Capacity Shortage Research Articles

Identifying Couse and Drivers of Wetland Degradation in Ethiopia: A Review

Ethiopia is endowed with diverse ecosystems in which diverse flora and fauna as well as microbial resources are found. Ethiopia owns diverse types of wetlands, which deliver vast socio-economic and environmental values. However, this ecosystem is exposed to degradation due to adverse human activities. Therefore, the objective of this review was to assess the major threats and drivers of Wetland degradation and suggested conservation strategies in Ethiopia. The identified major threats are drainage for agriculture; overgrazing; invasion of alien species; degradation of catchment lands; over harvesting of their resources, settlement and urban expansion; population growth, water diversion, destructive tree plantation around the wetlands and pollution. While, policy related issue; institutional arrangement issues; issue of capacity shortage; On-site management problem; Off-site management problem and Ecological issue are driving factors those contribute to the threats to the wetlands. Regarding Wetland conservation strategies, real participatory wetland management, involving whole relevant stakeholders, understanding property right regime and institution are things to be considered in addition to offering alternative income generation for the local communities whose depends on the wetland resources. Furthermore, appropriate policy on conservation and management, rule and regulations needs to be established and the action should be taken to sustain the potential and life span of the existing wetlands. Keywords: Conservation strategies; Wetlands degradation; threats; Ethiopia DOI: 10.7176/JEES/11-2-01 Publication date: February 28 th 2021

Reliability Analysis of Internal Power Supply Architecture of Data Centers in Terms of Power Losses

The number of data centers and the energy demand are increasing globally with the development of information and communication technology (ICT). The data center operators are facing challenges to limit the internal power losses and the unexpected outages of the computational resources or servers. The power losses of the internal power supply system (IPSS) increase with the increasing number of servers that causes power supply capacity shortage for the devices in IPSS. The aim of this paper is to address the outage probability of the computational resources or servers due to the power supply capacity shortage of the power distribution units (PDUs) in the IPSS. The servers outage probability at rack-level defines the service availability of the data center since the servers are the main computational resource of it. The overall availability of the IPSS and the power consumption models of the IPSS devices are also presented in this paper. Quantitative studies are performed to show the impacts of the power losses on the service availability and the overall availability of the IPSS for two different IPSS architectures, which are equivalent to the Tier I and Tier IV models of the data center.

Ambulance routing in disaster response considering variable patient condition: NSGA-II and MOPSO algorithms

<p style='text-indent:20px;'>The shortage of relief vehicles capacity is a common issue throughout disastrous situations due to the abundance of injured people who need urgent medical aid. Hence, ambulances fleet management is highly important to save as many injured individuals as possible. In this regard, the present paper defines different patient groups based on their needs and characteristics. In order to provide the affected people with proper and timely medical aid, changes in their health status are also considered. A Mixed-integer Linear Programming (MILP) model is proposed to find the best sequence of routes for each ambulance and minimize the latest service completion time (SCT) as well as the number of patients whose condition gets worse because of receiving untimely medical services. Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) and Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization (MOPSO) are used to find high-quality solutions over a short time. In the end, Lorestan province, Iran, is considered as a case study to assess the model's performance and analyze the sensitivity of solutions with respect to the major parameters, which results in insightful managerial suggestions.</p>

Cost\u2010effectiveness of intensive care for hospitalized COVID-19 patients: experience from South Africa

BackgroundGiven projected shortages of critical care capacity in public hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic, the South African government embarked on an initiative to purchase this capacity from private hospitals. In order to inform purchasing decisions, we assessed the cost-effectiveness of intensive care management for admitted COVID-19 patients across the public and private health systems in South Africa.MethodsUsing a modelling framework and health system perspective, costs and health outcomes of inpatient management of severe and critical COVID-19 patients in (1) general ward and intensive care (GW + ICU) versus (2) general ward only (GW) were assessed. Disability adjusted life years (DALYs) were evaluated and the cost per admission in public and private sectors was determined. The model made use of four variables: mortality rates, utilisation of inpatient days for each management approach, disability weights associated with severity of disease, and the unit cost per general ward day and per ICU day in public and private hospitals. Unit costs were multiplied by utilisation estimates to determine the cost per admission. DALYs were calculated as the sum of years of life lost (YLL) and years lived with disability (YLD). An incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) - representing difference in costs and health outcomes of the two management strategies - was compared to a cost-effectiveness threshold to determine the value for money of expansion in ICU services during COVID-19 surges.ResultsA cost per admission of ZAR 75,127 was estimated for inpatient management of severe and critical COVID-19 patients in GW as opposed to ZAR 103,030 in GW + ICU. DALYs were 1.48 and 1.10 in GW versus GW + ICU, respectively. The ratio of difference in costs and health outcomes between the two management strategies produced an ICER of ZAR 73,091 per DALY averted, a value above the cost-effectiveness threshold of ZAR 38,465.ConclusionsResults indicated that purchasing ICU capacity from the private sector during COVID-19 surges may not be a cost-effective investment. The ‘real time’, rapid, pragmatic, and transparent nature of this analysis demonstrates an approach for evidence generation for decision making relating to the COVID-19 pandemic response and South Africa’s wider priority setting agenda.

