Simulating the impact of facility design on operations: a study in an internal medicine ward

Facilities ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 501-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide Schaumann ◽  
Nirit Putievsky Pilosof ◽  
Michal Gath-Morad ◽  
Yehuda E. Kalay
Keyword(s):  
Internal Medicine ◽  
Discrete Event ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Behavior Patterns ◽  
Internal Medicine Ward ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Discrete Event Simulations ◽  
Simulation Results ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This study aims to use a narrative-based simulation approach to explore potential implications of including or excluding a dayroom in the design of an internal medicine ward. Design/methodology/approach The approach involved: collecting data in facilities using field observations and experts’ interviews; modeling representative behavior patterns in the form of rule-based narratives that direct collaborative behaviors of virtual occupants; simulating the behavior patterns in two alternative design options, one of which includes a dayroom; and analyzing the simulation results with respect to selected key performance indicators of day-to-day operations and spatial occupancy, including occupant density in corridors, number and locations of staff-visitor interactions and duration of a doctors’ round procedure. Findings Simulation results suggest that the presence of a dayroom reduces visitors’ density in corridors and diminishes the number of staff–visitor interactions that can delay the performing of scheduled medical procedures. Research limitations/implications A high level of uncertainty is intrinsic to the simulation of future human behavior. Additional work is required to systematically collect large volumes of occupancy data in existing facilities, model additional narratives and develop validation protocols to assess the degree of uncertainty of the proposed model. Originality/value A limited number of studies explore how simulation can be used to study the impact of building design on operations. This study uses a narrative-based approach to address some of the limitations of existing methods, including discrete-event simulations. Preliminary results suggest that the lack of appropriate spaces for patients and visitors to socialize may cause potential disruptions to hospital operations.

scholarly journals Assessing asset monitoring levels for maintenance operations

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 632-659 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdullah A Alabdulkarim ◽  
Peter Ball ◽  
Ashutosh Tiwari
Keyword(s):  
Asset Management ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Discrete Event ◽  
Dynamic Modelling ◽  
Simulation Models ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Event Simulation ◽  
Product Service ◽  
Asset Monitoring ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – Asset management has recently gained significance due to emerging business models such as Product Service Systems where the sale of asset use, rather than the sale of the asset itself, is applied. This leaves the responsibility of the maintenance tasks to fall on the shoulders of the manufacturer/supplier to provide high asset availability. The use of asset monitoring assists in providing high availability but the level of monitoring and maintenance needs to be assessed for cost effectiveness. There is a lack of available tools and understanding of their value in assessing monitoring levels. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This research aims to develop a dynamic modelling approach using Discrete Event Simulation (DES) to assess such maintenance systems in order to provide a better understanding of the behaviour of complex maintenance operations. Interviews were conducted and literature was analysed to gather modelling requirements. Generic models were created, followed by simulation models, to examine how maintenance operation systems behave regarding different levels of asset monitoring. Findings – This research indicates that DES discerns varying levels of complexity of maintenance operations but that more sophisticated asset monitoring levels will not necessarily result in a higher asset performance. The paper shows that it is possible to assess the impact of monitoring levels as well as make other changes to system operation that may be more or less effective. Practical implications – The proposed tool supports the maintenance operations decision makers to select the appropriate asset monitoring level that suits their operational needs. Originality/value – A novel DES approach was developed to assess asset monitoring levels for maintenance operations. In applying this quantitative approach, it was demonstrated that higher asset monitoring levels do not necessarily result in higher asset availability. The work provides a means of evaluating the constraints in the system that an asset is part of rather than focusing on the asset in isolation.

Characterizing response quantity on academic social Q&A sites: a multidiscipline comparison of linguistic characteristics of questions

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Li ◽  
Anrunze Li ◽  
Xue Song ◽  
Xinran Li ◽  
Kun Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Needs ◽  
Function Words ◽  
Second Person ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Five Disciplines ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Academic Communication ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeAs academic social Q&A networking websites become more popular, scholars are increasingly using them to meet their information needs by asking academic questions. However, compared with other types of social media, scholars are less active on these sites, resulting in a lower response quantity for some questions. This paper explores the factors that help explain how to ask questions that generate more responses and examines the impact of different disciplines on response quantity.Design/methodology/approachThe study examines 1,968 questions in five disciplines on the academic social Q&A platform ResearchGate Q&A and explores how the linguistic characteristics of these questions affect the number of responses. It uses a range of methods to statistically analyze the relationship between these linguistic characteristics and the number of responses, and conducts comparisons between disciplines.FindingsThe findings indicate that some linguistic characteristics, such as sadness, positive emotion and second-person pronouns, have a positive effect on response quantity; conversely, a high level of function words and first-person pronouns has a negative effect. However, the impacts of these linguistic characteristics vary across disciplines.Originality/valueThis study provides support for academic social Q&A platforms to assist scholars in asking richer questions that are likely to generate more answers across disciplines, thereby promoting improved academic communication among scholars.

