Generic Plan Research Articles

Generic Plan of Implementation of ISO 22000:2005 in Canned Tuna and Assessment of FSMS Implementation on Control of Histamine

Canned tuna can be produced from different types of the Scombroid fish family. It is a product from fish meat that goes under heat processes after several preparation and production stages in order to be appropriate for commercial purposes. One of the main problems with this product is histamine poisoning. Products with high level of histamine cause different kinds of disease like urticaria, diarrhea, anaphylactic shock and, finally, death. In this study, International Organization for Standardization 22000:2005 requirements was implemented in a canned tuna-processing unit. Histamine content was measured by gas chromatography (GC) method throughout workstations which were mentioned above. Histamine levels were measured before and after all the workstations such as frozen fish reception, temporary storage in -18°C defrosting, deheading-descaling-draining viscera, precooking, cleaning and segmenting, and sterilization by GC method. We found out that frozen fish reception, deheading-descaling-draining viscera, and cleaning-segmenting reduced histamines, 27.46%, 27.88%, and 60.87%, respectably. Also, the maximum histamine content reduction was in the cleaning-segmenting workstation. The results in this study can be applied to decrease the histamine level in canned tuna products and protect people from the above-mentioned diseases

Academic Advising Systems: A Systematic Literature Review of Empirical Evidence

This paper aims to provide the reader with a comprehensive background for understanding current knowledge on Academic Advising Systems (AAS) and its impact on learning. It constitutes an overview of empirical evidence behind key objectives of the potential adoption of AAS in generic educational strategic planning. The researchers examined the literature on experimental case studies conducted in the domain during the past ten years (2008–2017). Search terms identified 98 mature pieces of research work, but inclusion criteria limited the key studies to 43. The authors analyzed the research questions, methodology, and findings of these published papers and categorized them accordingly. The results have highlighted three distinct major directions of the AAS empirical research. This paper discusses the emerged added value of AAS research and highlights the significance of further implications. Finally, the authors set their thoughts on possible uncharted key questions to investigate both from pedagogical and technical considerations.

Computer aided planning of orthopaedic surgeries: the definition of generic planning steps for bone removal procedures.

An increasing number of orthopaedic surgeons are using computer aided planning tools for bone removal applications. The aim of the study was to consolidate a set of generic functions to be used for a 3D computer assisted planning or simulation. A limited subset of 30 surgical procedures was analyzed and verified in 243 surgical procedures of a surgical atlas. Fourteen generic functions to be used in 3D computer assisted planning and simulations were extracted. Our results showed that the average procedure comprises 14±10 (SD) steps with ten different generic planning steps and four generic bone removal steps. In conclusion, the study shows that with a limited number of 14 planning functions it is possible to perform 243 surgical procedures out of Campbell's Operative Orthopedics atlas. The results may be used as a basis for versatile generic intraoperative planning software.

Perceptions and behaviors of patients and pharmacists towards generic drug substitution in Lebanon.

Background Patients, physicians and pharmacists are key stakeholders in the implementation of generic substitution policies. Objectives To explore Lebanese patients' perceptions and experience, and pharmacists' dispensing patterns towards the newly enacted unified health prescription policy promoting generic substitution. Setting Pharmacies in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. Methods A cross-sectional design employing self-administered questionnaires to survey a total of 128 patients and 25 pharmacists. Chi square test and multiple logistic regression were performed. Main outcome Perceptions and behaviors of patients and pharmacists towards the unified health prescription and generic substitution. Results Fourty-eight percent of the patients knew the definition of generic drugs, among which 59.0% perceived that generic drugs have the same effectiveness as their branded alternatives and 59.0% perceiving that generic drugs could reduce Lebanon's medical bill as well. Sixty-one percent of the patients were aware of the unified health prescription. Only 13.6% of the pharmacists suggested to patients to replace prescribed brand drug by a generic when their prescriptions were not marked with non-substitution. Conclusions Progress has been made with regards to enhancing generic substitution in the Lebanese healthcare field. However, it remains important to educate patients about generic medicines and plan context-specific schemes that promote prescribing and dispensing of generic drugs among physicians and pharmacists.

