Expert system verification concerns in an operations environment

The Space Shuttle community is currently developing a number of knowledge-based tools, primarily expert systems, to support Space Shuttle operations. It is proposed that anticipating and responding to the requirements of the operations environment will contribute to a rapid and smooth transition of expert systems from development to operations, and that the requirements for verification are critical to this transition. The paper identifies the requirements of expert systems to be used for flight planning and support and compares them to those of existing procedural software used for flight planning and support. It then explores software engineering concepts and methodology that can be used to satisfy these requirements, to aid the transition from development to operations and to support the operations environment during the lifetime of expert systems. Many of these are similar to those used for procedural hardware

A friend, Mary Robertson to Dear James (2 October 1962)

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/mercorr_pro/1090/thumbnail.jp

Floods, Beetles, and Soccer

Postcard from Mary Robertson, during the Linfield College Semester Abroad Program at James Cook University in Australi

An analysis and tabulation of word perception errors in the Scott, Foresman and Company basic readers: Curriculum Foundation Series, to discover the frequency and persistency of word perception errors in grades one and two.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Virtual learning for health care managers

The health industry in Canada, as well as in other industrial countries, has been in the process of reform for many years. While such reform has been attributed to fiscal necessity due to increased health costs, the underlying causes are far more complex. Demographic changes, new technologies, expanded health care procedures and medications, increased demand and the globalization of health services have all contributed to the change and complexity of the industry. Health reform varies from country to country. In Canada, with a publicly funded health industry, the main reform method has been regionalization. This decentralized reform method arranges health services under a regional corporate management structure. The primary objective of this study was to assess the effects of health reform on the educational development of health-care managers in British Columbia, a western province of Canada. The study had a two-fold approach; to ascertain how health reform had changed the skill needs of health-care managers, and whether e-learning could benefit health management education. The key research questions that guided the study were: How might recent changes in the health industry have affected the learning needs and priorities of health-care managers? What factors might hinder attempts to meet any learning needs and priorities of health-care managers? and What benefits might e-learning provide in overcoming hindrances to effective health management education?A combination of quantitative (survey closed questions) and qualitative (survey open-ended questions, interviews and stakeholder feedback) methods was employed in this study. Overall, this study is described as productive social theory research, in that it addressed a recognized change in learning needs for health-care managers following a period of health reform, a socially significant phenomenon in the health industry. Relying on such tools as a survey, interviews, and stakeholder discussions, data was collected from over five hundred health-care managers. The data collected in this study provided valuable insight into the paradigm shift occurring in the educational needs of these managers. The study found that health reform had expanded the management responsibilities of healthcare managers and increased the complexity of service delivery. Restructuring of the health industry decreased the number of managers, support systems, and career opportunities for managers and increased the manager’s workload, communication problems and the need for new knowledge and skills. In addressing the learning needs of health-care managers, the study found there were limitations in health management educational opportunities available to health-care managers. The findings also show that current health management education was focused on senior managers leaving the majority of industry leaders with limited learning opportunities to upgrade their knowledge and skills at a time of great organizational change.In addition, a classroom format dominated the learning delivery options for many managers. A list of fourteen management skills was used in the survey instrument to ascertain what new skills were needed by health-care managers following thirteen years of health reform. The findings show that of the fourteen skills, twenty-nine percent of health-care managers had no training and fifty-seven percent received their training through in-service, workshops and seminars. Irrespective of gender, age, working location and education the data showed that healthcare managers were mainly receiving training in change and complexity and people skills with less training occurring in planning and finances. Using the same fourteen skills, health-care managers priorized their immediate learning needs, listing the top three, as: evidence-based management, change and complexity and financial analysis. While evidence-based management and financial analysis could be attributed to the introduction of a corporate management structure in the health industry, change and complexity was an anomaly as managers were already receiving training in this skill. Health industry stakeholders believed this anomaly was due to continued uncertainties with ongoing health reform and/or a need for increased social interaction during a time of organizational change. In addressing the many learning needs of health-care managers a new health management education strategy was proposed for the province which included the need for an e-learning strategy.The e-learning approach being proposed in this study is an integration of skill training and knowledge sharing directly blended into the workflow of the managers, using a variety of learning technologies. To support this idea, the study found that the majority of health-care managers were not only familiar with e-learning, they also felt they had the computer and Internet skills for more learning delivered in this manner. While a strong need for face-to-face learning still remained, a blended e-learning strategy was proposed for skill training, one that would accommodate the learning needs of managers in rural and remote areas of the province. Knowledge sharing technologies were also proposed to improve the flow of information and learning in small units to both newcomers and experts in the industry. Since this would be a new strategy for the province, attention to quality and costs were identified as essential in the planning. The study found that after years of health reform a new health management educational strategy was needed for the health industry of British Columbia, one that would incorporate a number of learning technologies. Such a change in educational direction is needed if the health industry wishes to provide their leaders with a responsive learning environment to adapt to ongoing organizational change