Effect of COVID-19 on colorectal cancer care in England

During the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring, 2020, unprecedented pressure on hospital beds and intensive care units (ICUs), redeployment of staff, caution regarding nosocomial transmission, reduced primary care access, and population lockdown combined in a perfect storm, dramatically disrupting UK cancer care pathways.1 It was predicted that colorectal cancer care might fare particularly badly, in particular due to suspension of non-emergency diagnostic endoscopy following safety concerns from the British Society of Gastroenterology, discontinuation of the National Bowel Cancer Screening programme, recommendation by the Royal College of Surgeons against laparoscopic procedures, and shortage of ICU capacity to support open bowel resections.

Techno-economic evaluation of an off-grid health clinic considering the current and future energy challenges: A rural case study

The existence of health clinics is an essential need for residents of a remote area to improve their quality of life. Providing energy and freshwater for these units are critical problems especially in countries with arid areas and tropical climate. In this study, a hybrid energy system including photovoltaic panels, diesel generator, and battery bank is considered to provide electrical demand for a health clinic. Lack of proper access to the fuel in standalone systems can be a challenge in desert remote areas which could cause difficulties in the electricity management. Accordingly, three excess electricity management methods including increasing the annual fuel availability, using a combination of fuel cell/electrolyzer and considering the annual capacity shortage are compared to each other. Also for the first time, the possibility of annual shocks to the load is taken into account due to the global outbreak of some epidemic diseases such as SARS and Covid-19 in recent history. The results showed that the energy cost of proposed hybrid system would be 0.105 $/kWh with more than 30% renewable fraction. Also, the grid breakeven distance in different situations is estimated between 1.2 km and 5.8 km which shows the high capability of off-grid development of the proposed hybrid system for small loads.

Design, Manufacture, and Test of a 30 m 10 kV/2.5 kA Concentric HTS Cable Prototype for Urban Grid

High temperature superconducting (HTS) cable, with significant low dissipation and massive current carrying capability, is a promising solution for the shortage of transmission capacity in mega-cities. China Southern Grid launched a HTS cable project in 2017 to develop a medium voltage concentric HTS cable system for installation in the distribution grid at urban area in Shenzhen City. It is the first time that concentric HTS cable system is developed and will be the first HTS cable installed in urban grid in China. The cable core mainly consists of three concentric phases winded by YBCO tapes and cold dielectric insulations in between phase-to-phase, phase-to-former, and phase-to-screen. The cable has a rated voltage of 10 kV and a rated current of 2.5 kArms. The critical current (Ic) is at least 6 kA per phase. The outline diameter of the cable core is 76 mm and the cryogenic pipe is 175 mm. As a middle step, we designed and manufactured a 30 m long prototype cable system and it was tested generally according to IEC 63075. For improvement of the manufacture processes, several short cable core samples were made, tested, and dismantled. The ultimate goal of the 30 m prototype is to verify the design and accumulate experience for the installation of the 400 m fully functional cable system in the grid. The test results of the 30 m cable prototype are presented and discussed. The 400 m class HTS concentric cable demonstration project has already started and it is expected to energize in grid in late September, 2021.

Efficacy Assessment of Newly-designed Filtering Facemasks during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic resulted in shortages of production and test capacity of FFP2-respirators. Such facemasks are required to be worn by healthcare professionals when performing aerosol-generating procedures on COVID-19 patients. In response to the high demand and short supply, we designed three models of facemasks that are suitable for local production. As these facemasks should meet the requirements of an FFP2-certified facemask, the newly-designed facemasks were tested on the filtration efficiency of the filter material, inward leakage, and breathing resistance with custom-made experimental setups. In these tests, the facemasks were benchmarked against a commercial FFP2 facemask. The filtration efficiency of the facemask’s filter material was also tested with coronavirus-loaded aerosols under physiologically relevant conditions. This multidisciplinary effort resulted in the design and production of facemasks that meet the FFP2 requirements, and which can be produced at local production facilities.

