Adoption Of New Methods Research Articles

From cruelty to welfare: the emergence of farm animal welfare in Britain, 1964–71

There is a long history of concern in Britain for how animals are treated. Until the 1960s, these concerns were expressed largely in terms of cruelty or suffering, which was prevented through various acts of Parliament. Over the period 1964-71, amidst public debates about intensive farming, a new discourse of animal welfare emerged. To understand what welfare meant and how it became established as a term, a concept and a target of government regulation, it is necessary to examine farming politics and practices, the existing tradition of animal protection and attempts to rethink the nature of animal suffering.

HORTICULTURAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING FUTURES IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

In recent years horticulture has been a rapidly expanding industry in Australia and New Zealand, with an increase in the value of both the production and lifestyle sectors. In contrast, the last 25 years has seen a significant decline in student numbers, graduates, course titles and descriptions of horticulture offered as applied science or horticultural science in Australia and New Zealand. A 2008-2009 study evaluated the opportunities for horticultural education, training and careers in Australia and New Zealand. A survey was conducted in association with 20 Universities that offered agricultural/horticultural/environmental science programs both in Australia and New Zealand. Results show that horticulture has become marginalized within Australian and New Zealand academia and universities. Of the 47 recognized universities in Australia and New Zealand only 10% offered horticulture as a standalone degree program. Less than 20% offered horticulture either as a major, as a core discipline area, or as an individual subject. This trend is less apparent in vocational education and training. Some initiatives are in place to address these challenges. These promote horticulture and/or science and improve program delivery (specializations, dual degrees, industry-based degrees). Other initiatives include the adoption of new methods of learning (e-learning, web-based systems) and approaches to promote horticulture as a career and profession. These and similar initiatives may help to improve the image of horticulture as a profession and ensure courses remain relevant in a changing world. To meet industry needs, future horticultural research, teaching and training may need to encompass technical, marketing and leadership skills.

Barriers and drivers for sustainable building

What are the actual barriers and drivers for sustainable building? A literature review, interviews and case studies are presented to address this question. Sustainable building is not hindered by a lack of technologies and assessment methods, but is instead beset with organizational and procedural difficulties entailed by the adoption of new methods. New technologies are resisted because they require process changes entailing risks and unforeseen costs. These hindrances can be reduced by learning what kind of decision-making phases, new tasks, actors, roles and ways of networking are needed. The barriers are outlined as steering mechanisms, economics, a lack of client understanding, process (procurement and tendering, timing, cooperation and networking), and underpinning knowledge (knowledge and common language, the availability of methods and tools, innovation). The most important actions to promote sustainable building are the development of the awareness of clients about the benefits of sustainable building, the development and adoption of methods for sustainable building requirement management, the mobilization of sustainable building tools, the development of designers' competence and team working, and the development of new concepts and services. The interviews and case studies were carried out in Finland, but the results may be applicable or interesting to other countries as well. Quels sont les obstacles et les vecteurs actuels en matière de construction de bâtiments durables ? Il est présenté une analyse bibliographique, des entretiens et des études de cas afin d'examiner cette question. La construction de bâtiments durables n'est pas entravée par un manque de technologies et de méthodes d'évaluation, mais est plutôt en butte à de multiples difficultés organisationnelles et procédurales occasionnées par l'adoption de méthodes nouvelles. Il y a une résistance aux nouvelles technologies parce qu'elles nécessitent des modifications des processus entraînant des risques et des coûts imprévus. Il est possible de réduire ces entraves en faisant l'apprentissage de ce qui est nécessaire, s'agissant des phases de prise de décision, des nouvelles tâches, des nouveaux acteurs, des nouvelles fonctions et des nouveaux modes de mise en réseau. Les obstacles passés en revue concernent les mécanismes de pilotage, l'économie, un manque de compréhension des clients, les processus (achats et appels d'offres, timing, coopération et mise en réseau) et les connaissances de base (connaissances et langage commun, disponibilité des méthodes et des outils, innovation). Les mesures les plus importantes pour promouvoir la construction de bâtiments durables sont le développement de la sensibilisation des clients aux avantages d'un bâtiment durable, le développement et l'adoption de méthodes de gestion des exigences propres aux bâtiments durables, la mobilisation des outils de construction durable, le développement des compétences des concepteurs et du travail d'équipe, et le développement de concepts et de services nouveaux. Les entretiens et les études de cas ont été réalisés en Finlande, mais les résultats peuvent également s'appliquer à d'autres pays ou présenter un intérêt pour d'autres pays. Mots clés: obstacles, industrie du bâtiment, vecteurs, gestion, changement organisationnel, professionnalisme, processus de construction durable, bâtiment durable

