Formal Scheduling Research Articles

Normalizing Bribes as a Solution to Romania’s Deteriorating Health System

Normalizing Bribes as a Solution to Romania’s Deteriorating Health System

Improving Workforce Productivity Through Formal Maintenance Planning and Scheduling

Improving Workforce Productivity Through Formal Maintenance Planning and Scheduling

Medication safety activities of hospital pharmacists in Ghana; challenges and perceived impact on patient care.

Pharmacists by their training have the competences and skills to promote safe use of medicines which is an essential component of patient safety. This study explored the perceptions of hospital pharmacists' role in medication safety in Ghana, identified their attendant challenges and ways of enhancing such roles in the future. A self-administered questionnaire was delivered to 200 pharmacists selected conveniently from the 10 regions of Ghana. Questions in the questionnaire were based on a systematic literature review that had catalogued and summarised all the activities of hospital pharmacists related to medication safety. A total of 176 (88% response rate) questionnaires were completed and returned. Almost all pharmacists (97.7%) believed that they were involved in medication safety activities in their daily routine. The frequently performed activities were counselling of out-patient (91.8%), training pharmacy and other clinical students (72.2%), reporting on medication errors (70%), and reconciling medications (69.2%). The mean weekly time spent on the activities ranged from 6.5 to 19.8 hours. Participants who had clinical pharmacy related additional qualifications (χ2 = 37.749; p = 0.049) and worked in tertiary care hospitals (χ2 = 26.6; p = 0.377) undertook more medication safety activities than those without. The cited challenges faced by participants included inadequate time available (62.7%), spending most time in managerial activities (47.3%), lack of formal structures of engagement (43.8%), lack of motivation by superiors (34.9%), and no formal schedule by supervisor (32%). Only 7.7% stated they lack interest in performing those activities. Pharmacists undertake many medication safety activities routinely that they perceive to have impact on patient care outcomes. Restructuring of their managerial roles will contribute to freeing time for pharmacists to engage more in those activities.

Improving Workforce Productivity Through Formal Maintenance Planning and Scheduling

Improving Workforce Productivity Through Formal Maintenance Planning and Scheduling

BDM기법에 의한 LOB와 TACT기법 통합

Controversies over that the scheduling practices for the construction projects in Korea are unsystematic, illogical, and less advanced still continue. One of the main controversial issues is that the existing scheduling techniques does not satisfy the scheduling requirements of construction site. Because most construction personnel prefer a good-looking and easy understanding schedule, LOB and TACT techniques although those are not formal CPM technique have been applying overwhelmingly in the construction projects. Moreover, LOB and TACT techniques can be quickly and conveniently established by Excel or word-processor familiar with most people. Since Excel is not a formal scheduling software, however, it can not provide formal CPM scheduling practices. The purpose of this study is to propose the method that can satisfy visual schedule format as well as perform formal CPM scheduling practices by integration of LOB and TACT techniques by BDM technique.

Whither the retention schedule in the era of big data and open data?

Purpose – This article, which is one of the products of an international collaborative research initiative called iTrust, aims to explore these questions and offer suggestions concerning how the issues they raise can be addressed. Design/methodology/approach – The article describes the results of the first stage in a multi-stage research project leading to methods for developing retention and disposition specifications and formal schedules for open data and big data initiatives. A fictitious organization is used to describe the characteristics of open data and big data initiatives, the gap between current approaches to setting retention and disposition specifications and schedules and what is required and how that gap can be closed. The landscape described as a result of this stage in the research will be tested in case studies established in the second stage of the project. Findings – The argument is made that the business processes supporting open data and big data initiatives could serve as the basis for developing enhanced standards and procedures that are relevant to the characteristics of these two kinds of initiatives. The point is also made, however, that addressing the retention and disposition issues requires knowledge and leadership, both of which are in short supply in many organizations. The characteristics, the issues and the approaches will be tested through case studies and consultations with those involved with managing and administering big data and open data initiatives. Originality/value – There is very little, if any, current literature that addresses the impact of big data and open data on the development and application of retention schedules. The outcome of the research will benefit those who are seeking to establish processes leading to formally approved retention and disposition specifications, as well as an instrument – the approved retention and disposal schedule – designed to ensure the ongoing integrity of the records and data associated with big data and open data initiatives.

The evolution of control mechanisms

Whether for bi-lateral or multi-lateral joint venturesor for public and private partnerships (PPP), control helps parties form strategicalliances and work together on a unique project while protecting their own identityand goals. Even though most researchers consider formal control such ascontracts, governance mechanisms, budgets, schedules, and other projectmanagement tools, few encompass informal or social control. This study takesinto account both types of control and aims to describe the evolution of formaland social control mechanisms in an international PPP project. An in depth casestudy of a concession project in a European airport was performed and includesall partners in this Euro-Canadian consortium. Results suggest that fromfrequent and repetitive interaction between partners emerges a social control thatprogressively takes more importance in the management of the project. This isnot to say that formal control mechanisms first put forward are forgotten butrather that they are the foundation of all inter-organizational collaboration.

