Resource Allocation Procedure at Queensland University: A Dynamic Modelling Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Galbraith, Peter L.; Carss, Brian W.

A structural reorganization of the University of Queensland, Australia, was undertaken to promote efficient resource management, and a resource allocation model was developed to aid in policy evaluation and planning. The operation of the restructured system was based on creating five resource groups to manage the distribution of academic resources…

Money, Time and Learning. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, J. Alan; Kemmerer, Frances

Chapter 1 of this study discusses sources of educational inequality in terms of criteria for resource allocation, definitions of educational equity, and equity and efficiency in the classroom. Following the second chapter's review of literature on how resources affect learning, chapter 3 offers a theory of resource allocation education. The fourth…

Health Care Market Deviations from the Ideal Market

PubMed Central

Mwachofi, Ari; Al-Assaf, Assaf F.

2011-01-01

A common argument in the health policy debate is that market forces allocate resources efficiently in health care, and that government intervention distorts such allocation. Rarely do those making such claims state explicitly that the market they refer to is an ideal in economic theory which can only exist under very strict conditions. This paper explores the strict conditions necessary for that ideal market in the context of health care as a means of examining the claim that market forces do allocate resources efficiently in health care. PMID:22087373

Water Development, Allocation, and Institutions: A Role for Integrated Tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ward, F. A.

2008-12-01

Many parts of the world suffer from inadequate water infrastructure, inefficient water allocation, and weak water institutions. Each of these three challenges compounds the burdens imposed by inadequacies associated with the other two. Weak water infrastructure makes it hard to allocate water efficiently and undermines tracking of water rights and use, which blocks effective functioning of water institutions. Inefficient water allocation makes it harder to secure resources to develop new water infrastructure. Poorly developed water institutions undermine the security of water rights, which damages incentives to develop water infrastructure or use water efficiently. This paper reports on the development of a prototype basin scale economic optimization, in which existing water supplies are allocated more efficiently in the short run to provide resources for more efficient long-run water infrastructure development. Preliminary results provide the basis for designing water administrative proposals, building effective water infrastructure, increasing farm income, and meeting transboundary delivery commitments. The application is to the Kabul River Basin in Afghanistan, where food security has been compromised by a history of drought, war, damaged irrigation infrastructure, lack of reservoir storage, inefficient water allocation, and weak water institutions. Results illustrate increases in economic efficiency achievable when development programs simultaneously address interdependencies in water allocation, development, and institutions.

Principles of scarce medical resource allocation in natural disaster relief: a simulation approach.

PubMed

Cao, Hui; Huang, Simin

2012-01-01

A variety of triage principles have been proposed. The authors sought to evaluate their effects on how many lives can be saved in a hypothetical disaster. To determine an optimal scarce resource-rationing principle in the emergency response domain, considering the trade-off between lifesaving efficiency and ethical issues. A discrete event simulation model is developed to examine the efficiency of four resource-rationing principles: first come-first served, random, most serious first, and least serious first. Seven combinations of available resources are examined in the simulations to evaluate the performance of the principles under different levels of resource scarcity. The simulation results indicate that the performance of the medical resource allocation principles is related to the level of the resource scarcity. When the level of the scarcity is high, the performances of the four principles differ significantly. The least serious first principle performs best, followed by the random principle; the most serious first principle acts worst. However, when the scarcity is relieved, there are no significant differences among the random, first come-first served, and least serious first principles, yet the most serious first principle still performs worst. Although the least serious first principle exhibits the highest efficiency, it is not ethically flawless. Considering the trade off between the lifesaving efficiency and the ethical issues, random selection is a relatively fair and efficient principle for allocating scarce medical resources in natural disaster responses.

Strategic costs and preferences revelation in the allocation of resources for health care.

PubMed

Levaggi, Laura; Levaggi, Rosella

2010-09-01

This article examines the resources allocation process in the internal market for health care in an environment characterised by asymmetry of information. We analyse the strategic behaviour of the provider and show how, by misreporting its cost function and reservation utility, it might shift the allocation of resources away from the purchaser's objectives. Although the fundamental importance of equity, efficiency and risk aversion considerations which have been the traditional focus of the literature on allocation of resources should not be denied, this paper shows that contracts and internal markets are not neutral instruments and more research should be devoted to studying their effects.

Study on Equity and Efficiency of Health Resources and Services Based on Key Indicators in China

PubMed Central

Zhang, Xinyu; Zhao, Lin; Cui, Zhuang; Wang, Yaogang

2015-01-01

Background This study aims to evaluate the dialectical relationship between equity and efficiency of health resource allocation and health service utilization in China. Methods We analyzed the inequity of health resource allocation and health service utilization based on concentration index (CI) and Gini coefficient. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) was used to evaluate the inefficiency of resource allocation and service utilization. Factor Analysis (FA) was used to determine input/output indicators. Results The CI of Health Institutions, Beds in Health Institutions, Health Professionals and Outpatient Visits were -0.116, -0.012, 0.038, and 0.111, respectively. Gini coefficient for the 31 provinces varied between 0.05 and 0.43; out of these 23 (742%) were observed to be technically efficient constituting the “best practice frontier”. The other 8 (25.8%) provinces were technically inefficient. Conclusions Health professionals and outpatient services are focused on higher income levels, while the Health Institutions and Beds in Health Institutions were concentrated on lower income levels. In China, a few provinces attained a basic balance in both equity and efficiency in terms of current health resource and service utilization, thus serving as a reference standard for other provinces. PMID:26679187

Study on Equity and Efficiency of Health Resources and Services Based on Key Indicators in China.

PubMed

Zhang, Xinyu; Zhao, Lin; Cui, Zhuang; Wang, Yaogang

2015-01-01

This study aims to evaluate the dialectical relationship between equity and efficiency of health resource allocation and health service utilization in China. We analyzed the inequity of health resource allocation and health service utilization based on concentration index (CI) and Gini coefficient. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) was used to evaluate the inefficiency of resource allocation and service utilization. Factor Analysis (FA) was used to determine input/output indicators. The CI of Health Institutions, Beds in Health Institutions, Health Professionals and Outpatient Visits were -0.116, -0.012, 0.038, and 0.111, respectively. Gini coefficient for the 31 provinces varied between 0.05 and 0.43; out of these 23 (742%) were observed to be technically efficient constituting the "best practice frontier". The other 8 (25.8%) provinces were technically inefficient. Health professionals and outpatient services are focused on higher income levels, while the Health Institutions and Beds in Health Institutions were concentrated on lower income levels. In China, a few provinces attained a basic balance in both equity and efficiency in terms of current health resource and service utilization, thus serving as a reference standard for other provinces.

Improving the Success of Strategic Management Using Big Data.

PubMed

Desai, Sapan S; Wilkerson, James; Roberts, Todd

2016-01-01

Strategic management involves determining organizational goals, implementing a strategic plan, and properly allocating resources. Poor access to pertinent and timely data misidentifies clinical goals, prevents effective resource allocation, and generates waste from inaccurate forecasting. Loss of operational efficiency diminishes the value stream, adversely impacts the quality of patient care, and hampers effective strategic management. We have pioneered an approach using big data to create competitive advantage by identifying trends in clinical practice, accurately anticipating future needs, and strategically allocating resources for maximum impact.

A data-driven allocation tool for in-kind resources distributed by a state health department.

PubMed

Peterson, Cora; Kegler, Scott R; Parker, Wende R; Sullivan, David

2016-10-02

The objective of this study was to leverage a state health department's operational data to allocate in-kind resources (children's car seats) to counties, with the proposition that need-based allocation could ultimately improve public health outcomes. This study used a retrospective analysis of administrative data on car seats distributed to counties statewide by the Georgia Department of Public Health and development of a need-based allocation tool (presented as interactive supplemental digital content, adaptable to other types of in-kind public health resources) that relies on current county-level injury and sociodemographic data. Car seat allocation using public health data and a need-based formula resulted in substantially different recommended allocations to individual counties compared to historic distribution. Results indicate that making an in-kind public health resource like car seats universally available results in a less equitable distribution of that resource compared to deliberate allocation according to public health need. Public health agencies can use local data to allocate in-kind resources consistent with health objectives; that is, in a manner offering the greatest potential health impact. Future analysis can determine whether the change to a more equitable allocation of resources is also more efficient, resulting in measurably improved public health outcomes.

Design and implementation of priority and time-window based traffic scheduling and routing-spectrum allocation mechanism in elastic optical networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Honghuan; Xing, Fangyuan; Yin, Hongxi; Zhao, Nan; Lian, Bizhan

2016-02-01

With the explosive growth of network services, the reasonable traffic scheduling and efficient configuration of network resources have an important significance to increase the efficiency of the network. In this paper, an adaptive traffic scheduling policy based on the priority and time window is proposed and the performance of this algorithm is evaluated in terms of scheduling ratio. The routing and spectrum allocation are achieved by using the Floyd shortest path algorithm and establishing a node spectrum resource allocation model based on greedy algorithm, which is proposed by us. The fairness index is introduced to improve the capability of spectrum configuration. The results show that the designed traffic scheduling strategy can be applied to networks with multicast and broadcast functionalities, and makes them get real-time and efficient response. The scheme of node spectrum configuration improves the frequency resource utilization and gives play to the efficiency of the network.

Resource Allocation Modelling in Vocational Rehabilitation: A Prototype Developed with the Michigan and Rhode Island VR Agencies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leff, H. Stephen; Turner, Ralph R.

This report focuses on the use of linear programming models to address the issues of how vocational rehabilitation (VR) resources should be allocated in order to maximize program efficiency within given resource constraints. A general introduction to linear programming models is first presented that describes the major types of models available,…

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hussain, Hameed; Malik, Saif Ur Rehman; Hameed, Abdul

An efficient resource allocation is a fundamental requirement in high performance computing (HPC) systems. Many projects are dedicated to large-scale distributed computing systems that have designed and developed resource allocation mechanisms with a variety of architectures and services. In our study, through analysis, a comprehensive survey for describing resource allocation in various HPCs is reported. The aim of the work is to aggregate under a joint framework, the existing solutions for HPC to provide a thorough analysis and characteristics of the resource management and allocation strategies. Resource allocation mechanisms and strategies play a vital role towards the performance improvement ofmore » all the HPCs classifications. Therefore, a comprehensive discussion of widely used resource allocation strategies deployed in HPC environment is required, which is one of the motivations of this survey. Moreover, we have classified the HPC systems into three broad categories, namely: (a) cluster, (b) grid, and (c) cloud systems and define the characteristics of each class by extracting sets of common attributes. All of the aforementioned systems are cataloged into pure software and hybrid/hardware solutions. The system classification is used to identify approaches followed by the implementation of existing resource allocation strategies that are widely presented in the literature.« less

Resource allocation and budgetary mechanisms for decentralized health systems: experiences from Balochistan, Pakistan.

PubMed

Green, A; Ali, B; Naeem, A; Ross, D

2000-01-01

This paper identifies key political and technical issues involved in the development of an appropriate resource allocation and budgetary system for the public health sector, using experience gained in the Province of Balochistan, Pakistan. The resource allocation and budgetary system is a critical, yet often neglected, component of any decentralization policy. Current systems are often based on historical incrementalism that is neither efficient nor equitable. This article describes technical work carried out in Balochistan to develop a system of resource allocation and budgeting that is needs-based, in line with policies of decentralization, and implementable within existing technical constraints. However, the development of technical systems, while necessary, is not a sufficient condition for the implementation of a resource allocation and decentralized budgeting system. This is illustrated by analysing the constraints that have been encountered in the development of such a system in Balochistan.

Resource allocation and budgetary mechanisms for decentralized health systems: experiences from Balochistan, Pakistan.

PubMed Central

Green, A.; Ali, B.; Naeem, A.; Ross, D.

2000-01-01

This paper identifies key political and technical issues involved in the development of an appropriate resource allocation and budgetary system for the public health sector, using experience gained in the Province of Balochistan, Pakistan. The resource allocation and budgetary system is a critical, yet often neglected, component of any decentralization policy. Current systems are often based on historical incrementalism that is neither efficient nor equitable. This article describes technical work carried out in Balochistan to develop a system of resource allocation and budgeting that is needs-based, in line with policies of decentralization, and implementable within existing technical constraints. However, the development of technical systems, while necessary, is not a sufficient condition for the implementation of a resource allocation and decentralized budgeting system. This is illustrated by analysing the constraints that have been encountered in the development of such a system in Balochistan. PMID:10994286

Rate Adaptive Based Resource Allocation with Proportional Fairness Constraints in OFDMA Systems

PubMed Central

Yin, Zhendong; Zhuang, Shufeng; Wu, Zhilu; Ma, Bo

2015-01-01

Orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), which is widely used in the wireless sensor networks, allows different users to obtain different subcarriers according to their subchannel gains. Therefore, how to assign subcarriers and power to different users to achieve a high system sum rate is an important research area in OFDMA systems. In this paper, the focus of study is on the rate adaptive (RA) based resource allocation with proportional fairness constraints. Since the resource allocation is a NP-hard and non-convex optimization problem, a new efficient resource allocation algorithm ACO-SPA is proposed, which combines ant colony optimization (ACO) and suboptimal power allocation (SPA). To reduce the computational complexity, the optimization problem of resource allocation in OFDMA systems is separated into two steps. For the first one, the ant colony optimization algorithm is performed to solve the subcarrier allocation. Then, the suboptimal power allocation algorithm is developed with strict proportional fairness, and the algorithm is based on the principle that the sums of power and the reciprocal of channel-to-noise ratio for each user in different subchannels are equal. To support it, plenty of simulation results are presented. In contrast with root-finding and linear methods, the proposed method provides better performance in solving the proportional resource allocation problem in OFDMA systems. PMID:26426016

University and Polytechnic Objectives, Resource Allocation and Performance Indices in the Central Services. Program on Institutional Management in Higher Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Norris, Graeme, Ed.

Research progress by member institutions is reviewed with regard to university administration, computing, committees, libraries, and student welfare. Consideration is given to effectiveness and efficiency, management information, management by objectives, periodic review of objectives, strategy, and analytic resource allocation. Two research…

Technical efficiency and resources allocation in university hospitals in Tehran, 2009-2012.

PubMed

Rezapour, Aziz; Ebadifard Azar, Farbod; Yousef Zadeh, Negar; Roumiani, YarAllah; Bagheri Faradonbeh, Saeed

2015-01-01

Assessment of hospitals' performance in achieving its goals is a basic necessity. Measuring the efficiency of hospitals in order to boost resource productivity in healthcare organizations is extremely important. The aim of this study was to measure technical efficiency and determining status of resource allocation in some university hospitals, in Tehran, Iran. This study was conducted in 2012; the research population consisted of all hospitals affiliated to Iran and Tehran medical sciences universities of. Required data, such as human and capital resources information and also production variables (hospital outputs) were collected from data centers of studied hospitals. Data were analyzed using data envelopment analysis (DEA) method, Deap2,1 software; and the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) method, Frontier 4,1 software. According to DEA method, average of technical, management (pure) and scale efficiency of the studied hospitals during the study period were calculated 0.87, 0.971, and 0.907, respectively. All kinds of efficiency did not follow a fixed trend over the study time and were constantly changing. In the stochastic frontier's production function analysis, the technical efficiency of the studied industry during the study period was estimated to be 0.389. This study represented hospitals with the highest and lowest efficiency. Reference hospitals (more efficient states) were indicated for the inefficient centers. According to the findings, it was found that in the hospitals that do not operate efficiently, there is a capacity to improve the technical efficiency by removing excess inputs without changes in the level of outputs. However, by the optimal allocation of resources in most studied hospitals, very important economy of scale can be achieved.

Technical efficiency and resources allocation in university hospitals in Tehran, 2009-2012

PubMed Central

Rezapour, Aziz; Ebadifard Azar, Farbod; Yousef Zadeh, Negar; Roumiani, YarAllah; Bagheri Faradonbeh, Saeed

2015-01-01

Background: Assessment of hospitals’ performance in achieving its goals is a basic necessity. Measuring the efficiency of hospitals in order to boost resource productivity in healthcare organizations is extremely important. The aim of this study was to measure technical efficiency and determining status of resource allocation in some university hospitals, in Tehran, Iran. Methods: This study was conducted in 2012; the research population consisted of all hospitals affiliated to Iran and Tehran medical sciences universities of. Required data, such as human and capital resources information and also production variables (hospital outputs) were collected from data centers of studied hospitals. Data were analyzed using data envelopment analysis (DEA) method, Deap2,1 software; and the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) method, Frontier 4,1 software. Results: According to DEA method, average of technical, management (pure) and scale efficiency of the studied hospitals during the study period were calculated 0.87, 0.971, and 0.907, respectively. All kinds of efficiency did not follow a fixed trend over the study time and were constantly changing. In the stochastic frontier's production function analysis, the technical efficiency of the studied industry during the study period was estimated to be 0.389. Conclusion: This study represented hospitals with the highest and lowest efficiency. Reference hospitals (more efficient states) were indicated for the inefficient centers. According to the findings, it was found that in the hospitals that do not operate efficiently, there is a capacity to improve the technical efficiency by removing excess inputs without changes in the level of outputs. However, by the optimal allocation of resources in most studied hospitals, very important economy of scale can be achieved. PMID:26793657

A Greedy Double Auction Mechanism for Grid Resource Allocation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ding, Ding; Luo, Siwei; Gao, Zhan

To improve the resource utilization and satisfy more users, a Greedy Double Auction Mechanism(GDAM) is proposed to allocate resources in grid environments. GDAM trades resources at discriminatory price instead of uniform price, reflecting the variance in requirements for profits and quantities. Moreover, GDAM applies different auction rules to different cases, over-demand, over-supply and equilibrium of demand and supply. As a new mechanism for grid resource allocation, GDAM is proved to be strategy-proof, economically efficient, weakly budget-balanced and individual rational. Simulation results also confirm that GDAM outperforms the traditional one on both the total trade amount and the user satisfaction percentage, specially as more users are involved in the auction market.

A cognitive gateway-based spectrum sharing method in downlink round robin scheduling of LTE system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Hongyu; Wu, Cheng; Wang, Yiming

2017-07-01

A key technique of LTE is how to allocate efficiently the resource of radio spectrum. Traditional Round Robin (RR) scheduling scheme may lead to too many resource residues when allocating resources. When the number of users in the current transmission time interval (TTI) is not the greatest common divisor of resource block groups (RBGs), and such a phenomenon lasts for a long time, the spectrum utilization would be greatly decreased. In this paper, a novel spectrum allocation scheme of cognitive gateway (CG) was proposed, in which the LTE spectrum utilization and CG’s throughput were greatly increased by allocating idle resource blocks in the shared TTI in LTE system to CG. Our simulation results show that the spectrum resource sharing method can improve LTE spectral utilization and increase the CG’s throughput as well as network use time.

Threshold considerations in fair allocation of health resources: justice beyond scarcity.

PubMed

Alvarez, Allen Andrew A

2007-10-01

Application of egalitarian and prioritarian accounts of health resource allocation in low-income countries have both been criticized for implying distribution outcomes that allow decreasing/undermining health gains and for tolerating unacceptable standards of health care and health status that result from such allocation schemes. Insufficient health care and severe deprivation of health resources are difficult to accept even when justified by aggregative efficiency or legitimized by fair deliberative process in pursuing equality and priority oriented outcomes. I affirm the sufficientarian argument that, given extreme scarcity of public health resources in low-income countries, neither health status equality between populations nor priority for the worse off is normatively adequate. Nevertheless, the threshold norm alone need not be the sole consideration when a country's total health budget is extremely scarce. Threshold considerations are necessary in developing a theory of fair distribution of health resources that is sensitive to the lexically prior norm of sufficiency. Based on the intuition that shares must not be taken away from those who barely achieve a minimal level of health, I argue that assessments based on standards of minimal physical/mental health must be developed to evaluate the sufficiency of the total resources of health systems in low-income countries prior to pursuing equality, priority, and efficiency based resource allocation. I also begin to examine how threshold sensitive health resource assessment could be used in the Philippines.

Suggestions to ameliorate the inequity in urban/rural allocation of healthcare resources in China.

PubMed

Chen, Yiyi; Yin, Zhou; Xie, Qiong

2014-05-01

The imbalance in the allocation in healthcare resources between urban and rural areas has become a main focus of the recent medical reforms adopted in China. However, systematic analysis has identified wide differences in the allocation of healthcare resources between urban and rural areas, including healthcare expenditures and the number of healthcare facilities, available beds, and personnel. Therefore, the aim of this report was to identify ethical considerations in current governmental policies to rectify existing problems in the distribution of healthcare resources. Our findings indicate that the inequality in the distribution of healthcare resources does not adhere to ethical standards and the policies are flawed because they give rise to differences in the availability of medical care to urban and rural communities. To optimize the allocation of medical healthcare resources, countermeasures are proposed to formulate policies to urge the flow of public healthcare resources to rural areas, strengthen the responsibilities of both governmental and public financial investments, increase the construction of public healthcare facilities in rural areas, promote the quality of healthcare resources, adjust resource allocations to rural public healthcare facilities, and improve resource utilization efficiency by establishing two-way referral mechanisms.

Tactical resource allocation and elective patient admission planning in care processes.

PubMed

Hulshof, Peter J H; Boucherie, Richard J; Hans, Erwin W; Hurink, Johann L

2013-06-01

Tactical planning of resources in hospitals concerns elective patient admission planning and the intermediate term allocation of resource capacities. Its main objectives are to achieve equitable access for patients, to meet production targets/to serve the strategically agreed number of patients, and to use resources efficiently. This paper proposes a method to develop a tactical resource allocation and elective patient admission plan. These tactical plans allocate available resources to various care processes and determine the selection of patients to be served that are at a particular stage of their care process. Our method is developed in a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) framework and copes with multiple resources, multiple time periods and multiple patient groups with various uncertain treatment paths through the hospital, thereby integrating decision making for a chain of hospital resources. Computational results indicate that our method leads to a more equitable distribution of resources and provides control of patient access times, the number of patients served and the fraction of allocated resource capacity. Our approach is generic, as the base MILP and the solution approach allow for including various extensions to both the objective criteria and the constraints. Consequently, the proposed method is applicable in various settings of tactical hospital management.

Efficient resource allocation scheme for visible-light communication system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Woo-Chan; Bae, Chi-Sung; Cho, Dong-Ho; Shin, Hong-Seok; Jung, D. K.; Oh, Y. J.

2009-01-01

A visible-light communication utilizing LED has many advantagies such as visibility of information, high SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio), low installation cost, usage of existing illuminators, and high security. Furthermore, exponentially increasing needs and quality of LED have helped the development of visible-light communication. The visibility is the most attractive property in visible-light communication system, but it is difficult to ensure visibility and transmission efficiency simultaneously during initial access because of the small amount of initial access process signals. In this paper, we propose an efficient resource allocation scheme at initial access for ensuring visibility with high resource utilization rate and low data transmission failure rate. The performance has been evaluated through the numerical analysis and simulation results.

Efficient Resources Provisioning Based on Load Forecasting in Cloud

PubMed Central

Hu, Rongdong; Jiang, Jingfei; Liu, Guangming; Wang, Lixin

2014-01-01

Cloud providers should ensure QoS while maximizing resources utilization. One optimal strategy is to timely allocate resources in a fine-grained mode according to application's actual resources demand. The necessary precondition of this strategy is obtaining future load information in advance. We propose a multi-step-ahead load forecasting method, KSwSVR, based on statistical learning theory which is suitable for the complex and dynamic characteristics of the cloud computing environment. It integrates an improved support vector regression algorithm and Kalman smoother. Public trace data taken from multitypes of resources were used to verify its prediction accuracy, stability, and adaptability, comparing with AR, BPNN, and standard SVR. Subsequently, based on the predicted results, a simple and efficient strategy is proposed for resource provisioning. CPU allocation experiment indicated it can effectively reduce resources consumption while meeting service level agreements requirements. PMID:24701160

The California Law Enforcement Community’s Intelligence-Led Policing Capacity

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-01

intelligence product used for sound decision making , strategic targeting, and more efficient resource allocation, whereas lack of clarity and the...providing law enforcement executives with actionable intelligence products for sound decision making , strategic targeting, and efficient resource

Allocation of Public Resources for Psychological Therapy between Types of Mental Health Condition: Towards Structural Balance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tustin, Don

2009-01-01

This paper addresses issues of allocating public resources efficiently between mental health conditions that are associated with different levels of disability, and presents an adaptation of an established framework to help decision-making in this area. The adapted framework refers to psychological interventions that are universal, indicated,…

Stochastic Averaging for Constrained Optimization With Application to Online Resource Allocation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Tianyi; Mokhtari, Aryan; Wang, Xin; Ribeiro, Alejandro; Giannakis, Georgios B.

2017-06-01

Existing approaches to resource allocation for nowadays stochastic networks are challenged to meet fast convergence and tolerable delay requirements. The present paper leverages online learning advances to facilitate stochastic resource allocation tasks. By recognizing the central role of Lagrange multipliers, the underlying constrained optimization problem is formulated as a machine learning task involving both training and operational modes, with the goal of learning the sought multipliers in a fast and efficient manner. To this end, an order-optimal offline learning approach is developed first for batch training, and it is then generalized to the online setting with a procedure termed learn-and-adapt. The novel resource allocation protocol permeates benefits of stochastic approximation and statistical learning to obtain low-complexity online updates with learning errors close to the statistical accuracy limits, while still preserving adaptation performance, which in the stochastic network optimization context guarantees queue stability. Analysis and simulated tests demonstrate that the proposed data-driven approach improves the delay and convergence performance of existing resource allocation schemes.

Thinking about efficiency of resource use in forests

Treesearch

Dan Binkley; Jose Luiz Stape; Michael G. Ryan

2004-01-01

The growth of forests can be described as a function of the supply of resources, the proportion of resources captured by trees, and the efficiency with which trees use resources to fix carbon dioxide. This function can be modified to explain wood production by subtracting the allocation of biomass to other tissues and to respiration. At the scale of leaves and seconds...

Motion-related resource allocation in dynamic wireless visual sensor network environments.

PubMed

Katsenou, Angeliki V; Kondi, Lisimachos P; Parsopoulos, Konstantinos E

2014-01-01

This paper investigates quality-driven cross-layer optimization for resource allocation in direct sequence code division multiple access wireless visual sensor networks. We consider a single-hop network topology, where each sensor transmits directly to a centralized control unit (CCU) that manages the available network resources. Our aim is to enable the CCU to jointly allocate the transmission power and source-channel coding rates for each node, under four different quality-driven criteria that take into consideration the varying motion characteristics of each recorded video. For this purpose, we studied two approaches with a different tradeoff of quality and complexity. The first one allocates the resources individually for each sensor, whereas the second clusters them according to the recorded level of motion. In order to address the dynamic nature of the recorded scenery and re-allocate the resources whenever it is dictated by the changes in the amount of motion in the scenery, we propose a mechanism based on the particle swarm optimization algorithm, combined with two restarting schemes that either exploit the previously determined resource allocation or conduct a rough estimation of it. Experimental simulations demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approaches.

Reorienting the HIV response in Niger toward sex work interventions: from better evidence to targeted and expanded practice.

PubMed

Fraser, Nicole; Kerr, Cliff C; Harouna, Zakou; Alhousseini, Zeinabou; Cheikh, Nejma; Gray, Richard; Shattock, Andrew; Wilson, David P; Haacker, Markus; Shubber, Zara; Masaki, Emiko; Karamoko, Djibrilla; Görgens, Marelize

2015-03-01

Niger's low-burden, sex-work-driven HIV epidemic is situated in a context of high economic and demographic growth. Resource availability of HIV/AIDS has been decreasing recently. In 2007-2012, only 1% of HIV expenditure was for sex work interventions, but an estimated 37% of HIV incidence was directly linked to sex work in 2012. The Government of Niger requested assistance to determine an efficient allocation of its HIV resources and to strengthen HIV programming for sex workers. Optima, an integrated epidemiologic and optimization tool, was applied using local HIV epidemic, demographic, programmatic, expenditure, and cost data. A mathematical optimization algorithm was used to determine the best resource allocation for minimizing HIV incidence and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) over 10 years. Efficient allocation of the available HIV resources, to minimize incidence and DALYs, would increase expenditure for sex work interventions from 1% to 4%-5%, almost double expenditure for antiretroviral treatment and for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission, and reduce expenditure for HIV programs focusing on the general population. Such an investment could prevent an additional 12% of new infections despite a budget of less than half of the 2012 reference year. Most averted infections would arise from increased funding for sex work interventions. This allocative efficiency analysis makes the case for increased investment in sex work interventions to minimize future HIV incidence and DALYs. Optimal HIV resource allocation combined with improved program implementation could have even greater HIV impact. Technical assistance is being provided to make the money invested in sex work programs work better and help Niger to achieve a cost-effective and sustainable HIV response.

Toward More Effective Use of School Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rossmiller, Richard A.; Geske, Terry G.

1976-01-01

Discusses the use of economic analysis to examine relationships between school resources and school outcomes. Outlines a conceptual framework that employs a systems approach to analyze the efficiency of school resource allocation. (JG)

Impact of water allocation strategies to manage groundwater resources in Western Australia: Equity and efficiency considerations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iftekhar, Md Sayed; Fogarty, James

2017-05-01

In many parts of the world groundwater is being depleting at an alarming rate. Where groundwater extraction is licenced, regulators often respond to resource depletion by reducing all individual licences by a fixed proportion. This approach can be effective in achieving a reduction in the volume of water extracted, but the approach is not efficient. In water resource management the issue of the equity-efficiency trade-off has been explored in a number of contexts, but not in the context of allocation from a groundwater system. To contribute to this knowledge gap we conduct an empirical case study for Western Australia's most important groundwater system: the Gnangara Groundwater System (GGS). Resource depletion is a serious issue for the GGS, and substantial reductions in groundwater extraction are required to stabilise the system. Using an individual-based farm optimization model we study both the overall impact and the distributional impact of a fixed percentage water allocation cut to horticulture sector licence holders. The model is parameterised using water licence specific data on farm area and water allocation. The modelling shows that much of the impact of water allocation reductions can be mitigated through changing the cropping mix and the irrigation technology used. The modelling also shows that the scope for gains through the aggregation of holdings into larger farms is much greater than the potential losses due to water allocation reductions. The impact of water allocation cuts is also shown to impact large farms more than small farms. For example, the expected loss in net revenue per ha for a 10-ha farm is around three times the expected loss per ha for a 1-ha farm; and the expected loss per ha for a 25-ha farm is around five times the expected loss per ha for a 1-ha farm.

Smart LED allocation scheme for efficient multiuser visible light communication networks.

PubMed

Sewaiwar, Atul; Tiwari, Samrat Vikramaditya; Chung, Yeon Ho

2015-05-18

In a multiuser bidirectional visible light communication (VLC), a large number of LEDs or an LED array needs to be allocated in an efficient manner to ensure sustainable data rate and link quality. Moreover, in order to support an increasing or decreasing number of users in the network, the LED allocation is required to be performed dynamically. In this paper, a novel smart LED allocation scheme for efficient multiuser VLC networks is presented. The proposed scheme allocates RGB LEDs to multiple users in a dynamic and efficient fashion, while satisfying illumination requirements in an indoor environment. The smart LED array comprised of RGB LEDs is divided into sectors according to the location of the users. The allocated sectors then provide optical power concentration toward the users for efficient and reliable data transmission. An algorithm for the dynamic allocation of the LEDs is also presented. To verify its effective resource allocation feature of the proposed scheme, simulations were performed. It is found that the proposed smart LED allocation scheme provides the effect of optical beamforming toward individual users, thereby increasing the collective power concentration of the optical signals on the desirable users and resulting in significantly increased data rate, while ensuring sufficient illumination in a multiuser VLC environment.

Application of a COTS Resource Optimization Framework to the SSN Sensor Tasking Domain - Part I: Problem Definition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tran, T.

With the onset of the SmallSat era, the RSO catalog is expected to see continuing growth in the near future. This presents a significant challenge to the current sensor tasking of the SSN. The Air Force is in need of a sensor tasking system that is robust, efficient, scalable, and able to respond in real-time to interruptive events that can change the tracking requirements of the RSOs. Furthermore, the system must be capable of using processed data from heterogeneous sensors to improve tasking efficiency. The SSN sensor tasking can be regarded as an economic problem of supply and demand: the amount of tracking data needed by each RSO represents the demand side while the SSN sensor tasking represents the supply side. As the number of RSOs to be tracked grows, demand exceeds supply. The decision-maker is faced with the problem of how to allocate resources in the most efficient manner. Braxton recently developed a framework called Multi-Objective Resource Optimization using Genetic Algorithm (MOROUGA) as one of its modern COTS software products. This optimization framework took advantage of the maturing technology of evolutionary computation in the last 15 years. This framework was applied successfully to address the resource allocation of an AFSCN-like problem. In any resource allocation problem, there are five key elements: (1) the resource pool, (2) the tasks using the resources, (3) a set of constraints on the tasks and the resources, (4) the objective functions to be optimized, and (5) the demand levied on the resources. In this paper we explain in detail how the design features of this optimization framework are directly applicable to address the SSN sensor tasking domain. We also discuss our validation effort as well as present the result of the AFSCN resource allocation domain using a prototype based on this optimization framework.

HIV epidemic control-a model for optimal allocation of prevention and treatment resources.

PubMed

Alistar, Sabina S; Long, Elisa F; Brandeau, Margaret L; Beck, Eduard J

2014-06-01

With 33 million people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) worldwide and 2.7 million new infections occurring annually, additional HIV prevention and treatment efforts are urgently needed. However, available resources for HIV control are limited and must be used efficiently to minimize the future spread of the epidemic. We develop a model to determine the appropriate resource allocation between expanded HIV prevention and treatment services. We create an epidemic model that incorporates multiple key populations with different transmission modes, as well as production functions that relate investment in prevention and treatment programs to changes in transmission and treatment rates. The goal is to allocate resources to minimize R 0, the reproductive rate of infection. We first develop a single-population model and determine the optimal resource allocation between HIV prevention and treatment. We extend the analysis to multiple independent populations, with resource allocation among interventions and populations. We then include the effects of HIV transmission between key populations. We apply our model to examine HIV epidemic control in two different settings, Uganda and Russia. As part of these applications, we develop a novel approach for estimating empirical HIV program production functions. Our study provides insights into the important question of resource allocation for a country's optimal response to its HIV epidemic and provides a practical approach for decision makers. Better decisions about allocating limited HIV resources can improve response to the epidemic and increase access to HIV prevention and treatment services for millions of people worldwide.

Efficient Allocation of Resources for Defense of Spatially Distributed Networks Using Agent-Based Simulation.

PubMed

Kroshl, William M; Sarkani, Shahram; Mazzuchi, Thomas A

2015-09-01

This article presents ongoing research that focuses on efficient allocation of defense resources to minimize the damage inflicted on a spatially distributed physical network such as a pipeline, water system, or power distribution system from an attack by an active adversary, recognizing the fundamental difference between preparing for natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, or even accidental systems failures and the problem of allocating resources to defend against an opponent who is aware of, and anticipating, the defender's efforts to mitigate the threat. Our approach is to utilize a combination of integer programming and agent-based modeling to allocate the defensive resources. We conceptualize the problem as a Stackelberg "leader follower" game where the defender first places his assets to defend key areas of the network, and the attacker then seeks to inflict the maximum damage possible within the constraints of resources and network structure. The criticality of arcs in the network is estimated by a deterministic network interdiction formulation, which then informs an evolutionary agent-based simulation. The evolutionary agent-based simulation is used to determine the allocation of resources for attackers and defenders that results in evolutionary stable strategies, where actions by either side alone cannot increase its share of victories. We demonstrate these techniques on an example network, comparing the evolutionary agent-based results to a more traditional, probabilistic risk analysis (PRA) approach. Our results show that the agent-based approach results in a greater percentage of defender victories than does the PRA-based approach. © 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.

An analysis of stock market efficiency: Developed vs Islamic stock markets using MF-DFA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rizvi, Syed Aun R.; Dewandaru, Ginanjar; Bacha, Obiyathulla I.; Masih, Mansur

An efficient market has been theoretically proven to be a key component for effective and efficient resource allocation in an economy. This paper incorporates econophysics with Efficient Market Hypothesis to undertake a comparative analysis of Islamic and developed countries’ markets by extending the understanding of their multifractal nature. By applying the Multifractal Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (MFDFA) we calculated the generalized Hurst exponents, multifractal scaling exponents and generalized multifractal dimensions for 22 broad market indices. The findings provide a deeper understanding of the markets in Islamic countries, where they have traces of highly efficient performance particularly in crisis periods. A key finding is the empirical evidence of the impact of the ‘stage of market development’ on the efficiency of the market. If Islamic countries aim to improve the efficiency of resource allocation, an important area to address is to focus, among others, on enhancing the stage of market development.

SLA-based optimisation of virtualised resource for multi-tier web applications in cloud data centres

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bi, Jing; Yuan, Haitao; Tie, Ming; Tan, Wei

2015-10-01

Dynamic virtualised resource allocation is the key to quality of service assurance for multi-tier web application services in cloud data centre. In this paper, we develop a self-management architecture of cloud data centres with virtualisation mechanism for multi-tier web application services. Based on this architecture, we establish a flexible hybrid queueing model to determine the amount of virtual machines for each tier of virtualised application service environments. Besides, we propose a non-linear constrained optimisation problem with restrictions defined in service level agreement. Furthermore, we develop a heuristic mixed optimisation algorithm to maximise the profit of cloud infrastructure providers, and to meet performance requirements from different clients as well. Finally, we compare the effectiveness of our dynamic allocation strategy with two other allocation strategies. The simulation results show that the proposed resource allocation method is efficient in improving the overall performance and reducing the resource energy cost.

Improved Cloud resource allocation: how INDIGO-DataCloud is overcoming the current limitations in Cloud schedulers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lopez Garcia, Alvaro; Zangrando, Lisa; Sgaravatto, Massimo; Llorens, Vincent; Vallero, Sara; Zaccolo, Valentina; Bagnasco, Stefano; Taneja, Sonia; Dal Pra, Stefano; Salomoni, Davide; Donvito, Giacinto

2017-10-01

Performing efficient resource provisioning is a fundamental aspect for any resource provider. Local Resource Management Systems (LRMS) have been used in data centers for decades in order to obtain the best usage of the resources, providing their fair usage and partitioning for the users. In contrast, current cloud schedulers are normally based on the immediate allocation of resources on a first-come, first-served basis, meaning that a request will fail if there are no resources (e.g. OpenStack) or it will be trivially queued ordered by entry time (e.g. OpenNebula). Moreover, these scheduling strategies are based on a static partitioning of the resources, meaning that existing quotas cannot be exceeded, even if there are idle resources allocated to other projects. This is a consequence of the fact that cloud instances are not associated with a maximum execution time and leads to a situation where the resources are under-utilized. These facts have been identified by the INDIGO-DataCloud project as being too simplistic for accommodating scientific workloads in an efficient way, leading to an underutilization of the resources, a non desirable situation in scientific data centers. In this work, we will present the work done in the scheduling area during the first year of the INDIGO project and the foreseen evolutions.

How a new funding model will shift allocations from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

PubMed

Fan, Victoria Y; Glassman, Amanda; Silverman, Rachel L

2014-12-01

Policy makers deciding how to fund global health programs in low- and middle-income countries face important but difficult questions about how to allocate resources across countries. In this article we present a typology of three allocation methodologies to align allocations with priorities. We then apply our typology to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. We examined the Global Fund's historical HIV allocations and its predicted allocations under a new funding model that creates an explicit allocation methodology. We found that under the new funding model, substantial shifts in the Global Fund's portfolio are likely to result from concentrating resources in countries with more HIV cases and lower per capita incomes. For example, South Africa, which had 15.8 percent of global HIV cases in 2009, could see its Global Fund HIV funding more than triple, from historic levels that averaged 3.0 percent to 9.7 percent of total Global Fund allocations. The new funding model methodology is expected, but not guaranteed, to improve the efficiency of Global Fund allocations in comparison to historical practice. We conclude with recommendations for the Global Fund and other global health donors to further develop their allocation methodologies and processes to improve efficiency and transparency. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Are wildfire management resources in the United States efficiently allocated to protect resources at risk? A case study from Montana

Treesearch

Derek T. O' Donnell; Tyron J. Venna; David E. Calkin

2014-01-01

Federal wildfire management agencies in the United States are under substantial pressure to reduce and economically justify their expenditures. To support economically efficient management of wildfires, managers need better estimates of the resource benefits and avoided damage costs associated with alternative wildfire management strategies. This paper reports findings...

Challenges associated with tracking resources allocation for reproductive health in sub-Saharan African countries: the UNFPA/NIDI resource flows project experience.

