79 research outputs found

    ECOS 2012

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    The 8-volume set contains the Proceedings of the 25th ECOS 2012 International Conference, Perugia, Italy, June 26th to June 29th, 2012. ECOS is an acronym for Efficiency, Cost, Optimization and Simulation (of energy conversion systems and processes), summarizing the topics covered in ECOS: Thermodynamics, Heat and Mass Transfer, Exergy and Second Law Analysis, Process Integration and Heat Exchanger Networks, Fluid Dynamics and Power Plant Components, Fuel Cells, Simulation of Energy Conversion Systems, Renewable Energies, Thermo-Economic Analysis and Optimisation, Combustion, Chemical Reactors, Carbon Capture and Sequestration, Building/Urban/Complex Energy Systems, Water Desalination and Use of Water Resources, Energy Systems- Environmental and Sustainability Issues, System Operation/ Control/Diagnosis and Prognosis, Industrial Ecology

    Ecology and emergence: Understanding factors that drive variation in process quality and clinical outcomes in general practice

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    Clinical practice variation (CPV), where differences in healthcare delivery do not reflect differences in patient preferences or clinical need, is considered a hallmark of poor quality care. 'Unwarranted' variation is the focus of mounting policy attention and a growing body of literature, but remains poorly explained and theorised, with ways of determining when variation is warranted only weakly developed. Many assertions around CPV remain under-explored and untested. Much of the literature operates on the assumption that the legitimacy of variation depends on its source or cause, and that variation in processes of care will lead to related variation in outcomes. This doctoral research focuses on two overarching questions relating to CPV in Australian general practice: (1) what is CPV, and how can it be best conceptualised and understood; and (2) what can routinely-collected clinical data tell us about the phenomenon of CPV in general practice? Accordingly, this thesis explores the operationalisation of CPV as a theoretical construct and also examines variation in a series of clinical performance measures for coronary heart disease (CHD) and diabetes. Together, these lines of inquiry constitute a mixed-methods 'sense-making' exercise that seeks an incremental interplay between literature and data, to shed light on the phenomenon of CPV. Data are drawn from a unique dataset of aggregate reporting metrics, using extracted electronic medical record data, among an affiliated group of 36 general practice clinics serving approximately 189,848 patients over a 5-year period. These data are examined descriptively and ultimately analysed using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) against an empirically derived explanatory framework. Theory development draws on complexity science, especially complex adaptive systems theory, and the disciplines of social epidemiology and health ecology. Results show that a series of discourses have strongly shaped thinking about CPV, converging around a normative 'bad apples' approach to understanding variation. However, CPV may also contribute to healthcare quality in ways that are not well considered, especially in primary care settings. I demonstrate that there may be unconventional but more illuminating ways to conceptualise variation that enable our collective understanding to progress. These include using an ecological framework to conceive CPV as an emergent property of coupled, complex adaptive systems, and employing an equity lens to distinguish between CPV in processes and outcomes of care. In descriptive analyses, I find that variation frequently behaves differently across different measures, with crucial system information contained in the interstices of the data. Contrary to common assumptions, relationships between processes and outcomes of care are not straightforward. Using a framework of factors associated with CPV in general practice management of diabetes and CHD, I confirm that causality is complex and multifactorial, operating at a number of levels. Employing the case-based configurational method of QCA, I show that there may be no single or primary cause for CPV. Instead, clinics can arrive at a particular outcome via multiple independent causal pathways which are themselves multifactorial. These multi-component causes may be defined as much by the interactions between component elements as by individual elements themselves. The same factor may have differential effects within different combinations, or at different scales. These findings suggest that relying on causal explanations to demarcate unwarranted variation may be insufficient. However, both theory and methods require continued development to ensure an adequate understanding of the role and representation of warranted and unwarranted variation in performance measurement systems. Case-based configurational methods such as QCA may have substantial utility in helping to explain and delineate these phenomena

    Pattern Recognition

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    A wealth of advanced pattern recognition algorithms are emerging from the interdiscipline between technologies of effective visual features and the human-brain cognition process. Effective visual features are made possible through the rapid developments in appropriate sensor equipments, novel filter designs, and viable information processing architectures. While the understanding of human-brain cognition process broadens the way in which the computer can perform pattern recognition tasks. The present book is intended to collect representative researches around the globe focusing on low-level vision, filter design, features and image descriptors, data mining and analysis, and biologically inspired algorithms. The 27 chapters coved in this book disclose recent advances and new ideas in promoting the techniques, technology and applications of pattern recognition

    Transforming Trauma

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    This book focuses on research developments, models, and practical applications of animal-assisted interventions for diverse populations who have experienced trauma. Physiological and psychological trauma is explored across three broad areas: 1) child maltreatment and family violence; 2) acute and post-traumatic stress, including that which is associated with military service, war, and developmental trauma; and 3) times of crisis, such as natural disasters and the ever-increasing risks associated with climate change, community violence, terrorism, and periods of personal loss and grief. Contributing authors, who include both national and international experts in the fields of human-animal connection and trauma, discuss how our relationships with animals can help build resiliency and foster healing to transform trauma and trauma response

    CyberResearch on the Ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean

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    CyberResearch on the Ancient Near East and Neighboring Regions provides case studies on archaeology, objects, cuneiform texts, and online publishing, digital archiving, and preservation. Eleven chapters present a rich array of material, spanning the fifth through the first millennium BCE, from Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, and Iran. Customized cyber- and general glossaries support readers who lack either a technical background or familiarity with the ancient cultures. Edited by Vanessa Bigot Juloux, Amy Rebecca Gansell, and Alessandro Di Ludovico, this volume is dedicated to broadening the understanding and accessibility of digital humanities tools, methodologies, and results to Ancient Near Eastern Studies. Ultimately, this book provides a model for introducing cyber-studies to the mainstream of humanities research
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