Pollutant transport and sediment dispersal in the Washington-Oregon Coastal Zone. Report of progress, October 1978 through September 1979

Progress is reported in work performed in the program that seeks to provide tested predictive models for the transport of dissolved and particulate matter in coastal regions. Modeling efforts in coastal circulation, boundary layer mechanics, sediment transport, and animal-sediment interactions are underway. The program is restricted to measurements of flow outside the logarithmic boundary layer. These measurements provide the information necessary to allow modeling of the flow and the transport of sediment in the benthic boundary layer. Transmissometer and current meter measurements were made at several near-bottom locations in the vicinity of Quinault Canyon. Results of a study on the effects of a narrow submarine canyon (Astoria) on low-frequency shelf circulation are reported. Two components of the sediment-animal-flow interaction triad were studied. They are: the effects of organisms on sediment characteristics and the effects of the activities of the benthic organisms on the near wall flow characteristics. Progress is also reported in the development of a bed load transport equation. (JGB

Extending the IT service quality measurement framework through a systematic literature review

Continuous improvement of service quality results in enhanced customer satisfaction, increased efficiency and maximisation of business value of the service within the company. Decision-making on the course of service quality improvement is based on the current status of the measurable service quality attributes. The aim of the paper is to describe the IT service quality attributes that could be measured to improve IT service quality. We report on a systematic literature review of IT service quality measurement. The review was based on 134 relevant journal articles related to IT service quality management. Of these, 91 articles were selected for analysis. We propose a detailed and comprehensive quality measurement framework for IT services using the results of the systematic literature review to extend previous work. The framework presents six common issue areas with their associated measurement categories, measures, and indicators. IT service providers can choose the measures to satisfy their specific information needs from the proposed IT service quality measurement framework. We conclude that IT service quality improvement efforts could benefit from considering the internal IT service quality attributes from the viewpoint of the value the provided IT service could bring to both the customer and the provider