PubMed

Sidze, Estelle M; Beekink, Erik; Maina, Beatrice W

2015-05-05

Universal access to reproductive health services entails strengthening health systems, but requires significant resource commitments as well as efficient and effective use of those resources. A number of international organizations and governments in developing countries are putting efforts into tracking the flow of health resources in order to inform resource mobilization and allocation, strategic planning, priority setting, advocacy and general policy making. The UNFPA/NIDI-led Resource Flows Project ("The UNFPA/NIDI RF Project") has conducted annual surveys since 1997 to monitor progress achieved by developing countries in implementing reproductive health financial targets. This commentary summarizes the Project experiences and challenges in gathering data on allocation of resources for reproductive health at the domestic level in sub-Saharan African countries. One key lesson learnt from the Project experience is the need for strengthening tracking mechanisms in sub-Saharan African countries and making information on reproductive health resources and expenditures available, in particular the private sector resources.

Informing the Gestalt: An Ethical Framework for Allocating Scarce Federal Public Health and Medical Resources to States During Disasters

PubMed Central

Knebel, Ann R.; Sharpe, Virginia A.; Danis, Marion; Toomey, Lauren M.; Knickerbocker, Deborah K.

2017-01-01

During catastrophic disasters, government leaders must decide how to efficiently and effectively allocate scarce public health and medical resources. The literature about triage decision making at the individual patient level is substantial, and the National Response Framework provides guidance about the distribution of responsibilities between federal and state governments. However, little has been written about the decision-making process of federal leaders in disaster situations when resources are not sufficient to meet the needs of several states simultaneously. We offer an ethical framework and logic model for decision making in such circumstances. We adapted medical triage and the federalism principle to the decision-making process for allocating scarce federal public health and medical resources. We believe that the logic model provides a values-based framework that can inform the gestalt during the iterative decision process used by federal leaders as they allocate scarce resources to states during catastrophic disasters. PMID:24612854

S4HARA: System for HIV/AIDS resource allocation.

PubMed

Lasry, Arielle; Carter, Michael W; Zaric, Gregory S

2008-03-26

HIV/AIDS resource allocation decisions are influenced by political, social, ethical and other factors that are difficult to quantify. Consequently, quantitative models of HIV/AIDS resource allocation have had limited impact on actual spending decisions. We propose a decision-support System for HIV/AIDS Resource Allocation (S4HARA) that takes into consideration both principles of efficient resource allocation and the role of non-quantifiable influences on the decision-making process for resource allocation. S4HARA is a four-step spreadsheet-based model. The first step serves to identify the factors currently influencing HIV/AIDS allocation decisions. The second step consists of prioritizing HIV/AIDS interventions. The third step involves allocating the budget to the HIV/AIDS interventions using a rational approach. Decision-makers can select from several rational models of resource allocation depending on availability of data and level of complexity. The last step combines the results of the first and third steps to highlight the influencing factors that act as barriers or facilitators to the results suggested by the rational resource allocation approach. Actionable recommendations are then made to improve the allocation. We illustrate S4HARA in the context of a primary healthcare clinic in South Africa. The clinic offers six types of HIV/AIDS interventions and spends US$750,000 annually on these programs. Current allocation decisions are influenced by donors, NGOs and the government as well as by ethical and religious factors. Without additional funding, an optimal allocation of the total budget suggests that the portion allotted to condom distribution be increased from 1% to 15% and the portion allotted to prevention and treatment of opportunistic infections be increased from 43% to 71%, while allocation to other interventions should decrease. Condom uptake at the clinic should be increased by changing the condom distribution policy from a pull system to a push system. NGOs and donors promoting antiretroviral programs at the clinic should be sensitized to the results of the model and urged to invest in wellness programs aimed at the prevention and treatment of opportunistic infections. S4HARA differentiates itself from other decision support tools by providing rational HIV/AIDS resource allocation capabilities as well as consideration of the realities facing authorities in their decision-making process.

Water resources planning and management : A stochastic dual dynamic programming approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goor, Q.; Pinte, D.; Tilmant, A.

2008-12-01

Allocating water between different users and uses, including the environment, is one of the most challenging task facing water resources managers and has always been at the heart of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). As water scarcity is expected to increase over time, allocation decisions among the different uses will have to be found taking into account the complex interactions between water and the economy. Hydro-economic optimization models can capture those interactions while prescribing efficient allocation policies. Many hydro-economic models found in the literature are formulated as large-scale non linear optimization problems (NLP), seeking to maximize net benefits from the system operation while meeting operational and/or institutional constraints, and describing the main hydrological processes. However, those models rarely incorporate the uncertainty inherent to the availability of water, essentially because of the computational difficulties associated stochastic formulations. The purpose of this presentation is to present a stochastic programming model that can identify economically efficient allocation policies in large-scale multipurpose multireservoir systems. The model is based on stochastic dual dynamic programming (SDDP), an extension of traditional SDP that is not affected by the curse of dimensionality. SDDP identify efficient allocation policies while considering the hydrologic uncertainty. The objective function includes the net benefits from the hydropower and irrigation sectors, as well as penalties for not meeting operational and/or institutional constraints. To be able to implement the efficient decomposition scheme that remove the computational burden, the one-stage SDDP problem has to be a linear program. Recent developments improve the representation of the non-linear and mildly non- convex hydropower function through a convex hull approximation of the true hydropower function. This model is illustrated on a cascade of 14 reservoirs on the Nile river basin.

Multiresource allocation and scheduling for periodic soft real-time applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gopalan, Kartik; Chiueh, Tzi-cker

2001-12-01

Real-time applications that utilize multiple system resources, such as CPU, disks, and network links, require coordinated scheduling of these resources in order to meet their end-to-end performance requirements. Most state-of-the-art operating systems support independent resource allocation and deadline-driven scheduling but lack coordination among multiple heterogeneous resources. This paper describes the design and implementation of an Integrated Real-time Resource Scheduler (IRS) that performs coordinated allocation and scheduling of multiple heterogeneous resources on the same machine for periodic soft real-time application. The principal feature of IRS is a heuristic multi-resource allocation algorithm that reserves multiple resources for real-time applications in a manner that can maximize the number of applications admitted into the system in the long run. At run-time, a global scheduler dispatches the tasks of the soft real-time application to individual resource schedulers according to the precedence constraints between tasks. The individual resource schedulers, which could be any deadline based schedulers, can make scheduling decisions locally and yet collectively satisfy a real-time application's performance requirements. The tightness of overall timing guarantees is ultimately determined by the properties of individual resource schedulers. However, IRS maximizes overall system resource utilization efficiency by coordinating deadline assignment across multiple tasks in a soft real-time application.

Efficient funding: a path to improving Aboriginal healthcare in Australia?

PubMed

Lloyd, Jane E; Wise, Marilyn J

2010-11-01

To identify the factors that contribute to the under-resourcing of Aboriginal health and to explore the impact that funding arrangements have on the implementation of Aboriginal health policy. Qualitative study based on 35 in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of frontline health professionals involved in health policy and service provision in the Northern Territory. Participants described three factors that contributed to the under-resourcing of Aboriginal health: inefficient funding arrangements, mainstream programs being inappropriate for Aboriginal Australians, and competing interests determining the allocation of resources. Insufficient capacity within the healthcare system undermines the multilevel implementation process whereby organisations need to have the capacity to recognise new policy ideas, assess their relevance to their existing work and strategic plan and to be able to incorporate the relevant new ideas into day-to-day practice. Insufficient resources for Aboriginal health were found to be a barrier to implementing Aboriginal health policy. Inadequate resources result from the cumbersome allocation of funding rather than simply the amount of funding provided to Aboriginal healthcare. Monitoring government performance and ensuring the efficient allocation of funds would allow us to develop the delivery system for Aboriginal healthcare and therefore provide greater opportunities to capitalise on current interventions and future efforts.

Efficient Pricing Technique for Resource Allocation Problem in Downlink OFDM Cognitive Radio Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdulghafoor, O. B.; Shaat, M. M. R.; Ismail, M.; Nordin, R.; Yuwono, T.; Alwahedy, O. N. A.

2017-05-01

In this paper, the problem of resource allocation in OFDM-based downlink cognitive radio (CR) networks has been proposed. The purpose of this research is to decrease the computational complexity of the resource allocation algorithm for downlink CR network while concerning the interference constraint of primary network. The objective has been secured by adopting pricing scheme to develop power allocation algorithm with the following concerns: (i) reducing the complexity of the proposed algorithm and (ii) providing firm power control to the interference introduced to primary users (PUs). The performance of the proposed algorithm is tested for OFDM- CRNs. The simulation results show that the performance of the proposed algorithm approached the performance of the optimal algorithm at a lower computational complexity, i.e., O(NlogN), which makes the proposed algorithm suitable for more practical applications.

Nash Social Welfare in Multiagent Resource Allocation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramezani, Sara; Endriss, Ulle

We study different aspects of the multiagent resource allocation problem when the objective is to find an allocation that maximizes Nash social welfare, the product of the utilities of the individual agents. The Nash solution is an important welfare criterion that combines efficiency and fairness considerations. We show that the problem of finding an optimal outcome is NP-hard for a number of different languages for representing agent preferences; we establish new results regarding convergence to Nash-optimal outcomes in a distributed negotiation framework; and we design and test algorithms similar to those applied in combinatorial auctions for computing such an outcome directly.

Two-dimensional priority-based dynamic resource allocation algorithm for QoS in WDM/TDM PON networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Yixin; Liu, Bo; Zhang, Lijia; Xin, Xiangjun; Zhang, Qi; Rao, Lan

2018-01-01

Wavelength division multiplexing/time division multiplexing (WDM/TDM) passive optical networks (PON) is being viewed as a promising solution for delivering multiple services and applications. The hybrid WDM / TDM PON uses the wavelength and bandwidth allocation strategy to control the distribution of the wavelength channels in the uplink direction, so that it can ensure the high bandwidth requirements of multiple Optical Network Units (ONUs) while improving the wavelength resource utilization. Through the investigation of the presented dynamic bandwidth allocation algorithms, these algorithms can't satisfy the requirements of different levels of service very well while adapting to the structural characteristics of mixed WDM / TDM PON system. This paper introduces a novel wavelength and bandwidth allocation algorithm to efficiently utilize the bandwidth and support QoS (Quality of Service) guarantees in WDM/TDM PON. Two priority based polling subcycles are introduced in order to increase system efficiency and improve system performance. The fixed priority polling subcycle and dynamic priority polling subcycle follow different principles to implement wavelength and bandwidth allocation according to the priority of different levels of service. A simulation was conducted to study the performance of the priority based polling in dynamic resource allocation algorithm in WDM/TDM PON. The results show that the performance of delay-sensitive services is greatly improved without degrading QoS guarantees for other services. Compared with the traditional dynamic bandwidth allocation algorithms, this algorithm can meet bandwidth needs of different priority traffic class, achieve low loss rate performance, and ensure real-time of high priority traffic class in terms of overall traffic on the network.

Elymus repens biomass allocation and acquisition as affected by light and nutrient supply and companion crop competition

PubMed Central

Ringselle, Björn; Prieto-Ruiz, Inés; Andersson, Lars; Aronsson, Helena; Bergkvist, Göran

2017-01-01

Background and Aims Competitive crops are a central component of resource-efficient weed control, especially for problematic perennial weeds such as Elymus repens. Competition not only reduces total weed biomass, but denial of resources can also change the allocation pattern – potentially away from the underground storage organs that make perennial weeds difficult to control. Thus, the competition mode of crops may be an important component in the design of resource-efficient cropping systems. Our aim was to determine how competition from companion crops with different modes of competition affect E. repens biomass acquisition and allocation and discuss that in relation to how E. repens responds to different levels of light and nutrient supply. Methods Greenhouse experiments were conducted with E. repens growing in interspecific competition with increasing density of perennial ryegrass or red clover, or growing at three levels of both light and nutrient supply. Key Results Elymus repens total biomass decreased with increasing biomass of the companion crop and the rate of decrease was higher with red clover than with perennial ryegrass, particularly for E. repens rhizome biomass. A reduced nutrient supply shifted E. repens allocation towards below-ground biomass while a reduced light supply shifted it towards shoot biomass. Red clover caused no change in E. repens allocation pattern, while ryegrass mostly shifted the allocation towards below-ground biomass, but the change was not correlated with ryegrass biomass. Conclusions The companion crop mode of competition influences both the suppression rate of E. repens biomass acquisition and the likelihood of shifts in E. repens biomass allocation. PMID:28025285

Cost of equity in homeland security resource allocation in the face of a strategic attacker.

PubMed

Shan, Xiaojun; Zhuang, Jun

2013-06-01

Hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent in homeland security since September 11, 2001. Many mathematical models have been developed to study strategic interactions between governments (defenders) and terrorists (attackers). However, few studies have considered the tradeoff between equity and efficiency in homeland security resource allocation. In this article, we fill this gap by developing a novel model in which a government allocates defensive resources among multiple potential targets, while reserving a portion of defensive resources (represented by the equity coefficient) for equal distribution (according to geographical areas, population, density, etc.). Such a way to model equity is one of many alternatives, but was directly inspired by homeland security resource allocation practice. The government is faced with a strategic terrorist (adaptive adversary) whose attack probabilities are endogenously determined in the model. We study the effect of the equity coefficient on the optimal defensive resource allocations and the corresponding expected loss. We find that the cost of equity (in terms of increased expected loss) increases convexly in the equity coefficient. Furthermore, such cost is lower when: (a) government uses per-valuation equity; (b) the cost-effectiveness coefficient of defense increases; and (c) the total defense budget increases. Our model, results, and insights could be used to assist policy making. © 2012 Society for Risk Analysis.

Efficiency measurement and the operationalization of hospital production.

PubMed

Magnussen, J

1996-04-01

To discuss the usefulness of efficiency measures as instruments of monitoring and resource allocation by analyzing their invariance to changes in the operationalization of hospital production. Norwegian hospitals over the three-year period 1989-1991. Efficiency is measured using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The distribution of efficiency and the ranking of hospitals is compared across models using various distribution-free tests. Input and output data are collected by the Norwegian Central Bureau of Statistics. The distribution of efficiency is found to be unaffected by changes in the specification of hospital output. Both the ranking of hospitals and the scale properties of the technology, however, are found to depend on the choice of output specification. Extreme care should be taken before resource allocation is based on DEA-type efficiency measures alone. Both the identification of efficient and inefficient hospitals and the cardinal measure of inefficiency will depend on the specification of output. Since the scale properties of the technology also vary with the specification of output, the search for an optimal hospital size may be futile.

Research on strategy and optimization method of PRT empty vehicles resource allocation based on traffic demand forecast

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiang, Yu; Tao, Cheng

2018-05-01

During the operation of the personal rapid transit system(PRT), the empty vehicle resources is distributed unevenly because of different passenger demand. In order to maintain the balance between supply and demand, and to meet the passenger needs of the ride, PRT empty vehicle resource allocation model is constructed based on the future demand forecasted by historical demand in this paper. The improved genetic algorithm is implied in distribution of the empty vehicle which can reduce the customers waiting time and improve the operation efficiency of the PRT system so that all passengers can take the PRT vehicles in the shortest time. The experimental result shows that the improved genetic algorithm can allocate the empty vehicle from the system level optimally, and realize the distribution of the empty vehicle resources reasonably in the system.

Constraints and potential for efficient inter-sectoral water allocations in Tanzania

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kashaigili, Japhet J.; Kadigi, Reuben M. J.; Sokile, Charles S.; Mahoo, Henry F.

In many sub-Saharan African countries, there are conflicts over water uses in most river basins. In Tanzania, conflicts are becoming alarming and are exacerbated by increasing water demands due to rapid population growth and expanding economic activities. This paper reviews the major constraints and potential for achieving efficient systems of allocating water resources to different uses and users in Tanzania. The following constraints are identified: (a) the lack of active community involvement in management of water resources, (b) conflicting institutions and weak institutional capacities both in terms of regulations and protection of interests of the poor, (c) the lack of data and information to inform policy and strategies for balanced water allocation, and (d) inadequate funds for operation, maintenance and expansion of water supply systems. Despite these constraints, there are also opportunities for improving water allocation and management systems in the country. These include: the available reserve of both surface and groundwater resources, which remain unexploited; high demand for water services; a high potential for investing in the water sector; and availability of basic infrastructure and elements of institutional framework that can be improved. The paper recommends the use of combined variants of water allocation devices which (a) meet different water requirements and ensure desirable multiple-use outcomes, (b) facilitate the classification of water resources in terms of desired environmental protection levels, (c) allow reforms in water utilization to achieve equity and meet changing social and economic priorities, (d) facilitate the development of effective local institutions, (e) put in place the legal system that assigns rights to water resources and describes how those rights may be transferred, (f) enforce the rights and punish infringements on those rights, and (g) use cost-effective pricing systems to ensure that payment for water uses cover development, operational and management costs.

Aggregation of Heterogeneous Time Preferences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gollier, Christian; Zeckhauser, Richard

2005-01-01

We examine an economy whose consumers have different discount factors for utility, possibly not exponential. We characterize the properties of efficient allocations of resources and of the shadow prices that would decentralize such allocations. We show in particular that the representative agent has a decreasing discount rate when, as is usually…

Optima Nutrition: an allocative efficiency tool to reduce childhood stunting by better targeting of nutrition-related interventions.

PubMed

Pearson, Ruth; Killedar, Madhura; Petravic, Janka; Kakietek, Jakub J; Scott, Nick; Grantham, Kelsey L; Stuart, Robyn M; Kedziora, David J; Kerr, Cliff C; Skordis-Worrall, Jolene; Shekar, Meera; Wilson, David P

2018-03-20

Child stunting due to chronic malnutrition is a major problem in low- and middle-income countries due, in part, to inadequate nutrition-related practices and insufficient access to services. Limited budgets for nutritional interventions mean that available resources must be targeted in the most cost-effective manner to have the greatest impact. Quantitative tools can help guide budget allocation decisions. The Optima approach is an established framework to conduct resource allocation optimization analyses. We applied this approach to develop a new tool, 'Optima Nutrition', for conducting allocative efficiency analyses that address childhood stunting. At the core of the Optima approach is an epidemiological model for assessing the burden of disease; we use an adapted version of the Lives Saved Tool (LiST). Six nutritional interventions have been included in the first release of the tool: antenatal micronutrient supplementation, balanced energy-protein supplementation, exclusive breastfeeding promotion, promotion of improved infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices, public provision of complementary foods, and vitamin A supplementation. To demonstrate the use of this tool, we applied it to evaluate the optimal allocation of resources in 7 districts in Bangladesh, using both publicly available data (such as through DHS) and data from a complementary costing study. Optima Nutrition can be used to estimate how to target resources to improve nutrition outcomes. Specifically, for the Bangladesh example, despite only limited nutrition-related funding available (an estimated $0.75 per person in need per year), even without any extra resources, better targeting of investments in nutrition programming could increase the cumulative number of children living without stunting by 1.3 million (an extra 5%) by 2030 compared to the current resource allocation. To minimize stunting, priority interventions should include promotion of improved IYCF practices as well as vitamin A supplementation. Once these programs are adequately funded, the public provision of complementary foods should be funded as the next priority. Programmatic efforts should give greatest emphasis to the regions of Dhaka and Chittagong, which have the greatest number of stunted children. A resource optimization tool can provide important guidance for targeting nutrition investments to achieve greater impact.

[The distribution of health resources: a hybrid model of equality and maximization].

PubMed

Farmer, Yanick

2012-01-01

In the allocation of resources for health care, it is generally acknowledged that models based exclusively either on efficiency and maximizing the cost/benefit ratio of interventions, or on equity and justice through the notion of "maximin," are unsatisfactory when taken separately. To fill this gap, this commentary suggests a hybrid model of resource allocation that integrates the idea of a random distribution of resources using a lottery. The general aim of this model is to safeguard the notions of justice and equal access to resources to the maximum extent possible in a climate where budget restrictions and the economic downturn may lead to future reductions in services.

On efficiency of fire simulation realization: parallelization with greater number of computational meshes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valasek, Lukas; Glasa, Jan

2017-12-01

Current fire simulation systems are capable to utilize advantages of high-performance computer (HPC) platforms available and to model fires efficiently in parallel. In this paper, efficiency of a corridor fire simulation on a HPC computer cluster is discussed. The parallel MPI version of Fire Dynamics Simulator is used for testing efficiency of selected strategies of allocation of computational resources of the cluster using a greater number of computational cores. Simulation results indicate that if the number of cores used is not equal to a multiple of the total number of cluster node cores there are allocation strategies which provide more efficient calculations.

Efficient Graph-Based Resource Allocation Scheme Using Maximal Independent Set for Randomly- Deployed Small Star Networks

PubMed Central

Zhou, Jian; Wang, Lusheng; Wang, Weidong; Zhou, Qingfeng

2017-01-01

In future scenarios of heterogeneous and dense networks, randomly-deployed small star networks (SSNs) become a key paradigm, whose system performance is restricted to inter-SSN interference and requires an efficient resource allocation scheme for interference coordination. Traditional resource allocation schemes do not specifically focus on this paradigm and are usually too time consuming in dense networks. In this article, a very efficient graph-based scheme is proposed, which applies the maximal independent set (MIS) concept in graph theory to help divide SSNs into almost interference-free groups. We first construct an interference graph for the system based on a derived distance threshold indicating for any pair of SSNs whether there is intolerable inter-SSN interference or not. Then, SSNs are divided into MISs, and the same resource can be repetitively used by all the SSNs in each MIS. Empirical parameters and equations are set in the scheme to guarantee high performance. Finally, extensive scenarios both dense and nondense are randomly generated and simulated to demonstrate the performance of our scheme, indicating that it outperforms the classical max K-cut-based scheme in terms of system capacity, utility and especially time cost. Its achieved system capacity, utility and fairness can be close to the near-optimal strategy obtained by a time-consuming simulated annealing search. PMID:29113109

Sustainability in health care by allocating resources effectively (SHARE) 4: exploring opportunities and methods for consumer engagement in resource allocation in a local healthcare setting.

PubMed

Harris, Claire; Ko, Henry; Waller, Cara; Sloss, Pamela; Williams, Pamela

2017-05-05

This is the fourth in a series of papers reporting a program of Sustainability in Health care by Allocating Resources Effectively (SHARE) in a local healthcare setting. Healthcare decision-makers have sought to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of services through removal or restriction of practices that are unsafe or of little benefit, often referred to as 'disinvestment'. A systematic, integrated, evidence-based program for disinvestment was being established within a large Australian health service network. Consumer engagement was acknowledged as integral to this process. This paper reports the process of developing a model to integrate consumer views and preferences into an organisation-wide approach to resource allocation. A literature search was conducted and interviews and workshops were undertaken with health service consumers and staff. Findings were drafted into a model for consumer engagement in resource allocation which was workshopped and refined. Although consumer engagement is increasingly becoming a requirement of publicly-funded health services and documented in standards and policies, participation in organisational decision-making is not widespread. Several consistent messages for consumer engagement in this context emerged from the literature and consumer responses. Opportunities, settings and activities for consumer engagement through communication, consultation and participation were identified within the resource allocation process. Sources of information regarding consumer values and perspectives in publications and locally-collected data, and methods to use them in health service decision-making, were identified. A model bringing these elements together was developed. The proposed model presents potential opportunities and activities for consumer engagement in the context of resource allocation.

GIS and Game Theory for Water Resource Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ganjali, N.; Guney, C.

2017-11-01

In this study, aspects of Game theory and its application on water resources management combined with GIS techniques are detailed. First, each term is explained and the advantages and limitations of its aspect is discussed. Then, the nature of combinations between each pair and literature on the previous studies are given. Several cases were investigated and results were magnified in order to conclude with the applicability and combination of GIS- Game Theory- Water Resources Management. It is concluded that the game theory is used relatively in limited studies of water management fields such as cost/benefit allocation among users, water allocation among trans-boundary users in water resources, water quality management, groundwater management, analysis of water policies, fair allocation of water resources development cost and some other narrow fields. Also, Decision-making in environmental projects requires consideration of trade-offs between socio-political, environmental, and economic impacts and is often complicated by various stakeholder views. Most of the literature on water allocation and conflict problems uses traditional optimization models to identify the most efficient scheme while the Game Theory, as an optimization method, combined GIS are beneficial platforms for agent based models to be used in solving Water Resources Management problems in the further studies.

Energy-Efficient Optimal Power Allocation in Integrated Wireless Sensor and Cognitive Satellite Terrestrial Networks

PubMed Central

Li, Guangxia; An, Kang; Gao, Bin; Zheng, Gan

2017-01-01

This paper proposes novel satellite-based wireless sensor networks (WSNs), which integrate the WSN with the cognitive satellite terrestrial network. Having the ability to provide seamless network access and alleviate the spectrum scarcity, cognitive satellite terrestrial networks are considered as a promising candidate for future wireless networks with emerging requirements of ubiquitous broadband applications and increasing demand for spectral resources. With the emerging environmental and energy cost concerns in communication systems, explicit concerns on energy efficient resource allocation in satellite networks have also recently received considerable attention. In this regard, this paper proposes energy-efficient optimal power allocation schemes in the cognitive satellite terrestrial networks for non-real-time and real-time applications, respectively, which maximize the energy efficiency (EE) of the cognitive satellite user while guaranteeing the interference at the primary terrestrial user below an acceptable level. Specifically, average interference power (AIP) constraint is employed to protect the communication quality of the primary terrestrial user while average transmit power (ATP) or peak transmit power (PTP) constraint is adopted to regulate the transmit power of the satellite user. Since the energy-efficient power allocation optimization problem belongs to the nonlinear concave fractional programming problem, we solve it by combining Dinkelbach’s method with Lagrange duality method. Simulation results demonstrate that the fading severity of the terrestrial interference link is favorable to the satellite user who can achieve EE gain under the ATP constraint comparing to the PTP constraint. PMID:28869546

Optimal allocation of resources for suppressing epidemic spreading on networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Hanshuang; Li, Guofeng; Zhang, Haifeng; Hou, Zhonghuai

2017-07-01

Efficient allocation of limited medical resources is crucial for controlling epidemic spreading on networks. Based on the susceptible-infected-susceptible model, we solve the optimization problem of how best to allocate the limited resources so as to minimize prevalence, providing that the curing rate of each node is positively correlated to its medical resource. By quenched mean-field theory and heterogeneous mean-field (HMF) theory, we prove that an epidemic outbreak will be suppressed to the greatest extent if the curing rate of each node is directly proportional to its degree, under which the effective infection rate λ has a maximal threshold λcopt=1 / , where is the average degree of the underlying network. For a weak infection region (λ ≳λcopt ), we combine perturbation theory with the Lagrange multiplier method (LMM) to derive the analytical expression of optimal allocation of the curing rates and the corresponding minimized prevalence. For a general infection region (λ >λcopt ), the high-dimensional optimization problem is converted into numerically solving low-dimensional nonlinear equations by the HMF theory and LMM. Counterintuitively, in the strong infection region the low-degree nodes should be allocated more medical resources than the high-degree nodes to minimize prevalence. Finally, we use simulated annealing to validate the theoretical results.

Elymus repens biomass allocation and acquisition as affected by light and nutrient supply and companion crop competition.

PubMed

Ringselle, Björn; Prieto-Ruiz, Inés; Andersson, Lars; Aronsson, Helena; Bergkvist, Göran

2017-02-01

Competitive crops are a central component of resource-efficient weed control, especially for problematic perennial weeds such as Elymus repens Competition not only reduces total weed biomass, but denial of resources can also change the allocation pattern - potentially away from the underground storage organs that make perennial weeds difficult to control. Thus, the competition mode of crops may be an important component in the design of resource-efficient cropping systems. Our aim was to determine how competition from companion crops with different modes of competition affect E. repens biomass acquisition and allocation and discuss that in relation to how E. repens responds to different levels of light and nutrient supply. Greenhouse experiments were conducted with E. repens growing in interspecific competition with increasing density of perennial ryegrass or red clover, or growing at three levels of both light and nutrient supply. Elymus repens total biomass decreased with increasing biomass of the companion crop and the rate of decrease was higher with red clover than with perennial ryegrass, particularly for E. repens rhizome biomass. A reduced nutrient supply shifted E. repens allocation towards below-ground biomass while a reduced light supply shifted it towards shoot biomass. Red clover caused no change in E. repens allocation pattern, while ryegrass mostly shifted the allocation towards below-ground biomass, but the change was not correlated with ryegrass biomass. The companion crop mode of competition influences both the suppression rate of E. repens biomass acquisition and the likelihood of shifts in E. repens biomass allocation. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

[Need-based resource allocation--experiences with the RAWP formula in Great Britain].

PubMed

Brand, H; Menke, R

1997-07-01

The RAWP formula used for resource allocation in Great Britain between 1976 and 1991 is a morbidity-oriented instrument of controlling, which has so far received only little attention in Germany. The development of this model was supported by the intention to intervene in the regional pattern of hospital supply by means of resource allocation and to refine it according to the guiding principles of equity and efficiency. The basic elements-regional population, average bed use, ICD chapter-specific SMRs-are discussed and the various modifications outlined. The RAWP formula's potentials of controlling resulted in a progressive reduction of the apparent disparities between regions in hospital supply, and knee was considered to be a "qualified success". The future development in the sense of an internal market addressed.

Power-efficient distributed resource allocation under goodput QoS constraints for heterogeneous networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andreotti, Riccardo; Del Fiorentino, Paolo; Giannetti, Filippo; Lottici, Vincenzo

2016-12-01

This work proposes a distributed resource allocation (RA) algorithm for packet bit-interleaved coded OFDM transmissions in the uplink of heterogeneous networks (HetNets), characterized by small cells deployed over a macrocell area and sharing the same band. Every user allocates its transmission resources, i.e., bits per active subcarrier, coding rate, and power per subcarrier, to minimize the power consumption while both guaranteeing a target quality of service (QoS) and accounting for the interference inflicted by other users transmitting over the same band. The QoS consists of the number of information bits delivered in error-free packets per unit of time, or goodput (GP), estimated at the transmitter by resorting to an efficient effective SNR mapping technique. First, the RA problem is solved in the point-to-point case, thus deriving an approximate yet accurate closed-form expression for the power allocation (PA). Then, the interference-limited HetNet case is examined, where the RA problem is described as a non-cooperative game, providing a solution in terms of generalized Nash equilibrium. Thanks to the closed-form of the PA, the solution analysis is based on the best response concept. Hence, sufficient conditions for existence and uniqueness of the solution are analytically derived, along with a distributed algorithm capable of reaching the game equilibrium.

Characterising resource use and potential inefficiencies during large-fire suppression in the western US

Treesearch

Hari Katuwal; Christopher J. Dunn; David E. Calkin

2017-01-01

Currently, limited research on large-fire suppression effectiveness suggests fire managers may over-allocate resources relative to values to be protected. Coupled with observations that weather may be more important than resource abundance to achieve control objectives, resource use may be driven more by risk aversion than efficiency. To explore this potential, we...

Computationally Efficient Power Allocation Algorithm in Multicarrier-Based Cognitive Radio Networks: OFDM and FBMC Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaat, Musbah; Bader, Faouzi

2010-12-01

Cognitive Radio (CR) systems have been proposed to increase the spectrum utilization by opportunistically access the unused spectrum. Multicarrier communication systems are promising candidates for CR systems. Due to its high spectral efficiency, filter bank multicarrier (FBMC) can be considered as an alternative to conventional orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) for transmission over the CR networks. This paper addresses the problem of resource allocation in multicarrier-based CR networks. The objective is to maximize the downlink capacity of the network under both total power and interference introduced to the primary users (PUs) constraints. The optimal solution has high computational complexity which makes it unsuitable for practical applications and hence a low complexity suboptimal solution is proposed. The proposed algorithm utilizes the spectrum holes in PUs bands as well as active PU bands. The performance of the proposed algorithm is investigated for OFDM and FBMC based CR systems. Simulation results illustrate that the proposed resource allocation algorithm with low computational complexity achieves near optimal performance and proves the efficiency of using FBMC in CR context.

Distributed Bees Algorithm Parameters Optimization for a Cost Efficient Target Allocation in Swarms of Robots

PubMed Central

Jevtić, Aleksandar; Gutiérrez, Álvaro

2011-01-01

Swarms of robots can use their sensing abilities to explore unknown environments and deploy on sites of interest. In this task, a large number of robots is more effective than a single unit because of their ability to quickly cover the area. However, the coordination of large teams of robots is not an easy problem, especially when the resources for the deployment are limited. In this paper, the Distributed Bees Algorithm (DBA), previously proposed by the authors, is optimized and applied to distributed target allocation in swarms of robots. Improved target allocation in terms of deployment cost efficiency is achieved through optimization of the DBA’s control parameters by means of a Genetic Algorithm. Experimental results show that with the optimized set of parameters, the deployment cost measured as the average distance traveled by the robots is reduced. The cost-efficient deployment is in some cases achieved at the expense of increased robots’ distribution error. Nevertheless, the proposed approach allows the swarm to adapt to the operating conditions when available resources are scarce. PMID:22346677

Desalination as Groundwater Conservation: The Cost of Protecting Cultural and Environmental Resources in Chile's Region II

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Edwards, E. C.; Cristi, O.; Libecap, G. D.

2012-12-01

There is a substantial body of evidence that groundwater overdraft is occurring worldwide. Economists argue that the cause of this overdraft is the open-access nature of the resource, which results in a "tragedy of the commons." Sustainable water management requires that some institution control the resource to limit this overdraft by reducing water extraction. This reduction creates scarcity and requires a method of rationing. The economically efficient outcome occurs when the lowest value uses of water are eliminated. This allocation, though, may have undesirable social consequences, such as the loss of small-scale farming, and political ramifications that make such an allocation unpopular to implement. This paper explores the economic cost of leaving water in low-value uses. The policy we explore is a moratorium on voluntary water sales to mining firms to protect the groundwater resource in northern Chile. This policy has accelerated the use of expensive desalinated water, whose cost is primarily driven by its heavy use of carbon-based electricity. Chile has a strong system of water property rights that economists argue ration water in a way that leads to the efficient allocation through water markets. This paper first explores the potential inefficiency of a water market when groundwater and surface water are linked, as well as when different users vary in their intensity of use. This theoretical background provides a framework for determining the economically efficient allocation of water and the losses associated with the moratorium in northern Chile. The policy does protect some environmental and cultural public goods, which potentially offset some or all of this cost. We provide a perspective on the magnitude of these public goods but do not attempt to value them explicitly. Instead, we demonstrate what their value must be so that the moratorium policy has a cost-to-benefit ratio of one. While the estimate of lost income from inefficiency is the main focus of the empirical work, the theoretical development provides an important perspective into groundwater management and the important role of understanding the physical system in water marketing. Worldwide, subsidized and scarce water is allocated to farmers for social and political reasons. The losses from this type of allocation are often ignored or marginalized. The Chilean case demonstrates that the losses due to economically inefficient allocation are real, because the alternative is greater consumption of other resources (fossil fuels in this case), not conservation. The Chilean case also demonstrates the difficulty of adequately defining water rights for efficient markets due to the physical properties of hydrologic systems. Because groundwater and surface water systems are linked and water is partially recycled, water markets may over allocate water to consumptive users or those with preferable extraction locations. This paper provides a theoretical exposition of how water rights that fail incorporate important properties of the physical system may lead to inefficient water markets.

A generalized fuzzy credibility-constrained linear fractional programming approach for optimal irrigation water allocation under uncertainty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Chenglong; Guo, Ping

2017-10-01

The vague and fuzzy parametric information is a challenging issue in irrigation water management problems. In response to this problem, a generalized fuzzy credibility-constrained linear fractional programming (GFCCFP) model is developed for optimal irrigation water allocation under uncertainty. The model can be derived from integrating generalized fuzzy credibility-constrained programming (GFCCP) into a linear fractional programming (LFP) optimization framework. Therefore, it can solve ratio optimization problems associated with fuzzy parameters, and examine the variation of results under different credibility levels and weight coefficients of possibility and necessary. It has advantages in: (1) balancing the economic and resources objectives directly; (2) analyzing system efficiency; (3) generating more flexible decision solutions by giving different credibility levels and weight coefficients of possibility and (4) supporting in-depth analysis of the interrelationships among system efficiency, credibility level and weight coefficient. The model is applied to a case study of irrigation water allocation in the middle reaches of Heihe River Basin, northwest China. Therefore, optimal irrigation water allocation solutions from the GFCCFP model can be obtained. Moreover, factorial analysis on the two parameters (i.e. λ and γ) indicates that the weight coefficient is a main factor compared with credibility level for system efficiency. These results can be effective for support reasonable irrigation water resources management and agricultural production.

Energy-efficient downlink resource management in self-organized OFDMA-based two-tier femtocell networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shahid, Adnan; Aslam, Saleem; Kim, Hyung Seok; Lee, Kyung-Geun

2015-12-01

Femtocell is a novel technology that is used for escalating indoor coverage as well as the capacity of traditional cellular networks. However, interference is the limiting factor for performance improvement due to co-channel deployment between macrocells and femtocells. The traditional network planning is not feasible because of the random deployment of femtocells. Therefore, self-organization approaches are the key to having successful deployment of femtocells. This study presents the joint resource block (RB) and power allocation task for the two-tier femtocell network in a self-organizing manner, with the concern to minimizing the impact of interference and maximizing the energy efficiency. In this study, we analyze the performance of the system in terms of the energy efficiency, which is composed of both the transmission and circuit power. Most of the previous studies investigate the performance regarding the throughput requirement of the two-tier femtocell network while the energy efficiency aspect is largely ignored. Here, the joint allocation task is modeled as a non-cooperative game which is demonstrated to exhibit pure and unique Nash equilibrium. In order to reduce the complexity of the proposed non-cooperative game, the joint RB and power allocation task is divided into two subproblems: an RB allocation and a particle swarm optimization-based power allocation. The analysis of the proposed game is carried out in terms of not only energy efficiency but also throughput. With practical 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long-Term Evolution (LTE) parameters, the simulation results illustrate the superior performance of the proposed game as compared to the traditional methods. Also, the comparison is carried out with the joint allocation scheme which only considers the throughput as the objective function. The results illustrate that significant performance improvement is achieved in terms of energy efficiency with slight loss in the throughput. The analysis in regard to energy efficiency and throughput of the two-tier femtocell network is carried out in terms of the performance metrics, which include convergence, impact of varying RBs, impact of femtocell density, and the fairness index.

A Decision Support System For The Real-Time Allocation Of The Water Resource Of The Tarim River Basin, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, J.; Wang, G.; Liu, R.

2008-12-01

The Tarim River Basin is the longest inland river in China. Due to water scarcity, ecologically-fragile is becoming a significant constraint to sustainable development in this region. To effectively manage the limited water resources for ecological purposes and for conventional water utilization purposes, a real-time water resources allocation Decision Support System (DSS) has been developed. Based on workflows of the water resources regulations and comprehensive analysis of the efficiency and feasibility of water management strategies, the DSS includes information systems that perform data acquisition, management and visualization, and model systems that perform hydrological forecast, water demand prediction, flow routing simulation and water resources optimization of the hydrological and water utilization process. An optimization and process control strategy is employed to dynamically allocate the water resources among the different stakeholders. The competitive targets and constraints are taken into considered by multi-objective optimization and with different priorities. The DSS of the Tarim River Basin has been developed and been successfully utilized to support the water resources management of the Tarim River Basin since 2005.

Introduction: Alternative Public School Financing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Disend, David S., Ed.

2000-01-01

Argues that time and money are the two critical resources to allocate in any plan, and certainly regarding public education. Discusses four important elements in the debate about the use of resources: efficiency, content, effectiveness, and fairness. Outlines difficulties and questions regarding school funding. (SR)

Interdisciplinary Approach: A Lever to Business Innovation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Razmak, Jamil; Bélanger, Charles H.

2016-01-01

The advances in interdisciplinary studies are driving universities to utilize their available resources to efficiently enable development processes and provide increasing examples of research while gradually allocating the disciplines' resources. Ultimately, this trend asks universities to provide a platform of integrated disciplines, along with…

MROrchestrator: A Fine-Grained Resource Orchestration Framework for MapReduce Clusters

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sharma, Bikash; Prabhakar, Ramya; Kandemir, Mahmut

2012-01-01

Efficient resource management in data centers and clouds running large distributed data processing frameworks like MapReduce is crucial for enhancing the performance of hosted applications and boosting resource utilization. However, existing resource scheduling schemes in Hadoop MapReduce allocate resources at the granularity of fixed-size, static portions of nodes, called slots. In this work, we show that MapReduce jobs have widely varying demands for multiple resources, making the static and fixed-size slot-level resource allocation a poor choice both from the performance and resource utilization standpoints. Furthermore, lack of co-ordination in the management of mul- tiple resources across nodes prevents dynamic slotmore » reconfigura- tion, and leads to resource contention. Motivated by this, we propose MROrchestrator, a MapReduce resource Orchestrator framework, which can dynamically identify resource bottlenecks, and resolve them through fine-grained, co-ordinated, and on- demand resource allocations. We have implemented MROrches- trator on two 24-node native and virtualized Hadoop clusters. Experimental results with a suite of representative MapReduce benchmarks demonstrate up to 38% reduction in job completion times, and up to 25% increase in resource utilization. We further show how popular resource managers like NGM and Mesos when augmented with MROrchestrator can hike up their performance.« less

Efficiency measurement and the operationalization of hospital production.

