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The impact of reverse logistics in public hospitals : a case of Kamuzu Central Hospital and Ntchisi District Hospital
No full textThe Malawi Ministry of Health and its partners ensure that quality health care services are being offered in public hospitals, including the availability and accessibility of quality medicines that are in good condition, and that the hospitals are adequately stocked of pharmaceuticals for treating common illnesses. In spite of the efforts that the Ministry of Health has put in place to ensure efficiency in supply chain, and availability of medicines at all times, significant quantities of medicines and other medical supplies have been expiring in facility medicines store and warehouses, leading to a stock out of that product, on the other hand, overstocks of medicines have been experienced as they could not be consumed at certain particular time causing a challenge in supply chain as it is costly because most medicines end up expiring.The study concludes that policy on waste management and reverse logistics has significant financial and operational advantages to the Malawi health pharmaceutical supply chain and in public hospitals. This is very important as it will reduce expiry of medicines in hospitals while overstocks shall be reallocated or redistributed within the system.In this regard, the paper recommends immediate formulation of policy on reverse logistics procedures and waste management that would guide health workers to properly manage medicines in public hospitals. In addition, Ministry of health should build capacity in health workers that manage medicines so that they follow proper procedures of reverse logistics in case of stock imbalances and be able to make informed decisions.The push system of distribution should be based on the actual needs of hospitals so as to minimize expiry of medicines in hospitals
Amplifying applied game development and uptake
No full textThe established (digital) leisure game industry is historically one dominated by large international hardware vendors (e.g. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo), major publishers and supported by a complex network of development studios, distributors and retailers. New modes of digital distribution and development practice are challenging this business model and the leisure games industry landscape is one experiencing rapid change. The established (digital) leisure games industry, at least anecdotally, appears reluctant to participate actively in the applied games sector (Stewart et al., 2013). There are a number of potential explanations as to why this may indeed be the case including ; A concentration on large-scale consolidation of their (proprietary) platforms, content, entertainment brand and credibility which arguably could be weakened by association with the conflicting notion of purposefulness (in applied games) in market niches without clear business models or quantifiable returns on investment.In contrast, the applied games industry exhibits the characteristics of an emerging, immature industry namely:weak interconnectedness, limited knowledge exchange, an absence of harmonising standards, limited specialisations, limited division of labour and arguably insufficient evidence of the products efficacies (Stewart et al., 2013; Garcia Sanchez, 2013) and could, arguably, be characterised as a dysfunctional market. To test these assertions the Realising an Applied Gaming Ecosystem (RAGE) project will develop a number of self contained gaming assets to be actively employed in the creation of a number of applied games to be implemented and evaluated as regional pilots across a variety of European educational, training and vocational contexts.RAGE is a European Commission Horizon 2020 project with twenty (pan European) partners from industry, research and education with the aim of developing, transforming and enriching advanced technologies from the leisure games industry into self-contained gaming assets (i.e. solutions showing economic value potential) that could support a variety of stakeholders including teachers, students, and, significantly, game studios interested in developing applied games. RAGE will provide these assets together with a large quantity of high-quality knowledge resources through a self-sustainable Ecosystem, a social space that connects research, the gaming industries, intermediaries, education providers, policy makers and end-users in order to stimulate the development and application of applied games in educational, training and vocational contexts.The authors identify barriers (real and perceived) and opportunities facing stakeholders in engaging, exploring new emergent business models ,developing, establishing and sustaining an applied gaming eco system in Europe
The experience of using Facebook as an educational tool
No full textSocial Networking Sites (SNS) such as Facebook are widely used by student populations and are increasingly used by the population generally. Researchers have considered the benefits of using SNS for educational purposes. This qualitative study involved interviews with seven academic members of staff at one UK university who currently use Facebook in their teaching. The study provides a unique insight into the views of teaching staff who use Facebook in their classroom, gaining an understanding of their experience and views of using SNS as part of their teaching
High resolution skin-like sensor capable of sensing and visualizing various sensations and three dimensional shape
No full textHuman skin contains multiple receptors, and is able to sense various stimuli such as temperature, pressure, force, corrosion etc, and to feel pains and the shape of objects.The development of skin-like sensors capable of sensing these stimuli is of great importance for various applications such as robots, touch detection, temperature monitoring, strain gauges etc. Great efforts have been made to develop high performance skin-like sensors, but they are far from perfect and much inferior to human skin as most of them can only sense one stimulus with focus on pressure (strain) or temperature, and are unable to visualize sensations and shape of objects.Here we report a skin-like sensor which imitates real skin with multiple receptors, and a new concept of pain sensation. The sensor with very high resolution not only has multiple sensations for touch, pressure, temperature, but also is able to sense various pains and reproduce the three dimensional shape of an object in contact
Finite element simulation of buckling-induced failure of carbon fibre-reinforced laminated composite panels embedded with damage zones
No full textThis work is concerned with the buckling-induced failure prediction of aerospace grade carbon fibre-reinforced laminated composite panels embedded with pre-assumed damage. Fibrous composites are being broadly used in aircraft and aerospace vehicle components. However, a major drawback in widespread use is their susceptibility to drop tool impacts and ground equipment collisions. Such incidents could inflict invisible internal damage and delamination that divides laminate into sub-laminates of lower bending stiffness/resistance to buckling load that might result in catastrophic consequences during later operations. This situation is a major concern for aircraft/aerospace industry and necessitates thorough understanding of damage tolerance capabilities of structural members for safety of human lives and structural assets. Extensive studies, based on experimental testing, were conducted on the topic. Since physical testing consumes time and resources, generate limited data, and lack in ply level effect of mixedmodes buckling hence development of a computational model is required. The present study consists of simulation models developed using ABAQUS (TM) software. Impact-induced damage was introduced as an area of reduced stiffness (soft-inclusion) or hole. Overall damage zones of known size and shape were inserted at various locations in the volumes of various laminates to predict critical buckling load based on global and local buckling with emphasis on mixed-mode buckling. Simulated cases of single and multiple damage zones/holes, switching and coupling of local-global buckling modes were investigated. Damage size, location, type, and penetration depth against critical buckling load and mode shape were investigated. The critical buckling load is found to correlate well corresponding to soft-inclusions to predict ply-level failure. Selected results of eight-, sixteen, and twenty-four ply laminates were compared against the data available in the literature and found to be in agreement up to 90%. The model could also be useful to efficiently study various lay-ups, loading, and material properties for the similar cases. (C) 2015 IAA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
'Research Impact' : a never ending personal and/or academic quest?
