A multi-period location-allocation model for nursing home network planning under uncertainty

This paper proposes a multi-period location- allocation problem arising in nursing home network planning. We present a strategic model in which the improvement of service accessibility through the planning horizon is appropriately addressed. Unlike previous research, the proposed model modifies the allocation pattern to prevent unacceptable deterioration of the accessibility criterion. In addition, the problem is formulated as a covering model in which the capacity of facilities as well as the demand elasticity are considered. The uncertainty in demands within each time period is captured by adopting a distributionally robust approach. The model is then applied to a real case study for nursing home planning network in Shiraz city, Iran

Integrated facility location and capacity planning under uncertainty

We address a multi-period facility location problem with two customer segments having distinct service requirements. While customers in one segment receive preferred service, customers in the other segment accept delayed deliveries as long as lateness does not exceed a pre-specified threshold. The objective is to define a schedule for facility deployment and capacity scalability that satisfies all customer demands at minimum cost. Facilities can have their capacities adjusted over the planning horizon through incrementally increasing or reducing the number of modular units they hold. These two features, capacity expansion and capacity contraction, can help substantially improve the flexibility in responding to demand changes. Future customer demands are assumed to be unknown. We propose two different frameworks for planning capacity decisions and present a two-stage stochastic model for each one of them. While in the first model decisions related to capacity scalability are modeled as first-stage decisions, in the second model, capacity adjustments are deferred to the second stage. We develop the extensive forms of the associated stochastic programs for the case of demand uncertainty being captured by a finite set of scenarios. Additional inequalities are proposed to enhance the original formulations. An extensive computational study with randomly generated instances shows that the proposed enhancements are very useful. Specifically, 97.5% of the instances can be solved to optimality in much shorter computing times. Important insights are also provided into the impact of the two different frameworks for planning capacity adjustments on the facility network configuration and its total cost.publishersversionpublishe

On the Value of Multistage Risk-Averse Stochastic Facility Location With or Without Prioritization

We consider a multiperiod stochastic capacitated facility location problem under uncertain demand and budget in each period. Using a scenario tree representation of the uncertainties, we formulate a multistage stochastic integer program to dynamically locate facilities in each period and compare it with a two-stage approach that determines the facility locations up front. In the multistage model, in each stage, a decision maker optimizes facility locations and recourse flows from open facilities to demand sites, to minimize certain risk measures of the cost associated with current facility location and shipment decisions. When the budget is also uncertain, a popular modeling framework is to prioritize the candidate sites. In the two-stage model, the priority list is decided in advance and fixed through all periods, while in the multistage model, the priority list can change adaptively. In each period, the decision maker follows the priority list to open facilities according to the realized budget, and optimizes recourse flows given the realized demand. Using expected conditional risk measures (ECRMs), we derive tight lower bounds for the gaps between the optimal objective values of risk-averse multistage models and their two-stage counterparts in both settings with and without prioritization. Moreover, we propose two approximation algorithms to efficiently solve risk-averse two-stage and multistage models without prioritization, which are asymptotically optimal under an expanding market assumption. We also design a set of super-valid inequalities for risk-averse two-stage and multistage stochastic programs with prioritization to reduce the computational time. We conduct numerical studies using both randomly generated and real-world instances with diverse sizes, to demonstrate the tightness of the analytical bounds and efficacy of the approximation algorithms and prioritization cuts

Age composition and survival of public housing stock in Hong Kong

Emerging notably in more developed regions, building stock ageing which is characterised by shrinking new completions and falling “mortality” has been posing challenges to various stakeholders in built environment. To find way out of this transition, we need to know how long buildings will last these days and the factors leading to their “mortality”. By using data from 1950s till to date, a comprehensive investigation is conducted to analyse the age composition and life expectancy of public housing stock in Hong Kong. What comes after are survival analysis and empirical analysis of those demolished to identify the key factors leading to demolition. Presented in this paper are the preliminary findings as well as the research agenda on the theme to model age composition and survival of both private and public building stocks in Hong Kong and other similar cities in Asia Pacific Rim such as Adelaide and Singapore, together with research activities to formulate policies for sustainable urban management

