High-level Resource Research Articles

Optimal Load Ensemble Control in Chance-Constrained Optimal Power Flow

Distribution system operators (DSOs) world-wide foresee a rapid roll-out of distributed energy resources. From the system perspective, their reliable and cost effective integration requires accounting for their physical properties in operating tools used by the DSO. This paper describes a decomposable approach to leverage the dispatch flexibility of thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs) for operating distribution systems with a high penetration level of photovoltaic resources. Each TCL ensemble is modeled using the Markov decision process (MDP). The MDP model is then integrated with a chance constrained optimal power flow that accounts for the uncertainty of photovoltaic resources. Since the integrated optimization model cannot be solved efficiently by existing dynamic programming methods or off-the-shelf solvers, this paper proposes an iterative spatio-temporal dual decomposition algorithm (ST-D2). We demonstrate the merits of the proposed integrated optimization and ST-D2 algorithm on the IEEE 33-bus test system.

Multiple Treatment Centre Dedicated Stereotactic Radiotherapy Team: Does It Work?

Stereotactic radiotherapy delivery relies on not only the latest technology, equipment and processes, but also a high level of experience, skill, and human resources. This can present some challenges when delivering the advanced treatment technique across a multi-site organization. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of having a dedicated stereotactic unit operating across multiple radiotherapy treatment centers separated by significant distances. Evaluation is based on a retrospective review of a multi-site stereotactic radiotherapy treatment program currently operating in Victoria, Australia since 2015. Beginning with a dedicated stereotactic unit of two stereotactic trained radiation therapists, supported by radiation oncologists and site physicists, the program expanded from two treatment centers to four within two years. The model of care required the radiation therapists to travel between the Melbourne metropolitan treatment centers to perform stereotactic CT simulations, planning and treatments – with uniform stabilization equipment across the practices to ensure consistency. Remote treatment planning allowed for consistent plan techniques, simple radiation oncologist assessment & peer review, and limited travel. With increased patient demand, the core team expanded further, and by late 2018, included seven specialist radiation therapists across six metropolitan treatment centers and one rural center (3+ hours away). The dedicated stereotactic radiation therapist team expansion occurred via internal and external recruitment, with new team members undergoing three to six months in-house stereotactic training and credentialing. Program expansion to new locations was also facilitated through credentialing of local site RT staff, enabling them to be able to assist core stereotactic members with CT simulation and treatment. A total of 68 patients were treated in the first year of the program. This increased to 157 in 2016, 208 in 2017, and 207 by October 2018. Treatment sites included lung, brain, spine, non-spine bony metastases, nodes, and liver. Average time from CT simulation to treatment start for SBRT cases was 13 days, and 9 days for SRS/SRT cases. Results demonstrate that a dedicated stereotactic unit model of care for a multi-site organization is viable and ensures the highest level of care and quality. Experience gained by a core team performing CT simulation, treatment planning, and delivering treatment to a high volume of patients is invaluable and leads to efficient and safe processes being consistently implemented. The limited size of the team also allows for efficient sharing of information and training. Although the model of care can result in a significant amount of lost time due to travel between treatment centers, it allows for greater patient access, as the treatment is able to be delivered at locations that would otherwise not have had the adequate equipment or skilled radiation oncology team.

Risk and Protective Factors Among Palestinian Women Living in a Context of Prolonged Armed Conflict and Political Oppression.

Research has widely documented the effects of war and political violence on the functioning and well-being of adults and children. Yet, within this literature, women's agency in the face of war-related adversity and political violence remains underexplored. The present study was conducted in the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the most recent war on Gaza in 2014, with the aim of investigating the consequences of war and political violence for women's mental health and psychological functioning. Based on interviews with 21 Palestinian women exposed to extreme war-related traumatic events, the article offers an analysis of the risk and protective factors affecting their well-being and enhancing (or diminishing) their agency. Human Security, Family Ties, Psychosocial Resources, Individual Resources, and Motherhood emerged from the women's narratives as key factors contributing to the maintenance of positive psychological functioning and the ability to adjust to traumatic war events in the aftermath of acute armed conflict. These exploratory findings suggest that Palestinian women display a high level of functioning and resources for adjustment that is preserved after periods of devastating armed conflict. The study draws attention to a set of protective factors for the well-being of women and their families when living with chronic political violence.

