Allocation Of Human Resources Research Articles

Economic costs of invasive alien species in Spain

Economic assessments for invasive alien species (IAS) are an urgent requirement for informed decision-making, coordinating and motivating the allocation of economic and human resources for the management of IAS. We searched for economic costs of IAS occurring in Spain, by using the InvaCost database and requesting data to regional governments and national authorities, which resulted in over 3,000 cost entries. Considering only robust data (i.e. excluding extrapolated, potential (not-incurred or expected) and low reliability costs), economic costs in Spain were estimated at US$ 261 million (€ 232 million) from 1997 to 2022. There was an increase from US$ 4 million per year before 2000 to US$ 15 million per year in the last years (from € 4 to 13 million). Robust data showed that most reported costs of IAS in Spain (> 90%) corresponded to management costs, while damage costs were only found for 2 out of the 174 species with reported costs. Economic costs relied mostly on regional and inter-regional administrations that spent 66% of costs in post-invasion management actions, contrary to all international guidelines, which recommend investing more in prevention. Regional administrations unequally reported costs. Moreover, 36% of the invasive species, reported to incur management costs, were not included in national or European regulations (i.e. Black Lists), suggesting the need to review these policies; besides, neighbouring regions seem to manage different groups of species. We suggest the need of a national lead agency to effectively coordinate actions, facilitate communication and collaboration amongst regional governments, national agencies and neighbouring countries. This will motivate the continuity of long-lasting management actions and the increase in efforts to report IAS costs by regional and inter-regional managers which will adequately provide information for future budgets gaining management effectiveness.

Knowledge-driven fuzzy consensus model for team formation

The correct allocation of human resources is of utmost importance for any kind of enterprise and organization. Many approaches have been defined so far to support team formation leveraging on different techniques, from knowledge engineering to operational research and computational intelligence. Unfortunately, these approaches are often specifically thought for large organizations owning the right set of technological assets and human resources able to manage and use these approaches. In this work, we propose an original approach to team formation, namely the KnowMIS-Team approach, specifically designed for knowledge-intensive small and medium enterprises. This is a lightweight hybrid approach that combines three different techniques: a knowledge-driven technique for finding the most competent team for a given project based on a lightweight semantic model of knowledge, skills and attitudes; a top-down, leader-selected approach wherein the competent members selected in the previous phase can propose their candidate teams; a bottom-up fuzzy consensus-based mechanism in which the employees of the organization can express their preferences on the candidate teams. A conceptual architecture of an intelligent system implementing the approach is also presented. The KnowMIS-Team approach is the overall result of many years of experience in team formation and management for a research center and embeds all the best practices therein adopted, and it has been experimented in the same center and in other university spin-offs for many years, contributing to the realization of successful projects.

The Importance of Cadre Management in Human Resources Allocation

The Importance of Cadre Management in Human Resources Allocation

The Risk Factors for Chinese Medical Economic Burden of Aging: A Cross-Sectional Study Based on Guangdong Province.

Background The proportion of aging in China is increasing, which needs more healthcare recourses. To analyze the risk factors of the direct medical economic burden of aging in China and provide the strategies to control the cost of treatment, the information was collected based on Guangdong Province's regular health expenditure accounting data collection plan. Methods The multiple linear regression models were used to explore the risk factors of inpatient expenses of the elderly in Guangdong province. Results The results revealed that hospital day, age, male patients, and patients who suffer from malignant tumors are key factors to increase the direct medical economic burden of aging. Moreover, the medical insurance for urban employees can reduce the medical economic burden, comparing with the medical insurance for urban residents. Conclusions The basic medical insurance system and the serious illness insurance system should be improved. While striving to speed up the development of regional economy, the government should pay attention to the construction of basic medical institutions in economically backward areas, increase the allocation of health human resources, and facilitate the masses to seek medical treatment nearby.

Study of Laboratory Parameters in COVID-19 Patients at a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital in Uttar Pradesh

