scholarly journals Novel Spherical Fuzzy MARCOS Method for Assessment of Drone-Based City Logistics Concepts

Complexity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Milovan Kovač ◽  
Snežana Tadić ◽  
Mladen Krstić ◽  
Mouhamed Bayane Bouraima
Keyword(s):  
Multicriteria Decision Making ◽  
City Logistics ◽  
Rail Transportation ◽  
Logistics System ◽  
Transportation Mode ◽  
Fuzzy Environment ◽  
Final Score ◽  
Delivery Vehicles ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of

Technological innovations from the last few years, in the combination with city logistics (CL) initiatives, make the definition of novel, complex, sustainable CL solutions possible. Unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) as a technology attracted lots of attention in the literature. Various researches focused on different drone-based delivery approaches, but there are only a few articles dealing with drones as the elements of complex CL concepts. The goal of this paper is to evaluate different drone-based CL concepts. Based on the existing ideas of drone application in delivery, the main group of CL concepts and their variants are defined, which represents the main contribution of the article. The evaluation and ranking of concepts are performed from the aspect of all CL stakeholders and the defined set of criteria by applying measurement of alternatives and ranking according to compromise solution (MARCOS) multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) method in spherical fuzzy environment, which represents another contribution of the article. The results indicate that the potentially best CL concept, with the final score of 0.408, is the one that refers to the transformation of the logistics system into a two-echelon system with the implementation of micro-consolidation centers (MCCs), in which the delivery of goods to MCCs is realized with rail transportation mode and the last delivery phase with drones. It is followed by the concepts that imply MCCs, and rail transportation in the function of mobile depots for drone launching and MCCs and ground delivery vehicles (GDVs), with the final scores of 0.395 and 0.390, respectively.

Optimal Learning for Urban Delivery Fleet Allocation

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 623-641 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yixiao Huang ◽  
Lei Zhao ◽  
Warren B. Powell ◽  
Yue Tong ◽  
Ilya O. Ryzhov
Keyword(s):  
Daily Basis ◽  
City Logistics ◽  
Operational Cost ◽  
Distribution Centers ◽  
Logistics System ◽  
Online Appendix ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Delivery Vehicles ◽  
Fleet Allocation ◽  
Learning Policies

In a two-tiered city logistics system, an urban logistics company usually partitions the urban area into regions and allocates its delivery fleet (e.g., vehicles, couriers) to these regions. On a daily basis, the delivery station in each region receives the delivery packages from the city distribution centers and delivers them to customers within the region, using its allocated delivery vehicles. A tactical decision in such a city logistics system is the allocation of its delivery fleet to the regions to minimize the expected operational cost of the entire system. However, because of the complexity of the urban delivery operations and the day-to-day variance of the customer demand, an accurate evaluation of the expected operational cost associated with an allocation decision can be very expensive. We propose a learning policy that adaptively selects the fleet allocation to learn the underlying expected operational cost function by incorporating the value of information. Specifically, we exploit the monotonicity of the expected operational cost in the number of allocated delivery vehicles in a region and extend the idea of knowledge gradient with discrete priors with resampling and regeneration (KGDP-R&R). Our numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of KGDP-R&R against other learning policies as well as its managerial implications compared with heuristics in practice. The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/trsc.2018.0861 .

scholarly journals AN IDEOLOGICAL PRINCIPLE FORMING THE MARKET LOGISTICS THEORY

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (2(67)) ◽  
pp. 119-129
Author(s):  
V.M. LISYUK ◽  
I.A. TOPALOVA ◽  
ANICA HUNJET
Keyword(s):  
Market Economy ◽  
Commodity Markets ◽  
Main Element ◽  
Commodity Market ◽  
Logistics System ◽  
Real Process ◽  
Logistic Chain ◽  
Business Entities ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of

