Understanding stakeholder expectations in higher education

Higher education invests heavily in information technology and information systems, with variable outcomes. Organisations in other sectors, such as engineering, the defence industry, public administration and business, have developed and adopted good practice for the choice, development and operation of software-based systems that are only sometimes understood in higher education. In order to assess the extent to which good practice might assist higher education, the four tertiary institutions in the Western Cape of South Africa were approached and a representative range of academic, administrative, technical and managerial respondents agreed to contribute to the study. Interviews were organised in two parts: the first an open conversation about their involvement with systems, and the second a structured examination of systems-related events that they considered significant. By inspection of those events, bipolar scales were developed by which respondents were able to characterise events (for example as ‘challenging’ or ‘easy’, or as ‘functional’ or ‘dysfunctional’). Respondents rated events on those scales. Repertory Grid analysis was applied so as to investigate which scales correlated with event success. 30 scales (out of 170) proved to be adequately correlated with success, and by principal component analysis they were combined to form ten ‘success scale’ groups, indicating ten areas where the deployment of good practice might be expected to lead to more effective use of improved information systems. A new Reference Model is developed that has a role to play in resolving the transitions between the domains of the Information Management Body of Knowledge (IMBOK)

Multiple range imaging camera operation with minimal performance impact

Time-of-flight range imaging cameras operate by illuminating a scene with amplitude modulated light and measuring the phase shift of the modulation envelope between the emitted and reflected light. Object distance can then be calculated from this phase measurement. This approach does not work in multiple camera environments as the measured phase is corrupted by the illumination from other cameras. To minimize inaccuracies in multiple camera environments, replacing the traditional cyclic modulation with pseudo-noise amplitude modulation has been previously demonstrated. However, this technique effectively reduced the modulation frequency, therefore decreasing the distance measurement precision (which has a proportional relationship with the modulation frequency). A new modulation scheme using maximum length pseudo-random sequences binary phase encoded onto the existing cyclic amplitude modulation, is presented. The effective modulation frequency therefore remains unchanged, providing range measurements with high precision. The effectiveness of the new modulation scheme was verified using a custom time-of-flight camera based on the PMD19-K2 range imaging sensor. The new pseudo-noise modulation has no significant performance decrease in a single camera environment. In a two camera environment, the precision is only reduced by the increased photon shot noise from the second illumination source

A critical role for suppressor of cytokine signalling 3 in promoting M1 macrophage activation and function in vitro and in vivo

Funded by Medical Research Council. Grant Number: 74804 NHS Grampian Endowments Research Trust. Grant Number: 12/16 Kidney Research UK. Grant Number: RP1/2012 Cunningham Trust. Grant Number: ACC/KWF/CT08/03Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Surrogate Model Optimisation for PWR Fuel Management

Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) fuel management is an operational problem for nuclear operators, requiring solutions on a regular basis throughout the life of the plant. A variety of conflicting factors and changing goals mean that fuel loading pattern design problems are multiobjective and, by design, have many input variables. This causes a combinatorial explosion, known as the ‘curse of dimensionality’, which makes these complex problems difficult to investigate. In this thesis, the method of surrogate model optimisation is adapted to PWR loading pattern generation. Surrogate models are developed based around three approaches: deep learning methods (convolutional neural networks and multi-layer perceptrons), the fission matrix and simulated quantum annealing. The models are used to predict core parameters of reactors in simplified optimisation scenarios for a microcore, a small modular reactor, and a ‘standard’ PWR. The experiments with deep learning models show that competitive results can be obtained for training sets using a much lower number of simulations than direct optimisation. Fission matrix experiments demonstrate the method to predict core parameters for the first time, with interesting preliminary results. Novel experiments using simulated quantum annealing demonstrate the technique is able to generate loading patterns by following heuristic rules and is suitable for application to custom optimisation hardware. The principal contribution of this work is to show that surrogate model optimisation can be used to augment fuel loading pattern optimisation, generating competitive results and providing enormous computational cost reduction and thus permitting more investigation within a given computational budget. These methods can also make use of new computational hardware such as neural chips and quantum annealers. The promising methods developed in this thesis thus provide candidate implementations that can bring the benefits of these innovations to the sphere of nuclear engineering

Building design team communication: practice and education.

This study examined three propositions: - (i) there are problems in the building design team created by difficulties of communication between different professional disciplines, (ii) communication difficulties are primarily a function of cultural differences instilled by vocational education, and (iii) communication gaps require educational initiatives able to bridge cultural differences instilled by vocational traditions in the educational process. To achieve the most efficient process and ultimately a more effective product, building design team professionals must maximise their capacity for integrated activity and inter-professional communication. The nature of inter-professional relationships, and their development through the group formation process, is presented as a central consideration in the analysis of building design team communication. The rationale and methodological development of the study seeks to understand whether differences in inter-professional interaction are largely a matter of values and attitudes, and whether these can be modified by training to improve communication in the building design team. Research examines whether influencing positively professional attitudes at the formative stage addresses inter-disciplinary dissonance. This study establishes a link between education for the construction industry, and the adverse affects of perceived professional discord. This study goes beyond current conflictual opinion regarding the structure of specialised education for construction, and presents evidence that, handled correctly, future tertiary education can provide the most suitable antecedent for a more efficiently integrated building industry

Longitudinal qualitative evaluation of pharmacist integration into the urgent care setting

Purpose: To describe the most effective model for managing, educating, and training pharmacist advanced clinical practitioners (ACPs) in the urgent care center (UCC) setting, role evolution and how to measure their effectiveness. Participants and methods: Ethical approval was obtained to perform a qualitative longitudinal cohort study in three sites, with three pharmacists in each trained as ACPs from 2016 to 2017. ACP role, location, management, mentorship, and supervision were locally determined. ACPs attended focus groups (FGs) at 1 and 3 months (sites 1–3), 6 and 12 months (site 1 only), and the UCC staff were interviewed once with a topic guide regarding training, integration, role, and impact. Verbatim transcriptions were analyzed thematically. Results: Eight ACP FGs and 24 stakeholder interviews produced major themes of communication, management, education and training, role, and outcomes. Effective education, training, and integration required communication of role to address concerns regarding salary differentials, supportive management structure, and multi-professional learning. ACPs reported that the model of workplace training, experiential learning, and university-based education was appropriate. Training was better located in the minor injuries and general practitioner areas. Recommended measures of effectiveness included patient satisfaction and workload transfer. Conclusion: The education and training model was appropriate. Communication and management require careful consideration to ensure effective integration and role development. Pharmacists were better located initially in the minor illness rather than major trauma areas. Quality of patient experience resulting from the new role was important in addition to reassurance that the role represented a positive contribution to workload