Search results for: length of service

Authors: Reni M. Sagayaraj, Anand Gnana S. Selvam, Reynald R. Susainathan

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In this paper, we consider stochastic queueing models for Steady-state behavior of a multi-phase M/M/1 queue in random evolution subject to catastrophe failure. The arrival flow of customers is described by a marked Markovian arrival process. The service times of different type customers have a phase-type distribution with different parameters. To facilitate the investigation of the system we use a generalized phase-type service time distribution. This model contains a repair state, when a catastrophe occurs the system is transferred to the failure state. The paper focuses on the steady-state equation, and observes that, the steady-state behavior of the underlying queueing model along with the average queue size is analyzed.

Keywords: M/G/1 queuing system, multi-phase, random evolution, steady-state equation, catastrophe failure

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Authors: Hamed Saremi, Suzan Taghavy, Seyed Mohammad Hanif Sanjari, Mostafa Kahali

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One of the challenges in manufacturing and service companies to provide a product or service is recognized Brand to consumers in target markets. They provide most of their processes under the same capacity. But the constant threat of devastating internal and external resources to prevent a rise Brands and more companies are recognizing the stages are bankrupt. This paper has tried to identify and analyze effective indicators of brand equity and focuses on indicators and presents a model of intelligent create a model to prevent possible damage. In this study, the identified indicators of brand equity are based on literature study and according to expert opinions, set of indicators By techniques DEMATEL Then to used Multi-Step Adaptive Neural-Fuzzy Inference system (ANFIS) to design a multi-stage intelligent system for assessment of brand equity.

Keywords: brand, cosmetic product, ANFIS, DEMATEL

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Authors: Abhigna Bhatt, Arnab Banerjee

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A periodic system with only a single coupling degree of freedom is called a monocoupled system. Monocoupled systems with mechanisms like mass in the mass system generates effective negative mass, mass connected with rigid links generates inertial amplification, and spring-mass connected with a rigid link generateseffective negative stiffness. In this paper, the representative unit cell is introduced, considering all three mechanisms combined. Further, the dynamic stiffness matrix of the unit cell is constructed, and the dispersion relation is obtained by applying the Bloch theorem. The frequency response function is also calculated for the finite length of periodic unit cells. Moreover, the input displacement signal is given to the finite length of periodic structure and using inverse Fourier transform to visualize the wave propagation in the time domain. This visualization explains the sudden attenuation in metamaterial due to energy dissipation by an embedded resonator at the resonance frequency. The visualization created for wave propagation is found necessary to understand the insights of physics behind the attenuation characteristics of the system.

Keywords: mono coupled system, negative effective mass, negative effective stiffness, inertial amplifier, fourier transform

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Authors: A. Alzahrani, G. Arnold, W. Wang

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Background: Stroke commonly occurs in middle-aged and elderly populations, and the diagnosis of early stroke is still difficult. Patients who have suffered a stroke have different balance and gait patterns from healthy people. Advanced techniques of motion analysis have been routinely used in the clinical assessment of cerebral palsy. However, so far, little research has been done on the direct diagnosis of early stroke patients using motion analysis. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate whether patients with stroke have different balance and gait from healthy people and which biomechanical parameters could be used to predict and diagnose potential patients who are at a potential risk to stroke. Methods: Thirteen patients with stroke were recruited as subjects whose gait and balance was analysed. Twenty normal subjects at the matched age participated in this study as a control group. All subjects’ gait and balance were collected using Vicon Nexus® to obtain the gait parameters, kinetic, and kinematic parameters of the hip, knee, and ankle joints in three planes of both limbs. Participants stood on force platforms to perform a single leg balance test. Then, they were asked to walk along a 10 m walkway at their comfortable speed. Participants performed 6 trials of single-leg balance for each side and 10 trials of walking. From the recorded trials, three good ones were analysed using the Vicon Plug-in-Gait model to obtain gait parameters, e.g., walking speed, cadence, stride length, and joint parameters, e.g., joint angle, force, moments, etc. Result: The temporal-spatial variables of Stroke subjects were compared with the healthy subjects; it was found that there was a significant difference (p < 0.05) between the groups. The step length, speed, cadence were lower in stroke subjects as compared to the healthy groups. The stroke patients group showed significantly decreased in gait speed (mean and SD: 0.85 ± 0.33 m/s), cadence ( 96.71 ± 16.14 step/min), and step length (0.509 ± 017 m) in compared to healthy people group whereas the gait speed was 1.2 ± 0.11 m/s, cadence 112 ± 8.33 step/min, and step length 0.648 ± 0.43 m. Moreover, it was observed that patients with stroke have significant differences in the ankle, hip, and knee joints’ kinematics in the sagittal and coronal planes. Also, the result showed that there was a significant difference between groups in the single-leg balance test, e.g., maintaining single-leg stance time in the stroke patients showed shorter duration (5.97 ± 6.36 s) in compared to healthy people group (14.36 ± 10.20 s). Conclusion: Our result showed that there are significantly differences between stroke patients and healthy subjects in the various aspects of gait analysis and balance test, as a consequences of these findings some of the biomechanical parameters such as joints kinematics, gait parameters, and single-leg stance balance test could be used in clinical practice to predict and diagnose potential patients who are at a high risk of further stroke.