Compositional Verification for Hierarchical Scheduling of Real-Time Systems

Hierarchical Scheduling (HS) techniques achieve resource partitioning among a set of real-time applications, providing reduction of complexity, confinement of failure modes, and temporal isolation among system applications. This facilitates compositional analysis for architectural verification and plays a crucial role in all industrial areas where high-performance microprocessors allow growing integration of multiple applications on a single platform. We propose a compositional approach to formal specification and schedulability analysis of real-time applications running under a Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) global scheduler and preemptive Fixed Priority (FP) local schedulers, according to the ARINC-653 standard. As a characterizing trait, each application is made of periodic, sporadic, and jittering tasks with offsets, jitters, and nondeterministic execution times, encompassing intra-application synchronizations through semaphores and mailboxes and interapplication communications among periodic tasks through message passing. The approach leverages the assumption of a TDM partitioning to enable compositional design and analysis based on the model of preemptive Time Petri Nets (pTPNs), which is expressly extended with a concept of Required Interface (RI) that specifies the embedding environment of an application through sequencing and timing constraints. This enables exact verification of intra-application constraints and approximate but safe verification of interapplication constraints. Experimentation illustrates results and validates their applicability on two challenging workloads in the field of safety-critical avionic systems.

Mapping Parameterized Cyclo-static Dataflow Graphs onto Configurable Hardware

In recent years, parameterized dataflow has evolved as a useful framework for modeling synchronous and cyclo-static graphs in which arbitrary parameters can be changed dynamically. Parameterized dataflow has proven to have significant expressive power for managing dynamics of DSP applications in important ways. However, efficient hardware synthesis techniques for parameterized dataflow representations are lacking. This paper addresses this void; specifically, the paper investigates efficient field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based implementation of parameterized cyclo-static dataflow (PCSDF) graphs. We develop a scheduling technique for throughput-constrained minimization of dataflow buffering requirements when mapping PCSDF representations of DSP applications onto FPGAs. The proposed scheduling technique is integrated with an existing formal schedule model, called the generalized schedule tree, to reduce schedule cost. To demonstrate our new, hardware-oriented PCSDF scheduling technique, we have designed a real-time base station emulator prototype based on a subset of long-term evolution (LTE), which is a key cellular standard.

In Favor of a Formal Billing Schedule for Inpatient Radiology Consults

In Favor of a Formal Billing Schedule for Inpatient Radiology Consults

Factors that Affect Failures of Snowplowable Raised Pavement Markers in Virginia

Snowplowable raised pavement markers (SRPMs) are commonly used in Virginia to supplement lane lines on the Interstate and portions of the primary system. Although SRPMs improve lane delineation at night and during inclement weather, they can become damaged or detached from the pavement after prolonged exposure to traffic and snowplows. Before 2009, Virginia had no formal method or schedule to routinely inspect these markers after their installation. In April 2006, a fragment of an SRPM metal casting became dislodged and injured a motorist. In response to this incident, a statewide study was initiated to determine whether systemic problems caused damage or detachment of SRPMs on Virginia's Interstates. Casting condition, reflector condition, epoxy condition, and installation adequacy were inspected on 78 1-mi segments of Interstate pavement that contained SRPMs. The study found that nearly 8% of all SRPM castings inspected were either missing or damaged. Approximately 35% of reflectors inspected were either missing or damaged. An analysis of risk factors showed that total traffic since installation and initial installation adequacy correlated most strongly with casting failures. These data were used to develop an SRPM casting inspection program and schedule that have been adopted by the Virginia Department of Transportation. The study recommends increased training for installers and inspectors.

Combining ad hoc decision-making behaviour with formal planning and scheduling rules: a case study in the synthetic fibre production industry

This article describes the development of a decision support system, called ‘PHIL’, for a fibre production scheduling problem. An algorithm to obtain production plans for the spinning department of a case study company is presented. This article shows how the algorithm has been implemented in ‘PHIL’ to allow interaction between the decision it proposes and the human planner. This interaction is possible because of the way in which ‘PHIL’ deals with the problem constraints that differ in terms of ‘hardness’. The methodology uses formal rules but keeps some decision room for the planner to use informal decision practices that are almost impossible to encode. ‘PHIL’ is evaluated comparing the plans obtained with plans generated informally by the human planner. The same data sets are also used to compare plans produced using only formal practices with plans produced by the proposed methodology. The results of this evaluation show that the proposed methodology, which allows a decision maker to use his/her personal knowledge of the production process when generating production plans, produces the best schedules.

Parallel Hardware Architectures for the Cryptographic Tate Pairing

Identity-based cryptography uses pairing functions, which are sophisticated bilinear maps defined on elliptic curves. Computing pairings efficiently in software is presently a relevant research topic. Since such functions are very complex and slow in software, dedicated hard ware (HW) implementations are worthy of being studied, but presently only very preliminary research is available. This work affords the problem of designing parallel dedicated HW architectures, i.e.,co-processors, for the Tate pairing, in the case of the Duursma-Lee algorithm in characteristic 3. Formal scheduling methodologies are applied to carry out an extensive exploration of the architectural solution space, evaluating the obtained structures by means of different figures of merit such as computation time, circuit area and combinations thereof. Comparisons with the (few) existing proposals are carried out, showing that a large space exists for the efficient parallel HW computation of pairings.