The Scattering Characteristics of Vortex Radio-Frequency Waves for Wireless Communication

As a solution to the shortage of transmission capacity, the vortex radio frequency waves have been applied to wireless transmission technology. The potential of vortex radio frequency waves applying to the fields of wireless communication, radar detection and radar imaging will be invaluable. The scattering characteristics of the vortex waves are the basis for its application in radar detection imaging and identification. This paper focuses on the theoretical derivation, including the main effects on the scattering characteristics, and the future applications and prospects of scattering characteristics. The state of art in research area is reviewed, followed by a brief discussion on future directions.

Reducing Judicial Delay in Resource-Constrained Settings: A Data-Driven Queueing Approach

Shortage of judicial capacity leads to costly delays, stunted economic development, and even failure to deliver justice. This problem is endemic not only in the developing world but also in the congested appeals courts of wealthier nations. Using the Supreme Court of India as an exemplar for such resource-constrained settings, we develop a framework with data-driven queueing simulations for estimating performance metrics such as the expected case-disposition time (delay) and expected number of cases awaiting adjudication (pendency). This allows us to not only calibrate the status quo for judicial performance but to also perform counterfactual analysis that evaluates the relative effectiveness of various interventions such as additional judges, process re-engineering, and workload management. We find that the Supreme Court of India operates in a nearly critically-loaded regime (nearly 100% utilization of capacity) that is characterized by substantial delays, and small perturbations to capacity or process efficiency have dramatic impact on system performance. In particular, increasing judge capacity by 7% (adding a bench) results in a 75% - 90% reduction in average delay. Alternatively, capping the number of adjournments allowed in a case to the recommended number three, also results in a comparable delay reduction. Our findings bode well for the ability to tackle persistent delay, but scrutiny of the court's workload-management practices points to the possibility of perpetually languishing in congestion unless more effective winnowing of pent-up demand (e.g., accepting fewer appeals) is ensured.

Technology and economic analysis of urban waste potential (case study of Jatibarang landfill)

The high volume of waste produced by both industry and society is common in almost all cities. For this reason, it is necessary to control the increase in the volume of waste and its implications for the environment. The scenario used in this research is to design a power plant that can be used to control the increase in the volume of waste, namely PLTSa (Waste Power Plant). PLTSa uses organic waste from trash to generate clean, renewable energy, powering communities, and reducing emissions. At the PLTSa, the organic waste is fed into a digester tank, where it is converted into methane by bacteria. The gas is then sent to the waste power plant, which generates 0.9 MW of power. The PLTSa supports the Indonesian government’s plan to increase electricity in the country by 35,000 MW from 2015 to 2019, and for 25% of that electricity to be generated from renewable sources. The government’s plan was in response to a shortage of electricity generation capacity as demand in the country grows. The data analysis method used to analyze the research data is an analysis using the IPCC Inventory software and the LFGcost-Web Landfill Gas Emission Model (LandGEM). Data analysis results in the form of projections of biogas potential and electrical energy will be used to build PLTSa. Waste-to-energy generation is being increasingly looked at as a potential energy diversification strategy, especially in Indonesia and PLTSa (Waste Power Plants) in several cities in Indonesia.

Transportation Capacity Shortage Influence on Logistics Performance: Evidence From the Australian Logistics Service Providers’ Driver Shortage

Transportation Capacity Shortage Influence on Logistics Performance: Evidence From the Australian Logistics Service Providers’ Driver Shortage

Adaptive relay settings for distribution network with distributed generation (DG) using Sugeno fuzzy inference

Abstract The rapid increase in the power demand and the capacity shortage of transmission and distribution system drives the integration of Distributed Generation (DG) units in electrical power distribution networks. The integration of DG resources with distribution network can cause significant impacts in protection due to the bidirectional flow of current, particularly the changes in magnitude and direction of short circuit currents. It may also lead to false tripping or fail to trip the over current protection relays in the power system. The relay parameters have to adapt to the changes in the system to avoid unnecessary trippings. The proposed adaptive over current protection scheme, sets the parameters of the relays according to the changes in the network. This method determines the plug multiplier settings (PMS) and the time multiplier settings (TMS) using Sugeno Fuzzy Inference System (SFIS). The proposed methodology is tested for IEEE 13 bus system and 33 bus system and with the obtained adaptive relay settings, the validation for relay coordination is done using ETAP.