PubMed Central

Magnussen, J

1996-01-01

OBJECTIVE. To discuss the usefulness of efficiency measures as instruments of monitoring and resource allocation by analyzing their invariance to changes in the operationalization of hospital production. STUDY SETTING. Norwegian hospitals over the three-year period 1989-1991. STUDY DESIGN. Efficiency is measured using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The distribution of efficiency and the ranking of hospitals is compared across models using various distribution-free tests. DATA COLLECTION. Input and output data are collected by the Norwegian Central Bureau of Statistics. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS. The distribution of efficiency is found to be unaffected by changes in the specification of hospital output. Both the ranking of hospitals and the scale properties of the technology, however, are found to depend on the choice of output specification. CONCLUSION. Extreme care should be taken before resource allocation is based on DEA-type efficiency measures alone. Both the identification of efficient and inefficient hospitals and the cardinal measure of inefficiency will depend on the specification of output. Since the scale properties of the technology also vary with the specification of output, the search for an optimal hospital size may be futile. PMID:8617607

Virtual optical network mapping and core allocation in elastic optical networks using multi-core fibers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xuan, Hejun; Wang, Yuping; Xu, Zhanqi; Hao, Shanshan; Wang, Xiaoli

2017-11-01

Virtualization technology can greatly improve the efficiency of the networks by allowing the virtual optical networks to share the resources of the physical networks. However, it will face some challenges, such as finding the efficient strategies for virtual nodes mapping, virtual links mapping and spectrum assignment. It is even more complex and challenging when the physical elastic optical networks using multi-core fibers. To tackle these challenges, we establish a constrained optimization model to determine the optimal schemes of optical network mapping, core allocation and spectrum assignment. To solve the model efficiently, tailor-made encoding scheme, crossover and mutation operators are designed. Based on these, an efficient genetic algorithm is proposed to obtain the optimal schemes of the virtual nodes mapping, virtual links mapping, core allocation. The simulation experiments are conducted on three widely used networks, and the experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed model and algorithm.

Rethinking the cost of healthcare in low-resource settings: the value of time-driven activity-based costing

PubMed Central

McBain, Ryan K; Jerome, Gregory; Warsh, Jonathan; Browning, Micaela; Mistry, Bipin; Faure, Peterson Abnis I; Pierre, Claire; Fang, Anna P; Mugunga, Jean Claude; Rhatigan, Joseph; Leandre, Fernet; Kaplan, Robert

2016-01-01

Low-income and middle-income countries account for over 80% of the world's infectious disease burden, but <20% of global expenditures on health. In this context, judicious resource allocation can mean the difference between life and death, not just for individual patients, but entire patient populations. Understanding the cost of healthcare delivery is a prerequisite for allocating health resources, such as staff and medicines, in a way that is effective, efficient, just and fair. Nevertheless, health costs are often poorly understood, undermining effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery. We outline shortcomings, and consequences, of common approaches to estimating the cost of healthcare in low-resource settings, as well as advantages of a newly introduced approach in healthcare known as time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC). TDABC is a patient-centred approach to cost analysis, meaning that it begins by studying the flow of individual patients through the health system, and measuring the human, equipment and facility resources used to treat the patients. The benefits of this approach are numerous: fewer assumptions need to be made, heterogeneity in expenditures can be studied, service delivery can be modelled and streamlined and stronger linkages can be established between resource allocation and health outcomes. TDABC has demonstrated significant benefits for improving health service delivery in high-income countries but has yet to be adopted in resource-limited settings. We provide an illustrative case study of its application throughout a network of hospitals in Haiti, as well as a simplified framework for policymakers to apply this approach in low-resource settings around the world. PMID:28588971

Rethinking the cost of healthcare in low-resource settings: the value of time-driven activity-based costing.

PubMed

McBain, Ryan K; Jerome, Gregory; Warsh, Jonathan; Browning, Micaela; Mistry, Bipin; Faure, Peterson Abnis I; Pierre, Claire; Fang, Anna P; Mugunga, Jean Claude; Rhatigan, Joseph; Leandre, Fernet; Kaplan, Robert

2016-01-01

Low-income and middle-income countries account for over 80% of the world's infectious disease burden, but <20% of global expenditures on health. In this context, judicious resource allocation can mean the difference between life and death, not just for individual patients, but entire patient populations. Understanding the cost of healthcare delivery is a prerequisite for allocating health resources, such as staff and medicines, in a way that is effective, efficient, just and fair. Nevertheless, health costs are often poorly understood, undermining effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery. We outline shortcomings, and consequences, of common approaches to estimating the cost of healthcare in low-resource settings, as well as advantages of a newly introduced approach in healthcare known as time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC). TDABC is a patient-centred approach to cost analysis, meaning that it begins by studying the flow of individual patients through the health system, and measuring the human, equipment and facility resources used to treat the patients. The benefits of this approach are numerous: fewer assumptions need to be made, heterogeneity in expenditures can be studied, service delivery can be modelled and streamlined and stronger linkages can be established between resource allocation and health outcomes. TDABC has demonstrated significant benefits for improving health service delivery in high-income countries but has yet to be adopted in resource-limited settings. We provide an illustrative case study of its application throughout a network of hospitals in Haiti, as well as a simplified framework for policymakers to apply this approach in low-resource settings around the world.

Assessing DRG cost accounting with respect to resource allocation and tariff calculation: the case of Germany

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the German diagnosis related groups (G-DRG) cost accounting scheme by assessing its resource allocation at hospital level and its tariff calculation at national level. First, the paper reviews and assesses the three steps in the G-DRG resource allocation scheme at hospital level: (1) the groundwork; (2) cost-center accounting; and (3) patient-level costing. Second, the paper reviews and assesses the three steps in G-DRG national tariff calculation: (1) plausibility checks; (2) inlier calculation; and (3) the “one hospital” approach. The assessment is based on the two main goals of G-DRG introduction: improving transparency and efficiency. A further empirical assessment attests high costing quality. The G-DRG cost accounting scheme shows high system quality in resource allocation at hospital level, with limitations concerning a managerially relevant full cost approach and limitations in terms of advanced activity-based costing at patient-level. However, the scheme has serious flaws in national tariff calculation: inlier calculation is normative, and the “one hospital” model causes cost bias, adjustment and representativeness issues. The G-DRG system was designed for reimbursement calculation, but developed to a standard with strategic management implications, generalized by the idea of adapting a hospital’s cost structures to DRG revenues. This combination causes problems in actual hospital financing, although resource allocation is advanced at hospital level. PMID:22935314

Assessing DRG cost accounting with respect to resource allocation and tariff calculation: the case of Germany.

PubMed

Vogl, Matthias

2012-08-30

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the German diagnosis related groups (G-DRG) cost accounting scheme by assessing its resource allocation at hospital level and its tariff calculation at national level. First, the paper reviews and assesses the three steps in the G-DRG resource allocation scheme at hospital level: (1) the groundwork; (2) cost-center accounting; and (3) patient-level costing. Second, the paper reviews and assesses the three steps in G-DRG national tariff calculation: (1) plausibility checks; (2) inlier calculation; and (3) the "one hospital" approach. The assessment is based on the two main goals of G-DRG introduction: improving transparency and efficiency. A further empirical assessment attests high costing quality. The G-DRG cost accounting scheme shows high system quality in resource allocation at hospital level, with limitations concerning a managerially relevant full cost approach and limitations in terms of advanced activity-based costing at patient-level. However, the scheme has serious flaws in national tariff calculation: inlier calculation is normative, and the "one hospital" model causes cost bias, adjustment and representativeness issues. The G-DRG system was designed for reimbursement calculation, but developed to a standard with strategic management implications, generalized by the idea of adapting a hospital's cost structures to DRG revenues. This combination causes problems in actual hospital financing, although resource allocation is advanced at hospital level.

A market-based optimization approach to sensor and resource management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schrage, Dan; Farnham, Christopher; Gonsalves, Paul G.

2006-05-01

Dynamic resource allocation for sensor management is a problem that demands solutions beyond traditional approaches to optimization. Market-based optimization applies solutions from economic theory, particularly game theory, to the resource allocation problem by creating an artificial market for sensor information and computational resources. Intelligent agents are the buyers and sellers in this market, and they represent all the elements of the sensor network, from sensors to sensor platforms to computational resources. These agents interact based on a negotiation mechanism that determines their bidding strategies. This negotiation mechanism and the agents' bidding strategies are based on game theory, and they are designed so that the aggregate result of the multi-agent negotiation process is a market in competitive equilibrium, which guarantees an optimal allocation of resources throughout the sensor network. This paper makes two contributions to the field of market-based optimization: First, we develop a market protocol to handle heterogeneous goods in a dynamic setting. Second, we develop arbitrage agents to improve the efficiency in the market in light of its dynamic nature.

Deliberation favours social efficiency by making people disregard their relative shares: evidence from USA and India

PubMed Central

Corgnet, Brice; Espín, Antonio M.; Hernán-González, Roberto

2017-01-01

Groups make decisions on both the production and the distribution of resources. These decisions typically involve a tension between increasing the total level of group resources (i.e. social efficiency) and distributing these resources among group members (i.e. individuals' relative shares). This is the case because the redistribution process may destroy part of the resources, thus resulting in socially inefficient allocations. Here we apply a dual-process approach to understand the cognitive underpinnings of this fundamental tension. We conducted a set of experiments to examine the extent to which different allocation decisions respond to intuition or deliberation. In a newly developed approach, we assess intuition and deliberation at both the trait level (using the Cognitive Reflection Test, henceforth CRT) and the state level (through the experimental manipulation of response times). To test for robustness, experiments were conducted in two countries: the USA and India. Despite absolute-level differences across countries, in both locations we show that: (i) time pressure and low CRT scores are associated with individuals' concerns for their relative shares and (ii) time delay and high CRT scores are associated with individuals' concerns for social efficiency. These findings demonstrate that deliberation favours social efficiency by overriding individuals' intuitive tendency to focus on relative shares. PMID:28386421

A Subcarrier-Pair Based Resource Allocation Scheme Using Proportional Fairness for Cooperative OFDM-Based Cognitive Radio Networks

PubMed Central

Ma, Yongtao; Zhou, Liuji; Liu, Kaihua

2013-01-01

The paper presents a joint subcarrier-pair based resource allocation algorithm in order to improve the efficiency and fairness of cooperative multiuser orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MU-OFDM) cognitive radio (CR) systems. A communication model where one source node communicates with one destination node assisted by one half-duplex decode-and-forward (DF) relay is considered in the paper. An interference-limited environment is considered, with the constraint of transmitted sum-power over all channels and aggregate average interference towards multiple primary users (PUs). The proposed resource allocation algorithm is capable of maximizing both the system transmission efficiency and fairness among secondary users (SUs). Besides, the proposed algorithm can also keep the interference introduced to the PU bands below a threshold. A proportional fairness constraint is used to assure that each SU can achieve a required data rate, with quality of service guarantees. Moreover, we extend the analysis to the scenario where each cooperative SU has no channel state information (CSI) about non-adjacent links. We analyzed the throughput and fairness tradeoff in CR system. A detailed analysis of the performance of the proposed algorithm is presented with the simulation results. PMID:23939586

Compound Event Barrier Coverage in Wireless Sensor Networks under Multi-Constraint Conditions.

PubMed

Zhuang, Yaoming; Wu, Chengdong; Zhang, Yunzhou; Jia, Zixi

2016-12-24

It is important to monitor compound event by barrier coverage issues in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Compound event barrier coverage (CEBC) is a novel coverage problem. Unlike traditional ones, the data of compound event barrier coverage comes from different types of sensors. It will be subject to multiple constraints under complex conditions in real-world applications. The main objective of this paper is to design an efficient algorithm for complex conditions that can combine the compound event confidence. Moreover, a multiplier method based on an active-set strategy (ASMP) is proposed to optimize the multiple constraints in compound event barrier coverage. The algorithm can calculate the coverage ratio efficiently and allocate the sensor resources reasonably in compound event barrier coverage. The proposed algorithm can simplify complex problems to reduce the computational load of the network and improve the network efficiency. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is more effective and efficient than existing methods, especially in the allocation of sensor resources.

Compound Event Barrier Coverage in Wireless Sensor Networks under Multi-Constraint Conditions

PubMed Central

Zhuang, Yaoming; Wu, Chengdong; Zhang, Yunzhou; Jia, Zixi

2016-01-01

It is important to monitor compound event by barrier coverage issues in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Compound event barrier coverage (CEBC) is a novel coverage problem. Unlike traditional ones, the data of compound event barrier coverage comes from different types of sensors. It will be subject to multiple constraints under complex conditions in real-world applications. The main objective of this paper is to design an efficient algorithm for complex conditions that can combine the compound event confidence. Moreover, a multiplier method based on an active-set strategy (ASMP) is proposed to optimize the multiple constraints in compound event barrier coverage. The algorithm can calculate the coverage ratio efficiently and allocate the sensor resources reasonably in compound event barrier coverage. The proposed algorithm can simplify complex problems to reduce the computational load of the network and improve the network efficiency. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is more effective and efficient than existing methods, especially in the allocation of sensor resources. PMID:28029118

[Ethical Debates Related to the Allocation of Medical Resources During the Response to the Mass Casualty Incident at Formosa Fun Coast Water Park].

PubMed

Tang, Jing-Shia; Chen, Chia-Jung; Huang, Mei-Chih

2017-02-01

Disasters are unpredictable and often result in mass casualties. Limited medical resources often affect the response to mass casualty incidents, undermining the ability of responders to adequately protect all of the casualties. Thus, the injuries of casualties are classified in hopes of fully utilizing medical resources efficiently in order to save the maximum possible number of people. However, as opinions on casualty prioritization are subjective, disagreements and disputes often arise regarding allocating medical resources. The present article focused on the 2015 explosion at Formosa Fun Coast, a recreational water park in Bali, New Taipei City, Taiwan as a way to explore the dilemma over the triage and resource allocation for casualties with burns over 90% and 50-60% of their bodies. The principles of utilitarianism and deontology in Western medicine were used to discuss the reasons and rationale behind the allocation of medical resources during this incident. Confucianism, a philosophical mindset that significantly influences Taiwanese society today, was then discussed to describe the "miracles" that happened during the incident, including the acquisition of assistance from the public and medical professionals. External supplies and professional help (social resources) were provided voluntarily after this incident, which had a profound impact on both the immediate response and the longer-term recovery efforts.

Designing for multiple global user populations: increasing resource allocation efficiency for greater sustainability.

PubMed

Nadadur, G; Parkinson, M B

2012-01-01

This paper proposes a method to identify opportunities for increasing the efficiency of raw material allocation decisions for products that are simultaneously targeted at multiple user populations around the world. The values of 24 body measures at certain key percentiles were used to estimate the best-fitting anthropometric distributions for female and male adults in nine national populations, which were selected to represent the diverse target markets multinational companies must design for. These distributions were then used to synthesize body measure data for combined populations with a 1:1 female:male ratio. An anthropometric range metric (ARM) was proposed for assessing the variation of these body measures across the populations. At any percentile, ARM values were calculated as the percentage difference between the highest and lowest anthropometric values across the considered user populations. Based on their magnitudes, plots of ARM values computed between the 1st and 99 th percentiles for each body measure were grouped into low, medium, and high categories. This classification of body measures was proposed as a means of selecting the most suitable strategies for designing raw material-efficient products. The findings in this study and the contributions of subsequent work along these lines are expected to help achieve greater efficiencies in resource allocation in global product development.

Dynamic equilibrium strategy for drought emergency temporary water transfer and allocation management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Jiuping; Ma, Ning; Lv, Chengwei

2016-08-01

Efficient water transfer and allocation are critical for disaster mitigation in drought emergencies. This is especially important when the different interests of the multiple decision makers and the fluctuating water resource supply and demand simultaneously cause space and time conflicts. To achieve more effective and efficient water transfers and allocations, this paper proposes a novel optimization method with an integrated bi-level structure and a dynamic strategy, in which the bi-level structure works to deal with space dimension conflicts in drought emergencies, and the dynamic strategy is used to deal with time dimension conflicts. Combining these two optimization methods, however, makes calculation complex, so an integrated interactive fuzzy program and a PSO-POA are combined to develop a hybrid-heuristic algorithm. The successful application of the proposed model in a real world case region demonstrates its practicality and efficiency. Dynamic cooperation between multiple reservoirs under the coordination of a global regulator reflects the model's efficiency and effectiveness in drought emergency water transfer and allocation, especially in a fluctuating environment. On this basis, some corresponding management recommendations are proposed to improve practical operations.

Controlling collective dynamics in complex minority-game resource-allocation systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Ji-Qiang; Huang, Zi-Gang; Dong, Jia-Qi; Huang, Liang; Lai, Ying-Cheng

2013-05-01

Resource allocation takes place in various kinds of real-world complex systems, such as traffic systems, social services institutions or organizations, or even ecosystems. The fundamental principle underlying complex resource-allocation dynamics is Boolean interactions associated with minority games, as resources are generally limited and agents tend to choose the least used resource based on available information. A common but harmful dynamical behavior in resource-allocation systems is herding, where there are time intervals during which a large majority of the agents compete for a few resources, leaving many other resources unused. Accompanying the herd behavior is thus strong fluctuations with time in the number of resources being used. In this paper, we articulate and establish that an intuitive control strategy, namely pinning control, is effective at harnessing the herding dynamics. In particular, by fixing the choices of resources for a few agents while leaving the majority of the agents free, herding can be eliminated completely. Our investigation is systematic in that we consider random and targeted pinning and a variety of network topologies, and we carry out a comprehensive analysis in the framework of mean-field theory to understand the working of control. The basic philosophy is then that, when a few agents waive their freedom to choose resources by receiving sufficient incentives, the majority of the agents benefit in that they will make fair, efficient, and effective use of the available resources. Our work represents a basic and general framework to address the fundamental issue of fluctuations in complex dynamical systems with significant applications to social, economical, and political systems.

Job Priorities on Peregrine | High-Performance Computing | NREL

Science.gov Websites

allocation when run with qos=high. Requesting a Node Reservation If you are doing work that requires real scheduler more efficiently plan resources for larger jobs. When projects reach their allocation limit, jobs associated with those projects will run at very low priority, which will ensure that these jobs run only when

Basin Economic Allocation Model (BEAM): An economic model of water use developed for the Aral Sea Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riegels, Niels; Kromann, Mikkel; Karup Pedersen, Jesper; Lindgaard-Jørgensen, Palle; Sokolov, Vadim; Sorokin, Anatoly

2013-04-01

The water resources of the Aral Sea basin are under increasing pressure, particularly from the conflict over whether hydropower or irrigation water use should take priority. The purpose of the BEAM model is to explore the impact of changes to water allocation and investments in water management infrastructure on the overall welfare of the Aral Sea basin. The BEAM model estimates welfare changes associated with changes to how water is allocated between the five countries in the basin (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan; water use in Afghanistan is assumed to be fixed). Water is allocated according to economic optimization criteria; in other words, the BEAM model allocates water across time and space so that the economic welfare associated with water use is maximized. The model is programmed in GAMS. The model addresses the Aral Sea Basin as a whole - that is, the rivers Syr Darya, Amu Darya, Kashkadarya, and Zarafshan, as well as the Aral Sea. The model representation includes water resources, including 14 river sections, 6 terminal lakes, 28 reservoirs and 19 catchment runoff nodes, as well as land resources (i.e., irrigated croplands). The model covers 5 sectors: agriculture (crops: wheat, cotton, alfalfa, rice, fruit, vegetables and others), hydropower, nature, households and industry. The focus of the model is on welfare impacts associated with changes to water use in the agriculture and hydropower sectors. The model aims at addressing the following issues of relevance for economic management of water resources: • Physical efficiency (estimating how investments in irrigation efficiency affect economic welfare). • Economic efficiency (estimating how changes in how water is allocated affect welfare). • Equity (who will gain from changes in allocation of water from one sector to another and who will lose?). Stakeholders in the region have been involved in the development of the model, and about 10 national experts, including staff from the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS), have been trained in using the model. The model is publicly accessible through a web-based user interface that allows users to investigate scenarios and perform sensitivity analyses. Preliminary results suggest that: 1. At the margin, hydropower water use increases basin-wide welfare more than irrigation water use. 2. Under normal or average hydrological conditions, water scarcity is not a significant problem in the basin. 3. Under dry hydrological conditions, water scarcity is significant. Under these conditions, preliminary results suggest that cotton irrigation is less effective than other uses, particularly in Turkmenistan. 4. Investments in irrigation efficiency can have a significant impact on the effectiveness of water use for irrigation, thereby increasing the welfare of irrigation regions during dry periods.

Coordinating the Design and Management of Heterogeneous Datacenter Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guevara, Marisabel

2014-01-01

Heterogeneous design presents an opportunity to improve energy efficiency but raises a challenge in management. Whereas prior work separates the two, we coordinate heterogeneous design and management. We present a market-based resource allocation mechanism that navigates the performance and power trade-offs of heterogeneous architectures. Given…

Algorithms for synthesizing management solutions based on OLAP-technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pishchukhin, A. M.; Akhmedyanova, G. F.

2018-05-01

OLAP technologies are a convenient means of analyzing large amounts of information. An attempt was made in their work to improve the synthesis of optimal management decisions. The developed algorithms allow forecasting the needs and accepted management decisions on the main types of the enterprise resources. Their advantage is the efficiency, based on the simplicity of quadratic functions and differential equations of only the first order. At the same time, the optimal redistribution of resources between different types of products from the assortment of the enterprise is carried out, and the optimal allocation of allocated resources in time. The proposed solutions can be placed on additional specially entered coordinates of the hypercube representing the data warehouse.

Application of case mix index in the allocation of nursing human resources.

PubMed

Han, Binru; Chen, Xi; Li, Qiuping

2018-02-23

To investigate the feasibility of the case mix index and compare the allocation of nursing human resources between two departments of a hospital with different case mix indexes in China. The case mix index is used to assess the resource allocation of all cases in two departments of a hospital. Its values can determine the resource allocation required to diagnose and treat the patients. Clinical data were obtained from 23 different departments in 2015 and analysed retrospectively from October to November, 2016. Factors influencing the allocation of registered nurses were identified, and balanced quantities of patients with different case mix indexes were chosen from two departments. Spearman correlation analysis was performed. The per capita nursing workload was significant (r = .669, p = .000). The length of hospital stay, quantity of nurses, and department case mix index were correlated with the nursing workload (t = 4.211, p = .000; t = 2.962, p = .008; t = 2.266, p = .035). Education levels (Z = -1.391, p = .164) and the professional titles (Z = -1.832, p = .067) of the nurses were not statistically significant, whereas the registered nurse level differed between two departments (Z = -2.125, p = .034). The case management index provides references for the efficient allocation of registered nurses in clinical practice. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Simulating Water Resource Disputes of Transboundary River: A Case Study of the Zhanghe River Basin, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Liang; He, Weijun; Liao, Zaiyi; Mulugeta Degefu, Dagmawi; An, Min; Zhang, Zhaofang

2018-01-01

Water resource disputes within transboundary river basin has been hindering the sustainable use of water resources and efficient management of environment. The problem is characterized by a complex information feedback loop that involves socio-economic and environmental systems. This paper presents a system dynamics based model that can simulate the dynamics of water demand, water supply, water adequacy and water allocation instability within a river basin. It was used for a case study in the Zhanghe River basin of China. The base scenario has been investigated for the time period between 2000 and 2050. The result shows that the Chinese national government should change the water allocation scheme of downstream Zhanghe River established in 1989, more water need to be allocated to the downstream cities and the actual allocation should be adjusted to reflect the need associated with the socio-economic and environmental changes within the region, and system dynamics improves the understanding of concepts and system interactions by offering a comprehensive and integrated view of the physical, social, economic, environmental, and political systems.

Optimizing Medical Kits for Spaceflight

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keenan, A. B,; Foy, Millennia; Myers, G.

2014-01-01

The Integrated Medical Model (IMM) is a probabilistic model that estimates medical event occurrences and mission outcomes for different mission profiles. IMM simulation outcomes describing the impact of medical events on the mission may be used to optimize the allocation of resources in medical kits. Efficient allocation of medical resources, subject to certain mass and volume constraints, is crucial to ensuring the best outcomes of in-flight medical events. We implement a new approach to this medical kit optimization problem. METHODS We frame medical kit optimization as a modified knapsack problem and implement an algorithm utilizing a dynamic programming technique. Using this algorithm, optimized medical kits were generated for 3 different mission scenarios with the goal of minimizing the probability of evacuation and maximizing the Crew Health Index (CHI) for each mission subject to mass and volume constraints. Simulation outcomes using these kits were also compared to outcomes using kits optimized..RESULTS The optimized medical kits generated by the algorithm described here resulted in predicted mission outcomes more closely approached the unlimited-resource scenario for Crew Health Index (CHI) than the implementation in under all optimization priorities. Furthermore, the approach described here improves upon in reducing evacuation when the optimization priority is minimizing the probability of evacuation. CONCLUSIONS This algorithm provides an efficient, effective means to objectively allocate medical resources for spaceflight missions using the Integrated Medical Model.

Automated Pollution Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

Patterned after the Cassini Resource Exchange (CRE), Sholtz and Associates established the Automated Credit Exchange (ACE), an Internet-based concept that automates the auctioning of "pollution credits" in Southern California. An early challenge of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Cassini mission was allocating the spacecraft's resources. To support the decision-making process, the CRE was developed. The system removes the need for the science instrument manager to know the individual instruments' requirements for the spacecraft resources. Instead, by utilizing principles of exchange, the CRE induces the instrument teams to reveal their requirements. In doing so, they arrive at an efficient allocation of spacecraft resources by trading among themselves. A Southern California RECLAIM air pollution credit trading market has been set up using same bartering methods utilized in the Cassini mission in order to help companies keep pollution and costs down.

Physical and Cross-Layer Security Enhancement and Resource Allocation for Wireless Networks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bashar, Muhammad Shafi Al

2011-01-01

In this dissertation, we present novel physical (PHY) and cross-layer design guidelines and resource adaptation algorithms to improve the security and user experience in the future wireless networks. Physical and cross-layer wireless security measures can provide stronger overall security with high efficiency and can also provide better…

A Comparative Assessment of Higher Education Financing in Six Arab Countries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

El-Araby, Ashraf

2011-01-01

This study analyses the policies for financing higher education in six Arab countries: Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, and Tunisia. It assesses the adequacy of spending on higher education, the efficiency with which resources are utilized, and the equity implications of resource allocations. Based on six detailed case studies, this…

Tragic choices and moral compromise: the ethics of allocating kidneys for transplantation.

PubMed

Hoffmaster, Barry; Hooker, Cliff

2013-09-01

For almost a decade, the Kidney Transplantation Committee of the United Network for Organ Sharing has been striving to revise its approach to allocating kidneys from deceased donors for transplantation. Two fundamental values, equality and efficiency, are central to distributing this scarce resource. The prevailing approach gives primacy to equality in the temporal form of first-come, first-served, whereas the motivation for a new approach is to redeem efficiency by increasing the length of survival of transplanted kidneys and their recipients. But decision making about a better way of allocating kidneys flounders because it is constrained by the amorphous notion of "balancing" values. This article develops a more fitting, productive approach to resolving the conflict between equality and efficiency by embedding the notion of compromise in the analysis of a tragic choice provided by Guido Calabresi and Philip Bobbitt. For Calabresi and Bobbitt, the goals of public policy with respect to tragic choices are to limit tragedy and to deal with the irreducible minimum of tragedy in the least offensive way. Satisfying the value of efficiency limits tragedy, and satisfying the value of equality deals with the irreducible minimum of tragedy in the least offensive way. But both values cannot be completely satisfied simultaneously. Compromise is occasioned when not all the several obligations that exist in a situation can be met and when neglecting some obligations entirely in order to fulfill others entirely is improper. Compromise is amalgamated with the notion of a tragic choice and then used to assess proposals for revising the allocation of kidneys considered by the Kidney Transplantation Committee. Compromise takes two forms in allocating kidneys: it occurs within particular approaches to allocating kidneys because neither equality nor efficiency can be fully satisfied, and it occurs over the course of sequential approaches to allocating kidneys that cycle between preferring equality and efficiency. Ross and colleagues' Equal Opportunity Supplemented by Fair Innings proposal for allocating kidneys best exemplifies the rationality of compromise as a way of achieving the goals of making a tragic choice. The attempt to design a policy for allocating kidneys from deceased donors for transplantation by balancing the values of equality and efficiency is misguided and unhelpful. Instead policymaking should both incorporate compromise into discrete approaches to allocating kidneys and extend compromise over sequential approaches to allocating kidneys. © 2013 Milbank Memorial Fund.

Comparison of OPC job prioritization schemes to generate data for mask manufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewis, Travis; Veeraraghavan, Vijay; Jantzen, Kenneth; Kim, Stephen; Park, Minyoung; Russell, Gordon; Simmons, Mark

2015-03-01

Delivering mask ready OPC corrected data to the mask shop on-time is critical for a foundry to meet the cycle time commitment for a new product. With current OPC compute resource sharing technology, different job scheduling algorithms are possible, such as, priority based resource allocation and fair share resource allocation. In order to maximize computer cluster efficiency, minimize the cost of the data processing and deliver data on schedule, the trade-offs of each scheduling algorithm need to be understood. Using actual production jobs, each of the scheduling algorithms will be tested in a production tape-out environment. Each scheduling algorithm will be judged on its ability to deliver data on schedule and the trade-offs associated with each method will be analyzed. It is now possible to introduce advance scheduling algorithms to the OPC data processing environment to meet the goals of on-time delivery of mask ready OPC data while maximizing efficiency and reducing cost.

Distributive justice and the introduction of generic medicines.

PubMed

Rego, Guilhermina; Brandão, Cristina; Melo, Helena; Nunes, Rui

2002-01-01

All countries face the issue of choice in healthcare. Allocation of healthcare resources is clearly associated with the concept of distributive justice and to the existence of a right to healthcare. Nevertheless, there is still the question of whether this right should include all types of healthcare services or if it should be limited to selected types. It follows that choices must be made, priorities must be set and that efficiency of healthcare services should be maximum. Distributive justice aims at ensuring that everyone has access to necessary care based on the substantive ethical principles of equity and solidarity. Resource allocation is paramount in public policy particularly with regards pharmacoeconomics. The objective of this study is to determine the leading issues regarding the marketing and trade of generic medicines analysing the reasons why there are huge disparities between European countries with regards generic drugs acceptance by practitioners. Distributive justice aims at ensuring that everyone has access to reasonable care based on the ethical principles of equity and solidarity. However, universality implies always choice in access and efficiency in delivery. It follows that resource allocation is instrumental in public policy particularly with regards pharmacoeconomics. The acceptance of distributive justice as a new ethical paradigm for professional ethics implies that as long as the best interest of the patient is not at stake physicians should regard the use of generic drugs as a valid instrument to promote the efficiency of the system and therefore as a way to facilitate citizen's global access to healthcare.

Carotenoid coloration is related to fat digestion efficiency in a wild bird

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madonia, Christina; Hutton, Pierce; Giraudeau, Mathieu; Sepp, Tuul

2017-12-01

Some of the most spectacular visual signals found in the animal kingdom are based on dietarily derived carotenoid pigments (which cannot be produced de novo), with a general assumption that carotenoids are limited resources for wild organisms, causing trade-offs in allocation of carotenoids to different physiological functions and ornamentation. This resource trade-off view has been recently questioned, since the efficiency of carotenoid processing may relax the trade-off between allocation toward condition or ornamentation. This hypothesis has so far received little exploratory support, since studies of digestive efficiency of wild animals are limited due to methodological difficulties. Recently, a method for quantifying the percentage of fat in fecal samples to measure digestive efficiency has been developed in birds. Here, we use this method to test if the intensity of the carotenoid-based coloration predicts digestive efficiency in a wild bird, the house finch ( Haemorhous mexicanus). The redness of carotenoid feather coloration (hue) positively predicted digestion efficiency, with redder birds being more efficient at absorbing fats from seeds. We show for the first time in a wild species that digestive efficiency predicts ornamental coloration. Though not conclusive due to the correlative nature of our study, these results strongly suggest that fat extraction might be a crucial but overlooked process behind many ornamental traits.

Water use efficiency and integrated water resource management for river basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Xiangzheng; Singh, R. B.; Liu, Junguo; Güneralp, Burak

Water use efficiency and management have attracted increasing attention as water has become scare to challenge the world's sustainable development. Water use efficiency is correlated to the land use and cover changes (LUCC), population distribution, industrial structure, economic development, climate changes, and environmental governance. These factors significantly alter water productivity for water balance through the changes in natural environment and socio-economic system (Wang et al., 2015b). Consequently, dynamics of water inefficiency lower the social welfare of water allocation (Wang et al., 2015b), and induce water management alternation interactively and financially (Wang et al., 2015a). This triggers on actual water price changes through both natural resource and socioeconomic system (Zhou et al., 2015). Therefore, it is very important to figure out a mechanism of water allocation in the course of LUCC (Jin et al., 2015) at a global perspective (Zhao et al., 2015), climate and economic changes of ecosystem service at various spatial and temporal scales (Li et al., 2015).

Adaptability in linkage of soil carbon nutrient cycles - the SEAM model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wutzler, Thomas; Zaehle, Sönke; Schrumpf, Marion; Ahrens, Bernhard; Reichstein, Markus

2017-04-01

In order to understand the coupling of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles, it is necessary to understand C and N-use efficiencies of microbial soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition. While important controls of those efficiencies by microbial community adaptations have been shown at the scale of a soil pore, an abstract simplified representation of community adaptations is needed at ecosystem scale. Therefore we developed the soil enzyme allocation model (SEAM), which takes a holistic, partly optimality based approach to describe C and N dynamics at the spatial scale of an ecosystem and time-scales of years and longer. We explicitly modelled community adaptation strategies of resource allocation to extracellular enzymes and enzyme limitations on SOM decomposition. Using SEAM, we explored whether alternative strategy-hypotheses can have strong effects on SOM and inorganic N cycling. Results from prototypical simulations and a calibration to observations of an intensive pasture site showed that the so-called revenue enzyme allocation strategy was most viable. This strategy accounts for microbial adaptations to both, stoichiometry and amount of different SOM resources, and supported the largest microbial biomass under a wide range of conditions. Predictions of the SEAM model were qualitatively similar to models explicitly representing competing microbial groups. With adaptive enzyme allocation under conditions of high C/N ratio of litter inputs, N in formerly locked in slowly degrading SOM pools was made accessible, whereas with high N inputs, N was sequestered in SOM and protected from leaching. The finding that adaptation in enzyme allocation changes C and N-use efficiencies of SOM decomposition implies that concepts of C-nutrient cycle interactions should take account for the effects of such adaptations. This can be done using a holistic optimality approach.

Optimal allocation of conservation effort among subpopulations of a threatened species: how important is patch quality?

PubMed

Chauvenet, Aliénor L M; Baxter, Peter W J; McDonald-Madden, Eve; Possingham, Hugh P

2010-04-01

Money is often a limiting factor in conservation, and attempting to conserve endangered species can be costly. Consequently, a framework for optimizing fiscally constrained conservation decisions for a single species is needed. In this paper we find the optimal budget allocation among isolated subpopulations of a threatened species to minimize local extinction probability. We solve the problem using stochastic dynamic programming, derive a useful and simple alternative guideline for allocating funds, and test its performance using forward simulation. The model considers subpopulations that persist in habitat patches of differing quality, which in our model is reflected in different relationships between money invested and extinction risk. We discover that, in most cases, subpopulations that are less efficient to manage should receive more money than those that are more efficient to manage, due to higher investment needed to reduce extinction risk. Our simple investment guideline performs almost as well as the exact optimal strategy. We illustrate our approach with a case study of the management of the Sumatran tiger, Panthera tigris sumatrae, in Kerinci Seblat National Park (KSNP), Indonesia. We find that different budgets should be allocated to the separate tiger subpopulations in KSNP. The subpopulation that is not at risk of extinction does not require any management investment. Based on the combination of risks of extinction and habitat quality, the optimal allocation for these particular tiger subpopulations is an unusual case: subpopulations that occur in higher-quality habitat (more efficient to manage) should receive more funds than the remaining subpopulation that is in lower-quality habitat. Because the yearly budget allocated to the KSNP for tiger conservation is small, to guarantee the persistence of all the subpopulations that are currently under threat we need to prioritize those that are easier to save. When allocating resources among subpopulations of a threatened species, the combined effects of differences in habitat quality, cost of action, and current subpopulation probability of extinction need to be integrated. We provide a useful guideline for allocating resources among isolated subpopulations of any threatened species.

Fuzzy-logic based Q-Learning interference management algorithms in two-tier networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Qiang; Xu, Zezhong; Li, Li; Zheng, Yan

2017-10-01

Unloading from macrocell network and enhancing coverage can be realized by deploying femtocells in the indoor scenario. However, the system performance of the two-tier network could be impaired by the co-tier and cross-tier interference. In this paper, a distributed resource allocation scheme is studied when each femtocell base station is self-governed and the resource cannot be assigned centrally through the gateway. A novel Q-Learning interference management scheme is proposed, that is divided into cooperative and independent part. In the cooperative algorithm, the interference information is exchanged between the cell-edge users which are classified by the fuzzy logic in the same cell. Meanwhile, we allocate the orthogonal subchannels to the high-rate cell-edge users to disperse the interference power when the data rate requirement is satisfied. The resource is assigned directly according to the minimum power principle in the independent algorithm. Simulation results are provided to demonstrate the significant performance improvements in terms of the average data rate, interference power and energy efficiency over the cutting-edge resource allocation algorithms.

Improving Hospital-Wide Early Resource Allocation through Machine Learning.

PubMed

Gartner, Daniel; Padman, Rema

2015-01-01

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the extent to which early determination of diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) can be used for better allocation of scarce hospital resources. When elective patients seek admission, the true DRG, currently determined only at discharge, is unknown. We approach the problem of early DRG determination in three stages: (1) test how much a Naïve Bayes classifier can improve classification accuracy as compared to a hospital's current approach; (2) develop a statistical program that makes admission and scheduling decisions based on the patients' clincial pathways and scarce hospital resources; and (3) feed the DRG as classified by the Naïve Bayes classifier and the hospitals' baseline approach into the model (which we evaluate in simulation). Our results reveal that the DRG grouper performs poorly in classifying the DRG correctly before admission while the Naïve Bayes approach substantially improves the classification task. The results from the connection of the classification method with the mathematical program also reveal that resource allocation decisions can be more effective and efficient with the hybrid approach.

Allocation of scarce resources after a nuclear detonation: setting the context.

PubMed

Knebel, Ann R; Coleman, C Norman; Cliffer, Kenneth D; Murrain-Hill, Paula; McNally, Richard; Oancea, Victor; Jacobs, Jimmie; Buddemeier, Brooke; Hick, John L; Weinstock, David M; Hrdina, Chad M; Taylor, Tammy; Matzo, Marianne; Bader, Judith L; Livinski, Alicia A; Parker, Gerald; Yeskey, Kevin

2011-03-01

The purpose of this article is to set the context for this special issue of Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness on the allocation of scarce resources in an improvised nuclear device incident. A nuclear detonation occurs when a sufficient amount of fissile material is brought suddenly together to reach critical mass and cause an explosion. Although the chance of a nuclear detonation is thought to be small, the consequences are potentially catastrophic, so planning for an effective medical response is necessary, albeit complex. A substantial nuclear detonation will result in physical effects and a great number of casualties that will require an organized medical response to save lives. With this type of incident, the demand for resources to treat casualties will far exceed what is available. To meet the goal of providing medical care (including symptomatic/palliative care) with fairness as the underlying ethical principle, planning for allocation of scarce resources among all involved sectors needs to be integrated and practiced. With thoughtful and realistic planning, the medical response in the chaotic environment may be made more effective and efficient for both victims and medical responders.

Simulating long-term effectiveness and efficiency of management scenarios for an invasive grass

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jarnevich, Catherine S.; Holcombe, Tracy R.; Cullinane Thomas, Catherine; Frid, Leonardo; Olsson, Aaryn D.

2015-01-01

Resource managers are often faced with trade-offs in allocating limited resources to manage plant invasions. These decisions must often be made with uncertainty about the location of infestations, their rate of spread and effectiveness of management actions. Landscape level simulation tools such as state-and-transition simulation models (STSMs) can be used to evaluate the potential long term consequences of alternative management strategies and help identify those strategies that make efficient use of resources. We analyzed alternative management scenarios for African buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare syn. Cenchrus ciliaris) at Ironwood Forest National Monument, Arizona using a spatially explicit STSM implemented in the Tool for Exploratory Landscape Scenario Analyses (TELSA). Buffelgrass is an invasive grass that is spreading rapidly in the Sonoran Desert, affecting multiple habitats and jurisdictions. This invasion is creating a novel fire risk and transforming natural ecosystems. The model used in this application incorporates buffelgrass dispersal and establishment and management actions and effectiveness including inventory, treatment and post-treatment maintenance. We simulated 11 alternative scenarios developed in consultation with buffelgrass managers and other stakeholders. The scenarios vary according to the total budget allocated for management and the allocation of that budget between different kinds of management actions. Scenario results suggest that to achieve an actual reduction and stabilization of buffelgrass populations, management unconstrained by fiscal restrictions and across all jurisdictions and private lands is required; without broad and aggressive management, buffelgrass populations are expected to increase over time. However, results also suggest that large upfront investments can achieve control results that require relatively minimal spending in the future. Investing the necessary funds upfront to control the invasion results in the most efficient use of resources to achieve lowest invaded acreage in the long-term.

