Dynamic Management Research Articles

Securing Service Instantiation on Next-generation Networks

The Next Generation of Software Defined Networks (NG-SDN) enables a whole new set of possibilities for innovation in the data plane (e.g., computing, monitoring, load-balancing). In parallel, we have been witnessing the increasing adoption of virtualized services running in light but efficient containers, which brings forth the capability to flexibly deploy services at the network edge, while providing dynamic scaling and management. As a result, operators have tap in a lot of computational real-estate as part of the adoption of telco cloud concepts, as well as to support the foreseen edge and fog computing scenarios. However, exposing the infrastructure to third parties and realizing complex services over a multi-stakeholder environment raises challenges at different levels (e.g., security, reliability, SLA guarantees). Reconfiguring the data plane for flow monitoring and handling service requests directly on the data plane could address these challenges to support the joint communication and computation vision. This is where this paper contributes by proposing a secure and reliable system for dynamic instantiation of third-party services. A proof-of-concept prototype was developed using P4 and Kubernetes showcasing the feasibility of the proposed approach.

Managing the exploitation/exploration paradox: the role of digital transformation

ABSTRACT Ambidexterity, characterized by persistent tensions between exploration and exploitation, requires dynamic management. This study explores the impact of digital transformation (DT) on balancing these elements, revealing an inverted U-shaped relationship between exploration proportion in innovation ambidexterity and performance; as firms advance in DT, the optimal balance point between exploration and exploitation shifts towards exploitation.

Influence of Blood Pressure on Acute Cervical Spinal Cord Injury Without Fracture and Dislocation: Results From a Retrospective Analysis

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of blood pressure on the severity and functional recovery of patients with acute cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) without fracture and dislocation. A retrospective case control study analyzed the data of 40 patients admitted to our orthopedics department (Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University) from January 2013 to February 2021. They were diagnosed as acute cervical SCI without fracture and dislocation. Gender, age, height, weight, history of hypertension, postinjury American Spinal Injury Association grade, postinjury modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association (mJOA) score, postoperative mJOA score, 1-year follow-up mJOA score, preoperative mean arterial pressure (MAP), intramedullary T2 hyperintensity, and hyponatremia were collected. The patients were divided into groups and subgroups based on their history of hypertension and preoperative MAP. The effects of history of hypertension and preoperative MAP on the incidence of T2 hyperintensity, hyponatremia, the improvement rate of the postoperative mJOA and 1-year follow-up mJOA scores were analyzed. Patients with history of hypertension had a lower incidence of intramedullary T2 hyperintensity than patients without history of hypertension (P < 0.05). Patients with history of hypertension and patients with a higher preoperative MAP had better neurological recovery at 1 year of follow-up (P < 0.05). Blood pressure has great influence on acute cervical SCI without fracture and dislocation. Maintaining a higher preoperative MAP is advantageous for better recovery after SCI. Attention should be paid to the dynamic management of blood pressure to avoid the adverse effects of hypotension after SCI.

Application of bargaining schemes for equilibrium determination in dynamic games

Cooperation plays an important role in dynamic games related to resource management problems. To construct the cooperative behavior in asymmetric (when players possess different discount factors) and multicriteria (when players have vector payoff functions) dynamic games the standard approaches are not applicable. The paper presents the methods based on bargaining schemes to determine the cooperative equilibria in such games. The cooperative strategies and payoffs in asymmetric dynamic games are obtained via the Nash bargaining scheme, while for the multicriteria dynamic games the modified bargaining schemes are applied. To illustrated the presented approaches, dynamic bioresource management problems (fish wars problem) with asymmetric players and vector payoff functions is investigated.

