scholarly journals Maintaining Relationship Based Procurement

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 37-44
Author(s):  
Peter Davis
Keyword(s):  
Building Blocks ◽  
Relationship Maintenance ◽  
Implementation Phase ◽  
Open Environment ◽  
Large Pool ◽  
Relationship Style

Alliance and relationship projects are increasingin number and represent a large pool of work. Tobe successful relationship style contracts dependon soft-dollar factors, particularly the participants'ability to work together within an agreedframework, generally they are not based on lowbid tendering. Participants should be prepared todo business in an open environment based ontrust and mutually agreed governance. Theresearch evaluates relationship maintenance inthe implementation phase of constructionalliances - a particular derivative of relationshipstyle contracts. To determine the factors thatcontribute to relationship maintenance forty-nineexperienced Australian alliance projectmanagers were interviewed. The main findingswere; the development of relationships early inthe project form building blocks of success fromwhich relationships are maintained and projectvalue added; quality facilitation plays animportant part in relationship maintenance and ahybrid organisation created as a result of alliancedevelopment overcomes destructiveorganisational boundaries. Relationshipmaintenance is integral to alliance project controland failure to formalise it and pay attention toprocess and past outcomes will undermine analliance project's potential for success.

Designing an activity-based costing model for a non-admitted prisoner healthcare setting

2013 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 418
Author(s):  
Xiao Cai ◽  
Elizabeth Moore ◽  
Martin McNamara
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Setting ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Design Phase ◽  
Activity Based Costing ◽  
Implementation Phase ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Solution Design

Aim. To design and deliver an activity-based costing model within a non-admitted prisoner healthcare setting. Method. Key phases from the NSW Health clinical redesign methodology were utilised: diagnostic, solution design and implementation. Results. The diagnostic phase utilised a range of strategies to identify issues requiring attention in the development of the costing model. The solution design phase conceptualised distinct ‘building blocks’ of activity and cost based on the speciality of clinicians providing care. These building blocks enabled the classification of activity and comparisons of costs between similar facilities. The implementation phase validated the model. Conclusions. The project generated an activity-based costing model based on actual activity performed, gained acceptability among clinicians and managers, and provided the basis for ongoing efficiency and benchmarking efforts.

scholarly journals Current Challenges of Digital Health Interventions in Pakistan: Mixed Methods Analysis (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Momin Kazi ◽  
Saad Ahmed Qazi ◽  
Nazia Ahsan ◽  
Sadori Khawaja ◽  
Fareeha Sameen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Swot Analysis ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
World Health ◽  
Implementation Phase ◽  
Systems Research

BACKGROUND Digital health is well-positioned in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) to revolutionize health care due, in part, to increasing mobile phone access and internet connectivity. This paper evaluates the underlying factors that can potentially facilitate or hinder the progress of digital health in Pakistan. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study is to identify the current digital health projects and studies being carried out in Pakistan, as well as the key stakeholders involved in these initiatives. We aim to follow a mixed-methods strategy and to evaluate these projects and studies through a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis to identify the internal and external factors that can potentially facilitate or hinder the progress of digital health in Pakistan. METHODS This study aims to evaluate digital health projects carried out in the last 5 years in Pakistan with mixed methods. The qualitative and quantitative data obtained from field surveys were categorized according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended building blocks for health systems research, and the data were analyzed using a SWOT analysis strategy. RESULTS Of the digital health projects carried out in the last 5 years in Pakistan, 51 are studied. Of these projects, 46% (23/51) used technology for conducting research, 30% (15/51) used technology for implementation, and 12% (6/51) used technology for app development. The health domains targeted were general health (23/51, 46%), immunization (13/51, 26%), and diagnostics (5/51, 10%). Smartphones and devices were used in 55% (28/51) of the interventions, and 59% (30/51) of projects included plans for scaling up. Artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) was used in 31% (16/51) of projects, and 74% (38/51) of interventions were being evaluated. The barriers faced by developers during the implementation phase included the populations’ inability to use the technology or mobile phones in 21% (11/51) of projects, costs in 16% (8/51) of projects, and privacy concerns in 12% (6/51) of projects. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that while digital health has a promising future in Pakistan, it is still in its infancy at the time of this study. However, due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there is an increase in demand for digital health and implementation of health outcomes following global social distancing protocols, especially in LMICs. Hence, there is a need for active involvement by public and private organizations to regulate, mobilize, and expand the digital health sector for the improvement of health care systems in countries.

scholarly journals A Big Data View of the European Energy Union: Shifting from ‘a Floating Signifier’ to an Active Driver of Decarbonisation?

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karoliina Isoaho ◽  
Fanni Moilanen ◽  
Arho Toikka
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Sector Reform ◽  
Implementation Phase ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Energy Union ◽  
Reform Project ◽  
Modelling Analysis

The Energy Union, a major energy sector reform project launched by the European Commission in 2015, has substantial clean energy and climate aims. However, scholarly caution has been raised about their feasibility, especially with regards to accommodating climate objectives with other closely related yet often competing policy goals. We therefore investigated the policy priorities of the Energy Union by performing a topic modelling analysis of over 5,000 policy documents. A big data analysis confirms that decarbonisation and energy efficiency dimensions are major building blocks in the Energy Union’s agenda. Furthermore, there are signals of policy convergence in terms of climate security and climate affordability policies. However, our analysis also suggests that the Commission is not actively prescribing trajectories for renewable policy development or paying close attention to declining incumbent energy generation technologies. Overall, we find that the Energy Union is not a ‘floating signifier’ but rather has a clear and incrementally evolving decarbonisation agenda. Whether it further develops into an active driver of decarbonisation will largely be determined by the implementation phase of the project.

