The role of the helicopter in transportation

A general overview is presented of the role that the helicopter plays in the current aviation scene with special emphasis on its use in the airport access function. Technological problems of present-day aircraft are discussed along with some plausible solutions. The economic and regulatory aspects of commercial helicopter operations are presented. Finally six commercial operations utilizing helicopters are reviewed and conditions that enhance the success of the helicopter in the airport access function are proposed

Solving a Location, Allocation, and Capacity Planning Problem with Dynamic Demand and Response Time Service Level

Logistic systems with uncertain demand, travel time, and on-site processing time are studied here where sequential trip travel is allowed. The relationship between three levels of decisions: facility location, demand allocation, and resource capacity (number of service units), satisfying the response time requirement, is analysed. The problem is formulated as a stochastic mixed integer program. A simulation-based hybrid heuristic is developed to solve the dynamic problem under different response time service level. An initial solution is obtained from solving static location-allocation models, followed by iterative improvement of the three levels of decisions by ejection, reinsertion procedure with memory of feasible and infeasible service regions. Results indicate that a higher response time service level could be achieved by allocating a given resource under an appropriate decentralized policy. Given a response time requirement, the general trend is that the minimum total capacity initially decreases with more facilities. During this stage, variability in travel time has more impact on capacity than variability in demand arrivals. Thereafter, the total capacity remains stable and then gradually increases. When service level requirement is high, the dynamic dispatch based on first-come-first-serve rule requires smaller capacity than the one by nearest-neighbour rule

Improving taxi dispatch services with real-time traffic and customer information

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

An Examination of Strategies to Mitigate the Number of Motorcycle Rider Fatalities in Thailand

This paper attempts to examine and quantify the degree of safety-helmet use by motorcyclists and their passengers in Thailand. Specifically, the paper examines the phenomena in three separate locations within Thailand. The paper will also review the literature surrounding road safety in general, road safety for motorcyclists, proper helmet use, Thai acts of parliament aimed at motorcyclists, and the degree to which helmet use is enforced or policed in Thailand. Experts posit that road fatalities, and the serious debilitating injuries caused by road traffic accidents, can impact a nation’s GDP by as much as 5%. Perhaps even more importantly, especially in the context of a developing country, is the direct impact to families who lose their prime bread-winner or wage-earner. This loss may either be permanent, as in the case of a fatality, or extended over a protracted period of time, where families find themselves having to care for severely injured members. In the latter case, the requirement for care is often long-term, with little in the way of insurance or medical benefits to offset the burden. It is hoped that a study of motorcycle related road traffic fatalities may identify or highlight interventions or strategies that could be employed to mitigate the road toll in Thailand

Waste management in the coastal areas of the ASEAN region: roles of governments, banking institutions, donor agencies, private sector and communities

Waste disposal, Marine pollution, Pollution control, Coastal zone management, Environment management, ASEAN,

Organisational culture and its influence on physicians’ consultation style in Hong Kong

Chronic diseases are considered to be a global health system challenge, contributing to 60% of all deaths worldwide in 2005. There is a recognised need for patients with chronic diseases to make regular medication decisions with their GPs as an essential part of consultations. A growing body of evidence from the UK, the United States and China has suggested a link between GPs’ involvement of patients and information sharing in treatment decisions and improved communication and clinical performance. Charles and colleagues (1999) proposed a continuum of consultation models with increasing patient engagement, the one-way GP-dominant “paternalistic” style, the two-way “shared decision-making” (SDM) style, and the one-way patient-dominant “informed” style. These models illustrate various levels of involvement and knowledge sharing between GPs and patients in the treatment decision-making process. Yet, there is a lack of evidence to determine how organisational culture drives different consultation styles and improves decisional communication in Asian countries. Therefore, this qualitative study explored GPs and primary care managers’ perceptions of organisational culture within public and private healthcare organisations in Hong Kong, and how these perceptions influence GPs’ consultation style during medication consultations with patients with chronic diseases. Themes were generated from in-depth individual interviews with fourteen GPs and five primary care managers, based on two analytical frameworks, the Hofstede cultural dimension theory (2001/2011) and Hofstede’s multi-focus model of organisational culture (1990). Four themes concerning national culture, organisational culture, the system-, practice- and individual factors, as well as the financing and service level initiatives to drive cultural changes, were identified as influencing GPs’ consultation styles. The study highlighted that an engaging management style and customer-focused and mandatory learning cultures within healthcare organisations promoted greater use of two-way consultation styles by GPs during the consultation. In contrast, the study also found that authoritative, profit-driven and voluntary learning cultures within healthcare organisations promoted more one-way consultation styles, such as the paternalistic or informed styles. Thus, this study contributes to a better understanding of the positive and negative influences of national and organisational cultures on GPs’ practice of SDM with patients in discussions of chronic disease management across public and private healthcare organisations in an Eastern Asian country. Further research on the national culture of health care financing and patients’ influences on consultation styles is needed before the association between organisational culture and consultation style can be comprehensively understood

Managing and Recovering from the COVID-19 Pandemic – Dubai We Learn Research Report

In this time of crisis, benchmarking and learning from global best practices have never been more important. It was for this reason the Dubai Government Excellence Program (DGEP) launched an accelerated benchmarking initiative called “Dubai We learn – Conquering COVID-19” to provide best practices and ideas to Dubai Executive Council’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management with the aim “for Dubai to become a Global Best Practice in Managing and Recovering from the COVID-19 Pandemic”

The Echo: May 1, 1981

Taylathon Starts Today – Taylor Students Endure Statler fire – Morning Star Tour Underway – Free University Program This Fall – Slaughter Named Assistant Director – Doles to Study in Israel – Subfest Coming to Taylor – Security Apprends Juvenile in Larseny – Dr. Rediger Share – Reflections on Life… and Administration – Letters to the Editor – Susan Shank – Supreme Court boosts pro-life movement – Space shuttle airborne again – President given emotional greeting – Court takes jurisdiction of children – Clean-water rules held to congress – MGM Buys Land for New Casino – Prosecutor says senator lined his pockets – Benefits head sees long-term fix – Investigators go back to Georgia – Defense completes ABSCAM case – Actor gets life in prison – United Way donations a record – New bills eye food stamp fraud – Schools near financial deadline – Reagan walks with limp – Manpower shortage hit NRC – Sands given last rites again – Time Switch Improves Ratings – Policeman Linked to Nazis – Hotel Fire Kills Woman – Chancellor Receives Letter – Helms Explains State Department Hiring Delays – Soldier Held Suspect in Buffalo – Food being sent to Poland – Israelis hit Syrian helicopters – Flesh peddling uncovered – Jetliner crashes – No nuclear weapons for Pakistan? – Takeover plot foiled – Refugees arrive in Hong Kong – Ten executed in Iran – Oil surplus could disappear – Gas explosion rips apartment – Former Beatle weds – Israelis launch air strikes – Afghans demonstrate at embassy – Kamikaze workers used in cleanup – Sunshine follows snow in Britain – Food price hike likely – Giscard wins endorsement – Taylor Places 6th, Treckman Wins 5,000 – Trojanes Lose on Tie – Trojanes Win Seven – Trojans Split With Bluffton Play Anderson and Defiance in Key Contests – 1981 Trojan Statshttps://pillars.taylor.edu/echo-1980-1981/1018/thumbnail.jp