Keywords: gait analysis, kinetics, kinematics, single-leg stance, Stroke

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Authors: Krishna Gopal Lageju

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On 25th April 2015, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck Gorkha district of Nepal, which resulted over 8,790 deaths and 22,300 injuries. In addition, almost one-third of the country’s healthcare service has been disrupted. A total of 1,211 health facilities became non-operational, due to 446 completely and other 765 partially damaged. Nearly 84 percent (375 out of 446) of the completely damaged health facilities are in the 14 most affected districts. As a result, the ability of health facilities to respond to health care needs has been harshly affected. In addition, 18 health workers lost their lives and 75 are injured, which added further challenges in the delivery of health services. Thus, to address the immediate health needs in the most devastated areas, Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) in coordination with IFRC and Nepal Government, 8 Field hospitals established with surgical capacities, where around 492 international Emergency Response Units (ERUs) Members are mobilized for 3 months period. More than 54,000 patients have been treated in the Red Cross operated field hospitals. Trauma cases accounted 9,180 (17%) of the total patients off which 1,285 (14%) are major surgical cases. Most of the case loads 44,830 (83%) are outpatients and 9,180 patients got inpatients service. Similarly, 112 births have been performed in the field hospitals. Inpatient mortality rate remained 1.5% (21 deaths), many of them are presented with critical injuries or illnesses. No outbreak has been seen during the ERU operation. Deployment of ERUs together with national health workers are very important to address the immediate health needs of the affected communities. This will ease for transition and handover of emergency service and equipments to local provider. Likewise, capacity building of local staff as on the job training on various clinical teachings would be another important issue to look at before phasing out such services.

Keywords: trauma management, critical injuries, earthquake, health

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Authors: Adedayo Jeremiah Adeyekun, Samuel Oluwagbemiga Ishola

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This research paper focuses on the study of the master plan of rural Farrukhnagar, a town in Gurugram with an aim to proffer solutions to the problems associated with the planning of the town. The commercial zone has been selected for the case study. The findings from the case studies will reveal problems that will require a proposed design of a new ultra-modern market to position traders selling along the road in well-deserved stalls, waste disposal/incinerator system for proper management of waste and cleanliness within the market square, design of stormwater drainage to avoid flood during the rainy season and the design of car/auto – tricycle parks to create more space in the existing market cycle and thereby avoiding congestion. The research proposes urban and architectural solutions to improve the rural commercial service settings in Farrukhnagar which is a study area in Gurugram, Haryana, India.

Keywords: management, commercial, service, planning, congestion

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Authors: Mujtaba Roshan, John A. Schormans

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Quality of Experience (QoE) drives churn in the broadband networks industry, and good QoE plays a large part in the retention of customers. QoE is known to be affected by the Quality of Service (QoS) factors packet loss probability (PLP), delay and delay jitter caused by the network. Earlier results have shown that the relationship between these QoS factors and QoE is non-linear, and may vary from application to application. We use the network emulator Netem as the basis for experimentation, and evaluate how QoE varies as we change the emulated QoS metrics. Focusing on Video-on-Demand, we discovered that the reported QoE may differ widely for users of different age groups, and that the most demanding age group (the youngest) can require an order of magnitude lower PLP to achieve the same QoE than is required by the most widely studied age group of users. We then used a bottleneck TCP model to evaluate the capacity cost of achieving an order of magnitude decrease in PLP, and found it be (almost always) a 3-fold increase in link capacity that was required.

Keywords: network capacity, packet loss probability, quality of experience, quality of service

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Authors: Kunal Mankodi, Sudhir Pandey

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This study aims to assess the factors that play a role in setting up and running a social enterprise driven towards sustainability at the intersection of energy, environment, and poverty alleviation. According to the theory of sustainability-oriented innovation (SOI), conventional organisations adapt their processes to focus on sustainability-oriented innovations. On the other hand, social enterprises that are purpose-driven are also influenced by the context of innovation, which need due attention. This paper presents an account of innovation at Oorja - an Indian social enterprise operating with a farming-as-a-service business model. It aims to illustrate the contexts in which the innovative solutions were developed to work at an intersection between agriculture and clean energy, thereby allowing small farmers access to efficient solutions in the agriculture cycle. Primary data was collected through in-depth interviews, and secondary data was collected from company sources. The study finds that in the case of a social enterprise, the definition of innovation assumes a wider scope by going beyond the introduction of a new product/service. The context of innovation for social enterprise is affected by organisational factors such as organisation’s philosophical mindset, behaviour towards innovation, organisation’s capabilities, regulatory environment, and customer receptiveness. Additionally, the study also finds that the context of innovation for a social enterprise is affected by its organizational structure. A majority of these organizational factors are, in turn, affected by individual (Founder’s) factors such as the founder’s formative years, education, direct exposure to relevant issues, complementary skills of co-founders, and a common calling.

