Search results for: challenging situations

Authors: N. Lakshmipathy, Ch. S. N. Murthy, M. Aruna

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The design of lighting systems for surface mines is not an easy task because of the unique environment and work procedures encountered in the mines. The primary objective of this paper is to identify the major problems encountered in mine lighting application and to provide guidance in the solution of these problems. In the surface mining reflectance of surrounding surfaces is one of the important factors, which improve the vision, in the night hours. But due to typical working nature in the mines it is very difficult to fulfill these requirements, and also the orientation of the light at work site is a challenging task. Due to this reason machine operator and other workers in a mine need to be able to orient themselves in a difficult visual environment. The haul roads always keep on changing to tune with the mining activity. Other critical area such as dumpyards, stackyards etc. also change their phase with time, and it is difficult to illuminate such areas. Mining is a hazardous occupation, with workers exposed to adverse conditions; apart from the need for hard physical labor, there is exposure to stress and environmental pollutants like dust, noise, heat, vibration, poor illumination, radiation, etc. Visibility is restricted when operating load haul dumper and Heavy Earth Moving Machinery (HEMM) vehicles resulting in a number of serious accidents. one of the leading causes of these accidents is the inability of the equipment operator to see clearly people, objects or hazards around the machine. Results indicate blind spots are caused primarily by posts, the back of the operator's cab, and by lights and light brackets. The careful designed and implemented, lighting systems provide mine workers improved visibility and contribute to improved safety, productivity and morale. Properly designed lighting systems can improve visibility and safety during working in the opencast mines.

Keywords: contrast, efficacy, illuminance, illumination, light, luminaire, luminance, reflectance, visibility

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Authors: Damilola Mofikoya

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Developed countries account for a large proportion of greenhouse gas emissions. In the last decade, countries including the United States and China have made a commitment to cut down carbon emissions by signing the Paris Climate Agreement. However, carbon neutrality is a challenging issue to tackle at the country level because of the scale of the problem. To overcome this challenge, cities are at the forefront of these efforts. Many cities in the United States are taking strategic actions and proposing programs and initiatives focused on renewable energy, green transportation, less use of fossil fuel vehicles, etc. There have been concerns about the implications of those strategies and a lack of community engagement. This paper is focused on community-based efforts that help actualize the reduction of carbon footprint through sustained and inclusive action. Existing zero-carbon assessment tools are examined to understand variables and indicators associated with the zero-carbon goals. Based on a broad, systematic review of literature on community strategies, and existing zero-carbon assessment tools, a dashboard was developed to help simplify and demystify carbon neutrality goals at a community level. The literature was able to shed light on the key contributing factors responsible for the success of community efforts in carbon neutrality. Stakeholder education is discussed as one of the strategies to help communities take action and generate momentum. The community-based efforts involving individuals and residents, such as reduction of food wastages, shopping preferences, transit mode choices, and healthy diets, play an important role in the context of zero-carbon initiatives. The proposed community-based dashboard will emphasize the importance of sustained, structured, and collective efforts at a communal scale. Finally, the present study discusses the relationship between life expectancy and quality of life and how it affects carbon neutrality in communities.

Keywords: carbon footprint, communities, life expectancy, quality of life

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Authors: Allan F. F. Alves, Fernando A. Bacchim Neto, Guilherme Giacomini, Marcela de Oliveira, Ana L. M. Pavan, Maria E. D. Rosa, Diana R. Pina

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Stroke is a worldwide concern, only in Brazil it accounts for 10% of all registered deaths. There are 2 stroke types, ischemic (87%) and hemorrhagic (13%). Early diagnosis is essential to avoid irreversible cerebral damage. Non-enhanced computed tomography (NECT) is one of the main diagnostic techniques used due to its wide availability and rapid diagnosis. Detection depends on the size and severity of lesions and the time spent between the first symptoms and examination. The Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) is a subjective method that increases the detection rate. The aim of this work was to implement an image segmentation system to enhance ischemic stroke and to quantify the area of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke lesions in CT scans. We evaluated 10 patients with NECT examinations diagnosed with ischemic stroke. Analyzes were performed in two axial slices, one at the level of the thalamus and basal ganglion and one adjacent to the top edge of the ganglionic structures with window width between 80 and 100 Hounsfield Units. We used different image processing techniques such as morphological filters, discrete wavelet transform and Fuzzy C-means clustering. Subjective analyzes were performed by a neuroradiologist according to the ASPECTS scale to quantify ischemic areas in the middle cerebral artery region. These subjective analysis results were compared with objective analyzes performed by the computational algorithm. Preliminary results indicate that the morphological filters actually improve the ischemic areas for subjective evaluations. The comparison in area of the ischemic region contoured by the neuroradiologist and the defined area by computational algorithm showed no deviations greater than 12% in any of the 10 examination tests. Although there is a tendency that the areas contoured by the neuroradiologist are smaller than those obtained by the algorithm. These results show the importance of a computer aided diagnosis software to assist neuroradiology decisions, especially in critical situations as the choice of treatment for ischemic stroke.

Keywords: ischemic stroke, image processing, CT scans, Fuzzy C-means

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Authors: Rhodine Hickman, Craig Wylie, Michael G. McCaul

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Introduction: The World Health Organisation has called on governments around the world to recognise emergency conditions as a global public health problem and respond with appropriate steps for effective preventative strategies. However, to understand the magnitude of the problem, good quality epidemiological data is required. This is especially challenging in low and middle-income countries, where routine data is scarce, specifically within the prehospital setting. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of a national prehospital private sector EMS database. The database being the property of ER24 (private Emergency Medical Services (EMS) company in South Africa) contains claims submitted by the majority of ambulance services in South Africa during the period between 1 January 2008 to 28 March 2017. We used descriptive statistics and control charts to describe the data using STATA 14. Results: 299,257 calls were included in the analysis. The top clinical conditions requiring ambulance transport were transport accidents (10% of total call volume) and ischaemic heart disease (4.4%). The number of transport accidents consistently increased between 2009 and 2014 and reached beyond the limit for normal variation in 2015. Victims of transport accidents required basic life support services 60% of the time with 80% of injuries being minor to moderate. The frequency of ischaemic heart disease had a steady incline from 2011 to 2016. Advanced life support services were required about 50% of the time, with 60% of patients needing urgent care. Conclusion: Transport accidents, followed by ischaemic heart disease, are the most prevalent conditions in South African private EMS. There is a potential to address these conditions by developing the capacity of low and mid-level providers in trauma and advanced EMS providers in ischaemic heart disease.

