Metodología de formulación de indicadores para la mejora en la implantación de los programas de calidad. Aplicación al caso de las universidades públicas españolas

El planteamiento fundamental del trabajo ha consistido en explorar las posibilidades existentes para establecer una metodología basada en un modelo cuantitativo para la condensación de indicadores relacionados con los sistemas de calidad en el ámbito universitario público. El modelo incluye tanto la evaluación de activos tangibles como intangibles. Se ha seguido una metodología adaptada al planteamiento: - Realizando un estudio tipo DELPHI (DELPHI 1) entre las Unidades Técnicas de Calidad de las universidades de la Comunidad de Madrid, para conocer la situación de la implantación de metodologías de planificación estratégica en la universidad. - Definiendo tres niveles de gestión (bases, activos e indicadores) para la construcción del modelo cuantitativo. - Realizando una propuesta inicial de bases, activos e indicadores, incluyendo activos intangibles. - Realizando un segundo estudio tipo DELPHI (DELPHI 2) entre expertos con responsabilidad directiva en universidades, para debatir y revisar la propuesta. - Por último diseñando una metodología y la correspondiente herramienta para la condensación de los indicadores. En resumen, se ha generado una propuesta consolidada y actualizada de las bases estratégicas, los activos tangibles e intangibles y los indicadores en ambos casos, diseñándose una metodología (herramienta) que permite implementar la definición de los tres niveles de control, establecer una ponderación de cada uno de los elementos en los tres niveles y establecer una cuantificación de la importancia o contribución de cada elemento para la propia institución, y sirve para facilitar la toma de decisiones por priorización de actuaciones, establecer objetivos para los indicadores, valorar el grado de cumplimiento y modificar la estrategia de una institución universitaria. ABSTRACT The fundamental approach of the work has been to explore the possibilities to establish a methodology based on a quantitative model for condensing indicators related to quality assurance systems in Higher Education Institutions (HEI), particularly public universities. The model includes both assessment of tangible and intangible assets. A methodology adapted to the approach has been followed: - Performing a type DELPHI study (DELPHI 1) between the Technical Quality Units of the universities of the Community of Madrid, to know the level of implementation of strategic planning methodologies in HEI. - Defining three levels of management (bases, assets and indicators) to build the quantitative model. - Performing an initial proposal bases, assets and indicators, including intangible assets. - Making a second study type DELPHI (DELPHI 2) between experts with managerial responsibility in universities, to discuss and review the proposal. - Finally designing a methodology and related tool for condensing indicators. In short, a proposal consolidated and updated for strategic bases, the tangible and intangible assets and indicators of both types of assets has been performed. A methodology (tool) that allows to implement the definition of the three levels of control, establish a weighting each of the elements on three levels and establish a quantification of the importance and contribution of each element to the institution itself, has been designed. The methodology serves: - To facilitate decision-making by prioritizing activities. - To set targets for indicators. - To assess the degree of compliance and - To modify the strategy of the HEI.

