Action oriented techniques

The term Task Analysis (TA) can be applied very broadly to encompass a wide variety of human factors techniques. Nearly all task analysis techniques provide, as a minimum, a description of the observable aspects of operator behavior at various levels of detail, together with some indications of the structure of the task. These will be referred to as action oriented approaches. Other techniques focus on the mental processes that imderlie observable behavior, for example, decision making and problem solving. These will be referred to as cognitive approaches. 

The task analysis techniques described in the previous section are mainly oriented toward observable actions, although hierarchical task analysis (HTA) allows it to address functional requirements as well as the specific actions that are required to satisfy these requirements. 

Rohm and Haas uses Multiple-Cause, Systems-Oriented Incident Investigation techniques (MCSOII), or mac-soy. It is a direct adaptation of the Fault Tree Analysis logic and the Deming Principles of Systems and Quality. [10] The method was developed to improve the overall quality of investigations, to increase the uniformity of investigation made by various teams, and improve the usefulness of the proposed corrective actions. The quality of the mac-soy or MCSOII investigation is improved because the method [10]... 

Field-flow fractionation (FFF) represents a family of versatile elution techniques suited for the separation and characterization of macromolecules and particles. Separation results from the combination of a nonuniform flow velocity profile of a carrier liquid and a nonuniform transverse concentration profile of an analyte caused by the action of a force field. The field, oriented perpendicularly to the direction of the flow, forms a specific concentration distribution of the analyte inside the channel. Because of the flow velocity profile, different analytes are displaced along the channel with different mean velocities, and, thus, their separation is achieved. 

To understand the function of membrane-active peptides, it is important to know the structure and orientation of the peptide in the membrane. As is evident from Figure 18.1, it is possible to distinguish between, for example, carpet and pore mechanisms of action by determining the peptide s orientation in the membrane. Various techniques, such as electron spin resonance (ESR) [35], infrared (IR) spectroscopy [36-38], circular dichroism (CD) [35, 39,40], and solid-state NMR (SSNMR) [4-7] are used to investigate membrane-active peptides in a quasi-native lipid bilayer environment. In the following sections, methods to determine peptide structure and orientation are presented. 

Although the motivations for SAR research in academia and industry may differ, the techniques are largely the same. This is because the usual route for software development in the field is from academia to industry, with (increasingly) a commercial software vendor as a middleman. Over the years, CAMD methods have become much more sophisticated. At the same time, and largely because of commercial software, they can be much more easily and routinely applied. As a result, many published industrial applications have b me less orient towards the empirical prediction of activity, and more directed towards the study of receptor function and mechanism of action. This trend is certain to continue, since knowing the shape of a receptor or the mechanism of action of a particular compound makes it much easier to design new ones. 

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