No full textThe impact of some research is evident immediately, whereas other research can take years before its real value becomes apparent. To that end, there are no simple predictors of potential benefits or outcomes and no single measure of impact. Yet, REF exercises and funding councils alike demand its endorsement in supporting research which increases our fundamental understanding of the world.Attaining a 'demonstrable contribution that excellent research makes to society and the economy' is no easy feat. A key aspect of the notion of ‘research impact’ is that impact must be demonstrable. It is insufficient just to focus on activities and outputs that promote research impact. Arguably, you must be able to provide evidence that the research has been taken up and used by policymakers, legislators and/or practitioners which has led to improvements in conditions, health, services, business or the economy.Within such a spiralling complexity of demands, this paper seeks clarity in the quest for impact. This paper therefore canvasses the dilemmas faced by researchers in search of impact. Having defined what ‘research impact’ is, an assessment of what REF2020 is likely to require in terms of impact based upon lessons learnt from REF2014 will be given. Navigating through the variant types of impact, a pathway for planning research impact will be presented, whilst musing on the personal and academic rewards involved. Overall, the paper will review what has become of research impact in academia today and will posit a timely reminder to all involved in research that: when published works influence and inform other research, the ‘revealed preference’ approach to understanding academic influence, albeit in recent years has become increasingly sophisticated, remains the very core of ideas and expertise which flows from the individual researcher’s study
Handling disruptive innovations in HE: lessons from two contrasting case studies
No full textThis article aims to show how Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) can recognise and best respond to a disruptive innovation. A disruptive innovation creates a new business model using a new process and usually a new technology to offer a product or service with new features and/or lower cost and initially addresses a group of people who are either unserved or overserved by existing offerings. By contrast, a sustaining innovation may use the same technology, but enhance an existing business model. To illustrate this, we set out two case studies that each implement the same innovative model of work-focussed learning differently: one in an autonomous sub-unit of an HEI, while the other sought to embed the same model in existing faculty activities in another HEI. The theory of disruptive innovation (Bower and Christensen 1995) is set out and used to understand types of innovation, from sustaining to disruptive, and to identify the model of work-focussed learning as a disruptive innovation.We then used this to analyse the subsequent trajectories and different outcomes of the two case studies. Our aims then were (1) to show how disruptive innovation theory can be used to recognise different types of innovation and (2) to suggest the appropriate way to organisationally structure disruptive educational innovations as semi-autonomous enterprises. We also note potential constraints that government policy may place on HEIs attempting to respond to disruptive innovations
Recent developments and challenges in flame retardation of textiles and fibres
No full textAlmost 50 years ago, the 1950-1960 period witnessed the development of the chemistry underlying most of today's successful and durable flame retardant treatments for fibres and textiles. In today's more critical markets in terms of environmental sustainability, chemical toxicological acceptability, performance and cost, many of these are now being questioned. "Are there potential replacements for established, durable formaldehyde-based flame retardants such as those based on tetrakis (hydroxylmethyl) phosphonium salt and alkyl-substituted, N-methylol phosphonopropionamide chemistries for cellulosic textiles?" is an often-asked question. "Can we produce char-forming polyester flame retardants?" and "Can we really produce effective halogen-free replacements for coatings and back-coated textiles?" are others. These questions are addressed initially within the context of a historical review of research undertaken in the second half of the twentieth century which is the basis of most currently available, commercialised flame retardant fibres and textiles. Secondly, research reported during the first decade of the twenty first century and which primarily addresses the current issues of environmental sustainability and the search for alternative flame retardant solutions, the need to increase char-forming character in synthetic fibres and the current interest in nanotechnology are critically discussed. The possible roles of micro- and nano-surface treatments of fibre surfaces and their development using techniques such as plasma technology and layer-by-layer and sol gel chemistries are also reviewed
Fire and mechanical properties of a novel free-radically cured phenolic resin based on a methacrylate-functional novolac and of its blends with an unsaturated polyester resin
No full textA novel phenolic novolac resin bearing methacrylate functional groups has been synthesized by reaction of the novolac with methacryloyl chloride. This resin has been mixed with styrene and cured (crosslinked) free-radically under the relatively low temperature conditions used to cure unsaturated polyester/styrene mixtures, i.e. there is no need to employ the high temperatures and pressures that are required to cure conventional phenolic resins. Homogeneous cured blends of the methacrylated novolac with unsaturated polyester and styrene have been prepared also. The cured methacrylated novolac, and its blends with unsaturated polyester, are rigid materials with good mechanical strength, and have glass transition temperatures, thermal stabilities and flame retardancies superior to those of cured unsaturated polyester alone.Fire and mechanical properties of a novel free-radically cured phenolic resin based on a methacrylate-functional novolac and of its blends with an unsaturated polyester resin