An Analysis of Historical Transformation of an IT Giant Based on Sound Strategic Vision

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is a dominant player in the growing information technology industry. IBM went through a rough patch in the initial part of the ‘90s when sales were declining. In a span of two year, IBM lost a staggering $16 billion. This case investigates the problems that IBM was facing during the time, and the strategic decisions it took to help it transform this position. Through the change of leadership, IBM started giving importance to customer-relationship management to better cater to the need of its clients. It also realized the need to have a strategic vision and reorganized as “One IBM”. Reengineering Global Functions and Processes across different departments improved IBM’s cost structures. The management unified strategic vision served as a platform to reignite growth and industry leadership. The case details this transformation and concludes with lessons learnt that would benefit companies in a similar dilemma in today\u27s competitive IT market

Motor Stirling, alimentado por energia solar para áreas domésticas e rurais domésticas em Karachi, Paquistão

There is a critical need to use the abundantly available solar energy worldwide due to the global energy crisis. The goal of this study is to demonstrate the residential use of a stirling engine powered by solar energy in Karachi, Pakistan. The design was carried out to produce a power output of 5 kW in order to address the issues with household and rural area power generating. The design was simulated using MATLAB. The use of solar energy as the engine's heat input was one of the design's key components. This allowed the engine to be built for locations with a lot of solar radiation. In regions with abundant solar energy, solar cookers, sun air warmers, and other appliances may be used. For power generation, however, the Stirling engine was chosen. Calculations of the sun intensity showed that 5 kW of Stirling engine output could be generated from 12 kW of solar electricity. The concentrator for concentrating and reflecting the incoming radiations to the Stirling engine was selected as a solar parabolic dish. This process heated the engine's working fluid, which then expanded and contracted due to thermodynamic forces to produce the engine's power strokes.Existe una necesidad crítica de usar la energía solar abundantemente disponible en todo el mundo debido a la crisis de energía global. El objetivo de este estudio es demostrar el uso residencial de un motor Stirling alimentado por energía solar en Karachi, Pakistán. El diseño se llevó a cabo para producir una potencia de salida de 5 kW para abordar los problemas con la generación de energía del hogar y el área rural. El diseño se simuló usando MATLAB. El uso de la energía solar como entrada de calor del motor fue uno de los componentes clave del diseño. Esto permitió construir el motor para ubicaciones con mucha radiación solar. En regiones con abundante energía solar, se pueden usar cocinas solares, calentadores de aire solar y otros electrodomésticos. Para la generación de energía, sin embargo, se eligió el motor Stirling. Los cálculos de la intensidad del sol mostraron que 5 kW de salida del motor Stirling podrían generarse a partir de 12 kW de electricidad solar. El concentrador para concentrar y reflejar las radiaciones entrantes al motor Stirling se seleccionó como un plato parabólico solar. Este proceso calentó el fluido de trabajo del motor, que luego se expandió y contrajo debido a las fuerzas termodinámicas para producir los golpes de energía del motor.Há uma necessidade crítica de usar a energia solar abundantemente disponível em todo o mundo devido à crise energética global. O objetivo deste estudo é demonstrar o uso residencial de um motor Stirling alimentado pela energia solar em Karachi, Paquistão. O projeto foi realizado para produzir uma potência de 5 kW, a fim de abordar os problemas com a geração de energia da área doméstica e da área rural. O design foi simulado usando o MATLAB. O uso da energia solar como a entrada de calor do motor foi um dos principais componentes do design. Isso permitiu que o motor fosse construído para locais com muita radiação solar. Em regiões com abundante energia solar, fogões solares, aquecedores de ar solar e outros aparelhos podem ser usados. Para a geração de energia, no entanto, o motor Stirling foi escolhido. Os cálculos da intensidade do sol mostraram que 5 kW de saída do motor Stirling podem ser gerados a partir de 12 kW de eletricidade solar. O concentrador para se concentrar e refletir as radiações de entrada no motor Stirling foi selecionado como um prato parabólico solar. Esse processo aqueceu o fluido de funcionamento do motor, que então se expandiu e contraiu devido a forças termodinâmicas para produzir os golpes de energia do motor

Level of agreement between frequently used cardiovascular risk calculators in people living with HIV

