A Systematic Review of Performance Enhancement of Humanitarian Logistics through Transparency: Current Status and Perspectives

The mechanism of how transparency can help to enhance the performance of humanitarian logistics (HL) following disaster relief operation (RO) needs to be explored. Thus, the main purposes of this paper are to systematically review the barriers to and benefits of transparency in the field of HL in order to improve the performance of HL, and also to highlight the role and unique attributes of transparency in the field of HL. A systematic literature review using the CIMO (context, intervention, mechanism, and outcomes) logic approach was adopted to perform the systematic analysis of the previous investigations relevant to the performance enhancement of HL. Most such previous research investigated transparency in the context of HL, with little examination of the outcomes of transparency in HL. Based upon this process, disaster risk can be reduced and managed through efficient HL. So far, the efficiency and performance of HL has been improved through coordination, collaboration and partnership. In the present study, recent developments corresponding to performance enhancement of HL through transparency are reviewed systematically, with a particular focus on the importance of transparency, what organizations can do to become more transparent and the challenges and potential benefits of transparency. The authors provide an in-depth understanding of the barriers and challenges to transparency faced in this field. Furthermore, the challenges in comparing with recent research are also discussed, along with future directions to improve the performance enhancement of HL through transparency. However, the poor performance of HL is one of the challenging issues associated with disaster risk management. This review article will be fruitful for novice researchers and practitioners in managing disaster risk through efficient HL and further advancement in the field of HL. Furthermore this article raises the awareness of the importance of carefully evaluating decisions related to the fair distribution of relief items

Development and validation of the digestive function assessment instrument for traditional korean medicine: Sasang digestive function inventory

Objective. This study was conducted for development and validation of the Sasang Digestive Function Inventory (SDFI) with type-specific digestive function-related symptoms for identification of Sasang type and pathological pattern. Methods and Materials. We selected questionnaire items for pathophysiological symptoms using internal consistency analysis and examined construct validity using 193 healthy participants. Test-retest reliability with a four-week interval as well as convergent validity was examined using the Nepean Dyspepsia Index-Korean (NDIK), Functional Dyspepsia-Related Quality of Life (FDQOL), Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ), and Body Mass Index (BMI). Results. The 21-item SDFI showed satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.743) and test-retest reliability (, ). Three extracted subscales, SDFI-Digestion, SDFI-Appetite, and SDFI-Eating pattern, explained 56.02% of the total variance. The SDFI showed significant () correlation with total symptom score of NDIK, FDRQOL-Eating status, DEBQ-External Eating scale, and BMI. The SDFI score of the Tae-Eum () type was significantly () larger than that of the So-Eum () type. Conclusion. Current results demonstrated the reliability and validity of the SDFI and its subscales, which can be utilized as an objective instrument for diagnosis of Sasang types and assessment of the type-specific digestive function

Human error control in the collaborative workflow modeling tool based on GEMS model

Business process should support the execution of collaboration process with agility and flexibility through the integration of enterprise inner or outer application and human resources from the collaborative workflow view.Although the dependency of enterprise activities to the automated system has been increasing, human role is as important as ever.In the workflow modelling this human role is emphasized and the structure to control human error by analysing decision-making itself is needed.Also, through the collaboration of activities agile and effective communication should be constructed, eventually by the combination and coordination of activities to the aimed process the product quality should be improved.This paper classifies human errors can be occurred in collaborative workflow by applying GEMS(Generic Error Modelling System) to control them, and suggests human error control method through hybrid based modelling as well.On this base collaborative workflow modeling tool is designed and implemented. Using this modelling methodology it is possible to workflow modeling could be supported considering human characteristics has a tendency of human error to be controlled

Effects of Radix Adenophorae and Cyclosporine A on an OVA-Induced Murine Model of Asthma by Suppressing to T Cells Activity, Eosinophilia, and Bronchial Hyperresponsiveness

The present study is performed to investigate the inhibitory effects of Radix Adenophorae extract (RAE) on ovalbumin-induced asthma murine model. To study the anti-inflammatory and antiasthmatic effects of RAE, we examined the development of pulmonary eosinophilic inflammation and inhibitory effects of T cells in murine by RAE and cyclosporine A (CsA). We examined determination of airway hyperresponsiveness, flow cytometric analysis (FACS), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), quantitative real time (PCR), hematoxylin-eosin staining, and Masson trichrome staining in lung tissue, lung weight, total cells, and eosinophil numbers in lung tissue. We demonstrated how RAE suppressed development on inflammation and decreased airway damage

Nutritional and neuroprotective characterization of 'Tadanishiki' yuzu according to harvesting period or extraction condition

The present study investigated the phenolic profile, antioxidant activity, and neuroprotective properties of ‘Tadanishiki’ yuzu (Citrus junos, a seedless variety of yuzu) according to harvesting period and extraction condition. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to identify the functional components. To evaluate the neuroprotective properties, scopolamine was used to induce cholinergic dysfunction in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells pretreated with yuzu extracts. Among the harvesting periods, September provided the optimum fruit weight of yuzu and relatively high amounts of total phenolics (3.67 mg/g DW), flavonoids (10.13 mg/g DW), and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity (29.10 μg Vit. C eq.). Of the functional compounds, hesperidin (13.57 mg/100 g DW) and naringin (5.84 mg/100 g DW) were the highest in 5% (w/v) yuzu extracted with 80% ethanol and this extract showed the highest DPPH (289.2 μg Vit. C eq.) scavenging activity. This same extract showed the highest cell viability and lowest cortisol or acetylcholinesterase content in scopolamine-treated SH-SY5Y cells. These results indicate that ‘Tadanishiki’ yuzu harvested in September should be extracted at 5% (w/v) yuzu with 80% EtOH, and this extract might be useful for application as a natural functional additive

Generalizations of -Subalgebras in BCK/BCI-Algebras Based on Point -Structures

The aim of this article is to obtain more general forms than the papers of (Jun et al. (2010); Jun et al. (in press)). The notions of -subalgebras of types , and are introduced, and the concepts of -support and -support are also introduced. Several related properties are investigated. Characterizations of -subalgebra of type are discussed, and conditions for an -subalgebra of type to be an -subalgebra of type are considered