorithms, search heuristics, and the problem instance (initial state and goals). In order to effectively find such problems, users must see why each state or action is in a plan by tracking causal chains back to part of the initial problem instance. They must be able to visualize complex relationships among many different entities and distinguish between those entities easily. For example, a variable can be in the scope of several constraints, as well as part of a state or activity in a plan; the activity can arise as a consequence of another activity and a model rule. Finally, they must be able to track each logical inference made during planning. We have developed PlanWorks, a comprehensive system for debugging constraint-based planning and scheduling systems. PlanWorks assumes a strong transaction model of the entire planning process, including adding and removing parts of the constraint network, variable assignment, and constraint propagation. A planner logs all transactions to a relational database that is tailored to support queries for of specialized views to display different forms of data (e.g. constraints, activities, resources, and causal links). PlanWorks was specifically developed for the Extensible Universal Remote Operations Planning Architecture (EUROPA(sub 2)) developed at NASA, but the underlying principles behind PlanWorks make it useful for many constraint-based planning systems. The paper is organized as follows. We first describe some fundamentals of EUROPA(sub 2). We then describe PlanWorks' principal components. We then discuss each component in detail, and then describe inter-component navigation features. We close with a discussion of how PlanWorks is used to find model flaws.

Options for Parallelizing a Planning and Scheduling Algorithm

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clement, Bradley J.; Estlin, Tara A.; Bornstein, Benjamin D.

2011-01-01

Space missions have a growing interest in putting multi-core processors onboard spacecraft. For many missions processing power significantly slows operations. We investigate how continual planning and scheduling algorithms can exploit multi-core processing and outline different potential design decisions for a parallelized planning architecture. This organization of choices and challenges helps us with an initial design for parallelizing the CASPER planning system for a mesh multi-core processor. This work extends that presented at another workshop with some preliminary results.

Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program Work Plan for Fiscal Year 1989.

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

United States. Bonneville Power Administration. Division of Fish and Wildlife.

1988-11-01

The FY 1989 Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program Work Plan (Work Plan) presents Bonneville Power Administration's plans for implementing the Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program (Program) in FY 1989. The Work Plan focuses on individual Action Items found in the 1987 Program for which Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has determined that it has authority and responsibility to implement. Each of the entries in the Work Plan includes objectives, background, and progress to date in achieving those objectives, and a summary of plans for implementation in FY 1989. Most Action Items are implemented through one or moremore » BPA-funded projects. Each Action Item entry is followed by a list of completed, ongoing, and planned projects, along with objectives, results, schedules, and milestones for each project. The FY 1989 Work Plan emphasizes continuation of 113 projects, most of which involve protection, mitigation, or enhancement of anadromous fishery resources. BPA also plans to start 20 new projects in FY 1989. The number of ongoing FY 1988 projects to be continued in FY 1989 and the number of new projects planned to start in FY 1989 are based on current (September 7, 1988) procurement expectations. Several projects presently in BPA's procurement process are expected to be contracted by September 30, 1988, the last day of FY 1988. Although these projects have not yet started, they have been listed in the Work Plan as ongoing FY 1988 projects, based on projected start dates in late September 1988. Throughout the Work Plan, those projects with projected start dates in September 1988 have been noted.« less

March 2016 Memo: Planning for Removal and Remedial Activities at Hardrock Mining and Mineral Processing Sites with Fluid Hazards

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Memo from EPA Assistant Administrator Mathy Stanislaus, regarding planning for removal and remedial activities at hardrock mining and mineral processing sites with fluid hazards, and to share the Agency’s expectations for the work that is done at these sit

Library Automation and Facility Planning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohen, Aaron; Cohen, Elaine

This seminar and workbook are designed to aid librarians in planning and designing attractive and efficient libraries in light of the changing technologies of the 1980s. It is based on the premise that the electronic revolution of the 1980s will cause substantial changes in the work force, work processes, and the nature of physical layouts of…

Creating windows of opportunity for policy change: Incorporating evidence into decentralized planning in Kenya.

PubMed Central

Ashford, Lori S.; Smith, Rhonda R.; De Souza, Roger-Mark; Fikree, Fariyal F.; Yinger, Nancy V.

2006-01-01

PROBLEM: Because researchers and policy-makers work in different spheres, policy decisions in the health arena are often not based on available scientific evidence. APPROACH: We describe a model that illustrates the policy process and how to work strategically to translate knowledge into policy actions. Several types of activity--agenda-setting, coalition building and policy learning--together can create a window of opportunity for policy change. LOCAL SETTING: Activities were undertaken as part of the Kenyan Ministry of Health's new decentralized planning-process. The objective was to ensure that the results of a national assessment of health services were used in the preparation of district-level health plans. RELEVANT CHANGES: Following the intervention, 70 district-level, evidence-based work plans were developed and approved by the Kenyan Ministry of Health. LESSONS LEARNED: Substantial investment and effort are needed to bring stakeholders together to work towards policy change. More in-depth evaluation of these efforts can aid understanding of how systematic approaches to policy change can be replicated elsewhere. PMID:16917657

Constellation Mission Operation Working Group: ESMO Maneuver Planning Process Review

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moyer, Eric

2015-01-01

The Earth Science Mission Operation (ESMO) Project created an Independent Review Board to review our Conjunction Risk evaluation process and Maneuver Planning Process to identify improvements that safely manages mission conjunction risks, maintains ground track science requirements, and minimizes overall hours expended on High Interest Events (HIE). The Review Board is evaluating the current maneuver process which requires support by multiple groups. In the past year, there have been several changes to the processes although many prior and new concerns exist. This presentation will discuss maneuver process reviews and Board comments, ESMO assessment and path foward, ESMO future plans, recent changes and concerns.

Care plans and care planning in long-term conditions: a conceptual model.

PubMed

Burt, Jenni; Rick, Jo; Blakeman, Thomas; Protheroe, Joanne; Roland, Martin; Bower, Pete

2014-10-01

The prevalence and impact of long-term conditions continues to rise. Care planning for people with long-term conditions has been a policy priority for chronic disease management in a number of health-care systems. However, patients and providers appear unclear about the formulation and implementation of care planning. Further work in this area is therefore required to inform the development, implementation and evaluation of future care planning initiatives. We distinguish between 'care planning' (the process by which health-care professionals and patients discuss, agree and review an action plan to achieve the goals or behaviour change of most relevance and concern to the patient) and a 'care plan' (a written document recording the outcome of a care planning process). We propose a typology of care planning and care plans with three core dimensions: perspective (patient or professional), scope (a focus on goals or on behaviours) and networks (confined to the professional-patient dyad or extending to the entire care network). In addition, we draw on psychological models of mediation and moderation to outline potential mechanisms through which care planning and care plans may lead to improved outcomes for both patients and the wider health-care system. The proposed typology of care planning and care plans offered here, along with the model of the process by which care planning may influence outcomes, provide a useful framework for future policy developments and evaluations. Empirical work is required to explore the degree to which current care planning approaches and care plans can be described according to these dimensions, and the factors that determine which types of patients and professionals use which type of care plans.

US-VISIT Identity Matching Algorithm Evaluation Program: ADIS Algorithm Evaluation Project Plan Update

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

Grant, C W; Lenderman, J S; Gansemer, J D

This document is an update to the 'ADIS Algorithm Evaluation Project Plan' specified in the Statement of Work for the US-VISIT Identity Matching Algorithm Evaluation Program, as deliverable II.D.1. The original plan was delivered in August 2010. This document modifies the plan to reflect modified deliverables reflecting delays in obtaining a database refresh. This document describes the revised schedule of the program deliverables. The detailed description of the processes used, the statistical analysis processes and the results of the statistical analysis will be described fully in the program deliverables. The US-VISIT Identity Matching Algorithm Evaluation Program is work performed bymore » Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) under IAA HSHQVT-07-X-00002 P00004 from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).« less

Guidance for Preparing a Facility Plan. Revised Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC. Office of Water Programs.

This document provides information to assist with preparing a preliminary facility plan for construction of municipal sewage treatment works. The text describes the requirements in the applicable laws and regulations and suggests a planning process by which they can be met. (CS)

Human-Automation Integration: Principle and Method for Design and Evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Billman, Dorrit; Feary, Michael

2012-01-01

Future space missions will increasingly depend on integration of complex engineered systems with their human operators. It is important to ensure that the systems that are designed and developed do a good job of supporting the needs of the work domain. Our research investigates methods for needs analysis. We included analysis of work products (plans for regulation of the space station) as well as work processes (tasks using current software), in a case study of Attitude Determination and Control Officers (ADCO) planning work. This allows comparing how well different designs match the structure of the work to be supported. Redesigned planning software that better matches the structure of work was developed and experimentally assessed. The new prototype enabled substantially faster and more accurate performance in plan revision tasks. This success suggests the approach to needs assessment and use in design and evaluation is promising, and merits investigatation in future research.

Customizing for clients: developing a library liaison program from need to plan.

PubMed

Tennant, M R; Butson, L C; Rezeau, M E; Tucker, P J; Boyle, M E; Clayton, G

2001-01-01

Building on the experiences of librarian representatives to curriculum committees in the colleges of dentistry, medicine, and nursing, the Health Science Center Libraries (HSCL) Strategic Plan recommended the formation of a Library Liaison Work Group to create a formal Library Liaison Program to serve the six Health Science Center (HSC) colleges and several affiliated centers and institutes. The work group's charge was to define the purpose and scope of the program, identify models of best practice, and recommend activities for liaisons. The work group gathered background information, performed an environmental scan, and developed a philosophy statement, a program of liaison activities focusing on seven primary areas, and a forum for liaison communication. Hallmarks of the plan included intensive subject specialization (beyond collection development), extensive communication with users, and personal information services. Specialization was expected to promote competence, communication, confidence, comfort, and customization. Development of the program required close coordination with other strategic plan implementation teams, including teams for collection development, education, and marketing. This paper discusses the HSCL's planning process and the resulting Library Liaison Program. Although focusing on an academic health center, the planning process and liaison model may be applied to any library serving diverse, subject-specific user populations.

Customizing for clients: developing a library liaison program from need to plan*

PubMed Central

Tennant, Michele R.; Butson, Linda C.; Rezeau, Michelle E.; Tucker, Prudence J.; Boyle, Marian E.; Clayton, Greg

2001-01-01

Building on the experiences of librarian representatives to curriculum committees in the colleges of dentistry, medicine, and nursing, the Health Science Center Libraries (HSCL) Strategic Plan recommended the formation of a Library Liaison Work Group to create a formal Library Liaison Program to serve the six Health Science Center (HSC) colleges and several affiliated centers and institutes. The work group's charge was to define the purpose and scope of the program, identify models of best practice, and recommend activities for liaisons. The work group gathered background information, performed an environmental scan, and developed a philosophy statement, a program of liaison activities focusing on seven |primary areas, and a forum for liaison communication. Hallmarks of the plan included intensive subject specialization (beyond collection development), extensive communication with users, and personal information services. Specialization was expected to promote competence, communication, confidence, comfort, and customization. Development of the program required close coordination with other strategic plan implementation teams, including teams for collection development, education, and marketing. This paper discusses the HSCL's planning process and the resulting Library Liaison Program. Although focusing on an academic health center, the planning process and liaison model may be applied to any library serving diverse, subject-specific user populations. PMID:11209807

[Quality planning of Family Health Units using Quality Function Deployment (QFD)].

PubMed

Volpato, Luciana Fernandes; Meneghim, Marcelo de Castro; Pereira, Antonio Carlos; Ambrosano, Gláucia Maria Bovi

2010-08-01

Quality is an indispensible requirement in the health field, and its pursuit is necessary in order to meet demands by a population that is aware of its rights, as part of the essence of good work relations, and to decrease technological costs. Quality thus involves all parties to the process (users and professionals), and is no longer merely an attribute of the health service. This study aimed to verify the possibility of quality planning in the Family Health Units, using Quality Function Deployment (QFD). QFD plans quality according to user satisfaction, involving staff professionals and identifying new approaches to improve work processes. Development of the array, called the House of Quality, is this method's most important characteristics. The results show a similarity between the quality demanded by users and the quality planned by professionals. The current study showed that QFD is an efficient tool for quality planning in public health services.

Advanced planning for ISS payload ground processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Page, Kimberly A.

2000-01-01

Ground processing at John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is the concluding phase of the payload/flight hardware development process and is the final opportunity to ensure safe and successful recognition of mission objectives. Planning for the ground processing of on-orbit flight hardware elements and payloads for the International Space Station is a responsibility taken seriously at KSC. Realizing that entering into this operational environment can be an enormous undertaking for a payload customer, KSC continually works to improve this process by instituting new/improved services for payload developer/owner, applying state-of-the-art technologies to the advanced planning process, and incorporating lessons learned for payload ground processing planning to ensure complete customer satisfaction. This paper will present an overview of the KSC advanced planning activities for ISS hardware/payload ground processing. It will focus on when and how KSC begins to interact with the payload developer/owner, how that interaction changes (and grows) throughout the planning process, and how KSC ensures that advanced planning is successfully implemented at the launch site. It will also briefly consider the type of advance planning conducted by the launch site that is transparent to the payload user but essential to the successful processing of the payload (i.e. resource allocation, executing documentation, etc.) .

Care plans and care planning in long term conditions: a conceptual model

PubMed Central

Burt, J; Rick, J; Blakeman, T; Protheroe, J; Roland, M; Bower, P

2013-01-01

The prevalence and impact of long term conditions continues to rise. Care planning for people with long term conditions has been a policy priority for chronic disease management in a number of health care systems. However, patients and providers appear unclear about the formulation and implementation of care planning. Further work in this area is therefore required to inform the development, implementation and evaluation of future care planning initiatives. We distinguish between ‘care planning’ (the process by which health care professionals and patients discuss, agree and review an action plan to achieve the goals or behaviour change of most relevance and concern to the patient) and a ‘care plan’ (a written document recording the outcome of a care planning process). We propose a typology of care planning and care plans with three core dimensions: perspective (patient or professional), scope (a focus on goals or on behaviours) and networks (confined to the professional-patient dyad or extending to the entire care network). In addition, we draw on psychological models of mediation and moderation to outline potential mechanisms through which care planning and care plans may lead to improved outcomes for both patients and the wider health care system. The proposed typology of care planning and care plans offered here, along with the model of the process by which care planning may influence outcomes, provide a useful framework for future policy developments and evaluations. Empirical work is required to explore the degree to which current care planning approaches and care plans can be described according to these dimensions, and the factors that determine which types of patients and professionals use which type of care plans. PMID:23883621

How Home Health Nurses Plan Their Work Schedules: A Qualitative Descriptive Study.

PubMed

Irani, Elliane; Hirschman, Karen B; Cacchione, Pamela Z; Bowles, Kathryn H

2018-06-12

To describe how home health nurses plan their daily work schedules and what challenges they face during the planning process. Home health nurses are viewed as independent providers and value the nature of their work because of the flexibility and autonomy they hold in developing their work schedules. However, there is limited empirical evidence about how home health nurses plan their work schedules, including the factors they consider during the process and the challenges they face within the dynamic home health setting. Qualitative descriptive design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 registered nurses who had greater than 2 years of experience in home health and were employed by one of the three participating home health agencies in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Data were analyzed using conventional content analysis. Four themes emerged about planning work schedules and daily itineraries: identifying patient needs to prioritize visits accordingly, partnering with patients to accommodate their preferences, coordinating visit timing with other providers to avoid overwhelming patients, and working within agency standards to meet productivity requirements. Scheduling challenges included readjusting the schedule based on patient needs and staffing availability, anticipating longer visits, and maintaining continuity of care with patients. Home health nurses make autonomous decisions regarding their work schedules while considering specific patient and agency factors, and overcome challenges related to the unpredictable nature of providing care in a home health setting. Future research is needed to further explore nurse productivity in home health and improve home health work environments. Home health nurses plan their work schedules to provide high quality care that is patient-centered and timely. The findings also highlight organizational priorities to facilitate continuity of care and support nurses while alleviating the burnout associated with high productivity requirements. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

TH-CD-209-01: A Greedy Reassignment Algorithm for the PBS Minimum Monitor Unit Constraint

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

Lin, Y; Kooy, H; Craft, D

2016-06-15

Purpose: To investigate a Greedy Reassignment algorithm in order to mitigate the effects of low weight spots in proton pencil beam scanning (PBS) treatment plans. Methods: To convert a plan from the treatment planning system’s (TPS) to a deliverable plan, post processing methods can be used to adjust the spot maps to meets the minimum MU constraint. Existing methods include: deleting low weight spots (Cut method), or rounding spots with weight above/below half the limit up/down to the limit/zero (Round method). An alternative method called Greedy Reassignment was developed in this work in which the lowest weight spot in themore » field was removed and its weight reassigned equally among its nearest neighbors. The process was repeated with the next lowest weight spot until all spots in the field were above the MU constraint. The algorithm performance was evaluated using plans collected from 190 patients (496 fields) treated at our facility. The evaluation criteria were the γ-index pass rate comparing the pre-processed and post-processed dose distributions. A planning metric was further developed to predict the impact of post-processing on treatment plans for various treatment planning, machine, and dose tolerance parameters. Results: For fields with a gamma pass rate of 90±1%, the metric has a standard deviation equal to 18% of the centroid value. This showed that the metric and γ-index pass rate are correlated for the Greedy Reassignment algorithm. Using a 3rd order polynomial fit to the data, the Greedy Reassignment method had 1.8 times better metric at 90% pass rate compared to other post-processing methods. Conclusion: We showed that the Greedy Reassignment method yields deliverable plans that are closest to the optimized-without-MU-constraint plan from the TPS. The metric developed in this work could help design the minimum MU threshold with the goal of keeping the γ-index pass rate above an acceptable value.« less

Empowering Families during the Early Intervention Planning Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Byington, Teresa A.; Whitby, Peggy J. S.

2011-01-01

Parents play important roles as advocates for their child with a disability. Advocacy is the process of striving to improve the quality of life for someone else. The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires parents and professionals to work together to design a service delivery plan for children with disabilities. An…

Problem-Solving Strategies for Career Planning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McBryde, Merry J.; Karr-Kidwell, PJ

The need for new expertise in problem solving in the work setting has emerged as a woman's issue because work outside the home has become a primary means for personal goal attainment for about half the women in the United States and because traditional career patterns and norms are ineffective. Career planning is the process of individual career…

30 CFR 784.25 - Return of coal processing waste to abandoned underground workings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Return of coal processing waste to abandoned... ENFORCEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR SURFACE COAL MINING AND RECLAMATION OPERATIONS PERMITS AND COAL... RECLAMATION AND OPERATION PLAN § 784.25 Return of coal processing waste to abandoned underground workings. (a...

30 CFR 784.25 - Return of coal processing waste to abandoned underground workings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Return of coal processing waste to abandoned... ENFORCEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR SURFACE COAL MINING AND RECLAMATION OPERATIONS PERMITS AND COAL... RECLAMATION AND OPERATION PLAN § 784.25 Return of coal processing waste to abandoned underground workings. (a...

30 CFR 784.25 - Return of coal processing waste to abandoned underground workings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Return of coal processing waste to abandoned... ENFORCEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR SURFACE COAL MINING AND RECLAMATION OPERATIONS PERMITS AND COAL... RECLAMATION AND OPERATION PLAN § 784.25 Return of coal processing waste to abandoned underground workings. (a...

Collaborative Strategic Planning in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanaghan, Patrick

2009-01-01

This book outlines a simple, five-phase collaborative approach to strategic planning that has worked effectively on many campuses. Specifically, Collaborative Strategic Planning (CSP) refers to the disciplined and thoughtful process of meaningfully engaging relevant stakeholders in creating a shared future vision and goals for their institution.…

Facility Master Plans: An Essential First Step in the Building Development Process.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wickerham, Wendell E.

2002-01-01

Discusses the importance of the facility master plan (FMP) in defining project scope and validating or challenging the work of consultants. Offers three case studies illustrating how facility master plans averted problems or led to unanticipated benefits for the colleges involved. (EV)

Aligning everyday life priorities with people's self-management support networks: an exploration of the work and implementation of a needs-led telephone support system.

PubMed

Blickem, Christian; Kennedy, Anne; Jariwala, Praksha; Morris, Rebecca; Bowen, Robert; Vassilev, Ivaylo; Brooks, Helen; Blakeman, Tom; Rogers, Anne

2014-06-17

Recent initiatives to target the personal, social and clinical needs of people with long-term health conditions have had limited impact within primary care. Evidence of the importance of social networks to support people with long-term conditions points to the need for self-management approaches which align personal circumstances with valued activities. The Patient-Led Assessment for Network Support (PLANS) intervention is a needs-led assessment for patients to prioritise their health and social needs and provide access to local community services and activities. Exploring the work and practices of patients and telephone workers are important for understanding and evaluating the workability and implementation of new interventions. Qualitative methods (interviews, focus group, observations) were used to explore the experience of PLANS from the perspectives of participants and the telephone support workers who delivered it (as part of an RCT) and the reasons why the intervention worked or not. Normalisation Process Theory (NPT) was used as a sensitising tool to evaluate: the relevance of PLANS to patients (coherence); the processes of engagement (cognitive participation); the work done for PLANS to happen (collective action); the perceived benefits and costs of PLANS (reflexive monitoring). 20 patients in the intervention arm of a clinical trial were interviewed and their telephone support calls were recorded and a focus group with 3 telephone support workers was conducted. Analysis of the interviews, support calls and focus group identified three themes in relation to the delivery and experience of PLANS. These are: formulation of 'health' in the context of everyday life; trajectories and tipping points: disrupting everyday routines; precarious trust in networks. The relevance of these themes are considered using NPT constructs in terms of the work that is entailed in engaging with PLANS, taking action, and who is implicated this process. PLANS gives scope to align long-term condition management to everyday life priorities and valued aspects of life. This approach can improve engagement with health-relevant practices by situating them within everyday contexts. This has potential to increase utilisation of local resources with potential cost-saving benefits for the NHS. ISRCTN45433299.

How language production shapes language form and comprehension

PubMed Central

MacDonald, Maryellen C.

2012-01-01

Language production processes can provide insight into how language comprehension works and language typology—why languages tend to have certain characteristics more often than others. Drawing on work in memory retrieval, motor planning, and serial order in action planning, the Production-Distribution-Comprehension (PDC) account links work in the fields of language production, typology, and comprehension: (1) faced with substantial computational burdens of planning and producing utterances, language producers implicitly follow three biases in utterance planning that promote word order choices that reduce these burdens, thereby improving production fluency. (2) These choices, repeated over many utterances and individuals, shape the distributions of utterance forms in language. The claim that language form stems in large degree from producers' attempts to mitigate utterance planning difficulty is contrasted with alternative accounts in which form is driven by language use more broadly, language acquisition processes, or producers' attempts to create language forms that are easily understood by comprehenders. (3) Language perceivers implicitly learn the statistical regularities in their linguistic input, and they use this prior experience to guide comprehension of subsequent language. In particular, they learn to predict the sequential structure of linguistic signals, based on the statistics of previously-encountered input. Thus, key aspects of comprehension behavior are tied to lexico-syntactic statistics in the language, which in turn derive from utterance planning biases promoting production of comparatively easy utterance forms over more difficult ones. This approach contrasts with classic theories in which comprehension behaviors are attributed to innate design features of the language comprehension system and associated working memory. The PDC instead links basic features of comprehension to a different source: production processes that shape language form. PMID:23637689

Making Strategic Planning Work: Experiences from a Private University. AIR 1986 Annual Forum Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chan, Susy S.

Issues in implementating strategic planning in higher education management are considered, along with successful strategies and problem areas in implementing an integrated planning and budgeting process at DePaul University, a comprehensive Catholic university. Key implementation issues are as follows: (1) maintaining an organizational balance…

Faculty Planning, Development, and Evaluation System: Washtenaw Community College.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Altieri, Guy; And Others

Between 1989 and 1991, the Planning, Development and Evaluation (PDE) Committee of Washtenaw Community College (Michigan) designed a faculty assessment process focusing on professional development and academic planning. It is an approach in which all educators (faculty and administrators) work together, using the PDE system to continually define…

School Facilities Planning. Research Report Number 1974-2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National School Boards Association, Washington, DC.

Literature reviewed in this report is intended to help school boards reconsider conventional approaches to school facilities planning. A blueprint is presented for good relationships between decision-makers and architects, explaining a sequence for the planning and construction process and the roles each party should fulfill to work successfully.…

Implementing Earned Value Management in the CxP EVA Systems Project Office

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sorge, Les L.

2009-01-01

Earned Value Management (EVM), like project management, is as much art as it is science to develop an implementation plan for a project. This presentation will cover issues that were overcome and the implementation strategy to deploy Earned Value Management (EVM) within the Constellation Program (CxP), EVA Systems Project Office (ESPO), as well as discuss additional hurdles that currently prevent the organization from optimizing EVM. Each organization and each project within an organization needs to mold an EVM implementation plan around existing processes and tools, while at the same time revising those existing processes and tools as necessary to make them compatible with EVM. The ESPO EVM implementation covers work breakdown structure, organizational breakdown structure, control account, work/planning package development; integrated master schedule development using an integrated master plan; incorporating reporting requirements for existing funding process such as Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) and JSC Internal Task Agreements (ITA); and interfacing with other software tools such as the Systems Applications and Products (SAP) accounting system and the CxP wInsight EVM analysis tool. However, there are always areas for improvement and EVM is no exception. As EVM continues to mature within the NASA CxP, these areas will continue to be worked to resolution to provide the Program Managers, Project Managers, and Control Account Managers the best EVM data possible to make informed decisions.

Administrative and Technical Support for the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command Joint Working Group on Medical Chemical Defense

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-08-01

microproces;qor databaAing systems for monitoring project and contract reports and program technology trans. fers, coordinating and providing administratIvo ...The JWGD 3 annual planning process generally included: - Program review by the JWGD’ membership at quarterly meetings, which consisted of the review...Office developed the program planning and budget documents associated with the planning process outlined above. Program project databases and

MO-D-213-01: Workflow Monitoring for a High Volume Radiation Oncology Center

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

Laub, S; Dunn, M; Galbreath, G

2015-06-15

Purpose: Implement a center wide communication system that increases interdepartmental transparency and accountability while decreasing redundant work and treatment delays by actively monitoring treatment planning workflow. Methods: Intake Management System (IMS), a program developed by ProCure Treatment Centers Inc., is a multi-function database that stores treatment planning process information. It was devised to work with the oncology information system (Mosaiq) to streamline interdepartmental workflow.Each step in the treatment planning process is visually represented and timelines for completion of individual tasks are established within the software. The currently active step of each patient’s planning process is highlighted either red or greenmore » according to whether the initially allocated amount of time has passed for the given process. This information is displayed as a Treatment Planning Process Monitor (TPPM), which is shown on screens in the relevant departments throughout the center. This display also includes the individuals who are responsible for each task.IMS is driven by Mosaiq’s quality checklist (QCL) functionality. Each step in the workflow is initiated by a Mosaiq user sending the responsible party a QCL assignment. IMS is connected to Mosaiq and the sending or completing of a QCL updates the associated field in the TPPM to the appropriate status. Results: Approximately one patient a week is identified during the workflow process as needing to have his/her treatment start date modified or resources re-allocated to address the most urgent cases. Being able to identify a realistic timeline for planning each patient and having multiple departments communicate their limitations and time constraints allows for quality plans to be developed and implemented without overburdening any one department. Conclusion: Monitoring the progression of the treatment planning process has increased transparency between departments, which enables efficient communication. Having built-in timelines allows easy prioritization of tasks and resources and facilitates effective time management.« less

The importance of work or productive activity in life care planning and case management.

PubMed

Reid, Christine; Riddick-Grisham, Susan

2015-01-01

The importance of work or productive activity for the well-being, community integration, and quality of life of people living with disabilities is addressed, with implications for life care planning and case management. The role of work or productive activity in our society, and consequences of deprivation if rehabilitation services do not address vocational effects of disabilities, is explored. A continuum of productivity options is introduced; types of vocational rehabilitation assessment processes and interventions are described. The role of vocational rehabilitation services in life care planning and case management is discussed, focusing on quality of life for people living with disabilities. Rehabilitation and health care professionals should understand the importance of work or other productive activity, and support the development of appropriate plans to address those needs among people who have disabilities.

Iowa Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Report

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The findings of a pilot project to work with stakeholders and governments in Iowa to identify barriers to and incentives for considering regional effects of climate change in hazard mitigation planning and other community planning processes.

Proposal of Constraints Analysis Method Based on Network Model for Task Planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tomiyama, Tomoe; Sato, Tatsuhiro; Morita, Toyohisa; Sasaki, Toshiro

Deregulation has been accelerating several activities toward reengineering business processes, such as railway through service and modal shift in logistics. Making those activities successful, business entities have to regulate new business rules or know-how (we call them ‘constraints’). According to the new constraints, they need to manage business resources such as instruments, materials, workers and so on. In this paper, we propose a constraint analysis method to define constraints for task planning of the new business processes. To visualize each constraint's influence on planning, we propose a network model which represents allocation relations between tasks and resources. The network can also represent task ordering relations and resource grouping relations. The proposed method formalizes the way of defining constraints manually as repeatedly checking the network structure and finding conflicts between constraints. Being applied to crew scheduling problems shows that the method can adequately represent and define constraints of some task planning problems with the following fundamental features, (1) specifying work pattern to some resources, (2) restricting the number of resources for some works, (3) requiring multiple resources for some works, (4) prior allocation of some resources to some works and (5) considering the workload balance between resources.

Evaluating the Facilities Planning, Design, and Construction Department: The Capital Programs Management Audit.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaiser, Harvey H.; Kirkwood, Dennis M.

2000-01-01

Presents a diagnostic model for assessing the state of an institution's capital programs management (CPM) by delineating "work processes" which comprise that function. What capital programs management is, its resources, and its phases and work processes are described, followed by case studies of the CPM Process Model as an assessment tool. (GR)

Using AI Planning Techniques to Automatically Generate Image Processing Procedures: A Preliminary Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chien, S.

1994-01-01

This paper describes work on the Multimission VICAR Planner (MVP) system to automatically construct executable image processing procedures for custom image processing requests for the JPL Multimission Image Processing Lab (MIPL). This paper focuses on two issues. First, large search spaces caused by complex plans required the use of hand encoded control information. In order to address this in a manner similar to that used by human experts, MVP uses a decomposition-based planner to implement hierarchical/skeletal planning at the higher level and then uses a classical operator based planner to solve subproblems in contexts defined by the high-level decomposition.

Group processing in an undergraduate biology course for preservice teachers: Experiences and attitudes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schellenberger, Lauren Brownback

Group processing is a key principle of cooperative learning in which small groups discuss their strengths and weaknesses and set group goals or norms. However, group processing has not been well-studied at the post-secondary level or from a qualitative or mixed methods perspective. This mixed methods study uses a phenomenological framework to examine the experience of group processing for students in an undergraduate biology course for preservice teachers. The effect of group processing on students' attitudes toward future group work and group processing is also examined. Additionally, this research investigated preservice teachers' plans for incorporating group processing into future lessons. Students primarily experienced group processing as a time to reflect on past performance. Also, students experienced group processing as a time to increase communication among group members and become motivated for future group assignments. Three factors directly influenced students' experiences with group processing: (1) previous experience with group work, (2) instructor interaction, and (3) gender. Survey data indicated that group processing had a slight positive effect on students' attitudes toward future group work and group processing. Participants who were interviewed felt that group processing was an important part of group work and that it had increased their group's effectiveness as well as their ability to work effectively with other people. Participants held positive views on group work prior to engaging in group processing, and group processing did not alter their atittude toward group work. Preservice teachers who were interviewed planned to use group work and a modified group processing protocol in their future classrooms. They also felt that group processing had prepared them for their future professions by modeling effective collaboration and group skills. Based on this research, a new model for group processing has been created which includes extensive instructor interaction and additional group processing sessions. This study offers a new perspective on the phenomenon of group processing and informs science educators and teacher educators on the effective implementation of this important component of small-group learning.

Performance Analysis: Work Control Events Identified January - August 2010

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

De Grange, C E; Freeman, J W; Kerr, C E

2011-01-14

This performance analysis evaluated 24 events that occurred at LLNL from January through August 2010. The analysis identified areas of potential work control process and/or implementation weaknesses and several common underlying causes. Human performance improvement and safety culture factors were part of the causal analysis of each event and were analyzed. The collective significance of all events in 2010, as measured by the occurrence reporting significance category and by the proportion of events that have been reported to the DOE ORPS under the ''management concerns'' reporting criteria, does not appear to have increased in 2010. The frequency of reporting inmore » each of the significance categories has not changed in 2010 compared to the previous four years. There is no change indicating a trend in the significance category and there has been no increase in the proportion of occurrences reported in the higher significance category. Also, the frequency of events, 42 events reported through August 2010, is not greater than in previous years and is below the average of 63 occurrences per year at LLNL since 2006. Over the previous four years, an average of 43% of the LLNL's reported occurrences have been reported as either ''management concerns'' or ''near misses.'' In 2010, 29% of the occurrences have been reported as ''management concerns'' or ''near misses.'' This rate indicates that LLNL is now reporting fewer ''management concern'' and ''near miss'' occurrences compared to the previous four years. From 2008 to the present, LLNL senior management has undertaken a series of initiatives to strengthen the work planning and control system with the primary objective to improve worker safety. In 2008, the LLNL Deputy Director established the Work Control Integrated Project Team to develop the core requirements and graded elements of an institutional work planning and control system. By the end of that year this system was documented and implementation had begun. In 2009, training of the workforce began and as of the time of this report more than 50% of authorized Integration Work Sheets (IWS) use the activity-based planning process. In 2010, LSO independently reviewed the work planning and control process and confirmed to the Laboratory that the Integrated Safety Management (ISM) System was implemented. LLNL conducted a cross-directorate management self-assessment of work planning and control and is developing actions to respond to the issues identified. Ongoing efforts to strengthen the work planning and control process and to improve the quality of LLNL work packages are in progress: completion of remaining actions in response to the 2009 DOE Office of Health, Safety, and Security (HSS) evaluation of LLNL's ISM System; scheduling more than 14 work planning and control self-assessments in FY11; continuing to align subcontractor work control with the Institutional work planning and control system; and continuing to maintain the electronic IWS application. The 24 events included in this analysis were caused by errors in the first four of the five ISMS functions. The most frequent cause was errors in analyzing the hazards (Function 2). The second most frequent cause was errors occurring when defining the work (Function 1), followed by errors during the performance of work (Function 4). Interestingly, very few errors in developing controls (Function 3) resulted in events. This leads one to conclude that if improvements are made to defining the scope of work and analyzing the potential hazards, LLNL may reduce the frequency or severity of events. Analysis of the 24 events resulted in the identification of ten common causes. Some events had multiple causes, resulting in the mention of 39 causes being identified for the 24 events. The most frequent cause was workers, supervisors, or experts believing they understood the work and the hazards but their understanding was incomplete. The second most frequent cause was unclear, incomplete or confusing documents directing the work. Together, these two causes were mentioned 17 times and contributed to 13 of the events. All of the events with the cause of ''workers, supervisors, or experts believing they understood the work and the hazards but their understanding was incomplete'' had this error in the first two ISMS functions: define the work and analyze the hazard. This means that these causes result in the scope of work being ill-defined or the hazard(s) improperly analyzed. Incomplete implementation of these functional steps leads to the hazards not being controlled. The causes are then manifested in events when the work is conducted. The process to operate safely relies on accurately defining the scope of work. This review has identified a number of examples of latent organizational weakness in the execution of work control processes.« less

SeaSketch: Implementation of a Decision-Support Platform for a Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Multi-sector Working Group

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldberg, G.; McClintock, W.

2016-12-01

Effective interagency and cross-sector coordination is essential to ecosystem based management which depends on processes characterized by collaboration and science-based information. Many technological barriers that exist in the development of science-based management plans are closely tied to process challenges, such as the sharing of data and information or the inclusion of parties with varied levels of technical experience. The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary has convened a diverse working group to develop recommendations for the management of marine shipping in and around the Santa Barbara Channel, as well as recommendations regarding research needs and outreach strategies. Working group members take a multi-issue approach with four distinct goals related to the reduction of ship strikes on whales, emissions and air quality, conflicting ocean uses, and issues of navigational safety. Members range from industry representatives, scientists, and multiple local and federal government entities. The recommended management plans will be based in the best-available science, and will build off of previous efforts, making this an interesting case study of adaptive management. In addition to support from the Sanctuary and professional facilitators, the group is using a decision-support platform, SeaSketch (safepassage.seasketch.org). SeaSketch is a web-based GIS that supports collaborative science-based marine spatial planning (MSP). Each feature supports a step of the MSP process, from data gathering, identification of data needs, the design of spatial plans, evaluation of those plans with analytics, and map-based forums that facilitate data-driven discussions. Working group members are able to access these tools to explore management options and collaborate remotely, in addition to using the platform during in-person meetings and webinars. Empowering diverse audiences to engage in the design of science-based plans is of key importance to developing ecosystem-based management plans where multi-sector participation and inter-agency coordination are critical.

SeaSketch: Implementation of a Decision-Support Platform for a Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Multi-sector Working Group

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldberg, G.; McClintock, W.

2016-02-01

Effective interagency and cross-sector coordination is essential to ecosystem based management which depends on processes characterized by collaboration and science-based information. Many technological barriers that exist in the development of science-based management plans are closely tied to process challenges, such as the sharing of data and information or the inclusion of parties with varied levels of technical experience. The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary has convened a diverse working group to develop recommendations for the management of marine shipping in and around the Santa Barbara Channel, as well as recommendations regarding research needs and outreach strategies. Working group members take a multi-issue approach with four distinct goals related to the reduction of ship strikes on whales, emissions and air quality, conflicting ocean uses, and issues of navigational safety. Members range from industry representatives, scientists, and multiple local and federal government entities. The recommended management plans will be based in the best-available science, and will build off of previous efforts, making this an interesting case study of adaptive management. In addition to support from the Sanctuary and professional facilitators, the group is using a decision-support platform, SeaSketch (safepassage.seasketch.org). SeaSketch is a web-based GIS that supports collaborative science-based marine spatial planning (MSP). Each feature supports a step of the MSP process, from data gathering, identification of data needs, the design of spatial plans, evaluation of those plans with analytics, and map-based forums that facilitate data-driven discussions. Working group members are able to access these tools to explore management options and collaborate remotely, in addition to using the platform during in-person meetings and webinars. Empowering diverse audiences to engage in the design of science-based plans is of key importance to developing ecosystem-based management plans where multi-sector participation and inter-agency coordination are critical.

77 FR 59888 - National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-01

... is to convene for its first meeting of the 2013 fiscal year. The Council will discuss the 2013 grant cycle and process, preparation for the 10 year action plan revisions; work plan action items...

Development of a plan for automating integrated circuit processing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1971-01-01

The operations analysis and equipment evaluations pertinent to the design of an automated production facility capable of manufacturing beam-lead CMOS integrated circuits are reported. The overall plan shows approximate cost of major equipment, production rate and performance capability, flexibility, and special maintenance requirements. Direct computer control is compared with supervisory-mode operations. The plan is limited to wafer processing operations from the starting wafer to the finished beam-lead die after separation etching. The work already accomplished in implementing various automation schemes, and the type of equipment which can be found for instant automation are described. The plan is general, so that small shops or large production units can perhaps benefit. Examples of major types of automated processing machines are shown to illustrate the general concepts of automated wafer processing.

Simulation Assessment Validation Environment (SAVE). Software User’s Manual

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-09-01

requirements and decisions are made. The integration is leveraging work from other DoD organizations so that high -end results are attainable much faster than...planning through the modeling and simulation data capture and visualization process. The planners can complete the manufacturing process plan with a high ...technologies. This tool is also used to perform “ high level” factory process simulation prior to full CAD model development and help define feasible

Strategic Studies Quarterly. Volume 5, Number 2, Summer 2011

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

Afghanistan. We also made progress in our support of operational planning by the combatant commanders and in building processes for them to issue...transformation of the department’s networks; • work with the combatant commands to synchronize processes and planning to deliver the joint effects...own actions and forces. Note that these and many other factors determining the process of deter- rence have as much to do with an opponent’s unique

Mastering the Maestro: The Effective Maestro Asks Writers, Photographers, and Designers to Trade Places with Readers as They Plan.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cripe, Dennis

1998-01-01

Considers two very different fictional high school newspaper editorships to see how the "maestro" process works. Notes that the process is a management technique similar to brainstorming but in which one person keeps the planning meeting focused. Suggests that the effective maestro asks writers, photographers, and designers to trade places with…

The Team Process: Realizing Effective Group Work and Enhancing School Improvement Plans (S.I.P.).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beiter, David J.; And Others

The use of the team process in school improvement plans may play a role in how effective the group is in achieving its goals and objectives. Representative efforts and perceptions of the use of teams in local educational agencies were surveyed in multiple measurements, such as interviews, self-assessments, self-perceptions, and observations. The…

The Effects of Guided vs. Unguided Pressured Planning on EFL Learners' Writing Fluency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mohammadnia, Zhila; Ayaz, Parisa

2015-01-01

Task-based planning can be conceptualized as the opportunity to work out task performance before the actual performance. It allows learners to process the content and language of their planned production at a deeper and more meaningful level. In the face of the wide range of research conducted on the effects of pre-task planning on L2 production,…

The importance of work or productive activity in life care planning and case management

PubMed Central

Reid, Christine; Riddick-Grisham, Susan

2015-01-01

Abstract INTRODUCTION: The importance of work or productive activity for the well-being, community integration, and quality of life of people living with disabilities is addressed, with implications for life care planning and case management. BACKGROUND: The role of work or productive activity in our society, and consequences of deprivation if rehabilitation services do not address vocational effects of disabilities, is explored. A continuum of productivity options is introduced; types of vocational rehabilitation assessment processes and interventions are described. PURPOSE: The role of vocational rehabilitation services in life care planning and case management is discussed, focusing on quality of life for people living with disabilities. CONCLUSION: Rehabilitation and health care professionals should understand the importance of work or other productive activity, and support the development of appropriate plans to address those needs among people who have disabilities. PMID:26409330

The space shuttle payload planning working groups: Volume 9: Materials processing and space manufacturing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1973-01-01

The findings and recommendations of the Materials Processing and Space Manufacturing group of the space shuttle payload planning activity are presented. The effects of weightlessness on the levitation processes, mixture stability, and control over heat and mass transport in fluids are considered for investigation. The research and development projects include: (1) metallurgical processes, (2) electronic materials, (3) biological applications, and (4)nonmetallic materials and processes. Additional recommendations are provided concerning the allocation of payload space, acceptance of experiments for flight, flight qualification, and private use of the space shuttle.

Using Global Climate Data to Inform Long-Term Water Planning Decisions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Groves, D. G.; Lempert, R.

2008-12-01

Water managers throughout the world are working to consider climate change in their long-term water planning processes. The best available information regarding plausible future hydrologic conditions are largely derived from global circulation models and from paleoclimate data. To date there lacks a single approach for (1) utilizing these data in water management planning tools for analysis and (2) evaluating the myriad of possible adaptation options. This talk will describe several approaches being used at RAND to incorporate global projections of climate change into local, regional, and state-wide long-term water planning. It will draw on current work with the California Department of Water Resources and other local Western water agencies, and a recently completed project with the Inland Empire Utilities Agency. Work to date suggests that climate information can be assimilated into local water planning tools to help identify robust climate adaptation water management strategies.

Automatic treatment plan re-optimization for adaptive radiotherapy guided with the initial plan DVHs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Nan; Zarepisheh, Masoud; Uribe-Sanchez, Andres; Moore, Kevin; Tian, Zhen; Zhen, Xin; Jiang Graves, Yan; Gautier, Quentin; Mell, Loren; Zhou, Linghong; Jia, Xun; Jiang, Steve

2013-12-01

Adaptive radiation therapy (ART) can reduce normal tissue toxicity and/or improve tumor control through treatment adaptations based on the current patient anatomy. Developing an efficient and effective re-planning algorithm is an important step toward the clinical realization of ART. For the re-planning process, manual trial-and-error approach to fine-tune planning parameters is time-consuming and is usually considered unpractical, especially for online ART. It is desirable to automate this step to yield a plan of acceptable quality with minimal interventions. In ART, prior information in the original plan is available, such as dose-volume histogram (DVH), which can be employed to facilitate the automatic re-planning process. The goal of this work is to develop an automatic re-planning algorithm to generate a plan with similar, or possibly better, DVH curves compared with the clinically delivered original plan. Specifically, our algorithm iterates the following two loops. An inner loop is the traditional fluence map optimization, in which we optimize a quadratic objective function penalizing the deviation of the dose received by each voxel from its prescribed or threshold dose with a set of fixed voxel weighting factors. In outer loop, the voxel weighting factors in the objective function are adjusted according to the deviation of the current DVH curves from those in the original plan. The process is repeated until the DVH curves are acceptable or maximum iteration step is reached. The whole algorithm is implemented on GPU for high efficiency. The feasibility of our algorithm has been demonstrated with three head-and-neck cancer IMRT cases, each having an initial planning CT scan and another treatment CT scan acquired in the middle of treatment course. Compared with the DVH curves in the original plan, the DVH curves in the resulting plan using our algorithm with 30 iterations are better for almost all structures. The re-optimization process takes about 30 s using our in-house optimization engine. This work was originally presented at the 54th AAPM annual meeting in Charlotte, NC, July 29-August 2, 2012.

Dynamic interactions between visual working memory and saccade target selection

PubMed Central

Schneegans, Sebastian; Spencer, John P.; Schöner, Gregor; Hwang, Seongmin; Hollingworth, Andrew

2014-01-01

Recent psychophysical experiments have shown that working memory for visual surface features interacts with saccadic motor planning, even in tasks where the saccade target is unambiguously specified by spatial cues. Specifically, a match between a memorized color and the color of either the designated target or a distractor stimulus influences saccade target selection, saccade amplitudes, and latencies in a systematic fashion. To elucidate these effects, we present a dynamic neural field model in combination with new experimental data. The model captures the neural processes underlying visual perception, working memory, and saccade planning relevant to the psychophysical experiment. It consists of a low-level visual sensory representation that interacts with two separate pathways: a spatial pathway implementing spatial attention and saccade generation, and a surface feature pathway implementing color working memory and feature attention. Due to bidirectional coupling between visual working memory and feature attention in the model, the working memory content can indirectly exert an effect on perceptual processing in the low-level sensory representation. This in turn biases saccadic movement planning in the spatial pathway, allowing the model to quantitatively reproduce the observed interaction effects. The continuous coupling between representations in the model also implies that modulation should be bidirectional, and model simulations provide specific predictions for complementary effects of saccade target selection on visual working memory. These predictions were empirically confirmed in a new experiment: Memory for a sample color was biased toward the color of a task-irrelevant saccade target object, demonstrating the bidirectional coupling between visual working memory and perceptual processing. PMID:25228628

The interplay of intention, autonomy, and sex with dietary planning: A conditional process model to predict fruit and vegetable intake.