Objectives The aim of the study was to describe agreement between the QRISK2, Framingham and Data Collection on Adverse Events of Anti‐HIV Drugs (D:A:D) cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk calculators in a large UK study of people living with HIV (PLWH). Methods PLWH enrolled in the Pharmacokinetic and Clinical Observations in People over Fifty (POPPY) study without a prior CVD event were included in this study. QRISK2, Framingham CVD and the full and reduced D:A:D CVD scores were calculated; participants were stratified into ‘low’ ( 20%) categories for each. Agreement between scores was assessed using weighted kappas and Bland–Altman plots. Results The 730 included participants were predominantly male (636; 87.1%) and of white ethnicity (645; 88.5%), with a median age of 53 [interquartile range (IQR) 49–59] years. The median calculated 10‐year CVD risk was 11.9% (IQR 6.8–18.4%), 8.9% (IQR 4.6–15.0%), 8.5% (IQR 4.8–14.6%) and 6.9% (IQR 4.1–11.1%) when using the Framingham, QRISK2, and full and reduced D:A:D scores, respectively. Agreement between the different scores was generally moderate, with the highest level of agreement being between the Framingham and QRISK2 scores (weighted kappa = 0.65) but with most other kappa coefficients in the 0.50–0.60 range. Conclusions Estimates of predicted 10‐year CVD risk obtained with commonly used CVD risk prediction tools demonstrate, in general, only moderate agreement among PLWH in the UK. While further validation with clinical endpoints is required, our findings suggest that care should be taken when interpreting any score alone

Depression, lifestyle factors and cognitive function in people living with HIV and comparable HIV-negative controls

We investigated whether differences in cognitive performance between people living with HIV (PLWH) and comparable HIV-negative people were mediated or moderated by depressive symptoms and lifestyle factors. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 637 'older' PLWH aged ≥ 50 years, 340 'younger' PLWH aged < 50 years and 276 demographically matched HIV-negative controls aged ≥ 50 years enrolled in the Pharmacokinetic and Clinical Observations in People over Fifty (POPPY) study was performed. Cognitive function was assessed using a computerized battery (CogState). Scores were standardized into Z-scores [mean = 0; standard deviation (SD) = 1] and averaged to obtain a global Z-score. Depressive symptoms were evaluated via the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Differences between the three groups and the effects of depression, sociodemographic factors and lifestyle factors on cognitive performance were evaluated using median regression. All analyses accounted for age, gender, ethnicity and level of education. RESULTS: After adjustment for sociodemographic factors, older and younger PLWH had poorer overall cognitive scores than older HIV-negative controls (P < 0.001 and P = 0.006, respectively). Moderate or severe depressive symptoms were more prevalent in both older (27%; P < 0.001) and younger (21%; P < 0.001) PLWH compared with controls (8%). Depressive symptoms (P < 0.001) and use of hashish (P = 0.01) were associated with lower cognitive function; alcohol consumption (P = 0.02) was associated with better cognitive scores. After further adjustment for these factors, the difference between older PLWH and HIV-negative controls was no longer significant (P = 0.08), while that between younger PLWH and older HIV-negative controls remained significant (P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Poorer cognitive performances in PLWH compared with HIV-negative individuals were, in part, mediated by the greater prevalence of depressive symptoms and recreational drug use reported by PLWH

Validation of a novel multivariate method of defining HIV-associated cognitive impairment

Background. The optimum method of defining cognitive impairment in virally suppressed people living with HIV is unknown. We evaluated the relationships between cognitive impairment, including using a novel multivariate method (NMM), patient– reported outcome measures (PROMs), and neuroimaging markers of brain structure across 3 cohorts. Methods. Differences in the prevalence of cognitive impairment, PROMs, and neuroimaging data from the COBRA, CHARTER, and POPPY cohorts (total n = 908) were determined between HIV-positive participants with and without cognitive impairment defined using the HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND), global deficit score (GDS), and NMM criteria. Results. The prevalence of cognitive impairment varied by up to 27% between methods used to define impairment (eg, 48% for HAND vs 21% for NMM in the CHARTER study). Associations between objective cognitive impairment and subjective cognitive complaints generally were weak. Physical and mental health summary scores (SF-36) were lowest for NMM-defined impairment (P < .05). There were no differences in brain volumes or cortical thickness between participants with and without cognitive impairment defined using the HAND and GDS measures. In contrast, those identified with cognitive impairment by the NMM had reduced mean cortical thickness in both hemispheres (P < .05), as well as smaller brain volumes (P < .01). The associations with measures of white matter microstructure and brain-predicted age generally were weaker. Conclusion. Different methods of defining cognitive impairment identify different people with varying symptomatology and measures of brain injury. Overall, NMM-defined impairment was associated with most neuroimaging abnormalities and poorer selfreported health status. This may be due to the statistical advantage of using a multivariate approac

