Logical Chain Research Articles

On the classification of motive power failures

The Aim of the article is to develop a motive power failure classification to enable substantiated definition of dependability requirements for motive power as a part of a railway transportation system, as well as for organizing systematic measures to ensure a required level of its dependability over the life cycle. Methods. The terminology of interstate dependability-related standards was analysed and the two classifications used by OJSC “RZD” for estimating the dependability of technical systems and motive power were compared. The dependability of railway transportation systems is studied using structural and logical and logical and probabilistic methods of dependability analysis, while railway lines are examined using the graph theory and the Markov chains. Results. An analysis of the existing failure classifications identified shortcomings that prevent the use of such classifications for studying the structural dependability of such railway transportation systems as motive power. A classification was developed that combines two failure classifications (“category-based” for the transportation process and technical systems and “type-based” for the motive power), but this time with new definitions. The proposed classification of the types of failures involves stricter definitions of the conditions and assumptions required for evaluating the dependability and technical condition of an item, which ensures correlation between the characteristics of motive power and its dependability throughout the life cycle in the context of the above tasks. The two classifications could be used simultaneously while researching structural problems of dependability using logical and probabilistic methods and Markov chains. The developed classification is included in the provisions of the draft interstate standard “Dependability of motive power. Procedure for the definition, calculation methods and supervision of dependability indicators throughout the life cycle” that is being prepared by JSC “VNIKTI” in accordance with the OJSC “RZD” research and development plan. Conclusion. The article’s findings will be useful to experts involved in the evaluation of motive power dependability.

The Problem of Positive and Destructive Freedom: The Interpretation of the Arkady Svidrigailov Image

This article examines the problem of the relationship between freedom and self-will on the example of one of the heroes of Dostoevskys novel Crime and Punishment . Attention is focused not only on the canonical text of the novel, but also on the preparatory materials for it. The task is to identify the connection between the above named problem and the suicide problem of Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov. The thesis is put forward that for Dostoevskys heroes, self-will often becomes a fetter for their own nature and their own passions. With the help of debauchery, Svidrigailov tries to assert himself, giving his soul to the mercy of willfulness. There is a certain pattern in the fact that such a worldview logical chain ends with the tragic act of suicide. Arkady Ivanovich adores comfort, and therefore, in accordance with his own logic, his murder by Dunya, which did not happen, can be considered, among other things, as an attempt of a comfortable method of suicide. In the preparatory materials for the novel, Svidrigailov protests against cowardly meanness and puts suicide above such a humiliating state, although he understands the entire flaw in such a situation. For all the complexities the problem of freedom and self-will - one of the leitmotifs of religious and philosophical themes in the writers work - Dostoevsky does not see its formal, external solution.

Functional Aspects of Language Games in Political Discourse

The article analyzes various aspects of communication in political discourse. One of its major arguments says that politicians who disrespect major rules of communication violate the basic principles of interaction, namely in that they introduce their own new patterns of language games. Adequate principles of interaction are an indispensable requirement for political discourse as such in that they guarantee efficient communication and help avoid conflicts. Such principles are based on general rules of communication. The article underlines the importance of a structual logical chain of political communiction along the following lines: intention – strategy – tactic – means of realization. In general, human beings acquire languages according to basic linguistic forms and models. Тhe Austrian philosopher L. Wittgenstein introduced the term “language game”. In a similar vein, the Swiss linguist F. de Saussure established a link between language and the sphere of games in that he compared the systems of natural languages to the rules of chess. The language games of political discourse are represented by imperative intentions, emotive senses and various means of the manipulative use of linguistic units; they usually focus on factors of impact. The article discusses the intentions of language games as a point of activization of cognitive and communicative activities for the achievement of goals related to strategies and tactics of politicians. The nature of these intentions exerts impact on the realization of the linguo-pragmatic potential of the functions of perlocutionary linguistic acts (requests, orders, etc.). The perlocutionary functions of language are the basis of political manipulation which manifests itself as a systematic combination of traditional political instruments with contemporary communicative approaches to various aspects of the manipulative impact on political consciousness and behavior. Average citizens who react to political discourse automatically take part in broader intellectual and communivative activities; they also demonstrate their own participation in political processes. Therefore political discourse has an impact on the formation and development of civic society and its relations to the state. As a rule, politicians develop their communicative strategies along programs and platforms that are designed for central subjects of the political process (the government, political parties and leaders). This limited circle of addressees causes a certain lack of efficiency that should be corrected inasmuch as the ultimate goal of any communicative strategy should be a certain change of the addressee’s worldviews. Political tactic is an important component of political communicative technologies. Political communicative activities include various aspects of tactical measures and methods that start on a local level and go viral according to strategically devised lines. In this setting, specific political texts with their particular pragmatic implications appear to be units of political discourse with their own semiotic structure. Politicians create messages based on their world views and ideologies. The role of the addressee should be understood as a priority in political communicative acts that are usually characterized by polemics, a high degree of axiology and persuasiveness. The article focusses on linguistic tools that politicians use in order to manipulate the electorate. To influence the electorate, politicians use manipulative linguistic items on the lexical, idiomatic and metaphorical level. In political discourse, such linguistic items often turn into stereotypical linguistic tools of particular politicians that leave their mark on the electorate’s ideas of their values and beliefs. The article emphasizes the importance of the use of “strong” linguistic items that help create, in the best case, an image of the politician that includes humoristic associations with his or her individual professional language.