Toward Technology-Sensitive Catching-Up Policies: Insights from Renewable Energy in China

The voluminous literature on industrial catching-up in Southeast Asian countries has regularly argued that successful catching-up largely depended on a committed state, which orchestrated industry development with a relatively uniform set of policies, including R&D support, subsidies, trade restrictions, and local content requirements. In contrast, recent contributions from the technology lifecycle literature have argued that policies should be tailored to differing technological characteristics in industries for mass-produced standardized goods, complex engineered products, and—as we argue—complex product systems (CoPS). In this paper, we extend this argument by introducing a set of separate policy mixes for each industry type, which appears most capable of providing the key resources required for catching-up: knowledge, market access, financial investment and technology legitimacy. This framework is used to analyze catching-up patterns in China’s wind, solar PV, and biomass power plant industries, drawing mainly on policy documents and 106 interviews with key industry actors. We find that traditional top-down catching-up policies played a decisive role in the development of China’s wind industry, but were of limited importance in the early solar PV industry, and resulted only in a limited period of rapid growth in the biomass power plant industry. The relative progress achieved in these three industries is not related to top-down policy guidance alone, but also to private sector initiative, international interdependencies, and flexibility in adapting policy mixes to each industry’s technological characteristics. These results suggest that policy makers in newly industrializing countries (NICs) should avoid drafting generic sector plans, but should tailor plans to individual industries, and respond to changing policy support needs as technological capacities and global competitiveness develop.

A generic planning approach for sustainable supply chain management - How to integrate concepts and methods to address the issues of sustainability?

Forced by competitive, legislative and customers' pressures, corporate executives are supposed to consider sustainability aspects of value creation which induces a new set of challenges within decision-making. Unfortunately, guidelines supporting comprehensive analysis, especially concerning the evaluation of environmental and social performance of decision alternatives, are missing. This hinders the advancements in corporate sustainability. Questions arise on how to measure and balance respective indicators with traditional economic objectives. To fill this void, this research sets out to develop an intuitive and holistic planning framework for advancing sustainability along supply chains. In a first step, we identify sustainability issues and indicators as well as decision-support methods by scrutinizing literature on sustainable supply chain management. Based on this, we develop a planning framework that supports executives in evaluating and deciding upon corporate sustainability initiatives. The framework comprises three consecutive phases of planning: ‘Problem definition’, ‘Assessment of alternatives’, and ‘Decision analysis’. For each phase we propose appropriate tools distinguishing concepts of sustainable supply chain management (e.g. Sustainable Logistics and Sustainable Manufacturing), methods for measuring the ecological and social efficiency of decision alternatives, and quantitative decision-support techniques able to balance trade-offs between the three dimensions of the triple bottom line. As a result, this article presents a framework for guiding corporate decision-processes. From the academic angle, the article contributes to the research field by providing a structured integration of concepts and methods utilizable in the pursuit of ecological and social improvements along the value chain.

Towards A Generic Predictive-Based Plan Selection Approach for BDI Agents

Belief-desire-intention (BDI) model is one of the most promising approaches dedicated to develop intentional agents. It provides developers with required robustness to deal with a wide variety of complex systems where flexibility and intelligence behavior of agents are needed. Existing BDI architectures are typically composed of a set of customizable components that are composed in a reasoning cycle. The plan selection process is one of the customizable components that has an important influence on the overall agent performance. It consists of selecting among a set of applicable plans the most appropriate one to achieve a given goal.In this paper we propose a generic predictive-based plan selection approach, that aims to select for a given goal, the applicable plan that has the highest potential of being executed successfully. Based on what we refer to as selection indices, it calculates for each plan a success probability that will be used later by the selection process to select the appropriate plan.

Smart generic cabling and network planning in office network

Smart city intelligently responses to various requirements including environmental protection, public security, urban services, commercial and industrial activities, etc. Smart city deals with lots of key information in the whole city by utilising modern technologies like communication technology. Enterprise network is an enormous and complex system belonging to smart city. It not only provides basic platforms of office automation but also various application services, where information can be delivered to other systems. In this paper, we design a generic cabling according to the requirement of enterprise networks. Our generic cabling is well extensible and compatible. In addition, we also present the network planning for enterprise network such that it provides good service for the whole enterprise.

