Upgrading Project Research Articles

Value innovation through business process re-engineering: A&E services at a public hospital

Accident & Emergency (A&E) care delivery is often given emphasis in the healthcare sector owing to its inelasticity of demand. In recent years, public hospitals in Singapore, both government and restructured, saw themselves increasingly coping with the surge in demand for A&E treatment. Escalation in healthcare costs is likely to cause unhappiness among the public if this is not matched with improved quality of emergency services. The Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) project at Singapore's Alexandra Hospital (AH) is timely given the current social climate, and also exploits the opportunities presented by the ongoing facility upgrading and computerization projects. This article describes the BPR experience at AH A&E and how it was transformed through the exercise. Results of the analysis of the processes and some redesign strategies and outcomes are highlighted in the paper. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Cornwallis Emmanuel Ltd.

Housing policy and slum upgrading in Ho-Chi-Minh City

The new liberal economic policy in Vietnam has had a negative effect on housing the poor. This paper reviews that housing policy and shows how it has been influenced by national economic development policy. A case study of a non-governmental organization-assisted slum up-grading project in a poor neighborhood of Ho-Chi-Minh City is used to illustrate the arguments. Although efforts were made to involve the community in the project, the centralized nature of the governmental and Communist Party structure made this nearly impossible. Although gender equality is guaranteed by the Vietnamese Constitution, evidence from the project shows the difficulty that exists in achieving it.

Review of processes for downhole catalytic upgrading of heavy crude oil

Unlike conventional refinery processing, downhole upgrading involves implementing catalytic processes in oil-bearing geologic formations. In this way impurities contained in heavy crude oil can possibly be left in the ground or easily separated during oil production, providing an improved crude oil feed for refineries. Additionally, value or viability can be added to an otherwise uneconomic or remote heavy oil deposit. In order to successfully produce improved quality oil via a downhole upgrading project, several processing steps are anticipated: placement of catalysts into an appropriate downhole location, mobilization of reactants over the catalyst bed, and creation of processing conditions necessary to achieve a reasonable degree of catalytic upgrading. Each of these steps has been proven by past application; their combination into a unified below-ground process remains problematic. Downhole processing differs from surface processing in that brine, high steam partial pressures and low hydrogen partial pressures need to be accommodated in the downhole setting. There are no reports of significant downhole catalytic upgrading of crude oil, although examples of thermal upgrading are noted. However, available technology should be amenable to conducting a successful process. Upgrading of heavy crude oil at anticipated downhole processing conditions has been successfully proven in the laboratory. Recently published literature with immediate pertinence to the problems of downhole catalytic upgrading is reviewed with the goal of stimulating research and providing directions for future investigations.

The Kyoto University tandem upgrading project

A brief description on the Kyoto University tandem upgrading project is presented. The project consists of replacing the old 5 MV tandem Van de Graaff by an 8UDH pelletron. The old pressure vessel and beam lines are used again without significant modification. The project is planned to be completed at the end of 1989.

South to south learning experiences: Popular housing problems in Nigeria and India

Slums exist in every known city of the world. Their problems are basically that of urban poverty and deprivation. The management of slums and governmental attitudes have varied from one country to another. Generally in most it has been one of intolerance and denial of utilities. Governments in fact pretend they do not exist. India is one country that has lived with slums and will continue to do so. It has shaped policies to recognise their usefulness and provide them with amenities, however minimal. What lessons can we learn in Nigeria from the India experience? The paper highlights the universality of slums and spontaneous settlements in most Third World Cities. It goes on to examine the Nigerian situation with a special focus on Lagos, the present Federal Capital. This is followed by an appraisal of the Indian housing situation. The Slum Upgrading Projects of New Delhi and other Indian cities are also examined in the context of the agencies involved. Finally conclusions and recommendations are made in an attempt to draw parallells and for us in Nigeria to selectively learn from the experience of another major Third World nation.

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:M. BREHENY & A. HOOPER, eds., Rationality in PlanningP. W. J. BATEY & M. MADDEN, eds.CARLO LAMUR, The American TakeoverP. W. DANIELS, Service Industries; A Geographical AppraisalD. FORBES & G. PAYNE, eds., Urban Projects Manual, A Guide to Preparing Upgrading and New Development Projects Accessible to Low Income Groups

Davidson, Forbes and Geoff Payne (Eds.), "Urban Projects Manual: A Guide to Preparing Upgrading and New Development Projects Accessible to Low Income Groups" (Book Review)

Davidson, Forbes and Geoff Payne (Eds.), "Urban Projects Manual: A Guide to Preparing Upgrading and New Development Projects Accessible to Low Income Groups" (Book Review)

La politique du logement pour les bas revenus à Lusaka, Zambie

HOUSING POLICIES FOR THE URBAN POOR IN LUSAKA, ZAMBIA After Independence in Zambia, the state realised that public housing projects were too costly and did not meet the needs of the low-income groups. In Lusaka this resulted in an increase in the squatter population. In 1974-75 the state embarked on a policy of radical land reform (nationalisation of all vacant and undeveloped land) and a major housing upgrading project. In this analysis of the housing policy, relations between the poor and the state are revealed. State intervention is analysed with reference to the theoretical outline proposed by R. Burgess. He stresses the economic and social functions of the capitalist and petty commodity modes of production. One of the main functions to be identified, that of the valorization of capital and land, raises several questions : does not the legalisation of tenure which accompanies these housing upgrading projects facilitate the penetration of merchant relations into the question of land development ? Does not a monopoly control of the housing production develop via control of the production of building materials ? Does an increase in public loans for housing construction mean that dependence on foreign capital can be avoided ? On another level the housing policy aims to maintain the social order and to legitimize the state by incorporating and thus controlling the squatters. A more in-depth analysis needs to be done of the structural limits of state intervention in housing, taking into account the persistance of the capitalist mode of production.

Strasbourg MP 10-report

Since the Ebeltoft meeting, the MP-10 has run essentially for research at normal running specifications up to 13 MV for the first year. The belt is still a standard HVEC belt but mounted in a half open structure. It has accumulated more than 9000 h. Since August 1979, the time has been mainly devoted to our up-grading project and problems associated with this.

Reactor Operation

"Reactor Operation." Nuclear Technology, 12(1), p. 144 Additional informationNotes on contributorsGerald P. BeckGerald Beck has served as the reactor supervisor of the University of Illinois TRIGA Reactor since the initial startup in 1960. He was in charge of a major upgrading project that occurred in 1968-1969 and was the editor of the “Safety Analysis Report” for the present system which is licensed for steady-state operation to 1.5 MW and pulsed operation with reactivity insertions to $4.60.He is responsible for the safe operation of the facility and is the supervisor-in-charge for all new experiments using the system. He serves as an advisor for student training operations and for students performing research for a PhD thesis in nuclear engineering where the reactor is used.