Blockchain enabled dynamic trust management method for the internet of medical things

The Internet of Things (IoT) connects heterogeneous sensing devices with servers under the support of the network to monitor intelligent communication and real-time data transmission. The system caters well to the needs of medical services and also provides convenience for telemedicine. Many IoT-based solutions have been proposed for medical application scenarios. However, the unpredictable nature of communication links and device failures may lead to challenges in setting effective security policies for controlling these devices. Trust management has emerged as an ideal solution that can implement a dynamic management approach and regulate node connection requests. While centralized architectures require only a central node and relatively few devices, they are not suitable for large-scale medical facilities. In contrast, decentralized approaches based on blockchain technology have recently emerged as feasible solutions for IoT practices. Nevertheless, these decentralized approaches are vulnerable to potential attacks such as defaming honest nodes or improving the trust degrees of malicious nodes, which can compromise trust degrees within the system. This paper designs a blockchain-enabled trust management method for medical services based on the IoT, aiming to prevent malicious nodes from sending false trust levels. The proposed trust assessment model utilizes referees' direct experience and indirect feedback to recommend trustworthy medical services. The presented model provides a certain level of security against various types of attacks including malicious attacks, benevolent attacks, and on-off attacks. Experimental results illustrate that the model is robust and effective.

Quality of services in software defined networking: challenges and controller placement problems

&lt;span&gt;Quality of service (QoS) is pivotal for ensuring effective and reliable network performance, yet achieving end-to-end QoS within current network architectures remains a persistent challenge. The emergence of software defined networking (SDN) addresses limitations in traditional networking by offering a centralized control plane. This allows dynamic resource management and efficient enforcement of QoS policies by network administrators. However, the controller placement problem (CPP) within SDN poses a significant challenge, as identifying the optimal placement of controllers is a non-deterministic polynomial-time hardness (NP-hard) problem. Researchers are actively working on solutions to address this challenge, especially in large-scale networks where deploying controllers becomes complex. Additionally, maintaining QoS in terms of controller management presents another hurdle. This paper explores these challenges, delving into the literature and providing a comprehensive analysis of controller performance metrics related to QoS parameters such as load balancing, reliability, consistency, and scalability. By addressing these challenges, the research aims to enhance QoS within the SDN framework.&lt;/span&gt;

Evidence from interpretable machine learning to inform spatial management of Palau's tuna fisheries

AbstractStatic and dynamic area‐based management tools hold substantial potential to balance socioeconomic benefits derived from fisheries and costs from bycatch mortality of at‐risk species. Palau longline fisheries have high bycatch of at‐risk species including the olive ridley marine turtle and silky and blue sharks. This study analyzed a two decades‐long time series of observer and electronic monitoring datasets from the Palau distant‐water and locally‐based pelagic longline fisheries. An interpretable or explainable machine learning‐based modeling approach was used to derive spatially resolved species‐specific catch rate predictions. These models were conditioned on a suite of potentially informative environmental, bathymetric, ocean‐climate metric, vessel, monitoring system, and set‐specific operational predictors. Overall, there would be limited ecological tradeoffs from focusing fishing effort within primary catch rate hotspots for target bigeye and yellowfin tunas. Mean field prediction surfaces also defined catch rate hotspots for at‐risk species of silky and blue sharks, olive ridley turtle, and pelagic stingray, which did not overlap the hotspots for target species. The predicted target species hotspots, however, overlap olive ridley and pelagic stingray warmspots. Results also identify opportunities for temporally dynamic spatial management to control catch rates of target and bycatch species. Management of fishery operational predictors of fishing depth and soak duration present additional opportunities to balance catch rates of at‐risk bycatch and target species. A transition to employing fleetwide or vessel‐based output controls that effectively constrain the fishery would alter the spatial management strategy to focus on zones with the lowest ratio of at‐risk bycatch to commercial catch. Our findings support evidence‐informed evaluation of spatial management strategies and complementary measures to meet objectives for balancing socioeconomic benefits derived from target species catch with costs to threatened species.