Resource Adequacy in Electricity Markets With Renewable Energy

This paper presents a market-based resource adequacy assessment framework to analyze the system generation portfolio that results in a competitive market environment. In particular, we apply the modeling framework to investigate the impact of high penetration levels of variable renewable energy resources and different market designs on achieving resource adequacy. The model captures the strategic capacity investment and retirement decision-making of profit-maximizing generation companies. In contrast to many previous studies, this paper considers markets for capacity, energy, and reserve products in detail; thus, the modeling framework allows improved analysis of generation expansion and revenue sufficiency in a competitive market environment. The modeling framework is based on Stackelberg leader–follower games and is formulated as a bi-level optimization problem, which is then transformed into a mathematical program with equilibrium constraints. Furthermore, we employ a Lagrangian decomposition algorithm to enhance computational performance. In a case study of the electric reliability council of texas (ERCOT) system, we compare the results from the proposed model with those obtained from a traditional centralized least-cost planning model. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed modeling framework and highlight the importance of considering strategic behavior in a competitive market framework when assessing resource adequacy.

Affective organizational commitment among nursing home employees: A longitudinal study on the influence of a health-promoting work environment.

AimTo investigate whether affective organizational commitment (AOC) among nursing home employees is enhanced by a health‐promoting work environment, conceptualized as high levels of job resources, work‐related sense of coherence (work‐SOC) and low levels of job demands.DesignThis study used a longitudinal design. Survey data were collected with a 1‐year interval between 2015/2016–2016/2017 among nursing home employees in Norway.MethodsStructural equation modelling was used to analyse the longitudinal data (N = 166) and cross‐sectional data from the first time point (N = 558).ResultsThe results supported that work‐SOC was strongly and positively related to AOC. Job resources and job demands were positively and negatively related, respectively, to work‐SOC but were not related to future AOC. The indirect effects of autonomy and supervisor support on AOC, via work‐SOC, were significant. The indirect effects regarding social community at work, emotional demands and role conflict were unclear.

Rising start-up costs of voting: political inequality among first-time voters

Research on voting behaviour stresses that whether citizens become habitual voters depends on the very first elections in their adult life. This article focuses on the increasing participation gap of first-time voters with low and high levels of resources. Looking first at 14 European countries and second at long-term dynamics in Germany, the turnout rate of first-time and older voters over time is compared. It is shown that the turnout gap has increased substantially since the 1980s. In contrast, educational differences in electoral turnout among older citizens are still comparatively small. It is argued and shown that the turnout gap among the young is due to rising ‘start-up’ costs of voting, which affect mainly those who are resource poor.

Obstetric Care Consensus #9: Levels of Maternal Care: (Replaces Obstetric Care Consensus Number 2, February 2015)

Maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity, particularly among women of color, have increased in the United States. The leading medical causes of maternal mortality include cardiovascular disease, infection, and common obstetric complications such as hemorrhage and vary by timing relative to the end of pregnancy. Although specific modifications in the clinical management of some of these conditions have been instituted, more can be done to improve the system of care for high-risk women at facility and population levels. The goal of levels of maternal care is to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality, including existing disparities, by encouraging the growth and maturation of systems for the provision of risk-appropriate care specific to maternal health needs. To standardize a complete and integrated system of perinatal regionalization and risk-appropriate maternal care, this classification system establishes levels of maternal care that pertain to basic care (level I), specialty care (level II), subspecialty care (level III), and regional perinatal health care centers (level IV). The determination of the appropriate level of care to be provided by a given facility should be guided by regional and state health care entities, national accreditation and professional organization guidelines, identified regional perinatal health care service needs, and regional resources. State and regional authorities should work together with the multiple institutions within a region, and with the input from their obstetric care providers, to determine the appropriate coordinated system of care and to implement policies that promote and support a regionalized system of care. These relationships enhance the ability of women to give birth safely in their communities while providing support for circumstances when higher level resources are needed. This document is a revision of the original 2015 Levels of Maternal Care Obstetric Care Consensus, which has been revised primarily to clarify terminology and to include more recent data based on published literature and feedback from levels of maternal care implementation.

Evaluation of the criteria for trauma activation in the paediatric emergency department

BackgroundTrauma team activation criteria have a variable performance in the paediatric population. We aimed to identify predictors for high-level resource utilisation during trauma resuscitation in the ED.MethodsA retrospective study was...

