The role of visual communication design continues to increase in importance around the world. In Bahrain, organisations are increasingly considering visual communication design as a means of accomplishing organisational goals. The research aims to understand the process by which design managers in organisations in Bahrain manage and evaluate visual communication designs to gain strategic advantage. Even though the management of visual communication design has not yet been recognised as a separate category of design management in Bahrain, its processes and approaches may differ from other management applications. This research opens with a contextual overview of the visual communication design management field, before presenting an understanding of how visual communication design can be utilised as an innovative approach to the strategic structuring organisational thinking. Methods have been developed for investigating how Bahraini client design managers manage visual communication design projects. Observational studies and interviews with client design managers and creative directors have been conducted to obtain an understanding of the visual communication design process, together with evaluation procedures in the Bahraini context. These empirical investigations have led to the development of a conceptual framework that describes the visual communication design management process and the evaluation procedure that is carried out by client design managers in Bahrain. The remainder of this thesis explains the outcomes of each phase of the research. The unique contributions of this study are embodied in a discussion of the findings together with reflections and recommendations for those involved and interested in design management in Bahrain.

Ce travail contribue à développer des méthodes de résolution associées à la méthode de simulation MMP (Model of Manufactured Part) développée par F.Vignat et F.Villeneuve. Le MMP est un modèle générique 3D des défauts géométriques engendrés sur les pièces fabriquées par un processus de fabrication donné. Ce modèle permet de générer un ensemble de pièces virtuellement fabriquées incluant les incertitudes de fabrication et permet par conséquent de mener l'analyse de tolérances fonctionnelles. Les méthodes de résolution développées autour du MMP permettent aux ingénieurs de fabrication d'évaluer une gamme de fabrication candidate du point de vue géométrique. Le développement des méthodes de résolution s'est effectué selon 2 axes. Le premier axe consiste à développer des méthodes pour la recherche du pire des cas (WCTA). La première approche de cet axe utilise des méthodes d'optimisation (SQP pour Sequential Quadratic Programming et GA pour les algorithmes génétiques) basées sur la recherche du pire des cas. La recherche du pire des cas consiste en un algorithme d'optimisation multicouche comportant deux boucles principales. La deuxième approche de cet axe consiste à faire une adaptation de la méthode du torseur des petits déplacements avec intervalle (modèle Jacobien Torseur développé au Canada) à la méthode MMP. Le deuxième axe concerne les méthodes stochastiques permettant une simulation de production d'un ensemble de pièces et l'analyse des résultats d'un point de vue statistique. La méthode stochastique est basée sur une méthode de tirage aléatoire sous contraintes. Les différentes approches sont finalement comparées entre elles.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctors Degree in Engineering (Electrical Engineering: Light Current), Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2017. / Controller performance assessment (CPA) is concerned with the design of analytical tools that are utilized to evaluate the performance of process control loops. The objective of the CPA is to ensure that control systems operate at their full potential, and also to indicate when a controller design is performing unsatisfactorily under current closed loop conditions. Such monitoring efforts are imperative to minimize product variability, improve production rates and reduce wastage. Various studies conducted on process control loop performance indicate that as many as 60% of control loops often suffer from some kind of performance problem. It is therefore an important task to detect unsatisfactory control loop behavior and suggest remedial action. Such a monitoring system must be integrated into the control system life span as plant changes and hardware issues become apparent. CPA is well established for linear systems. However, not much research has been conducted on CPA for nonlinear systems. Traditional CPA analytical tools depend on the theoretical minimum variance control law that is derived from models of linear systems. In systems exhibiting dominant nonlinear behavior, the accuracy of linear based CPA is compromised. In light of this, there is a need to broaden existing CPA knowledge base with comprehensive benchmarking indices for the performance analysis of nonlinear process control systems. The research efforts presented in this thesis focuses on the development and analysis of such CPA tools for univariate nonlinear process control loops experiencing the negative effects of dominant nonlinearities emanating from the process. Two novel CPA frameworks are proposed; first a model based nonlinear assessment index is developed using an open loop model of the plant in an artificial neural network NARMAX (NNARMAX) representation. The nonlinear control loop is optimized offline using a proposed Nelder Mead-Particle Swarm Optimization (NM-PSO) hybrid search to determine global optimal control parameters for a gain scheduled PID controller. Application of the benchmark in real-time utilizes a synthetic process output derived from the NNARMAX system which is compared to the actual closed loop performance. In the case where no process model is available, a second method is presented. An autonomous data driven approach based on Multi-Class Support Vector Machines (MC- SVMs) is developed and analyzed. Unlike the model based method, the closed loop performance is classified according to five distinct class groups. MC-SVM classifier requires minimal process loop information other than routine operating closed loop data. Several simulation case studies conducted using MATLAB™ software package demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed performance indices. Furthermore, the methodologies presented in this work were tested on real world systems using control loop data sets from a computer interfaced full scale pilot pH neutralization plant and pulp and paper industry. / D

Titel: Ett akut förbättringsarbete - En utvärderingsstudie av förändringsprocessen Akuten till Primärvården i Region Jönköpings län Kurs: Kandidatuppsats Civilekonomprogrammet, Controller 15 hp (2FE24E) Lärosäte: Linnéuniversitetet Växjö Författare: Cajsa Gollwitzer, Madeleine Hentzel & Klara Olsson Handledare: Pia Nylinder Examinator: Elin Funck Bakgrund: Dagens hälso- och sjukvård står inför en rad olika utmaningar, där den största utmaningen är den långsiktiga finansieringen. Ett stort problem som återfinns i dagens hälso- och sjukvård är att befolkningen i alltför hög utsträckning söker fel vårdnivå och akutmottagningarna överbelastas med patienter utan akuta besvär. Det är ett problem som inte är långsiktigt hållbart i Sverige då sjukhusens akutsjukvård är betydligt dyrare än primärvård. I Region Jönköpings län startade 2016 en förändringsprocess för att lösa problemet genom att omfördela patientströmmar från akutmottagningen till primärvården. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att genomföra en processinriktad utvärdering av förändringsprocessen för delprojektet Akuten till primärvården. Genom att kartlägga arbetssättet ska vi identifiera styrkor och svagheter som sedan ska ligga till grund för att utforma förbättringsförslag på hur förändringsprocessen kan utvecklas för att uppnå målsättningen. Metod: Forskningen grundar sig i en kvalitativ enfallsstudie med inriktning på utvärderingsstudie. Semistrukturerade intervjuer tillsammans med insamlade dokument har legat till grund för det empiriska materialet. Slutsats: Förändringsprocessen för delprojektet Akuten till primärvården är uppdelad i tre delar; planering, genomförande och uppföljning. En utsedd projektgrupp arbetar med förändringsarbetet med hjälp av olika verktyg. För att utveckla förändringsarbetet måste projektgruppen utforma ett standardiserat arbetssätt som är accepterat av samtliga enheter som medverkar i processen. Rekommendationer för ett bättre förändringsarbete är att införa fler kommunikationskanaler, erbjuda utökat stöd samt öka kunskapen hos de som arbetar inom processen. Marknadsföring av primärvårdens kompetenser kan medföra en effektivare fördelning av patienströmmarna. / Title: An emergency improvement - An evaluation study of the improvement process ER to primary care in Region Jönköping County Course: Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration, Controller 15 hp (2FE24E) Institution: Linnaeus University Växjö Authors: Cajsa Gollwitzer, Madeleine Hentzel & Klara Olsson Tutor: Pia Nylinder Examiner: Elin Funck Context: Today's healthcare is facing a lot of challenges where the biggest challenge is the issue of the long term funding. A big problem with the system today is that many non-acute patients are looking for help in the emergency rooms instead of getting proper help at the primary care. This does not benefit the financial state for Swedish hospitals where emergency care is significantly more expensive than primary care. In 2016, Region Jönköping took an initiative to improve the process by redistributing the non-acute patients from the emergency room back to primary care. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to implement a process-based evaluation of the improvement process ER to primary care. By charting their work, we will try to identify the strengths and weaknesses to provide suggestions of improvements in order to achieve the objectives of the project. Method: The research is based on a qualitative single case study focusing on evaluation studies. Empirical data has been collected through semi-structured interviews and documents. Conclusion: The improvement process ER to primary care is divided into three steps; planning, implementation and monitoring. A chosen team for the project use various tools in the work for improvement. In order to develop and improve this process, the project team has to design a standardized approach that is accepted by all the entities involved in it. Recommendations for such an improved process is to introduce multiple communication channels, provide increased support and expand the knowledge of those working in the process. By marketing the competence within the primary care, the distribution of the patients can get more efficient.

