Supply chain uncertainty:a review and theoretical foundation for future research

Supply-chain uncertainty is an issue with which every practising manager wrestles, deriving from the increasing complexity of global supply networks. Taking a broad view of supply-chain uncertainty (incorporating supply-chain risk), this paper seeks to review the literature in this area and develop a theoretical foundation for future research. The literature review identifies a comprehensive list of 14 sources of uncertainty, including those that have received much research attention, such as the bullwhip effect, and those more recently described, such as parallel interaction. Approaches to managing these sources of uncertainty are classified into: 10 approaches that seek to reduce uncertainty at its source; and, 11 approaches that seek to cope with it, thereby minimising its impact on performance. Manufacturing strategy theory, including the concepts of alignment and contingency, is then used to develop a model of supply-chain uncertainty, which is populated using the literature review to show alignment between uncertainty sources and management strategies. Future research proposed includes more empirical research in order to further investigate: which uncertainties occur in particular industrial contexts; the impact of appropriate sources/management strategy alignment on performance; and the complex interplay between management strategies and multiple sources of uncertainty (positive or negative)

Presence and rehabilitation: toward second-generation virtual reality applications in neuropsychology

Virtual Reality (VR) offers a blend of attractive attributes for rehabilitation. The most exploited is its ability to create a 3D simulation of reality that can be explored by patients under the supervision of a therapist. In fact, VR can be defined as an advanced communication interface based on interactive 3D visualization, able to collect and integrate different inputs and data sets in a single real-like experience. However, "treatment is not just fixing what is broken; it is nurturing what is best" (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi). For rehabilitators, this statement supports the growing interest in the influence of positive psychological state on objective health care outcomes. This paper introduces a bio-cultural theory of presence linking the state of optimal experience defined as "flow" to a virtual reality experience. This suggests the possibility of using VR for a new breed of rehabilitative applications focused on a strategy defined as transformation of flow. In this view, VR can be used to trigger a broad empowerment process within the flow experience induced by a high sense of presence. The link between its experiential and simulative capabilities may transform VR into the ultimate rehabilitative device. Nevertheless, further research is required to explore more in depth the link between cognitive processes, motor activities, presence and flow

Coping with Extreme Events: Institutional Flocking

Recent measurements in the North Atlantic confirm that the thermohaline circulation driving the Gulf Stream has come to a stand. Oceanographic monitoring over the last 50 years already showed that the circulation was weakening. Under the influence of the large inflow of melting water in Northern Atlantic waters during last summer, it has now virtually stopped. Consequently, the KNMI and the RIVM estimate the average . In this essay we will explore how such a new risk profile affects the distribution of risks among societal groups, and the way in which governing institutions need to adapt in order to be prepared for situations of rapid but unknown change. The next section will first introduce an analytical perspective, building upon the Risk Society thesis and a proposed model of ‘institutional flocking’.temperature to decrease by 3°C in the next 15 years

Diabetes control and the influence of family functioning

Background: The link between glycaemic control of type 1 diabetes and family functioning is complex, with the existing literature largely focussing upon the association between clear patterns of disturbances in family functioning and suboptimal diabetic control. The more subtle changes to family function that might influence the degree of successful management of a child's diabetes have been less well studied. Methods: This study sought to explore whether suboptimal glycaemic control was associated with variations in family functioning that might not in themselves prompt concern in routine clinic review. The project focussed on families attending for routine follow-up in specialist paediatric diabetes clinics in the North East of England. Mother and child participants provided demographic information and completed the Family Adaptation and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (FACES IV), and the quality of their glycaemic control was assessed using the mean HbA1c value for each child over the last year. Families with clear emotional or family difficulties, or where the level of control was causing clear concern were excluded (as were families where there was major physical or a member with significant learning disabilities). The sample was divided into two groups; families whose children were in optimal glycaemic control of their diabetes, and families where the glycaemic control was suboptimal. Results: Whatever the degree of control, nearly all the mothers and index children reported functioning within the balanced range. The mothers of children with optimal glycaemic control reported their family to be more cohesive and expressed greater satisfaction with family life than mothers whose child's glycaemic control was suboptimal. The children with suboptimal diabetic control also tended to view their family life as more chaotic. Discussion: Despite the challenges most families cope reasonably well with the issues that managing type 1 diabetes in a child bring. However suboptimal control tends to be associated with some unhelpful family issues, and the implications for intervention are discussed. Conclusions: Suboptimal control, when it is present, prompts exploration of a wide range of factors. Assessment of family functioning should be part of this process, even if there is no evidence of major family difficulties because subtle distortions in functioning can significantly influence glycaemic control, especially in early adolescence

