Business simulation games are considered as effective tools for the empowerment and mediation of business content learning. They act as serious games which contribute to learning through a simulation of real-life situ...Business simulation games are considered as effective tools for the empowerment and mediation of business content learning. They act as serious games which contribute to learning through a simulation of real-life situations and busi-ness environments. They are especially useful in the area of business management processes and business strategies. The blending of designed simulation technology and content curricula offers participants (players, students) a risk-free opportunity to test out a range of relevant strategies to drive business results. By customizing computer-based business simulations, participants can integrate key strategic and financial priorities. This paper provides a brief review of busi-ness simulations that serve learning purposes. The first part presents a short introduction and description of business games and their evaluation properties, and the second part provides a brief evaluation and analysis of selected business simulation games.展开更多
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS)is classified as a multigenic,multifactorial,and heterogeneous neurodegenerative/neuroinflammatory disease that slays especially upper and lower motor neurons controlling voluntary mu...Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS)is classified as a multigenic,multifactorial,and heterogeneous neurodegenerative/neuroinflammatory disease that slays especially upper and lower motor neurons controlling voluntary muscle activity.After the insurgence that is characterized by typical symptoms such as weakness in the limbs and muscle twitches,the disease rapidly evolves into progressive muscle atrophy,paralysis,and lastly death occurring by respiratory failure usually within 2-4 years of diagnosis.展开更多
Background::Around the world,controlling the COVID-19 pandemic requires national coordination of multiple intervention strategies.As vaccinations are globally introduced into the repertoire of available interventions,...Background::Around the world,controlling the COVID-19 pandemic requires national coordination of multiple intervention strategies.As vaccinations are globally introduced into the repertoire of available interventions,it is important to consider how changes in the local supply of vaccines,including delays in administration,may be addressed through existing policy levers.This study aims to identify the optimal level of interventions for COVID-19 from 2021 to 2022 in the Philippines,which as a developing country is particularly vulnerable to shifting assumptions around vaccine availability.Furthermore,we explore optimal strategies in scenarios featuring delays in vaccine administration,expansions of vaccine supply,and limited combinations of interventions.Methods::Embedding our work within the local policy landscape,we apply optimal control theory to the compartmental model of COVID-19 used by the Philippine government’s pandemic surveillance platform and introduce four controls:(a)precautionary measures like community quarantines,(b)detection of asymptomatic cases,(c)detection of symptomatic cases,and(d)vaccinations.The model is fitted to local data using an L-BFGS minimization procedure.Optimality conditions are identified using Pontryagin’s minimum principle and numerically solved using the forward-backward sweep method.Results::Simulation results indicate that early and effective implementation of both precautionary measures and symptomatic case detection is vital for averting the most infections at an efficient cost,resulting in>99%reduction of infections compared to the no-control scenario.Expanding vaccine administration capacity to 440,000 full immunizations daily will reduce the overall cost of optimal strategy by 25%,while allowing for a faster relaxation of more resource-intensive interventions.Furthermore,delays in vaccine administration require compensatory increases in the remaining policy levers to maintain a minimal number of infections.For example,delaying the vaccines by 180 days(6 months)will result in an 18%increase in the cost of the optimal strategy.Conclusion::We conclude with practical insights regarding policy priorities particularly attuned to the Philippine context,but also applicable more broadly in similar resource-constrained settings.We emphasize three key takeaways of(a)sustaining efficient case detection,isolation,and treatment strategies;(b)expanding not only vaccine supply but also the capacity to administer them,and;(c)timeliness and consistency in adopting policy measures.展开更多
Given a biobjective linear programming problem,we develop an affine scaling algorithm with min-max direction and demonstrate its convergence for an efficient solution.We implement the algorithm for some minor issues i...Given a biobjective linear programming problem,we develop an affine scaling algorithm with min-max direction and demonstrate its convergence for an efficient solution.We implement the algorithm for some minor issues in the literature.展开更多