System level performance analysis – the SymTA/S approach

SymTA/S is a system-level performance and timing analysis approach based on formal scheduling analysis techniques and symbolic simulation. The tool supports heterogeneous architectures, complex task dependencies and context aware analysis. It determines system-level performance data such as end-to-end latencies, bus and processor utilisation, and worst-case scheduling scenarios. SymTA/S furthermore combines optimisation algorithms with system sensitivity analysis for rapid design space exploration. The paper gives an overview of current research interests in the SymTA/S project.

EUTUBS: A Mnemonic for the complete endoscopic examination of the lower urinary tract

Urethrocystoscopy is now routinely done in standard Urological practice. The availability of the flexible cystoscope for outpatient procedures has further increased the number of cystoscopists. However, there are currently no formal training schedules for urethrocystoscopy. This mnemonic has been developed to serve as a template for complete endoscopic examination of the lower urinary tract to which the cystoscopist may refer when undertaking this operation. It focuses on the common abnormalities that the endoscopist may encounter, and is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all abnormalities of the lower urinary tract. Furthermore, it is not meant to obviate the need for practical training of those wishing to carry out the procedure as part of their clinical practice.

Getting Ready for IDEA

Getting Ready for IDEA

The Dilemma of Security Patches

Security patches to operating systems present a dilemma. Fixing the systems requires notifying systems administrators and distributing patches. However, this same information makes it possible for attackers to create automated scripts to search for machines that have had the operating system updated. By surveying security experts, this study shows that many systems administrators feel they are unable to stay current with the releases of security patches. The issue of currency leaves a door open for automated scripts to find and infiltrate computer and information systems. The situation means that vendors must develop even better methods to distribute and install patches. Consequently, the user/vendor community should consider more formal schedules for patch releases.

Distance as a predominant factor in the utilisation of health services in the Kumasi metropolis, Ghana

The research primarily aims at testing a model, adapted from existing models, on the influence of distance on the use of health services in the Kumasi metropolis, an expanding urban centre in Ghana. Primary data, collected between August 2000 and February 2001, were used for the study. The data were analysed using a multiple regression model and compound bar graphs. A sample of 250, drawn through systematic random and stratified procedures, was used for the cross-sectional retrospective survey. Data were collected through formal interview schedules, after preliminary observational survey. The survey has established three principal findings. First, distance shows a strong inverse relationship with the utilisation of health services in the metropolis. Second, travel time and transport cost, variables that are related to distance, exhibit a weak negative and positive associations respectively with the use of health services. Third, the vulnerable groups of women, the aged, the sickly, the illiterate and the poor are not affected by distance decay in the utilisation of health services. Finally, independent variables that are statistically significant in influencing utilisation, alongside distance, are education, service cost, quality of service and health status. Recommendations for locational modelling of health services at the deprived periphery, an introduction of an insurance scheme to facilitate health care use, and recommendations for further research have been made.

Order review/release in the absence of adherence to formal scheduling policies

AbstractIn many plants, the performance of shop floor workers is measured by accounting‐based productivity criteria. Such systems encourage workers to maximize their individual performance, often at the expense of total shop performance. One such company, Union Switch & Signal, a manufacturer of railroad equipment, has decided to increase finished goods inventory in an effort to counteract poor due date performance. Management at Union Switch & Signal feel that workers not following priorities contribute significantly to this poor performance. It has been suggested that the controlled release of jobs into the shop, i.e., Order Review/Release (ORR), may provide the operations manager a vehicle for enforcing job priorities when formal dispatching rules are not strictly followed by workers. In this study, two ORR methodologies are studied in regards to their ability to offset the dysfunctional behavior by workers who seek to maximize their own individual productivity. This type of behavior was captured by simulating the phenomenon of ‘cherry picking’. Cherry picking occurs when a job is selected for processing based not on its formal priority but on the difference in standard allowable processing time and actual processing time. Results suggest that at least one ORR methodology is able to reduce the difference in resulting labor productivity while improving overall shop performance.

On the efficiency of formal synthesis-experimental results

Formal synthesis has become an interesting alternative to postsynthesis verification. Formal synthesis means integrating formal validation within the synthesis process by performing synthesis via rule applications. The practical applicability of formal synthesis very much depends on the efficiency of the underlying rules. This paper gives a case study about the complexity of formal synthesis programs. Experiments with two realistic-sized benchmark circuits were performed using the formal synthesis system HASH. HASH provides means for representing and transforming circuits in a secure and logically sound manner. Furthermore, arbitrary synthesis procedures can be invoked to achieve high quality of designs. In this paper, the implementation of a formal scheduling step is used to illustrate efficiency considerations related to formal synthesis.