Keywords: emergency care, emergency medicine, prehospital providers, South Africa

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Authors: Mahmoud A. Amin, Essam Taman, Ahmed Omran, Mahmoud Shawky, Ahmed Mekawy, Abdallah M. Kotkat, Saber Younes, Nehad N. Ghonemy, Amin Saad, Ezz-Aleslam, Abdullah M. Elosh

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Introduction: TMJ is a one-of-a-kind, complicated synovial joint that helps with masticatory function by allowing the mandible to open and close the mouth. True ankylosis is a situation in which condylar movement is limited by a mechanical defect in the joint, whereas false ankylosis is a condition in which there is a restriction in mandibular movement due to muscular spasm myositis ossificans, and coronoid process hyperplasia. Ankylosis is characterized by the inability to open the mouth due to fusion of the TMJ condyle to the base of the skull as a result of trauma, infection, or systemic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (the most common) and psoraisis. Ankylosis causes facial asymmetry and affects the patient psychologically as well as speech, difficult mastication, poor oral hygiene, malocclusion, and other factors. TMJ is a technically challenging joint; hence TMJ ankylosis management is complicated. Case presentation: this case is a male patient 25 years old reported to our maxillofacial clinic in Damietta faculty of medicine, Al-Azhar University with the inability to open the mouth at all, with a history of difficulty of mouth breathing and eating foods, there was a history of falling from height at 2006, and the patient underwent corrective surgery before with no improvement because the ankylosis was relapsed short period after the previous operations with that done out of our hospital inter-incisor distant ZERO so, this condition need mandatory management. Clinical examination and radiological investigations were done after complete approval from the patient and his brother; tracheostomy was done for our patient before the operation. The patient entered the operation in our hospital and drastic improvement in mouth opening was noticed, helping to restore the physical psychological health of the patient.

Keywords: temporomandibular joint, TMJ, Ankylosis, mouth opening, physiotherapy, condylar plate

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Authors: Panagodage Janaka Sampath Fernando

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Brain circulation has become a buzzword in the skilled migration literature. However, promoting brain circulation; returning of skilled migrants is challenging. Success stories in Asia, for instances, Taiwan, and China, are results of rigorous policy interventions of the respective governments. Nonetheless, the same policy mix has failed in other countries making it skeptical to attribute the success of brain circulation to the policy interventions per se. The paper seeks to answer whether the success of brain circulation within the Knowledge Services Industry (KSI) in Sri Lanka is a policy driven or a market driven process. Mixed method approach, which is a combination of case study and survey methods, was employed. Qualitative data derived from ten case studies of returned entrepreneurs whereas quantitative data generated from a self-administered survey of 205 returned skilled migrants (returned skilled employees and entrepreneurs) within KSI. The pull factors have driven the current flow of brain circulation within KSI but to a lesser extent, push factors also have influenced. The founding stone of the industry has been laid by a group of returned entrepreneurs, and the subsequent growth of the industry has attracted returning skilled employees. Sri Lankan government has not actively implemented the reverse brain drain model, however, has played a passive role by creating a peaceful and healthy environment for the industry. Therefore, in contrast to the other stories, brain circulation within KSI has emerged as a market driven process with minimal government interventions. Entrepreneurs play the main role in a market-driven process of brain circulation, and it is free from the inherent limitations of the reverse brain drain model such as discriminating non-migrants and generating a sudden flow of low-skilled migrants. Thus, to experience a successful brain circulation, developing countries should promote returned entrepreneurs by creating opportunities in knowledge-based industries.

Keywords: brain circulation, knowledge services industry, return migration, Sri Lanka

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Authors: Sipho Mbatha, Anne Mastament-Mason

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South African manufacturing global competitiveness was ranked 22nd (out of 38 countries), dropped to 24th in 2013 and is expected to drop further to 25th by 2018. These impacts negatively on the industrialisation project of South Africa. For industrialization to be achieved through labour intensive industries like the Apparel Manufacturing Industries of South Africa (AMISA), South Africa needs to identify and respond to factors negatively impacting on the development of competitive advantage This paper applied factor conditions from Porter’s Diamond Model (1990) to understand the various challenges facing the AMISA. Factor conditions highlighted in Porter’s model are grouped into two groups namely, basic and advance factors. Two AMISA associations representing over 10 000 employees were interviewed. The largest Clothing, Textiles and Leather (CTL) apparel retail group was also interviewed with a government department implementing the industrialisation policy were interviewed The paper points out that while AMISA have basic factor conditions necessary for competitive advantage in the clothing and textiles industries, Advance factor coordination has proven to be a challenging task for the AMISA, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and government. Poor infrastructural maintenance has contributed to high manufacturing costs and poor quick response as a result of lack of advanced technologies. The use of Porter’s Factor Conditions as a tool to analyse the sector’s competitive advantage challenges and opportunities has increased knowledge regarding factors that limit the AMISA’s competitiveness. It is therefore argued that other studies on Porter’s Diamond model factors like Demand conditions, Firm strategy, structure and rivalry and Related and supporting industries can be used to analyse the situation of the AMISA for the purposes of improving competitive advantage.

Keywords: compliance rule, apparel manufacturing industry, factor conditions, advance skills and South African industrial policy

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Authors: R. O’Reilly Meehan, D. B. Murray

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In many practical situations, bubbles are dispersed in a liquid phase. Understanding these complex bubbly flows is therefore a key issue for applications such as shell and tube heat exchangers, mineral flotation and oxidation in water treatment. Although a large body of work exists for bubbles rising in an unbounded medium, that of bubbles rising in constricted geometries has received less attention. The particular case of a bubble sliding underneath an inclined surface is common to two-phase flow systems. The current study intends to expand this knowledge by performing experiments to quantify the streamwise flow structures associated with a single sliding air bubble under an inclined surface in quiescent water. This is achieved by means of two-dimensional, two-component particle image velocimetry (PIV), performed with a continuous wave laser and high-speed camera. PIV vorticity fields obtained in a plane perpendicular to the sliding surface show that there is significant bulk fluid motion away from the surface. The associated momentum of the bubble means that this wake motion persists for a significant time before viscous dissipation. The magnitude and direction of the flow structures in the streamwise measurement plane are found to depend on the point on its path through which the bubble enters the plane. This entry point, represented by a phase angle, affects the nature and strength of the vortical structures. This study reconstructs the vorticity field in the wake of the bubble, converting the field at different instances in time to slices of a large-scale wake structure. This is, in essence, Taylor’s ”frozen turbulence” hypothesis. Applying this to the vorticity fields provides a pseudo three-dimensional representation from 2-D data, allowing for a more intuitive understanding of the bubble wake. This study provides insights into the complex dynamics of a situation common to many engineering applications, particularly shell and tube heat exchangers in the nucleate boiling regime.