WebGimm: An integrated web-based platform for cluster analysis, functional analysis, and interactive visualization of results

Cluster analysis methods have been extensively researched, but the adoption of new methods is often hindered by technical barriers in their implementation and use. WebGimm is a free cluster analysis web-service, and an open source general purpose clustering web-server infrastructure designed to facilitate easy deployment of integrated cluster analysis servers based on clustering and functional annotation algorithms implemented in R. Integrated functional analyses and interactive browsing of both, clustering structure and functional annotations provides a complete analytical environment for cluster analysis and interpretation of results. The Java Web Start client-based interface is modeled after the familiar cluster/treeview packages making its use intuitive to a wide array of biomedical researchers. For biomedical researchers, WebGimm provides an avenue to access state of the art clustering procedures. For Bioinformatics methods developers, WebGimm offers a convenient avenue to deploy their newly developed clustering methods. WebGimm server, software and manuals can be freely accessed at http://ClusterAnalysis.org/.

Sustainable development of a solar adsorption cooling machine

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the possibility of the use of a solar adsorption refrigeration machine, using the pair activated carbon/ammonia within the framework of sustainability and development of rural areas.Design/methodology/approachThe limited availability of electrical grid in rural areas of Morocco makes necessary the adoption of new methods in order to provide the needs of energy services, which represent an important factor affecting the quality of life. The studies that were undertaken in this current paper investigated the sensitivity of the COP as well as the production of the cold at various refrigeration machine temperatures.FindingsIt can be recognized that the feasibility of the machine with significant production of cold in the form of ice is between 3.33 and 4.14 kg/m2 for a solar flat plate collector; and between 7.16 and 9.94 kg/m2 for solar flat plate.Originality/valueThe paper presents a model of decision‐making support for selecting the optimal conditions for the use of a solar adsorption refrigeration machine. The model optimises the quantity of cold produced and the coefficient of performance (COP) of the machine and investigates the sensitivity of the COP to the characteristic temperatures of the cycle of the machine.

The 25th anniversary volume of Quality and Reliability Engineering International

The recently completed volume of Quality and Reliability Engineering International is its 25th anniversary. The mission of the journal is to provide information on new developments in many aspects of the discipline to professionals with research articles, review papers, and applications and case study papers. It is appropriate to look back over this anniversary volume and identify some important themes, highlight some of the significant papers that contribute to those themes, and discuss what we hope to see in the future. Statistical Process Control (SPC) and related topics continue to be an important area of research and applications. The journal published many noteworthy papers in this area, including the papers on adaptive procedures by Li et al.1 and Kooli and Liman2, run-to-run control3, integration of SPC with other techniques4, 5, design of control charts6, 7, and methods for identifying the change point in high-yield processes8. Reliability engineering and the associated statistical methods continue to be a key focus area for the journal. Koka et al.9 present an interdisciplinary approach to reliability in design and Samet10 discusses fault-tolerant computing. Accelerated life testing techniques are discussed by Liu and Tang11 and Pan12. Remenyte-Prescott and Andrews13 present a new real-time method for the efficient analysis of non-coherent fault trees. Anderson-Cook et al.14 investigate resource allocation for a complex system with aging components. Designed experiments and robust design are an integral part of both product design and process improvement. Methodology for robust product or process design is considered by Shaibu et al.15, Steenackers et al.16 and Rodriguez et al.17. Hazelrigg18 discusses many interesting aspects of engineering design. Other extremely useful papers include Gaudard et al.19 on the interaction between data mining and designed experiments, Guo et al.20 on the general balanced metric for mixed-level fractional factorial designs, Wesley et al.21 on prediction variance in split-plot designs, Guo et al.22 on optimal fold-over designs for mixed-level fractional factorial designs, and Jones and Johnson23 on designs for computer experiments. The journal also presented several interesting case studies, including Monroe and Pan24, Carmignani25, Magniez et al.26, Johnson et al.27 and Aksoy and Orbak28. Case studies are an important part of this journal. We have a high standard for these papers. They must represent the best of contemporary practice either through the application of new methodology or the application of existing methods in unique environments. Quality and reliability engineers are knowledge workers. They accumulate, generate and deploy knowledge with the express objective of improving products, processes, services and society. Case studies facilitate the generation and widespread adoption of new methods or provide insight about how existing methods can be used in novel situations. These types of papers can perform a valuable service to our profession. We encourage potential authors of case studies to contribute to our journal.