Cooperative network clustering and task allocation for heterogeneous small satellite network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Jing

The research of small satellite has emerged as a hot topic in recent years because of its economical prospects and convenience in launching and design. Due to the size and energy constraints of small satellites, forming a small satellite network(SSN) in which all the satellites cooperate with each other to finish tasks is an efficient and effective way to utilize them. In this dissertation, I designed and evaluated a weight based dominating set clustering algorithm, which efficiently organizes the satellites into stable clusters. The traditional clustering algorithms of large monolithic satellite networks, such as formation flying and satellite swarm, are often limited on automatic formation of clusters. Therefore, a novel Distributed Weight based Dominating Set(DWDS) clustering algorithm is designed to address the clustering problems in the stochastically deployed SSNs. Considering the unique features of small satellites, this algorithm is able to form the clusters efficiently and stably. In this algorithm, satellites are separated into different groups according to their spatial characteristics. A minimum dominating set is chosen as the candidate cluster head set based on their weights, which is a weighted combination of residual energy and connection degree. Then the cluster heads admit new neighbors that accept their invitations into the cluster, until the maximum cluster size is reached. Evaluated by the simulation results, in a SSN with 200 to 800 nodes, the algorithm is able to efficiently cluster more than 90% of nodes in 3 seconds. The Deadline Based Resource Balancing (DBRB) task allocation algorithm is designed for efficient task allocations in heterogeneous LEO small satellite networks. In the task allocation process, the dispatcher needs to consider the deadlines of the tasks as well as the residue energy of different resources for best energy utilization. We assume the tasks adopt a Map-Reduce framework, in which a task can consist of multiple subtasks. The DBRB algorithm is deployed on the head node of a cluster. It gathers the status from each cluster member and calculates their Node Importance Factors (NIFs) from the carried resources, residue power and compute capacity. The algorithm calculates the number of concurrent subtasks based on the deadlines, and allocates the subtasks to the nodes according to their NIF values. The simulation results show that when cluster members carry multiple resources, resource are more balanced and rare resources serve longer in DBRB than in the Earliest Deadline First algorithm. We also show that the algorithm performs well in service isolation by serving multiple tasks with different deadlines. Moreover, the average task response time with various cluster size settings is well controlled within deadlines as well. Except non-realtime tasks, small satellites may execute realtime tasks as well. The location-dependent tasks, such as image capturing, data transmission and remote sensing tasks are realtime tasks that are required to be started / finished on specific time. The resource energy balancing algorithm for realtime and non-realtime mixed workload is developed to efficiently schedule the tasks for best system performance. It calculates the residue energy for each resource type and tries to preserve resources and node availability when distributing tasks. Non-realtime tasks can be preempted by realtime tasks to provide better QoS to realtime tasks. I compared the performance of proposed algorithm with a random-priority scheduling algorithm, with only realtime tasks, non-realtime tasks and mixed tasks. It shows the resource energy reservation algorithm outperforms the latter one with both balanced and imbalanced workloads. Although the resource energy balancing task allocation algorithm for mixed workload provides preemption mechanism for realtime tasks, realtime tasks can still fail due to resource exhaustion. For LEO small satellite flies around the earth on stable orbits, the location-dependent realtime tasks can be considered as periodical tasks. Therefore, it is possible to reserve energy for these realtime tasks. The resource energy reservation algorithm preserves energy for the realtime tasks when the execution routine of periodical realtime tasks is known. In order to reserve energy for tasks starting very early in each period that the node does not have enough energy charged, an energy wrapping mechanism is also designed to calculate the residue energy from the previous period. The simulation results show that without energy reservation, realtime task failure rate can reach more than 60% when the workload is highly imbalanced. In contrast, the resource energy reservation produces zero RT task failures and leads to equal or better aggregate system throughput than the non-reservation algorithm. The proposed algorithm also preserves more energy because it avoids task preemption. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.).

Data envelopment analysis for estimating efficiency of intensive care units: a case study in Iran.

PubMed

Bahrami, Mohammad Amin; Rafiei, Sima; Abedi, Mahdieh; Askari, Roohollah

2018-05-14

Purpose As hospitals are the most costly service providers in every healthcare systems, special attention should be given to their performance in terms of resource allocation and consumption. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate technical, allocative and economic efficiency in intensive care units (ICUs) of hospitals affiliated by Yazd University of Medical Sciences (YUMS) in 2015. Design/methodology/approach This was a descriptive, analytical study conducted in ICUs of seven training hospitals affiliated by YUMS using data envelopment analysis (DEA) in 2015. The number of physicians, nurses, active beds and equipment were regarded as input variables and bed occupancy rate, the number of discharged patients, economic information such as bed price and physicians' fees were mentioned as output variables of the study. Available data from study variables were retrospectively gathered and analyzed through the Deap 2.1 software using the variable returns to scale methodology. Findings The study findings revealed the average scores of allocative, economic, technical, managerial and scale efficiency to be relatively 0.956, 0.866, 0.883, 0.89 and 0.913. Regarding to latter three types of efficiency, five hospitals had desirable performance. Practical implications Given that additional costs due to an extra number of manpower or unnecessary capital resources impose economic pressure on hospitals also the fact that reduction of surplus production plays a major role in reducing such expenditures in hospitals, it is suggested that departments with low efficiency reduce their input surpluses to achieve the optimal level of performance. Originality/value The authors applied a DEA approach to measure allocative, economic, technical, managerial and scale efficiency of under-study hospitals. This is a helpful linear programming method which acts as a powerful and understandable approach for comparative performance assessment in healthcare settings and a guidance for healthcare managers to improve their departments' performance.

Time-aware service-classified spectrum defragmentation algorithm for flex-grid optical networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qiu, Yang; Xu, Jing

2018-01-01

By employing sophisticated routing and spectrum assignment (RSA) algorithms together with a finer spectrum granularity (namely frequency slot) in resource allocation procedures, flex-grid optical networks can accommodate diverse kinds of services with high spectrum-allocation flexibility and resource-utilization efficiency. However, the continuity and the contiguity constraints in spectrum allocation procedures may always induce some isolated, small-sized, and unoccupied spectral blocks (known as spectrum fragments) in flex-grid optical networks. Although these spectrum fragments are left unoccupied, they can hardly be utilized by the subsequent service requests directly because of their spectral characteristics and the constraints in spectrum allocation. In this way, the existence of spectrum fragments may exhaust the available spectrum resources for a coming service request and thus worsens the networking performance. Therefore, many reactive defragmentation algorithms have been proposed to handle the fragmented spectrum resources via re-optimizing the routing paths and the spectrum resources for the existing services. But the routing-path and the spectrum-resource re-optimization in reactive defragmentation algorithms may possibly disrupt the traffic of the existing services and require extra components. By comparison, some proactive defragmentation algorithms (e.g. fragmentation-aware algorithms) were proposed to suppress spectrum fragments from their generation instead of handling the fragmented spectrum resources. Although these proactive defragmentation algorithms induced no traffic disruption and required no extra components, they always left the generated spectrum fragments unhandled, which greatly affected their efficiency in spectrum defragmentation. In this paper, by comprehensively considering the characteristics of both the reactive and the proactive defragmentation algorithms, we proposed a time-aware service-classified (TASC) spectrum defragmentation algorithm, which simultaneously employed proactive and reactive mechanisms in suppressing spectrum fragments with the awareness of services' types and their duration times. By dividing the spectrum resources into several flexible groups according to services' types and limiting both the spectrum allocation and the spectrum re-tuning for a certain service inside one specific spectrum group according to its type, the proposed TASC defragmentation algorithm cannot only suppress spectrum fragments from generation inside each spectrum group, but also handle the fragments generated between two adjacent groups. In this way, the proposed TASC algorithm gains higher efficiency in suppressing spectrum fragments than both the reactive and the proactive defragmentation algorithms. Additionally, as the generation of spectrum fragments is retrained between spectrum groups and the defragmentation procedure is limited inside each spectrum group, the induced traffic disruption for the existing services can be possibly reduced. Besides, the proposed TASC defragmentation algorithm always re-tunes the spectrum resources of the service with the maximum duration time first in spectrum defragmentation procedure, which can further reduce spectrum fragments because of the fact that the services with longer duration times always have higher possibility in inducing spectrum fragments than the services with shorter duration times. The simulation results show that the proposed TASC defragmentation algorithm can significantly reduce the number of the generated spectrum fragments while improving the service blocking performance.

Learning automata-based solutions to the nonlinear fractional knapsack problem with applications to optimal resource allocation.

PubMed

Granmo, Ole-Christoffer; Oommen, B John; Myrer, Svein Arild; Olsen, Morten Goodwin

2007-02-01

This paper considers the nonlinear fractional knapsack problem and demonstrates how its solution can be effectively applied to two resource allocation problems dealing with the World Wide Web. The novel solution involves a "team" of deterministic learning automata (LA). The first real-life problem relates to resource allocation in web monitoring so as to "optimize" information discovery when the polling capacity is constrained. The disadvantages of the currently reported solutions are explained in this paper. The second problem concerns allocating limited sampling resources in a "real-time" manner with the purpose of estimating multiple binomial proportions. This is the scenario encountered when the user has to evaluate multiple web sites by accessing a limited number of web pages, and the proportions of interest are the fraction of each web site that is successfully validated by an HTML validator. Using the general LA paradigm to tackle both of the real-life problems, the proposed scheme improves a current solution in an online manner through a series of informed guesses that move toward the optimal solution. At the heart of the scheme, a team of deterministic LA performs a controlled random walk on a discretized solution space. Comprehensive experimental results demonstrate that the discretization resolution determines the precision of the scheme, and that for a given precision, the current solution (to both problems) is consistently improved until a nearly optimal solution is found--even for switching environments. Thus, the scheme, while being novel to the entire field of LA, also efficiently handles a class of resource allocation problems previously not addressed in the literature.

Processing Capacity under Perceptual and Cognitive Load: A Closer Look at Load Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fitousi, Daniel; Wenger, Michael J.

2011-01-01

Variations in perceptual and cognitive demands (load) play a major role in determining the efficiency of selective attention. According to load theory (Lavie, Hirst, Fockert, & Viding, 2004) these factors (a) improve or hamper selectivity by altering the way resources (e.g., processing capacity) are allocated, and (b) tap resources rather than…

The Role of the Board of Education in the Process of Resource Allocation for Public Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chichura, Elaine Marie

Public schools as formal organizations have broad-based goals, limited resources, and a formal hierarchy with which to manage the goal achievement process. The board of education combines this organization's economic and political dimensions to provide a thorough, efficient education for all children in the state. This paper investigates the…

An integer programming model to optimize resource allocation for wildfire containment.

Treesearch

Geoffrey H. Donovan; Douglas B. Rideout

2003-01-01

Determining the specific mix of fire-fighting resources for a given fire is a necessary condition for identifying the minimum of the Cost Plus Net Value Change (C+NVC) function. Current wildland fire management models may not reliably do so. The problem of identifying the most efficient wildland fire organization is characterized mathematically using integer-...

Dynamic Resource Allocation for IEEE802.16e

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nascimento, Alberto; Rodriguez, Jonathan

Mobile communications has witnessed an exponential increase in the amount of users, services and applications. New high bandwidth consuming applications are targeted for B3G networks raising more stringent requirements for Dynamic Resource Allocation (DRA) architectures and packet schedulers that must be spectrum efficient and deliver QoS for heterogeneous applications and services. In this paper we propose a new cross layer-based architecture framework embedded in a newly designed DRA architecture for the Mobile WiMAX standard. System level simulation results show that the proposed architecture can be considered a viable candidate solution for supporting mixed services in a cost-effective manner in contrast to existing approaches.

Economic evaluation of mental health interventions: an introduction to cost-utility analysis.

PubMed

Luyten, Jeroen; Naci, Huseyin; Knapp, Martin

2016-05-01

Finite resources need to be allocated over an ever-increasing range of competing health policies and interventions. Economic evaluation has been developed as a methodology to inform decision makers on the efficiency of particular resource allocations. In this paper we summarize cost-utility analysis, one of the most widely-used forms of economic evaluation in healthcare. We discuss its main elements, interpretation, limitations and relevance to the domain of mental health. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Bandwidth-sharing in LHCONE, an analysis of the problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wildish, T.

2015-12-01

The LHC experiments have traditionally regarded the network as an unreliable resource, one which was expected to be a major source of errors and inefficiency at the time their original computing models were derived. Now, however, the network is seen as much more capable and reliable. Data are routinely transferred with high efficiency and low latency to wherever computing or storage resources are available to use or manage them. Although there was sufficient network bandwidth for the experiments’ needs during Run-1, they cannot rely on ever-increasing bandwidth as a solution to their data-transfer needs in the future. Sooner or later they need to consider the network as a finite resource that they interact with to manage their traffic, in much the same way as they manage their use of disk and CPU resources. There are several possible ways for the experiments to integrate management of the network in their software stacks, such as the use of virtual circuits with hard bandwidth guarantees or soft real-time flow-control, with somewhat less firm guarantees. Abstractly, these can all be considered as the users (the experiments, or groups of users within the experiment) expressing a request for a given bandwidth between two points for a given duration of time. The network fabric then grants some allocation to each user, dependent on the sum of all requests and the sum of available resources, and attempts to ensure the requirements are met (either deterministically or statistically). An unresolved question at this time is how to convert the users’ requests into an allocation. Simply put, how do we decide what fraction of a network's bandwidth to allocate to each user when the sum of requests exceeds the available bandwidth? The usual problems of any resourcescheduling system arise here, namely how to ensure the resource is used efficiently and fairly, while still satisfying the needs of the users. Simply fixing quotas on network paths for each user is likely to lead to inefficient use of the network. If one user cannot use their quota for some reason, that bandwidth is lost. Likewise, there is no incentive for the user to be efficient within their quota, they have nothing to gain by using less than their allocation. As with CPU farms, some sort of dynamic allocation is more likely to be useful. A promising approach for sharing bandwidth at LHCONE is the ’Progressive Second-Price auction’, where users are given a budget and are required to bid from that budget for the specific resources they want to reserve. The auction allows users to effectively determine among themselves the degree of sharing they are willing to accept based on the priorities of their traffic and their global share, as represented by their total budget. The network then implements those allocations using whatever mix of technologies is appropriate or available. This paper describes how the Progressive Second-Price auction works and how it can be applied to LHCONE. Practical questions are addressed, such as how are budgets set, what strategy should users use to manage their budget, how and how often should the auction be run, and how do we ensure that the goals of fairness and efficiency are met.

Optimal time--energy allocation and the evolution of colony demography among eusocial insects. [Polistes fuscatus, Vespa orientalis, ants

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Macevicz, S.C.

1979-05-09

This thesis attempts to explain the evolution of certain features of social insect colony population structure by the use of optimization models. Two areas are examined in detail. First, the optimal reproductive strategies of annual eusocial insects are considered. A model is constructed for the growth of workers and reproductives as a function of the resources allocated to each. Next the allocation schedule is computed which yields the maximum number of reproductives by season's end. The results indicate that if there is constant return to scale for allocated resources the optimal strategy is to invest in colony growth until approximatelymore » one generation before season's end, whereupon worker production ceases and reproductive effort is switched entirely to producing queens and males. Furthermore, the results indicate that if there is decreasing return to scale for allocated resources then simultaneous production of workers and reproductives is possible. The model is used to explain the colony demography of two species of wasp, Polistes fuscatus and Vespa orientalis. Colonies of these insects undergo a sudden switch from the production of workers to the production of reproductives. The second area examined concerns optimal forager size distributions for monomorphic ant colonies. A model is constructed that describes the colony's energetic profit as a function which depends on the size distribution of food resources as well as forager efficiency, metabolic costs, and manufacturing costs.« less

Fair sharing of resources in a supply network with constraints.

PubMed

Carvalho, Rui; Buzna, Lubos; Just, Wolfram; Helbing, Dirk; Arrowsmith, David K

2012-04-01

This paper investigates the effect of network topology on the fair allocation of network resources among a set of agents, an all-important issue for the efficiency of transportation networks all around us. We analyze a generic mechanism that distributes network capacity fairly among existing flow demands. The problem can be solved by semianalytical methods on a nearest-neighbor graph with one source and sink pair, when transport occurs over shortest paths. For this setup, we uncover a broad range of patterns of intersecting shortest paths as a function of the distance between the source and the sink. When the number of intersections is the maximum and the distance between the source and the sink is large, we find that a fair allocation implies a decrease of at least 50% from the maximum throughput. We also find that the histogram of the flow allocations assigned to the agents decays as a power law with exponent -1. Our semianalytical framework suggests possible explanations for the well-known reduction of the throughput in fair allocations. It also suggests that the combination of network topology and routing rules can lead to highly uneven (but fair) distributions of resources, a remark of caution to network designers.

Fair sharing of resources in a supply network with constraints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carvalho, Rui; Buzna, Lubos; Just, Wolfram; Helbing, Dirk; Arrowsmith, David K.

2012-04-01

This paper investigates the effect of network topology on the fair allocation of network resources among a set of agents, an all-important issue for the efficiency of transportation networks all around us. We analyze a generic mechanism that distributes network capacity fairly among existing flow demands. The problem can be solved by semianalytical methods on a nearest-neighbor graph with one source and sink pair, when transport occurs over shortest paths. For this setup, we uncover a broad range of patterns of intersecting shortest paths as a function of the distance between the source and the sink. When the number of intersections is the maximum and the distance between the source and the sink is large, we find that a fair allocation implies a decrease of at least 50% from the maximum throughput. We also find that the histogram of the flow allocations assigned to the agents decays as a power law with exponent -1. Our semianalytical framework suggests possible explanations for the well-known reduction of the throughput in fair allocations. It also suggests that the combination of network topology and routing rules can lead to highly uneven (but fair) distributions of resources, a remark of caution to network designers.

Buying and Using Tomorrow's Computers in Today's Tertiary Institutions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sungalia, Helen

1980-01-01

Higher-education administrators are alerted to the advent of the microprocessor and the capabilities of desk computers. The potential use of the microcomputer in administrative decision making, efficiency, and resource allocation are reviewed briefly. (MSE)

Clinic Workflow Simulations using Secondary EHR Data

PubMed Central

Hribar, Michelle R.; Biermann, David; Read-Brown, Sarah; Reznick, Leah; Lombardi, Lorinna; Parikh, Mansi; Chamberlain, Winston; Yackel, Thomas R.; Chiang, Michael F.

2016-01-01

Clinicians today face increased patient loads, decreased reimbursements and potential negative productivity impacts of using electronic health records (EHR), but have little guidance on how to improve clinic efficiency. Discrete event simulation models are powerful tools for evaluating clinical workflow and improving efficiency, particularly when they are built from secondary EHR timing data. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that these simulation models can be used for resource allocation decision making as well as for evaluating novel scheduling strategies in outpatient ophthalmology clinics. Key findings from this study are that: 1) secondary use of EHR timestamp data in simulation models represents clinic workflow, 2) simulations provide insight into the best allocation of resources in a clinic, 3) simulations provide critical information for schedule creation and decision making by clinic managers, and 4) simulation models built from EHR data are potentially generalizable. PMID:28269861

Dynamic resource allocation in a hierarchical multiprocessor system: A preliminary study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ngai, Tin-Fook

1986-01-01

An integrated system approach to dynamic resource allocation is proposed. Some of the problems in dynamic resource allocation and the relationship of these problems to system structures are examined. A general dynamic resource allocation scheme is presented. A hierarchial system architecture which dynamically maps between processor structure and programs at multiple levels of instantiations is described. Simulation experiments were conducted to study dynamic resource allocation on the proposed system. Preliminary evaluation based on simple dynamic resource allocation algorithms indicates that with the proposed system approach, the complexity of dynamic resource management could be significantly reduced while achieving reasonable effective dynamic resource allocation.

Construction and application of Red5 cluster based on OpenStack

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jiaqing; Song, Jianxin

2017-08-01

With the application and development of cloud computing technology in various fields, the resource utilization rate of the data center has been improved obviously, and the system based on cloud computing platform has also improved the expansibility and stability. In the traditional way, Red5 cluster resource utilization is low and the system stability is poor. This paper uses cloud computing to efficiently calculate the resource allocation ability, and builds a Red5 server cluster based on OpenStack. Multimedia applications can be published to the Red5 cloud server cluster. The system achieves the flexible construction of computing resources, but also greatly improves the stability of the cluster and service efficiency.

Application of GIS in exploring spatial dimensions of Efficiency in Competitiveness of Regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahmat, Shahid; Sen, Joy

2017-04-01

Infrastructure is an important component in building competitiveness of a region. Present global scenario of economic slowdown that is led by slump in demand of goods and services and decreasing capacity of government institutions in investing public infrastructure. Strategy of augmenting competitiveness of a region can be built around improving efficient distribution of public infrastructure in the region. This efficiency in the distribution of infrastructure will reduce the burden of government institution and improve the relative output of the region in relative lesser investment. A rigorous literature study followed by an expert opinion survey (RIDIT scores) reveals that Railway, Road, ICTs and Electricity infrastructure is very crucial for better competitiveness of a region. Discussion with Experts in ICTs, Railways and Electricity sectors were conducted to find the issues, hurdles and possible solution for the development of these sectors. In an underdeveloped country like India, there is a large constrain of financial resources, for investment in infrastructure sector. Judicious planning for allocation of resources for infrastructure provisions becomes very important for efficient and sustainable development. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is the mathematical programming optimization tool that measure technical efficiency of the multiple-input and/or multiple-output case by constructing a relative technical efficiency score. This paper tries to utilize DEA to identify the efficiency at which present level of selected components of Infrastructure (Railway, Road, ICTs and Electricity) is utilized in order to build competitiveness of the region. This paper tries to identify a spatial pattern of efficiency of Infrastructure with the help of spatial auto-correlation and Hot-spot analysis in Arc GIS. This analysis leads to policy implications for efficient allocation of financial resources for the provision of infrastructure in the region and building a prerequisite to boost an efficient Regional Competitiveness.

Sharing the cost of river basin adaptation portfolios to climate change: Insights from social justice and cooperative game theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Girard, Corentin; Rinaudo, Jean-Daniel; Pulido-Velazquez, Manuel

2016-10-01

The adaptation of water resource systems to the potential impacts of climate change requires mixed portfolios of supply and demand adaptation measures. The issue is not only to select efficient, robust, and flexible adaptation portfolios but also to find equitable strategies of cost allocation among the stakeholders. Our work addresses such cost allocation problems by applying two different theoretical approaches: social justice and cooperative game theory in a real case study. First of all, a cost-effective portfolio of adaptation measures at the basin scale is selected using a least-cost optimization model. Cost allocation solutions are then defined based on economic rationality concepts from cooperative game theory (the Core). Second, interviews are conducted to characterize stakeholders' perceptions of social justice principles associated with the definition of alternatives cost allocation rules. The comparison of the cost allocation scenarios leads to contrasted insights in order to inform the decision-making process at the river basin scale and potentially reap the efficiency gains from cooperation in the design of river basin adaptation portfolios.

How Green Water Flows structure be a decision indicator for ecological water allocation in arid Ejina Delta, China.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, J.; Du, C.; Zhang, Y.; Liu, X.

2014-12-01

Green water flows, a key ecohydrological process, dominates the hydrological cycle in arid region. The structure of green water flows reflects the landscape water consumption characteristics and can be easily obtained by means of remote sensing approach. In arid region, limited fresh water and fragile environment resulted in sharp contradictions between economy and natural ecosystem concerning water demands. To rationally allocate economic and ecological water use, to maximize the regional freshwater use efficiency, is the route one must take for sustainable development in arid area. The pursuit of the most necessary ecological protection function and the maximum ecological water use efficiency is the key to ecological water allocation. However, we are short of simple and quick detectable variables or indexes to assess ecological water allocation decision. This paper introduced the green water flows structure as a decision variable, chose Heihe river flow allocation to downstream Ejina Delta for ecological protection as an example, put forward why and how green water flows structure could be used for ecological water allocation decision. The authors expect to provide reference for integrated fresh water resources management practice in arid region.

[Efficiency of human resources for health: an approach to its analysis in Mexico].

PubMed

Nigenda, Gustavo; Alcalde-Rabanal, Jaqueline; González-Robledo, Luz María; Serván-Mori, Edson; García-Saiso, Sebastián; Lozano, Rafael

2016-01-01

To analyze efficiency indicators of human resources working at Mexico's Ministry of Health. Three dimensions of efficiency were explored: a) labor wastage, b) distribution of human resources (HR) across levels of care, and c) productivity. Health workers present significant levels of unemployment and underemployment; distribution does not meet international recommendations, and heterogeneous levels of productivity were found among states. Health and educational authorities should develop and implement a HR plan that takes into consideration the needs and demands of the covered population, and includes a clearly defined set of measures to regulate the future production of HR as well as their distribution among and within state health systems, and that allocates incentives to improve performance.

Health resource allocation and productive efficiency of Chinese county hospitals: data from 1993 to 2005.

PubMed

Gai, Ruoyan Y; Zhou, Chengchao C; Xu, Lingzhong Z; Zhu, Min; Wang, Xingzhou Z; Li, Shixue X; Zheng, Wengui G; Song, Peipei P; Yang, Xuelai L; Fang, Liyi Y; Zhen, Yancheng C; Tang, Wei

2010-10-01

This study aims to assess trends in the productive efficiency of China's county hospitals during the economic transition using data from 1993 to 2005. A data envelopment analysis (DEA) framework was used to calculate the efficiency score of county hospitals in all 31 provinces. A C²R model and a BC² model were devised to respectively calculate overall and scale efficiency and pure technical efficiency at the hospital's current scale. Models included four inputs (number of medical staff; number of beds; value of fixed capital; and hospital expenditures) and three outputs (outpatient and emergency visits, number of inpatients, and hospital revenue) in total. As the results, geographical disparities in health resource allocation and county hospital productivity were noted. From 1993 to 2005, the number of county hospitals increased and their inputs, e.g. fixed capital in particular, grew rapidly. However, the amount of both outpatient and inpatient services declined somewhat especially in the middle and the western regions. The overall efficiency at the national level decreased slightly. County hospitals in the eastern region tended to have better overall, scale, and technical efficiency in comparison to the middle and the western regions. In conclusion, county hospitals are inefficient due to their enlarged scale and the reduced amount of health care services they provide. This issue should be addressed especially in the middle and the western regions, where health resources are far more limited and yet wasted. The effects of ongoing health sector reform on the productivity of county hospitals must be monitored and evaluated.

Optimal Time-Resource Allocation for Energy-Efficient Physical Activity Detection

PubMed Central

Thatte, Gautam; Li, Ming; Lee, Sangwon; Emken, B. Adar; Annavaram, Murali; Narayanan, Shrikanth; Spruijt-Metz, Donna; Mitra, Urbashi

2011-01-01

The optimal allocation of samples for physical activity detection in a wireless body area network for health-monitoring is considered. The number of biometric samples collected at the mobile device fusion center, from both device-internal and external Bluetooth heterogeneous sensors, is optimized to minimize the transmission power for a fixed number of samples, and to meet a performance requirement defined using the probability of misclassification between multiple hypotheses. A filter-based feature selection method determines an optimal feature set for classification, and a correlated Gaussian model is considered. Using experimental data from overweight adolescent subjects, it is found that allocating a greater proportion of samples to sensors which better discriminate between certain activity levels can result in either a lower probability of error or energy-savings ranging from 18% to 22%, in comparison to equal allocation of samples. The current activity of the subjects and the performance requirements do not significantly affect the optimal allocation, but employing personalized models results in improved energy-efficiency. As the number of samples is an integer, an exhaustive search to determine the optimal allocation is typical, but computationally expensive. To this end, an alternate, continuous-valued vector optimization is derived which yields approximately optimal allocations and can be implemented on the mobile fusion center due to its significantly lower complexity. PMID:21796237

Methodology to Estimate Passenger Flow : Riverside Line, Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, Boston, MA

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1981-08-01

management techniques to operate local transit systems more efficiently and economically. In particular, the ability to accurately ascertain route specific passenger flows or passenger demands has become essential for adequate resource allocation and...

Modeling Hydrological Processes in New Mexico-Texas-Mexico Border Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samimi, M.; Jahan, N. T.; Mirchi, A.

2017-12-01

Efficient allocation of limited water resources to competing use sectors is becoming increasingly critical for water-scarce regions. Understanding natural and anthropogenic processes affecting hydrological processes is key for efficient water management. We used Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to model governing hydrologic processes in New Mexico-Texas-Mexico border region. Our study area includes the Elephant Butte Irrigation District (EBID), which manages water resources to support irrigated agriculture. The region is facing water resources challenges associated with chronic water scarcity, over-allocation, diminishing water supply, and growing water demand. Agricultural activities rely on conjunctive use of Rio Grande River water supply and groundwater withdrawal. The model is calibrated and validated under baseline conditions in the arid and semi-arid climate in order to evaluate potential impacts of climate change on the agricultural sector and regional water availability. We highlight the importance of calibrating the crop growth parameters, evapotranspiration, and groundwater recharge to provide a realistic representation of the hydrological processes and water availability in the region. Furthermore, limitations of the model and its utility to inform stakeholders will be discussed.

Improving Learning Performance Through Rational Resource Allocation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gratch, J.; Chien, S.; DeJong, G.

1994-01-01

This article shows how rational analysis can be used to minimize learning cost for a general class of statistical learning problems. We discuss the factors that influence learning cost and show that the problem of efficient learning can be cast as a resource optimization problem. Solutions found in this way can be significantly more efficient than the best solutions that do not account for these factors. We introduce a heuristic learning algorithm that approximately solves this optimization problem and document its performance improvements on synthetic and real-world problems.

Nanoscale molecular communication networks: a game-theoretic perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Chunxiao; Chen, Yan; Ray Liu, K. J.

2015-12-01

Currently, communication between nanomachines is an important topic for the development of novel devices. To implement a nanocommunication system, diffusion-based molecular communication is considered as a promising bio-inspired approach. Various technical issues about molecular communications, including channel capacity, noise and interference, and modulation and coding, have been studied in the literature, while the resource allocation problem among multiple nanomachines has not been well investigated, which is a very important issue since all the nanomachines share the same propagation medium. Considering the limited computation capability of nanomachines and the expensive information exchange cost among them, in this paper, we propose a game-theoretic framework for distributed resource allocation in nanoscale molecular communication systems. We first analyze the inter-symbol and inter-user interference, as well as bit error rate performance, in the molecular communication system. Based on the interference analysis, we formulate the resource allocation problem as a non-cooperative molecule emission control game, where the Nash equilibrium is found and proved to be unique. In order to improve the system efficiency while guaranteeing fairness, we further model the resource allocation problem using a cooperative game based on the Nash bargaining solution, which is proved to be proportionally fair. Simulation results show that the Nash bargaining solution can effectively ensure fairness among multiple nanomachines while achieving comparable social welfare performance with the centralized scheme.

Technical efficiency in the use of health care resources: a comparison of OECD countries.

PubMed

Retzlaff-Roberts, Donna; Chang, Cyril F; Rubin, Rose M

2004-07-01

Our paper analyzes technical efficiency in the production of aggregate health outcomes of reduced infant mortality and increased life expectancy, using Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) health data. Application of data envelopment analysis (DEA) reveals that some countries achieve relative efficiency advantages, including those with good health outcomes (Japan, Sweden, Norway, and Canada) and those with modest health outcomes (Mexico and Turkey). We conclude the USA may learn from countries more economical in their allocation of healthcare resources that more is not necessarily better. Specifically, we find that the USA can substantially reduce inputs while maintaining the current level of life expectancy.

Position Paper: Dental General Practice Residency Programs: Financing and Operations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hanson, Paul W.

1983-01-01

A discussion of changeable economic issues that can affect dental general practice residency program planning includes costs and resource allocation, maximizing efficiency and productivity, ambulatory and inpatient revenue sources, management functions, faculty as practitioners, faculty appointments, and marketing. (MSE)

The allocation of resources for animal health.

PubMed

Howe, K S

2017-04-01

Economics is too important to be left to the experts. This paper is therefore mainly for animal health policy-makers who are not economists but want a better appreciation of how economics can contribute to resource allocation decisions. First, the methodology of economic analysis is outlined with the objective of dispelling criticisms of its simplifying assumption of rationality. Then, unusual in economics but more familiar to biological and veterinary scientists, the technical aspects of transforming resources into products are discussed. Economics' unique contribution is to establish criteria enabling society to obtain maximum value from the production and distribution of goods and services (products) from scarce resources. Animal disease reduces the efficiency of this process. Value is intangible, but people reveal how much they value (i.e. feel a want or need for) products by what they actually consume, in quality and quantity. Animal products, and so implicitly animals themselves, are an example. The strength of people's preferences is reflected both in the prices they pay for market goods and services, and by their political votes where markets do not exist. Importantly, there is a difference between financial value (what the consumer pays for a good or service) and economic value (the maximum amount of money they would be prepared to pay for it). Allocating resources for animal health creates both costs and benefits, financial and economic. Moreover, costs and benefits are both private and social because of externalities, a major consideration in infectious diseases. Where production decisions with animal health implications are made exclusively for private benefit, government has a role in providing incentives for animal sectors to act in ways that result in socially efficient outcomes.

Two essays on efficiency in the electric power industry: Measurement of technical and allocative efficiency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gardiner, John Corby

The electric power industry market structure has changed over the last twenty years since the passage of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA). These changes include the entry by unregulated generator plants and, more recently, the deregulation of entry and price in the retail generation market. Such changes have introduced and expanded competitive forces on the incumbent electric power plants. Proponents of this deregulation argued that the enhanced competition would lead to a more efficient allocation of resources. Previous studies of power plant technical and allocative efficiency have failed to measure technical and allocative efficiency at the plant level. In contrast, this study uses panel data on 35 power plants over 59 years to estimate technical and allocative efficiency of each plant. By using a flexible functional form, which is not constrained by the assumption that regulation is constant over the 59 years sampled, the estimation procedure accounts for changes in both state and national regulatory/energy policies that may have occurred over the sample period. The empirical evidence presented shows that most of the power plants examined have operated more efficiently since the passage of PURPA and the resultant increase of competitive forces. Chapter 2 extends the model used in Chapter 1 and clarifies some issues in the efficiency literature by addressing the case where homogeneity does not hold. A more general model is developed for estimating both input and output inefficiency simultaneously. This approach reveals more information about firm inefficiency than the single estimation approach that has previously been used in the literature. Using the more general model, estimates are provided on the type of inefficiency that occurs as well as the cost of inefficiency by type of inefficiency. In previous studies, the ranking of firms by inefficiency has been difficult because of the cardinal and ordinal differences between different types of inefficiency estimates. However, using the general approach, this study illustrates that plants can be ranked by overall efficiency.

Resource optimized TTSH-URA for multimedia stream authentication in swallowable-capsule-based wireless body sensor networks.

PubMed

Wang, Wei; Wang, Chunqiu; Zhao, Min

2014-03-01

To ease the burdens on the hospitalization capacity, an emerging swallowable-capsule technology has evolved to serve as a remote gastrointestinal (GI) disease examination technique with the aid of the wireless body sensor network (WBSN). Secure multimedia transmission in such a swallowable-capsule-based WBSN faces critical challenges including energy efficiency and content quality guarantee. In this paper, we propose a joint resource allocation and stream authentication scheme to maintain the best possible video quality while ensuring security and energy efficiency in GI-WBSNs. The contribution of this research is twofold. First, we establish a unique signature-hash (S-H) diversity approach in the authentication domain to optimize video authentication robustness and the authentication bit rate overhead over a wireless channel. Based on the full exploration of S-H authentication diversity, we propose a new two-tier signature-hash (TTSH) stream authentication scheme to improve the video quality by reducing authentication dependence overhead while protecting its integrity. Second, we propose to combine this authentication scheme with a unique S-H oriented unequal resource allocation (URA) scheme to improve the energy-distortion-authentication performance of wireless video delivery in GI-WBSN. Our analysis and simulation results demonstrate that the proposed TTSH with URA scheme achieves considerable gain in both authenticated video quality and energy efficiency.

Market failure, policy failure and other distortions in chronic disease markets

PubMed Central

Watts, Jennifer J; Segal, Leonie

2009-01-01

Background The increasing prevalence of chronic disease represents a significant burden on most health systems. This paper explores the market failures and policy failures that exist in the management of chronic diseases. Discussion There are many sources of market failure in health care that undermine the efficiency of chronic disease management. These include incomplete information as well as information asymmetry between providers and consumers, the effect of externalities on consumer behaviour, and the divergence between social and private time preference rates. This has seen government and policy interventions to address both market failures and distributional issues resulting from the inability of private markets to reach an efficient and equitable distribution of resources. However, these have introduced a series of policy failures such as distorted re-imbursement arrangements across modalities and delivery settings. Summary The paper concludes that market failure resulting from a preference of individuals for 'immediate gratification' in the form of health care and disease management, rather than preventative services, where the benefits are delayed, has a major impact on achieving an efficient allocation of resources in markets for the management of chronic diseases. This distortion is compounded by government health policy that tends to favour medical and pharmaceutical interventions further contributing to distortions in the allocation of resources and inefficiencies in the management of chronic disease. PMID:19534822

Factors influencing resource allocation decisions and equity in the health system of Ghana.

PubMed

Asante, A D; Zwi, A B

2009-05-01

Allocation of financial resources in the health sector is often seen as a formula-driven activity. However, the decision to allocate a certain amount of resources to a particular health jurisdiction or facility may be based on a broader range of factors, sometimes not reflected in the existing resource allocation formula. This study explores the 'other' factors that influence the equity of resource allocation in the health system of Ghana. The extent to which these factors are, or can be, accounted for in the resource allocation process is analysed. An exploratory design focusing on different levels of the health system and diverse stakeholders. Data were gathered through semi-structured qualitative interviews with health authorities at national, regional and district levels, and with donor representatives and local government officials in 2003 and 2004. The availability of human resources for health, local capacity to utilize funds, donor involvement in the health sector, and commitment to promote equity have considerable influence on resource allocation decisions and affect the equity of funding allocations. However, these factors are not accounted for adequately in the resource allocation process. This study highlights the need for a more transparent resource allocation system in Ghana based on needs, and takes into account key issues such as capacity constraints, the inequitable human resource distribution and donor-earmarked funding.

[Adjusted Clinical Groups Method (ACG) to allocate resources according to the disease burden of each health center].

PubMed

Santelices C, Emilio; Muñoz P, Fernando; Muñiz, Patricio; Rojas, José

2016-03-01

Health care must be provided with strong primary health care models, emphasizing prevention and a continued, integrated and interdisciplinary care. Tools should be used to allow a better planning and more efficient use of resources. To assess risk adjustment methodologies, such as the Adjusted Clinical Groups (ACG) developed by The Johns Hopkins University, to allow the identification of chronic condition patterns and allocate resources accordingly. We report the results obtained applying the ACG methodology in primary care systems of 22 counties for three chronic diseases, namely Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertension and Heart Failure. The outcomes show a great variability in the prevalence of these conditions in the different health centers. There is also a great diversity in the use of resources for a given condition in the different health care centers. This methodology should contribute to a better distribution of health care resources, which should be based on the disease burden of each health care center.

Assessing efficiency of software production for NASA-SEL data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vonmayrhauser, Anneliese; Roeseler, Armin

1993-01-01

This paper uses production models to identify and quantify efficient allocation of resources and key drivers of software productivity for project data in the NASA-SEL database. While analysis allows identification of efficient projects, many of the metrics that could have provided a more detailed analysis are not at a level of measurement to allow production model analysis. Production models must be used with proper parameterization to be successful. This may mean a new look at which metrics are helpful for efficiency assessment.

Job Management Requirements for NAS Parallel Systems and Clusters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Saphir, William; Tanner, Leigh Ann; Traversat, Bernard

1995-01-01

A job management system is a critical component of a production supercomputing environment, permitting oversubscribed resources to be shared fairly and efficiently. Job management systems that were originally designed for traditional vector supercomputers are not appropriate for the distributed-memory parallel supercomputers that are becoming increasingly important in the high performance computing industry. Newer job management systems offer new functionality but do not solve fundamental problems. We address some of the main issues in resource allocation and job scheduling we have encountered on two parallel computers - a 160-node IBM SP2 and a cluster of 20 high performance workstations located at the Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation facility. We describe the requirements for resource allocation and job management that are necessary to provide a production supercomputing environment on these machines, prioritizing according to difficulty and importance, and advocating a return to fundamental issues.

