Streamlining humanitarian and peacekeeping supply chains

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathalie Merminod ◽  
Jean Nollet ◽  
Gilles Pache
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chains ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Advanced Level ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Electronic Documents ◽  
Material Resources ◽  
Organizational Stability ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The One

Purpose – Over the last decade, temporary supply chains (TSCs) have become a well-recognized logistics model. In TSCs, supply chain members are organized for an ad hoc project; they pool resources in order to make the project successful. Although it might be perceived that TSCs are unstable due to their temporary nature, this paper aims to discuss how TSCs can be managed so as to be both stable and agile, while achieving the stated objectives; since the stability-agility context could be really challenging in humanitarian and peacekeeping supply chains, this is the one that has been selected. Design/methodology/approach – The authors reviewed the literature, research reports and electronic documents on humanitarian and peacekeeping supply chains, to understand the main challenges in terms of managerial and social impacts of logistical operations in a disaster context. Findings – The disaster context is very peculiar, since it requires tremendous agility when a natural or man-made catastrophe hits, so that as many lives as possible can be saved and that the situation could get back rapidly to a relatively normal level. The paper shows that TSCs require an advanced level of time and organizational stability of the human and material resources involved in order to be highly flexible. In other words, an efficient TSC relies on “anticipated responsiveness”, a major managerial challenge in the years to come. Originality/value – The paper clarifies the management of humanitarian and peacekeeping supply chains and identifies the importance of anticipation capability to improve logistical responsiveness.

Sustainability practices during COVID-19: an institutional perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olena Klymenko ◽  
Lise Lillebrygfjeld Halse
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Institutional Theory ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Institutional Perspective ◽  
Additional Time ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New Business ◽  
The One

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how sustainable practices in supply chains are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of institutional theory.Design/methodology/approachThis research applies a twofold data collection approach: 1) qualitative semistructured interviews and 2) secondary data collection that includes sustainability reports, newspaper articles, journal articles, strategic plans, research reports and statements made by authorities and stakeholders concerning decision-making. In total, managers representing six companies in Norway were interviewed.FindingsThe study suggests that during the COVID-19 pandemic, companies tend to focus on short-term decisions and economic issues. The long-term focus on sustainability has, however, increased at the cluster level. The research also indicates that the pandemic has led to the development of new business routines that may transform institutional norms. The diversity of institutional contexts can, on the one hand, drive sustainability transitions through pressures and supportive programs but, on the other hand, also hinder the development of sustainability thinking.Research limitations/implicationsInstitutional factors must be included when analyzing the effects of crises and sustainable transitions. Researchers are encouraged to explore the COVID-19 implications in the form of longitudinal studies.Practical implicationsPolicymakers can benefit from in-depth knowledge on the adverse effects of an institutional environment on sustainability. For managers, the outbreak of the pandemic can afford them additional time to revise their strategies and seek innovation. The pandemic highlights the need to build more resilient and sustainable systems that will aid managers in responding rapidly during future uncertainties and enduring sustainability trajectories in operations.Originality/valueThe paper offers an in-depth investigation of COVID-19 effects on the sustainability of supply chains by drawing on institutional theory.

Structuralism? Functionalism? Behaviorism? Or mechanism? Looking for a better approach to AI

2008 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yixin Zhong
Keyword(s):  
Intelligent System ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Special Cases ◽  
Powerful Approach ◽  
Reasonable Approach ◽  
The Common ◽  
To Come ◽  
The One

