Estoques são comuns a qualquer empresa, visto que são necessários para amortecer impactos de demandas não programadas e evitar rupturas entre processos, adicionando segurança entre diferentes elos de uma cadeia. Problemas de gerenciamento de estoques são corriqueiros, dado que as suas causas podem ser múltiplas, estando presentes em diferentes nós de uma cadeia e sendo originados por questões vinculadas ao fornecimento, à demanda, à informação, além de outros fatores possíveis. Devido à importância dos estoques para uma empresa, seja financeira, como concentração de ativos, ou seja por mitigar riscos no processo de suprimento, problemas de gerenciamento de estoques são periodicamente tratados na literatura. Entretanto, não existe consenso sobre o que são os problemas de gerenciamento e um método difundido para sua identificação e análise. Esta pesquisa concentra-se nesta lacuna, propondo um método de identificação e análise dos problemas de gerenciamento de estoques. Este método está ancorado em seis distintas etapas que foram aplicadas, na forma de um estudo de caso, em uma empresa da serra gaúcha. As etapas compreendem a identificação dos causadores do problema de gerenciamento de estoques, a modelagem e simulação do ambiente proposto e análises das iterações sob a perspectiva de três variáveis chave: saldo de estoques, escassez e uma função custo. Entre os resultados desta pesquisa encontram-se uma classificação de causadores de problemas de gerenciamento de estoques e o método proposto. Foi possível observar no estudo de caso que, entre as variáveis de entrada utilizada, quando manipulada a média aritmética da distribuição destas variáveis estocásticas, elas causaram maior variação sistemática ao resultado do modelo quando comparada a variação sistemática causada pela alteração da variância da distribuição desta mesma variável estocástica. / Inventories are common to any businesses, as they are needed to cushion impacts from unscheduled demands and avoid ruptures between processes, adding security between different tiers in a supply chain. Inventory management problems are common, as their causes can be multiple, and being present on different nodes of a chain, which can be caused by issues related to supply, demand, information, and other possible factors. Due to the importance of inventories for a business, whether financial - as assets - or its role in mitigating risks in the supply process, inventory management problems are frequently approached in the literature. However, there is no consensus on what are inventory management problems and there is no widespread method for identification and analysis of inventory management problems. This research focus on this gap by proposing a method of identification and analysis of inventory management problems. This method is anchored in six distinct steps that have been applied in the form of a case study on a company in south of Brazil. The steps include the identification of the causes of the inventory management problem, the modeling and simulation of the proposed environment and analysis of iterations from the perspective of three key variables: inventory balance, inventory shortages and a cost function. Among the results of this research are a classification of inventory management problems originators and the proposed method. It was observed in the case study that among the input variables, when manipulated the arithmetic mean of the stochastic distribution of these variables, they increased the systematic variation output of the model more than when were manipulated the variance of the stochastic distribution of the same variable.

Estoques são comuns a qualquer empresa, visto que são necessários para amortecer impactos de demandas não programadas e evitar rupturas entre processos, adicionando segurança entre diferentes elos de uma cadeia. Problemas de gerenciamento de estoques são corriqueiros, dado que as suas causas podem ser múltiplas, estando presentes em diferentes nós de uma cadeia e sendo originados por questões vinculadas ao fornecimento, à demanda, à informação, além de outros fatores possíveis. Devido à importância dos estoques para uma empresa, seja financeira, como concentração de ativos, ou seja por mitigar riscos no processo de suprimento, problemas de gerenciamento de estoques são periodicamente tratados na literatura. Entretanto, não existe consenso sobre o que são os problemas de gerenciamento e um método difundido para sua identificação e análise. Esta pesquisa concentra-se nesta lacuna, propondo um método de identificação e análise dos problemas de gerenciamento de estoques. Este método está ancorado em seis distintas etapas que foram aplicadas, na forma de um estudo de caso, em uma empresa da serra gaúcha. As etapas compreendem a identificação dos causadores do problema de gerenciamento de estoques, a modelagem e simulação do ambiente proposto e análises das iterações sob a perspectiva de três variáveis chave: saldo de estoques, escassez e uma função custo. Entre os resultados desta pesquisa encontram-se uma classificação de causadores de problemas de gerenciamento de estoques e o método proposto. Foi possível observar no estudo de caso que, entre as variáveis de entrada utilizada, quando manipulada a média aritmética da distribuição destas variáveis estocásticas, elas causaram maior variação sistemática ao resultado do modelo quando comparada a variação sistemática causada pela alteração da variância