Vision based 3D obstacle detection using a single camera for robots/UAVs

This thesis aims at detecting obstacles using a single camera in an unknown 3D world for 3D motion of the robot/UAV. Obstacle detection is a pre-requisite for collision-free motion of robots/UAVs. Most of the research in this area has been for 2D motion of the ground robots and with active sensors e.g Laser range finders, Ultrasonic sensors, SONAR, RADAR etc. The passive camera based research has mostly been done either using triangulation/stereo vision (using more than one camera), or, developing an expectation map pre-hand, of the world and comparing it with the new image data. In contrast, this thesis, aims at finding solution of the problem using just a single camera in a perfectly unknown world. This requirement is based on the fact that at least a single camera would be carried by almost all robots/UAVs anyway in foreseeable future. Hence the attempt is to use the same camera for obstacle detection and avoidance task as well, so as to come up with a low cost and light weight solution, in order to facilitate building miniature robots/UAVs.M.S.Committee Co-Chair: Johnson, Eric; Committee Co-Chair: Lipkin, Harvey; Committee Member: Sadegh, Nade

Single camera based vision systems for ground and; aerial robots

Efficient and effective vision systems are proposed in this work for object detection for ground&aerial robots venturing into unknown environments with minimum vision aids, i.e. a single camera. The first problem attempted is that of object search and identification in a situation similar to a disaster site. Based on image analysis, typical pixel-based characteristics of a visual marker have been established to search for, using a block based search algorithm, along with a noise and interference filter. The proposed algorithm has been successfully utilized for the International Aerial Robotics competition 2009. The second problem deals with object detection for collision avoidance in 3D environments. It has been shown that a 3D model of the scene can be generated from 2D image information from a single camera flying through a very small arc of lateral flight around the object, without the need of capturing images from all sides. The forward flight simulations show that the depth extracted from forward motion is usable for large part of the image. After analyzing various constraints associated with this and other existing approaches, Motion Estimation has been proposed. Implementation of motion estimation on videos from onboard cameras resulted in various undesirable and noisy vectors. An in depth analysis of such vectors is presented and solutions are proposed and implemented, demonstrating desirable motion estimation for collision avoidance task.Ph.D.Committee Chair: Eric Norman Johnson; Committee Member: Daniel P Schrage; Committee Member: Eric Feron; Committee Member: Mark Costello; Committee Member: Phillip Jone

Development of Rapid Methods for Relaxation Time Mapping and Motion Estimation Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Recent technological developments in the field of magnetic resonance imaging have resulted in advanced techniques that can reduce the total time to acquire images. For applications such as relaxation time mapping, which enables improved visualisation of in vivo structures, rapid imaging techniques are highly desirable. TAPIR is a Look-Locker-based sequence for high-resolution, multislice T1 relaxation time mapping. Despite the high accuracy and precision of TAPIR, an improvement in the k-space sampling trajectory is desired to acquire data in clinically acceptable times. In this thesis, a new trajectory, termed line-sharing, is introduced for TAPIR that can potentially reduce the acquisition time by 40 %. Additionally, the line-sharing method was compared with the GRAPPA parallel imaging method. These methods were employed to reconstruct time-point images from the data acquired on a 4T high-field MR research scanner. Multislice, multipoint in vivo results obtained using these methods are presented. Despite improvement in acquisition speed, through line-sharing, for example, motion remains a problem and artefact-free data cannot always be obtained. Therefore, in this thesis, a rapid technique is introduced to estimate in-plan

3D Obstacle Detection Using a Single Camera

Presented at the AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference, 10 - 13 August 2009, Chicago, Illinois.Copyright © 2009 by Syed Irtiza Ali Shah. Published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., with permission.This paper aims at detecting obstacles using a single camera in an unknown three dimensional world, for 3D motion of an unmanned air vehicle. Obstacle detection is a pre-requisite for collision-free motion of a UAV through 3D space. Most research towards vision based obstacle detection and avoidance has been done for 2D planar motion of ground robots and using active sensors like laser range finders, sonar, radar etc. Passive camera based research has mostly been done, either using stereo vision (multiple cameras) or, by developing a prior expectation map of the world and its comparison with the new image data. In this paper, an attempt has been made to find a 3D solution of the obstacle detection problem using a single camera in an unknown world. The equations developed and the simulations results presented here, show that a 3D model of the scene can be generated from 2D image information from a single camera flying through a very small arc of lateral flight around the object, without the need of capturing images from all sides as in a typical 'structures from motion' problem. The forward flight simulation results show that the depth extracted from forward motion is in fact usable for large part of the image, which is a significant contribution of this work