Techno-economic optimization of a zero emission energy system for a coastal community in Newfoundland, Canada

Research into renewable hybridized PV/Wind/Hydro with pumped hydro storage (PHS) options is rarely investigated in the literature for meeting a community’s electricity demand in Newfoundland, Canada. The pumped hydro storage-based hybrid system is compared with the battery-based configurations. A detailed techno-economic and environmental potential of hybridized energy systems with the pumped hydro storage are examined over conventional battery storage and diesel-only systems. The study also investigates the effects of uncertainty of renewable resources, load data, and hydro resources on the sizing of the hybrid system.Results revealed that the study area has the potential renewable resources (PV/Wind/Hydro/PHS) for supplying electricity to the community at a significantly lower cost (0.136$/kWh) compared to the diesel-only system (0.355$/kWh). Moreover, the integration of the proposed hybrid system could save 344,106 litres of diesel and 910,459 kg CO2 annually. The study also indicates that PV/Wind/Hydro with the pumped hydro storage reduces the cost of energy and net present cost compared to the battery technology. The excess energy generation, unmet load, and capacity shortage are substantially higher in pumped hydro-based hybrid options than those of a battery-based hybrid option. Moreover, battery storage requires higher capital and operational investment than the pumped hydro-based system configurations. Additionally, integrating hydro into the PV/Wind/PHS option reduces the cost of energy by 58% compared to the PV/Wind/PHS alone.

Optimization with excess electricity management of a PV, energy storage and diesel generator hybrid system using HOMER Pro software

In this research, a standalone microgrid power system is proposed to electrify a small agricultural community in Palestinian territories. The load includes residential load and water pumping load. The community comprises about 30 households with some service buildings in addition to the water pumping system. The average load energy demand is 300kWh/day and the average power demand is 12.5kW, in the same context, the average energy demand for water pumping is 49kWh/day. The region has abundant solar radiation potential with a daily average of 5.4 kWh/m<sup>2</sup>. The optimum design was achieved using the HOMER Pro software. It took into consideration real incident solar radiation data, electrical demand profile for the community and water pumping system and market cost of all equipment. The optimization results showed that the best hybrid system among all feasible configurations is a PV system with an energy storage system combined with a diesel generator. The net present cost of the system is USD636,150 and the cost of energy (COE) produced is USD0.438/kWh. Sensitivity analysis is considered to study the impact of variations in PV cost, diesel fuel price, and maximum annual capacity shortages (MACS), the results showed that MACS has no effects. Energy management procedure is followed to reduce the excess electricity from 10.6% to 6.24% which in turn reduces the COE from 0.438 to USD 0.416/kWh.

Strategies for the efficient use of diagnostic resource under constraints: a model-based study on overflow of patients and insufficient diagnostic kits

This article addresses an optimisation problem of distributing rapid diagnostic kits among patients when the demands far surpass the supplies. This problem has not been given much attention in the field, and therefore, this article aims to provide a preliminary result in this problem domain. First, we describe the problem and define the goal of the optimisation by introducing an evaluation metric that measures the efficiency of the distribution strategies. Then, we propose two simple strategies, and a strategy that incorporates a prediction of patients’ visits utilising a standard epidemic model. The strategies were evaluated using the metric, with past statistics in Kitami City, Hokkaido, Japan, and the prediction-based strategy outperformed the other distribution strategies. We discuss the properties of the strategies and the limitations of the proposed approach. Although the problem must be generalised before the actual deployment of the suggested strategy, the preliminary result is promising in its ability to address the shortage of diagnostic capacity currently observed worldwide because of the ongoing coronavirus disease pandemic.

A Closer Look Into Global Hospital Beds Capacity and Resource Shortages During the COVID-19 Pandemic

