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Remedial Action (remedial + action)
Selected AbstractsEnhanced ac power-flow solutions for reliability analysesEUROPEAN TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRICAL POWER, Issue 2 2001A. Sorg The paper presents an advanced Newton-Raphson power-flow algorithm for reliability evaluation with special regard to the prevention of non-convergent situations. Remedial actions in order to relieve violations of operational constraints and some generation rescheduling functions are considered. Included is a reliability analysis for a sample power system in order to compare the resulting reliability indices using different power-flow algorithms. [source] Power quality state estimationEUROPEAN TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRICAL POWER, Issue 1 2010Neville R. Watson Abstract Due to the size and complexity of modern electrical power networks and the cost of monitoring and telecommunication equipment, it is unfeasible to fully monitor the system state. For this reason state estimation techniques are used. With strategically placed measurements, estimation techniques can determine the parameters at unmonitored locations. Fundamental frequency state estimation is now a standard tool in modern power systems. The emission and immunity levels of modern electrical equipment are different to that of the past, and this has resulted in power quality issues have become important. Knowledge of the source and location of the disturbances is desirable so that remedial action can be taken promptly. Recent contributions have extended the concept to: harmonic state estimation (HSE) and identification of harmonic sources, transient state estimation (TSE) and voltage sag state estimation (VSSE), which are all types of power quality state estimation (PQSE). This paper provides an overview of the state-of-the-art techniques currently available for PQSE in a large electrical power system. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Gender Mainstreaming versus Diversity Mainstreaming: Methodology as Emancipatory PoliticsGENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 2 2009Joan Eveline This article examines the question of whether and how the intersectional oppression of sexism and racism can be challenged by government policy. It draws on a case study of an Indigenous policy strategy in Australia to argue that, in contrast to concerns expressed by feminist policymakers, gender equality is not inevitably neglected when the target for remedial action is institutional racism. Our study suggests that successful action on Indigenous emancipation necessarily mobilizes a methodology for moving past one-dimensional category distinctions. Therefore, focusing on the task of translating declared policy goals into action can provide a way out of the impasse over whether ,diversity' or ,gender' is the better vehicle for mainstreaming equity policy. To develop its case, the article draws conclusions about the politics of methodology from gender mainstreaming debates, intersectionality theory and institutional ethnography, then uses our conclusions to analyze the political and methodological effectiveness of the Indigenous policy strategy. [source] Assessment of working conditions in two different semiconductor manufacturing lines: Effective ergonomics interventionsHUMAN FACTORS AND ERGONOMICS IN MANUFACTURING & SERVICE INDUSTRIES, Issue 5 2010Saw Bin Wong Abstract This article examines two manufacturing lines producing semiconductors using different technology concepts, namely Conventional Line (CL) and Lean Production Line (LPL). Both lines manufacturing the same products were compared using various factors, including working conditions, task risks and dangers of the job, and physical body stress. Ergonomic approaches were adopted in the investigation of the two lines. Survey questionnaires were administered to 30% of the workers, and multiple statistical tests were used to determine crucial predictors and to investigate the interactions between the factors. This research has shown that improved ergonomics factors will lead to better working conditions and thus increased job satisfaction. The observed ergonomic differences of these two production lines are compared, and appropriate managerial remedial action is recommended. The interventions to both the lines should reduce accident rates, minimize waste of resources, improve work effectiveness, and provide a better working environment that enhances employees' morale and maximizes productivity and profits. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] The Time Series Properties of Financial Ratios: Lev RevisitedJOURNAL OF BUSINESS FINANCE & ACCOUNTING, Issue 5-6 2003Christos Ioannidis This paper re-evaluates the time series properties of financial ratios. It presents new empirical analysis which explicitly allows for the possibility that financial ratios can be characterized as non-linear mean-reverting processes. Financial ratios are widely employed as explanatory variables in accounting and finance research with applications ranging from the determinants of auditors' compensation to explaining firms' investment decisions. An implicit assumption in this empirical work is that the ratios are stationary so that the postulated models can be estimated by classical regression methods. However, recent empirical work on the time series