Clinical trials involving digital health technologies are complex and challenging deployments. The SMArTVIEW trial (n=800), underway, combines remote automated patient monitoring (RAM) in hospital and virtual hospital-to-home nursing support, up to 30-days post-discharge, for patients who have undergone cardiac and major vascular surgery. Cardiac and vascular surgery patients are at risk for postoperative complications, as well as hospital readmission; SMArTVIEW aims to reduce hospital readmissions and emergency department visits. The purpose of this work was to conduct a process monitoring evaluation of the first 100 patients enrolled in order to examine the implementation, mechanisms, context, and specialized nursing role of the SMArTVIEW intervention. Six data sources were used to examine patient recruitment, daily nursing intervention workflows, RAM technology compliance, technical troubleshooting, patient education, and virtual nursing care. A content analysis was used to identify nursing advice, recommendations, and corrective actions for patients requiring intervention recovering at home. Fifty patients were allocated to the SMArTVIEW intervention; of these, 34 engaged in all intervention components, both in-hospital and at home. In-hospital RAM technology generated 194 notifications, drawing nurses to the beside for patient reassessment. Forty-two daily nurse reports and 926 virtual nursing care records were audited to determine technology implementation issues and nursing actions to support patient recovery at home. Process monitoring uncovered strengths and limitations in the initial days of intervention deployment. Strengths included the functionality of RAM technology, facilitating nurse compliance with required workflows, as well as a high degree of patient engagement in the program. SMArTVIEW nurses addressed multiple health concerns for patients, resulting in 1,865 nursing actions over the 30-day intervention course. Patient withdrawals and lack of standardized communication practices were areas requiring improvement. Results were used to refine and standardize intervention workflows in order to scale the intervention for deployment at a second site (United Kingdom). / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

Orientadores: Luiz Carlos de Freitas, Orlando Fontes Lima Junior / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-05T18:18:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rodrigues_SueliCarrijo_D.pdf: 27792703 bytes, checksum: bdd395edfccca7250393ed3a6b3f436a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Resumo: Esta pesquisa teve como problema construir um processo de avaliação de qualidade das escolas a ser aplicado em média e larga escala e definido a partir do respeito à identidade institucional, das exigências de seus gestores e dos interlocutores locais. Para isso, teve o objetivo de construir um processo alternativo de condução de avaliação em nível de sistema de ensino fundamental e integrado à concepção de avaliação ligada à melhoria da qualidade, a partir da utilização local dos resultados do processo. Como instrumentos de coleta de dados optamos pela aplicação de entrevista com os gestores e uso dos questionários do SAEB 2001, tanto para os alunos como para os professores. Isso trouxe para a discussão a necessidade de um modelo de avaliação que respeitasse a identidade institucional, a definição de indicadores concretizada localmente, à idéia da avaliação como instrumento útil à gestão dos objetivos da instituição e, com vistas ao seu aperfeiçoamento, o encaminhamento da avaliação na identificação de critérios e procedimentos adequados à própria realidade. Com isto, optamos por um estudo com intensa relação entre a abordagem qualitativa e quantitativa. Buscamos ainda a técnica: Análise por Envoltória de Dados (DEA) para avaliar a eficiência produtiva das escolas e, concomitantemente, avaliar o potencial da DEA para os estudos no campo da avaliação institucional nos princípios de uma avaliação global, legítima do ponto de vista técnico e político. Tal técnica permite a construção de uma fronteira de eficiência específica para cada uma das escolas avaliadas e indica taxas de eficiência técnica ou de gestão. Da mesma forma, permite calcular os possíveis índices e aumentos de produtividade para cada uma das escolas do grupo, aliados as mudanças de gestão ou de produtividade. Utilizando os modelos CCR e BCC para a aplicação DEA, nos dois casos orientados para maximizar os resultados, verificamos empiricamente a produtividade das escolas selecionadas. A metodologia utilizada proporcionou informações sobre as unidades estudadas e a projeção de uso de recursos com eficiência propôs a substituição de fatores para a melhoria de eficiência de cada escola. Discutir no local da escola com os atores, as aplicações desenvolvidas e seus resultados e buscar as opiniões deles sobre as conseqüências disso, à luz da interpretação dos resultados, constituíram a validação dos resultados. A partir dessa validação dos resultados do modelo DEA pela escola e a construção dos compromissos locais através do processo educativo e formativo de controlar os indicadores, começa o uso da avaliação na escola. Assim, esse processo formativo tem que ser construído localmente, isto é, seu controle estará contido nas exigências da comunidade em relação à escola de qualidade. Estudos, como o aqui apresentado, buscam medir a eficiência relativa das escolas para subsidiar um processo de avaliação