A Grounded Theory Approach to Information Technology Adoption

This study explores the nature of information technology adoption based on phenomena found in the real world. We selected the grounded theory method (GTM) for this study, which involved two sites located in the USA. and eight sites located in Taiwan. The results exemplify a multi-year, multi-site grounded theory approach to generating theory that helps explain information technology (IT) adoption in an organizational context. The core categories of the model are developed from, grounded on, and extracted from the data, and are casually linked into four adoption processes: motivation, solutions fit, values, and decision stage. The nature of the information technology adoption model could help researchers and practitioners understand that managers have one or more motivations, seek IT solutions to fulfill their motivations, evaluate IT solutions, and make decision after judging IT value. We also present an assessment of the theory, and discuss its relevance and directions for future research

SYNTHESIS AND EVALUATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF PHENYL AND FURAN-2-YL[1,2,4] TRIAZOLO[4,3-a]QUINOXALIN-4(5H)-ONE AND THEIR HYDRAZONE PRECURSORS

A variety of 1-(s-phenyl)-[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-4(5H)-one (3a-3h) and 1-(s-furan-2-yl)-[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3- a]quinoxalin-4(5H)-one (5a-d) were synthesized from thermal annelation of corresponding hydrazones (2a-h) and (4a-d) respectively in the presence of ethylene glycol which is a high boiling solvent. The structures of the compounds prepared were confirmed by analytical and spectral data. Also, the newly synthesized compounds were evaluated for possible antimicrobial activity. 3-(2-(4-hydroxylbenzylidene)hydrazinyl)quinoxalin-2(1H)-one (2e) was the most active antibacterial agent while 1-(5-Chlorofuran-2-yl)-[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-4(5H)-one (5c) stood out as the most potent antifungal agent

Aligning Global and Local Aspects of A National Information Programme for Health: Developing a Critical and Socio-Technical Appreciation

Written by a full-time clinician, this thesis explores an example of ‘Big IT’ in healthcare, the National Programme for IT in the United Kingdom National Health Service. It is unique in exploring the interaction between people and information technology in the healthcare workplace, from an engaged standpoint within one of the National Programme’s implementation sites, in order to provide a critical and a socio-technical appreciation

Service-user and provider perspectives on the ‘Team Around the Family’: a Q-methodological analysis of four cases.

The research focused on the lived experiences of four service-users, their families and the professionals working with them in multidisciplinary early intervention teams in a local authority in the North East of England. ‘Teams around the family’, or TAFs, were working at a controversial (and significantly publicly scrutinised) period of social work, wider public sector reorganisation and funding cuts. Young people were subject to a Child in Need plan, under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 (amended 2004). The comparability of the lived experience of different players in TAFs has suffered because studies have tended not to focus on the TAF group as a meaningful unit of analysis. The rationale for a Q-methodological study with a follow-up interview design is discussed. The original behaviourist position adopted by Stephenson, the father of Q, is described as well as the current ‘qualiquantilogical’ approach (Stenner & Stainton Rogers, 2004). A modified version of social constructivism, that considers power, was utilised to centralise active participation in the construction of shared understanding for participants. Results from factor analysis of 34 Q-sorts and 24 follow-up interviews are given in a four factor solution. Briefer discussion is given to a five and three factor solution. Interview data and other commentary are integrated into reflection about expert-centric Expert Judges, family-centric Anti-Interventionists, system-centric Hopeful Reflectors and rights-centric Collaborators. The helpfulness of the focus on highly emotive, rare and tragic stories through Serious Case Reviews is queried by the results. The argument for further researcher-practitioner studies and a more compassionate cycle of learning and development in social work is presented

