Room Capacity Research Articles

Internet-Based Smart Door Design of Things (IOT) with Visitor Access Controller Indoor

In the era of digital technology, the Internet of Things (IoT) has become an innovative solution in various sectors, including in access management and room security. This research aims to design and implement an IoT-based smart door system that is able to control visitor access using NodeMCU ESP8266 and send notifications through the Telegram application. The system uses PIR sensors to detect the presence of visitors and servo motors to operate the door automatically. When the number of visitors reaches the maximum set capacity, the system will automatically close the door and send a warning notification to the Telegram bot and activate the buzzer as a warning sign. Thus, this system not only improves the safety and comfort of visitors, but also helps prevent the spread of diseases by limiting the number of visitors according to a safe capacity. The test results show that this smart door system can function well in controlling visitor access and providing real-time notifications when the room capacity is exceeded. The implementation of this system is expected to be applied in various public places to improve security management and visitor capacity effectively.

Room capacity improvement for classrooms at Bali State Polytechnic

Room capacity improvement for classrooms at Bali State Polytechnic

The impact of audience dynamics on public speaking anxiety in virtual scenarios: An online survey

BackgroundPublic speaking is one of the most commonly feared situations reported in both community and university samples. Despite extensive theoretical models and empirical studies aimed at delineating the underlying factors of Public Speaking Anxiety (PSA), the specific variables contributing to its onset remain incompletely characterised. MethodsThe research involved 297 participants from an AmazonTurk survey, engaging with virtual public speaking scenarios differentiated by audience size, engagement levels, and room spatial dimensions. Participants' anticipated anxiety levels were quantitatively assessed across these scenarios, enabling a comprehensive exploration of the interaction between situational variables and PSA, thereby providing a framework to explore the influence of audience size, engagement, and spatial dimensions on PSA. ResultsThe mixed-effect model revealed a significant interaction among audience size, audience engagement, and room spatial dimensions. Further analyses using principal axis factoring and multiple regression identified three main factors: F1 (Engagement in a Large Audience), F2 (Confinement or Evaluation Anxiety), and F3 (Audience Disengagement). These factors significantly predict PSA scores. ConclusionsThis study reveals that PSA is influenced by a complex interplay of audience size, room dimensions, and audience engagement. The finding underscores the viable way to incorporate these situational variables in both empirical investigations and therapeutic interventions. Specifically, it introduces a novel framework for standardising audience size relative to room capacity.

Elective Urological Procedures in Times of Reduced Operating Room Capacity.

Elective Urological Procedures in Times of Reduced Operating Room Capacity.

The effects of lodging infrastructure development in the environmental quality and natural resource management in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Philippines

PurposeThis study aims to determine the effects of lodging infrastructure development (LID) on Cordillera Administrative Region’s (CAR) environmental quality and natural resource management and its implication to globally responsible leadership. Specifically, this study sought to determine the contribution of LID to environmental deterioration and natural resource degradation in the CAR. As a result, a mathematical model is developed, which supports sustainability practices to maintain the environmental quality and natural resource management in CAR, Philippines.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a descriptive research design using a mixed-methods approach. Self-structured interview and survey were used to gather the data. The population of this study involved three groups. There were 6.28% (34) experts in the field for the qualitative data, 70.24% (380) respondents for the quantitative data and 23.47% (127) from the lodging establishments. 120 respondents from the Department of Tourism – CAR (DOT-CAR) accredited hotels. Nonparametric and nonlinear regression analysis was used to process the data.FindingsThe effects of LID on the environmental quality and natural resource management in CAR as measured through carbon emission from liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), electricity and water consumption in the occupied guest rooms revealed a direct correlation between the LID. Findings conclude that the increase in tourist arrival is a trigger factor in the increase in LID in the CAR. The increase in LID implies a rise in carbon emission in the lodging infrastructure. Any increase in tourist arrivals increases lodging room occupancy; the increased lodging room occupancy contributes to carbon emissions. Thus, tourism trends contribute to the deterioration of the environmental quality and degradation of the natural resources in the CAR. A log-log model shows the percentage change in the average growth of tourist arrival and the percentage increase in carbon emissions. Establishments should observe standard room capacity to maintain the carbon emission of occupied lodging rooms at a minimum. Responsible leadership is a factor in the implementation of policy on standard room capacity.Practical implicationsThe result of the study has some implications for the lodging businesses, the local government unit (LGU), the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in the CAR. The study highlights the contribution of the lodging establishments to CO2 emission, which can degrade the quality of the environment, and the implication of responsible leadership in managing natural resources in the CAR. The direct inverse relationship between energy use and CO2 emission in hotels indicates that increased energy consumption leads to environmental degradation (Ahmad et al., 2018). Therefore, responsible leadership among policymakers in the lodging and government sectors – LGU, DOT and DENR – should abound in the CAR. Benchmarking on the model embarked from this study can help in designing and/or enhancing the policy on room capacity standardization, considering the total area with its maximum capacity to keep the carbon emission at a lower rate. Furthermore, as a responsible leader in the community, one should create programs that regulate the number of tourists visiting the place to decrease the number of overnight stays. Besides, having the political will to implement reduced room occupancy throughout the lodging establishments in CAR can help reduce the carbon emissions from the lodging businesses. After all, one of the aims of the International Environment Protection Organization is to reduce CO2 emissions in the tourism industry. Hence, responsible leadership in environmental quality preservation and sustainable natural resource management must help prevent and avoid greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.Originality/valueMost studies about carbon emission in the environment tackle about carbon dioxide emitted by transportation and factories. This study adds to the insights on the existing information about the carbon emission in the environment from the lodging establishments through the use of LPG, electricity and water consumption in the occupied guest rooms. The findings of the study open an avenue for globally responsible leadership in sustaining environmental quality and preservation of natural resources by revisiting and amending the policies on the number of room occupancy, guidelines and standardization, considering the total lodging area with its maximum capacity to keep the carbon emission at a minimum, thus contributing to the lowering of GHG emissions from the lodging industry.