PubMed

Lange, Daniela; Corbett, Jana; Lippke, Sonia; Knoll, Nina; Schwarzer, Ralf

2015-11-01

Dietary intentions are supposed to engender planning processes, which in turn stimulate dietary behaviour change. However, some studies failed to find such mediation effects, which suggest more complex and not yet unravelled relationships between these factors. One explanation may be that mediation works better under certain circumstances or only for specific subgroups. This study addresses this reasoning by examining autonomy beliefs and sex as putative moderators of the hypothesized mediation chain. In a longitudinal design with three measurement points in time (1 week and 1 month apart), 912 women and 214 men were surveyed. Planning, intention, dietary autonomy beliefs, and sex were used to predict fruit and vegetable intake within a conditional process model designed to identify mechanisms of change. The intention-planning-behaviour chain was qualified by a triple interaction involving autonomy beliefs and sex as moderators between intention and planning. Higher dietary autonomy resulted in higher levels of planning fruit and vegetable intake. For men, even in case of higher intention, at least medium levels of autonomy beliefs were necessary to facilitate planning processes. For women, already lower levels of autonomy beliefs can engender postintentional planning strategies and seem to even compensate lower intention. Intention and planning are key predictors of dietary change. However, these variables work better under specific conditions (with a sufficient level of autonomy), and differently in subgroups (men vs. women). These results may explain the inconsistent findings of previous studies on the mediating effect of planning and allow for a better description of the mechanisms by which intentions may influence behaviour. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? The adoption of health-enhancing dietary behaviours can be facilitated by intentions and planning. Planning to eat more fruit and vegetable helps to translate intentions into actual consumption. Fruit and vegetable intake levels are higher in women than in men. What does this study add? Dietary intentions engender more likely planning processes when perceived autonomy concerning food consumption is high. Dietary autonomy beliefs and sex moderate the intention-planning-behaviour chain. Among men, dietary planning is highest when both intentions and autonomy are high. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Aligning everyday life priorities with people’s self-management support networks: an exploration of the work and implementation of a needs-led telephone support system

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Recent initiatives to target the personal, social and clinical needs of people with long-term health conditions have had limited impact within primary care. Evidence of the importance of social networks to support people with long-term conditions points to the need for self-management approaches which align personal circumstances with valued activities. The Patient-Led Assessment for Network Support (PLANS) intervention is a needs-led assessment for patients to prioritise their health and social needs and provide access to local community services and activities. Exploring the work and practices of patients and telephone workers are important for understanding and evaluating the workability and implementation of new interventions. Methods Qualitative methods (interviews, focus group, observations) were used to explore the experience of PLANS from the perspectives of participants and the telephone support workers who delivered it (as part of an RCT) and the reasons why the intervention worked or not. Normalisation Process Theory (NPT) was used as a sensitising tool to evaluate: the relevance of PLANS to patients (coherence); the processes of engagement (cognitive participation); the work done for PLANS to happen (collective action); the perceived benefits and costs of PLANS (reflexive monitoring). 20 patients in the intervention arm of a clinical trial were interviewed and their telephone support calls were recorded and a focus group with 3 telephone support workers was conducted. Results Analysis of the interviews, support calls and focus group identified three themes in relation to the delivery and experience of PLANS. These are: formulation of ‘health’ in the context of everyday life; trajectories and tipping points: disrupting everyday routines; precarious trust in networks. The relevance of these themes are considered using NPT constructs in terms of the work that is entailed in engaging with PLANS, taking action, and who is implicated this process. Conclusions PLANS gives scope to align long-term condition management to everyday life priorities and valued aspects of life. This approach can improve engagement with health-relevant practices by situating them within everyday contexts. This has potential to increase utilisation of local resources with potential cost-saving benefits for the NHS. Trial registration ISRCTN45433299. PMID:24938492

Institutionalization of Planned Organizational Change,

DTIC Science & Technology

1978-09-01

organizational change in the context of labor- management relations. One of their basic arguments is that the company and management have conflicting...planned organizational interventions. From the modest number of empirical studies on planned organizational change in a union- management context...new forms of work organization have emphasized the need to increase our understanding of oraganizational change processes. This paper has elaborated

Federal Student Aid (FSA) Five-Year Strategic Plan. FY 2004-2008

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

US Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

The FSA Five-Year Strategic Plan is a roadmap for FY 2004-2008 that identifies five long-range strategic objectives, tactical short-term goals, and performance management initiatives. In working toward the goals outlined in the plan, FSA will address a number of key challenges, including legacy system migration, business process re-engineering,…

This is Your Life: A Career and Education Planning Guide: Educator's Companion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alberta Advanced Education and Technology, 2009

2009-01-01

This guide was developed to fill a need identified by high school educators and Alberta Advanced Education and Technology staff. The Guide introduces students to the principles of career and education planning and various authorized Alberta resources by helping students work through the planning process. The student guide is a series of modules…

Co-Teacher Perceptions of Lesson Planning in the Online Scripted Math Curriculum Inclusion Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pollock, Joseph

2017-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative single case embedded exploratory case study was to investigate high school inclusion co-teachers' perceptions of the shared planning process when developing lesson plans for "Agile Mind" (2015) and to determine how teachers work to do this within the constructs of the online scripted curriculum. The…

Action Plan on Communication Practices: Roles of Tutors at EMU Distance Education Institute to Overcome Social Barriers in Constructing Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aksal, Fahriye A.

2009-01-01

The research involved an action plan for the improvement of the quality of the Distance Education Institute of Eastern Mediterranean University and based on EUA norms. This research is part of a work based learning process to enhance the contribution of online pedagogy and teaching process for online tutors. The research aimed to stress the…

76 FR 41246 - Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee, Pesticide Registration Improvement Act Process Improvement...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-13

... Committee, Pesticide Registration Improvement Act Process Improvement Workgroup; Notice of Public Meeting...) Process Improvement Work Group. EPA plans to meet its ESA consultation obligations through the pesticide... a pesticide during the registration review process. This meeting of the PRIA Process Improvement...

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

Barbee, D; McCarthy, A; Galavis, P

Purpose: Errors found during initial physics plan checks frequently require replanning and reprinting, resulting decreased departmental efficiency. Additionally, errors may be missed during physics checks, resulting in potential treatment errors or interruption. This work presents a process control created using the Eclipse Scripting API (ESAPI) enabling dosimetrists and physicists to detect potential errors in the Eclipse treatment planning system prior to performing any plan approvals or printing. Methods: Potential failure modes for five categories were generated based on available ESAPI (v11) patient object properties: Images, Contours, Plans, Beams, and Dose. An Eclipse script plugin (PlanCheck) was written in C# tomore » check errors most frequently observed clinically in each of the categories. The PlanCheck algorithms were devised to check technical aspects of plans, such as deliverability (e.g. minimum EDW MUs), in addition to ensuring that policy and procedures relating to planning were being followed. The effect on clinical workflow efficiency was measured by tracking the plan document error rate and plan revision/retirement rates in the Aria database over monthly intervals. Results: The number of potential failure modes the PlanCheck script is currently capable of checking for in the following categories: Images (6), Contours (7), Plans (8), Beams (17), and Dose (4). Prior to implementation of the PlanCheck plugin, the observed error rates in errored plan documents and revised/retired plans in the Aria database was 20% and 22%, respectively. Error rates were seen to decrease gradually over time as adoption of the script improved. Conclusion: A process control created using the Eclipse scripting API enabled plan checks to occur within the planning system, resulting in reduction in error rates and improved efficiency. Future work includes: initiating full FMEA for planning workflow, extending categories to include additional checks outside of ESAPI via Aria database queries, and eventual automated plan checks.« less

Strategic planning in a complex academic environment: lessons from one academic health center.

PubMed

Levinson, Wendy; Axler, Helena

2007-08-01

Leaders in academic health centers (AHCs) must create a vision for their academic unit embedded in a complex environment. A formal strategic planning process can be valuable to help shape a clear vision taking advantage of potential collaborations and to develop specific achievable long- and short-term goals. The authors describe the steps in a formal strategic planning process and illustrate it with the example of the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine beginning in 2004. The process included the active participation of over 300 faculty members, trainees, and stakeholders of the department and resulted in broad-based support and leadership for the resulting plan. The authors describe the steps, which include getting started, committing to planning principles, establishing the work plan, understanding the environment, pulling it all together, shaping the vision, testing strategic directions, building effective implementation, and promoting the plan. Articulation of vision, mission, and values informed the plan's development, as well as 10 key principles integral to the plan. Challenges and lessons learned are also described. The final strategic plan is an active core activity of the department, guiding decisions and resource allocation and facilitating measurement of success or shortcomings. The process the authors describe is applicable to multiple academic units, including divisions/sections, departments, or thematic programs in AHCs.

Strategies for automatic planning: A collection of ideas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Collins, Carol; George, Julia; Zamani, Elaine

1989-01-01

The main goal of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is to obtain science return from interplanetary probes. The uplink process is concerned with communicating commands to a spacecraft in order to achieve science objectives. There are two main parts to the development of the command file which is sent to a spacecraft. First, the activity planning process integrates the science requests for utilization of spacecraft time into a feasible sequence. Then the command generation process converts the sequence into a set of commands. The development of a feasible sequence plan is an expensive and labor intensive process requiring many months of effort. In order to save time and manpower in the uplink process, automation of parts of this process is desired. There is an ongoing effort to develop automatic planning systems. This has met with some success, but has also been informative about the nature of this effort. It is now clear that innovative techniques and state-of-the-art technology will be required in order to produce a system which can provide automatic sequence planning. As part of this effort to develop automatic planning systems, a survey of the literature, looking for known techniques which may be applicable to our work was conducted. Descriptions of and references for these methods are given, together with ideas for applying the techniques to automatic planning.

Status report on the land processes aircraft science management operations working group

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lawless, James G.; Mann, Lisa J.

1991-01-01

Since its inception three years ago, the Land Processes Aircraft Science Management Operations Working Group (MOWG) provided recommendations on the optimal use of the Agency's aircraft in support of the Land Processes Science Program. Recommendations covered topics such as aircraft and sensor usage, development of long-range plans, Multisensor Airborne Campaigns (MAC), program balance, aircraft sensor databases, new technology and sensor development, and increased University scientist participation in the program. Impacts of these recommendations improved the efficiency of various procedures including the flight request process, tracking of flight hours, and aircraft usage. The group also created a bibliography focused on publications produced by Land Processes scientists from the use of the aircraft program, surveyed NASA funded PI's on their participation in the aircraft program, and developed a planning template for multi-sensor airborne campaigns. Benefits from these activities are summarized.

Designing and Adapting Tasks in Lesson Planning: A Critical Process of Lesson Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fujii, Toshiakira

2016-01-01

There is no doubt that a lesson plan is a necessary product of Lesson Study. However, the collaborative work among teachers that goes into creating that lesson plan is largely under-appreciated by non-Japanese adopters of Lesson Study, possibly because the effort involved is invisible to outsiders, with our attention going to its most visible…

Long Range Facilities Planning and Design Implementation for Students with Disabilities: A Guide for New Jersey School Districts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lowenkron, Ruth; Ponessa, Joan

2005-01-01

The long range facilities planning (LRFP) process presents a wonderful opportunity for New Jersey's school districts to re-examine and strengthen their long term planning for educational adequacy in 21st century school facilities. It provides an opportunity for districts to work closely with the special education community to ensure that New…

The Need for Structure and Guidance When ICT Is Used in Project Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Postholm, May Britt; Pettersson, Tove; Gudmundsdottir, Sigrun; Flem, Annlaug

2004-01-01

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can be integrated in the classroom processes in different ways. This study reveals ICT, as a mediating artefact in project work can contribute to the learning processes in the classroom. When ICT is used as an artefact to make a film, planning and decision making becomes natural and necessary…

Restructuring: A School-Based Plan of Action.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rothberg, Robert A.; Bozeman, William C.

The processes by which school leaders can institutionalize staff and organizational development, with a focus on initiating school restructuring through team development, are described. Three features are necessary for implementing school restructuring through team development: a deliberate plan for staff involvement, a positive work environment,…

'Our shared responsibility': participation in ecological projects as a means of empowering communities to contribute to coastal management processes.

PubMed

Evans, Stewart M; Gebbels, Susan; Stockill, Joanna M

2008-01-01

The objective of this project was to empower people of Blyth Valley in Northumberland (northeast England) to contribute to the management of their coastal heritage. A group of volunteers, the Links Conservation Group, working in collaboration with the environmental managers (Blyth Valley Borough Council), scientists, local specialists and other volunteers, surveyed the biodiversity, social, cultural and industrial history and profiles of the dunes, as well as their perceived value to local residents. The Group used this information to develop management plans for the dunes. The recommendations have contributed to planning processes at three levels: (i) national coastal management plans; (ii) regional plans; and (iii) plans for further action at the local community level.

KSC-2014-2028

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-04-10

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Trey Carlson, the spaceport's master planner, describes how the Center Planning and Development Directorate CPD is working to help transform Kennedy into a multi-user spaceport through partnerships and resource planning. The event was first of what is planned to be quarterly meetings between NASA's industry partners and representatives of Kennedy's CPD, Safety and Mission Assurance, International Space Station Ground Processing, Chief Financial officer and Ground Processing and Ground Systems Development and Operations directorates. Center Planning and Development is the “front door” for partnerships with NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Kennedy is now developing the world’s premier spaceport for government and commercial space industries using comprehensive resource planning and partnerships. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper

KSC-2014-2029

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-04-10

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Trey Carlson, the spaceport's master planner, describes how the Center Planning and Development Directorate CPD is working to help transform Kennedy into a multi-user spaceport through partnerships and resource planning. The event was first of what is planned to be quarterly meetings between NASA's industry partners and representatives of Kennedy's CPD, Safety and Mission Assurance, International Space Station Ground Processing, Chief Financial officer and Ground Processing and Ground Systems Development and Operations directorates. Center Planning and Development is the “front door” for partnerships with NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Kennedy is now developing the world’s premier spaceport for government and commercial space industries using comprehensive resource planning and partnerships. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper

Decontamination and decommissioning plan for processing contaminated NaK at the INEL

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

LaRue, D.M.; Dolenc, M.R.

1986-09-01

This decontamination and decommissioning (D D) plan describes the work elements and project management plan for processing four containers of contaminated sodium/potassium (NaK) and returning the Army Reentry Vehicle Facility Site (ARVFS) to a reusable condition. The document reflects the management plan for this project before finalizing the conceptual design and preliminary prototype tests of the reaction kinetics. As a result, the safety, environmental, and accident analyses are addressed as preliminary assessments before completion at a later date. ARVFS contains an earth-covered bunker, a cylindrical test pit and metal shed, and a cable trench connecting the two items. The bunkermore » currently stores the four containers of NaK from the meltdown of the EBR-1 Mark II core. The D D project addressed in this plan involves processing the contaminated NaK and returning the ARVFS to potential reuse after cleanup.« less

Decontamination and decommissioning plan for processing contaminated NaK at the INEL

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

LaRue, D.M.; Dolenc, M.R.

1986-09-01

This decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) plan describes the work elements and project management plan for processing four containers of contaminated sodium/potassium (NaK) and returning the Army Reentry Vehicle Facility Site (ARVFS) to a reusable condition. The document reflects the management plan for this project before finalizing the conceptual design and preliminary prototype tests of the reaction kinetics. As a result, the safety, environmental, and accident analyses are addressed as preliminary assessments before completion at a later date. ARVFS contains an earth-covered bunker, a cylindrical test pit and metal shed, and a cable trench connecting the two items. The bunker currentlymore » stores the four containers of NaK from the meltdown of the EBR-1 Mark II core. The D&D project addressed in this plan involves processing the contaminated NaK and returning the ARVFS to potential reuse after cleanup.« less

Galileo mission planning for Low Gain Antenna based operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gershman, R.; Buxbaum, K. L.; Ludwinski, J. M.; Paczkowski, B. G.

1994-01-01

The Galileo mission operations concept is undergoing substantial redesign, necessitated by the deployment failure of the High Gain Antenna, while the spacecraft is on its way to Jupiter. The new design applies state-of-the-art technology and processes to increase the telemetry rate available through the Low Gain Antenna and to increase the information density of the telemetry. This paper describes the mission planning process being developed as part of this redesign. Principal topics include a brief description of the new mission concept and anticipated science return (these have been covered more extensively in earlier papers), identification of key drivers on the mission planning process, a description of the process and its implementation schedule, a discussion of the application of automated mission planning tool to the process, and a status report on mission planning work to date. Galileo enhancements include extensive reprogramming of on-board computers and substantial hard ware and software upgrades for the Deep Space Network (DSN). The principal mode of operation will be onboard recording of science data followed by extended playback periods. A variety of techniques will be used to compress and edit the data both before recording and during playback. A highly-compressed real-time science data stream will also be important. The telemetry rate will be increased using advanced coding techniques and advanced receivers. Galileo mission planning for orbital operations now involves partitioning of several scarce resources. Particularly difficult are division of the telemetry among the many users (eleven instruments, radio science, engineering monitoring, and navigation) and allocation of space on the tape recorder at each of the ten satellite encounters. The planning process is complicated by uncertainty in forecast performance of the DSN modifications and the non-deterministic nature of the new data compression schemes. Key mission planning steps include quantifying resource or capabilities to be allocated, prioritizing science observations and estimating resource needs for each, working inter-and intra-orbit trades of these resources among the Project elements, and planning real-time science activity. The first major mission planning activity, a high level, orbit-by-orbit allocation of resources among science objectives, has already been completed; and results are illustrated in the paper. To make efficient use of limited resources, Galileo mission planning will rely on automated mission planning tools capable of dealing with interactions among time-varying downlink capability, real-time science and engineering data transmission, and playback of recorded data. A new generic mission planning tool is being adapted for this purpose.

Galileo mission planning for Low Gain Antenna based operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gershman, R.; Buxbaum, K. L.; Ludwinski, J. M.; Paczkowski, B. G.

1994-11-01

The Galileo mission operations concept is undergoing substantial redesign, necessitated by the deployment failure of the High Gain Antenna, while the spacecraft is on its way to Jupiter. The new design applies state-of-the-art technology and processes to increase the telemetry rate available through the Low Gain Antenna and to increase the information density of the telemetry. This paper describes the mission planning process being developed as part of this redesign. Principal topics include a brief description of the new mission concept and anticipated science return (these have been covered more extensively in earlier papers), identification of key drivers on the mission planning process, a description of the process and its implementation schedule, a discussion of the application of automated mission planning tool to the process, and a status report on mission planning work to date. Galileo enhancements include extensive reprogramming of on-board computers and substantial hard ware and software upgrades for the Deep Space Network (DSN). The principal mode of operation will be onboard recording of science data followed by extended playback periods. A variety of techniques will be used to compress and edit the data both before recording and during playback. A highly-compressed real-time science data stream will also be important. The telemetry rate will be increased using advanced coding techniques and advanced receivers. Galileo mission planning for orbital operations now involves partitioning of several scarce resources. Particularly difficult are division of the telemetry among the many users (eleven instruments, radio science, engineering monitoring, and navigation) and allocation of space on the tape recorder at each of the ten satellite encounters. The planning process is complicated by uncertainty in forecast performance of the DSN modifications and the non-deterministic nature of the new data compression schemes. Key mission planning steps include quantifying resource or capabilities to be allocated, prioritizing science observations and estimating resource needs for each, working inter-and intra-orbit trades of these resources among the Project elements, and planning real-time science activity. The first major mission planning activity, a high level, orbit-by-orbit allocation of resources among science objectives, has already been completed; and results are illustrated in the paper. To make efficient use of limited resources, Galileo mission planning will rely on automated mission planning tools capable of dealing with interactions among time-varying downlink capability, real-time science and engineering data transmission, and playback of recorded data. A new generic mission planning tool is being adapted for this purpose.

Configuration Management Plan for the Tank Farm Contractor

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

WEIR, W.R.

The Configuration Management Plan for the Tank Farm Contractor describes configuration management the contractor uses to manage and integrate its technical baseline with the programmatic and functional operations to perform work. The Configuration Management Plan for the Tank Farm Contractor supports the management of the project baseline by providing the mechanisms to identify, document, and control the technical characteristics of the products, processes, and structures, systems, and components (SSC). This plan is one of the tools used to identify and provide controls for the technical baseline of the Tank Farm Contractor (TFC). The configuration management plan is listed in themore » management process documents for TFC as depicted in Attachment 1, TFC Document Structure. The configuration management plan is an integrated approach for control of technical, schedule, cost, and administrative processes necessary to manage the mission of the TFC. Configuration management encompasses the five functional elements of: (1) configuration management administration, (2) configuration identification, (3) configuration status accounting, (4) change control, and (5 ) configuration management assessments.« less

MAPP in action in San Antonio, Texas.

PubMed

Shields, Kathleen M; Pruski, Charles E

2005-01-01

San Antonio was selected as an official Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) demonstration site by National Association of County and City Officials in 2000. The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, under the leadership of Dr Fernando A. Guerra, agreed to facilitate the process. The MAPP process provided the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, the local public health authority, a defined process for community health improvement, as well as a mechanism to help bridge the gap between public health and the community. The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District organized a Core Planning Team to lead the MAPP process in April 2001. By October 2002, the Core Planning Team was expanded to a full community working group named the Alliance for Community Health in San Antonio and Bexar County (Alliance). The Alliance identified six strategic issues, which eventually became the basis of the San Antonio Community Health Improvement Plan. The strategic issues are Public Policy, Data Tracking, Healthy Lifestyles, Promoting a Sense of Community, Access to Care, and Safe Environment. San Antonio's MAPP experience has been successful in bringing together the public health system partners, and establishing public health priorities collectively. The MAPP process has resulted in the development of many new initiatives, and, most important, has opened the door to many partnership opportunities in the future. The work of the Alliance, through the MAPP process, has helped to leverage resources for public health improvement in San Antonio, and has the potential to effect positive change in public health in the future.

Use of risk assessment panels during revision of the Tongass Land and Resource Management Plan.

Treesearch

Charles G. Shaw

1999-01-01

This paper describes the process used to conduct the 16 risk assessment panels and a subsistence working group held during revision of the Tongass land management plan. It provides an overview of how results from the panels were used by forest managers in plan-related decisionmaking, discusses some reactions to the effort, and identifies some opportunities to improve...

Can Planning Time Compensate for Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nielson, Katharine B.

2014-01-01

Language learners with high working memory capacity have an advantage, all other factors being equal, during the second language acquisition (SLA) process; therefore, identifying a pedagogical intervention that can compensate for low working memory capacity would be advantageous to language learners and instructors. Extensive research on the…

RELAP-7 Software Verification and Validation Plan - Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) Part 2: Code Assessment Strategy, Procedure, and RTM Update

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

Yoo, Jun Soo; Choi, Yong Joon; Smith, Curtis Lee

2016-09-01

This document addresses two subjects involved with the RELAP-7 Software Verification and Validation Plan (SVVP): (i) the principles and plan to assure the independence of RELAP-7 assessment through the code development process, and (ii) the work performed to establish the RELAP-7 assessment plan, i.e., the assessment strategy, literature review, and identification of RELAP-7 requirements. Then, the Requirements Traceability Matrices (RTMs) proposed in previous document (INL-EXT-15-36684) are updated. These RTMs provide an efficient way to evaluate the RELAP-7 development status as well as the maturity of RELAP-7 assessment through the development process.

Parallel plan execution with self-processing networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dautrechy, C. Lynne; Reggia, James A.

1989-01-01

A critical issue for space operations is how to develop and apply advanced automation techniques to reduce the cost and complexity of working in space. In this context, it is important to examine how recent advances in self-processing networks can be applied for planning and scheduling tasks. For this reason, the feasibility of applying self-processing network models to a variety of planning and control problems relevant to spacecraft activities is being explored. Goals are to demonstrate that self-processing methods are applicable to these problems, and that MIRRORS/II, a general purpose software environment for implementing self-processing models, is sufficiently robust to support development of a wide range of application prototypes. Using MIRRORS/II and marker passing modelling techniques, a model of the execution of a Spaceworld plan was implemented. This is a simplified model of the Voyager spacecraft which photographed Jupiter, Saturn, and their satellites. It is shown that plan execution, a task usually solved using traditional artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, can be accomplished using a self-processing network. The fact that self-processing networks were applied to other space-related tasks, in addition to the one discussed here, demonstrates the general applicability of this approach to planning and control problems relevant to spacecraft activities. It is also demonstrated that MIRRORS/II is a powerful environment for the development and evaluation of self-processing systems.

The Integration of Climate Science and Collaborative Processes in Building Regional Climate Resiliency in Southeast Florida

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jurado, J.

2016-12-01

Southeast Florida is widely recognized as one of the most vulnerable regions in the United States to the impacts of climate change, especially sea level rise. Dense urban populations, low land elevations, flat topography, complex shorelines and a porous geology all contribute to the region's challenges. Regional and local governments have been working collaboratively to address shared climate mitigation and adaptation concerns as part of the four-county Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact (Compact). This partnership has emphasized, in part, the use of climate data and the development of advanced technical tools and visualizations to help inform decision-making, improve communications, and guide investments. Prominent work products have included regional vulnerability maps and assessments, a unified sea level rise projection for southeast Florida, the development and application of hydrologic models in scenario planning, interdisciplinary resilient redesign planning workshops, and the development of regional climate indicators. Key to the Compact's efforts has been the engagement and expertise of academic and agency partners, including a formal collaboration between the Florida Climate Institute and the Compact to improve research and project collaborations focused on southeast Florida. This presentation will focus on the collaborative processes and work products that have served to accelerate resiliency planning and investments in southeast Florida, with specific examples of how local governments are using these work products to modernize agency processes, and build support among residents and business leaders.

OGC Dashboard

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Office of General Counsel (OGC) has an ongoing business process engineering and business process automation initiative which has helped the office reduce administrative labor costs while increasing employee effectiveness. Supporting this effort is a system of automated routines accessible through a portal' interface called OGC Dashboard. The dashboard helps OGC track work progress, legal case load, written work products such as legal briefs and advice, and scheduling processes such as employee leave plans (via calendar) and travel compensatory time off.

Focus on Customer Service. Service Management: How to Plan for it Rather Than Hope for It [and] Learning to Say "Yes": A Customer Service Program for Library Staff [and] Maintaining Momentum in a Quality Improvement Process.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brewer, Julie; And Others

1995-01-01

Presents three articles that discuss customer service in libraries, with a focus on planning for service management, a customer service program for library staff, and a quality improvement process. Highlights include developing and implementing service strategies, dealing with requests, redefining work relationships, coworkers as customers,…

Knowledge co-production and boundary work to promote implementation of conservation plans.

PubMed

Nel, Jeanne L; Roux, Dirk J; Driver, Amanda; Hill, Liesl; Maherry, Ashton C; Snaddon, Kate; Petersen, Chantel R; Smith-Adao, Lindie B; Van Deventer, Heidi; Reyers, Belinda

2016-02-01

Knowledge co-production and boundary work offer planners a new frame for critically designing a social process that fosters collaborative implementation of resulting plans. Knowledge co-production involves stakeholders from diverse knowledge systems working iteratively toward common vision and action. Boundary work is a means of creating permeable knowledge boundaries that satisfy the needs of multiple social groups while guarding the functional integrity of contributing knowledge systems. Resulting products are boundary objects of mutual interest that maintain coherence across all knowledge boundaries. We examined how knowledge co-production and boundary work can bridge the gap between planning and implementation and promote cross-sectoral cooperation. We applied these concepts to well-established stages in regional conservation planning within a national scale conservation planning project aimed at identifying areas for conserving rivers and wetlands of South Africa and developing an institutional environment for promoting their conservation. Knowledge co-production occurred iteratively over 4 years in interactive stake-holder workshops that included co-development of national freshwater conservation goals and spatial data on freshwater biodiversity and local conservation feasibility; translation of goals into quantitative inputs that were used in Marxan to select draft priority conservation areas; review of draft priority areas; and packaging of resulting map products into an atlas and implementation manual to promote application of the priority area maps in 37 different decision-making contexts. Knowledge co-production stimulated dialogue and negotiation and built capacity for multi-scale implementation beyond the project. The resulting maps and information integrated diverse knowledge types of over 450 stakeholders and represented >1000 years of collective experience. The maps provided a consistent national source of information on priority conservation areas for rivers and wetlands and have been applied in 25 of the 37 use contexts since their launch just over 3 years ago. When framed as a knowledge co-production process supported by boundary work, regional conservation plans can be developed into valuable boundary objects that offer a tangible tool for multi-agency cooperation around conservation. Our work provides practical guidance for promoting uptake of conservation science and contributes to an evidence base on how conservation efforts can be improved. © 2015 Society for Conservation Biology.

Jack D. Fellows: Congressional Science Fellow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jack D. Fellows has been selected as the 1983-84 AGU Congressional Science Fellow. Last week he began his 1-year stint on Capitol Hill as AGU's seventh Congressional Science Fellow.Fellows received his Ph.D. earlier this year from the civil engineering department at the University of Maryland, College Park. For his dissertation he developed a management system using regional geographic information for hydrologic models. His work applied remote sensing data to the decision-making processes of regional planning organizations concerned with hydrology and natural resource management. The Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission has integrated Fellows' work into their programs on water resource and environmental planning; his approach also is being used for forest and water resource planning near Freiburg, Baden-Wurtemberg, West Germany.

Valuing the Accreditation Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bahr, Maria

2018-01-01

The value of the National Association for Developmental Education (NADE) accreditation process is far-reaching. Not only do students and programs benefit from the process, but also the entire institution. Through data collection of student performance, analysis, and resulting action plans, faculty and administrators can work cohesively towards…

Center Planning and Development Student Engineer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jenkins, Kenneth T.

2013-01-01

This fall I was the Student Trainee (Engineering) Pathways Intern (co-op) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in the Center Planning Development (CPD) Directorate. CPD works with commercial companies who are interested using KSCs unique capabilities in spaceflight, spacecraft processing, ground systems and Research Development (RD) projects that fall in line with NASAs mission and goals. CPD is divided into four (4) groups: (1) AD-A, which works on the Master Planning for center, (2) AD-B (where I am), which works on project management and integration, (3) AD-C, which works on partnership development, and (4) AD-T, which works on the RD aspects of partnerships. CPDs main goal is to one day make KSC the worlds largest spaceport and maintain the center as a leader in space exploration. CPD is a very diverse group with employees having a wide knowledge of not only the Space Shuttle, but also that of the Apollo era. Our director of CPD, Scott Colloredo, is on the advisory board for Commercial Space Operations (CSO) and has a degree at ERAU. I worked on a number of different tasks for AD-B, as well as CPD, that includes, but not limited to: reviewing and reissuing engineering drawings from the Apollo and Shuttle eras, to supporting NASA rocket launches (MAVEN), and working on actual agreementsproposals that will be used in the partnership process with multiple partners. Most of the work I have done is sensitive information and cannot be disclosed.

Innovation and Diffusion--An Anthropological View.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

du Toit, Brian M.

This chapter presents the anthropological theory of innovation and diffusion, and applies it to the problem of implementing planned change within the instructional development process. The work of Barnett and others on culture and planned culture change is described and applied to the educational system and the classroom environment. Barnett's…

THE SCHOOL SITE--ITS SELECTION, ANALYSIS, DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

BRUNING, WALTER F.

SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS AND COMMUNITY PLANNERS CAN AID THE SCHOOL SITE SELECTION PROCESS BY WORKING TOGETHER ON A COMMUNITY MASTER PLAN. MANY COMMUNITIES HAVE DEVELOPED SUCH A PLAN UNDER THE STATE AND FEDERALLY AIDED 701 PROGRAM. SOUND SITE SELECTION PRINCIPLES REQUIRE CONSIDERATION OF OTHER FACTORS THAN STUDENT POPULATION DISTRIBUTION. IDEALLY…

Agricultural Extension--Programming the Work.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, G. A.

This paper outlines the concept of "program" and one set of elements that are considered to make up the program planning process in agricultural extension, and an example of practical program planning in Rhodesia is given. Although there is a wide variety of meanings attached to the term "program" in adult education, it has…

The Implications of Service-Learning for Technology Studies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Folkestad, James E.; Senior, Bolivar A.; DeMirana, Michael A.

2002-01-01

A "toys for tots" service-learning experience integrated into an industrial technology management course required development and planning using a process planning and costing model and work with a variety of stakeholders including an Even-Start learning center. Challenges include the lack of service-learning precedent in technology studies and…

A Transportation Modeling Primer

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2006-06-01

This primer is intended to explain the urban transportation modeling process works, the assumptions made and the steps used to forecast travel demand for urban transportation planning. This is done in order to help to understand the process and its i...

Building successful coalitions for promoting advance care planning.

PubMed

Marchand, Lucille; Fowler, Kathryn J; Kokanovic, Obrad

2006-01-01

Advance care planning (ACP) has had few successful initiatives. This qualitative study explores the challenges and successes of an advance care planning coalition in Wisconsin called Life Planning 2000 using key informant interviews (n = 24) and grounded theory. Major themes included: commitment (the need for leadership, recruitment of key members, and funding); cohesiveness (disparate groups collaborating toward a common purpose), and outcomes (shift in paradigm from signing documents to process of advanced care planning, new-found collaborative relationships, and educational tool development). Coalitions need to define short-, intermediate-, and long-term goals that result in measurable outcomes and an evaluation process. Resources must be commensurate with goals. Strong leadership, paid staff adequate funding, and the collaboration of diverse groups working toward common goals are the basic requirements of a successful coalition.

Flexiyear Schedules in Germany.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teriet, Bernhard

1982-01-01

Describes a German experiment whereby fulltime employees can work fewer hours without losing status and parttime employees have more options on allocations of working hours. The process ensures that management can count on enough staff for peak periods and more easily plan ahead. (JOW)

Lessons from disaster: Creating a business continuity plan that really works.

PubMed

Hatton, Tracy; Grimshaw, Eleanor; Vargo, John; Seville, Erica

Business Continuity Planning (BCP) is well established as a key plank in an organisation's risk management process. But how effective is BCP when disaster strikes? This paper examines the experiences of organisations following the 2010-11 Canterbury, New Zealand earthquakes. The study finds that BCP was helpful for all organisations interviewed but more attention is needed on the management of societal and personal impacts; development of employee resilience, identification of effective crisis leaders; right-sizing plans and planning to seize opportunities post-disaster.

Work unit compensation.

PubMed

Sodano, M J

1991-01-01

The author describes an innovative "work unit compensation" system that acts as an adjunct to existing personnel payment structures. The process, developed as a win-win alternative for both employees and their institution, includes a reward system for the entire department and insures a team atmosphere. The Community Medical Center in Toms River, New Jersey developed the plan which sets the four basic goals: to be fair, economical, lasting and transferable (FELT). The plan has proven to be a useful tool in retention and recruitment of qualified personnel.

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

Beltran, C; Kamal, H

Purpose: To provide a multicriteria optimization algorithm for intensity modulated radiation therapy using pencil proton beam scanning. Methods: Intensity modulated radiation therapy using pencil proton beam scanning requires efficient optimization algorithms to overcome the uncertainties in the Bragg peaks locations. This work is focused on optimization algorithms that are based on Monte Carlo simulation of the treatment planning and use the weights and the dose volume histogram (DVH) control points to steer toward desired plans. The proton beam treatment planning process based on single objective optimization (representing a weighted sum of multiple objectives) usually leads to time-consuming iterations involving treatmentmore » planning team members. We proved a time efficient multicriteria optimization algorithm that is developed to run on NVIDIA GPU (Graphical Processing Units) cluster. The multicriteria optimization algorithm running time benefits from up-sampling of the CT voxel size of the calculations without loss of fidelity. Results: We will present preliminary results of Multicriteria optimization for intensity modulated proton therapy based on DVH control points. The results will show optimization results of a phantom case and a brain tumor case. Conclusion: The multicriteria optimization of the intensity modulated radiation therapy using pencil proton beam scanning provides a novel tool for treatment planning. Work support by a grant from Varian Inc.« less

ATM experiment S-056 image processing requirements definition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1972-01-01

A plan is presented for satisfying the image data processing needs of the S-056 Apollo Telescope Mount experiment. The report is based on information gathered from related technical publications, consultation with numerous image processing experts, and on the experience that was in working on related image processing tasks over a two-year period.

Biologically-inspired robust and adaptive multi-sensor fusion and active control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khosla, Deepak; Dow, Paul A.; Huber, David J.

2009-04-01

In this paper, we describe a method and system for robust and efficient goal-oriented active control of a machine (e.g., robot) based on processing, hierarchical spatial understanding, representation and memory of multimodal sensory inputs. This work assumes that a high-level plan or goal is known a priori or is provided by an operator interface, which translates into an overall perceptual processing strategy for the machine. Its analogy to the human brain is the download of plans and decisions from the pre-frontal cortex into various perceptual working memories as a perceptual plan that then guides the sensory data collection and processing. For example, a goal might be to look for specific colored objects in a scene while also looking for specific sound sources. This paper combines three key ideas and methods into a single closed-loop active control system. (1) Use high-level plan or goal to determine and prioritize spatial locations or waypoints (targets) in multimodal sensory space; (2) collect/store information about these spatial locations at the appropriate hierarchy and representation in a spatial working memory. This includes invariant learning of these spatial representations and how to convert between them; and (3) execute actions based on ordered retrieval of these spatial locations from hierarchical spatial working memory and using the "right" level of representation that can efficiently translate into motor actions. In its most specific form, the active control is described for a vision system (such as a pantilt- zoom camera system mounted on a robotic head and neck unit) which finds and then fixates on high saliency visual objects. We also describe the approach where the goal is to turn towards and sequentially foveate on salient multimodal cues that include both visual and auditory inputs.

Development and Testing of Geo-Processing Models for the Automatic Generation of Remediation Plan and Navigation Data to Use in Industrial Disaster Remediation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lucas, G.; Lénárt, C.; Solymosi, J.

2015-08-01

This paper introduces research done on the automatic preparation of remediation plans and navigation data for the precise guidance of heavy machinery in clean-up work after an industrial disaster. The input test data consists of a pollution extent shapefile derived from the processing of hyperspectral aerial survey data from the Kolontár red mud disaster. Three algorithms were developed and the respective scripts were written in Python. The first model aims at drawing a parcel clean-up plan. The model tests four different parcel orientations (0, 90, 45 and 135 degree) and keeps the plan where clean-up parcels are less numerous considering it is an optimal spatial configuration. The second model drifts the clean-up parcel of a work plan both vertically and horizontally following a grid pattern with sampling distance of a fifth of a parcel width and keep the most optimal drifted version; here also with the belief to reduce the final number of parcel features. The last model aims at drawing a navigation line in the middle of each clean-up parcel. The models work efficiently and achieve automatic optimized plan generation (parcels and navigation lines). Applying the first model we demonstrated that depending on the size and geometry of the features of the contaminated area layer, the number of clean-up parcels generated by the model varies in a range of 4% to 38% from plan to plan. Such a significant variation with the resulting feature numbers shows that the optimal orientation identification can result in saving work, time and money in remediation. The various tests demonstrated that the model gains efficiency when 1/ the individual features of contaminated area present a significant orientation with their geometry (features are long), 2/ the size of pollution extent features becomes closer to the size of the parcels (scale effect). The second model shows only 1% difference with the variation of feature number; so this last is less interesting for planning optimization applications. Last model rather simply fulfils the task it was designed for by drawing navigation lines.

Site systems engineering fiscal year 1999 multi-year work plan (MYWP) update for WBS 1.8.2.2

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

GRYGIEL, M.L.

1998-10-08

Manage the Site Systems Engineering process to provide a traceable integrated requirements-driven, and technically defensible baseline. Through the Site Integration Group(SIG), Systems Engineering ensures integration of technical activities across all site projects. Systems Engineering's primary interfaces are with the RL Project Managers, the Project Direction Office and with the Project Major Subcontractors, as well as with the Site Planning organization. Systems Implementation: (1) Develops, maintains, and controls the site integrated technical baseline, ensures the Systems Engineering interfaces between projects are documented, and maintain the Site Environmental Management Specification. (2) Develops and uses dynamic simulation models for verification of the baselinemore » and analysis of alternatives. (3) Performs and documents fictional and requirements analyses. (4) Works with projects, technology management, and the SIG to identify and resolve technical issues. (5) Supports technical baseline information for the planning and budgeting of the Accelerated Cleanup Plan, Multi-Year Work Plans, Project Baseline Summaries as well as performance measure reporting. (6) Works with projects to ensure the quality of data in the technical baseline. (7) Develops, maintains and implements the site configuration management system.« less

Executive Dysfunction Among Children With Reading Comprehension Deficits

PubMed Central

Locascio, Gianna; Mahone, E. Mark; Eason, Sarah H.; Cutting, Laurie E.

2010-01-01

Emerging research supports the contribution of executive function (EF) to reading comprehension; however, a unique pattern has not been established for children who demonstrate comprehension difficulties despite average word recognition ability (specific reading comprehension deficit; S-RCD). To identify particular EF components on which children with S-RCD struggle, a range of EF skills was compared among 86 children, ages 10 to 14, grouped by word reading and comprehension abilities: 24 average readers, 44 with word recognition deficits (WRD), and 18 S-RCD. An exploratory principal components analysis of EF tests identified three latent factors, used in subsequent group comparisons: Planning/Spatial Working Memory, Verbal Working Memory, and Response Inhibition. The WRD group exhibited deficits (relative to controls) on Verbal Working Memory and Inhibition factors; S-RCD children performed more poorly than controls on the Planning factor. Further analyses suggested the WRD group’s poor performance on EF factors was a by-product of core deficits linked to WRD (after controlling for phonological processing, this group no longer showed EF deficits). In contrast, the S-RCD group’s poor performance on the planning component remained significant after controlling for phonological processing. Findings suggest reading comprehension difficulties are linked to executive dysfunction; in particular, poor strategic planning/organizing may lead to reading comprehension problems. PMID:20375294

Executive dysfunction among children with reading comprehension deficits.

PubMed

Locascio, Gianna; Mahone, E Mark; Eason, Sarah H; Cutting, Laurie E

2010-01-01

Emerging research supports the contribution of executive function (EF) to reading comprehension; however, a unique pattern has not been established for children who demonstrate comprehension difficulties despite average word recognition ability (specific reading comprehension deficit; S-RCD). To identify particular EF components on which children with S-RCD struggle, a range of EF skills was compared among 86 children, ages 10 to 14, grouped by word reading and comprehension abilities: 24 average readers, 44 with word recognition deficits (WRD), and 18 S-RCD. An exploratory principal components analysis of EF tests identified three latent factors, used in subsequent group comparisons: Planning/ Spatial Working Memory, Verbal Working Memory, and Response Inhibition. The WRD group exhibited deficits (relative to controls) on Verbal Working Memory and Inhibition factors; S-RCD children performed more poorly than controls on the Planning factor. Further analyses suggested the WRD group's poor performance on EF factors was a by-product of core deficits linked to WRD (after controlling for phonological processing, this group no longer showed EF deficits). In contrast, the S-RCD group's poor performance on the planning component remained significant after controlling for phonological processing. Findings suggest reading comprehension difficulties are linked to executive dysfunction; in particular, poor strategic planning/organizing may lead to reading comprehension problems.

Extending the TSP to Systems Engineering: Early Results from Team Process Integration

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-08-01

within ±10 percent of what was planned, and there were no high-priority problem reports coming out of test. Employee Work / Life Balance TPI helped improve...employee work / life balance . In order to get their job done before implementing TPI, employees rou- tinely worked overtime. With TPI (and in COMING

Development of an autonomous treatment planning strategy for radiation therapy with effective use of population-based prior data.

PubMed

Wang, Huan; Dong, Peng; Liu, Hongcheng; Xing, Lei

2017-02-01

Current treatment planning remains a costly and labor intensive procedure and requires multiple trial-and-error adjustments of system parameters such as the weighting factors and prescriptions. The purpose of this work is to develop an autonomous treatment planning strategy with effective use of prior knowledge and in a clinically realistic treatment planning platform to facilitate radiation therapy workflow. Our technique consists of three major components: (i) a clinical treatment planning system (TPS); (ii) a formulation of decision-function constructed using an assemble of prior treatment plans; (iii) a plan evaluator or decision-function and an outer-loop optimization independent of the clinical TPS to assess the TPS-generated plan and to drive the search toward a solution optimizing the decision-function. Microsoft (MS) Visual Studio Coded UI is applied to record some common planner-TPS interactions as subroutines for querying and interacting with the TPS. These subroutines are called back in the outer-loop optimization program to navigate the plan selection process through the solution space iteratively. The utility of the approach is demonstrated by using clinical prostate and head-and-neck cases. An autonomous treatment planning technique with effective use of an assemble of prior treatment plans is developed to automatically maneuver the clinical treatment planning process in the platform of a commercial TPS. The process mimics the decision-making process of a human planner and provides a clinically sensible treatment plan automatically, thus reducing/eliminating the tedious manual trial-and-errors of treatment planning. It is found that the prostate and head-and-neck treatment plans generated using the approach compare favorably with that used for the patients' actual treatments. Clinical inverse treatment planning process can be automated effectively with the guidance of an assemble of prior treatment plans. The approach has the potential to significantly improve the radiation therapy workflow. © 2016 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Neural mechanisms of movement planning: motor cortex and beyond.

PubMed

Svoboda, Karel; Li, Nuo

2018-04-01

Neurons in motor cortex and connected brain regions fire in anticipation of specific movements, long before movement occurs. This neural activity reflects internal processes by which the brain plans and executes volitional movements. The study of motor planning offers an opportunity to understand how the structure and dynamics of neural circuits support persistent internal states and how these states influence behavior. Recent advances in large-scale neural recordings are beginning to decipher the relationship of the dynamics of populations of neurons during motor planning and movements. New behavioral tasks in rodents, together with quantified perturbations, link dynamics in specific nodes of neural circuits to behavior. These studies reveal a neural network distributed across multiple brain regions that collectively supports motor planning. We review recent advances and highlight areas where further work is needed to achieve a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying motor planning and related cognitive processes. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Planning that works: Empowerment through stakeholder focused interactive planning (SFIP)

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

Beck, J.E.; Ison, S.A.

1994-12-31

This paper describes a powerful planning tool that can enable government, private industries, and public interest organizations to actualize their visions through sound decision making. The stakeholder focused interactive planning model is designed to integrate and ultimately gain stakeholder investment in the success of attainment of their vision. The only concessions required of the planning organization using this process is the acceptance of the premise that sustained vision success requires the support of both internal and external stakeholders and that each step in the process must be used as a validation of the previous step and essential to the completionmore » of the next step. What is stakeholder/public involvement? It is the process in which the stakeholders (both internal and external) values, interests and expectations are included in decision-making processes. The primary goal of public involvement efforts is to include all those who have a stake in the decision, whether or not they have already been identified. Stakeholders are individuals, contractors, clients, suppliers, public organizations, state and local governments, Indian tribes, federal agencies, and other parties affected by decisions.« less

Mission Operations of the Mars Exploration Rovers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bass, Deborah; Lauback, Sharon; Mishkin, Andrew; Limonadi, Daniel

2007-01-01

A document describes a system of processes involved in planning, commanding, and monitoring operations of the rovers Spirit and Opportunity of the Mars Exploration Rover mission. The system is designed to minimize command turnaround time, given that inherent uncertainties in terrain conditions and in successful completion of planned landed spacecraft motions preclude planning of some spacecraft activities until the results of prior activities are known by the ground-based operations team. The processes are partitioned into those (designated as tactical) that must be tied to the Martian clock and those (designated strategic) that can, without loss, be completed in a more leisurely fashion. The tactical processes include assessment of downlinked data, refinement and validation of activity plans, sequencing of commands, and integration and validation of sequences. Strategic processes include communications planning and generation of long-term activity plans. The primary benefit of this partition is to enable the tactical portion of the team to focus solely on tasks that contribute directly to meeting the deadlines for commanding the rover s each sol (1 sol = 1 Martian day) - achieving a turnaround time of 18 hours or less, while facilitating strategic team interactions with other organizations that do not work on a Mars time schedule.

75 FR 52701 - Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; State of Missouri

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-27

... information claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is.... Ventilation Limits 5. Ongoing Ventilation Testing and Reporting Requirements 6. Winter Construction Work..., including building enclosure and ventilation projects, implementation of work practice standards, process...

TU-D-201-02: Medical Physics Practices for Plan and Chart Review: Results of AAPM Task Group 275 Survey

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

Fong de los Santos, L; Dong, L; Greener, A

Purpose: AAPM Task Group (TG) 275 is charged with developing riskbased guidelines for plan and chart review clinical processes. As part of this work an AAPM-wide survey was conducted to gauge current practices. Methods: The survey consisted of 103 multiple-choice questions covering the following review processes for external beam including protons: 1) Initial Plan Check, 2) On-Treatment and 3) End-of-Treatment Chart Check. The survey was designed and validated by TG members with the goal of providing an efficient and easy response process. The survey, developed and deployed with the support of AAPM headquarters, was released to all AAPM members whomore » have self-reported as working in the radiation oncology field and it was kept open for 7 weeks. Results: There are an estimated 4700 eligible participants. At the time of writing, 962 completed surveys have been collected with an average completion time of 24 minutes. Participants are mainly from community hospitals (40%), academicaffiliated hospitals (31%) and free-standing clinics (18%). Among many other metrics covered on the survey, results so far indicate that manual review is an important component on the plan and chart review process (>90%) and that written procedures and checklists are widely used (>60%). However, the details of what is reviewed or checked are fairly heterogeneous among the sampled medical physics community. Conclusion: The data gathered from the survey gauging current practices will be used by TG 275 to develop benchmarks and recommendations for the type and extent of checks to perform effective physics plan and chart review processes.« less

Surface-water quality-assurance plan for the U.S. Geological Survey Washington Water Science Center

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mastin, Mark C.

2016-02-19

This Surface-Water Quality-Assurance Plan documents the standards, policies, and procedures used by the U.S. Geological Survey Washington Water Science Center (WAWSC) for activities related to the collection, processing, storage, analysis, and publication of surface-water data. This plan serves as a guide to all WAWSC personnel involved in surface-water data activities, and changes as the needs and requirements of the WAWSC change. Regular updates to this plan represent an integral part of the quality-assurance process. In the WAWSC, direct oversight and responsibility by the hydrographer(s) assigned to a surface-water station, combined with team approaches in all work efforts, assure highquality data, analyses, reviews, and reports for cooperating agencies and the public.

Nonword Repetition in Children and Adults: Effects on Movement Coordination

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sasisekaran, Jayanthi; Smith, Anne; Sadagopan, Neeraja; Weber-Fox, Christine

2010-01-01

Hearing and repeating novel phonetic sequences, or novel nonwords, is a task that taps many levels of processing, including auditory decoding, phonological processing, working memory, speech motor planning and execution. Investigations of nonword repetition abilities have been framed within models of psycholinguistic processing, while the motor…

Research Utilizing Problem Solving (RUPS) - Classroom Version. Description of Teacher Inservice Education Materials.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Education Association, Washington, DC. Project on Utilization of Inservice Education R & D Outcomes.

The workshop instructional materials described here are designed to try out a systematic problem solving process as a way of working toward improvements in the school setting. Topics include diagnosis using force field technique, small group dynamics, planning for action, and planning a RUPS (Research Using Problem Solving) project. This…

Understanding planning ability measured by the Tower of London: an evaluation of its internal structure by latent variable modeling.

PubMed

Koppenol-Gonzalez, Gabriela V; Bouwmeester, Samantha; Boonstra, A Marije

2010-12-01

The Tower of London (TOL) is a widely used instrument for assessing planning ability. Inhibition and (spatial) working memory are assumed to contribute to performance on the TOL, but findings about the relationship between these cognitive processes are often inconsistent. Moreover, the influence of specific properties of TOL problems on cognitive processes and difficulty level is often not taken into account. Furthermore, it may be expected that several planning strategies can be distinguished that cannot be extracted from the total score. In this study, a factor analysis and a latent class regression analysis were performed to address these issues. The results showed that 4 strategy groups that differed with respect to preplanning time could be distinguished. The effect of problem properties also differed for the 4 groups. Additional analyses showed that the groups differed on average planning performance but that there were no significant differences between inhibition and spatial working memory performance. Finally, it seemed that multiple factors influence performance on the TOL, the most important ones being the score measurements, the problem properties, and strategy use.