da distribuição desta mesma variável estocástica. / Inventories are common to any businesses, as they are needed to cushion impacts from unscheduled demands and avoid ruptures between processes, adding security between different tiers in a supply chain. Inventory management problems are common, as their causes can be multiple, and being present on different nodes of a chain, which can be caused by issues related to supply, demand, information, and other possible factors. Due to the importance of inventories for a business, whether financial - as assets - or its role in mitigating risks in the supply process, inventory management problems are frequently approached in the literature. However, there is no consensus on what are inventory management problems and there is no widespread method for identification and analysis of inventory management problems. This research focus on this gap by proposing a method of identification and analysis of inventory management problems. This method is anchored in six distinct steps that have been applied in the form of a case study on a company in south of Brazil. The steps include the identification of the causes of the inventory management problem, the modeling and simulation of the proposed environment and analysis of iterations from the perspective of three key variables: inventory balance, inventory shortages and a cost function. Among the results of this research are a classification of inventory management problems originators and the proposed method. It was observed in the case study that among the input variables, when manipulated the arithmetic mean of the stochastic distribution of these variables, they increased the systematic variation output of the model more than when were manipulated the variance of the stochastic distribution of the same variable.

Estoques são comuns a qualquer empresa, visto que são necessários para amortecer impactos de demandas não programadas e evitar rupturas entre processos, adicionando segurança entre diferentes elos de uma cadeia. Problemas de gerenciamento de estoques são corriqueiros, dado que as suas causas podem ser múltiplas, estando presentes em diferentes nós de uma cadeia e sendo originados por questões vinculadas ao fornecimento, à demanda, à informação, além de outros fatores possíveis. Devido à importância dos estoques para uma empresa, seja financeira, como concentração de ativos, ou seja por mitigar riscos no processo de suprimento, problemas de gerenciamento de estoques são periodicamente tratados na literatura. Entretanto, não existe consenso sobre o que são os problemas de gerenciamento e um método difundido para sua identificação e análise. Esta pesquisa concentra-se nesta lacuna, propondo um método de identificação e análise dos problemas de gerenciamento de estoques. Este método está ancorado em seis distintas etapas que foram aplicadas, na forma de um estudo de caso, em uma empresa da serra gaúcha. As etapas compreendem a identificação dos causadores do problema de gerenciamento de estoques, a modelagem e simulação do ambiente proposto e análises das iterações sob a perspectiva de três variáveis chave: saldo de estoques, escassez e uma função custo. Entre os resultados desta pesquisa encontram-se uma classificação de causadores de problemas de gerenciamento de estoques e o método proposto. Foi possível observar no estudo de caso que, entre as variáveis de entrada utilizada, quando manipulada a média aritmética da distribuição destas variáveis estocásticas, elas causaram maior variação sistemática ao resultado do modelo quando comparada a variação sistemática causada pela alteração da variância da distribuição desta mesma variável estocástica. / Inventories are common to any businesses, as they are needed to cushion impacts from unscheduled demands and avoid ruptures between processes, adding security between different tiers in a supply chain. Inventory management problems are common, as their causes can be multiple, and being present on different nodes of a chain, which can be caused by issues related to supply, demand, information, and other possible factors. Due to the importance of inventories for a business, whether financial - as assets - or its role in mitigating risks in the supply process, inventory management problems are frequently approached in the literature. However, there is no consensus on what are inventory management problems and there is no widespread method for identification and analysis of inventory management problems. This research focus on this gap by proposing a method of identification and analysis of inventory management problems. This method is anchored in six distinct steps that have been applied in the form of a case study on a company in south of Brazil. The steps include the identification of the causes of the inventory management problem, the modeling and simulation of the proposed environment and analysis of iterations from the perspective of three key variables: inventory balance, inventory shortages and a cost function. Among the results of this research are a classification of inventory management problems originators and the proposed method. It was observed in the case study that among the input variables, when manipulated the arithmetic mean of the stochastic distribution of these variables, they increased the systematic variation output of the model more than when were manipulated the variance of the stochastic distribution of the same variable.

