Multicriteria Decision Support Model for Selection of Fiberglass Suppliers

This chapter presents a real case of a decision problem in supplier selection of one of the main raw materials of a wind blades industry. The study considered all currently qualified suppliers according to considerably rigorous standards and specifications and one in qualification process. It is a complex choice, given the strategic importance of the product and the multiplicity of criteria to be considered, both quantitative and qualitative. The strong competitiveness requires a special attention which concerns the supplier selection; not only the price matters; in fact, a day of stoppage due to failure in a delivery, for example, corresponds to high losses that would have justified the purchase from a supplier with a higher price but with no delivery failures. In order to contribute to the problem resolution, the methodologies PROMETHEE and AHP were applied, whose results allow the authors to stablish a ranking of the considered suppliers. The results will support the company on the selection of fiberglass suppliers and in some cases clarify where they can find the main trade-offs.

Epistemological Aspects of the Organisation of Human Activity in the Transition from Disparate Social Techniques to Societal Technologies

The expansion and deepening of human-computer interaction in modern conditions have attracted attention to human activity and required its study at a new level. The article is devoted to the examination of the problems of organising human activity based on the knowledge of its key components. Epistemological approaches to thinking and knowing as directions of the development of human activity make it possible to increase the efficiency of the organisation of human activity as a whole and raise questions that can be resolved on the way of further methodology evolution. The further transition from the methodology of research and practices to social technologies that would allow purposefully producing new knowledge, on the basis of which, in turn, it would be possible to improve the quality of the organisation of human activity, seems appropriate and natural. The authors argue that the technological approach to problem resolution is useful and fruitful not only in the sphere of engineering and technical devices but also in the field of social relations.

Cohort's Analysis in eCommerce

Cohort analysis treats an outcome variable as a function of cohort membership, age, and period. The linear dependency of the three temporal dimensions always creates an identification problem. Resolution of this problem requires external knowledge that is often difficult to acquire. Most satisfactory is the introduction of variables held to measure the dimensions that underlie at least one of age, period and cohort. Such measured, substantive variables can provide direct tests of cohort-based explanations. A Promising path for future technical development is a hierarchical Bayes approach, which treats appropriately defined cohort, age, and period contrasts as randomly distributed and allows for their dependence on substantive, measured variables. Models that include age, period, and cohort can also include interactions between these dimensions, but not all such interactions are identified. This extends the realism of cohort models, since many phenomena seem to require specifications that allow for interactions between two or more of age, period, and cohort. Panel studies and cross-sectional studies with retrospective information not only support cohort analyses, they engender them. These longitudinal data structures do not, however, provide the basis for a solution to the identification problem.[5]

Neo-Traditional Medicines: Ethnographic Contributions to Conceptual Definition

Since the end of 1970, the World Health Organization has encouraged the development of public policies that expand the approach to care and the therapeutic possibilities offered by its member states beyond technoscientific health care. In Brazil, the institutionalization of this approach is related to the promotion of popular and traditional knowledge associated with the usage of medicinal plants. With this convergence as an argumentative horizon, in this ethnography we examine the institutionalization of pharmaceutical services that have become known in Brazilian public health policy as living pharmacies. This term has been mobilized throughout the history of phytotherapy in Brazil and refers to the possibility of instituting the use of medications that expand care approaches and problem resolution possibilities beyond the domain of the biomedical sciences, evoking alliances with so-called traditional and popular knowledge and practices. For this, we propose and discuss the concept of neo-traditional medicines as a comprehensive-interpretative category, verifying the approximation and distancing points assigned to it in contemporaneous anthropological literature. Beyond the domain of science over other fields of knowledge, we argue in favour of this category in order to present new arrangements and social dynamics that define Brazil’s medication policies.

Calculating and Understanding the Usefulness of JIRA Developers Communities

Tools for project management and bugs or problems following have become useful for managing the event method of the Open supply package. These tools clear the communications task between developers and make certain the quantifiability of the given project. The additional data developers square measure ready to interchange, the brighter square measure the achievements, and therefore the larger is that the limit of developers keen on a change. During this paper, we tend to gift an introductory determined investigation of the companies-structure of developers in JIRA by learning some well-liked comes hosted within the repository. We tend to study however, these firms perform in terms of the given issue’s issue-resolution time. The most contributions of this work square measure the authentication of the survival of firms in developer networks, and therefore, the actual finding that the given issue’s problem resolution time isn't correlative with the importance of a developer company.

On the Tripped Rollovers and Lateral Skid in Three-Wheeled Vehicles and Their Mitigation

Active safety systems for three-wheeled vehicles seem to be in premature development; in particular, delta types, also known as tuk-tuks or sidecars, are sold with minimal protection against accidents. Unfortunately, the risk of wheel lifting and lateral and/or longitudinal vehicle roll is high. For instance, a tripped rollover occurs when a vehicle slides sideways, digging its tires into soft soil or striking an object. Unfortunately, research is mostly aimed at un-tripped rollovers while most of the rollovers are tripped. In this paper, models for lateral skid tripped and un-tripped rollover risks are presented. Later, independent braking and accelerating control actions are used to develop a dynamic stability control (DSC) to assist the driver in mitigating such risks, including holes/bumps road-scenarios. A common Lyapunov function and an LMI problem resolution ensure robust stability while optimization allows tuning the controller. Numerical and HIL tests are presented. Implementation on a three-wheeled vehicle requires an inertial measurement unit, and independent ABS and propulsion control as main components.

A randomized controlled trial of a new intervention in early symptomatic syndromes eliciting neurodevelopmental clinical examinations: PR-ESSENCE

The need for effective intervention programs for youth with neurodevelopmental problems (ESSENCE) and challenging behaviour is great. This study examines Problem Resolution in ESSENCE (PR-ESSENCE), a newly developed model in which children and parents develop mutual problem resolution strategies. Ten-week randomized controlled trial of PR-ESSENCE for children and adolescents aged 5–18 years, compared to treatment as usual. Outcomes were assessed at baseline and randomized period endpoint. Primary outcome was the Clinical Global Impression—Improvement scale (CGI-I) rated by blinded assessors. Secondary outcomes were rated by parents—SNAP-IV, Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI), Relationship Problems Questionnaire, Family Burden of Illness Module, and children—Beck Youth Inventories (BYI). ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03780413. The study enrolled 108 participants (active n = 72; controls n = 36, randomized 2:1), of whom 95 completed the randomized period. No clinically significant group differences were found in baseline characteristics. More than half had autism and 80% had ADD or ADHD. Large treatment effects were seen on CGI-I (ITT analysis, Effect Size 1.48). Treatment responders, much/very much improved on CGI-I, were 51.4% in active group and 5.6% of controls. Effect sizes were medium to large in parent ratings on SNAP-IV (ODD and ADHD symptoms), ECBI (behaviour problems), and in BYI child self-ratings of disruptive behaviour. PR-ESSENCE treatment improved global symptoms and functioning (CGI-I), behaviour problems, ADHD and ODD symptoms, and disruptive behaviour. Treatment effects were at least equivalent to those in previous studies of well-established Parent Management Training and Collaborative Problem Solving programs.