PurposeResearch of artificial intelligence (AI), has aimed at making machines intelligent via the simulation of natural intelligence, particularly human intelligence. During the past decades, there have been three major approaches aimed at achieving this goal, namely structuralism, functionalism and behaviorism. Unfortunately, they work separately and contradictorily to a large extent. The purpose of this paper is to present a better and more unified approach.Design/methodology/approachThe paper analyses each of the three major approaches to AI, describing their advantages and disadvantages. There then follows an attempt to explore a new and more reasonable approach to AI. The new approach should be able to solve all the problems that the existing approaches can solve on one hand and can solve the problems that the existing approaches cannot solve on the other hand.FindingsIt was found that the more reasonable and more powerful approach is the one that directly touches the common and core mechanism of intelligence formation. This is due to the fact that the mechanism of intelligence formation is much more essential than other windows of an intelligent system, such as structure, function, or behavior. It was also found that the common and core mechanism of intelligence formation can be implemented through the information‐knowledge‐intelligence transformation. The third finding is that the three existing approaches are special cases of the mechanism approach under different conditions and can thus be harmoniously unified within the frame of the mechanism approach.Originality/valueThe three findings in the paper: the mechanism approach, the implementation of the mechanism approach, and the unification of the existed three major approaches, are important laws never found before in the literature. The breakthrough of the mechanism approach to AI will be of great significance to both theoretical and practical research in AI in the years to come.

scholarly journals Numerical Solution Strategies in Permeation Processes

2021 ◽  
Vol 413 ◽  
pp. 29-46
Author(s):  
Axel von der Weth ◽  
Daniela Piccioni Koch ◽  
Frederik Arbeiter ◽  
Till Glage ◽  
Dmitry Klimenko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Analytical Solution ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Numerical Solutions ◽  
Matrix Multiplication ◽  
Transport Processes ◽  
Time Step ◽  
Stability Range ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The One ◽  
Crank Nicolson

In this work, the strategy for numerical solutions in transport processes is investigated. Permeation problems can be solved analytically or numerically by means of the Finite Difference Method (FDM), while choosing the Euler forward explicit or Euler backwards implicit formalism. The first method is the easiest and most commonly used, while the Euler backwards implicit is not yet well established and needs further development. Hereafter, a possible solution of the Crank-Nicolson algorithm is presented, which makes use of matrix multiplication and inversion, instead of the step-by-step FDM formalism. If one considers the one-dimensional diffusion case, the concentration of the elements can be expressed as a time dependent vector, which also contains the boundary conditions. The numerically stable matrix inversion is performed by the Branch and Bound (B&B) algorithm [2]. Furthermore, the paper will investigate, whether a larger time step can be used for speeding up the simulations. The stability range is investigated by eigenvalue estimation of the Euler forward and Euler backward. In addition, a third solver is considered, referred to as Combined Solver, that is made up of the last two ones. Finally, the Crank-Nicolson solver [9] is investigated. All these results are compared with the analytical solution. The solver stability is analyzed by means of the Steady State Eigenvector (SSEV), a mathematical entity which was developed ad hoc in the present work. In addition, the obtained results will be compared with the analytical solution by Daynes [6,7].

scholarly journals Entrepreneurship students distilled their learning experience through reflective learning log

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 126-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khar Kheng Yeoh
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Reflective Writing ◽  
Reflective Learning ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Critical Reasoning ◽  
To Come ◽  
The One ◽  
The University ◽  
Learning Log