Keywords: bubbly flow, particle image velocimetry, two-phase flow, wake structures

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Authors: E. Knisel, H. Rupprich, A. Heissel

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Health Literacy is defined as the degree to which people have the capacity to obtain and understand information to make health decisions. Illustrated are three levels of health literacy: (1) Functional literacy refers to the transmission of information about e. g. physical activity and nutrition; (2) interactive literacy implies the development of personal and social skills to adopt health-related behaviour and (3) critical health literacy indicates advanced cognitive skills connected with personal empowerment to critically analyse health information, to define self-determined goals and taking action in various situations accordingly. The achievement of the third level refers to self-determination and autonomy which should be outcomes of exercise programs for overweight children as health-related behaviour change will occur and persist if it is autonomously motivated. Method: We adopted a quasi-experimental design with group (autonomy supportive coaching, control) and session (pre-test, intervention, post-test, and follow-up-test). Overweight and obese children and adolescents at the age of 8-14 years (N=40) received a 6-month (20 sessions) exercise program with autonomy supportive coaching implemented by the coaches and sandwiched between pre-test and post-test. All participants (N=92) completed the German version of the Basic Needs Satisfaction Scale Sport and Exercise. Additionally, we assessed the engagement in the exercise program by the MVPA (Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity) and by the adherence and drop-out-rate. Results: Participants in the intervention group perceived their autonomy as moderate in the post-test and the follow-up-test. However, the psychological intervention failed to develop a high autonomy, as both groups show moderate perceived autonomy from the pre-test to the post-test. Participants in the intervention group were higher engaged in MVPA in the exercise program and they attend the program more regularly. Discussion: Young overweight and obese children and adolescents can acquire autonomy using autonomy supporting coaching. However, research identifying the extent they achieve critical health literacy is required to implement an autonomy-supportive coaching style into exercise programs for this target group.

Keywords: autonomy support, coaching, health literacy, health promotion

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Authors: Moh’d Anwer Al-Shboul

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The year 2011 was a challenging year for Jordanian economy, which felt a variety of effects from the Arab Spring which took place in neighboring countries. Since February, 5th 2012, the Arab Gas Supply Pipeline, which carries natural gas from Egypt through the Sinai Peninsula and to Jordan and Israel, has been attacked more than 39 times. Jordan imported about 80 percent of its necessity of natural gas (about 250 million cubic feet of natural gas per day) from Egypt to generate particularly electricity, with the reminder of being produced locally. Jordan has utilized multiple alternatives to address the interruption of available natural gas supply from Egypt. The Jordanian distributed power plants now rely on the use of heavy fuel oil and diesel for electricity generation, in this case, it costs Jordan about four times than natural gas. The substitution of Egyptian natural gas supplies by fuel oil and diesel, coupled with the 32 percent rise in global fuel prices, has increased Jordan’s energy import bill by over 50 percent in 2011, reaching more than 16 percent of the 2011 GDP. The increase in the cost of electricity generation pushed the Jordanian economy to borrow from multiple internal and external resource channels, thus increasing the public debt. The Jordanian government’s short-term solution to the reduced natural gas supply from Egypt was alternatively purchasing the necessary quantities from some Gulf countries such as Qatar and/or Saudi Arabia, which can be imported with two possible methods. The first method is to rent a ship equipped with a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, which is currently operating. The second method requires equipping the Aqaba port with an LNG terminal, which also currently is operating. In the long-term, a viable solution to depending on importing expensive and often unreliable natural gas supplies from surrounding countries is to depend more heavily on renewable supply energy, including solar, wind, and water energy.

Keywords: energy supply resources, Arab spring, liquefied natural gas, pipeline, Jordan

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Authors: Kumar Y., Suman D., Sumathi

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Introduction: Burns to the face account for between one-fourth and one-third of all burns. The loss of an eyebrow due to a burn or infection can have negative physical and psychological consequences for patients because eyebrows have a critical functional and aesthetic role on the face. Plastic surgeons face unique challenges in reconstructing eyebrows due to their complex anatomy and variations within genders. As a general rule, there are three techniques for reconstructing the eyebrow: superficial temporal artery island flap, a composite graft from the scalp, and mini or micro follicular grafts from the scalp. In situations where a sufficient amount of subcutaneous tissue is not available and the defect is big such as the case of burns, flaps like the superficial temporal artery scalp flap remain reliable options. In 2018, a 17-year-old female patient presented to the department of Burns Plastic and reconstructive Surgery of Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Delhi, India. A scald-burn injury to the face occurred two years before admission, resulting in bilateral eyebrow loss. We reconstructed the bilateral eyebrows using bilateral scalp island flaps based on the posterior branch of the superficial temporal artery. The reconstructed eyebrows successfully assumed a desirable shape and exhibited a natural appearance, which was consistent with preoperative expectations and the patient stated that she was more comfortable with her social relationships. Among the current treatment procedures, the superficial temporal artery island flap continues to be a versatile option for reconstructing the eyebrows after alopecia, especially in cases of burns. Results: During the 30 days follow-up period, the scalp island flap remained vascularised with normal hair growth, without complications. The reconstructed eyebrows successfully assumed a desirable shape and exhibited a natural appearance; the patient stated that she was more comfortable with her social relationships. Conclusion: In this case report, we demonstrated how scalp island flaps pedicled by the superficial temporal artery could be performed very safely and reliably to create new eyebrows.