Assessing design buildability through virtual reality from the perspective of construction students

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Don Amila Sajeevan Samarasinghe ◽  
Imelda Saran Piri
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Sustainable Building ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Building Information ◽  
2D Drawing ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of visual models on the ability of construction students to assess design buildability.Design/methodology/approachThe study engaged 45 construction students from one selected tertiary education institute in New Zealand. The data collection process involved meeting the students face-to-face and demonstrating the VR model to them, after which the students completed an online questionnaire and assessed design buildability using both 2D drawing and virtual reality (VR) models. To make this assessment, the participants considered a residential earth building modelled to promote sustainable building features. The assessment process required the participants to evaluate the design buildability of the same building design using a 2D drawing and a 3D VR model.FindingsThe study found that VR models have significant advantages for assessing design buildability. Students measured 16.80% higher average buildability with the 3D VR model compared to the 2D drawing. The participants in the evaluation felt that the visual model significantly improved the comprehensibility of complex designs, which helped identify and manage design buildability (overall, 83% of participants strongly supported this).Originality/valueThe paper showed construction digitisation such as VR, augmented reality and building information modelling is highly cooperative as it can easily be made available for online learning. Thus, the findings support construction educators use online-based VR learning to promote efficient teaching of design buildability to students.

The robot-to-robot service encounter: an examination of the impact of inter-robot warmth

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (9) ◽  
pp. 15-27
Author(s):  
Magnus Söderlund
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Service Robots ◽  
Service Robot ◽  
Service Encounters ◽  
Experimental Setting ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Robot Systems ◽  
Synthetic Agents ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This study aims to examine humans’ reactions to service robots’ display of warmth in robot-to-robot interactions – a setting in which humans’ impressions of a service robot will not only be based on what this robot does in relation to humans, but also on what it does to other robots. Design/methodology/approach Service robot display of warmth was manipulated in an experimental setting in such a way that a service robot A expressed low versus high levels of warmth in relation to another service robot B. Findings The results indicate that a high level of warmth expressed by robot A vis-à-vis robot B boosted humans’ overall evaluations of A, and that this influence was mediated by the perceived humanness and the perceived happiness of A. Originality/value Numerous studies have examined humans’ reactions when they interact with a service robot or other synthetic agents that provide service. Future service encounters, however, will comprise also multi-robot systems, which means that there will be many opportunities for humans to be exposed to robot-to-robot interactions. Yet, this setting has hitherto rarely been examined in the service literature.

scholarly journals The contribution of reduced COVID-19 test time in controlling the spread of the disease: A simulation-based approach

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Youness Frichi ◽  
Abderrahmane Ben Kacem ◽  
Fouad Jawab ◽  
Said Boutahari ◽  
Oualid Kamach ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Discrete Event ◽  
Mass Scale ◽  
Test Time ◽  
Test Duration ◽  
Accurate Identification ◽  
Event Simulation ◽  
Simulation Results ◽  
Precautionary Measures ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
The Impact

The novel coronavirus COVID-19 has known a large spread over the globe threatening human health. Recommendations from WHO and specialists insist on testing on a mass scale. However, health systems do not have enough resources. The current process requires the isolation of testees in the hospitals’ isolation rooms for several hours until the test results are revealed, limiting hospitals’ capacities to test large numbers of cases. The aim of this paper was to estimate the impact of reducing the COVID-19 test time on controlling the pandemic spread, through increasing hospitals’ capacities to test on a mass scale. First, a discrete-event simulation was used to model and simulate the COVID-19 testing process in Morocco. Second, a mathematical model was developed to demonstrate the effect of accurate identification of infected cases on controlling the disease’s spread. Simulation results showed that hospitals’ testing capacities could be increased six times if the test duration fell from 10 hours to 10 minutes. The reduction of test time would increase testing capacities, which help to identify all the infected cases. In contrast, the simulation results indicated that if the infected population is not accurately identified and no precautionary measures are taken, the virus will continue to spread until it reaches the total population. Reducing test time is a vital component of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is essential for the effective implementation of policies to contain the virus.