Topicality. In the conditions of a developed market economy and the deepening of the specialization of business entities, the theory of logistics is more oriented towards enterprises, and not to markets, and needs some market reorientation. Under the pressure of market processes, scientists are trying to generalize the market logistics processes of goods through the introduction of such concepts as: "logistics system", transport, marketing logistics. Further analysis of the theory of logistics requires attention to the main element of the market - the product, given that all economic actors in a market economy operate in a market environment, that is within the relevant commodity markets. That is, any business entity belongs to a certain commodity market ie it operates within a defined commodity market. Note that the product is precisely the element that determines the market - the commodity market. Consequently, the realization of the functions of the commodity movement combines the respective economic entities among themselves into the logistic chain of the commodity market. The logistic chain is a clearly defined route of a commodity wheel with logistic transitions, in which there are changes in the nature of the flow of goods, as well as changes in ownership. Aim and tasks. The purpose of this article is to develop approaches to the formation of the theory of market logistics on the reproductive principle. Research results. Development of proposals for the formation of the theory of market logistics on the reproductive principle. The definition of the category "market logistics" is given, the principles on which effective logistic chains of commodity markets should be organized and their reproductive processes must be formed. Conclusions. Construction of an effective reproduction market logistics is also provided by the minimum costs associated with the flow of material flow from the supplier to the consumer at the minimum possible date. However, the real process of movement of goods in the market is associated with the appearance on its way of some obstacles (barriers), or points of logistical gaps, which, on the one hand, leads to increased opium and increased costs for overcoming it, and on the other hand, to forced warehousing (delay) when there is a lack of bandwidth of the market chain links. Therefore, the task of the next research of market logistics is to determine ways to overcome these obstacles or gap, which impair the ideal conditions for the movement of material flows, channels of commodity movement as a deviation from a single straight line.

Understanding functional illiteracy from a policy, adult education, and cognition point of view: Towards a joint referent framework

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-122
Author(s):  
Aleksandar Bulajić ◽  
Miomir Despotović ◽  
Thomas Lachmann
Keyword(s):  
Adult Education ◽  
Operational Definition ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Industrialized Countries ◽  
Functional Illiteracy ◽  
Scale Levels ◽  
Components Of Reading ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of

Abstract. The article discusses the emergence of a functional literacy construct and the rediscovery of illiteracy in industrialized countries during the second half of the 20th century. It offers a short explanation of how the construct evolved over time. In addition, it explores how functional (il)literacy is conceived differently by research discourses of cognitive and neural studies, on the one hand, and by prescriptive and normative international policy documents and adult education, on the other hand. Furthermore, it analyses how literacy skills surveys such as the Level One Study (leo.) or the PIAAC may help to bridge the gap between cognitive and more practical and educational approaches to literacy, the goal being to place the functional illiteracy (FI) construct within its existing scale levels. It also sheds more light on the way in which FI can be perceived in terms of different cognitive processes and underlying components of reading. By building on the previous work of other authors and previous definitions, the article brings together different views of FI and offers a perspective for a needed operational definition of the concept, which would be an appropriate reference point for future educational, political, and scientific utilization.

Democracy and Political Culture

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross McKibbin
Keyword(s):  
Political Culture ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Social System ◽  
Political System ◽  
Democratic Politics ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of

This book is an examination of Britain as a democratic society; what it means to describe it as such; and how we can attempt such an examination. The book does this via a number of ‘case-studies’ which approach the subject in different ways: J.M. Keynes and his analysis of British social structures; the political career of Harold Nicolson and his understanding of democratic politics; the novels of A.J. Cronin, especially The Citadel, and what they tell us about the definition of democracy in the interwar years. The book also investigates the evolution of the British party political system until the present day and attempts to suggest why it has become so apparently unstable. There are also two chapters on sport as representative of the British social system as a whole as well as the ways in which the British influenced the sporting systems of other countries. The book has a marked comparative theme, including one chapter which compares British and Australian political cultures and which shows British democracy in a somewhat different light from the one usually shone on it. The concluding chapter brings together the overall argument.