Keywords: alopecia, burns, eyebrow, flap, superficial temporal artery

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Authors: Eleanor K. P. Kwan

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English academic writing, it has been argued, is an acquired language even for English speakers. For research students whose English is not their first language, however, the acquisition process is often more challenging. Instead of hoping that students would acquire the conventions themselves through extensive reading, there is a need for the explicit teaching of linguistic conventions in academic writing, as explicit teaching could help students to be more aware of the different generic conventions in different disciplines in science. This paper presents an interuniversity effort to develop an online academic writing resource for research students in five subdisciplines in engineering, upon the completion of the needs analysis which indicates that students and faculty members are more concerned about students’ ability to organize an extended text than about grammatical accuracy per se. In particular, this paper focuses on the materials developed for thesis writing (also called dissertation writing in some tertiary institutions), as theses form an essential graduation requirement for all research students and this genre is also expected to demonstrate the writer’s competence in research and contributions to the research community. Drawing on Swalesian move analysis of research articles, this online resource includes authentic materials written by students and faculty members from the participating institutes. Highlight will be given to several aspects and challenges of developing this online resource. First, as the online resource aims at moving beyond providing instructions on academic writing, a range of interactive activities need to be designed to engage the users, which is one feature which differentiates this online resource from other equally informative websites on academic writing. Second, it will also include discussion on divergent textual practices in different subdisciplines, which help to illustrate different practices among these subdisciplines. Third, since theses, probably one of the most extended texts a research student will complete, require effective use of signposting devices to facility readers’ understanding, this online resource will also provide both explanation and activities on different components that contribute to text coherence. Finally results from piloting will also be included to shed light on the effectiveness of the materials, which could be useful for future development.

Keywords: academic writing, English for academic purposes, online language learning materials, scientific writing

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Authors: I-Yun Cheng, Min-Yu Chiang, Shwu-Jen Chang, San-Yuan Chen

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Osteoarthritis (OA) is among the most challenging joint diseases, and as far as we know, there is currently no exact and effective cure for it because it has low self-repair ability due to lack of blood vessels and low cell density in articular cartilage. So far, there have been several methods developed to treat cartilage disorder. The most common method is to treat the high molecular weight of hyaluronic acid (HA) injection, but it will degrade after a period of time, so the patients need to inject HA repeatedly. In recent years, self-healing hydrogel has drawn considerable attention because it can recover its initial mechanical properties after damaged and further increase the lifetime of the hydrogel. Here, we aim to develop a self-healable composite hydrogel combined with magnetic microspheres to trigger glutathione(GSH) release for promoting cartilage repair. We use HA-cyclodextrin (CD) as host polymer and poly(acrylic acid)-ferrocene (pAA-Fc) as guest polymer to form the self-healable HA-pAA hydrogel by host and guest interaction where various graft amount of pAA-Fc (pAA:Fc= 1:2, 1:1.5, 1:1, 2:1, 4:1) was conducted to develop different mechanical strength hydrogel. The rheology analysis showed that the 4:1 of pAA-Fc has higher mechanical strength than other formulations. On the other hand, iron oxide nanoparticle, poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) and polyethyleneimine (PEI) were used to synthesize porous magnetic microspheres via double emulsification water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) to increase GSH loading which acted as a reductant to control the hydrogel crosslink density and promote hydrogel self-healing. The results show that the porous magnetic microspheres can be loaded with 70% of GSH and sustained release about 50% of GSH after 24 hours. More importantly, the HA-pAA composite hydrogel can self-heal rapidly within 24 hours when suffering external force destruction by releasing GSH from the magnetic microspheres. Therefore, the developed the HA-pAA composite hydrogel combined with GSH-loaded magnetic microspheres can be in-vivo guided to damaged OA surface for inducing the cartilage repair by controlling the crosslinking of self-healing hydrogel via GSH release.

Keywords: articular cartilage, magnetic microsphere, osteoarthritis, self-healing hydrogel

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Authors: Mohamed H. Khalil

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Water is one of the most crucial elements which influence human lives and development. Noteworthy, over the last few years, GIS plays a significant role in optimizing water management systems, especially after exponential developing in this sector. In this context, the Egyptian government initiated an advanced ‘GIS-Web Based System’. This system is efficiently designed to tangibly assist and optimize the complement and integration of data between departments of Call Center, Operation and Maintenance, and laboratory. The core of this system is a unified ‘Data Model’ for all the spatial and tabular data of the corresponding departments. The system is professionally built to provide advanced functionalities such as interactive data collection, dynamic monitoring, multi-user editing capabilities, enhancing data retrieval, integrated work-flow, different access levels, and correlative information record/track. Noteworthy, this cost-effective system contributes significantly not only in the completeness of the base-map (93%), the water network (87%) in high level of details GIS format, enhancement of the performance of the customer service, but also in reducing the operating costs/day-to-day operations (~ 5-10 %). In addition, the proposed system facilitates data exchange between different departments (Call Center, Operation and Maintenance, and laboratory), which allowed a better understanding/analyzing of complex situations. Furthermore, this system reflected tangibly on: (i) dynamic environmental monitor/water quality indicators (ammonia, turbidity, TDS, sulfate, iron, pH, etc.), (ii) improved effectiveness of the different water departments, (iii) efficient deep advanced analysis, (iv) advanced web-reporting tools (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually), (v) tangible planning synthesizing spatial and tabular data; and finally, (vi) scalable decision support system. It is worth to highlight that the proposed future plan (second phase) of this system encompasses scalability will extend to include integration with departments of Billing and SCADA. This scalability will comprise advanced functionalities in association with the existing one to allow further sustainable contributions.

Keywords: GIS Web-Based, base-map, water network, decision support system

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Authors: Avani Maniar, Shivani Mehta

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Population aging is one of the most challenging issues of the twenty-first century, facing both developed and developing countries worldwide. In the developed world, there has already been a substantial amount of research on aging and work to help understand the capacity and potential of older people. They attract ever ones attention. Their existence in human society gives rise to variety of responses, reactions and apprehensions, because it connotes on greater part, to some kind of compulsion or willingness that prompt elderly to decide to work after retirement. Work due to social attention and assurance for security both economical and social. In this age, elderly aspire for psychological security with due attention. But the fact remains that despite age related limitations good number of persons in their age of sixty and beyond were hunting for work that would support them and get them some kind of support and in it turns helps them to remain physically and mentally active. Based on the existing diversities in the ageing process, it may be stated that there is a need to pay greater attention to the increasing awareness on the ageing issues and its socio-economic effects and to promote the development of policies and programmes for dealing with an ageing society. Addressing the needs, wants, and well-being of elderly people is essential for maintaining a healthy productive workforce in an aging society. This paper will draw on the results of the study about reasons of elderly working post retirement, problems faced by them and about the future of retirement to ask how widespread negative attitudes and stereotypes among employers are and whether these attitudes influence behavior towards older employees. The aim of research is not only to point out certain stereotypes concerning the elderly labour force, but also to stress that unless preconditions for overcoming these stereotypes are created and employment opportunities are given to this segment of the labour force, full employment as an ultimate goal of global economic policy cannot be achieved.