Purpose This Scholarship of Teaching and Learning research is a part of the larger study grant to analyze written reflections through learning log among the third and final year students undertaking BPME 3073 Entrepreneurship module in University Utara Malaysia (UUM). The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The data collection techniques are researcher-directed textual data through reflective learning log, taken from 140 students from three classes. A thematic approach was utilized to present the reflections of the students and all data were recorded in a verbatim format. Findings The findings show that most students have never written a reflective log or essay in the formative assessment. As a consequence, they had difficulty in writing the reflection when being requested to do so. A total 75 (approximately 55 percent) of the reflective logs were identified as level 1 (from 1 to 5 percent) in which reflections were simply written in a descriptive manner, resulted in a balance of 61 learning logs being utilized for further analysis. The students’ reflections on their entrepreneurship’s experience systematically categorize into four different themes comprised of: the nature of entrepreneurship module, entrepreneurial characteristics, opportunity recognition, and creativity and innovation. Research limitations/implications As for the limitation of the study, it is important to not to underestimate the challenges of introducing a grade assessment that most of them are not familiar with in their university academic journey. Students need guidance, assurance and confidence writing something that require personal opinion, own thinking, sensitive and personal nature of narration. For most students as found out in this study, self-confessional writing is hard to come by (they dare not attempt it in the first place), only a handful appreciating the writing start with “I,” “me” as first person. More research in this study should be conducted across the university to gauge the response from the students to see if the result of this study is only applicable to this group of students or to this discipline of studies. The researchers would also like to recommend for future studies which take the form of a longitudinal study of similar kind to examine the problems and challenges with regards to promoting learning reflection at the undergraduate level. Practical implications Based on the result of the 61 students who had demonstrated an ability in reflective writing, it is suggested that perhaps the university should consider offering coursework that contains a component of reflective writing as part of the assessment. As such, if this is implemented, students of such ability like the one in this sample group would have been benefitted from such assessment which look at reflective ability (Greene, 2014) and which they were allowed to form a broader perspective in relation to the module undertaken. This in turns will foster the growth of reflective ability which is recognized as a learned behavior (Gustafson and Bennett, 1999). In addition, for the future exercise of this reflective learning log, the researcher opined that we should encourage our students to engage with another student (e.g. close friend) in a way that encourages talking with, questioning, or confronting, helped the reflective process by placing the learner in a safe environment in which self-revelation can take place. In addition, students were able to distance themselves from their actions, ideas and beliefs, by holding them up for scrutiny in the company of a peer with whom they are willing to take such risks (Hatton and Smith, 1995). Originality/value The results of this research have strongly suggested the need to urgently develop among the students the skills in writing reflectively as they go through the process of higher education which is useful in molding their future professional and entrepreneurial behavior as when they entered the job market which requires a critical reasoning ability.

Decision modeling of risks in pharmaceutical supply chains

2018 ◽  
Vol 118 (7) ◽  
pp. 1388-1412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Abdul Moktadir ◽  
Syed Mithun Ali ◽  
Sachin Kumar Mangla ◽  
Tasnim Ahmed Sharmy ◽  
Sunil Luthra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pharmaceutical Industry ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Delphi Method ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
Pharmaceutical Supply Chains ◽  
The Stability

Purpose Managing risks is becoming a highly focused activity in the health service sector. In particular, due to the complex nature of processes in the pharmaceutical industry, several risks have been associated to its supply chains. The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the risks occurring in the supply chains of the pharmaceutical industry and propose a decision model, based on the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method, for evaluating risks in pharmaceutical supply chains (PSCs). Design/methodology/approach The proposed model was developed based on the Delphi method and AHP techniques. The Delphi method helped to select the relevant risks associated to PSCs. A total of 16 sub risks within four main risks were identified through an extensive review of the literature and by conducting a further investigation with experts from five pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh. AHP contributed to the analysis of the risks and determination of their priorities. Findings The results of the study indicated that supply-related risks such as fluctuation in imports arrival, lack of information sharing, key supplier failure and non-availability of materials should be prioritized over operational, financial and demand-related risks. Originality/value This work is one of the initial contributions in the literature that focused on identifying and evaluating PSC risks in the context of Bangladesh. This research work can assist practitioners and industrial managers in the pharmaceutical industry in taking proactive action to minimize its supply chain risks. To the end, the authors performed a sensitivity analysis test, which gives an understanding of the stability of ranking of risks.

SBADR: stable and bandwidth aware dynamic routing protocol for mobile ad hoc network

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-221
Author(s):  
Anupama Sharma ◽  
Abhay Bansal ◽  
Vinay Rishiwal
Keyword(s):  
Routing Protocol ◽  
Network Performance ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
High Mobility ◽  
Dynamic Routing ◽  
Network Simulator ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Path Stability ◽  
The Stability

