The objective of this work was to develop a systematic methodology for simultaneously targeting and optimizing heating, cooling, power cogeneration, and waste management for any processing facility. A systems approach was used to characterize the complex interactions between the various forms of material and energy utilities as well as their interactions with the core processing units. Two approaches were developed: graphical and mathematical. In both approaches, a hierarchical procedure was developed to decompose the problem into successive stages that were globally solvable then. The solution fragments were then merged into overall process solutions and targets. The whole approach was a systems approach of solving problems. The methodology was developed from the insights from several state of the art process integration techniques. In particular, the dissertation introduced a consistent framework for simultaneously addressing heat-exchange networks, material-recovery networks, combined heat and power, fuel optimization, and waste management. The graphical approach relied on decomposing the problem into sequential tasks that could be addressed using visualization tools. The mathematical approach enabled the simultaneous solution of critical subproblems. Because of the non-convexity of the mathematical formulation, a global optimization technique was developed through problem reformulation and discretization. A case study was solved and analyzed to illustrate the effectiveness of the devised methodology.

Thesis (MSc (Industrial Engineering))--Stellenbosch University, 2010. / Please refer to full text to view abstract.

The profession of counseling psychology has, for a long time, realized the need for reevaluating and improving traditional methods of training counselors. The major professional demands have been (1) a science-based approach to the training counselors; and (2) a more experientially oriented approach to the training of counselors. This study represented a developmental effort geared towards the integration of the above two demands. Seven experientially oriented modular instructional units were developed for use in a counselor education program. Units were developed on (1) what counseling and psychotherapy are; (2) history of counseling and psychotherapy; (3) counselor attitudes; (4) interviewing skills (A); (5) interviewing skills (B); (6) critical incidents in counseling and psychotherapy; and (7) counselor values, and ethical and legal responsibilities in counseling and psychotherapy. The Instructional units adopted a format containing (1) specific learning objectives; (2) descriptions of learning activities; and (3) evidence of learning or criteria statements for each learning objective. The seven units were put into training manual form. An instructor's manual was also developed to enable any counselor educator to teach the course by familiarizing himself with the manuals. The modular instructional systems were field tested on a pilot group of nine graduate students in counseling psychology. The pilot group met for six hours of class time each week for ten consecutive weeks. As a result of the field testing, parts of the system were either modified, eliminated, or added. The study concluded that the systems approach to counselor education is a viable alternative to more traditional methods of counselor education. It is a science-based approach characterized by a high level of accountability, and it offers and efficient and effective method for counselor education.

<p>Designing information systems is a complex task. The purpose of this work is to contribute to an improved understanding of the design conditions in order to alleviate the problems that occur due to complexity in the design process. To possibly increase the understanding of the conditions for the design of interactive information systems, this dissertation concerns applying systems approach to the design situation. This is done in order to obtain understanding, but also to be able to identify the consequences and possible benefits of doing so. A literature survey and two extensive interviews have been performed. The material has been analysed, and tentative models of the design situation and its components are presented. These models can be considered general to the design situation and consequences are deduced from them. The result of this work is manifested in the tentative models, which describe the design situation, the designer, the user, the customer and the design. The concepts of complexity and communication have also been thoroughly dealt with.</p>

Solid waste management (SWM) is a growing problem in developing countries around the world. In Guatemala, indigenous communities, which are predominantly rural and remote, are particularly hard hit by a lack of basic SWM services. Todos Santos, situated in the Cuchumatanes mountain range of northwestern Guatemala, is one such community. As projects developed, planned, and implemented from 'the top down' continue to be ineffective, the literature provides little insight about remote communities' perspectives on exactly what issues SWM creates, influences, and exacerbates, and how they might respond to these concerns themselves. Using a participatory systems approach, this study investigated the systemic structures and behaviours that maintain and exacerbate SWM challenges in Todos Santos, and where key places (leverage points) to intervene in the system may exist. The study presents a wide selection of locally appropriate SWM solutions to target these leverage points in the form of four future scenarios These scenarios act as a step-wise implementation plan for gradual implementation in the community, each building upon the previous, ultimately reaching a community-defined vision for SWM.

This thesis explores some of the central problems confronting policymakers and planners in local government. These problems are seen to stem from a view of planning which is characterised as top-down. Previous attempts to apply cybernetic ideas to these problems - characterised as the 'systems approach' - have failed partly on account of their failure to question this view. Cybernetics, it is argued, offers a fundamentally different perspective on planning, which emphasises the importance of processes, whereby the plans and policies of different organisations are mutually adjusted to each other - from the bottom up. The dynamics of this process are examined and cybernetics, most notably the work of Ashby, is shown to offer a number of insights into how it can be facilitated. Such a radical re-assessment of the nature of planning requires, at the same time, a much wider conception of the role of policy. Policies, it is suggested, are all too often thought of as purely prescriptive. A policy framework must instead be regarded as incorporating also a complex hierarchy of values, aims, goals and objectives, whose inter-relationships can be compared to that between the various components of a body of scientific knowledge. Such a perspective on planning and policy-making points towards a novel conception of government. Instead of imposing order from above, its primary function would become that of facilitating and encouraging the mutual adjustment process and collaboration between local organisations.

Designing information systems is a complex task. The purpose of this work is to contribute to an improved understanding of the design conditions in order to alleviate the problems that occur due to complexity in the design process. To possibly increase the understanding of the conditions for the design of interactive information systems, this dissertation concerns applying systems approach to the design situation. This is done in order to obtain understanding, but also to be able to identify the consequences and possible benefits of doing so. A literature survey and two extensive interviews have been performed. The material has been analysed, and tentative models of the design situation and its components are presented. These models can be considered general to the design situation and consequences are deduced from them. The result of this work is manifested in the tentative models, which describe the design situation, the designer, the user, the customer and the design. The concepts of complexity and communication have also been thoroughly dealt with.

