EM BUSCA DOS PRINCÍPIOS DA GESTÃO DA QUALIDADE TOTAL EM SERVIÇOS DE PROJETO DE ARQUITETURA: DESTAQUES DA TURQUIA

Proposal: Architectural design companies increasingly recognize that time spent on management is not at the expense of their production and there are always better ways to organize business. Although architects have long placed a traditional emphasis on quality, quality management is still a new concept for the majority of architectural design companies, which have to organize relatively more complicated operations nowadays to meet their clients’ expectations. This study aims to understand how architectural design companies define quality and explores the extent to which Total Quality Management (TQM) principles like continual improvement, employee involvement, customer satisfaction and others can be pertinent in these companies. Adopting a qualitative research strategy, the authors interviewed with the owner-managers of 10 widely-recognized architectural design companies of different size in Istanbul. The results from the content analysis of semi-structured interview data suggest that i) TQM principles cannot be directly applied in architectural design companies without an appropriate translation; ii) special characteristics of design services are important to explain quality-related perceptions of owner-managers; iii) the owner-managers feel the pressure from the changing internal and external environmental conditions, however few of them adopt a systematic and documented approach to quality management. Architectural design offices which aim to establish a quality management system can benefit from this study to understand potential problem areas on their road.As empresas de projeto de arquitetura cada vez mais reconhecem que o tempo dedicado à gestão não onera a sua produção e que há sempre maneiras de organizar melhor as atividades empresariais. Embora arquitetos tenham colocado durante muito tempo uma ênfase tradicional na qualidade, a gestão da qualidade ainda é um conceito novo para a maioria das empresas de projeto de arquitetura, que, hoje em dia, têm de organizar operações relativamente mais complicadas para atender às expectativas de seus clientes. Este estudo visa compreender de que modo as empresas de projeto de arquitetura definem qualidade e exploram os limites nos quais os princípios da gestão da qualidade total (TQM), como melhoria contínua, envolvimento dos funcionários, satisfação do cliente e outros, podem ser pertinentes para essas empresas. Adotando uma estratégia de pesquisa qualitativa, os autores entrevistaram os proprietários-gerentes de 10 empresas de projeto de arquitetura amplamente reconhecidas, de diferentes tamanhos, em Istambul. Os resultados da análise de conteúdo dos dados de entrevistas semi-estruturadas sugerem que: i) os princípios do TQM não podem ser aplicados diretamente em empresas de projeto de arquitetura, sem uma tradução adequada; ii) as características especiais dos serviços de projeto são importantes para explicar as percepções de proprietários-gerentes relacionadas à qualidade; iii) os proprietários-gerentes sentem a pressão da mudança interna e externa das condições ambientais, porém poucos deles adotam uma abordagem sistemática e documentada para a gestão da qualidade. Empresas de projeto de arquitetura que têm como objetivo estabelecer um sistema de gestão da qualidade podem se beneficiar deste estudo para conhecer as áreas potencialmente problemáticas que encontrarão

An Exact Solution for Static Scalar Fields Coupled to Gravity in (2+1)(2+1)-Dimensions

We obtain an exact solution for the Einstein's equations with cosmological constant coupled to a scalar, static particle in static, "spherically" symmetric background in 2+1 dimensions.Comment: 9 pages. Replaced by a revised versio

Solvable Systems of Linear Differential Equations

The asymptotic iteration method (AIM) is an iterative technique used to find exact and approximate solutions to second-order linear differential equations. In this work, we employed AIM to solve systems of two first-order linear differential equations. The termination criteria of AIM will be re-examined and the whole theory is re-worked in order to fit this new application. As a result of our investigation, an interesting connection between the solution of linear systems and the solution of Riccati equations is established. Further, new classes of exactly solvable systems of linear differential equations with variable coefficients are obtained. The method discussed allow to construct many solvable classes through a simple procedure.Comment: 13 page

Calendar 2001

The annual University publication which provides general and historical information about the University of Sydney, the statutes and regulations under which it operates and the Senate resolutions relating to constitutions and courses in each faculty

Energy optimization of a light projection system for buildings that virtually restores artworks

Published March 2022: Erratum regarding missing Declaration of Competing Interest statements in previously published articles - Part 1 (Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, Volume 24, March 2022, Pages e00209). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.daach.2021.e00209; Erratum incluido en el documentoThe need to achieve energy efficiency standards in the lighting systems of buildings makes it necessary to optimize all aspects of them. Here, the development of a light projection system that achieves this goal by studyingand modifying the spectral output, compared to conventional illumination, is described. A lighting system thatestimates the reflectance characteristics of artwork and emits optimized lighting can reduce light absorption. Adamage-minimizing point-by-point light projection system is developed using an optimization algorithm, toimprove the appearance of the surfaces of artworks whose color has faded. In this case, a simulation of an aged oilpainting was made by manipulating the original photograph, which was printed and to which the proposedsystem was applied. The results show that, when the aged printed image is illuminated with the optimized lightsource, it appears indistinguishable from the non-aged oil painting.This research was supported by project RTI2018-097633-A-I00 from the Spanish Ministry funding "Proyectos I + D Retos de Investigación" entitled Photonic restoration applied to cultural heritage: application to Dali's picture "Dos Figuras

Predictors of outcome for severely emotionally disturbed children in treatment

Despite general agreement that severely emotionally disturbed children and adolescents are an "at risk" group, and that ongoing evaluation and research into the effectiveness of services provided for them is important, very little outcome evaluation actually takes place. The absence of well-conducted and appropriately interpreted studies is particularly notable for day or residential treatment programs, which cater for the most severely emotionally disturbed youths. This thesis outlines the main areas of conceptual, pragmatic and methodological confusion and neglect which impede progress in research in this area. It argues for plurality of data analytic strategies and research designs. It then critically reviews the reported findings about the effectiveness of day and residential treatment in specialist facilities, and the predictors of good outcomes for this treatment type. This review confirms that there is very little to guide practice. Having argued for the legitimacy of its methods and the necessity to address basic questions, the thesis reports the results of a naturalistic study based on data accumulated during a decade-long evaluative research program taking place at Arndell Child and Adolescent Unit, Sydney. The study addresses the question of what child, family and treatment variables predict outcome for 159 children and adolescents treated at this facility from 1990 to 1999. Statistically significant results with large effect size were obtained. Among the most disturbed subgroup of forty three children, (a) psychodynamic milieu-based treatment was shown to be more effective than the “empirically-validated” cognitive-behavioural treatment which superseded it in 1996, and (b) children from step-families showed better outcome than those from other family structures. Furthermore, it was found for the study sample as a whole that severe school-based problem behaviours were associated with a limited trajectory of improvement in home-based problem behaviour. These results are discussed with regard to implications for treatment, research methodology, policy and further studies