Ergonomic risk assessment with DesignCheck to evaluate assembly work in different phases of the vehicle development process.

PubMed

Winter, Gabriele; Schaub, Karlheinz G; Großmann, Kay; Laun, Gerhard; Landau, Kurt; Bruder, Ralph

2012-01-01

Occupational hazards exist, if the design of the work situation is not in accordance with ergonomic design principles. At assembly lines ergonomics is applied to the design of work equipment and tasks and to work organisation. The ignoring of ergonomic principles in planning and design of assembly work leads to unfavourable working posture, action force and material handling. Disorders of the musculoskeletal system are of a common occurrence throughout Europe. Musculoskeletal disorders are a challenge against the background of disabled workers. The changes in a worker's capability have to be regarded in the conception of redesigned and new assembly lines. In this way ergonomics becomes progressively more important in planning and design of vehicles: The objective of ergonomic design in different stages of the vehicles development process is to achieve an optimal adaptation of the assembly work to workers. Hence the ergonomic screening tool "Design Check" (DC) was developed to identify ergonomic deficits in workplace layouts. The screening-tool is based on the current ergonomic state of the art in the design of physical work and relevant EU legal requirements. It was tested within a federal German research project at selected work stations at the assembly lines at Dr.-Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG / Stuttgart. Meanwhile the application of the screening-tool DC is transferred in other parts of the Porsche AG, Stuttgart. It is also realized as an ergonomic standard method to perform assembly work in different phases of the vehicle development process.

The Ohio Cross-Cultural Tobacco Control Alliance: Understanding and Eliminating Tobacco-Related Disparities Through the Integration of Science, Practice, and Policy

PubMed Central

Adhikari, Surendra B.; Clopton, Tracy M.; Oches, Barry; Jensen, Conrado

2010-01-01

Objectives. We examined the development of a process designed to eliminate tobacco-related disparities in the state of Ohio and described how a cross-cultural work group used a multicomponent community planning process to develop capacity to address such disparities. Methods. The community development model was used as a guide in the planning process. We employed a case study, focus groups, and telephone interviews to assess the process and collect data on tobacco use and awareness. We also employed the appreciative inquiry framework to create the organizational design for the Ohio Cross-Cultural Tobacco Control Alliance (CCTCA), which was formed from the cross-cultural work group and charged with addressing tobacco-related disparities in the state. Results. Data on tobacco use and awareness were collected from 13 underserved populations. At the end of the planning process, the CCTCA was initiated along with structural capacity to serve as a new program incubator highlighting tobacco use and awareness levels in these populations. Conclusions. The CCTCA appeared to be an effective way to begin mobilizing agencies serving underserved populations by providing an operational structure to address tobacco-related disparities. The alliance also successfully implemented culturally competent community-based programs and policies to help eliminate disparities. PMID:20147668

Apply creative thinking of decision support in electrical nursing record.

PubMed

Hao, Angelica Te-Hui; Hsu, Chien-Yeh; Li-Fang, Huang; Jian, Wen-Shan; Wu, Li-Bin; Kao, Ching-Chiu; Lu, Mei-Show; Chang, Her-Kung

2006-01-01

The nursing process consists of five interrelated steps: assessment, diagnosis, planning, intervention, and evaluation. In the nursing process, the nurse collects a great deal of data and information. The amount of data and information may exceed the amount the nurse can process efficiently and correctly. Thus, the nurse needs assistance to become proficient in the planning of nursing care, due to the difficulty of simultaneously processing a large set of information. Computer systems are viewed as tools to expand the capabilities of the nurse's mind. Using computer technology to support clinicians' decision making may provide high-quality, patient-centered, and efficient healthcare. Although some existing nursing information systems aid in the nursing process, they only provide the most fundamental decision support--i.e., standard care plans associated with common nursing diagnoses. Such a computerized decision support system helps the nurse develop a care plan step-by-step. But it does not assist the nurse in the decision-making process. The decision process about how to generate nursing diagnoses from data and how to individualize the care plans still reminds of the nurse. The purpose of this study is to develop a pilot structure in electronic nursing record system integrated with international nursing standard for improving the proficiency and accuracy of plan of care in clinical pathway process. The proposed pilot systems not only assist both student nurses and nurses who are novice in nursing practice, but also experts who need to work in a practice area which they are not familiar with.

Planning Decrements in Healthy Aging: Mediation Effects of Fluid Reasoning and Working Memory Capacity.

PubMed

Köstering, Lena; Leonhart, Rainer; Stahl, Christoph; Weiller, Cornelius; Kaller, Christoph P

2016-03-01

Although age-related differences in planning ability are well known, their cognitive foundations remain a matter of contention. To elucidate the specific processes underlying planning decrements in older age, the relative contributions of fluid reasoning, working memory (WM) capacity, and processing speed to accuracy on the Tower of London (TOL) planning task were investigated. Mediation analyses were used to relate overall and search depth-related TOL accuracy from older (N = 106; 60-89 years) and younger adults (N = 69; 18-54 years) to age and measures of fluid reasoning, WM capacity, and speed. For overall planning, fluid abilities mediated the effects of age, WM capacity, and speed in older adults. By contrast, fluid abilities and WM capacity mediated each other in younger adults. For planning accuracy under low demands on the depth of search, WM capacity was specifically important in older age, whereas younger adults recruited both WM capacity and fluid reasoning. Under high search-depth-demands, fluid abilities underlay the cognitive operations critical for resolving move interdependencies in both age groups. Fluid abilities and WM capacity undergo significant changes from younger to older age in their unique contribution to planning, which might represent a mechanism whereby planning decrements in older age are brought about. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Critical Drivers for Safety Culture: Examining Department of Energy and U.S. Army Operational Experiences - 12382

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

Lowes, Elizabeth A.

2012-07-01

Evaluating operational incidents can provide a window into the drivers most critical to establishing and maintaining a strong safety culture, thereby minimizing the potential project risk associated with safety incidents. By examining U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) versus U.S. Army drivers in terms of regulatory and contract requirements, programs implemented to address the requirements, and example case studies of operational events, a view of the elements most critical to making a positive influence on safety culture is presented. Four case studies are used in this evaluation; two from DOE and two from U.S. Army experiences. Although the standards guiding operationsmore » at these facilities are different, there are many similarities in the level of hazards, as well as the causes and the potential consequences of the events presented. Two of the incidents examined, one from a DOE operation and the other from a U.S. Army facility, resulted in workers receiving chemical burns. The remaining two incidents are similar in that significant conduct of operations failures occurred resulting in high-level radioactive waste (in the case of the DOE facility) or chemical agent (in the case of the Army facility) being transferred outside of engineering controls. A review of the investigation reports for all four events indicates the primary causes to be failures in work planning leading to ineffective hazard evaluation and control, lack of procedure adherence, and most importantly, lack of management oversight to effectively reinforce expectations for safe work planning and execution. DOE and Army safety programs are similar, and although there are some differences in contractual requirements, the expectations for safe performance are essentially the same. This analysis concludes that instilling a positive safety culture comes down to management leadership and engagement to (1) cultivate an environment that values a questioning attitude and (2) continually reinforce expectations for the appropriate level of rigor in work planning and procedure adherence. A review of the root causes and key contributing causes to the events indicate: - Three of the four root cause analyses cite lack of management engagement (oversight, involvement, ability to recognize issues, etc.) as a root cause to the events. - Two of the four root cause analyses cite work planning failures as a root cause to the events and all cause analyses reflect work planning failures as contributing factors to the events. - All events with the exception of the Tuba City plant shutdown indicate procedure noncompliance as a key contributor; in the case of Tuba City the procedure issues were primarily related to a lack of procedures, or a lack of sufficiently detailed procedures. - All events included discussion or suggestion of a lack of a questioning attitude, either on the part of management/supervision, work planners, or workers. This analysis suggests that the most critical drivers to safety culture are: - Management engagement, - Effective work planning and procedures, and - Procedure adherence with a questioning attitude to ensure procedural problems are identified and fixed. In high-hazard operational environments the importance of robust work planning processes and procedure adherence cannot be overstated. However, having the processes by themselves is not enough. Management must actively engage in expectation setting and ensure work planning that meets expectations for hazard analysis and control, develop a culture that encourages incident reporting and a questioning attitude, and routinely observe work performance to reinforce expectations for adherence to procedures/work control documents. In conclusion, the most critical driver to achieving a workforce culture that supports safe and effective project performance can be summarized as follows: 'Management engagement to continually reinforce expectations for work planning processes and procedure adherence in an environment that cultivates a questioning attitude'. (authors)« less

Integration of Palliative Care Principles into the Ongoing Care of Children with Cancer: Individualized Care Planning and Coordination

PubMed Central

Baker, Justin N; Hinds, Pamela S; Spunt, Sheri L; Barfield, Raymond C; Allen, Caitlin; Powell, Brent C; Anderson, Lisa H; Kane, Javier R

2008-01-01

Synopsis The Individualized Care Planning and Coordination Model is designed to integrate palliative care principles and practices into the ongoing care of children with cancer. Application of the model helps clinicians to generate a comprehensive individualized care plan that is implemented through Individualized Care Coordination processes as detailed here. Clinicians’ strong desire to provide compassionate, competent and sensitive care to the seriously ill child and the child’s family can be effectively translated into clinical practice through these processes. “To cure sometimes, to relieve often, to comfort always -- this is our work.” Author Unknown PMID:18242323

Core and Off-Core Processes in Systems Engineering

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Breidenthal, Julian; Forsberg, Kevin

2010-01-01

An emerging methodology of organizing systems-engineering plans is based on a concept of core and off-core processes or activities. This concept has emerged as a result of recognition of a risk in the traditional representation of systems-engineering plans by a Vee model alone, according to which a large system is decomposed into levels of smaller subsystems, then integrated through levels of increasing scope until the full system is constructed. Actual systems-engineering activity is more complicated, raising the possibility that the staff will become confused in the absence of plans which explain the nature and ordering of work beyond the traditional Vee model.

Recreational planning: an important component of career counseling for people with disabilities.

PubMed

Devine, Mary Ann; Koch, Lynn C

2003-01-01

Participation in recreational activities is a critical component of the career development process, providing opportunities for individuals to explore their interests and to develop work-related skills. Recreational participation also offers a healthy outlet for dealing with job-related and other life stressors. People with disabilities are often excluded from participation in recreational activities because of a multitude of barriers. This exclusion can seriously impede the career development of these individuals. This article explores the importance of recreational planning as part of the vocational rehabilitation process. The authors define inclusive recreation and discuss the implications of recreational planning in the various phases of rehabilitation.

A planning and scheduling lexicon

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cruz, Jennifer W.; Eggemeyer, William C.

1989-01-01

A lexicon related to mission planning and scheduling for spacecraft is presented. Planning and scheduling work is known as sequencing. Sequencing is a multistage process of merging requests from both the science and engineering arenas to accomplish the objectives defined in the requests. The multistage process begins with the creation of science and engineering goals, continues through their integration into the sequence, and eventually concludes with command execution onboard the spacecraft. The objective of this publication is to introduce some formalism into the field of spacecraft sequencing-system technology. This formalism will make it possible for researchers and potential customers to communicate about system requirements and capabilities in a common language.

Research and the planned Space Experiment Research and Processing Laboratory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

Original photo and caption dated October 8, 1991: 'Plant researchers Neil Yorio and Lisa Ruffe prepare to harvest a crop of Waldann's Green Lettuce from KSC's Biomass Production Chamber (BPC). KSC researchers have grown several different crops in the BPC to determine which plants will better produce food, water and oxygen on long-duration space missions.' Their work is an example of the type of life sciences research that will be conducted at the Space Experiment Research Procession Laboratory (SERPL). The SERPL is a planned 100,000-square-foot laboratory that will provide expanded and upgraded facilities for hosting International Space Station experiment processing. In addition, it will provide better support for other biological and life sciences payload processing at KSC. It will serve as a magnet facility for a planned 400-acre Space Station Commerce Park.

Research and the planned Space Experiment Research and Processing Laboratory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

Original photo and caption dated October 8, 1991: 'Plant researchers Lisa Ruffe and Neil Yorio prepare to harvest a crop of Waldann's Green Lettuce from KSC's Biomass Production Chamber (BPC). KSC researchers have grown several different crops in the BPC to determine which plants will better produce food, water and oxygen on long-duration space missions.' Their work is an example of the type of life sciences research that will be conducted at the Space Experiment Research Procession Laboratory (SERPL). The SERPL is a planned 100,000-square-foot laboratory that will provide expanded and upgraded facilities for hosting International Space Station experiment processing. In addition, it will provide better support for other biological and life sciences payload processing at KSC. It will serve as a magnet facility for a planned 400-acre Space Station Commerce Park.

Cache-Aware Asymptotically-Optimal Sampling-Based Motion Planning

PubMed Central

Ichnowski, Jeffrey; Prins, Jan F.; Alterovitz, Ron

2014-01-01

We present CARRT* (Cache-Aware Rapidly Exploring Random Tree*), an asymptotically optimal sampling-based motion planner that significantly reduces motion planning computation time by effectively utilizing the cache memory hierarchy of modern central processing units (CPUs). CARRT* can account for the CPU’s cache size in a manner that keeps its working dataset in the cache. The motion planner progressively subdivides the robot’s configuration space into smaller regions as the number of configuration samples rises. By focusing configuration exploration in a region for periods of time, nearest neighbor searching is accelerated since the working dataset is small enough to fit in the cache. CARRT* also rewires the motion planning graph in a manner that complements the cache-aware subdivision strategy to more quickly refine the motion planning graph toward optimality. We demonstrate the performance benefit of our cache-aware motion planning approach for scenarios involving a point robot as well as the Rethink Robotics Baxter robot. PMID:25419474

Cache-Aware Asymptotically-Optimal Sampling-Based Motion Planning.

PubMed

Ichnowski, Jeffrey; Prins, Jan F; Alterovitz, Ron

2014-05-01

We present CARRT* (Cache-Aware Rapidly Exploring Random Tree*), an asymptotically optimal sampling-based motion planner that significantly reduces motion planning computation time by effectively utilizing the cache memory hierarchy of modern central processing units (CPUs). CARRT* can account for the CPU's cache size in a manner that keeps its working dataset in the cache. The motion planner progressively subdivides the robot's configuration space into smaller regions as the number of configuration samples rises. By focusing configuration exploration in a region for periods of time, nearest neighbor searching is accelerated since the working dataset is small enough to fit in the cache. CARRT* also rewires the motion planning graph in a manner that complements the cache-aware subdivision strategy to more quickly refine the motion planning graph toward optimality. We demonstrate the performance benefit of our cache-aware motion planning approach for scenarios involving a point robot as well as the Rethink Robotics Baxter robot.

Business plans--tips from the toolkit 6.

PubMed

Steer, Neville

2010-07-01

General practice is a business. Most practices can stay afloat by having appointments, billing patients, managing the administration processes and working long hours. What distinguishes the high performance organisation from the average organisation is a business plan. This article examines how to create a simple business plan that can be applied to the general practice setting and is drawn from material contained in The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners' 'General practice management toolkit'.

Assessing the Performance of Human-Automation Collaborative Planning Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-06-01

process- ing and incorporating vast amounts of incoming information into their solutions. How- ever, these algorithms are brittle and unable to account for...planning system, a descriptive Mission Performance measure may address the total travel time on the path or the cost of the path (e.g. total work...minimizing costs or collisions [4, 32, 33]. Error measures for such a path planning system may track how many collisions occur or how much threat

Managing Research in a Risk World

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anton, W.; Havenhill, M.

2014-01-01

The Office of Chief Medical Officer (OCHMO) owns all human health and performance risks managed by the Human System Risk Board (HSRB). While the HSRB manages the risks, the Human Research Program (HRP) manages the research portion of the overall risk mitigation strategy for these risks. The HSRB manages risks according to a process that identifies and analyzes risks, plans risk mitigation and tracks and reviews the implementation of these strategies according to its decisions pertaining to the OCHMO risk posture. HRP manages risk research work using an architecture that describes evidence-based risks, gaps in our knowledge about characterizing or mitigating the risk, and the tasks needed to produce deliverables to fill the gaps and reduce the risk. A planning schedule reflecting expected research milestones is developed, and as deliverables and new evidence are generated, research progress is tracked via the Path to Risk Reduction (PRR) that reflects a risk's research plan for a design reference mission. HRP's risk research process closely interfaces with the HSRB risk management process. As research progresses, new deliverables and evidence are used by the HSRB in conjunction with other operational and non-research evidence to inform decisions pertaining to the likelihood and consequence of the risk and risk posture. Those decisions in turn guide forward work for research as it contributes to overall risk mitigation strategies. As HRP tracks its research work, it aligns its priorities by assessing the effectiveness of its contributions and maintaining specific core competencies that would be invaluable for future work for exploration missions.

MIGRATORY LABOR IN OHIO.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

BINGHAM, SALLY

OHIO HAS BECOME A HIGHLY INDUSTRIALIZED STATE WITH INSUFFICIENT QUALIFIED LOCAL FARM WORKERS TO MEET HARVEST DEMANDS. MIGRANT WORKERS HAVE FILLED THAT NEED, DOING MOSTLY "STOOP WORK" AND WORKING IN FOOD PROCESSING PLANTS. THE ANNUAL WORKER PLAN HAS PROVIDED FOR MORE EFFICIENT SCHEDULING OF MIGRANTS. CONSTRUCTIVE PROGRAMS HAVE BEEN…

The strategic plan of the American Fisheries Society

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, B.L.; Irwin, E.R.; Landolt, M.L.; Loefflad, M.; Marsh, J.; Marshall, T.R.; Olmsted, L.L.; Pajak, P.; Peterson, S.; Webster, J.

1994-01-01

In August 1994, at its annual meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the Executive Committee of the American Fisheries Society (AFS) approved a new Strategic Plan. The plan sets out eight goals that define a vision of AFS in the year 2001, and provides strategies to achieve each goal. Accomplishing the plan should position AFS to be more responsive to member needs and more effective at meeting the challenges facing the resource and profession under future expected conditions. The plan provides opportunities for every member to help shape AFS for the 21st century. In this paper, we describe the process of strategic planning, the goals and strategies of the AFS Strategic Plan, and how the plan is implemented through AFS annual work plans.

Risky Business

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yarbrough, Katherine

2015-01-01

During my internship I worked on two major projects, recommending improvements for the Center's Risk Management Workshop and helping with the strategic planning efforts for Safety and Mission Assurance (S&MA). The risk management improvements is the key project I worked on this semester through my internship, while the strategic planning is the secondary assignment. S&MA Business Office covers both aspects in its delegation, getting both spans some of the work done in the office. A risk is a future event with a negative consequence that has some probability of occurring. Safety and Mission Assurance identifies, analyzes, plans, and tracks risk. The directorate offers the Center a Risk Management Workshop, and part of the ongoing efforts of S&MA is to make continuous improvements to the RM Workshop. By using the Project Management Institute's (PMI) Standard for Risk Management, I performed a gap analysis to make improvements for our materials. I benchmarked the PMI's Risk Management Standard, compared our Risk Management Workshop materials to PMI's standard, and identified any gaps in our material. My major findings were presented to the Business Office of S&MA for a decision on whether or not to incorporate the improvements. These suggestions were made by attending JSC working group meetings, Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) panel reviews and various risk review meetings. The improvements provide better understanding of risk management processes and enhanced risk tracking knowledge and skills. Risk management is an integral part of any engineering discipline, getting exposed to this section of engineering will greatly help shape my career in the future. Johnson Space Center is a world leader in risk management processes; learning risk management here gives me a huge advantage over my peers, as well as understanding decision making in the context of risk management will help me to be a well-rounded engineer. Strategic planning is an area I had not previously studied. Helping with the strategic planning efforts in S&MA has taught me how organizations think and function as a whole. S&MA is adopting a balanced scorecard approach to strategic planning. As part of this planning method strategic themes, objectives, and initiatives are formed. I attended strategic theme team workshops that formed the strategy map for the directorate and gave shape to the plan. Also during these workshops the objectives were discussed and built. Learning the process for strategic planning has helped me better understand how organizations and businesses function, which also helps me to be a more effective employee. Other assignments I had during my internship included completing the Safety and Mission Assurance Technical Excellent Program (STEP) Level 1, as well as doing a two week rotation through the Space Exploration division in S&MA, specifically working with a thermal protection systems (TPS) engineer. While working there, I learned about the Orion capsule and the SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule. I attended meetings to prepare the engineers for the upcoming Critical Design Reviews for both capsules and reviewed test data. Learning risk management, strategic planning, and working in the Space Exploration division has taught me about many aspects of S&MA. My internship at NASA has given me new experiences and taught me numerous subjects that I would have otherwise not learned. This opportunity has expanded my educational horizons and is helping me to become a more useful engineer and employee.

SWOT analysis of a pediatric rehabilitation programme: a participatory evaluation fostering quality improvement.

PubMed

Camden, Chantal; Swaine, Bonnie; Tétreault, Sylvie; Bergeron, Sophie

2009-01-01

To present the results of a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis used as part of a process aimed at reorganising services provided within a pediatric rehabilitation programme (PRP) in Quebec, Canada and to report the perceptions of the planning committee members regarding the usefulness of the SWOT in this process. Thirty-six service providers working in the PRP completed a SWOT questionnaire and reported what they felt worked and what did not work in the existing model of care. Their responses were used by a planning committee over a 12-month period to assist in the development of a new service delivery model. Committee members shared their thoughts about the usefulness of the SWOT. Current programme strengths included favourable organisational climate and interdisciplinary work whereas weaknesses included lack of psychosocial support to families and long waiting times for children. Opportunities included working with community partners, whereas fear of losing professional autonomy with the new service model was a threat. The SWOT results helped the planning committee redefine the programme goals and make decisions to improve service coordination. SWOT analysis was deemed as a very useful tool to help guide service reorganisation. SWOT analysis appears to be an interesting evaluation tool to promote awareness among service providers regarding the current functioning of a rehabilitation programme. It fosters their active participation in the reorganisation of a new service delivery model for pediatric rehabilitation.

Work-life balance among shift workers: results from an intervention study about self-rostering.

PubMed

Albertsen, Karen; Garde, Anne Helene; Nabe-Nielsen, Kirsten; Hansen, Ase Marie; Lund, Henrik; Hvid, Helge

2014-04-01

The aims of the study were to explore the effects of the implementation of IT-based tools for planning of rosters among shift workers on work-family-related outcomes and to interpret the results in light of the different implementation processes. A quasi-experimental intervention study was conducted with 12-month follow-up at 14 intervention and 14 reference worksites in Denmark. Workplaces planning to introduce IT-supported self-rostering were recruited, and three different kinds of interventions were implemented. Intervention A and B aimed at increasing workers satisfaction and well-being, while intervention C was designed to optimize the personnel resources. Questionnaire data were collected from 840 employees at baseline and 784 at follow-up. Process evaluation encompassed interviews with about 25 employees and 15 managers at baseline and follow-up. Work-family-related outcomes were work-life conflicts, work-life facilitation, marital conflicts and time with children. An overall decline in work-family conflicts and increase in work-family facilitation were found in the total intervention group. More specifically, in group B, work-family conflicts and marital conflicts decreased while work-family facilitation increased. In group C, work-family conflicts increased while work-family facilitation and time spend with children decreased, and no significant changes were observed in the reference group and in group A. An overall positive effect of the implementation of self-rostering was found on the balance between work and private life. However, results from the process evaluation suggested that the organizational aim with the intervention was crucial for the effect.

Benchmark requirements for the the Energy Emergency Management Information System (EEMIS). Phase 1: Work plan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1980-09-01

The energy emergency management information system (EEMIS) has responsibility for providing special information and communication services to government officials at Federal and state levels, who must deal with energy emergencies. Because of proprietary information residing in the data base used for federal purposes, a special system (EEMIS-S) must be established for use by the states. It is planned to acquire teleprocessing services for EEMIS-S from a time-sharing commercial vendor, and the process for procurement must meet guidelines for approval. The work plan and schedule for meeting these guidelines are discussed. Tasks to be included contain estimates of time, cost, and resources required, all of which are briefly described.

SOARing Into Strategic Planning: Engaging Nurses to Achieve Significant Outcomes.

PubMed

Wadsworth, Barbara; Felton, Fiona; Linus, Rita

2016-01-01

In 2013, a new system chief nursing officer engaged the nursing leaders and staff in an Appreciative Inquiry process utilizing strengths, opportunities, aspirations, and results (SOAR), and a Journey of Excellence to assess and understand the current environment. The ultimate goal was to engage all nurses in strategic planning and goal setting to connect their patient care to the system strategic initiatives. This work led to the creation of a nursing vision, a revised professional practice model and greater council alignment, resulting in significant positive change and ongoing advancement throughout the system. The shared decision-making structure was key to the process with a direct connection of each council's goals, leading to the successful achievement of 34 of the 36 goals in 2 years. This article outlines the process, tools, and staff engagement strategies used to achieve system-wide success. This methodology has improved the outcomes across the organization in both small and system-wide work groups. This work can easily be replicated and adapted to help disparate staffs brought together through mergers or acquisitions to become aligned as a new team. This process, model, and framework, provides structure and results in significant outcomes that recognizes and celebrates the work of individual entities while aligning future strategies and goals.

Repository-Based Software Engineering Program: Working Program Management Plan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

Repository-Based Software Engineering Program (RBSE) is a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) sponsored program dedicated to introducing and supporting common, effective approaches to software engineering practices. The process of conceiving, designing, building, and maintaining software systems by using existing software assets that are stored in a specialized operational reuse library or repository, accessible to system designers, is the foundation of the program. In addition to operating a software repository, RBSE promotes (1) software engineering technology transfer, (2) academic and instructional support of reuse programs, (3) the use of common software engineering standards and practices, (4) software reuse technology research, and (5) interoperability between reuse libraries. This Program Management Plan (PMP) is intended to communicate program goals and objectives, describe major work areas, and define a management report and control process. This process will assist the Program Manager, University of Houston at Clear Lake (UHCL) in tracking work progress and describing major program activities to NASA management. The goal of this PMP is to make managing the RBSE program a relatively easy process that improves the work of all team members. The PMP describes work areas addressed and work efforts being accomplished by the program; however, it is not intended as a complete description of the program. Its focus is on providing management tools and management processes for monitoring, evaluating, and administering the program; and it includes schedules for charting milestones and deliveries of program products. The PMP was developed by soliciting and obtaining guidance from appropriate program participants, analyzing program management guidance, and reviewing related program management documents.

Drift-Scale Coupled Processes (DST and THC Seepage) Models

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

P. Dixon

The purpose of this Model Report (REV02) is to document the unsaturated zone (UZ) models used to evaluate the potential effects of coupled thermal-hydrological-chemical (THC) processes on UZ flow and transport. This Model Report has been developed in accordance with the ''Technical Work Plan for: Performance Assessment Unsaturated Zone'' (Bechtel SAIC Company, LLC (BSC) 2002 [160819]). The technical work plan (TWP) describes planning information pertaining to the technical scope, content, and management of this Model Report in Section 1.12, Work Package AUZM08, ''Coupled Effects on Flow and Seepage''. The plan for validation of the models documented in this Model Reportmore » is given in Attachment I, Model Validation Plans, Section I-3-4, of the TWP. Except for variations in acceptance criteria (Section 4.2), there were no deviations from this TWP. This report was developed in accordance with AP-SIII.10Q, ''Models''. This Model Report documents the THC Seepage Model and the Drift Scale Test (DST) THC Model. The THC Seepage Model is a drift-scale process model for predicting the composition of gas and water that could enter waste emplacement drifts and the effects of mineral alteration on flow in rocks surrounding drifts. The DST THC model is a drift-scale process model relying on the same conceptual model and much of the same input data (i.e., physical, hydrological, thermodynamic, and kinetic) as the THC Seepage Model. The DST THC Model is the primary method for validating the THC Seepage Model. The DST THC Model compares predicted water and gas compositions, as well as mineral alteration patterns, with observed data from the DST. These models provide the framework to evaluate THC coupled processes at the drift scale, predict flow and transport behavior for specified thermal-loading conditions, and predict the evolution of mineral alteration and fluid chemistry around potential waste emplacement drifts. The DST THC Model is used solely for the validation of the THC Seepage Model and is not used for calibration to measured data.« less

Public Managers Should Be Proactive

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carlson, Thomas S.

1976-01-01

Future public managers should be proactive by creating management processes before problems arise. Planning prevents reactive or crisis managing. Future managers should also be prepared to meet dilemmas and paradoxes such as centralization versus decentralization of decision-making and work processes, politics versus administration dichotomy, and…

40 CFR 35.603 - Competitive process.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... STATE AND LOCAL ASSISTANCE Environmental Program Grants for Tribes Water Quality Cooperative Agreements (section 104(b)(3)) § 35.603 Competitive process. EPA will award water quality cooperative agreement funds... a Performance Partnership Grant, the water quality work plan commitments must be included in the...

40 CFR 35.603 - Competitive process.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... a Performance Partnership Grant, the water quality work plan commitments must be included in the... STATE AND LOCAL ASSISTANCE Environmental Program Grants for Tribes Water Quality Cooperative Agreements (section 104(b)(3)) § 35.603 Competitive process. EPA will award water quality cooperative agreement funds...

40 CFR 35.603 - Competitive process.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... a Performance Partnership Grant, the water quality work plan commitments must be included in the... STATE AND LOCAL ASSISTANCE Environmental Program Grants for Tribes Water Quality Cooperative Agreements (section 104(b)(3)) § 35.603 Competitive process. EPA will award water quality cooperative agreement funds...

40 CFR 35.603 - Competitive process.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... a Performance Partnership Grant, the water quality work plan commitments must be included in the... STATE AND LOCAL ASSISTANCE Environmental Program Grants for Tribes Water Quality Cooperative Agreements (section 104(b)(3)) § 35.603 Competitive process. EPA will award water quality cooperative agreement funds...

40 CFR 35.603 - Competitive process.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... a Performance Partnership Grant, the water quality work plan commitments must be included in the... STATE AND LOCAL ASSISTANCE Environmental Program Grants for Tribes Water Quality Cooperative Agreements (section 104(b)(3)) § 35.603 Competitive process. EPA will award water quality cooperative agreement funds...

Engineered Barrier System: Physical and Chemical Environment

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

P. Dixon

2004-04-26

The conceptual and predictive models documented in this Engineered Barrier System: Physical and Chemical Environment Model report describe the evolution of the physical and chemical conditions within the waste emplacement drifts of the repository. The modeling approaches and model output data will be used in the total system performance assessment (TSPA-LA) to assess the performance of the engineered barrier system and the waste form. These models evaluate the range of potential water compositions within the emplacement drifts, resulting from the interaction of introduced materials and minerals in dust with water seeping into the drifts and with aqueous solutions forming bymore » deliquescence of dust (as influenced by atmospheric conditions), and from thermal-hydrological-chemical (THC) processes in the drift. These models also consider the uncertainty and variability in water chemistry inside the drift and the compositions of introduced materials within the drift. This report develops and documents a set of process- and abstraction-level models that constitute the engineered barrier system: physical and chemical environment model. Where possible, these models use information directly from other process model reports as input, which promotes integration among process models used for total system performance assessment. Specific tasks and activities of modeling the physical and chemical environment are included in the technical work plan ''Technical Work Plan for: In-Drift Geochemistry Modeling'' (BSC 2004 [DIRS 166519]). As described in the technical work plan, the development of this report is coordinated with the development of other engineered barrier system analysis model reports.« less

The provision of workplace accommodations following cancer: survivor, provider, and employer perspectives.

PubMed

Stergiou-Kita, Mary; Pritlove, Cheryl; van Eerd, Dwayne; Holness, Linn D; Kirsh, Bonnie; Duncan, Andrea; Jones, Jennifer

2016-06-01

With improvements in screening, diagnosis, and treatment, the number of persons surviving cancer and staying at or returning to work is increasing. While workplace accommodations optimize workers' abilities to participate in the workforce, there has been little in-depth investigation of the types of accommodations reported to have been provided to cancer survivors and the processes relevant to ensuring their successful implementation. We employed an exploratory qualitative method and conducted 40 semi-structured interviews with three groups: (i) cancers survivors (n = 16), (ii) health/vocational service providers (n = 16), and (iii) employer representatives (n = 8) to explore return to work and accommodation processes, successes, and challenges. An inductive thematic analysis approach was used to analyze the data. Four types of accommodations were recommended: (1) graduated return to work plans and flexible scheduling, (2) modification of work duties and performance expectations, (3) retraining and supports at the workplace, and (4) modification of the physical work environment and/or the provision of adaptive aids/technologies. Processes relevant to ensuring effective accommodations included: (1) developing knowledge about accommodations, (2) employer's ability to accommodate, (3) negotiating reasonable accommodations, (4) customizing accommodations, and (5) implementing and monitoring accommodation plans. Accommodation challenges included: (1) survivors' fears requesting accommodations, (2) developing clear and specific accommodations, (3) difficult to accommodate jobs, and (4) workplace challenges, including strained pre-cancer workplace relationships, insufficient/inflexible workplace policies, employer concerns regarding productivity and precedent setting, and limited modified duties. Accommodations need to be customized and clearly linked to survivors' specific job demands, work context, and available workplace supports. Survivors need to feel comfortable disclosing the need for accommodations. Ongoing communication and monitoring are required to ensure accommodations are implemented and changes made to the return to work plan as required. The provision of appropriate workplace accommodations can enhance survivors' abilities to stay or return to work.

SU-F-J-105: Towards a Novel Treatment Planning Pipeline Delivering Pareto- Optimal Plans While Enabling Inter- and Intrafraction Plan Adaptation

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

Kontaxis, C; Bol, G; Lagendijk, J

2016-06-15

Purpose: To develop a new IMRT treatment planning methodology suitable for the new generation of MR-linear accelerator machines. The pipeline is able to deliver Pareto-optimal plans and can be utilized for conventional treatments as well as for inter- and intrafraction plan adaptation based on real-time MR-data. Methods: A Pareto-optimal plan is generated using the automated multicriterial optimization approach Erasmus-iCycle. The resulting dose distribution is used as input to the second part of the pipeline, an iterative process which generates deliverable segments that target the latest anatomical state and gradually converges to the prescribed dose. This process continues until a certainmore » percentage of the dose has been delivered. Under a conventional treatment, a Segment Weight Optimization (SWO) is then performed to ensure convergence to the prescribed dose. In the case of inter- and intrafraction adaptation, post-processing steps like SWO cannot be employed due to the changing anatomy. This is instead addressed by transferring the missing/excess dose to the input of the subsequent fraction. In this work, the resulting plans were delivered on a Delta4 phantom as a final Quality Assurance test. Results: A conventional static SWO IMRT plan was generated for two prostate cases. The sequencer faithfully reproduced the input dose for all volumes of interest. For the two cases the mean relative dose difference of the PTV between the ideal input and sequenced dose was 0.1% and −0.02% respectively. Both plans were delivered on a Delta4 phantom and passed the clinical Quality Assurance procedures by achieving 100% pass rate at a 3%/3mm gamma analysis. Conclusion: We have developed a new sequencing methodology capable of online plan adaptation. In this work, we extended the pipeline to support Pareto-optimal input and clinically validated that it can accurately achieve these ideal distributions, while its flexible design enables inter- and intrafraction plan adaptation. This research is financially supported by Elekta AB, Stockholm, Sweden.« less

48 CFR 970.0470-1 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... establish the environment, safety, and health portion of the list identified in paragraph (b) of this section. (d) Environmental, safety, and health (ES&H) requirements appropriate for work conducted under a..., Integration of Environment, Safety, and Health into Work Planning and Execution. When such a process is used...

48 CFR 970.0470-1 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... establish the environment, safety, and health portion of the list identified in paragraph (b) of this section. (d) Environmental, safety, and health (ES&H) requirements appropriate for work conducted under a..., Integration of Environment, Safety, and Health into Work Planning and Execution. When such a process is used...

48 CFR 970.0470-1 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... establish the environment, safety, and health portion of the list identified in paragraph (b) of this section. (d) Environmental, safety, and health (ES&H) requirements appropriate for work conducted under a..., Integration of Environment, Safety, and Health into Work Planning and Execution. When such a process is used...

48 CFR 970.0470-1 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... establish the environment, safety, and health portion of the list identified in paragraph (b) of this section. (d) Environmental, safety, and health (ES&H) requirements appropriate for work conducted under a..., Integration of Environment, Safety, and Health into Work Planning and Execution. When such a process is used...

Wood transportation systems-a spin-off of a computerized information and mapping technique

Treesearch

William W. Phillips; Thomas J. Corcoran

1978-01-01

A computerized mapping system originally developed for planning the control of the spruce budworm in Maine has been extended into a tool for planning road net-work development and optimizing transportation costs. A budgetary process and a mathematical linear programming routine are used interactively with the mapping and information retrieval capabilities of the system...

78 FR 66911 - Texas Eastern Transmission, LP; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-07

... mining of coal. The Commission will use this EA in its decision-making process to determine whether the... work to be performed for the planned longwall coal mining activities of Emerald Coal Resources, LP... pipeline facilities at their certificated design capacities during the planned longwall mining activities...

Career Survival: Strategic Job and Role Planning. Pfeiffer Career Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schein, Edgar H.

This book was designed to help managers and employees to decipher the two crucial elements in work design and human resource planning: the role network that surrounds every position and the key stakeholders whose expectations define the essence of the job. It provides a structured process for analyzing one's own job as well as the jobs of…

Analysis of Engineering Faculty Members' Reflections on Planning for Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warcholak, Nicholas D.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to begin development of a method to better describe the instructional planning processes of post-secondary teachers. Long term, it is hoped this work might have constructive implications for faculty development by providing a few case studies demonstrating how instructors with a strong interest in teaching think about…

Implementation plan for HANDI 2000 TWRS master equipment list

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

BENNION, S.I.

This document presents the implementation plan for an additional deliverable of the HANDI 2000 Project. The PassPort Equipment Data module processes include those portions of the COTS PassPort system required to support tracking and management of the Master Equipment List for Lockheed Martin Hanford Company (LMHC) and custom software created to work with the COTS products.

Development of a Conference Planning Model Using Integrated Database, Word Processing, and Spreadsheet Software.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stevens, William E.

This report presents a model for conducting a statewide conference for the approximately 900 members of the South Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics (SCCTM) using the AppleWorks integrated software as the basis of the implementation plan. The first and second chapters provide background information on the conference and the…

Unit Planning Grids for Visual Arts--Grade 9-12 Advanced.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delaware State Dept. of Education, Dover.

This planning grid for teaching visual arts (advanced) in grades 9-12 in Delaware outlines the following six standards for students to complete: (1) students will select and use form, media, techniques, and processes to create works of art and communicate meaning; (2) students will create ways to use visual, spatial, and temporal concepts in…

Holding a Sustainability Bearing through Cutty-Grass and Clearings: Implementing Sustainability during Disruptive Organisational Changes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

North, Chris; Jansen, Chris

2013-01-01

This article explores our experiences as faculty implementing a five year sustainability strategic plan within the Outdoor and Environmental Education (OEE) curriculum centre during a time of organisational restructuring. This paper builds on the work of Jansen and Boardman (2011) who describe the process of developing the strategic plan and some…

The Iterative Design Process in Research and Development: A Work Experience Paper

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sullivan, George F. III

2013-01-01

The iterative design process is one of many strategies used in new product development. Top-down development strategies, like waterfall development, place a heavy emphasis on planning and simulation. The iterative process, on the other hand, is better suited to the management of small to medium scale projects. Over the past four months, I have worked with engineers at Johnson Space Center on a multitude of electronics projects. By describing the work I have done these last few months, analyzing the factors that have driven design decisions, and examining the testing and verification process, I will demonstrate that iterative design is the obvious choice for research and development projects.

The evolution of an evaluation: a case study using the tribal participatory research model.

PubMed

Richmond, Lucinda S; Peterson, Donna J; Betts, Sherry C

2008-10-01

This article presents a case study of how the evaluation design for a dating violence prevention and/or youth development program for American Indian youth in Arizona evolved throughout the project. Particular attention is given to how the evaluation design was guided by the tribal participatory research model. A brief rationale for the project is presented along with literature on culturally competent evaluation and research with American Indians. A description of the project and the unique communities in which it was implemented is provided. The focus of the article is the process of how the evaluation plan changed and how various factors influenced this process (e.g., feedback from community stakeholders, conversations with funder, results of process evaluation, suggestions from literature, the authors' experience working in American Indian communities). The authors conclude with lessons learned for others to consider as they develop working relationships and evaluation plans in similar communities.

Building the capacity of health authorities to influence land use and transportation planning: Lessons learned from the Healthy Canada by Design CLASP Project in British Columbia.

PubMed

Miro, Alice; Perrotta, Kim; Evans, Heather; Kishchuk, Natalie A; Gram, Claire; Stanwick, Richard S; Swinkels, Helena M

2014-08-06

The main objective of the Healthy Canada by Design CLASP Initiative in British Columbia (BC) was to develop, implement and evaluate a capacity-building project for health authorities. The desired outcomes of the project were as follows: 1) increased capacity of the participating health authorities to productively engage in land use and transportation planning processes; 2) new and sustained relationships or collaborations among the participating health authorities and among health authorities, local governments and other built environment stakeholders; and 3) indication of health authority influence and/or application of health evidence and tools in land use and transportation plans and policies. This project was designed to enhance the capacity of three regional health authorities, namely Fraser Health, Island Health and Vancouver Coastal Health, and their staff. These were considered the project's participants. The BC regions served by the three health authorities cover the urban, suburban and rural spectrum across relatively large and diverse geographic areas. The populations have broad ranges in socio-economic status, demographic profiles and cultural and political backgrounds. The Initiative provided the three health authorities with a consultant who had several years of experience working on land use and transportation planning. The consultant conducted situational assessments to understand the baseline knowledge and skill gaps, assets and objectives for built environment work for each of the participating health authorities. On the basis of this information, the consultant developed customized capacity-building work plans for each of the health authorities and assisted them with implementation. Capacity-building activities were as follows: researching health and built environment strategies, policies and evidence; transferring health evidence and promising policies and practices from other jurisdictions to local planning contexts; providing training and support with regard to health and the built environment to health authority staff; bringing together public health staff with local planners for networking; and participating in land use planning processes. The project helped to expand the capacity of participating health authorities to influence land use and transportation planning decisions by increasing the content and process expertise of public health staff. The project informed structural changes within health authorities, such as staffing reallocations to advance built environment work after the project. Health authorities also forged new relationships within and across sectors, which facilitated knowledge exchange and access of the public health sector to opportunities to influence built environment decisions. By the end of the project, there was emerging evidence of a health presence in land use policy documents. The project helped to prioritize, accelerate and formalize the participating health authorities' involvement in land use and transportation planning processes. In the long term, this is expected to lead to health policies and programs that consider the built environment, and to built environment policies and practices that integrate population health goals, thereby reducing the risk of chronic diseases.

Surface-Water Quality-Assurance Plan for the Tallahassee Office, U.S. Geological Survey

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tomlinson, Stewart A.

2006-01-01

This Tallahassee Office Surface-Water Quality-Assurance Plan documents the standards, policies, and procedures used by the Tallahassee Office for activities related to the collection, processing, storage, analysis, and publication of surface-water data. This plan serves as a guide to all Tallahassee Office personnel involved in surface-water data activities, and changes as the needs and requirements of the Tallahassee Office, Florida Integrated Science Center, and Water Discipline change. Reg-ular updates to this Plan represent an integral part of the quality-assurance process. In the Tallahassee Office, direct oversight and responsibility by the employee(s) assigned to a surface-water station, combined with team approaches in all work efforts, assure high-quality data, analyses, reviews, and reports for cooperating agencies and the public.

Using IT to improve quality at NewYork-Presybterian Hospital: a requirements-driven strategic planning process.

PubMed

Kuperman, Gilad J; Boyer, Aurelia; Cole, Curt; Forman, Bruce; Stetson, Peter D; Cooper, Mary

2006-01-01

At NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, we are committed to the delivery of high quality care. We have implemented a strategic planning process to determine the information technology initiatives that will best help us improve quality. The process began with the creation of a Clinical Quality and IT Committee. The Committee identified 2 high priority goals that would enable demonstrably high quality care: 1) excellence at data warehousing, and 2) optimal use of automated clinical documentation to capture encounter-related quality and safety data. For each high priority goal, a working group was created to develop specific recommendations. The Data Warehousing subgroup has recommended the implementation of an architecture management process and an improved ability for users to get access to aggregate data. The Structured Documentation subgroup is establishing recommendations for a documentation template creation process. The strategic planning process at times is slow, but assures that the organization is focusing on the information technology activities most likely to lead to improved quality.

Using IT to Improve Quality at NewYork-Presybterian Hospital: A Requirements-Driven Strategic Planning Process

PubMed Central

Kuperman, Gilad J.; Boyer, Aurelia; Cole, Curt; Forman, Bruce; Stetson, Peter D.; Cooper, Mary

2006-01-01

At NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, we are committed to the delivery of high quality care. We have implemented a strategic planning process to determine the information technology initiatives that will best help us improve quality. The process began with the creation of a Clinical Quality and IT Committee. The Committee identified 2 high priority goals that would enable demonstrably high quality care: 1) excellence at data warehousing, and 2) optimal use of automated clinical documentation to capture encounter-related quality and safety data. For each high priority goal, a working group was created to develop specific recommendations. The Data Warehousing subgroup has recommended the implementation of an architecture management process and an improved ability for users to get access to aggregate data. The Structured Documentation subgroup is establishing recommendations for a documentation template creation process. The strategic planning process at times is slow, but assures that the organization is focusing on the information technology activities most likely to lead to improved quality. PMID:17238381

Enroute flight planning: The design of cooperative planning systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Philip J.; Layton, Chuck; Mccoy, Elaine

1990-01-01

Design concepts and principles to guide in the building of cooperative problem solving systems are being developed and evaluated. In particular, the design of cooperative systems for enroute flight planning is being studied. The investigation involves a three stage process, modeling human performance in existing environments, building cognitive artifacts, and studying the performance of people working in collaboration with these artifacts. The most significant design concepts and principles identified thus far are the principle focus.

Individual versus interprofessional team performance in formulating care transition plans: A randomised study of trainees from five professional groups.

PubMed

Farrell, Timothy W; Supiano, Katherine P; Wong, Bob; Luptak, Marilyn K; Luther, Brenda; Andersen, Troy C; Wilson, Rebecca; Wilby, Frances; Yang, Rumei; Pepper, Ginette A; Brunker, Cherie P

2018-05-01

Health professions trainees' performance in teams is rarely evaluated, but increasingly important as the healthcare delivery systems in which they will practice move towards team-based care. Effective management of care transitions is an important aspect of interprofessional teamwork. This mixed-methods study used a crossover design to randomise health professions trainees to work as individuals and as teams to formulate written care transition plans. Experienced external raters assessed the quality of the written care transition plans as well as both the quality of team process and overall team performance. Written care transition plan quality did not vary between individuals and teams (21.8 vs. 24.4, respectively, p = 0.42). The quality of team process did not correlate with the quality of the team-generated written care transition plans (r = -0.172, p = 0.659). However, there was a significant correlation between the quality of team process and overall team performance (r = 0.692, p = 0.039). Teams with highly engaged recorders, performing an internal team debrief, had higher-quality care transition plans. These results suggest that high-quality interprofessional care transition plans may require advance instruction as well as teamwork in finalising the plan.

Automated geospatial Web Services composition based on geodata quality requirements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cruz, Sérgio A. B.; Monteiro, Antonio M. V.; Santos, Rafael

2012-10-01

Service-Oriented Architecture and Web Services technologies improve the performance of activities involved in geospatial analysis with a distributed computing architecture. However, the design of the geospatial analysis process on this platform, by combining component Web Services, presents some open issues. The automated construction of these compositions represents an important research topic. Some approaches to solving this problem are based on AI planning methods coupled with semantic service descriptions. This work presents a new approach using AI planning methods to improve the robustness of the produced geospatial Web Services composition. For this purpose, we use semantic descriptions of geospatial data quality requirements in a rule-based form. These rules allow the semantic annotation of geospatial data and, coupled with the conditional planning method, this approach represents more precisely the situations of nonconformities with geodata quality that may occur during the execution of the Web Service composition. The service compositions produced by this method are more robust, thus improving process reliability when working with a composition of chained geospatial Web Services.

Parent/Educator Meetings Can Work for Your Child.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rothschild, Ilene; Bianchi, Julia

1986-01-01

Parents have a real opportunity to influence their child's education through participation in the Committee on the Handicapped process which includes referral, evaluation, Individualized Education Program (IEP) planning and review. Specific guidelines for parent participation in this process are discussed, including parent/teacher conferences,…

Center Planning and Development Student Engineer at KSC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jenkins, Kenneth T., Jr.

2015-01-01

This summer I was the Student Trainee (Engineering) Pathways Intern (co-op) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in the Center Planning & Development (CPD) Directorate. CPD works with commercial companies who are interested in using KSC's unique capabilities for spaceflight, spacecraft processing, ground systems and Research & Development (R&D) projects that fall in line with NASA's Mission and Vision. CPD is divided into three (3) groups: (1) AD-A, which works on the Master Planning for the center, (2) AD-B (where I am), which works on project control, management and integration, and (3) AD-C, which works on partnership development. CPD's main goal is to make KSC the world's preeminent multi-user spaceport and maintain the center as a leader in space exploration. CPD is a very diverse group of employees having a wide knowledge of not only the Space Shuttle, but also Expendable Launch Vehicles (ELV). The director of CPD, Scott Colloredo, is on the advisory board for Commercial Space Operations (CSO) and has a degree from ERAU. I worked on a number of different tasks for AD-B, as well as CPD, that includes, but not limited to: reviewing and reissuing engineering documents, weekly notes for CPD and senior management, engineering familiarizations with facilities at KSC, leading a tour for the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Career Services office, and working on actual agreements/proposals that will be used in the partnership process with multiple partners, along with other projects. Most of the work I have done is sensitive information and cannot be disclosed.