Toward improving water-energy-food nexus through dynamic energy management of solar powered automated irrigation system

This paper focuses on developing a water and energy-saving reliable irrigation system using state-of-the-art computing, communication, and optimal energy management framework. The framework integrates real-time soil moisture and weather forecasting information to decide the time of irrigation and quantity of water required for potato crops, which is made available to the users across a region through the cloud-based irrigation decision support system. This is accomplished through various modules such as data acquisition, soil moisture forecasting, smart irrigation scheduling, and energy management scheme. The main emphasizes is on the electrical segment which demonstrates an energy management scheme for PV-battery based grid-connected system to operate the irrigation system valves and water pump. The proposed scheme is verified through simulation and dSpace-based real-time experiment studies. Overall, the proposed energy management system demonstrates an improvement in the optimal onsite solar power generation and storage capacity to power the solar pump which save the electrical energy as well as the water in order to establish an improved solar-irrigation system. Finally, the proposed system achieved water and energy savings of around 9.24 % for potato crop with full irrigation enhancing the Water-Energy-Food Nexus at field scale.

Enabling Self-Adaptive Water-Energy-Balance of Photothermal Water Diode Evaporator: Dynamically Maximizing Energy Utilization Under the Ever-Changing Sunlight.

Maintaining a match between input solar energy and required energy by water supply management is key to achieving efficient interfacial solar-driven evaporation (ISDE). In practice, the solar radiation flux is constantly changing throughout the day, so keeping a dynamic water-energy-balance of ISDE is a big challenge. Herein, a photothermal water diode (WD) evaporator concept is proposed by an integrated hydrophilic/hydrophobic Janus absorber to overcome the issue. Due to the unique unidirectional water transport properties induced by asymmetric wettability, a self-adaptive balance between photothermal energy input and water uptake is established, thus realizing the energy matching and utilization maximization. The experimental and simulation results exhibit that with the increase of sunlight intensity, the water supply speed is significantly accelerated due to the dynamic management and self-regulation on water replenishment. Therefore, an excellent evaporation rate of up to 2.14kgm-2h-1 with a high efficiency of 93.7% under 1sun illumination is achieved. This water diode engineering with Janus wettability provides a novel strategy and extends the path for designing solar evaporation systems with diverse water supply properties, which shows great potential in different environmental conditions.

Dynamic Energy Management Strategy of a Solar-and-Energy Storage-Integrated Smart Charging Station

Under net-zero objectives, the development of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure on a densely populated island can be achieved by repurposing existing facilities, such as rooftops of wholesale stores and parking areas, into charging stations to accelerate transport electrification. For facility owners, this transformation could enable the showcasing of carbon reduction efforts through the self-use of renewable energy while simultaneously gaining charging revenue. In this paper, we propose a dynamic energy management system (EMS) for a solar-and-energy storage-integrated charging station, taking into consideration EV charging demand, solar power generation, status of energy storage system (ESS), contract capacity, and the electricity price of EV charging in real-time to optimize economic efficiency, based on a real-world situation in Taiwan. This study confirms the benefits of ESS in contracted capacity management, peak shaving, valley filling, and price arbitrage. The result shows that the incorporation of dynamic EMS with solar-and-energy storage-integrated charging stations effectively reduces electricity costs and the required electricity contract capacity. Moreover, it leads to an augmentation in the overall operational profitability of the charging station. This increase contains not only the revenue generated from electricity sales at the charging station but also the additional income from surplus solar energy sales. From a comprehensive cost–benefit perspective, introducing this solar-and-energy storage-integrated EMS can increase facility owners’ net income by 1.25 times compared to merely installing charging infrastructure.

Bioinspired Stretchable Polymers for Dynamic Optical and Thermal Regulation

Elaborated optical and thermal modulatory systems are of great importance to the survival and evolution of organisms in nature. Inspired by these natural intelligent systems, researchers have made great efforts for developing stretchable polymers and exploring their applications in fields of communication, dynamic camouflage, thermal management, and others. Herein, an up‐to‐date account of the advancements in bioinspired stretchable polymers for dynamic optical and thermal regulation is provided. First, stretchable polymers for dynamic structural colors are presented, including cholesteric liquid crystal elastomers, photonic crystal elastomers, and emerging photonic polymers. Then stretchable polymers for dynamic infrared emissivity are introduced, which are achieved by stretch‐induced wrinkled‐flat surface or stretch‐induced cracked surface. Third, stretchable polymers for dynamic thermal management are discussed, focusing on tunable solar transmittance and dynamic radiative cooling. Moreover, the perspectives on the opportunities and challenges for future research directions of bioinspired stretchable polymers are presented at the end.

