Safety management of a complex R&D ground operating system

Report discusses safety program implementation for large R&D operating system. Analytical techniques are defined and suggested as tools for identifying potential hazards and determining means to effectively control or eliminate hazards

Understanding dynamics of strategic decision-making in venture creation: a process study of effectuation and causation

The process of new venture creation is characterized by the need to decide and take action in the face of uncertainty. Especially in the context of technology-based ventures uncertainty is substantial, posing difficulties for strategic decision-making based on prediction and planning. As alternative, more flexible and adaptive decision-making logics are being advanced. This study draws upon effectuation and causation as examples of planning-based and flexible decision-making logics, and investigates dynamics in the use of both logics. The study applies a longitudinal process research approach to investigate strategic decision-making in new venture creation over time. Combining qualitative and quantitative methods, we analyze 385 decision events across nine technology-based ventures. Our observations suggest a hybrid perspective on strategic decision-making, demonstrating how effectuation and causation logics are combined, and how entrepreneurs’ emphasis on these logics shifts and re-shifts over time. From our data, we induce a dynamic model which extends the literature on strategic decision-making in venture creation, illustrating how external and venture conditions - including not only uncertainty but also resource position and stakeholder pressure - lead to changes in venture scope, and thereby to shifts in the use of decision-making logics

An Analysis of Leukocyte Radioactivity Curves Obtained with Radioactive Disssopropylflourophosphate (DFP)

journal articleBiomedical Informatic

Social work and the penal state

The Criminal Justice System (CJS) has historically been a key site of social work intervention. Wacquant (2008, 2009a and 2009b) argues that the growth of social insecurity and the expansion of the penal state are endogenous features of the neo-liberal political project. The key premises of neo-liberalism have been accepted by parties of both the left and the right. Wacquant identifies that the “doxa” of the penal state such as “prison works” “zero tolerance” and “broken windows” have been widely accepted in an uncritical fashion. This shift alongside an increase in inequality had led to increasing social anxiety and mistrust. One manifestation of these trends is the “decline of the rehabilitative ideal” (Garland, 2001). Offenders, who were once generally viewed as marginalised individuals in need of social and welfare support are now regarded as sites of risk. The USA has led a penal arms race, in which, the use of imprisonment has grown significantly. In Europe, England and Wales has followed this trend most closely. Whilst acknowledging that penal policy is the result of a complex inter-relationship between social, cultural and historical factors, there are lessons to be learnt from the US experience. These include the impact of race and class inequalities as manifest in the CJS. The act of imprisonment is arguably an act of state violence and alongside the impact on individuals, communities and families, it has huge symbolic significance and value. The expansion of the penal state: the increasing numbers, poor conditions and the over-representation of minority groups mean that it should be a core social work concern. The paper outlines the ways, in which, risk and managerialism have sidelined core social work values in the CJS. It concludes that developments in the USA, particularly the decision in Brown v. Plata highlight a way out of the current impasse. Penal policy and conditions can only be reformed if the inherent dignity of offenders is rediscovered and placed at its centre

The predictive validity of the APIL-B in a financial institution.

The purpose of this study was to assess the predictive validity of the APIL test battery, designed to identify learning potential. A sample of 235 successful job applicants completed the APIL Battery and the scores obtained were compared with a set of job success ratings provided by their direct managers. The predictive validity and the use of this psychometric device were assessed within the broad context of the provisions of the Employment Equity Act (55 of 1998), and the manner in which the information about an employee is to be used. The findings are generally positive and their implications are discussed below

Identificación del índice de vulnerabilidad territorial a partir de modelos jerárquicos y heurísticos aplicando SOA

Auxiliar de InvestigaciónEn el proyecto se realiza el diseño y desarrollo de 4 servicios web implementando los modelos de toma de decisión (AHP, AHP FUZZY, ELECTRE y PROMETHEE), encargados de procesar datos obtenidos en campo en la primera fase del proyecto que se realizó a través de encuestas, formatos de entrevistas, talleres y metodologías de análisis. Los datos se procesaran de acuerdo al modelo de toma de decisión seleccionado, generando como resultado final un indicador de vulnerabilidad territorial.PregradoIngeniero de Sistema

Antichresis: a comparative study of classical Roman law and the contractual praxis from Roman Egypt