Market-Based Approaches to Managing Science Return from Planetary Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wessen, Randii R.; Porter, David; Hanson, Robin

1996-01-01

A research plan is described for the design and testing of a method for the planning and negotiation of science observations. The research plan is presented in relation to the fact that the current method, which involves a hierarchical process of science working groups, is unsuitable for the planning of the Cassini mission. The research plan involves the market-based approach in which participants are allocated budgets of scheduling points. The points are used to provide an intensity of preference for the observations being scheduled. In this way, the schedulers do not have to limit themselves to solving major conflicts, but try to maximize the number of scheduling points that result in a conflict-free timeline. Incentives are provided for the participants by the fixed budget concerning their tradeoff decisions. A degree of feedback is provided in the process so that the schedulers may rebid based on the current timeline.

Return-to-work success despite conflicts: an exploration of decision-making during a work rehabilitation program.

PubMed

Gouin, Marie-Michelle; Coutu, Marie-France; Durand, Marie-José

2017-11-12

Collective decision-making by stakeholders appears important to return-to-work success, yet few studies have explored the processes involved. This study aims to explore the influence of decision-making on return-to-work for workers with musculoskeletal or common mental disorders. This study is a secondary analysis using data from three earlier multiple-case studies that documented decision-making during similar and comparable work rehabilitation programs. Individual interviews were conducted at the end of the program with stakeholders, namely, the disabled workers and representatives of health care professionals, employers, unions and insurers. Verbatims were analysed inductively. The 28 decision-making processes (cases) led to 115 different decisions-making instances and included the following components: subjects of the decisions, stakeholders' concerns and powers, and types of decision-making. No differences were found in decision-making processes relative to the workers' diagnoses or return-to-work status. However, overall analysis of decision-making revealed that stakeholder agreement on a return-to-work goal and acceptance of an intervention plan in which the task demands aligned with the worker's capacities were essential for return-to-work success. These results support the possibility of return-to-work success despite conflictual decision-making processes. In addition to facilitating consensual decisions, future studies should be aimed at facilitating negotiated decisions. Implications for rehabilitation Facilitating decision-making, with the aim of obtaining agreement from all stakeholders on a return-to-work goal and their acceptance of an intervention plan that respects the worker's capacities, is important for return-to-work success. Rehabilitation professionals should constantly be on the lookout for potential conflicts, which may either complicate the reach of an agreement between the stakeholders or constrain return-to-work possibilities. Rehabilitation professionals should also be constantly watching for workers' and employers' return-to-work concerns, as they may change during work rehabilitation, potentially challenging a reached agreement.

The rehabilitation plan can support clients' active engagement and facilitate the process of change - experiences from people with late effects of polio participating in a rehabilitation programme.

PubMed

Lexell, Eva Månsson; Lexell, Jan; Larsson-Lund, Maria

2016-01-01

To explore how the rehabilitation plan influences the rehabilitation process and its outcome in people with late effects of polio participating in an individualised goal-oriented interdisciplinary rehabilitation programme. Four women and two men with late effects of polio were interviewed before rehabilitation, at discharge, and at follow-up. Data were analysed according to the constant comparative method of grounded theory. The participants' experiences formed one core category: "The same starting point but different rehabilitation processes". Before rehabilitation, all participants experienced a similar starting point: Naïve understanding of rehabilitation. During rehabilitation, two separate processes followed. Four participants experienced their rehabilitation as being a mutually shared process that led to a process of change. They were actively engaged, using the rehabilitation plan, and working towards goals targeting a broad perspective of daily activities. The remaining two participants experienced their rehabilitation as a staff-directed process, with limited use of the rehabilitation plan, focusing on goals mainly related to body functions and self-care, not leading to any substantial changes. When clients experience that they develop a mutually shared rehabilitation process, based on a rehabilitation plan, they became more engaged in their rehabilitation and gained a better understanding of their participation during the process. Knowledge of the differences in how clients use the rehabilitation plan during the rehabilitation process can support their active engagement during rehabilitation. This, in turn, can promote a more holistic view among clients and professionals during the rehabilitation for people with late effects of polio. Implications for Rehabilitation Clients who experience a rehabilitation that is mutually shared with professionals, have a better understanding of their engagement during the rehabilitation process. When clients and professionals use the rehabilitation plan as a mutual tool, clients become more actively engaged in their rehabilitation process. A structured rehabilitation plan can serve as a map, and support clients' process of change during the rehabilitation process, also after the rehabilitation period is completed.

CQI: using the Hoshin planning system to design an orientation process.

PubMed

Platt, D; Laird, C

1995-01-01

The Hoshin planning system, developed in Japan after World War II, includes management tools intended specifically for planning new processes. There are seven tools, which can be used individually or in any combination: affinity diagrams, interrelationship digraphs, systematic diagrams, matrix diagrams, process decision program charts, arrow diagrams and prioritization matrices. The radiology department at Carson-Tahoe Hospital formed a CQI team to improve the training of front office clerks. The team quickly discovered that a new orientation program was needed and decided to use Hoshin tools to create one. Using the tools, the team identified and prioritized all relevant factors, described specific tasks needed to complete the planning process and how long each would take, anticipated problems, and assigned areas of responsibility to members of the team. Each time the team grew weary or discouraged, the clarity and organization afforded by the tools helped them feel productive and in control of the process. The team was amazed at the creative ideas they generated through this 3-month-long process. Not only did they develop and implement a new orientation program, they also cultivated a stronger sense of pride and confidence in their work and each other.

Louisiana's 2017 Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haase, B.

2017-12-01

The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority is charged with coordinating restoration and protection investments through the development and implementation of Louisiana's Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast. The first master plan was submitted to the Louisiana Legislature in 2007 and is mandated to be updated every five years. The plan's objectives are to reduce economic losses from flooding, promote sustainability by harnessing natural processes, provide habitats for commercial and recreational activities, sustain cultural heritage and promote a viable working coast. Two goals drive decision making about the appropriate suite of restoration and protection projects to include in the Plan: restore and maintain Louisiana's wetlands and provide flood protection for coastal Louisiana's citizens. As part of the decision making process, a wide range of additional metrics are used to evaluate the complex, competing needs of communities, industries, navigation and fisheries. The master plan decision making process includes the identification of individual protection and restoration projects that are evaluated with landscape, storm surge, and risk assessment models and then ranked by how well they perform over time across the set of decision drivers and metrics. High performing projects are assembled into alternatives constrained by available funding and river resources. The planning process is grounded not only on extensive scientific analysis but also on interdisciplinary collaboration between scientists, engineers, planners, community advocates, and coastal stakeholders which creates the long-term dialogue needed for complex environmental planning decisions. It is through this collaboration that recommended alternatives are reviewed and modified to develop the final Plan. Keywords:alternative formulation, comprehensive planning, ecosystem restoration, flood risk reduction and stakeholder engagement

Group Work and Outreach Plans for College Counselors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fitch, Trey, Ed.; Marshall, Jennifer L., Ed.

2011-01-01

In this book, group work and college counseling leaders offer step-by-step instruction in the effective use and processing of structured group activities on topics such as test anxiety; stress and anxiety management; ADHD; career development; substance abuse; eating disorders; and the unique concerns faced by GLBT students, first-generation…

A systematic strategic planning process focused on improved community engagement by an academic health center: the University of Kansas Medical Center's story.

PubMed

Cook, David C; Nelson, Eve-Lynn; Ast, Cori; Lillis, Teresa

2013-05-01

A growing number of academic health centers (AHCs) are considering approaches to expand collaboration with their communities in order to address complex and multisystem health concerns. In 2010, internal leaders at the University of Kansas Medical Center undertook a strategic planning process to enhance both community engagement activities and the scholarship resulting from these engagement activities. The authors describe the strategic planning process, recommendations, and actions associated with elevating community engagement within the AHC's mission and priorities. The strategic planning process included conducting an inventory of community engagement activities within the AHC; analyzing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for community engagement work; and identifying goals and strategies to improve future community engagement activities and scholarship. The resulting road map for enhancing community engagement at their institution through 2015 consists of four main strategies: emphasize scholarship in community engagement, revise organizational structures to better facilitate community engagement, prioritize current engagement activities to ensure appropriate use of resources, and enhance communication of engagement initiatives to further develop stakeholder relationships.The authors also discuss implementation of the plan to date and highlight lessons learned that may inform other AHCs as they enhance and expand similar endeavors.

Healthcare Managers' Experiences of Leading the Implementation of Video Conferencing in Discharge Planning Sessions: An Interview Study.

PubMed

Hofflander, Malin; Nilsson, Lina; Eriksén, Sara; Borg, Christel

2016-03-01

This article describes healthcare managers' experiences of leading the implementation of video conferencing in discharge planning sessions as a new tool in everyday practice. Data collection took place through individual interviews and the interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis with an inductive approach. The results indicate that managers identified two distinct leadership perspectives when they reflected on the implementation process. They described a desired way of leading the implementation and communicating about the upcoming change, understanding and securing support for decisions, as well as ensuring that sufficient time is available throughout the change process. They also, however, described how they perceived that the implementation process was actually taking place, highlighting the lack of planning and preparation as well as the need for support and to be supportive, and having the courage to adopt and lead the implementation. It is suggested that managers at all levels require more information and training in how to encourage staff to become involved in designing their everyday work and in the implementation process. Managers, too, need ongoing organizational support for good leadership throughout the implementation of video conferencing in discharge planning sessions, including planning, start-up, implementation, and evaluation.

NPTool: Towards Scalability and Reliability of Business Process Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Braghetto, Kelly Rosa; Ferreira, João Eduardo; Pu, Calton

Currently one important challenge in business process management is provide at the same time scalability and reliability of business process executions. This difficulty becomes more accentuated when the execution control assumes complex countless business processes. This work presents NavigationPlanTool (NPTool), a tool to control the execution of business processes. NPTool is supported by Navigation Plan Definition Language (NPDL), a language for business processes specification that uses process algebra as formal foundation. NPTool implements the NPDL language as a SQL extension. The main contribution of this paper is a description of the NPTool showing how the process algebra features combined with a relational database model can be used to provide a scalable and reliable control in the execution of business processes. The next steps of NPTool include reuse of control-flow patterns and support to data flow management.

Implementation Plan for Flexible Automation in U.S. Shipyards

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-01-01

process steps, cramped work sites, interrupted geometries , irregular or novel shapes, and other factors that affect automatability. We also try to...held by 2 hands in awkward places. Interrupt geometry of plates and beams. Cannot predict outcome. Creates need to measure and recut. Automation, if...of standard. enough over time I every job. I Rearrange work.Redefine work units. Too many interruptions Time, space, geometry only a little work gets

NASA Supportability Engineering Implementation Utilizing DoD Practices and Processes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, David A.; Smith, John V.

2010-01-01

The Ares I design and development program made the determination early in the System Design Review Phase to utilize DoD ILS and LSA approach for supportability engineering as an integral part of the system engineering process. This paper is to provide a review of the overall approach to design Ares-I with an emphasis on a more affordable, supportable, and sustainable launch vehicle. Discussions will include the requirements development, design influence, support concept alternatives, ILS and LSA planning, Logistics support analyses/trades performed, LSA tailoring for NASA Ares Program, support system infrastructure identification, ILS Design Review documentation, Working Group coordination, and overall ILS implementation. At the outset, the Ares I Project initiated the development of the Integrated Logistics Support Plan (ILSP) and a Logistics Support Analysis process to provide a path forward for the management of the Ares-I ILS program and supportability analysis activities. The ILSP provide the initial planning and coordination between the Ares-I Project Elements and Ground Operation Project. The LSA process provided a system engineering approach in the development of the Ares-I supportability requirements; influence the design for supportability and development of alternative support concepts that satisfies the program operability requirements. The LSA planning and analysis results are documented in the Logistics Support Analysis Report. This document was required during the Ares-I System Design Review (SDR) and Preliminary Design Review (PDR) review cycles. To help coordinate the LSA process across the Ares-I project and between programs, the LSA Report is updated and released quarterly. A System Requirement Analysis was performed to determine the supportability requirements and technical performance measurements (TPMs). Two working groups were established to provide support in the management and implement the Ares-I ILS program, the Integrated Logistics Support Working Group (ILSWG) and the Logistics Support Analysis Record Working Group (LSARWG). The Ares I ILSWG is established to assess the requirements and conduct, evaluate analyses and trade studies associated with acquisition logistic and supportability processes and to resolve Ares I integrated logistics and supportability issues. It established a strategic collaborative alliance for coordination of Logistics Support Analysis activates in support of the integrated Ares I vehicle design and development of logistics support infrastructure. A Joint Ares I - Orion LSAR Working Group was established to: 1) Guide the development of Ares-I and Orion LSAR data and serve as a model for future Constellation programs, 2) Develop rules and assumptions that will apply across the Constellation program with regards to the program's LSAR development, and 3) Maintain the Constellation LSAR Style Guide.

Costs and effects of a 'healthy living' approach to community development in two deprived communities: findings from a mixed methods study

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Inequalities in health have proved resistant to 'top down' approaches. It is increasingly recognised that health promotion initiatives are unlikely to succeed without strong local involvement at all stages of the process and many programmes now use grass roots approaches. A healthy living approach to community development (HLA) was developed as an innovative response to local concerns about a lack of appropriate services in two deprived communities in Pembrokeshire, West Wales. We sought to assess feasibility, costs, benefits and working relationships of this HLA. Methods The HLA intervention operated through existing community forums and focused on the whole community and its relationship with statutory and voluntary sectors. Local people were trained as community researchers and gathered views about local needs though resident interviews. Forums used interview results to write action plans, disseminated to commissioning organisations. The process was supported throughout through the project. The evaluation used a multi-method before and after study design including process and outcome formative and summative evaluation; data gathered through documentary evidence, diaries and reflective accounts, semi-structured interviews, focus groups and costing proformas. Main outcome measures were processes and timelines of implementation of HLA; self reported impact on communities and participants; community-agency processes of liaison; costs. Results Communities were able to produce and disseminate action plans based on locally-identified needs. The process was slower than anticipated: few community changes had occurred but expectations were high. Community participants gained skills and confidence. Cross-sector partnership working developed. The process had credibility within service provider organisations but mechanisms for refocusing commissioning were patchy. Intervention costs averaged £58,304 per community per annum. Conclusions The intervention was feasible and inexpensive, with indications of potential impact at individual, community and policy planning levels. However, it is a long term process which requires sustained investment and must be embedded in planning and service delivery processes. PMID:21223586

The EM SSAB Annual Work Plan Process: Focusing Board Efforts and Resources - 13667

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

Young, Ralph

One of the most daunting tasks for any new member of a local board of the Environmental Management Site Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB) is to try to understand the scope of the clean-up activities going on at the site. In most cases, there are at least two or three major cleanup activities in progress as well as monitoring of past projects. When planning for future projects is added to the mix, the list of projects can be long. With the clean-up activities involving all major environmental media - air, water, soils, and groundwater, new EM SSAB members can findmore » themselves totally overwhelmed and ineffective. Helping new members get over this initial hurdle is a major objective of EM and all local boards of the EM SSAB. Even as members start to understand the size and scope of the projects at a site, they can still be frustrated at the length of time it takes to see results and get projects completed. Many project and clean-up timelines for most of the sites go beyond 10 years, so it's not unusual for an EM SSAB member to see the completion of only 1 or 2 projects over the course of their 6-year term on the board. This paper explores the annual work planning process of the EM SSAB local boards, one tool that can be used to educate EM SSAB members into seeing the broader picture for the site. EM SSAB local work plans divide the site into projects focused on a specific environmental issue or media such as groundwater and/or waste disposal options. Projects are further broken down into smaller segments by highlighting major milestones. Using these metrics, local boards of the EM SSAB can start to quantify the effectiveness of the project in achieving the ultimate goal of site clean-up. These metrics can also trigger board advice and recommendations for EM. At the beginning of each fiscal year, the EM SSAB work plan provides a road map with quantifiable checkpoints for activities throughout the year. When the work plans are integrated with site-specific, enforceable regulatory milestones, they can provide a comprehensive work plan for not only the board, but also regulators, site contractors, and DOE. Because the work plans are reviewed and approved by DOE, they carry some weight in holding local boards of the EM SSAB accountable. This structure provides the basis for local boards to achieve their primary function, to provide DOE with information, advice, and recommendations concerning issues affecting the EM program at the site. (authors)« less

A collaborative interaction and visualization multi-modal environment for surgical planning.

PubMed

Foo, Jung Leng; Martinez-Escobar, Marisol; Peloquin, Catherine; Lobe, Thom; Winer, Eliot

2009-01-01

The proliferation of virtual reality visualization and interaction technologies has changed the way medical image data is analyzed and processed. This paper presents a multi-modal environment that combines a virtual reality application with a desktop application for collaborative surgical planning. Both visualization applications can function independently but can also be synced over a network connection for collaborative work. Any changes to either application is immediately synced and updated to the other. This is an efficient collaboration tool that allows multiple teams of doctors with only an internet connection to visualize and interact with the same patient data simultaneously. With this multi-modal environment framework, one team working in the VR environment and another team from a remote location working on a desktop machine can both collaborate in the examination and discussion for procedures such as diagnosis, surgical planning, teaching and tele-mentoring.

Blockbuster Ideas: Activities for Breaking Up Block Periods.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bohince, Judy

1996-01-01

Describes how to approach block scheduling of science classes. Discusses the planning process, specific activities that work well in longer science classes, and techniques for motivating students. (DDR)

40 CFR 35.515 - Evaluation of performance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

....515 Evaluation of performance. (a) Joint evaluation process. The applicant and the Regional... work plan (see section 35.507(b)(2)(iv)). A description of the evaluation process and reporting... annually and must satisfy the requirements for progress reporting under 40 CFR 31.40(b). (b) Elements of...

Analyzing MER Uplink Reports

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Savin, Stephen C.

2005-01-01

The MER project includes two rovers working simultaneously on opposite sides of Mars each receiving commands only once a day. Creating this uplink is critical, since a failed uplink means a lost day and a waste of money. Examining the process of creating this uplink, I tracked the use of the system developed for requesting observations as well as the development, from stage to stage, in forming an activity plan. I found the system for requesting observations was commonly misused, if used at all. There are half a dozen reports to document the creation of the uplink plan and often there are discrepancies among them. Despite this, the uplink process worked very well and MER has been one of the most successful missions for NASA in recent memory. Still it is clear there is room for improvement.

Integrated risk management

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hunsucker, J. L.

1993-01-01

The purpose of this report is to first present a basis or foundation for the building of an integrated risk management plan and them to present the plan. The integration referred to is across both the temporal and the hierarchical dimensions. Complexity, consequence, and credibility seem to be driving the need for the consideration of risk. Reduction of personal bias and reproducibility of the decision making process seem to be driving the consideration of a formal risk plan. While risk can be used as either a selection tool or a control tool, this paper concentrates on the selection usage. Risk relies on stated purpose. The tightness of the definition of purpose and success is directly reflected in the definition and control of risk. Much of a risk management plan could be designed by the answers to the questions of why, what, who, when, and where. However, any plan must provide the following information about a threat or risk: likelihood, consequence, predictability, reliability, and reproducibility. While the environment at NASA is seen as warm, but not hot, for the introduction of a risk program, some encouragement is seen if the following problems are addressed: no champion, no commitment of resource, confused definitions, lack of direction and focus, a hard sell, NASA culture, many choices of assessment methods, and cost. The plan is designed to follow the normal method of doing work and is structured to follow either the work break down structure or a functional structure very well. The parts of the plan include: defining purpose and success, initial threat assessment, initial risk assessment, reconciling threats and parameters, putting part of the information down and factoring the information back into the decision process as it comes back up, and developing inferences. Two major suggestions are presented. One is to build an office of risk management to be used as a resource by managers in doing the risk process. Another is to form a pilot program to try out the details in the plan and modify the method where needed.

PNNL Apatite Investigation at 100-NR-2 Quality Assurance Project Plan

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

Fix, N. J.

In 2004, the U.S. Department of Energy, Fluor Hanford, Inc., Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and the Washington Department of Ecology agreed that the long-term strategy for groundwater remediation at the 100-N Area would include apatite sequestration as the primary treatment, followed by a secondary treatment if necessary. Since then, the agencies have worked together to agree on which apatite sequestration technology has the greatest chance of reducing strontium-90 flux to the Columbia River. This Quality Assurance Project Plan provides the quality assurance requirements and processes that will be followed by staff working on the PNNL Apatite Investigation at 100-NR-2more » Project. The plan is designed to be used exclusively by project staff.« less

Convention Planning: Enriching the Senior Experience with an Applied Communication Class.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muir, Janette Kenner

When an instructor was asked to serve as the second vice president for the Eastern Communication Association, she found ways to incorporate her students into the process of convention planning. To assist her in her duties she developed a special topics course in applied communication that required the students to carry out much of the work for the…

School Resegregation: Residential and School Process Study. A Collaborative Leadership Planning/Training Project, Third Year: 1978-79. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Georgia

This report summarizes the work undertaken by the Berkeley Unified School District's (BUSD) project to define a collaborative leadership planning/training model to combat school resegregation. In 1972, four years after full desegregation, the BUSD experienced a marked shift in the school population and its distribution. In 1976, the BUSD committed…

Exploring a Literacy Website that Works: ReadWriteThink.org

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Rebecca S.; Balajthy, Ernest

2007-01-01

While it is easy to find lesson plans on the Internet, the quality of plans and the formats in which they are written vary considerably, and the process of sifting through the chaff in order to find the wheat can be time-consuming and discouraging. To address these concerns the authors of this Technology in Literacy column introduce…

Finding the Balance between Process and Product through Perceptual Lesson Planning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Uhrmacher, P. Bruce; Conrad, Bradley M.; Moroye, Christy M.

2013-01-01

Background/Context: Lesson planning is one of the most common activities required of teachers; however, since the late 1970s and early 1980s, it has not been a major focus of study, either conceptually or empirically. Although there are recent articles on the topic, much of the current work is specific to examining a particular teaching method or…

Labor of love. A model for planning human resource needs.

PubMed

Brady, F J

1989-01-01

Typically, the annual budgeting process is the hospital's only attempt to forecast human resource requirements. In times of rapid change, this traditional ad hoc approach is incapable of satisfying either the Catholic hospital's ethical obligations as an employer or its responsibilities to provide healthcare to the poor and suffering. Assumptions about future activity, including volume projections on admissions, patient days, and other services, influence the budgeting process to a large degree. Because the amount of work to be done and the number of employees required to do it are related, changes in demand for service immediately and directly affect staffing requirements. A hospital cannot achieve ethical human resource management or provide high-quality healthcare if inadequate planning forces management into a cycle of crisis-coping--reacting to this year's nursing shortage with a major recruiting effort and next year's financial crunch with a traumatic reduction in force. The human resource planning approach outlined here helps the hospital meet legitimate business needs while satisfying its ethical obligations. The model has four phases and covers a charge to the planning committee; committee appointments; announcements; the establishment of ground rules, focus, and task forces; and the work of each task force.

Logistic Principles Application for Managing the Extraction and Transportation of Solid Minerals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tyurin, Alexey

2017-11-01

Reducing the cost of resources in solid mineral extraction is an urgent task. For its solution the article proposes logistic approach use to management of mining company all resources, including extraction processes, transport, mineral handling and storage. The account of the uneven operation of mining, transport units and complexes for processing and loading coal into railroad cars allows you to identify the shortcomings in the work of the entire enterprise and reduce resources use at the planned production level. In the article the mining planning model taking into account the dynamics of the production, transport stations and export coal to consumers rail transport on example of Krasnoyarsk region Nazarovo JSC «Razrez Sereul'skiy». Rolling planning methods use and data aggregation allows you to split the planning horizon (month) on equal periods and to use of dynamic programming method for building mining optimal production programme for the month. Coal mining production program definition technique will help align the work of all enterprise units, to optimize resources of all areas, to establish a flexible relationship between manufacturer and consumer, to take into account the irregularity of rail transport.

Continental-Margin Processes Recorded in Shelf and Canyon Sediments. Sediment Deposition, Erosion and Accumulation on a Tidal Flat Adjacent to a River Mouth

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-01-01

to the formation and preservation of sedimentary strata in the seabed. The goal of the tidal-flats project during the first year was to help plan ...publish the STRATAFORM Master Volume (results are summarized under Work Completed); and 3) help with planning the Tidal Flats DRI (results are... Plan (White Paper), negotiating with Korean scientists about a modified study in Korea, and helping to identify and explore US tidal flats for

Strategic workforce planning for a multihospital, integrated delivery system.

PubMed

Datz, David; Hallberg, Colleen; Harris, Kathy; Harrison, Lisa; Samples, Patience

2012-01-01

Banner Health has long recognized the need to anticipate, beyond the immediate operational realities or even the annual budgeting projection exercises, the necessary workforce needs of the future. Thus, in 2011, Banner implemented a workforce planning model that included structures, processes, and tools for predicting workforce needs, with particular focus on identified critical systemwide practice areas. The model represents the incorporation of labor management tools and processes with more strategic, broad-view, long-term assessment and planning mechanisms. The sequential tying of the workforce planning lifecycle with the organization's strategy and financial planning process supports alignment of goals, objectives, and resource allocation. Collaboration among strategy, finance, human resources, and operations has provided us with the ability to identify critical position groups based on 3-year strategic priorities. By engaging leaders from across the organization, focusing on activities at facility, regional, and system levels, and building in mechanisms for accountability, we are now engaged in continuous evaluations of our delivery models, the competencies and preparations necessary for the staff to effectively function within those delivery models, and developing and implementing action plans designed to ensure adequate numbers of the staff whose competencies will be suited to the work expected of them.

Manufacturing engineering: Principles for optimization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koenig, Daniel T.

Various subjects in the area of manufacturing engineering are addressed. The topics considered include: manufacturing engineering organization concepts and management techniques, factory capacity and loading techniques, capital equipment programs, machine tool and equipment selection and implementation, producibility engineering, methods, planning and work management, and process control engineering in job shops. Also discussed are: maintenance engineering, numerical control of machine tools, fundamentals of computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacture, computer-aided process planning and data collection, group technology basis for plant layout, environmental control and safety, and the Integrated Productivity Improvement Program.

International Space Station Payload Training Overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Underwood, Deborah B.; Noneman, Steven R.; Sanchez, Julie N.

2001-01-01

This paper describes payload crew training-related activities performed by NASA and the U.S. Payload Developer (PD) community for the International Space Station (ISS) Program. It describes how payloads will be trained and the overall training planning and integration process. The overall concept, definition, and template for payload training are described. The roles and responsibilities of individuals, organizations, and groups involved are discussed. The facilities utilized during payload training and the primary processes and activities performed to plan, develop, implement, and administer payload training for ISS crews are briefly described. Areas of improvement to crew training processes that have been achieved or are currently being worked are identified.

A framework of knowledge creation processes in participatory simulation of hospital work systems.

PubMed

Andersen, Simone Nyholm; Broberg, Ole

2017-04-01

Participatory simulation (PS) is a method to involve workers in simulating and designing their own future work system. Existing PS studies have focused on analysing the outcome, and minimal attention has been devoted to the process of creating this outcome. In order to study this process, we suggest applying a knowledge creation perspective. The aim of this study was to develop a framework describing the process of how ergonomics knowledge is created in PS. Video recordings from three projects applying PS of hospital work systems constituted the foundation of process mining analysis. The analysis resulted in a framework revealing the sources of ergonomics knowledge creation as sequential relationships between the activities of simulation participants sharing work experiences; experimenting with scenarios; and reflecting on ergonomics consequences. We argue that this framework reveals the hidden steps of PS that are essential when planning and facilitating PS that aims at designing work systems. Practitioner Summary: When facilitating participatory simulation (PS) in work system design, achieving an understanding of the PS process is essential. By applying a knowledge creation perspective and process mining, we investigated the knowledge-creating activities constituting the PS process. The analysis resulted in a framework of the knowledge-creating process in PS.

Hospital capacity planning: from measuring stocks to modelling flows

PubMed Central

Wright, Stephen; Barlow, James; McKee, Martin

2010-01-01

Abstract The metric of “bed numbers” is commonly used in hospital planning, but it fails to capture key aspects of how hospital services are delivered. Drawing on a study of innovative hospital projects in Europe, we argue that hospital capacity planning should not be based on beds, but rather on the ability to deliver processes. We propose using approaches that are based on manufacturing theory such as “lean thinking” that focuses on the value that different processes add for the primary customer, i.e. the patient. We argue that it is beneficial to look at the hospital, not from the perspective of beds or specialties, but rather from the path taken by the patients who are treated in them, the respective processes delivered by health professionals and the facilities appropriate to those processes. Systematized care pathways seem to offer one avenue for achieving these goals. However, they need to be underpinned by a better understanding of the flows of patients, work and goods within a hospital, the bottlenecks that occur, and translation of this understanding into new capacity planning tools. PMID:20680129

[Electoral demography. The demographic dimension of a political process].

PubMed

Herrero, J M

1991-01-01

A complete and reliable knowledge of the potential voters is indispensable for holding elections in a democratic society. In 1990 a new Federal Code of Electoral Institutions and Procedures (COFIRE) was approved in Mexico. A new list of potential voters was to be created based on the 1990 census and without reference to the old list. The planning and implementation of the 1991 electoral rolls required great efficiency in order to complete the work in time for elections, while assuring its validity and legitimacy through a clear and participatory process in which all political parties played a permanent role. COFIRE designated July 1991 as the date for completion, allowing just 10 months for the entire process from planning to completion. The 1991 work represented a political process as much as a technical challenge. A working group from the political parties provided advice on all aspects of the work, from defining the social communications campaign to cartographic review and organization of field work. Although the list potential voters not intended for demographic purposes, its validity, coverage, and variety of information make it a rich source of sociodemographic information. An estimated 95% of individuals included in the 1990 census were included in the lists of prospective voters. Of these, 39,500,000 citizens, or 86% of the census population, actually registered as of the deadline on May 31. The final coverage by states varied from a low of 79.3% in Guerrero to a high of 91.0% in the Federal District.

Automatic treatment plan re-optimization for adaptive radiotherapy guided with the initial plan DVHs.

PubMed

Li, Nan; Zarepisheh, Masoud; Uribe-Sanchez, Andres; Moore, Kevin; Tian, Zhen; Zhen, Xin; Graves, Yan Jiang; Gautier, Quentin; Mell, Loren; Zhou, Linghong; Jia, Xun; Jiang, Steve

2013-12-21

Adaptive radiation therapy (ART) can reduce normal tissue toxicity and/or improve tumor control through treatment adaptations based on the current patient anatomy. Developing an efficient and effective re-planning algorithm is an important step toward the clinical realization of ART. For the re-planning process, manual trial-and-error approach to fine-tune planning parameters is time-consuming and is usually considered unpractical, especially for online ART. It is desirable to automate this step to yield a plan of acceptable quality with minimal interventions. In ART, prior information in the original plan is available, such as dose-volume histogram (DVH), which can be employed to facilitate the automatic re-planning process. The goal of this work is to develop an automatic re-planning algorithm to generate a plan with similar, or possibly better, DVH curves compared with the clinically delivered original plan. Specifically, our algorithm iterates the following two loops. An inner loop is the traditional fluence map optimization, in which we optimize a quadratic objective function penalizing the deviation of the dose received by each voxel from its prescribed or threshold dose with a set of fixed voxel weighting factors. In outer loop, the voxel weighting factors in the objective function are adjusted according to the deviation of the current DVH curves from those in the original plan. The process is repeated until the DVH curves are acceptable or maximum iteration step is reached. The whole algorithm is implemented on GPU for high efficiency. The feasibility of our algorithm has been demonstrated with three head-and-neck cancer IMRT cases, each having an initial planning CT scan and another treatment CT scan acquired in the middle of treatment course. Compared with the DVH curves in the original plan, the DVH curves in the resulting plan using our algorithm with 30 iterations are better for almost all structures. The re-optimization process takes about 30 s using our in-house optimization engine.

Encoding and choice in the task span paradigm.

PubMed

Reiman, Kaitlin M; Weaver, Starla M; Arrington, Catherine M

2015-03-01

Cognitive control during sequences of planned behaviors requires both plan-level processes such as generating, maintaining, and monitoring the plan, as well as task-level processes such as selecting, establishing and implementing specific task sets. The task span paradigm (Logan in J Exp Psychol Gen 133:218-236, 2004) combines two common cognitive control paradigms, task switching and working memory span, to investigate the integration of plan-level and task-level processes during control of sequential behavior. The current study expands past task span research to include measures of encoding processes and choice behavior with volitional sequence generation, using the standard task span as well as a novel voluntary task span paradigm. In two experiments, we consider how sequence complexity, defined separately for plan-level and task-level complexity, influences sequence encoding (Experiment 1), sequence choice (Experiment 2), sequence memory, and task performance of planned sequences of action. Results indicate that participants were sensitive to sequence complexity, but that different aspects of behavior are most strongly influenced by different types of complexity. Hierarchical complexity at the plan level best predicts voluntary sequence generation and memory; while switch frequency at the task level best predicts encoding of externally defined sequences and task performance. Furthermore, performance RTs were similar for externally and internally defined plans, whereas memory was improved for internally defined sequences. Finally, participants demonstrated a significant sequence choice bias in the voluntary task span. Consistent with past research on choice behavior, volitional selection of plans was markedly influenced by both the ease of memory and performance.

The variable polarity plasma arc welding process: Its application to the Space Shuttle external tank

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nunes, A. C., Jr.; Bayless, O. E., Jr.; Jones, C. S., III; Munafo, A. P.; Wilson, W. A.

1983-01-01

The technical history of the variable polarity plasma arc (VPPA) welding process being introduced as a partial replacement for the gas shielded tungsten arc process in assembly welding of the space shuttle external tank is described. Interim results of the weld strength qualification studies, and plans for further work on the implementation of the VPPA process are included.

Involving Parents in the IEP Process. ERIC Digest E611.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Stephen W.

This digest paper examines the special roles of parents of children with disabilities in planning for the education of their children and discusses how educators can work effectively with parents to create meaningful individualized education programs (IEPs). Barriers to parental participation in the IEP process are identified, including…

77 FR 69827 - Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) or Superfund...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-21

.... G. Demonstrating the Four Elements As part of the annual work plan negotiation process, states or... eligibility for funding, use of funding, grant mechanisms and process for awarding funding, the allocation... elements of an environmental response program and that the response program establishes and maintains a...

A Winning Transition Plan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moeder-Chandler, Markus

2014-01-01

Helping high school athletes navigate the college recruitment process requires some extra steps. This article assists school counselors in the athletic identification process with support provided for both the student and parents. Also covered is how the recruitment criteria for a college and team works. The role of counselor places them on the…

Management of unmanned moving sensors through human decision layers: a bi-level optimization process with calls to costly sub-processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dambreville, Frédéric

2013-10-01

While there is a variety of approaches and algorithms for optimizing the mission of an unmanned moving sensor, there are much less works which deal with the implementation of several sensors within a human organization. In this case, the management of the sensors is done through at least one human decision layer, and the sensors management as a whole arises as a bi-level optimization process. In this work, the following hypotheses are considered as realistic: Sensor handlers of first level plans their sensors by means of elaborated algorithmic tools based on accurate modelling of the environment; Higher level plans the handled sensors according to a global observation mission and on the basis of an approximated model of the environment and of the first level sub-processes. This problem is formalized very generally as the maximization of an unknown function, defined a priori by sampling a known random function (law of model error). In such case, each actual evaluation of the function increases the knowledge about the function, and subsequently the efficiency of the maximization. The issue is to optimize the sequence of value to be evaluated, in regards to the evaluation costs. There is here a fundamental link with the domain of experiment design. Jones, Schonlau and Welch proposed a general method, the Efficient Global Optimization (EGO), for solving this problem in the case of additive functional Gaussian law. In our work, a generalization of the EGO is proposed, based on a rare event simulation approach. It is applied to the aforementioned bi-level sensor planning.

Reaching for the Horizon: The 2015 NSAC Long Range Plan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geesaman, Donald

2015-10-01

In April 2014, the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee was charged to conduct a new study of the opportunities and priorities for United States nuclear physics research and to recommend a long range plan for the coordinated advancement of the Nation's nuclear science program over the next decade. The entire community actively contributed to developing this plan. Ideas and goals, new and old, were examined and community priorities were established. The Long Range Plan Working Group gathered at Kitty Hawk, NC to converge on the recommendations. In this talk I will discuss the vision for the future that has emerged from this process. The new plan, ``Reaching for the Horizon,'' offers the promise of great leaps forward in our understanding of nuclear science and new opportunities for nuclear science to serve society. This work was supported by the U. S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357.

48 CFR 970.0470-1 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... list of applicable requirements and providing it to the contracting officer for inclusion in the..., Integration of Environment, Safety, and Health into Work Planning and Execution. When such a process is used...

A Case Study: Accreditation Process Reviewed through the Lens of Organizational Change Models and the Five Stages of Grief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rivas, Olivia; Jones, Irma S.

2014-01-01

Kurt Lewin's work helps us understand organizational change and Elizabeth Kubler-Ross' work gives us insight into personal change. Their work can help us understand the many dimensions of change that occur in our environment. Lewin contends that change can be planned for and Kubler-Ross proposes that change, even unexpected change, can be managed.…

Increasing College-Going Self-Efficacy of Rural Fifth Grade Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jensen, Michelle L.

2013-01-01

The work of professional school counselors in helping students achieve academically and increasing their college-going rates is significant work. Research indicates that high school and even middle school is often too late for students to begin the process of college and career planning. This dissertation includes two manuscripts. The first…

A Study of Quality Assurance Practices in the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Malaysia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sim, Helen Khoo Chooi; Idrus, Rozhan M.

2004-01-01

This article looks at the quality assurance practices amongst three (3) groups of staff in the School of Distance Education, Universiti Sains Malaysia, i.e. lecturers, resident tutors and support staff. 9 dimensions of the Quality Assurance Practices i.e. Staff Development, Planning, Work Process, Team Work, Prioritise Customers, Performance…

New Directions in Library and Information Science Education. Final Report. Volume 2.6: Database Distributor/Service Professional Competencies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Griffiths, Jose-Marie; And Others

This document contains validated activities and competencies needed by librarians working in a database distributor/service organization. The activities of professionals working in database distributor/service organizations are listed by function: Database Processing; Customer Support; System Administration; and Planning. The competencies are…

Which Components of Working Memory Are Important in the Writing Process?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vanderberg, Robert; Swanson, H. Lee

2007-01-01

This study investigated the relationship between components of working memory (WM) and the macrostructure (e.g., planning, writing, and revision) and microstructure (e.g., grammar, punctuation) of writing. A battery of WM and writing measures were administered to 160 high-school students. Overall, hierarchical regression analyses showed that the…

SOVEREIGN: An autonomous neural system for incrementally learning planned action sequences to navigate towards a rewarded goal.

PubMed

Gnadt, William; Grossberg, Stephen

2008-06-01

How do reactive and planned behaviors interact in real time? How are sequences of such behaviors released at appropriate times during autonomous navigation to realize valued goals? Controllers for both animals and mobile robots, or animats, need reactive mechanisms for exploration, and learned plans to reach goal objects once an environment becomes familiar. The SOVEREIGN (Self-Organizing, Vision, Expectation, Recognition, Emotion, Intelligent, Goal-oriented Navigation) animat model embodies these capabilities, and is tested in a 3D virtual reality environment. SOVEREIGN includes several interacting subsystems which model complementary properties of cortical What and Where processing streams and which clarify similarities between mechanisms for navigation and arm movement control. As the animat explores an environment, visual inputs are processed by networks that are sensitive to visual form and motion in the What and Where streams, respectively. Position-invariant and size-invariant recognition categories are learned by real-time incremental learning in the What stream. Estimates of target position relative to the animat are computed in the Where stream, and can activate approach movements toward the target. Motion cues from animat locomotion can elicit head-orienting movements to bring a new target into view. Approach and orienting movements are alternately performed during animat navigation. Cumulative estimates of each movement are derived from interacting proprioceptive and visual cues. Movement sequences are stored within a motor working memory. Sequences of visual categories are stored in a sensory working memory. These working memories trigger learning of sensory and motor sequence categories, or plans, which together control planned movements. Predictively effective chunk combinations are selectively enhanced via reinforcement learning when the animat is rewarded. Selected planning chunks effect a gradual transition from variable reactive exploratory movements to efficient goal-oriented planned movement sequences. Volitional signals gate interactions between model subsystems and the release of overt behaviors. The model can control different motor sequences under different motivational states and learns more efficient sequences to rewarded goals as exploration proceeds.

The social interaction of return to work explored from co-workers experiences.

PubMed

Tjulin, Åsa; MacEachen, Ellen; Stiwne, Elinor Edvardsson; Ekberg, Kerstin

2011-01-01

The objective was to explore the role and contribution of co-workers in the return-to-work process. The social interaction of co-workers in the return-to-work process are analysed within the framework of the Swedish national and local employer organisational return-to-work policies. An exploratory qualitative method was used, consisting of open-ended interviews with 33 workplace actors across seven work units. Organisational return-to-work policies were collected from the three public sector employers. The key findings that emerged during analysis showed that some co-workers have a more work-task oriented approach towards the return-to-work process, whilst others had a more social relational approach. In both situations, the social relations worked hand in hand with job tasks (how task were allocated, and how returning workers were supported by others) and could make or break the return-to-work process. A suggestion for improvement of return-to-work models and policies is the need to take into account the social relations amongst workplace actors, especially involving co-workers when planning for return-to-work interventions. Otherwise the proper attention to work arrangements, social communication and the role of co-workers in the return-to-work process might not be seen.

Agency behind bars: Advance care planning with aging and dying offenders.

PubMed

Sanders, Sara; Stensland, Meredith; Juraco, Kim

2018-01-01

Aging and terminally ill individuals in U.S. prisons are increasing, making critical the need for appropriate end-of-life (EOL) care and advance care planning (ACP). Applying Bandura's agentic perspective, the authors examined 20 aging/dying offenders' EOL preferences and ACP. Findings include 6 themes: decisions in the shadow of the past, what works best for me, feeling blessed, what is really going on, can anyone be trusted, and turning agency over to someone else. This study provides critical information that will assist professionals who work with dying offenders, as it presents a vivid illustration of their dying process.

Statistical process control analysis for patient-specific IMRT and VMAT QA.

PubMed

Sanghangthum, Taweap; Suriyapee, Sivalee; Srisatit, Somyot; Pawlicki, Todd

2013-05-01

This work applied statistical process control to establish the control limits of the % gamma pass of patient-specific intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) quality assurance (QA), and to evaluate the efficiency of the QA process by using the process capability index (Cpml). A total of 278 IMRT QA plans in nasopharyngeal carcinoma were measured with MapCHECK, while 159 VMAT QA plans were undertaken with ArcCHECK. Six megavolts with nine fields were used for the IMRT plan and 2.5 arcs were used to generate the VMAT plans. The gamma (3%/3 mm) criteria were used to evaluate the QA plans. The % gamma passes were plotted on a control chart. The first 50 data points were employed to calculate the control limits. The Cpml was calculated to evaluate the capability of the IMRT/VMAT QA process. The results showed higher systematic errors in IMRT QA than VMAT QA due to the more complicated setup used in IMRT QA. The variation of random errors was also larger in IMRT QA than VMAT QA because the VMAT plan has more continuity of dose distribution. The average % gamma pass was 93.7% ± 3.7% for IMRT and 96.7% ± 2.2% for VMAT. The Cpml value of IMRT QA was 1.60 and VMAT QA was 1.99, which implied that the VMAT QA process was more accurate than the IMRT QA process. Our lower control limit for % gamma pass of IMRT is 85.0%, while the limit for VMAT is 90%. Both the IMRT and VMAT QA processes are good quality because Cpml values are higher than 1.0.

Environmental Implementation Plan

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

Not Available

1994-02-01

The Environmental Implementation Plan (EIP) is a dynamic long-range environmental-protection plan for SRS. The EIP communicates the current and future (five year) environmental plans from individual organizations and divisions as well as site environmental initiatives which are designed to protect the environment and meet or exceed compliance with changing environmental/ regulatory requirements. Communication with all site organizations is essential for making the site environmental planning process work. Demonstrating environmental excellence is a high priority embodied in DOE and WSRC policy. Because of your support and participation in the three EIP initiatives; Reflections, Sectional Revision, and Integrated Planning, improvements are beingmore » made to the EIP and SRS environmental protection programs. I appreciate the ``Partnership in Environmental Excellence`` formed by the environmental coordinators and professionals who work daily toward our goal of compliance and environmental excellence. I look forward to seeing continued success and improvement in our environmental protection programs through combined efforts of all site organizations to protect our employees, the public health, and the environment. Together, we will achieve our site vision for SRS to be the recognized model for Environmental Excellence in the DOE Nuclear Weapons Complex.« less

Motion Planning in a Society of Intelligent Mobile Agents

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Esterline, Albert C.; Shafto, Michael (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The majority of the work on this grant involved formal modeling of human-computer integration. We conceptualize computer resources as a multiagent system so that these resources and human collaborators may be modeled uniformly. In previous work we had used modal for this uniform modeling, and we had developed a process-algebraic agent abstraction. In this work, we applied this abstraction (using CSP) in uniformly modeling agents and users, which allowed us to use tools for investigating CSP models. This work revealed the power of, process-algebraic handshakes in modeling face-to-face conversation. We also investigated specifications of human-computer systems in the style of algebraic specification. This involved specifying the common knowledge required for coordination and process-algebraic patterns of communication actions intended to establish the common knowledge. We investigated the conditions for agents endowed with perception to gain common knowledge and implemented a prototype neural-network system that allows agents to detect when such conditions hold. The literature on multiagent systems conceptualizes communication actions as speech acts. We implemented a prototype system that infers the deontic effects (obligations, permissions, prohibitions) of speech acts and detects violations of these effects. A prototype distributed system was developed that allows users to collaborate in moving proxy agents; it was designed to exploit handshakes and common knowledge Finally. in work carried over from a previous NASA ARC grant, about fifteen undergraduates developed and presented projects on multiagent motion planning.

Articulating Roles and Responsibilities in the Transition Planning Process: A Practice Aimed at Figuring out How to Work Together. Transitions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphy, Marianne; Golden, Thomas

2004-01-01

It is clear that the intention of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Individual with Disabilities Education Act of 1997 require both the Education Agency and the Vocational Rehabilitation Agency (VESID, in New York State) to jointly participate in the development of transition plans for students with disabilities as they prepare for employment…

Supplementing the Digitized Sky Survey for UV-Mission Planning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McLean, Brian

2004-01-01

The Space Telescope Science Institute worked on a project to augment the Digitized Sky Survey archive by completing the scanning and processing of the POSS-I blue survey. This will provide an additional valuable resource to support UV-mission planning. All of the data will be made available through the NASA optical/UV archive (MAST) at STScI. The activities completed during this project are included.

Using Self-Awareness Techniques (COPS) in Conjunction with a Career Information System (MetroGuide) to Facilitate the Career Planning Process.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Staton, John L.

A program in career planning was designed for disadvantaged New York City high school students who had experienced problems in attendance, punctuality, and relationships with others. Its goal was to increase student's self awareness of interests, aptitudes, abilities, and values in relationship to the world of work. Twenty-four Black and Hispanic…

Specifications of a Simulation Model for a Local Area Network Design in Support of a Stock Point Logistics Integrated Communication Environment (SPLICE).

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-06-01

constrained at each step. Use of dis- crete simulation can be a powerful tool in this process if its role is carefully planned. The gross behavior of the...by projecting: - the arrival of units of work at SPLICE processing facilities (workload analysis) . - the amount of processing resources comsumed in

Variations in disaster evacuation behavior: public responses versus private sector executive decision-making processes.

PubMed

Drabek, T E

1992-06-01

Data obtained from 65 executives working for tourism firms in three sample communities permitted comparison with the public warning response literature regarding three topics: disaster evacuation planning, initial warning responses, and disaster evacuation behavior. Disaster evacuation planning was reported by nearly all of these business executives, although it was highly variable in content, completeness, and formality. Managerial responses to post-disaster warnings paralleled the type of complex social processes that have been documented within the public response literature, except that warning sources and confirmation behavior were significantly affected by contact with authorities. Five key areas of difference were discovered in disaster evacuation behavior pertaining to: influence of planning, firm versus family priorities, shelter selection, looting concerns, and media contacts.

