Priority Point Research Articles

Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN) Method for Midwives Planning and Estimation at Asrade Zewude Memorial Primary Hospital, North west Ethiopia

BackgroundWorkforce is a crucial component of the health service delivery system. Ethiopia faces health workforce challenges when it comes to evidence based health workforce planning.Workforce planning was initially determined by comparing the health worker ratio to the general population number. Later, it was determined by standard staffing schedules for each health facility level. However, neither of these methods addressed the evidence based workload variation issue among the same level facilities all around the country. A workload indicator of staff needs (WISN) method can address these variations. Therefore this research was carried on to determine workload pressure excess or gap in midwives, thereby to promote the WISN use in health facilities, based on WISN results of midwives at Asrade Zewude memorial Hospital.MethodsA cross sectional study using WISN model was used to determine the workload excess and gap pressure in midwives at Asrade Zewude Memorial primary hospital, North West Ethiopia. Midwives were selected based on a priority point scale as outlined in the WISN method.ResultsAccording to the data obtained, midwives worked five days a week and 1030 h per year. This working time was spent on health service activities (58.4%), additional activities (36.6%) and support activities (5%). WISN calculations demonstrated a shortage of five midwives with WISN ratio of 0.8 at Asrade Zewude Memorial primary hospital North West Ethiopia.ConclusionMidwives at the study area were carrying on their routine tasks even though there was a staff gap of 5: thus, the midwives had a workload excess of 20%. Under these conditions, it may be hard for the facility to achieve universal health service goals. Therefore the hospital should institutionalize WISN method planning to objectively employ midwifery professionals. This study had limitations too as it used retrospective annual service statistics and small sample size which affects generalization of the results to other health facilities and other health worker cadres within the study hospital.

ORGANIC AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN THE SYSTEM OF MODERNIZATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY

The article defines the role of organic agricultural production in the system of the agrarian complex. The impact of agriculture on ecology is characterized. It was determined that the greening of agriculture becomes a priority point in the system of modernization of environmental security. The authors present that the latest technologies make it possible to effectively cultivate agricultural land, and the main place among the innovations of agricultural production is occupied by agricultural works, which are provided by automated systems and unmanned equipment. The article highlights environmental problems arising as a result of human economic activity to ensure one’s own food security and presents alternative methods of farming. The crucial role of organic production is defined and the main methods of organic agriculture are presented. The authors researched the dynamics of the area of agricultural land used for organic production and operators of organic production. The main environmental criteria of organic agricultural production, projects and programs that provide assistance in the field of organic production, circulation and labeling of organic products are presented.

IMPLEMENTASI PEMBANGUNAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGS) DALAM MENINGKATKAN KESEJAHTERAAN MASYARAKAT

Community welfare is one of the goals of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is a reflection of the success of development carried out by the government. In Indonesia, various policies or programs have been carried out by the government to overcome poverty in order to improve people's welfare. The handling of poverty needs to be understood as a world problem, so it must be handled globally as well. So that each poverty alleviation program must be understood as a whole and mutually interdependent with several other activity programs. The SDGs state no poverty as the first priority point. This means that the world has agreed to eliminate poverty in any form in all corners of the world, including Indonesia. This study aims to find out whether the existence of SDGs can help in community welfare. The research is descriptive qualitative with data collection techniques through literature studies. The results of the study can be concluded that welfare in Indonesia is still a problem, which is caused by poverty that has no end even though various solutions and policies issued by the government have been implemented but in practice the problem of poverty still occurs in Indonesia. In measuring welfare or measuring the quality of life, of course, it will involve elements of health, education, personal activities, and fulfilling their rights. All of these things can be fulfilled properly and quickly if the construction infrastructure is good and can be felt directly by the community.

