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Article
Publication date: 31 May 2019

André Greiner-Petter, Moritz Schubotz, Howard S. Cohl and Bela Gipp

Modern mathematicians and scientists of math-related disciplines often use Document Preparation Systems (DPS) to write and Computer Algebra Systems (CAS) to calculate mathematical…

Abstract

Purpose

Modern mathematicians and scientists of math-related disciplines often use Document Preparation Systems (DPS) to write and Computer Algebra Systems (CAS) to calculate mathematical expressions. Usually, they translate the expressions manually between DPS and CAS. This process is time-consuming and error-prone. The purpose of this paper is to automate this translation. This paper uses Maple and Mathematica as the CAS, and LaTeX as the DPS.

Design/methodology/approach

Bruce Miller at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) developed a collection of special LaTeX macros that create links from mathematical symbols to their definitions in the NIST Digital Library of Mathematical Functions (DLMF). The authors are using these macros to perform rule-based translations between the formulae in the DLMF and CAS. Moreover, the authors develop software to ease the creation of new rules and to discover inconsistencies.

Findings

The authors created 396 mappings and translated 58.8 percent of DLMF formulae (2,405 expressions) successfully between Maple and DLMF. For a significant percentage, the special function definitions in Maple and the DLMF were different. An atomic symbol in one system maps to a composite expression in the other system. The translator was also successfully used for automatic verification of mathematical online compendia and CAS. The evaluation techniques discovered two errors in the DLMF and one defect in Maple.

Originality/value

This paper introduces the first translation tool for special functions between LaTeX and CAS. The approach improves error-prone manual translations and can be used to verify mathematical online compendia and CAS.

Details

Aslib Journal of Information Management, vol. 71 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-3806

Keywords

Content available

Abstract

Details

Aslib Journal of Information Management, vol. 71 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-3806

Book part
Publication date: 4 December 2012

Gordon Abekah-Nkrumah and Patrick Nomo

Purpose – The major question posed in this paper is whether public finance management (PFM) reforms undertaken by development partners (DPs) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) in…

Abstract

Purpose – The major question posed in this paper is whether public finance management (PFM) reforms undertaken by development partners (DPs) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Ghana were to find solutions to the many PFM challenges or it was merely a façade to pursue latent political interest?

Methodology – Study information was gathered via a desk review of major PFM policy documents, procedures, manuals, guidelines, and findings of commissioned studies covering the period under review. Information generated from the desk review was triangulated via extensive interviews with a sample of policy makers from MOH and DPs.

Findings – The findings suggest that MOH and DPs pursued reforms mostly to address the PFM challenges in the sector. Additionally, the study finds questionable the attitude and posture of the two actors and calls for further investigations to unearth what the said attitude and posture may imply in terms of intentions.

Originality/value – The findings raises fundamental question regarding public sector – DPs collaborations in executing reforms. This could open up new frontiers for further research to better understand DPs/public sector collaboration in the implementation of reforms.

Limitations – The sample used for this study may constrain generalization to other jurisdiction. This limitation does not in any case invalidate the conclusions arrived at.

Details

Finance and Development in Africa
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-225-7

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 September 2022

Yildiz Kose, Suleyman Muftuoglu, Emre Cevikcan and Mehmet Bulent Durmusoglu

Autonomous maintenance (AM), one of the pillars of total productive maintenance (TPM), aims to achieve performance toward zero defects and zero breakdowns. AM system equipped with…

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Abstract

Purpose

Autonomous maintenance (AM), one of the pillars of total productive maintenance (TPM), aims to achieve performance toward zero defects and zero breakdowns. AM system equipped with comprehensive lean tools provides continuous improvement during the AM activities. Despite its long duration, establishing a lean AM system with a robust guideline would provide significant benefits such as high quality and short lead time. Therefore, AM design approach should be provided in a holistic and detailed manner. This study aims to develop a framework for AM design, including preliminary, reactive, preventive and proactive steps using the axiomatic design (AD).

Design/methodology/approach

Requirements and technical parameters of the AM system are explored with AD. An extensive literature review and a real-life application are presented.

Findings

The proposed design was validated by adapting the proposed roadmap to a textile manufacturing system in Turkey. The application results justify the established AM system design with an average downtime improvement of 69.2% and the average elapsed time between two failures improvement of 65.1% for apparel department.

Originality/value

This study has the novelty of establishing an overall AM system design with all of its stages stepwise. It presents a comprehensive guideline in terms of integration of lean philosophy into AM design by generating maintenance-related use cases for lean tools. The developed approach facilitates creating and analyzing complex systems to improve maintenance implementations while reducing nonvalue-added operations.