Planning to Explore: Using a Coordinated Multisource Infrastructure to Overcome Present and Future Space Flight Planning Challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Balaban, Edward; Orosz, Michael; Kichkaylo, Tatiana; Goforth, Andre; Sweet, Adam; Neches, Robert

2006-01-01

Few human endeavors present as much of a planning and scheduling challenge as space flight, particularly manned space flight. Just on the operational side of it, efforts of thousands of people across hundreds of organizations need to be coordinated. Numerous tasks of varying complexity and nature, from scientific to construction, need to be accomplished within limited mission time frames. Resources need to be carefully managed and contingencies worked out, often on a very short notice. From the beginning of the NASA space program, planning has been done by large teams of domain experts working months, sometimes years, to put together a single mission. This approach, while proven very reliable up to now, is becoming increasingly harder to sustain. Elevated levels of NASA space activities, from deployment of the new Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) and completion of the International Space Station (ISS), to the planned lunar missions and permanent lunar bases, will put an even greater strain on this largely manual process. While several attempts to automate it have been made in the past, none have fully succeeded. In this paper we describe the current NASA planning methods, outline their advantages and disadvantages, discuss the planning challenges of upcoming missions and propose a distributed planning/scheduling framework (CMMD) aimed at unifying and optimizing the planning effort. CMMD will not attempt to make the process completely automated, but rather serve in a decision support capacity for human managers and planners. It will help manage information gathering, creation of partial and consolidated schedules, inter-team negotiations, contingencies investigation, and rapid re-planning when the situation demands it. The fist area of CMMD application will be planning for Extravehicular Activities (EVA) and associated logistics. Other potential applications, not only in the space flight domain, and future research efforts will be discussed as well.

Population communication services: a global perspective.

PubMed

Piotrow, P T; Coleman, P L; Rimon, J G

1987-06-01

Communication support for health and family planning programs is receiving renewed attention. The johns Hopkins University (JHU) Population Communication Services (PCS) project was established in 1982 to respond to the increasing need for communication expertise, to provide a responsive source for advice, and to develop implement the new directions that are necessary to make family planning communication programs more effective. The project extends a range of services to government programs, private family planning associations, and to media that want to improve the content or coverage of family planning communication, JHU/PCS emphasizes the close links between good communication and good management and the need for managers at all levels, from the Minister of Health to the supervisor of grass-roots field workers, to understand the components of a communication program for the 1980s. Principles underlying the project's work include: communication as process rather than product, the audience as participant, linking mass media and interpersonal communication, coordination with and among agencies, training that is specific and relevant, IEC as institution building, use of the private sector, an attempt to recover some of the costs of IEC work, and ongoing evaluation of program activities. IEC activities can be strengthened considerably b a knowledgeable commitment at the top of the decision-making process; constant feedback from intended audiences; and interactions among service delivery personnel, influential community members, and the media. In turn, strong IEC activities can substantially strengthen existing family planning programs.

Environmental Implementation Plan

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

Not Available

1993-03-15

The purpose of the Environmental Implementation Plan (EIP) is to show the current and future (five years) environmental plans from individual site organizations and divisions, as well as site environmental programs and initiatives which are designed to protect the environment and meet or exceed changing environmental/regulatory requirements. Communicating with site organizations, departments, and committees is essential in making the site`s environmental-planning process work. The EIP gives the site the what, when, how, and why for environmental requirements. Through teamwork and proactive planning, a partnership for environmental excellence is formed to achieve the site vision for SRS to become the recognizedmore » model for Environmental Excellence in the Department of Energy`s Nuclear Weapons Complex.« less

Environmental Implementation Plan

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

Not Available

1993-03-15

The purpose of the Environmental Implementation Plan (EIP) is to show the current and future (five years) environmental plans from individual site organizations and divisions, as well as site environmental programs and initiatives which are designed to protect the environment and meet or exceed changing environmental/regulatory requirements. Communicating with site organizations, departments, and committees is essential in making the site's environmental-planning process work. The EIP gives the site the what, when, how, and why for environmental requirements. Through teamwork and proactive planning, a partnership for environmental excellence is formed to achieve the site vision for SRS to become the recognizedmore » model for Environmental Excellence in the Department of Energy's Nuclear Weapons Complex.« less

Advancing the integration of hospital IT. Pitfalls and perspectives when replacing specialized software for high-risk environments with enterprise system extensions.

PubMed

Engelmann, Carsten; Ametowobla, Dzifa

2017-05-17

Planning and controlling surgical operations hugely impacts upon productivity, patient safety, and surgeons' careers. Established, specialized software for this task is being increasingly replaced by "Operating Room (OR)-modules" appended to enterprise-wide resource planning (ERP) systems. As a result, usability problems are re-emerging and require developers' attention. Systematic evaluation of the functionality and social repercussions of a global, market-leading IT business control system (SAP R3, Germany), adapted for real-time OR process steering. Field study involving document analyses, interviews, and a 73-item survey addressed to 77 qualified (> 1-year system experience) senior planning executives (end users; "planners") working in surgical departments of university hospitals. Planners reported that 57% of electronic operation requests contained contradictory information. Key screens contained clinically irrelevant areas (36 +/- 29%). Compared to the legacy system, users reported either no improvements or worse performance, in regard to co-ordination of OR stakeholders, intra-day program changes, and safety. Planners concluded that the ERP-planning module was "non-intuitive" (66%), increased planning work (56%, p=0.002), and did not impact upon either organizational mishap spectrum or frequency. Interviews evidenced intra-institutional power shifts due to increased system complexity. Planners resented e.g. a trend towards increased personal culpability for mishap. Highly complex enterprise system extensions may not be directly suited to specific process steering tasks in a high risk/low error-environment like the OR. In view of surgeons' high primary task load, the repeated call for simpler IT is an imperative for ERP extensions. System design should consider a) that current OR IT suffers from an input limitation regarding planning-relevant real-time data, and b) that there are social processes that strongly affect planning and particularly ERP use beyond algorithms. Real improvement of clinical IT tools requires their independent evaluation according to standards developed for pharmaceutical subjects.

Primary care managers' perceptions of their capability in providing care planning to patients with complex needs.

PubMed

Larsson, Lena Gunvor; Bäck-Pettersson, Siv; Kylén, Sven; Marklund, Bertil; Carlström, Eric

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate primary care managers' perceptions of their capability in providing care planning to patients with complex needs. Care planning is defined as a process where the patient, family and health professionals engage in dialogue about the patient's care needs and plan care interventions together. Semi-structured interviews with 18 primary care managers in western Sweden were conducted using Westrin's theoretical cooperation model. Data were analysed using a qualitative deductive method. Results reveal that the managers' approach to care planning was dominated by non-cooperation and separation. The managers were permeated by uncertainty about the meaning of the task of care planning as such. They did not seem to be familiar with the national legislation stipulating that every healthcare provider must meet patients' need for care interventions and participate in the care planning. To accomplish care planning, the process needs to cross - and overcome - both professional and organisational boundaries. There is also a need for incentives to develop working methods that promote local cooperation in order to facilitate optimal care for patients with complex needs. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Production layout improvement by using line balancing and Systematic Layout Planning (SLP) at PT. XYZ

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buchari; Tarigan, U.; Ambarita, M. B.

2018-02-01

PT. XYZ is a wood processing company which produce semi-finished wood with production system is make to order. In the production process, it can be seen that the production line is not balanced. The imbalance of the production line is caused by the difference in cycle time between work stations. In addition, there are other issues, namely the existence of material flow pattern is irregular so it resulted in the backtracking and displacement distance away. This study aimed to obtain the allocation of work elements to specific work stations and propose an improvement of the production layout based on the result of improvements in the line balancing. The method used in the balancing is Ranked Positional Weight (RPW) or also known as Helgeson Birnie method. While the methods used in the improvement of the layout is the method of Systematic Layout Planning (SLP). By using Ranked Positional Weight (RPW) obtained increase in line efficiency becomes 84,86% and decreased balance delay becomes 15,14%. Repairing the layout using the method of Systematic Layout Planning (SLP) also give good results with a reduction in path length becomes 133,82 meters from 213,09 meters previously or a decrease of 37.2%.

The development and evaluation of a succession planning programme in nursing, in Australia.

PubMed

Brunero, Scott; Kerr, Suzie; Jastrzab, Grazyna

2009-07-01

This study reports on a locally organized model of succession planning in a 550-bed general hospital. Within healthcare, succession planning has traditionally been considered for people at the executive director level and little research has been published with nurses working at the clinical level. A succession planning model was developed from the literature and through a process of consultation with senior staff. The model was then evaluated from a customer satisfaction, programme progress, effective placement and organizational results perspectives. Nurses who were successful in obtaining a new role were surveyed after 6 weeks in the position. Descriptive statistics, including numbers of placements and types of positions filled, were recorded. A checklist for conducting a programme evaluation of succession planning was also used. Twenty-five nurses participated, with 31 positions succeeded to. Nurses reported positively that the programme was beneficial, increased their sense of career planning and gave them a greater understanding of their career pathway. The succession planning programme provided an opportunity for the organization to identify new leaders. The study outcomes have identified potential improvements to the way succession planning is conducted at the hospital. Nurse Managers are in key positions to develop effective succession planning models. This study offers a process for managers to develop effective succession planning programmes within their organization.

Optimization of multi-objective integrated process planning and scheduling problem using a priority based optimization algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ausaf, Muhammad Farhan; Gao, Liang; Li, Xinyu

2015-12-01

For increasing the overall performance of modern manufacturing systems, effective integration of process planning and scheduling functions has been an important area of consideration among researchers. Owing to the complexity of handling process planning and scheduling simultaneously, most of the research work has been limited to solving the integrated process planning and scheduling (IPPS) problem for a single objective function. As there are many conflicting objectives when dealing with process planning and scheduling, real world problems cannot be fully captured considering only a single objective for optimization. Therefore considering multi-objective IPPS (MOIPPS) problem is inevitable. Unfortunately, only a handful of research papers are available on solving MOIPPS problem. In this paper, an optimization algorithm for solving MOIPPS problem is presented. The proposed algorithm uses a set of dispatching rules coupled with priority assignment to optimize the IPPS problem for various objectives like makespan, total machine load, total tardiness, etc. A fixed sized external archive coupled with a crowding distance mechanism is used to store and maintain the non-dominated solutions. To compare the results with other algorithms, a C-matric based method has been used. Instances from four recent papers have been solved to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The experimental results show that the proposed method is an efficient approach for solving the MOIPPS problem.

Challenges for Planning and Maintaining of Urban Rain Harvesting Systems- the case of Hammarby Sjöstad and Årstafältet in Stockholm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suleiman, Lina

2017-04-01

Planners and policymakers' concern escalates over conventional systems dealing with rains in cities based on domination and control of nature rather than harmony and design with nature. A new spatial planning paradigm is needed to put in place systems which mimic natural water systems and promise multiple values instead of systems consider rain as a source of problem. However, such approach embodies significant planning challenges. Urban rain harvesting systems (URHs) are inherently viewed as 'sociotechnical' systems. As such, planning processes should consider the interdependence of 'social' and 'technical' aspects as essential elements if a transition towards sustainable urban water systems is to be realised. Drawing on a common understanding for what urban rain harvesting systems should deliver in terms of 'functions' and 'added values', a generic planning framework is developed to inform practitioners on how the 'socio' and 'technical' elements should be assimilated in a long-term and integrated planning processes of URHs. Using the developed framework, the paper examines the planning and maintenance processes of urban rain harvesting systems in Årstafältet and Hammarby Sjöstad respectively. Results show that planners lack a common operational understanding on how these systems should be designed holistically in a long term and integrated planning processes creating working gabs or positional conflicts. In practice, urban planners and water engineers look at these systems as either urban design component or water drainage system to deal with technical functions hindering a smooth transition path towards urban rain harvesting systems. The paper concludes on the urgency for reordering roles and relations within a new set-up organisation to incubate these systems in long-term planning and maintenance processes. Key words: 'Sociotechnical' system, Water, Planning, Urban Rain Harvesting systems (URHs), Hammarby Sjostad and Årstafältet

eHealth and IMIA's Strategic Planning Process - IMIA conference introductory address.

PubMed

Murray, Peter; Haux, Reinhold; Lorenzi, Nancy

2008-01-01

The International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) is the only organization in health and biomedical informatics which is fully international in scope, bridging the academic, health practice, education, and health industry worlds through conferences, working groups, special interest groups and publications. Authored by the IMIA Interim Vice President for Strategic Planning Implementation and co-authored by the current IMIA President and the IMIA Past-President, the intention of this paper is to introduce IMIA's current strategic planning process and to set this process in relation to 'eHealth: Combining Health Telematics, Telemedicine, Biomedical Engineering and Bioinformatics to the Edge', the theme of this conference. From the viewpoint of an international organization such as IMIA, an eHealth strategy needs to be considered in a comprehensive way, including broadly stimulating high-quality health and biomedical informatics research and education, as well as providing support to bridging outcomes towards a new practice of health care in a changing world.

Remedial investigation work plan for Bear Creek Valley Operable Unit 2 (Rust Spoil Area, SY-200 Yard, Spoil Area 1) at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Environmental Restoration Program

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

Not Available

1993-05-01

The enactment of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) in 1976 and the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) to RCRA in 1984 created management requirements for hazardous waste facilities. The facilities within the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) were in the process of meeting the RCRA requirements when ORR was placed on the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) National Priorities List (NPL) on November 21, 1989. Under RCRA, the actions typically follow the RCRA Facility Assessment (RFA)/RCRA Facility Investigation (RFI)/Corrective Measures Study (CMS)/Corrective Measures implementation process. Under CERCLA the actions follow the PA/SI/Remedial Investigation (RI)/Feasibility Studymore » (FS)/Remedial Design/Remedial Action process. The development of this document will incorporate requirements under both RCRA and CERCLA into an RI work plan for the characterization of Bear Creek Valley (BCV) Operable Unit (OU) 2.« less

45 CFR 286.90 - How many hours per week must an adult or minor head-of-household participate in work-related...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false How many hours per week must an adult or minor head-of-household participate in work-related activities to count in the numerator of the work... SERVICES TRIBAL TANF PROVISIONS Tribal TANF Plan Content and Processing § 286.90 How many hours per week...

Choosing Mars-Time: Analysis of the Mars Exploration Rover Experience

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bass, Deborah S.; Wales,Roxana C.; Shalin, Valerie L.

2004-01-01

This paper focuses on the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission decision to work on Mars Time and the implications of that decision on the tactical surface operations process as personnel planned activities and created a new command load for work on each Martian sol. The paper also looks at tools that supported the complexities of Mars Time work, and makes some comparisons between Earth and Mars time scheduling.

A faculty created strategic plan for excellence in nursing education.

PubMed

Evans, Connie Joan; Francis Shackell, Eileen; Jean Kerr-Wilson, Selma; Joan Doyle, Glynda; McCutcheon, Jodie Anita; Budz, Bernice

2014-02-08

Strategic planning for nursing education, when seen through a faculty lens creates a deeper, more meaningful critical analysis of effective program development. New strategies are required for academic institutions to transform their curricula to meet the needs of a dynamic healthcare and changing global environment to provide quality education for students. In this article, an evidence-informed process is presented that was progressively co-created by the faculty and facilitators. Seminal business frameworks, leadership development philosophies, and innovative interventions enabled faculty to become engaged and developed as they created a strategic plan for a future-driven nursing program. Phase One presents the process of developing a strategic plan for excellence in nursing education by leveraging faculty potential and preparing for an upcoming accreditation. In Phase Two, four team members from Phase One continue as part of Phase Two team serving as the collective memory for this initial work. This method of strategic planning encouraged faculty engagement and leadership and laid the groundwork for a positive culture change among nursing faculty.

Integrated flexible manufacturing program for manufacturing automation and rapid prototyping

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brooks, S. L.; Brown, C. W.; King, M. S.; Simons, W. R.; Zimmerman, J. J.

1993-01-01

The Kansas City Division of Allied Signal Inc., as part of the Integrated Flexible Manufacturing Program (IFMP), is developing an integrated manufacturing environment. Several systems are being developed to produce standards and automation tools for specific activities within the manufacturing environment. The Advanced Manufacturing Development System (AMDS) is concentrating on information standards (STEP) and product data transfer; the Expert Cut Planner system (XCUT) is concentrating on machining operation process planning standards and automation capabilities; the Advanced Numerical Control system (ANC) is concentrating on NC data preparation standards and NC data generation tools; the Inspection Planning and Programming Expert system (IPPEX) is concentrating on inspection process planning, coordinate measuring machine (CMM) inspection standards and CMM part program generation tools; and the Intelligent Scheduling and Planning System (ISAPS) is concentrating on planning and scheduling tools for a flexible manufacturing system environment. All of these projects are working together to address information exchange, standardization, and information sharing to support rapid prototyping in a Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) environment.

Analysing the external supply chain risk driver competitiveness: a risk mitigation framework and business continuity plan.

PubMed

Blos, Mauricio F; Wee, Hui-Ming; Yang, Joshua

2010-11-01

Innovation challenges for handling supply chain risks have become one of the most important drivers in business competitiveness and differentiation. This study analyses competitiveness at the external supply chain level as a driver of risks and provides a framework for mitigating these risks. The mitigation framework, also called the supply chain continuity framework, provides insight into six stages of the business continuity planning (BCP) process life cycle (risk mitigation management, business impact analysis, supply continuity strategy development, supply continuity plan development, supply continuity plan testing and supply continuity plan maintenance), together with the operational constructs: customer service, inventory management, flexibility, time to market, ordering cycle time and quality. The purpose of the BCP process life cycle and operational constructs working together is to emphasise the way in which a supply chain can deal with disruption risks and, consequently, bring competitive advantage. Future research will consider the new risk scenarios and analyse the consequences to promote the improvement of supply chain resilience.

Integrating MRP (materiel requirements planning) into modern business.

PubMed

Lunn, T

1994-05-01

Time is the commodity of the '90s. Therefore, we all must learn how to use our manufacturing systems to shorten lead time and increase customer satisfaction. The objective of this article is to discuss practical ways people integrate the techniques of materiel requirements planning (MRP) systems with just-in-time (JIT) execution systems to increase customer satisfaction. Included are examples of new ways people use MRP systems to exemplify the process of continuous improvement--multiple items on work orders, consolidated routings, flexing capacity, and other new developments. Ways that successful companies use MRP II for planning and JIT for execution are discussed. There are many examples of how to apply theory to real life situations and a discussion of techniques that work to keep companies in the mode of continuous improvement. Also included is a look at hands-on, practical methods people use to achieve lead time reduction and simplify bills of material. Total quality management concepts can be applied to the MRP process itself. This in turn helps people improve schedule adherence, which leads to customer satisfaction.

Planning for the Future, a Look from Apollo to the Present

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Segrera, David

2008-01-01

Future missions out of low Earth orbit, returning to the moon and Mars, will be some of the most complicated endeavors ever attempted by mankind. It will require the wealth of nations and the dedicated efforts of thousand of individuals working in a concerted effort to take man to the moon, Mars and beyond. These missions will require new equipment and new approaches to optimize our limited resources and time in space. This daily planning and optimization which currently is being performed by scores of people in MCC Houston and around the world will need to adapt to the challenges faced far from Earth. By studying the processes, methodologies, and tools employed from Apollo, Skylab, Shuttle, ISS, and other programs such as NEEMO, we can learn from the past to plan for the future. This paper will explore the planning process used from Apollo onward and will discuss their relevancy in future applications.

Establishing a program of global initiatives for nursing education.

PubMed

Kulage, Kristine M; Hickey, Kathleen T; Honig, Judy C; Johnson, Mary P; Larson, Elaine L

2014-07-01

In the global nursing community, schools of nursing are increasingly developing initiatives and networks across national boundaries. This article describes the process undertaken at a school of nursing to determine its global health priorities and develop a program of global initiatives for nursing education. A series of meetings were held to determine faculty global activities and gauge interest in designing a 5-year strategic plan for the program. A volunteer Strategic Planning Work-group was convened to formalize a mission, vision, and strategic plan for the program, which were presented to, refined by, and vetted by an advisory board and the faculty at large. We recommend this process to schools committed to developing or expanding a program dedicated to global initiatives and a global perspective in educational planning. Involving stakeholders, building on current strengths, and aligning with mission and vision are essential elements for developing a meaningful program of global initiatives for nursing education. Copyright 2014, SLACK Incorporated.

Improving Energy Efficiency in CNC Machining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pavanaskar, Sushrut S.

We present our work on analyzing and improving the energy efficiency of multi-axis CNC milling process. Due to the differences in energy consumption behavior, we treat 3- and 5-axis CNC machines separately in our work. For 3-axis CNC machines, we first propose an energy model that estimates the energy requirement for machining a component on a specified 3-axis CNC milling machine. Our model makes machine-specific predictions of energy requirements while also considering the geometric aspects of the machining toolpath. Our model - and the associated software tool - facilitate direct comparison of various alternative toolpath strategies based on their energy-consumption performance. Further, we identify key factors in toolpath planning that affect energy consumption in CNC machining. We then use this knowledge to propose and demonstrate a novel toolpath planning strategy that may be used to generate new toolpaths that are inherently energy-efficient, inspired by research on digital micrography -- a form of computational art. For 5-axis CNC machines, the process planning problem consists of several sub-problems that researchers have traditionally solved separately to obtain an approximate solution. After illustrating the need to solve all sub-problems simultaneously for a truly optimal solution, we propose a unified formulation based on configuration space theory. We apply our formulation to solve a problem variant that retains key characteristics of the full problem but has lower dimensionality, allowing visualization in 2D. Given the complexity of the full 5-axis toolpath planning problem, our unified formulation represents an important step towards obtaining a truly optimal solution. With this work on the two types of CNC machines, we demonstrate that without changing the current infrastructure or business practices, machine-specific, geometry-based, customized toolpath planning can save energy in CNC machining.

MO-F-CAMPUS-T-05: SQL Database Queries to Determine Treatment Planning Resource Usage

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

Fox, C; Gladstone, D

2015-06-15

Purpose: A radiation oncology clinic’s treatment capacity is traditionally thought to be limited by the number of machines in the clinic. As the number of fractions per course decrease and the number of adaptive plans increase, the question of how many treatment plans a clinic can plan becomes increasingly important. This work seeks to lay the ground work for assessing treatment planning resource usage. Methods: Care path templates were created using the Aria 11 care path interface. Care path tasks included key steps in the treatment planning process from the completion of CT simulation through the first radiation treatment. SQLmore » Server Management Studio was used to run SQL queries to extract task completion time stamps along with care path template information and diagnosis codes from the Aria database. 6 months of planning cycles were evaluated. Elapsed time was evaluated in terms of work hours within Monday – Friday, 7am to 5pm. Results: For the 195 validated treatment planning cycles, the average time for planning and MD review was 22.8 hours. Of those cases 33 were categorized as urgent. The average planning time for urgent plans was 5 hours. A strong correlation between diagnosis code and range of elapsed planning time was as well as between elapsed time and select diagnosis codes was observed. It was also observed that tasks were more likely to be completed on the date due than the time that they were due. Follow-up confirmed that most users did not look at the due time. Conclusion: Evaluation of elapsed planning time and other tasks suggest that care paths should be adjusted to allow for different contouring and planning times for certain diagnosis codes and urgent cases. Additional clinic training around task due times vs dates or a structuring of care paths around due dates is also needed.« less

Pedagogical Approaches to Cooperative Education in South Africa: A Work-Integrated Learning Model for the Public Relations Industry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rampersad, Renitha

2010-01-01

The pedagogy relevant to work-integrated learning (WIL) has formed a significant component of most educational processes and has become a necessity for the public relations industry in South Africa. Properly planned, designed and monitored programmes expose students to professional culture and workplace practice. This paper outlines the pedagogy…

School Innovation in Science: A Model for Supporting School and Teacher Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tytler, Russell

2007-01-01

"School Innovation in Science" represents a model, developed through working with more than 200 Victorian schools, to improve science teaching and learning. SIS works at the level of the science team and the teacher, providing resources to challenge and support the change process. Its emphasis is on strategic planning supported by a…

Wet feet and sappy fingers: lessons learned from restoration work in the West Virginia highlands

Treesearch

Amy Cimarolli; David W. Saville

2010-01-01

This presentation summarizes our practical experiences from a decade of working with state and federal agencies and private landowners to protect, conserve, and restore the spruce forests and fir swamps of West Virginia. We present case studies that demonstrate the collaborative planning processes, site selection techniques, and restoration activities used in our...

"Learning to Play with New Friends": Systematic Quality Development Work in a Leisure-Time Centre

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lager, Karin

2016-01-01

This article explores the recontextualisation of systematic quality development work (Sqdw) in a leisure-time centre. Two teachers' processes of planning, organisation, documentation and evaluation were investigated, the aim being to explore the recontextualisation of Sqdw in practice. The study is thus a case study of these teachers' practice…

Shark Bite Meetings for Creative Program Planning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pellien, Tamara; Yergeau, Steven

2017-01-01

The strength of Cooperative Extension lies in the breadth of knowledge and experience of its faculty and staff. Yet those working in Extension can get so bogged down by the weight of this knowledge and become so focused on details, ownership, and process that it can be hard to respond to emerging needs or work effectively as a group. "Shark…

Planning and conducting a multi-institutional project on fatigue.

PubMed

Nail, L M; Barsevick, A M; Meek, P M; Beck, S L; Jones, L S; Walker, B L; Whitmer, K R; Schwartz, A L; Stephen, S; King, M E

1998-09-01

To describe the process used in proposal development and study implementation for a complex multisite project on cancer treatment-related fatigue (CRF), identify strategies used to manage the project, and provide recommendations for teams planning multisite research. Information derived from project team meeting records, correspondence, proposals, and personal recollection. The project was built on preexisting relationships among the three site investigators who then built a team including faculty, research coordinators, staff nurses, and students. Study sites had a range of organizational models, and the proposal was designed to capitalize on the organizational and resource strengths of each setting. Three team members drawn from outside oncology nursing provided expertise in measurement and experience with fatigue in other populations. Planning meetings were critical to the success of the project. Conference calls, fax technology, and electronic mail were used for communication. Flexibility was important in managing crises and shifting responsibility for specific components of the work. The team documented and evaluated the process used for multisite research, completed a major instrumentation study, and developed a cognitive-behavioral intervention for CRF. Accomplishments during the one-year planning grant exceeded initial expectations. The process of conducting multisite research is complex, especially when the starting point is a planning grant with specific research protocols to be developed and implemented over one year. Explicit planning for decision-making processes to be used throughout the project, acknowledging the differences among the study settings and planning the protocols to capitalize upon those differences, and recruiting a strong research team that included a member with planning grant and team-building expertise were essential elements for success. Specific recommendations for others planning multisite research are related to team-building, team membership, communication, behavioral norms, role flexibility, resources, feedback, problem management, and shared recognition.

Physician input: a critical strategic-planning tool.

PubMed

Rovinsky, Michael

2002-01-01

To establish effective working relationships with medical staff and community physicians, an IDS must adopt a strategic-planning approach that adequately incorporates physicians' needs and expectations. Research shows that most physicians considered the IDS's market position, the degree to which the IDS can offer physicians practice-enhancing capabilities, and physician involvement in IDS governance to be critical factors for the success of an IDS. By establishing a meaningful role for physicians in the organizational strategic-planning process, an IDS can significantly improve its market position and its relationships with physicians.

Informing Hospital Change Processes through Visualization and Simulation: A Case Study at a Children's Emergency Clinic.

PubMed

Persson, Johanna; Dalholm, Elisabeth Hornyánszky; Johansson, Gerd

2014-01-01

To demonstrate the use of visualization and simulation tools in order to involve stakeholders and inform the process in hospital change processes, illustrated by an empirical study from a children's emergency clinic. Reorganization and redevelopment of a hospital is a complex activity that involves many stakeholders and demands. Visualization and simulation tools have proven useful for involving practitioners and eliciting relevant knowledge. More knowledge is desired about how these tools can be implemented in practice for hospital planning processes. A participatory planning process including practitioners and researchers was executed over a 3-year period to evaluate a combination of visualization and simulation tools to involve stakeholders in the planning process and to elicit knowledge about needs and requirements. The initial clinic proposal from the architect was discarded as a result of the empirical study. Much general knowledge about the needs of the organization was extracted by means of the adopted tools. Some of the tools proved to be more accessible than others for the practitioners participating in the study. The combination of tools added value to the process by presenting information in alternative ways and eliciting questions from different angles. Visualization and simulation tools inform a planning process (or other types of change processes) by providing the means to see beyond present demands and current work structures. Long-term involvement in combination with accessible tools is central for creating a participatory setting where the practitioners' knowledge guides the process. © 2014 Vendome Group, LLC.

Four Ways to Avoid a Credentialing Cash Flow Crisis.

PubMed

Toth, Cheryl

2015-01-01

Credentialing a physician for Medicare and private plans is a detailed and time-consuming process, but it must be completed before a plan will reimburse a practice's billed services. Assign a person with the right skills for this project, and insist on regular progress reports to be certain credentialing has been successfully completed. Submit credentialing applications three to six months ahead of opening your practice doors, moving to a new location, or merging with another organization. If you're considering outsourcing the credentialing process to a service, verify its reputation and work products with its customers.

Organizational ergonomics of occupational health methods and processes in a Brazilian oil refinery.

PubMed

Bau, Lucy M S; Farias, Jean P; Buso, Sandro A; Passero, Carolina R Marcon

2012-01-01

Organizational ergonomics refers to the optimization of social technical systems, including their organizational structures, policies and processes. The relevant topics include communications, management of resources, work projects, temporal organization of work, team work, participative project, new work paradigms, cooperative work, organizational culture, network organizations and quality management (IEA, 2000). The purpose of this study was the reorganization of the methods and processes of the occupational health sector (SMS/SO - Portuguese acronym of the area) of a petrochemical company. The work involved thirty professionals: a coordinator, two occupational physicians, one cardiologist, one occupational dentist, two occupational nurses, eleven occupational health technicians, one social worker, one nutritionist, one phonoaudiologist, one ophthalmologist, one biochemist, two ergonomists, three administrative assistants, one administrator and one psychologist, during a six-month period. The methodology that was used sought to establish a cooperative alliance focused on change, transformation and acquisition of skills, reflecting directly on the attitudes and performance of the leaderships and their work teams. In addition to the feedback practice, the following supporting tools were used for the study's success: "Functional Polyvalence Matrix", "Management of Failures", 5W2H", "6M", "5 Why" and "process mapping". The intended results after the organization ergonomics restructuring process will allow the leader to help his or her team to make a diagnosis of the problems, identify options, develop strategies, establish targets and action plans, remove barriers, review contexts and implement the business management fundaments: planning, organization, management, coordination and control. The transformation possibilities allow us to consider some hypothesis: Before: Focus only on results. After: Engage collaborators to create sustainable results. Before: Operating profile. After: Tactical/strategic profile. Before: Find errors. After: Value effort and development. Before: Listen to what is being said. After: Understand what is being said. Before: Create fears of the consequences. After: Create room for risk. Before: Be the one who approves and decides. After: Be the cooperative support.

A self-care plan for hospice workers.

PubMed

Jones, Sally Hill

2005-01-01

Caring for dying patients and their families is a fulfilling, enriching, and meaningful experience. It can also be extremely stressful. Maintaining the balance between the output and input of energy in a caregiver's professional and personal life is an ongoing process. Clinical staff members often formulate plans of care for patients. To prevent worker burnout, hospice caregivers must develop a plan of self-care to balance their own needs with the needs of their patients. The goal of this article is to provide an overview of ways for hospice caregivers to relieve stress and develop an individualized self-care plan within the context of their work.

Streamlining the SIP Process

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA collaborated with the The National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA/ECOs) SIP Reform Work Group to minimize federal and state burden in developing SIPs, but ensure the plans effectiveness in complying with the Clean Air Act.

Strategic planning as a focus for continuous improvement. A case study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oneill, John W.; Gordon-Winkler, Lyn

1992-01-01

What do most of the successful people and organizations in our world have in common? Instead of worrying about the future, they work to create it. They have a plan, or a vision of what they want to accomplish and they focus their efforts on success. Strategic planning has been described as a disciplined, ongoing process to produce fundamental decisions and actions that shape what an organization is, what it does, and how it will respond to a changing environment. This case study discussion will evaluate the relationship between strategic planning and Total Quality Management (TQM), or continuous improvement, through the experience of the NASA Johnson Space Center in developing a strategy for the future. That experience clearly illustrates the value of strategic planning in setting the framework and establishing the overall thrust of continuous improvement initiatives. Equally significant, the fundamentals of a quality culture such as strong customer and supplier partnerships, participative involvement, open communications, and ownership were essential in overcoming the challenges inherent in the planning process. A reinforced management commitment to the quality culture was a clear, long-term benefit.

Strategic planning as a focus for continuous improvement. A case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oneill, John W.; Gordon-Winkler, Lyn

What do most of the successful people and organizations in our world have in common? Instead of worrying about the future, they work to create it. They have a plan, or a vision of what they want to accomplish and they focus their efforts on success. Strategic planning has been described as a disciplined, ongoing process to produce fundamental decisions and actions that shape what an organization is, what it does, and how it will respond to a changing environment. This case study discussion will evaluate the relationship between strategic planning and Total Quality Management (TQM), or continuous improvement, through the experience of the NASA Johnson Space Center in developing a strategy for the future. That experience clearly illustrates the value of strategic planning in setting the framework and establishing the overall thrust of continuous improvement initiatives. Equally significant, the fundamentals of a quality culture such as strong customer and supplier partnerships, participative involvement, open communications, and ownership were essential in overcoming the challenges inherent in the planning process. A reinforced management commitment to the quality culture was a clear, long-term benefit.

Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program. Monitoring Concept Plan

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-09-10

Government Owned Contractor Operated GPL General Population Limit H Bis (2-chloroethyl) sulfide or Levinstein Mustard (75% purity) P HCI Hydrogen Chloride... government agencies, will provide technical expertise and equipment necessary to monitor affected areas and resources. 2-25 SECTIO 3 PROCESS CONTROL AND...conditions and to issue correct emergency response notifications, if required. The process sensors work in conjunction with the process control system and

Sector activities and lessons learned around initial implementation of the United States national physical activity plan.

PubMed

Evenson, Kelly R; Satinsky, Sara B

2014-08-01

National plans are increasingly common but infrequently evaluated. The 2010 United States National Physical Activity Plan (NPAP) provided strategies to increase population levels of physical activity. This paper describes (i) the initial accomplishments of the NPAP sector teams, and (ii) results from a process evaluation to determine how the sectors operated, their cross-sector collaboration, challenges encountered, and positive experiences. During 2011, a quarterly reporting system was developed to capture sector-level activities. A year-end interview derived more detailed information. Interviews with 12 sector leads were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed for common themes. The 6 sectors worked on goals from the implementation plan that focused broadly on education, promotion, intervention, policy, collaboration, and evaluation. Through year-end interviews, themes were generated around operations, goal setting, and cross-sector collaboration. Challenges to the NPAP work included lack of funding and time, the need for marketing and promotion, and organizational support. Positive experiences included collaboration, efficiency of work, enhanced community dynamic, and accomplishments toward NPAP goals. These initial results on the NPAP sector teams can be used as a baseline assessment for future monitoring. The lessons learned may be useful to other practitioners developing evaluations around state- or national-level plans.

Sector Activities and Lessons Learned Around Initial Implementation of the United States National Physical Activity Plan

PubMed Central

Evenson, Kelly R.; Satinsky, Sara B.

2016-01-01

Background National plans are increasingly common but infrequently evaluated. The 2010 United States National Physical Activity Plan (NPAP) provided strategies to increase population levels of physical activity. This paper describes (i) the initial accomplishments of the NPAP sector teams, and (ii) results from a process evaluation to determine how the sectors operated, their cross-sector collaboration, challenges encountered, and positive experiences. Methods During 2011, a quarterly reporting system was developed to capture sector-level activities. A year-end interview derived more detailed information. Interviews with 12 sector leads were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed for common themes. Results The 6 sectors worked on goals from the implementation plan that focused broadly on education, promotion, intervention, policy, collaboration, and evaluation. Through year-end interviews, themes were generated around operations, goal setting, and cross-sector collaboration. Challenges to the NPAP work included lack of funding and time, the need for marketing and promotion, and organizational support. Positive experiences included collaboration, efficiency of work, enhanced community dynamic, and accomplishments toward NPAP goals. Conclusions These initial results on the NPAP sector teams can be used as a baseline assessment for future monitoring. The lessons learned may be useful to other practitioners developing evaluations around state- or national-level plans. PMID:24176800

A New U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Plan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michalak, A. M.; Jackson, R.; Marland, G.; Sabine, C.

2009-05-01

The report "A U.S. carbon cycle science plan" (J. L. Sarmiento and S. C. Wofsy, U.S. Global Change Res. Program, Washington, D. C., 1999) outlined research priorities and promoted coordinated carbon cycle research across federal agencies in the United States for nearly a decade. Building on this framework and subsequent reports (http://www.carboncyclescience.gov/docs.php), a working group comprised of 27 scientists was formed in 2008 under the United States Carbon Cycle Science Program to review the 1999 Science Plan, and to develop an updated strategy for carbon cycle research for the period from 2010 to 2020. This comprehensive review is being conducted with wide input from the research and stakeholder communities. The recommendations of the Carbon Cycle Science Working Group (CCSWG) will go to U.S. agency managers who have collective responsibility for setting national carbon cycle science priorities and for sponsoring much of the carbon cycle research in the United States. This presentation will provide an update on the ongoing planning process, will outline the steps that the CCSWG is undertaking in building consensus towards an updated U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Plan, and will seek input on the best ways in which to coordinate efforts with ongoing and upcoming research in Canada and Mexico, as well as with ongoing work globally.

The need for coherence between waterfowl harvest and habitat management

USGS Publications Warehouse

Runge, M.C.; Johnson, F.A.; Anderson, M.G.; Koneff, M.D.; Reed, E.T.; Mott, S.E.

2006-01-01

Two of the most significant management efforts affecting waterfowl populations in North America are the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (the Plan) and Federal harvest management programs. Both the Plan and harvest management are continental in scope, involve an extensive group of stakeholders, and rely on adaptive processes of biological planning, implementation, and evaluation. The development of these programs has occurred independently, however, and there has been little explicit recognition that both harvest and habitat effects should be considered for coherent management planning and evaluation. For example, the harvest strategy can affect whether population objectives of the Plan are met, irrespective of the success of the Plan's habitat conservation efforts. Conversely, habitat conservation activities under the Plan can influence harvest potential and, therefore, the amount of hunting opportunity provided. It seems increasingly clear that the Plan's waterfowl population objectives can only be useful for conservation planning and evaluation if they are accompanied by an explicit specification of the harvest strategy and environmental conditions under which they are to be achieved. This clarification also is necessary to ensure that Plan population objectives are not attained solely through the reduction of hunting opportunity. We believe then that it is imperative that these key waterfowl-management programs work to harmonize their objectives. Harvest management programs and the Plan ought to be working toward the same ends, but that is not possible so long as the mutually reinforcing relationship of these programs is obscured by ambiguities in their management objectives.

The use of scenarios for long-range planning by investor-owned electric utilities in the Pacific Northwest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lyons, John V.

Scenario planning is a method of organizing and understanding large amounts of quantitative and qualitative data for leaders to make better strategic decisions. There is a lack of academic research about scenario planning with a subsequent shortage of definitions and theories. This study utilized a case study methodology to analyze scenario planning by investor-owned electric utilities in the Pacific Northwest in their integrated resource planning (IRP) process. The cases include Avista Corporation, Idaho Power, PacifiCorp, Portland General Electric, and Puget Sound Energy. This study sought to determine how scenario planning was used, what scenario approach was used, the scenario outcomes, and the similarities and differences in the scenario planning processes. The literature review of this study covered the development of scenario planning, common definitions and theories, approaches to scenario development, and scenario outcomes. A research methodology was developed to classify the scenario development approach into intuitive, hybrid, or quantitative approaches; and scenario outcomes of changed thinking, stories of plausible futures, improved decision making, and enhanced organizational learning. The study found all three forms of scenario planning in the IRPs. All of the cases used a similar approach to IRP development. All of the cases had at least improved decision making as an outcome of scenario planning. Only one case demonstrated all four scenario outcomes. A critical finding was a correlation between the use of the intuitive approach and the use of all scenario outcomes. Another major finding was the unique use of predetermined elements, which are normally consistent across scenarios, but became critical uncertainties in some of the scenarios in the cases for this study. This finding will need to be confirmed by future research as unique to the industry or an aberration. An unusually high number of scenarios were found for cases using the hybrid approach, which was unexpected based on the literature. This work expanded the methods for studying scenario planning, enhanced the body of scholarly works on scenario planning, and provided a starting point for additional research concerning the use of scenario planning by electric utilities.

Can health feasibly be considered as part of the planning process in Scotland?

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

Higgins, Martin; Douglas, Margaret; Muirie, Jill

2005-10-15

The planning system is significant because of its capacity to determine the quality of the built environment as well as the health, well-being and quality of life of the individuals and communities therein. Development planning is especially important because of the long-term impact of the decisions. This paper was developed in response to increasing recognition amongst HIA practitioners in Scotland of the importance of planning for health. It focuses on the relationship between the planning system in Scotland, specifically the Development Planning element of it, and population health and considers how the health impact assessment (HIA) approach can facilitate andmore » support joint working with planners. In particular, consideration is given to the potential impact of the introduction of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) on the linkages between health, HIA and planning.« less

An Interprofessional Approach to Continuing Education With Mass Casualty Simulation: Planning and Execution.

PubMed

Saber, Deborah A; Strout, Kelley; Caruso, Lisa Swanson; Ingwell-Spolan, Charlene; Koplovsky, Aiden

2017-10-01

Many natural and man-made disasters require the assistance from teams of health care professionals. Knowing that continuing education about disaster simulation training is essential to nursing students, nurses, and emergency first responders (e.g., emergency medical technicians, firefighters, police officers), a university in the northeastern United States planned and implemented an interprofessional mass casualty incident (MCI) disaster simulation using the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) management framework. The school of nursing and University Volunteer Ambulance Corps (UVAC) worked together to simulate a bus crash with disaster victim actors to provide continued education for community first responders and train nursing students on the MCI process. This article explains the simulation activity, planning process, and achieved outcomes. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2017;48(10):447-453. Copyright 2017, SLACK Incorporated.

APA guidelines: their importance and a plan to keep them current: 2013 annual report of the Policy and Planning Board.

PubMed

2014-01-01

When guidelines are approved by APA, they become association policy, and it is imperative that they remain current. The revision of guidelines poses several challenges to the association. These challenges range from the availability and allocation of resources to support the complicated processes involved in developing and updating these policies to the lack of a clearly defined process that includes identification of tasks, assignments of responsibilities, and so forth. For this reason, the APA Board of Directors asked the Policy and Planning Board (P&P) to work with the boards of the four directorates (i.e., the Education Directorate, the Practice Directorate, the Public Interest Directorate, and the Science Directorate) to create a proposal that would (a) make recommendations with regard to how the review and revision of guidelines documents might best be accomplished in accordance with the APA Strategic Plan and existing policies and procedures and (b) make suggestions regarding the association resources that might be required. The Board of Directors approved the proposed review process in December 2013. 2014 APA, all rights reserved

Involvement and structure: A qualitative study of organizational change and sickness absence among women in the public sector in Sweden

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Organizational changes in modern corporate life have become increasingly common and there are indications that they often fail to achieve their ends. An earlier study of 24,036 employees showed that those who had repeatedly been exposed to large increases in staffing during 1991-1996 had an excess risk of both long-term sickness absence and hospital admission during 1997-1999, while moderate expansion appeared to be protective. The former was most salient among female public sector employees. We used qualitative interviews to explore work environment factors underlying the impact of organizational changes (moderate and large expansions in staffing) on sickness absence from an employee perspective. Method We interviewed 21 strategically selected women from the earlier study using semi-structured telephone interviews focusing on working conditions during the organizational changes. We identified 22 themes which could explain the association between organizational changes and sickness absence. We then used Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to reduce the number of themes and discover patterns of possible causation. Results The themes that most readily explained the outcomes were Well Planned Process of Change (a clear structure for involvement of the employees in the changes), Agent of Change (an active role in the implementation of the changes), Unregulated Work (a lack of clear limits and guidelines regarding work tasks from the management and among the employees), and Humiliating Position (feelings of low status or of not being wanted at the workplace), which had been salient throughout the analytic process, in combination with Multiple Contexts (working in several teams in parallel) and Already Ill (having already had a debilitating illness at the beginning of 1991), which may indicate degree of individual exposure and vulnerability. Well Planned Process of Change, Agent of Change and Multiple Contexts are themes that were associated with low sickness absence. Unregulated Work, Humiliating Position and Already Ill were associated with high sickness absence. Conclusions These findings suggest that promising areas for future research and improvement in change management could be the structured involvement of the employees in the planning of organizational changes, and the development of methods to avoid highly unregulated working conditions. PMID:21575180

Involvement and structure: a qualitative study of organizational change and sickness absence among women in the public sector in Sweden.

PubMed

Baltzer, Maria; Westerlund, Hugo; Backhans, Mona; Melinder, Karin

2011-05-16

Organizational changes in modern corporate life have become increasingly common and there are indications that they often fail to achieve their ends. An earlier study of 24,036 employees showed that those who had repeatedly been exposed to large increases in staffing during 1991-1996 had an excess risk of both long-term sickness absence and hospital admission during 1997-1999, while moderate expansion appeared to be protective. The former was most salient among female public sector employees. We used qualitative interviews to explore work environment factors underlying the impact of organizational changes (moderate and large expansions in staffing) on sickness absence from an employee perspective. We interviewed 21 strategically selected women from the earlier study using semi-structured telephone interviews focusing on working conditions during the organizational changes. We identified 22 themes which could explain the association between organizational changes and sickness absence. We then used Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to reduce the number of themes and discover patterns of possible causation. The themes that most readily explained the outcomes were Well Planned Process of Change (a clear structure for involvement of the employees in the changes), Agent of Change (an active role in the implementation of the changes), Unregulated Work (a lack of clear limits and guidelines regarding work tasks from the management and among the employees), and Humiliating Position (feelings of low status or of not being wanted at the workplace), which had been salient throughout the analytic process, in combination with Multiple Contexts (working in several teams in parallel) and Already Ill (having already had a debilitating illness at the beginning of 1991), which may indicate degree of individual exposure and vulnerability. Well Planned Process of Change, Agent of Change and Multiple Contexts are themes that were associated with low sickness absence. Unregulated Work, Humiliating Position and Already Ill were associated with high sickness absence. These findings suggest that promising areas for future research and improvement in change management could be the structured involvement of the employees in the planning of organizational changes, and the development of methods to avoid highly unregulated working conditions.

Leadership and effective succession planning in health-system pharmacy departments.

PubMed

Ellinger, Lara Kathryn; Trapskin, Philip J; Black, Raymond; Kotis, Despina; Alexander, Earnest

2014-04-01

Leadership succession planning is crucial to the continuity of the comprehensive vision of the hospital pharmacy department. Leadership development is arguably the main component of training and preparing pharmacists to assume managerial positions. Succession planning begins with a review of the organizational chart in the context of the institution's strategic plan. Then career ladders are developed and key positions that require succession plans are identified. Employee profiles and talent inventory should be performed for all employees to identify education, talent, and experience, as well as areas that need improvement. Employees should set objective goals that align with the department's strategic plan, and management should work collaboratively with employees on how to achieve their goals within a certain timeframe. The succession planning process is dynamic and evolving, and periodic assessments should be conducted to determine how improvements can be made. Succession planning can serve as a marker for the success of hospital pharmacy departments.

Leadership and Effective Succession Planning in Health-System Pharmacy Departments

PubMed Central

Trapskin, Philip J.; Black, Raymond; Kotis, Despina; Alexander, Earnest

2014-01-01

Leadership succession planning is crucial to the continuity of the comprehensive vision of the hospital pharmacy department. Leadership development is arguably the main component of training and preparing pharmacists to assume managerial positions. Succession planning begins with a review of the organizational chart in the context of the institution’s strategic plan. Then career ladders are developed and key positions that require succession plans are identified. Employee profiles and talent inventory should be performed for all employees to identify education, talent, and experience, as well as areas that need improvement. Employees should set objective goals that align with the department’s strategic plan, and management should work collaboratively with employees on how to achieve their goals within a certain timeframe. The succession planning process is dynamic and evolving, and periodic assessments should be conducted to determine how improvements can be made. Succession planning can serve as a marker for the success of hospital pharmacy departments. PMID:24958944

Expanding the Reach of Career Portfolios.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kimeldorf, Martin; Hagy, Barbara

2001-01-01

Portfolios have uses beyond job seeking. They can be developed to promote a new idea or work assignment, used as a tool for employee evaluation, and serve in the process of organizational succession planning and internal recruitment. (SK)

Guidance on Streamlining the SIP Process

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA collaborated with the The National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA/ECOs) SIP Reform Work Group to minimize federal and state burden in developing SIPs, but ensure the plans effectiveness in complying with the Clean Air Act.

Guidance on Systematic Planning Using the Data Quality Objectives Process, EPA QA/G-4

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Provides a standard working tool for project managers and planners to develop DQO for determining the type, quantity, and quality of data needed to reach defensible decisions or make credible estimates.

The effectiveness of national strategic guidelines at a local level: a case study of the UK general aviation industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lober, Terence

The thesis is concerned with the prospects for reducing strategic-local tensions in the British planning process. It examines the conflicts surrounding small general aviation aerodromes as a means of understanding these tensions, why they have evolved, and if they might be reconciled through planning reform. The only prior academic research to have touched upon this issue through general aviation has been an ESRC funded project undertaken by Gallent and colleagues (1999), who found aerodromes provided a microcosm of planning's issues. Building on this work, the thesis develops what is meant by strategic-local tensions, which in broad terms are described as differences between national and regional guidance/plans and what actually takes place locally. Moving from a basic research question it develops a wide planning perspective based on the literature by discussing the meaning of planning, its history and issues for example, how conflicts in planning might be influenced by the broader socio-political environment. The thesis then arrives at three hypotheses which question the effectiveness of the existing strategic guideline implementation process, develops a local planning authority framework and addresses issues of reflectivity and bias. Results from three national surveys of pilots, aerodromes and manufacturers, plus longitudinal analysis of government and other datasets, are then used to detail a comprehensive and unique description of general aviation, which includes a costing based account of the direct expenditure of flying activity. This provides a substantive foundation for a local planning authority survey which both extends previous boundaries and enables the process of implementing strategic objectives to be disaggregated and evaluated. Field visits to twenty six aerodromes and five local authorities are subsequently used to explore gaps within the strategic implementation process and to develop conclusions, within the wider landscape of planning, about the nature of strategic local tensions and implications for planning reform.