Purpose Quality communication is a big challenge in mobile ad hoc networks because of a restricted environment for mobile devices, bandwidth-constrained radio connections, random mobility of connected devices, etc. High-quality communication through wireless links mainly depends on available bandwidth, link stability, energy of nodes, etc. Many researchers proposed stability and link quality methods to improve these issues, but they still require optimization. This study aims to contribute towards better quality communication in temporarily formed networks. The authors propose the stable and bandwidth aware dynamic routing (SBADR) protocol with the aim to provide an efficient, stable path with sufficient bandwidth and enough energy hold nodes for all types of quality of service (QoS) data communication. Design/methodology/approach The proposal made in this work used received signal strength from the media access control (MAC) layer to estimate the stability of the radio connection. The proposed path stability model combines the stability of the individual link to compute path stability. The amount of bandwidth available for communication at a specific time on a link is defined as the available link bandwidth that is understood as the maximum throughput of that link. Bandwidth as a QoS parameter ensures high-quality communication for every application in such a network. One other improvement, towards quality data transmission, is made by incorporating residual energies of communicating and receiving nodes in the calculation of available link bandwidth. Findings Communication quality in mobile ad hoc network (MANET) does not depend on a single parameter such as bandwidth, energy, path stability, etc. To address and enhance quality communication, this paper focused on high impact factors, such as path stability, available link bandwidth and energy of nodes. The performance of SBADR is evaluated on the network simulator and compared with that of other routing protocols, i.e. route stability based QoS routing (RSQR), route stability based ad-hoc on-demand distance vector (RSAODV) and Ad-hoc on-demand distance vector (AODV). Experimental outcomes show that SBADR significantly enhanced network performance in terms of throughput, packet delivery ratio (PDR) and normalized control overhead (NCO). Performance shows that SBADR is suitable for any application of MANET having random and high mobility. Research limitations/implications QoS in MANET is a challenging task. To achieve high-quality communication, the authors worked on multiple network parameters, i.e. path stability, available link bandwidth and energy of mobile nodes. The performance of the proposed routing protocol named SBADR is evaluated by a network simulator and compared with that of other routing protocols. Statistical analysis done on results proves significant enhancement in network performance. SBADR is suitable for applications of MANET having random and high mobility. It is also efficient for applications having a requirement of high throughput. Practical implications SBADR shows a significant enhancement in received data bytes, which are 1,709, 788 and 326 more in comparison of AODV, RSAODV and RSQR, respectively. PDR increased by 21.27%, 12.1%, 4.15%, and NCO decreased by 9.67%, 5.93%, 2.8% in comparison of AODV, RSAODV and RSQR, respectively. Social implications Outcomes show SBADR will perform better with applications of MANET such as disaster recovery, city tours, university or hospital networks, etc. SBADR is suitable for every application of MANET having random and high mobility. Originality/value This is to certify that the reported work in the paper entitled “SBADR: stable and bandwidth aware dynamic routing protocol for mobile ad hoc network” is an original one and has not been submitted for publication elsewhere. The authors further certify that proper citations to the previously reported work have been given and no data/tables/figures have been quoted verbatim from the other publications without giving due acknowledgment and without permission of the author(s).

Use of a Lyophilized Reference Plasma to Compare Coagulation Test Procedures

1975 ◽  
Vol 34 (02) ◽  
pp. 426-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Kahan ◽  
I Nohén
Keyword(s):  
Oral Anticoagulant Therapy ◽  
Repeated Measurements ◽  
Test Procedures ◽  
Coagulation Activity ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Measured Activity ◽  
Test Materials ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The One

SummaryIn 4 collaborative trials, involving a varying number of hospital laboratories in the Stockholm area, the coagulation activity of different test materials was estimated with the one-stage prothrombin tests routinely used in the laboratories, viz. Normotest, Simplastin-A and Thrombotest. The test materials included different batches of a lyophilized reference plasma, deep-frozen specimens of diluted and undiluted normal plasmas, and fresh and deep-frozen specimens from patients on long-term oral anticoagulant therapy.Although a close relationship was found between different methods, Simplastin-A gave consistently lower values than Normotest, the difference being proportional to the estimated activity. The discrepancy was of about the same magnitude on all the test materials, and was probably due to a divergence between the manufacturers’ procedures used to set “normal percentage activity”, as well as to a varying ratio of measured activity to plasma concentration. The extent of discrepancy may vary with the batch-to-batch variation of thromboplastin reagents.The close agreement between results obtained on different test materials suggests that the investigated reference plasma could be used to calibrate the examined thromboplastin reagents, and to compare the degree of hypocoagulability estimated by the examined PIVKA-insensitive thromboplastin reagents.The assigned coagulation activity of different batches of the reference plasma agreed closely with experimentally obtained values. The stability of supplied batches was satisfactory as judged from the reproducibility of repeated measurements. The variability of test procedures was approximately the same on different test materials.