Analysis and Research on the Optimal Allocation of Regional Water Resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

rui-chao, Xi; yu-jie, Gu

2018-06-01

Starting from the basic concept of optimal allocation of water resources, taking the allocation of water resources in Tianjin as an example, the present situation of water resources in Tianjin is analyzed, and the multi-objective optimal allocation model of water resources is used to optimize the allocation of water resources. We use LINGO to solve the model, get the optimal allocation plan that meets the economic and social benefits, and put forward relevant policies and regulations, so as to provide theoretical which is basis for alleviating and solving the problem of water shortage.

Multimedia transmission in MC-CDMA using adaptive subcarrier power allocation and CFO compensation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chitra, S.; Kumaratharan, N.

2018-02-01

Multicarrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) system is one of the most effective techniques in fourth-generation (4G) wireless technology, due to its high data rate, high spectral efficiency and resistance to multipath fading. However, MC-CDMA systems are greatly deteriorated by carrier frequency offset (CFO) which is due to Doppler shift and oscillator instabilities. It leads to loss of orthogonality among the subcarriers and causes intercarrier interference (ICI). Water filling algorithm (WFA) is an efficient resource allocation algorithm to solve the power utilisation problems among the subcarriers in time-dispersive channels. The conventional WFA fails to consider the effect of CFO. To perform subcarrier power allocation with reduced CFO and to improve the capacity of MC-CDMA system, residual CFO compensated adaptive subcarrier power allocation algorithm is proposed in this paper. The proposed technique allocates power only to subcarriers with high channel to noise power ratio. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated using random binary data and image as source inputs. Simulation results depict that the bit error rate performance and ICI reduction capability of the proposed modified WFA offered superior performance in both power allocation and image compression for high-quality multimedia transmission in the presence of CFO and imperfect channel state information conditions.

Applying economic principles to health care.

PubMed Central

Scott, R. D.; Solomon, S. L.; McGowan, J. E.

2001-01-01

Applying economic thinking to an understanding of resource use in patient care is challenging given the complexities of delivering health care in a hospital. Health-care markets lack the characteristics needed to determine a "market" price that reflects the economic value of resources used. However, resource allocation in a hospital can be analyzed by using production theory to determine efficient resource use. The information provided by hospital epidemiologists is critical to understanding health-care production processes used by a hospital and developing economic incentives to promote antibiotic effectiveness and infection control. PMID:11294724

Children’s Recognition of Fairness and Others’ Welfare in a Resource Allocation Task: Age Related Changes

PubMed Central

Rizzo, Michael T.; Elenbaas, Laura; Cooley, Shelby; Killen, Melanie

2016-01-01

The present study investigated age-related changes regarding children’s (N = 136) conceptions of fairness and others’ welfare in a merit-based resource allocation paradigm. To test whether children at 3- to 5-years-old and 6- to 8-years-old took others’ welfare into account when dividing resources, in addition to merit and equality concerns, children were asked to allocate, judge, and reason about allocations of necessary (needed to avoid harm) and luxury (enjoyable to have) resources to a hardworking and a lazy character. While 3- to 5-year-olds did not differentiate between distributing luxury and necessary resources, 6- to 8-year-olds allocated luxury resources more meritoriously than necessary resources. Further, children based their allocations of necessary resources on concerns for others’ welfare, rather than merit, even when one character was described as working harder. The findings revealed that, with age, children incorporated the concerns for others’ welfare and merit into their conceptions of fairness in a resource allocation context, and prioritized these concerns differently depending on whether they were allocating luxury or necessary resources. Further, with age, children weighed multiple moral concerns including equality, merit, and others’ welfare, when determining the fair allocation of resources. PMID:27455189

The ontogeny of postmaturation resource allocation in turtles.

PubMed

Bowden, R M; Paitz, Ryan T; Janzen, Fredric J

2011-01-01

Resource-allocation decisions vary with life-history strategy, and growing evidence suggests that long-lived endothermic vertebrates direct resources toward growth and self-maintenance when young, increasing allocation toward reproductive effort over time. Few studies have tracked the ontogeny of resource allocation (energy, steroid hormones, etc.) in long-lived ectothermic vertebrates, limiting our understanding of the generality of life-history strategies among vertebrates. We investigated how reproductively mature female painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) from two distinct age classes allocated resources over a 4-yr period and whether resource-allocation patterns varied with nesting experience. We examined age-related variation in body size, egg mass, reproductive frequency, and yolk steroids and report that younger females were smaller and allocated fewer resources to reproduction than did older females. Testosterone levels were higher in eggs from younger females, whereas eggs from second (seasonal) clutches contained higher concentrations of progesterone and estradiol. These allocation patterns resulted in older, larger females laying larger eggs and producing second clutches more frequently than their younger counterparts. We conclude that resource-allocation patterns do vary with age in a long-lived ectotherm.

Auctions for coastal energy resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Griffin, Robert M.

It is becoming increasingly common to allocate public resources to the private sector for the purpose of developing these resources. One of the earliest uses of auctions in the U.S. for allocating rights to public resources was in the offshore oil and gas industry. The U.S. Federal government, through the Department of Interior (DOI), has used auctions to allocate development rights to offshore oil and gas resources to the private sector since the 1950's. Since then many things have changed. Oil and gas markets have gone through boom and bust cycles, giant technological advances in extraction and assessment have taken place, and alternative energy based in the coastal zone is now in demand in markets as well. There has been an enormous amount of research into the drivers of bidder behavior in auctions and optimal auction design in the last 60 years as well. Throughout all of this, the DOI has continued to use basically the same exact auction design to allocate oil and gas leases. The U.S. offshore oil and gas resources sold by the Department of Interior have accounted for more than $65 billion in revenue since the program started. These offshore resources are an important source of government revenue and national wealth. Additionally, the expansion of the energy sector offshore has enormous potential for electricity generation in the U.S., estimated by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory as approaching 54 gigawatts by 2030 (U.S. Department of Energy, 2008). Taken together, the DOI controls access to a large part of the future of energy in the U.S. The research herein assesses the auction formats used to allocate both fossil fuels and renewable resources on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The first manuscript looks at the current method used by the DOI to allocate oil and gas leases on the OCS, and is primarily interested in how bidders behave in this environment. Using latent class estimation techniques to separate distinct bidding behavior in a laboratory simulation of current U.S. policy, it compares lab results to field data and identifies efficiency and revenue losses stemming from the endogenous entry aspect of current policy. The second manuscript identifies an alternative auction method for allocating these development rights and develops a bidding model based on that of Milgrom (2000) for private value auctions. When tested against laboratory data, the model is favorably predictive of outcomes, but the path of bidding significantly deviates from predictions due to jump bidding and bidder impatience. The final manuscript provides a qualitative assessment of alternative auction arrangements for allocating access to wind energy on the OCS. In consideration of the relative state of the wind energy and oil and gas industries, the DOI may want to employ an allocation policy that better fits the current status of the wind energy industry. Considering the federal mandates regarding allocation that the DOI is required to follow, several allocation methods are identified for the short and medium term that meet federal mandates and promote the growth of the industry.

Crowd-Funding: A New Resource Cooperation Mode for Mobile Cloud Computing.

PubMed

Zhang, Nan; Yang, Xiaolong; Zhang, Min; Sun, Yan

2016-01-01

Mobile cloud computing, which integrates the cloud computing techniques into the mobile environment, is regarded as one of the enabler technologies for 5G mobile wireless networks. There are many sporadic spare resources distributed within various devices in the networks, which can be used to support mobile cloud applications. However, these devices, with only a few spare resources, cannot support some resource-intensive mobile applications alone. If some of them cooperate with each other and share their resources, then they can support many applications. In this paper, we propose a resource cooperative provision mode referred to as "Crowd-funding", which is designed to aggregate the distributed devices together as the resource provider of mobile applications. Moreover, to facilitate high-efficiency resource management via dynamic resource allocation, different resource providers should be selected to form a stable resource coalition for different requirements. Thus, considering different requirements, we propose two different resource aggregation models for coalition formation. Finally, we may allocate the revenues based on their attributions according to the concept of the "Shapley value" to enable a more impartial revenue share among the cooperators. It is shown that a dynamic and flexible resource-management method can be developed based on the proposed Crowd-funding model, relying on the spare resources in the network.

Crowd-Funding: A New Resource Cooperation Mode for Mobile Cloud Computing

PubMed Central

Zhang, Min; Sun, Yan

2016-01-01

Mobile cloud computing, which integrates the cloud computing techniques into the mobile environment, is regarded as one of the enabler technologies for 5G mobile wireless networks. There are many sporadic spare resources distributed within various devices in the networks, which can be used to support mobile cloud applications. However, these devices, with only a few spare resources, cannot support some resource-intensive mobile applications alone. If some of them cooperate with each other and share their resources, then they can support many applications. In this paper, we propose a resource cooperative provision mode referred to as "Crowd-funding", which is designed to aggregate the distributed devices together as the resource provider of mobile applications. Moreover, to facilitate high-efficiency resource management via dynamic resource allocation, different resource providers should be selected to form a stable resource coalition for different requirements. Thus, considering different requirements, we propose two different resource aggregation models for coalition formation. Finally, we may allocate the revenues based on their attributions according to the concept of the "Shapley value" to enable a more impartial revenue share among the cooperators. It is shown that a dynamic and flexible resource-management method can be developed based on the proposed Crowd-funding model, relying on the spare resources in the network. PMID:28030553

Optimized maritime emergency resource allocation under dynamic demand.

PubMed

Zhang, Wenfen; Yan, Xinping; Yang, Jiaqi

2017-01-01

Emergency resource is important for people evacuation and property rescue when accident occurs. The relief efforts could be promoted by a reasonable emergency resource allocation schedule in advance. As the marine environment is complicated and changeful, the place, type, severity of maritime accident is uncertain and stochastic, bringing about dynamic demand of emergency resource. Considering dynamic demand, how to make a reasonable emergency resource allocation schedule is challenging. The key problem is to determine the optimal stock of emergency resource for supplier centers to improve relief efforts. This paper studies the dynamic demand, and which is defined as a set. Then a maritime emergency resource allocation model with uncertain data is presented. Afterwards, a robust approach is developed and used to make sure that the resource allocation schedule performs well with dynamic demand. Finally, a case study shows that the proposed methodology is feasible in maritime emergency resource allocation. The findings could help emergency manager to schedule the emergency resource allocation more flexibly in terms of dynamic demand.

Optimized maritime emergency resource allocation under dynamic demand

PubMed Central

Yan, Xinping; Yang, Jiaqi

2017-01-01

Emergency resource is important for people evacuation and property rescue when accident occurs. The relief efforts could be promoted by a reasonable emergency resource allocation schedule in advance. As the marine environment is complicated and changeful, the place, type, severity of maritime accident is uncertain and stochastic, bringing about dynamic demand of emergency resource. Considering dynamic demand, how to make a reasonable emergency resource allocation schedule is challenging. The key problem is to determine the optimal stock of emergency resource for supplier centers to improve relief efforts. This paper studies the dynamic demand, and which is defined as a set. Then a maritime emergency resource allocation model with uncertain data is presented. Afterwards, a robust approach is developed and used to make sure that the resource allocation schedule performs well with dynamic demand. Finally, a case study shows that the proposed methodology is feasible in maritime emergency resource allocation. The findings could help emergency manager to schedule the emergency resource allocation more flexibly in terms of dynamic demand. PMID:29240792

[Equity of Health Resources Allocation in Minority Regions of Sichuan Province].

PubMed

Chen, Nan; Tang, Wen; Liang, Zhi; Zou, Bo; Li, Xiao-song

2016-03-01

To determine equity of health resources allocation in minority regions of Sichuan province from 2009 to 2013. Health resources distribution equity among populations and across geographic catchments were measured using coefficients of Inter-Individual differences and Individual-Mean differences. Health resources, especially human resources, in minority regions increased slowly over the years. Poorer allocation equity was found in nursing resources compared with doctors and hospital beds. Better distribution equity was found among populations than across geographic catchments. High levels of equity in resource distributions among populations and across geographic catchments were found in Aba. In Liangshan, more equitable distributions were found in doctors and hospital beds compared with nurses. The rest of minority regions had poor absolute allocation equity in doctors and hospital beds among populations. Appropriate allocation of health resources can promote health development. Health resources allocation in minority regions of Sichuan province is unreasonable. The government and relevant departments should take actions to optimize health resources allocations.

Exploring SWAp's contribution to the efficient allocation and use of resources in the health sector in Zambia.

PubMed

Chansa, Collins; Sundewall, Jesper; McIntyre, Di; Tomson, Göran; Forsberg, Birger C

2008-07-01

Zambia introduced a sector-wide approach (SWAp) in the health sector in 1993. The goal was to improve efficiency in the use of domestic funds and externally sourced development assistance by integrating these into a joint sectoral framework. Over a decade into its existence, however, the SWAp remains largely unevaluated. This study explores whether the envisaged improvements have been achieved by studying developments in administrative, technical and allocative efficiency in the Zambian health sector from 1990-2006. A case study was conducted using interviews and analysis of secondary data. Respondents represented a cross-section of stakeholders in the Zambian health sector. Secondary data from 1990-2006 were collected for six indicators related to administrative, technical and allocative efficiency. The results showed small improvements in administrative efficiency. Transaction costs still appeared to be high despite the introduction of the SWAp. Indicators for technical efficiency showed a drop in hospital bed utilization rates and government share of funding for drugs. As for allocative efficiency, budget execution did not improve with the SWAp, although there were large variations between both donors and year. Funding levels had apparently improved at district level but declined for hospitals. Finally, the SWAp had not succeeded in bringing all external assistance together under a common framework. Despite strong commitment to implement the SWAp in Zambia, the envisaged efficiency improvements do not seem to have been attained. Possible explanations could be that the SWAp has not been fully developed or that not all parties have completely embraced it. SWAp is not ruled out as a coordination model, but the current setup in Zambia has not proved to be fully effective.

The Role of the State in Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tedesco, Juan Carlos

1989-01-01

Considers the problematic nature of the role of the state in developing nations' education, specifically Latin American education. Analyzes several major challenges: (1) reconciling bureaucratic efficiency with educational equity; (2) allocating dwindling resources to ensure both basic adult education and higher education capable of producing…

Phenomenology study of HERMES ground-penetrating radar technology for detection and identification of common bridge deck features

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2001-06-01

Accurately evaluating the condition of a bridge deck over time and using this information to choose appropriate maintenance techniques has become critical for the efficient allocation of resources to bridge deck maintenance. Tomographic imaging of su...

Behavior-aware cache hierarchy optimization for low-power multi-core embedded systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Huatao; Luo, Xiao; Zhu, Chen; Watanabe, Takahiro; Zhu, Tianbo

2017-07-01

In modern embedded systems, the increasing number of cores requires efficient cache hierarchies to ensure data throughput, but such cache hierarchies are restricted by their tumid size and interference accesses which leads to both performance degradation and wasted energy. In this paper, we firstly propose a behavior-aware cache hierarchy (BACH) which can optimally allocate the multi-level cache resources to many cores and highly improved the efficiency of cache hierarchy, resulting in low energy consumption. The BACH takes full advantage of the explored application behaviors and runtime cache resource demands as the cache allocation bases, so that we can optimally configure the cache hierarchy to meet the runtime demand. The BACH was implemented on the GEM5 simulator. The experimental results show that energy consumption of a three-level cache hierarchy can be saved from 5.29% up to 27.94% compared with other key approaches while the performance of the multi-core system even has a slight improvement counting in hardware overhead.

Design of Field Experiments for Adaptive Sampling of the Ocean with Autonomous Vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, H.; Ooi, B. H.; Cho, W.; Dao, M. H.; Tkalich, P.; Patrikalakis, N. M.

2010-05-01

Due to the highly non-linear and dynamical nature of oceanic phenomena, the predictive capability of various ocean models depends on the availability of operational data. A practical method to improve the accuracy of the ocean forecast is to use a data assimilation methodology to combine in-situ measured and remotely acquired data with numerical forecast models of the physical environment. Autonomous surface and underwater vehicles with various sensors are economic and efficient tools for exploring and sampling the ocean for data assimilation; however there is an energy limitation to such vehicles, and thus effective resource allocation for adaptive sampling is required to optimize the efficiency of exploration. In this paper, we use physical oceanography forecasts of the coastal zone of Singapore for the design of a set of field experiments to acquire useful data for model calibration and data assimilation. The design process of our experiments relied on the oceanography forecast including the current speed, its gradient, and vorticity in a given region of interest for which permits for field experiments could be obtained and for time intervals that correspond to strong tidal currents. Based on these maps, resources available to our experimental team, including Autonomous Surface Craft (ASC) are allocated so as to capture the oceanic features that result from jets and vortices behind bluff bodies (e.g., islands) in the tidal current. Results are summarized from this resource allocation process and field experiments conducted in January 2009.

Next generation communications satellites: multiple access and network studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meadows, H. E.; Schwartz, M.; Stern, T. E.; Ganguly, S.; Kraimeche, B.; Matsuo, K.; Gopal, I.

1982-01-01

Efficient resource allocation and network design for satellite systems serving heterogeneous user populations with large numbers of small direct-to-user Earth stations are discussed. Focus is on TDMA systems involving a high degree of frequency reuse by means of satellite-switched multiple beams (SSMB) with varying degrees of onboard processing. Algorithms for the efficient utilization of the satellite resources were developed. The effect of skewed traffic, overlapping beams and batched arrivals in packet-switched SSMB systems, integration of stream and bursty traffic, and optimal circuit scheduling in SSMB systems: performance bounds and computational complexity are discussed.

Fort Benning Land-Use Planning and Management Study

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-04-01

process is three-tiered: (a) an initial phase that results in preliminary allocations for natural resources, (b) a second phase that focuses on...allocations of military training requirements, and (c) a final phase that resolves conflicts between the military and natural resource requirements and...assigns final allocations. 34. Initial phase : Natural resource allocations. The first step in this phase was to make allocations among natural resource

Portfolio evaluation of health programs: a reply to Sendi et al.

PubMed

Bridges, John F P; Terris, Darcey D

2004-05-01

Sendi et al. (Soc. Sci. Med. 57 (2003) 2207) extend previous research on cost-effectiveness analysis to the evaluation of a portfolio of interventions with risky outcomes using a "second best" approach that can identify improvements in efficiency in the allocation of resources. This method, however, cannot be used to directly identify the optimal solution to the resource allocation problem. Theoretically, a stricter adherence to the foundations of portfolio theory would permit direct optimization in portfolio selection, however, when we include uncertainty in our analysis in addition to the traditional concept of risk (which is often mislabelled uncertainty) complexities are introduced that create significant hurdles in the development of practical applications of portfolio theory for health care policy decision making.

The past, present and future of HIV, AIDS and resource allocation

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

Background How should HIV and AIDS resources be allocated to achieve the greatest possible impact? This paper begins with a theoretical discussion of this issue, describing the key elements of an "evidence-based allocation strategy". While it is noted that the quality of epidemiological and economic data remains inadequate to define such an optimal strategy, there do exist tools and research which can lead countries in a way that they can make allocation decisions. Furthermore, there are clear indications that most countries are not allocating their HIV and AIDS resources in a way which is likely to achieve the greatest possible impact. For example, it is noted that neighboring countries, even when they have a similar prevalence of HIV, nonetheless often allocate their resources in radically different ways. These differing allocation patterns appear to be attributable to a number of different issues, including a lack of data, contradictory results in existing data, a need for overemphasizing a multisectoral response, a lack of political will, a general inefficiency in the use of resources when they do get allocated, poor planning and a lack of control over the way resources get allocated. Methods There are a number of tools currently available which can improve the resource-allocation process. Tools such as the Resource Needs Model (RNM) can provide policymakers with a clearer idea of resource requirements, whereas other tools such as Goals and the Allocation by Cost-Effectiveness (ABCE) models can provide countries with a clearer vision of how they might reallocate funds. Results Examples from nine different countries provide information about how policymakers are trying to make their resource-allocation strategies more "evidence based". By identifying the challenges and successes of these nine countries in making more informed allocation decisions, it is hoped that future resource-allocation decisions for all countries can be improved. Conclusion We discuss the future of resource allocation, noting the types of additional data which will be required and the improvements in existing tools which could be made. PMID:19922688

Exergy-based efficiency and renewability assessment of biofuel production.

PubMed

Dewulf, J; Van Langenhove, H; Van De Velde, B

2005-05-15

This study presents an efficiency and renewability analysis of the production of three biofuels: rapeseed methyl ester (RME), soybean methyl ester (SME) and corn-based ethanol (EtOH). The overall production chains have been taken into account: not only the agricultural crop production and the industrial conversion into biofuel, but also production of the supply of agricultural resources (pesticides, fertilizers, fuel, seeding material) and industrial resources (energy and chemicals) to transform the crops into biofuel. Simultaneously, byproducts of the agricultural and industrial processes have been taken into account when resources have to be allocated to the biofuels. The technical analysis via the second law of thermodynamics revealed that corn-based EtOH results in the highest production rate with an exergetic fuel content of 68.8 GJ ha(-1) yr(-1), whereas the RME and SME results were limited to 47.5 and 16.4 GJ ha(-1) yr(-1). The allocated nonrenewable resource input to deliver these biofuels is significant: 16.5, 15.4, and 5.6 MJ ha(-1) yr(-1). This means that these biofuels, generally considered as renewable resources, embed a nonrenewable fraction of one-quarter for EtOH and even one-third for RME and SME. This type of analysis provides scientifically sound quantitative information that is necessarywith respect to the sustainability analysis of so-called renewable energy.

Equity and efficiency of medical service systems at the provincial level of China's mainland: a comparative study from 2009 to 2014.

PubMed

Ding, Jingmei; Hu, Xuejun; Zhang, Xianzhi; Shang, Lei; Yu, Min; Chen, Huoliang

2018-02-05

The astonishing economic achievements of China in the past few decades have remarkably increased not only the quantity and quality of medical services but also the inequalities in health resources allocation across regions and inefficiency of the medical service delivery. A descriptive analysis was used to compare the inequities in inputs and outputs of the provincial medical service systems, a non-radial super-efficiency data envelopment analysis model was then used to estimate the efficiency, and a regression analysis of the panel data was used to explore the determinants. The inputs and outputs of most provincial medical service systems increased gradually from 2009 to 2014. Overall, the eastern region allocated more human and capital resources than the other two regions, and produced more than 50% of the total outpatient and emergency room visits, whereas the western region produced more inpatient services (about 30% of the total volume of inpatient services) according to the distribution of the population. The average efficiency scores of the provincial medical systems in China's mainland were 0.895, 0.927, 0.929, 0.963, 0.977 and 0.968 from 2009 to 2014, with a slight average improvement of 1.60%. The efficiency score of each provincial medical service system varied greatly from one another: Tibet (1.475 ± 0.057) performed extremely well, whereas several others including Heilongjiang (0.579 ± 0.001) performed poorly. Furthermore, the proportion of high-class medical facilities was negatively associated with efficiency, whereas the proportion of the vulnerable population, the per capita Gross Domestic Product, the proportion of the illiterate population and the improvement of primary health care had positive effects on efficiency. Inequity in health resources allocation and service provision existed across the regions, but not all the gaps have begun to narrow since 2009. The difference of efficiency was great among provincial medical service systems but minor across regions, and the score changed very little over time. More importantly, the central region held the lowest average efficiency score in the past 6 years, while the western region held the largest average efficiency score at the first 5 years, which should receive enough attention of the government and decision-makers. In practice, efficiency was related to many complicated factors, indicating that the improvement of efficiency is a complex and iterative process that requires the strong cooperation of many sectors.

System Resource Allocations | High-Performance Computing | NREL

Science.gov Websites

Allocations System Resource Allocations To use NREL's high-performance computing (HPC) resources : Compute hours on NREL HPC Systems including Peregrine and Eagle Storage space (in Terabytes) on Peregrine , Eagle and Gyrfalcon. Allocations are principally done in response to an annual call for allocation

The management and design of economic development projects: A case study of World Bank electricity projects in Egypt

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

El Sabaa, S.M.

1992-01-01

This study is concerned with the efficiency of World Bank projects in Egypt. The study seeks improvements in the methods of evaluating public sector projects in Egypt. To approaches are employed: (1) project identification to optimally allocate Egypt's and World Bank's resources; (2) project appraisal to assess the economic viability and efficiency of investments. The electricity sector is compared with the agriculture sector as a means of employing project identification for priority ordering of investment for development in Egypt. The key criteria for evaluation are the impacts of developments of each sector upon Egypt's national objectives and needs. These includemore » employment opportunities, growth, alleviation of poverty, cross comparison of per capita consumption in each sector, economic rate of return, national security, balance of payments and foreign debt. The allocation of scarce investments would have been more efficient in agriculture than in electricity in meeting Egypt's national objectives and needs. World Bank lending programs in Egypt reveal a priority ordering of electricity over agriculture and rural development. World Bank development projects in Egypt have not been optimally identified, and its programs have not followed an efficient allocation of World Bank's and Egypt's resources. The key parameters in evaluating economic viability and efficiency of development projects are: (1) the discount rate (the opportunity cost of public funds); (2) the exchange rate; and (3) the cost of major inputs, as approximated by shadow prices of labor, water, electricity, and transportation for development projects. Alternative approaches to estimating the opportunity cost of public funds are made. The parameters in evaluating the efficiency of projects have not been accurately estimated in the appraisal stage of the World Bank projects in Egypt, resulting in false or misleading information concerning the economic viability and efficiency of the projects.« less

Optimal surveillance strategy for invasive species management when surveys stop after detection.

PubMed

Guillera-Arroita, Gurutzeta; Hauser, Cindy E; McCarthy, Michael A

2014-05-01

Invasive species are a cause for concern in natural and economic systems and require both monitoring and management. There is a trade-off between the amount of resources spent on surveying for the species and conducting early management of occupied sites, and the resources that are ultimately spent in delayed management at sites where the species was present but undetected. Previous work addressed this optimal resource allocation problem assuming that surveys continue despite detection until the initially planned survey effort is consumed. However, a more realistic scenario is often that surveys stop after detection (i.e., follow a "removal" sampling design) and then management begins. Such an approach will indicate a different optimal survey design and can be expected to be more efficient. We analyze this case and compare the expected efficiency of invasive species management programs under both survey methods. We also evaluate the impact of mis-specifying the type of sampling approach during the program design phase. We derive analytical expressions that optimize resource allocation between monitoring and management in surveillance programs when surveys stop after detection. We do this under a scenario of unconstrained resources and scenarios where survey budget is constrained. The efficiency of surveillance programs is greater if a "removal survey" design is used, with larger gains obtained when savings from early detection are high, occupancy is high, and survey costs are not much lower than early management costs at a site. Designing a surveillance program disregarding that surveys stop after detection can result in an efficiency loss. Our results help guide the design of future surveillance programs for invasive species. Addressing program design within a decision-theoretic framework can lead to a better use of available resources. We show how species prevalence, its detectability, and the benefits derived from early detection can be considered.

Decomposition method for zonal resource allocation problems in telecommunication networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Konnov, I. V.; Kashuba, A. Yu

2016-11-01

We consider problems of optimal resource allocation in telecommunication networks. We first give an optimization formulation for the case where the network manager aims to distribute some homogeneous resource (bandwidth) among users of one region with quadratic charge and fee functions and present simple and efficient solution methods. Next, we consider a more general problem for a provider of a wireless communication network divided into zones (clusters) with common capacity constraints. We obtain a convex quadratic optimization problem involving capacity and balance constraints. By using the dual Lagrangian method with respect to the capacity constraint, we suggest to reduce the initial problem to a single-dimensional optimization problem, but calculation of the cost function value leads to independent solution of zonal problems, which coincide with the above single region problem. Some results of computational experiments confirm the applicability of the new methods.

Game theoretic wireless resource allocation for H.264 MGS video transmission over cognitive radio networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fragkoulis, Alexandros; Kondi, Lisimachos P.; Parsopoulos, Konstantinos E.

2015-03-01

We propose a method for the fair and efficient allocation of wireless resources over a cognitive radio system network to transmit multiple scalable video streams to multiple users. The method exploits the dynamic architecture of the Scalable Video Coding extension of the H.264 standard, along with the diversity that OFDMA networks provide. We use a game-theoretic Nash Bargaining Solution (NBS) framework to ensure that each user receives the minimum video quality requirements, while maintaining fairness over the cognitive radio system. An optimization problem is formulated, where the objective is the maximization of the Nash product while minimizing the waste of resources. The problem is solved by using a Swarm Intelligence optimizer, namely Particle Swarm Optimization. Due to the high dimensionality of the problem, we also introduce a dimension-reduction technique. Our experimental results demonstrate the fairness imposed by the employed NBS framework.

Research on Coupling Method of Watershed Initial Water Rights Allocation in Daling River

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, J.; Fengping, W.

2016-12-01

Water scarcity is now a common occurrence in many countries. The situation of watershed initial water rights allocation has caused many benefit conflicts among regions and regional water sectors of domestic and ecology environment and industries in China. This study aims to investigate the method of watershed initial water rights allocation in the perspective of coupling in Daling River Watershed taking provincial initial water rights and watershed-level governmental reserved water as objects. First of all, regarding the allocation subsystem of initial water rights among provinces, this research calculates initial water rights of different provinces by establishing the coupling model of water quantity and quality on the principle of "rewarding efficiency and penalizing inefficiency" based on the two control objectives of water quantity and quality. Secondly, regarding the allocation subsystem of watershed-level governmental reserved water rights, the study forecasts the demand of watershed-level governmental reserved water rights by the combination of case-based reasoning and water supply quotas. Then, the bilaterally coupled allocation model on water supply and demand is designed after supply analysis to get watershed-level governmental reserved water rights. The results of research method applied to Daling River Watershed reveal the recommended scheme of watershed initial water rights allocation based on coordinated degree criterion. It's found that the feasibility of the iteration coupling model and put forward related policies and suggestions. This study owns the advantages of complying with watershed initial water rights allocation mechanism and meeting the control requirements of water quantity, water quality and water utilization efficiency, which help to achieve the effective allocation of water resources.

Selecting indicators for the 2011 Assessment of the Nation's Wetlands

EPA Science Inventory

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to conduct a National Wetland Condition Assessment in 2011 with reporting due in 2013. The results will be used to ensure that technical and financial resources are more efficiently allocated to address risks that confro...

Operating Efficiently

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kennedy, Mike

2010-01-01

The ailing economy has spared few schools and universities. Faced with funding cutbacks, most education administrators have had to make difficult choices about where to allocate dwindling resources. Even in the best of financial times, educating students is the first priority. When money is tight, school maintenance and operations (M&O)…

Cost-Benefit Analysis in Nontraditional Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parker, Charles A.

1975-01-01

The methods of management science have been increasingly helpful to colleges and universities in evaluating alternatives, both instructional and administrative, and in determining the most efficient allocation of their resources. This article discusses ways in which systems techniques can be used to support the humanistic efforts so highly valued…

Handover Control Method Using Resource Reservation in Mobile Multimedia Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Dong Chun; Lee, Jong Chan

When handover events occur during the transmission of multimedia traffic, efficient handover control procedures and radio resource allocation are necessary to maintain the same QoS of transmitted multimedia traffic because the QoS may be degraded by additional delay and information loss. In this paper we propose a new handover control method for the next generation mobile multimedia networks, in which the handover setup process is done in advance of a handover request by predicting the handover cell from mobile terminal's current position. The handover procedures for real-time sessions are performed based on the handover cell information and the resource reservation condition. The radio resources in the estimated adjacent cells should be reserved and allocated to guarantee the continuity of the real-time sessions. We conduct a simulation model that is focused on the handover failure rate and packet loss rate. The simulation results show that our proposed method provides better performance than the previous methods.

Efficiency and Productivity Analysis of Multidivisional Firms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gong, Binlei

Multidivisional firms are those who have footprints in multiple segments and hence using multiple technologies to convert inputs to outputs, which makes it difficult to estimate the resource allocations, aggregated production functions, and technical efficiencies of this type of companies. This dissertation aims to explore and reveal such unobserved information by several parametric and semiparametric stochastic frontier analyses and some other structural models. In the empirical study, this dissertation analyzes the productivity and efficiency for firms in the global oilfield market.

Stochastic multi-objective auto-optimization for resource allocation decision-making in fixed-input health systems.

PubMed

Bastian, Nathaniel D; Ekin, Tahir; Kang, Hyojung; Griffin, Paul M; Fulton, Lawrence V; Grannan, Benjamin C

2017-06-01

The management of hospitals within fixed-input health systems such as the U.S. Military Health System (MHS) can be challenging due to the large number of hospitals, as well as the uncertainty in input resources and achievable outputs. This paper introduces a stochastic multi-objective auto-optimization model (SMAOM) for resource allocation decision-making in fixed-input health systems. The model can automatically identify where to re-allocate system input resources at the hospital level in order to optimize overall system performance, while considering uncertainty in the model parameters. The model is applied to 128 hospitals in the three services (Air Force, Army, and Navy) in the MHS using hospital-level data from 2009 - 2013. The results are compared to the traditional input-oriented variable returns-to-scale Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model. The application of SMAOM to the MHS increases the expected system-wide technical efficiency by 18 % over the DEA model while also accounting for uncertainty of health system inputs and outputs. The developed method is useful for decision-makers in the Defense Health Agency (DHA), who have a strategic level objective of integrating clinical and business processes through better sharing of resources across the MHS and through system-wide standardization across the services. It is also less sensitive to data outliers or sampling errors than traditional DEA methods.

Patient- and ward-level determinants of nursing time in nursing facilities.

PubMed

Laine, Juha; Noro, Anja; Finne-Soveri, Harriet; Häkkinen, Unto

2005-10-01

To explore the patient- and ward-level determinants of wage-adjusted nursing time in long-term care wards for the elderly with a view to improving efficiency of the use of labour resources. The wage-adjusted nursing time given to patients was obtained from a time measurement study. Patient characteristics were based on the Minimum Data Set 2.0 of the Resident Assessment Instrument for nursing homes. Ordinary least-squares regression analysis and multilevel modelling were used to disentangle the effect of patient- and ward-level factors on nursing time. A significant difference in wage-adjusted nursing time between wards was detected, which was partly explained by characteristics of patients in wards. The combination of patients' physical functioning and cognition and the Resource Utilization Groups RUG-III/22 resource use classification explained 20-25% of patients' nursing time over a 24-hour period. Variables related to the operational environment of the ward did not explain differences in wage-adjusted nursing time once the patient profile of the ward had been controlled for. The results also showed notable unmeasured patient and ward level effects, inefficiency and randomness in the allocation of nursing time. By improving the allocation and use of labour resources, the substantial variation in nursing time between wards could be diminished. Managers should allocate their staff primarily according to patients' resource needs.

Generalized DSS shell for developing simulation and optimization hydro-economic models of complex water resources systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pulido-Velazquez, Manuel; Lopez-Nicolas, Antonio; Harou, Julien J.; Andreu, Joaquin

2013-04-01

Hydrologic-economic models allow integrated analysis of water supply, demand and infrastructure management at the river basin scale. These models simultaneously analyze engineering, hydrology and economic aspects of water resources management. Two new tools have been designed to develop models within this approach: a simulation tool (SIM_GAMS), for models in which water is allocated each month based on supply priorities to competing uses and system operating rules, and an optimization tool (OPT_GAMS), in which water resources are allocated optimally following economic criteria. The characterization of the water resource network system requires a connectivity matrix representing the topology of the elements, generated using HydroPlatform. HydroPlatform, an open-source software platform for network (node-link) models, allows to store, display and export all information needed to characterize the system. Two generic non-linear models have been programmed in GAMS to use the inputs from HydroPlatform in simulation and optimization models. The simulation model allocates water resources on a monthly basis, according to different targets (demands, storage, environmental flows, hydropower production, etc.), priorities and other system operating rules (such as reservoir operating rules). The optimization model's objective function is designed so that the system meets operational targets (ranked according to priorities) each month while following system operating rules. This function is analogous to the one used in the simulation module of the DSS AQUATOOL. Each element of the system has its own contribution to the objective function through unit cost coefficients that preserve the relative priority rank and the system operating rules. The model incorporates groundwater and stream-aquifer interaction (allowing conjunctive use simulation) with a wide range of modeling options, from lumped and analytical approaches to parameter-distributed models (eigenvalue approach). Such functionality is not typically included in other water DSS. Based on the resulting water resources allocation, the model calculates operating and water scarcity costs caused by supply deficits based on economic demand functions for each demand node. The optimization model allocates the available resource over time based on economic criteria (net benefits from demand curves and cost functions), minimizing the total water scarcity and operating cost of water use. This approach provides solutions that optimize the economic efficiency (as total net benefit) in water resources management over the optimization period. Both models must be used together in water resource planning and management. The optimization model provides an initial insight on economically efficient solutions, from which different operating rules can be further developed and tested using the simulation model. The hydro-economic simulation model allows assessing economic impacts of alternative policies or operating criteria, avoiding the perfect foresight issues associated with the optimization. The tools have been applied to the Jucar river basin (Spain) in order to assess the economic results corresponding to the current modus operandi of the system and compare them with the solution from the optimization that maximizes economic efficiency. Acknowledgments: The study has been partially supported by the European Community 7th Framework Project (GENESIS project, n. 226536) and the Plan Nacional I+D+I 2008-2011 of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (CGL2009-13238-C02-01 and CGL2009-13238-C02-02).

A multi-group and preemptable scheduling of cloud resource based on HTCondor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Xiaowei; Zou, Jiaheng; Cheng, Yaodong; Shi, Jingyan

2017-10-01

Due to the features of virtual machine-flexibility, easy controlling and various system environments, more and more fields utilize the virtualization technology to construct the distributed system with the virtual resources, also including high energy physics. This paper introduce a method used in high energy physics that supports multiple resource group and preemptable cloud resource scheduling, combining virtual machine with HTCondor (a batch system). It makes resource controlling more flexible and more efficient and makes resource scheduling independent of job scheduling. Firstly, the resources belong to different experiment-groups, and the type of user-groups mapping to resource-groups(same as experiment-group) is one-to-one or many-to-one. In order to make the confused group simply to be managed, we designed the permission controlling component to ensure that the different resource-groups can get the suitable jobs. Secondly, for the purpose of elastically allocating resources for suitable resource-group, it is necessary to schedule resources like scheduling jobs. So this paper designs the cloud resource scheduling to maintain a resource queue and allocate an appropriate amount of virtual resources to the request resource-group. Thirdly, in some kind of situations, because of the resource occupied for a long time, resources need to be preempted. This paper adds the preemption function for the resource scheduling that implement resource preemption based on the group priority. Additionally, the way to preempting is soft that when virtual resources are preempted, jobs will not be killed but also be held and rematched later. It is implemented with the help of HTCondor, storing the held job information in scheduler, releasing the job to idle status and doing second matcher. In IHEP (institute of high energy physics), we have built a batch system based on HTCondor with a virtual resources pool based on Openstack. And this paper will show some cases of experiment JUNO and LHAASO. The result indicates that multi-group and preemptable resource scheduling is efficient to support multi-group and soft preemption. Additionally, the permission controlling component has been used in the local computing cluster, supporting for experiment JUNO, CMS and LHAASO, and the scale will be expanded to more experiments at the first half year, including DYW, BES and so on. Its evidence that the permission controlling is efficient.

Dealing with equality and benefit for water allocation in a lake watershed: A Gini-coefficient based stochastic optimization approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dai, C.; Qin, X. S.; Chen, Y.; Guo, H. C.

2018-06-01

A Gini-coefficient based stochastic optimization (GBSO) model was developed by integrating the hydrological model, water balance model, Gini coefficient and chance-constrained programming (CCP) into a general multi-objective optimization modeling framework for supporting water resources allocation at a watershed scale. The framework was advantageous in reflecting the conflicting equity and benefit objectives for water allocation, maintaining the water balance of watershed, and dealing with system uncertainties. GBSO was solved by the non-dominated sorting Genetic Algorithms-II (NSGA-II), after the parameter uncertainties of the hydrological model have been quantified into the probability distribution of runoff as the inputs of CCP model, and the chance constraints were converted to the corresponding deterministic versions. The proposed model was applied to identify the Pareto optimal water allocation schemes in the Lake Dianchi watershed, China. The optimal Pareto-front results reflected the tradeoff between system benefit (αSB) and Gini coefficient (αG) under different significance levels (i.e. q) and different drought scenarios, which reveals the conflicting nature of equity and efficiency in water allocation problems. A lower q generally implies a lower risk of violating the system constraints and a worse drought intensity scenario corresponds to less available water resources, both of which would lead to a decreased system benefit and a less equitable water allocation scheme. Thus, the proposed modeling framework could help obtain the Pareto optimal schemes under complexity and ensure that the proposed water allocation solutions are effective for coping with drought conditions, with a proper tradeoff between system benefit and water allocation equity.

Optimising the location of antenatal classes.