SU-G-TeP4-06: An Integrated Application for Radiation Therapy Treatment Plan Directives, Management, and Reporting

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

Matuszak, M; Anderson, C; Lee, C

Purpose: With electronic medical records, patient information for the treatment planning process has become disseminated across multiple applications with limited quality control and many associated failure modes. We present the development of a single application with a centralized database to manage the planning process. Methods: The system was designed to replace current functionalities of (i) static directives representing the physician intent for the prescription and planning goals, localization information for delivery, and other information, (ii) planning objective reports, (iii) localization and image guidance documents and (iv) the official radiation therapy prescription in the medical record. Using the Eclipse Scripting Applicationmore » Programming Interface, a plug-in script with an associated domain-specific SQL Server database was created to manage the information in (i)–(iv). The system’s user interface and database were designed by a team of physicians, clinical physicists, database experts, and software engineers to ensure usability and robustness for clinical use. Results: The resulting system has been fully integrated within the TPS via a custom script and database. Planning scenario templates, version control, approvals, and logic-based quality control allow this system to fully track and document the planning process as well as physician approval of tradeoffs while improving the consistency of the data. Multiple plans and prescriptions are supported along with non-traditional dose objectives and evaluation such as biologically corrected models, composite dose limits, and management of localization goals. User-specific custom views were developed for the attending physician review, physicist plan checks, treating therapists, and peer review in chart rounds. Conclusion: A method was developed to maintain cohesive information throughout the planning process within one integrated system by using a custom treatment planning management application that interfaces directly with the TPS. Future work includes quantifying the improvements in quality, safety and efficiency that are possible with the routine clinical use of this system. Supported in part by NIH-P01-CA-059827.« less

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

PubMed

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

1984-01-01

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

Working in partnership: the application of shared decision-making to health visitor practice.

PubMed

Astbury, Ruth; Shepherd, Ashley; Cheyne, Helen

2017-01-01

To explore the processes that support shared decision-making when health visitors and parents are creating plans to improve the well-being of babies and children. Worldwide, there is a focus on promoting children's well-being to enhance the population health. Within the United Kingdom, health visitors have a key responsibility for working in partnership with parents to support this agenda. Despite evidence that the application of 'shared decision-making' frameworks can increase patient participation, improve patient satisfaction and improve health outcomes, there is limited research linking shared decision-making with health visitor practice. A qualitative, descriptive study. The study was undertaken in two phases: in Phase 1, data were collected by audio recording two health visitor-parent decision-making conversations, in the absence of the researcher, where decisions around planning for a baby or child were being made as part of usual care, and then the participants' experiences were sought through individual questionnaires. In Phase 2, semistructured interviews were conducted with nine health visitors and nine parents in relation to their recent experiences of planning care. Evidence of supportive processes included having a shared understanding around the issue needing to be addressed; being able to identify interventions that were accessible for the family; engaging in decision-making through deep, meaningful conversations using sensitive and responsive approaches; and establishing positive relationships between health visitors and parents, significant others within the family and other professionals. Despite evidence of strong, trusting relationships between parents and health visitors, there were times when shared decision-making was unable to take place due to the absence of supportive processes. Health visitors are aware that planning interventions with parents can be complex. These findings indicate the value of using a shared decision-making framework to structure planning, as application of a framework identified the processes that support a collaborative approach in practice. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Similar and/or Different Writing Processes? A Study of Spanish Foreign Language and Heritage Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elola, Idoia; Mikulski, Ariana M.

2016-01-01

Following a cognitively-oriented framework, this study builds upon the authors' previous work (Elola and Mikulski 2013; Mikulski and Elola 2011), which analyzed writing processes (planning time, execution time, revision time), fluency, and accuracy of Spanish heritage language (SHL) learners when composing in English and in Spanish. By analyzing…

US NDC Modernization Iteration E1 Prototyping Report: Processing Control Framework

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

Prescott, Ryan; Hamlet, Benjamin R.

2014-12-01

During the first iteration of the US NDC Modernization Elaboration phase (E1), the SNL US NDC modernization project team developed an initial survey of applicable COTS solutions, and established exploratory prototyping related to the processing control framework in support of system architecture definition. This report summarizes these activities and discusses planned follow-on work.

Working with Our Publics. In-Service Education for Cooperative Extension. Module 2. The Extension Education Process.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mustian, R. David; And Others

This module is the second in an inservice education series for extension professionals that consists of seven independent training modules. It is an introduction to, and guided practice in, the premises, concepts, and processes of nonformal extension education--planning, designing and implementing, and evaluating and accounting for extension…

Back to the future: autobiographical planning and the functionality of mind-wandering.

PubMed

Baird, Benjamin; Smallwood, Jonathan; Schooler, Jonathan W

2011-12-01

Given that as much as half of human thought arises in a stimulus independent fashion, it would seem unlikely that such thoughts would play no functional role in our lives. However, evidence linking the mind-wandering state to performance decrement has led to the notion that mind-wandering primarily represents a form of cognitive failure. Based on previous work showing a prospective bias to mind-wandering, the current study explores the hypothesis that one potential function of spontaneous thought is to plan and anticipate personally relevant future goals, a process referred to as autobiographical planning. The results confirm that the content of mind-wandering is predominantly future-focused, demonstrate that individuals with high working memory capacity are more likely to engage in prospective mind-wandering, and show that prospective mind-wandering frequently involves autobiographical planning. Together this evidence suggests that mind-wandering can enable prospective cognitive operations that are likely to be useful to the individual as they navigate through their daily lives. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Salience of working-memory maintenance and manipulation deficits in schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Hill, S. K.; Griffin, G. B.; Miura, T. Kazuto; Herbener, E. S.; Sweeney, J. A.

2011-01-01

Background Encoding and maintenance of information in working memory, followed by internal manipulation of that information for planning adaptive behavior, are two key components of working-memory systems. Both processes have been reported to be impaired in schizophrenia, but few studies have directly compared the relative severity of these abnormalities, or the degree to which manipulation deficits might be secondary to alterations in maintenance processes. Method Clinically stable schizophrenia patients (n=25) and a demographically similar healthy comparison group (n=24) were administered a verbal span task with three levels of working-memory load. Maintenance was assessed using sequential position questions. Manipulation processes were assessed by requiring comparison of the relative sequential position of test items, which entailed simultaneous serial search strategies regarding item order. Results Both groups showed reduced accuracy and increased reaction time for manipulation compared with maintenance processing. There were significant patient impairments across working-memory loads. There was no differential deficit in manipulation processing, and effect sizes of relative deficit in the patient group were higher for maintenance than manipulation processing. Conclusions The strong correlation for maintenance and manipulation deficits suggest that impairments in the ability to internally manipulate information stored in working-memory systems are not greater than alterations in the encoding and maintaining of information in working memory and that disturbances in maintenance processing may contribute to deficits in higher-order working-memory operations. PMID:20214839

Early work patterns for gynaecological cancer survivors in the USA.

PubMed

Nachreiner, N M; Ghebre, R G; Virnig, B A; Shanley, R

2012-01-01

Little is known about the balance between work demands and treatment plans for >4.3 million working-age cancer survivors in the USA. To describe changes in work status for gynaecological cancer survivors during the first 6 months following diagnosis and their experience with their employers' programmes and policies. One hundred and ten gynaecological cancer survivors who were working at the time of their cancer diagnosis completed a survey. Case record reviews documented their clinical characteristics and treatment details. Ninety-five women (86%) had surgery; 81 (74%) received chemotherapy, radiotherapy or both in addition to surgery. Nine per cent of women said that they changed their treatment plan because of their jobs; in contrast, 62% of women said that they changed their work situation to accommodate their treatment plan. Overall, the most common month for women to stop working was Month 1 (41%), to decrease hours was Month 2 (32%) and to increase hours was Month 6 (8%). Twenty-eight per cent of women were aware of employer policies that assisted the return to work process; 70% of women were familiar with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and 56% with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Only 26% completed a formal request for work accommodations. After 6 months, 56 of 83 women (67%) remained working or had returned to work. Work patterns varied for these gynaecological cancer survivors over the first 6 months following diagnosis. Opportunities exist to improve communication about work and treatment expectations between cancer survivors, occupational health professionals, employers and treating clinicians.

Efficiency improvements of offline metrology job creation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zuniga, Victor J.; Carlson, Alan; Podlesny, John C.; Knutrud, Paul C.

1999-06-01

Progress of the first lot of a new design through the production line is watched very closely. All performance metrics, cycle-time, in-line measurement results and final electrical performance are critical. Rapid movement of this lot through the line has serious time-to-market implications. Having this material waiting at a metrology operation for an engineer to create a measurement job plan wastes valuable turnaround time. Further, efficient use of a metrology system is compromised by the time required to create and maintain these measurement job plans. Thus, having a method to develop metrology job plans prior to the actual running of the material through the manufacture area can significantly improve both cycle time and overall equipment efficiency. Motorola and Schlumberger have worked together to develop and test such a system. The Remote Job Generator (RJG) created job plans for new device sin a manufacturing process from an NT host or workstation, offline. This increases available system tim effort making production measurements, decreases turnaround time on job plan creation and editing, and improves consistency across job plans. Most importantly this allows job plans for new devices to be available before the first wafers of the device arrive at the tool for measurement. The software also includes a database manager which allows updates of existing job plans to incorporate measurement changes required by process changes or measurement optimization. This paper will review the result of productivity enhancements through the increased metrology utilization and decreased cycle time associated with the use of RJG. Finally, improvements in process control through better control of Job Plans across different devices and layers will be discussed.

The implementation of the integrated design process in the hole-plan system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruy, Won-Sun; Ko, Dae-Eun; Yang, Young-Soon

2012-12-01

All current shipyards are using the customized CAD/CAM programs in order to improve the design quality and increase the design efficiency. Even though the data structures for ship design and construction are almost completed, the implementation related to the ship design processes are still in progress so that it has been the main causes of the bottleneck and delay during the middle of design process. In this study, we thought that the hole-plan system would be a good example which is remained to be improved. The people of outfitting division who don't have direct authority to edit the structural panels, should request the hull design division to install the holes for the outfitting equipment. For acceptance, they should calculate the hole position, determine the hole type, and find the intersected contour of panel. After consideration of the hull people, the requested holes are manually installed on the hull structure. As the above, many processes are needed such as communication and discussion between the divisions, drawings for hole-plan, and the consideration for the structural or production compatibility. However this iterative process takes a lot of working time and requires mental pressure to the related people and cross-division conflict. This paper will handle the hole-plan system in detail to automate the series of process and minimize the human efforts and time-consumption.

An Example of Planning/Management Reports Produced at Delaware County Community College in Conjunction with American Management Association (AMA) Processes and National Center for Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) Products.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spencer, Richard L.; And Others

Within this document, and presented in their entirety, are five reports which depict differing views of Delaware County Community College (DCCC) from 1974 through 1980. The reports consist of both historical and predictive data, evolved from staff work related to long and short range planning. The general framework for this activity revolved about…

A knowledge representation of local pandemic influenza planning models.

PubMed

Islam, Runa; Brandeau, Margaret L; Das, Amar K

2007-10-11

Planning for pandemic flu outbreak at the small-government level can be aided through the use of mathematical policy models. Formulating and analyzing policy models, however, can be a time- and expertise-expensive process. We believe that a knowledge-based system for facilitating the instantiation of locale- and problem-specific policy models can reduce some of these costs. In this work, we present the ontology we have developed for pandemic influenza policy models.

Plans for Assessing Contractor Performance for the Camp Lemonnier Base Operations Support Contract Needed Improvement

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-08-27

ensure the functional assessment plans ( FAP ) for the three services contained all contractor work requiring assessment, measurable performance...review the FAPs after development and revisions to the FAPs , and did not require additional controls over the contractor assessment process in an...revised as follows: • Business Management System B-14.3 was updated to require the contract officer representative conduct a FAP review to ensure

Improving DOE Project Performance Using the DOD Integrated Master Plan - 12481

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

Alleman, Glen B.; Nosbisch, Michael R.

2012-07-01

DOE O 413 measures a project's progress to plan by the consumption of funding, the passage of time, and the meeting of milestones. In March of 2003, then Under Secretary, Energy, Science, Card received a memo directing the implementation of Project Management and the Project Management Manual, including the Integrated Master Plan and Integrated Master Schedule. This directive states 'the integrated master plan and schedule tie together all project tasks by showing their logical relationships and any constraints controlling the start or finish of each task. This process results in a hierarchy of related functional and layered schedules derived frommore » the Work Breakdown Structure that can be used for monitoring and controlling project progress'. This paper shows how restoring the IMP/IMS paradigm to DOE program management increases the probability of program success in ways not currently available using DOD O 413 processes alone. Using DOE O 413 series guidance, adding the Integrated Master Plan and Integrated Master Schedule paradigm would provide a hierarchical set of performance measures for each 'package of work,' that provides measurable visibility to the increasing maturity of the project. This measurable maturity provides the mechanism to forecast future performance of cost, schedule, and technical outcomes in ways not available using just the activities in DOE O 413. With this information project managers have another tool available to address the issues identified in GAO-07-336 and GAO-09-406. (authors)« less

U.S. Climate Change Technology Program: Strategic Plan

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-09-01

and Long Term, provides details on the 85 technologies in the R&D portfolio. 21 (Figure 2-1) Continuing Process The United States, in partnership with...locations may be centered near or in residential locations, and work processes and products may be more commonly communicated or delivered via digital... chemical properties, along with advanced methods to simulate processes , will stem from advances in computational technology. Current Portfolio The current

Process Definition and Modeling Guidebook. Version 01.00.02

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-12-01

material (and throughout the guidebook)process defnition is considered to be the act of representing the important characteristics of a process in a...characterized by software standards and guidelines, software inspections and reviews, and more formalized testing (including test plans, test sup- port tools...paper-based approach works well for training, examples, and possibly even small pilot projects and case studies. However, large projects will benefit from

40 CFR 35.107 - Work plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Work plans. 35.107 Section 35.107... ASSISTANCE Environmental Program Grants Preparing An Application § 35.107 Work plans. (a) Bases for negotiating work plans. The work plan is negotiated between the applicant and the Regional Administrator and...

77 FR 29317 - Fiscal Year 2011 Draft Work Plan

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-17

... DENALI COMMISSION Fiscal Year 2011 Draft Work Plan AGENCY: Denali Commission. ACTION: Notice... develop proposed work plans for future spending and that the annual Work Plan be published in the Federal... Work Plan for Federal Fiscal Year 2011. DATES: Comments and related material to be received by June 10...

40 CFR 35.507 - Work plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Work plans. 35.507 Section 35.507... ASSISTANCE Environmental Program Grants for Tribes Preparing An Application § 35.507 Work plans. (a) Bases for negotiating work plans. The work plan is negotiated between the applicant and the Regional...

40 CFR 35.507 - Work plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Work plans. 35.507 Section 35.507... ASSISTANCE Environmental Program Grants for Tribes Preparing An Application § 35.507 Work plans. (a) Bases for negotiating work plans. The work plan is negotiated between the applicant and the Regional...

40 CFR 35.107 - Work plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Work plans. 35.107 Section 35.107... ASSISTANCE Environmental Program Grants Preparing An Application § 35.107 Work plans. (a) Bases for negotiating work plans. The work plan is negotiated between the applicant and the Regional Administrator and...

LANL Safety Conscious Work Environment (SCWE) Self-Assessment

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

Hargis, Barbara C.

2014-01-29

On December 21, 2012 Secretary of Energy Chu transmitted to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) revised commitments on the implementation plan for Safety Culture at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant. Action 2-5 was revised to require contractors and federal organizations to complete Safety Conscious Work Environment (SCWE) selfassessments and provide reports to the appropriate U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) - Headquarters Program Office by September 2013. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) planned and conducted a Safety Conscious Work Environment (SCWE) Self-Assessment over the time period July through August, 2013 in accordance with the SCWE Self-Assessment Guidance providedmore » by DOE. Significant field work was conducted over the 2-week period August 5-16, 2013. The purpose of the self-assessment was to evaluate whether programs and processes associated with a SCWE are in place and whether they are effective in supporting and promoting a SCWE.« less

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

Burton, J. C.; Environmental Research

The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has entered into an interagency agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under which Argonne National Laboratory provides technical assistance for hazardous waste site characterization and remediation for the CCC/USDA. Carbon tetrachloride is the contaminant of primary concern at sites in Kansas where former CCC/USDA grain storage facilities were located. Argonne applies its QuickSite(reg sign) Expedited Site Characterization (ESC) approach to these former facilities. The QuickSite environmental site characterization methodology is Argonne's proprietary implementation of the ESC process (ASTM 1998). Argonne has used this approach at severalmore » former CCC/USDA facilities in Kansas, including Agenda, Agra, Everest, and Frankfort. The Argonne ESC approach revolves around a multidisciplinary, team-oriented approach to problem solving. The basic features and steps of the QuickSite methodology are as follows: (1) A team of scientists with diverse expertise and strong field experience is required to make the process work. The Argonne team is composed of geologists, geochemists, geophysicists, hydrogeologists, chemists, biologists, engineers, computer scientists, health and safety personnel, and regulatory staff, as well as technical support staff. Most of the staff scientists are at the Ph.D. level; each has on average, more than 15 years of experience. The technical team works together throughout the process. In other words, the team that plans the program also implements the program in the field and writes the reports. More experienced scientists do not remain in the office while individuals with lesser degrees or experience carry out the field work. (2) The technical team reviews, evaluates, and interprets existing data for the site and the contaminants there to determine which data sets are technically valid and can be used in initially designing the field program. A basic mistake sometimes made in the site characterization process is failure to use technically sound available data to form working hypotheses on hydrogeology, contaminant distribution, etc. for initial testing. (3) After assembling and interpreting existing data for the site, the entire technical team visits the site to identify as a group the site characteristics that might prohibit or enhance any particular technological approach. Logistic and community constraints are also identified at this point. (4) After the field visit, the team selects a suite of technologies appropriate to the problem and completes the design of the field program. No one technique works well at all sites, and a suite of techniques is necessary to delineate site features fully. In addition, multiple technologies are employed to increase confidence in conclusions about site features. Noninvasive and minimally invasive technologies are emphasized to minimize risk to the environment, the community, and the staff. In no case is the traditional approach of installing a massive number of monitoring wells followed. A dynamic work plan that outlines the program is produced for the sponsoring and regulatory agencies. The word ''dynamic'' is emphasized because the work plan is viewed as a guide, subject to modification, for the site characterization activity, rather than a document that is absolute and unchangeable. Therefore, the health and safety plan and the quality assurance/quality control plan must be broad and encompass all possible alterations to the plan. The cooperation of the regulating agency is essential in successful implementation of this process. The sponsoring and regulatory agencies are notified if significant changes to the site-specific work plan are necessary. (5) The entire team participates in the technical field program. Several technical activities are undertaken simultaneously. These may range from different surface geophysics investigations to vegetation sampling. Data from the various activities are reduced and interpreted each day by the technical staff. Various computer programs are used to visualize and integrate the data. However, people do the data interpretation and integration, not the computers, which are just one more tool at the site. At the end of the day, the staff members meet, review results, and modify the next day's program as necessary to optimize activities that are generating overlapping or confirming site details. Data are not arbitrarily discarded -- each finding must be explained and understood. Anomalous readings may be due to equipment malfunctions, laboratory error, or the inability of a technique to work in a given setting. The suite of selected technologies is adjusted in the field if necessary. (6) The end result of this process is the optimization of the field activity to produce a high-quality technical product that is cost and time effective.« less

[Disclosure of a mental disorder in the workplace and work accommodations: two factors associated with job tenure of people with severe mental disorders].

PubMed

Corbière, M; Villotti, P; Toth, K; Waghorn, G

2014-06-01

Job tenure for people with severe mental disorders (e.g., schizophrenia) remains a stumbling-block to their work integration. However, the length of job tenure can vary according to the workplace (e.g., provided resources) and the work context (e.g., regular market, social firms). This gap can be explained in part by diverse organisational components, particularly the implementation of work accommodations, which is related to the disclosure of the mental disorder in the workplace. Indeed, in the scientific literature, the principal reason associated with disclosure is in regards to requesting work accommodations. The main objective of this paper is to increase our understanding of the relationships between these three concepts - disclosure of a mental disorder, work accommodations and natural supports, and job tenure - by reviewing the specialized literature and presenting the work of the authors of this paper. To do so, the authors will address the following questions: How do we define 'disclosure' of a mental disorder in the workplace and what are the strategies to consider before disclosing? What is the decision-making process related to disclosure in the workplace? How are the three concepts - disclosure of the mental disorder in the workplace, work accommodations and job tenure - intertwined? Finally, how can employment specialists facilitate the work integration of people with severe mental disorders by considering the three concepts mentioned above? Results from a review of the literature show that disclosure of a mental disorder is a dialectical process that goes beyond the question: to tell or not to tell? In fact, it is not a single binary decision. Several components are associated with the disclosure concept, and can be summarized by the questions: What, how, when and to whom to disclose his/her mental condition? Reasons for disclosing his/her mental disorder in the workplace are numerous, characterized by personal, interpersonal and work environmental factors, on one hand. On the other hand, disclosure has potential consequences, both positive (e.g., to obtain work accommodations) and negative (e.g., stigma). A decision-making process takes place when people with a severe mental disorder think about the possibility of disclosing their mental condition in the workplace - a complex decisional process involving the need to evaluate different aspects (i.e. individual, interpersonal and work environmental factors). Also, the literature supports the fact that requiring work accommodations is often related to the disclosure of the mental disorder, when natural supports in the workplace are not available. The literature is scarce regarding the correlations between the concepts of disclosure, implementation of work accommodations and job tenure; however, a more recent study demonstrated this significant relationship, in which the supervisor and co-worker supports are crucial. Employment specialists or counselors recognise the importance of planned disclosure as a means to obtain access to work adjustments in the workplace and to prevent stigma. The employment specialist working in supported employment programs for instance, could adopt with his/her clients a plan for managing the pros and cons of disclosure of the mental disorder in the workplace; this plan is entitled: Managing personal information. It consists of several steps - for example, to collect details of any sensitive information such as diagnosis, to identify work restrictions with the client, to have a common agreement (employment specialists and clients together) on terms to describe work restrictions - to help clients feel empowered and more confident as productive and valued workers. This plan allows employment specialists to work through the disclosure concept, often negatively connoted, and to adopt a more normalising strategy. Furthermore, additional tools for supporting the management of personal information plan could be used such as the Decision-Making About Disclosure Scale, the Barriers to Employment and Coping Efficacy Scale, and the Work Accommodation and Natural Support Scale, to name a few. To conclude, job tenure for people with severe mental disorders is not a pious vow, several pragmatic ingredients for intervening on this issue are now available. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

[Construction of the work process of the Family Health Support Nucleus: the experience of pharmacists in a city in the south of Brazil].

PubMed

Nakamura, Carina Akemi; Leite, Silvana Nair

2016-05-01

The Family Health Support Nucleus (NASF) was created in 2008 with the objective of broadening the range and scope of primary healthcare. The insertion of pharmacists in this multi-professional context represents an opportunity to enhance the working process and the rational access and use of medicines. The working processes of pharmacists in a city NASF was investigated. Field research was conducted using a qualitative approach with participant observation and semi-structured interviews. Two analytic dialectic categories emerged. The first was the pharmacists' dilemma in the construction of their working process as promoters of primary healthcare, while at the same time facing the need to deal with managerial functions mostly to cater to operational demand. The second was the reality experienced with guidelines and coordination of their work, where pharmacists can be free to structure their work as supporters, although at the same time it limits them due to lack of acknowledgment of their previously established working process. The lack of planning and a clear objective for work in the NASF, besides the deficiency of pharmaceutical services in primary healthcare make the development of any type of pharmacist activity important and essential even if it does not fully attend the NASF proposal.

CAD/CAM approach to improving industry productivity gathers momentum

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fulton, R. E.

1982-01-01

Recent results and planning for the NASA/industry Integrated Programs for Aerospace-Vehicle Design (IPAD) program for improving productivity with CAD/CAM methods are outlined. The industrial group work is being mainly done by Boeing, and progress has been made in defining the designer work environment, developing requirements and a preliminary design for a future CAD/CAM system, and developing CAD/CAM technology. The work environment was defined by conducting a detailed study of a reference design process, and key software elements for a CAD/CAM system have been defined, specifically for interactive design or experiment control processes. Further work is proceeding on executive, data management, geometry and graphics, and general utility software, and dynamic aspects of the programs being developed are outlined

7 CFR 23.13 - Plan of Work.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Plan of Work. 23.13 Section 23.13 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture STATE AND REGIONAL ANNUAL PLANS OF WORK Regional Program § 23.13 Plan of Work. (a) A Regional Plan of Work for carrying out the programs authorized to be funded under...

Status report, The Public Health and Planning 101 project: strengthening collaborations between the public health and planning professions.

PubMed

Mahendra, A; Vo, T; Einstoss, C; Weppler, J; Gillen, P; Ryan, L; Haley, K

2017-01-01

Land use planning is a complex field comprised of legislation, policies, processes and tools. A growing body of evidence supports the relationship between land use planning decisions, community design and health. The built environment has been shown to be associated with physical inactivity, obesity, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease and mental illness. Consequently, there is a growing interest within public health to work with planners on land use planning initiatives such as official plans and transportation master plans. Two surveys were developed: one for public health professionals and the other for planning professionals (survey questions available upon request to the corresponding author). The surveys were pilot tested in two separate focus group sessions with public health and planning professionals. Focus group volunteers helped to validate the surveys by verifying survey questions, design and overall flow. In early 2012, 304 public health professionals and 301 planning professionals completed the two separate surveys, comprising the total survey respondents for each respective profession used to calculate proportions. The survey results represent a convenience sample and are not generalizable to the entire population of public health and planning professionals in Ontario. Results compare survey responses from both groups where appropriate. Most respondents worked either as public health staff (78%) or planners/senior planners (58%). A smaller percentage of public health and planning professionals worked either as managers (15% and 11%, respectively) or directors (5% and 9%, respectively). Health is associated with how communities are planned and built, and the services and resources provided within them. Inspired by the results of our survey and based on user feedback from the pilot tests, a free online training program entitled "Public Health and Planning 101: An Online Course for Public Health and Planning Professionals to Create Healthier Built Environments" was launched in 2016 by OPHA as a collaborative project with OPPI and PHAC. This course is designed to bridge the gaps between the two professions, as well as provide greater opportunities for developing collaborative partnerships to help create and foster healthy built environments.

Minimal-effort planning of active alignment processes for beam-shaping optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haag, Sebastian; Schranner, Matthias; Müller, Tobias; Zontar, Daniel; Schlette, Christian; Losch, Daniel; Brecher, Christian; Roßmann, Jürgen

2015-03-01

In science and industry, the alignment of beam-shaping optics is usually a manual procedure. Many industrial applications utilizing beam-shaping optical systems require more scalable production solutions and therefore effort has been invested in research regarding the automation of optics assembly. In previous works, the authors and other researchers have proven the feasibility of automated alignment of beam-shaping optics such as collimation lenses or homogenization optics. Nevertheless, the planning efforts as well as additional knowledge from the fields of automation and control required for such alignment processes are immense. This paper presents a novel approach of planning active alignment processes of beam-shaping optics with the focus of minimizing the planning efforts for active alignment. The approach utilizes optical simulation and the genetic programming paradigm from computer science for automatically extracting features from a simulated data basis with a high correlation coefficient regarding the individual degrees of freedom of alignment. The strategy is capable of finding active alignment strategies that can be executed by an automated assembly system. The paper presents a tool making the algorithm available to end-users and it discusses the results of planning the active alignment of the well-known assembly of a fast-axis collimator. The paper concludes with an outlook on the transferability to other use cases such as application specific intensity distributions which will benefit from reduced planning efforts.

Prevention of falls, malnutrition and pressure ulcers among older persons - nursing staff's experiences of a structured preventive care process.

PubMed

Lannering, Christina; Ernsth Bravell, Marie; Johansson, Linda

2017-05-01

A structured and systematic care process for preventive work, aimed to reduce falls, pressure ulcers and malnutrition among older people, has been developed in Sweden. The process involves risk assessment, team-based interventions and evaluation of results. Since development, this structured work process has become web-based and has been implemented in a national quality registry called 'Senior Alert' and used countrywide. The aim of this study was to describe nursing staff's experience of preventive work by using the structured preventive care process as outlined by Senior Alert. Eight focus group interviews were conducted during 2015 including staff from nursing homes and home-based nursing care in three municipalities. The interview material was subjected to qualitative content analysis. In this study, both positive and negative opinions were expressed about the process. The systematic and structured work flow seemed to only partly facilitate care providers to improve care quality by making better clinical assessments, performing team-based planned interventions and learning from results. Participants described lack of reliability in the assessments and varying opinions about the structure. Furthermore, organisational structures limited the preventive work. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The ontology model of FrontCRM framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Budiardjo, Eko K.; Perdana, Wira; Franshisca, Felicia

2013-03-01

Adoption and implementation of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is not merely a technological installation, but the emphasis is more on the application of customer-centric philosophy and culture as a whole. CRM must begin at the level of business strategy, the only level that thorough organizational changes are possible to be done. Changes agenda can be directed to each departmental plans, and supported by information technology. Work processes related to CRM concept include marketing, sales, and services. FrontCRM is developed as framework to guide in identifying business processes related to CRM in which based on the concept of strategic planning approach. This leads to processes and practices identification in every process area related to marketing, sales, and services. The Ontology model presented on this paper by means serves as tools to avoid framework misunderstanding, to define practices systematically within process area and to find CRM software features related to those practices.

Reengineering the Project Design Process

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Casani, E.; Metzger, R.

1994-01-01

In response to NASA's goal of working faster, better and cheaper, JPL has developed extensive plans to minimize cost, maximize customer and employee satisfaction, and implement small- and moderate-size missions. These plans include improved management structures and processes, enhanced technical design processes, the incorporation of new technology, and the development of more economical space- and ground-system designs. The Laboratory's new Flight Projects Implementation Office has been chartered to oversee these innovations and the reengineering of JPL's project design process, including establishment of the Project Design Center and the Flight System Testbed. Reengineering at JPL implies a cultural change whereby the character of its design process will change from sequential to concurrent and from hierarchical to parallel. The Project Design Center will support missions offering high science return, design to cost, demonstrations of new technology, and rapid development. Its computer-supported environment will foster high-fidelity project life-cycle development and cost estimating.

Planning for Space Station Freedom laboratory payload integration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Willenberg, Harvey J.; Torre, Larry P.

1989-01-01

Space Station Freedom is being developed to support extensive missions involving microgravity research and applications. Requirements for on-orbit payload integration and the simultaneous payload integration of multiple mission increments will provide the stimulus to develop new streamlined integration procedures in order to take advantage of the increased capabilities offered by Freedom. The United States Laboratory and its user accommodations are described. The process of integrating users' experiments and equipment into the United States Laboratory and the Pressurized Logistics Modules is described. This process includes the strategic and tactical phases of Space Station utilization planning. The support that the Work Package 01 Utilization office will provide to the users and hardware developers, in the form of Experiment Integration Engineers, early accommodation assessments, and physical integration of experiment equipment, is described. Plans for integrated payload analytical integration are also described.

Software And Systems Engineering Risk Management

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-04-01

RSKM 2004 COSO Enterprise RSKM Framework 2006 ISO/IEC 16085 Risk Management Process 2008 ISO/IEC 12207 Software Lifecycle Processes 2009 ISO/IEC...1 Software And Systems Engineering Risk Management John Walz VP Technical and Conferences Activities, IEEE Computer Society Vice-Chair Planning...Software & Systems Engineering Standards Committee, IEEE Computer Society US TAG to ISO TMB Risk Management Working Group Systems and Software

The Automated System of the Rhythm Analysis of the Educational Process in a Higher Educational Institution on the Basis of Aprioristic Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pelin, Nicolae; Mironov, Vladimir

2008-01-01

In this article the problems of functioning algorithms development for system of the automated analysis of educational process rhythm in a higher educational institution are considered. Using the device of experiment planning for conducting the scientific researches, adapted methodologies, received by authors in the dissertational works at the…

Improving Usage Statistics Processing for a Library Consortium: The Virtual Library of Virginia's Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matthews, Tansy E.

2009-01-01

This article describes the development of the Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA). The VIVA statistics-processing system remains a work in progress. Member libraries will benefit from the ability to obtain the actual data from the VIVA site, rather than just the summaries, so a project to make these data available is currently being planned. The…

Structure, Content, and Process in Teacher Training: The Relevance of Copernicus, Gardner, and Dewey.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soares, Louise M.

1998-01-01

Argues that a unique combination of (1) the Copernican Plan for block scheduling; (2) the application of Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences; and (3) John Dewey's basic ideas about process create a teacher training program in which mastery is an achievable goal. Describes each component and illustrates how each has worked in one…

7 CFR 23.6 - Plan of Work.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Plan of Work. 23.6 Section 23.6 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture STATE AND REGIONAL ANNUAL PLANS OF WORK State Program § 23.6 Plan of Work. (a) A State Annual Plan of Work for carrying out the programs authorized under title V shall be...

7 CFR 23.6 - Plan of Work.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Plan of Work. 23.6 Section 23.6 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture STATE AND REGIONAL ANNUAL PLANS OF WORK State Program § 23.6 Plan of Work. (a) A State Annual Plan of Work for carrying out the programs authorized under title V shall be...

Putting ROSE to Work: A Proposed Application of a Request-Oriented Scheduling Engine for Space Station Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jaap, John; Muery, Kim

2000-01-01

Scheduling engines are found at the core of software systems that plan and schedule activities and resources. A Request-Oriented Scheduling Engine (ROSE) is one that processes a single request (adding a task to a timeline) and then waits for another request. For the International Space Station, a robust ROSE-based system would support multiple, simultaneous users, each formulating requests (defining scheduling requirements), submitting these requests via the internet to a single scheduling engine operating on a single timeline, and immediately viewing the resulting timeline. ROSE is significantly different from the engine currently used to schedule Space Station operations. The current engine supports essentially one person at a time, with a pre-defined set of requirements from many payloads, working in either a "batch" scheduling mode or an interactive/manual scheduling mode. A planning and scheduling process that takes advantage of the features of ROSE could produce greater customer satisfaction at reduced cost and reduced flow time. This paper describes a possible ROSE-based scheduling process and identifies the additional software component required to support it. Resulting changes to the management and control of the process are also discussed.

Strategic cognitive sequencing: a computational cognitive neuroscience approach.

PubMed

Herd, Seth A; Krueger, Kai A; Kriete, Trenton E; Huang, Tsung-Ren; Hazy, Thomas E; O'Reilly, Randall C

2013-01-01

We address strategic cognitive sequencing, the "outer loop" of human cognition: how the brain decides what cognitive process to apply at a given moment to solve complex, multistep cognitive tasks. We argue that this topic has been neglected relative to its importance for systematic reasons but that recent work on how individual brain systems accomplish their computations has set the stage for productively addressing how brain regions coordinate over time to accomplish our most impressive thinking. We present four preliminary neural network models. The first addresses how the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and basal ganglia (BG) cooperate to perform trial-and-error learning of short sequences; the next, how several areas of PFC learn to make predictions of likely reward, and how this contributes to the BG making decisions at the level of strategies. The third models address how PFC, BG, parietal cortex, and hippocampus can work together to memorize sequences of cognitive actions from instruction (or "self-instruction"). The last shows how a constraint satisfaction process can find useful plans. The PFC maintains current and goal states and associates from both of these to find a "bridging" state, an abstract plan. We discuss how these processes could work together to produce strategic cognitive sequencing and discuss future directions in this area.

The task of validation of gas-dynamic characteristics of a multistage centrifugal compressor for a natural gas booster compressor station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Danilishin, A. M.; Kozhukhov, Y. V.; Neverov, V. V.; Malev, K. G.; Mironov, Y. R.

2017-08-01

The aim of this work is the validation study for the numerical modeling of characteristics of a multistage centrifugal compressor for natural gas. In the research process was the analysis used grid interfaces and software systems. The result revealed discrepancies between the simulated and experimental characteristics and outlined the future work plan.

The Pedagogical Structure of Methods for Thinking about the Future: The Citizens Function in Planning. Working Draft.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sandow, Stuart A.

The principal problem of this work is to discover, perhaps construct, a pedagogical process for thinking about the future that makes use of the methods of forecasting, but makes use of them to create new attitudes and understandings on the part of institutional planners. The underlying concern is to develop a way for planners to address the future…

Sustainable aggregate production planning in the chemical process industry - A benchmark problem and dataset.

PubMed

Brandenburg, Marcus; Hahn, Gerd J

2018-06-01

Process industries typically involve complex manufacturing operations and thus require adequate decision support for aggregate production planning (APP). The need for powerful and efficient approaches to solve complex APP problems persists. Problem-specific solution approaches are advantageous compared to standardized approaches that are designed to provide basic decision support for a broad range of planning problems but inadequate to optimize under consideration of specific settings. This in turn calls for methods to compare different approaches regarding their computational performance and solution quality. In this paper, we present a benchmarking problem for APP in the chemical process industry. The presented problem focuses on (i) sustainable operations planning involving multiple alternative production modes/routings with specific production-related carbon emission and the social dimension of varying operating rates and (ii) integrated campaign planning with production mix/volume on the operational level. The mutual trade-offs between economic, environmental and social factors can be considered as externalized factors (production-related carbon emission and overtime working hours) as well as internalized ones (resulting costs). We provide data for all problem parameters in addition to a detailed verbal problem statement. We refer to Hahn and Brandenburg [1] for a first numerical analysis based on and for future research perspectives arising from this benchmarking problem.

Inclusion Requires Fracturing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anila, Swarupa

2017-01-01

Inclusion strategies and approaches in interpretive planning processes for exhibitions are often resisted because they challenge precedents in museum practice. Maintaining traditional models may seem more comfortable for many museum professionals than to do the work of closely examining, fracturing, and transforming the practices that prioritize…

Center for Navy Business Excellence: A Catalyst for Business Transformation

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-12-01

selecting priority strategic initiatives and milestones. Key participants in the strategic planning process are Global Marketing and Sales Group...the Global Marketing Operations Group. This Group works to ensure current, best research practices are tested and utilized; establishing research

Integration of climate change considerations in statewide and regional transportation planning processes

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-07-01

This report is part on on-going work for the US Department of Transportations Center for Climate Change and Environmental Forecasting and the Federal Highway Administration to highlight innovative actions and initiatives undertaken by states and m...

The Columbia River Protection Supplemental Technologies Quality Assurance Project Plan

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

Fix, N. J.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researchers are working on the Columbia River Protection Supplemental Technologies Project. This project is a U. S. Department of Energy, Office of Environmental Management-funded initiative designed to develop new methods, strategies, and technologies for characterizing, modeling, remediating, and monitoring soils and groundwater contaminated with metals, radionuclides, and chlorinated organics. This Quality Assurance Project Plan provides the quality assurance requirements and processes that will be followed by the Technologies Project staff.

Defense Inventory: Services Generally Have Reduced Excess Inventory, but Additional Actions Are Needed

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-04-01

MICAP Mission Impaired Capability Awaiting Parts OSD Office of the Secretary of Defense S & OP Sales and Operations Planning This is a work of...January 2013, the Army began to implement a Sales and Operations Planning ( S & OP ) process to improve its supply chain and inventory management...According to the Army Materiel Command officials, the Army’s decision to implement S & OP was recommended by an Integrated Project Team that concluded the

Space Weather Action Plan Solar Radio Burst Phase 1 Benchmarks and the Steps to Phase 2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biesecker, D. A.; White, S. M.; Gopalswamy, N.; Black, C.; Love, J. J.; Pierson, J.

2017-12-01

Solar radio bursts, when at the right frequency and when strong enough, can interfere with radar, communication, and tracking signals. In severe cases, radio bursts can inhibit the successful use of radio communications and disrupt a wide range of systems that are reliant on Position, Navigation, and Timing services on timescales ranging from minutes to hours across wide areas on the dayside of Earth. The White House's Space Weather Action Plan asked for solar radio burst intensity benchmarks for an event occurrence frequency of 1 in 100 years and also a theoretical maximum intensity benchmark. The benchmark team has developed preliminary (phase 1) benchmarks for the VHF (30-300 MHz), UHF (300-3000 MHz), GPS (1176-1602 MHz), F10.7 (2800 MHz), and Microwave (4000-20000) bands. The preliminary benchmarks were derived based on previously published work. Limitations in the published work will be addressed in phase 2 of the benchmark process. In addition, deriving theoretical maxima requires additional work, where it is even possible to, in order to meet the Action Plan objectives. In this presentation, we will present the phase 1 benchmarks, the basis used to derive them, and the limitations of that work. We will also discuss the work that needs to be done to complete the phase 2 benchmarks.

Scenario workshops: A useful method for participatory water resources planning?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hatzilacou, Dionyssia; Kallis, Giorgos; Mexa, Alexandra; Coccosis, Harris; Svoronou, Eleni

2007-06-01

This article reports on a scenario workshop (SW) for water resources management at the island of Naxos, Greece. The workshop was part of a European research project studying the advantages and limitations of different participatory methods in the context of the Water Framework Directive. It involved policy makers, scientists, business representatives, and citizens from different parts of the island. On the first day, participants worked to envision a sustainable development future for the island and its water resources. Discussion was inspired by four alternative water development scenarios prepared by the organizers. Participants' vision statements emphasized a diversified development path and balanced water solutions. On the second day, participants worked to plan the actions needed to realize their common vision. The SW turned out to be a good method to initiate a multipartner dialogue, to include new stakeholders in the water policy debate, and to a certain extent, to promote learning between participants. On the other hand, it did not appear well suited to resolve conflicts and aid decisions in the face of scientific complexity and uncertainty. SW seems to be a good method for the "upstream," preparatory, capacity-building tasks of a planning process but not for the production of substantive decision outputs such as consensual agreements or action plans. The Naxos experiment also raised the centrality of framing, participant selection, and facilitation in participatory processes.

Granting authority to a new policy. A community benefit services policy becomes part of the general business strategy.

PubMed

Karibo, J

1994-05-01

Bon Secours Health System's new strategic plan and community benefit services policy integrates the planning, budgeting, evaluating, and reporting of community benefit services into management processes at the same level of authority as other operational activities. The strategic plan of Bon Secours Health System, headquartered in Marriottsville, MD, documents the system's mission, operating principles, vision, and five goals, one of which is to improve the communities' health status. The community benefit services operating policy requires that the Bon Secours Health System chief executive officer (CEO) and each local system CEO and nursing home administrator form a multidisciplinary local work group to be responsible for community benefit services. Each local work group assesses the needs of its community within the framework of the annual planning process. Determining what services are needed and how to deliver them is relatively easy. The difficult task is determining which of the many needs to address. What a community lacks may be the result of poor or inadequate public policy. For example, its priority may not be healthcare. In these situations healthcare providers may be best able to serve the community by providing indirect support to social service providers or by advocating for change. The community benefit services operating policy provides a standard approach to match the community's priority needs with the institution's resources and produce a measurable improvement in health status.

Considerations for Using Agile in DoD Acquisition

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-04-01

successfully used in manufacturing throughout the world for decades, such as ―just-in- time,‖ Lean, Kanban , and work-flow-based planning. Another new...of this analysis is provided in Table 2. 29 Kanban / lean style of Agile might be the most relevant for this phase. 31 | CMU/SEI-2010-TN-002...family of approaches, including Kanban [14], Rational Unified Process (RUP), Personal Software Process (PSP), Team Software Process (TSP), and Cleanroom

Multi-objective optimization in spatial planning: Improving the effectiveness of multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karakostas, Spiros

2015-05-01

The multi-objective nature of most spatial planning initiatives and the numerous constraints that are introduced in the planning process by decision makers, stakeholders, etc., synthesize a complex spatial planning context in which the concept of solid and meaningful optimization is a unique challenge. This article investigates new approaches to enhance the effectiveness of multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) via the adoption of a well-known metaheuristic: the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II). In particular, the contribution of a sophisticated crossover operator coupled with an enhanced initialization heuristic is evaluated against a series of metrics measuring the effectiveness of MOEAs. Encouraging results emerge for both the convergence rate of the evolutionary optimization process and the occupation of valuable regions of the objective space by non-dominated solutions, facilitating the work of spatial planners and decision makers. Based on the promising behaviour of both heuristics, topics for further research are proposed to improve their effectiveness.

Inventory and comparative evaluation of seabed mapping, classification and modeling activities in the Northwest Atlantic, USA to support regional ocean planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shumchenia, Emily J.; Guarinello, Marisa L.; Carey, Drew A.; Lipsky, Andrew; Greene, Jennifer; Mayer, Larry; Nixon, Matthew E.; Weber, John

2015-06-01

Efforts are in motion globally to address coastal and marine management needs through spatial planning and concomitant seabed habitat mapping. Contrasting strategies are often evident in these processes among local, regional, national and international scientific approaches and policy needs. In answer to such contrasts among its member states, the United States Northeast Regional Ocean Council formed a Habitat Working Group to conduct a regional inventory and comparative evaluation of seabed characterization, classification, and modeling activities in New England. The goals of this effort were to advance regional understanding of ocean habitats and identify opportunities for collaboration. Working closely with the Habitat Working Group, we organized and led the inventory and comparative analysis with a focus on providing processes and tools that can be used by scientists and managers, updated and adapted for future use, and applied in other ocean management regions throughout the world. Visual schematics were a critical component of the comparative analysis and aided discussion among scientists and managers. Regional consensus was reached on a common habitat classification scheme (U.S. Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard) for regional seabed maps. Results and schematics were presented at a region-wide workshop where further steps were taken to initiate collaboration among projects. The workshop culminated in an agreement on a set of future seabed mapping goals for the region. The work presented here may serve as an example to other ocean planning regions in the U.S., Europe or elsewhere seeking to integrate a variety of seabed characterization, classification and modeling activities.

Application of Mathematical and Three-Dimensional Computer Modeling Tools in the Planning of Processes of Fuel and Energy Complexes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aksenova, Olesya; Nikolaeva, Evgenia; Cehlár, Michal

2017-11-01

This work aims to investigate the effectiveness of mathematical and three-dimensional computer modeling tools in the planning of processes of fuel and energy complexes at the planning and design phase of a thermal power plant (TPP). A solution for purification of gas emissions at the design development phase of waste treatment systems is proposed employing mathematical and three-dimensional computer modeling - using the E-nets apparatus and the development of a 3D model of the future gas emission purification system. Which allows to visualize the designed result, to select and scientifically prove economically feasible technology, as well as to ensure the high environmental and social effect of the developed waste treatment system. The authors present results of a treatment of planned technological processes and the system for purifying gas emissions in terms of E-nets. using mathematical modeling in the Simulink application. What allowed to create a model of a device from the library of standard blocks and to perform calculations. A three-dimensional model of a system for purifying gas emissions has been constructed. It allows to visualize technological processes and compare them with the theoretical calculations at the design phase of a TPP and. if necessary, make adjustments.

Development of a Nationally Coordinated Evaluation Plan for the Ghana National Strategy for Key Populations

PubMed Central

Reynolds, Heidi W; Atuahene, Kyeremeh; Sutherland, Elizabeth; Amenyah, Richard; Kwao, Isaiah Doe; Larbi, Emmanuel Tettey

2015-01-01

Objective Just as HIV prevention programs need to be tailored to the local epidemic, so should evaluations be country-owned and country-led to ensure use of those results in decision making and policy. The objective of this paper is to describe the process undertaken in Ghana to develop a national evaluation plan for the Ghana national strategy for key populations. Methods This was a participatory process that involved meetings between the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC), other partners in Ghana working to prevent HIV among key populations, and MEASURE Evaluation. The process included three two-day, highly structured yet participatory meetings over the course of 12 months during which participants shared information about on-going and planned data and identified research questions and methods. Results An evaluation plan was prepared to inform stakeholders about which data collection activities need to be prioritized for funding, who would implement the study, the timing of data collection, the research question the data will help answer, and the analysis methods. The plan discusses various methods that can be used including the recommendation for the study design using multiple data sources. It has an evaluation conceptual model, proposed analyses, proposed definition of independent variables, estimated costs for filling data gaps, roles and responsibilities of stakeholders to carry out the plan, and considerations for ethics, data sharing and authorship. Conclusion The experience demonstrates that it is possible to design an evaluation responsive to national strategies and priorities with country leadership, regardless of stakeholders' experiences with evaluations. This process may be replicable elsewhere, where stakeholders want to plan and implement an evaluation of a large-scale program at the national or subnational level that is responsive to national priorities and part of a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation system. PMID:26120495

Transition Planning For After Polio Eradication.