Ontology Evaluation: a pitfall-based approach to ontology diagnosis

La evaluación de ontologías, incluyendo diagnóstico y reparación de las mismas, es una compleja actividad que debe llevarse a cabo en cualquier proyecto de desarrollo ontológico para comprobar la calidad técnica de las ontologías. Sin embargo, existe una gran brecha entre los enfoques metodológicos sobre la evaluación de ontologías y las herramientas que le dan soporte. En particular, no existen enfoques que proporcionen guías concretas sobre cómo diagnosticar y, en consecuencia, reparar ontologías. Esta tesis pretende avanzar en el área de la evaluación de ontologías, concretamente en la actividad de diagnóstico. Los principales objetivos de esta tesis son (a) ayudar a los desarrolladores en el diagnóstico de ontologías para encontrar errores comunes y (b) facilitar dicho diagnóstico reduciendo el esfuerzo empleado proporcionando el soporte tecnológico adecuado. Esta tesis presenta las siguientes contribuciones: • Catálogo de 41 errores comunes que los ingenieros ontológicos pueden cometer durante el desarrollo de ontologías. • Modelo de calidad para el diagnóstico de ontologías alineando el catálogo de errores comunes con modelos de calidad existentes. • Diseño e implementación de 48 métodos para detectar 33 de los 41 errores comunes en el catálogo. • Soporte tecnológico OOPS!, que permite el diagnstico de ontologías de forma (semi)automática. De acuerdo con los comentarios recibidos y los resultados de los test de satisfacción realizados, se puede afirmar que el enfoque desarrollado y presentado en esta tesis ayuda de forma efectiva a los usuarios a mejorar la calidad de sus ontologías. OOPS! ha sido ampliamente aceptado por un gran número de usuarios de formal global y ha sido utilizado alrededor de 3000 veces desde 60 países diferentes. OOPS! se ha integrado en software desarrollado por terceros y ha sido instalado en empresas para ser utilizado tanto durante el desarrollo de ontologías como en actividades de formación. Abstract Ontology evaluation, which includes ontology diagnosis and repair, is a complex activity that should be carried out in every ontology development project, because it checks for the technical quality of the ontology. However, there is an important gap between the methodological work about ontology evaluation and the tools that support such an activity. More precisely, not many approaches provide clear guidance about how to diagnose ontologies and how to repair them accordingly. This thesis aims to advance the current state of the art of ontology evaluation, specifically in the ontology diagnosis activity. The main goals of this thesis are (a) to help ontology engineers to diagnose their ontologies in order to find common pitfalls and (b) to lessen the effort required from them by providing the suitable technological support. This thesis presents the following main contributions: • A catalogue that describes 41 pitfalls that ontology developers might include in their ontologies. • A quality model for ontology diagnose that aligns the pitfall catalogue to existing quality models for semantic technologies. • The design and implementation of 48 methods for detecting 33 out of the 41 pitfalls defined in the catalogue. • A system called OOPS! (OntOlogy Pitfall Scanner!) that allows ontology engineers to (semi)automatically diagnose their ontologies. According to the feedback gathered and satisfaction tests carried out, the approach developed and presented in this thesis effectively helps users to increase the quality of their ontologies. At the time of writing this thesis, OOPS! has been broadly accepted by a high number of users worldwide and has been used around 3000 times from 60 different countries. OOPS! is integrated with third-party software and is locally installed in private enterprises being used both for ontology development activities and training courses.

El levantamiento de la planimetría urbana de Cartagena, 1867-1871

Entre 1867 y 1869, en el marco del proyecto topográfico-catastral diseñado por Francisco Coello, la Junta General de Estadística lleva a cabo el levantamiento de cartografía urbana de nueve localidades no madrileñas, entre ellas Cartagena. Esa cartografía se conserva en el Archivo técnico del Instituto Geográfico Nacional. Aunque finalmente el levantamiento quedó inconcluso, se cartografió toda la ciudad y el resultado es una planimetría urbana de gran valor geo-histórico y calidad técnica. El presente trabajo estudia el contexto histórico en se cartografía la ciudad, cómo que realiza el levantamiento catastral, el espacio urbano cartografiado y la cartografía resultante.

Message from MultiCom-2012 workshop chairs

Welcome to the Second International Workshop on Multimedia Communications and Networking held in conjunction with IUCC-2012 during 25 June – 27 June 2012 in Liverpool, UK. MultiCom-2012 is dedicated to address the challenges in the areas of elivering multimedia content using modern communication and networking techniques. The multimedia & networking computing domain emerges from the integration of multimedia content such as audio and video with content distribution technologies. This workshop aims to cover contributions in both design and analysis aspects in the context of multimedia, wired/wireless/heterogeneous networks, and quality evaluation. It also intends to bring together researchers and practitioners from academia and industry to share their latest achievements in this field with others and establish new collaborations for future developments. All papers received are peer reviewed by three members of the Technical Programme Committee. The papers are assessed by their originality, technical quality, presentation and relevance to the theme of the workshop. Based on the criteria set, four papers have been accepted for presentation at the workshop and will appear in the IUCC conference proceedings. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the IUCC-2012 Organizing Committee, the TPC members of MultiCom-2012 and the authors for their s upport, dedicated work and contributions. Finally, we look forward to meeting you at the workshop in Liverpool.