Cloud-based Cyber-Physical Logistics System with Nested MAX-MIN Ant Algorithm for E-commerce logistics

E-commerce logistics have required rapid and efficient e-fulfillment services to deliver goods to consumers within a short time window to fulfill the customer order requirement. This paper seeks to address how an E-commerce Logistics Company can utilize the Cyber-Physical Logistics System (CPLS) and Internet of Things (IoT), which may unlock the potential for solving the order assignments and the vehicle routing problems on a new twist. The CPLS allocates orders to suitable vehicles and plans the best route in order to maximize the order fulfillment rate through cloud computing to reduce local computation power. This paper presents a novel Nested MAX-MIN Ant System (MMAS) to tackle a Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) that can serve as the core element of the CPLS. The objective is to perform to maximize the orders, minimize the total traveling cost and satisfy all the problem constraints. This paper intends to address the issues associated with the VIP priority and drop-off point limitations to make the solution route more realistic and enhance accuracy. The numerical experiences show that the CPLS is implemented successfully in a Hong Kong-based E-commerce Logistics Company with promising performance within reasonable computation times and new better solutions.

Optimal patrolling of high priority segments while visiting the unit interval with a set of mobile robots

Consider a region that requires to be protected from unauthorized penetrations. The border of the region, modeled as a unit line segment, consists of high priority segments that require the highest level of protection separated by low priority segments that require to be visited infinitely often. We study the problem of patrolling the border with a set of k robots. The goal is to obtain strategies that minimize the maximum idle time (the time that a point is left unattended) of each point of the high priority segments while visiting each point of the low priority segments infinitely often. We use the concept of single lid cover (segments of fixed length) where each high priority point is covered with at least one lid, and then we extend it to strong double-lid cover where each high priority point is covered with at least two lids, and the unit line segment is fully covered. Let λk−1 be the minimum lid length that accepts a single λk−1-lid cover with k−1 lids and Λ2k be the minimum lid length that accepts a strong double Λ2k-lid cover with 2k lids. We show that 2min⁡(Λ2k,λk−1) is the lower bound of the idle time when the max speed of the robots is one. To compute Λ2k and λk−1, we present an algorithm with time complexity O(max⁡(k,n)log⁡n) where n is the number of high priority segments. Our algorithm improves by a factor of min⁡(n,k) the previous O(knlog⁡n) running time algorithm. For the upper bound, first we present a strategy with idle time λk−1 where robot k patrols the unit line segment, and robot i patrols the i-lid of a single λk−1-lid cover with k−1 lids. Then, we present a simple strategy with idle time 3Λ2k that splits the unit line into not-disjoint k segments of equal length that robots synchronously cover, i.e., reaching the leftmost and rightmost point simultaneously. Then, we present a complex strategy that splits the unit line into k non-disjoint segments that robots asynchronously cover. We show that the combination of strategies one and two attains an approximation of 1.5 the optimal idle time and combining strategies one and third attains an optimal idle time.

The Centrality of the Eastern Region in Sudan's Peace: Existing Tensions and Prevention of Escalation of Conflict

Eastern Sudan is in a critical stage, where local fault lines intersect with Horn of Africa tensions and regional and international ambitions. This study traces those fissures and their intersections in order to understand and analyze the conflict in the region. Its basic premise is that eastern Sudan represents the priority and geographical entry point in the Sudanese peace-building process, and that the establishment/strengthening of peace in this region is linked to a reciprocal relationship with the security and stability of the Horn of Africa. The study presents preliminary ideas, in terms of preventive diplomacy, that may contribute to healing the rifts. It is based on a combination of primary sources, literature, and personal interviews with Sudanese academics, diplomats and other actors. In addition, it builds on the outputs of two workshops from the Sudan Track II Peace Dialogue Project. It frames some aspects of the analysis and ideas presented with a set of theories and hypotheses that intersect with the field of conflict studies, following the "combined approach," for studying complex conflict environments.

A comparison of logarithmic goal programming and conjoint analysis to generate priority point vectors: an experimental approach

A comparison of logarithmic goal programming and conjoint analysis to generate priority point vectors: an experimental approach

Estimation of Stiffness derivative for Ogives at Constant specific heat Ratio γ = 1.666 at Hypersonic Mach Numbers

Specific heat ratios play an essential role in the design of an ogive of an aircraft, which in turn makes it a priority point in estimating the stiffness derivative, keeping in mind the stability of an airplane. One such attempt is made here where the study of stiffness derivative is done for specific heat ratio =1.666 for other than the air. In some cases, higher values of specific heat ratios become a priority to stimulate the flow. For δ angles from 50 to 300, results have been obtained. For pivot locations near the nose, the pitching moment assumes higher values as compared to the pivot position near the shoulder of the ogive. The stability derivatives attain negative values for h = 0.6, and its importance is maximum at h = 1.