PubMed

Tomintz, Melanie N; Clarke, Graham P; Rigby, Janette E; Green, Josephine M

2013-01-01

To combine microsimulation and location-allocation techniques to determine antenatal class locations which minimise the distance travelled from home by potential users. Microsimulation modeling and location-allocation modeling. City of Leeds, UK. Potential users of antenatal classes. An individual-level microsimulation model was built to estimate the number of births for small areas by combining data from the UK Census 2001 and the Health Survey for England 2006. Using this model as a proxy for service demand, we then used a location-allocation model to optimize locations. Different scenarios show the advantage of combining these methods to optimize (re)locating antenatal classes and therefore reduce inequalities in accessing services for pregnant women. Use of these techniques should lead to better use of resources by allowing planners to identify optimal locations of antenatal classes which minimise women's travel. These results are especially important for health-care planners tasked with the difficult issue of targeting scarce resources in a cost-efficient, but also effective or accessible, manner. (169 words). Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hybrid services efficient provisioning over the network coding-enabled elastic optical networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xin; Gu, Rentao; Ji, Yuefeng; Kavehrad, Mohsen

2017-03-01

As a variety of services have emerged, hybrid services have become more common in real optical networks. Although the elastic spectrum resource optimizations over the elastic optical networks (EONs) have been widely investigated, little research has been carried out on the hybrid services of the routing and spectrum allocation (RSA), especially over the network coding-enabled EON. We investigated the RSA for the unicast service and network coding-based multicast service over the network coding-enabled EON with the constraints of time delay and transmission distance. To address this issue, a mathematical model was built to minimize the total spectrum consumption for the hybrid services over the network coding-enabled EON under the constraints of time delay and transmission distance. The model guarantees different routing constraints for different types of services. The immediate nodes over the network coding-enabled EON are assumed to be capable of encoding the flows for different kinds of information. We proposed an efficient heuristic algorithm of the network coding-based adaptive routing and layered graph-based spectrum allocation algorithm (NCAR-LGSA). From the simulation results, NCAR-LGSA shows highly efficient performances in terms of the spectrum resources utilization under different network scenarios compared with the benchmark algorithms.

Hybrid maize breeding with doubled haploids: I. One-stage versus two-stage selection for testcross performance.

PubMed

Longin, C Friedrich H; Utz, H Friedrich; Reif, Jochen C; Schipprack, Wolfgang; Melchinger, Albrecht E

2006-03-01

Optimum allocation of resources is of fundamental importance for the efficiency of breeding programs. The objectives of our study were to (1) determine the optimum allocation for the number of lines and test locations in hybrid maize breeding with doubled haploids (DHs) regarding two optimization criteria, the selection gain deltaG(k) and the probability P(k) of identifying superior genotypes, (2) compare both optimization criteria including their standard deviations (SDs), and (3) investigate the influence of production costs of DHs on the optimum allocation. For different budgets, number of finally selected lines, ratios of variance components, and production costs of DHs, the optimum allocation of test resources under one- and two-stage selection for testcross performance with a given tester was determined by using Monte Carlo simulations. In one-stage selection, lines are tested in field trials in a single year. In two-stage selection, optimum allocation of resources involves evaluation of (1) a large number of lines in a small number of test locations in the first year and (2) a small number of the selected superior lines in a large number of test locations in the second year, thereby maximizing both optimization criteria. Furthermore, to have a realistic chance of identifying a superior genotype, the probability P(k) of identifying superior genotypes should be greater than 75%. For budgets between 200 and 5,000 field plot equivalents, P(k) > 75% was reached only for genotypes belonging to the best 5% of the population. As the optimum allocation for P(k)(5%) was similar to that for deltaG(k), the choice of the optimization criterion was not crucial. The production costs of DHs had only a minor effect on the optimum number of locations and on values of the optimization criteria.

Multi-Stakeholder Dynamic Optimization Framework for System-of-Systems Development and Evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, Zhemei

Architecture design for an "acknowledged" System-of-Systems (SoS), under performance uncertainty and constrained resources, remains a difficult problem. Composing an SoS via a proper mix of systems under the special control structure of an "acknowledged" SoS requires efficient distribution of the limited resources. However, due to the special traits of SoS, achieving an efficient distribution of the resources is not a trivial challenge. Currently, the major causes that lead to inefficient resource management for an "acknowledged" SoS include: 1) no central SoS managers with absolute authority to address conflict; 2) difficult balance between current and future decisions; 3) various uncertainties during development and operations (e.g., technology maturation, policy stability); 4) diverse sources of the resources; 5) high complexity in efficient formulation and computation due to the previous four factors. Although it is beyond the scope of this dissertation to simultaneously address all the five items, the thesis will focus on the first, second, and fifth points, and partially cover the third point. In a word, the dissertation aims to develop a generic framework for "acknowledged" SoS that leads to appropriate mathematical formulation and a solution approach that generates a near-optimal set of multi-stage architectural decisions with limited collaboration between conflicted and independent stakeholders. This dissertation proposes a multi-stakeholder dynamic optimization (MUSTDO) method, which integrates approximate dynamic programming and transfer contract coordination mechanism. The method solves a multi-stage architecture selection problem with an embedded formal, but simple, transfer contract coordination mechanism to address resource conflict. Once the values of transfer contract are calculated appropriately, even though the SoS participants make independent decisions, the aggregate solutions are close to the solutions from a hypothetical ideal centralized case where the top-level SoS managers have full authority. In addition, the thesis builds the bridge between a given SoS problem and the mathematical interpretations of the MUSTDO method using a three-phase approach for real world applications. The method is applied to two case studies: one in the defense realm and one in the commercial realm. The first application uses a naval warfare scenario to demonstrate that the aggregated capabilities in the decentralized case using MUSTDO method are close to the aggregated capabilities in a hypothetical centralized case. This evidence demonstrates that the MUSTDO method can help approach the SoS-level optimality with limited funding resource even if the participants make independent decisions. The solution also provides suggestions to the participants about the sequence of architecting decisions and the amount of transfer contract to be sent out to maximize individual capability over time. The suggested decisions incorporate the potential capability increase in the future, which differentiates itself from allocating all the resources to the current development. The quantified numbers of transfer contract in this case study are equivalent capabilities that are relevant to equipment loan or technology transfer. The second case study applies the MUSTDO-based framework to address a multi-airline fleet allocation problem with emissions allowances constraint provided by the regulators. Two representative airlines including the low-cost airline and the legacy airline aim to maximize individual profit by allocating six type of aircraft to a given ten-route network under the emissions constraint. Both the deterministic and stochastic experiments verify the effectiveness of the MUSTDO method by comparing the profit in the decentralized case and profit in a utopian centralized case. Meanwhile, sensitivity studies demonstrate that higher minimum demand requirement and lower discount factor can further improve the efficiency of emissions allowances utilization in MUSTDO method. Comparing to an alternate grandfathering approach, the MUSTDO method can guarantee a high-level efficiency of resource allocation by avoiding failed allocation decisions due to inaccurate information for the regulators. In summary, the framework aids the SoS managers and participants in the selection of the best architecture over a period of time with limited resources; the framework helps the decision makers to understand how they can affect each other and cooperate to achieve a more efficient solution without sharing full information. The major contribution of this dissertation includes: 1) provide a method to address multi-stage SoS composition decisions over time with resource constraint; 2) provide a method to manage resource conflict for stakeholders in an "acknowledged" system-of-systems; 2) provide a new perspective of long-term interactions between stakeholders in an SoS; 3) provide procedural framework to implement the MUSTDO method; 4) provide comparison of different applications of the MUSTDO framework in distinct fields.

Equity in health care in Namibia: developing a needs-based resource allocation formula using principal components analysis

PubMed Central

Zere, Eyob; Mandlhate, Custodia; Mbeeli, Thomas; Shangula, Kalumbi; Mutirua, Kauto; Kapenambili, William

2007-01-01

Background The pace of redressing inequities in the distribution of scarce health care resources in Namibia has been slow. This is due primarily to adherence to the historical incrementalist type of budgeting that has been used to allocate resources. Those regions with high levels of deprivation and relatively greater need for health care resources have been getting less than their fair share. To rectify this situation, which was inherited from the apartheid system, there is a need to develop a needs-based resource allocation mechanism. Methods Principal components analysis was employed to compute asset indices from asset based and health-related variables, using data from the Namibia demographic and health survey of 2000. The asset indices then formed the basis of proposals for regional weights for establishing a needs-based resource allocation formula. Results Comparing the current allocations of public sector health car resources with estimates using a needs based formula showed that regions with higher levels of need currently receive fewer resources than do regions with lower need. Conclusion To address the prevailing inequities in resource allocation, the Ministry of Health and Social Services should abandon the historical incrementalist method of budgeting/resource allocation and adopt a more appropriate allocation mechanism that incorporates measures of need for health care. PMID:17391533

Equity in health care in Namibia: developing a needs-based resource allocation formula using principal components analysis.

PubMed

Zere, Eyob; Mandlhate, Custodia; Mbeeli, Thomas; Shangula, Kalumbi; Mutirua, Kauto; Kapenambili, William

2007-03-29

The pace of redressing inequities in the distribution of scarce health care resources in Namibia has been slow. This is due primarily to adherence to the historical incrementalist type of budgeting that has been used to allocate resources. Those regions with high levels of deprivation and relatively greater need for health care resources have been getting less than their fair share. To rectify this situation, which was inherited from the apartheid system, there is a need to develop a needs-based resource allocation mechanism. Principal components analysis was employed to compute asset indices from asset based and health-related variables, using data from the Namibia demographic and health survey of 2000. The asset indices then formed the basis of proposals for regional weights for establishing a needs-based resource allocation formula. Comparing the current allocations of public sector health car resources with estimates using a needs based formula showed that regions with higher levels of need currently receive fewer resources than do regions with lower need. To address the prevailing inequities in resource allocation, the Ministry of Health and Social Services should abandon the historical incrementalist method of budgeting/resource allocation and adopt a more appropriate allocation mechanism that incorporates measures of need for health care.

Decentralisation and Privatisation of Education in Africa: Which Option for Nigeria?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geo-Jaja, Macleans A.

2004-01-01

Arguing that the politicisation of decentralisation appreciably reduces educational quality and efficient resource allocation and negatively affects matters of equity in and delivery of education, the present study provides a critique of decentralisation and privatisation in education in Africa with special reference to Nigeria. On the basis of…

Assumptions Commonly Underlying Government Quality Assessment Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmidtlein, Frank A.

2004-01-01

The current interest in governmental assessment and accountability practices appears to result from:(1) an emerging view of higher education as an "industry"; (2) concerns about efficient resource allocation; (3) a lack of trust ade between government institutional officials; (4) a desire to reduce uncertainty in government/higher education…

What Influences Spending on Education? Education Indicators in Focus. No. 46

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

OECD Publishing, 2016

2016-01-01

The challenge of providing more and better education with tightening public budgets has made governments increasingly interested in the efficient allocation of education resources. Results from the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) show that, among countries with a comparatively high gross domestic product (GDP) per…

Identifying and Funding the Greatest Needs in School Facilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gorrell, Bob; Salamone, Frank

2012-01-01

How should public school facilities programs allocate limited resources to school facilities needs fairly, cost-effectively, and efficiently while taking into account facility condition, educational adequacy, and other priorities? New Mexico has developed a solution that overcomes key challenges that are common to school facilities programs across…

On the Efficient Allocation of Resources for Hypothesis Evaluation in Machine Learning: A Statistical Approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chien, S.; Gratch, J.; Burl, M.

1994-01-01

In this report we consider a decision-making problem of selecting a strategy from a set of alternatives on the basis of incomplete information (e.g., a finite number of observations): the system can, however, gather additional information at some cost.

Data Credibility: A Perspective from Systematic Reviews in Environmental Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pullin, Andrew S.; Knight, Teri M.

2009-01-01

To use environmental program evaluation to increase effectiveness, predictive power, and resource allocation efficiency, evaluators need good data. Data require sufficient credibility in terms of fitness for purpose and quality to develop the necessary evidence base. The authors examine elements of data credibility using experience from critical…

FIRESCOPE: a new concept in multiagency fire suppression coordination

Treesearch

Richard A. Chase

1980-01-01

FIRESCOPE is a system developed to improve the capability of firefighting agencies in southern California in allocating and managing fire suppression resources. The system provides an effective and efficient solution to operational coordination requirements and problems of the major fire protection agencies serving the southern California urban-wildland complex. Major...

Stochastic resource allocation in emergency departments with a multi-objective simulation optimization algorithm.

PubMed

Feng, Yen-Yi; Wu, I-Chin; Chen, Tzu-Li

2017-03-01

The number of emergency cases or emergency room visits rapidly increases annually, thus leading to an imbalance in supply and demand and to the long-term overcrowding of hospital emergency departments (EDs). However, current solutions to increase medical resources and improve the handling of patient needs are either impractical or infeasible in the Taiwanese environment. Therefore, EDs must optimize resource allocation given limited medical resources to minimize the average length of stay of patients and medical resource waste costs. This study constructs a multi-objective mathematical model for medical resource allocation in EDs in accordance with emergency flow or procedure. The proposed mathematical model is complex and difficult to solve because its performance value is stochastic; furthermore, the model considers both objectives simultaneously. Thus, this study develops a multi-objective simulation optimization algorithm by integrating a non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA II) with multi-objective computing budget allocation (MOCBA) to address the challenges of multi-objective medical resource allocation. NSGA II is used to investigate plausible solutions for medical resource allocation, and MOCBA identifies effective sets of feasible Pareto (non-dominated) medical resource allocation solutions in addition to effectively allocating simulation or computation budgets. The discrete event simulation model of ED flow is inspired by a Taiwan hospital case and is constructed to estimate the expected performance values of each medical allocation solution as obtained through NSGA II. Finally, computational experiments are performed to verify the effectiveness and performance of the integrated NSGA II and MOCBA method, as well as to derive non-dominated medical resource allocation solutions from the algorithms.

Exploring the challenges of the Iranian parliament about passing laws for resource allocation in healthcare: a qualitative study

PubMed Central

Mohsenpour, Seyed Ramezan; Arab, Mohammad; Razavi, Seyed Hasan Emami; Sari, Ali Akbari

2017-01-01

Background Awareness about the process of law making and the factors that affect the legislative process have an important role in improving legislations that are approved by parliaments. Objective This study aimed to explore and analyze the process of development and enactment of law in Iran’s parliament, and factors that might affect the enactment of laws that are related to the allocation and distribution of health sector resources in Iran. Methods In this case study, data were collected through review of literature and national documents, and experts’ interviews. Interviews were performed with selected members of parliament (MPs), ex members of parliament and professionals from the Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MOHME) (15 persons). MAX QDA 10 was used for coding and constructing themes. Data were analyzed in five steps (familiarization, developing a conceptual framework, coding, indexing, and interpretation) using a content analysis with inductive and deductive approaches. Results The main factors that could affect the approval and enactment of legislations related to allocation of healthcare resources in the Iranian parliament were categorized in seven themes including: Importance of issue, resource availability, legislator’s awareness about the topic, lobbying and unofficial relations with influential officials, mentioning strong reasons by MOHME, weakness of previous laws, and positive feedback related to the same laws. Conclusion Although the process of law making in parliament, and implementation of them in health organizations have legal stages, the study showed that several key factors affect this trend. In fact, it is suggested the health policy makers and MPs consider extending a range of factors to improve the process of law making and the efficiency of legislation related to allocation of healthcare resources. PMID:29238478

Exploring the challenges of the Iranian parliament about passing laws for resource allocation in healthcare: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Mohsenpour, Seyed Ramezan; Arab, Mohammad; Razavi, Seyed Hasan Emami; Sari, Ali Akbari

2017-10-01

Awareness about the process of law making and the factors that affect the legislative process have an important role in improving legislations that are approved by parliaments. This study aimed to explore and analyze the process of development and enactment of law in Iran's parliament, and factors that might affect the enactment of laws that are related to the allocation and distribution of health sector resources in Iran. In this case study, data were collected through review of literature and national documents, and experts' interviews. Interviews were performed with selected members of parliament (MPs), ex members of parliament and professionals from the Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MOHME) (15 persons). MAX QDA 10 was used for coding and constructing themes. Data were analyzed in five steps (familiarization, developing a conceptual framework, coding, indexing, and interpretation) using a content analysis with inductive and deductive approaches. The main factors that could affect the approval and enactment of legislations related to allocation of healthcare resources in the Iranian parliament were categorized in seven themes including: Importance of issue, resource availability, legislator's awareness about the topic, lobbying and unofficial relations with influential officials, mentioning strong reasons by MOHME, weakness of previous laws, and positive feedback related to the same laws. Although the process of law making in parliament, and implementation of them in health organizations have legal stages, the study showed that several key factors affect this trend. In fact, it is suggested the health policy makers and MPs consider extending a range of factors to improve the process of law making and the efficiency of legislation related to allocation of healthcare resources.

National equity of health resource allocation in China: data from 2009 to 2013.

PubMed

Liu, Wen; Liu, Ying; Twum, Peter; Li, Shixue

2016-04-19

The inequitable allocation of health resources is a worldwide problem, and it is also one of the obstacles facing for health services utilization in China. A new round of health care reform which contains the important aspect of improving the equity in health resource allocation was released by Chinese government in 2009. The aim of this study is to understand the changes of equity in health resource allocation from 2009 to 2013, and make a further inquiry of the main factors which influence the equity conditions in China. Data resources are the China Health Statistics Yearbook (2014) and the China Statistical Yearbook (2014). Four indicators were chosen to measure the trends in equity of health resource allocation. Data were disaggregated by three geographical regions: west, central, and east. Theil index was used to calculate the degree of unfairness. The total amount of health care resources in China had been increasing in recent years. However, the per 10, 000 km(2) number of health resources showed a huge gap in different regions, and per 10, 000 capita health resources ownership showed a relatively small disparities at the same time. The index of health resources showed an overall downward trend, in which health financial investment the most unfair from 2009 to 2012 and the number of health institutions the most unfair in 2013. The equity of health resources allocation in eastern regions was the worst except for the aspect of health technical personnel allocation. The regional contribution rates were lower than that of the inter-regional contribution rates which were all beyond 60 %. The equity of health resource allocation improved gradually from 2009 to 2013. However, the internal differences within the eastern region still have a huge impact on the overall equity in health resource allocation. The tough issues of inequitable in health resource allocation should be resolved by comprehensive measures from a multidisciplinary perspective.

Resource Allocation Based on Evaluation of Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fransson, Rune

1985-01-01

At Sweden's Karolinska Institute, a resource allocation model for medical research in use since 1970 allows the research activity of the different departments to affect resource allocation direclty. (MSE)

Mass and Volume Optimization of Space Flight Medical Kits

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keenan, A. B.; Foy, Millennia Hope; Myers, Jerry

2014-01-01

Resource allocation is a critical aspect of space mission planning. All resources, including medical resources, are subject to a number of mission constraints such a maximum mass and volume. However, unlike many resources, there is often limited understanding in how to optimize medical resources for a mission. The Integrated Medical Model (IMM) is a probabilistic model that estimates medical event occurrences and mission outcomes for different mission profiles. IMM simulates outcomes and describes the impact of medical events in terms of lost crew time, medical resource usage, and the potential for medically required evacuation. Previously published work describes an approach that uses the IMM to generate optimized medical kits that maximize benefit to the crew subject to mass and volume constraints. We improve upon the results obtained previously and extend our approach to minimize mass and volume while meeting some benefit threshold. METHODS We frame the medical kit optimization problem as a modified knapsack problem and implement an algorithm utilizing dynamic programming. Using this algorithm, optimized medical kits were generated for 3 mission scenarios with the goal of minimizing the medical kit mass and volume for a specified likelihood of evacuation or Crew Health Index (CHI) threshold. The algorithm was expanded to generate medical kits that maximize likelihood of evacuation or CHI subject to mass and volume constraints. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS In maximizing benefit to crew health subject to certain constraints, our algorithm generates medical kits that more closely resemble the unlimited-resource scenario than previous approaches which leverage medical risk information generated by the IMM. Our work here demonstrates that this algorithm provides an efficient and effective means to objectively allocate medical resources for spaceflight missions and provides an effective means of addressing tradeoffs in medical resource allocations and crew mission success parameters.

Public hospital resource allocations in El Salvador: accounting for the case mix of patients.

PubMed

Fiedler, J L; Schmidt, R M; Wight, J B

1998-09-01

National hospitals in developing countries command a disproportionate share of medical care budgets, justified on the grounds that they have a more difficult patient case mix and higher occupancy rates than decentralized district hospitals or clinics. This paper empirically tests the hypothesis by developing direct measures of the severity of patient illness, hospital case-mix and a resource intensity index for each of El Salvador's public hospitals. Based on an analysis of inpatient care staffing requirements, national hospitals are found to receive funding far in excess of what case-mix and case-load considerations would warrant. The findings suggest that significant system-wide efficiency gains can be realized by allocating hospital budgets on the bases of performance-related criteria which incorporate the case-mix approach developed here.

Efficient, quality-assured data capture in operational research through innovative use of open-access technology

PubMed Central

Naik, B.; Guddemane, D. K.; Bhat, P.; Wilson, N.; Sreenivas, A. N.; Lauritsen, J. M.; Rieder, H. L.

2013-01-01

Ensuring quality of data during electronic data capture has been one of the most neglected components of operational research. Multicentre studies are also challenged with issues about logistics of travel, training, supervision, monitoring and troubleshooting support. Allocating resources to these issues can pose a significant bottleneck for operational research in resource-limited settings. In this article, we describe an innovative and efficient way of coordinating data capture in multicentre operational research using a combination of three open access technologies—EpiData for data capture, Dropbox for sharing files and TeamViewer for providing remote support. PMID:26392997

PRACTICAL: Planning and Resource Allocation in C2-Domains With Time Critical Algorithms (PRACTICAL: Planning en Allocatie in C2-Domeinen Met Tijdkritische Algoritmen)

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-02-01

the (re)planning framework, incorporating the demonstrators CALIGULA and ALLOCATOR for resource allocation and scheduling respectively. In the Command...demonstrator CALIGULA for the problem of allocating frequencies to a radio link network. The problems in the domain of scheduling are dealt with. which has...demonstrating the (re)planning framework, incorporating the demonstrators CALIGULA and ALLOCATOR for resource allocation and scheduling respectively

Morphological and physiological changes during reproduction and their relationships to reproductive performance in a capital breeder.

PubMed

Stahlschmidt, Zachary R; Lourdais, Olivier; Lorioux, Sophie; Butler, Michael W; Davis, Jon R; Salin, Karine; Voituron, Yann; DeNardo, Dale F

2013-01-01

Current reproductive effort typically comes at a cost to future reproductive value by altering somatic function (e.g., growth or self-maintenance). Furthermore, effects of reproduction often depend on both fecundity and stage of reproduction, wherein allocation of resources into additional offspring and/or stages of reproduction results in increased costs. Despite these widely accepted generalities, interindividual variation in the effects of reproduction is common-yet the proximate basis that allows some individuals to mitigate these detrimental effects is unclear. We serially measured several variables of morphology (e.g., musculature) and physiology (e.g., antioxidant defenses) in female Children's pythons (Antaresia childreni) throughout reproduction to examine how these traits change over the course of reproduction and whether certain physiological traits are associated with reduced effects of reproduction in some individuals. Reproduction in this capital breeder was associated with changes in both morphology and physiology, but only morphological changes varied with fecundity and among specific reproductive stages. During reproduction, we detected negative relationships between morphology and self-maintenance (e.g., increased muscle allocation to reproduction was related to reduced immune function). Additionally, females that allocated resources more heavily into current reproduction also did so during future reproduction, and these females assimilated resources more efficiently, experienced reduced detriments to self-maintenance (e.g., lower levels of oxidative damage and glucocorticoids) during reproduction, and produced clutches with greater hatching success. Our results suggest that interindividual variation in specific aspects of physiology (assimilation efficiency and oxidative status) may drive variation in reproductive performance.

Resource allocation for epidemic control in metapopulations.

PubMed

Ndeffo Mbah, Martial L; Gilligan, Christopher A

2011-01-01

Deployment of limited resources is an issue of major importance for decision-making in crisis events. This is especially true for large-scale outbreaks of infectious diseases. Little is known when it comes to identifying the most efficient way of deploying scarce resources for control when disease outbreaks occur in different but interconnected regions. The policy maker is frequently faced with the challenge of optimizing efficiency (e.g. minimizing the burden of infection) while accounting for social equity (e.g. equal opportunity for infected individuals to access treatment). For a large range of diseases described by a simple SIRS model, we consider strategies that should be used to minimize the discounted number of infected individuals during the course of an epidemic. We show that when faced with the dilemma of choosing between socially equitable and purely efficient strategies, the choice of the control strategy should be informed by key measurable epidemiological factors such as the basic reproductive number and the efficiency of the treatment measure. Our model provides new insights for policy makers in the optimal deployment of limited resources for control in the event of epidemic outbreaks at the landscape scale.

Systematic review of strategies to manage and allocate scarce resources during mass casualty events.

PubMed

Timbie, Justin W; Ringel, Jeanne S; Fox, D Steven; Pillemer, Francesca; Waxman, Daniel A; Moore, Melinda; Hansen, Cynthia K; Knebel, Ann R; Ricciardi, Richard; Kellermann, Arthur L

2013-06-01

Efficient management and allocation of scarce medical resources can improve outcomes for victims of mass casualty events. However, the effectiveness of specific strategies has never been systematically reviewed. We analyze published evidence on strategies to optimize the management and allocation of scarce resources across a wide range of mass casualty event contexts and study designs. Our literature search included MEDLINE, Scopus, EMBASE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Global Health, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, from 1990 through late 2011. We also searched the gray literature, using the New York Academy of Medicine's Grey Literature Report and key Web sites. We included both English- and foreign-language articles. We included studies that evaluated strategies used in actual mass casualty events or tested through drills, exercises, or computer simulations. We excluded studies that lacked a comparison group or did not report quantitative outcomes. Data extraction, quality assessment, and strength of evidence ratings were conducted by a single researcher and reviewed by a second; discrepancies were reconciled by the 2 reviewers. Because of heterogeneity in outcome measures, we qualitatively synthesized findings within categories of strategies. From 5,716 potentially relevant citations, 74 studies met inclusion criteria. Strategies included reducing demand for health care services (18 studies), optimizing use of existing resources (50), augmenting existing resources (5), implementing crisis standards of care (5), and multiple categories (4). The evidence was sufficient to form conclusions on 2 strategies, although the strength of evidence was rated as low. First, as a strategy to reduce demand for health care services, points of dispensing can be used to efficiently distribute biological countermeasures after a bioterrorism attack or influenza pandemic, and their organization influences speed of distribution. Second, as a strategy to optimize use of existing resources, commonly used field triage systems do not perform consistently during actual mass casualty events. The number of high-quality studies addressing other strategies was insufficient to support conclusions about their effectiveness because of differences in study context, comparison groups, and outcome measures. Our literature search may have missed key resource management and allocation strategies because of their extreme heterogeneity. Interrater reliability was not assessed for quality assessments or strength of evidence ratings. Publication bias is likely, given the large number of studies reporting positive findings. The current evidence base is inadequate to inform providers and policymakers about the most effective strategies for managing or allocating scarce resources during mass casualty events. Consensus on methodological standards that encompass a range of study designs is needed to guide future research and strengthen the evidence base. Evidentiary standards should be developed to promote consensus interpretations of the evidence supporting individual strategies. Copyright © 2013 American College of Emergency Physicians. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Neural Mechanism Exploration of Adaptive Motor Control: Dynamical Economic Cell Allocation in the Primary Motor Cortex.

PubMed

Li, Wei; Guo, Yangyang; Fan, Jing; Ma, Chaolin; Ma, Xuan; Chen, Xi; He, Jiping

2017-05-01

Adaptive flexibility is of significance for the smooth and efficient movements in goal attainment. However, the underlying work mechanism of the cerebral cortex in adaptive motor control still remains unclear. How does the cerebral cortex organize and coordinate the activity of a large population of cells in the implementation of various motor strategies? To explore this issue, single-unit activities from the M1 region and kinematic data were recorded simultaneously in monkeys performing 3D reach-to-grasp tasks with different perturbations. Varying motor control strategies were employed and achieved in different perturbed tasks, via the dynamic allocation of cells to modulate specific movement parameters. An economic principle was proposed for the first time to describe a basic rule for cell allocation in the primary motor cortex. This principle, defined as the Dynamic Economic Cell Allocation Mechanism (DECAM), guarantees benefit maximization in cell allocation under limited neuronal resources, and avoids committing resources to uneconomic investments for unreliable factors with no or little revenue. That is to say, the cells recruited are always preferentially allocated to those factors with reliable return; otherwise, the cells are dispatched to respond to other factors about task. The findings of this study might partially reveal the working mechanisms underlying the role of the cerebral cortex in adaptive motor control, wherein is also of significance for the design of future intelligent brain-machine interfaces and rehabilitation device.

Selective Attention with Separable Stimuli Using a Speeded Task.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kolbet, Lori L.; Garvey, Jackie

The ability to allocate attentional resources to relevant aspects of a stimulus event is a critical skill needed for efficient information processing. Evidence suggests that this ability to focus on relevant information without interference is dependent on the nature of the stimulus structure of the information to be processed. To test the…

Funding Mechanisms for Higher Education: Financing for Stability, Efficiency, and Responsiveness. World Bank Discussion Papers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Albrecht, Douglas; Ziderman, Adrian

This discussion paper examines mechanisms through which governments allocate resources to higher education, particularly in developing countries, in order to establish effective means to transfer these subsidies to institutions. The discussion of funding mechanisms develops within the context of three major types of government restrictions which…

Circadian Modulation of Short-Term Memory in "Drosophila"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lyons, Lisa C.; Roman, Gregg

2009-01-01

Endogenous biological clocks are widespread regulators of behavior and physiology, allowing for a more efficient allocation of efforts and resources over the course of a day. The extent that different processes are regulated by circadian oscillators, however, is not fully understood. We investigated the role of the circadian clock on short-term…

Statistical Learning Induces Discrete Shifts in the Allocation of Working Memory Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Umemoto, Akina; Scolari, Miranda; Vogel, Edward K.; Awh, Edward

2010-01-01

Observers can voluntarily select which items are encoded into working memory, and the efficiency of this process strongly predicts memory capacity. Nevertheless, the present work suggests that voluntary intentions do not exclusively determine what is encoded into this online workspace. Observers indicated whether any items from a briefly stored…

Predicting costs of alien species surveillance across varying transportation networks

Treesearch

Laura Blackburn; Rebecca Epanchin-Niell; Alexandra Thompson; Andrew Liebhold; Jacqueline Beggs

2017-01-01

Efforts to detect and eradicate invading populations before they establish are a critical component of national biosecurity programmes. An essential element for maximizing the efficiency of these efforts is the balancing of expenditures on surveillance (e.g. trapping) versus treatment (e.g. eradication). Identifying the optimal allocation of resources towards...

Privatization of Higher Education in Nigeria: Critical Issues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Okunola, Philips Olayide; Oladipo, Simeon Adebayo

2012-01-01

The broad intent of any educational reform is premised on the assumption that it is capable of improving educational process and practices, hence, the need for evaluation of the system's process in order to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of resource allocation. Education is capital intensive in terms of human, financial and material…

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Friese, Ryan; Khemka, Bhavesh; Maciejewski, Anthony A

Rising costs of energy consumption and an ongoing effort for increases in computing performance are leading to a significant need for energy-efficient computing. Before systems such as supercomputers, servers, and datacenters can begin operating in an energy-efficient manner, the energy consumption and performance characteristics of the system must be analyzed. In this paper, we provide an analysis framework that will allow a system administrator to investigate the tradeoffs between system energy consumption and utility earned by a system (as a measure of system performance). We model these trade-offs as a bi-objective resource allocation problem. We use a popular multi-objective geneticmore » algorithm to construct Pareto fronts to illustrate how different resource allocations can cause a system to consume significantly different amounts of energy and earn different amounts of utility. We demonstrate our analysis framework using real data collected from online benchmarks, and further provide a method to create larger data sets that exhibit similar heterogeneity characteristics to real data sets. This analysis framework can provide system administrators with insight to make intelligent scheduling decisions based on the energy and utility needs of their systems.« less

Theory of Mind is Related to Children’s Resource Allocations in Gender Stereotypic Contexts

PubMed Central

Rizzo, Michael T.; Killen, Melanie

2017-01-01

The present study investigated the relations between 4- to 6-year-old children’s (N = 67) gender stereotypes, resource allocations, and mental state knowledge in gender stereotypic contexts. Participants were told vignettes about female and male characters completing gender-stereotyped activities (making dolls or trucks). Children held stereotypic expectations regarding doll- and truck-making abilities, and these expectations predicted the degree of bias in their allocations of resources to the characters. Critically, children’s performance on a ToM scale (Diverse Desires, Contents False-Belief, Belief-Emotion) was significantly related to their allocations of resources to individuals whose effort did not fit existing gender stereotypes (e.g., a boy who was good at making dolls). With increasing ToM competence, children allocated resources based on merit (even when the character’s effort did not fit existing gender stereotypes) rather than based on stereotypes. The present results provide novel information regarding the emergence of gender stereotypes about abilities, the influence of stereotypes on children’s resource allocations, and the role of ToM in children’s ability to challenge gender stereotypes when allocating resources. PMID:29083217

Tackling regional health inequalities in france by resource allocation : a case for complementary instrumental and process-based approaches?

PubMed

Bellanger, Martine M; Jourdain, Alain

2004-01-01

This article aims to evaluate the results of two different approaches underlying the attempts to reduce health inequalities in France. In the 'instrumental' approach, resource allocation is based on an indicator to assess the well-being or the quality of life associated with healthcare provision, the argument being that additional resources would respond to needs that could then be treated quickly and efficiently. This governs the distribution of regional hospital budgets. In the second approach, health professionals and users in a given region are involved in a consensus process to define those priorities to be included in programme formulation. This 'procedural' approach is employed in the case of the regional health programmes. In this second approach, the evaluation of the results runs parallel with an analysis of the process using Rawlsian principles, whereas the first approach is based on the classical economic model.At this stage, a pragmatic analysis based on both the comparison of regional hospital budgets during the period 1992-2003 (calculated using a 'RAWP [resource allocation working party]-like' formula) and the evolution of regional health policies through the evaluation of programmes for the prevention of suicide, alcohol-related diseases and cancers provides a partial assessment of the impact of the two types of approaches, the second having a greater effect on the reduction of regional inequalities.

Complex Genetic Effects on Early Vegetative Development Shape Resource Allocation Differences Between Arabidopsis lyrata Populations

PubMed Central

Remington, David L.; Leinonen, Päivi H.; Leppälä, Johanna; Savolainen, Outi

2013-01-01

Costs of reproduction due to resource allocation trade-offs have long been recognized as key forces in life history evolution, but little is known about their functional or genetic basis. Arabidopsis lyrata, a perennial relative of the annual model plant A. thaliana with a wide climatic distribution, has populations that are strongly diverged in resource allocation. In this study, we evaluated the genetic and functional basis for variation in resource allocation in a reciprocal transplant experiment, using four A. lyrata populations and F2 progeny from a cross between North Carolina (NC) and Norway parents, which had the most divergent resource allocation patterns. Local alleles at quantitative trait loci (QTL) at a North Carolina field site increased reproductive output while reducing vegetative growth. These QTL had little overlap with flowering date QTL. Structural equation models incorporating QTL genotypes and traits indicated that resource allocation differences result primarily from QTL effects on early vegetative growth patterns, with cascading effects on later vegetative and reproductive development. At a Norway field site, North Carolina alleles at some of the same QTL regions reduced survival and reproductive output components, but these effects were not associated with resource allocation trade-offs in the Norway environment. Our results indicate that resource allocation in perennial plants may involve important adaptive mechanisms largely independent of flowering time. Moreover, the contributions of resource allocation QTL to local adaptation appear to result from their effects on developmental timing and its interaction with environmental constraints, and not from simple models of reproductive costs. PMID:23979581

A Novel Optimal Joint Resource Allocation Method in Cooperative Multicarrier Networks: Theory and Practice

PubMed Central

Gao, Yuan; Zhou, Weigui; Ao, Hong; Chu, Jian; Zhou, Quan; Zhou, Bo; Wang, Kang; Li, Yi; Xue, Peng

2016-01-01

With the increasing demands for better transmission speed and robust quality of service (QoS), the capacity constrained backhaul gradually becomes a bottleneck in cooperative wireless networks, e.g., in the Internet of Things (IoT) scenario in joint processing mode of LTE-Advanced Pro. This paper focuses on resource allocation within capacity constrained backhaul in uplink cooperative wireless networks, where two base stations (BSs) equipped with single antennae serve multiple single-antennae users via multi-carrier transmission mode. In this work, we propose a novel cooperative transmission scheme based on compress-and-forward with user pairing to solve the joint mixed integer programming problem. To maximize the system capacity under the limited backhaul, we formulate the joint optimization problem of user sorting, subcarrier mapping and backhaul resource sharing among different pairs (subcarriers for users). A novel robust and efficient centralized algorithm based on alternating optimization strategy and perfect mapping is proposed. Simulations show that our novel method can improve the system capacity significantly under the constraint of the backhaul resource compared with the blind alternatives. PMID:27077865

Bargaining over an international water resource based on cooperative game theory concepts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madani, K.; Gholizadeh, S.

2011-12-01

Prior the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Caspian Sea was peacefully shared by Iran and the USSR, based on the two historic treaties between Iran (Persia) and Russia. Collapse of the USSR gave birth to one of the world's serious conflicts over international water resources. Since then, the five littoral states of the Caspian Sea, namely Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan have been negotiating over finding an appropriate allocation scheme for sharing the sea and its valuable energy and environmental resources. Although several solution methods have been proposed, the negotiating parties have been unsuccessful in developing a compromise solution. A range of bargaining solutions are used here to show how cooperative game theory can be used to develop fair and efficient allocation schemes to resolve the Caspian Sea conflict. It is also examined how the negotiators may use their powers to change their shares from the Caspian Sea resources. Finally, the stability of the suggested game theoretic solutions are tested to find the solution which is more acceptable by the negotiating parties.

Spatial access to residential care resources in Beijing, China

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background As the population is ageing rapidly in Beijing, the residential care sector is in a fast expansion process with the support of the municipal government. Understanding spatial accessibility to residential care resources by older people supports the need for rational allocation of care resources in future planning. Methods Based on population data and data on residential care resources, this study uses two Geographic Information System (GIS) based methods – shortest path analysis and a two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method to analyse spatial accessibility to residential care resources. Results Spatial accessibility varies as the methods and considered factors change. When only time distance is considered, residential care resources are more accessible in the central city than in suburban and exurban areas. If care resources are considered in addition to time distance, spatial accessibility is relatively poor in the central city compared to the northeast to southeast side of the suburban and exurban areas. The resources in the northwest to southwest side of the city are the least accessible, even though several hotspots of residential care resources are located in these areas. Conclusions For policy making, it may require combining various methods for a comprehensive analysis. The methods used in this study provide tools for identifying underserved areas in order to improve equity in access to and efficiency in allocation of residential care resources in future planning. PMID:22877360

Spectrum sensing and resource allocation for multicarrier cognitive radio systems under interference and power constraints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dikmese, Sener; Srinivasan, Sudharsan; Shaat, Musbah; Bader, Faouzi; Renfors, Markku

2014-12-01

Multicarrier waveforms have been commonly recognized as strong candidates for cognitive radio. In this paper, we study the dynamics of spectrum sensing and spectrum allocation functions in cognitive radio context using very practical signal models for the primary users (PUs), including the effects of power amplifier nonlinearities. We start by sensing the spectrum with energy detection-based wideband multichannel spectrum sensing algorithm and continue by investigating optimal resource allocation methods. Along the way, we examine the effects of spectral regrowth due to the inevitable power amplifier nonlinearities of the PU transmitters. The signal model includes frequency selective block-fading channel models for both secondary and primary transmissions. Filter bank-based wideband spectrum sensing techniques are applied for detecting spectral holes and filter bank-based multicarrier (FBMC) modulation is selected for transmission as an alternative multicarrier waveform to avoid the disadvantage of limited spectral containment of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM)-based multicarrier systems. The optimization technique used for the resource allocation approach considered in this study utilizes the information obtained through spectrum sensing and knowledge of spectrum leakage effects of the underlying waveforms, including a practical power amplifier model for the PU transmitter. This study utilizes a computationally efficient algorithm to maximize the SU link capacity with power and interference constraints. It is seen that the SU transmission capacity depends critically on the spectral containment of the PU waveform, and these effects are quantified in a case study using an 802.11-g WLAN scenario.

Trading a Problem-solving Task

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsubara, Shigeo

This paper focuses on a task allocation problem, especially cases where the task is to find a solution in a search problem or a constraint satisfaction problem. If the search problem is hard to solve, a contractor may fail to find a solution. Here, the more computational resources such as the CPU time the contractor invests in solving the search problem, the more a solution is likely to be found. This brings about a new problem that a contractee has to find an appropriate level of the quality in a task achievement as well as to find an efficient allocation of a task among contractors. For example, if the contractee asks the contractor to find a solution with certainty, the payment from the contractee to the contractor may exceed the contractee's benefit from obtaining a solution, which discourages the contractee from trading a task. However, solving this problem is difficult because the contractee cannot ascertain the contractor's problem-solving ability such as the amount of available resources and knowledge (e.g. algorithms, heuristics) or monitor what amount of resources are actually invested in solving the allocated task. To solve this problem, we propose a task allocation mechanism that is able to choose an appropriate level of the quality in a task achievement and prove that this mechanism guarantees that each contractor reveals its true information. Moreover, we show that our mechanism can increase the contractee's utility compared with a simple auction mechanism by using computer simulation.

