Showcase Project Research Articles

The Launch of a Political Satellite: Constructing the Ming Tombs Reservoir and "Mass Engineering" in Communist China.

Archives and oral histories show that the Ming Tombs Reservoir was a showcase project in Communist China directed by and involving the country's top leaders. This was one of the first projects to rely on the mobilization of physical labor rather than specialized machinery, driven by a belief in self-reliance and the use of local resources. It argues that the focus on the "masses," rather than engineers or scientists, challenged established engineering procedures and technical traditions. Historical evidence suggests that adopting a "build while being designed" mindset and mobilizing the "masses," projects could be completed, but often in ways that ultimately proved less than optimal. The case study suggests that innovations fail when local enthusiasm and technical knowledge are not balanced. By focusing on the role of the "masses" in shaping a novel technological landscape, this article highlights "mass engineering" to better understand this model of native innovations and economic autarky.

Principles of oncology taught in a one-week course

BackgroundGrowing challenges in oncology require evolving educational methods and content. International efforts to reform oncology education are underway. Hands-on, interdisciplinary, and compact course formats have shown great effectiveness in the education of medical students. Our aim was to establish a new interdisciplinary one-week course on the principles of oncology using state-of-the-art teaching methods.MethodsIn an initial survey, medical students of LMU Munich were questioned about their current level of knowledge on the principles of oncology. In a second two-stage survey, the increase in knowledge resulting from our recently established interdisciplinary one-week course was determined.ResultsThe medical students’ knowledge of clinically important oncological topics, such as the diagnostic workup and interdisciplinary treatment options, showed a need for improvement. Knowledge of the major oncological entities was also in an expandable state. By attending the one-week course on the principles of oncology, students improved their expertise in all areas of the clinical workup in oncology and had the opportunity to close previous knowledge gaps. In addition, students were able to gain more in-depth clinical knowledge on the most common oncological entities.ConclusionThe interdisciplinary one-week course on the principles of oncology proved to be an effective teaching method to expand the knowledge of the future physicians to an appropriate level. With its innovative and interdisciplinary approach, the one-week course could be used as a showcase project for the ongoing development of medical education in Germany.

Kick-off meeting of the TOWWERS showcase project: 1st collaborative value-based healthcare anchored on real-world data involving the 5P+

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to modernize healthcare systems to the reality of the 21st century. The first world-wide Strategic Committee to launch Collaborative Value-Based Healthcare (C-VBHC) anchored on populational Real World Data and structured collaboration, took place in Montreal, via TOWWERS showcase project. The meeting covered a broad range of topics from the perspective of each of the various Real-World healthcare actors, the 5P+: Patient, Prescriber, Producer, Policymaker, Payer, including Data and Research stakeholders. Attended by approximately 20 participants from North America and Europe, the meeting provided a valuable opportunity to unit the 5P+ around common goals and exchanging on solutions. TOWWERS Strategic committee identified key elements required to continue the transformation.

Exploring the determinants of client opportunism: a study of IT service projects

Project literature has paid limited attention to opportunism in service relationships. Service relationships are characterised by intangibility, dependence for value co-creation and misalignment of partner goals. Considering this distinctiveness, a multiple case study method was employed to identify determinants of client opportunism in IT service projects. Results of content analysis showcase organisational and project level factors that can promote opportunity, propensity and incentive for client opportunism. They also highlight the role played by client maturity and client project manager in influencing opportunism. Besides, the study underscores the importance of vendor perception of client opportunism. Research directions and practical implications are discussed.

The Environment Canada Pan and Parapan American Science Showcase Project

AbstractThe Pan and Parapan American Games (PA15) are the third largest sporting event in the world and were held in Toronto in the summer of 2015 (10–26 July and 7–15 August). This was used as an opportunity to coordinate and showcase existing innovative research and development activities related to weather, air quality (AQ), and health at Environment and Climate Change Canada. New observational technologies included weather stations based on compact sensors that were augmented with black globe thermometers, two Doppler lidars, two wave buoys, a 3D lightning mapping array, two new AQ stations, and low-cost AQ and ultraviolet sensors. These were supplemented by observations from other agencies, four mobile vehicles, two mobile AQ laboratories, and two supersites with enhanced vertical profiling. High-resolution modeling for weather (250 m and 1 km), AQ (2.5 km), lake circulation (2 km), and wave models (250-m, 1-km, and 2.5-km ensembles) were run. The focus of the science, which guided the design of the observation network, was to characterize and investigate the lake breeze, which affects thunderstorm initiation, air pollutant transport, and heat stress. Experimental forecasts and nowcasts were provided by research support desks. Web portals provided access to the experimental products for other government departments, public health authorities, and PA15 decision-makers. The data have been released through the government of Canada’s Open Data Portal and as a World Meteorological Organization’s Global Atmospheric Watch Urban Research Meteorology and Environment dataset.

Adoption, use, and impact of e-booking in private medical practices: mixed-methods evaluation of a two-year showcase project in Canada.