Feasibility of MR-Based Body Composition Analysis in Large Scale Population Studies

Introduction Quantitative and accurate measurements of fat and muscle in the body are important for prevention and diagnosis of diseases related to obesity and muscle degeneration. Manually segmenting muscle and fat compartments in MR body-images is laborious and time-consuming, hindering implementation in large cohorts. In the present study, the feasibility and success-rate of a Dixon-based MR scan followed by an intensity-normalised, non-rigid, multi-atlas based segmentation was investigated in a cohort of 3,000 subjects. Materials and Methods 3,000 participants in the in-depth phenotyping arm of the UK Biobank imaging study underwent a comprehensive MR examination. All subjects were scanned using a 1.5 T MR-scanner with the dual-echo Dixon Vibe protocol, covering neck to knees. Subjects were scanned with six slabs in supine position, without localizer. Automated body composition analysis was performed using the AMRA Profiler™ system, to segment and quantify visceral adipose tissue (VAT), abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (ASAT) and thigh muscles. Technical quality assurance was performed and a standard set of acceptance/rejection criteria was established. Descriptive statistics were calculated for all volume measurements and quality assurance metrics. Results Of the 3,000 subjects, 2,995 (99.83%) were analysable for body fat, 2,828 (94.27%) were analysable when body fat and one thigh was included, and 2,775 (92.50%) were fully analysable for body fat and both thigh muscles. Reasons for not being able to analyse datasets were mainly due to missing slabs in the acquisition, or patient positioned so that large parts of the volume was outside of the field-of-view. Discussion and Conclusions In conclusion, this study showed that the rapid UK Biobank MR-protocol was well tolerated by most subjects and sufficiently robust to achieve very high success-rate for body composition analysis. This research has been conducted using the UK Biobank Resource.

Efeito da adição de feldspato e/ou resíduo de caulin em formulações à base de argila ilítica

The red pottery industry in Piauí state is well developed and stands out at the national context for the technical quality of its products. The floor and wall tile industry, however, is little developed since the state has only one company that produces red clay-based ceramic tiles. This thesis aims at using the predominantly illitic basic mass of the above mentioned industry, with the addition of feldspar and/or kaolin residue in order to obtain products of higher technical quality. Kaolin residue consists basically of kaolinite, muscovite mica and quartz; the feldspar used was potassic. In this experiment, basic mass (MB) was used for experimental control and fifteen formulations codified as follows: F2, F4, F8, F16, F32, FR2, FR4, FR8, FR16, FR32, R2, R4, R8, R16 and R32. All raw materials were dry-milled, classified, formulated and then humidified to 10% water. Thereafter, test samples were produced by unixial pressing process in a rectangular steel matrix (60.0 x 20.0 x 5.0) mm3 at (25 MPa). They were fired at four temperatures: 1080°C, 1120°C, 1160°C, with a heating rate of 10°C/min during up to 10 min in an electric oven, and the last one in an industrial oven with a peak of 1140°C, aim ing to confirm the results found in laboratory and, finally, technological tests were performed: MEA, RL, AA, PA, TRF and PF. The results revealed that the residue under study can be considered a raw material with large potential in the industry of red clay-based ceramic tiles, since the results found both in laboratory and in the industry have shown that the test samples produced from the formulations with up to 4% feldspar and those produced with up to 8% feldspar and residue permitted a reduction in the water absorption rate and an increase in the mechanical resistance while those samples produced with up to 4% residue had an increase in the mechanical resistance when compared to those produced from the basic mass and that the formulation with 2% feldspar and residue presented the best technological properties, lowering the sintering temperature down to 1120°C

Effect of technical parameters on dose and image quality in a computed radiography system

The discovery of X-rays was undoubtedly one of the greatest stimulus for improving the efficiency in the provision of healthcare services. The ability to view, non-invasively, inside the human body has greatly facilitated the work of professionals in diagnosis of diseases. The exclusive focus on image quality (IQ), without understanding how they are obtained, affect negatively the efficiency in diagnostic radiology. The equilibrium between the benefits and the risks are often forgotten. It is necessary to adopt optimization strategies to maximize the benefits (image quality) and minimize risk (dose to the patient) in radiological facilities. In radiology, the implementation of optimization strategies involves an understanding of images acquisition process. When a radiographer adopts a certain value of a parameter (tube potential [kVp], tube current-exposure time product [mAs] or additional filtration), it is essential to know its meaning and impact of their variation in dose and image quality. Without this, any optimization strategy will be a failure. Worldwide, data show that use of x-rays has been increasingly frequent. In Cabo Verde, we note an effort by healthcare institutions (e.g. Ministry of Health) in equipping radiological facilities and the recent installation of a telemedicine system requires purchase of new radiological equipment. In addition, the transition from screen-films to digital systems is characterized by a raise in patient exposure. Given that this transition is slower in less developed countries, as is the case of Cabo Verde, the need to adopt optimization strategies becomes increasingly necessary. This study was conducted as an attempt to answer that need. Although this work is about objective evaluation of image quality, and in medical practice the evaluation is usually subjective (visual evaluation of images by radiographer / radiologist), studies reported a correlation between these two types of evaluation (objective and subjective) [5-7] which accredits for conducting such studies. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of exposure parameters (kVp and mAs) when using additional Cooper (Cu) filtration in dose and image quality in a Computed Radiography system.