Who gains the most from improving working conditions? Health-related absenteeism and presenteeism due to stress at work

Work stress-related productivity losses represent a substantial economic burden. In this study, we estimate the effects of social and task-related stressors and resources at work on health-related productivity losses caused by absenteeism and presenteeism. We also explore the interaction effects between job stressors, job resources and personal resources and estimate the costs of work stress. Work stress is defined as exposure to an unfavorable combination of high job stressors and low job resources. The study is based on a repeated survey assessing work productivity and workplace characteristics among Swiss employees. We use a representative cross-sectional data set and a longitudinal data set and apply both OLS and fixed effects models. We find that an increase in task-related and social job stressors increases health-related productivity losses, whereas an increase in social job resources and personal resources (measured by occupational self-efficacy) reduces these losses. Moreover, we find that job stressors have a stronger effect on health-related productivity losses for employees lacking personal and job resources, and that employees with high levels of job stressors and low personal resources will profit the most from an increase in job resources. Productivity losses due to absenteeism and presenteeism attributable to work stress are estimated at 195 Swiss francs per person and month. Our study has implications for interventions aiming to reduce health absenteeism and presenteeism.

Blockchain Based Network for Tuberculosis: A Data Sharing Initiative in Brazil.

Data sharing, information exchange, knowledge acquisition and health intelligence are the basis of an efficient and effective evidence-based decision-making tool. A decentralized blockchain architecture is a flexible solution that can be adapted to institutional and managerial culture of organizations and services. Blockchain can play a fundamental role in enabling data sharing within a network and, to achieve that, this work defines the high-level resources necessary to apply this technology to Tuberculosis related issues. Thus, relying in open-source tools and in a collaborative development approach, we present a proposal of a blockchain based network, the TB Network, to underpin an initiative of sharing of Tuberculosis scientific, operational and epidemiologic data between several stakeholders across Brazilian cities.

Identification of Coral Reef Conditions Using Hydro-Acoustic Technology in Giligenting Island, Sumenep Regency Indonesia

Coral reefs are one of the major ecosystems in the coastal region with high biodiversity and resource level. As productive ecosystems with high economic and ecological potential, the existence of coral reef ecosystems must be sustainably managed. One of the areas with high diversity of coral reefs is Giligenting Island located in Sumenep regency. This research was conducted by taking primary data in the form of tidal data, bathymetry data and Side Scan Sonar recordings. From the primary data and then processed until produces 3 dimensional model of seabed features that are then interpreted and analyzed to obtain information about healthy or damaged coral reefs, using underwater geo-tagged photos to validate. The 3-dimensional model has a maximum depth of 7.667 meters and 1.403 meters at minimum depth with an area of 100,536.097 m2. From the interpretation of Side Scan Sonar acoustic images it is found the area of sand feature is 30.79%; the area of mud feature equal to 29.94%; the healthy coral covering 35.75% of the survey area, consisting 10.09% of coral reef barrier reef feature, and 25.66% of small coral reef feature; and 3.52% of damaged coral reef feature from total 43,527.110 m2 Side Scan Sonar survey area.

Invertebrate DNA metabarcoding reveals changes in communities across mine site restoration chronosequences

Invertebrate biomonitoring can reveal crucial information about the status of restoration projects; however, it is routinely underused because of the high level of taxonomic expertise and resources required. Invertebrate DNA metabarcoding has been used to characterize invertebrate biodiversity but its application in restoration remains untested. We use DNA metabarcoding, a new approach for restoration assessment, to explore the invertebrate composition from pitfall traps at two mine site restoration chronosequences in southwestern Australia. Invertebrates were profiled using two cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 assays to investigate invertebrate biodiversity. The data revealed differences between invertebrate communities at the two mines and between the different age plots of the chronosequences. Several characteristic taxa were identified for each age within the chronosequence, including springtails within the youngest sites (Order: Collembola) and millipedes within the oldest and reference sites (Order: Julida). This study facilitates development of a molecular “toolkit” for the monitoring of ecological restoration projects. We suggest that a metabarcoding approach shows promise in complementing current monitoring practices that rely on alpha taxonomy.

How do female entrepreneurs in developing countries cope with role conflict?

PurposeFemale entrepreneurs often face significant conflicts in allocating time and resources to the various roles demanded of them by their communities. This has been identified as a potential obstacle to their performance as entrepreneurs. This paper aims to examine the question: How do women cope with role conflict?Design/methodology/approachThe authors tackled the question by conducting a survey that involved 307 female business owners in Ethiopia. The survey result was supported by 20 in-depth interviews.FindingsThe commonest coping strategies identified were negotiation, committing to the entrepreneurial role, committing to social roles, pleasing all, seeking social support and hiring outside support. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed that these coping strategies differed across the various stages of business growth. Meanwhile, structural equation modeling established that female business owners with high levels of personal resources (such as optimism, self-efficacy and resilience) committed more to their entrepreneurial roles than to their social roles.Originality/valueThis research contributes knowledge on coping strategies among female entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa, where family structure and orientation, the economy and social development differ from those in developed countries. The research also integrates the lines of empirical research on coping strategies with the process-based view of entrepreneurship.