Photochemical Evolution of Interstellar/Precometary Organic Material

1997 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 23-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis J. Allamandola ◽  
Max P. Bernstein ◽  
Scott A. Sandford
Keyword(s):  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Complex Species ◽  
Infrared Observations ◽  
Interstellar Ice ◽  
Polycyclic Aromatic ◽  
Ultraviolet Photolysis ◽  
The Origin Of Life ◽  
Simple Molecules ◽  
Complex Organic

AbstractInfrared observations, combined with realistic laboratory simulations, have revolutionized our understanding of interstellar ice and dust, the building blocks of comets. Since comets are thought to be a major source of the volatiles on the primative earth, their organic inventory is of central importance to questions concerning the origin of life. Ices in molecular clouds contain the very simple molecules H2O, CH3OH, CO, CO2, CH4, H2, and probably some NH3and H2CO, as well as more complex species including nitriles, ketones, and esters. The evidence for these, as well as carbonrich materials such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), microdiamonds, and amorphous carbon is briefly reviewed. This is followed by a detailed summary of interstellar/precometary ice photochemical evolution based on laboratory studies of realistic polar ice analogs. Ultraviolet photolysis of these ices produces H2, H2CO, CO2, CO, CH4, HCO, and the moderately complex organic molecules: CH3CH2OH (ethanol), HC(= O)NH2(formamide), CH3C(= O)NH2(acetamide), R-CN (nitriles), and hexamethylenetetramine (HMT, C6H12N4), as well as more complex species including polyoxymethylene and related species (POMs), amides, and ketones. The ready formation of these organic species from simple starting mixtures, the ice chemistry that ensues when these ices are mildly warmed, plus the observation that the more complex refractory photoproducts show lipid-like behavior and readily self organize into droplets upon exposure to liquid water suggest that comets may have played an important role in the origin of life.

Laboratory and in-situ analysis of comet dust

1988 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 8-9
Author(s):  
D.E. Brownlee ◽  
A.L. Albee
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Solar System ◽  
Laboratory Study ◽  
Isotopic Analysis ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Sem Analysis ◽  
Early Solar System ◽  
Cometary Material ◽  
Comet Dust

Comets are primitive, kilometer-sized bodies that formed in the outer regions of the solar system. Composed of ice and dust, comets are generally believed to be relic building blocks of the outer solar system that have been preserved at cryogenic temperatures since the formation of the Sun and planets. The analysis of cometary material is particularly important because the properties of cometary material provide direct information on the processes and environments that formed and influenced solid matter both in the early solar system and in the interstellar environments that preceded it.The first direct analyses of proven comet dust were made during the Soviet and European spacecraft encounters with Comet Halley in 1986. These missions carried time-of-flight mass spectrometers that measured mass spectra of individual micron and smaller particles. The Halley measurements were semi-quantitative but they showed that comet dust is a complex fine-grained mixture of silicates and organic material. A full understanding of comet dust will require detailed morphological, mineralogical, elemental and isotopic analysis at the finest possible scale. Electron microscopy and related microbeam techniques will play key roles in the analysis. The present and future of electron microscopy of comet samples involves laboratory study of micrometeorites collected in the stratosphere, in-situ SEM analysis of particles collected at a comet and laboratory study of samples collected from a comet and returned to the Earth for detailed study.

Cryo-TEM of amphiphilic polymer and amphiphile/polymer solutions

1993 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 876-877
Author(s):  
Yeshayahu Talmon
Keyword(s):  
Microstructural Characterization ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Quantitative Information ◽  
Physical Models ◽  
Specimen Preparation ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Temperature Changes ◽  
Temperature And Humidity ◽  
Microstructured Fluids ◽  
Air Streams

To achieve complete microstructural characterization of self-aggregating systems, one needs direct images in addition to quantitative information from non-imaging, e.g., scattering or Theological measurements, techniques. Cryo-TEM enables us to image fluid microstructures at better than one nanometer resolution, with minimal specimen preparation artifacts. Direct images are used to determine the “building blocks” of the fluid microstructure; these are used to build reliable physical models with which quantitative information from techniques such as small-angle x-ray or neutron scattering can be analyzed.To prepare vitrified specimens of microstructured fluids, we have developed the Controlled Environment Vitrification System (CEVS), that enables us to prepare samples under controlled temperature and humidity conditions, thus minimizing microstructural rearrangement due to volatile evaporation or temperature changes. The CEVS may be used to trigger on-the-grid processes to induce formation of new phases, or to study intermediate, transient structures during change of phase (“time-resolved cryo-TEM”). Recently we have developed a new CEVS, where temperature and humidity are controlled by continuous flow of a mixture of humidified and dry air streams.

Emotional Variability Predicts Tiredness in Daily Life

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 181-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aire Mill ◽  
Anu Realo ◽  
Jüri Allik
Keyword(s):  
Sampling Method ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Experience Sampling ◽  
Experience Sampling Method ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Intraindividual Variability ◽  
Unique Role ◽  
Over Time

Abstract. Intraindividual variability, along with the more frequently studied between-person variability, has been argued to be one of the basic building blocks of emotional experience. The aim of the current study is to examine whether intraindividual variability in affect predicts tiredness in daily life. Intraindividual variability in affect was studied with the experience sampling method in a group of 110 participants (aged between 19 and 84 years) during 14 consecutive days on seven randomly determined occasions per day. The results suggest that affect variability is a stable construct over time and situations. Our findings also demonstrate that intraindividual variability in affect has a unique role in predicting increased levels of tiredness at the momentary level as well at the level of individuals.

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