scholarly journals A study on the key factors of suitability for performance-based logistics using a multi-criteria decision-making method

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 43-67
Author(s):  
Inseob Hong ◽  
Sukjae Jeong

In response to worldwide changes in logistics, the Korean Ministry of Defense has introduced performance-based logistics (PBL) to improve cost-effectiveness and availability in sustaining their weapon system. Thus, the procurement of reduced parts and the maintenance period improve the availability of equipment, and the reduction of the inventory level lowers overall logistics costs. Based on these achievements, the Ministry of National Defense is pursuing a policy to expand the PBL project. However, the criteria for selecting equipment subject to the application are ambiguous. Therefore, it is difficult to expand to all areas. Consequently, this paper aims to present the criteria for selecting future PBL projects by providing objective judgment factors and quantifying the suitable equipment for the application of PBL. For this, a delphi-analytic approach was used to derive the key factors for performance-based logistics experts, and the survey was carried out twice. A total of eight key factors were derived from the survey analysis. Subsequently, a third survey was conducted to determine the level of assessment for each key factor and to prioritize each card according to this conjoint method to determine the utility of each factor according to its level. Through this, a performance-based suitability model that combines the weighting of key factors with the level of each factor was presented. This study is meaningful in that it selected key factors for determining the suitability of performance-based military applications based on objective data. Further, their reference values can be comprehensively determined by calculating the utility of each factor level.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marit AC Vermunt ◽  
Andries M Bergman ◽  
Eric van der Putten ◽  
Jos H Beijnen

The taxanes paclitaxel, docetaxel and cabazitaxel are important anticancer agents that are widely used as intravenous treatment for several solid tumor types. Switching from intravenous to oral treatment can be more convenient for patients, improve cost–effectiveness and reduce the demands of chemotherapy treatment on hospital care. However, oral treatment with taxanes is challenging because of pharmaceutical and pharmacological factors that lead to low oral bioavailability. This review summarizes the current clinical developments in oral taxane treatment. Intravenous parent drugs, strategies in the oral switch, individual agents in clinical trials, challenges and further perspectives on treatment with oral taxanes are subsequently discussed.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 474
Author(s):  
Huaqiao Liu ◽  
Yiren Pan ◽  
Huiguang Bian ◽  
Chuansheng Wang

In this study, the two key factors affecting the thermal performance of the insert rubber and stress distribution on the tire sidewall were analyzed extensively through various performance tests and simulations to promote the development of run-flat tires. Four compounds and two structures of insert rubber were designed to investigate the effects of heat accumulation and stress distribution on durability testing at zero pressure. It was concluded that the rigidity and tensile strength of the compound were negatively correlated with temperature. The deformation was a key factor that affects energy loss, which could not be judged solely by the loss factor. The stress distribution, however, should be considered in order to avoid early damage of the tire caused by stress concentration. On the whole, the careful balance of mechanical strength, energy loss, and structural rigidity was the key to the optimal development of run-flat tires. More importantly, the successful implementation of the simulations in the study provided important and useful guidance for run-flat tire development.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan Ahmadian ◽  
Payam Mohseni

Abstract Iran's strategy with respect to Saudi Arabia is a key factor in the complex balance of power of the Middle East as the Iranian–Saudi rivalry impacts the dynamics of peace and conflict across the region from Yemen to Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Bahrain. What is Iranian strategic thinking on Saudi Arabia? And what have been the key factors driving the evolution of Iranian strategy towards the Kingdom? In what marks a substantive shift from its previous detente policy, we argue that Tehran has developed a new containment strategy in response to the perceived threat posed by an increasingly prox-active Saudi Arabia in the post-Arab Spring period. Incorporating rich fieldwork and interviews in the Middle East, this article delineates the theoretical contours of Iranian containment and contextualizes it within the framework of the Persian Gulf security architecture, demonstrating how rational geopolitical decision-making factors based on a containment strategy, rather than the primacy of sectarianism or domestic political orientations, shape Iran's Saudi strategy. Accordingly, the article traces Iranian strategic decision-making towards the Kingdom since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and examines three cases of Iran's current use of containment against Saudi Arabia in Syria, Yemen and Qatar.


2013 ◽  
Vol 722 ◽  
pp. 23-27
Author(s):  
He Jiao Cheng ◽  
Hui Min Chen ◽  
De Cai

In recent years, the laser fuze has been widely used in minor caliber mortar projectiles and bombs because of its high accuracy in distance measurement, strong ability to resist electromagnetic interference, high angular resolution and good concealment. As a result, it becomes an irreversible tendency to miniaturize the high power of the laser, especially in military applications. This paper aims to study the factors on the output characteristics of the microlasers. Based on the variation of the inversion density of the particle in the resonant cavity derived from the oscillation equation of the LD-pumped passively Q-switched Cr4+:YAG/ Nd:YAG laser, this paper summarizes some key factors which have impacts on the output of LD-pumped passively Q-switched subnanosecond microlasers, including the initial transmission of the absorber, the reflection of output coupler, the length of the cavity and the radius of the pumping laser beam, and gives the conclusion of the simulation, which provides the basis for the design of the passive Q-switched micro lasers which have high power, high repetition frequency and narrow pulse width.