Exploring the effect of management control systems on dynamic capabilities and sustainability performance: The role of open innovation strategy amidst COVID-19

This research delved into the intricate causal relationships between Management Control Systems (MCS), Dynamic Capabilities (DC), Sustainable Performance (SP), and the pivotal Open Innovation Strategy (OIS) within the challenging context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Employing a rigorous statistical analysis and leveraging a partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach, the study meticulously examined the structural model and rigorously tested its hypotheses. The data harnessed for this investigation emanated from online surveys administered to executives and managers affiliated with 3-star and higher-rated hotels in southern Thailand, resulting in a sample size of 151 respondents. The outcome of the statistical analysis, conducted at a significance level of 0.01, conspicuously underlined the paramount role played by the Open Innovation Strategy (OIS) in influencing Sustainable Performance (SP), closely trailed by Dynamic Capabilities (DC) and Management Control Systems (MCS), in a distinct order. These statistically significant results unequivocally corroborated the acceptance of all six research hypotheses, which encapsulated the intricate interplay between MCS and DC, SP, and OIS, as well as the intricate relationships between DC, OIS, and SP. The research outcomes paint a compelling picture, underscoring that in the face of crises, the strategic adoption of open innovation strategies, complemented by an effective management control system and dynamic capabilities, empowers businesses to effectively navigate and endure crises while sustaining operational performance.

Neurophysiological processes reflecting the effects of the immediate past during the dynamic management of actions

In recent years, there has been many efforts to establish a comprehensive theoretical framework explaining the working mechanisms involved in perception-action integration. This framework stresses the importance of the immediate past on mechanisms supporting perception-action integration. The present study investigates the neurophysiological principles of dynamic perception-action bindings, particularly considering the influence of the immediate history on action control mechanisms. For this purpose, we conducted an established stimulus-response binding paradigm during EEG recording. The SR-task measures stimulus-response binding in terms of accuracy and reaction time differences depending on the degree of feature overlap between conditions. Alpha, beta and theta band activity in distinct time domains as well as associated brain regions were investigated applying time-frequency analyses, a beamforming approach as well as correlation analyses. We demonstrate, for the first time, interdependencies of neuronal processes relying on the immediate past. The reconfiguration of an action seems to overwrite immediately preceding processes. The analyses revealed modulations of theta (TBA), alpha (ABA) and beta band activity (BBA) in connection with fronto-temporal structures supporting the theoretical assumptions of the considered conceptual framework. The close interplay of attentional modulation by gating irrelevant information (ABA) and binding and retrieval processes (TBA) is reflected by the correlation of ABA in all pre-probe-intervals with post-probe TBA. Likewise, the role of BBA in maintaining the event file until retrieval is corroborated by BBA preceding the TBA-associated retrieval of perception-action codes. Following action execution, TBA shifted towards visual association cortices probably reflecting preparation for upcoming information, while ABA and BBA continue to reflect processes of attentional control and information selection for goal-directed behavior. The present work provides the first empirical support for concepts about the neurophysiological mechanisms of dynamic management of perception and action.

A Facile and Effective Design for Dynamic Thermal Management Based on Synchronous Solar and Thermal Radiation Regulation.

Passive solar heating and radiative cooling have attracted great interest in global energy consumption reduction due to their unique electricity-free advantage. However, static single radiation cooling or solar heating would lead to overcooling or overheating in cold and hot weather, respectively. To achieve a facile, effective approach for dynamic thermal management, a novel structured polyethylene (PE) film was engineered with a switchable cooling and heating mode obtained through a moisture transfer technique. The 100 μm PE film showed excellent solar modulation from 0.92 (dried state) to 0.32 (wetted state) and thermal modulation from 0.86 (dried state) to 0.05 (wetted state). Outdoor experiments demonstrated effective thermal regulation during both daytime and nighttime. Furthermore, our designed PE film can save 1.3-41.0% of annual energy consumption across the whole country of China. This dual solar and thermal regulation mechanism is very promising for guiding scalable approaches to energy-saving temperature regulation.

