In the grid context, the scheduling can be grouped into two categories: offline scheduling and online scheduling. In the offline scheduling scenario, the sequence of jobs is known in advance, scheduling is based on information about all jobs in the sequence. While, in the online scheduling scenario a job is known only after all predecessors have been scheduled, and a job is scheduled only accor...

2) Commissioning has often been described as the weak link in the NHS since the purchaser-provider split was introduced in 1991. This Committee and its predecessors have highlighted its shortcomings on a number of occasions. Commissioning health services is a complex and difficult task and no other health system in the world that we are aware of places as much emphasis on it as a means of drivi...