Exploring Symbiosis: Innovatively Unveiling the Interplay between the Cold Chain Logistics of Fresh Agricultural Products and the Ecological Environment

Cold chain logistics are crucial for reducing agricultural product loss, yet the environmental impact of energy and packaging consumption, among others, demands attention, making the search for eco-friendly development modes essential. Based on data from 30 provinces in China from 2015 to 2021, this study analyzes the basic correlation between the development of cold chain logistics of fresh agricultural products (CCLFAP) and the ecological environment (EE) by using a random forest regression model in comparison with the XGBoost model. Correlation heatmaps were used to analyze the relationships between the cold chain logistics of fresh agricultural products and various factors of the ecological environment. The generalized additive model was then used to establish the connection between cold chain logistics and the ecological environment, identifying significant factors impacting EE. The results demonstrate that a higher development level of cold chain logistics corresponds to a better development trend of EE. The economic efficiency and technical aspects of cold chain logistics for fresh agricultural products are closely related to ecological pressures and responses. The number of employees in the logistics industry, the trading volume of fresh agricultural products, the number of refrigerated vehicles, and the capacity of the cold room have significant positive correlations with the ecological environment, while the per capita consumption of fresh agricultural products, the number of cold chain logistics patent applications, and the road density had significant negative correlations with the ecological environment. The effects of the number of cold chain logistics enterprises and the freight turnover of agricultural products transported by the cold chain on the ecological environment fluctuated. These findings contribute to reducing climate and environmental emergencies throughout the life cycle, offering sustainable development solutions for the fresh agricultural product cold chain logistics industry.

A Mixed Integer Linear Programming for Exam-Invigilator Assignment Problem: A Case Study at Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia

The assignment of invigilators for examinations is a complex and challenging task, particularly when faced with numerous factors that must be carefully considered. Critical elements are essential in this process, including staff availability, room capacity, and time constraints, requiring thorough evaluation and coordination. This paper focuses on improving the allocation of invigilators for examinations at Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM). The issue arises when academic staff members responsible for teaching the subject are also assigned as exam invigilators, which conflicts with their primary role of assisting students in addressing their queries during examinations. It is essential to reconsider the distribution of invigilator roles, ensuring that academic staff members can focus solely on providing educational support. In contrast, qualified non-academic staff handle invigilation duties effectively. A mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model is formulated using the existing examination timetable to solve this problem. The model is solved using a simple algorithm implemented in the XPress MP programming language, resulting in an improved solution that requires less computational effort than the conventional method. This approach offers an alternative and better solution for scheduling examination invigilators at UPNM, ensuring the efficient and effective management of exam procedures while maximizing the utilization of available resources. It can serve as a starting point for future investigations into UPNM's scheduling procedures.