New models and patterns for traceability

Includes bibliographical references.Traceability is a critical software engineering practice that manages activities across the product development lifecycle. It is the discipline of getting an entire organisation to work together to build better quality products. Traceability is also about relationships between traceability items, the management of change and requires good communication between personnel on matters that impact the system in any way. At the start of the 21st Century it is evident that there was a proliferation in new traceability research promoting techniques from a number of emerging research communities. However, some researchers still report that there are still many problems, in particular the lack of empirical data from small, medium and large organisations. In this study we address this shortcoming by performing two empirical studies. Firstly, we carry out a four year case study investigating traceability in a large multinational that develops complex enterprise systems. Ericsson's is a world leader in the development of large telecom's systems and is renowned for their mature development processes, tools and highly skilled staff. We examine the state of the art at Ericsson and the factors that influence traceability, paying particular attention to how these factors change during the study and the impact that these changes have on the traceability practices. Secondly, we execute an industrial survey across nineteen corporations to further our understanding of traceability in small and medium sized organisations. Using this empirical data as the major design inputs, we design and test a Traceability Framework consisting of three solution components namely, a TRAceability Model (TRAM), a TRAceability Process (TRAP) and Traceability Patterns. The TRAceability Model (TRAM) consists of semantic models, designed using a layered approach, with each layer presenting traceability semantics from different user perspectives. The TRAceability Process (TRAP) consists of process models also utilising a layered approach but in this case capturing process elements that can be used in the creation of a traceability process in a variety of different contexts. At the lowest layer the models represent the actual traceability situation in a project at Ericsson. While patterns are a widely accepted method for describing best practices and recurring problems in many aspects of software development, they have not been applied to the field of traceability. Structural patterns emerged from the semantic and process models. Furthermore, we utilise a pre-defined pattern template for formalising the findings of the empirical data and communicating the outcomes to different users. The three components together promote better communication, reusability and understandability of traceability concepts and practices

Management of Distributed Energy Storage Systems for Provisioning of Power Network Services

Because of environmentally friendly reasons and advanced technological development, a significant number of renewable energy sources (RESs) have been integrated into existing power networks. The increase in penetration and the uneven allocation of the RESs and load demands can lead to power quality issues and system instability in the power networks. Moreover, high penetration of the RESs can also cause low inertia due to a lack of rotational machines, leading to frequency instability. Consequently, the resilience, stability, and power quality of the power networks become exacerbated. This thesis proposes and develops new strategies for energy storage (ES) systems distributed in power networks for compensating for unbalanced active powers and supply-demand mismatches and improving power quality while taking the constraints of the ES into consideration. The thesis is mainly divided into two parts. In the first part, unbalanced active powers and supply-demand mismatch, caused by uneven allocation and distribution of rooftop PV units and load demands, are compensated by employing the distributed ES systems using novel frameworks based on distributed control systems and deep reinforcement learning approaches. There have been limited studies using distributed battery ES systems to mitigate the unbalanced active powers in three-phase four-wire and grounded power networks. Distributed control strategies are proposed to compensate for the unbalanced conditions. To group households in the same phase into the same cluster, algorithms based on feature states and labelled phase data are applied. Within each cluster, distributed dynamic active power balancing strategies are developed to control phase active powers to be close to the reference average phase power. Thus, phase active powers become balanced. To alleviate the supply-demand mismatch caused by high PV generation, a distributed active power control system is developed. The strategy consists of supply-demand mismatch and battery SoC balancing. Control parameters are designed by considering Hurwitz matrices and Lyapunov theory. The distributed ES systems can minimise the total mismatch of power generation and consumption so that reverse power flowing back to the main is decreased. Thus, voltage rise and voltage fluctuation are reduced. Furthermore, as a model-free approach, new frameworks based on Markov decision processes and Markov games are developed to compensate for unbalanced active powers. The frameworks require only proper design of states, action and reward functions, training, and testing with real data of PV generations and load demands. Dynamic models and control parameter designs are no longer required. The developed frameworks are then solved using the DDPG and MADDPG algorithms. In the second part, the distributed ES systems are employed to improve frequency, inertia, voltage, and active power allocation in both islanded AC and DC microgrids by novel decentralized control strategies. In an islanded DC datacentre microgrid, a novel decentralized control of heterogeneous ES systems is proposed. High- and low frequency components of datacentre loads are shared by ultracapacitors and batteries using virtual capacitive and virtual resistance droop controllers, respectively. A decentralized SoC balancing control is proposed to balance battery SoCs to a common value. The stability model ensures the ES devices operate within predefined limits. In an isolated AC microgrid, decentralized frequency control of distributed battery ES systems is proposed. The strategy includes adaptive frequency droop control based on current battery SoCs, virtual inertia control to improve frequency nadir and frequency restoration control to restore system frequency to its nominal value without being dependent on communication infrastructure. A small-signal model of the proposed strategy is developed for calculating control parameters. The proposed strategies in this thesis are verified using MATLAB/Simulink with Reinforcement Learning and Deep Learning Toolboxes and RTDS Technologies' real-time digital simulator with accurate power networks, switching levels of power electronic converters, and a nonlinear battery model

Redesigning chemical analysis: transducing information from chemical into digital