Keywords: context of innovation, social enterprise, sustainability oriented innovations, emerging markets, agriculture

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Authors: Mohamed Ali Ben Halima, Malik Koubi, Joseph Lanfranchi, Yohan Wloczysiak

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This article assesses the consequences on the frequency and duration of ordinary sick leave of the January 2012 and 2018 reforms modifying the scope of sick leave reimbursement in the French civil service. These reforms introduce a one-day waiting period which removes the compensation for the first day of ordinary sick leave. In order to evaluate these reforms, we use an administrative database from the National Pension Fund for local public employees (FPT). The first important result of our data analysis is that the one-day waiting period was not introduced at the same time in the French Local Public Service establishments, or even never in some. This peculiarity allows for an identification strategy using a difference-in-differences method based on the definition at each date of groups of employees treated and not treated by the reform, since establishments that apply the one-day waiting period coexist with establishments that do not apply it. Two types of estimators are used for this evaluation: individual and time fixed effects estimators and DIDM estimators which correct for the biases of the Two Way Fixed Effects one. The results confirm that the change in the sick pay system decreases the probability of having at least one ordinary sick leave as well as the number and duration of these episodes. On the other hand, the estimates show that longer leave episodes are not less affected than shorter ones. Finally, the validity tests of the estimators support the results obtained for the second period of 2018-2019, but suggest estimation biases for the period 2012-2013. The extent to which the endogeneity of the choices of implementation of the reform at the local level impact these estimates needs to be further tested.

Keywords: sick leave, one-day waiting period, territorial civil service, public policy evaluation

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Authors: Nika GorgoShadze, Anri Shainidze, Bachuki Katamadze

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In parallel to the development of the digital economy in the world, electronic commerce is also widely developing. Internet and ICT (information and communication technology) have created new business models as well as promoted to market consolidation, sustainability of the business environment, creation of digital economy, facilitation of business and trade, business dynamism, higher competitiveness, etc. Electronic commerce involves internet technology which is sold via the internet. Nowadays electronic commerce is a field of business which is used by leading world brands very effectively. After the research of internet market in Georgia, it was found out that quality of internet is high in Tbilisi and is low in the regions. The internet market of Tbilisi can be evaluated as high-speed internet service, competitive and cost effective internet market. Development of electronic commerce in Georgia is connected with organizational and methodological as well as legal problems. First of all, a legal framework should be developed which will regulate responsibilities of organizations. The Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development will play a crucial role in creating legal framework. Ministry of Justice will also be involved in this process as well as agency for data exchange. Measures should be taken in order to make electronic commerce in Georgia easier. Business companies may be offered some model to get low-cost and complex service. A service centre should be created which will provide all kinds of online-shopping. This will be a rather interesting innovation which will facilitate online-shopping in Georgia. Development of electronic business in Georgia requires modernized infrastructure of telecommunications (especially in the regions) as well as solution of institutional and socio-economic problems. Issues concerning internet availability and computer skills are also important.

Keywords: electronic commerce, internet market, electronic business, information technology, information society, electronic systems

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Authors: Vinko Viducic, Jelena Žanic Mikulicic, Maja Racic, Kristina Sladojevic

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The research presented in this paper has been focused on analyzing the impact of traffic on the sustainable development of tourism in Croatia's Dubrovacko-Neretvanska County by the year 2020, based on the figures and trends reported in 2014 and using the relevant variables that characterise the synergy of traffic and tourism in, speaking from the geographic viewpoint, the most problematic county in the Republic of Croatia. The basic hypothesis has been confirmed through scientifically obtained research results, through the quantification of the model's variables and the direct growth rates of the designed model. On the basis of scientific insights into the sustainable development of traffic and tourism in Dubrovacko-Neretvanska County, it is possible to propose a new information model for traffic at the service of the sustainable development of tourism in the County for the period 2014-2020.

Keywords: environment protection, hotel industry, private sector, quantification

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Authors: Huan Zhang, Darius K. S Chan

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Despite a large number of studies linking emotional labor and its detrimental impact for laborer, research on how emotional labor would influence the receiver is still in its infancy. Especially under the call for “people management”, supervisors inside the organization are more inclined to display happy mood to support their employees, thus endorsing emotional labor. The present study focuses on the employees in the service industry as emotional labor recipients and investigates how they respond to their supervisors’ emotional display, given their sensitivity to emotional cues. Targeted at a sample of 250 survey data from a wide range of customer service professions, this ongoing study examines how perceived supervisory emotional labor would moderate the relationship between employees surface acting and their well-being. Our major hypotheses are that employees’ surface acting predicts well-being level, and that perceived supervisory emotional labor to moderate the surface acting—outcome links. Preliminary findings have provided some support to the hypothesized model. Specifically, supervisors who are perceived to be high in surface acting are also regarded as fake and pseudo, hence the enhancing the detrimental effect of employees’ surface acting is attenuated, resulting in lower job satisfaction, higher physical stress and burnout; whereas perceived high supervisor’s deep acting, as associated with genuine and authenticity, buffers the negative impact and leads to higher job satisfaction, lower physical stress and burnout. This study first confirms the negative impacts of the surface acting on well-being for service industry employees as laborer and then extends the emotional labor studies by considering them as recipients of supervisory emotional labor. The findings provide insights for leaders by pointing out the importance of authentic emotional expression in workplace.

