405 research outputs found
Just-in-Time Management in Healthcare Operations
Reducing costs and improving quality are two of the most important goals in managing healthcare operations. In this study, we explore how to improve healthcare operations by integrating Just-in-Time (JIT) management system. We first introduce the JIT management system, and then discuss how it can generate benefits in healthcare operations. We investigate implications for healthcare practice, which include how JIT techniques can be applied to healthcare operations, how hospitals and general practices can use JIT techniques, how JIT can help the patient throughput rate, and how technological advances can speed up healthcare processes. Implications for management and directions for future research are discussed
现代环境伦理的密尔困境及解决路径
Abstract in Chinese: 由于将自然理解为自然物和物理事件的集合,大多数现
代环境伦理理论都无法摆脱密尔所提出的两难困境。无论是对技术
进步的依赖,还是向着原始生活的回归,都不符合环境伦理创立的
初衷。而新兴的环境美德伦理学将自然动态地理解为意义的生成机
制。由此,自然物不仅是现成的资源,而且是意义的载体。这是一
条突破现代环境伦理困境的有效路径。同时,它与儒家的生生思想
有着实质性地共鸣。Abstract in English: Regarding the nature as a collection of natural things and physical events, the most of modern environmental ethics theory cannot get rid of the dilemma raised by Mill. Neither the dependence on the progress of technology nor the regression toward primitive life is in line with the original intention of environmental ethics. However, the environmental virtue ethics has understood the nature as the emergence of meaning. Thus, the natural world is not only available resources, but the carrier of meaning. This is an effective way to break through the modern environmental ethical dilemma. The more important is that it essentially has a Confucian resonance. [pp. 107-108
PROTEOMICS INSIGHTS INTO MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF TRIPTOLIDE AGAINST COLORECTAL CANCER
Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH
Energy Efficiency of Generalized Spatial Modulation Aided Massive MIMO Systems
One of focuses in green communication studies is the energy efficiency (EE)
of massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. Although the massive
MIMO technology can improve the spectral efficiency (SE) of cellular networks
by configuring a large number of antennas at base stations (BSs), the energy
consumption of radio frequency (RF) chains increases dramatically. The
increment of energy consumption is caused by the increase of RF chain number to
match the antenna number in massive MIMO communication systems. To overcome
this problem, a generalized spatial modulation (GSM) solution is presented to
simultaneously reduce the number of RF chains and maintain the SE of massive
MIMO communication systems. A EE model is proposed to estimate the transmission
and computation power of massive MIMO communication systems with GSM.
Simulation results demonstrate that the EE of massive MIMO communication
systems with GSM outperforms the massive MIMO communication systems without
GSM. Besides, the computation power consumed by massive MIMO communication
systems with GSM is effectively reduced
Foreign Object Detection for Electric Vehicle Wireless Charging
Wireless power transfer technology is being widely used in electric vehicle wireless-charging applications, and foreign object detection (FOD) is an important module that is needed to satisfy the transmission and safety requirements. FOD mostly includes two key parts: metal object detection (MOD) and living object detection (LOD), which should be implemented during the charging process. In this paper, equivalent circuit models of a metal object and a living object are proposed, and the FOD methods are reviewed and analyzed within a unified framework based on the proposed FOD models. A comparison of these detection methods and future challenges is also discussed. Based on these analyses, detection methods that employ an additional circuit for detection are recommended for FOD in electric vehicle wireless-charging applications
Peripheral Processing Facilitates Optic Flow-Based Depth Perception
Li J, Lindemann JP, Egelhaaf M. Peripheral Processing Facilitates Optic Flow-Based Depth Perception. Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience. 2016;10(10): 111.Flying insects, such as flies or bees, rely on consistent information regarding the
depth structure of the environment when performing their flight maneuvers in cluttered natural
environments. These behaviors include avoiding collisions, approaching targets or spatial
navigation. Insects are thought to obtain depth information visually from the retinal image
displacements (“optic flow”) during translational ego-motion. Optic flow in the insect visual
system is processed by a mechanism that can be modeled by correlation-type elementary motion
detectors (EMDs). However, it is still an open question how spatial information can be extracted
reliably from the responses of the highly contrast- and pattern-dependent EMD responses, especially
if the vast range of light intensities encountered in natural environments is taken into account.