An LQ Approach to Active Control of Vibrations in Helicopters

1996 ◽  
Vol 118 (3) ◽  
pp. 482-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Bittanti ◽  
Fabrizio Lorito ◽  
Silvia Strada
Keyword(s):  
Optimal Control ◽  
Active Control ◽  
Linear Quadratic ◽  
Control Effort ◽  
Vibration Effect ◽  
Suitable Definition ◽  
Lq Optimal Control ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
And Control

In this paper, Linear Quadratic (LQ) optimal control concepts are applied for the active control of vibrations in helicopters. The study is based on an identified dynamic model of the rotor. The vibration effect is captured by suitably augmenting the state vector of the rotor model. Then, Kalman filtering concepts can be used to obtain a real-time estimate of the vibration, which is then fed back to form a suitable compensation signal. This design rationale is derived here starting from a rigorous problem position in an optimal control context. Among other things, this calls for a suitable definition of the performance index, of nonstandard type. The application of these ideas to a test helicopter, by means of computer simulations, shows good performances both in terms of disturbance rejection effectiveness and control effort limitation. The performance of the obtained controller is compared with the one achievable by the so called Higher Harmonic Control (HHC) approach, well known within the helicopter community.

PROMETHEE-based ranking of project managers based on the five personality traits

Kybernetes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 1083-1102
Author(s):  
Georgios N. Aretoulis ◽  
Jason Papathanasiou ◽  
Fani Antoniou
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Questionnaire Survey ◽  
Multicriteria Decision Making ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Preference Ranking ◽  
Infrastructure Projects ◽  
Public Infrastructure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The One ◽  
Selection Of

Purpose This paper aims to rank and identify the most efficient project managers (PMs) based on personality traits, using Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE) methodology. Design/methodology/approach The proposed methodology relies on the five personality traits. These were used as the selection criteria. A questionnaire survey among 82 experienced engineers was used to estimate the required weights per personality trait. A second two-part questionnaire survey aimed at recording the PMs profile and assess the performance of personality traits per PM. PMs with the most years of experience are selected to be ranked through Visual PROMETHEE. Findings The findings suggest that a competent PM is the one that scores low on the “Neuroticism” trait and high especially on the “Conscientiousness” trait. Research limitations/implications The research applied a psychometric test specifically designed for Greek people. Furthermore, the proposed methodology is based on the personality characteristics to rank the PMs and does not consider the technical skills. Furthermore, the type of project is not considered in the process of ranking PMs. Practical implications The findings could contribute in the selection of the best PM that maximizes the project team’s performance. Social implications Improved project team communication and collaboration leading to improved project performance through better communication and collaboration. This is an additional benefit for the society, especially in the delivery of public infrastructure projects. A lot of public infrastructure projects deviate largely as far as cost and schedule is concerned and this is an additional burden for public and society. Proper project management through efficient PMs would save people’s money and time. Originality/value Identification of the best PMbased on a combination of multicriteria decision-making and psychometric tests, which focus on personality traits.

scholarly journals Beyond Classical Definition: The Non-definition of Gamification

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario S. Staller ◽  
Swen Koerner
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Working Life ◽  
Pedagogical Practice ◽  
Police Recruits ◽  
Design Elements ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Anchor Points ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Game Elements

AbstractGamification is regularly defined as the use of game elements in non-gaming contexts. However, discussions in the context of the pedagogical value of gamification suggest controversies on various levels. While on the one hand, the potential is seen in the design of joyful learning environments, critics point out the pedagogical dangers or the problems related to optimizing working life. It becomes apparent that the assumptions guiding action on the subject matter of gamification in educational contexts differ, which leads to different derivations for pedagogical practice—but also allows for different perspectives on initially controversial positions. Being aware of these assumptions is the claim of a reflexive pedagogy. With regard to the pedagogical use of gamifying elements and their empirical investigation, there are three main anchor points to consider from a reflexive stance: (a) the high context-specificity of the teaching undertaken and (b) the (non-)visibility of the design elements and (c) the (non-)acceptance of the gamified elements by the students. We start by providing a discussion of the definitional discourse on what is understood as gamification leading to our argument for a non-definition of gamification. We describe the potential of this non-definition of gamification and exemplify its use in a gamified concept of teaching police recruits professional reflexivity. The concept features the narrative of a potential crime that has been undertaken and that students decide for themselves if they want to engage with it.