Smart generic cabling and network planning in office network

Smart generic cabling and network planning in office network

The costs of poor health (plan choices) & prescriptions for reform

Evidence suggests that when confronted with a large menu of health plan choices, consumers may not select the most efficient (that is, the most cost-effective) option. In anticipation of such problems, the exchanges set up by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) were designed to help consumers navigate the complexity of plan choices. Yet little is known about the actual efficiency with which ACA enrollees select plans. We present an analysis of projected health spending and a series of hypothetical plan choice experiments to explore the financial consequences of inefficient choices among potential ACA enrollees, the likelihood of such inefficient choices, and the potential for improving efficiency with a more behaviorally informed choice architecture. Our findings indicate that choosing a plan incommensurate with one's expected health care needs would lead to significant overspending relative to the most cost-effective plan and that, despite attempts to design the exchanges so that they facilitate decision-making, a significant share of ACA enrollees may have made inefficient decisions. More promisingly, we find that although the metal labels used in the exchanges to organize plans (for example, Bronze and Silver ) encourage choices that are no more efficient than those associated with generic plan labels (such as Plan A and Plan B ), labels that more sensibly reflect the factors consumers ought to consider—for instance, labels that emphasize gradations in the need for health care—do lead to significant improvements in the efficiency of plan choices.

Healthcare representatives’ perspectives on hospital travel plans in England

The take-up of travel plans is increasing across the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK, yet their impact on reducing car use is relatively low. Previous studies have investigated the determinants of generic travel plans but lacked an appreciation of the unique context of healthcare settings. This study investigated NHS travel plan co-ordinators’ views on hospital travel plans to identify the factors affecting the success of travel plans in changing travel mode choice behaviour. A nationwide survey was conducted among NHS travel plan co-ordinators in England, with a response rate of 51% (n=47). Findings suggest that despite having the potential for promoting walking as a key travel option among the hospital staff, measures to promote walking were reported as the least effective. Spearman correlation tests show that the effectiveness of measures to promote walking and reduce car use was positively associated with each other – highlighting the significance of designing effective travel measures to promote walking to attain the overall success in changing travel mode choice behaviour. Shift working patterns, personal circumstances, high car use, and staff attitude towards car use were reported as the key barriers to change travel mode choice behaviour among the NHS hospital staff. The use of robust methods, and evidence-base to develop, and monitor travel plan measures were found to be the key determinants of the success of travel plans. The provision of off-site car parks around 10–15min walking distance away from the hospital site will not only encourage the car users to walk, but also provide a realistic solution to the transport issues experienced by the hospitals. This study contributes to the knowledge gap by providing a valuable insight into the factors that may have affected the success of hospital travel plans, and form a basis for future research.

Assessing Low-Volatility Assets in the LDI Framework

In the liability-driven investing (LDI) framework, an underfunded pension plan may use the glidepath approach—dividing assets for liability-matching and asset-growth purposes. This practice introduces a dilemma, as the projected funding ratio and funding ratio volatility may not be improved at the same time. Low-volatility assets may be suited in the LDI framework to resolve this dilemma. This article examines the behavior of several low-volatility assets, including three low/minimum volatility equity indexes and two alternative low-volatility series (the HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index and a volatility risk premium–based construct), in a generic underfunded pension plan with typical assumptions. The study concludes that low-volatility investments may be a good choice for growth assets in the LDI framework, as the low-volatility profile can help pension plans reduce projected funding ratio volatility and may improve funding ratio projections. On the other hand, the benefits of low-volatility investments in the LDI framework depend on such assets continuing their past return–risk patterns into the future, an assumption that may not materialize. Pension managers are encouraged to consider low-volatility assets as potential components for underfunded pension plans, although the decision whether to include such assets in pensions depends heavily on future return assumptions.

Access to Evidence-Based Statins in Low-Cost Generic Drug Programs.