Research on indoor environmental monitoring technology and radiation intensity control method for industrial X-ray flaw detection

Abstract With the development of China’s economy, the application of industrial radiation flaw detection technology is becoming more and more widespread, and the radiation monitoring and protection of flaw detection work has become an important topic in the field of radiation safety and protection. This paper uses pyroelectric technology to track X-ray radiation levels in the environment. It also chooses the scale curve method for calibrating the pyroelectric dosimeter and figures out the scale factor at the same time. The neutron and photon dimensions are used to evaluate the personal dose equivalent. The applicable range of pyroelectric dosimeters is calculated and the method is applied for radiation dose monitoring in industrial X-ray flaw detection rooms. Concrete wall shielding is used to determine the design parameters of the flaw detection room and the location of the distribution points to improve the shielding capacity of the flaw detection room and control the radiation intensity. The monitoring value of the operation position of the flaw detection room of Leshan Leboiler Enterprises in 2018 was 258.2, which was 73 higher than that of 2019. The results of the on-site monitoring of the absorbed dose rate of the ambient air in the flaw detection room showed that the average absorbed rate ranged from 0.015 to 0.546 μSv/h, which was lower than the standard of 2.5 μSv/h, and the shielding capacity of the flaw detection room was better, and the intensity of the radiation could be effectively controlled.

РОЛЬ УПРАВЛІННЯ ДИСТРИБУЦІЙНИМИ КАНАЛАМИ ГОТЕЛЮ ПРИ ОВЕРБУКІНГУ

The application of the overbooking process for different segments of the hotel services market requires the study of factors and prerequisites for influencing demand. The main problem faced by hotels when using overbooking is that, despite a set of booking requests that exceeds the total number of rooms, there is a lack of room capacity in the intervals between bookings. Hotel owners and managers, including those with a limited capacity, are increasingly interested in revenue management methods, but not everyone has managed to implement a system of Revenue Management, which is an integral part of effective management. On the one hand, a revenuemanager can optimize profitability and profitability not only from room sales, but also from other hotel revenue centers; on the other hand, knowing (analyzing) the habits of regular guests, it is possible to increase their loyalty by offering a personalized approach to providing special conditions for hotel services. Determining the potential of bookings and their impact on the total revenue of a hotel is based on an arsenal of data on needs in the general economic aspect, which form the interests, expectations, and priorities of consumers in choosing a hotel service. From the perspective of market relations, it is the needs of consumers that are the basis for the formation of consumer demand for hotel services. In the practical context of distribution of hotel services, the main dispute in the formation of a room reservation guarantee system is reflected in the content of compensation processes for reasons of no-show or early departure. In accordance with this statement, the fundamental content, prerequisites and benefits of using overbooking for the guest are the flexible consumption, at the level of the hotel enterprise – it is to ensure the process of managing the occupancy as a set of separate areas of planning and maximizing revenues. However, it is worth noting that the increasing application of overbooking depends on individual decisions of the hotel company and requires differentiation of the hotel service, which, in particular, involves expanding the price plan, introducing new methods in the process of their promotion and transforming distribution. The problem is that the level of overbooking is determined primarily by the method of trial and error and can lead either to resale of rooms and forced relocation of guests or to an unreasonably large quantity of vacant rooms and a lack of revenue.

The Effect of Noise and Lighting on the Output of Work Production in Small and Medium-Sized Foundry Enterprises

The main work environment factors which include temperature, lighting, noise, and air circulation are factors that affect the physical, mental, and psychological burden of employees. High physical, mental, and psychological burdens can affect the non-achievement of production output. This is found in Metal Casting SMEs TS Aluminum. The noise level at the TS Aluminum SMEs at the scraping workstation exceeded the normal threshold of 92.42 dB and the lighting at the scraping workstation was below the threshold of 49.8 Lux. This study was conducted to determine the effect of noise and lighting simultaneously or partially on production output at the processing workstation at SMEs TS Aluminum. This study used the multiple linear regression method, with 5 respondents. The equipment used for noise data collection is the Lutron SL-400 Sound Level Meter and lighting is measured using the Lux MeterLX101 A measuring instrument. Based on the results of statistical tests, show that simultaneous and partial noise and lighting variables have a significant positive effect on production output at the processing workstation at SMEs TS Aluminum (p-value < 0.05). Testing the value of multiple coefficients of determination obtained a percentage of 47% of the influence of noise and lighting on productivity variables, while the remaining percentage of 53% was influenced by other variables that were not studied. Suggestions for noise are that SMEs pay more attention to room capacity, pay attention to the layout of employees in filing, installation of room silencers, and workers required to use personal protective equipment (PPE). The lighting suggestion is that SMEs must add lights in every corner of the room so that the lighting is evenly distributed to all rooms.