Structure, Stability and Water Adsorption on Ultra-Thin TiO2 Supported on TiN

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Julio Gutierrez Moreno ◽  
Marco Fronzi ◽  
Pierre Lovera ◽  
alan O'Riordan ◽  
Mike J Ford ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Density Functional ◽  
Water Adsorption ◽  
Chemical Potential ◽  
Energy Gap ◽  
Molecular Water ◽  
Structure Stability ◽  
Ambient Conditions ◽  
Rutile Structure ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The One

<p></p><p>Interfacial metal-oxide systems with ultrathin oxide layers are of high interest for their use in catalysis. In this study, we present a density functional theory (DFT) investigation of the structure of ultrathin rutile layers (one and two TiO<sub>2</sub> layers) supported on TiN and the stability of water on these interfacial structures. The rutile layers are stabilized on the TiN surface through the formation of interfacial Ti–O bonds. Charge transfer from the TiN substrate leads to the formation of reduced Ti<sup>3+</sup> cations in TiO<sub>2.</sub> The structure of the one-layer oxide slab is strongly distorted at the interface, while the thicker TiO<sub>2</sub> layer preserves the rutile structure. The energy cost for the formation of a single O vacancy in the one-layer oxide slab is only 0.5 eV with respect to the ideal interface. For the two-layer oxide slab, the introduction of several vacancies in an already non-stoichiometric system becomes progressively more favourable, which indicates the stability of the highly non-stoichiometric interfaces. Isolated water molecules dissociate when adsorbed at the TiO<sub>2</sub> layers. At higher coverages the preference is for molecular water adsorption. Our ab initio thermodynamics calculations show the fully water covered stoichiometric models as the most stable structure at typical ambient conditions. Interfacial models with multiple vacancies are most stable at low (reducing) oxygen chemical potential values. A water monolayer adsorbs dissociatively on the highly distorted 2-layer TiO<sub>1.75</sub>-TiN interface, where the Ti<sup>3+</sup> states lying above the top of the valence band contribute to a significant reduction of the energy gap compared to the stoichiometric TiO<sub>2</sub>-TiN model. Our results provide a guide for the design of novel interfacial systems containing ultrathin TiO<sub>2</sub> with potential application as photocatalytic water splitting devices.</p><p></p>

Avenues to Precision Oncology

2020 ◽  
pp. 36-45
Author(s):  
Alexander Meisel
Keyword(s):  
Precision Medicine ◽  
Trial Design ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Molecular Targets ◽  
Clinical Trial Design ◽  
Predictive Biomarkers ◽  
Precision Oncology ◽  
Companion Diagnostics ◽  
Bona Fide ◽  
The One

Until recently, the clinical management of cancer heavily relied on anatomical and histopathological criteria, with ad hoc guidelines directing the therapeutic choices in specific indications. In the last years, the development and therapeutic implementation of novel anticancer therapies significantly improved the clinical outcome of cancer patients. Nonetheless, such cutting-edge approaches revealed the limitation of the one-size-fits-all paradigm. The newly discovered molecular targets can be exploited either as bona fide targets for subsequent drug development, or as tools to precision medicine, in the form of prognostic and/or predictive biomarkers. This article provides an overview of some of the most recent advances in precision medicine in oncology, with a focus on novel tissue-agnostic anticancer therapies. The definition and implementation of biomarkers and companion diagnostics in clinical trials and clinical practice are also discussed, as well as the changing landscape in clinical trial design.

How Phillips saw the light

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (8) ◽  
pp. 29-31
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Reading Time ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Business World ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Freak Show ◽  
The World ◽  
Pertinent Information ◽  
The One ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings The problem with developing a reputation of being something of an oracle in the business world is that all of a sudden, everyone expects you to pull off the trick of interpreting the future on a daily basis. Like a freak show circus act or one-hit wonder pop singer, people expect you to perform when they see you, and they expect you to perform the thing that made you famous, even if it is the one thing in the world you don’t want to do. And when you fail to deliver on these heightened expectations, you are dismissed as a one trick pony, however good that trick is in the first place. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

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