What is priority monism?

In a series papers, Jonathan Schaffer defended priority monism, the thesis that the cosmos is the only fundamental material object, on which all other objects depend. A primitive notion of dependence plays a crucial role in Schaffer’s arguments for priority monism. The goal of this paper is to scrutinize this notion and also to shed new light on what is at stake in the debate. I present three familiar arguments for priority monism and point out that each relies on a connecting principle that ties dependence to other metaphysical relations. I then argue for two desiderata: the relation between dependence and other metaphysical relations needs to be strong enough to establish that other metaphysical relations are relevant to the direction of dependence but not so strong as to leave no room for revisionary versions of priority monism. I propose a particular way of meeting these desiderata, according to which the target notion of dependence is graded rather than all-or-nothing. One upshot is that we should be less preoccupied with priority monism itself and should instead focus on specific aspects of a broader monistic worldview.

La vulnerabilidad sociodemográfica en las intervenciones urbanísticas en centros históricos: el caso de Cartagena

Diversas corrientes internacionales promulgan la importancia del factor social en la puesta en valor de los centros históricos. Esta puesta en valor no se consigue incorporando sólo actuaciones urbanísticas sino también actuaciones de carácter social y económico. El análisis de las influencias entre continente (centro histórico) y contenido (sus residentes) debe ser un punto prioritario para evitar que nuestros centros históricos sufran procesos de gentrificación que bloqueen la diversidad social. La metodología se basa en parámetros que identifican el perfil social existente y la rentabilidad de la tierra. Los resultados obtenidos corroboran las premisas desarrolladas en el marco teórico: las políticas de intervención urbanas en los centros históricos influyen en el perfil sociodemográfico de las poblaciones de estos entornos.

Triage Protocol Design for Ventilator Rationing in a Pandemic: Integrating Multiple Ethical Values through Reserves

Rationing of medical resources is a critical issue in the COVID-19 pandemic. Most existing triage protocols are based on a priority point system, in which a formula specifies the order in which the supply of a resource, such as a ventilator, is to be rationed for patients. A priority point system generates an identical priority ranking specifying claims on all units. Triage protocols in some states (e.g. Michigan) prioritize frontline health workers giving heavier weight to the ethical principle of instrumental value. Others (e.g. New York) do not, reasoning that if frontline workers obtain high enough priority, there is a risk that they obtain all units and none remain for the general community. This debate is pressing given substantial COVID-19 health risks for frontline workers. In this paper, we analyze the consequences of rationing medical resources through a reserve system. In a reserve system, resources are placed into multiple categories. Priorities guiding allocation of units can reflect different ethical values between these categories. A reserve system provides additional flexibility over a priority point system because it does not dictate a single priority order for the allocation of all units. It offers a middle-ground approach that balances competing objectives, such as in the medical worker debate. This flexibility requires attention to implementation, especially the processing order of reserve categories. We describe our model of a reserve system, characterize its potential outcomes, and examine distributional implications of particular reserve systems. We also discuss several practical considerations with triage protocol design.

Research protocol for the exploration of experiences of Aboriginal Australian mothers and healthcare professionals when using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale: a process-oriented validation study using triangulated participatory mixed methods

IntroductionAdopting a process-oriented framework for test validation can help to establish whether this tool has the potential to be an acceptable, valid and reliable indicator of depression for mothers and...

조망 경관계획 특성을 적용한 조망점 평가에 관한 연구 - 경기도 지구단위계획 중 경관계획수립 10개소를 대상으로 -

As part of the housing policy on the concentration of large cities due to economic growth, large-scale construction was carried out for many years, but the focus of the quality improvement was largely on the quality supply. With criticism that such large-scale housing construction is distorting urban and rural landscape, it was forced from 2000 to apply the district unit plan to the development of housing sites with a certain scale and the district unit plan. In addition, it evaluated how the rural and urban landscape would look during the planning of the District Unit Plan, and how the resulting space would have an objective effect on urban and rural areas and how it would be evaluated for harmony. Therefore, this study applies and evaluates the weighted value of each inspection point selected by Lee lim jung (2016) to compare and analyze the actual application of the inspection point and the review report. As a result, it was assessed that no rational landscape planning was established because many simulation presentations were made at the lower priority point, and little was presented at the higher priority. The view point weights were distributed in the Landscape Review of the District Unit Plan with a score of up to 36 points from the lowest of 6 points, which resulted in the view simulation being reviewed in terms of various aspects.

