Separation of Perishable Inventories in Offline Retailing Through Transshipment

Transshipment in retailing is a practice where one outlet ships its excess inventory to another outlet with inventory shortages. By balancing inventories, transshipment can reduce waste and increase fill rate at the same time. In “Separation of Perishable Inventories in Offline Retailing Through Transshipment,” Li, Yu, and Du explore the idea of transshipping perishable goods with a fixed finite lifetime in offline grocery retailing. In the offline retailing of perishable goods, customers typically choose the newest items first, which can lead to substantial waste. They show that, in this context, transshipment plays two roles. One is inventory balancing, which is well known in the literature. The other is inventory separation, which is new to the literature. That is, transshipment allows a retailer to put newer inventory in one outlet and older inventory in the other. This makes it easier to sell older inventory and reduces waste as a result.

An 18-year Experience with an Innovative Geriatrics Training Model: Implications for the Workforce

Despite the growing population of older adults, the geriatrics workforce has not similarly expanded. The number of geriatrics fellows has declined by 14.3% from 2012-2017. Implementation of innovative training programs may improve this reality. In 2002, the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) created the first four-year combined medicine residency and geriatrics fellowship (Med-Ger). Similar programs are currently being developed. The aim of this study is to describe the outcomes of the MCW Med-Ger program. Primary endpoints: American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) pass rates, ABIM Geriatric Medicine Certification pass rates, fellowship completion rates, and geriatric-focused practice. Results: There was a Med-Ger program fill rate of 73.7% (n=38). There was equivalent ABIM pass rate of 100% between Med-Ger graduates (n=18) and traditional graduates (n=25). Med-Ger trainees were more likely to complete their geriatrics fellowship (94.4% vs. 88%) and practice in geriatric-focused careers (82.4% vs. 68.2%). These outcomes suggest the benefit of a combined program for training future geriatricians. The MCW Med-Ger fill rate exceeds the national geriatrics fellowship fill rate of under 50%. Additionally, graduates may be more likely to practice geriatric medicine. This may help address population needs for an increased geriatrics workforce. In 2020, the ACGME approved an Advancing Innovation in Residency Education (AIRE) Medicine-Geriatrics Integrated Residency and Fellowship national pilot program. Further investigation of why trainees choose Med-Ger training and are more likely to continue with careers in geriatrics is needed in order to replicate the success of the MCW Med-Ger program.

Evaluation of Depth Cameras for Use in Fruit Localization and Sizing: Finding a Successor to Kinect v2

Eight depth cameras varying in operational principle (stereoscopy: ZED, ZED2, OAK-D; IR active stereoscopy: Real Sense D435; time of flight (ToF): Real Sense L515, Kinect v2, Blaze 101, Azure Kinect) were compared in context of use for in-orchard fruit localization and sizing. For this application, a specification on bias-corrected root mean square error of 20 mm for a camera-to-fruit distance of 2 m and operation under sunlit field conditions was set. The ToF cameras achieved the measurement specification, with a recommendation for use of Blaze 101 or Azure Kinect made in terms of operation in sunlight and in orchard conditions. For a camera-to-fruit distance of 1.5 m in sunlight, the Azure Kinect measurement achieved an RMSE of 6 mm, a bias of 17 mm, an SD of 2 mm and a fill rate of 100% for depth values of a central 50 × 50 pixels group. To enable inter-study comparisons, it is recommended that future assessments of depth cameras for this application should include estimation of a bias-corrected RMSE and estimation of bias on estimated camera-to-fruit distances at 50 cm intervals to 3 m, under both artificial light and sunlight, with characterization of image distortion and estimation of fill rate.

The Supportive Care sCore (SCC): trigger alert validation study in solid tumours

ObjectivesPatients’ needs are still underestimated during the course of cancer. The development of a simple and accessible screening tool to screen supportive care needs is an innovative approach to improve the cancer care pathway. The Supportive Care sCore (SCC) is a new tool developed to trigger alerts on the main supportive care needs, such as social, nutritional, physical, pain or psychological disorders. We aimed to develop and validate the SCC tool in identifying supportive care needs.MethodsThe SCC, the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) and the EuroQol-5 Dimension (EQ-5D) questionnaire (for quality of life) were distributed to patients with cancer over a week in an ambulatory hospital of an oncology department. Acceptability was measured by assessing the fill rate. Validity of alerts generated by the SCC was assessed by their consistency with the ESAS and EQ-5D scores.ResultsOne hundred patients were included, with an average age of 67.2 years. Acceptability was good with a fill rate of over 90%. For a priori-defined risk groups by SCC with alert or not, the ESAS symptom score and quality of life differed significantly (p<0.05) between groups. We observed higher ESAS symptom scores in the alert group (nutritional alert-appetite: 4 (SD 2.4) vs 0 (SD 2.6), p<0.001; physical alert-fatigue: 4 (SD 1.7) vs 2 (SD 2.2), p<0.001; psychological alert-depressed: 3.5 (SD 2.7) vs 0 (SD 1.5), p<0.001). Quality of life was poorer in each domain of the EQ-5D in the alert group.ConclusionsOur study demonstrates the construct validity of SCC, which holds promise in identifying supportive care needs.