BackgroundAs the COVID-19 pandemic continues, there is a question of whether hospitals have adequate resources to manage patients. We aim to investigate global hospital bed (HB), acute care bed (ACB), and intensive care unit (ICU) bed capacity and determine any correlation between these hospital resources and COVID-19 mortality. MethodCross-sectional study utilizing data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and other official organizations regarding global HB, ACB, ICU bed capacity, and confirmed COVID-19 cases/mortality. Descriptive statistics and linear regression were performed. ResultsA total of 183 countries were included with a mean of 307.1 HBs, 413.9 ACBs, and 8.73 ICU beds/100,000 population. High-income regions had the highest mean number of ICU beds (12.79) and HBs (402.32) per 100,000 population whereas upper middle-income regions had the highest mean number of ACBs (424.75) per 100,000. A weakly positive significant association was discovered between the number of ICU beds/100,000 population and COVID-19 mortality. No significant associations exist between the number of HBs or ACBs per 100,000 population and COVID-19 mortality. ConclusionsGlobal COVID-19 mortality rates are likely affected by multiple factors, including hospital resources, personnel, and bed capacity. Higher income regions of the world have greater ICU, acute care, and hospital bed capacities. Mandatory reporting of ICU, acute care, and hospital bed capacity/occupancy and information relating to coronavirus should be implemented. Adopting a tiered critical care approach and targeting the expansion of space, staff, and supplies may serve to maximize the quality of care during resurgences and future disasters.

Management of lung transplantation in the COVID-19 era-An international survey.

It is unknown if solid organ transplant recipients are at higher risk for severe COVID-19. The management of a lung transplantation (LTx) program and the therapeutic strategies to adapt the immunosuppressive regimen and antiviral measures is a major issue in the COVID-19 era, but little is known about worldwide practice. We sent out to 180 LTx centers worldwide in June 2020 a survey with 63 questions, both regarding the management of a LTx program in the COVID-19 era and the therapeutic strategies to treat COVID-19 LTx recipients. We received a total of 78 responses from 15 countries. Among participants, 81% declared a reduction of the activity and 47% restricted LTx for urgent cases only. Sixteen centers observed deaths on waiting listed patients and eight centers performed LTx for COVID-19 disease. In 62% of the centers, COVID-19 was diagnosed in LTx recipients, most of them not severe cases. The most common immunosuppressive management included a decreased dose or pausing of the cell cycle inhibitors. Remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, and azithromycin were the most proposed antiviral strategies. Most of the centers have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and proposed an active therapeutic strategy to treat LTx recipients with COVID-19.

Parallels, differences and lessons: a comparison of the management of foot-and-mouth disease and COVID-19 using UK 2001/2020 as points of reference.

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is an extremely infectious viral infection of cloven-hoofed animals which is highly challenging to control and can give rise to national animal health crises, especially if there is a lack of pre-existing immunity due to the emergence of new strains or following incursions into disease-free regions. The 2001 FMD epidemic in the UK was on a scale that initially overwhelmed the national veterinary services and was eventually controlled by livestock lockdown and slaughter on an unprecedented scale. In 2020, the rapid emergence of COVID-19 has led to a human pandemic unparalleled in living memory. The enormous logistics of multi-agency control efforts for COVID-19 are reminiscent of the 2001 FMD epidemic in the UK, as are the use of movement restrictions, not normally a feature of human disease control. The UK experience is internationally relevant as few countries have experienced national epidemic crises for both diseases. In this review, we reflect on the experiences and lessons learnt from UK and international responses to FMD and COVID-19 with respect to their management, including the challenge of preclinical viral transmission, threat awareness, early detection, different interpretations of scientific information, lockdown, biosecurity behaviour change, shortage of testing capacity and the choices for eradication versus living with infection. A major lesson is that the similarity of issues and critical resources needed to manage large-scale outbreaks demonstrates that there is benefit to a ‘One Health’ approach to preparedness, with potential for greater cooperation in planning and the consideration of shared critical resources.

China's logistics development trends in the post COVID-19 era

ABSTRACT The pandemic of COVID-19 has brought great challenges to the development of the world economy and has an unprecedented and inevitable impact on the logistics industry connecting various economic activities. In the context of the gradual alleviation of the COVID-19 outbreak in China, we observed five impacts on China's logistics industry, which are sharp drop in logistics demand, shortage of transportation capacity, disruption of logistics network, change of service mode, and increase in operating costs and number of loss-making enterprises. When this invited paper was written, the outbreak in China has been effectively under controlled. In the post-COVID-19 era, under the three driving forces (i.e. the market, technology and policy), China's logistics industry will develop rapidly, leading to significant changes in five aspects: logistics demand, logistics supply, logistics infrastructure, logistics informatisation, and logistics industry development. The authors of this invited paper have been actively involved in the development of China's logistics industry in various capacities, governmental and non-governmental as well as in academia, and participated in a range of studies on the development trends, plans and policies of China's logistics industry. The authors have a profound understanding of the latest situation in the China's logistics industry and government initiatives.