scholarly journals The contribution of resident physicians to hospital productivity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria J. Perez-Villadóniga ◽  
Ana Rodriguez-Alvarez ◽  
David Roibas
Keyword(s):  
Production Functions ◽  
Weighted Sum ◽  
Main Hypothesis ◽  
Resident Physicians ◽  
Suitable Parameter ◽  
Functional Forms ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Hospital Productivity ◽  
Natural Hypothesis

AbstractResident physicians play a double role in hospital activity. They participate in medical practices and thus, on the one hand, they should be considered as an input. Also, they are medical staff in training and, on the other hand, must be considered as an output. The net effect on hospital activities should therefore be empirically determined. Additionally, when considering their role as active physicians, a natural hypothesis is that resident physicians are not more productive than senior ones. This is a property that standard logarithmic production functions (including Cobb–Douglas and Translog functional forms) cannot verify for the whole technology set. Our main contribution is the development of a Translog modification, which implies the definition of the input “doctors” as a weighted sum of senior and resident physicians, where the weights are estimated from the empirical application. This modification of the standard Translog is able, under suitable parameter restrictions, to verify our main hypothesis across the whole technology set while determining if the net effect of resident physicians in hospitals’ production should be associated to an output or to an input. We estimate the resulting output distance function frontier with a sample of Spanish hospitals. Our findings show that the overall contribution of resident physicians to hospitals’ production allows considering them as an input in most cases. In particular, their average productivity is around 37% of that corresponding to senior physicians.

Ex Meritis Praevisis: Predestination, Grace, and Free Will in intra-Jesuit Controversies (1587-1613)

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-150
Author(s):  
Eleonora Rai
Keyword(s):  
Free Will ◽  
Society Of Jesus ◽  
Modern Age ◽  
Sovereign Authority ◽  
Theological Debate ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
God’S Foreknowledge ◽  
Catholic Theological

AbstractThis article retraces the intra-Jesuit theological debates on the theology of salvation, including the relationship between the elements of predestination, God’s foreknowledge, Grace, and free will, in the delicate passage between the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries, and within the debates on Augustine’s theological legacy. Specifically, it explores the Flemish Jesuit Leonard Lessius’ theology and the discussions raised by it within the Society of Jesus, in order to show how soteriology has been central in the process of self-definition of the Jesuit identity in the Early Modern Age. This is particularly clear from the internal debates developed between Lessius, on the one hand, and General Claudio Acquaviva and curial theologian Roberto Bellarmino, on the other hand. Not only does the article investigate little known aspects of intra-Catholic theological debate in the post Tridentine period, but it also shows how deep pastoral and moral concerns strongly contributed to the rise of Lessius’ open-minded theology of salvation, which seemed to deprive God’s sovereign authority in favour of humankind’s free will, and human agency in the process of salvation.

scholarly journals Exploring International and Inter-Sector Differences of Social Enterprises in the UK and India

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 5870
Author(s):  
Philipp Kruse
Keyword(s):  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Social Enterprise ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Shape Features ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Uk

Social Entrepreneurship (SE) describes a new entrepreneurial form combining the generation of financial and social value. In recent years, research interest in SE increased in various disciplines with a particular focus on the characteristics of social enterprises. Whereas a clear-cut definition of SE is yet to be found, there is evidence that culture and economy affect and shape features of SE activity. In addition, sector-dependent differences are supposed. Building on Institutional Theory and employing a mixed qualitative and quantitative approach, this study sheds light on the existence of international and inter-sector differences by examining 161 UK and Indian social enterprises. A content analysis and analyses of variance were employed and yielded similarities as well as several significant differences on an international and inter-sector level, e.g., regarding innovativeness and the generation of revenue. The current study contributes to a more nuanced picture of the SE landscape by comparing social enterprise characteristics in a developed and a developing country on the one hand and different sectors on the other hand. Furthermore, I highlight the benefits of jointly applying qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Future research should pay more attention to the innate heterogeneity among social enterprises and further consolidate and extend these findings.

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