Multi-objective maintenance planning under preventive maintenance

PurposeThis research developed and examined a mathematical model for concurrent corrective and preventive maintenance policy of a system of series configuration.Design/methodology/approachA mathematical model was developed to maximize availability, and maximal net revenues, and minimal cost. Different probability distributions for time to failure and time to repair were considered. The model was then implemented on a real case study, which was studied under corrective maintenance policy and concurrent corrective and preventive policy.FindingsA comparison between results at current policy (90 days) and optimal period of corrective and preventive policy was conducted. It was found that availability, profit was increased from 94.4% and $20.091 – 96.5% and $24.803, respectively. Further, the cost was reduced from $1104.8 to $797.22.Research limitations/implicationsThe proposed optimization model can be adopted in planning maintenance activities for a single machine as well as for a system of series configuration machines under various probability distributions.Practical implicationsThe proposed model can significantly enhance performance of the production as well as maintenance systems. In addition, the developed model may support maintenance engineering in effective management of maintenance resources and the performance of its activities.Originality/valueThis research considers a mathematical model with multi-objective functions and distinct probability distributions for time-to-failure for a system of series machines. Moreover, appropriate approximation solution was deployed to find integral of some functions. Finally, it provides maintenance planning for a single machine or a series of machines.

Preparedness of senior centers for active shooter incidents

Objective: The main objective was to evaluate the preparedness of senior centers (SCs) for active shooter (AS) events and test the hypothesis that most SCs were not organized to properly handle AS incidents.Design: A cross-sectional study based on questionnaire with quantitative measures.Setting: A questionnaire-based multistate survey of SC Directors (SCDs) of public and private SCs. Participants: SCs were included upon receipt of answers from SCDs to questionnaire-based survey, resulting in 139 SCs from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Maryland, Indiana, Illinois, New York, and West Virginia.Main outcome measure: SCs, SCDs, and SCs’ staff preparedness and vulnerability to an AS event.Results: Over half (56 percent) of SCDs replied that their center was not prepared for an AS event. A significant (p 0.01) association was found between the SCD’s perception of being prepared and the availability of a formal AS preventive policy. The lack of panic buttons and surveillance cameras was significantly (p 0.01) associated with the feeling of inability by SCDs to respond effectively to an AS event. Those SCDs who were confident about their AS preparedness felt significantly (p 0.01) better prepared to respond to an AS incident. Personal interviews with content experts agreed that all SCDs should take steps to develop an official AS preparedness policy, but its implementation should be the direct responsibility of local policymakers and legislators.Conclusions: Most SDCs and SCs are unprepared for AS incidents. SCDs should review or develop specific recommendations and implement plans for a better preparedness of SCs and SCDs for AS events. Considering the inherent high vulnerability of older adults, there is an urgent need to have such AS policy in place.

Gezondheidseconomische evaluaties binnen een preventief beleid: een kritische introductie

Health-economic evaluations in preventive policy: a critical introduction. The Flemish prevention decree specifies that policy initiatives should maximize health gains at a socially acceptable cost. As health-economic evaluations aim to evaluate the expected health effects as well as the expected costs of interventions, this type of studies can be considered indispensable to come to evidence-based policy. The goal of this paper is to introduce the basic aspects of health-economic evaluations, with a focus on preventive interventions. Although the term cost-effectiveness is often used as an umbrella term, technically speaking there is a distinction between cost-effectiveness studies and cost-utility studies. In the latter case, Belgium and many other countries often use the quality-adjusted life year (QALY) to assess health effects. Health-economic analyses can either be performed alongside a clinical trial, or by the use of a decision-analytic model in which different sources are combined to estimate long-term costs and health effects. How do we handle the effects of prevention in the (sometimes far) future? What is the optimal target group? What about the uncertainty within cost-effectiveness analyses? Can health inequity be incorporated? Several aspects of health-economic evaluations require sufficient attention when analysing preventive policy.

Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Control: An Overview

Tuberculosis is an age-long disease that has proved challenging to eradicate. In 2019 about 10 million people fell ill of TB and it has caused 1.2 million deaths among HIV negative people and 208,000 deaths among HIV positive individuals [1]. The reduction in incidence rate between 2015 and 2019 was 9% and global target for 2030 is 80% [1]. For the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and WHO’s End TB Strategy the following should be considered; (1) breaking the transmission cascade of tuberculosis infection (2) effective management of the risk factors of spreading TB infection (3) administering workable preventive policy for individual health sector, and (4) prompt and effective standard control method. Tuberculosis infection is a must to eradicate, hence all stakeholders should come together for the patients, health care workers and policy makers to achieve End TB by 2035.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PREVENTIVE POLICY OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE IN DISCIPLINARY BATTALIONS (EARLY XX CENTURY)