A Retrospective on Volume 23 of Quality and Reliability Engineering International

Through the first 23 years of its existence, Quality and Reliability Engineering International has established itself as a key journal in the field, providing valuable information on new developments on many aspects of the subject to professionals all over the world with research articles, applications, and case study papers and timely reviews of new books. The recently completed Volume 23 (2007) continues that tradition. It is appropriate to look back over that volume and identify some important themes for the volume, highlight some of the significant papers that contribute to those themes, and discuss the future—what we hope to see going forward. Six sigma was an important topic for the journal last year. The papers by Tang et al.1 and Ung et al.2 identified some potentially useful additions to the usual six sigma tool kit as it is typically practiced through the DMAIC process and showed how six sigma principles can be applied to the critical issue of port security. Six sigma, which celebrated its 20th birthday in 2007, will continue to grow as the primary framework for quality and business improvement. The journal will continue to be a forum for both research and applications of six sigma. Applications grow in fields outside traditional manufacturing, and applications in finance, marketing, health care, distribution and logistics, public service, and government operations will continue to expand. We hope to see papers on these new applications and new tools to support those applications in future issues of the journal. Statistical process control continues to be an important area of research and applications. The journal published many noteworthy papers in this area, including the work by Wu et al.3 on adaptive Cusum schemes for monitoring the mean and variance, use of cuscores by Nembhard and Changpetch4, Nembhard and Valverde-Ventura5, and Nembhard and Chen6, and the important works on monitoring profiles by Mahmoud et al.7 and Williams et al.8. Other interesting and useful papers include work on change points by Perry et al.9, control charting dependent attribute data by Shepherd et al.10, and multivariate quality control by Guh11 and Bersimis et al.12. Another major technique for process and product quality improvement, designed experiments, continued to attract important papers to the journal. These include new work on blocking in two-level factorial designs by Kulahci13, split-plots (see Liang et al.14 and Naes et al.15), and Plackett–Burman designs by Kulahci and Bisgaard16. Many industrial experiments involve both factors that are easy to change and hard to change. Consequently, complete randomization of the treatment combinations is expensive, time consuming, or (frequently) impossible. Split-plot designs were originally developed in the agricultural sciences as a solution to this problem. The last few years have seen considerable research devoted to the deployment of these designs in the industrial setting. This journal continues to lead the way in publishing innovative research on this topic. Issue number 6 was a special issue devoted to quality management, applications, and development. Two highlights of this issue were the papers by Kenett17, Godfrey and Kenett18, and Bisgaard19 on the contributions, impact, and legacy of Joseph M. Juran. Juran is one of the foremost thinkers in the filed of management, not just quality management. Managerial breakthrough, a project-oriented approach to improvement, and system-wide approach to the integrated organizational use of quality tools are only some of the ideas he pioneered. Six sigma and the DMAIC process borrow heavily from the philosophy and methods of Juran. Quality and reliability engineers are knowledge workers, in the truest sense of that phrase. They accumulate, generate, and deploy knowledge with the express objective of improving products, processes, services, and society. Journals that facilitate the generation and widespread adoption of new methods perform a valuable service to the profession and to society in general. Quality and Reliability Engineering International will continue to play that vital role.

Managing knowledge in software method adoption

The complex and problematic relationship between software development methods and practices is well documented. Methods are difficult to adopt. There are several barriers toward successfully bringing methods to practice, and practices are, by the end of the day, quite different from method prescriptions. Methods are, however, continually developed, and organisations spend considerable resources trying to improve practices through adoption of new methods. We know relatively little about the long-term dynamics involved in such adoption efforts. This research reports from a three-year effort within an IT department of a large multinational company in which a new method was first introduced, then used to support organisation-wide projects, and subsequently extended based on emerging practices. The study applies two complementary knowledge management perspectives networks and networking to interpret the experiences from the case. The study reveals how method perceptions and approaches shift radically through different stages of software method adoption.

