Browsing by Author "Oosthuizen, Louzanne"
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- ItemThe absence of a creative focus in the conventional engineering design process : identifying research opportunities to address this(SAIIE, 2016-05) Oosthuizen, Louzanne; Vlok, P. J.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This paper synthesizes an overview of various models of the engineering design process with an overview of the most relevant theories within the field of creativity studies to conclude that (i) creativity plays a role throughout the engineering design process, and it is possible to incorporate creativity into the engineering design process in a systematic manner; (ii) doing so, at the very least, holds significant potential for economic benefit; and (iii) due to the complex interplay between creativity and the wide range of factors that influence it, organisational climates and management practices cannot simply be assumed to support creativity effectively. It is proposed that organisations be managed proactively to support creativity in engineering design. For this study, a structured literature search protocol was implemented to determine whether there is any evidence in the literature that engineering organisations are being managed proactively with this in mind; none was found. Two opportunities for future research are suggested based on these findings: (i) the development of a framework to guide the proactive management of engineering organisations to support creativity; and (ii) the development of mechanisms for measuring creativity in engineering organisations and engineering design.
- ItemA location science model for the placement of POC CD4 testing devices as part of South Africa's public healthcare diagnostic service delivery model(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2015-03) Oosthuizen, Louzanne; Bekker, James; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Industrial Engineering.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South Africa has a severe HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) burden and the management of the disease is a priority, especially in the public healthcare sector. One element of managing the disease, is determining when to initiate an HIV positive individual onto anti-retroviral therapy (ART), a treatment that the patient will remain on for the remainder of their lifetime. For the majority of HIV positive individuals in the country, this decision is governed by the results of a CD4 (cluster of differentiation 4) test that is performed at set time intervals from the time that the patient is diagnosed with HIV until the patient is initiated onto ART. A device for CD4 measurement at the point of care (POC), the Alere PIMA™, has recently become commercially available. This has prompted a need to evaluate whether CD4 testing at the POC (i.e. at the patient serving healthcare facility) should be incorporated into the South African public healthcare sector's HIV diagnostic service provision model. One challenge associated with the management of HIV in the country is the relatively large percentage of patients that are lost to follow-up at various points in the HIV treatment process. There is extensive evidence that testing CD4 levels at the POC (rather than in a laboratory, as is the current practice) reduces the percentage of patients that are lost to follow-up before being initiated onto ART. Therefore, though POC CD4 testing is more expensive than laboratory-based CD4 testing, the use of this technology in South Africa should be investigated for its potential to positively influence health outcomes. In this research, a multi-objective location science model is used to generate scenarios for the provision of CD4 testing capability. For each scenario, CD4 testing provision at 3 279 ART initiation facilities is considered. For each facility, either (i) a POC device is placed at the site; or (ii) the site's testing workload is referred to one of the 61 CD4 laboratories in the country. To develop this model, the characteristics of eight basic facility location models are compared to the attributes of the real-world problem in order to select the most suitable one for application. The selected model's objective, assumptions and inputs are adjusted in order to adequately model the realworld problem. The model is solved using the cross-entropy method for multi-objective optimisation and the results are verified using a commercial algorithm. Nine scenarios are selected from the acquired Pareto set for detailed presentation. In addition, details on the status quo as well as a scenario where POC testing is used as widely as possible are also presented. These scenarios are selected to provide decision-makers with information on the range of options that should be considered, from no or very limited use to widespread use of POC testing. Arguably the most valuable contribution of this research is to provide an indication of the optimal trade-off points between an improved healthcare outcome due to POC CD4 testing and increased healthcare spending on POC CD4 testing in the South African public healthcare context. This research also contributes to the location science literature and the metaheuristic literature.