Keywords: perceived supervisory emotional labor, surface acting, well-being

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Authors: Saba Baienat, Ivanka Iordanova, Bechara Helal

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Incorporating the principles of Design for Adaptability (DfAd) and Circular Economy (CE) into the service life planning of buildings and construction engineering projects can significantly enhance sustainable development. By employing DfAd, both the service life and design process can be optimized, gradually postponing the building’s End of Life (EoL) and extending the service life of buildings, thereby closing material cycles and making them more circular. This paper presents a comprehensive framework that addresses adaptability strategies and considerations to objectively assess the role of DfAd in circularity. The framework aims to provide a streamlined approach for accessing DfAd strategies and identifying the most effective ones for enhancing a project's adaptability. Key strategies include anticipating changes in requirements, enabling adaptations and transformations of the building for better use and reuse, preparing for future lives of the building and its components, and contributing to the circular material life cycle. Furthermore, the framework seeks to enhance the awareness of stakeholders about the subject of Design for Adaptability through the lens of the Circular Economy. Additionally, this paper integrates Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodologies to evaluate the environmental impacts of implementing DfAd strategies within the context of the Circular Economy. By utilizing LCA, the framework provides a quantitative basis for assessing the sustainability benefits of adaptable building designs, offering insights into how these strategies can minimize resource consumption, reduce emissions, and enhance overall environmental performance. This holistic approach underscores the critical role of LCA in bridging DfAd and CE, ultimately fostering more resilient and sustainable construction practices.

Keywords: circular economy (CE), design for adaptability (DfAd), life cycle assessment (LCA), sustainable development

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Authors: Ishith Seth, Lyndel Hewitt, Takako Yabe, James Wykes, Jonathan Clark, Bruce Ashford

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Background: Vastus lateralis (VL) can be used to reconstruct defects of the head and neck. Whilst the advantages are documented, donor-site morbidity is not well described. This study aimed to assess donor-site morbidity after VL flap harvest. The results will determine future directions for preventative and post-operative care to improve patient health outcomes. Methods: Ten participants (mean age 55 years) were assessed for the presence of donor-site morbidity after VL harvest. Musculoskeletal (pain, muscle strength, muscle length, tactile sensation), quality of life (SF-12), and lower limb function (lower extremity function, gait (function and speed), sit to stand were assessed using validated and standardized procedures. Outcomes were compared to age-matched healthy reference values or the non-operative side. Analyses were conducted using descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests. Results: There was no difference in muscle strength (knee extension), muscle length, ability to sit-to-stand, or gait function (all P > 0.05). Knee flexor muscle strength was significantly less on the operated leg compared to the non-operated leg (P=0.02) and walking speed was slower than age-matched healthy values (P<0.001). Thigh tactile sensation was impaired in 89% of participants. Quality of life was significantly less for the physical health component of the SF-12 (P<0.001). The mental health component of the SF-12 was similar to healthy controls (P=0.26). Conclusion: There was no effect on donor site morbidity with regards to knee extensor strength, pain, walking function, ability to sit-to-stand, and muscle length. VL harvest affected donor-site knee flexion strength, walking speed, tactile sensation, and physical health-related quality of life.

Keywords: vastus lateralis, morbidity, head and neck, surgery, donor-site morbidity

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Authors: Ram Sharan Mehta, Naveen Kumar Pandey, Binod Kumar Deo

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Quality of Life (QOL) is an important component in the evaluation of the well-being of People Living with AIDS (PLWA). This study assessed the effectiveness of education intervention programme in improving the QOL of PLWA on ART attaining the ART-clinics at B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS), Nepal. A pre-experimental research design was used to conduct the study among the PLWA on ART at BPKIHS from June to August 2013 involving 60 PLWA on pre-test randomly. The mean age of the respondents was 36.70 ± 9.92, and majority of them (80%) were of age group of 25-50 years and Male (56.7%). After education intervention programme there is significant change in the QOL in all the four domains i.e. Physical (p=0.008), Psychological (p=0.019), Social (p=0.046) and Environmental (p=0.032) using student t-test at 0.05 level of significance. There is significant (p= 0.016) difference in the mean QOL scores of pre-test and post-test. High QOL scores in post-test after education intervention programme may reflective of the effectiveness of planned education interventions programme.

Keywords: telephone, AIDS, health service, Nepal

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Authors: Bruno Vilić Belina, Ivan Župan

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Smart industry concepts and digital transformation are very popular in many industries. They develop their own digital platforms, which have an important role in innovations and transactions. The main idea of smart industry digital platforms is central data collection, industrial data integration, and data usage for smart applications and services. This paper presents the development of a digital platform for building critical infrastructure protection systems in smart industries. Different service contraction modalities in service level agreements (SLAs), customer relationship management (CRM) relations, trends, and changes in business architectures (especially process business architecture) for the purpose of developing infrastructural production and distribution networks, information infrastructure meta-models and generic processes by critical infrastructure owner demanded by critical infrastructure law, satisfying cybersecurity requirements and taking into account hybrid threats are researched.