ABSTRACT: The Impending Obsolescence of Maps

Abstract Maps have become a critical component of modern society, and specifically of oil and gas exploration and production. Maps only become indispensable when there is too much information to hold a person's head, or when there is a need to confirm artificial (for example, ownership) boundaries. Models are replacing maps, much like people who have the innate ability to visualize three dimensions have been more successful oil finders than those who do not. Because the oil and gas industry accepts that in the final analysis, oil is first found the mind, a logical step to solving the problem of understanding spatial complexity is to find ways to make all relevant information available to our minds. Immersive environments provide a new way to evaluate data traditionally studied as surfaces, cross-sections, and other types of maps. Allowing a display to move from the 2-D plane to a true 3-D visualization, immersive environments drive computer-controlled, human-scale stereo display and audio systems. Immersive environments are becoming widely available both inside and outside the oil and gas industry. Rapid comprehension of complex spatial information can be achieved when data are evaluated simultaneously and proportionally with the sources of the data. In the oil and gas industry, many models require N-dimensional data integration. Multi-dimensional models render major improvements, beyond what can be derived from 2-D maps. Seeing and hearing spatial relationships between data types highlights inconsistencies, and the process of reconciliation these differences greatly enhance understanding. Since models have embedded knowledge and users can interact with them, visceral understanding of the data can be obtained simply by walking around the model an immersive environment. The conventional reader can more easily replicate the 3 or more dimensional model their mind and explain it to others, allowing better communication and better collaboration, both the same environment and across distances. As more data and information become available every walk of life, understanding interrelationships requires the adoption of new methods to understand spatial complexities that the conventional planar 2-D map can not encompass. End_of_Record - Last_Page 186-------

Internet-based econometric computing

Modern econometrics requires implementation of highly specialized software. In contrast to mathematical arguments used in implementing new econometric techniques the corresponding software algorithms require specific platforms. The specialization of hardware and software, in fact, seriously impedes the adoption of new methods in applied research. It complicates the proliferation of new techniques and makes it difficult to motivate students to use the methods and to help students to develop an intuitive understanding of the methods in applications. We discuss the potential for reducing these problems through Internet-based econometric computing and instruction. We refer to existing examples of net-based teaching and present concrete examples for interactive teaching of elementary econometrics and statistics.

The changing landscape of health care financing and delivery: how are rural communities and providers responding?

Rural communities have not kept pace with the recent dramatic changes in health care financing and organization. However, the Medicare provisions in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 will require rural providers to participate in the new systems. Case studies revealed the degree of readiness for change in six rural communities and charted their progress along a continuum, as reflected in three sets of activities: the development of networking; the creation of new strategies for managing patient care; and the adoption of new methods for contracting with health insurers. Some communities had constructed highly integrated systems, whereas others were just beginning to change their billing practices; a few were signing contracts for capitated care, in contrast to those that were resisting discounts in current fee structures. These six rural areas still have considerable ground to cover before their health care organization and financing reach the levels achieved by urban communities.

Method Points: towards a metric for method complexity

A metric for method complexity is proposed as an aid to choosing between competing methods, as well as in validating the effects of method integration or the products of method engineering work. It is based upon a generic method representation model previously developed by the author and adaptation of concepts used in the popular Function Point metric for system size. The proposed technique is illustrated by comparing two popular I.E. deliverables with counterparts in the object oriented Unified Modeling Language (UML). The paper recommends ways to improve the practical adoption of new methods.

Generalized Linear Mixed Models in Dairy Cattle Breeding

Fitness and fertility traits of dairy cattle are of increasing importance and are often measured on a discrete scale. The development and application of generalized linear mixed models to the genetic analysis of these traits are reviewed. Because current genetic evaluation systems are predominantly based on animal models, the inferential challenges of highly parameterized generalized linear mixed models are discussed. Development and adoption of new methods for drawing appropriate inferences on dispersion parameters are essential. Recent hierarchical extensions have been proposed for generalized linear mixed models, allowing for complex dispersion patterns that accommodate heteroscedasticity and outlier robustness. Steady advances in available computing power have facilitated multiple-trait analyses involving continuous and discrete measures. Full Bayesian inference via the development of Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods will continue to allow even greater generality and dimensions in the genetic model.

Manufacturing Strategies in the Eighteenth Century: Subcontracting for Growth among Papermakers in the Auvergne

From the sixteenth century to the end of the eighteenth century, the papermakers of Ambert (Auvergne, France) remained the leading producers of quality printing paper in Europe. During the second half of the eighteenth century, they expanded greatly their production in response to a dynamic market. This success was achieved not through the adoption of new methods or the expansion of enterprises but through subcontracting practices. This article explores the conditions that fostered such strategies. It confirms the multiplicity of options available to early modern manufacturers but suggests that the socioeconomic characteristics of each community of producers conditioned their choices.

‘Three's a crowd’: knowledge, ignorance and power in the context of urban agriculture in Rwanda

Opening ParagraphThe themes of knowledge and ignorance are explored in this article, as is their dialectic, in the light of the continuing failure of development efforts based on top-down procedures. My specific aim is to deliver a statement about the intricate relationship between knowledge, ignorance and power in the context of a Rwandan development project. I will demonstrate how ignorance is generated through agricultural extension and will argue that agronomic services rely on power structures reminiscent of the ‘old’ premise of social inequality (Maquet, 1961; for a summary of the debate on social inequality in Rwanda, see Reyntjens, 1985: 21–30). My concern will be to assess whether the project-induced creation of ignorance—such as the distorted portrayal of practices outside the project area—leads to the displacement of local knowledge and the adoption of new methods.