The impact of poor power quality in solar photovoltaic microgeneration: technical problems and losses of revenue

This paper presents a critical and quantitative analysis of the influence of the Power Quality in grid connected solar photovoltaic microgeneration installations. First are introduced the main regulations and legislation related with the solar photovoltaic microgeneration, in Portugal and Europe. Next are presented Power Quality monitoring results obtained from two residential solar photovoltaic installations located in the north of Portugal, and is explained how the Power Quality events affect the operation of these installations. Afterwards, it is described a methodology to estimate the energy production losses and the impact in the revenue caused by the abnormal operation of the electrical installation. This is done by comparing the amount of energy that was injected into the power grid with the theoretical value of energy that could be injected in normal conditions. The performed analysis shows that Power Quality severally affects the solar photovoltaic installations operation. The losses of revenue in the two monitored installations M1 and M2 are estimated in about 27% and 22%, respectively.

International trade, technical change and the demand for skills : how important is trade in quality differential products?

Magdeburg, Univ., Fak. für Wirtschaftswiss., Diss., 2012

Image quality assessment in digital mammography: part I. Technical characterization of the systems.

In many European countries, image quality for digital x-ray systems used in screening mammography is currently specified using a threshold-detail detectability method. This is a two-part study that proposes an alternative method based on calculated detectability for a model observer: the first part of the work presents a characterization of the systems. Eleven digital mammography systems were included in the study; four computed radiography (CR) systems, and a group of seven digital radiography (DR) detectors, composed of three amorphous selenium-based detectors, three caesium iodide scintillator systems and a silicon wafer-based photon counting system. The technical parameters assessed included the system response curve, detector uniformity error, pre-sampling modulation transfer function (MTF), normalized noise power spectrum (NNPS) and detective quantum efficiency (DQE). Approximate quantum noise limited exposure range was examined using a separation of noise sources based upon standard deviation. Noise separation showed that electronic noise was the dominant noise at low detector air kerma for three systems; the remaining systems showed quantum noise limited behaviour between 12.5 and 380 µGy. Greater variation in detector MTF was found for the DR group compared to the CR systems; MTF at 5 mm(-1) varied from 0.08 to 0.23 for the CR detectors against a range of 0.16-0.64 for the DR units. The needle CR detector had a higher MTF, lower NNPS and higher DQE at 5 mm(-1) than the powder CR phosphors. DQE at 5 mm(-1) ranged from 0.02 to 0.20 for the CR systems, while DQE at 5 mm(-1) for the DR group ranged from 0.04 to 0.41, indicating higher DQE for the DR detectors and needle CR system than for the powder CR phosphor systems. The technical evaluation section of the study showed that the digital mammography systems were well set up and exhibiting typical performance for the detector technology employed in the respective systems.

Finnair Technical Procurement’s Processes and Service Quality

As primary objective, this thesis examines Finnair Technical Procurement’s service quality with its underlying process. As an internal unit, Technical Procurement serves as a link between external suppliers and internal customers. It is argued that external service quality requires a certain quality level within an organization. At the same time, aircraft maintenance business is subject to economic restraints. Therefore, a methodology was developed with a modified House of Quality that assists management in analyzing and evaluating Technical Procurement’s service level and connected process steps. It could be shown that qualitative and quantitative objectives do not exclude each other per se.

Studies supporting the evaluation of the Uniform Tire Quality Grading System Program effects on the consumer marketplace. Final technical report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.