| 1. |
- Barone, Stefano, 1970, et al.
(författare)
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Design of a university course quality by Teaching Experiments and Student Feedback (TESF)
- 2009
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Ingår i: Total Quality Management and Business Excellence. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1478-3371 .- 1478-3363. ; 20:7, s. 687-703
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Quality of the academic system must be constantly monitored, especially underconditions of growing competition and limited resources. Those who are interestedin quality, doing research and teaching on it, should ensure quality of the processesfor which they are responsible. Teaching is one of the primary services offered by auniversity. For it, all fundamental principles of Total Quality Management (TQM)must be valid. In this article the authors propose a methodology for designing thequality of a university course, considered as a basic service of a complexeducational system. The methodology is based on the concurrent use of teachingexperiments performed by a teacher, and the SERVQUAL model for the evaluationof student feedback. Such methodology can be adopted in any educational context.It is a useful tool for continuous course improvement. The article presents theapplication of the methodology in two consecutive editions of a statistics course atthe University of Palermo, Italy.
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| 2. |
- Barone, Stefano, 1970, et al.
(författare)
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Focus on failure avoidance and risk reduction through Variation Mode and Effect Analysis (VMEA)
- 2009
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Ingår i: 2009 Spring Research Conference on Statistics in Industry and Technology.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Variation Mode and Effect Analysis (VMEA) is a quality improvement tool initially thought to help product development engineers focusing on variation. The method was inspired by the wide use of Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) in business and industry and the increased attention on robust design. However, FMEA is based on the concept of failure while VMEA is developed on the concept of variation, i.e. it implies a step further toward the awareness of variation and its implications in terms of risk and failures. VMEA helps identifying, scrutinizing and measuring the sources of variation and the way they channel through and impact on important characteristics of the system under study. Applied systematically, it provides a solid basis for achieving system robustness. Three VMEA procedures have been set up for use at different system maturity levels. Several applications have been made over the last five years showing the usefulness of the tool for both product and process (here including also service) improvement. This presentation is aimed at giving an overview of the VMEA method and its possible ways/areas of use in the entire product/process development.
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| 3. |
- Barone, Stefano, 1970, et al.
(författare)
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Statistical and Managerial Techniques for Six Sigma Methodology: Theory and Application
- 2012
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Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Six Sigma methodology is a business management strategy which seeks to improve the quality of process output by identifying and removing the causes of errors and minimizing variability in manufacturing and business processes. This book examines the Six Sigma methodology through illustrating the most widespread tools and techniques involved in Six Sigma application. Both managerial and statistical aspects are analysed allowing the reader to apply these tools in the field. Furthermore, the book offers insight on variation and risk management and focuses on the structure and organizational aspects of Six Sigma projects. Key features: Presents both statistical and managerial aspects of Six Sigma, covering both basic and more advanced statistical techniques. Provides clear examples and case studies to illustrate the concepts and methodologies used in Six Sigma. Written by experienced authors in the field. This textbook is ideal for graduates studying Six Sigma for Black Belt and Green Belt qualifications as well as for engineering and quality management courses. Business consultants and consultancy firms implementing Six Sigma will also benefit from this book.
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| 4. |
- Barone, Stefano, 1970, et al.
(författare)
-
Statistical-Based Tolerance Setting by Eliciting the Loss Function Reasoning
- 2009
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Ingår i: Proceeedings of the ENBIS Conference 2009.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- An issue still open in the statistical-engineering literature concerns the tolerance allocation, i.e. the setting of admitted limits for critical characteristics or performances of interest of the system under study. A common approach to tolerance allocation is based on the idea of Loss function initially developed by Taguchi. Unfortunately, some obstacles prevent from a full exploitation of the Taguchi approach, since despite its clarity and elegance, it is poorly operational. Based on Taguchi’s proposal, researchers have been more concerned on developing different analytical models of loss function than clarifying the reasoning behind the loss function idea. So there is a missing link for a complete interpretation and debate on the loss function.In this paper the authors provide a method to operatively build loss functions from field data and to finally set tolerance limits, starting from an elicitation of the rationale hidden behind the loss function concept. An illustrative example completes the paper.
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| 5. |
- Barone, Stefano, 1970, et al.
(författare)
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TESF methodology for statistics education improvement
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Statistics Education. - 1069-1898. ; 18:3, s. 1-25
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The need for universities to achieve excellence in the services they provide has been the subject of research for several decades. The idea of involving students and recognizing the importance of their opinions has led to the creation of various models and tools. This paper focuses on teaching, a central service from which improvement actions of an academic institution should always begin. The article reviews and updates the previously developed Teaching Experiments and Student Feedback methodology. The methodology, which is primarily addressed to statistics teachers, allows practical aspects to be organized and decisions to be made based on data that has been collected from students and scientifically analyzed. The steps for building a student satisfaction index are also described. This index, in its most complete version, takes into account possible correlations between importance of the evaluated aspect and scores, both of which are provided by the students. The paper presents an application of the methodology to a statistics course taught by one of the authors.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Johannesson, Pär, 1969, et al.
(författare)
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A Robustness Approach to Reliability
- 2013
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Ingår i: Quality and Reliability Engineering International. - : Wiley. - 1099-1638 .- 0748-8017. ; 29:1, s. 17-32
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Reliability of products is here regarded with respect to failure avoidance rather than probability of failure. To avoid failures,we emphasize variation and suggest some powerful tools for handling failures due to variation. Thus, instead of technicalcalculation of probabilities from data that usually are too weak for correct results, we emphasize the statistical thinking thatputs the designers focus on the critical product functions.Making the design insensitive to unavoidable variation is called robust design and is handled by (i) identification andclassification of variation, (ii) design of experiments to find robust solutions, and (iii) statistically based estimations of propersafety margins.Extensions of the classical failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) are presented. The first extension consists of identifyingfailure modes caused by variation in the traditional bottom–up FMEA analysis. The second variation mode and effect analysis(VMEA) is a top–down analysis, taking the product characteristics as a starting point and analyzing how sensitive thesecharacteristics are to variation.In cases when there is sufficient detailed information of potential failure causes, the VMEA can be applied in its mostadvanced mode, the probabilistic VMEA. Variation is then measured as statistical standard deviations, and sensitivities aremeasured as partial derivatives. This method gives the opportunity to dimension tolerances and safety margins to avoidfailures caused by both unavoidable variation and lack of knowledge regarding failure processes.
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| 8. |
- Tavella, Teresa, et al.
(författare)
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Elevated gut microbiome abundance of Christensenellaceae, Porphyromonadaceae and Rikenellaceae is associated with reduced visceral adipose tissue and healthier metabolic profile in Italian elderly
- 2021
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Ingår i: Gut microbes. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1949-0976 .- 1949-0984. ; 13:1, s. 1-19
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aging is accompanied by physiological changes affecting body composition and functionality, including accumulation of fat mass at the expense of muscle mass, with effects upon morbidity and quality of life. The gut microbiome has recently emerged as a key environmental modifier of human health that can modulate healthy aging and possibly longevity. However, its associations with adiposity in old age are still poorly understood. Here we profiled the gut microbiota in a well-characterized cohort of 201 Italian elderly subjects from the NU-AGE study, by 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. We then tested for association with body composition from dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), with a focus on visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue. Dietary patterns, serum metabolome and other health-related parameters were also assessed. This study identified distinct compositional structures of the elderly gut microbiota associated with DXA parameters, diet, metabolic profiles and cardio-metabolic risk factors.
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