The Top Questions of the Higher Education: Openness, Availability, Elitism

The article presents the main features of the university education and their transformation after appearance of commercialisation in the university activities. The changes combined with the globalisation of the higher education and new ways of managing the system of higher education are pointed

Application of Queuing Theory and Procedure Time Estimation in a Local Healthcare System

People in the United States pay more for their basic healthcare needs than do people in any other nation in the world. When we consider that the United States is the wealthiest nation in the world, controlling the majority of the world\u27s resources, it seems only reasonable to ask: Why should it be this way? In an effort to address this problem, this thesis examines two possible methods of improving health care efficiency in hospitals. The thesis is thus in two parts: the first part examines resource allocation in medical units using Queuing Theory, and the second part examines a more accurate estimation of surgical procedure times. In the first part, a queuing model provides performance measures based on the historical interarrival and service times of a medical unit. The queuing model demonstrates the trade-off between the utilization (system\u27s perspective) and patient waiting time in the queue (customer\u27s perspective). Also, it shows some insights as to the average of patients spent in the system and in the queue, the average time a patient spends in the system, and the probability of the system being empty. The queuing model will enable hospital managers to see the effect of arrival rate, service rate, and number of beds to estimate the main performance measures of assessing the benefits of providing extra beds to minimize patient waiting time when demand increases. The second part provides a better estimate of surgical procedure times based on a lognormal distribution. Efficient estimation of surgical procedures times will reduce the costs incurred in inaccurate estimation of its time and consequently the costs associated with surgical operating rooms. These two proposed methodological approaches will hopefully point the way toward further research aimed at bringing about concrete improvements in U.S. hospital performance

Ecological and biological features of the development of introduced species of the genus Abies Mill

Against the background of man-made impact on the environment, the role of landscape architecture increases. Green plantings reduce the impact of adverse factors. A special role is given to coniferous plants that perform environmental-improving functions all year round. The collection of the VNIISPK arboretum includes more than 310 species, forms and varieties of woody plants representing 31 families. The most numerous family of Pinaceae includes 5 genera, one of which is the genus Abies Mill. The purpose of the study is a comprehensive assessment of ecological and biological features of the genus Abies of different origin to justify the success of the introduction in conditions of the Central Chernozem region of Russia. All the studied species have high winter hardiness in the conditions of the central part of Russia.A. balsamea, A. concolor, A. fraseri, A. lasiocarpa, and A. sibirica were resistant to infectious diseases. A. alba, A. concolor, A. fraseri, A. nephrolepis, A. sachalinensis and A. veitchii showed resistance to pests. According to the results of comprehensive assessment of the ecological and biological features of 9 introduced species of the genus Abies, three highly decorative genotypes of North American origin, resistant to a complex of adverse environmental factors, were identified: A. balsamea, A. concolor, and A. fraseri