Social science and social capital in the Lamprey River Watershed: A resident survey for community and environmental planning and predicting support for innovative land use

The Lamprey River Watershed is an important part of the Great Bay Estuary in southeastern New Hampshire. The region has experienced population growth, sprawl development, increased vehicle miles traveled, increased levels of air and water pollution, loss of critical habitat, and loss of sense of community. The Lamprey River Watershed Resident Survey was designed to bring attention to environmental and community issues in order to engage residents in long range, innovative, and regional planning. The survey was distributed to approximately 3,000 households in one mailing during National Community Planning Month, October, 2007. The data from the 768 respondents provide baseline information on residents\u27 attitudes, opinions, knowledge, and behavior relevant to planning. Social capital is examined to test for its use in community and environmental planning. Social capital is measured in the Resident Survey from information about both formal and informal social activities as well as measures of trust in various parts of society. The results of a binomial logistic regression indicate that social capital, in the forms of these selected activities and trust, increases the likelihood of a resident to support a policy of open space design (an innovative land use policy in New Hampshire). Other variables found to be related to support for open space design are positive environmental behavior, liberal and moderate political affiliations, and education beyond high school. The measurement of social capital might be simplified by assessing social activities and social trust, and research should continue to examine relationships to community level outcomes. Both the descriptive and regression results lead to a conclusion that engagement with residents is important to garner support for community planning outcomes. This study shows that increasing levels of social activities, social trust, and positive environmental behavior lead to a greater likelihood to support open space design. Planners should work to increase social activities and trust in the community, as well as to continue to encourage positive environmental behavior. A resident survey can help planners with this task of monitoring progress in planning efforts

Cytolethal and growth inhibitory effects of glucocorticoids on human lymphoid cells

Glucocorticoids cause the regression of certain lymphoid tumours, though the precise mechanism by which this is achieved is still not fully understood. Consequently, I studied the action of a glucocorticoid, methylprednisolone (MPS), on human lymphoid cell lines as a possible in vitro model for this effect. MPS induced both a cytolethal and growth inhibitory response in these cells, which I have defined on a kinetic and morphological basis. The cytolethal response - measured by the ability of live cells to exclude nigrosine after treatment over 48hr - was dose-dependent, occurring around 10 MPS. Maximal lethal effects occurred only on continuous exposure of the cells to MPS. Morphological changes, as observed by light and electron microscopy, were consistent with apoptosis followed by autolysis, with increased nigrosine uptake correlating closely with onset of autolysis. A low background level of apoptosis and autolysis was also present in control cultures. The growth inhibitory response - measured by an increase in population doubling time after treatment over several days - was dose-dependent, occurring within the concentration range 10 M - 10 Si MPS. Again, continuous exposure to MPS was necessary for the response to be maintained. Morphological changes resulting from sub lethal damage were seen in mitochondria by electron microscopy; in addition a small increase in the number of apoptotic and autolytic cells was observed by light microscopy. Cell cycle kinetic analysis.revealed that growth inhibition was a stable effect caused by a blockage of cells in G^ (or Gq); I was unable to determine whether blocked cells were committed to death or maintained the ability to return to cycle. A correlation was made between my own results and biochemical studies performed on human lymphoid cell lines by other workers in our research group. The relationship between in vitro and in vivo responses to glucocorticoids was also discussed