When Does Work Interfere With Teachers' Private Life? An Application of the Job Demands-Resources Model.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between contextual work-related factors on the one hand, in terms of job demands (i.e., risk factors) and job resources (i.e., protective factors), and work-family conflict (WFC) in teachers on the other. Building on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, we hypothesized that job demands, namely qualitative, and quantitative workload, are positively associated with WFC in teachers. Moreover, in line with the buffer hypothesis of the JD-R, we expected job resources, in terms of support from supervisor (SS), job autonomy (JA), and participation in decision making (PDM), to affect this association, which is expected to be stronger when job resources are low. The study was conducted in an Italian secondary school. Overall, 122 teachers completed a self-report questionnaire aimed at determining WFC, as well as job demands and resources. The hypothesized relationships were tested using moderated multiple regression. The results of this study largely support our predictions. First, both aspects of workload were positively associated with WFC. Secondly, job resources, including SS and PDM, buffered this association, which was stronger when resources were low. On the contrary, JA did not buffer the association between workload and WFC. Overall, the results of this study are consistent with the JD-R model and contribute to the understanding of work–family conflict among teachers. More specifically, our study suggests that teachers with high levels of job resources, namely SS and PDM, can effectively cope with job demands, in terms of both qualitative and quantitative workload, thus preventing negative consequences such as conflict between work and family domains. Interventions aimed at preventing WFC among teachers should encourage organizations to optimize the balance between job demands and resources, as well as the identification and training of the workers at risk of WFC.

Understanding the Role, Expectations, and Challenges That Policy-Makers Face in Using Educational Research

This study provides an insight into the challenges faced in establishing a closer collaboration between educational research and its use in the policy-making process. It aims to identify the factors influencing transfer from research to policy-making and the policy-makers’ needs, expectations, and perception on the use of educational research. Thirteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives of Romanian national and local institutions. Specific software was used to facilitate data management and coding. The results indicate that there is a disconnect between policy-makers’ expectations and the input they receive from the research community, as well as a lack of an institutional framework to facilitate communication and interaction between them. There are systemic blockages on both sides: politics and the cost of opportunity for decision-making, a high level of bureaucracy, limited resources and accessibility of results, a lack of financing and of institutionalized communication, as well as a lack of consultation and cooperation between the two parties. The results indicate a willingness on the policy-makers’ side to acknowledge the importance of using research to inform decisions and their role in facilitating this process. This implies that researchers have limited control over the subsequent stages and could indicate the early point in the research process when other actors should be involved in order to ensure the potential or actual impact of research on policy.

Thermodynamic and thermal comfort optimisation of a coastal social house considering the influence of the thermal breeze

Tropical coastal areas are characterised by high levels of wind and solar resources with large potentials to be utilised for low-energy building design. This paper presents a multi-objective optimisation framework capable of evaluating cost-efficient and low-exergy coastal building designs considering the influence of the thermal breeze. An integrated dynamic simulation tool has been enhanced to consider the impacts of the sea-land breeze effect, aiming at potentiating natural cross-ventilation to improve occupant's thermal comfort and reduce cooling energy demand. Furthermore, the technological database considers a wide range of active and passive energy conservation measures. As a case study, a two-storey/two-flat detached social house located in the North-Pacific coast of Mexico has been investigated. The optimisation problem has considered the minimisation of: i. annual exergy consumption, ii. life cycle cost, and iii. thermal discomfort. Optimisation results have shown that adequate building orientation and window opening control to optimise the effects of the thermal breeze, combined with other passive and active strategies such as solar shading devices, an improved envelope's physical characteristics, and solar assisted air source heat pumps have provided the best performance under a limited budget. Compared to the baseline design, the closest to utopia design has increased thermal comfort by 93.8% and reduced exergy consumption by 10.3% whilst increasing the life cycle cost over the next 50 years by 18.5% (from US$39,864 to US$47,246). The importance of renewable generation incentives is further discussed as a counter effect measure for capital cost increase as well as unlocking currently high-cost low-exergy technologies.