#Ibelong: Towards a sense of belonging in an inclusive learning environment

#Ibelong is an Erasmus+ project delivering a suite of evidence-informed interventions to improve the belonging and success of students who are first-generation entrants, from ethnic minorities or have a ‘migrant background’. The activities operate at course or programme level and involve working with both staff and students. This article provides a rationale for the #Ibelong programme of activities by drawing on relevant research and describing the three interconnected interventions: Dialogue Days, Team Teacher Reflection and Community Mentoring. The interventions were evaluated using Programme Theory evaluation tools: theory of change and logic chains. The descriptions highlight activities that have worked well, how delivery has been adapted from in-person to online delivery, and evidence of short-term benefits and medium-term outcomes. The article concludes by reflecting on how this suite of interventions could be used by other courses, universities and sectors, to improve the belonging and success of diverse students and staff.

ENHANCING GOODWILL POTENTIAL WITH BRAND MANAGEMENT TOOLS

The emergence of goodwill in the process of doing business is due to the nature of the interaction of enterprise resources with environmental factors. On the basis of research, it is proved that with a competent correlation of approaches to managing the elements of the macro- and microenvironment of the enterprise, understanding the specific features of creating goodwill taking into account the scope of activity, the enterprise will receive a number of advantages. Firstly, it is the creation of additional value of the company, secondly - the possibility of obtaining excess profits (that is, profits exceeding the industry average) and, thirdly, it is the creation of favorable prospects and prerequisites for business development. The analysis of the most popular formulations of the concept of “goodwill” used in Russian and foreign practice is carried out. According to its results, it is concluded that this term is equated with the concept of "business reputation". The article presents an attempt to streamline the understanding of key aspects of brand management within the framework of the studied models of reputation management. From the review of modern and most relevant models of assessment of the company's reputation, the relationship of the main criteria for assessing the company's reputation with business results is shown. A logical chain of goodwill potential formation has been built, based on the management of emotional involvement of customers. Based on the results of the research, within the framework of the focus groups, a criterion for assessing emotional involvement - “emotional comfort” - was proposed and evaluation coefficients characterizing the level of emotional comfort of customers were developed. The actual metrics of brand management assessment are revealed, allowing to diagnose the influence of the brand on the development of goodwill potential within the framework of the proposed complex model of the influence of brand management tools on the growth of goodwill potential.