properties of corporate financial ratios has reported that the level of the majority of ratios is described by non-stationary, I(1), integrated processes and that the ratio differences are parsimoniously described by random walks. We hypothesize that financial ratios may follow a random walk near their target level, but that the more distant a ratio is from target, the more likely the firm is to take remedial action to bring it back towards target. This behavior will result in a significant size distortion of the conventional stationarity tests and lead to frequent non-rejection of the null hypothesis of non-stationarity, a finding which undermines the use of these ratios as reliable conditioning variables for the explanation of firms' decisions. [source] Obstacles to desegregating public housing: Lessons learned from implementing eight consent decreesJOURNAL OF POLICY ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2003Susan J. Popkin Between 1992 and 1996 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) settled a number of legal cases involving housing authorities and agreed to take remedial action as part of court-enforced consent decrees entered into with plaintiffs. These housing authorities faced significant obstacles that impaired their ability to comply swiftly and fully with all of the elements in the desegregation consent decrees. The obstacles fell into two broad categories: contextual obstacles (racial composition of waiting lists and resident populations, lack of affordable rental housing, and inadequate public transportation), and capacity and coordination obstacles (conflict among implementing agencies and ineffective monitoring by HUD). Findings presented here highlight the sizable potential delay between the time a legal remedy is imposed and when plaintiffs in public housing segregation disputes realize any benefits. They also reinforce the argument that implementation problems will be legion when policies impose a significant scope of required changes on a large number of actors who must collaborate, yet are not uniformly capable or sympathetic to the goals being promoted. © 2003 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. [source] Karst rocky desertification in southwestern China: geomorphology, landuse, impact and rehabilitationLAND DEGRADATION AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 2 2004S.-J. Wang Abstract Karst rocky desertification is a process of land degradation involving serious soil erosion, extensive exposure of basement rocks, drastic decrease in soil productivity, and the appearance of a desert-like landscape. It is caused by irrational, intensive land use on a fragile karst geo-ecological environment. The process is expanding rapidly, and it is daily reducing the living space of residents and is the root of disasters and poverty in the karst areas of southwestern China. The tectonic, geomorphic and environmental background to karst rocky desertification is analysed. Population pressure and the intensive land use that have led to this serious land degradation are described. Although the problem concerns the Chinese Government and some profitable experience in the partial restoration or reconstruction of the ecological environment has been gained, effective remedial action has not been achieved on a large scale. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] DIFFERENT WRONGS, DIFFERENT REMEDIES?PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2006REACTIONS TO ORGANIZATIONAL REMEDIES AFTER PROCEDURAL AND INTERACTIONAL INJUSTICE To alleviate the negative effects of workplace unfairness and resulting conflict, organizations can take remedial action to atone for a perceived injustice. We argue that the effectiveness of organizational remedies may depend on the match between type of injustice perceived and type of remedy offered. Specifically, based on the multiple needs model of justice (Cropanzano, Byrne, Bobocel, & Rupp, 2001), we expect procedural injustice to be particularly associated with preference for instrumental remedies that address the need for control. On the other hand, interactional injustice should be particularly associated with preference for punitive remedies that address the need for meaning. Confirming this hypothesis, a field study involving recently terminated employees found that procedural injustice was positively associated with preference for an instrumental remedy (monetary compensation) and interactional injustice was positively associated with preference for a punitive remedy (disciplinary action against those involved in the termination). Further supporting the hypothesis, a laboratory experiment manipulating the unfairness of performance feedback found greater preference for an instrumental remedy relative to a punitive remedy following a procedural injustice than following an interactional injustice. In discussing these results, we present a taxonomy of organizational remedies as they relate to the multiple needs model of justice. Practical implications are discussed. [source] Error-related brain potentials are differentially related to awareness of response errors: Evidence from an antisaccade taskPSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY, Issue 5 2001Sander Nieuwenhuis The error negativity (Ne/ERN) and error positivity (Pe) are two components of the event-related brain potential (ERP) that are associated with action monitoring