Oral-Formulaic Research in Old English Studies: I

The present study consists of nine sections, of which the first four appear in this issue. Section I, "Oral and Written," considers the questions of whether Old English poetry was composed orally or in writing and whether it was presented to a listening audience or to an audience of readers. It also examines questions of lay literacy during the Old English period and of the nature of the reaction of a listening audience to traditional poetry. Section II, "The Oral-Formulaic Theory," reviews the origin and development of the study of oral composition in Old English, including nineteenth-century Higher Criticism, the study of formulaic structure in Homeric and Serbo-Croatian epic, and the application of the oral-formulaic theory to Old English literature beginning with the work of Albert B. Lord and Francis P. Magoun, Jr. Section III, "The Formula," reviews definitions that have been proposed for the basic units of oral composition, the formula and the formulaic system, and treats metrics and the study of particular formulas and formulaic systems. Section IV, "Themes and Type-Scenes," studies the level of oral composition above the formula, discussing the definitions that have been proposed for the terms "theme" and "type-scene" and reviewing the literature that has identified and described various Old English themes and type-scenes.--Page 549.A medievalist and comparatist, Alexandra Hennessey Olsen (University of Denver) has been especially interested in the blend of Christian Latin learning and Germanic oral tradition that underlies Old English poetry. Her books on Guthlac of Croyland (1981) and Cynewulf (Speech, Song, and Poetic Craft, 1984) typify her approach

Oral-Formulaic Research in Old English Studies: II

A member of the English department at the University of Denver, Alexandra Hennessey Olsen has written widely on Old and Middle English literature, particularly on their roots in oral tradition and in Latin literature

Improvement of surgery duration estimation using statistical methods and analysis of scheduling policies using discrete event simulation

The United States health care system currently faces many challenges, with the most notable one being rising costs. In an effort to decrease those costs, health providers are aiming to improve efficiency in their operations. A primary source of revenue for hospitals and some clinics is the surgery department, making it a key department for improvement in efficiency. Surgery schedules drive the department and affect the operations of many other departments. The most significant challenge to creating an efficient surgery schedule is estimating surgery durations and scheduling cases in a manner that will minimize the time a surgery is off schedule and maximize utilization of resources. To identify ways to better estimate surgery durations, an analysis of the surgery scheduling process at UnityPoint Health - Des Moines, in Des Moines, Iowa was completed. Estimated surgery durations were compared to actual durations using a t test. Multiple linear regression models were created for the most common surgeries including the input variables of age of the patient, anesthesiologist, operating room (OR), number of residents, and day of the week. To find optimal scheduling policies, simulation models were created, each representing a series of surgery cases in one operating room during one day. Four scheduling policies were investigated: shortest estimated time first, longest estimated time first, most common surgery first, and adding an extra twenty minutes to each case in the existing order. The performance of the policies was compared to those of the existing schedule. Using the historical data from a one-year period at UnityPoint Health - Des Moines, the estimated surgery durations for the top four surgeries by count and top surgeons were found to be statistically different in 75% of the data sets. After creating multiple linear regression models for each of the top four surgeries and surgeons performing those surgeries, the β values for each variable were compared across models. Age was found to have a minimal impact on surgery duration in all models. The binary variable indicating residents present, was found to have minimal impact as well. For the rest of the variables, consistencies were difficult to assess, making multiple linear regression an unideal method for identifying the impact of the variables investigated. On the other hand, the simulation model proved to be useful in identifying useful scheduling policies. Eight series based on real series were modeled individually. Each model was validated against reality, with 75% of durations simulated in the models not being statistically different than reality. Each of the four scheduling policies was modeled for each series and the average minutes off schedule and idle time between cases were compared across models. Adding an extra twenty minutes to each case in the existing order resulted in the lowest minutes off schedule, but significantly increased the idle time between cases. Most common surgery first did not have a consistent impact on the performance indicators. Longest estimated time first did not improve the performance indicators in the majority of the cases. Shortest estimated time first resulted in the best performance for minutes off schedule and idle time between cases in combination; therefore, we recommend this policy is employed when the scheduling process allows

Visual representation in instructional multimedia : a conceptual framework

Instructional designers make use of visuals in the design of multimedia-based instruction. Literature pertaining to this area spans many different disciplinary boundaries, and as such, lacks much coherence. In order to organize and synthesize insights from the literature, a conceptual framework is needed, in particular one that pinpoints essential concepts from these disparate sources and contextualizes them within a perspective that is relevant and useful to instructional design practice. This thesis aims at developing such a framework based both on the literature and a brief case study, and presenting it as a means of analyzing the various levels of visual representational involved in instructional interface design