The nonlinear relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and sales growth: The moderating effects of slack resources and absorptive capacity

The present study aims to advance the understanding of the complex and context-dependent relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and firm sales growth by investigating the linearity assumption and assessing the moderating role of financial slack resources and absorptive capacity in the mature industry context. Departing from some recent EO studies, the analysis based on a dataset of 86 companies operating in the food manufacturing industry suggests that EO has a nonlinear relationship with sales growth. Moreover, the results suggest that in companies with high levels of slack resources, an increase in EO from low to moderate levels accelerates sales growth; however, to capitalize on the sales growth potential of high EO, a high absorptive capacity is also required. Thus, the present study demonstrates a nonlinear effect of EO on sales growth, and particularly from moderate to high levels of EO, the positive moderating effects of absorptive capacity and slack resources.

Implementation fidelity of a strategy to integrate service delivery: learnings from a transitional care program for individuals with complex needs in Singapore

BackgroundTo cope with rising demand for healthcare services in Singapore, Regional Health Systems (RHS) comprising of health and social care providers across care settings were set up to integrate service delivery. Tasked with providing care for the western region, in 2012, the National University Health System (NUHS) – RHS developed a transitional care program for elderly patients with complex healthcare needs who consumed high levels of hospital resources. Through needs assessment, development of personalized care plans and care coordination, the program aimed to: (i) improve quality of care, (ii) reduce hospital utilization, and (iii) reduce healthcare-related costs. In this study, recognizing the need for process evaluation in conjunction with outcome evaluation, we aim to evaluate the implementation fidelity of the NUHS-RHS transitional care program to explain the outcomes of the program and to inform further development of (similar) programs.MethodsGuided by the modified version of the Conceptual Framework for Implementation Fidelity (CFIF), adherence and moderating factors influencing implementation were assessed using non-participatory observations, reviews of medical records and program databases.ResultsMost (10 out of 14) components of the program were found to be implemented with low or moderate level of fidelity. The frequency or duration of the program components were observed to vary based on the needs of users, availability of care coordinators (CC) and their confidence. Variation in fidelity was influenced predominantly by: (1) complexity of the program, (2) extent of facilitation through guiding protocols, (3) facilitation of program implementation through CCs’ level of training and confidence, (4) evolving healthcare participant responsiveness, and (5) the context of suboptimal capability among community providers.ConclusionThis is the first study to assess the context-specific implementation process of a transitional care program in the context of Southeast Asia. It provides important insights to facilitate further development and scaling up of transitional care programs within the NUHS-RHS and beyond. Our findings highlight the need for greater focus on engaging both healthcare providers and users, training CCs to equip them with the relevant skills required for their jobs, and building the capability of the community providers to implement such programs.

Personal Resources and Work Engagement: A Two-Wave Study on the Role of Job Resources Crafting among Nurses

Building upon the job demands-resources and conservation of resources theories, the central aim of the study was to investigate the role of job resources crafting in the relationship between personal resources – self-efficacy and optimism – and work engagement. In order to reach this goal, we conducted a two- -wave longitudinal study among 107 nurses – a specific occupational group known to have very high job demands. We assessed personal resources and job resources crafting behaviors at Time 1, and work engagement at Time 2 (one month after). The results of our two-wave longitudinal study provided support for the hypothesized research model. When nurses reported high levels of personal resources at Time 1, they were also more inclined to craft structural and social job resources. This, in turn, led to higher work engagement at Time 2. The findings of this study indicate that, even if employees work in unfavorable work situations, they can mobilize their personal resources and experience high work engagement by proactive interaction with their work environment.

The case for mindfulness interventions for traumatic stress in high violence, low resource settings

Academic research on mindfulness has grown exponentially over the last few decades. Despite initial skepticism from some Western sources, the evidence base suggests that mindfulness training (MT) may impact positively on physical and psychological health in both clinical and non-clinical contexts. This paper explores the contention that MT may offer an evidenced-based, comprehensive, contextually relevant, and holistic approach to addressing the individually intensive and socially extensive impact of psychological trauma in South Africa and other similar settings characterized by high levels of violence and limited professional intervention resources. Three inter-related issues are explored in support of this proposal: firstly, evidence that mechanisms of trauma impact and mindfulness benefit are closely inter-related; secondly, the fact that mindfulness can produce both immediate therapeutic and long term prophylactic gain and may therefore be of benefit not only for past traumatization but also in contexts of continuous traumatic stress; and thirdly, the contention that MT may be an appropriate community based intervention in mental health resource constrained contexts.