2021 ◽  
pp. 000992282110382
Author(s):  
Tracey M. Thompson ◽  
Ty E. Hasselman ◽  
Yanzhi Wang ◽  
David W. Jantzen

The pediatric appropriate use criteria (AUC) were applied to transthoracic echocardiograms (TTE) ordered by primary care providers (PCPs) and pediatric cardiologists for the diagnosis of syncope to compare appropriateness ratings and cost-effectiveness. Included were patients ≤18 years of age from October 2016 to October 2018 with syncope who underwent initial outpatient pediatric TTE ordered by a PCP or were seen in Pediatric Cardiology clinic. Ordering rate of TTE by pediatric cardiologists, AUC classification, and TTE findings were obtained. PCPs ordered significantly more TTEs than pediatric cardiologists for “rarely appropriate” indications (61.5% vs 7.5%, P < .001). Cardiologists ordered TTEs at 17.2% of visits. Using appropriateness as a marker of effect, with the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio, it was more cost-effective ($543.33 per patient) to refer to a pediatric cardiologist than to order the TTE alone. This suggests that improved PCP education of the AUC and appropriate indications of TTEs for syncope may improve cost-effectiveness when using order appropriateness as a marker of effectiveness.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 4446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jui-Che Tu ◽  
Xiu-Yue Zhang ◽  
Sin-Yi Huang

The rapid growth of smartphones over recent decades has brought a large amount of e-waste as well as an increased carbon footprint. Facing severe environmental issues, sustainable development of smartphones has become a particularly important public concern. The main aim of this study was to clarify the key factor of sustainability for smartphones based on Taiwanese consumers’ perceived values. Apple’s iPhone was taken as an example. First, key factors of perception that smartphone consumers valued the most in terms of sustainable practice were extracted through a factor analysis. Second, demographic differences related to these key factors were investigated through t-test and one-way ANOVA analyses; demographic variables were gender, age, education level, occupation, and income level. The results were as follows: (1) the key factors were “recognition”, “brand advantage”, “service quality”, “usage period”, and “perceived price”; (2) there was a significant difference between genders on the key factors of perceived value (“recognition”, “brand advantage”, and “perceived price”). Specifically, females have higher perceived values of “recognition”, “brand advantage”, and “perceived price” than males; (3) there was a significant effect of income level on the key factor (“perceived price”) of perceived value. Specifically, respondents with an income level of NTD15,001–30,000 had a higher perceived value of “perceived price” than respondents earning NTD30,001–45,000. Among the five key factors, “recognition” and “brand advantage” are primary factors influencing purchase motivation; “recognition”, “brand advantage”, and “service quality” are primary factors that could influence brand loyalty; “perceived price” is the primary factor that affects purchase intention. This study contributes to the green market segmentation of smartphones. The limitations of the study relate to the size and distribution of the samples.


A modern teacher has to work on professional self-improvement throughout his/her life in order to be worthy of the high title of “teacher”; therefore, he/she must constantly master the technologies of generalization and dissemination of innovative pedagogical experience. Research Methods: To address the research problems, research methods including analysis of the products of teachers’ activities, survey, analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization of empirical data, questioning, expert evaluation, and statistical data processing were used. Research Results: In this study, the dissemination of such experiences in the process of upgrading teacher’s pedagogical qualification was positioned as a purposeful assistance in creating and applying the integrated unity of three spaces: educational, educational-reflexive, and social-practical. Discussion: The andragogical support of school teachers, who master innovative pedagogical experiences, should be organized proceeding from the andragogical approach to the educational process, which actualizes the principles of independence, taking into account the experiences of students, the application of learning outcomes to a specific situation, the intensification of the need for education. Conclusion”. The main differences between teachers working in schools and gymnasiums are manifested in a higher level of dissemination activity on the part of gymnasium teachers, which is related to the requirements to the staff in this institution and to personal characteristics of teachers who are more focused on creativity and the introduction of innovations into the pedagogical process.


Author(s):  
Renjun Hu ◽  
Xinjiang Lu ◽  
Chuanren Liu ◽  
Yanyan Li ◽  
Hao Liu ◽  
...  

While Point-of-Interest (POI) recommendation has been a popular topic of study for some time, little progress has been made for understanding why and how people make their decisions for the selection of POIs. To this end, in this paper, we propose a user decision profiling framework, named PROUD, which can identify the key factors in people's decisions on choosing POIs. Specifically, we treat each user decision as a set of factors and provide a method for learning factor embeddings. A unique perspective of our approach is to identify key factors, while preserving decision structures seamlessly, via a novel scalar projection maximization objective. Exactly solving the objective is non-trivial due to a sparsity constraint. To address this, our PROUD adopts a self projection attention and an L2 regularized sparse activation to directly estimate the likelihood of each factor to be a key factor. Finally, extensive experiments on real-world data validate the advantage of PROUD in preserving user decision structures. Also, our case study indicates that the identified key decision factors can help us to provide more interpretable recommendations and analyses.


2018 ◽  
pp. 971-993
Author(s):  
Sara L. Parker ◽  
Kay Standing

This chapter discusses the complexity and challenges of exploring the impact of gender on women's ability to realise their potential in Nepal. It demonstrates the limitations of using binary divisions to exploring ‘gender' as a key factor that impacts upon women's lives. By analysing interviews with ‘inspirational' women in Nepal conducted between 2009 and 2012 the chapter highlights the importance of exploring intersectional factors that also influenced women's life experiences. Based on interviews with 34 ‘inspirational' women in Nepal the chapter explores how the term ‘inspirational' is defines and discusses the range of work being done by so many women in Nepal that is truly inspiring. Through a discourse analysis of their stories of childhood and education we can see what key factors have played a role in enabling these women to realise their potential and to overcome intersectional barriers to work in a range of diverse positions, from the first female District Development Officer to the first women to gain her doctorate from overseas, to women who have set up NGOS working towards a more equitable and just society to others who have set up their own businesses or becoming leading academics. The conclusion draws together some key recommendations for future research and policy makers as well as those seeking to promote more equitable sustainable development that truly includes women in the process as autonomous, heterogeneous actors in the development process


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