A significant number of youth experience mental health disorders for which they suffer negative consequences. Although there are evidence-based therapies available to help children and their families, most youth do not receive treatment. Parental problem recognition is likely a primary barrier in this process. This study begins to address why parents may have difficulty recognizing mental health problems by extending existing models and integrating evidence about parental perceptions. Specifically, the study aimed to investigate the relationship between parental attributions and parents’ problem determination, and to examine the influence that parental characteristics have on this judgment process. Participants included 164 parents of youth ages 6-11 years. Purposive sampling was used to recruit mothers and fathers from both lower and higher SES communities. Parents completed self-report measures of parental characteristics, including: parental psychopathology, parenting stress, parental tolerance, and parental self-efficacy. Parents read ten brief child behavior vignettes and completed a version of the Written Analogue Questionnaire to rate the cause of each behavior (assuming it was their own child in the vignette) along four dimensions. Parents also rated the extent to which the behavior was seen as a problem. Results indicated that parents’ causal attributions were highly associated with parents’ problem ratings, and the attributions of stability and controllability were particularly robust predictors of problem determination. Hypotheses regarding parental characteristics as moderators of the relationship between attributions and problem determination were not supported. Findings are discussed in light of clinical and public health implications; results suggest that recognizing the influence of parental beliefs and attributions may help to increase the efficacy of outreach efforts for early intervention and help seeking for parental concerns.

In this study, transmissivity and storage coefficient of a semi-infinite, confined, homogeneous and isotropic aquifer, where the flow is one-dimensional and linear, are determined using Marquardt algorithm, considering two independent cases: constant drawdown in the adjacent stream / or constant discharge from the aquifer due to pumping at a constant rate. In the first case piezometric head and discharge measurements are utilized. Hydraulic diffusivity, which is the ratio of transmissivity to storage coefficient, is determined from piezometric head measurements / whereas their product is determined from discharge measurements. Then, the two parameters are calculated easily. In the second case piezometric head observations are utilized only and transmissivity and storage coefficient are determined simultaneously. Convergence to true values is very fast for both cases even for poor initial estimates. Three examples, two using synthetic data for both cases and one using actual field data for the second case, are presented. Conventional type-curve matching method is used for comparison of the results. It is observed that the results of Marquardt algorithm are in a reasonable agreement with those of type-curve matching method.

INTRODUCTION. The perinatal mortality rate is of concern worldwide. In South Africa at the time of the study, 2000, it was estimated to be of the order of 40/1000 live births. However in the setting in which this study took place, namely Tembisa, (Ekhuruleni, Gauteng, South Africa) it was said to be 50/1000 live births. One of the patient- related avoidable factors that has been found to be associated with perinatal and to a lesser extent maternal mortality, is either no, or late initiation of antenatal care. It has been found in an area which, is in many respects similar to Tembisa that 50% of women go the private general practitioner (PGP) for confirmation of pregnancy but, due of lack of funds, do not continue care with the private practitioner but, initiate care in the public sector and in a proportion of these women, this is at an advanced gestational age, making it difficult to prevent or intervene if there are problems in the pregnancy. As (PGP’s) are well placed in the district to render antenatal care, it was decided to perform a study looking at the effect of involving them in the antenatal care of women who presented to them for confirmation of pregnancy. METHODS Sixteen general practitioners agreed to be part of the study. The women who confirmed their pregnancy and who were going to deliver in Tembisa hospital were included in the study after giving written informed consent. They comprised the intervention group, the first antenatal visit was performed, the findings were recorded on the antenatal card which is used in the public sector and which was introduced to the private practitioner at 2 workshops held by the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Pretoria prior to the study. The woman was then to attend antenatal care with the private practitioner until delivery. The private general practitioners waived the costs normally associated with this care for the period of the study. The control group consisted of the women who confirmed their pregnancies in the public