Supply chain single vendor – Single buyer inventory model with price-dependent demand

Purpose: The aim of this article is developing an integrated production-inventory-marketing model for a two-stage supply chain. The demand rate is considered as the Iso-elastic decreasing function of the selling price. The main research goal of the article is to obtain the optimal values of the selling price, order quantity and number of shipments for the proposed model under independent and also joint optimization. In addition, the effects of the model’s parameters on the optimal solution are investigated. Design/methodology/approach: Mathematical modeling is used to obtain the joint total profit function of the supply chain. Then, the iterative solution algorithm is presented to solve the model and determine the optimal solution. Findings and Originality/value: It is observed that under joint optimization, the demand rate and the supply chain’s profit are higher than their values under independent optimization, especially for the more price sensitive demand. Therefore, coordination between the buyer and the vendor is advantageous for the supply chain. On the other hand, joint optimization will be less beneficial when there isn’t a significant difference between the buyer’s and the vendor’s holding costs. Originality/value: The contribution of the article is determining the ordering and pricing policy jointly in the supply chain, which contains one vendor and one buyer while the demand rate is the Iso-elastic function of the selling pricePeer Reviewe

Can nurse teachers manage student incivility by guided democracy? A grounded theory study

Method In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted using theoretical and purposive sampling. Constant comparative analysis was used for data analysis.Results The results include four main categories; (1) deterioration of learning; (2) dominant individual and organisational culture; (3) guided democracy; and (4) movement toward professionalism. Guided democracy is recognised as the main basic psychosocial process for incivility management.Conclusions Incivility management is pursued to help learners develop professional performance. As indicated by the results of the present study, guided democracy is an effective strategy for incivility management in nursing education

Convolutional Neural Network for Stereotypical Motor Movement Detection in Autism

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are often associated with specific atypical postural or motor behaviors, of which Stereotypical Motor Movements (SMMs) have a specific visibility. While the identification and the quantification of SMM patterns remain complex, its automation would provide support to accurate tuning of the intervention in the therapy of autism. Therefore, it is essential to develop automatic SMM detection systems in a real world setting, taking care of strong inter-subject and intra-subject variability. Wireless accelerometer sensing technology can provide a valid infrastructure for real-time SMM detection, however such variability remains a problem also for machine learning methods, in particular whenever handcrafted features extracted from accelerometer signal are considered. Here, we propose to employ the deep learning paradigm in order to learn discriminating features from multi-sensor accelerometer signals. Our results provide preliminary evidence that feature learning and transfer learning embedded in the deep architecture achieve higher accurate SMM detectors in longitudinal scenarios.Comment: Presented at 5th NIPS Workshop on Machine Learning and Interpretation in Neuroimaging (MLINI), 2015, (http://arxiv.org/html/1605.04435), Report-no: MLINI/2015/1

Educational Challenges in Emergency Medicine Technician: A Qualitative Research

Background & Objective: Since fewer educational problems lead to improvement in educational quality and eventually student performance in the delivery of emergency medical services at the client's bedside; this study was conducted to evaluate the educational problems of emergency medical students. Methods: This study used qualitative conventional content analysis. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews. Sixteen participants including 12 new graduate paramedic in associate degree and 4 instructors by purposeful sampling in Khorasan province, Iran, were selected. Data analysis was conducted by content analysis. Results: After data analysis, three themes have emerged including the lack of appropriate teaching methods, theory and practice gaps, and curriculum reform. Conclusion: According to the results, educational problems in paramedic education were inappropriate teaching approaches, not applying classroom content in practice scene and incomplete curriculum. Therefore, paramedic educational leadership must try to solve these problems until paramedics can provide high quality services to community. Keywords Educational challenges Paramedic Education Emergency medicin

The Methodological Accuracy in Interventional Medical Education Articles Published in Approved Iranian Journals from 2005 to 2013

Background & Objective: Evaluation of methodological research reports increases the trust by the readers and users from application of results. This paper aimed to verify the accuracy of methodology in medical education interventional articles published in approved domestic journals. Methods: This cross-sectional study was used with a broad literature review in medical education interventional articles published in approved domestic journals by a review of medical journals archives and search databases. Thirty articles archived and its methodological accuracy was evaluated by special forms. The reliability of the study was confirmed with internal consistency and its validity has been confirmed in previous studies. Results: Over 90% of the suitability of the design was appropriate. Inclusive and exclusive criteria of subjects were found only in 26.8% of the cases. Blindness in 70% of the cases was observed. The reliability and validity of the instrument were not found in 66.7% of the cases. Fallow up length was not determined in 70%, and informed consent was not obtained in 80% of the subjects. Conclusion: There was inaccuracy in cases such as the instruments reliability and validity, sample selection, blindness, groups matching, etc. Journal writers are recommended to pay more attention to accuracy of research methodology in publishing medical education interventional articles. Keywords Medical education Methodology accuracy Iranian approved scientific journa

Orthogonal decomposition of anisotropic constitutive models for the phase field approach to fracture