Introduction: COVID-19 infection has been affecting vast population all over the world since 2019. It is very important to make optimum use of routine laboratory parameters in evaluating severity of COVID-19 disease. This will help the clinicians to improve allocation of technical human resources to patients who require it the most. During the path of the COVID-19 disease, inflammatory indices such as lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), biomarkers like serum procalcitonin (PCT), and ferritin and indices of coagulation profile like D-Dimer, PT levels, and hematological parameters like total leukocyte count, platelets carry prognostic value. The objective of the study is to estimate the utility of various laboratory Biochemical and Hematological parameters in COVID-19 disease. Materials and Methods: The present study is a retrospective cross-sectional observational study conducted in tertiary care rural teaching hospital. The study was conducted from September 1, 2020, to January 31, 2021. The study was carried out on the patients who were hospitalized in Isolation Ward and COVID ICU in our L3 COVID hospital. All patients with positive SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test results were included in the study. A sample size of 310 patients was taken. The basic demographic details were collected from the admission records. The confirmatory test for SARS-CoV-2 was done using the WHO-approved kits based on real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction for which suspected cases underwent nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal swab testing. The levels of CRP, IL-6, PCT, ferritin LDH, D-dimer, complete blood counts, PT were based on standardized methods obtained using various biochemical and hematological laboratory analyzers. Data of investigation reports were gathered from electronic patient record system. Statistical analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences for Windows (version 25.0). Results: Our study clearly shows that levels of IL-6, D Dimer, PT, and LDH are quite significantly raised in majority of patients while PCT and ferritin being somewhat nonspecific show an increase but not to that significant numbers. The hematological parameters show levels which indicate mild anemia, leukocytosis, neutrophilia, lymphopenia, and thrombocytopenia in patients infected with COVID-19 disease. Conclusion: COVID-19 is an unexplored, new entity with a sudden worldwide onset. The medical fraternity is yet to conquer and analyse this novel virus.

Variations in administration of Covid-19 vaccine during last 20 weeks at a vaccination center of Agra, Uttar Pradesh

Background: Covid-19 pandemic has created havoc around the world and vaccination is an effective tool against this demon. Study of variations in administration of daily doses of Covid-19 vaccine at vaccination centre can help in better resource management. Material & methods: This record based descriptive study was conducted among beneficiaries of Covid-19 vaccination at S. N. Medical College, Agra. Record of administration of daily doses and vaccine wastage, vaccination of different groups of beneficiaries and occurrence of various national and local events related to vaccination was also analyzed. Result: A total of 33,571 doses of any Covid-19 vaccine (Covaxin/Covishield) were administered during past 88 working days in 20 weeks expanded over 5 months. On an average 165 doses were administered every day by each team and overall vaccine wastage was 0.85%. Maximum average of 199 doses per day by each team was observed on Mondays. There are many peaks and drops in administration of daily doses of Covid-19 vaccine at our center which can be attributed to either some national or local events related to supply of vaccine at our center, addition of a new group of beneficiary, any news or political controversy related to Covid-19 vaccination etc. Conclusion: Understanding of spikes and drops in the curve of daily/weekly administration of Covid-19 vaccine, in view of occurrence of various national and local events related to vaccination, can help in better formulation of strategies specially related to human resource allocation for success of National Covid-19 vaccination program.

A Novel Self-Regulating and Intelligence Meta-Heuristic-Fuzzy Approach for Integrated and Optimal Human Resource Allocation in Normal and Critical Conditions

This study aims to present a novel Self-regulating and Intelligence Meta-Heuristic-Fuzzy approach (As Methodological Contribution) for integrated and optimal Human Resource Allocation (HRA) in normal and critical conditions at SMEs (As Conceptual Contribution). In this research, a mathematical model of human resource allocation problem is presented, and then Sugeno Fuzzy Inference (SFI) model is used in the tasks rate adjustment layer. The SFI model is the main part of developing Gray Wolf Optimization (GWO) algorithm to reach the integrated and optimal allocation of available human resources under self-regulating attribute in the novel approach. The novel approach has tested and compared to the best researches using data previous researches and by the top five proposed methods in the researches (Includes: SGA, PRS, SRS, MIP, HM) based on three methods of evaluating the quality of solutions (GA-FSGS, MP-FSGS, GA-SGS). The results showed that increase of Ω from 15,000 to 25,000, and HM and SGA clearly performed better than other previous cases in the larger B100 and B200 datasets. Also, it is verified that the method had better results compare to all previous solving methods, and the quality of the solutions have been the best.

Risk management assessment of mobile crowds: The case of the Black Nazarene procession in Manila, Philippines

The Philippines is a highly Christianized country where religious events, such as the Black Nazarene procession, are celebrated on a massive scale. The annual procession, characterized by devotees pushing the carriage of the Black Nazarene, in the city of Manila attracts thousands of devotees. The 2019 procession took 21.35 h to traverse a 6.94-km route at an average speed of 0.33 km per hour. The extreme size and density of attending crowds make injuries and fatalities a common occurrence. Despite the usual risks that similar events entail, limited studies have been conducted to characterize and evaluate big crowds. This study developed methods and policies that aim to improve risk management planning for the event. Using video graphics, a static grid analysis was performed to systematically evaluate and capture actual participants' density and speed. The aggressiveness, density, and group formation of devotees at varying road widths were found to significantly influence the procession's movement throughout its duration; at least 56 pedestrians are needed to push the carriage from behind for smoother forward movement. Finally, proper allocation of human resources by local government departments involved in event management was recommended to potentially minimize the incidence of related injuries and deaths.