Objectives:This study aimed to analyze and compare health security performance(HSP)between Gulf Cooperation Council and non-Gulf Cooperation Council countries within the Eastern Mediterranean Region(EMR)for 2019 and 2...Objectives:This study aimed to analyze and compare health security performance(HSP)between Gulf Cooperation Council and non-Gulf Cooperation Council countries within the Eastern Mediterranean Region(EMR)for 2019 and 2021,recognizing the critical role of health security in managing global health threats.Methods:The study utilized data from the Global Health Security Index(GHSI)for 2019 and 2021.Key health security priorities were identified using the entropy objective weighting method.The VIKOR(VIseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje)method was employed to rank countries based on overall performance.K-means clustering was applied to group countries with similar health security profiles.Pearson’s and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients were used to assess relationships between independent HSP indicators and overall performance scores.Results:A significant shift in health security priorities within the EMR was observed between 2019 and 2021,with prevention gaining prominence.Gulf Cooperation Council countries emphasized detection and reporting,while non-Gulf Cooperation Council countries prioritized health systems and prevention.Gulf Cooperation Council countries,particularly Qatar and Saudi Arabia,consistently demonstrated strong HSP.Conversely,non-Gulf Cooperation Council countries facing conflict and instability,such as Yemen,Somalia,and Syria,exhibited weaker performance.Health system capacity,prevention,detection and reporting,and risk environment showed robust correlations with overall HSP.Conclusion:This study underscores the necessity for tailored,adaptive policies to address HSP disparities across regions,highlighting investment in prevention,detection,and reporting.It stresses international collaboration,improved policy implementation,and ongoing research to enhance global health security systems across diverse contexts.展开更多
We propose the usage of formal languages for expressing instances of NP-complete problems for their application in polynomial transformations. The proposed approach, which consists of using formal language theory for ...We propose the usage of formal languages for expressing instances of NP-complete problems for their application in polynomial transformations. The proposed approach, which consists of using formal language theory for polynomial transformations, is more robust, more practical, and faster to apply to real problems than the theory of polynomial transformations. In this paper we propose a methodology for transforming instances between NP-complete problems, which differs from Garey and Johnson's. Unlike most transformations which are used for proving that a problem is NP-complete based on the NP-completeness of another problem, the proposed approach is intended for extrapolating some known characteristics, phenomena, or behaviors from a problem A to another problem B. This extrapolation could be useful for predicting the performance of an algorithm for solving B based on its known performance for problem A, or for taking an algorithm that solves A and adapting it to solve B.展开更多
基金supported by FCT(INESC-ID multian-nual funding)through the PIDDAC Program fundsthe European funded Project UNITE(FP7 248583),namely its second-ment programme coordinated by UNINOVA-GRIS,that supported the development of various ideas and concepts presented in this paper.
文摘Business simulation games are considered as effective tools for the empowerment and mediation of business content learning. They act as serious games which contribute to learning through a simulation of real-life situations and busi-ness environments. They are especially useful in the area of business management processes and business strategies. The blending of designed simulation technology and content curricula offers participants (players, students) a risk-free opportunity to test out a range of relevant strategies to drive business results. By customizing computer-based business simulations, participants can integrate key strategic and financial priorities. This paper provides a brief review of busi-ness simulations that serve learning purposes. The first part presents a short introduction and description of business games and their evaluation properties, and the second part provides a brief evaluation and analysis of selected business simulation games.
基金supported by FATALSDRUG Project(Progetti di Ricerca@CNR)from National Research Council,Italy(to CV)。
文摘Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS)is classified as a multigenic,multifactorial,and heterogeneous neurodegenerative/neuroinflammatory disease that slays especially upper and lower motor neurons controlling voluntary muscle activity.After the insurgence that is characterized by typical symptoms such as weakness in the limbs and muscle twitches,the disease rapidly evolves into progressive muscle atrophy,paralysis,and lastly death occurring by respiratory failure usually within 2-4 years of diagnosis.
基金This work was supported by the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development(DOST-PCHRD)and the United Nations Development Programme(UNDP)Pintig Lab through the FASSSTER projectThis work is also supported by the Rizal Library Open Access Journal Publication Grant of the Ateneo de Manila University.