PubMed

Rutter, Paul D; Hinman, Alan R; Hegg, Lea; King, Dennis; Sosler, Stephen; Swezy, Virginia; Hussey, Ann-Lee; Cochi, Stephen L

2017-07-01

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) has been in operation since 1988, now spends $1 billion annually, and operates through thousands of staff and millions of volunteers in dozens of countries. It has brought polio to the brink of eradication. After eradication is achieved, what should happen to the substantial assets, capabilities, and lessons of the GPEI? To answer this question, an extensive process of transition planning is underway. There is an absolute need to maintain and mainstream some of the functions, to keep the world polio-free. There is also considerable risk-and, if seized, substantial opportunity-for other health programs and priorities. And critical lessons have been learned that can be used to address other health priorities. Planning has started in the 16 countries where GPEI's footprint is the greatest and in the program's 5 core agencies. Even though poliovirus transmission has not yet been stopped globally, this planning process is gaining momentum, and some plans are taking early shape. This is a complex area of work-with difficult technical, financial, and political elements. There is no significant precedent. There is forward motion and a willingness on many sides to understand and address the risks and to explore the opportunities. Very substantial investments have been made, over 30 years, to eradicate a human pathogen from the world for the second time ever. Transition planning represents a serious intent to responsibly bring the world's largest global health effort to a close and to protect and build upon the investment in this effort, where appropriate, to benefit other national and global priorities. Further detailed technical work is now needed, supported by broad and engaged debate, for this undertaking to achieve its full potential. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Ordinary risks and accepted fictions: how contrasting and competing priorities work in risk assessment and mental health care planning.

PubMed

Coffey, Michael; Cohen, Rachel; Faulkner, Alison; Hannigan, Ben; Simpson, Alan; Barlow, Sally

2017-06-01

Communication and information sharing are considered crucial to recovery-focused mental health services. Effective mental health care planning and coordination includes assessment and management of risk and safety. Using data from our cross-national mixed-method study of care planning and coordination, we examined what patients, family members and workers say about risk assessment and management and explored the contents of care plans. Thematic analysis of qualitative research interviews (n = 117) with patients, family members and workers, across four English and two Welsh National Health Service sites. Care plans were reviewed (n = 33) using a structured template. Participants have contrasting priorities in relation to risk. Patients see benefit in discussions about risk, but cast the process as a worker priority that may lead to loss of liberty. Relationships with workers are key to family members and patients; however, worker claims of involving people in the care planning process do not extend to risk assessment and management procedures for fear of causing upset. Workers locate risk as coming from the person rather than social or environmental factors, are risk averse and appear to prioritize the procedural aspects of assessment. Despite limitations, risk assessment is treated as legitimate work by professionals. Risk assessment practice operates as a type of fiction in which poor predictive ability and fear of consequences are accepted in the interests of normative certainty by all parties. As a consequence, risk adverse options are encouraged by workers and patients steered away from opportunities for ordinary risks thereby hindering the mobilization of their strengths and abilities. © 2016 The Authors. Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Urban Climate Map System for Dutch spatial planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Chao; Spit, Tejo; Lenzholzer, Sanda; Yim, Hung Lam Steve; Heusinkveld, Bert; van Hove, Bert; Chen, Liang; Kupski, Sebastian; Burghardt, René; Katzschner, Lutz

2012-08-01

Facing climate change and global warming, outdoor climatic environment is an important consideration factor for planners and policy makers because improving it can greatly contribute to achieve citizen's thermal comfort and create a better urban living quality for adaptation. Thus, the climatic information must be assessed systematically and applied strategically into the planning process. This paper presents a tool named Urban Climate Map System (UCMS) that has proven capable of helping compact cities to incorporate climate effects in planning processes in a systematic way. UCMS is developed and presented in a Geographic Information System (GIS) platform in which the lessons learned and experience gained from interdisciplinary studies can be included. The methodology of UCMS of compact cities, the construction procedure, and the basic input factors - including the natural climate resources and planning data - are described. Some literatures that shed light on the applicability of UMCS are reported. The Municipality of Arnhem is one of Dutch compact urban areas and still under fast urban development and urban renewal. There is an urgent need for local planners and policy makers to protect local climate and open landscape resources and make climate change adaptation in urban construction. Thus, Arnhem is chosen to carry out a case study of UCMS. Although it is the first work of Urban Climatic Mapping in The Netherlands, it serves as a useful climatic information platform to local planners and policy makers for their daily on-going works. We attempt to use a quick method to collect available climatic and planning data and create an information platform for planning use. It relies mostly on literature and theoretical understanding that has been well practiced elsewhere. The effort here is to synergize the established understanding for a case at hand and demonstrate how useful guidance can still be made for planners and policy makers.

[Design of an HACCP program for a cocoa processing facility].

PubMed

López D'Sola, Patrizia; Sandia, María Gabriela; Bou Rached, Lizet; Hernández Serrano, Pilar

2012-12-01

The HACCP plan is a food safety management tool used to control physical, chemical and biological hazards associated to food processing through all the processing chain. The aim of this work is to design a HACCP Plan for a Venezuelan cocoa processing facility.The production of safe food products requires that the HACCP system be built upon a solid foundation of prerequisite programs such as Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOP). The existence and effectiveness of these prerequisite programs were previously assessed.Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) audit to cocoa nibs suppliers were performed. To develop the HACCP plan, the five preliminary tasks and the seven HACCP principles were accomplished according to Codex Alimentarius procedures. Three Critical Control Points (CCP) were identified using a decision tree: winnowing (control of ochratoxin A), roasting (Salmonella control) and metallic particles detection. For each CCP, Critical limits were established, the Monitoring procedures, Corrective actions, Procedures for Verification and Documentation concerning all procedures and records appropriate to these principles and their application was established. To implement and maintain a HACCP plan for this processing plant is suggested. Recently OchratoxinA (OTA) has been related to cocoa beans. Although the shell separation from the nib has been reported as an effective measure to control this chemical hazard, ochratoxin prevalence study in cocoa beans produced in the country is recommended, and validate the winnowing step as well

[Redesigning the hospital discharge process].

PubMed

Martínez-Ramos, M; Flores-Pardo, E; Uris-Sellés, J

2016-01-01

The aim of this article is to show that the redesign and planning process of hospital discharge advances the departure time of the patient from a hospital environment. Quasi-experimental study conducted from January 2011 to April 2013, in a local hospital. The cases analysed were from medical and surgical nursing units. The process was redesigned to coordinate all the professionals involved in the process. The hospital discharge improvement process improvement was carried out by forming a working group, the analysis of retrospective data, identifying areas for improvement, and its redesign. The dependent variable was the time of patient administrative discharge. The sample was classified as pre-intervention, inter-intervention, and post-intervention, depending on the time point of the study. The final sample included 14,788 patients after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The mean discharge release time decreased significantly by 50 min between pre-intervention and post-intervention periods. The release time in patients with planned discharge was one hour and 25 min less than in patients with unplanned discharge. Process redesign is a useful strategy to improve the process of hospital discharge. Besides planning the discharge, it is shown that the patient leaving the hospital before 12 midday is a key factor. Copyright © 2015 SECA. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

A review of best work-absence management and return-to-work practices for workers with musculoskeletal or common mental disorders.

PubMed

Durand, Marie-José; Corbière, Marc; Coutu, Marie-France; Reinharz, Daniel; Albert, Valérie

2014-01-01

Workplace absenteeism is still a curse for developed countries, and more systematic practices need to be adopted to address this issue. To review the literature on best practices for managing work absences related to musculoskeletal or common mental disorders. A review was conducted by performing a search in bibliographic databases and on work-disability research institute websites. Recommendations regarding work-absence management and return-to-work practices were extracted from all the retained documents and organized within a chronological framework. In total, 17 documents were analyzed, leading to identification of common work-absence management and return-to-work practices, the importance of a worker support approach, and recommended roles and responsibilities for stakeholders. These practices were then integrated into a six-step process: (1) time off and recovery period; (2) initial contact with the worker; (3) evaluation of the worker and his job tasks; (4) development of a return-to-work plan with accommodations; (5) work resumption, and (6) follow-up of the return-to-work process. Based on this review, we constructed a comprehensive work-absence management and return-to-work process designed to assist organizations. Our results indicate that such a process must be included within a broader policy of health promotion and job retention. Adaptations will be required for implementation in the workplace.

Support and Dissemination of Teacher-Authored Lesson Plans: a Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE) and Geological Society of America (GSA) Collaboration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Devaul, H.; Pandya, R. E.; McLelland, C. V.

2003-12-01

The Digital Library for Earth System Education (www.dlese.org) and the Geological Society of America (www.geosociety.org) are working together to publish and disseminate teacher-authored Earth science lesson plans. DLESE is a community-based effort involving teachers, students, and scientists working together to create a library of educational resources and services to support Earth system science education. DLESE offers free access to electronic resources including lesson plans, maps, images, data sets, visualizations, and assessment activities. A number of thematic collections have recently been accessioned, which has substantially increased library holdings. Working in concert with GSA, a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences, small-scale resource creators such as classroom teachers without access to a web server can also share educational resources of their own design. Following a two-step process, lesson plans are submitted to the GSA website, reviewed and posted to the K-12 resource area: http://www.geosociety.org/educate/resources.htm. These resources are also submitted to the DLESE Community Collection using a simple cataloging tool. In this way resources are available to other teachers via the GSA website as well as via the DLESE collection. GSA provides a template for lesson plan developers which assists in providing the necessary information to help users find and understand the intent of the activity when searching in DLESE. This initial effort can serve as a prototype for important services allowing individual community members to contribute their work to DLESE with little technical overhead.

First Scientific Working Group Meeting of Airborne Doppler Lidar Wind Velocity Measurement Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaufman, J. W. (Editor)

1980-01-01

The purpose of the first scientific working group meeting was fourfold: (1) to identify flight test options for engineering verification of the MSFC Doppler Lidar; (2) to identify flight test options for gathering data for scientific/technology applications; (3) to identify additional support equipment needed on the CV 990 aircraft for the flight tests; and (4) to identify postflight data processing and data sets requirements. The working group identified approximately ten flight options for gathering data on atmospheric dynamics processes, including turbulence, valley breezes, and thunderstorm cloud anvil and cold air outflow dynamics. These test options will be used as a basis for planning the fiscal year 1981 tests of the Doppler Lidar system.

Earthworks logistics in the high density urban development conditions - case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sobotka, A.; Blajer, M.

2017-10-01

Realisation of the construction projects on highly urbanised areas carries many difficulties and logistic problems. Earthworks conducted in such conditions constitute a good example of how important it is to properly plan the works and use the technical means of the logistics infrastructure. The construction processes on the observed construction site, in combination with their external logistics service are a complex system, difficult for mathematical modelling and achievement of appropriate data for planning the works. The paper shows describe and analysis of earthworks during construction of the Centre of Power Engineering of AGH in Krakow for two stages of a construction project. At the planning stage in the preparatory phase (before realization) and in the implementation phase of construction works (foundation). In the first case, an example of the use of queuing theory for prediction of excavation time under random work conditions of the excavator and the associated trucks is provided. In the second case there is a change of foundation works technology resulting as a consequence of changes in logistics earthworks. Observation of the construction has confirmed that the use of appropriate methods of construction works management, and in this case agile management, the time and cost of the project have not been exceeded. The success of a project depends on the ability of the contractor to react quickly when changes occur in the design, technology, environment, etc.

Near East/South Asia Report, No. 2780.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-07-08

Processing indicators such as [Text] or [Excerpt] in the first line of each item, or following the last line of a brief, indicate how the original... get his house, but that will also require that his wife keep work- ing to help pay for it. Home or Work? Dalila and Mustapha have been married for 7...playing on the stairs." Dalila plans to return to work. But she is a little apprehensive about doing so, because it will mean getting organized. Who

The Participation to The All Japan College of Technology Design Competition and The Trial of Art and Design Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kato, Kenji; Takeshita, Junji

The works of Toyota national college of technology gets excellent result on structural design competition (bridge contest) of national college design competition. This paper reports planning and making process of these works. As increase strength of the structures, it is important point the determination of structural type by numerical analysis and test, and precision of production and idea of joining. Second, it reports the curriculum of special items connection with excellent works.

Using deliberative techniques to engage the community in policy development.

PubMed

Gregory, Judy; Hartz-Karp, Janette; Watson, Rebecca

2008-07-16

This paper examines work in deliberative approaches to community engagement used in Western Australia by the Department of Planning and Infrastructure and other planning and infrastructure agencies between 2001 and 2005, and considers whether the techniques could be applied to the development of health policy in Australia. Deliberative processes were used in WA to address specific planning and infrastructure problems. Using deliberative techniques, community participants contributed to joint decision making and policy development. Outcomes from deliberative processes were seriously considered by the Minister and used to influence policy decisions. In many cases, the recommendations generated through deliberative processes were fully adopted by the Minister. The experiences in WA demonstrate that deliberative engagement processes can be successfully implemented by government and can be used to guide policy. The techniques can be adapted to suit the context and issues experienced by a portfolio, and the skills required to conduct deliberative processes can be fostered amongst the portfolio's staff. Health policy makers may be able to learn from the experiences in WA, and adopt approaches to community engagement that allow for informed deliberation and debate in the community about the future of Australia's health system.

Using Action Research to prevent work-related illness among rubber farmers in Northeastern Thailand.

PubMed

Sena, Wijitra; Nilvarangkul, Kessarawan; Saranrittichai, Kesinee; Smith, John F; Phajan, Teerasak; Seetangkham, Sansanee

2018-06-10

This research aimed to enhance self-care among rubber farmers for preventing work-related illness. The project used Action Research's four phase iterative process: fact-finding to understand the problems, action planning, action plan implementation, and evaluation and reflection on action plan impacts. Sixty-six participants (46 rubber farmers and 20 community stakeholders) were purposively recruited from two villages in the top 10 rubber producing provinces in Northeastern Thailand. Demographic and work-related illness data were collected in face-to-face structured interviews, Focus group interviews and participant observations were used to collect data in each project phase. Night group meetings were held throughout the research phases. The intervention included training workshops and establishing a community health education team for ongoing farmer support. Results showed improved farmer self-care behaviors and establishment of a community health education team to encourage farmers to care for themselves properly. Community nurses, other health personnel, and the Thai government can build on initiatives like this to strengthen occupational health and safety practices and services policy for rubber farmers. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

How do health care workers manage a patient with multiple care needs from both health and social care services? - A vignette study.

PubMed

Vehko, Tuulikki; Jolanki, Outi; Aalto, Anna-Mari; Sinervo, Timo

2018-06-01

To assess how health care professionals outline the management of care and explore which health or social care professionals were involved in the patient's treatment. A survey with a patient vignette for general practitioners (n = 31) and registered nurses (n = 31) working daily in Finnish health centres located in four cities. Respondents answered structural questions and explained in detail the care process that they tailored for the patient. The care process was examined using content analysis. A physician-nurse working pair was declared to be in charge of the care process by 27% of respondents, a registered nurse by 9% and a general practitioner by 11%. However, 53% reported that no single person or working pair was in charge of the care process (response rate 72%). The concluding result of the analyses of the presented process was that both treatment practices and the professionals participating in the patient's treatment varied. Collaboration with social services was occasional, and few care processes included referrals to social services. For the patient who needs both health and social care services, the management of care is a challenge. To improve the chances of patients being actively involved in making treatment plans at least three factors need to be addressed. Firstly, a written treatment plan should explicate the care process. Second, collaboration and interaction between health and social care services should be strengthened, and third, a contact person should be named to avoid care gaps in primary health care. Next-step data from patients need to be collected to get their views on care management and compare these with those from general practitioners and registered nurses.

Review of the transportation planning process in the Denver metropolitan area

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-11-01

Harmonization Task Groups 1 and 3 (HTG1 and 3) were established by the EU-US International Standards Harmonization Working Group to attempt to harmonize standards (including ISO, CEN, ETSI, IEEE) on security (HTG1) and communications protocols (HTG3)...

100-F Target Analyte List Development for Soil

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

Ovink, R.

2012-09-18

This report documents the process used to identify source area target analytes in support of the 100-F Area remedial investigation/feasibility study (RI/FS) addendum to the Integrated 100 Area Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study Work Plan (DOE/RL-2008-46, Rev. 0).

100-K Target Analyte List Development for Soil

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

Ovink, R.

2012-09-18

This report documents the process used to identify source area target analytes in support of the 100-K Area remedial investigation/feasibility study (RI/FS) addendum to the Integrated 100 Area Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study Work Plan (DOE/RL-2008-46, Rev. 0).

Review of the transportation planning process in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-11-12

Harmonization Task Groups 1 and 3 (HTG1 and 3) were established by the EU-US International Standards Harmonization Working Group to attempt to harmonize standards (including ISO, CEN, ETSI, IEEE) on security (HTG1) and communications protocols (HTG3)...

NASA Procurement Career Development Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1987-01-01

The NASA Procurement Career Development Program establishes an agency-wide framework for the management of career development activity in the procurement field. Within this framework, installations are encouraged to modify the various components to meet installation-specific mission and organization requirements. This program provides a systematic process for the assessment of and planning for the development, training, and education required to increase the employees' competence in the procurement work functions. It includes the agency-wide basic knowledge and skills by career field and level upon which individual and organizational development plans are developed. Also, it provides a system that is compatible with other human resource management and development systems, processes, and activities. The compatibility and linkage are important in fostering the dual responsibility of the individual and the organization in the career development process.

7 CFR 1924.5 - Planning development work.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 12 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Planning development work. 1924.5 Section 1924.5... Planning development work. (a) Extent of development. For an FO loan, the plans for development will... for development work. The total cash cost of all planned development will be shown on Form FmHA or its...

Fuzzy MCDM Technique for Planning the Environment Watershed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yi-Chun; Lien, Hui-Pang; Tzeng, Gwo-Hshiung; Yang, Lung-Shih; Yen, Leon

In the real word, the decision making problems are very vague and uncertain in a number of ways. The most criteria have interdependent and interactive features so they cannot be evaluated by conventional measures method. Such as the feasibility, thus, to approximate the human subjective evaluation process, it would be more suitable to apply a fuzzy method in environment-watershed plan topic. This paper describes the design of a fuzzy decision support system in multi-criteria analysis approach for selecting the best plan alternatives or strategies in environmentwatershed. The Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) method is used to determine the preference weightings of criteria for decision makers by subjective perception. A questionnaire was used to find out from three related groups comprising fifteen experts. Subjectivity and vagueness analysis is dealt with the criteria and alternatives for selection process and simulation results by using fuzzy numbers with linguistic terms. Incorporated the decision makers’ attitude towards preference, overall performance value of each alternative can be obtained based on the concept of Fuzzy Multiple Criteria Decision Making (FMCDM). This research also gives an example of evaluating consisting of five alternatives, solicited from a environmentwatershed plan works in Taiwan, is illustrated to demonstrate the effectiveness and usefulness of the proposed approach.

"Dis-able bodied" or "dis-able minded": stakeholders' return-to-work experiences compared between physical and mental health conditions.

PubMed

Vossen, Emmie; Van Gestel, Nicolette; Van der Heijden, Beatrice I J M; Rouwette, Etiënne A J A

2017-05-01

This study aimed to explore if and why the return-to-work (RTW) experiences of various workplace stakeholders in the Netherlands and Denmark differ between physical and mental health conditions, and to understand the consequences of potentially different experiences for the RTW process in both health conditions. We studied 21 cases of long-term sickness absence, and held a total of 61 semi-structured interviews with the various actors involved in these cases. Physical cases were seen as "easy" and mental cases as "difficult" to manage, based on the visibility and predictability of health complaints. On this ground, assessing work ability and following required RTW actions were perceived as more urgent in mental than in physical cases. Despite these perceptions, in practice, the assessment of work ability seemed to impair the RTW process in mental cases (but not in physical ones), and the (non-)uptake of RTW actions appeared to have similar results in both mental and physical cases. With these outcomes, the effectiveness of a differential approach is questioned, and the relevance of a bidirectional dialog on work ability and a phased RTW plan is highlighted, regardless of the absence cause. Our study also demonstrates how policymakers need to strike a balance between obligatory and permissive legislation to better involve workplaces in RTW issues. Implications for rehabilitation Both physically and mentally sick-listed employees could benefit from a bidirectional dialog on work ability as well as from a phased RTW plan. A greater role for employers in the RTW process should be accompanied with a support for sick-listed employees, in both physical and mental sickness absence cases. Dutch and Danish RTW legislation could be improved by carefully balancing obligatory and permissive rules and regulations to involve workplaces in RTW matters.

Impact of model-based risk analysis for liver surgery planning.

PubMed

Hansen, C; Zidowitz, S; Preim, B; Stavrou, G; Oldhafer, K J; Hahn, H K

2014-05-01

A model-based risk analysis for oncologic liver surgery was described in previous work (Preim et al. in Proceedings of international symposium on computer assisted radiology and surgery (CARS), Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 353–358, 2002; Hansen et al. Int I Comput Assist Radiol Surg 4(5):469–474, 2009). In this paper, we present an evaluation of this method. To prove whether and how the risk analysis facilitates the process of liver surgery planning, an explorative user study with 10 liver experts was conducted. The purpose was to compare and analyze their decision-making. The results of the study show that model-based risk analysis enhances the awareness of surgical risk in the planning stage. Participants preferred smaller resection volumes and agreed more on the safety margins’ width in case the risk analysis was available. In addition, time to complete the planning task and confidence of participants were not increased when using the risk analysis. This work shows that the applied model-based risk analysis may influence important planning decisions in liver surgery. It lays a basis for further clinical evaluations and points out important fields for future research.

Comparison of Cognitive Change after Working Memory Training and Logic and Planning Training in Healthy Older Adults.

PubMed

Goghari, Vina M; Lawlor-Savage, Linette

2017-01-01

Recent attention has focused on the benefits of cognitive training in healthy adults. Many commercial cognitive training programs are available given the attraction of not only bettering one's cognitive capacity, but also potentially preventing age-related declines, which is of particular interest to older adults. The issue of whether cognitive training can improve performance within cognitive domains not trained (i.e., far transfer) is controversial, with meta-analyses of cognitive training both supporting and falsifying this claim. More support is present for the near transfer (i.e., transfer in cognitive domain trained) of cognitive training; however, not in all studies. To date, no studies have compared working memory training to training higher-level processes themselves, namely logic and planning. We studied 97 healthy older adults above the age of 65. Healthy older adults completed either an 8-week web-based cognitive training program on working memory or logic and planning. An additional no-training control group completed two assessments 8-weeks apart. Participants were assessed on cognitive measures of near and far transfer, including working memory, planning, reasoning, processing speed, verbal fluency, cognitive flexibility, and creativity. Participants improved on the trained tasks from the first day to last day of training. Bayesian analyses demonstrated no near or far transfer effects after cognitive training. These results support the conclusion that performance-adaptive computerized cognitive training may not enhance cognition in healthy older adults. Our lack of findings could be due to a variety of reasons, including studying a cohort of healthy older adults that were performing near their cognitive ceiling, employing a training protocol that was not sufficient to produce a change, or that no true findings exist. Research suggests numerous study factors that can moderate the results. In addition, the role of psychological variables, such as expectations and motivation to train, are critical in understanding the effects of cognitive training.

Using a concept map as a tool for strategic planning: The Healthy Brain Initiative.

PubMed

Anderson, Lynda A; Day, Kristine L; Vandenberg, Anna E

2011-09-01

Concept mapping is a tool to assist in strategic planning that allows planners to work through a sequence of phases to produce a conceptual framework. Although several studies describe how concept mapping is applied to various public health problems, the flexibility of the methods used in each phase of the process is often overlooked. If practitioners were more aware of the flexibility, more public health endeavors could benefit from using concept mapping as a tool for strategic planning. The objective of this article is to describe how the 6 concept-mapping phases originally outlined by William Trochim guided our strategic planning process and how we adjusted the specific methods in the first 2 phases to meet the specialized needs and requirements to create The Healthy Brain Initiative: A National Public Health Road Map to Maintaining Cognitive Health. In the first stage (phases 1 and 2 of concept mapping), we formed a steering committee, convened 4 work groups over a period of 3 months, and generated an initial set of 42 action items grounded in science. In the second stage (phases 3 and 4), we engaged stakeholders in sorting and rating the action items and constructed a series of concept maps. In the third and final stage (phases 5 and 6), we examined and refined the action items and generated a final concept map consisting of 44 action items. We then selected the top 10 action items, and in 2007, we published The Healthy Brain Initiative: A National Public Health Road Map to Maintaining Cognitive Health, which represents the strategic plan for The Healthy Brain Initiative.

Planning collision free paths for two cooperating robots using a divide-and-conquer C-space traversal heuristic

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weaver, Johnathan M.

1993-01-01

A method was developed to plan feasible and obstacle-avoiding paths for two spatial robots working cooperatively in a known static environment. Cooperating spatial robots as referred to herein are robots which work in 6D task space while simultaneously grasping and manipulating a common, rigid payload. The approach is configuration space (c-space) based and performs selective rather than exhaustive c-space mapping. No expensive precomputations are required. A novel, divide-and-conquer type of heuristic is used to guide the selective mapping process. The heuristic does not involve any robot, environment, or task specific assumptions. A technique was also developed which enables solution of the cooperating redundant robot path planning problem without requiring the use of inverse kinematics for a redundant robot. The path planning strategy involves first attempting to traverse along the configuration space vector from the start point towards the goal point. If an unsafe region is encountered, an intermediate via point is identified by conducting a systematic search in the hyperplane orthogonal to and bisecting the unsafe region of the vector. This process is repeatedly applied until a solution to the global path planning problem is obtained. The basic concept behind this strategy is that better local decisions at the beginning of the trouble region may be made if a possible way around the 'center' of the trouble region is known. Thus, rather than attempting paths which look promising locally (at the beginning of a trouble region) but which may not yield overall results, the heuristic attempts local strategies that appear promising for circumventing the unsafe region.

Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility (WESF) Dangerous Waste Training Plan (DWTP)

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

SIMMONS, F.M.

2000-03-29

This Waste Encapsulation Storage Facility (WESF) Dangerous Waste Training Plan (DWTP) applies to personnel who perform work at, or in support of WESF. The plan, along with the names of personnel, may be given to a regulatory agency inspector upon request. General workers, subcontractors, or visiting personnel who have not been trained in the management of dangerous wastes must be accompanied by an individual who meets the requirements of this training plan. Dangerous waste management includes handling, treatment, storage, and/or disposal of dangerous and/or mixed waste. Dangerous waste management units covered by this plan include: less-than-90-day accumulation area(s); pool cellsmore » 1-8 and 12 storage units; and process cells A-G storage units. This training plan describes general requirements, worker categories, and provides course descriptions for operation of the WESF permitted miscellaneous storage units and the Less-than-90-Day Accumulation Areas.« less

The teratology society 2012-2017 strategic plan: pushing the boundaries.

PubMed

Curran, Christine Perdan; Lau, Christopher; Schellpfeffer, Michael A; Stodgell, Christopher J; Carney, Edward W

2013-01-01

The Teratology Society held its fourth strategic planning session in Albuquerque, NM, April 10-12, 2012, and launched the 2012-2017 Strategic Plan in conjunction with the 2012 annual meeting in Baltimore, MD. Building on the energy of the successful implementation of prior strategic plans (San Diego, 2007; Nashville,TN 2002; Cincinnati, OH 1998), session participants worked to identify barriers to success as a scientific society, as well as impending challenges and opportunities to which the Society needs to respond. The following report provides an overview of the Strategic Planning process, objectives, activities, and conclusions. A total of 23 members were present at the session, and the group included representation from Council, various committees, and different member constituencies. This plan, Pushing the Boundaries, and its three strategic intents: Broaden Our Identity, Expand Our Membership, and Increase Our Influence, will drive the direction of the Teratology Society for the next five years. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Analyzing the quality robustness of chemotherapy plans with respect to model uncertainties.

PubMed

Hoffmann, Anna; Scherrer, Alexander; Küfer, Karl-Heinz

2015-01-01

Mathematical models of chemotherapy planning problems contain various biomedical parameters, whose values are difficult to quantify and thus subject to some uncertainty. This uncertainty propagates into the therapy plans computed on these models, which poses the question of robustness to the expected therapy quality. This work introduces a combined approach for analyzing the quality robustness of plans in terms of dosing levels with respect to model uncertainties in chemotherapy planning. It uses concepts from multi-criteria decision making for studying parameters related to the balancing between the different therapy goals, and concepts from sensitivity analysis for the examination of parameters describing the underlying biomedical processes and their interplay. This approach allows for a profound assessment of a therapy plan, how stable its quality is with respect to parametric changes in the used mathematical model. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Transmission Planning Analysis Tool

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

2015-06-23

Developed to solve specific problem: Assist transmission planning for regional transfers in interconnected power systems. This work was originated in a study for the U.S. Department of State, to recommend transmission reinforcements for the Central American regional system that interconnects 6 countries. Transmission planning analysis is currently performed by engineers with domainspecific and systemspecific knowledge without a unique methodology. The software codes of this disclosure assists engineers by defining systematic analysis procedures to help identify weak points and make decisions on transmission planning of regional interconnected power systems. Transmission Planning Analysis Tool groups PSS/E results of multiple AC contingency analysismore » and voltage stability analysis and QV analysis of many scenarios of study and arrange them in a systematic way to aid power system planning engineers or transmission operators in effective decision]making process or in the off]line study environment.« less

Partnership working as liberation psychology: Forced labor among UK Chinese migrant workers.

PubMed

Lawthom, Rebecca; Kagan, Carolyn; Burton, Mark; Lo, Sandy; Mok, Lisa; Sham, Sylvia; Baines, Sue; Greenwood, Mark

2017-01-01

In this article we seek to reflect critically on some recent research we have carried out, in collaboration with a Chinese welfare NGO, on the experience of forced labor among Chinese migrant workers in the UK. We will (a) locate briefly the wider political context of migrant work (both regular and irregular) in the UK; (b) explore how and why the actual research methods and process of the research deviated in practice from those that were planned; and (c) show the extent to which aspects of the research process reflected a liberation psychology perspective.

Assessment of Conative Educational Processes and Outcomes: Status Report of Empirical Studies. Project 2.3: Enhancing the Utility of Performance Assessments: Domain-Independent R&D.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Snow, Richard E.; Jackson, Douglas N.

Research planned to improve understanding of conative educational processes and outcomes is described. Over the past year, literature reviews have been conducted aimed at defining categories of assessment of student persistence, freedom from distraction, engagement, and other school-and-work related attitudes and motivations, both as learning…

Reviving an Inner City Community: The Drama of Urban Change in East Humboldt Park in Chicago.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marciniak, Ed

In 1974, residents of East Humboldt Park, one of the oldest working class communities in Chicago, Illinois, gathered together in a common effort to reverse the process of urban decay and deterioration in their community. With the help of a hired consultant, the citizens planned the future of their community, a process that was completed in 1976,…

Developing a treatment planning process and software for improved translation of photodynamic therapy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cassidy, J.; Zheng, Z.; Xu, Y.; Betz, V.; Lilge, L.

2017-04-01

Background: The majority of de novo cancers are diagnosed in low and middle-income countries, which often lack the resources to provide adequate therapeutic options. None or minimally invasive therapies such as Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) or photothermal therapies could become part of the overall treatment options in these countries. However, widespread acceptance is hindered by the current empirical training of surgeons in these optical techniques and a lack of easily usable treatment optimizing tools. Methods: Based on image processing programs, ITK-SNAP, and the publicly available FullMonte light propagation software, a work plan is proposed that allows for personalized PDT treatment planning. Starting with, contoured clinical CT or MRI images, the generation of 3D tetrahedral models in silico, execution of the Monte Carlo simulation and presentation of the 3D fluence rate, Φ, [mWcm-2] distribution a treatment plan optimizing photon source placement is developed. Results: Permitting 1-2 days for the installation of the required programs, novices can generate their first fluence, H [Jcm-2] or Φ distribution in a matter of hours. This is reduced to 10th of minutes with some training. Executing the photon simulation calculations is rapid and not the performance limiting process. Largest sources of errors are uncertainties in the contouring and unknown tissue optical properties. Conclusions: The presented FullMonte simulation is the fastest tetrahedral based photon propagation program and provides the basis for PDT treatment planning processes, enabling a faster proliferation of low cost, minimal invasive personalized cancer therapies.

A Model for a Level II Emergency Room

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-05-02

the financial resources which will be consumed, and the Z inm chanQes in the way work will be accomplished. Health care facilities, in general...pursued with the anticipation of action results rather than an academic exercise. The planning process in a health care facility must work within the...Malcolm Grow USAF Medical Center of sufficient size and efficient functional configuration to provide a comprehensive and cost effective range health

2007 Precision Strike PEO Summer Forum - Joint Perspectives on Precision Engagement

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-07-11

Status,” Colonel Richard Justice, USAF—Commander of the Miniature Munitions Systems Group (MMSG), Eglin Air Force Base “Unmanned Systems (UAS) Roadmap...Role in the Roadmap Implementation Methods & Processes Working Group Issues delineated in Implementation Plan form basis for JTEM methodology...Test and Evaluation JMETC – Joint Mission Environment Test Capability WG – Working Group DOT&E AT&L DOT&E Unclassified 5 Background: JTEM Problem

Methodological Considerations in the Design of Large Scale Systems Engineering Processes.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-02-01

phases as policy and proqram planning, project planning, system development , etc. 32 ro4- E V4-) C 0 (U JW 4-) L > U>) EWQ S -4-) (D4-) S - u 4-- , 4 U...orocedurally or substantively acceptable behavior, in either a descriptive or normative sense, in any specific circumstance. Prospect theory developed by...into a conceptual model of cognitive activity is contained in the works of Piaget ** , the founder of "genetic epistemology". According to Piaget

Hospital culture--why create one?

PubMed

Sovie, M D

1993-01-01

Hospitals, to survive, must be transformed into responsive, participative organizations capable of new practices that produce improved results in both quality of care and service at reduced costs. Creating, managing, and changing the culture are critical leadership functions that will enable the hospital to succeed. Strategic planning and effective implementation of planned change will produce the desired culture. Work restructuring, a focus on quality management along with changes in clinical practices, as well as the care and support processes, are all a part of the necessary hospital cultural revolution.

Structure Constraints in a Constraint-Based Planner

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pang, Wan-Lin; Golden, Keith

2004-01-01

In this paper we report our work on a new constraint domain, where variables can take structured values. Earth-science data processing (ESDP) is a planning domain that requires the ability to represent and reason about complex constraints over structured data, such as satellite images. This paper reports on a constraint-based planner for ESDP and similar domains. We discuss our approach for translating a planning problem into a constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) and for representing and reasoning about structured objects and constraints over structures.

Multi-assortment rhythmic production planning and control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skolud, B.; Krenczyk, D.; Zemczak, M.

2015-11-01

A method for production planning in a repetitive manufacturing system which allows for estimating the possibility of processing work orders in due time is presented. The difference between two approaches are presented; the first one one-piece flow elaborated in Toyota and the second one elaborated by authors that consists in defining sufficient conditions to filter all solutions and providing a set of admissible solutions for both the client and the producer. In the paper attention is focused on the buffer allocation. Illustrative examples are presented.

Nez Perce Tribal Hatchery Project : Combined-Planning & Design and Operations & Maintenance Reports, 2000 Annual Report.

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

Larson, Roy Edward; Walker, Grant W.

2002-12-31

Nez Perce Tribal Hatchery (NPTH) Year-2000 Combined Maintenance and Operations (O&M) and Planning and Design (P&D) contract is hereby completed based on this annual report patterned after the Statement of Work (SOW) for the project as contracted with Bonneville Power Administration. Primary project activities focused on completion of the Northwest Power Planning Council Step-3 process that: (1) Accepted final design, (2) Authorized a capital construction amount of $16,050,000, and (3) Authorized contractor selection, and (4) Provided construction site dedication, and (5) Implemented construction activities over an anticipated 2-year period of July 2000 through October 2002.

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

Tyrrell, Evan; Denny, Angelita

Fifty-two groundwater samples and one surface water sample were collected at the Monument Valley, Arizona, Processing Site to monitor groundwater contaminants for evaluating the effectiveness of the proposed compliance strategy as specified in the 1999 Final Site Observational Work Plan for the UMTRA Project Site at Monument Valley, Arizona. Sampling and analyses were conducted as specified in the Sampling and Analysis Plan for U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management Sites (LMS/PRO/S04351, continually updated, http://energy.gov/lm/downloads/sampling-and-analysis-plan-us-department- energy-office-legacy-management-sites). Samples were collected for metals, anions, nitrate + nitrite as N, and ammonia as N analyses at all locations.

Space Transportation System Cargo projects: inertial stage/spacecraft integration plan. Volume 1: Management plan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Management System for the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) - spacecraft processing from KSC arrival through launch is described. The roles and responsibilities of the agencies and test team organizations involved in IUS-S/C processing at KSC for non-Department of Defense missions are described. Working relationships are defined with respect to documentation preparation, coordination and approval, schedule development and maintenance, test conduct and control, configuration management, quality control and safety. The policy regarding the use of spacecraft contractor test procedures, IUS contractor detailed operating procedures and KSC operations and maintenance instructions is defined. Review and approval requirements for each documentation system are described.

Environmentally sound manufacturing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Caddy, Larry A.; Bowman, Ross; Richards, Rex A.

1994-01-01

The NASA/Thiokol/industry team has developed and started implementation of an environmentally sound manufacturing plan for the continued production of solid rocket motors. They have worked with other industry representatives and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to prepare a comprehensive plan to eliminate all ozone depleting chemicals from manufacturing processes and to reduce the use of other hazardous materials used to produce the space shuttle reusable solid rocket motors. The team used a classical approach for problem solving combined with a creative synthesis of new approaches to attack this problem. As our ability to gather data on the state of the Earth's environmental health increases, environmentally sound manufacturing must become an integral part of the business decision making process.

Presolar Grains as Tracers of Nebular Processes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huss, Gary R.

2001-01-01

This grant provided two years of funding to investigate the abundances of presolar diamond, SiC, and graphite in primitive chondritic meteorites. The original proposal was for a three-year study, but two years of funding were awarded. The proposed work plan for the first year included preparation of acid residues for two meteorites and noble-gas measurements on those residues and residues of two other meteorites that had been previously prepared. The meteorites to be measured were Acfer 003, Adrar 214, RC075, and Axtell. In the second year, the plan called for measuring Renazzo and Murchison, and beginning chemical processing on another set of meteorites, including Murray, which were to be measured in the third year. All of the meteorites listed above have been measured and the results were presented in three abstracts. The project is continuing under follow-on grants and one of two planned major papers is almost ready for submission.

Automating Mission Scheduling for Space-Based Observatories

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pell, Barney; Muscettola, Nicola; Hansson, Othar; Mohan, Sunil

1998-01-01

In this paper we describe the use of our planning and scheduling framework, HSTS, to reduce the complexity of science mission planning. This work is part of an overall project to enable a small team of scientists to control the operations of a spacecraft. The present process is highly labor intensive. Users (scientists and operators) rely on a non-codified understanding of the different spacecraft subsystems and of their operating constraints. They use a variety of software tools to support their decision making process. This paper considers the types of decision making that need to be supported/automated, the nature of the domain constraints and the capabilities needed to address them successfully, and the nature of external software systems with which the core planning/scheduling engine needs to interact. HSTS has been applied to science scheduling for EUVE and Cassini and is being adapted to support autonomous spacecraft operations in the New Millennium initiative.

The NASA land processes program - Status and future directions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Murphy, R. E.

1984-01-01

For most of the past decade, NASA focused its efforts on the immediate exploitation of space-based sensors in earth-oriented programs. After an assessment of the current situation with respect to the conducted programs, NASA has restructured its earth-oriented programs to concentrate on the scientific use of its satellites while other agencies and private enterprise have assumed responsibility for programs of interest to them. In making this change of direction, NASA has conducted a series of studies to obtain information as a basis for its planning activities regarding future programs. Attention is given to a plan for Land Global Habitability, the development of a basic structure for the land program, a program plan for global biology, and a study on the role of biochemical cycles. The three major facets of the land processes program are discussed along with some examples of current work.

Image formation simulation for computer-aided inspection planning of machine vision systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Irgenfried, Stephan; Bergmann, Stephan; Mohammadikaji, Mahsa; Beyerer, Jürgen; Dachsbacher, Carsten; Wörn, Heinz

2017-06-01

In this work, a simulation toolset for Computer Aided Inspection Planning (CAIP) of systems for automated optical inspection (AOI) is presented along with a versatile two-robot-setup for verification of simulation and system planning results. The toolset helps to narrow down the large design space of optical inspection systems in interaction with a system expert. The image formation taking place in optical inspection systems is simulated using GPU-based real time graphics and high quality off-line-rendering. The simulation pipeline allows a stepwise optimization of the system, from fast evaluation of surface patch visibility based on real time graphics up to evaluation of image processing results based on off-line global illumination calculation. A focus of this work is on the dependency of simulation quality on measuring, modeling and parameterizing the optical surface properties of the object to be inspected. The applicability to real world problems is demonstrated by taking the example of planning a 3D laser scanner application. Qualitative and quantitative comparison results of synthetic and real images are presented.

4D modeling in high-rise construction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balakina, Anastasiya; Simankina, Tatyana; Lukinov, Vitaly

2018-03-01

High-rise construction is a complex construction process, requiring the use of more perfected and sophisticated tools for design, planning and construction management. The use of BIM-technologies allows minimizing the risks associated with design errors and errors that occur during construction. This article discusses a visual planning method using the 4D model, which allows the project team to create an accurate and complete construction plan, which is much more difficult to achieve with the help of traditional planning methods. The use of the 4D model in the construction of a 70-story building allowed to detect spatial and temporal errors before the start of construction work. In addition to identifying design errors, 4D modeling has allowed to optimize the construction, as follows: to optimize the operation of cranes, the placement of building structures and materials at various stages of construction, to optimize the organization of work performance, as well as to monitor the activities related to the preparation of the construction site for compliance with labor protection and safety requirements, which resulted in saving money and time.

Leading quality through the development of a multi-year corporate quality plan: sharing The Ottawa Hospital experience.

PubMed

Hunter, Linda; Myles, Joanne; Worthington, James R; Lebrun, Monique

2011-01-01

This article discusses the background and process for developing a multi-year corporate quality plan. The Ottawa Hospital's goal is to be a top 10% performer in quality and patient safety in North America. In order to create long-term measurable and sustainable changes in the quality of patient care, The Ottawa Hospital embarked on the development of a three-year strategic corporate quality plan. This was accomplished by engaging the organization at all levels and defining quality frameworks, aligning with internal and external expectations, prioritizing strategic goals, articulating performance measurements and reporting to stakeholders while maintaining a transparent communication process. The plan was developed through an iterative process that engaged a broad base of health professionals, physicians, support staff, administration and senior management. A literature review of quality frameworks was undertaken, a Quality Plan Working Group was established, 25 key stakeholder interviews were conducted and 48 clinical and support staff consultations were held. The intent was to gather information on current quality initiatives and challenges encountered and to prioritize corporate goals and then create the quality plan. Goals were created and then prioritized through an affinity exercise. Action plans were developed for each goal and included objectives, tasks and activities, performance measures (structure, process and outcome), accountabilities and timelines. This collaborative methodology resulted in the development of a three-year quality plan. Six corporate goals were outlined by the tenets of the quality framework for The Ottawa Hospital: access to care, appropriate care (effective and efficient), safe care and satisfaction with care. Each of the six corporate goals identified objectives and supporting action plans with accountabilities outlining what would be accomplished in years one, two and three. The three-year quality plan was approved by senior management and the board in April 2009. This process has supported The Ottawa Hospital's journey of excellence through the creation of a quality plan that will enable long-term measurable and sustainable changes in the quality of patient care. It also engaged healthcare providers who aim to achieve more measured quality patient care, engaged practitioners through collaboration resulting in both alignment of goals and outcomes and allowed for greater commitment by those responsible for achieving quality goals.

Review of the transportation planning process in the Portland, Orgeon, metropolitan area

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-11-01

Harmonization Task Groups 1 and 3 (HTG1 and 3) were established by the EU-US International Standards Harmonization Working Group to attempt to harmonize standards (including ISO, CEN, ETSI, IEEE) on security (HTG1) and communications protocols (HTG3)...

Review of the transportation planning process in the southern California metropolitan area

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-11-01

Harmonization Task Groups 1 and 3 (HTG1 and 3) were established by the EU-US International Standards Harmonization Working Group to attempt to harmonize standards (including ISO, CEN, ETSI, IEEE) on security (HTG1) and communications protocols (HTG3)...

Review of the transportation planning process in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-11-01

Harmonization Task Groups 1 and 3 (HTG1 and 3) were established by the EU-US International Standards Harmonization Working Group to attempt to harmonize standards (including ISO, CEN, ETSI, IEEE) on security (HTG1) and communications protocols (HTG3)...

E-Learning Systems: Promises and Pitfalls

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chan, Carlyle H.; Robbins, Lisa I.

2006-01-01

Objective: This review examines the use of e-learning systems in psychiatric education. Method: The authors review the Instructional System Design process, focusing on ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation). The authors also report on two representative teaching projects, discussing the planning, work, and assessment…

Evaluating the co-production of a near real time Earthquake Aftershock forecasting tool for humanitarian risk assessment and emergency planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quinn, Keira; Hope, Max; McCloskey, John; NicBhloscaidh, Mairead; Jimenez, Abigail; Dunlop, Paul

2015-04-01

Concern Worldwide and the University of Ulster Geophysics Research Group are engaged in a project to co-produce a suite of software and mapping tools to assess aftershock hazard in near real-time during the emergency response phase of earthquake disaster, and inform humanitarian emergency planning and response activities. This paper uses a social learning approach to evaluate this co-production process. Following Wenger (1999) we differentiate between the earthquake science and humanitarian communities of practice (CoP) along three dimensions: enterprise (the purpose of CoPs and the problems participants are working to address), repertoire (knowledge, skills, language), and identity (values and boundaries). We examine the effectiveness of learning between CoP, focusing on boundary work and objects, and various organisational structures and aspects of the wider political economy of learning that enable and hinder the co-production process. We conclude by identifying a number of ways to more effectively integrate earthquake science into humanitarian decision-making, policy development and programme design.

7 CFR 1717.604 - Long-range engineering plans and construction work plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 11 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Long-range engineering plans and construction work... AND GUARANTEED ELECTRIC LOANS Operational Controls § 1717.604 Long-range engineering plans and construction work plans. (a) All borrowers are required to maintain up-to-date long-range engineering plans and...

7 CFR 1717.604 - Long-range engineering plans and construction work plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 11 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Long-range engineering plans and construction work... AND GUARANTEED ELECTRIC LOANS Operational Controls § 1717.604 Long-range engineering plans and construction work plans. (a) All borrowers are required to maintain up-to-date long-range engineering plans and...

7 CFR 1717.604 - Long-range engineering plans and construction work plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 11 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Long-range engineering plans and construction work... AND GUARANTEED ELECTRIC LOANS Operational Controls § 1717.604 Long-range engineering plans and construction work plans. (a) All borrowers are required to maintain up-to-date long-range engineering plans and...

7 CFR 1717.604 - Long-range engineering plans and construction work plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 11 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Long-range engineering plans and construction work... AND GUARANTEED ELECTRIC LOANS Operational Controls § 1717.604 Long-range engineering plans and construction work plans. (a) All borrowers are required to maintain up-to-date long-range engineering plans and...

7 CFR 1717.604 - Long-range engineering plans and construction work plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 11 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Long-range engineering plans and construction work... AND GUARANTEED ELECTRIC LOANS Operational Controls § 1717.604 Long-range engineering plans and construction work plans. (a) All borrowers are required to maintain up-to-date long-range engineering plans and...

Exploring clinical reasoning in novices: a self-regulated learning microanalytic assessment approach.

PubMed

Artino, Anthony R; Cleary, Timothy J; Dong, Ting; Hemmer, Paul A; Durning, Steven J

2014-03-01

The primary objectives of this study were to examine the regulatory processes of medical students as they completed a diagnostic reasoning task and to examine whether the strategic quality of these regulatory processes were related to short-term and longer-term medical education outcomes. A self-regulated learning (SRL) microanalytic assessment was administered to 71 second-year medical students while they read a clinical case and worked to formulate the most probable diagnosis. Verbal responses to open-ended questions targeting forethought and performance phase processes of a cyclical model of SRL were recorded verbatim and subsequently coded using a framework from prior research. Descriptive statistics and hierarchical linear regression models were used to examine the relationships between the SRL processes and several outcomes. Most participants (90%) reported focusing on specific diagnostic reasoning strategies during the task (metacognitive monitoring), but only about one-third of students referenced these strategies (e.g. identifying symptoms, integration) in relation to their task goals and plans for completing the task. After accounting for prior undergraduate achievement and verbal reasoning ability, strategic planning explained significant additional variance in course grade (ΔR(2 ) = 0.15, p < 0.01), second-year grade point average (ΔR(2) = 0.14, p < 0.01), United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 score (ΔR(2) = 0.08, p < 0.05) and National Board of Medical Examiner subject examination score in internal medicine (ΔR(2) = 0.10, p < 0.05). These findings suggest that most students in the formative stages of learning diagnostic reasoning skills are aware of and think about at least one key diagnostic reasoning process or strategy while solving a clinical case, but a substantially smaller percentage set goals or develop plans that incorporate such strategies. Given that students who developed more strategic plans achieved better outcomes, the potential importance of forethought regulatory processes is underscored. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Medical Education published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Views and Experiences of Persons with Chronic Diseases about Strategies that Aim to Integrate and Re-Integrate Them into Work: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies.