Development and evaluation of an escape room based on general pharmacokinetics: Students' perceptions of its motivational climate.

We designed an escape room based on the basic principles of pharmacokinetics for undergraduate bachelor students and explored its effect on students' perceived motivational climate and usefulness as a formative assessment via a mixed-method design. The effect on students' perceptions of the motivational climate was measured using pre- and post-test measurements of the MUSIC® inventory. Students' experiences with the escape room and suggestions for improvement were collected by open-ended survey questions. Forty-one students initially joined the study while 28 students completed both the pre- and post-test MUSIC® inventory. Data from the MUSIC® inventory revealed the effect of playing the escape room on students' situational interest was positive with medium to large effect (Cohen's dav = 0.63). Data from the open-ended questions confirmed the outcome of the MUSIC® inventory. While there was a positive effect on situational interest, students found the escape room not very useful as a tool for formative assessment. Further research should include a control group and focus on the effect of the escape room on academic success and work toward increasing the capacity of the escape room for large-scale courses.

Optimasi Kenyamanan Suhu Ruangan Melalui Perancangan Otomatisasi Kipas Angin di Masjid Nurhidayatullah Maguwoharjo

This research explores a solution to optimise room temperature comfort in Masjid Nurhidayatullah Maguwoharjo. Mosques are susceptible to temperature and humidity fluctuations, which can affect the worship experience of congregants. To address this challenge, the study developed an automated fan system that dynamically responds to environmental changes, such as temperature and congregation density, using DHT22 temperature and PIR sensors to monitor these parameters. The results indicate that the system effectively maintains temperature and humidity within predefined comfort ranges. Additionally, the study incorporated the TM1637 module and LCD I2C 20x4 display to provide users with temperature, humidity, fan speed, and room capacity information. During testing, temperature and humidity fluctuations throughout the day were recorded, along with changes in congregation density during prayer times. The fan speed adjustment results were reflected in the system's responsiveness to environmental conditions. This research successfully provides an effective solution to enhance comfort in mosques. Therefore, it makes a valuable contribution to the development of automation systems aimed at improving the congregational worship experience and energy efficiency in mosques.

Surgical leadership: Ensuring financial stability through growth

Maintaining financial stability is important for leaders in surgery because it (1) allows consistent, fair (market value) reimbursement for employees, which conveys that they are valued; (2) enables strategic investment in new programs that may not generate direct financial gains but are required; and (3) builds trust with stakeholders outside the department while strengthening the department’s position in negotiations. Key strategies that we have used to increase revenue (income) over the past 6 years have been hiring more faculty, advocating for greater operating room and staffing capacity, staffing surgeons at other institutions using affiliation agreements, attempting to shift grant-funded efforts to non-clinical (research) faculty to mitigate National Institutes of Health salary cap penalties, and increasing efforts to identify external funding for educational and administrative tasks performed by surgeons (eg, increasing contact hours with medical students to secure a greater proportion of state general revenue). Using these strategies, our total revenue has increased 66% over the past 6 years, whereas Academic Support Agreement funds from the College of Medicine concurrently have decreased by 75%. Key strategies that we have used for curtailing expenses have been increasing clinic workflow efficiency; shifting advance practice provider contractual expenses and trainee indirect costs to the hospital; focusing on driving down delayed accounts receivable over time; and using net collections to preferentially invest in research likely to receive future external funding, for which indirect costs return to the department. Despite using these strategies, the total expenses of our department have increased 74% over the past 6 years, driven primarily by the doubling of clinic costs and contractual expenses for advance practice providers. These losses could theoretically be offset by (1) increasing billing by advance practice providers who can also facilitate excellent continuity of surgical care while allowing residents and fellows to shift their effort from service toward education and (2) increasing clinic capacity to generate increasing operative volumes. A department’s financial stability is affected by complex interactions among several stakeholders, including the College of Medicine, faculty group practices, and hospitals, with competing interests. Leaders in surgery must understand and manage major categories of revenue and expenses to create a financially stable environment in which they can fulfill their multi-prong missions.