Keywords: cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, smart industries, digital platform

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Authors: Salhi Nesrine, Salama M. El-Darier, Halilat M. El-Taher

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The present study aimed to investigate the effect of two type of soil (clay and sandy soils) in the potential allelopathic effects of Artemisia herba-alba, Oudneya africana crude powder on some growth parameters and phytomass of two weeds (Bromus tectorum and Melilotus indica) under laboratory conditions (pot experiment). The experimental findings have reported that the donor species crude powder concentrations were suppressing to shoot length (SL), root length (RL), fresh and dry weight of shoot and root (SFw, RFw, SDw and RDw, respectively and the leaf number (LN)) in both soil types and caused a gradual reduction particularly when they are high. However, the reduction degree was varied and species, concentration dependent. The suppressive effect of all the eight donors on the two weedy species was in the following order Bromus tectorum> Melilotus indica. Generally, the growth parameters of two recipient species were significantly decreased with the increase of each of the donor species crude powder concentration levels. Concerning the type of sol the t-test indicated that the difference was insignificant between clay and sandy soils.

Keywords: allelopathy, soil, Artemisia herba-alba, Oudneya africana, growth, weeds

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Authors: Rossy G. Olan Villegas, Gerardo Acosta Garcia, Aurea Bernardino Nicanor, Leopoldo Gonzalez Cruz, Humberto Ramirez Medina

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Capsicum annuum is a crop of agricultural and economic importance in Mexico and other countries. The fruit (pepper) contains bioactive components such as carotenoids, phenolic compounds and capsaicinoids that improve health. However, pepper cultivation is affected by biotic and abiotic factors that decrease yield. Some phytohormones like gibberellins and auxins induce the formation and development of fruit in several plants. In this study, we evaluated the effect of the exogenous application of phytohormones like gibberellic acid and indolbutyric acid on fruit development of jalapeno pepper plants, the protein profile of plant tissues, the accumulation of bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity in the pericarp and seeds. For that, plants were sprinkled with these phytohormones. The fruit collection for the control, indolbutyric acid and gibberellic acid treatments was 7 peppers per plant; however, for the treatment that combines indolbutyric acid and gibberellic acid, a fruit with the shortest length (1.52 ± 1.00 cm) and weight (0.41 ± 1.0 g) was collected compared to fruits of plants grown under other treatments. The length (4,179 ± 0,130 cm) and weight of the fruit (8,949 ± 0.583 g) increased in plants treated with indolbutyric acid, but these characteristics decreased with the application of GA3 (length of 3,349 ± 0.127 cm and a weight 4,429 ± 0.144 g). The content of carotenes and phenolic compounds increased in plants treated with GA3 (1,733 ± 0.092 and 1,449 ± 0.009 mg / g, respectively) or indolbutyric acid (1,164 ± 0.042 and 0.970 ± 0.003 mg / g). However, this effect was not observed in plants treated with both phytohormones (0.238 ± 0.021 and 0.218 ± 0.004 mg / g). Capsaicin content was higher in all treatments; but it was more noticeable in plants treated with both phytohormones, the value being 0.913 ± 0.001 mg / g (three times greater in amount). The antioxidant activity was measured by 3 different assays, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), antioxidant power of ferric reduction (FRAP) and 2,2'-Azinobis-3-ethyl-benzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid ( ABTS) to find the minimum inhibitory concentration of the reducing radical (IC50 and EC50). Significant differences were observed from the application of the phytohormone, being the fruits treated with gibberellins, which had a greater accumulation of bioactive compounds. Our results suggest that the application of phytohormones modifies the development of fruit and its content of bioactive compounds.

Keywords: auxins, capsaicinoids, carotenoids, gibberellins

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Authors: Amy Darwin, Claire Blacklock

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Background: Existing literature about delivering evidence-based mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) in emergency settings is limited. It is difficult to monitor and evaluate the approach to MHPSS in informal refugee camps such as ‘The Jungle’ in Calais, where there are multiple service providers and where the majority of providers are volunteers. AIM: To identify experiences of MHPSS delivery by service providers in an informal camp environment in Calais, France and describe MHPSS barriers and opportunities in this type of setting. Method: Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 individuals from different organisations offering MHPSS in Calais and analysed using conventional content analysis. Results: Unsafe, uncertain and unsanitary conditions in the camp meant MHPSS was difficult to implement, and such conditions contributed to the poor mental health of the residents. The majority of MHPSS was offered by volunteers who lacked resources and training, and there was no overall official camp leadership which meant care was poorly coordinated and monitored. Strong relationships existed between volunteers and camp residents, but volunteers felt frustrated that they could not deliver the kind of MHPSS that they felt residents required. Conclusion: While long-term volunteers had built supportive relationships with camp residents, lack of central coordination and leadership of MHPSS services and limited access to trained professionals made implementation of MHPSS problematic. Similarly, the camp lacked the necessary infrastructure to meet residents’ basic needs. Formal recognition of the camp, and clear central leadership were identified as necessary steps to improving MHPSS delivery.