Evaluation of the new Design Summer Year weather data using parametrical buildings

The Charted Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) updated the near extreme weather (Design Summer Year – DSY) for all 14 locations in the UK in 2016. This new release attempts to address the underlying shortcomings of the previous definition where the averaged dry bulb temperature was the sole metric to choose DSY among source weather years. The aim of this research is to evaluate whether the new definition of the probabilistic DSYs can consistently represent near extreme condition. London historical weather data and their correspondent DSYs were used in this research. Dynamic thermal modelling using EnergyPlus was carried out on large number single zone offices (parametric study) which represent a large portion of cellular offices in the UK. The predicted indoor warmth from the sample building models show that these new definitions are not always able to represent near extreme conditions. Using multiple years as DSY is able to capture different types of summer warmth but how to use one or all of these DSYs to make informed judgement on overheating is rather challenging. The recommended practice from this research is to use more warm years for the evaluation of overheating and choose the near extreme weather from the predicted indoor warmt

Handbook for TB controllers, epidemiologists, laboratorians, and other program staff

"This guide provides an introduction to the application of tuberculosis (TB) genotyping to TB control practices and to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) TB Genotyping Program. It was written by the National Tuberculosis Controllers Association (NTCA)/CDC Advisory Group on Tuberculosis Genotyping and is intended for TB controllers, epidemiologists, laboratorians, and other program staff members who will be involved in submitting isolates for genotyping, analyzing and responding to genotyping results, or using genotyping data to monitor TB transmission trends. This guide does not contain specific directions on how a TB control program must carry out its genotyping program. The CDC genotyping program is not a research effort, and participating state and local programs are not required to carry out a protocol, submit a certain number of isolates, or collect specific data. Rather, this guide provides general guidance about how to utilize the genotyping laboratories, how to understand genotyping results, and how to apply those results to improve TB control practices. For those interested in the specific procedures used by other TB genotyping programs, the Maryland TB program and the New York City TB program have agreed to share their procedure manuals; those documents can be downloaded from our TB genotyping WebBoard at http://web-tb.forum.cdc.gov." - p.1Suggested citation: National TB Controllers Association / CDC Advisory Group on Tuberculosis Genotyping. Guide to the Application of Genotyping to Tuberculosis Prevention and Control. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; June 2004.National Tuberculosis Controllers Association / Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Group on Tuberculosis Genotyping.Editors: Thomas Navin, Lisa Rosenblum, Charles Wallace, Sue Etkind.Title from PDF title screen (viewed on Feb.22, 2007)."June 2004."Mode of access: Internet from the National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention Division of Tuberculosis Elimination Web site. Addresses as of 3/22/07: http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/tb/genotyping/images/TBGenotypingGuide_June2004.pdf (PDF version) and http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/tb/genotyping/toc.htm (HTML version).Includes bibliographical references.2004879

Audit of Antenatal Testing of Sexually Transmissible Infections and Blood Borne Viruses at Western Australian Hospitals

In August 2007, the Western Australian Department of Health (DOH) released updated recommendations for testing of sexually transmissible infections (STI) and blood-borne viruses (BBV) in antenates. Prior to this, the Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) antenatal testing recommendations had been accepted practice in most antenatal settings. The RANZCOG recommends that testing for HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B and C be offered at the first antenatal visit. The DOH recommends that in addition, chlamydia testing be offered. We conducted a baseline audit of antenatal STI/BBV testing in women who delivered at selected public hospitals before the DOH recommendations. We examined the medical records of 200 women who had delivered before 1st July 2007 from each of the sevenWAhospitals included in the audit. STI and BBV testing information and demographic data were collected. Of the 1,409 women included, 1,205 (86%) were non-Aboriginal and 200 (14%) were Aboriginal. High proportions of women had been tested for HIV (76%), syphilis (86%), hepatitis C (87%) and hepatitis B (88%). Overall, 72% of women had undergone STI/BBV testing in accordance with RANZCOG recommendations. However, chlamydia testing was evident in only 18% of records. STI/BBV prevalence ranged from 3.9% (CI 1.5– 6.3%) for chlamydia, to 1.7% (CI 1–2.4%) for hepatitis C, 0.7% (CI 0.3–1.2) for hepatitis B and 0.6% (CI 0.2–1) for syphilis. Prior to the DOH recommendations, nearly three-quarters of antenates had undergone STI/BBV testing in accordance with RANZCOG recommendations, but less than one fifth had been tested for chlamydia. The DOH recommendations will be further promoted with the assistance of hospitals and other stakeholders. A future audit will be conducted to determine the proportion of women tested according to the DOH recommendations. The hand book from this conference is available for download Published in 2008 by the Australasian Society for HIV Medicine Inc © Australasian Society for HIV Medicine Inc 2008 ISBN: 978-1-920773-59-