Field energy performance of cold storage in East China: A case study

The energy consumption cold storage is rapidly increasing due to fast development of cold chain. However, the energy consumption composition, energy efficiency, and cooling load composition of cold storage are not clear, which become a barrier for increasing energy efficiency in cold storage. In the previous research, an accurate and convenient field cooling capacity test method is lacking. In this study, an extended compressor energy conservation –compressor volumetric efficiency method was proposed to calculate the cooling capacity of each cold room in centralized cold storage. A cold storage system in Jiangsu Province was selected for field testing. The operational characteristics and composition of electricity consumption were investigated firstly. The field test results show that the refrigeration system accounts for 80% of the total energy consumption of cold storage. Statistical analysis revealed that the valley electricity price interval and compressors accounted for 64.0% and 67.3% of the total energy consumption of the refrigeration system, in time and space, respectively. Furthermore, during the transition season (4/1–5/31), with a cold storage temperature of −18 ℃, the average daily energy efficiency ratio of the refrigeration system in the cold storage is 1.33 kWh·kWh−1. An analysis of the composition of the refrigeration load was also conducted, and the results indicated that for the overall cooling load of the cold storage, the envelope cooling load, door leakage & personnel operating cooling load, income cargo cooling load, and electrical equipment cooling load accounted for 26%, 27%, 32%, and 15%, respectively.

RANCANG BANGUN SISTEM PERHITUNGAN ORANG ATAU PENGUNJUNG DALAM SEBUAH RUANGAN BERBASIS ARDUINO

This research aims to design and implement an Arduino-based system for counting and tracking people in SMK Tunas Baru Berkarya's auditorium. The system will use infrared sensors on the doors to detect visitors and Arduino as the central system to process the data. It will also control the doors using servo motors. The study will involve several stages, including selecting and configuring the infrared sensors, developing Arduino programs for visitor detection and counting, and adjusting the servo motors for door control. Testing and evaluation will ensure the system's reliability and effectiveness in monitoring room capacity and controlling door access based on available capacity. The research's outcomes are expected to benefit the auditorium management by optimizing room usage, enhancing visitor safety, and providing a seamless experience for visitors.

Learning-Based personal models for joint optimization of thermal comfort and energy consumption in flexible workplaces

Due to distinct preferences across individuals, a large proportion of people are not satisfied with the thermal environments of their workplaces. Although recent studies have investigated flexible workplaces to meet the different preferences of individuals, the feasibility of adopting them to real-world environments is limited by the room capacity and potential for extra energy consumption. To address the knowledge gaps, this paper proposes a framework to jointly optimize thermal comfort and energy consumption of buildings through flexible workplaces by considering personal thermal preferences. A joint optimization algorithm that integrates building energy and personal thermal comfort models is developed based on the concept of the Large Neighborhood Search (LNS) algorithm. Analytical energy prediction models are obtained through Nonlinear Polynomial Regression (NPR) and personal thermal comfort models are established using Support Vector Machine Models (SVM). To verify the algorithm, a case study considering two scenarios (with and without existing personal thermal comfort data) is presented. The results indicate the proposed optimization algorithm can significantly improve the thermal comfort of the occupants while saving 22% and 14 % of energy consumption in the two scenarios, respectively. The proposed optimization method is valuable for building managers while adopting the concept of flexible workplaces.

The Public Health Services at the Metropolitan Region (MR) of Chile have nine acute psychiatric beds per 100,000 over 18 years old inhabitants, insufficient for current need

The Public Health Services at the Metropolitan Region (MR) of Chile have nine acute psychiatric beds per 100,000 inhabitants, under international recommendations. The present study will evaluate the resolution capacity of the main MR Psychiatric Emergency Room (PER), which may help assess the impact of the availability of acute beds in the MR. A retrospective observational study of electronic patient records for all adult patients attending PER of the Psychiatric Institute "Dr. José Horwitz B." between 2017 and 2020 was analyzed. Crude and adjusted Incidence Rate Ratios were obtained for the indication of hospitalization, admissions, and those rejected due to lack of acute psychiatric beds. 90,464 attendances were evaluated on 41,541 patients, and hospitalization was indicated for 12.5% of them. Admissions were carried out in 59.5%, and 35.9% did not occur due to a lack of acute psychiatric beds. When comparing the adjusted Incidence Rates, only a higher hospitalization rate was observed for users from regions (IRR = 1,267; 95% CI: 1,11-1,44; p-value < 0.001) and during the first half of 2020 (IRR = 1.49; CI95%: 1.35-1.65; p-value < 0.001). The demand for psychiatric hospitalizations and the low availability of acute psychiatric beds in the MR probably have unsuspected consequences. The solution requires multilevel planning among all the actors involved.