Keywords: employers, India, inequality, problems, reasons of working, silver workers

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Authors: Jorn Fricke, Frans Melissen

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Citizens in urban areas are prone to increased levels of stress due to urbanization, inadequate and overburdened infrastructure and services, and environmental degradation. Moreover, communities are fragile and subject to shocks and stresses through various social and political processes. A loss of (a sense of) community is often seen as related to increasing political and civic disintegration. Feelings of community can manifest themselves in various ways but underlying all these manifestations is the need for trust between people. One of the main drivers of trust between individuals is (shared) experiences. It is these shared experiences that may play an important role in building resilience, i.e., the ability of a community and its members to adapt to and deal with stresses, as well as ensure the ongoing development of a community. So far, experience design, as a discipline and academic field, has mainly focused on designing products or services. However, people-to-people experiences are the ones that play a pivotal role in building inclusiveness, safety, and resilience in communities. These experiences represent challenging objects of design as they develop in an interactive space of spontaneity, serendipity, and uniqueness that is based on intuition, freedom of expression, and interaction. Therefore, there is a need for research to identify which elements are required in designing the social and physical environment (or ‘experience scape’) to increase the chance for people-to-people experiences to be successful and what elements are required for these experiences to help in building resilience in urban communities that can resist shocks and stresses. By means of a comparative case study approach in urban areas in Germany and the Netherlands, using a range of qualitative research methods such as in-depth interviews, focus groups, participant observation, storytelling techniques, and life stories, this research identifies relevant actors and their roles in creating building blocks of optimal experience scrapes for building resilience in communities.

Keywords: community development, experiences, experience scapes, resilience

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Authors: Salim Al Harthy, Alexandre A. Bachkirov

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This study delves into the complexities of competitive aggressiveness in the oil and gas industry, focusing on the characteristics of the identified competitive actions. The current quantitative research on competitive aggressiveness lacks agreement on the connection between antecedents and outcomes, prompting a qualitative investigation. To address this gap, the research utilizes qualitative interviews with CEOs from Oman's oil and gas service industry to explore the dynamics of competitive aggressiveness. Using Noklenain's typology, the study categorizes and analyzes identified actions, shedding light on the spectrum of competitive behaviors within the industry. Notably, actions predominantly fall under the "Bring about" and "Preserve" elements, with a notable absence in the "Forebear" and "Destroy" categories, possibly linked to the study's focus on service-oriented businesses. The study also explores the detectability of actions, revealing that "Bring about" actions are detectable, while those in "Preserve" and "Suppress" are not. This challenges conventional definitions of competitive aggressiveness, suggesting that not all actions are readily detectable despite being considered competitive. The presence of non-detectable actions introduces complexity to measurement methods reliant on visible empirical data. Moreover, the study contends that companies can adopt an aggressive competitive approach without directly challenging rivals. This challenges traditional views and emphasizes the innovative and entrepreneurial aspects of actions not explicitly aimed at competitors. By not revealing strategic intentions, such actions put rivals at a disadvantage, underscoring the need for a nuanced understanding of competitive aggressiveness. In summary, the lack of consensus in existing literature regarding the relationship between antecedents and outcomes in competitive aggressiveness is addressed. The study reveals a spectrum of detectable and undetectable actions, posing challenges in measurement and emphasizing the need for alternative methods to assess undetectable actions in competitive behavior. This research contributes to a more nuanced understanding of competitive aggressiveness, acknowledging the diverse actions shaping a company's strategic positioning in dynamic business environments.

Keywords: competitive aggressiveness, qualitative exploration, noklenain's typology, oil and gas industry

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Authors: Christian Fercher, Jiaul Islam, Simon R. Corrie

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Fluorescence-based immunodiagnostics are an emerging field in biosensor development and exhibit several advantages over traditional detection methods. While various affinity biosensors have been developed to generate a fluorescence signal upon sensing varying concentrations of analytes, reagentless, reversible, and continuous monitoring of complex biological samples remains challenging. Here, we aimed to genetically engineer biosensors based on single-chain antibody fragments (scFv) that are site-specifically labeled with environmentally sensitive fluorescent unnatural amino acids (UAA). A rational design approach resulted in quantifiable analyte-dependent changes in peak fluorescence emission wavelength and enabled antigen detection in vitro. Incorporation of a polarity indicator within the topological neighborhood of the antigen-binding interface generated a titratable wavelength blueshift with nanomolar detection limits. In order to ensure continuous analyte monitoring, scFv candidates with fast binding and dissociation kinetics were selected from a genetic library employing a high-throughput phage display and affinity screening approach. Initial rankings were further refined towards rapid dissociation kinetics using bio-layer interferometry (BLI) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR). The most promising candidates were expressed, purified to homogeneity, and tested for their potential to detect biomarkers in a continuous microfluidic-based assay. Variations of dissociation kinetics within an order of magnitude were achieved without compromising the specificity of the antibody fragments. This approach is generally applicable to numerous antibody/antigen combinations and currently awaits integration in a wide range of assay platforms for one-step protein quantification.

Keywords: antibody engineering, biosensor, phage display, unnatural amino acids

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Authors: Kaushik Sathupadi, Sandesh Achar

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Pervasive computing is a growing research field that aims to acknowledge human physical life routines (HPLR) based on body-worn sensors such as MEMS sensors-based technologies. The use of these technologies for human activity recognition is progressively increasing. On the other hand, personalizing human life routines using numerous machine-learning techniques has always been an intriguing topic. In contrast, various methods have demonstrated the ability to recognize basic movement patterns. However, it still needs to be improved to anticipate the dynamics of human living patterns. This study introduces state-of-the-art techniques for recognizing static and dy-namic patterns and forecasting those challenging activities from multi-fused sensors. Further-more, numerous MEMS signals are extracted from one self-annotated IM-WSHA dataset and two benchmarked datasets. First, we acquired raw data is filtered with z-normalization and denoiser methods. Then, we adopted statistical, local binary pattern, auto-regressive model, and intrinsic time scale decomposition major features for feature extraction from different domains. Next, the acquired features are optimized using maximum relevance and minimum redundancy (mRMR). Finally, the artificial neural network is applied to analyze the whole system's performance. As a result, we attained a 90.27% recognition rate for the self-annotated dataset, while the HARTH and KU-HAR achieved 83% on nine living activities and 90.94% on 18 static and dynamic routines. Thus, the proposed HPLR system outperformed other state-of-the-art systems when evaluated with other methods in the literature.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, machine learning, gait analysis, local binary pattern (LBP), statistical features, micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), maximum relevance and minimum re-dundancy (MRMR)