Details

International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, vol. 14 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-4166

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 April 2022

Suleyman Muftuoglu, Emre Cevikcan and Bulent Durmusoglu

The purpose of this paper is to support total productive maintenance implementers by providing a roadmap for autonomous maintenance (AM) preparation phase.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to support total productive maintenance implementers by providing a roadmap for autonomous maintenance (AM) preparation phase.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use the axiomatic design (AD) methodology with lean philosophy as a paradigm.

Findings

This is an exploratory research to find the most important factors in AM preparation phase. A decoupled AD design ensures an effective usage of training within industry (TWI) and the introduction of standardized work (SW). TWI provides value in importance it assigns to leaders, with its “train the trainers” approach and in preparing a training program. Besides being an effective training method, TWI job instruction (TWI JI) provides needed information infrastructure to front load operators SW and equipment trainings.

Research limitations/implications

Although AD, TWI and lean artifacts are generally field proven, the research is limited due to the lack of an industrial application.

Practical implications

In many real-life projects, companies do not know where to start and how to proceed, which leads to costly iterations. The proposed roadmap minimizes iterations and increases the chance of project success.

Originality/value

The authors apply AD for the first time to AM preparation phase despite it is used in the analysis of lean manufacturing. AD permits to structure holistically the most relevant lean manufacturing solutions to obtain a risk free roadmap. TWI has emerged as a training infrastructure; TWI JI-based operator SW training and the adaptation of JI structure to equipment training are original additions.

Details

Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, vol. 29 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2511

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 February 2017

Ann Leaf and George Odhiambo

The purpose of this paper is to report on a study examining the perceptions of secondary principals, deputies and teachers, of deputy principal (DP) instructional leadership (IL)…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report on a study examining the perceptions of secondary principals, deputies and teachers, of deputy principal (DP) instructional leadership (IL), as well as deputies’ professional learning (PL) needs. Framed within an interpretivist approach, the specific objectives of this study were: to explore the extent to which DPs are perceived as leaders of learning, to examine the actual responsibilities of these DPs and to explore the PL that support DP roles.

Design/methodology/approach

The researchers used multiple perspective case studies which included semi-structured interviews and key school document analysis. A thematic content analysis facilitated qualitative descriptions and insights from the perspectives of the principals, DPs and teachers of four high-performing secondary schools in Sydney, Australia.

Findings

The data revealed that deputies performed a huge range of tasks; all the principals were distributing leadership to their deputies to build leadership capacity and supported their PL in a variety of ways. Across three of the case study schools, most deputies were frequently performing as instructional leaders, improving their school’s performance through distributing leadership, team building and goal setting. Deputy PL was largely dependent on principal mentoring and self-initiated but was often ad hoc. Findings add more validity to the importance of principals building the educational leadership of their deputies.

Research limitations/implications

This study relied upon responses from four case study schools. Further insight into the key issues discussed may require a longitudinal data that describe perceptions from a substantial number of schools in Australia over time. However, studying only four schools allowed for an in-depth investigation.

Practical implications

The findings from this study have practical implications for system leaders with responsibilities of framing the deputies’ role as emergent educational leaders rather than as administrators and the need for coherent, integrated, consequential and systematic approaches to DP professional development. Further research is required on the effect of deputy IL on school performance.

Originality/value

There is a dearth of research-based evidence exploring the range of responsibilities of deputies and perceptions of staff about deputies’ IL role and their PL needs. This is the first published New South Wales, Australian DP study and adds to the growing evidence around perceptions of DPs as instructional leaders by providing an Australian perspective on the phenomenon. The paper raises important concerns about the complexity of the DP’s role on the one hand, and on the other hand, the PL that is perceived to be most appropriate for dealing with this complexity.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 55 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 February 2019

Parvaneh Westerlund, Ingemar Andersson, Tero Päivärinta and Jörgen Nilsson

This paper aims to automate pre-ingest workflow for preserving digital content, such as records, through middleware that integrates potentially many information systems with…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to automate pre-ingest workflow for preserving digital content, such as records, through middleware that integrates potentially many information systems with potentially several alternative digital preservation services.

Design/methodology/approach

This design research approach resulted in a design for model- and component-based software for such workflow. A proof-of-concept prototype was implemented and demonstrated in context of a European research project, ForgetIT.

Findings

The study identifies design issues of automated pre-ingest for digital preservation while using middleware as a design choice for this purpose. The resulting model and solution suggest functionalities and interaction patterns based on open interface protocols between the source systems of digital content, middleware and digital preservation services. The resulting workflow automates the tasks of fetching digital objects from the source system with metadata extraction, preservation preparation and transfer to a selected preservation service. The proof-of-concept verified that the suggested model for pre-ingest workflow and the suggested component architecture was technologically implementable. Future research and development needs to include new solutions to support context-aware preservation management with increased support for configuring submission agreements as a basis for dynamic automation of pre-ingest and more automated error handling.