and error detection. To investigate the relation between error processing and conscious self-monitoring of behavior, the present experiment examined whether an Ne and Pe are observed after response errors of which participants are unaware. Ne and Pe measures, behavioral accuracy, and trial-to-trial subjective accuracy judgments were obtained from participants performing an antisaccade task, which elicits many unperceived, incorrect reflex-like saccades. Consistent with previous research, subjectively unperceived saccade errors were almost always immediately corrected, and were associated with faster correction times and smaller saccade sizes than perceived errors. Importantly, irrespective of whether the participant was aware of the error or not, erroneous saccades were followed by a sizable Ne. In contrast, the Pe was much more pronounced for perceived than for unperceived errors. Unperceived errors were characterized by the absence of posterror slowing. These and other results are consistent with the view that the Ne and Pe reflect the activity of two separate error monitoring processes, of which only the later process, reflected by the Pe, is associated with conscious error recognition and remedial action. [source] Coroners' recommendations following fatal heavy vehicle crash investigationsAUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 2 2010Lisa Brodie Abstract Objective: This paper quantifies and describes the nature of coroners' recommendations and comments on fatal heavy vehicle crashes in Victoria, Australia. Methods: A retrospective, descriptive study was performed using coroners' findings. Fatal heavy vehicle crashes between January 2001 and December 2007 were identified through coronial databases. Individual findings were examined by incident type. Identified recommendations or preventative comments were reviewed and compared with national heavy vehicle safety objectives. Results: Of 330 fatal crashes, which resulted in 376 deaths, recommendations were made in 21 incidents (6%). From these 21 incidents, 45 separate recommendations or comments were made by coroners. Ten (22%) called for specific remedial action, predominantly targeting road environment changes; the remainder had a broader application for prevention. Of the 21 incidents from which these recommendations arose, 11 (52%) were from a public inquest. No recommendation was made following any of the 45 single heavy vehicle crashes. Conclusion: The frequency of coroners' recommendations varied by crash nature including vehicle type involved and number of resulting fatalities. Multiple factors are likely to influence their development, including the holding of a public inquest and the perceived level of preventability. Implications: Coroners' investigations serve an important public health and safety role. Recognition of the significance of recommendations for reducing the extent of injury from heavy vehicle crashes and monitoring of their uptake is vital. [source] The integration of thermal infrared imaging, discharge measurements and numerical simulation to quantify the relative contributions of freshwater inflows to small estuaries in Atlantic CanadaHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 20 2009Serban Danielescu Abstract Nutrient fluxes from developed catchments are often a significant factor in the declining water quality and ecological functioning in estuaries. Determining the relative contributions of surface water and groundwater discharge to nutrient-sensitive estuaries is required because these two pathways may be characterized by different nutrient concentrations and temporal variability, and may thus require different remedial actions. Quantifying the volumetric discharge of groundwater, which may occur via diffuse seepage or springs, remains a significant challenge. In this contribution, the total discharge of freshwater, including groundwater, to two small nutrient-sensitive estuaries in Prince Edward Island (Canada) is assessed using a unique combination of airborne thermal infrared imaging, direct discharge measurements in streams and shoreline springs, and numerical simulation of groundwater flow. The results of the thermal infrared surveys indicate that groundwater discharge occurs at discrete locations (springs) along the shoreline of both estuaries, which can be attributed to the fractured sandstone bedrock aquifer. The discharge measured at a sub-set of the springs correlates well with the area of the thermal signal attributed to each discharge location and this information was used to determine the total spring discharge to each estuary. Stream discharge is shown to be the largest volumetric contribution of freshwater to both estuaries (83% for Trout River estuary and 78% for McIntyre Creek estuary); however, groundwater discharge is significant at between 13% and 18% of the total discharge. Comparison of the results from catchment-scale groundwater flow models and the analysis of spring discharge suggest that diffuse seepage to both estuaries comprises only about 25% of the total groundwater discharge. The methods employed in this research provide a useful framework for determining the relative volumetric contributions of surface water and groundwater to small estuaries and the findings are expected to be relevant to other fractured sandstone coastal catchments in Atlantic Canada. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] |