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Authors: Minho Lee, Donghyun Back, Jaemoon Jung, Woojin Park

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The current 3-dimensional (3D) posture prediction models commonly provide only a few optimal postures to achieve a specific objective. The problem with such models is that they are incapable of rapidly providing several optimal posture candidates according to various situations. In order to solve this problem, this paper presents a 3D memory-based posture planning (3D MBPP) model, which is a new digital human model that can analyze the feasible postures in 3D space for reaching tasks that have postural constraints and specific reaching space. The 3D MBPP model can be applied to the types of works that are done with constrained working postures and have specific reaching space. The examples of such works include driving an excavator, driving automobiles, painting buildings, working at an office, pitching/batting, and boxing. For these types of works, a limited amount of space is required to store all of the feasible postures, as the hand reaches boundary can be determined prior to perform the task. This prevents computation time from increasing exponentially, which has been one of the major drawbacks of memory-based posture planning model in 3D space. This paper validates the utility of 3D MBPP model using a practical example of analyzing baseball batting posture. In baseball, batters swing with both feet fixed to the ground. This motion is appropriate for use with the 3D MBPP model since the player must try to hit the ball when the ball is located inside the strike zone (a limited area) in a constrained posture. The results from the analysis showed that the stored and the optimal postures vary depending on the ball’s flying path, the hitting location, the batter’s body size, and the batting objective. These results can be used to establish the optimal postural strategies for achieving the batting objective and performing effective hitting. The 3D MBPP model can also be applied to various domains to determine the optimal postural strategies and improve worker comfort.

Keywords: baseball, memory-based, posture prediction, reaching area, 3D digital human models

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Authors: Celeste Lawson

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Learning to embrace and value teamwork assessment at a university level is critical for students, as graduates enter a real-world working environment where teamwork is likely to occur virtually. Student disdain for teamwork exercises is an area often overlooked or disregarded by academics. This research explored the implementation of an online teamwork assessment approach at a regional Australian university with a significant cohort of Distance Education students. Students had disliked teamwork for three reasons: it was not relevant to their study, the grading was unfair amongst team members, and managing the task was challenging in a virtual environment. Teamwork assessment was modified so that the task was an authentic task that could occur in real-world practice; team selection was based on the task topic rather than randomly; grading was based on the individual’s contribution to the task, and students were provided virtual team management skills as part of a the assessment. In this way, management of the team became an output of the task itself. Data was gathered over three years from student satisfaction surveys, failure rates, attrition figures, and unsolicited student comments. In one unit where this approach was adopted (Advanced Public Relations), student satisfaction increased from 3.6 (out of 5) in 2012 to 4.6 in 2016, with positive comments made about the teamwork approach. The attrition rate for another unit (Public Relations and the Media) reduced from 20.7% in 2012 to 2.2% in 2015. In 2012, criticism of teamwork assessment made up 50% of negative student feedback in Public Relations and the Media. By 2015, following the successful implementation of the teamwork assessment approach, only 12.5% of negative comments on the student satisfaction survey were critical of teamwork, while 33% of positive comments related to a positive teamwork experience. In 2016, students explicitly nominated teamwork as the best part of this unit. The approach is transferable to other disciplines and was adopted by other academics within the institution with similar results.

Keywords: assessment, distance education, teamwork, virtual

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Authors: Ben Nadler

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Cell adhesion plays a vital role in many cell activities. The motivation to model cell adhesion is to study important biological processes, such as cell spreading, cell aggregation, tissue formation, and cell adhesion, which are very challenging to study by experimental methods alone. This study provides important insight into cell adhesion, which can lead to improve regenerative medicine and tissue formation techniques. In this presentation the biological cells adhesion is mediated by receptors–ligands binding and the diffusivity of the receptor on the cell membrane surface. The ability of receptors to diffuse on the cell membrane surface yields a very unique and complicated adhesion mechanism, which is exclusive to cells. The phospholipid bilayer, which is the main component in the cell membrane, shows fluid-like behavior associated with the molecules’ diffusivity. The biological cell is modeled as a fluid-like membrane with negligible bending stiffness enclosing the cytoplasm fluid. The in-plane mechanical behavior of the cell membrane is assumed to depend only on the area change, which is motivated by the fluidity of the phospholipid bilayer. In addition, the presence of receptors influences on the local mechanical properties of the cell membrane is accounted for by including stress-free area change, which depends on the receptor density. Based on the physical properties of the receptors and ligands the attraction between the receptors and ligands is modeled as a charged-nonpolar which is a noncovalent interaction. Such interaction is a short-range type, which decays fast with distance. The mobility of the receptor on the cell membrane is modeled using the diffusion equation and Fick’s law is used to model the receptor–receptor interactions. The resultant interaction force, which includes receptor–ligand and receptor–receptor interaction, is decomposed into tangential part, which governs the receptor diffusion, and normal part, which governs the cell deformation and adhesion. The formulation of the governing equations and numerical simulations will be presented. Analysis of the adhesion characteristic and properties are discussed. The roles of various thermomechanical properties of the cell, receptors and ligands on the cell adhesion are investigated.

Keywords: cell adhesion, cell membrane, receptor-ligand interaction, receptor diffusion

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Authors: Michael Wagner, Philipp Steinbauer, Andrea Katharina Lietz, Alexander Hoffelner, Johannes Fessler

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Background: Cardiopulmonary resuscitations are stressful situations in which vital decisions must be made within seconds. Lack of routine due to the infrequency of pediatric emergencies can lead to serious medical and communication errors. Virtual reality can fundamentally change the way simulation training is conducted in the future. It appears to be a useful learning tool for technical and non-technical skills. It is important to investigate the use of VR in providing a strong sense of presence within simulations. Methods: In this randomized study, we will enroll doctors and medical students from the Medical University of Vienna, who will receive learning material regarding the resuscitation of a one-year-old child. The study will be conducted in three phases. In the first phase, 20 physicians and 20 medical students from the Medical University of Vienna will be included. They will perform simulation-based training with a standardized scenario of a critically ill child with a hypovolemic shock. The main goal of this phase is to establish a baseline for the following two phases to generate comparative values regarding cognitive load and stress. In phase 2 and 3, the same participants will perform the same scenario in a VR setting. In both settings, on three set points of progression, one of three predefined events is triggered. For each event, three different stress levels (easy, medium, difficult) will be defined. Stress and cognitive load will be analyzed using the NASA Task Load Index, eye-tracking parameters, and heart rate. Subsequently, these values will be compared between VR training and traditional simulation-based training. Hypothesis: We hypothesize that the VR training and the traditional training groups will not differ in physiological response (cognitive load, heart rate, and heart rate variability). We further assume that virtual reality training can be used as cost-efficient additional training. Objectives: The aim of this study is to measure cognitive load and stress level during a real-life simulation training and compare it with VR training in order to show that VR training evokes the same physiological response and cognitive load as real-life simulation training.