文摘Background::Around the world,controlling the COVID-19 pandemic requires national coordination of multiple intervention strategies.As vaccinations are globally introduced into the repertoire of available interventions,it is important to consider how changes in the local supply of vaccines,including delays in administration,may be addressed through existing policy levers.This study aims to identify the optimal level of interventions for COVID-19 from 2021 to 2022 in the Philippines,which as a developing country is particularly vulnerable to shifting assumptions around vaccine availability.Furthermore,we explore optimal strategies in scenarios featuring delays in vaccine administration,expansions of vaccine supply,and limited combinations of interventions.Methods::Embedding our work within the local policy landscape,we apply optimal control theory to the compartmental model of COVID-19 used by the Philippine government’s pandemic surveillance platform and introduce four controls:(a)precautionary measures like community quarantines,(b)detection of asymptomatic cases,(c)detection of symptomatic cases,and(d)vaccinations.The model is fitted to local data using an L-BFGS minimization procedure.Optimality conditions are identified using Pontryagin’s minimum principle and numerically solved using the forward-backward sweep method.Results::Simulation results indicate that early and effective implementation of both precautionary measures and symptomatic case detection is vital for averting the most infections at an efficient cost,resulting in>99%reduction of infections compared to the no-control scenario.Expanding vaccine administration capacity to 440,000 full immunizations daily will reduce the overall cost of optimal strategy by 25%,while allowing for a faster relaxation of more resource-intensive interventions.Furthermore,delays in vaccine administration require compensatory increases in the remaining policy levers to maintain a minimal number of infections.For example,delaying the vaccines by 180 days(6 months)will result in an 18%increase in the cost of the optimal strategy.Conclusion::We conclude with practical insights regarding policy priorities particularly attuned to the Philippine context,but also applicable more broadly in similar resource-constrained settings.We emphasize three key takeaways of(a)sustaining efficient case detection,isolation,and treatment strategies;(b)expanding not only vaccine supply but also the capacity to administer them,and;(c)timeliness and consistency in adopting policy measures.
文摘Given a biobjective linear programming problem,we develop an affine scaling algorithm with min-max direction and demonstrate its convergence for an efficient solution.We implement the algorithm for some minor issues in the literature.
基金supported via funding from Deanship of Scien-tific Research,Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University[project number:PSAU/2024/R/1445].
文摘Objectives:This study aimed to analyze and compare health security performance(HSP)between Gulf Cooperation Council and non-Gulf Cooperation Council countries within the Eastern Mediterranean Region(EMR)for 2019 and 2021,recognizing the critical role of health security in managing global health threats.Methods:The study utilized data from the Global Health Security Index(GHSI)for 2019 and 2021.Key health security priorities were identified using the entropy objective weighting method.The VIKOR(VIseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje)method was employed to rank countries based on overall performance.K-means clustering was applied to group countries with similar health security profiles.Pearson’s and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients were used to assess relationships between independent HSP indicators and overall performance scores.Results:A significant shift in health security priorities within the EMR was observed between 2019 and 2021,with prevention gaining prominence.Gulf Cooperation Council countries emphasized detection and reporting,while non-Gulf Cooperation Council countries prioritized health systems and prevention.Gulf Cooperation Council countries,particularly Qatar and Saudi Arabia,consistently demonstrated strong HSP.Conversely,non-Gulf Cooperation Council countries facing conflict and instability,such as Yemen,Somalia,and Syria,exhibited weaker performance.Health system capacity,prevention,detection and reporting,and risk environment showed robust correlations with overall HSP.Conclusion:This study underscores the necessity for tailored,adaptive policies to address HSP disparities across regions,highlighting investment in prevention,detection,and reporting.It stresses international collaboration,improved policy implementation,and ongoing research to enhance global health security systems across diverse contexts.
文摘We propose the usage of formal languages for expressing instances of NP-complete problems for their application in polynomial transformations. The proposed approach, which consists of using formal language theory for polynomial transformations, is more robust, more practical, and faster to apply to real problems than the theory of polynomial transformations. In this paper we propose a methodology for transforming instances between NP-complete problems, which differs from Garey and Johnson's. Unlike most transformations which are used for proving that a problem is NP-complete based on the NP-completeness of another problem, the proposed approach is intended for extrapolating some known characteristics, phenomena, or behaviors from a problem A to another problem B. This extrapolation could be useful for predicting the performance of an algorithm for solving B based on its known performance for problem A, or for taking an algorithm that solves A and adapting it to solve B.