Framing Antecedents of the Last Mile Omni-Channel Distribution for the Retail Apparel Group

The last mile has to deliver the goods at the right time and at the right cost for business logistics services to enhance the customer service experience. The objective of this paper is to examine the challenges of retail omni-channel distribution influencing the effective last mile fulfilment operations processes in the apparel group (organisation phase). It further establishes the extent of how the last mile for demand-driven store replenishment influences the level of retailers&rsquo; order fulfilment (in full and on time) (environment phase). This paper, persistently assesses the contribution of integrated information systems on brick and mortar and virtual omni-channel distribution networks to improve timeousness, order accuracy and fill rate (technology phase). The mixed method has triangulated the methods from both quantitative methodology using frequencies and binomial testing and subjective thematic analysis of qualitative data from interviewees. The sample of 175 questionnaires were received with a response rate is 85 per cent (148 responses). The main findings of the paper revealed that the current order fulfilment process aligned with the last mile is effective on the basis of the fill rate, lead time and order condition of orders delivered via store economy and store express.

Demand Pooling in Omnichannel Operations

Both traditional retailers and e-tailers have been implementing omnichannel strategies such as buy online, pick up at store (BOPS). We build a stylized model to investigate the impact of the BOPS initiative on store operations from an inventory perspective. We consider two segments of customers, namely store-only customers who only make purchases offline and omni-customers who strategically choose between offline and online channels. We show that BOPS may either benefit or hurt the retailer depending on two fundamental system primitives: the store visiting cost and the online waiting cost. If the online waiting cost is relatively low and the store visiting cost is even lower, BOPS can induce omni-customers to migrate from online buying to BOPS, leading to demand pooling at the brick-and-mortar (B&M) store. Such demand pooling provides two benefits for the retailer: it reduces the overstocking cost, and after inventory reoptimization, it results in a higher fill rate at the B&M store, which benefits existing customers and potentially attracts more customers to the store. In contrast, if both store visiting and online waiting costs are relatively high with the latter even higher, introducing BOPS can result in demand depooling as a result of the migration of the omni-customers from offline purchasing to BOPS. This leads to a lower fill rate after inventory reoptimization, likely the result of a lower profit margin under BOPS, which turns away store-only customers and hurts the retailer. This paper was accepted by Charles Corbett, operations management.

An improved peak side lobe reduction method for linear array antenna for military applications

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to improve energy efficiency and further reduction of side lobe level the algorithm proposed is firework algorithm. In this paper, roused by the eminent swarm conduct of firecrackers, a novel multitude insight calculation called fireworks algorithm (FA) is proposed for work enhancement. The FA is introduced and actualized by mimicking the blast procedure of firecrackers. In the FA, two blast (search) forms are utilized and systems for keeping decent variety of sparkles are likewise all around planned. To approve the presentation of the proposed FA, correlation tests were led on nine benchmark test capacities among the FA, the standard PSO (SPSO) and the clonal PSO (CPSO).Design/methodology/approachThe antenna arrays are used to improve the capacity and spectral efficiency of wireless communication system. The latest communication systems use the antenna array technology to improve the spectral efficiency, fill rate and the energy efficiency of the communication system can be enhanced. One of the most important properties of antenna array is beam pattern. A directional main lobe with low side lobe level (SLL) of the beam pattern will reduce the interference and enhance the quality of communication. The classical methods for reducing the side lobe level are differential evolution algorithm and PSO algorithm. In this paper, roused by the eminent swarm conduct of firecrackers, a novel multitude insight calculation called fireworks algorithm (FA) is proposed for work enhancement. The FA is introduced and actualized by mimicking the blast procedure of firecrackers. In the FA, two blast (search) forms are utilized and systems for keeping decent variety of sparkles are likewise all around planned. To approve the presentation of the proposed FA, correlation tests were led on nine benchmark test capacities among the FA, the standard PSO (SPSO) and the clonal PSO (CPSO). It is demonstrated that the FA plainly beats the SPSO and the CPSO in both enhancement exactness and combination speed. The results convey that the side lobe level is reduced to −34.78dB and fill rate is increased to 78.53.FindingsSamples including 16-element LAAs are conducted to verify the optimization performances of the SLL reductions. Simulation results show that the SLLs can be effectively reduced by FA. Moreover, compared with other benchmark algorithms, fireworks has a better performance in terms of the accuracy, the convergence rate and the stability.Research limitations/implicationsWith the use of algorithms radiation is prone to noise one way or other. Even with any optimizations we cannot expect radiation to be ideal. Power dissipation or electro magnetic interference is bound to happen, but the use of optimization algorithms tries to reduce them to the extent that is possible.Practical implications16-element linear antenna array is available with latest versions of Matlab.Social implicationsThe latest technologies and emerging developments in the field of communication and with exponential growth in users the capacity of communication system has bottlenecks. The antenna arrays are used to improve the capacity and spectral efficiency of wireless communication system. The latest communication systems use the antenna array technology which is to improve the spectral efficiency, fill rate and the energy efficiency of the communication system can be enhanced.Originality/valueBy using FA, the fill rate is increased to 78.53 and the side lobe level is reduced to 35dB, when compared with the bench mark algorithms.