Mass incarceration: the juggernaut of American penal expansionism

A plethora of evidence confirms that America continues to lead the world in imprisonment. No serious commentator doubts mass incarceration is a major issue for the nation. The America penal industrial complex incarcerates close to a quarter of all the prisoners on the planet. The American rate of incarceration remains stubbornly locked at a substantially higher level than those of comparable parliamentary democracies. There is no doubt that America’s penal institutions contain some individuals who pose a substantial public risk. However, there is significant scope to limit incarceration for a range of offenders, including those convicted of drug offences. There is a recognition the decades-long ‘War on Drugs’ has ultimately been counterproductive. At the end of 2014, some six years into Obama’s presidency, the USA’s total incarcerated population included some 2,306,100 prisoners It is only now that the United States may be witnessing the end of an ill-starred forty year experiment with mass incarceration and that American penal expansionism has finally begun to ease. The overall picture is of a pause, and even a slight reverse, in the race to incarcerate.non

Fast But Right: Outbreak Surveillance And Foodborne Knowledge Infrastructure

This dissertation examines knowledge infrastructures for detecting and investigating national outbreaks of foodborne disease. Drawing on archival and ethnographic material from US public health and regulatory agencies, I investigate how officials have built and used surveillance systems to make foodborne outbreaks visible, reflecting the shape of the industrialized food supply. I describe how, in the course of conducting outbreak investigation work, officials confront the challenges of a "balancing act" of needing to be fast but right, facing dilemmas associated with wanting to protect the public health yet minimize economic impact to commercial entities, while grappling with the highly distributed nature of both the food system and a federalist system of public health governance. In the dissertation, I make three core arguments. First, during foodborne outbreak investigations, public health and regulatory officials manage time and uncertainty through systematization. Second, systematization has helped make visible a new kind of public health problem, rooted in the post World War II industrialization of the US food supply-national, diffuse outbreaks caused by contaminated food moving through interstate commerce. Third, despite the importance of and emphasis on systematization in this domain, the numerous and persistent challenges associated with needing to be fast but right preserves a need for expert judgment amidst formal systematization efforts. In addition to examining broader public health infrastructure, the dissertation features analyses of two surveillance systems for foodborne disease: an historical examination of the National Salmonella Surveillance Program from 1962-1976, and an historical and ethnographic study of the current early-warning, real-time system based on molecular subtyping. Through these analyses, I demonstrate how these systems made outbreaks visible not only from a technical perspective, but also from social, political, and economic perspectives as well

Economic Sustainability of Culture and Cultural Tourism

The book "Economic Sustainability of Culture and Cultural Tourism" focuses on the economic sustainability of cultural and cultural tourism projects, but it also takes into account other aspects. It consists of eleven articles, which address cultural heritage, culture, cultural/creative industries and (cultural) tourism. Analysis in the cultural heritage-related articles deals with specific topics such as crowdfunding, cost–benefit analysis in the evaluation of cultural heritage project funding, industrial heritage/brownfields, and social assessment methods for the economic analysis of cultural heritage. Cultural work is further analyzed, offering a comparative economic sustainability analysis in the UK as well as support mechanisms for cultural/creative industries in Canada. Creative industries in the peripheral areas of Italy and Greece are also zeroed in on in the context of their sustainability. Articles focusing on (cultural) tourism address the topics of dark tourism, tourists’ willingness to pay for cultural experiences, and the relationship between COVID-19 vaccinations and the volatility of travel and leisure companies. Additionally, the role of culture and heritage in tourism resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic is explored with interesting results