Method for resource control in parallel environments using program organization and run-time support

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ekanadham, Kattamuri (Inventor); Moreira, Jose Eduardo (Inventor); Naik, Vijay Krishnarao (Inventor)

2001-01-01

A system and method for dynamic scheduling and allocation of resources to parallel applications during the course of their execution. By establishing well-defined interactions between an executing job and the parallel system, the system and method support dynamic reconfiguration of processor partitions, dynamic distribution and redistribution of data, communication among cooperating applications, and various other monitoring actions. The interactions occur only at specific points in the execution of the program where the aforementioned operations can be performed efficiently.

Method for resource control in parallel environments using program organization and run-time support

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ekanadham, Kattamuri (Inventor); Moreira, Jose Eduardo (Inventor); Naik, Vijay Krishnarao (Inventor)

1999-01-01

A system and method for dynamic scheduling and allocation of resources to parallel applications during the course of their execution. By establishing well-defined interactions between an executing job and the parallel system, the system and method support dynamic reconfiguration of processor partitions, dynamic distribution and redistribution of data, communication among cooperating applications, and various other monitoring actions. The interactions occur only at specific points in the execution of the program where the aforementioned operations can be performed efficiently.

Theories of the price and quantity of physician services. A synthesis and critique.

PubMed

Farley, P J

1986-12-01

In the traditional neoclassical model of supply and demand, prices determine the allocation of economic resources. The difficulty in applying this model to physician services is the rationing of resources directly by physicians themselves, eliminating the allocative function of prices. Welfare consequences are appropriately judged in terms of efficiency and equity, not departures from the structural relationships implied by supply and demand. As interpreted here, both competitive theories and target-income theories of this market imply that physicians consider both their own welfare and the welfare of their patients in their decision-making. All consumer benefits and all producer costs are internalized by physicians. They consequently have an incentive to obtain the maximum possible social benefit from the resources at their disposal, to the extent that they are (implicitly) allowed to share in the resulting social gains. The distribution of gains between patients and physicians is determined by professional ethics within bounds imposed by competitive forces.

An Optimization Framework for Dynamic, Distributed Real-Time Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eckert, Klaus; Juedes, David; Welch, Lonnie; Chelberg, David; Bruggerman, Carl; Drews, Frank; Fleeman, David; Parrott, David; Pfarr, Barbara

2003-01-01

Abstract. This paper presents a model that is useful for developing resource allocation algorithms for distributed real-time systems .that operate in dynamic environments. Interesting aspects of the model include dynamic environments, utility and service levels, which provide a means for graceful degradation in resource-constrained situations and support optimization of the allocation of resources. The paper also provides an allocation algorithm that illustrates how to use the model for producing feasible, optimal resource allocations.

Improving Initiation and Tracking of Research Projects at an Academic Health Center: A Case Study.

PubMed

Schmidt, Susanne; Goros, Martin; Parsons, Helen M; Saygin, Can; Wan, Hung-Da; Shireman, Paula K; Gelfond, Jonathan A L

2017-09-01

Research service cores at academic health centers are important in driving translational advancements. Specifically, biostatistics and research design units provide services and training in data analytics, biostatistics, and study design. However, the increasing demand and complexity of assigning appropriate personnel to time-sensitive projects strains existing resources, potentially decreasing productivity and increasing costs. Improving processes for project initiation, assigning appropriate personnel, and tracking time-sensitive projects can eliminate bottlenecks and utilize resources more efficiently. In this case study, we describe our application of lean six sigma principles to our biostatistics unit to establish a systematic continual process improvement cycle for intake, allocation, and tracking of research design and data analysis projects. The define, measure, analyze, improve, and control methodology was used to guide the process improvement. Our goal was to assess and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operations by objectively measuring outcomes, automating processes, and reducing bottlenecks. As a result, we developed a web-based dashboard application to capture, track, categorize, streamline, and automate project flow. Our workflow system resulted in improved transparency, efficiency, and workload allocation. Using the dashboard application, we reduced the average study intake time from 18 to 6 days, a 66.7% reduction over 12 months (January to December 2015).

Resource Allocation in Public Research Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Santos, Jose L.

2007-01-01

The purpose of this study was to conduct an econometric analysis of internal resource allocation. Two theories are used for this study of resource allocation in public research universities, and these are: (1) Theory of the Firm; and (2) Resource Dependence Theory. This study used the American Association of Universities Data Exchange (AAUDE)…

Incomplete water securitization in coupled hydro-human production sytems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van den Boom, B.; Pande, S.

2012-04-01

Due to the dynamics, the externalities and the contingencies involved in managing local water resource for production, the water allocation at basin-level is a subtle balance between laws of nature (gravity; flux) and laws of economics (price; productivity). We study this balance by looking at inter-temporal basin-level water resource allocations in which subbasins enjoy a certain degree of autonomy. Each subbasin is represented as an economic agent i, following a gravity ordering with i=1 representing the most upstream area and i=I the downstream boundary. The water allocation is modeled as a decentralized equilibrium in a coupled conceptual hydro-human production system. Agents i=1,2,...,I in the basin produce a composite good according to a technology that requires water as a main input and that is specific to the subbasin. Agent i manages her use Xi and her storage Si, conceptualizing surface and subsurface water, of water with the purpose of maximizing the utility derived from consumption Ci of the composite good, where Ci is a scalar and Xi and Si are vectors which are composed of one element for each time period and for each contingency. A natural way to consume the good would be to absorb the own production. Yet, the agent may have two more option, namely, she might get a social transfer from other agents or she could use an income from trading water securities with her contiguous neighbors. To study these options, we compare water allocations (Ci, Xi, Si) all i=1,2,...,I for three different settings. We look at allocations without water securitization (water autarky equilibrium EA) first. Next, we describe the imaginary case of full securitization (contingent water markets equilibrium ECM) and, in between, we study limited securitization (incomplete water security equilibrium EWS). We show that allocations under contingent water markets ECM are efficient in the sense that, for the prevailing production technologies, no other allocation exists that is at least good as for all the agents and that makes at least one agent better off . On the other hand, allocations under autarky EA will tend to be inefficient, meaning that other allocations may exist that would be preferred by some agents without compromising the interest of the others. By the same token, the in-between case with water securities will generally also fail to achieve full efficiency. Nonetheless, some securitization will always be at least as good as none while it will be better under conditions of water scarcity that are common in dryland area river basins. Hence water allocations under EWS will generally lead to an improvement over those under EA. It should be noted that the fully efficient equilibrium is only imaginary because it requires a separate water security for every agent, for every period and for every contingency that nature might hold. Clearly, because of dimensionality, this amount of securities will be beyond reach. Therefore, water securitization with a limited number of securities remains as the only practical option to deal with the inefficiency of water allocations under autarky. The economic theory of incomplete markets provides a useful framework to study limited water securitization. We apply the theory in the context of our water allocation framework using an institutional setting where downstream agent i may secure water from upstream agent (i-1) through an agreement that pays for (i-1)'s water savings. In this manner we identify (I-1) water securities, one for each pair of contiguous agents. Each security addresses, at the local level, the interaction of flows over time and over contingencies that might occur. Under scarcity conditions prevalent in many river basins, agents will show an interest to supply and demand such securities. In particular, downstream area can often make more productive use of water. Accordingly, in the water autarky equilibrium EA, they would be willing to pay for more water, while, at the same time, upstream users would be prepared to make water savings to the extent that the payment for the security will exceed the value of foregone production losses. Thus, although inevitably incomplete, water securitization could play a significant role in increasing the efficiency of the allocation of water resources at the basin-level. Evidence from river basins in various parts of the world suggests that gains could be sizeable. This paper dwells upon the advantages and challenges of a transdisciplinary approach that blends the laws of nature with those of economics. It aims to identify efficiency gains from water securitization while addressing the institutional difficulties of implementation due to inherent incompleteness in markets that allow trade in such securities.

Biomass Allocation of Stoloniferous and Rhizomatous Plant in Response to Resource Availability: A Phylogenetic Meta-Analysis

PubMed Central

Xie, Xiu-Fang; Hu, Yu-Kun; Pan, Xu; Liu, Feng-Hong; Song, Yao-Bin; Dong, Ming

2016-01-01

Resource allocation to different functions is central in life-history theory. Plasticity of functional traits allows clonal plants to regulate their resource allocation to meet changing environments. In this study, biomass allocation traits of clonal plants were categorized into absolute biomass for vegetative growth vs. for reproduction, and their relative ratios based on a data set including 115 species and derived from 139 published literatures. We examined general pattern of biomass allocation of clonal plants in response to availabilities of resource (e.g., light, nutrients, and water) using phylogenetic meta-analysis. We also tested whether the pattern differed among clonal organ types (stolon vs. rhizome). Overall, we found that stoloniferous plants were more sensitive to light intensity than rhizomatous plants, preferentially allocating biomass to vegetative growth, aboveground part and clonal reproduction under shaded conditions. Under nutrient- and water-poor condition, rhizomatous plants were constrained more by ontogeny than by resource availability, preferentially allocating biomass to belowground part. Biomass allocation between belowground and aboveground part of clonal plants generally supported the optimal allocation theory. No general pattern of trade-off was found between growth and reproduction, and neither between sexual and clonal reproduction. Using phylogenetic meta-analysis can avoid possible confounding effects of phylogeny on the results. Our results shown the optimal allocation theory explained a general trend, which the clonal plants are able to plastically regulate their biomass allocation, to cope with changing resource availability, at least in stoloniferous and rhizomatous plants. PMID:27200071

Children's Evaluations of Resource Allocation in the Context of Group Norms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cooley, Shelby; Killen, Melanie

2015-01-01

This study investigated children's evaluations of peer group members who deviated from group norms about equal and unequal allocation of resources. Children, ages 3.5 to 4 years and 5 to 6 years (N = 73), were asked to evaluate a peer group member who deviated from 1 of 2 group allocation norms: (a) equal allocation of resources, or (b) unequal…

A hybrid method for provincial scale energy-related carbon emission allocation in China.

PubMed

Bai, Hongtao; Zhang, Yingxuan; Wang, Huizhi; Huang, Yanying; Xu, He

2014-01-01

Achievement of carbon emission reduction targets proposed by national governments relies on provincial/state allocations. In this study, a hybrid method for provincial energy-related carbon emissions allocation in China was developed to provide a good balance between production- and consumption-based approaches. In this method, provincial energy-related carbon emissions are decomposed into direct emissions of local activities other than thermal power generation and indirect emissions as a result of electricity consumption. Based on the carbon reduction efficiency principle, the responsibility for embodied emissions of provincial product transactions is assigned entirely to the production area. The responsibility for carbon generation during the production of thermal power is borne by the electricity consumption area, which ensures that different regions with resource endowments have rational development space. Empirical studies were conducted to examine the hybrid method and three indices, per capita GDP, resource endowment index and the proportion of energy-intensive industries, were screened to preliminarily interpret the differences among China's regional carbon emissions. Uncertainty analysis and a discussion of this method are also provided herein.

A trust-based sensor allocation algorithm in cooperative space search problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Dan; Chen, Genshe; Pham, Khanh; Blasch, Erik

2011-06-01

Sensor allocation is an important and challenging problem within the field of multi-agent systems. The sensor allocation problem involves deciding how to assign a number of targets or cells to a set of agents according to some allocation protocol. Generally, in order to make efficient allocations, we need to design mechanisms that consider both the task performers' costs for the service and the associated probability of success (POS). In our problem, the costs are the used sensor resource, and the POS is the target tracking performance. Usually, POS may be perceived differently by different agents because they typically have different standards or means of evaluating the performance of their counterparts (other sensors in the search and tracking problem). Given this, we turn to the notion of trust to capture such subjective perceptions. In our approach, we develop a trust model to construct a novel mechanism that motivates sensor agents to limit their greediness or selfishness. Then we model the sensor allocation optimization problem with trust-in-loop negotiation game and solve it using a sub-game perfect equilibrium. Numerical simulations are performed to demonstrate the trust-based sensor allocation algorithm in cooperative space situation awareness (SSA) search problems.

Energy Technology Allocation for Distributed Energy Resources: A Technology-Policy Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mallikarjun, Sreekanth

Distributed energy resources (DER) are emerging rapidly. New engineering technologies, materials, and designs improve the performance and extend the range of locations for DER. In contrast, constructing new or modernizing existing high voltage transmission lines for centralized generation are expensive and challenging. In addition, customer demand for reliability has increased and concerns about climate change have created a pull for swift renewable energy penetration. In this context, DER policy makers, developers, and users are interested in determining which energy technologies to use to accommodate different end-use energy demands. We present a two-stage multi-objective strategic technology-policy framework for determining the optimal energy technology allocation for DER. The framework simultaneously considers economic, technical, and environmental objectives. The first stage utilizes a Data Envelopment Analysis model for each end-use to evaluate the performance of each energy technology based on the three objectives. The second stage incorporates factor efficiencies determined in the first stage, capacity limitations, dispatchability, and renewable penetration for each technology, and demand for each end-use into a bottleneck multi-criteria decision model which provides the Pareto-optimal energy resource allocation. We conduct several case studies to understand the roles of various distributed energy technologies in different scenarios. We construct some policy implications based on the model results of set of case studies.

Distributed Multi-Cell Resource Allocation with Price Based ICI Coordination in Downlink OFDMA Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lv, Gangming; Zhu, Shihua; Hui, Hui

Multi-cell resource allocation under minimum rate request for each user in OFDMA networks is addressed in this paper. Based on Lagrange dual decomposition theory, the joint multi-cell resource allocation problem is decomposed and modeled as a limited-cooperative game, and a distributed multi-cell resource allocation algorithm is thus proposed. Analysis and simulation results show that, compared with non-cooperative iterative water-filling algorithm, the proposed algorithm can remarkably reduce the ICI level and improve overall system performances.

Probabilistic resource allocation system with self-adaptive capability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yufik, Yan M. (Inventor)

1996-01-01

A probabilistic resource allocation system is disclosed containing a low capacity computational module (Short Term Memory or STM) and a self-organizing associative network (Long Term Memory or LTM) where nodes represent elementary resources, terminal end nodes represent goals, and directed links represent the order of resource association in different allocation episodes. Goals and their priorities are indicated by the user, and allocation decisions are made in the STM, while candidate associations of resources are supplied by the LTM based on the association strength (reliability). Reliability values are automatically assigned to the network links based on the frequency and relative success of exercising those links in the previous allocation decisions. Accumulation of allocation history in the form of an associative network in the LTM reduces computational demands on subsequent allocations. For this purpose, the network automatically partitions itself into strongly associated high reliability packets, allowing fast approximate computation and display of allocation solutions satisfying the overall reliability and other user-imposed constraints. System performance improves in time due to modification of network parameters and partitioning criteria based on the performance feedback.

Probabilistic resource allocation system with self-adaptive capability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yufik, Yan M. (Inventor)

1998-01-01

A probabilistic resource allocation system is disclosed containing a low capacity computational module (Short Term Memory or STM) and a self-organizing associative network (Long Term Memory or LTM) where nodes represent elementary resources, terminal end nodes represent goals, and weighted links represent the order of resource association in different allocation episodes. Goals and their priorities are indicated by the user, and allocation decisions are made in the STM, while candidate associations of resources are supplied by the LTM based on the association strength (reliability). Weights are automatically assigned to the network links based on the frequency and relative success of exercising those links in the previous allocation decisions. Accumulation of allocation history in the form of an associative network in the LTM reduces computational demands on subsequent allocations. For this purpose, the network automatically partitions itself into strongly associated high reliability packets, allowing fast approximate computation and display of allocation solutions satisfying the overall reliability and other user-imposed constraints. System performance improves in time due to modification of network parameters and partitioning criteria based on the performance feedback.

Game Theoretic Modeling of Water Resources Allocation Under Hydro-Climatic Uncertainty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, C.; Lall, U.; Siegfried, T.

2005-12-01

Typical hydrologic and economic modeling approaches rely on assumptions of climate stationarity and economic conditions of ideal markets and rational decision-makers. In this study, we incorporate hydroclimatic variability with a game theoretic approach to simulate and evaluate common water allocation paradigms. Game Theory may be particularly appropriate for modeling water allocation decisions. First, a game theoretic approach allows economic analysis in situations where price theory doesn't apply, which is typically the case in water resources where markets are thin, players are few, and rules of exchange are highly constrained by legal or cultural traditions. Previous studies confirm that game theory is applicable to water resources decision problems, yet applications and modeling based on these principles is only rarely observed in the literature. Second, there are numerous existing theoretical and empirical studies of specific games and human behavior that may be applied in the development of predictive water allocation models. With this framework, one can evaluate alternative orderings and rules regarding the fraction of available water that one is allowed to appropriate. Specific attributes of the players involved in water resources management complicate the determination of solutions to game theory models. While an analytical approach will be useful for providing general insights, the variety of preference structures of individual players in a realistic water scenario will likely require a simulation approach. We propose a simulation approach incorporating the rationality, self-interest and equilibrium concepts of game theory with an agent-based modeling framework that allows the distinct properties of each player to be expressed and allows the performance of the system to manifest the integrative effect of these factors. Underlying this framework, we apply a realistic representation of spatio-temporal hydrologic variability and incorporate the impact of decision-making a priori to hydrologic realizations and those made a posteriori on alternative allocation mechanisms. Outcomes are evaluated in terms of water productivity, net social benefit and equity. The performance of hydro-climate prediction modeling in each allocation mechanism will be assessed. Finally, year-to-year system performance and feedback pathways are explored. In this way, the system can be adaptively managed toward equitable and efficient water use.

Administrative Structural Variables: Towards Greater Retention and Efficiencies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Narren J.

2013-01-01

Combining institutional data and measures with predictive analyses is a viable means by which to determine where and how to allocate all too limited institutional resources and programming. There are not many among us who would argue against the richness of data and depth of understanding of a phenomenon that are gained through focus groups and…

A Context-Aware Paradigm for Information Discovery and Dissemination in Mobile Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lundquist, Doug

2011-01-01

The increasing power and ubiquity of mobile wireless devices is enabling real-time information delivery for many diverse applications. A crucial question is how to allocate finite network resources efficiently and fairly despite the uncertainty common in highly dynamic mobile ad hoc networks. We propose a set of routing protocols, Self-Balancing…

Pass Rates in Primary School Leaving Examination in Tanzania: Implication for Efficient Allocation of Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kassile, Telemu

2014-01-01

This paper examines regional differentials in pass rates in Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) in Mainland Tanzania. In particular, the paper investigates the effects of pupil-teacher ratio (PTR), pupil-latrine ratio (PLR), pupil-classroom ratio (PCR), availability of electricity in schools, and secondary school and above education of women…

The Pros and Cons of Existing Formula Financing Systems and a Suggested New Approach.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Wijk, Alfons P.; Levine, Jack B.

Because the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAATS) of Ontario are largely dependent on the Ontario Government for financial support, it is important to justify their level of expenditure, and prove that allotted public funds are effectively and efficiently managed. After a brief discussion of the existing resource allocation process in…

Exploring the Potential Rationale for the Privatization of Higher Education in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Li

2011-01-01

The last three decades have witnessed great social, political and economic change in China since the market reforms in the late 1970s. A market economy was adopted as a replacement to the planned economy in order to allocate resources more efficiently. Consequently, higher education in China has undergone dramatic reforms to adapt to this…

A Planning Model for Post-Secondary Education in West Central Minnesota.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuch, Peter Jacob

This study presents a methodology for planning the efficient development of the educational infrastructure in a region. It is primarily concerned with solving the problem of how one allocates an exogenously fixed set of resources among different educational programs. In addition it deals with such related issues as: How does one choose among…

Enhanced Deployment Strategy for Role-Based Hierarchical Application Agents in Wireless Sensor Networks with Established Clusterheads

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gendreau, Audrey

2014-01-01

Efficient self-organizing virtual clusterheads that supervise data collection based on their wireless connectivity, risk, and overhead costs, are an important element of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). This function is especially critical during deployment when system resources are allocated to a subsequent application. In the presented research,…

Costing maternal health services in South Tanzania: a case study from Mtwara Urban District.

PubMed

von Both, Claudia; Jahn, Albrecht; Fleba, Steffen

2008-05-01

The following paper presents the methodology and results of a costing exercise of maternal health services in Tanzania. The main objective of this study was to determine the actual costs of antenatal and obstetric care in different health institutions in a district in Tanzania as a basis of more efficient resource allocation. A costing tool was developed that allows the calculation of costs of service units, such as deliveries and antenatal care, and separates these costs from the costs of other services. Time consumed by each activity was used as an allocation key. For that purpose, we recorded the personnel consumption with different time-study methodologies. This approach was tested and implemented in Mtwara Urban District, South Tanzania. The results were analyzed by a spreadsheet program. The paper presents average costs for different costing units of maternal care. Among other findings, we found that the cost of a normal vaginal delivery is US $12.30 in a dispensary and US $6.30 in the hospital--a result that needs explanation, as usually one would expect that hospitals are more cost-intensive than first-line facilities. However, dispensaries are grossly underutilized so that the costs per service unit are rather high. The cost for surgical delivery (only in hospitals) was found to be US $69.26 and the average cost per antenatal care consultation (only at dispensaries) was US $2.50. We conclude that improved planning of elective services is a prerequisite for more effective and efficient use of personnel resources. In addition, the definition of medically and economically sound standards, in particular staffing standards, is critical to make cost analysis an effective management tool to guide rational resource allocation.

Quantification and Multi-purpose Allocation of Water Resources in a Dual-reservoir System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salami, Y. D.

2017-12-01

Transboundary rivers that run through separate water management jurisdictions sometimes experience competitive water usage. Where the river has multiple existing or planned dams along its course, quantification and efficient allocation of water for such purposes as hydropower generation, irrigation for agriculture, and water supply can be a challenge. This problem is even more pronounced when large parts of the river basin are located in semi-arid regions known for water insecurity, poor crop yields from irrigation scheme failures, and human population displacement arising from water-related conflict. This study seeks to mitigate the impacts of such factors on the Kainji-Jebba dual-reservoir system located along the Niger River in Africa by seasonally quantifying and efficiently apportioning water to all stipulated uses of both dams thereby improving operational policy and long-term water security. Historical storage fluctuations (18 km3 to 5 km3) and flows into and out of both reservoirs were analyzed for relationships to such things as surrounding catchment contribution, dam operational policies, irrigation and hydropower requirements, etc. Optimum values of the aforementioned parameters were then determined by simulations based upon hydrological contributions and withdrawals and worst case scenarios of natural and anthropogenic conditions (like annual probability of reservoir depletion) affecting water availability and allocation. Finally, quantification and optimized allocation of water was done based on needs for hydropower, irrigation for agriculture, water supply, and storage evacuation for flood control. Results revealed that water supply potential increased by 69%, average agricultural yield improved by 36%, and hydropower generation increased by 54% and 66% at the upstream and downstream dams respectively. Lessons learned from this study may help provide a robust and practical means of water resources management in similar river basins and multi-reservoir systems.

Multi-Objective, Auto-Optimization Modeling for Resource Allocation Decision Making in the Military Health System

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-01-22

FTEs would need to be reduced by 12.16, expenses reduced by $184.63K, and the number of interns adjusted by 7.67. The reference set for DMU D includes...efficiency: concept, measurement techniques and review of hospital efficiency studies. Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine, 10(2), 35-43...REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8/98) Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39.18 Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 The public reporting burden

How to allocate limited healthcare resources: Lessons from the introduction of antiretroviral therapy in rural Mozambique

PubMed Central

Dodson, Zan M.; Agadjanian, Victor; Driessen, Julia

2016-01-01

Proper allocation of limited healthcare resources is a challenging task for policymakers in developing countries. Allocation of and access to these resources typically varies based on how need is defined, thus determining how individuals access and acquire healthcare. Using the introduction of antiretroviral therapy in southern Mozambique as an example, we examine alternative definitions of need for rural populations and how they might impact the allocation of this vital health service. Our results show that how need is defined matters when allocating limited healthcare resources and the use of need-based metrics can help ensure more optimal distribution of services. PMID:28596630

Resource Allocation and Public Policy in Alberta's Postsecondary System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barneston, Bob; Boberg, Alice

2000-01-01

Resource allocation in Alberta's postsecondary system has changed substantially since 1994, designed to reapportion financial responsibility for higher education, increase vocational outcomes of postsecondary education, and increase transfer of knowledge and technology to the private sector. This paper outlines how resource allocation has been…

Grid commerce, market-driven G-negotiation, and Grid resource management.

PubMed

Sim, Kwang Mong

2006-12-01

Although the management of resources is essential for realizing a computational grid, providing an efficient resource allocation mechanism is a complex undertaking. Since Grid providers and consumers may be independent bodies, negotiation among them is necessary. The contribution of this paper is showing that market-driven agents (MDAs) are appropriate tools for Grid resource negotiation. MDAs are e-negotiation agents designed with the flexibility of: 1) making adjustable amounts of concession taking into account market rivalry, outside options, and time preferences and 2) relaxing bargaining terms in the face of intense pressure. A heterogeneous testbed consisting of several types of e-negotiation agents to simulate a Grid computing environment was developed. It compares the performance of MDAs against other e-negotiation agents (e.g., Kasbah) in a Grid-commerce environment. Empirical results show that MDAs generally achieve: 1) higher budget efficiencies in many market situations than other e-negotiation agents in the testbed and 2) higher success rates in acquiring Grid resources under high Grid loadings.

Phylogeny determines flower size-dependent sex allocation at flowering in a hermaphroditic family.

PubMed

Teixido, A L; Guzmán, B; Staggemeier, V G; Valladares, F

2017-11-01

In animal-pollinated hermaphroditic plants, optimal floral allocation determines relative investment into sexes, which is ultimately dependent on flower size. Larger flowers disproportionally increase maleness whereas smaller and less rewarding flowers favour female function. Although floral traits are considered strongly conserved, phylogenetic relationships in the interspecific patterns of resource allocation to floral sex remain overlooked. We investigated these patterns in Cistaceae, a hermaphroditic family. We reconstructed phylogenetic relationships among Cistaceae species and quantified phylogenetic signal for flower size, dry mass and nutrient allocation to floral structures in 23 Mediterranean species using Blomberg's K-statistic. Lastly, phylogenetically-controlled correlational and regression analyses were applied to examine flower size-based allometry in resource allocation to floral structures. Sepals received the highest dry mass allocation, followed by petals, whereas sexual structures increased nutrient allocation. Flower size and resource allocation to floral structures, except for carpels, showed a strong phylogenetic signal. Larger-flowered species allometrically allocated more resources to maleness, by increasing allocation to corollas and stamens. Our results suggest a major role of phylogeny in determining interspecific changes in flower size and subsequent floral sex allocation. This implies that flower size balances the male-female function over the evolutionary history of Cistaceae. While allometric resource investment in maleness is inherited across species diversification, allocation to the female function seems a labile trait that varies among closely related species that have diversified into different ecological niches. © 2017 German Botanical Society and The Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands.

Optimal allocation of resources among threatened species: a project prioritization protocol.

PubMed

Joseph, Liana N; Maloney, Richard F; Possingham, Hugh P

2009-04-01

Conservation funds are grossly inadequate to address the plight of threatened species. Government and conservation organizations faced with the task of conserving threatened species desperately need simple strategies for allocating limited resources. The academic literature dedicated to systematic priority setting usually recommends ranking species on several criteria, including level of endangerment and metrics of species value such as evolutionary distinctiveness, ecological importance, and social significance. These approaches ignore 2 crucial factors: the cost of management and the likelihood that the management will succeed. These oversights will result in misallocation of scarce conservation resources and possibly unnecessary losses. We devised a project prioritization protocol (PPP) to optimize resource allocation among New Zealand's threatened-species projects, where costs, benefits (including species values), and the likelihood of management success were considered simultaneously. We compared the number of species managed and the expected benefits gained with 5 prioritization criteria: PPP with weightings based on species value; PPP with species weighted equally; management costs; species value; and threat status. We found that the rational use of cost and success information substantially increased the number of species managed, and prioritizing management projects according to species value or threat status in isolation was inefficient and resulted in fewer species managed. In addition, we found a clear trade-off between funding management of a greater number of the most cost-efficient and least risky projects and funding fewer projects to manage the species of higher value. Specifically, 11 of 32 species projects could be funded if projects were weighted by species value compared with 16 projects if projects were not weighted. This highlights the value of a transparent decision-making process, which enables a careful consideration of trade-offs. The use of PPP can substantially improve conservation outcomes for threatened species by increasing efficiency and ensuring transparency of management decisions.

On System Engineering a Barter-Based Re-allocation of Space System Key Development Resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kosmann, William J.

NASA has had a decades-long problem with cost growth during the development of space science missions. Numerous agency-sponsored studies have produced average mission level development cost growths ranging from 23 to 77%. A new study of 26 historical NASA science instrument set developments using expert judgment to re-allocate key development resources has an average cost growth of 73.77%. Twice in history, during the Cassini and EOS-Terra science instrument developments, a barter-based mechanism has been used to re-allocate key development resources. The mean instrument set development cost growth was -1.55%. Performing a bivariate inference on the means of these two distributions, there is statistical evidence to support the claim that using a barter-based mechanism to re-allocate key instrument development resources will result in a lower expected cost growth than using the expert judgment approach. Agent-based discrete event simulation is the natural way to model a trade environment. A NetLogo agent-based barter-based simulation of science instrument development was created. The agent-based model was validated against the Cassini historical example, as the starting and ending instrument development conditions are available. The resulting validated agent-based barter-based science instrument resource re-allocation simulation was used to perform 300 instrument development simulations, using barter to re-allocate development resources. The mean cost growth was -3.365%. A bivariate inference on the means was performed to determine that additional significant statistical evidence exists to support a claim that using barter-based resource re-allocation will result in lower expected cost growth, with respect to the historical expert judgment approach. Barter-based key development resource re-allocation should work on science spacecraft development as well as it has worked on science instrument development. A new study of 28 historical NASA science spacecraft developments has an average cost growth of 46.04%. As barter-based key development resource re-allocation has never been tried in a spacecraft development, no historical results exist, and an inference on the means test is not possible. A simulation of using barter-based resource re-allocation should be developed. The NetLogo instrument development simulation should be modified to account for spacecraft development market participant differences. The resulting agent-based barter-based spacecraft resource re-allocation simulation would then be used to determine if significant statistical evidence exists to prove a claim that using barter-based resource re-allocation will result in lower expected cost growth.

BESIII physical offline data analysis on virtualization platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Q.; Li, H.; Kan, B.; Shi, J.; Lei, X.

2015-12-01

In this contribution, we present an ongoing work, which aims at benefiting BESIII computing system for higher resource utilization and more efficient job operations brought by cloud and virtualization technology with Openstack and KVM. We begin with the architecture of BESIII offline software to understand how it works. We mainly report the KVM performance evaluation and optimization from various factors in hardware and kernel. Experimental results show the CPU performance penalty of KVM can be approximately decreased to 3%. In addition, the performance comparison between KVM and physical machines in aspect of CPU, disk IO and network IO is also presented. Finally, we present our development work, an adaptive cloud scheduler, which allocates and reclaims VMs dynamically according to the status of TORQUE queue and the size of resource pool to improve resource utilization and job processing efficiency.

Dynamic versus static allocation policies in multipurpose multireservoir systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tilmant, A.; Goor, Q.; Pinte, D.; van der Zaag, P.

2007-12-01

As the competition for water is likely to increase in the near future due to socioeconomic development and population growth, water resources managers will face hard choices when allocating water between competing users. Because water is a vital resource used in multiple sectors, including the environment, the allocation is inherently a political and social process, which is likely to become increasingly scrutinized as the competition grows between the different sectors. Since markets are usually absent or ineffective, the allocation of water between competing demands is achieved administratively taking into account key objectives such as economic efficiency, equity and maintaining the ecological integrity. When crop irrigation is involved, water is usually allocated by a system of annual rights to use a fixed, static, volume of water. In a fully-allocated basin, moving from a static to a dynamic allocation process, whereby the policies are regularly updated according to the hydrologic status of the river basin, is the first step towards the development of river basin management strategies that increase the productivity of water. More specifically, in a multipurpose multireservoir system, continuously adjusting release and withdrawal decisions based on the latest hydrologic information will increase the benefits derived from the system. However, the extent to which such an adjustment can be achieved results from complex spatial and temporal interactions between the physical characteristics of the water resources system (storage, natural flows), the economic and social consequences of rationing and the impacts on natural ecosystems. The complexity of the decision-making process, which requires the continuous evaluation of numerous trade-offs, calls for the use of integrated hydrologic-economic models. This paper compares static and dynamic management approaches for a cascade of hydropower-irrigation reservoirs using stochastic dual dynamic programming (SDDP) formulations. As its name indicates, SDDP is an extension of SDP that removes the curse of dimensionality found in discrete SDP and can therefore be used to analyze large-scale water resources systems. For the static approach, the multiobjective (irrigation-hydropower) optimization problem is solved using the constraint method, i.e. net benefits from hydropower generation are maximized and irrigation water withdrawals are additional constraints. In the dynamic approach, the SDDP model seeks to maximize the net benefits of both hydropower and irrigation crop production. A cascade of 8 reservoirs in the Turkish and Syrian parts of the Euphrates river basin is used as a case study.

Equity in resource allocation for health: a comparative study of the Ashanti and Northern Regions of Ghana.

PubMed

Asante, Augustine Danso; Zwi, Anthony Barry; Ho, Maria Theresa

2006-10-01

Debate over the equitable allocation of financial resources in the health sector has focused overwhelmingly on allocation from national to regional levels. More equitable allocation of such resources within regions has been virtually ignored, creating a vacuum in knowledge regarding how resources are allocated intra-regionally and their potential influence on promoting health equity. In this paper, we report an empirical study examining progress towards equity in intra-regional resource allocation in the Ashanti and Northern regions of Ghana. Relative deprivation across the 31 districts of the two regions was measured as a proxy of health needs. The result was used to develop an equity-adjusted share index (EAS) applied as a yardstick against which progress towards equity was assessed. The study found a significant correlation between districts' share of donor pooled funds (DPF) and the EAS in the Northern region for three of the 4 years investigated. In Ashanti region, a worsening trend in relation to equity in DPF allocation was discovered. The proportion of variance in the share of DPF that could be explained by the EAS reduced incrementally from 56% in 1999 to less than 1% in 2002. The study highlights the need for more emphasis on intra-regional equity in resource allocation in Ghana.

Resource allocation for mitigating regional air pollution–related mortality: A summertime case study for five cities in the United States

PubMed Central

Liao, Kuo-Jen; Hou, Xiangting; Strickland, Matthew J.

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT An important issue of regional air quality management is to allocate air quality management funds to maximize environmental and human health benefits. In this study, we use an innovative approach to tackle this air quality management issue. We develop an innovative resource allocation model that allows identification of air pollutant emission control strategies that maximize mortality avoidances subject to a resource constraint. We first present the development of the resource allocation model and then a case study to show how the model can be used to identify resource allocation strategies that maximize mortality avoidances for top five Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) (i.e., New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Philadelphia) in the continental United States collectively. Given budget constraints in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Air Act assessment, the results of the case study suggest that controls of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and primary carbon (PC) emissions from EPA Regions 2, 3, 5, 6, and 9 would have significant health benefits for the five selected cities collectively. Around 30,800 air pollution–related mortalities could be avoided during the selected 2-week summertime episode for the five cities collectively if the budget could be allocated based on the results of the resource allocation model. Although only five U.S. cities during a 2-week episode are considered in the case study, the resource allocation model can be used by decision-makers to plan air pollution mitigation strategies to achieve the most significant health benefits for other seasons and more cities over a region or the continental U.S.Implications: Effective allocations of air quality management resources are challenging and complicated, and it is desired to have a tool that can help decision-makers better allocate the funds to maximize health benefits of air pollution mitigation. An innovative resource allocation model developed in this study can help decision-makers identify the best resource allocation strategies for multiple cities collectively. The results of a case study suggest that controls of primary carbon and sulfur dioxides emissions would achieve the most significant health benefits for five selected cities collectively. PMID:27441782

Children's understanding of equity in the context of inequality.

PubMed

Rizzo, Michael T; Killen, Melanie

2016-11-01

In the context of a pre-existing resource inequality, the concerns for strict equality (allocating the same number of resources to all recipients) conflict with the concerns for equity (allocating resources to rectify the inequality). This study demonstrated age-related changes in children's (3-8 years old, N = 133) ability to simultaneously weigh the concerns for equality and equity through the analysis of children's judgements, allocations, and reasoning in the context of a pre-existing inequality. Three- to 4-year-olds took equity into account in their judgements of allocations, but allocated resources equally in a behavioural task. In contrast, 5- to 6-year-olds rectified the inequality in their allocations, but judged both equitable and equal allocations to be fair. It was not until 7-8 years old that children focused on rectifying the inequality in their allocations and judgements, as well as judged equal allocations less positively than equitable allocations, thereby demonstrating a more complete understanding of the necessity of rectifying inequalities. The novel findings revealed age-related changes from 3 to 8 years old regarding how the concerns for equity and equality develop, and how children's judgements, allocations, and reasoning are coordinated when making allocation decisions. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

Intelligence Level and the Allocation of Resources for Creative Tasks: A Pupillometry Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ojha, Amitash; Indurkhya, Bipin; Lee, Minho

2017-01-01

This pupillometry study examined the relationship between intelligence and creative cognition from the resource allocation perspective. It was hypothesized that, during a creative metaphor task, individuals with higher intelligence scores would have different resource allocation patterns than individuals with lower intelligence scores. The study…

Allocating Resources for Learning Support: A Case Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sharp, Stephen

2000-01-01

Examines how learning-support resources are allocated to Scottish secondary schools, drawing on data from an Edinburgh education authority. Although a rationale for allocating resources based on socioeconomic indices can be constructed, basing decisions on a combination of standardized attainment tests and special-needs audits is preferable.…

Resource Allocation in British Universities. SRHE Monograph 56.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shattock, Michael, Ed.; Rigby, Gwynneth, Ed.

The ways that British universities allocate their resources are discussed, with attention to different styles, techniques, and decison-making structures. Since the purpose is to describe institutional models of resource allocation, specific universities are not identified by name. After identifying the sources of income and the breakdown of…

Resource Allocation in a Repetitive Project Scheduling Using Genetic Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samuel, Biju; Mathew, Jeeno

2018-03-01

Resource Allocation is procedure of doling out or allocating the accessible assets in a monetary way and productive way. Resource allocation is the scheduling of the accessible assets and accessible exercises or activities required while thinking about both the asset accessibility and the total project completion time. Asset provisioning and allocation takes care of that issue by permitting the specialist co-ops to deal with the assets for every individual demand of asset. A probabilistic selection procedure has been developed in order to ensure various selections of chromosomes

Stigmatizing attitudes about mental illness and allocation of resources to mental health services.

PubMed

Corrigan, Patrick W; Watson, Amy C; Warpinski, Amy C; Gracia, Gabriela

2004-08-01

This study tests a social psychological model (Skitka & Tetlock, 1992). Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 28, 491-522; [1993]. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 65, 1205-1223 stating that policy maker decisions regarding the allocation of resources to mental health services are influenced by their attitudes towards people with mental illness and treatment efficacy. Fifty four individuals participated in a larger study of education about mental health stigma. Participants completed various measures of resource allocation preferences for mandated treatment and rehabilitation services, attributions about people with mental illness, and factors that influence allocation preferences including perceived treatment efficacy. Results showed significant attitudinal correlates with resource allocation preferences for mandated treatment, but no correlates to rehabilitation services. In particular, people who pity people with mental illness as well as those that endorse coercive and segregated treatments, were more likely to rate resource allocation to mandated care as important. Perceived treatment efficacy was also positively associated with resource allocation preferences for mandated treatment. A separate behavioral measure that involved donating money to NAMI was found to be inversely associated with blaming people for their mental illness and not being willing to help them. Implications of these findings on strategies that seek to increase resources for mental health programs are discussed.

How to get the most bang for your buck: the evolution and physiology of nutrition-dependent resource allocation strategies.