In light of ongoing economic concerns and high costs of prescription medications, patients continue to be at risk of becoming noncompliant with their medication regimens because of cost constraints.1 The launch of low-cost generic drug programs (sometimes called $4 generic drug formularies) by major chain drugstore corporations would be expected to increase availability of prescription drugs to patients by reducing prescription costs.2 Compared with typically high prescription copays, low-cost generic drug plans make many medications more affordable and accessible to patients.3 It is uncertain whether low-cost generic drug programs also provide access to medications that promote evidence-based prescribing. Our study aimed to evaluate whether evidence-based statins are provided within the most common low-cost generic drug formularies. We chose statins because of their extensive evidence base for improving clinical outcomes, their prevalent use as top-selling medications in the United States, and the potential impact of low-cost generic drug formulary statin choices on a large patient population. To conduct this study, we selected low-cost generic programs provided by regional or national chain pharmacy corporations in the United States based on prescription sales volumes listed at National Pharmacy Market Summary, Chain Drug Review, and Drugstorenews.com. We excluded franchise pharmacies of mother companies (eg, Medicine Shoppe pharmacies), which are each independently owned and operated, and pharmacies with limited free-medication programs (eg, Publix pharmacies). The most current formulary coverage information for all statins, including drug, dose, cost, and supply, was extracted from July 1, 2014 to July 31, 2014, then …

Combining multi-agent model, SOA and ontologies in a distributed and interoperable architecture to manage multi-site production projects

Today, production projects are often achieved by multi-site production and the associated markets become more and more dynamic and service oriented. In this context, the multi-site project management is a difficult task, which has to take into account not only the decision distribution and the information confidentiality, but also the heterogeneity existing between different production management systems used by partners. The generic planning model SCEP (supervisor, customer, environment, producer) based on multi-agent technology offers a well-adapted solution to the decision distribution and information confidentiality in project management. SCEP was integrated with ontological mechanisms and SOA (service-oriented architecture) components in a new architecture Semantic-SCEPSOA, which makes it possible to achieve a distributed and interoperable management of multi-site production projects. In the case of two sites managed by two different planning software applications, the semantic interoperability effectiveness is shown within the S-SCEPSOA architecture.

Companion guides for lesson planning: a planning template and the lesson plan pro forma

Jason Anderson’s proposal, in ELT Journal (2015), for an affordance-based approach to lesson planning raises important issues in teacher education. However, his arguments against the role of planned outcomes in favour of an affordance-based focus using learning opportunities as units of planning fail to acknowledge the complexities involved and teachers’ needs in mastering this essential task. By way of response, in this article I first echo the legitimate concerns raised in Anderson’s paper about lesson planning, then follow with a critical analysis of three fundamental issues of curriculum planning which reflect fallacies in his core argument. Then, based on a holistic perspective, I propose scaffolding lesson planning in teacher training, using the companion guides of a planning template and the lesson plan pro forma. Practical suggestions are also made for a three-level planning model for EFL/ESL practice with the support of a generic lesson plan incorporating examples of reasoning and ways of representing the decisions made during the plan writing process.

Documentation of vernacular heritage in architectural education: “Measured Drawing of Devala Buildings” with Level 1 students of architecture, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka

Measuring and documenting vernacular buildings is a means to understand important elements of their construction and environment. This paper reports an effort in 2013 by the Department of Architecture, University of Moratuwa to expose architecture students to the reality of vernacular architecture by means of a Measured Drawing project. The subject is a Devala – a Buddhist–Hindu shrine from the Kandyan period (fifteenth to eighteenth centuries) of Sri Lanka’s history. The question is whether the project has affected positively learning communication, spatial, technological, environmental and social aspects of the first year architecture students’ course work. The student cohort was 96 first year students. Thirteen examples of Devala, constructed with clay or rammed earth walls, stone or timber pillars and clay tiled roofs, adopting a generic plan form, were measured and recorded by thirteen groups of students. The adopted methodology was an evaluation based on the responses given by the students through a questionnaire (2 years later in their architectural education). Some findings show that 85% of the students were satisfied with the communication skills that they have obtained, but only 52% with what they have learnt in spatial and structural aspects.

Optimal Active Distribution Network Planning: A Review

The active distribution network is a new solution to the flexible utilization of distributed energy resources to suit the characteristics of the distribution network. Advanced “active” network management is to coordinate “generation, network, load” optimization and achieve the right balance between operational expenditure (OPEX) and capital expenditure (CAPEX). To demonstrate the advancement from introducing an active distribution network, the key features of distribution network planning mainly including traditional models is first introduced. Extensive literature in generic planning is then summarized and categorized in terms of objective functions, system modeling, solution algorithms, and tools. This is followed by an extended review and in-depth discussion of concepts and representative topic developments in optimal active distribution network planning. In contrast to traditional planning, it takes into account the effects from a range of active network interventions that are exercised at differing time scales while capturing the intrinsically stochastic behavior of renewable generation or demand response to produce strategic plans that are robust against a highly uncertain energy future. Finally, a multi-dimensional framework for optimal active distribution network planning is proposed to overcome the limitations of the current state of the art, and the challenges in each stage are also highlighted.

