281 research outputs found
The Life History of a Knowledge Support System: Emerging a Change Process for Knowledge Rich Organisations
This case study traces the life history through several transformations of software used by knowledge workers in a global professional practice. The target application provides a globally operating major firm with knowledge management support for legal practitioners and provides data to support managing its relationships with clients. The research constitutes a careful longitudinal reflection using the processes and techniques of Action Research and Grounded Theory. An information systems change management process is promulgated
The life history of a knowledge support system: emerging a change process for knowledge rich organisations
This case study traces the life history through several transformations of software used by knowledge workers in a global professional practice. The target application provides a globally operating major firm with knowledge management support for legal practitioners and provides data to support managing its relationships with clients. The research constitutes a careful longitudinal reflection using the processes and techniques of Action Research and Grounded Theory. An information systems change management process is promulgated.
The change process that was emerged is richer than existing change management processes with which it is compared. It is suggested that this enhanced change process may be useful particularly in organisations of knowledge rich practitioners
Review of offshore cable reliability metrics
Reliable cable systems are essential for offshore wind operation. Industry trends have led to a large number of offshore cable connections being installed recently, with 11027 MW of offshore wind connected at the end of 2015 compared to just 2955 MW in 2010 [1]. Despite the increase in connections, the publically available reliability data in this area is almost non-existent. With several connections in planning of both similar and increasing lengths it is essential to better understand these metrics. A review of published reliability data was undertaken in order to populate a database which is presented in this paper. This data focusses on a number of connection types including both AC and DC connections across a number of cable ratings and configurations. From this database it is confirmed that reliability figures currently being used across the literature generally conform to those currently being experienced in the offshore wind industry. However it is established that failure rates taken from some reports are not accurate as the technology and environments these are calculated from are typically different from those used in offshore wind farm connections. This information is collated and converted into reliability metrics in order for comparisons to be made. Analysis of the cost of an outage experienced by a windfarm is also carried out in this paper. The results of which establish that the revenue lost from a cable failure could potentially be substantial. The findings in this paper would also suggest a greater risk of failure in the early life of a windfarm and as such a greater potential cost associated with this risk. It is important to have a better understanding of offshore renewable energy cable connections as the reliability of a cable has a significant impact on the Levelised Cost of Energy. With a greater understanding of the metrics investors can make more informed decisions with respect to the technology that is installed as well as the importance of the installation process itself, due diligence on subsequent OFTO asset purchases and the maintenance plans that have been outlined for the connection
Failure rates of offshore wind transmission systems
In the offshore wind industry, failures are often costlier than those experienced onshore. Through examination of the literature, it is clear that failures occurring in offshore transmission systems are not well documented. As a result of this, many developers and other parties involved in the planning processes associated with offshore wind farms will defer back to existing reliability metrics in the public domain. This article presents a review of European offshore wind farm transmission failures based on fusing information from multiple public domain sources. The results highlight both the spread of the reliability performance of these assets and the reliability performance over time. The results also reinforce the industry view that installation practices could lead to low reliability in the initial years of operation, resulting in increased repair costs and decreased revenue for wind farm owners and operators. The information collated in the review is also compared to metrics from across the literature to evaluate the difference in forecasted failure rates to those experienced within the industry. In general, it is found that the experienced failure rates are subject to a much higher spread in practice than those published until now
Long-Term Maintenance of Psoriatic Human Skin on Congenitally Athymic (Nude) Mice
Transplantation of involved psoriatic and nonpsoriatic human skin onto congenitally athymie (nude) mice has been performed successfully. Although biopsies at selected intervals demonstrate that the excess glycogen deposition normally seen in psoriasis is no longer consistently present, the psoriatic grafts did retain the usual characteristic histologic differences throughout the life of the animal, up to 11 weeks. This grafting procedure potentially represents a useful method whereby the study of psoriasis can be made in a nonhuman, living system