GREEN DATA CENTERS: SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES FOR ENERGY-EFFICIENT IT INFRASTRUCTURE

The digital age has led to a surge in connectivity, innovation, and information exchange, but it has also led to escalating energy consumption by data centers. Green data centers have emerged as a transformative solution, embodying a commitment to sustainability through eco-friendly practices and cutting-edge technologies. Key principles of green data centers include energy-efficient hardware, renewable energy integration, advanced cooling systems, and resource optimization strategies. Energy-efficient hardware involves replacing outdated servers, storage systems, and network equipment with energy-efficient alternatives, such as virtualization technologies. This reduces power consumption and sets the stage for a more sustainable and technologically advanced data center infrastructure. Renewable energy integration reduces dependence on traditional power grids and fossil fuels, ensuring an eco-friendlier energy supply. Advanced cooling systems, such as liquid immersion, hot aisle containment, and free air cooling, optimize efficiency while maintaining ideal server temperatures. Resource optimization ensures that every unit of energy is utilized judiciously, contributing to the overarching goal of sustainability. The transition to green data centers presents challenges such as upfront investment costs, integration of renewable energy with fluctuating power grids, and technical complexities associated with advanced cooling systems. However, there are substantial opportunities, including reduced operational costs, improved brand image, and compliance with environmental regulations. Emerging trends in green data centers include artificial intelligence and edge computing, which enable optimization of cooling systems, prediction of peak workloads, and dynamic resource management. By prioritizing energy efficiency, embracing innovative technologies, and staying attuned to emerging trends, data centers can play a pivotal role in forging a more sustainable digital future.&#x0D; Keywords: Green Data Centers, Sustainability, Energy Efficiency, It Infrastructure, Edge Computing, Artificial Intelligence.

Patient-centric medical service matching with fine-grained access control and dynamic user management

Personal health records (PHR) offer significant benefit for patients, such as reducing medical cost and improving the quality of medical care. Majority of the current schemes lack provisions for tracking and revoking malicious doctors. The explicit access policies are prone to leaking patient private information. What is more, owning to the uneven distribution of medical supplies, shocking computational overhead during decryption is a burden that cannot be ignored for busy medical workers. This paper proposed a patient-centric medical service matching scheme that supports policy hiding, attribute matching, fine-grained access control, and user dynamic management. The scheme uses ciphertext policy-based attribute encryption (CP-ABE) to achieve fine-grained access control and supports policy hiding. It utilizes white-box tracking technology and binary tree structure to achieve malicious doctor tracking. Revocation information is ciphertext to achieve dynamic management of doctors. From the experimental results, it can be concluded that our protocol achieves both patient-centric security and performance advantages.

Selection of planning unit size in dynamic management strategies to reduce human-wildlife conflict.

Conservation planning traditionally relies upon static reserves; however, there is increasing emphasis on dynamic management (DM) strategies that are flexible in space and time. Due to its novelty, DM lacks best practices to guide design and implementation. We assessed the effect of planning unit size in a DM tool designed to reduce entanglement of protected whales in vertical ropes of surface buoys attached to crab traps in the lucrative U.S. Dungeness crab (Metacarcinus magister) fishery. We conducted a retrospective analysis from 2009 to 2019 with modeled distributions of blue (Balaenoptera musculus) and humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) whales and observed fisheries effort and revenue to evaluate the effect of 7 planning unit sizes on DM tool performance. We measured performance as avoided whale entanglement risk and protected fisheries revenue. Small planning units avoided up to $47 million of revenue loss and reduced entanglement risk by up to 25% compared to the large planning units currently in use by avoiding the incidental closure of areas with low biodiversity value and high fisheries revenue. However, large planning units were less affected by an unprecedented marine heat wave in 2014-2016 and by delays in information on the distributions of whales and the fishery. Our findings suggest that the choice of planning unit size will require decision-makers to navigate multiple socioecological considerations-rather than a one-size-fits-all approach-to separate wildlife from threats under a changing climate.