The authors examine how papyrological sources from Roman Egypt written in Greek on antichresis relate to classical Roman law. Antichresis attested in papyrological antichretic contracts had a lot in common with antichresis emerging from Roman dispute resolutions. There was only one substantive difference: in classical Roman law, protection of the debtor was emphasized, whereas in the Greek papyrological antichretic contracts the position of the creditor was favoured. Given the similarities found, the authors conclude that antichretic loan both as an independent legal institution and as a pactum antichreticum was a pan-Mediterranean legal concept.Coherent privaatrech

New strategies and designs in pancreatic cancer research: consensus guidelines report from a European expert panel

Although the treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains a huge challenge, it is entering a new era with the development of new strategies and trial designs. Because there is an increasing number of novel therapeutic agents and potential combinations available to test in patients with PDAC, the identification of robust prognostic and predictive markers and of new targets and relevant pathways is a top priority as well as the design of adequate trials incorporating molecular-driven hypothesis. We presently report a consensus strategy for research in pancreatic cancer that was developed by a multidisciplinary panel of experts from different European institutions and collaborative groups involved in pancreatic cancer. The expert panel embraces the concept of exploratory early proof of concept studies, based on the prediction of response to novel agents and combinations, and randomised phase II studies permitting the selection of the best therapeutic approach to go forward into phase III, where the recommended primary end point remains overall survival. Trials should contain as many translational components as possible, relying on standardised tissue and blood processing and robust biobanking, and including dynamic imaging. Attention should not only be paid to the pancreatic cancer cells but also to microenvironmental factors and stem/stellate cell

Modeling the decline of the Porcupine Caribou Herd, 1989-1998: the importance of survival vs. recruitment

The Porcupine caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti) herd increased from approximately 100 000 animals during the 1970s to 178 000 in 1989, then declined to 129 000 by 1998. Our objective was to model the dynamics of this herd and investigate the potential that lower calf recruitment, as was observed during 1991-1993, produced the observed population changes. A deterministic model was prepared using estimates of birth and survival rates that reproduced the pattern of population growth from 1971-1989. Then, parameters were changed to simulate effects of lower calf recruitment and adult survival. Reducing recruitment for 3 years caused an immediate reduction in population size, but the population began to recover in 5-6 years. Even a dramatic temporary reduction in recruitment did not explain the continuing decline after 1995. In contrast, a slight but persistent reduction in adult survival caused a decline that closely followed the observed pattern. This suggests that survival of adults, and perhaps calves, has declined since the late 1980s

Adding a treatment arm to an ongoing clinical trial: a review of methodology and practice

Incorporating an emerging therapy as a new randomisation arm in a clinical trial that is open to recruitment would be desirable to researchers, regulators and patients to ensure that the trial remains current, new treatments are evaluated as quickly as possible, and the time and cost for determining optimal therapies is minimised. It may take many years to run a clinical trial from concept to reporting within a rapidly changing drug development environment; hence, in order for trials to be most useful to inform policy and practice, it is advantageous for them to be able to adapt to emerging therapeutic developments. This paper reports a comprehensive literature review on methodologies for, and practical examples of, amending an ongoing clinical trial by adding a new treatment arm. Relevant methodological literature describing statistical considerations required when making this specific type of amendment is identified, and the key statistical concepts when planning the addition of a new treatment arm are extracted, assessed and summarised. For completeness, this includes an assessment of statistical recommendations within general adaptive design guidance documents. Examples of confirmatory ongoing trials designed within the frequentist framework that have added an arm in practice are reported; and the details of the amendment are reviewed. An assessment is made as to how well the relevant statistical considerations were addressed in practice, and the related implications. The literature review confirmed that there is currently no clear methodological guidance on this topic, but that guidance would be advantageous to help this efficient design amendment to be used more frequently and appropriately in practice. Eight confirmatory trials were identified to have added a treatment arm, suggesting that trials can benefit from this amendment and that it can be practically feasible; however, the trials were not always able to address the key statistical considerations, often leading to uninterpretable or invalid outcomes. If the statistical concepts identified within this review are considered and addressed during the design of a trial amendment, it is possible to effectively assess a new treatment arm within an ongoing trial without compromising the original trial outcomes