PubMed

Esteban, Eva; Coenen, Michaela; Ito, Elizabeth; Gruber, Sonja; Scaratti, Chiara; Leonardi, Matilde; Roka, Olga; Vasilou, Evdokia; Muñoz-Murillo, Amalia; Ávila, Carolina C; Kovačič, Dare S; Ivandic, Ivana; Sabariego, Carla

2018-05-18

The effectiveness of strategies targeting professional integration and reintegration strongly depends on the experiences of participants. The aim of this systematic literature review is to synthesize European qualitative studies exploring views and experiences of persons with chronic conditions regarding strategies for integration and reintegration into work. The systematic search was conducted in Medline, PsycINFO, CDR-HTA, CDR-DARE and Cochrane Systematic Reviews. Overall, 24 studies published in English between January 2011 and April 2016 were included. Most studies were carried out in Nordic countries or in the UK, and most participants were persons with either mental or musculoskeletal disorders. Ten themes emerged: individual and holistic approach, clarity of strategy and processes, timing of rehabilitation processes, experience with professionals, at the workplace and with peer groups, changes in the understanding of health and work, active involvement in the process, competencies development and motivating aspects of work. Findings highlight, among others, the need to actively involve participants in the return to work process and to provide timely and clearly structured processes and interventions. This review provides stakeholders key information to develop, plan, implement and evaluate interventions to integrate and re-integrate persons with chronic conditions into work in Europe.

Views and Experiences of Persons with Chronic Diseases about Strategies that Aim to Integrate and Re-Integrate Them into Work: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies

PubMed Central

Ito, Elizabeth; Gruber, Sonja; Scaratti, Chiara; Roka, Olga; Vasilou, Evdokia; Muñoz-Murillo, Amalia; Ávila, Carolina C.; Kovačič, Dare S.; Ivandic, Ivana

2018-01-01

The effectiveness of strategies targeting professional integration and reintegration strongly depends on the experiences of participants. The aim of this systematic literature review is to synthesize European qualitative studies exploring views and experiences of persons with chronic conditions regarding strategies for integration and reintegration into work. The systematic search was conducted in Medline, PsycINFO, CDR-HTA, CDR-DARE and Cochrane Systematic Reviews. Overall, 24 studies published in English between January 2011 and April 2016 were included. Most studies were carried out in Nordic countries or in the UK, and most participants were persons with either mental or musculoskeletal disorders. Ten themes emerged: individual and holistic approach, clarity of strategy and processes, timing of rehabilitation processes, experience with professionals, at the workplace and with peer groups, changes in the understanding of health and work, active involvement in the process, competencies development and motivating aspects of work. Findings highlight, among others, the need to actively involve participants in the return to work process and to provide timely and clearly structured processes and interventions. This review provides stakeholders key information to develop, plan, implement and evaluate interventions to integrate and re-integrate persons with chronic conditions into work in Europe. PMID:29783671

SU-G-TeP4-02: A Method for Evaluating the Direct Impact of Failed IMRT QAs On Patient Dose

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

Geneser, S; Butkus, M

Purpose: We developed a method to calculate patient doses corresponding to IMRT QA measurements in order to determine and assess the actual dose delivered for plans with failed (or borderline) IMRT QA. This work demonstrates the feasibility of automatically computing delivered patient dose from portal dosimetry measurements in the Varian TPS system, which would provide a valuable and clinically viable IMRT QA tool for physicists and physicians. Methods: IMRT QA fluences were measured using portal dosimetry, processed using in-house matlab software, and imported back into Eclipse to calculate dose on the planning CT. To validate the proposed workflow, the Eclipsemore » calculated portal dose for a 5-field sliding window prostate boost plan was processed as described above. The resulting dose was compared to the planned dose and found to be within 0.5 Gy. Two IMRT QA results for the prostate boost plan (one that failed and one that passed) were processed and the resulting patient doses were evaluated. Results: The max dose difference between IMRT QA #1 and the original planned and approved dose is 4.5 Gy, while the difference between the planned and IMRT QA #2 dose is 4.0 Gy. The inferior portion of the PTV is slightly underdosed in both plans, and the superior portion is slightly overdosed. The patient dose resulting from IMRT QA #1 and #2 differs by only 0.5 Gy. With this new information, it may be argued that the evaluated plan alteration to obtain passing gamma analysis produced clinically irrelevant differences. Conclusion: Evaluation of the delivered QA dose on the planning CT provides valuable information about the clinical relevance of failed or borderline IMRT QAs. This particular workflow demonstrates the feasibility of pushing the measured IMRT QA portal dosimetry results directly back onto the patient planning CT within the Varian system.« less

Delegation in Correctional Nursing Practice.

PubMed

Tompkins, Frances

2016-07-01

Correctional nurses face daily challenges as a result of their work environment. Common challenges include availability of resources for appropriate care delivery, negotiating with custody staff for access to patients, adherence to scope of practice standards, and working with a varied staffing mix. Professional correctional nurses must consider the educational backgrounds and competency of other nurses and assistive personnel in planning for care delivery. Budgetary constraints and varied staff preparation can be a challenge for the professional nurse. Adequate care planning requires understanding the educational level and competency of licensed and unlicensed staff. Delegation is the process of assessing patient needs and transferring responsibility for care to appropriately educated and competent staff. Correctional nurses can benefit from increased knowledge about delegation. © The Author(s) 2016.

Quality-assurance plan for water-resources activities of the U.S. Geological Survey in Idaho

USGS Publications Warehouse

Packard, F.A.

1996-01-01

To ensure continued confidence in its products, the Water Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey implemented a policy that all its scientific work be performed in accordance with a centrally managed quality-assurance program. This report establishes and documents a formal policy for current (1995) quality assurance within the Idaho District of the U.S. Geological Survey. Quality assurance is formalized by describing district organization and operational responsibilities, documenting the district quality-assurance policies, and describing district functions. The districts conducts its work through offices in Boise, Idaho Falls, Twin Falls, Sandpoint, and at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. Data-collection programs and interpretive studies are conducted by two operating units, and operational and technical assistance is provided by three support units: (1) Administrative Services advisors provide guidance on various personnel issues and budget functions, (2) computer and reports advisors provide guidance in their fields, and (3) discipline specialists provide technical advice and assistance to the district and to chiefs of various projects. The district's quality-assurance plan is based on an overall policy that provides a framework for defining the precision and accuracy of collected data. The plan is supported by a series of quality-assurance policy statements that describe responsibilities for specific operations in the district's program. The operations are program planning; project planning; project implementation; review and remediation; data collection; equipment calibration and maintenance; data processing and storage; data analysis, synthesis, and interpretation; report preparation and processing; and training. Activities of the district are systematically conducted under a hierarchy of supervision an management that is designed to ensure conformance with Water Resources Division goals quality assurance. The district quality-assurance plan does not describe detailed technical activities that are commonly termed "quality-control procedures." Instead, it focuses on current policies, operations, and responsibilities that are implemented at the management level. Contents of the plan will be reviewed annually and updated as programs and operations change.

Toward a research and action agenda on urban planning/design and health equity in cities in low and middle-income countries.

PubMed

Smit, Warren; Hancock, Trevor; Kumaresen, Jacob; Santos-Burgoa, Carlos; Sánchez-Kobashi Meneses, Raúl; Friel, Sharon

2011-10-01

The importance of reestablishing the link between urban planning and public health has been recognized in recent decades; this paper focuses on the relationship between urban planning/design and health equity, especially in cities in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). The physical urban environment can be shaped through various planning and design processes including urban planning, urban design, landscape architecture, infrastructure design, architecture, and transport planning. The resultant urban environment has important impacts on the health of the people who live and work there. Urban planning and design processes can also affect health equity through shaping the extent to which the physical urban environments of different parts of cities facilitate the availability of adequate housing and basic infrastructure, equitable access to the other benefits of urban life, a safe living environment, a healthy natural environment, food security and healthy nutrition, and an urban environment conducive to outdoor physical activity. A new research and action agenda for the urban environment and health equity in LMICs should consist of four main components. We need to better understand intra-urban health inequities in LMICs; we need to better understand how changes in the built environment in LMICs affect health equity; we need to explore ways of successfully planning, designing, and implementing improved health/health equity; and we need to develop evidence-based recommendations for healthy urban planning/design in LMICs.

Applying the Innov8 approach for reviewing national health programmes to leave no one behind: lessons learnt from Indonesia

PubMed Central

Saint, Victoria; Floranita, Rustini; Koemara Sakti, Gita Maya; Pambudi, Imran; Hermawan, Lukas; Villar, Eugenio; Magar, Veronica

2018-01-01

ABSTRACT The World Health Organization’s Innov8 Approach for Reviewing National Health Programmes to Leave No One Behind is an eight-step process that supports the operationalization of the Sustainable Development Goals’ commitment to ‘leave no one behind’. In 2014–2015, Innov8 was adapted and applied in Indonesia to review how the national neonatal and maternal health action plans could become more equity-oriented, rights-based and gender-responsive, and better address critical social determinants of health. The process was led by the Indonesian Ministry of Health, with the support of WHO. It involved a wide range of actors and aligned with/fed into the drafting of the maternal newborn health action plan and the implementation planning of the newborn action plan. Key activities included a sensitization meeting, diagnostic checklist, review workshop and in-country work by the review teams. This ‘methods forum’ article describes this adaptation and application process, the outcomes and lessons learnt. In conjunction with other sources, Innov8 findings and recommendations informed national and sub-national maternal and neonatal action plans and programming to strengthen a ‘leave no one behind’ approach. As follow-up during 2015–2017, components of the Innov8 methodology were integrated into district-level planning processes for maternal and newborn health, and Innov8 helped generate demand for health inequality monitoring and its use in planning. In Indonesia, Innov8 enhanced national capacity for equity-oriented, rights-based and gender-responsive approaches and addressing critical social determinants of health. Adaptation for the national planning context (e.g. decentralized structure) and linking with health inequality monitoring capacity building were important lessons learnt. The pilot of Innov8 in Indonesia suggests that this approach can help operationalize the SDGs’ commitment to leave no one behind, in particular in relation to influencing programming and monitoring and evaluation. PMID:29569529

Applying the Innov8 approach for reviewing national health programmes to leave no one behind: lessons learnt from Indonesia.

PubMed

Koller, Theadora Swift; Saint, Victoria; Floranita, Rustini; Koemara Sakti, Gita Maya; Pambudi, Imran; Hermawan, Lukas; Briot, Benedicte; Frenz, Patricia; Solar, Orielle; Campos, Pilar; Villar, Eugenio; Magar, Veronica

The World Health Organization's Innov8 Approach for Reviewing National Health Programmes to Leave No One Behind is an eight-step process that supports the operationalization of the Sustainable Development Goals' commitment to 'leave no one behind'. In 2014-2015, Innov8 was adapted and applied in Indonesia to review how the national neonatal and maternal health action plans could become more equity-oriented, rights-based and gender-responsive, and better address critical social determinants of health. The process was led by the Indonesian Ministry of Health, with the support of WHO. It involved a wide range of actors and aligned with/fed into the drafting of the maternal newborn health action plan and the implementation planning of the newborn action plan. Key activities included a sensitization meeting, diagnostic checklist, review workshop and in-country work by the review teams. This 'methods forum' article describes this adaptation and application process, the outcomes and lessons learnt. In conjunction with other sources, Innov8 findings and recommendations informed national and sub-national maternal and neonatal action plans and programming to strengthen a 'leave no one behind' approach. As follow-up during 2015-2017, components of the Innov8 methodology were integrated into district-level planning processes for maternal and newborn health, and Innov8 helped generate demand for health inequality monitoring and its use in planning. In Indonesia, Innov8 enhanced national capacity for equity-oriented, rights-based and gender-responsive approaches and addressing critical social determinants of health. Adaptation for the national planning context (e.g. decentralized structure) and linking with health inequality monitoring capacity building were important lessons learnt. The pilot of Innov8 in Indonesia suggests that this approach can help operationalize the SDGs' commitment to leave no one behind, in particular in relation to influencing programming and monitoring and evaluation.

SU-E-T-04: 3D Dose Based Patient Compensator QA Procedure for Proton Radiotherapy

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

Zou, W; Reyhan, M; Zhang, M

2015-06-15

Purpose: In proton double-scattering radiotherapy, compensators are the essential patient specific devices to contour the distal dose distribution to the tumor target. Traditional compensator QA is limited to checking the drilled surface profiles against the plan. In our work, a compensator QA process was established that assess the entire compensator including its internal structure for patient 3D dose verification. Methods: The fabricated patient compensators were CT scanned. Through mathematical image processing and geometric transformations, the CT images of the proton compensator were combined with the patient simulation CT images into a new series of CT images, in which the imagedmore » compensator is placed at the planned location along the corresponding beam line. The new CT images were input into the Eclipse treatment planning system. The original plan was calculated to the combined CT image series without the plan compensator. The newly computed patient 3D dose from the combined patientcompensator images was verified against the original plan dose. Test plans include the compensators with defects intentionally created inside the fabricated compensators. Results: The calculated 3D dose with the combined compensator and patient CT images reflects the impact of the fabricated compensator to the patient. For the test cases in which no defects were created, the dose distributions were in agreement between our method and the corresponding original plans. For the compensator with the defects, the purposely changed material and a purposely created internal defect were successfully detected while not possible with just the traditional compensator profiles detection methods. Conclusion: We present here a 3D dose verification process to qualify the fabricated proton double-scattering compensator. Such compensator detection process assesses the patient 3D impact of the fabricated compensator surface profile as well as the compensator internal material and structure changes. This research receives funding support from CURA Medical Technologies.« less

Developing a mental health care plan in a low resource setting: the theory of change approach.

PubMed

Hailemariam, Maji; Fekadu, Abebaw; Selamu, Medhin; Alem, Atalay; Medhin, Girmay; Giorgis, Tedla Wolde; DeSilva, Mary; Breuer, Erica

2015-09-28

Scaling up mental healthcare through integration into primary care remains the main strategy to address the extensive unmet mental health need in low-income countries. For integrated care to achieve its goal, a clear understanding of the organisational processes that can promote and hinder the integration and delivery of mental health care is essential. Theory of Change (ToC), a method employed in the planning, implementation and evaluation of complex community initiatives, is an innovative approach that has the potential to assist in the development of a comprehensive mental health care plan (MHCP), which can inform the delivery of integrated care. We used the ToC approach to develop a MHCP in a rural district in Ethiopia. The work was part of a cross-country study, the Programme for Improving Mental Health Care (PRIME) which focuses on developing evidence on the integration of mental health in to primary care. An iterative ToC development process was undertaken involving multiple workshops with stakeholders from diverse backgrounds that included representatives from the community, faith and traditional healers, community associations, non-governmental organisations, Zonal, Regional and Federal level government offices, higher education institutions, social work and mental health specialists (psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses). The objective of this study is to report the process of implementing the ToC approach in developing mental health care plan. A total of 46 persons participated in four ToC workshops. Four critical path dimensions were identified: community, health facility, administrative and higher level care organisation. The ToC participants were actively engaged in the process and the ToC encouraged strong commitment among participants. Key opportunities and barriers to implementation and how to overcome these were suggested. During the workshops, a map incorporating the key agreed outcomes and outcome indicators was developed and finalized later. The ToC approach was found to be an important component in the development of the MHCP and to encourage broad political support for the integration of mental health services into primary care. The method may have broader applicability in planning complex health interventions in low resource settings.

ISDP salt batch #2 supernate qualification

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

Peters, T. B.; Nash, C. A.; Fink, S. D.

2009-01-05

This report covers the laboratory testing and analyses of the second Integrated Salt Disposition Project (ISDP) salt supernate samples, performed in support of initial radioactive operations of Actinide Removal Process (ARP) and Modular Caustic-Side Solvent Extraction Unit (MCU). Major goals of this work include characterizing Tank 22H supernate, characterizing Tank 41H supernate, verifying actinide and strontium adsorption with a standard laboratory-scale test using monosodium titanate (MST) and filtration, and checking cesium mass transfer behavior for the MCU solvent performance when contacted with the liquid produced from MST contact. This study also includes characterization of a post-blend Tank 49H sample asmore » part of the Nuclear Criticality Safety Evaluation (NCSE). This work was specified by Task Technical Request and by Task Technical and Quality Assurance Plan (TTQAP). In addition, a sampling plan will be written to guide analytical future work. Safety and environmental aspects of the work were documented in a Hazard Assessment Package.« less

The CHPRC Columbia River Protection Project Quality Assurance Project Plan

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

Fix, N. J.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researchers are working on the CHPRC Columbia River Protection Project (hereafter referred to as the Columbia River Project). This is a follow-on project, funded by CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Company, LLC (CHPRC), to the Fluor Hanford, Inc. Columbia River Protection Project. The work scope consists of a number of CHPRC funded, related projects that are managed under a master project (project number 55109). All contract releases associated with the Fluor Hanford Columbia River Project (Fluor Hanford, Inc. Contract 27647) and the CHPRC Columbia River Project (Contract 36402) will be collected under this master project. Each projectmore » within the master project is authorized by a CHPRC contract release that contains the project-specific statement of work. This Quality Assurance Project Plan provides the quality assurance requirements and processes that will be followed by the Columbia River Project staff.« less

Study on diversified cultivation orientation and pattern of optoelectronic major undergraduates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Zhiying

2017-08-01

To improve the research quality preparation for graduate study and looking for job competition ability of undergraduates students, the education orientation objective need to be explicit. Universities need develop undergraduates' cultivation plan according to students' classification. Based on analysis of students export characteristic, there will be corresponding cultivation plan. Keep tracking study during the cultivation plan implantation process, the Curriculum system and related manage documents are revised corresponding to exist problems. There are mainly three kinds of undergraduates' career direction plan for opto-electronic major undergraduates. In addition to the vast majority university graduates opting for direct employment, nearly one third of university students choose to take part in the postgraduate entrance exams and other further education abroad, and also one-tenth choose their own businesses, university chooses are diversified. The exports are further studying as graduates, working and study abroad. Because national defense students are also recruited, the cultivation plan will be diversified to four types. For students, who go to work directly after graduation, the "Excellence engineers plan" is implemented to enhance their practice ability. For students, who will study further as graduate student, the scientific innovation research ability cultivation is paid more attention to make good foundation for their subsequent development. For students, who want to study abroad after graduation, the bilingual teaching method is introduced, and the English environment is built. We asked foreign professionals to give lectures for students. The knowledge range is extending, and the exchange and cooperation chance is provided at the same time. And the cultivation plan is revised during docking with Universities abroad. For national defense students, combat training and other defense theory courses are added to make them familiar with force knowledge. And with national defense students' excellence engineer plan, more army practice chance is provided. The students can integrate into army life much faster. The advantages of national defense students are much more highlighted. The graduates can serve motherland better than before. It is shown from the practice process that the revised cultivation plan is suitable for diversified undergraduates. And the education result is improved in a large amount consequently.

Aquatic Ecosystem Enhancement at Mountaintop Mining Sites Symposium

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

Black, D. Courtney; Lawson, Peter; Morgan, John

2000-01-12

Welcome to this symposium which is part of the ongoing effort to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) regarding mountaintop mining and valley fills. The EIS is being prepared by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Office of Surface Mining, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in cooperation with the State of West Virginia. Aquatic Ecosystem Enhancement (AEE) at mountaintop mining sites is one of fourteen technical areas identified for study by the EIS Interagency Steering Committee. Three goals were identified in the AEE Work Plan: 1. Assess mining and reclamation practices to show howmore » mining operations might be carried out in a way that minimizes adverse impacts to streams and other environmental resources and to local communities. Clarify economic and technical constraints and benefits. 2. Help citizens clarify choices by showing whether there are affordable ways to enhance existing mining, reclamation, mitigation processes and/or procedures. 3. Ide identify data needed to improve environmental evaluation and design of mining projects to protect the environment. Today’s symposium was proposed in the AEE Team Work Plans but coordinated planning for the event began September 15, 1999 when representatives from coal industry, environmental groups and government regulators met in Morgantown. The meeting participants worked with a facilitator from the Canaan Valley Institute to outline plans for the symposium. Several teams were formed to carry out the plans we outlined in the meeting.« less

Psychotherapeutic and work-oriented interventions: employment outcomes among young adults with work disability due to a mental disorder.

PubMed

Mattila-Holappa, Pauliina; Joensuu, Matti; Ahola, Kirsi; Koskinen, Aki; Tuisku, Katinka; Ervasti, Jenni; Virtanen, Marianna

2016-01-01

We examined the extent to which psychotherapeutic and work-oriented interventions were included in a medical treatment and rehabilitation plan and whether they predicted future employment among young adults with work disability due to a mental disorder. Data were obtained from the treatment and rehabilitation plans of 1163 young adults aged 18‒34 years, who in 2008 were granted fixed-term work disability compensation due to a mental disorder and were followed for 5 years. Forty-six percent had no proposal for psychotherapy or a work-oriented intervention in their treatment and rehabilitation plan, 22 % had a plan for only a psychotherapeutic intervention, 23 % had a plan for only a work-oriented intervention, and 10 % had both types of interventions planned. Having a planned psychotherapeutic intervention (HR = 1.35, 95 % CI 1.07-1.69) and of the work-oriented interventions, planned rehabilitative courses and training (HR = 1.34, 95 % CI 1.03-1.70) predicted quicker entry into competitive employment. Having a plan for both a psychotherapeutic and work-oriented intervention was associated with being employed at the end of the follow-up (OR = 1.77, 95 % CI 1.07-2.95). Young adults with a long-term psychiatric work disability episode rarely have a recorded plan for rehabilitation in their treatment and rehabilitation plan although psychotherapeutic interventions and a combination of a psychotherapeutic and work-oriented intervention might help them gain employment.

Transition planning for youth with traumatic brain injury: findings from the National Longitudinal Transition Survey-2.

PubMed

Wehman, Paul; Chen, Chin-Chih; West, Michael; Cifu, Gabriella

2014-01-01

Despite of a growing body of research on vocational and educational difficulties for students with traumatic brain injury (TBI), only limited empirical studies specifically examined how school transition services facilitate later employment outcomes. This exploratory, prospective longitudinal study examined the prevalence of employment and characteristics of transition planning practices that promoted positive school-to-work transition for students with TBI. The participants (n = 200) was drawn from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS-2), a ten-year study which followed a large nationally representative sample of youth with disabilities through secondary education in into young adulthood. Logistic regression was used to investigate the associations between student, school, and collaborative engagement in the planning process and employment outcomes up to 8 years after high school. Among youth with TBI, 51% held current employment at the time of interview and 73% had been employed at any time after high school. Findings showed that students with TBI who had transition goals for postsecondary education were more likely to be employed at some point since leaving high school. The findings also support active student engagement and leadership in the transition planning process, and the inclusion of outside organizations and individuals. Findings indicate the impact of student, school and adult service agency engagement in transition planning processes. Implications for educational practices and future research are discussed.

Extraction of Data from a Hospital Information System to Perform Process Mining.

PubMed

Neira, Ricardo Alfredo Quintano; de Vries, Gert-Jan; Caffarel, Jennifer; Stretton, Erin

2017-01-01

The aim of this work is to share our experience in relevant data extraction from a hospital information system in preparation for a research study using process mining techniques. The steps performed were: research definition, mapping the normative processes, identification of tables and fields names of the database, and extraction of data. We then offer lessons learned during data extraction phase. Any errors made in the extraction phase will propagate and have implications on subsequent analyses. Thus, it is essential to take the time needed and devote sufficient attention to detail to perform all activities with the goal of ensuring high quality of the extracted data. We hope this work will be informative for other researchers to plan and execute extraction of data for process mining research studies.

7 CFR 23.13 - Plan of Work.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... multi-State organizations or bodies for those activities of the Regional Rural Development Centers which... of the Secretary of Agriculture STATE AND REGIONAL ANNUAL PLANS OF WORK Regional Program § 23.13 Plan of Work. (a) A Regional Plan of Work for carrying out the programs authorized to be funded under...

77 FR 47373 - Fiscal Year 2012 Draft Work Plan; Correction

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-08

... DENALI COMMISSION Fiscal Year 2012 Draft Work Plan; Correction AGENCY: Denali Commission. ACTION... Federal Register of May 23, 2012, concerning request for comments on the Draft Work Plan for Federal Fiscal Year 2012. This revision to Fiscal Year 2012 Work Plan is to provide clarifying edits. In...

Collective Intelligence and Three Aspects of Planning in Organizations: A NASA Example

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Billman, Dorrit; Feary, Michael

2010-01-01

For many complex sociotechnical systems, planning seems to require explicit coordination; certainly, in executing a plan the activities of different actors must be tightly coupled. However, distributing the needed planning information can be very burdensome and error prone, because different groups need different collections of information, updated or kept current on different time cycles. Further, the information needed to form successful plans is often highly distributed, and while feedback about the success of prior plans may exist, it may not be available to those in a position of using this to improve plans or to detect and resolve other problems in the system (Weick, 1995). Tools to support various aspects of planning have been developed, and can provide a huge benefit to the individuals working on that aspect. To be tractable, most solutions address a quite bounded slice of work, isolating it from the larger context. Prospective planning takes place over multiple, nested cycles of decision making. This builds a plan that specifies activities of different granularity. "Subplans" may specify multiple parallel activities by different groups and individuals, as well as sequential, nested actions by a single actor. Planning produces valuable, sharable, external, representations: in addition to prospective use, plans support retrospective assessment and also action in the present. Viewing planning in a larger context - both temporal and organizational -- enables noticing what one does not know and generating more systemic and effective solutions. Viewing a problem as one of collective intelligence invites thinking about the larger organizational context. Many approaches to supporting collective intelligence do not support execution of highly contingent actions, distributed across many players, and hence provide incomplete support for planning. However, CI technology maybe helpful in managing the processes of gathering information for decision making in planning and of distributing plan information to various actors, needed on various time cycles.

Mutual Contextualization in Tripartite Graphs of Folksonomies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yeung, Ching-Man Au; Gibbins, Nicholas; Shadbolt, Nigel

The use of tags to describe Web resources in a collaborative manner has experienced rising popularity among Web users in recent years. The product of such activity is given the name folksonomy, which can be considered as a scheme of organizing information in the users' own way. This research work attempts to analyze tripartite graphs - graphs involving users, tags and resources - of folksonomies and discuss how these elements acquire their semantics through their associations with other elements, a process we call mutual contextualization. By studying such process, we try to identify solutions to problems such as tag disambiguation, retrieving documents of similar topics and discovering communities of users. This paper describes the basis of the research work, mentions work done so far and outlines future plans.

Work Measurements: Interdisciplinary Overlap in Manufacturing and Algebra I

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rose, Mary Annette

2007-01-01

Manufacturing engineering provides a relevant context from which to envision interdisciplinary learning experiences because engineers integrate their knowledge and skills of manufacturing and algebra processes in order to plan the efficient manufacture of products. In this article, the author describes an interdisciplinary learning activity that…

Personality and the Planning Process

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-01-01

personality types, it is fair to note that in 1912 Sigmund Freud (a colleague of Jung’s) found unacceptable Jung’s differing concept of the libido and...environmental stimulation (it worked for dogs). Sigmund Freud claimed that man is driven by instinctual lust, and any higher motives were just

Mixing and Making Changes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ashbrook, Peggy

2006-01-01

Young children do science exploration and observation every day in their play. They spontaneously engage in parts of the scientific inquiry process--wondering, asking a question, planning how to answer the question, documenting their work, thinking about what happened, and sharing their results with others. Conducting an entire experiment is…

Restoring Western Ranges and Wildlands, vol. 2

Treesearch

Stephen B. Monsen; Richard Stevens; Nancy L. Shaw

2004-01-01

This work, in three volumes, provides background on philosophy, processes, plant materials selection, site preparation, and seed and seeding equipment for revegetating disturbed rangelands, emphasizing use of native species. The 29 chapters include guidelines for planning, conducting, and managing, and contain a compilation of rangeland revegetation research conducted...

Career Activity File K-12: School-Based Enterprise.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

2000

School-Based Enterprises or SBEs provide work-based learning opportunities to students in communities lacking business and industry involvement. SBEs promote discovery learning and student responsibility in the learning process. They expose students to creative thinking, problem solving, planning and organizational skills, and teamwork. SBEs help…

100-N Area Decision Unit Target Analyte List Development for Soil

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

Ovink, R.

2012-09-18

This report documents the process used to identify source area target analytes in support of the 100-N Area remedial investigation/feasibility study (RI/FS) addendum to the Integrated 100 Area Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study Work Plan (DOE/RL-2008-46, Rev. 0).

Preparing for the Millennium.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scaglione, Chris

1998-01-01

In 2000, any automated system that processes dates may stop working completely or produce unexpected or unwanted results. School administrators should obtain a complete listing of all currently used systems, prioritize them, contact hardware and software providers to verify Y2K compliance, develop resolution plans with vendors, develop assessment…

Career Education Programs That Work.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Interinstitutional Consortium for Career Education, Salem, OR.

This handbook contains thirty abstracts of career education programs that summarize techniques, processes, activities, and materials that have been used by students and teachers. The handbook, which was designed for use after the planning stages, includes items for kindergarten through grade twelve that can be related to various subject matter…

Restoring Western Ranges and Wildlands, vol. 3

Treesearch

Stephen B. Monsen; Richard Stevens; Nancy L. Shaw

2004-01-01

This work, in three volumes, provides background on philosophy, processes, plant materials selection, site preparation, and seed and seeding equipment for revegetating disturbed rangelands, emphasizing use of native species. The 29 chapters include guidelines for planning, conducting, and managing, and contain a compilation of rangeland revegetation research conducted...

Restoring Western Ranges and Wildlands, vol. 1

Treesearch

Stephen B. Monsen; Richard Stevens; Nancy L. Shaw

2004-01-01

This work, in three volumes, provides background on philosophy, processes, plant materials selection, site preparation, and seed and seeding equipment for revegetating disturbed rangelands, emphasizing use of native species. The 29 chapters include guidelines for planning, conducting, and managing, and contain a compilation of rangeland revegetation research conducted...

Planning for the next influenza pandemic: using the science and art of logistics.

PubMed

Cupp, O Shawn; Predmore, Brad G

2011-01-01

The complexities and challenges for healthcare providers and their efforts to provide fundamental basic items to meet the logistical demands of an influenza pandemic are discussed in this article. The supply chain, planning, and alternatives for inevitable shortages are some of the considerations associated with this emergency mass critical care situation. The planning process and support for such events are discussed in detail with several recommendations obtained from the literature and the experience from recent mass casualty incidents (MCIs). The first step in this planning process is the development of specific triage requirements during an influenza pandemic. The second step is identification of logistical resources required during such a pandemic, which are then analyzed within the proposed logistics science and art model for planning purposes. Resources highlighted within the model include allocation and use of work force, bed space, intensive care unit assets, ventilators, personal protective equipment, and oxygen. The third step is using the model to discuss in detail possible workarounds, suitable substitutes, and resource allocation. An examination is also made of the ethics surrounding palliative care within the construction of an MCI and the factors that will inevitably determine rationing and prioritizing of these critical assets to palliative care patients.

Robust path planning for flexible needle insertion using Markov decision processes.

PubMed

Tan, Xiaoyu; Yu, Pengqian; Lim, Kah-Bin; Chui, Chee-Kong

2018-05-11

Flexible needle has the potential to accurately navigate to a treatment region in the least invasive manner. We propose a new planning method using Markov decision processes (MDPs) for flexible needle navigation that can perform robust path planning and steering under the circumstance of complex tissue-needle interactions. This method enhances the robustness of flexible needle steering from three different perspectives. First, the method considers the problem caused by soft tissue deformation. The method then resolves the common needle penetration failure caused by patterns of targets, while the last solution addresses the uncertainty issues in flexible needle motion due to complex and unpredictable tissue-needle interaction. Computer simulation and phantom experimental results show that the proposed method can perform robust planning and generate a secure control policy for flexible needle steering. Compared with a traditional method using MDPs, the proposed method achieves higher accuracy and probability of success in avoiding obstacles under complicated and uncertain tissue-needle interactions. Future work will involve experiment with biological tissue in vivo. The proposed robust path planning method can securely steer flexible needle within soft phantom tissues and achieve high adaptability in computer simulation.

National NIF Diagnostic Program Fiscal Year 2002 Second Quarter Report

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

MacGowan, B

Since October 2001 the development of the facility diagnostics for NIF has been funded by the NIF Director through the National NIF Diagnostic Program (NNDP). The current emphasis of the NNDP is on diagnostics for the early NIF quad scheduled to be available for experiment commissioning in FY03. During the past six months the NNDP has set in place processes for funding diagnostics, developing requirements for diagnostics, design reviews and monthly status reporting. Those processes are described in an interim management plan for diagnostics (''National NIF Diagnostic Program Interim Plan'', NIF-0081315, April 2002) and a draft Program Execution Plan (''Programmore » Execution Plan for the National NlF Diagnostic Program'', NIF-0072083, October 2001) and documents cited therein. Work has been funded at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Bechtel Nevada at Los Alamos and Santa Barbara. There are no major technical risks with the early diagnostics. The main concerns relate to integration of the diagnostics into the facility, all such issues are being worked. This report is organized to show the schedule and budget status and a summary of Change Control Board actions for the past six months. The following sections then provide short descriptions of the status of each diagnostic. Where design reviews or requirements documents are cited, the documents are available on the Diagnostics file server or on request.« less

Web-based collaboration in individual care planning challenges the user and the provider roles – toward a power transition in caring relationships

PubMed Central

Bjerkan, Jorunn; Vatne, Solfrid; Hollingen, Anne

2014-01-01

Background and objective The Individual Care Plan (ICP) was introduced in Norway to meet new statutory requirements for user participation in health care planning, incorporating multidisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration. A web-based solution (electronic ICP [e-ICP]) was used to support the planning and documentation. The aim of this study was to investigate how web-based collaboration challenged user and professional roles. Methods Data were obtained from 15 semistructured interviews with users and eight with care professionals, and from two focus-group interviews with eight care professionals in total. The data were analyzed using systematic text condensation in a stepwise analysis model. Results Users and care professionals took either a proactive or a reluctant role in e-ICP collaboration. Where both user and care professionals were proactive, the pairing helped to ensure that the planning worked well; so did pairings of proactive care professionals and reluctant users. Proactive users paired with reluctant care professionals also made care planning work, thanks to the availability of information and the users’ own capacity or willingness to conduct the planning. Where both parties were reluctant, no planning activities occurred. Conclusion Use of the e-ICP challenged the user–professional relationship. In some cases, a power transition took place in the care process, which led to patient empowerment. This knowledge might be used to develop a new understanding of how role function can be challenged when users and care professionals have equal access to health care documentation and planning tools. PMID:25525367

Group therapy for partners of combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

PubMed

Armstrong, M A; Rose, P

1997-01-01

An 18-month group-therapy experience with women partners of combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). To describe the application of group process and feminist theory to the planning and development of a group of women partners of veterans with PTSD. The authors' clinical work. Using group psychotherapy theory and feminist theory, the group content and process involved the themes of rescuing, dissociation, and individuation. The exploration of transference and countertransference were useful in facilitating individual as well as process.

Combining Architecture-Centric Engineering with the Team Software Process

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-01

colleagues from Quarksoft and CIMAT have re- cently reported on their experiences in “Introducing Software Architecture Development Methods into a TSP...Postmortem Lessons, new goals, new requirements, new risk , etc. Business and technical goals Estimates, plans, process, commitment Work products...architecture to mitigate the risks unco- vered by the ATAM. At the end of the iteration, version 1.0 of the architec- ture is available. Implement a second

Strategic tree planting as an EPA encouraged pollutant reduction strategy: how urban trees can obtain credit in state implementation plans

Treesearch

Dr. David J. Nowak

2005-01-01

As tree programs are new to the SIP process, "to facilitate Federal approval of an emerging or voluntary measure States are encouraged to work with their EPA regional ofice during the development process". Programs to increase canopy cover in urban areas can achieve many benefits. They can help improve air and water quality, as well as other factors related...

Do network relationships matter? Comparing network and instream habitat variables to explain densities of juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in mid-coastal Oregon, USA

Treesearch

Rebecca L. Flitcroft; Kelly M. Burnett; Gordon H. Reeves; Lisa M. Ganio

2012-01-01

Aquatic ecologists are working to develop theory and techniques for analysis of dynamic stream processes and communities of organisms. Such work is critical for the development of conservation plans that are relevant at the scale of entire ecosystems. The stream network is the foundation upon which stream systems are organized. Natural and human disturbances in streams...

Human Factors Engineering. A Self-Paced Text, Lessons 36-40,

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-08-01

proposed contract does not involve ’significant human interface for operation/ maintenance /control,’ the selection guide should not be used. Turn to Page 98... work space configuration, packaging, and labeling. These are all aspects of maintenance which need to be incorporated into the original design plans... work done. An ROC is a ’Required Operational Capability’ statement that is required by the Army during the system acquisition process . Return to Page

Aerospace Expeditionary Force Implementation and the Effect on Team Cohesion

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-03-01

quickly load UTCs during real world conflicts, deployments, or exercises. The TPFDD is the Joint Operation Planning and Execution System data base... system in mission capable status in an efficeint manner. Time is saved by not having to establish work/personal relationships and new work peocesses...there wasn’t enough time for the system to process backfills for shortfalls that were, in reality, not shortfalls at all but a rainbow package. While

Contingency Analysis Post-Processing With Advanced Computing and Visualization

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

Chen, Yousu; Glaesemann, Kurt; Fitzhenry, Erin

Contingency analysis is a critical function widely used in energy management systems to assess the impact of power system component failures. Its outputs are important for power system operation for improved situational awareness, power system planning studies, and power market operations. With the increased complexity of power system modeling and simulation caused by increased energy production and demand, the penetration of renewable energy and fast deployment of smart grid devices, and the trend of operating grids closer to their capacity for better efficiency, more and more contingencies must be executed and analyzed quickly in order to ensure grid reliability andmore » accuracy for the power market. Currently, many researchers have proposed different techniques to accelerate the computational speed of contingency analysis, but not much work has been published on how to post-process the large amount of contingency outputs quickly. This paper proposes a parallel post-processing function that can analyze contingency analysis outputs faster and display them in a web-based visualization tool to help power engineers improve their work efficiency by fast information digestion. Case studies using an ESCA-60 bus system and a WECC planning system are presented to demonstrate the functionality of the parallel post-processing technique and the web-based visualization tool.« less

Discharging patients earlier in the day: a concept worth evaluating.

PubMed

Kravet, Steven J; Levine, Rachel B; Rubin, Haya R; Wright, Scott M

2007-01-01

Patient discharges from the hospital often occur late in the day and are frequently clustered after 4 PM. When inpatients leave earlier in the day, quality is improved because new admissions awaiting beds are able to leave the emergency department sooner and emergency department waiting room backlog is reduced. Nursing staff, whose work patterns traditionally result in high activity of discharge and admission between 5 PM and 8 PM, benefit by spreading out their work across a longer part of the day. Discharging patients earlier in the day also has the potential to increase patient satisfaction. Despite multiple stakeholders in the discharge planning process, physicians play the most important role. Getting physician buy-in requires an ability to teach physicians about the concept of early-in-the-day discharges and their impact on the process. We defined a new physician-centered discharge planning process and introduced it to an internal medicine team with an identical control team as a comparison. Discharge time of day was analyzed for 1 month. Mean time of day of discharge was 13:39 for the intervention group versus 15:45 for the control group (P<.001). If reproduced successfully, this process could improve quality at an important transition point in patient care.

Developing a taxonomy for mission architecture definition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Neubek, Deborah J.

1990-01-01

The Lunar and Mars Exploration Program Office (LMEPO) was tasked to define candidate architectures for the Space Exploration Initiative to submit to NASA senior management and an externally constituted Outreach Synthesis Group. A systematic, structured process for developing, characterizing, and describing the alternate mission architectures, and applying this process to future studies was developed. The work was done in two phases: (1) national needs were identified and categorized into objectives achievable by the Space Exploration Initiative; and (2) a program development process was created which both hierarchically and iteratively describes the program planning process.

Examining intention in simulated actions: are children and young adults different?

PubMed

Gabbard, Carl; Caçola, Priscila

2014-10-01

Previous work with adults provides evidence that 'intention' used in processing simulated actions is similar to that used in planning and processing overt movements. The present study compared young adults and children on their ability to estimate distance reachability using a NOGO/GO paradigm in conditions of imagery only (IO) and imagery with actual execution (IE). Our initial thoughts were that whereas intention is associated with motivation and commitment to act, age-related differences could impact planning. Results indicated no difference in overall accuracy by condition within groups, and as expected adults were more accurate. These findings support an increasing body of evidence suggesting that the neurocognitive processes (in this case, intention) driving motor imagery and overt actions are similar, and as evidenced here, functioning by age 7. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Selective weighting of action-related feature dimensions in visual working memory.

PubMed

Heuer, Anna; Schubö, Anna

2017-08-01

Planning an action primes feature dimensions that are relevant for that particular action, increasing the impact of these dimensions on perceptual processing. Here, we investigated whether action planning also affects the short-term maintenance of visual information. In a combined memory and movement task, participants were to memorize items defined by size or color while preparing either a grasping or a pointing movement. Whereas size is a relevant feature dimension for grasping, color can be used to localize the goal object and guide a pointing movement. The results showed that memory for items defined by size was better during the preparation of a grasping movement than during the preparation of a pointing movement. Conversely, memory for color tended to be better when a pointing movement rather than a grasping movement was being planned. This pattern was not only observed when the memory task was embedded within the preparation period of the movement, but also when the movement to be performed was only indicated during the retention interval of the memory task. These findings reveal that a weighting of information in visual working memory according to action relevance can even be implemented at the representational level during maintenance, demonstrating that our actions continue to influence visual processing beyond the perceptual stage.

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

Not Available

This Remedial Investigation (RI) Work Plan has been developed as part of the US Department of Energy`s (DOE`s) investigation of the Groundwater Operable Unit (GWOU) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) located near Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The first iteration of the GWOU RI Work Plan is intended to serve as a strategy document to guide the ORNL GWOU RI. The Work Plan provides a rationale and organization for groundwater data acquisition, monitoring, and remedial actions to be performed during implementation of environmental restoration activities associated with the ORNL GWOU. It Is important to note that the RI Work Plan formore » the ORNL GWOU is not a prototypical work plan. The RI will be conducted using annual work plans to manage the work activities, and task reports will be used to document the results of the investigations. Sampling and analysis results will be compiled and reported annually with a review of data relative to risk (screening level risk assessment review) for groundwater. This Work Plan outlines the overall strategy for the RI and defines tasks which are to be conducted during the initial phase of investigation. This plan is presented with the understanding that more specific addenda to the plan will follow.« less

A study of palm biomass processing strategy in Sarawak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, S. J. Y.; Ng, W. P. Q.; Law, K. H.

2017-06-01

In the past decades, palm industry is booming due to its profitable nature. An environmental concern regarding on the palm industry is the enormous amount of waste produced from palm industry. The waste produced or palm biomass is one significant renewable energy source and raw material for value-added products like fiber mats, activated carbon, dried fiber, bio-fertilizer and et cetera in Malaysia. There is a need to establish the palm biomass industry for the recovery of palm biomass for efficient utilization and waste reduction. The development of the industry is strongly depending on the two reasons, the availability and supply consistency of palm biomass as well as the availability of palm biomass processing facilities. In Malaysia, the development of palm biomass industry is lagging due to the lack of mature commercial technology and difficult logistic planning as a result of scattered locality of palm oil mill, where palm biomass is generated. Two main studies have been carried out in this research work: i) industrial study of the feasibility of decentralized and centralized palm biomass processing in Sarawak and ii) development of a systematic and optimized palm biomass processing planning for the development of palm biomass industry in Sarawak, Malaysia. Mathematical optimization technique is used in this work to model the above case scenario for biomass processing to achieve maximum economic potential and resource feasibility. An industrial study of palm biomass processing strategy in Sarawak has been carried out to evaluate the optimality of centralized processing and decentralize processing of the local biomass industry. An optimal biomass processing strategy is achieved.

Increasing advance personal planning: the need for action at the community level.

PubMed

Waller, Amy; Sanson-Fisher, Rob; Ries, Nola; Bryant, Jamie

2018-05-09

Advance personal planning is the process by which people consider, document and communicate their preferences for personal, financial and health matters in case they lose the ability to make decisions or express their wishes in the future. Advance personal planning is most often undertaken by individuals who are seriously ill, often in the context of a medical crisis and/or at the time of admission to hospital. However, the clinical utility and legal validity of the planning process may be compromised in these circumstances. Patients may lack sufficient capacity to meaningfully engage in advance personal planning; there may be insufficient time to adequately reflect on and discuss wishes with key others; and there may also be limited opportunity for inter-professional input and collaboration in the process. Here, we propose an agenda for research to advance the science of advance personal planning by promoting a 'whole community' approach. Adoption of advance personal planning at a community level may be achieved using a variety of strategies including public media campaigns, intervening with professionals across a range of health care and legal settings, and mobilising support from influential groups and local government. One potentially promising method for encouraging earlier adoption of advance personal planning among a broader population involves a community action approach, whereby multiple evidence-based strategies are integrated across multiple access points. Community action involves calling on community members, professionals, community and/or government organisations to work collaboratively to design and systematically implement intervention strategies with the aim of bringing about desired behaviour change. An example of a community action trial to improving uptake and quality of advance personal planning is described. While promising, there is a need for rigorous evidence to demonstrate whether a community action approach is effective in establishing whole community adoption of advance personal planning.

[Cellular transplantation laboratory: a new field of action for nurses].

PubMed

Corradi, Maria Inês; da Silva, Sandra Honorato

2008-01-01

This article presents the experience of a nurse at a cellular transplantation laboratory. This laboratory goal is to isolate insulin producing cells for human transplantation. The nurse, as a member of an interdisciplinary team, took part in the planning of all work processes: working procedures and team training. The main activities under the nurse responsibilities include contamination control, on-the-job training and evaluation of the Quality of the procedures developed by the interdisciplinary team. Results have shown the effectiveness of the nurses' work in this new field.

Poster — Thur Eve — 17: In-phantom and Fluence-based Measurements for Quality Assurance of Volumetric-driven Adaptation of Arc Therapy

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

Schaly, B; Hoover, D; Mitchell, S

2014-08-15

During volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) of head and neck cancer, some patients lose weight which may result in anatomical deviations from the initial plan. If these deviations are substantial a new treatment plan can be designed for the remainder of treatment (i.e., adaptive planning). Since the adaptive treatment process is resource intensive, one possible approach to streamlining the quality assurance (QA) process is to use the electronic portal imaging device (EPID) to measure the integrated fluence for the adapted plans instead of the currently-used ArcCHECK device (Sun Nuclear). Although ArcCHECK is recognized as the clinical standard for patient-specific VMATmore » plan QA, it has limited length (20 cm) for most head and neck field apertures and has coarser detector spacing than the EPID (10 mm vs. 0.39 mm). In this work we compared measurement of the integrated fluence using the EPID with corresponding measurements from the ArcCHECK device. In the past year nine patients required an adapted plan. Each of the plans (the original and adapted) is composed of two arcs. Routine clinical QA was performed using the ArcCHECK device, and the same plans were delivered to the EPID (individual arcs) in integrated mode. The dose difference between the initial plan and adapted plan was compared for ArcCHECK and EPID. In most cases, it was found that the EPID is more sensitive in detecting plan differences. Therefore, we conclude that EPID provides a viable alternative for QA of the adapted head and neck plans and should be further explored.« less

Recommendations on basic requirements for intensive care units: structural and organizational aspects.

PubMed

Valentin, Andreas; Ferdinande, Patrick

2011-10-01

To provide guidance and recommendations for the planning or renovation of intensive care units (ICUs) with respect to the specific characteristics relevant to organizational and structural aspects of intensive care medicine. The Working Group on Quality Improvement (WGQI) of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) identified the basic requirements for ICUs by a comprehensive literature search and an iterative process with several rounds of consensus finding with the participation of 47 intensive care physicians from 23 countries. The starting point of this process was an ESICM recommendation published in 1997 with the need for an updated version. The document consists of operational guidelines and design recommendations for ICUs. In the first part it covers the definition and objectives of an ICU, functional criteria, activity criteria, and the management of equipment. The second part deals with recommendations with respect to the planning process, floorplan and connections, accommodation, fire safety, central services, and the necessary communication systems. This document provides a detailed framework for the planning or renovation of ICUs based on a multinational consensus within the ESICM.

Medication Management: The Macrocognitive Workflow of Older Adults With Heart Failure

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Background Older adults with chronic disease struggle to manage complex medication regimens. Health information technology has the potential to improve medication management, but only if it is based on a thorough understanding of the complexity of medication management workflow as it occurs in natural settings. Prior research reveals that patient work related to medication management is complex, cognitive, and collaborative. Macrocognitive processes are theorized as how people individually and collaboratively think in complex, adaptive, and messy nonlaboratory settings supported by artifacts. Objective The objective of this research was to describe and analyze the work of medication management by older adults with heart failure, using a macrocognitive workflow framework. Methods We interviewed and observed 61 older patients along with 30 informal caregivers about self-care practices including medication management. Descriptive qualitative content analysis methods were used to develop categories, subcategories, and themes about macrocognitive processes used in medication management workflow. Results We identified 5 high-level macrocognitive processes affecting medication management—sensemaking, planning, coordination, monitoring, and decision making—and 15 subprocesses. Data revealed workflow as occurring in a highly collaborative, fragile system of interacting people, artifacts, time, and space. Process breakdowns were common and patients had little support for macrocognitive workflow from current tools. Conclusions Macrocognitive processes affected medication management performance. Describing and analyzing this performance produced recommendations for technology supporting collaboration and sensemaking, decision making and problem detection, and planning and implementation. PMID:27733331