An online emergency medical management information system using mobile computing

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the way technology affects the provision of prehospital emergency care, upgrading the quality of services offered and significantly reducing the risk of premature termination of the patients. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents the development of the eEKAB, a pilot emergency medical information system that simulates the main services offered by the Greek National Instant Aid Centre (EKAB). The eEKAB was developed on an agile system methodology. From a technical perspective, the features and the technology were mainly chosen to provide reliable and user-friendly interfaces that will attract many users. eEKAB is based on three important pillars for offering health care to the patients: the “On-time Incident Reporting”, the “On-time Arrival at the Incident” and “Transfer to the Health Center”. According to the literature review, the emergency medical services (EMS) systems that combine all the features are very few. Findings It reduces the total time of the EMS procedures and it allows for an easier management of EMS, by providing a better allocation of human resources and a better geographical distribution of ambulances. The evaluation displayed that it is a very helpful application for the ambulance drivers as it reduces the ambulance response time to arrive in the patient's location and contributes significantly to the general performance of the prehospital medical care system. Also, the survey verified the importance of implementing eEKAB on a larger scale beyond the pilot usage. It is worth mentioning that the younger ambulance drivers had a more positive view for the purpose of the application. Research limitations/implications The paper clearly identifies implications for further research. Regarding interoperability, the mobile app cooperates with the Operational Center of EKAB, while further collaboration could be achieved with other operational ambulance handling center, mainly, of the private sector. The system can evolve to include better communications among the EKAB departments. Particularly, the ambulance crew as well as the doctors should be informed with more incident features such as the emergency signal so that they know whether to open the siren, the patient's name, etc. The authors are currently working on implementing some features to provide effective medical health services to the patient in the ambulance. Practical implications eEKAB will have very significant implications in case of its enforcement, such as the reduction of the total time of EMS procedures with a corresponding reduction of the operating costs of an accident management system and an ambulance fleet handling system while in parallel informing in time the doctors/clinics. It will provide better distribution of ambulances as well as of total human resources. It will greatly assist ambulance drivers, while reducing ambulance response time to reach the patient's location. In other words, the authors will have a better performance of the whole prehospital care system. Social implications Providing emergency care before the hospital is of great importance for upgrading the quality of health services provided at the accident site, thus significantly reducing the risk of premature death of patients. This in itself has a significant social implication. Originality/value The paper demonstrates a solid understanding in the field of the EMS systems and the corresponding medical services offered. It proposes the development of an effective, feasible and innovative EMS information system that will improve the existing emergency health care system in Greece (EKAB). An in depth literature review and presentation of the adopted new technologies and the respective architecture take place. An evaluation and statistical validation were conducted for proving the high applicability of eEKAB in case of real-life running.

Risk Evaluation Method of Import and Export Goods Based on Fuzzy Reasoning and DeepFM

At present, the inspection mode of China's import ports is generally manual based on experience, or random inspection by the document review system according to a preset random inspection ratio. In order to improve the detection rate of unqualified goods and realize the best allocation of limited human and material resources of inspection and quarantine institutions, a method composed of fuzzy reasoning, deep neural network, and factorization machine (DeepFM) was proposed for the intelligent evaluation of risk sources of imported goods. Fuzzy reasoning is used to realize the fuzzy normalization of the dataset samples, the DeepFM deep neural network is finally used for training and learning to classify and evaluate the risks of goods. Results of experimental tests on a specific customs import and export dataset verify the effectiveness of the proposed research method.

Human Resource Allocation Based on Fuzzy Data Mining Algorithm

Data mining is currently a frontier research topic in the field of information and database technology. It is recognized as one of the most promising key technologies. Data mining involves multiple technologies, such as mathematical statistics, fuzzy theory, neural networks, and artificial intelligence, with relatively high technical content. The realization is also difficult. In this article, we have studied the basic concepts, processes, and algorithms of association rule mining technology. Aiming at large-scale database applications, in order to improve the efficiency of data mining, we proposed an incremental association rule mining algorithm based on clustering, that is, using fast clustering. First, the feasibility of realizing performance appraisal data mining is studied; then, the business process needed to realize the information system is analyzed, the business process-related links and the corresponding data input interface are designed, and then the data process to realize the data processing is designed, including data foundation and database model. Aiming at the high efficiency of large-scale database mining, database development tools are used to implement the specific system settings and program design of this algorithm. Incorporated into the human resource management system of colleges and universities, they carried out successful association broadcasting, realized visualization, and finally discovered valuable information.