Originality/value

The paper addresses design issues for middleware as a design choice to support automated pre-ingest in digital preservation. The suggested middleware architecture supports many-to-many relationships between the source information systems and digital preservation services through open interface protocols, thus enabling dynamic digital preservation solutions for records management.

Details

Records Management Journal, vol. 29 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0956-5698

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 19 July 2023

Abdullah Al Mamun, Md. Saifullah Akon and Shamsunnahar

Like many other nations, the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) is having colossal difficulties managing the continuity of its development efforts in the milieu of COVID-19 pandemic…

Abstract

Like many other nations, the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) is having colossal difficulties managing the continuity of its development efforts in the milieu of COVID-19 pandemic. Widespread resource gap is evident for development budget due to significant diminution of revenue from readymade garments (RMG) and remittances, volatility in capital market, constant increase in trade deficit and reduction of foreign currency reserve, increase in debt and lack of investor confidence. A new horizon of relationship with development partners (DPs) will matter more than ever before. Regrettably, recent experience with collaborative mechanisms such as Local Consultative Group (LCG) and LCG Sector Working Group (LCG-WG) does not support high-impact relationships in terms of result-oriented development effectiveness. Arguably, the international shift of the development community from aid to development effectiveness agenda in 2011 also contributed to country-level motivation of Government and DPs for closer collaboration. In this backdrop, the COVID-19 crisis makes a strong call to both Government and DPs to change their business for improved development results. This chapter, therefore, examines the issues that impede development effectiveness and governance related to the Government as well as DPs. The study observe that the DPs and GoB don’t represent a horizontal relationship to implement the development effectiveness agenda in Bangladesh mainly because of dominant attitude, lack of alignment and harmonization and accountability of DPs and weak policy, institution and leadership of GoB. However, COVID-19 economic crisis makes a renewed call to both DPs and GoB implement the development effectiveness agenda, addressing existing issues and improve the management of development finance to increase economic growth and improve life of the people.

Details

Inclusive Developments Through Socio-economic Indicators: New Theoretical and Empirical Insights
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-554-5

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 November 2016

Andrew Goddard and Tausi Ally Mkasiwa

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the budgeting practices in the Tanzanian Central Government. New budgeting reforms were introduced following exhortations from the…

1328

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the budgeting practices in the Tanzanian Central Government. New budgeting reforms were introduced following exhortations from the bodies such as the UN, the World Bank and the IMF and reflect the new public management (NPM).

Design/methodology/approach

A grounded theory methodology was used. This methodology is inductive, allowing phenomena to emerge from the participants rather than from prior theory. This ensures both relevance and depth of understanding.

Findings

The principal research findings from the data concern the central phenomenon of “struggling for conformance”. Tanzanian Central Government adopted innovations in order to ensure donor funding by demonstrating its ability to implement imposed budgetary changes. Organizational actors were committed to these reforms through necessity and struggled to implement them, rather than more overtly resisting them.

Research limitations/implications

The research is subject to the usual limitations of case study, inductive research.

Practical implications

This research has several implications for policy-makers of NPM and budgetary reforms. These include the recognition that the establishment of the rules and regulations alone is not adequate for the successful implementation of budgetary and NPM reforms and should involve a comprehensive view of the nature of the internal and external environment.

Originality/value

There are few empirical papers of NPM accounting practices being implemented in the public sector of developing countries and none at all based in Tanzania. The paper identifies the existence of struggling to conform to reforms rather than resistance identified in prior research.

Details

Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies, vol. 6 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-1168

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 1 January 2009

Robert Taliercio

By all accounts, Cambodia has been a postconflict country for much of the last 15 years, stretching as far back at 1991, when the Paris Peace Accords proclaimed a truce between…

Abstract

By all accounts, Cambodia has been a postconflict country for much of the last 15 years, stretching as far back at 1991, when the Paris Peace Accords proclaimed a truce between the Vietnamese-backed government and the Khmer Rouge. Subsequent attempts to put in place the desired political and governmental structures remained furtive in the midst of ongoing politicomilitary violence, which only subsided definitively in 1997. Many important institutions of governance and public sector management, destroyed by the ultra-radical Khmer Rouge regime, were only just starting to be rebuilt as recently as 2002.

Details

The Many Faces of Public Management Reform in the Asia-Pacific Region
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-640-3

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