institucional. Outros estudos, aprofundando o que aqui foi iniciado, poderiam buscar a construção de maior eficiência, eficácia e efetividade. Evidenciamos, assim, que o objetivo de nossa pesquisa foi iniciar um processo que converta a avaliação institucional num assunto de discussão no ensino fundamental, de modo a provocar um processo de construção dessa avaliação / Abstract: This research had focused it intends in a way to build a process of quality evaluation to get used on schools, leading to be applied on average and large scale. It will be defined by the respect to the institutional identity, of their managers' demands and of the local speakers. The main objective is to build an alternative process of evaluation procedures in a level of fundamental education system and integrated into the conception of evaluation linked to the improvement of the quality, starting by the local process' results. To perform data collection, the managers were interviewed, using the questionnaires of SAEB 2001, both for students and teachers. The discussion was enriched by the need of an evaluation model that respected the institutional identity, a definition of indicators rendered locally, an idea of evaluation as useful instrument to the administration of the institution objectives and, with intending to its improvement, direction the evaluation to the identification of criteria and appropriate procedures to the own reality. Following this, we opted for a study with intense relationship among qualitative and quantitative approaches. We still looked for the technique: Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to measure productive efficiency of the schools and, at same time, to evaluate the potential of DEA for studies in the field of the institutional evaluation in global evaluation principles, legitimate from a technical and political point of view. Such a technique allows the construction of a borderline of specific efficiency to each one of the appraised schools and it indicates taxes of technical or administration efficiency. In the same way, it allows to calculate the possible indexes and productivity increases for each one of the schools of the group, connected to administration changes or productivity. Using CCR and BCC models for the DEA application, in both cases guided to maximize the results, we verified the productivity of the selected schools empirically. The used methodology provided information about the studied units and the projection resources' uses with efficiency proposed the substitution of factors for the improvement of efficiency of each school. The validation of the results was raised through the discussion at the place of the school with the actors, the developed applications and their results and, even so, looking for actors opinions on the consequences of that, lightening the interpretation of the results. By the validation of the results of the model DEA from the school vision and the construction of the local commitments through the educational and formative process of controlling the indicators, begins the use of the evaluation in school. That formative process has to be built locally: its control will be contained in community's demands in relation to the quality school. Studies, as this here presented, they look for to measure the relative efficiency of schools to subsidize a process of institutional evaluation. Other researches, on what here was initiated, they could look for the construction of larger efficiency, effectiveness and effective happening. We evidenced by this way that the objective of our research was to begin .a process that converts the institutional evaluation in a discussion subject in the fundamental teaching, in a way to provoke a process of construction of the same evaluation / Doutorado / Educação, Conhecimento, Linguagem e Arte / Doutor em Educação

This diploma thesis deals with the modeling and evaluation tools that are used for process modeling. The aim is to provide a method of selecting the most appropriate tool for selected requirements. This goal is achieved by using several subgoals, which include tools analysis for process modeling, design criteria for the selection of tools, their weights calculation, design and construction method for selecting tools in Excel and create case studies that will demonstrate the principles of selection tools. At the beginning of the thesis is characterized by the area of process management, its history, actual trends and definitions related thereto. Another chapter is a description of notations that are used for modeling processes. The largest part of the chapter is devoted to the characteristics Notation Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN), which together with their graphic design described all the elements of notation. The remaining part of the chapter describes the notation event-driven process chain (EPC) and the Unified Modeling Language (UML). A description of tools for process modeling is dedicated to the fifth chapter includes a detailed characterization of each instrument. Based on the individual tools and literary sources, the next chapter in the proposed criteria by which the tools will be evaluated. For calculating the weights of the proposed criteria is used Fuller method. The chapter concludes with evaluation tools previously described and a description of how to select the creation tools in Excel. The work ends with case studies which serve to illustrate the procedure for selecting tools.