Influence of Sociospatial determinants on knowledge, attitudes and practices related to the plague in a population living in endemic areas in the central highlands, Madagascar

BackgroundPlague is endemic to the central highlands of Madagascar. Sporadic human cases or outbreaks can occur annually in these areas. In Madagascar, the associations between endemicity and the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of the population with regard to this disease remain poorly documented. The aim of this study was to assess KAP related to plague among the population living in the central highlands.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted in the general population from June to August 2017. Based on the reported cases of plague between 2006 and 2015 in two central highland districts, a KAP questionnaire was administered in the population. Based on the proportion of correct answers provided by respondents, KAP scores were classified into three KAP categories: low (< Mean - SD), medium (Mean ± SD) and good (> Mean + SD). Multivariate analyses were performed to determine the associations between population KAP scores related to plague and sociodemographic and epidemiological factors. In addition, individual interviews and focus groups with health professionals were conducted to assess plague perception.ResultsA total of 597 individuals participated in the survey; 20% (n = 119) had a good KAP score, 62% (n = 370) a medium KAP score and 18% (n = 108) a low KAP score. Among the 119 respondents with good KAP scores, 80% (n = 95) resided in Ambositra district, and 20% (n = 24) resided in Tsiroanomandidy district. According to the health professionals in the two districts, populations in endemic areas are well aware of the plague. There were significant associations (p < 0.05) of not owning a mobile phone, having no contact with a former plague case, and living in Tsiroanomandidy district with a lower KAP score.ConclusionThe results of the study showed the need to adapt plague control interventions to the local context to allow a better allocation of human and financial resources. Doing so would minimize delays in patient management care and increase community resilience to plague epidemics.

Transnational Municipal Networks as a Mechanism for Marine Governance Toward Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation: Between Potential and Practice

Many municipalities undertake actions individually and/or collectively, in cooperation with central administrations, regional authorities, the private sector, and other municipalities (both nationally and internationally). This paper aims to examine how they use transnational municipal networks (TMNs) as a tool for cooperation that supports marine governance in the context of climate change adaptation and mitigation. The analysis is carried out at two dimensions: spatial range (global or regional) and spatial identity (coastal or inland). Three case studies of TMNs are examined in detail: the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40); Connecting Delta Cities (CDC) and the Union of Baltic Cities (UBC). As research has shown, due to their organizational and normative limitations and a lack of maturity in ocean literacy, TMNs are not able to fully engage in all the activities related to climate change adaptation and mitigation as suggested by the UNEP. The TMNs implement both mitigation and adaptation measures, although ‘soft’ mitigation actions seem to be the most common. While the scale and innovativeness of a networks’ operation are determined by their specificity resulting from their spatial identity, the effectiveness of jointly developed strategies and actions depend heavily on the allocation of human resources and the level of commitment of the involved cities toward becoming leaders.

Development of Matching Modeling for Human Resource Allocation of Shelter Management by the Set Theory

The purpose of this study is to develop a support system for planning human resource allocation of shelter management by modeling the matching between the shelter and the staff on the basis of the set theory approach to enable sufficient days off, reduce long work hours, and consideration for appropriate rotation without causing the mental and physical deterioration of the shelter management staff. Using this matching model, a basic study was conducted to determine the appropriate human resource allocation to manage the shelter with a small number of staff members, free from unbalanced work days. The study results elucidate the relationship between the number of possible consecutive work days and that of required consecutive days off. In addition, the human resource allocations with experience in shelter management and the setting method of days off were modeled and their results are presented in this study.

Analysis on equity of health human resource allocation in Hubei Province based on the Gini coefficient and a HRDI model

In order to fully understand the current situation of health human resources in Hubei Province, two mathematical models, Gini coefficient and health resource density index, were used to analyze the equity of health human resources in Hubei Province, and the Lorenz curve was drawn. After clarifying the distribution of four types of health technical personnel, the result showed that the fairness of distribution by population was better, and the fairness of distribution by geography area needed to be improved. It was suggested that policy makers should consider the geographical area as the factor of resource allocation, and encourage medical college graduates to work in less developed areas. Regions with rich health human resources and regions with less rich health human resources can promote the balance of health capacity through remote construction of medical consortium.