Neutron-Induced Pulsewidth Distribution of Logic Gates Characterized Using a Pulse Shrinking Chain-Based Test Structure

This work presents measured data showcasing neutron-radiation induced Single Event Transient (SET) pulse widths in distinct standard logic gate types, together with a detailed analysis on the choice of design parameters impacting the corresponding sampled pulse width distributions. The SET pulse width distributions are obtained from a high density, array-based characterization-vehicle, implemented in 65nm planar CMOS and 16nm FinFET processes, featuring a tunable, high resolution pulse-shrinking chain together with a closely embedded sampling circuit to avoid width distortion effects. The proposed macro employs standard logic gate-chains in varying lengths, threshold voltages (VTH) and transistor width flavors as the Devices-Under-Test (DUTs). Measured irradiation data for a range of operating voltages from nominal down to near-threshold reveals the relative impact of the chosen design parameters such as VDD, VTH, device width and the logic chain length as well as their interplay, impacting the overall soft-error susceptibility and the sampled pulse width distributions among the different standard gate types.

Work-related mental health: current state of the art (literature review)

Introduction. Mental health is an integral part of health, and its disorders are fraught with social and economic costs for the individual and society. According to WHO, depression is the most common disease and the leading cause of disability globally; it affects 350 million people. The analysis of new data and concepts on these issues is relevant. The aim of the work is to study the problem of stress at work and mental health disorders with an analysis of the concept of allostasis and allostatic load as an integral indicator of stress. A literature search was conducted through September 2020 using the Scopus (https://www.scopus.com/home.uri) and MedLine/PubMed (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed) scientific literature databases. Key search terms included “mental health problems,” “mental health in the workplace,” “working condition,” “anxiety,” “burnout,” and “depression. Full-text articles published in English in journals with DOIs were reviewed. There are considered work-related stressors, also called psychosocial risks. Data on the types and amounts of medico-social damage from mental health disorders in European countries and the United States are presented. The Italian experience in limiting work-related stress is reviewed in detail. There are given examples of legislation to restrict psychosocial risks at work in European countries, as well as patterns of recognition of the connection between mental disorders and work. The biomedical paradigm shift - from homeostasis to allostasis - is analyzed, and allostasis and allostatic load is described as integral indicator of chronic work stress. Despite an abundance of work on anxiety and depression, there is no unity in the literature in understanding the mechanisms and stages of mental health disorders from stress at work. It is not clear what better reflects the effects of chronic work-related stress: allostatic stress or metabolic syndrome. Stress, depression and burnout - what is the relation between them? We can discuss a logical chain: occupational risk factors - fatigue, stress - depression, burnout, health disorder, and occupational deformity. The questions of ICD-11, expected to appear in 2021, and, in particular, burnout syndrome, are outlined. The possibilities of information technologies and the Internet in preventing and treating mental health disorders are considered. Conclusions. The increasing role of stress problems in the life of modern society is noted. The methods of psychosocial risk factors limitation and mental health disorders diagnostics need to be developed. Internet-based programs for the preservation and promotion of mental health (e-MentalHealth) are promising.

Development Trend of Smart Home Industry A case study of Haier Smart Home

In recent years Smart Home appliance is a research hotspot in the home appliance industry. It is the product of a series of high-end technologies such as the Internet of Things, 5G, and AI, and is in the growth stage of the product life cycle. In this paper, the PESTAL analysis method and Porter's Five Forces model are used to analyze the environment and competition in the Chinese smart home industry. It is found that the generation of Smart Home conforms to the upgrading of social demand and economic development, so it is supported by the government. However the industry now lacks a unified technology connector, resulting in the fragmentation and isolation of current products from different producers. This paper also takes Haier Smart Home as an example, focusing on its analysis of product logic chain and of financial status. Through the establishment of seven brands, Haier Smart Home has created a perfect product system, which can meet the multi-level demand of middle and high-end, and ranks high in sales. Contrast to its competitors, Haier Smart Home's complex ownership structure and overlapping sales channels do harm to the efficiency of its operation, which eventually result in a low-profit margin, but its sales are high, and asset turnover also maintains at a good level, so the company overall operation is in good condition, and its future growth space is large.

ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF THE CURRENT STATE OF AZERBAIJAN’S INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES

The article shows that Azerbaijan belongs to modern countries with a high rate of economic development, therefore, at the current stage of evolutionary development as a state, it has embarked on the path of a new level of improvement. This shows how in recent years the economic situation in the republic has contributed to significant economic growth, an increase in the level of both the social welfare of the state and the modernization of the socio-economic infrastructure of the republic as a whole, resulting in a diversified structure of the economy. The article reveals an assessment of the current state of industrial enterprises in Azerbaijan, as well as an analysis of the directions and trends of their development. The assessment of the current state was carried out by studying resolutions, orders, acts, strategies for long-term economic development and other documents with the help of which it is possible to assess the quantitative composition of industrial enterprises. The determination of trends in the development of industrial enterprises was carried out using the analysis of the "Main directions of the Strategic Roadmap for the National economy and the main sectors of the economy", approved by the decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on December 6, 2016. The analysis carried out in the article made it possible to determine the priority directions of sustainable development of industrial enterprises, more precisely: improvement of production; scientific, technical and innovative development; implementation of programs specified in the concept of the "Strategic Roadmap for the development of the national economy", etc. The main priority of industrial enterprises is innovative development, which includes all of the above, and NTR is presented here as a certain "layer", a means of realizing prospects. Based on the above, a logical chain of the main directions of development of industrial enterprises is constructed and their justification is given. The article reveals the investment activity of the country's economy, as well as analyzes the level of foreign investment. At the end of the article, the key directions of the formation of the innovative economy of the country are indicated, the priorities of industrial development and conclusions regarding them are indicated. Keywords: industry, business, non-oil sector, machine-building complex, sustainable development, pandemic, investment, diversification, development strategy, innovation.

SET characterization of 130 nm flash-based FPGA device

Low-power, flash-based field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) have attracted significant attention in space electronic systems due to their re-programmability feature and non-volatility. In this study, we discussed a method for continuous and synchronous measurement of single event transient (SET) pulse widths in the ProASIC3 flash-based FPGA. The dedicated SET test system and irradiation set-up were implemented under heavy-ion irradiation. The SET generation cross-sections, pulse widths and capture characteristics in combinational logic chains were analyzed. The results indicated that the SET pulse width distribution exhibited a log-normal function and the SET capture probability linearly increased with the working frequency.

Features of the Use of Computer-Technical Expertise in Order to Provide an Evidence Base in Criminal Proceedings

The process of investigating crimes committed with the use of modern information technologies is inherently connected with the need to attract specialists from expert organizations with special knowledge and qualifications. In order to form an evidence base in the criminal proceedings of the area under consideration and a comprehensive review of cases, the conclusion of a specialist conducting computer-technical expertise is significant. The scientifically based conclusions of the expert opinion allow us to fully restore the logical chain of circumstances and establish the mechanism of committing a crime, as well as to prove the fact of committing a criminal act, or to justify an innocent person in committing a crime. The relevance of the topic of the article is due to the growth of crimes with the use of modern information technologies. Based on the results of the theoretical analysis and study of judicial practice in criminal cases related to the use of information technologies, the authors consider the features of the investigation of cases and the significance of the results of expert opinions in sentencing. The features of the use of computer-technical expertise in order to provide an evidence base in criminal proceedings are determined.

БЫТОВАЯ ИСПОВЕДЬ В БЫТИЙНОМ ДИСКУРСЕ: ОСОБЕННОСТИ ЖАНРА (на материале повести А.П. Чехова «Огни»)

Existential discourse in a literary text reflects the characters search for an experience of ontological meanings. Existential communication is characterized by the desire of communicants to define accurately the concepts and associatively represent experiences and emotions. Emotional accuracy in reasoning and defining concepts in the speech of the characters is achieved by the author’s skill in creating artistic images. The structure of existential discourse is characterized by the formulation of the question to which the characters must find the answer, based on their own or someone else’s life experience and knowledge, comparing this life situation with precedent phenomena, texts, events, referring to precedent names, building logical chains, proving or refuting statements. The purpose of this study is to analyze the speech genre of the everyday life confession in the existential discourse presented in A.P. Chekhov’s story “The Lights”. Confession is always an emotional shock, because the confessor experiences again the sense of guilt and shame for the evil he has done. The essence of confession is the reflection which results in selfcondemnation and remorse. The confessional tone of the character’s speech allows the author to create his image and generalize his personal experience, deducing philosophical maxims and aphorisms from it. The powerful emotional message of the confession leaves in the memory of the interlocutor the image of a specific suffering person and evokes sympathy. The everyday life confession here is a tactic of speech influence and at the same time an argument confirming the validity of the confessor’s philosophical maxims, since his very worldview has been suffered.