No / This study explores the experiences of health professionals in managerial roles at various levels in child and adult hospice care in northern England, studying perspectives around managing medical error, the issues that arise, and the challenges faced. A multicentred, descriptive, exploratory design was adopted. The sample comprised 10 hospice managers (five deputy and five senior managers) from four hospices (two adult and two children's) in the north of England. Participants took part in individual semi-structured interviews, which lasted between 45–60 minutes each. Interviews were transcribed and analysed by a team of three researchers, including two health psychologists and one nurse using a qualitative analytic framework. Emerging themes appeared to be inter-related and were ultimately linked to two meta-concepts; underpinning and fundamental to the data, these issues were intrinsically tied to all emerging themes. Primary themes were defined by their explanatory power and regularity. Primary themes highlighted the impact of managing error on management teams at a professional and personal level, the challenges for error management in hospice settings, the use of error management tools, and the conceptualization of blame in these settings. The strong influence of the health-care setting in which an error takes place on the outcomes of an error event for the health professional, managers, health-care organizations, and ultimately patients was evident.

In order to enhance safety and prevent the recurrence of major accidents it is necessary to understand why they occur. This understanding is gained by utilising accident causation theory to explain why a certain combination of events, conditions and actions led to a given outcome: the process of accident analysis. At present, the systems approach to accident analysis is arguably the dominant research paradigm. Based on the concepts of systems theory, it views accidents as the result of unexpected and uncontrolled relationships between a system s components. Various researchers claim that use of the systems approach, via systemic accident analysis, provides a deeper understanding of accidents when compared with traditional theories. However, the systems approach and its analysis techniques are yet to be widely adopted by the practitioner community and, therefore, a research-practice gap exists. The implication of such a gap is that practitioners may be applying outdated accident causation theory and, consequently, producing ineffective safety recommendations. The aim of this thesis was to develop the current understanding of the systemic accident analysis research-practice gap by providing a description of the gap, considering its extent and examining issues associated with bridging it. Four studies were conducted to achieve this aim. The first study involved an evaluation of the systemic accident analysis literature and techniques, in order to understand how their characteristics could influence the research-practice gap. The findings of the study revealed that the systems approach is not presented in a consistent or clear manner within the research literature and that this may hinder its acceptance by practitioners. In addition, a number of issues were identified (e.g. model validation, analyst bias and limited usage guidance) which may influence the use of systemic analysis methods within industry. The examination of how the analysis activities of practitioners may contribute to the gap motivated Study 2. This study involved conducting semi-structured interviews with 42 safety professionals and various factors, which affect the awareness, adoption and usage of the systems approach and its analysis methods, were highlighted. The combined findings of Studies 1 and 2 demonstrate that the systemic accident analysis research-practice gap is multifaceted in nature. Study 3 investigated the extent of the gap by considering whether the most widely used analysis technique (the Swiss Cheese Model) can provide a systems approach to accident analysis. The analysis of a major rail accident was performed with a model based on the Swiss Cheese Model and two systemic analysis methods. The outputs and usage of the three analysis tools were compared and indicate that the Swiss Cheese Model does provide a means of conducting systemic accident analysis. Therefore, the extent of the research-practice gap may not be as considerable as some proponents of the systems approach suggest. The final study aimed to gain an insight into the application of a systemic accident analysis method by practitioners, in order to understand whether it meets their needs. Six trainee accident investigators took part in an accident investigation simulation and subsequently analysed the data collected during the exercise with the Systems Theoretic Accident Modelling and Processes model. The outputs of the participants analyses were studied along with the evaluation feedback they provided via a questionnaire and focus group. The main findings of the study indicate that the analysis technique does not currently meet the usability or graphical output requirements of practitioners and, unless these issues are addressed, will struggle to gain acceptance within industry. When considering the research findings as a whole a number of issues are highlighted. Firstly, given the benefits of adopting the systems approach, efforts to bridge the systemic accident analysis research-practice gap should be made. However, the systemic analysis methods may not be best suited to analyse every type of accident and, therefore, should be considered as one part of an investigator s analysis toolkit . Adapting the systemic analysis methods to meet the needs of practitioners and communicating the systems approach more effectively represent two options for bridging the gap. However, due to the multidimensional nature of the gap and the wide variety of individuals, organisations and industries that perform accident analysis, it seems likely that tailored solutions will be required. Furthermore, due to the differing needs of the research and practice communities, efforts to bridge the gap should focus on collaboration between the two communities rather than attempting to close the gap entirely.

This study aimed to provide an in-depth understanding of the way in which the macro, meso, and micro levels of the health care system affects nutrition care practices of family physicians (FPs) and nurse practitioners (NPs). It also examined how current practices compare to the clinical practice guidelines on the management and prevention of obesity. Three different types of team-based primary care settings were included: 2 Family Health Teams, 3 Community Health Centres and 1 Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic. Within each type of setting, six to eight FPs and NPs were interviewed (for a total n= 20). Site-specific documents and government reports were also analyzed. Findings suggest that the team-based nature improves nutrition care due to the accessibility to dietitians and cost-free service. Electronic Medical Records was an important enabler for chronic disease management. Duration of medical visits and increasing prevalence of complex patients were barriers for addressing nutrition and weight. Despite the importance of addressing obesity in primary care, the topic was approached in terms of chronic disease management rather than prevention. FPs and NPs spared the dietitian on site for patients who have more severe chronic conditions. Nevertheless, the presence of a dietitian on site increased the likelihood of primary care providers bringing up the topic of nutrition. Addressing site-specific barriers could improve nutrition care practices for weight management and chronic disease prevention in the primary care setting.