Keywords: calais, mental health, refugees, the jungle, MHPSS

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Authors: G. M. Komba

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The Internet Gateway (IGW) has extra ability than a simple Mesh Router (MR) and the responsibility to route mostly the all traffic from Mesh Clients (MCs) to the Internet backbone however, IGWs are more expensive. Choosing strategic locations for the Internet Gateways (IGWs) best location in Backbone Wireless Mesh (BWM) precarious to the Wireless Mesh Network (WMN) and the location of IGW can improve a quantity of performance related problem. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm, namely New Gateway Location Algorithm (NGLA), which aims to achieve four objectives, decreasing the network cost effective, minimizing delay, optimizing the throughput capacity, Different from existing algorithms, the NGLA increasingly recognizes IGWs, allocates mesh routers (MRs) to identify IGWs and promises to find a feasible IGW location and install minimum as possible number of IGWs while regularly conserving the all Quality of Service (QoS) requests. Simulation results showing that the NGLA outperforms other different algorithms by comparing the number of IGWs with a large margin and it placed 40% less IGWs and 80% gain of throughput. Furthermore the NGLA is easy to implement and could be employed for BWM.

Keywords: Wireless Mesh Network, Gateway Location Algorithm, Quality of Service, BWM

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Authors: Pradeep Kumar

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The present work is based on application of cement mortar with natural sand and discontinuous steel fiber through which bending behavior of skinny beam was evaluated. This research is to study the effects of combining reinforcing steel meshes (continuous steel reinforcement) with discontinuous fibers as reinforcement in skinny walled Portland cement based cement mortar with crushed stone dust as a fine aggregate. The term ‘skinny’ means thickness of the beams is less than 25 mm. The main idea behind this combination is to satisfy the ultimate strength limit state through the steel mesh reinforcement (as a main reinforcement) and to control the cracking under service loads through fiber (Recron 3s) reinforcement (as secondary reinforcement). The main object of this study is to carry out the bending behavior of mortar reinforced thin beam with only one layer of steel mesh (with various transfer wire spacing) and with a recron 3s (Reliance) fifers. The wide experimental program with bending tests is undertaken. The following variables are investigated: (a) the reference mesh size - 25.4 x 25.4 mm and 50.8 x 50.8 mm; (b) the transverse wire spacing - 25.4 mm, 50.8 mm, and no transverse wires; (c) the type of fibers – Reliance (Recron 3s, 6mm length); and (d) the fiber volume fraction – 0.1% and 0.25%. Some of the main conclusions are: (a) the use of recron 3s fibers leads to a little better overall performance than that with no fiber; (b) an increase in equivalent stress is observed when 0.1% RF,0.25% R Fibers are used; (c) when 25.4 x 50.8 size steel mesh is used, no noticeable change in behavior is observed in comparison to specimens without fibers; and (d) for no fibers 0.1% and o.1% RF the transverse wire spacing has some little effect on the equivalent stress for RF fibers, the transverse wire has no influence but the equivalent stress are increased.

Keywords: cement mortar, crushed stone dust, fibre, steel mesh

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Authors: Khoi A. Nguyen, Rodney A. Stewart, Hong Zhang

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Advanced metering technologies coupled with informatics creates an opportunity to form digital multi-utility service providers. These providers will be able to concurrently collect a customers’ medium-high resolution water, electricity and gas demand data and provide user-friendly platforms to feed this information back to customers and supply/distribution utility organisations. With the emergence of blockchain technology, a new research area has been explored which helps bring this multi-utility service provider concept to a much higher level. This study aims at introducing a breakthrough system architecture where smart metering technology in water, energy, and gas (WEG) are combined with blockchain technology to provide customer a novel real-time consumption report and decentralized resource trading platform. A pilot study on 4 properties in Australia has been undertaken to demonstrate this system, where benefits for customers and utilities are undeniable.

Keywords: blockchain, digital multi-utility, end use, demand forecasting

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Authors: Anil Kumar

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Public Bicycle System (PBS), generally known as Public Bicycle Share System or Bike-Share, is a service provided to the everyday commuters in which several cycles are available on the shared system. The concept of PBS is new to the people of India and requires more study in the fields of essential requirements, major infrastructural requirements, social acceptability, and various challenges. In various Indian cities, MRTS, BRTS, Monorail, and other modes of transport have been adopted for the main haul of transport. These modes take more time, space and are also expensive to implement. At the same time, the PBS system is more economical and takes less time to implement. The main benefit of the PBS system is that it is more environmentally friendly. PBS is being implemented in many Indian cities for public use, but various challenges are associated with this. The study aims to determine what are the basic infrastructural requirements for PBS in India, as well as to determine to what extent a Public Bike Sharing System can provide a quality and efficient service to passengers as a primary method of transportation.

Keywords: public bicycle sharing system, sustainable transport, infrastructure, smart city

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Authors: Anirudh Sharma

Abstract:

Introduction: The Covid-19 pandemic necessitated a change in the manner outpatient fracture clinics are conducted due to the need to reduce footfall in hospital. While studies regarding virtual fracture clinics have shown these to be useful and effective, they focus exclusively on remote consultations. However, our service was bespoke to the patient – either a face-to-face or telephone consultation depending on patient need – a ‘hybrid virtual clinic (HVC).’ We report patient satisfaction and outcomes with this novel service. Methods: Patients booked onto our fracture clinics during the first 2 weeks of national lockdown were retrospectively contacted to assess the mode of consultations (virtual, face-to-face, or hybrid), patient experience, and outcome. Patient experience was assessed using the net promoter (NPS), customer effort (CES) and customer satisfaction scores (CSS), and their likelihood of using the HVC in the absence of a pandemic. Patient outcomes were assessed using the components of the EQ5D score. Results: Of 269 possible patients, 140 patients responded to the questionnaire. Of these, 66.4% had ‘hybrid’ consultations, 27.1% had only virtual consultations, and 6.4% had only face-to-face consultations. The mean overall NPS, CES, and CSS (on a scale of 1-10) were 7.27, 7.25, and 7.37, respectively. The mean likelihood of patients using the HVC in the absence of a pandemic was 6.5/10. Patients who had ‘hybrid’ consultations showed better effort scores and greater overall satisfaction than those with virtual consultations only and also reported superior EQ5D outcomes (mean 79.27 vs. 72.7). Patients who did not require surgery reported increased satisfaction (mean 7.51 vs. 7.08) and were more likely to use the HVC in the absence of a pandemic. Conclusion: Our study indicates that a bespoke HVC has good overall patient satisfaction and outcomes and is a better format of fracture clinic service than virtual consultations alone. It may be the preferred mode for fracture clinics in similar situations in the future. Further analysis needs to be conducted in order to explore the impact on resources and clinician experience of HVC in order to appreciate this new paradigm shift.

Keywords: hybrid virtual clinic, coronavirus, COVID-19, fracture clinic, remote consultation

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Authors: Abul Bashar

Abstract:

The recent surge in the adoption of cloud computing systems by various organizations has brought forth the challenge of evaluating their performance. One of the major issues faced by the cloud service providers and customers is to assess the ability of cloud computing systems to provide the desired services in accordance to the QoS and SLA constraints. To this end, an opportunity exists to develop means to ensure that the desired performance levels of such systems are met under simulated environments. This will eventually minimize the service disruptions and performance degradation issues during the commissioning and operational phase of cloud computing infrastructure. However, it is observed that several simulators and modelers are available for simulating the cloud computing systems. Therefore, this paper presents a critical evaluation of the state-of-the-art modeling and simulation frameworks applicable to cloud computing systems. It compares the prominent simulation frameworks in terms of the API features, programming flexibility, operating system requirements, supported services, licensing needs and popularity. Subsequently, it provides recommendations regarding the choice of the most appropriate framework for researchers, administrators and managers of cloud computing systems.

Keywords: cloud computing, modeling framework, performance evaluation, simulation tools

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Authors: Po-Chun Lee, Li-Lin Liang, Ching-Yuan Huang

Abstract:

Purpose: Research on electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM)& online review has been widely used in service industry management research in recent years. The SERVQUAL scale is the most commonly used method to measure service quality. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to combine electronic word of mouth & online review with the SERVQUAL scale. To explore the comparative study of positive and negative electronic word-of-mouth reviews of a certain armed force general hospital in Taiwan. Data sources: This research obtained online word-of-mouth comment data on google maps from a military hospital in Taiwan in the past ten years through Internet data mining technology. Research methods: This study uses the semantic content analysis method to classify word-of-mouth reviews according to the revised PZB SERVQUAL scale. Then carry out statistical analysis. Results of data synthesis: The results of this study disclosed that the negative reviews of this military hospital in Taiwan have been increasing year by year. Under the COVID-19 epidemic, positive word-of-mouth has a downward trend. Among the five determiners of SERVQUAL of PZB, positive word-of-mouth reviews performed best in “Assurance,” with a positive review rate of 58.89%, Followed by 43.33% of “Responsiveness.” In negative word-of-mouth reviews, “Assurance” performed the worst, with a positive rate of 70.99%, followed by responsive 29.01%. Conclusions: The important conclusions of this study disclosed that the total number of electronic word-of-mouth reviews of the military hospital has revealed positive growth in recent years, and the positive word-of-mouth growth has revealed negative growth after the epidemic of COVID-19, while the negative word-of-mouth has grown substantially. Regardless of the positive and negative comments, what patients care most about is “Assurance” of the professional attitude and skills of the medical staff, which needs to be strengthened most urgently. In addition, good “Reliability” will help build positive word-of-mouth. However, poor “Responsiveness” can easily lead to the spread of negative word-of-mouth. This study suggests that the hospital should focus on these few service-oriented quality management and audits.

Keywords: quality of medical service, electronic word-of-mouth, armed forces general hospital

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Authors: Wei Wang, Yannick Liu, Lu Zhen, H. Wang

Abstract:

Maritime transport plays an important role in global economic development but also inevitably faces increasing pressures from all sides, such as ship operating cost reduction and environmental protection. An ideal innovation to address these pressures is electric ships. The electric ship is in the early stage. Considering the special characteristics of electric ships, i.e., travel range limit, to guarantee the efficient operation of electric ships, the service network needs to be re-designed carefully. This research designs a cost-efficient and environmentally friendly service network for electric ships, including the location of charging stations, charging plan, route planning, ship scheduling, and ship deployment. The problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear programming model with the objective of minimizing total cost comprised of charging cost, the construction cost of charging stations, and fixed cost of ships. A case study using data of the shipping network along the Yangtze River is conducted to evaluate the performance of the model. Two operating scenarios are used: an electric ship scenario where all the transportation tasks are fulfilled by electric ships and a conventional ship scenario where all the transportation tasks are fulfilled by fuel oil ships. Results unveil that the total cost of using electric ships is only 42.8% of using conventional ships. Using electric ships can reduce 80% SOx, 93.47% NOx, 89.47% PM, and 42.62% CO2, but will consume 2.78% more time to fulfill all the transportation tasks. Extensive sensitivity analyses are also conducted for key operating factors, including battery capacity, charging speed, volume capacity, and a service time limit of transportation task. Implications from the results are as follows: 1) it is necessary to equip the ship with a large capacity battery when the number of charging stations is low; 2) battery capacity will influence the number of ships deployed on each route; 3) increasing battery capacity will make the electric ship more cost-effective; 4) charging speed does not affect charging amount and location of charging station, but will influence the schedule of ships on each route; 5) there exists an optimal volume capacity, at which all costs and total delivery time are lowest; 6) service time limit will influence ship schedule and ship cost.