Special Issue on the Tokyo Metropolitan Resilience Project

Natural hazards continue to be an increasing challenge to societies around the world, with many societies being impacted by multiple types of hazard events. To reduce the impact of these hazards, we must not only quantify the hazard and risk associated with multi-hazard events but also understand the uncertainty associated with these events. Resilience can only be improved by considering all these factors. Multi-hazard and risk-modeling approaches are receiving increasing attention globally; however, the challenges of assessing uncertainty in both single- and multi-hazard risks are considerable. Without a clear understanding of the risks and their uncertainties, measures to mitigate these risks and to increase resilience face difficult decisions. In the present Special Issue, we have five papers and one report on the Tokyo Metropolitan Resilience Project: Interdisciplinary and Industry-Academia Collaboration Research for Enhancing Social Resilience to Natural Disasters in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area –DEKATSU Activity–, Multi-Data Integration System to Capture Detailed Strong Ground Motion in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, Development of the Training Tool “KUG” for Temporary Lodging Facilities and Companies for Stranded Commuters, Development of Matching Modeling for Human Resource Allocation of Shelter Management by the Set Theory, Time-Cost Estimation for Early Disaster Damage Assessment Methods, Depending on Affected Area, and A Report of the Questionnaire Survey on Awareness of COVID-19 and Shelters.

Optimization of Organizational Design

ABSTRACT This study aims to present new techniques that airlines can use to gain efficiency through human resources allocation and keep up on track with the aviation industry’s challenging and constant-moving environment. The classical hierarchical structure that dominates most airlines today is not a prone environment for the proposed changes. The authors explore human resources optimization using the optimization software Lindo, mixed with Agile Methodology concepts and techniques. The authors also utilize evaluation score and talent mapping to develop a model for the best match between a Brazilian airline’s employees and tasks. The model considers productivity and cost.

A hybrid multi-objective algorithm to solve a cellular manufacturing scheduling problem with human resource allocation

A cellular manufacturing system (CMS) is a suitable system for the economic manufacture of part families. Scheduling the manufacturing cells plays an effective role in successful implementation of the manufacturing system. Due to the fact that in the CMS, bottleneck machine and human resources are two important factors, which so far have not been studied simultaneously in a mathematical model, there should be a model to consider them. Therefore, this research develops a bi-objective model for CMS in a three-dimensional space of machine-part and human resources. The main objective is to minimize the maximum completion time of all tasks in the system and reduce the number of intercellular translocation based on bottleneck machines’ motion and human resources. Due to the NP-hardness of the studied problem, applying the conventional solution methods is very time-consuming, and is impossible in large dimensions. Therefore, the use of metaheuristic methods will be useful. The accuracy of the proposed model is investigated using LINGO by solving a small example. Then, to solve the problem in larger dimensions, a hybrid Multi-Objective Tabu Search-Genetic Algorithm (MO-TS-GA) is designed and numerical results are reported for several examples.

Social insurance contributions ratio and productivity of private enterprises in the heavy pollution industry: Evidence from China

Social insurance has been shown to have an important impact on enterprise competitiveness. However, there has been a lack of research linking social insurance to the productivity of enterprises, especially private ones in the heavy pollution industry. Using China's A-share listed private enterprises in the heavy pollution industry from 2009 to 2018 as samples, we adopt a GMM estimation method of panel data and empirically examine the impacts of social insurance contributions ratio on enterprise productivity. Furthermore, considering the fact that enterprises are heterogeneous, we divide the samples into labor-intensive enterprises and non-labor-intensive ones. Our empirical results show that high social insurance contributions incentivize enterprises to improve human resource allocation efficiency and labor efficiency. This in turn improves their technological efficiency. However, the increase in the proportion of social insurance contributions crowds out the investment in technological advancement of private enterprises in the heavy pollution industry and hinders their technological progress. Overall, the ratio of social insurance contributions has a negative impact on the productivity of these enterprises. In addition, our grouping analysis finds that the crowding-out effect of social insurance contributions on technological investment is more pronounced in the labor-intensive enterprises.

Human resources development in Vietnam’s health sector

This paper addresses issues related to health, health care, human resources in the health sector, characteristics of human resources for health, the need to develop a health workforce, analyzing criteria for evaluating human resources for health in terms of both quantity and quality; the position and role of human resources in the health sector, the development of human resources in the health sector under the process of industrialization, modernization and socio-economic development of Vietnam in the current period, achievements and limitations in human resources development in Vietnam's health care sector. In addition, the study also highlights statistics, some works and reports on health, human resources for health, contents of health human resources development; allocation of health human resources, education and training of health human resources in the country and some developed countries such as India, China, and the situation of domestic and international health human resources to draw some recommendations for the development of health human resources in Vietnam afterwards.