Concepts of professional discourse as a process of communication between scientists in professional socialization

The concepts "discourse" has appeared in connection with expansion of linguistic researches out of offer limits - to the sphere of superphrase syntax. Therefore the discourse from the linguistic point of view is the set consisting of a logical chain of offers which are in semantic communication. This article is devoted to a question of studying of a professional discourse. In article the concept "professional discourse" among adjacent concepts is described and defined. In this article the professional discourse understood as communication of experts among themselves or with those who address them for receiving consultation or the professional help is studied. Professional communication is opposed to nonprofessional. The discourse plays an important role in professional socialization which is process by means of which people acquire the specialized knowledge, skills, the relations, norms and interests necessary for effective implementation of the professional roles. The professional discourse is the language created by professionals with special training to perform operations in a workplace. Some scientists consider that it is connected only with communication between the writer and the reader, both which are professionals. Others claim that, at least, one of participants has to be a professional. For example, some scientists claim that one of the defining characteristics of a professional discourse is importance of the status in which the person has a professional role and, therefore, higher status, than the nonprofessional that is the reason that the professional discourse usually takes place to be in establishment. Therefore further in our work we will try to consider questions of a professional discourse in more detail. In article works of the Russian and foreign scientists who are engaged in studying of this problem will be considered and analysed.

The use of ecological models to assess the effects of a plant protection product on ecosystem services provided by an orchard

The objective of this case study was to explore the feasibility of using ecological models for applying an ecosystem services-based approach to environmental risk assessment using currently available data and methodologies. For this we used a 5 step approach: 1) selection of environmental scenario, 2) ecosystem service selection, 3) development of logic chains, 4) selection and application of ecological models and 5) detailed ecosystem service assessment. The study system is a European apple orchard managed according to integrated pest management principles. An organophosphate insecticide was used as the case study chemical. Four ecosystem services are included in this case study: soil quality regulation, pest control, pollination and recreation. Logic chains were developed for each ecosystem service and describe the link between toxicant effects on service providing units and ecosystem services delivery. For the soil quality regulation ecosystem service, springtails and earthworms were the service providing units, for the pest control ecosystem service it was ladybirds, for the pollination ecosystem service it was honeybees and for the recreation ecosystem service it was the meadow brown butterfly. All the ecological models addressed the spatio-temporal magnitude of the direct effects of the insecticide on the service providing units and ecological production functions were used to extrapolate these outcomes to the delivery of ecosystem services. For all ecosystem services a decision on the acceptability of the modelled and extrapolated effects on the service providing units could be made using the protection goals as set by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Developing quantitative ecological production functions for extrapolation of ecosystem services delivery from population endpoints remains one of the major challenges. We feel that the use of ecological models can greatly add to this development, although the further development of existing ecological models, and of new models, is needed for this.

GENERATION OF SYNTHETICAL MEDICAL DATA BY MDR-ANALYSIS

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to outline an algorithm for generating synthetic medical data in order to augment small samples of data. Methods: To achieve the research goal, methods such as: correlation analysis (to identify significant variables and the relationships between them), MDR analysis (to build logical chains of relationships between medical data), and regression analysis (to model medical data variables to use this to generate synthetic data) were used. Results: A database of heart failure patients that is publicly available was used to test the developed algorithm for generating synthetic medical data in action; as a result, statistical relationships between data were found and used to build linear regression models. Discussion: The proposed algorithm allows, with a few simple, yet important actions, to perform the generation of medical data, which makes it possible to obtain large data sets that can be used to implement machine learning methods in any tasks related to medicine.

Measuring for Success: Evaluating Leadership Training Programs for Sustainable Impact.