Catastrophe Models for Cognitive Workload and Fatigue

We reconceptualised several problems concerning the measurement of cognitive workload – fixed versus variable limits on channel capacity, work volume versus time pressure, adaptive strategies, resources demanded by tasks when performed simultaneously, and unclear distinctions between workload and fatigue effects – as two cusp catastrophe models: buckling stress resulting from acute workload, and fatigue resulting from extended engagement. Experimental participants completed a task that was intensive on non-verbal episodic memory and had an automatically speeded component. For buckling stress, the epoch of maximum (speeded) performance was the asymmetry parameter; however, anxiety did not contribute to bifurcation as expected. For fatigue, the bifurcation factor was the total work accomplished, and arithmetic, a compensatory ability, was the asymmetry parameter; R2 for the cusp models outperformed the linear comparison models in both cases. A research programme is outlined that revolves around the two models with different types of task and resource configurations

The development of a rich multimedia training environment for crisis management: using emotional affect to enhance learning

PANDORA is an EU FP7-funded project developing a novel training and learning environment for Gold Commanders, individuals who carry executive responsibility for the services and facilities identified as strategically critical e.g. Police, Fire, in crisis management strategic planning situations. A key part of the work for this project is considering the emotional and behavioural state of the trainees, and the creation of more realistic, and thereby stressful, representations of multimedia information to impact on the decision-making of those trainees. Existing training models are predominantly paper-based, table-top exercises, which require an exercise of imagination on the part of the trainees to consider not only the various aspects of a crisis situation but also the impacts of interventions, and remediating actions in the event of the failure of an intervention. However, existing computing models and tools are focused on supporting tactical and operational activities in crisis management, not strategic. Therefore, the PANDORA system will provide a rich multimedia information environment, to provide trainees with the detailed information they require to develop strategic plans to deal with a crisis scenario, and will then provide information on the impacts of the implementation of those plans and provide the opportunity for the trainees to revise and remediate those plans. Since this activity is invariably multi-agency, the training environment must support group-based strategic planning activities and trainees will occupy specific roles within the crisis scenario. The system will also provide a range of non-playing characters (NPC) representing domain experts, high-level controllers (e.g. politicians, ministers), low-level controllers (tactical and operational commanders), and missing trainee roles, to ensure a fully populated scenario can be realised in each instantiation. Within the environment, the emotional and behavioural state of the trainees will be monitored, and interventions, in the form of environmental information controls and mechanisms impacting on the stress levels and decisionmaking capabilities of the trainees, will be used to personalise the training environment. This approach enables a richer and more realistic representation of the crisis scenario to be enacted, leading to better strategic plans and providing trainees with structured feedback on their performance under stress

Helping people to help themselves : policy lessons from a study of deprived urban neighbourhoods in Southampton

The aim of this paper is draw out some policy lessons from a study of self-help activity amongst 200 households in deprived urban neighbourhoods of Southampton. Commencing with a critique of the popular prejudice that promoting self-help should be opposed in case it leads to a demise of formal welfare provision, the paper then interrogates the empirical evidence to understand and explain the nature and extent of such work in deprived neighbourhoods. Finding that self-help is a crucial component of household coping practices, but that no-earner households are unable to benefit from this work to the same extent as employed households, the paper proposes both bottom-up and top-down solutions to tackle the barriers to participation in self-help amongst unemployed households. In particular, it calls for a modification to Working Families Tax Credit and the creation of Community Enterprise so as to recognise and value much of the self-help activity that currently takes place but remains unrecognised and unvalued

Learning to Play a Musical Instrument Affects Student Behavioral Health

This thesis proposal, entitled “Learning to Play a Musical Instrument Affects Student Behavioral Health”, consists of a research paper detailing how learning to play a musical instrument has made a significant impact on the behavioral health of students, and the need for this study in today’s society. This study will provide readers with solid research and evidence for the results obtained from this musical education study in the hopes it can show that music therapy needs strengthening in these areas. Through research, clinical studies, assessments, test results, and surveys, this project will show if there are physiological benefits and psychological benefits from music education. Physiological benefits include: the control of hands, fingers, and breath control with wind instruments, as well as the mastery of the written language of musical scores and the ability to count out time values. Psychological benefits include attitude, self-esteem, confidence, and mood. This research will attempt to show how learning to play a musical instrument impacts the behavioral health and attitude of students (presumably the confidence and self-esteem one gains through mastering skills on an instrument). Since music can have an impact on a person’s mood and perspectives, this study hopes to show that learning to engage in music can even help with managing numerous behavioral health conditions, as other studies have already shown that not only does performing on a musical instrument utilize more areas of the brain than other activities, but also that students who play musical instruments do better with math and reading skills