Towards a literary account of mental health from Jamesâ Principles of Psychology
YesThe field of mental health tends to treat its literary metaphors as literal realities with the concomitant loss of vague âfeelings of tendencyâ in âunusual experiencesâ. I develop this argument through the prism of William Jamesâ (1890) âThe Principles of Psychologyâ. In the first part of the paper, I reflect upon the relevance of Jamesâ âThe Psychologistâs Fallacyâ to a literary account of mental health. In the second part of the paper, I develop the argument that âconnotationsâ and âfeelings of tendencyâ are central to resolving some of the more difficult challenges of this fallacy. I proceed to do this in Jamesâ spirit of generating imaginative metaphors to understand experience. Curiously, however, mental health presents a strange paradox in William Jamesâ (1890) Principles of Psychology. He constructs an elaborate conception of the âempirical selfâ and âstream of thoughtâ but chooses not to use these to understand unusual experiences â largely relying instead on the concept of a âsecondary self.â In this article, I attempt to make more use of Jamesâ central division between the âstream of thoughtâ and the âempirical selfâ to understand unusual experiences. I suggest that they can be usefully understood using the loose metaphor of a âbinary starâ where the âsecondary selfâ can be seen as an âaccretion diskâ around one of the stars. Understood as literary rather the literal, this metaphor is quite different to more unitary models of self-breakdown in mental health, particularly in its separation of âselfâ from âthe stream of thoughtâ and I suggest it has the potential to start a re-imagination of the academic discourse around mental health
Psychopolitics: Peter Sedgwickâs legacy for mental health movements
This paper re-considers the relevance of Peter Sedgwick's Psychopolitics (1982) for a politics of mental health. Psychopolitics offered an indictment of âanti-psychiatryâ the failure of which, Sedgwick argued, lay in its deconstruction of the category of âmental illnessâ, a gesture that resulted in a politics of nihilism. âThe radical who is only a radical nihilistâ, Sedgwick observed, âis for all practical purposes the most adamant of conservativesâ. Sedgwick argued, rather, that the concept of âmental illnessâ could be a truly critical concept if it was deployed âto make demands upon the health service facilities of the society in which we liveâ. The paper contextualizes Psychopolitics within the âcrisis tendenciesâ of its time, surveying the shifting welfare landscape of the subsequent 25 years alongside Sedgwick's continuing relevance. It considers the dilemma that the discourse of âmental illnessâ â Sedgwick's critical concept â has fallen out of favour with radical mental health movements yet remains paradigmatic within psychiatry itself. Finally, the paper endorses a contemporary perspective that, while necessarily updating Psychopolitics, remains nonetheless âSedgwickianâ
African States and Agriculture: Issues for Research
SUMMARY This article assesses the relative merits of two styles in food marketing from the perspective of small?scale producer?sellers in rural Zambia. Of the alternatives â state?controlled maize cropping; free?market bean sales â the latter has been viewed as âobviouslyâ preferable. The author challenges this view, arguing that the seemingly inferior alternative (hybrid maize) cannot be dropped from the local food system where it has become a substitute for the very labour?intensive âtraditionalâ millet. This production function explains why maize is locally perceived as a valuable crop in spite of the poor infrastructure for providing inputs and for collection. SOMMAIRE Cet article Ă©value les mĂ©rites relatifs aux deux styles de mise en marchĂ© d'aliments dans la perspective des producteurs?vendeurs Ă petite Ă©chelle en Zambie rurale. Des deux alternatives â culture de mais contrĂŽlĂ©e par l'Ă©tat: vente libre d'haricots â on a retenu la derniĂšre Ă©tant âĂ©videmmentâ prĂ©fĂ©rable L'auteur conteste ce choix argumentant que l'alternative semblant infĂ©rieur (le maĂŻs hybride) ne peut ĂȘtre abandonnĂ©e du systĂšme local d'alimentation, puisque cela constitue un substitut au travail intensif du millet âtraditionnelâ. Cette fonction de production explique pourquoi la culture du mais est perçue localement comme Ă©tant valable en dĂ©pit de la pauvretĂ© de l'infrastructure fournissant les apports et facilitant la vente. RESUMEN Este artĂculo destaca los mĂ©ritos relativos de dos estilos de comercializaciĂłn alimenticia desde la perspectiva de los productores?vendedores en la Zambia rural. El autor desafĂa la creencia de que la venta de frejoles en el libre mercado es âobviamenteâ preferible al cultivo del maĂz controlado por el estado. Argumenta, por el contrario, que el maĂz hĂbrido â alternativa aparentemente inferior â no puede eliminarse del sistema alimentario local, donde se ha convertido en un substituto del âtradicionalâ mijo, muy intensivo en mano de obra Esta funciĂłn de producciĂłn explica por quĂ© el maĂz es percibido localmente como un valioso cultivo, pese a la pobre infraestructura existente para proveer insumos y para la recolecciĂłn
Meta-Analysis of the Prognostic Impact of Anemia in Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention
This study was funded by an award from the North Staffordshire Medical Institute, Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom.Peer reviewedPostprin
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