Optimization and application of artificial intelligence routing algorithm

In order to optimize the artificial intelligence routing algorithm, combined with the calculation of the direction of the vector space model, three strategies are proposed to optimize the A* algorithm. The A* algorithm is widely used in the fields of GIS system and game path finding system. However, with the expansion of the scale of the search map, its performance consumption has increased exponentially. First of all, the first step of A* algorithm is to move towards the target direction by using directional factors, so that the intermediate route process will approach the shortest path as soon as possible. Secondly, the direction factor is used to ensure that the path finding of A* algorithm is the priority point in the direction of the target. Finally, the fault tolerance process is carried out. When the direction factor is guided to the “dead end”, it can be traced back, to ensure that the shortest path can be found at the end. The results show that the A * optimization algorithm is effective. The performance of A * optimization algorithm is about 20–50% higher than the traditional A * algorithm. The best case reached 88.6%. Therefore, the proposed optimization method improves the efficiency of the algorithm and reduces the performance consumption of the algorithm.

Decision analysis in referrals of children and adolescent victims of violence: An ANP approach

The information on violence against children and adolescents in institutions is limited to varying degrees, resulting in inadequate reporting and referrals to safety nets. This paper therefore aims to develop a care protocol that helps institutions in the Brazilian cities of Uberaba, Minas Gerais, and Bauru, São Paulo, to manage reports of violence against children and adolescents. The research used the Analytic Network Process Method (ANP) to improve the flow of victim referrals, making decisions according to the right violated and the type of violence involved. A survey showed that, from a general point of view, the health sector should be a priority point of referral for victims. In the specific cases of neglect and physical violence, social care and Child Protective Services are the priority sectors, respectively. The health sector is the priority for cases of psychological violence and sexual violence.

A Comparison of DSM-IV and international expert consensus diagnostic criteria for N.M.S

IntroductionNeuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) requires prompt recognition for effective management, but there are no established diagnostic criteria.ObjectivesTo validate the recently published international expert consensus (IEC) diagnostic criteria for NMS, which assign priority points based on the relative importance of each criterion for diagnosing NMS.AimsDetermine optimal diagnostic cutoff for priority point score.MethodsData were extracted from 221 archived telephone contact reports of clinician-initiated calls to a national telephone consultation service from 1997–2009; each case was given a total priority point score based on the IEC criteria. DSM-IV-TR research criteria, in original form and modified to accept less than ‘severe’ rigidity, served as the primary diagnostic reference standard. Consultants’ diagnoses served as an additional reference standard. The optimal priority point cutoff score was determined using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.ResultsArea under the ROC curve ranged from 0.715 (95% CI = 0.645–0.785, P < 0.001) for consultant diagnoses to 0.857 (95% CI = 0.808–0.907, P < 0.001) for modified DSM-IV-TR criteria. The latter was associated with 69.6% sensitivity and 90.7% specificity.ConclusionsAgreement was best between IEC criteria with a cutoff score of 74 and modified DSM-IV-TR criteria (sensitivity 69.6%, specificity 90.7%); this cutoff score demonstrated the highest agreement in all comparisons. Consultant diagnoses showed much better agreement with modified, compared to original, DSM-IV-TR criteria, suggesting that the DSM-IV-TR criterion of “severe” rigidity may be more restrictive than what most knowledgeable clinicians use in practice.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

La avifauna actual del lago de Tota, Boyacá (Colombia): área importante para la conservación de las aves

Lake Tota is at 3015 m a.s.l in the eastern Andean cordillera of Colombia. It was declared an Important Bird area - IBA, because it is a strategic breeding area for endemic and threatened species and for its large concentration of resident and migratory waterfowl species. This publication provides a current list of birds, based on direct observations reported by authors from 2003 to 2016. These records were analyzed and compared with historical published data, we present an analysis of five conservation priority species and point out the need for citizen participation to create a civic movement calling attention to the importance of this aquatic ecosystem to the environmental government agencies negative ecological impacts that have been afflicting this aquatic ecosystem for more than 60 years ago, and to insist that it be designated as a RAMSAR site.