Background:In an era of global health security challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, there is greater need for strong leadership. Over the past decades, significant investments have been made in global health leadership development programs by governments and philanthropic organizations to address this need. Evaluating the societal impact of these programs remains challenging, despite consensus on the importance of public health leadership.Objective:This article identifies the gaps and highlights the critical role of monitoring and evaluation approaches in assessing the impact of global health leadership programs. Importantly, we also propose the theory of change (TOC) as a common framework and identify a set of tools and indicators that leadership programs can adapt and use.Methods:We carried out an informal review of major global health leadership programs, including a literature review on leadership program evaluation approaches. Current practices in assessing the short- to long-term outcomes of leadership training programs were explored and synthesized. We also examined use of program theory frameworks, such as theory of change to guide the evaluation strategy. We find the TOC approach can be enhanced by integrating evaluation-specific frameworks and establishing broad stakeholder buy-in. We highlight measurement challenges, proposed outcome indicators and evaluation methodologies, and outline the future direction for such efforts.Findings:Most evaluation of current leadership programs is focused on short-term individual-level outcomes, while reports on long-term societal impact were limited. Reciprocal impacts on and benefits for the “host” organizations were not included in evaluation metrics. Most programs had program logic or result chains, but with no well-articulated program theories.Conclusion:Key stakeholders involved in leadership training programs benefit from the evidence of rigorous program evaluations to inform decisions that address barriers in fostering global health leadership and improving population health outcomes. Insight into reciprocal change in host organizations is important. Evaluation of global health leadership training must go beyond the individual trainee and encompass organizational and community-level impacts. Documentation of long-lasting organizational and societal impacts is essential for donors to appreciate the return on their investment.Key TakeawaysEvaluation plays an important role in understanding how leadership development takes place and how it contributes to improving public health outcomes.Making the case for investments in leadership development programs requires robust evidence from monitoring and evaluation strategies that link investments beyond the individual-level to longer-term societal impacts.The first critical step towards a strategy for success is for leadership programs to clearly build, articulate, share, and use their program theories or theories of change.Theories of change help identify the pathways (and potential tensions) through which leadership development programs effect change at the individual, organizational and community levels.Evaluation methods that examine outcomes of leadership programs should be multi-method, multi-level, and where possible include counterfactual outcomes.Allocation of funds to evaluate on-going and long-lasting societal impact of leadership programs should be a routine practice.

Assessing chemical risk within an ecosystem services framework: Implementation and added value

An ecosystem services (ES) approach to chemical risk assessment has many potential advantages, but there are also substantial challenges regarding its implementation. We report the findings of a multi-stakeholder workshop that evaluated the feasibility of adopting an ES approach to chemical risk assessment using currently available tools and data. Also evaluated is the added value such an approach would bring to environmental decision making. The aim was to build consensus across disparate stakeholders and to co-produce a common understanding of the regulatory benefits and feasibility of implementing an ES approach in European chemicals regulation. Workshop discussions were informed by proof of concept studies and resulted in the development of a novel tiered framework for assessing chemical risk to ES delivery. There was consensus on the substantial added value of adopting an ES-based approach for regulatory decision making. Ecosystem services provide a common currency and a ‘unifying approach’ across environmental compartments, stressors and regulatory frameworks. The ES approach informs prioritisation of risk and remedial action and aids risk communication and risk management. It facilitates a more holistic assessment, enables ES trade-offs to be compared across alternative interventions, and supports comparative risk assessments and a socio-economic analysis of management options and decisions. Key to realising this added value is a shift away from using a single threshold value to categorise risk, towards a consideration of the exposure-effect distribution for individual ES of interest. Also required is the development of an integrated systems-level approach across regulatory frameworks and agreement on specific protection goals and scenarios for framing environmental risk assessments. The need to further develop tools for extrapolating toxicity data to service providers and ES delivery, including logic chains and ecological production functions, was highlighted. Also agreed was the need for methods and metrics for ES valuation to be used in assessing trade-offs.

