Electronic Regulator: Breadboard and Conceptual Space Flight Versions

The Electronic Regulator Project at TRW has constructed a breadboard system demonstrating pressure regulator operation over a wide range of flow conditions. The test hardware is composed of pneumatic-actuated, solenoid-controlled valves and associated tubing, gas volumes and transducers. System control, data recording and data reduction functions are controlled by a 486-class PC running Labview software. This breadboard system has demonstrated that a single system, using several control modes, is versatile enough to be used across the TRW spacecraft product line, from the very low Xenon flows associated with an electric propulsion system, to the high Helium flows required in a constant thrust situation such as in the AXAF spacecraft. A conceptual flight version, composed largely of off-the-shelf parts, has been designed and evaluated relative to requirements of various TRW spacecraft

Elevating the Head of Bed During Preoxygenation for Obese Patients Undergoing General Anesthesia: A Clinical Policy Proposal

Preoxygenation plays a vital role in ensuring patient safety for all patient populations, especially those considered clinically obese. The negative pathophysiological effects obesity has related to body habitus and respiratory mechanics increases the risk of unexpected adverse events. Obese patients encounter a 50% decrease in functional residual capacity (FRC) when undergoing general anesthesia. Dixon et al., (2005) addressed the link between efficient oxygenation and improving oxygen storage by lessening atelectasis and intrapulmonary shunting via preoxygenation in a more upright position. Can standardizing preoxygenation techniques among anesthesia providers improve patient safety and decrease hospital system’s risk by implementing an evidence-based clinical policy? An evidence review and evaluation was conducted with six articles being used as primary references in addition to supplementary articles and scholarly textbooks. A policy was developed using strong evidence, facility procedures, and AGREE II methods. A panel of experts was formed to assist with policy review, critiques, and expert opinions. An evaluation questionnaire assessed the available knowledge on the topic, clinical relevance, and adoptability of policy in clinical practice. The data indicated members of the expert panel were willing to adopt the evidence-based clinical policy within the Anesthesiology department and deemed the policy suitable for submission to the hospital clinical policy committee. Current evidence supports the need for elevating the head of bed during preoxygenation of obese patients undergoing general anesthesia. Anesthesia providers and operating room staff members would benefit from further education on this topic. Educational opportunities can further increase patient safety and decrease hospital system’s risk

THE BPM SKILLS LEARNING GAP - A COMPARISON OF INDUSTRY REQUIREMENTS AND SKILLS ACQUISITION

To address the gap between Business Process Management skills required by industry and the skills acquired by higher education students, requires understanding both the skills required and the level of acquisition of these skills. This study investigated skills taught at two levels in university courses relative to industry requirements, and the level to which the skills are transferred to the students as measured by assessed grades. The investigated courses were taught to undergraduate and postgraduate students. The findings show that the courses addressed skills adequately, however, differences were observed between the undergraduate students and postgraduate students, specifically in respect of Governance and Business Process Improvement. In addition, students were observed to have difficulty in taking a holistic view and seeing the bigger picture in respect of business processes. Implications of the findings are discussed, and future research proposed

A note on preservation of languages by transducers

An error in a previous paper is corrected. The rectified version involves pushdown transducers with accepting states instead of pushdown transducers. Some properties of pushdown transducers with accepting states are then noted

CHALLENGES IN EMBRACING CUSTOMER-CENTRICITY: THE CASE OF OUTSIDE-IN IN A SOUTH AFRICAN FINANCIAL INSTITUTION

For the financial services industry, Business Process Management (BPM) plays a crucial role in end-to-end product development, risk management, and analysis of fraud, credit, and money laundering activities. Customer-centricity, also referred to as Outside-In, is a recent BPM focus which many organisations are now adopting. However, organisations face a myriad of challenges when adopting this approach. The objective of this study was to understand the perceived challenges with Outside-In within a South African financial services organisation. This study found that many traditional BPM challenges apply when moving an organization towards customer-centricity. Yet many new challenges and challenges with methods were seen to be particularly significant. Because of the cultural changes needed, securing buy-in, training all employees and implementing the change were all significant challenges. This paper adds to empirical studies on BPM customer-centric studies and will be useful for practitioners embarking on the approach, it offers a new analysis theoretical contribution to the understudied area of customer-centricity

Study of high altitude plume impingement

Computer program has been developed as analytical tool to predict severity of effects of exhaust of rocket engines on adjacent spacecraft surfaces. Program computes forces, moments, pressures, and heating rates on surfaces immersed in or subjected to exhaust plume environments. Predictions will be useful in design of systems where such problems are anticipated

The Sharing Economy: Understanding the Affordances of and Barriers to the use of Digital Platforms

Studies exploring sharing economy services such as automotive, house-sharing, and bike rentals have predicted that these services will add billions of dollars to the global economy by 2025. Sharing economy services could reduce unemployment in Africa. Hence, there is a need to understand the affordance and the barriers to sharing economy platforms. This paper presents a literature review that helps answer the question: What are the affordances of and barriers to the use of sharing platforms? A literature review following a synthesis approach, reveals gaps around the sharing economy services relating to load-shedding, regulations and social exclusion. Potential future directions are presented

Business Process Model Reuse In A Multi-Channel / Multi-Product Environment–Problem Identification And Tentative Design

Business Process Modeling has become a common activity in organisations. However, as the number of process models increases, so too does the number of duplicated models increase and the level of process model reuse has been found to be surprisingly low. In organisations which operate in an environment with multiple channels, products and customer types, complete process model reuse becomes especially challenging. Without a well-defined approach, such an environment could easily result in dozens of slight variations of what is essentially the same process which will lead to future model and repository management challenges. In response to this problem this paper reviews the literature of complete business process reuse in a multi-channel / multi-product environment. We find that there is a clear gap in the literature in terms of practical solutions that address the problem described but were able to distil five practices that can increase complete model reuse. This review and the practices described will help practitioners grappling with these challenges and paves the way for further needed research on this problem

Mobile News Service Adoption Framework: Insights from South Africa

The proliferation of digital news means that consumer can access news services via mobile services. Mobile news services (MNS) can support consumers in acquiring and sharing news content. The purpose of this study is to propose a theoretical framework that articulates factors influencing the adoption of MNS by citizens, in this case of South Africa. This study considers theoretical evidences and provides new empirical evidence to extend theoretical understanding. Multiple interpretive case studies were conducted to confirm and identify factors and relationships that could influence adoption of MNS. Subsequently quantitative analysis supported the identified relationships influencing the adoption of MNS. The proposed MNS adoption model offers new interpretive and sociomaterial insights into the adoption of MNS, encompassing both personal and social factors, attributes of news consumers and attributes of innovation