BackgroundManaging appointments in private medical practices and ambulatory care settings is a complex process. Various strategies to reduce missed appointments can be implemented. E-booking systems, which allow patients to schedule and manage medical appointments online, represents such a strategy. To better support clinicians seeking to offer an e-booking service to their patients, health authorities in Canada recently invested in a showcase project involving six private medical clinics.ObjectiveThe objectives pursued in this study were threefold: (1) to measure adoption and use of the e-booking system in each of the clinics over a 2-year period, (2) to assess patients’ perceptions regarding the characteristics and benefits of using the system, and (3) to measure the impact of the e-booking system on the number of missed appointments in each clinic.MethodsA mixed-methods approach was adopted in this study. We first extracted and analyzed raw data from the e-booking system deployed in each of the medical practices to monitor adoption and use of the system over time and to assess the impact of the system on the number of missed appointments. Second, we conducted a Web-based survey of patients’ perceptions in the spring of 2013.ResultsThe patients and physicians targeted by this showcase project showed a growing interest in the e-booking system as the number of users, time slots made available by physicians, and online appointments grew steadily over time. The great majority of patients said that they appreciated the system mainly because of the benefits they derived from it, namely, scheduling flexibility, time savings, and automated reminders that prevented forgotten appointments. Importantly, our findings suggest that the system’s automated reminders help significantly reduce the number of missed appointments.ConclusionsE-booking systems seem to represent a win-win solution for patients and physicians in private medical practices. We encourage researchers to replicate and extend our work in other primary care settings in order to test the generalizability of our findings.

Pest Arrest in Central Queensland: conserving biodiversity through pest management

Pest Arrest in Central Queensland is an example of an emerging suite of initiatives that puts the theory of management effectiveness evaluation into action. The program was initiated with the vision of maintaining, recovering and restoring the biodiversity and ecosystems of protected areas. Pest Arrest places importance upon high quality research, planning, pest control, monitoring, evaluation and reporting. Using ten showcase projects, Pest Arrest aims to move thinking and practice from pest management outputs (e.g. number of pigs controlled) to on-ground outcomes (e.g. restoration of a threatened ecosystem), and from a single species to a whole-of-ecosystem approach. Each showcase project adopts a comprehensive performance management framework. Particular attention is given to articulating desired outcomes that delineate the required condition of natural, cultural and recreational values in the protected area within a set timeframe. Detailed objectives with associated indicators and targets are provided to allow performance assessment. The program encourages a multi-disciplinary, team-based approach; community engagement; formation of partnerships; and ‘learning by doing’. This article explores the major elements and adaptive framework of Pest Arrest.

USN을 이용한 스키장 사각 지역 감시 시스템

ABSTRACT This paper introduces an efficient USN (ubiquitous sensor network) for monitoring blind areas in a skiing resort, developed as a part of u-Sport showcase project of Gangwon Province. Blind areas of a skiing resort are dangerous and/or steep areas located aroud ski slopes, which are rarely traveled and not easily seen by a ski patrol. If an accident occurs in such a blind area, the main control center of the sking resort can hardly recognize the accident and provide first aid and rescue services promptly. The blind area monitoring system proposed in this paper monitors a blind area of a skiing resort using five battery-powered sensor nodes each of which has an image sensor on it and wirelessly transmits images around the blind area to the main control center on a regular basis, therebly allowing real-time monitoring of the blind area and prompt rescue services in case of accidents. Additionally, the monitoring system provides an emergency button which skiers injured in the blind area can push. If the button is pushed, an image around the button and an alarm signal are transmitted to the main control center and therefore the main control center can take prompt actions for rescuing the injured skiers.Keywords:USN, Kangwon-do Yong-Pyeong, u_Sports, Blind Areas

Enhancing the case for Electronic Government in developing nations: A people-centric study focused in Saudi Arabia

Abstract The pace of implementing Electronic Government (E-Gov) is rapidly increasing. However, despite high levels of investment, a broad range of applications, and various methods of access relatively low levels of various methods of access, relatively low levels of usage (and even familiarity with e-gov) are still common. For example, in Canada, long recognized as a leader in implementing e-gov, less than 27% of Canadians used E-Gov during the past 12 months and 81% of c non-users report a low level of familiarity with either federal or provincial governmental services available through e-gov ( Canada, 2004 ). Or, consider the showcase e-gov Gyandoot project in the Dhar district in central India, whose population is estimated at 1.7 million. Even after implementing e-gov in a showcase project for the rural poor, a study by the Center for Electronic Governance, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad concluded that this model of “government to citizen” service delivery has serious sustenance problems ( World Bank, 2004 ). The research reported in this paper takes a step back and focuses on the acceptability of e-gov by individuals. It is a people-centric approach to determine the overall acceptability of e-gov to people in a developing country, Saudi Arabia. Although this research may be generalizable to other situations, the primary intention of this project is to shed light on how to approach and manage implementation projects in developing nations.

Rethinking coal

Rethinking coal

Lessons Learned from the U.S. DOE's Motor Challenge Showcase Demonstration Projects

ABSTRACT This article presents a summary of the practical lessons learned to date from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Showcase Demonstration Projects. These projects are part of the DOE MotorChallenge Program, and are aimed at demonstrating increased electric motor system efficiency through the integration of a variety of technology and applications options. These include: energy efficient electric motors, adjustable speed drives, and motor-driven equipment (e.g., pumps, fans, and compressors) within industrial operations and processes. Each showcase project is made up of a team that consists of a host demonstration site and supporting partners (e.g. utilities, motor and process equipment suppliers, and contractors). Each team is expected to provide DOE with sufficient data to substantiate and document the energy and environmental performance of the project and the economic cost/benefit of the results. Additionally, teams provide appropriate information to DOE to allow DOE contractors to perform an...