health care sector known as the public service health care workers group (PSHCWG). Data collection took place in the postnatal ward of Tembisa hospital over the period of 3 months. By means of systematic sampling, 100 cards from the PGPG and 100 cards from the PSHCWG were obtained. The 2 groups were compared with respect to gestational age at initiation of care and a modified version of the Quality Check for Antenatal Records Score (MQCARS), an audit score which, when applied to the antenatal card, gives a measure of the effectiveness of record keeping, and whether problems in the antenatal period are detected and appropriately managed. RESULTS. There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of gestational age at initiation of care [PGPG mean gestational age -19.96 (5.86), PSHCW 25.96(5.98,) p<0.0001]. The majority of women in the PGPG initiated care in the 2nd trimester (79%) while the majority of the women in the PSHCWG (53%) confirmed their pregnancies in the third trimester. Six per cent of PGPG confirmed their pregnancies in the first trimester compared to the PSHCWG (3%). The two groups differ significantly with respect to the total MQCARS with the PGPG group performing better [(8.16 (1.55) vs. 16.34(2.58), p<0.0001]. The associated sub- scores are statistically different [History score 5.99 (0.10) vs.7 (0.96), Examination score 9.59(1.29) vs.8.03 (1.85) Interpretation Score 2.55(0.50) vs.2.80 (0.49)]. CONCLUSION Despite the limitations of the study it is felt that if private general practitioners in Tembisa are involved in the antenatal care of those women who confirm their pregnancies with them, there is a reduction in the gestational age at initiation of care. There is a small difference between the two groups in record keeping, detection and management of problems. / Dissertation (MCur)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Nursing Science / unrestricted

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För att lyckas med omställningen till ett mer hållbart samhälle behövs en kombination av kompetenser och förmågor hos framtidens civilingenjörer. Världsledare och forskare har pekat ut kreativitet som avgörande för att kunna hantera och lösa de komplexa problem mänskligheten står inför. Civilingenjörsutbildningar har som mål att utbilda studenterna till att bli kreativa problemlösare, men flera forskare inom kreativitet hävdar att kopplingen mellan kreativitet och ingenjörsutbildningar är bristfällig. En del av kritiken handlar om att studenter i för stor utsträckning inte tränas i att lösa vagt definierade problem som kräver kreativt tänkande. Oavsett vilket fokus som läggs på att främja kreativitet under utbildningen, kommer det finnas yttre hämmande faktorer som inte går att undkomma inom utbildningsmiljön. Det finns därför unika förutsättningar att främja kreativitet utanför utbildningsmiljön och fylla en kompletterande funktion genom ett kreativt utbyte mellan studenter och näringsliv. I en kreativitetstävling initierad av Skogsindustrierna fick studentgrupper i uppgift att komma på vad morgondagens innovation från skogsindustrin är. Med utgångspunkt i kreativitetsteori genomfördes en tematisk analys av insamlade enkätdata från nio kreativitetstävlingar. Resultaten visade att en kreativitetstävling kan bidra till att främja kreativitet hos civilingenjörsstudenter, men enbart under rätt förutsättningar. En grundförutsättning är att en kognitiv brygga skapas mellan studentens kunskaper och området för skogsindustrin. Ett annat exempel är att studenten själv ska identifiera problemet för att få en hög nivå av inre motivation. / To succeed in the transition towards a more sustainable society, a combination of skills and abilities is needed among the engineers of the future. World leaders and researchers have identified creativity as crucial skill to solve the complex issues facing humanity. Engineering education aims to educate students to become creative problem solvers, but several creativity researchers argue that the link between creativity and engineering education is flawed. Part of the criticism is that students are often not trained to solve vaguely defined problems that require creative thinking. No matter the focus on promoting creativity in education, there will be external inhibiting factors that cannot be completely removed within the educational environment. There are therefore unique opportunities for parties outside the educational environment to play a role in promoting creativity in other contexts, such as student-industry collaborations. In a creativity contest initiated by the Swedish Forest Industries Federation, groups of students were asked to identify tomorrow's innovation from the forest industry. Based on creativity theory, a thematic analysis was carried out on the survey data collected from nine creativity contests. The results showed that a creativity contest can help promoting creativity among engineering students, but only under certain conditions. One essential condition is that a cognitive bridge is created between the student's knowledge and the field of forestry. Another example is that the students must identify the problem themselves to achieve a high level of internal motivation.