Keywords: virtual reality, cognitive load, simulation, adaptive virtual reality training

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Authors: S. L. J. Tan, N. Billa, C. J. Roberts

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Oral delivery of amphotericin B (AmpB) potentially eliminates constraints and side effects associated with intravenous administration, but remains challenging due to the physicochemical properties of the drug such that it results in meagre bioavailability (0.3%). In an advanced formulation, 1) nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) were formulated as they can accommodate higher levels of cargoes and restrict drug expulsion and 2) a mucoadhesion feature was incorporated so as to impart sluggish transit of the NLC along the gastrointestinal tract and hence, maximize uptake and improve bioavailability of AmpB. The AmpB-loaded NLC formulation was successfully formulated via high shear homogenisation and ultrasonication. A chitosan coating was adsorbed onto the formed NLC. Physical properties of the formulations; particle size, zeta potential, encapsulation efficiency (%EE), aggregation states and mucoadhesion as well as the effect of the variable pH on the integrity of the formulations were examined. The particle size of the freshly prepared AmpB-loaded NLC was 163.1 ± 0.7 nm, with a negative surface charge and remained essentially stable over 120 days. Adsorption of chitosan caused a significant increase in particle size to 348.0 ± 12 nm with the zeta potential change towards positivity. Interestingly, the chitosan-coated AmpB-loaded NLC (ChiAmpB NLC) showed significant decrease in particle size upon storage, suggesting 'anti-Ostwald' ripening effect. AmpB-loaded NLC formulation showed %EE of 94.3 ± 0.02 % and incorporation of chitosan increased the %EE significantly, to 99.3 ± 0.15 %. This suggests that the addition of chitosan renders stability to the NLC formulation, interacting with the anionic segment of the NLC and preventing the drug leakage. AmpB in both NLC and ChiAmpB NLC showed polyaggregation which is the non-toxic conformation. The mucoadhesiveness of the ChiAmpB NLC formulation was observed in both acidic pH (pH 5.8) and near-neutral pH (pH 6.8) conditions as opposed to AmpB-loaded NLC formulation. Hence, the incorporation of chitosan into the NLC formulation did not only impart mucoadhesive property but also protected against the expulsion of AmpB which makes it well-primed as a potential oral delivery system for AmpB.

Keywords: Amphotericin B, mucoadhesion, nanostructured lipid carriers, oral delivery

Procedia PDF Downloads 156

Authors: Mohd Imtiaz S, Saurabh Jain, Pothiraj K.

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In today’s highly competitive passenger vehicle market, comfortable driving experience is one of the key parameters significantly weighed by the customer. Smooth ride and handling of the vehicle with exceptionally reliable wheel end solution is a paramount requirement in passenger Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) vehicles subjected to challenging terrains and loads with rigid rear drive axle configuration. Traditional wheel-end bearing systems in passenger segment rigid rear drive axle utilizes the semi-floating layout, which imparts vertical bending loads and torsion to the axle shafts. The wheel-end bearing is usually a Single or Double Row Deep-Groove Ball Bearing (DRDGBB) or Double Row Angular Contact Ball Bearing (DRACBB). This solution is cost effective and simple in architecture. However, it lacks effectiveness against the heavy loads subjected to a SUV vehicle, especially the axial trust at high-speed cornering. This paper describes the solution of Double Row Taper Roller Bearing (DRTRB) wheel-end for a SUV vehicle in the rigid rear drive axle and improvement in terms of maximizing its load carrying capacity along with better reliability in terms of axial thrust in high-speed cornering. It describes the advantage of geometry of DRTRB over DRDGBB and DRACBB highlighting contact and load flow. The paper also highlights the vehicle level considerations affecting the B10 life of the bearing system for better selection of the DRTRB wheel-ends systems. This paper also describes real time vehicle level results along with theoretical improvements.

Keywords: axial thrust, b10 life, deep-groove ball bearing, taper roller bearing, semi-floating layout.

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Authors: I. Diamant, R. Srouji

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Applicant perceptions are attitudes, feelings, and cognitions which individuals have about selection procedures and have been mostly studied in the context of personnel selection. The main aim of the present study is to expand the understanding of applicant perceptions, using the framework of Organizational Justice Theory, in the domain of selection for higher education. The secondary aim is to explore the relationships between individual differences in social anxiety and applicants’ perceptions. The selection process is an accept/reject situation; it was hypothesized that applicants with higher social anxiety would experience negative perceptions and a lower success estimation, especially when subjected to social interaction elements in the process (interview and group simulation). Also, the effects of prior preparation and post-process explanations offered at the end of the selection process were explored. One hundred sixty psychology M.A. program applicants participated in this research, and following the selection process completed questionnaires measuring social anxiety, social exclusion, ratings on several justice dimensions for each of the methods in the selection process, feelings of success, and self-estimation of compatibility. About half of the applicants also received explanations regarding the significance and the aims of the selection process. Results provided support for most of our hypotheses: applicants with higher social anxiety experienced an increased level of social exclusion in the selection process, perceived the selection as less fair and ended with a lower feeling of success relative to those applicants without social anxiety. These relationships were especially salient in the selection procedures which included social interaction. Additionally, preparation for the selection process was positively related to the favorable perception of fairness in the selection process. Finally, contrary to our hypothesis, it was found that explanations did not affect the applicant’s perceptions. The results enhance our understanding of which factors affect applicant perceptions in applicants to higher education studies and contribute uniquely to the understanding of the effect of social anxiety on different aspects of selection experienced by applicants. The findings clearly show that some individuals may be predisposed to react unfavorably to certain selection situations. In an age of increasing awareness towards fairness in evaluation and selection and hiring procedures, these findings may be of relevance and may contribute to the design of future personnel selection methods in general and of higher education selection in particular.