A Validation Study of the International Consensus Diagnostic Criteria for Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome.

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome requires prompt recognition for effective management, but there are no established diagnostic criteria. This is the first validation study of recently published international expert consensus (IEC) diagnostic criteria, which include priority points assigned on the basis of the importance of each criterion for making a diagnosis of neuroleptic malignant syndrome. Data were extracted from 221 archived telephone contact reports of clinician-initiated calls to a national telephone consultation service from 1997 to 2009; each case was given a total priority point score on the basis of the IEC criteria. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision, (DSM-IV-TR) research criteria, in original form and modified to accept less than "severe" rigidity, served as the primary diagnostic reference standard. Consultants' diagnostic impressions were used as a secondary reference standard. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to optimize the priority point cutoff score with respect to the reference standards. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve ranged from 0.715 (95% confidence interval, 0.645-0.785; P = 1.62 × 10) for consultant diagnoses to 0.857 (95% confidence interval, 0.808-0.907; P < 5 × 10) for modified DSM-IV-TR criteria. The latter was associated with 69.6% sensitivity and 90.7% specificity. Agreement was best between IEC criteria with a cutoff score of 74 and modified DSM-IV-TR criteria (sensitivity, 69.6%; specificity, 90.7%); this cutoff score demonstrated the highest agreement in all comparisons. Consultant diagnoses showed much better agreement with modified, compared with original, DSM-IV-TR criteria, suggesting that the DSM-IV-TR criterion of "severe" rigidity may be more restrictive than what most knowledgeable clinicians use in practice.

Роль территорий опережающего развития в решении проблем импортонезависимости

The article identifies priority areas and trends of the government to accelerate economic growth by attracting investment in the industrial sector. The article discusses different approaches and scholarly positions of a number of domestic and foreign economists regarding the desirability of one or another of industrial policy and its effectiveness. The author, drawing on the results of functioning of free economic zones in the Russian Federation, justifies the strategic importance of formation and implementation mechanism of the territories of priority development for the successful modernization of the industrial sector in Russia. The article presents the institutional matrix of formation of the territories of priority development, described in detail its elements, strict interconnection which allows the mechanism to work effectively. The author&#x0D; evaluates and analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of this matrix to determine which of them worked out in the Federal law of the Russian Federation and which require immediate action from the state for successful implementation in practice of the mechanism of the territories of priority development. The author introduced the priority point of intersection of interests of state and business is the need of the formation of the working mechanism of return of private capital and modernization of current technologies. In Russia, this problem can be solved in the framework of implementation of the territories of priority development.

Resource scheduling in a private cloud environment: an efficiency priority perspective

Purpose Resource scheduling is the study of how to effectively measure, evaluate, analyze, and dispatch resources in order to meet the demands of corresponding tasks. Aiming at the problem of resource scheduling in the private cloud environment, the purpose of this paper is to propose a resource scheduling approach from an efficiency priority point of view. Design/methodology/approach To measure the computational efficiencies for the resource nodes in a private cloud environment, the data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach is incorporated and a suitable DEA model is proposed. Then, based on the efficiency scores calculated by the proposed DEA model for the resource nodes, the 0-1 programming technique is introduced to build a simple resource scheduling model. Findings The proposed DEA model not only has the ability of ranking all the decision-making units into different positions but also can handle non-discretionary inputs and undesirable outputs when evaluating the resource nodes. Furthermore, the resource scheduling model can generate for the calculation tasks an optimal resource scheduling scheme that has the highest total computational efficiency. Research limitations/implications The proposed method may also be used in studies of resource scheduling studies in the environments of public clouds and hybrid clouds. Practical implications The proposed approach can achieve the goal of resource scheduling in private cloud computing platforms by attaining the highest total computational efficiency, which is very significant in practice. Originality/value This paper uses an efficiency priority point of view to solve the problem of resource scheduling in private cloud environments.