В статье рассмотрена организация, структура и функции дисциплинарных батальонов Российской империи в начале XX в. Изучен их штатный состав, направления деятельности и функциональные обязанности офицерского и унтер-офицерского состава. Показаны особенности комплектования дисциплинарных частей постоянным составом, а также прохождения ими службы. В качестве негативных моментов указывается отсутствие специальной подготовки офицеров, чиновников и кадровых нижних чинов, порядка их отбора, расстановки и прохождения службы в дисциплинарных частях. Определены особенности комплектования дисциплинарных батальонов заключенными, распределения их по ротам и учебным группам. Отмечается, что распорядок дня и расписание занятий в дисциплинарных батальонах направлены на повышение уровня военной и строевой подготовки заключенных, их грамотности и изучения ими требований военной присяги и воинских уставов. Авторами раскрывается порядок реализации мер поощрения и дисциплинарных наказаний, применяемых в отношении заключенных дисциплинарных батальонов. В статье рассматривается дисциплинарная практика дисциплинарных батальонов. Авторы приходят к выводу о том, что дисциплинарные батальоны со штатной организацией в исследуемый период в целом справлялись с задачами, поставленными перед ними Положением о дисциплинарных батальонах, ротах и командах, а опыт их функционирования был использован при создании военно-карательного аппарата Советской армии и может быть использован в армии Российской Федерации. The article deals with the organization, structure and functions of disciplinary battalions of the Russian Empire in the early XX century. Their staff, activities and functional responsibilities of officers and non-commissioned officers were studied. Features of completing disciplinary units with permanent staff, as well as their service are shown. The lack of special training of officers, officials and personnel of lower ranks, the order of their selection, placement and service in disciplinary units is indicated as negative points. Features of completing disciplinary battalions with prisoners, their distribution by companies and training groups are defined. It is indicated that the daily routine and schedule of classes in disciplinary battalions are aimed at improving the level of military and drill training of prisoners, their literacy and their study of the requirements of the military oath and military regulations. The authors reveal the procedure for implementing incentive measures and disciplinary punishments applied to prisoners of disciplinary battalions. The article deals with the disciplinary practice of disciplinary battalions. The authors conclude that disciplinary battalions with a regular organization in the study period generally coped with the tasks assigned to them by the «Regulations on disciplinary battalions, companies and teams», and the experience of their functioning was used in the creation of the military punitive apparatus of the Soviet army and can be used in the army of the Russian Federation.

Part I Introduction

Part I aims to clarify when and how the polluter-pays, preventive, and precautionary principles co-exist: complementing, enriching, and in some cases contradicting each other. It stresses that these principles could be best described using three distinct models representing three paradigms of regulation: a curative model, a preventive model, and an anticipatory model. A curative model of nature characterized the early stages of environment policy and shaped the polluter-pays principle. This model was practicable only if accompanied by a preventive policy intended to limit environmental damage. The emergence of increasingly unpredictable risks is at present causing the authorities to base their policy on a third, anticipatory model that gave rise to the precautionary principle. The three principles examined in the first part of this book correspond to the three models described in this introduction.

Part I Conclusions

The conclusion highlights that the polluter-pays, preventive, and precautionary principles must be considered in terms of interaction rather than opposition, particularly since they are operationally interdependent. Indeed, the precautionary principle calls for the presence of prevention, which in turn implies support for the polluter-pays principle. A preventive policy that would no longer be financed by the polluter-pays principle would be destined to fail. In addition, the conclusions of Part I highlight that the polluter-pays, preventative, and precautionary principles are well represented in positive law; they are helping to shape new legal instruments and adapt mechanisms, not necessarily specific to environmental law, intended to achieve protective ends.

Future Alcohol-Attributable Mortality in France Using a Novel Generalizable Age-Period-Cohort Projection Methodology

Aim To forecast age- and sex-specific alcohol-attributable mortality in France for the period 2015–2050 using a novel generalizable methodology that includes different scenarios regarding period and cohort change. Methods For the French national population aged 25–90 years (1979–2014), we estimated alcohol-attributable mortality by mortality from the main causes of death wholly attributable to alcohol, plus liver cirrhosis mortality. We modelled sex-specific alcohol-attributable mortality by adjusting for age, period and birth cohort. We forecasted the model parameters to obtain future age- and sex-specific alcohol-attributable mortality up until 2050 using a conventional baseline, scenario I (favourable period change) and scenario II (unfavourable cohort change). Results Alcohol-attributable mortality is clearly declining in France, with the decline decelerating from 1992 onwards. In 2014, the age-standardized alcohol-attributable mortality rates, in deaths per 100,000, were 34.7 among men and 9.9 among women. In 2050, the estimated rates are between 10.5 (prediction interval: 7.6–14.4; scenario I) and 17.6 (13.1–23.7; scenario II) among men, and between 1.1 (0.7–1.7; scenario I) and 1.8 (1.2–2.9; scenario II) among women; which implies declines of 58% for men and 84% for women (baseline). Conclusion Alcohol-attributable mortality in France is expected to further decline in the coming decades, accompanied by age pattern changes. However, France’s levels are not expected to reach the current lower levels in Italy and Spain for 15 years or more. Our results point to the value of implementing preventive policy measures that discourage alcohol consumption among people of all ages, but especially among adolescents.