Configuration Change Management

Configuration Change Management is an integral part of the design and development process for products and processes. Many companies do not focus on the issue of change management even with the realization that change is inevitable. History has shown that if a company does not continue to innovate, whether it is products or services, it will not be able to remain successful. This philosophy is extremely important with design engineering companies. If managed correctly, change can be a significant benefit to a company. Changes come at various stages in the lifecycle of a product. Understanding the impact at the specific stage in a product lifecycle will minimize the impact to the business. Change should be approached as a planned and managed process versus a process driven out of necessity. Configuration change management should focus to align resources and activities within an organization. Prior to a change being implemented, all stakeholders should review the proposal or request for impact assessment. This impact assessment should include an assessment of implementation feasibility, cost, resource assessment, and schedule impact, as well as a review for implementation. By analyzing this data, a business is much better positioned to make a decision that has the lowest impact to the business and the customer. In addition, prioritization and approval of the change should be a decision made by all parties within the organization. If change is properly prepared for and anticipated, then the business will be much better positioned to react when product changes are necessary. By understanding how the change affects the business, a company is able to effectively implement the change with minimal impact to the business

Testing of Carbon Fiber Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel Stress-Rupture Lifetime

This paper contains summaries of testing procedures and analysis of stress rupture life testing for two stress rupture test programs, one for Kevlar COPVs performed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and the other a joint study between NASA JSC White Sands Test Facility and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. These will be discussed in detail including test setup and issues encountered during testing. Lessons learned from testing in these two programs will be discussed

Lack of Gender Differences in Prevalence of Homelessness in the Emergency Department.

Background: Concordant with the NIH policy on the inclusion of women in clinical research, and their support of analyses that address potential sex and gender differences, researchers are focusing more on assessing outcomes by sex. Objective(s): We set out to assess gender differences in the prevalence of homelessness in the Emergency Department (ED). Material/Methods: From 5/2015-2/2016, ED patients were approached to take a five-question homelessness screening survey. To participate, patients had to be: 18 years or older, speak English, have capacity, not be critically ill, and be willing to participate. Results: 4494 subjects met inclusion criteria; 99 surveys were excluded (took the survey before). 4395 subjects were analyzed. The mean age of subjects was 50.8 years (SD 20.5) and 2,557 (58.2%) were women. No difference in the rate of homelessness was observed between male and female participants with 135 men out of 1,835 (7.4%) and 173 out of 2,557 (6.8%) women screening positive, (p = 0.472). The mean age of those screening positive for homelessness was 40.9 years (SD 15.9); the mean age of men screening positive was 42.4 years (SD = 16.2) and women was 43.7 years (SD 16.9). Both men (N = 41) and women (N = 40) admitted they had slept outside, in an abandoned building, in their car, a shelter or a motel due to financial hardship. Conclusions: We did not observe differences in the rate of homelessness between men and women who screened positive for homelessness in the ED. These data combat stereotypes that this social issue is a problem primarily affecting male populations. Public health interventions aimed at homeless populations should be cognizant that both genders are dealing with this burden. A deeper understanding of the demographics of homelessness may allow for better access to medical treatment since women have different health care needs than men