Keywords: applicant perceptions, selection and assessment, organizational justice theory, social anxiety

Procedia PDF Downloads 145

Authors: Velimir "monty" Vesselinov, Trais Kliplhuis, Hope Jasperson

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is a powerful tool in the geothermal energy sector, aiding in both exploration and utilization. Identifying promising geothermal sites can be challenging due to limited surface indicators and the need for expensive drilling to confirm subsurface resources. Geothermal reservoirs can be located deep underground and exhibit complex geological structures, making traditional exploration methods time-consuming and imprecise. AI algorithms can analyze vast datasets of geological, geophysical, and remote sensing data, including satellite imagery, seismic surveys, geochemistry, geology, etc. Machine learning algorithms can identify subtle patterns and relationships within this data, potentially revealing hidden geothermal potential in areas previously overlooked. To address these challenges, a SIML (Science-Informed Machine Learning) technology has been developed. SIML methods are different from traditional ML techniques. In both cases, the ML models are trained to predict the spatial distribution of an output (e.g., pressure, temperature, heat flux) based on a series of inputs (e.g., permeability, porosity, etc.). The traditional ML (a) relies on deep and wide neural networks (NNs) based on simple algebraic mappings to represent complex processes. In contrast, the SIML neurons incorporate complex mappings (including constitutive relationships and physics/chemistry models). This results in ML models that have a physical meaning and satisfy physics laws and constraints. The prototype of the developed software, called GeoTGO, is accessible through the cloud. Our software prototype demonstrates how different data sources can be made available for processing, executed demonstrative SIML analyses, and presents the results in a table and graphic form.

Keywords: science-informed machine learning, artificial inteligence, exploration, utilization, hidden geothermal

Procedia PDF Downloads 40

Authors: Fatemeh Jannesarvatan, Ghazaal Parastooei, Jimmy frerejan, Saedeh Mokhtari, Peter Van Rosmalen

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Medical and dental education increasingly emphasizes the acquisition, integration, and coordination of complex knowledge, skills, and attitudes that can be applied in practical situations. Instructional design approaches have focused on using real-life tasks in order to facilitate complex learning in both real and simulated environments. The Four component instructional design (4C/ID) model has become a useful guideline for designing instructional materials that improve learning transfer, especially in health profession education. The objective of this study was to apply the 4C/ID model in the creation of virtual patients (VPs) that dental students can use to practice their clinical management and clinical reasoning skills. The study first explored the context and concept of complication factors and common errors for novices and how they can affect the design of a virtual patient program. The study then selected key dental information and considered the content needs of dental students. The design of virtual patients was based on the 4C/ID model's fundamental principles, which included: Designing learning tasks that reflect real patient scenarios and applying different levels of task complexity to challenge students to apply their knowledge and skills in different contexts. Creating varied learning materials that support students during the VP program and are closely integrated with the learning tasks and students' curricula. Cognitive feedback was provided at different levels of the program. Providing procedural information where students followed a step-by-step process from history taking to writing a comprehensive treatment plan. Four virtual patients were designed using the 4C/ID model's principles, and an experimental design was used to test the effectiveness of the principles in achieving the intended educational outcomes. The 4C/ID model provides an effective framework for designing engaging and successful virtual patients that support the transfer of knowledge and skills for dental students. However, there are some challenges and pitfalls that instructional designers should take into account when developing these educational tools.

Keywords: 4C/ID model, virtual patients, education, dental, instructional design

Procedia PDF Downloads 76

Authors: Muhammad Afzal, Shahbaz Mushtaq, Duc-Anh-An-Vo, Kathryn Reardon Smith, Thanh Ma

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Climate change has become one of the most challenging environmental issues in the 21st century. Climate change-induced natural disasters, especially floods, are the major factors of livelihood vulnerability, impacting millions of individuals worldwide. Evaluating and mitigating the effects of floods requires an in-depth understanding of the relationship between vulnerability and livelihood capital assets. Using an integrated approach, sustainable livelihood framework, and system thinking approach, the study developed a conceptual model of a generalized livelihood system in District Rajanpur, Pakistan. The model visualizes the livelihood vulnerability system as a whole and identifies the key feedback loops likely to influence the livelihood vulnerability. The study suggests that such conceptual models provide effective communication and understanding tools to stakeholders and decision-makers to anticipate the problem and design appropriate policies. It can also serve as an evaluation technique for rural livelihood policy and identify key systematic interventions. The key finding of the study reveals that household income, health, and education are the major factors behind the livelihood vulnerability of the rural poor of District Rajanpur. The Pakistani government tried to reduce the livelihood vulnerability of the region through different income, health, and education programs, but still, many changes are required to make these programs more effective especially during the flood times. The government provided only cash to vulnerable and marginalized families through income support programs, but this study suggests that along with the cash, the government must provide seed storage facilities and access to crop insurance to the farmers. Similarly, the government should establish basic health units in villages and frequent visits of medical mobile vans should be arranged with advanced medical lab facilities during and after the flood.

Keywords: livelihood vulnerability, rural communities, flood, sustainable livelihood framework, system dynamics, Pakistan

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Authors: Sunantha Teyarachakul

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We consider the worker-learning Newsvendor Model, under the case of lost-sales for unmet demand, with the research objective of proposing the cost-minimization order policy and lot size, scheduled to arrive at the beginning of the selling-period. In general, the New Vendor Model is used to find the optimal order quantity for the perishable items such as fashionable products or those with seasonal demand or short-life cycles. Technically, it is used when the product demand is stochastic and available for the single selling-season, and when there is only a one time opportunity for the vendor to purchase, with possibly of long ordering lead-times. Our work differs from the classical Newsvendor Model in that we incorporate the human factor (specifically worker learning) and its influence over the costs of processing units into the model. We describe this by using the well-known Wright’s Learning Curve. Most of the assumptions of the classical New Vendor Model are still maintained in our work, such as the constant per-unit cost of leftover and shortage, the zero initial inventory, as well as the continuous time. Our problem is challenging in the way that the best order quantity in the classical model, which is balancing the over-stocking and under-stocking costs, is no longer optimal. Specifically, when adding the cost-saving from worker learning to such expected total cost, the convexity of the cost function will likely not be maintained. This has called for a new way in determining the optimal order policy. In response to such challenges, we found a number of characteristics related to the expected cost function and its derivatives, which we then used in formulating the optimal ordering policy. Examples of such characteristics are; the optimal order quantity exists and is unique if the demand follows a Uniform Distribution; if the demand follows the Beta Distribution with some specific properties of its parameters, the second derivative of the expected cost function has at most two roots; and there exists the specific level of lot size that satisfies the first order condition. Our research results could be helpful for analysis of supply chain coordination and of the periodic review system for similar problems.

Keywords: inventory management, Newsvendor model, order policy, worker learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 409