Impact of web banner advertising frequency on attitude

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 380-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahim Hussain ◽  
Ahmed Shahriar Ferdous ◽  
Gillian Sullivan Mort
Keyword(s):  
Online Advertising ◽  
Repetition Effect ◽  
Brand Attitude ◽  
Moderating Effect ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Banner Advertisements ◽  
Banner Advertisement ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine whether advertising type (static or dynamic) and appeal (emotional or rational) moderate the relationship between web banner advertising frequency and consumer attitudinal response. Design/methodology/approach A laboratory experiment involving 400 participants was conducted to test for the moderating effect. Factorial ANOVA is used to measure brand attitude. Findings The results identified that the web banner advertisement type acted as a moderator between frequency and brand attitude. However, the moderating effect of banner advertisement appeal was found to be insignificant at a single banner advertisement frequency (i.e. exposure) but significantly different at a higher frequency. The study findings provide better directives for online marketers. Practical implications The major limitation is the fact that the impact of banner advertisement frequency was manipulated from one to five exposures. Future research needs to determine what happens after the fifth exposure, perhaps ten exposures or more, to determine the wear-out effect and in turn, to decide on the optimal frequency level in an effort to design more appropriate web communication strategies. Social implications The result shows that pop-up banner advertisements are intrusive, and that high level of exposures to pop-up banner advertisement could annoy online users. Thus, online advertisers should avoid repeating the pop-up banner advertisements because this could adversely affect the attitude towards the online advertising in general, and could also negatively influence attitudes towards the brand and ultimately effect online purchase. Originality/value This study contributes to the theory by providing more insights into the repetition effect, and comprehensive conclusions can be drawn based on the manipulation of banner advertisement frequency on different frequency levels. The research identifies that if the communication objective is to generate brand attitude, different strategies can be adopted depending on the banner advertisement type (pop-up vs static) and banner advertisement appeal (emotional vs rational).

Promoting knowledge sharing performance in a knowledge management system: do knowledge workers’ behavior patterns matter?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Navid Nezafati ◽  
Shokouh Razaghi ◽  
Hossein Moradi ◽  
Sajjad Shokouhyar ◽  
Sepideh Jafari
Keyword(s):  
Data Mining ◽  
Information Technology ◽  
Knowledge Workers ◽  
Reward System ◽  
Knowledge Management System ◽  
Behavior Patterns ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Organizational Variables ◽  
Top Managers ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to identify the impact of demographical and organizational variables such as age, gender, experiences use of knowledge management system (KMS), education and job level on knowledge sharing (KS) performance of knowledge workers in knowledge activities of a KMS. Specifically, it seeks to explore that is there any relationship between the KS behavior patterns of high KS performance knowledge workers with their performance. Furthermore, this study using its conceptual attitude model aims to show that whether knowledge workers’ behavior patterns in sharing information and knowledge throughout a KMS have any specific effect or not. Design/methodology/approach This paper proposed a framework to mine knowledge workers’ raw data using data mining techniques such as clustering and association rules mining. Also, this research uses a case-based approach to a knowledge-intensive company in Iran that works in the field of information technology with 730 numbers of workers. Findings Findings suggest that demographical and organizational variables such as age, education and experience use of KMS have positive effects on knowledge worker’s KS behavior in KMSs. In fact, people who have lower age, higher education degrees and more experience use of KMS, have more participation in KS in KMS. Also, results depict that the experienced use of KMS has the most impact on the intention of KS in this KMS. Findings emphasize on the importance of the influence of the behavioral, organizational environments and psychological factors such as reward system, top management support, openness and trust, on KS performance of knowledge workers in the KMS. In fact, according to data, the KMS reward system caused to increasing participation of the users in KS, also in each knowledge activity that top managers participate in, the scores were higher. Practical implications This research helps top managers in designing policies and strategies to improve the participation of knowledge workers in KS and helps human resource managers to improve their membership policies. Also, assist Information Technology (IT) managers to enhance KMSs’ design to leverage with organization strategies in the field of improving KS and encourage people to participate in KMS. Originality/value This research has two key values. First, this paper applies a data mining framework to mining and analyzing data and this paper uses actual data of a KMS in a specialist company in Iran, with about 27,740 real data points. Second, this paper investigates the impact of demographical and organizational attributes on KS behavior, which little is empirically known about the impact of demographical variables on KS intention.