Adoption of new methods for high‐yield factor VIII recovery

TransfusionVolume 29, Issue 5 p. 466-467 Adoption of new methods for high-yield factor VIII recovery Gail Rock PhD, MD, Gail Rock PhD, MD 270, Sandridge Rd. Ottawa, Ontario Canada, KIL 5A2Search for more papers by this author Gail Rock PhD, MD, Gail Rock PhD, MD 270, Sandridge Rd. Ottawa, Ontario Canada, KIL 5A2Search for more papers by this author First published: June 1989 https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1537-2995.1989.29589284156.xAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume29, Issue5June 1989Pages 466-467 RelatedInformation

Factors Influencing the Adoption of New Methods of Legislative Oversight in the U. S. States

This study examines the adoption of two relatively new methods of state legislative oversight-rule and regulation review and sunset. The patterns and differences among the states through 1979 in utilizing these methods are analyzed. An empirical model concentrating on five factors-general legislative capabilities, existing oversight capabilities, administrative structure, executive power, and divided party control-is tested to account for the variation in both the adoption of these techniques and the specific method used. Using discriminant analysis, findings suggest that the adoption of rule and regulation review is associated with greater conflict between the executive and the legislature and greater divided party control, while the adoption of sunset is associated with low legislative professionalism and low existing oversight.

Impact of Small Farmers Credit Programme on Farm Output Net Income and Adoption of New Methods in Nepal

Not Available.

Some Remarks on Visual Fine Art in the Age of Advanced Technology

The visual or plastic fine arts hold a relatively high place in Western culture. Considerable public and private funds are devoted to the making and sale of art works and to education for art appreciation. Yet, paradoxically, there is no general agreement as to what art is or what it is good for. This is causing an ever increasing uneasiness among artists and especially among art students. The incompatibility between values and instruction in traditional art education and the worlds of science and of technology is clearly evident [1]. Some of the essential factors that have led to this situation in art are the following: 1. New materials and techniques from science, industry and commerce are now available for artists to use. The best-known examples are cinema and television, pictorial techniques of social significance that are only slowly being used by artists. Only very few have come to realize that these media are suited not only for the transmission of information and of spectacles by performing artists but also for the contemplative fine arts. In addition, complicated equipment designed for technical and scientific applications is being introduced for the making of art, e.g. by the manipulation of electric light, by the polarization of light and by the use of lasers. The use of digital and analog computers for artistic purposes is also beginning to influence the adoption of new methods and ways of thinking about art. With the help of program-controlled output devices, black and white and colored, static and kinetic images on display devices can be produced [2-4]. The use of computers is important

Recent Developments in the Ironfounding Industry

Iron castings are in extensive use throughout engineering construction and are available in a wide range of properties, casting size and complexity. Ironfounding is in part associated with a particular industry—the ironfounding industry—and is in part a production engineering technique adopted by firms, their designers and engineers, on the basis of its process and product merits compared with those of other techniques. The changing pattern of manufacture and competition from other techniques is having important influences on the structure and capacity of industry producing iron castings. Additionally, the repeated cycles of business recession may result in the disappearance of the facilities for the production of certain types of foundry product. Although most recent developments in ironfounding are a continuation of trends which could be discerned or forecast a long time ago, the cumulative effect of these changes has been to revolutionize completely some aspects of the process of iron casting. The range of cast irons has been somewhat increased in recent years by addition to the variety of spheroidal graphite (s.g.) irons, malleable irons and alloy cast irons available. Most of the recent developments in ironfounding have, however, been concerned with improving production efficiency and the introduction of new melting, moulding and coremaking processes, enabling the ironfounder to provide the engineer and designer with a better service—maintaining prices at low level, improving dimensional accuracy and casting soundness with reduced delivery times. This has been achieved by the increased use of scrap made possible by developments in melting furnaces and molten metal treatment, by the introduction of new and improved moulding machinery and by the adoption of new methods of bonding sand used for moulds and cores, replacing many traditional techniques. These changes have had their influence equally in the large, highly mechanized mass-production foundries and in the jobbing foundries catering for short run work. An ironfoundry is an extremely exacting environment for mechanical equipment and for all control engineering. For this reason automatic moulding and other foundry plant need special design and robust construction. Most mechanized foundry plant of an automatic character represents a high capital investment which must run for long periods without breakdown, requiring long orders and work of a repetitive character.