A83 IMPACT OF TELEHEALTH ON MEDICATION ADHERENCE IN GASTROENTEROLOGY CHRONIC DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Background With the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand and availability of telehealth in outpatient care has increased. Although use of telehealth has been studied and validated for various medical specialties, relatively few studies have looked at its role in gastroenterology despite burden of chronic diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Aims To assess effectiveness of telehealth medicine in gastroenterology by comparing medication adherence rate for patients seen with telehealth and traditional in-person appointment for various GI conditions. Methods Retrospective chart analysis of patients seen in outpatient gastroenterology clinic was performed to identify patients who were given prescription to fill either through telehealth or in-person appointment. By using provincial pharmacy database, we determined the prescription fill rate. Results A total of 241 patients were identified who were provided prescriptions during visit with their gastroenterologists. 128 patients were seen through in-person visit during pre-pandemic period. 113 patients were seen through telehealth appointment during COVID pandemic. The mean age of patients in telehealth cohort was 42 years (57% male). On average patients had 10 prior visits with their gastroenterologists before index appointment, used for adherence assessment. 92% of patients were seen in follow-up, while 8% were seen in initial consultation. The majority of the patients in the telehealth cohort had IBD (89%), while the remaining 11% had various diagnoses, including functional GI disorder, gastroesophageal reflux disease, viral hepatitis, or hepatobiliary disorders. Biologic therapy was the most commonly prescribed medication (66.4%). 45 patients were provided either new medication or dose change, and 68 patients had prescription refill to continue their current medications. It took a mean of 18 days (SD = 16.2) for patients to fill their prescriptions. Prescription fill rate for patients seen through telehealth and in-person visit were 98.2% and 89.1% (P = 0.004) respectively. Patients seen through telehealth were 6.8 times more likely to fill their prescriptions compared to the in-person counterparts (OR 6.82, CI 1.51 – 30.68, P = 0.004). When we compared adherence rate while excluding biologic therapies, the prescription fill rate was 94.7% in telehealth group and 81.4% in in-person group (OR 4.11, CI 0.88 – 19.27, P = 0.056). Due to high level of adherence, statistical analysis comparing adherent and non-adherent groups was performed but yielded insignificant results. Conclusions Medication adherence rate for patients seen through telehealth was higher compared to patients seen through in-patient visit in this study. Telehealth is a viable alternative for outpatient care especially for patients with chronic GI conditions such as IBD. Funding Agencies None

Growing from Nothing

Since 2009, Taiwan's Ministry of Education has begun to add the post of teacher librarians in some elementary schools. Teachers who are enthusiastic about reading education become teacher librarians to take charge of managing school libraries and promoting reading after receiving short professional training. This study aims to probe into whether the system is helpful to the management of libraries in elementary schools and to the establishment of reading environment at school. Specifically speaking, this study aims to discuss whether there is any difference in the activities of school libraries and schools' attitudes toward reading between schools with teacher librarians and schools without ones. The study surveyed elementary schools in Taiwan with a questionnaire which was filled out by teacher librarians or general librarians at school. The questionnaire was tested with Cronbach’s α reliability, and a coefficient of 0.975 was obtained, which is considered excellent reliability. 742 copies of the questionnaire were retrieved, and 741 of them were considered valid after the elimination of one with incomplete answers. Among which, 213 copies were from schools with teacher librarians, and the rest 528 copies were from schools without teacher librarians. In addition, the fill rate of schools with teacher librarians reached 80%. The study found that schools with and without teacher librarians had significant differences in library management of their libraries and behavior and attitudes toward reading.