This question will be addressed here by systematically modeling the peripheral visual system of
flies, including various adaptive mechanisms. Different model variants of the peripheral visual
system were stimulated with image sequences that mimic the panoramic visual input during
translational ego-motion in various natural environments, and the resulting peripheral signals were
fed into an array of EMDs. We characterized the influence of each peripheral computational unit on
the representation of spatial information in the EMD responses. Our model simulations reveal that
information about the overall light level needs to be eliminated from the EMD input as is
accomplished under light-adapted conditions in the insect peripheral visual system. The response
characteristics of large monopolar cells (LMCs) resemble that of a band-pass filter, which reduces
the contrast dependency of EMDs strongly, effectively enhancing the representation of the nearness
of objects and, especially, of their contours. We furthermore show that local brightness adaptation
of photoreceptors allows for spatial vision under a wide range of dynamic light
conditions
The mediating role of cultural intelligence to learning flexibility, cultural difference and expatriate effectiveness
PurposeDrawing on experiential learning theory, this study seeks to understand how the perceived cultural difference in a foreign country and learning flexibility, which enables more integrated experiential learning from international experience, influence expatriates’ cultural intelligence (CQ) and consequently their adjustment and job performance.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data were collected from 169 expatriates in China. Polynomial regression analyses were employed to test curvilinear relationships between cultural difference and CQ and between learning flexibility and CQ. Mediation hypotheses were tested either by the MEDCURVE procedure if a curvilinear relationship was confirmed or by the Haye’s Process procedure if a curvilinear relationship was not confirmed and instead a linear relationship was confirmed.FindingsThe results demonstrated a positive relationship between cultural difference and CQ and an inverted U-shape relationship between learning flexibility and CQ. CQ mediated the relationship between cultural difference and expatriate adjustment and partially mediated the relationship between learning flexibility and expatriate adjustment. CQ positively influenced expatriates’ job performance via expatriate adjustment.Practical implicationsOur findings suggest that companies should not hesitate to send expatriates on assignments to culturally very different countries and focus more attention on the selection of expatriates. The findings of this study suggest firms should choose candidates who are moderate or high in learning flexibility and could engage in integrated learning and specialized learning in a more balanced manner.Originality/valueThis research is the first study that examines the influence of learning flexibility on CQ and expatriate effectiveness. It examines cultural difference through the lens of experiential learning theory and argues that cultural difference constitutes “stimuli” in the experiential learning environment for individual learning in an international context. The results advance our knowledge of the role of experiential learning in developing capable global managers.</jats:sec
Local motion adaptation enhances the representation of spatial structure at EMD arrays
Li J, Lindemann JP, Egelhaaf M. Local motion adaptation enhances the representation of spatial structure at EMD arrays. PLOS Computational Biology. 2017;13(12): e1005919.Neuronal representation and extraction of spatial information are essential for behavioral
control. For flying insects, a plausible way to gain spatial information is to exploit distancedependent
optic flow that is generated during translational self-motion. Optic flow is computed
by arrays of local motion detectors retinotopically arranged in the second neuropile
layer of the insect visual system. These motion detectors have adaptive response characteristics,
i.e. their responses to motion with a constant or only slowly changing velocity
decrease, while their sensitivity to rapid velocity changes is maintained or even increases.
We analyzed by a modeling approach how motion adaptation affects signal representation
at the output of arrays of motion detectors during simulated flight in artificial and natural 3D
environments. We focused on translational flight, because spatial information is only contained
in the optic flow induced by translational locomotion. Indeed, flies, bees and other
insects segregate their flight into relatively long intersaccadic translational flight sections
interspersed with brief and rapid saccadic turns, presumably to maximize periods of translation
(80% of the flight). With a novel adaptive model of the insect visual motion pathway we
could show that the motion detector responses to background structures of cluttered environments
are largely attenuated as a consequence of motion adaptation, while responses to
foreground objects stay constant or even increase. This conclusion even holds under the
dynamic flight conditions of insects
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