Motivation and Focus

The general purpose is to develop a common body of interdisciplinary knowledge to understand issues and problems related to reconfigurable systems. 

The specific purpose is to (a) develop methodology and tools for supply chain reconfiguration, (b) elaborate framework for knowledge-based problem analysis and model building, and (c) quantify factors influencing supply chain reconfiguration. 

The general problems in reconfigurable systems can be classified as related to the system s environment, availability of appropriate modeling tools, interconnectedness of decisions at various levels of supply chain, and availability of common knowledge throughout the system. These can be fisted as follows  

Problem-solving strategies applied to reconfigurable manufacturing systems entail developing (a) domain independent solution(s) templates at the macro level, (b) capability models for application specific domain dependent problems at the micro level, and (c) coordination models to integrate models developed in 

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The development of most of the optimization and operations research techniques was motivated and focused on the minimization of operating costs, which are usually expressed on a quantitative basis. However, when... 

Since then, a significant set of work has been carried out to implement these improvements. The publication of the standards provided additional motivation and focus to enable the work. The Trust continues to improve its safety management methods, through adopting and managing a strategy which addresses the safety culture of ICT and infuses safety into development, procurement and maintenance of its computer systems. 

The first perspective is the traditional safety engineering approach (Section 2.4). This stresses the individual factors that give rise to accidents and hence emphasizes selection, together with motivational and disciplinary approaches to accident and error reduction. The main emphasis here is on behavior modification, through persuasion (motivational campaigns) or pimishment. The main area of application of this approach has been to occupational safety, which focuses on hazards that affect the individual worker, rather than process safety, which emphasizes major systems failures that could cause major plant losses and impact to the environment as well as individual injury. 

Addiction may result from inappropriate neuronal plasticity. As discussed in earlier sections of this chapter, drugs of abuse activate the same neuronal pathways as natural reinforcers. However, they do so in a strong and unregulated manner that is hypothesized to lead to abnormal engagement of learning and memory mechanisms, ultimately producing abnormal plasticity in neuronal circuits involved in motivation and decision-making. As a result, the addict becomes narrowly focused on compulsive, habitual behaviors associated with the addictive... 

In addition to the general systems inertia already mentioned, the uncertainties that always remain in view of all iimovations represent significantly more effective barriers to iimovation than all positive or negative motives and interests of the participants, which could be ascertained in the various case studies. The need to focus on innovation systems at supply chain level as well as overcoming system inertia and uncertainties and/or lack of knowledge, as fundamental barriers to innovation are some of the important findings of the SubChem project . However, this in turn produces new questions. 

Prozac has been the center of controversy over the past few years. Hailed by psychiatrists and psychologists as a valuable tool in the treatment of chronic depression, the press has focused in on its not too infrequent side effects including suicidal depression. Philosophical questions also arise when considering the alleviation of depression viewed as a natural human condition . Those on Prozac undergo subtle yet significant changes in motivation and outlook which some believe is abnormal in the scheme of things. 

This chapter focuses on heat exchanger network synthesis approaches based on optimization methods. Sections 8.1 and 8.2 provide the motivation and problem definition of the HEN synthesis problem. Section 8.3 discusses the targets of minimum utility cost and minimum number of matches. Section 8.4 presents synthesis approaches based on decomposition, while section 8.5 discusses simultaneous approaches. 

Abstract. We consider here the theoretical and quantum chemical description of the photoexcitated states in DNA duplexes. We discuss the motivation and limitations of an exciton model and use this as the starting point for more detailed excited state quantum chemical evaluations. In particular, we focus upon the role of interbase proton transfer between Watson/Crick pairs in localizing an excitation and then quenching it through intersystem crossing and charge transfer. 

It is important to recognize, however, that the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations does not address the question of gender in clinical trials there is no formal requirement that women make up a significant portion of a trial s patient population or even participate at all. The reality is that unless a trial specifically mandates female participation (e.g., a test for the safety and efficacy of a new birth control pill), men overwhelmingly predominate as subjects in clinical trials. For pharmaceutical companies, there is little motivation to recruit women. The first reason for this lack of motivation has to do with attempts to limit potential liabilities. Other concerns stem from this issue and focus on economic and legal realities that are stumbling blocks to expanded inclusion of women in research. 

Designed to motivate researchers to bring further advances to the field, this volume provides practical guidance on how to initiate, validate, optimize, and manage a bioassay intended to screen large collections of compounds. Drawing on the knowledge from experts actively involved in assay development and HTS, this is a resource that is both comprehensive and focused. 

Despite their potential advantages over organic membranes because of their inherent stabilities, inorganic membranes as separators and reactors at the current stage of development are subject to several material, catalysis and engineering limitations. Those limitations which will be treated in more detail in subsequent chapters are more a reflection of the early stage of developments than practical or theoretical limits. It is expected that more interest and demonstrated feasibilities will motivate more focused development efforts to address those issues. 

One method that has seen only limited use is antimicrobial rotation. Defined as the prospective and purposeful altering of antimicrobial selection in an effort to prevent or delay the emergence and spread of bacterial resistance, this technique has evolved over the last several decades. Although antimicrobial rotation is simply a variation of antimicrobial control, its motive is focused on resistance... 

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