Investors’ sentiment and accruals anomaly: European evidence

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 500-517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisca Beer ◽  
Badreddine Hamdi ◽  
Mohamed Zouaoui
Keyword(s):  
Stock Returns ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Investor Sentiment ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Legal Tradition ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Legal Enforcement ◽  
Accruals Anomaly ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine whether investors’ sentiment affects accruals anomaly across European countries. Design/methodology/approach The authors estimate the model using Fama–MacBeth regressions. The sample includes 54,572 firm-year observations for 4,787 European firms during the period 1994–2014. Findings The authors find that investors’ sentiment influences accruals mispricing across European countries. The effect is pronounced for stocks whose valuations are highly subjective and difficult to arbitrage. The cross-country analysis provides evidence that sentiment influences accruals anomaly in countries with weaker outside shareholder rights, lower legal enforcement, lower equity market development, higher allowance of accrual accounting and in countries where herd-like behavior and overreaction behavior are strong. Research limitations/implications The findings suggest the generalizability of the sentiment-accruals anomaly relation in European countries characterized by different cultural values, levels of economic development and legal tradition. Practical implications The findings suggest to caution individuals investors. These investors would be wise to take into account the impact of sentiment on the performance of their portfolio. They must keep in mind that periods of high optimism are accompanied by a high level of accruals and followed by low future stock returns. Originality/value The research supplements previous American studies by showing the significance of the level of sentiment in understanding the accruals anomaly in Europe. Hence, it is important for future studies to consider investor sentiment as an important time-series determinant of the accruals anomaly, particularly for stocks that are hard to value and difficult to arbitrage.

scholarly journals Does corporate investment efficiency affect corporate disclosure practices?

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-327
Author(s):  
Noha Elberry ◽  
Khaled Hussainey
Keyword(s):  
Voluntary Disclosure ◽  
Corporate Investment ◽  
Good News ◽  
Investment Efficiency ◽  
Corporate Disclosure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Disclosure Practice

PurposeThe authors examine the impact of corporate investment efficiency on corporate voluntary disclosure for a sample of UK non-financial companies.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a sample of FTSE All-Share firms for the period of 2007–2014. Disclosure scores are collected from Corporate Financial Information Environment (CFIE). They follow Biddle et al. (2009) and Chen et al. (2011) in measuring corporate investment efficiency.FindingsThe authors find that high level of performance-related disclosure is associated with high level of corporate investment efficiency, while high level of good news information is associated with low level of corporate investment efficiency. They also find evidence on a bidirectional relation between disclosure and corporate investment efficiency.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors’ findings would be of importance to stakeholders and corporations. Stakeholders' investment decisions could be facilitated by understanding the disclosures provided by their firms and how these firms' performance is presented. Corporations become aware of the language which must be used to signal their performance.Practical implicationsCorporations become aware of the language which must be used in their disclosures. As firms may reflect their efficient investments but not in the form of good news in order to avoid revealing their competitive advantage to competitors.Originality/valueThis paper adds to disclosure studies by introducing a new variable, corporate investment efficiency, as a determinant of corporate disclosure practice.

scholarly journals Fks1 and Fks2 Are Functionally Redundant but Differentially Regulated in Candida glabrata: Implications for Echinocandin Resistance

2012 ◽  
Vol 56 (12) ◽  
pp. 6304-6309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santosh K. Katiyar ◽  
Ana Alastruey-Izquierdo ◽  
Kelley R. Healey ◽  
Michael E. Johnson ◽  
David S. Perlin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Candida Glabrata ◽  
Transcriptional Control ◽  
Mutational Analysis ◽  
Hot Spot ◽  
Normal Growth ◽  
Integral Membrane Protein ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Echinocandin Resistance ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACTThe echinocandins caspofungin, micafungin, and anidulafungin, inhibitors of cell wall β-1,3-glucan synthesis, were recently elevated to first-line agents for treating infections due to the azole-refractory yeastCandida glabrata. InCandida albicans, echinocandin resistance is strictly associated with mutations in Fks1, a large integral membrane protein and putative β-1,3-glucan synthase, while mutations in both Fks1 and its paralog Fks2 (but not Fks3) have been associated with resistance inC. glabrata. To further explore their function, regulation, and role in resistance,C. glabratafksgenes were disrupted and subjected to mutational analysis, and their differential regulation was explored. Anfks1Δfks2Δ double disruptant was not able to be generated; otherwise, all three single and remaining two double disruptants displayed normal growth and echinocandin susceptibility, indicating Fks1-Fks2 redundancy. Selection on echinocandin-containing medium for resistant mutants was dependent on strain background: onlyfks1Δ andfks1Δfks3Δ strains consistently yielded mutants exhibiting high-level resistance, all with Fks2 hot spot 1 mutations. Thus, Fks1-Fks2 redundancy attenuates the rate of resistance; further analysis showed that it also attenuates the impact of resistance-conferring mutations. Growth of thefks1Δ and, especially,fks1Δfks3Δ strains was specifically susceptible to the calcineurin inhibitor FK506. Relatedly, FK506 addition or calcineurin geneCMP2disruption specifically reversed Fks2-mediated resistance of laboratory mutants and clinical isolates. RNA analysis suggests that transcriptional control is not the sole mechanism by which calcineurin modulates Fks2 activity.

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