Aquesta tesi planteja que les xarxes distribuïdes de detecció de substàncies químiques serán eines beneficioses per aconseguir millors resultats de salut com a éssers humans, així com per a guiarnes en el nostre paper autodeterminat con a guardians en l'àmbit ecològic. Tot aixo, des de la perspectiva d’introduir elements de disseny en les eines analítiques. El treball comença amb una introducció a la visió de com els sensors químics s'adapten als contextos més grans de la biologia, la història i la tecnologia. El segon capítol ofereix una base de coneixements sobre els mètodes i principis científics i tecnològics subjacents sobre els quals es basa aquest treball. A continuació, es fa una revisió crítica dels avenços acadèmics cap als sensors electroquímics distribuïts, que divideixen el problema en tres aspectes: rendiment adequat, usabilitat intuïtiva i assequibilitat. Entre aquests, la usabilitat s'identifica com el coll d'ampolla principal en l'adopció generalitzada de sensors químics centrats en l'usuari. Els capítols posteriors ofereixen algunes respostes als reptes, en forma de treball experimental original. Encara que aquest treball es basa en l'electroquímica analítica, s'aborda des d’una metodologia de disseny, amb iteracions d'anàlisi i síntesi incrustades en el procés d'ideació. Les declaracions finals reflexionen sobre el treball com una petita part en una creixent revolució de l'edat de la informació química; com una petita esquerda a la presa que contenia una allau de dades químiques de diagnòstic amb conseqüències imprevisibles, però positives i revolucionàries.Esta tesis postula que las redes distribuidas de detección química serán herramientas beneficiosas para alcanzar mejores resultados de salud como seres humanos, así como para guiarnos en nuestro papel autodeterminado como guardianes en la esfera ecológica. Todo esto desde una perspectiva de introducir elementos de diseño en herramientas analíticas. El trabajo comienza con una introducción a la visión de cómo los sensores químicos se ajustan a los contextos más amplios de la biología, la historia y la tecnología. El segundo capítulo proporciona algunos antecedentes de los métodos y principios científicos y tecnológicos subyacentes en los que se basa este trabajo. Esto es seguido por una revisión crítica de los avances académicos hacia sensores electroquímicos distribuidos, que divide el problema en tres aspectos: rendimiento apropiado, usabilidad intuitiva y asequibilidad. Entre estos, la usabilidad se identifica como el cuello de botella principal en la adopción generalizada de sensores químicos centrados en el usuario. Los siguientes capítulos ofrecen algunas respuestas a los desafíos, en forma de trabajo experimental original. Mientras que este trabajo se arraiga en la electroquímica analítica, se aborda desde una metodología de diseño, con iteraciones de análisis y síntesis integradas en el proceso de ideación. Las declaraciones finales reflejan el trabajo como una pequeña parte en una floreciente revolución de la era de la información química; como una pequeña grieta en la presa que contiene una avalancha de datos químicos de diagnóstico con consecuencias imprevisibles, pero positivas y revolucionarias.This thesis posits that distributed chemical sensing networks will be beneficial tools towards our greater health outcomes as humans, as well as in guiding us in our self-determined role as custodians over the ecological sphere. A perspective of infusing design elements and approaches into analytical tools is shared. The work begins with an introduction presenting a vision of how chemical sensors fit within the greater contexts of biology, history, and technology. The second chapter provides some background to the underlying scientific and technological methods and principles on which this work stands. This is followed by a critical review of the academic advances towards distributed electrochemical sensors, which divides the problem into three aspects of appropriate performance, intuitive usability, and affordability. Amongst these, usability is identified as the principal bottleneck in the widespread adoption of user-centered chemical sensors. The subsequent chapters offer some responses to the challenges, in the form of original experimental work. While rooted in analytical electrochemistry, the work is approached with a design methodology, with iterations of analysis and synthesis embedded in the ideation process. Concluding statements reflect on the work as a small part in a burgeoning revolution of the chemical information age; as a minor crack in the dam holding back a flood of diagnostic chemical data with unforeseeable, yet positive and revolutionary consequences

Towards the transit-oriented region: Polycentric urbanism to transform automobile dependent cities

Following from the rhetoric and promise of compact cities, how best may we accurately model the interactions of local land-use plans with public transportation provision to transform automobile-dependent metropolitan regions? The research aims to uncover the capacity for redevelopment to achieve a long-ranged transformation to a Transit-Oriented Region. The results reveal a methodology to understand metropolitan growth as a science, to better inform the art of human-scaled urban design