Porous vanadium dioxide thin film-based Fabry−Perot cavity system for radiative cooling regulating thermochromic windows: experimental and simulation studies

Abstract Radiative cooling in smart windows using VO2 – a dynamic thermal management material, is of potential interest for enhancing energy savings in buildings due to its both solar and emittance tuneability in response to changing temperatures. However, studies related to the effects of VO2 thin film microstructure in a multilayer system on emissivity regulation are currently lacking. The present study addresses the thermochromic and emissivity performance of VO2/ZnSe/ITO/Glass Fabry−Perot (F–P) cavity thin film system, by manipulating the porosity in VO2 thin film. The device is fabricated by commercially feasible physical vapor deposition methods such as sputtering and thermal evaporation, most suitable for mass production. The optimized sample with porous VO2 delivers an enhanced long-wave infrared (LWIR) emissivity contrast of Δɛ LWIR ≥ 0.4 preserving a high visible transparency T lum(avg) of ∼41 % compared to dense VO2. Then finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulation is performed to further understand the effects of varying VO2 porosity and ZnSe thickness on the F–P cavity properties. The reduced low-temperature ɛ LWIR (0.1–0.2) gives this film better energy saving in regions where warming demand is dominant as simulated by EnergyPlus.

Impact of dynamic working capital management on operational efficiency: empirical evidence from Scandinavia

PurposeConsumer goods firms often tie up inventory and accounts receivable resources, creating cost and liquidity issues. Dynamic working capital management (DWCM) can mitigate these concerns and enhance operational profitability. The study investigates DWCM's impact on operational efficiency (OE).Design/methodology/approachThe empirical estimation uses pooled ordinary least squares (OLS), random effect and system generalized method moments (GMM) regression analysis of consumer goods firms in Scandinavia from 2005 to 2022 to present the results.FindingsThe findings indicate that DWCM has an inverse relationship with operating cost, while positively impacting operating profit. The final outcome demonstrates that DWCM enhances OE. Furthermore, the working capital ratio (WCR) consistently exceeds the cash conversion cycle (CCC) in all models, indicating that prudent management of cash in accounts receivable, inventory and accounts payable leads to higher cost savings and superior performance.Practical implicationsThe results suggest that organizations that prioritize the management of the absolute cash committed to inventory, receivables and payables as much as the CCC experience improved OE.Originality/valueThis paper adds to the literature on how DWCM affects OE in the consumer goods sector. It also highlights the impact of time management and cash management in WCM on OE. Additionally, it analyzes how DWCM variables affect operating costs and profits, shedding light on their efficiency impact.

Modulation of near-field radiative heat transfer between nanoparticles supported by a strained hBN film with graphene covered

Dynamic modulation of near-field radiative heat transfer (NFRHT) requires changing the optical responses of the object, which is expected to be realized with the help of the strain engineering. Based on the electric dipole approximation and the reflection Green's function, in this work, we investigate the effect of the hBN film under uniform in-plane strain on the NFRHT between two graphene/SiC core-shell (GSCS) nanoparticles. By changing the magnitude of the strain on the film, the hyperbolic phonon polaritons (HPPs) can be dynamically tuned to match and deviate from the localized surface resonance (LSR), thus significantly modulating the NFRHT between the nanoparticles. When the two GSCS nanoparticles are placed above a strained hBN film, an amplification of the maximum radiative heat flux by about 6 orders of magnitude can be achieved. In addition, after the introduction of graphene to form graphene/hBN heterostructure, the radiative heat flux can be further enhanced with the help of the hybrid polaritons. Especially at a suitable chemical potential and strain, the NFRHT can be enhanced by 4 more orders of magnitude compared to the bare hBN film. This work provides a new insight into efficient and dynamic thermal management among nanoparticles.