C­lem t©to diplomov© prce je nvrh vhodn© metody, jak vyhodnotit dodavatele model letadel a leteck©ho p­sluenstv­ holandsk© spoleÄnosti Aviation Megastore. Tato poleÄnost existuje na trhu ji v­ce ne 25 let a m v­ce ne 170 dodavatel po cel©m svÄtÄ. Proto vznikla poteba jednotliv© vrobce a distributory ohodnotit a zvit jejich vvoj bÄhem jednotlivch let, p­padnÄ u nÄkterch vybranch dodavatel zvit vzhledem k neuspokojivm vsledkm monost ukonÄen­ spoluprce. Pro vyhodnocen­ bude pouit program MS Excel a MATLAB.

Background: Addiction affects the whole family and not only the individual dealing with it. The reason being that family is usually closest to the individual. The family is mainly affected by the unpredictable behaviour of the addicted member and this behaviour then affects the whole running of the family and sooner or later other members become co- dependent. There is not much support provided for these people. A suitable alternative can be the self-help group Al-Anon. Aims: The aim of the research is to analyse the needs of individuals struggling with the problem of alcohol use of their close ones. The second goal is to describe the form and course of the meeting of the self-help group and the characteristics of the participants who attend this meeting. The third goal is to investigate the level of satisfaction of participants with meetings and description of recommendations for expert care. Methods: To obtain the data, a qualitative method was used by intentional selection through institutions. A total of 12 respondents (10 women and 2 men) participated in the research. The method of searching and marking relations, the method of simple enumeration and the method of contrasts and comparisons were used for the analysis of data. Results: Although expert care is the first choice of respondents,...

This work is motivated by the question: how much complexity is appropriate for a cloud parameterization used in general circulation models (GCM). To approach this question, cloud parameterizations across the complexity range are explored using general circulation models and theoretical Monte-Carlo simulations. Their results are compared with high-resolution satellite observations and simulations that resolve the GCM subgrid-scale variability explicitly. A process-orientated evaluation is facilitated by GCM forecast simulations which reproduce the synoptic state. For this purpose novel methods were develop to a) conceptually relate the underlying saturation deficit probability density function (PDF) with its saturated cloudy part, b) analytically compute the vertical integrated liquid water path (LWP) variability, c) diagnose the relevant PDF-moments from cloud parameterizations, d) derive high-resolution LWP from satellite observations and e) deduce the LWP statistics by aggregating the LWP onto boxes equivalent to the GCM grid size. On this basis, this work shows that it is possible to evaluate the sub-grid scale variability of cloud parameterizations in terms of cloud variables. Differences among the PDF types increase with complexity, in particular the more advanced cloud parameterizations can make use of their double Gaussian PDF in conditions, where cumulus convection forms a separate mode with respect to the remainder of the grid-box. Therefore, it is concluded that the difference between unimodal and bimodal PDFs is more important, than the shape within each mode. However, the simulations and their evaluation reveals that the advanced parameterizations do not take full advantage of their abilities and their statistical relationships are broadly similar to less complex PDF shapes, while the results from observations and cloud resolving simulations indicate even more complex distributions. Therefore, this work suggests that the use of less complex PDF shapes might yield a better trade-off. With increasing model resolution initial weaknesses of simpler, e.g. unimodal PDFs, will be diminished. While cloud schemes for coarse-resolved models need to parameterize multiple cloud regimes per grid-box, higher spatial resolution of future GCMs will separate them better, so that the unimodal approximation improves.