Characteristics of emergency general surgery services in Switzerland: a nationwide survey

ObjectiveRunning an emergency general surgery (EGS) service is challenging and requires significant personnel and institutional resources. The aim of this study was to achieve a nationwide overview of the individual EGS service organizations in public hospitals in Switzerland.MethodsAll Swiss public hospitals with a surgical and emergency department were included and contacted by telephone. General surgeons were interviewed between December 2021 and January 2022 using a standardized questionnaire.ResultsSeventy-two out of 79 public hospitals in Switzerland (91.1%) agreed to the survey. They employed 1,581 surgeons in 19 (26.4%) hospitals with < 100 beds, 39 (54.2%) hospitals with 100–300 beds, 7 (9.7%) with 300–600 beds, and 7 (9.7%) with > 600 beds. The median number of surgeons per hospital was 20.5 (IQR 13.0–29.0). Higher level of care (intermediate or intensive care unit) was significantly less available in small hospitals (< 100 beds). The median hour of designated emergency operating room capacity per day was 14 h (IQR 14–24) for all hospitals with < 600 beds and 24 h (IQR 14–24) for the largest hospitals (> 600 beds). With increasing hospital size, there was a significant increase in the number of surgical units where EGS and orthopedic trauma surgery were covered by two separate teams (21.1% vs. 43.6% vs. 85.7% vs. 100%, p = 0.035). The median number of surgeons on-call per hospital and per 24 h was 5.0 (IQR 3.3–6.0).ConclusionLack of higher level of care in small hospitals, limited emergency OR capacity and short rotations of on-call teams are major drawbacks of many current EGS systems in Switzerland. Centralization of critically ill EGS patients and reorganization of surgical on-call systems to designated acute care surgery teams should be considered.

Allocating operating room capacity to non-elective neurosurgical patients improves access and safety for elective patients at Aarhus University Hospital

Introduction This study addresses surgical scheduling within the Department of Neurosurgery at Aarhus University Hospital (AUH). The department provides neurosurgical care to a population of 1.3 million in central Denmark, and has treatment obligations for specific neurosurgical diseases for the entire country, which has a population of 5.8 million. Efficient utilisation of the department’s four operating suites is crucial to ensure that patients have timely access to both non-elective and elective neurosurgical procedures. Historically, the elective operating room (OR) schedule was made without consideration of the possible arrival of non-elective patients; consequently, elective surgeries were often cancelled to accommodate those with more urgent indications. The challenge was thus to introduce a structured way of planning for these non-elective surgical procedures that would minimise the need for cancelling elective surgeries without decreasing overall productivity. Methods Using a mathematical model developed in a previous study at Leiden University Medical Center, the effect of allocating OR time during regular working hours for non-elective neurosurgical procedures at AUH was analysed, so that a weighted trade-off could be made between cancellations of elective patients due to an overflow of non-elective patients and unused OR time due to excessive reservation of time for non-elective patients. This allocation was tested in a six-week pilot study during weeks 24 & 25 and weeks 34–37 of 2020 before being implemented in 2021. Results In the 35 weeks following the implementation, the new allocation strategy resulted in a significant 77% decrease in the cancellation of elective neurosurgical procedures when compared with the same time period in 2019, with a significant 16% increase in surgical productivity. Conclusions This study shows that with mathematical modelling complex problems in the distribution of neurosurgical OR capacity can be solved, improving both patient safety and the working environment of neurosurgeons and OR staff.

A two-stage stochastic optimization framework to allocate operating room capacity in publicly-funded hospitals under uncertainty.

Surgery demand is an uncertain parameter in addressing the problem of surgery block allocations, and its typical variability should be considered to ensure the feasibility of surgical planning. We develop two models, a stochastic recourse programming model and a two-stage stochastic optimization (SO) model with incorporated risk measure terms in the objective functions to determine a planning decision that is made to allocate surgical specialties to operating rooms (ORs). Our aim is to minimize the costs associated with postponements and unscheduled demands as well as the inefficient use of OR capacity. The results of these models are compared using a case of a real-life hospital to determine which model better copes with uncertainty. We propose a novel framework to transform the SO model based on its deterministic counterpart. Three SO models are proposed with respect to the variability and infeasibility of the measures of the objective function to encode the construction of the SO framework. The analysis of the experimental results demonstrates that the SO model offers better performance under a highly volatile demand environment than the recourse model. The originality of this work lies in its use of SO transformation framework and its development of stochastic models to address the problem of surgery capacity allocation based on a real case.