Can environmental regulation directly promote green innovation behavior?—— based on situation of industrial agglomeration

This paper aims at distinguishing the effects of different types of environmental regulations on different ways of green technology innovation behaviors and whether industrial agglomeration has a moderating effect. In this study, the theoretical framework of “Environmental regulation stimulates green innovation intention, while green innovation intention promotes green innovation behavior” is constructed, the mediating effect of green technology innovation intention is studied, and moderating effect based on industrial agglomeration is also analyzed. The empirical results show that controlling environmental regulation has a more significant influence on the green innovation intention compared to incentive regulation. The green innovation intention plays a mediating role in the logic chain of environmental regulation and green innovation behavior, which verifies the hypothesis of “incomplete environmental regulation” to some extent. Industrial agglomeration plays a positive moderating role in the logic chain of “environmental regulation—green innovation intention—green innovation behavior”. It is proven that in the face of strict environmental regulations, the geographical proximity accelerates the diffusion of green knowledge and technology and stimulates intention and enthusiasm of enterprises towards green innovation. Our research lays a solid foundation for enterprises to realize cleaner production and government to formulate policies to realize circular economy and sustainable development.

EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF BURSTINESS ON THE SERVICE PROCESS AT THE CASH REGISTER

The service process is the key phase in any queue system applied to business and industry operations. The service process in shops is defined as the payment process at the cash register. The service process consists of two elements or sub-processes: the waiting in the queue to the cash register as well as the payment processing (scanning the goods, giving receipts to customers, etc). Analysis of burstiness as the indicator of the service process has been well-established. Against this background on burstiness as the indicator of the service process, burstiness is also defined as a factor that influences the service process. However, burstiness as a factor in the service process has not attracted a lot of research attention. The aim of this paper is to analyse burstiness as a factor in the service process underpinning the elaboration of scenarios of the service process for the queue management purposes. The present work mostly employs theoretical methods: scientific literature analysis, synthesis, modelling, comparison, and systematization. The theoretical research results in the outline of the conceptual framework for exploring the impact of burstiness on the service process. The key concepts have been identified, namely binary customer behaviour, buyers’ burstiness, bottlenecks’ emergence at the server, and queue management. The logical chain of the development has been emphasized: binary customer behaviour → buyers’ burstiness → bottlenecks’ emergence at the check-out station or cash register (server) → queue management. The presented logical chain allows finding out that buyers’ burstiness leads to the queue appearance in the service process. In turn, queue appearance requires queue management measures. Hence, buyers’ burstiness influences on the decisions in regard to queue management within the service process. Further on, two functions of buyers’ burstiness are defined: the indicators of the service process, and the factor that influences the service process. This bi-modal role of buyers’ burstiness in the service process highlights the complex nature of the queue management. Five scenarios of the service process will allow using a combination of queue management measures in each scenario or even between scenarios. The findings of the comparative study propose the structure of the service process as the unity of the waiting in the queue to the cash register and the payment processing at the cash register, i.e. scanning of the goods and the payment. The present research has some limitations. Further research tends to validate the model of five scenarios of the service process for the queue management purposes. Comparative studies on buyers’ burstiness in the service process will be continued, too.

A BIM-based space-oriented solution for hospital facilities management

Purpose This paper aims to propose a space-oriented solution as an interface enabling the knowledge transfer between the building and the facilities management (FM) industry. Design/methodology/approach The research gap is explored based on practical investigations in six large-scale hospitals in China. The theory of engineering systems integration inspires the proposed solution. A practical scenario is demonstrated to explain the workflow of this solution. Findings It is founded that lagging information updates of FM systems in hospital project are one of the main reasons for inefficient and costly FM workflow. Building information modelling (BIM) model could provide accurate building information to the FM systems at the building handover stage. However, few researchers focus on the continuous information transfer solution from the BIM model to FM systems during the building in-use phase. An interface should be established for the “conversation” between the frequent changes of building and the FM systems in the post-construction period. Practical implications The information updates in three FM systems due to space changes in a hospital project is considered as a practical scenario in this paper. It is presented with the workflow and the data logic chain. Originality/value The originality of this paper is to propose a solution to integrate the space information provided by the BIM model with the parameters of particular FM systems. This solution deploys a BIM model for the FM industry. The solution could allow the FM personnel to ease operations and maintenance workflow by updating the space information in the BIM model.