Keywords: cost reduction, electric ship, environmental protection, sustainable shipping

Procedia PDF Downloads 78

Authors: Siri-Orn Champatong

Abstract:

This research aimed to study the relationship between attitudes toward marketing mix and customers’ repurchase intention of Thai dessert in case of Ekachai Salee Suphan’s shop in Thailand. This study employed by survey and quantitative research and the questionnaire was used to collect the data from 385 sampled of customers who visited at Ekachai Salee Suphan's shop in Thailand. The descriptive statistics and Pearson’s correlation coefficient analysis was used to analyze data. The research found that the customers’ perception on the overall and individual aspects of attitudes toward marketing mix include products, prices, promotions, and physical characteristics were at very good level, but distribution channels, staffs, and management process were at good level. Furthermore, the hypothesis tests found that attitudes toward overall marketing mix had relationship with individual aspects of intention that were the repurchase intention, willingness to recommend others to repurchase, and possibility to repurchase with statistical significance level of 0.01.

Keywords: intention, repurchase, service marketing mix, Thai dessert

Procedia PDF Downloads 254

Authors: Weera Weerasophon

Abstract:

The purpose of this research was to study Tourists’s satisfaction strategies case of Tourists who attended and shopped in Chatuchak weekend market (Bangkok) in order to improve service operation of Chatuchak weekend market to serve tourists’ need to impress them. The researcher used the marketing mix as a main factor that affect to tourist satisfaction. This research was emphasized as quantitative research as 400 of questionnaires were used for collecting the data from international tourists around Chatuchak weekend market that questionnaires divided in to 3 parts as a personal information part, satisfaction of marketing/services and facilities and suggestion part. After collecting all the data that would be processed in statistic program of SPSS to use for analyze the data later on. The result is described that most of international tourists satisfied Chatuchak weekend market in the level of 4 as more satisfaction for example friendly staff, Chatuchak information, price of product, facilities and service by the way, the environment of Chatuchak weekend market is the most satisfaction level.

Keywords: Chatuchak, satisfaction, Thailand tourism, marketing mix, tourists

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Authors: D. Tedesco, G. Feletti, P. Trucco

Abstract:

The present study aims to develop a Decision Support System (DSS) to support the operational decision of the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) regarding the assignment of medical emergency requests to Emergency Departments (ED). In the literature, this problem is also known as “hospital selection” and concerns the definition of policies for the selection of the ED to which patients who require further treatment are transported by ambulance. The employed research methodology consists of the first phase of revision of the technical-scientific literature concerning DSSs to support the EMS management and, in particular, the hospital selection decision. From the literature analysis, it emerged that current studies are mainly focused on the EMS phases related to the ambulance service and consider a process that ends when the ambulance is available after completing a request. Therefore, all the ED-related issues are excluded and considered as part of a separate process. Indeed, the most studied hospital selection policy turned out to be proximity, thus allowing to minimize the transport time and release the ambulance in the shortest possible time. The purpose of the present study consists in developing an optimization model for assigning medical emergency requests to the EDs, considering information relating to the subsequent phases of the process, such as the case-mix, the expected service throughput times, and the operational capacity of different EDs in hospitals. To this end, a Discrete Event Simulation (DES) model was created to evaluate different hospital selection policies. Therefore, the next steps of the research consisted of the development of a general simulation architecture, its implementation in the AnyLogic software and its validation on a realistic dataset. The hospital selection policy that produced the best results was the minimization of the Time To Provider (TTP), considered as the time from the beginning of the ambulance journey to the ED at the beginning of the clinical evaluation by the doctor. Finally, two approaches were further compared: a static approach, which is based on a retrospective estimate of the TTP, and a dynamic approach, which is based on a predictive estimate of the TTP determined with a constantly updated Winters model. Findings reveal that considering the minimization of TTP as a hospital selection policy raises several benefits. It allows to significantly reduce service throughput times in the ED with a minimum increase in travel time. Furthermore, an immediate view of the saturation state of the ED is produced and the case-mix present in the ED structures (i.e., the different triage codes) is considered, as different severity codes correspond to different service throughput times. Besides, the use of a predictive approach is certainly more reliable in terms of TTP estimation than a retrospective approach but entails a more difficult application. These considerations can support decision-makers in introducing different hospital selection policies to enhance EMSs performance.

Keywords: discrete event simulation, emergency medical services, forecast model, hospital selection

Procedia PDF Downloads 91