We propose a decomposition of constitutive relations into crack-driving and persistent portions, specifically designed for materials with anisotropic/orthotropic behavior in the phase field approach to fracture to account for the tension-compression asymmetry. This decomposition follows a variational framework, satisfying the orthogonality condition for anisotropic materials. This implies that the present model can be applied to arbitrary anisotropic elastic behavior in a three-dimensional setting. On this basis, we generalize two existing models for tension-compression asymmetry in isotropic materials, namely the volumetric-deviatoric model and the no-tension model, towards materials with anisotropic nature. Two benchmark problems, single notched tensile shear tests, are used to study the performance of the present model. The results can retain the anisotropic constitutive behavior and the tension-compression asymmetry in the crack response, and are qualitatively in accordance with the expected behavior for orthotropic materials. Furthermore, to study the direction of maximum energy dissipation, we modify the surface integral based energy release computation, $G_\theta$, to account only for the crack-driving energy. The computed energies with our proposed modifications predict the fracture propagation direction correctly compared with the standard G-theta method

Inductive and Deductive: Ambiguous Labels in Qualitative Content Analysis

The propounded dualism in Content Analysis as quantitative and qualitative approaches is widely supported and justified in nursing literature. Nevertheless, another sort of dualism is proposed for Qualitative Content Analysis, suggesting the adoption of inductive and/or deductive approaches in the process of qualitative data analysis. These approaches have been referred and labelled as inductive or conventional ; and deductive or directed content analysis in the literature. Authors argue that these labels could be fallacious, and may lead to ambiguity; as in effect, both approaches are employed with different dominancy during the process of any Qualitative Content Analysis. Thus, authors suggest more expressive, comprehensive, yet simple labels for this method of qualitative data analysis

In silico prediction of B cell epitopes of the hemolysis-associated protein 1 for vaccine design against leptospirosis

Leptospirosis is known as a zoonotic disease of global importance originated from infection with the spirochete bacterium Leptospira. Although several leptospirosis vaccines have been tested, the vaccination is relatively unsuccessful in clinical application despite decades of research. Therefore, this study was conducted to predict B cell epitopes of the hemolysis-associated protein 1 (Hap1) for vaccine design against leptospirosis. For prediction of linear epitopes, the sequence of extracellular region of Hap1 was submitted to ABCpred, BCPREDs, Bcepred, Bepipred and Ellipro servers. DiscoTope 2.0 and B-pred servers were used for prediction of conformational epitopes from the entire PDB structure of Hap1 that obtained from the homology modeling method. Further analysis for solvent accessible areas and relative solvent accessibility of all the residues on the PDB structures using Naccess program and NetSurfP server defined that predicted conformational B cell epitopes had higher solvent accessible and their residues were exposed on the surface therefore, immunoinformatics analysis showed that hemolysis-associated protein 1 can properly stimulate the B cells immune responses

Academic Engagement Concept and its Affecting Factors in Medical Education: A Review Study

Background & Objective: One of factors influencing students' academic achievement is academic engagement. The aim of this study was to perform a comprehensive investigation on conceptual dimensions of academic engagement and the factors affecting it. Methods: A comprehensive search of literature published during 2001-2014 was performed using Persian and English databases including Magiran, SID, Scopus, and PubMed. As a result 190 texts were obtained. After a close study, 22 papers with the keywords of "student engagement, and academic engagement time" were selected. Selection criteria were the existence of any dimension of the concept of academic engagement and factors affecting it in the paper. Results: After assessing 22 articles, the dimensions of academic engagement concept and its influencing factors were made clear. Academic engagement consists of the educational, behavioral, cognitive, and psychological dimensions. Factors which affect academic engagement are the education institution’s characteristics, teaching methods, service-based learning, technology and various levels of academic engagement. Conclusion: Through the recognition of dimensions of academic engagement and by applying factors that influence students' academic engagement the wasting of their time and energy can be prevented, and a valuable work force can be developed. Since university engagement has been less studied in medical sciences in our country, it is recommended that qualitative and quantitative research be performed in this field. Key Words: Academic engagement, University engagement, Medical education, Studen

Do the New Methods of Teaching in Medical Education have Adequate Efficacy?: A Systematic Review

Background & Objective: Introduction of modern methods of teaching has created challenges in education, especially in medical education. Each of these methods has an application, several advantages and disadvantages, and a position. The aim of this review was to examine the effectiveness of teaching methods in medical education. Methods: This was a systematic review. SID, Magiran, IranMedex, IRANDOC, SCOPUS, Web of Science, and published Iranian magazines were searched by two people manually with the keywords teaching, learning, and medical sciences. They searched and selected articles by applying the quality criteria and research methodology. 32 interventional studies (experimental and semi-experimental) were selected. Sensitivity analysis was performed in respect to sample size, study design, and the impact of the intervention. Synthesis of articles’ quality and sensitivity analysis were performed. Results: Increased learning, satisfaction, interactions between learners, data retention, increase collaboration, receive feedback and ideas via group discussion, and themes such as professional communication skills, discover solutions, scientific knowledge, increase learning and student satisfaction popularity and acceptance skills, meditation and reflection on the problem, considering various solutions and choosing the best solution, a positive vision of their increase, rising inner motivation, creating interest in learning, enjoyment of learning, developing critical thinking, study skills, higher satisfaction, improving teaching quality, durability, and increased efficiency in learning resulted from problem solving techniques, metacognition packages, and concept mapping. Conclusion: The new methods of teaching that consist of problem solving techniques, group discussion, concept mapping, and metacognition packages increase learning, student satisfaction, student participation, and the durability of learning. Keywords Teaching models Teaching methods Problem solving method Discussion Meta cognition packs Concepts map metho