The Evolution of a Process for Selecting and Prioritizing Plant Diseases for Recovery Plans.

One element of the cost of dealing with invasive species in the United States is the recovery from the arrival of exotic plant pathogens. We review the development of a process used to prioritize plant diseases for the federally mandated United State Department of Agriculture National Plant Disease Recovery System. A team of university, government, and industry scientists worked together over a 10-year period to develop a science-based objective approach to the challenge of effectively preparing for recovery plans from introduced pathogens, when the timing of the introduction of any single disease is unknown. Over time, the process transitioned from ad hoc, in which recovery plans were written when the relevant experts were able to do so, to a formally organized group-prioritization effort from which emerged the concept of generic recovery plan templates for groups of pathogens and diseases that have similar biological characteristics, and therefore, similar management approaches. Key characteristics for each template were determined through a multivariate analysis for 14 plant diseases for which a recovery plan already existed. The process was validated by a larger group of 15 plant pathologists, for which results were compared with those scored by 14 subject matter experts.

A strategic approach to sustainable transport system development - Part 1: attempting a generic community planning process model

Electric vehicles seem to offer a great potential for sustainable transport development. The Swedish pioneer project GreenCharge Southeast is designed as a cooperative action research approach that aims to explore a roadmap for a fossil-free transport system by 2030 with a focus on electric vehicles. It is the following combination of objectives that puts demand on a new process model adapted for cross-sector and cross-disciplinary cooperation: (i) a fossil-free transport system in Sweden by 2030 and, to avoid sub-optimizations in the transport sector, (ii) assuring that solutions that support (i) also serve other aspects of sustainability in the transport sector and, to avoid that sustainable solutions in the transport sector block sustainable solutions in other sectors, (iii) assuring cohesive creativity across sectors and groups of experts and stakeholders. The new process model was applied in an action-research mode for the exploration of electric vehicles within a fully sustainable transport system to test the functionality of the model in support of its development. To deliver on the above combination of objectives, a framework was needed with principles for sustainability that are universal for any sector as boundary conditions for redesign, and with guidelines for how any organization or sector can create economically feasible step-by-step transition plans. The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) is designed to serve such purposes and therefore is embedded into the new process model. The exploration of this new model also helped to identify four interdependent planning perspectives (‘Resource base’, ‘Spatial’, ‘Technical’ and ‘Governance’) that should be represented by the respective experts and stakeholders using the model. In general, the new process model proved helpful by giving diverse stakeholders with various competences and representing various planning perspectives a common, robust, and easy-to-understand goal and a way of working that was adequate for each of their contexts. Furthermore, the evolving process model likely is relevant and useful not only for transport planning and electric vehicles, but for any other societal sector as well and thus for sustainable community planning in general.

Maritime ecosystem-based management in practice: Lessons learned from the application of a generic spatial planning framework in Europe

A generic framework (FW) for the monitoring and evaluation of spatially managed areas (here defined as marine areas subject to a planning and management regime) was developed and tested in nine marine areas of 13 European countries under the EU funded project MESMA (Monitoring and Evaluation of Spatially Managed Areas). This paper describes the lessons learned in the use of the FW and draws conclusions for its future use and development. The selected case studies represented diverse spatial scales, management status and complexity, ranging from sub-national areas to entire national coastlines, and large offshore regions. The application of the FW consisted of seven steps: starting with (i) context setting and (ii) gathering of relevant ecosystem information, human activities and management goals; it continues with (iii) indicator selection and (iv) risk assessment; and the final steps considers the (v) analysis of findings and (vi) the evaluation of management effectiveness, to end up with (vii) the revision and proposal of adaptation to current management. The lessons learnt through the application of the FW in the case studies have proved the value of the FW. However, difficulties rose due to the diversity of the nature and the different stages of development in planning and management in the case study areas; as well as, limited knowledge on ecosystem functioning needed for its implementation. As a conclusion the FW allowed for a flexible and creative application and provided important gap analyses.