PubMed

Ng'oma, Enoch; Perinchery, Anna M; King, Elizabeth G

2017-06-28

All organisms use resources to grow, survive and reproduce. The supply of these resources varies widely across landscapes and time, imposing ultimate constraints on the maximal trait values for allocation-related traits. In this review, we address three key questions fundamental to our understanding of the evolution of allocation strategies and their underlying mechanisms. First, we ask: how diverse are flexible resource allocation strategies among different organisms? We find there are many, varied, examples of flexible strategies that depend on nutrition. However, this diversity is often ignored in some of the best-known cases of resource allocation shifts, such as the commonly observed pattern of lifespan extension under nutrient limitation. A greater appreciation of the wide variety of flexible allocation strategies leads directly to our second major question: what conditions select for different plastic allocation strategies? Here, we highlight the need for additional models that explicitly consider the evolution of phenotypically plastic allocation strategies and empirical tests of the predictions of those models in natural populations. Finally, we consider the question: what are the underlying mechanisms determining resource allocation strategies? Although evolutionary biologists assume differential allocation of resources is a major factor limiting trait evolution, few proximate mechanisms are known that specifically support the model. We argue that an integrated framework can reconcile evolutionary models with proximate mechanisms that appear at first glance to be in conflict with these models. Overall, we encourage future studies to: (i) mimic ecological conditions in which those patterns evolve, and (ii) take advantage of the 'omic' opportunities to produce multi-level data and analytical models that effectively integrate across physiological and evolutionary theory. © 2017 The Author(s).

How to get the most bang for your buck: the evolution and physiology of nutrition-dependent resource allocation strategies

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

All organisms use resources to grow, survive and reproduce. The supply of these resources varies widely across landscapes and time, imposing ultimate constraints on the maximal trait values for allocation-related traits. In this review, we address three key questions fundamental to our understanding of the evolution of allocation strategies and their underlying mechanisms. First, we ask: how diverse are flexible resource allocation strategies among different organisms? We find there are many, varied, examples of flexible strategies that depend on nutrition. However, this diversity is often ignored in some of the best-known cases of resource allocation shifts, such as the commonly observed pattern of lifespan extension under nutrient limitation. A greater appreciation of the wide variety of flexible allocation strategies leads directly to our second major question: what conditions select for different plastic allocation strategies? Here, we highlight the need for additional models that explicitly consider the evolution of phenotypically plastic allocation strategies and empirical tests of the predictions of those models in natural populations. Finally, we consider the question: what are the underlying mechanisms determining resource allocation strategies? Although evolutionary biologists assume differential allocation of resources is a major factor limiting trait evolution, few proximate mechanisms are known that specifically support the model. We argue that an integrated framework can reconcile evolutionary models with proximate mechanisms that appear at first glance to be in conflict with these models. Overall, we encourage future studies to: (i) mimic ecological conditions in which those patterns evolve, and (ii) take advantage of the ‘omic’ opportunities to produce multi-level data and analytical models that effectively integrate across physiological and evolutionary theory. PMID:28637856

Technological Innovation and Developmental Strategies for Sustainable Management of Aquatic Resources in Developing Countries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agboola, Julius Ibukun

2014-12-01

Sustainable use and allocation of aquatic resources including water resources require implementation of ecologically appropriate technologies, efficient and relevant to local needs. Despite the numerous international agreements and provisions on transfer of technology, this has not been successfully achieved in developing countries. While reviewing some challenges to technological innovations and developments (TID), this paper analyzes five TID strategic approaches centered on grassroots technology development and provision of localized capacity for sustainable aquatic resources management. Three case studies provide examples of successful implementation of these strategies. Success requires the provision of localized capacity to manage technology through knowledge empowerment in rural communities situated within a framework of clear national priorities for technology development.

Technological innovation and developmental strategies for sustainable management of aquatic resources in developing countries.

PubMed

Agboola, Julius Ibukun

2014-12-01

Sustainable use and allocation of aquatic resources including water resources require implementation of ecologically appropriate technologies, efficient and relevant to local needs. Despite the numerous international agreements and provisions on transfer of technology, this has not been successfully achieved in developing countries. While reviewing some challenges to technological innovations and developments (TID), this paper analyzes five TID strategic approaches centered on grassroots technology development and provision of localized capacity for sustainable aquatic resources management. Three case studies provide examples of successful implementation of these strategies. Success requires the provision of localized capacity to manage technology through knowledge empowerment in rural communities situated within a framework of clear national priorities for technology development.

Learning to multitask: effects of video game practice on electrophysiological indices of attention and resource allocation.

PubMed

Maclin, Edward L; Mathewson, Kyle E; Low, Kathy A; Boot, Walter R; Kramer, Arthur F; Fabiani, Monica; Gratton, Gabriele

2011-09-01

Changes in attention allocation with complex task learning reflect processing automatization and more efficient control. We studied these changes using ERP and EEG spectral analyses in subjects playing Space Fortress, a complex video game comprising standard cognitive task components. We hypothesized that training would free up attentional resources for a secondary auditory oddball task. Both P3 and delta EEG showed a processing trade-off between game and oddball tasks, but only some game events showed reduced attention requirements with practice. Training magnified a transient increase in alpha power following both primary and secondary task events. This contrasted with alpha suppression observed when the oddball task was performed alone, suggesting that alpha may be related to attention switching. Hence, P3 and EEG spectral data are differentially sensitive to changes in attentional processing occurring with complex task training. Copyright © 2011 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Exploiting geo-distributed clouds for a e-health monitoring system with minimum service delay and privacy preservation.

PubMed

Shen, Qinghua; Liang, Xiaohui; Shen, Xuemin; Lin, Xiaodong; Luo, Henry Y

2014-03-01

In this paper, we propose an e-health monitoring system with minimum service delay and privacy preservation by exploiting geo-distributed clouds. In the system, the resource allocation scheme enables the distributed cloud servers to cooperatively assign the servers to the requested users under the load balance condition. Thus, the service delay for users is minimized. In addition, a traffic-shaping algorithm is proposed. The traffic-shaping algorithm converts the user health data traffic to the nonhealth data traffic such that the capability of traffic analysis attacks is largely reduced. Through the numerical analysis, we show the efficiency of the proposed traffic-shaping algorithm in terms of service delay and privacy preservation. Furthermore, through the simulations, we demonstrate that the proposed resource allocation scheme significantly reduces the service delay compared to two other alternatives using jointly the short queue and distributed control law.

Dynamic Airspace Configuration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bloem, Michael J.

2014-01-01

In air traffic management systems, airspace is partitioned into regions in part to distribute the tasks associated with managing air traffic among different systems and people. These regions, as well as the systems and people allocated to each, are changed dynamically so that air traffic can be safely and efficiently managed. It is expected that new air traffic control systems will enable greater flexibility in how airspace is partitioned and how resources are allocated to airspace regions. In this talk, I will begin by providing an overview of some previous work and open questions in Dynamic Airspace Configuration research, which is concerned with how to partition airspace and assign resources to regions of airspace. For example, I will introduce airspace partitioning algorithms based on clustering, integer programming optimization, and computational geometry. I will conclude by discussing the development of a tablet-based tool that is intended to help air traffic controller supervisors configure airspace and controllers in current operations.

Cognitive radio based optimal channel sensing and resources allocation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vijayasarveswari, V.; Khatun, S.; Fakir, M. M.; Nayeem, M. N.; Kamarudin, L. M.; Jakaria, A.

2017-03-01

Cognitive radio (CR) is the latest type of wireless technoloy that is proposed to mitigate spectrum saturation problem. İn cognitve radio, secondary user will use primary user's spectrum during primary user's absence without interupting primary user's transmission. This paper focuses on practical cognitive radio network development process using Android based smart phone for the data transmission. Energy detector based sensing method was proposed and used here because it doesnot require primary user's information. Bluetooth and Wi-fi are the two available types of spectrum that was sensed for CR detection. Simulation showed cognitive radio network can be developed using Android based smart phones. So, a complete application was developed using Java based Android Eclipse program. Finally, the application was uploaded and run on Android based smart phone to form and verify CR network for channel sensing and resource allocation. The observed efficiency of the application was around 81%.

Optimal Resource Allocation for NOMA-TDMA Scheme with α-Fairness in Industrial Internet of Things.

PubMed

Sun, Yanjing; Guo, Yiyu; Li, Song; Wu, Dapeng; Wang, Bin

2018-05-15

In this paper, a joint non-orthogonal multiple access and time division multiple access (NOMA-TDMA) scheme is proposed in Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), which allowed multiple sensors to transmit in the same time-frequency resource block using NOMA. The user scheduling, time slot allocation, and power control are jointly optimized in order to maximize the system α -fair utility under transmit power constraint and minimum rate constraint. The optimization problem is nonconvex because of the fractional objective function and the nonconvex constraints. To deal with the original problem, we firstly convert the objective function in the optimization problem into a difference of two convex functions (D.C.) form, and then propose a NOMA-TDMA-DC algorithm to exploit the global optimum. Numerical results show that the NOMA-TDMA scheme significantly outperforms the traditional orthogonal multiple access scheme in terms of both spectral efficiency and user fairness.

US neurologists: attitudes on rationing.

PubMed

Holloway, R G; Ringel, S P; Bernat, J L; Keran, C M; Lawyer, B L

2000-11-28

To assess neurologists' attitudes on rationing health care and to determine whether neurologists would set healthcare priorities in ways that are consistent with cost-effectiveness research. Cost-effectiveness research can suggest ways to maximize health benefits within fixed budgets but is currently being underused in resource allocation decisions. The authors surveyed a random sample of neurologists practicing in the United States (response rate, 44.4%) with three hypothetical scenarios. Two scenarios were designed to address general attitudes on allocating finite resources with emphasis on formulary decisions for costly drugs. The third scenario was designed to assess whether neurologists would optimize the allocation of a fixed budget as recommended by cost-effectiveness analysis. Three-quarters of respondents thought that neurologists make daily decisions that effectively ration healthcare resources, and 60% felt a professional responsibility to consider the financial impact of individualized treatment decisions on other patients. Only 25% of respondents thought that there should be no restrictions placed on any of the five newer antiepileptic agents. In a 1995 survey, 75% of similarly sampled neurologists agreed that no restrictions should be placed on the availability of FDA-approved medications. Nearly half (46%) of respondents favored a less effective test and would be willing to let patients die to ensure the offering of a more equitable alternative. Most neurologists recognize the need to ration health care, and although they think cost-effectiveness research is one method to achieve efficient distribution of resources, many think that considerable attention should also be given to equity.

Bandwidth auction for SVC streaming in dynamic multi-overlay

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiong, Yanting; Zou, Junni; Xiong, Hongkai

2010-07-01

In this paper, we study the optimal bandwidth allocation for scalable video coding (SVC) streaming in multiple overlays. We model the whole bandwidth request and distribution process as a set of decentralized auction games between the competing peers. For the upstream peer, a bandwidth allocation mechanism is introduced to maximize the aggregate revenue. For the downstream peer, a dynamic bidding strategy is proposed. It achieves maximum utility and efficient resource usage by collaborating with a content-aware layer dropping/adding strategy. Also, the convergence of the proposed auction games is theoretically proved. Experimental results show that the auction strategies can adapt to dynamic join of competing peers and video layers.

Seasonal and within-canopy variation in shoot-scale resource-use efficiency trade-offs in a Norway spruce stand.

PubMed

Tarvainen, Lasse; Räntfors, Mats; Wallin, Göran

2015-11-01

Previous leaf-scale studies of carbon assimilation describe short-term resource-use efficiency (RUE) trade-offs where high use efficiency of one resource requires low RUE of another. However, varying resource availabilities may cause long-term RUE trade-offs to differ from the short-term patterns. This may have important implications for understanding canopy-scale resource use and allocation. We used continuous gas exchange measurements collected at five levels within a Norway spruce, Picea abies (L.) karst., canopy over 3 years to assess seasonal differences in the interactions between shoot-scale resource availability (light, water and nitrogen), net photosynthesis (An ) and the use efficiencies of light (LUE), water (WUE) and nitrogen (NUE) for carbon assimilation. The continuous data set was used to develop and evaluate multiple regression models for predicting monthly shoot-scale An . These models showed that shoot-scale An was strongly dependent on light availability and was generally well described with simple one- or two-parameter models. WUE peaked in spring, NUE in summer and LUE in autumn. However, the relative importance of LUE for carbon assimilation increased with canopy depth at all times. Our results suggest that accounting for seasonal and within-canopy trade-offs may be important for RUE-based modelling of canopy carbon uptake. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Resource allocation processes at multilateral organizations working in global health

PubMed Central

Chi, Y-Ling; Bump, Jesse B

2018-01-01

Abstract International institutions provide well over US$10 billion in development assistance for health (DAH) annually and between 1990 and 2014, DAH disbursements totaled $458 billion but how do they decide who gets what, and for what purpose? In this article, we explore how allocation decisions were made by the nine convening agencies of the Equitable Access Initiative. We provide clear, plain language descriptions of the complete process from resource mobilization to allocation for the nine multilateral agencies with prominent agendas in global health. Then, through a comparative analysis we illuminate the choices and strategies employed in the nine international institutions. We find that resource allocation in all reviewed institutions follow a similar pattern, which we categorized in a framework of five steps: strategy definition, resource mobilization, eligibility of countries, support type and funds allocation. All the reviewed institutions generate resource allocation decisions through well-structured and fairly complex processes. Variations in those processes seem to reflect differences in institutional principles and goals. However, these processes have serious shortcomings. Technical problems include inadequate flexibility to account for or meet country needs. Although aid effectiveness and value for money are commonly referenced, we find that neither performance nor impact is a major criterion for allocating resources. We found very little formal consideration of the incentives generated by allocation choices. Political issues include non-transparent influence on allocation processes by donors and bureaucrats, and the common practice of earmarking funds to bypass the normal allocation process entirely. Ethical deficiencies include low accountability and transparency at international institutions, and limited participation by affected citizens or their representatives. We find that recipient countries have low influence on allocation processes themselves, although within these processes they have some influence in relatively narrow areas. PMID:29415239

Protecting resources for primary health care under fiscal federalism: options for resource allocation.

PubMed

Okorafor, Okore A; Thomas, Stephen

2007-11-01

The introduction of fiscal federalism or decentralization of functions to lower levels of government is a reform not done primarily with health sector concerns. A major concern for the health sector is that devolution of expenditure responsibilities to sub-national levels of government can adversely affect the equitable distribution of financial resources across local jurisdictions. Since the adoption of fiscal federalism in South Africa, progress towards achieving a more equitable distribution of public sector health resources (financial) has slowed down considerably. This study attempts to identify appropriate resource allocation mechanisms under the current South African fiscal federal system that could be employed to promote equity in primary health care (PHC) allocations across provinces and districts. The study uses data from interviews with government officials involved in the budgeting and resource allocation process for PHC, literature on fiscal federalism and literature on international experience to inform analysis and recommendations. The results from the study identify historical incremental budgeting, weak managerial capacity at lower levels of government, poor accounting of PHC expenditure, and lack of protection for PHC funds as constraints to the realization of a more equitable distribution of PHC allocations. Based on interview data, no one resource allocation mechanism received unanimous support from stakeholders. However, the study highlights the particularly high level of autonomy enjoyed by provincial governments with regards to decision making for allocations to health and PHC services as the major constraint to achieving a more equitable distribution of PHC resources. The national government needs to have more involvement in decision making for resource allocation to PHC services if significant progress towards equity is to be achieved.

Challenges of socio-economically evaluating wildfire management on non-industrial private and public forestland in the western United States

Treesearch

Tyron J. Venn; David E. Calkin

2009-01-01

Non-industrial private forests (NIPFs) and public forests in the United States generate many non-market benefits for landholders and society generally. These values can be both enhanced and diminished by wildfire management. This paper considers the challenges of supporting economically efficient allocation of wildfire suppression resources in a social cost-benefit...

Formula Funding and Decentralized Management of Schools--Has It Improved Resource Allocation in Schools in Sri Lanka?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arunatilake, Nisha; Jayawardena, Priyanka

2010-01-01

Using the experience of the Educational Quality Inputs (EQI) Scheme in Sri Lanka the paper examines the distributional aspects of formula-based funding and efficiency of decentralized management of education funds in a developing country setting. The study finds that the EQI fund distribution is largely pro-poor. However, results show that to…

Opportunities for Efficiency and Innovation: A Primer on How to Cut College Costs. Working Paper 2011-02

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fried, Vance H.

2011-01-01

In this paper the author explores how colleges whose primary mission is undergraduate education can strategically allocate resources in a way that reduces costs and prioritizes teaching and learning. He starts from a provocative thought-experiment--what would it cost to educate undergraduates at a hypothetical college built from scratch?--and uses…

Efficient Allocation of Attentional Resources in Patients with ADHD: Maturational Changes from Age 10 to 29

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gualtieri, C. Thomas; Johnson, Lynda G.

2006-01-01

Background: It has been proposed that ADHD is an executive control disorder. Little is known however about the maturation of executive control in ADHD. Method: A cross-sectional study of ADHD patients compared to normal controls tested on a computerized neurocognitive test battery. Participants: 175 patients with ADHD, age 10 to 29, compared to…

Research of an emergency medical system for mass casualty incidents in Shanghai, China: a system dynamics model.

PubMed

Yu, Wenya; Lv, Yipeng; Hu, Chaoqun; Liu, Xu; Chen, Haiping; Xue, Chen; Zhang, Lulu

2018-01-01

Emergency medical system for mass casualty incidents (EMS-MCIs) is a global issue. However, China lacks such studies extremely, which cannot meet the requirement of rapid decision-support system. This study aims to realize modeling EMS-MCIs in Shanghai, to improve mass casualty incident (MCI) rescue efficiency in China, and to provide a possible method of making rapid rescue decisions during MCIs. This study established a system dynamics (SD) model of EMS-MCIs using the Vensim DSS program. Intervention scenarios were designed as adjusting scales of MCIs, allocation of ambulances, allocation of emergency medical staff, and efficiency of organization and command. Mortality increased with the increasing scale of MCIs, medical rescue capability of hospitals was relatively good, but the efficiency of organization and command was poor, and the prehospital time was too long. Mortality declined significantly when increasing ambulances and improving the efficiency of organization and command; triage and on-site first-aid time were shortened if increasing the availability of emergency medical staff. The effect was the most evident when 2,000 people were involved in MCIs; however, the influence was very small under the scale of 5,000 people. The keys to decrease the mortality of MCIs were shortening the prehospital time and improving the efficiency of organization and command. For small-scale MCIs, improving the utilization rate of health resources was important in decreasing the mortality. For large-scale MCIs, increasing the number of ambulances and emergency medical professionals was the core to decrease prehospital time and mortality. For super-large-scale MCIs, increasing health resources was the premise.

Valuation of irrigation water in South-western Iran using a hedonic pricing model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Esmaeili, Abdoulkarim; Shahsavari, Zahra

2011-12-01

Population growth, improved socioeconomic conditions, increased demand for various types of water use, and a reduction in water supply has created more competition for scarce water supplies leveling many countries. Efficient allocation of water supplies between different economic sectors is therefore very important. Water valuation is a useful tool to determine water price. Water pricing can play a major part in improving water allocation by encouraging users to conserve scarce water resources, and promoting improvements in productivity. We used a hedonic pricing method to reveal the implicit value of irrigation water by analyzing agricultural land values in farms under the Doroodzan dam in South-western Iran. The method was applied to farms in which irrigation water came from wells and canals. The availability of irrigation water was one of the most important factors influencing land prices. The value of irrigation water in the farms investigated was estimated to be 0.046 per cubic meter. The estimated price for water was clearly higher than the price farmers currently pay for water in the area of study. Efficient water pricing could help the sustainability of the water resources. Farmers must therefore be informed of the real value of irrigation water used on their land.

Echo™ User Manual

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Harvey, Dustin Yewell

Echo™ is a MATLAB-based software package designed for robust and scalable analysis of complex data workflows. An alternative to tedious, error-prone conventional processes, Echo is based on three transformative principles for data analysis: self-describing data, name-based indexing, and dynamic resource allocation. The software takes an object-oriented approach to data analysis, intimately connecting measurement data with associated metadata. Echo operations in an analysis workflow automatically track and merge metadata and computation parameters to provide a complete history of the process used to generate final results, while automated figure and report generation tools eliminate the potential to mislabel those results. History reportingmore » and visualization methods provide straightforward auditability of analysis processes. Furthermore, name-based indexing on metadata greatly improves code readability for analyst collaboration and reduces opportunities for errors to occur. Echo efficiently manages large data sets using a framework that seamlessly allocates resources such that only the necessary computations to produce a given result are executed. Echo provides a versatile and extensible framework, allowing advanced users to add their own tools and data classes tailored to their own specific needs. Applying these transformative principles and powerful features, Echo greatly improves analyst efficiency and quality of results in many application areas.« less

Institutionalising health technology assessment: establishing the Medical Technology Assessment Board in India.

PubMed

Downey, Laura E; Mehndiratta, Abha; Grover, Ashoo; Gauba, Vijay; Sheikh, Kabir; Prinja, Shankar; Singh, Ravinder; Cluzeau, Francoise A; Dabak, Saudamini; Teerawattananon, Yot; Kumar, Sanjiv; Swaminathan, Soumya

2017-01-01

India is at crossroads with a commitment by the government to universal health coverage (UHC), driving efficiency and tackling waste across the public healthcare sector. Health technology assessment (HTA) is an important policy reform that can assist policy-makers to tackle inequities and inefficiencies by improving the way in which health resources are allocated towards cost-effective, appropriate and feasible interventions. The equitable and efficient distribution of health budget resources, as well as timely uptake of good value technologies, are critical to strengthen the Indian healthcare system. The government of India is set to establish a Medical Technology Assessment Board to evaluate existing and new health technologies in India, assist choices between comparable technologies for adoption by the healthcare system and improve the way in which priorities for health are set. This initiative aims to introduce a more transparent, inclusive, fair and evidence-based process by which decisions regarding the allocation of health resources are made in India towards the ultimate goal of UHC. In this analysis article, we report on plans and progress of the government of India for the institutionalisation of HTA in the country. Where India is home to one-sixth of the global population, improving the health services that the population receives will have a resounding impact not only for India but also for global health.

Institutionalising health technology assessment: establishing the Medical Technology Assessment Board in India

PubMed Central

Downey, Laura E; Mehndiratta, Abha; Grover, Ashoo; Gauba, Vijay; Sheikh, Kabir; Prinja, Shankar; Singh, Ravinder; Cluzeau, Francoise A; Dabak, Saudamini; Teerawattananon, Yot; Kumar, Sanjiv; Swaminathan, Soumya

2017-01-01

India is at crossroads with a commitment by the government to universal health coverage (UHC), driving efficiency and tackling waste across the public healthcare sector. Health technology assessment (HTA) is an important policy reform that can assist policy-makers to tackle inequities and inefficiencies by improving the way in which health resources are allocated towards cost-effective, appropriate and feasible interventions. The equitable and efficient distribution of health budget resources, as well as timely uptake of good value technologies, are critical to strengthen the Indian healthcare system. The government of India is set to establish a Medical Technology Assessment Board to evaluate existing and new health technologies in India, assist choices between comparable technologies for adoption by the healthcare system and improve the way in which priorities for health are set. This initiative aims to introduce a more transparent, inclusive, fair and evidence-based process by which decisions regarding the allocation of health resources are made in India towards the ultimate goal of UHC. In this analysis article, we report on plans and progress of the government of India for the institutionalisation of HTA in the country. Where India is home to one-sixth of the global population, improving the health services that the population receives will have a resounding impact not only for India but also for global health. PMID:29225927

Toward a Multilevel Perspective on the Allocation of Educational Resources.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Monk, David H.

1981-01-01

The importance of the following is demonstrated: (1) striking a balance between the attention given to resource allocation practices at macro compared to microlevels of decision making; and (2) learning more about how resource allocation decisions made at one level affect practices at other levels of the educational system. (Author/GK)

The Effects of Charter School Competition on School District Resource Allocation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arsen, David; Ni, Yongmei

2012-01-01

Purpose: This article examines two questions: (a) How does resource allocation change in school districts experiencing sustained charter school competition? (b) Among districts exposed to charter competition, are there differences in the resource allocation adjustments between those that do and do not succeed in stemming further enrollment loss to…

Minority Threat, Crime Control, and Police Resource Allocation in the Southwestern United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holmes, Malcolm D.; Smith, Brad W.; Freng, Adrienne B.; Munoz, Ed A.

2008-01-01

Numerous studies have examined political influences on communities' allocations of fiscal and personnel resources to policing. Rational choice theory maintains that these resources are distributed in accordance with the need for crime control, whereas conflict theory argues that they are allocated with the aim of controlling racial and ethnic…

Towards an equitable allocation of the cost of a global change adaptation plan at the river basin scale: going beyond the perfect cooperation assumption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Girard, Corentin; Rinaudo, Jean-Daniel; Pulido-Velázquez, Manuel

2015-04-01

Adaptation to global change is a key issue in the planning of water resource systems in a changing world. Adaptation has to be efficient, but also equitable in the share of the costs of joint adaptation at the river basin scale. Least-cost hydro-economic optimization models have been helpful at defining efficient adaptation strategies. However, they often rely on the assumption of a "perfect cooperation" among the stakeholders, required for reaching the optimal solution. Nowadays, most adaptation decisions have to be agreed among the different actors in charge of their implementation, thus challenging the validity of a perfect command-and-control solution. As a first attempt to over-pass this limitation, our work presents a method to allocate the cost of an efficient adaptation programme of measures among the different stakeholders at the river basin scale. Principles of equity are used to define cost allocation scenarios from different perspectives, combining elements from cooperative game theory and axioms from social justice to bring some "food for thought" in the decision making process of adaptation. To illustrate the type of interactions between stakeholders in a river basin, the method has been applied in a French case study, the Orb river basin. Located on the northern rim of the Mediterranean Sea, this river basin is experiencing changes in demand patterns, and its water resources will be impacted by climate change, calling for the design of an adaptation plan. A least-cost river basin optimization model (LCRBOM) has been developed under GAMS to select the combination of demand- and supply-side adaptation measures that allows meeting quantitative water management targets at the river basin scale in a global change context. The optimal adaptation plan encompasses measures in both agricultural and urban sectors, up-stream and down-stream of the basin, disregarding the individual interests of the stakeholders. In order to ensure equity in the cost allocation of the adaptation plan, different allocation scenarios are considered. The LCRBOM allows defining a solution space based on economic rationality concepts from cooperative game theory (the core of the game), and then, to define equitable allocation of the cost of the programme of measures (the Shapley value and the nucleolus). Moreover, alternative allocation scenarios have been considered based on axiomatic principles of social justice, such as "utilitarian", "prior rights" or "strict equality", applied in the case study area. The comparison of the cost allocation scenarios brings insight to inform the decision making process at the river basin scale and potentially reap the efficiency gains from cooperation in the design of adaptation plan. The study has been partially supported by the IMPADAPT project /CGL2013-48424-C2-1-R) from the Spanish ministry MINECO (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad) and European FEDER funds. Corentin Girard is supported by a grant from the University Lecturer Training Program (FPU12/03803) of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports of Spain.

Concept for a Wireless Sensor Network to support GIS based water and land resource management in the Aksu-Tarim Basin, Xinjiang, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doluschitz, Reiner; Feike, Til

2013-04-01

Farmers in the oases along the Aksu-Tarim River suffer from severe seasonal water shortage caused by high fluctuations of river run-off. The uncertainty of water availability makes the planning of crop production and related investments extremely difficult. As a consequence farm management is often sub-optimal, manifesting in low input efficiencies, and the value generated in the agricultural sector being way below its potential. The "Tarim Basin Water Resource Bureau" (TBWRB) was founded in the 1990s. Its major task is to implement a basin wide water resources management plan, which involves fair allocation of water resources among the farmers in the different administrative units along the river. Among others, the lack of reliable and timely information on water quantities and qualities within the major water bodies of the basin hinders the implementation of an effective water management plan. Therefore we introduce the concept of a wireless sensor network (WSN) that provides reliable instantaneous information on the status of all important water resources within the basin. In the first step a GIS including all vital geospatial data, like river courses, channel and reservoir network and capacities, soil and land use map, is built. In the second step a WSN that monitors all important parameters at essential positions throughout the basin needs to be established. Measured parameters comprise meteorological data, river run-off, water levels of reservoirs, groundwater levels, and salinity levels of water resources. All data is centrally collected and processed by the TBWRB. Apart from generating a prompt and complete picture of currently available water resources, the TBWRB can use the system to record actual water allocation, and develop an early warning system for upcoming droughts or floods. Finally an integrated water and land management scheme can be established that allocates resources maximizing the benefits at basin level. Financed by public funding, the data collected by the WSN should be accessible to the public. Considering the environmental, economic and social cost of inefficient, intransparent and unfair allocation of water resources, the investments into a WSN are reasonable. However, it requires strong efforts from highest governmental agencies to enable the TBWRB to compile all the required data (e.g. meteorological, soil, river run-off), which is customarily collected and controlled by the respective administrative unit.

MIROS: A Hybrid Real-Time Energy-Efficient Operating System for the Resource-Constrained Wireless Sensor Nodes

PubMed Central

Liu, Xing; Hou, Kun Mean; de Vaulx, Christophe; Shi, Hongling; Gholami, Khalid El

2014-01-01

Operating system (OS) technology is significant for the proliferation of the wireless sensor network (WSN). With an outstanding OS; the constrained WSN resources (processor; memory and energy) can be utilized efficiently. Moreover; the user application development can be served soundly. In this article; a new hybrid; real-time; memory-efficient; energy-efficient; user-friendly and fault-tolerant WSN OS MIROS is designed and implemented. MIROS implements the hybrid scheduler and the dynamic memory allocator. Real-time scheduling can thus be achieved with low memory consumption. In addition; it implements a mid-layer software EMIDE (Efficient Mid-layer Software for User-Friendly Application Development Environment) to decouple the WSN application from the low-level system. The application programming process can consequently be simplified and the application reprogramming performance improved. Moreover; it combines both the software and the multi-core hardware techniques to conserve the energy resources; improve the node reliability; as well as achieve a new debugging method. To evaluate the performance of MIROS; it is compared with the other WSN OSes (TinyOS; Contiki; SOS; openWSN and mantisOS) from different OS concerns. The final evaluation results prove that MIROS is suitable to be used even on the tight resource-constrained WSN nodes. It can support the real-time WSN applications. Furthermore; it is energy efficient; user friendly and fault tolerant. PMID:25248069

MIROS: a hybrid real-time energy-efficient operating system for the resource-constrained wireless sensor nodes.

PubMed

Liu, Xing; Hou, Kun Mean; de Vaulx, Christophe; Shi, Hongling; El Gholami, Khalid

2014-09-22

Operating system (OS) technology is significant for the proliferation of the wireless sensor network (WSN). With an outstanding OS; the constrained WSN resources (processor; memory and energy) can be utilized efficiently. Moreover; the user application development can be served soundly. In this article; a new hybrid; real-time; memory-efficient; energy-efficient; user-friendly and fault-tolerant WSN OS MIROS is designed and implemented. MIROS implements the hybrid scheduler and the dynamic memory allocator. Real-time scheduling can thus be achieved with low memory consumption. In addition; it implements a mid-layer software EMIDE (Efficient Mid-layer Software for User-Friendly Application Development Environment) to decouple the WSN application from the low-level system. The application programming process can consequently be simplified and the application reprogramming performance improved. Moreover; it combines both the software and the multi-core hardware techniques to conserve the energy resources; improve the node reliability; as well as achieve a new debugging method. To evaluate the performance of MIROS; it is compared with the other WSN OSes (TinyOS; Contiki; SOS; openWSN and mantisOS) from different OS concerns. The final evaluation results prove that MIROS is suitable to be used even on the tight resource-constrained WSN nodes. It can support the real-time WSN applications. Furthermore; it is energy efficient; user friendly and fault tolerant.

Multi-agent systems design for aerospace applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waslander, Steven L.

2007-12-01

Engineering systems with independent decision makers are becoming increasingly prevalent and present many challenges in coordinating actions to achieve systems goals. In particular, this work investigates the applications of air traffic flow control and autonomous vehicles as motivation to define algorithms that allow agents to agree to safe, efficient and equitable solutions in a distributed manner. To ensure system requirements will be satisfied in practice, each method is evaluated for a specific model of agent behavior, be it cooperative or non-cooperative. The air traffic flow control problem is investigated from the point of view of the airlines, whose costs are directly affected by resource allocation decisions made by the Federal Aviation Administration in order to mitigate traffic disruptions caused by weather. Airlines are first modeled as cooperative, and a distributed algorithm is presented with various global cost metrics which balance efficient and equitable use of resources differently. Next, a competitive airline model is assumed and two market mechanisms are developed for allocating contested airspace resources. The resource market mechanism provides a solution for which convergence to an efficient solution can be guaranteed, and each airline will improve on the solution that would occur without its inclusion in the decision process. A lump-sum market is then introduced as an alternative mechanism, for which efficiency loss bounds exist if airlines attempt to manipulate prices. Initial convergence results for lump-sum markets are presented for simplified problems with a single resource. To validate these algorithms, two air traffic flow models are developed which extend previous techniques, the first a convenient convex model made possible by assuming constant velocity flow, and the second a more complex flow model with full inflow, velocity and rerouting control. Autonomous vehicle teams are envisaged for many applications including mobile sensing and search and rescue. To enable these high-level applications, multi-vehicle collision avoidance is solved using a cooperative, decentralized algorithm. For the development of coordination algorithms for autonomous vehicles, the Stanford Testbed of Autonomous Rotorcraft for Multi-Agent Control (STARMAC) is presented. This testbed provides significant advantages over other aerial testbeds due to its small size and low maintenance requirements.

Assessing Agricultural Intensification Strategies with a Sustainable Agriculture Matrix

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, X.; Davidson, E. A.

2017-12-01

To meet the growing global demand for food and bioenergy, agricultural production must nearly double by 2050, placing additional pressures on the environment and the society. Thus, how to efficiently use limited land, water, and nutrient resources to produce more food with low pollution (MoFoLoPo) is clearly one of the major challenges of this century. The increasingly interconnected global market provides a great opportunity for reallocating crop production to the countries and regions that use natural resources more efficiently. For example, it is estimated that optimizing the allocation of crop production around the world can mitigate 41% of nitrogen lost to the environment. However, higher efficiency in nutrients use does not necessarily lead to higher efficiency in land use or water use. In addition, the increasing share of international trade in food supply may introduce additional systemic risk and affect the resilience of global food system. Using the data/indicator from a Sustainable Agriculture Matrix and an international trade matrix, we developed a simple model to assess the trade-offs of international trade considering resource use efficiencies (including water, land, nitrogen, and phosphorus), economic costs and benefits, and the resilience of food system.

Complexity as a Factor of Quality and Cost in Large Scale Software Development.

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-12-01

allocating testing resources." [69 69I V. THE ROLE OF COMPLEXITY IN RESOURCE ESTIMATION AND ALLOCATION A. GENERAL It can be argued that blame for the...and allocation of testing resource by - identifying independent substructures and - identifying heavily used logic paths. 2. Setting a Design Threshold... RESOURCE ESTIMATION -------- 70 1. New Dynamic Field ------------------------- 70 2. Quality and Testing ----------------------- 71 3. Programming Units of

Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation with Effective Utilization of Polling Interval over WDM/TDM PON

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ni, Cuiping; Gan, Chaoqin; Gao, Ziyue

2014-12-01

WDM/TDM (wavelength-division multiplexing/time-division multiplexing) PON (passive optical network) appears to be an attractive solution for the next generation optical access networks. Dynamic bandwidth allocation (DBA) plays a crucial role in efficiently and fairly allocating the bandwidth among all users in WDM/TDM PON. In this paper, two dynamic bandwidth allocation schemes (DBA1 and DBA2) are proposed to eliminate the idle time of polling cycles (i.e. polling interval), improve bandwidth utilization and make full use of bandwidth resources. The two DBA schemes adjust the time slot of sending request information and make fair scheduling among users to achieve the effective utilization of polling interval in WDM/TDM PON. The simulation and theoretical analyses verify that the proposed schemes outperform the conventional DBA scheme. We also make comparisons between the two schemes in terms of bandwidth utilization and average packet delay to further demonstrate the effectiveness of the scheme of DBA2.

Real time target allocation in cooperative unmanned aerial vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kudleppanavar, Ganesh

The prolific development of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV's) in recent years has the potential to provide tremendous advantages in military, commercial and law enforcement applications. While safety and performance take precedence in the development lifecycle, autonomous operations and, in particular, cooperative missions have the ability to significantly enhance the usability of these vehicles. The success of cooperative missions relies on the optimal allocation of targets while taking into consideration the resource limitation of each vehicle. The task allocation process can be centralized or decentralized. This effort presents the development of a real time target allocation algorithm that considers available stored energy in each vehicle while minimizing the communication between each UAV. The algorithm utilizes a nearest neighbor search algorithm to locate new targets with respect to existing targets. Simulations show that this novel algorithm compares favorably to the mixed integer linear programming method, which is computationally more expensive. The implementation of this algorithm on Arduino and Xbee wireless modules shows the capability of the algorithm to execute efficiently on hardware with minimum computation complexity.

Cloudbus Toolkit for Market-Oriented Cloud Computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buyya, Rajkumar; Pandey, Suraj; Vecchiola, Christian

This keynote paper: (1) presents the 21st century vision of computing and identifies various IT paradigms promising to deliver computing as a utility; (2) defines the architecture for creating market-oriented Clouds and computing atmosphere by leveraging technologies such as virtual machines; (3) provides thoughts on market-based resource management strategies that encompass both customer-driven service management and computational risk management to sustain SLA-oriented resource allocation; (4) presents the work carried out as part of our new Cloud Computing initiative, called Cloudbus: (i) Aneka, a Platform as a Service software system containing SDK (Software Development Kit) for construction of Cloud applications and deployment on private or public Clouds, in addition to supporting market-oriented resource management; (ii) internetworking of Clouds for dynamic creation of federated computing environments for scaling of elastic applications; (iii) creation of 3rd party Cloud brokering services for building content delivery networks and e-Science applications and their deployment on capabilities of IaaS providers such as Amazon along with Grid mashups; (iv) CloudSim supporting modelling and simulation of Clouds for performance studies; (v) Energy Efficient Resource Allocation Mechanisms and Techniques for creation and management of Green Clouds; and (vi) pathways for future research.

Introduction to health economics and decision-making: Is economics relevant for the frontline clinician?

PubMed

Goeree, Ron; Diaby, Vakaramoko

2013-12-01

In a climate of escalating demands for new health care services and significant constraints on new resources, the disciplines of health economics and health technology assessment (HTA) have increasingly been turned to as explicit evidence-based frameworks to help make tough health care access and reimbursement decisions. Health economics is the discipline of economics concerned with the efficient allocation of health care resources, essentially trying to maximize health benefits to society contingent upon available resources. HTA is a broader field drawing upon several disciplines, but which relies heavily upon the tools of health economics and economic evaluation. Traditionally, health economics and economic evaluation have been widely used at the political (macro) and local (meso) decision-making levels, and have progressively had an important role even at informing individual clinical decisions (micro level). The aim of this paper is to introduce readers to health economics and discuss its relevance to frontline clinicians. Particularly, the content of the paper will facilitate clinicians' understanding of the link between economics and their medical practice, and how clinical decision-making reflects on health care resource allocation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Playing Games with Optimal Competitive Scheduling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frank, Jeremy; Crawford, James; Khatib, Lina; Brafman, Ronen

2005-01-01

This paper is concerned with the problem of allocating a unit capacity resource to multiple users within a pre-defined time period. The resource is indivisible, so that at most one user can use it at each time instance. However, different users may use it at different times. The users have independent, selfish preferences for when and for how long they are allocated this resource. Thus, they value different resource access durations differently, and they value different time slots differently. We seek an optimal allocation schedule for this resource.

Hybrid Resource Allocation Scheme with Proportional Fairness in OFDMA-Based Cognitive Radio Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Li; Xu, Changqing; Fan, Pingzhi; He, Jian

In this paper, the resource allocation problem for proportional fairness in hybrid Cognitive Radio (CR) systems is studied. In OFDMA-based CR systems, traditional resource allocation algorithms can not guarantee proportional rates among CR users (CRU) in each OFDM symbol because the number of available subchannels might be smaller than that of CRUs in some OFDM symbols. To deal with this time-varying nature of available spectrum resource, a hybrid CR scheme in which CRUs are allowed to use subchannels in both spectrum holes and primary users (PU) bands is adopted and a resource allocation algorithm is proposed to guarantee proportional rates among CRUs with no undue interference to PUs.

30 CFR 1206.459 - Allocation of washed coal.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Allocation of washed coal. 1206.459 Section... RESOURCES REVENUE PRODUCT VALUATION Indian Coal § 1206.459 Allocation of washed coal. (a) When coal is subjected to washing, the washed coal must be allocated to the leases from which it was extracted. (b) When...

30 CFR 1206.459 - Allocation of washed coal.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Allocation of washed coal. 1206.459 Section... RESOURCES REVENUE PRODUCT VALUATION Indian Coal § 1206.459 Allocation of washed coal. (a) When coal is subjected to washing, the washed coal must be allocated to the leases from which it was extracted. (b) When...

30 CFR 1206.260 - Allocation of washed coal.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Allocation of washed coal. 1206.260 Section... INTERIOR Natural Resources Revenue PRODUCT VALUATION Federal Coal § 1206.260 Allocation of washed coal. (a) When coal is subjected to washing, the washed coal must be allocated to the leases from which it was...

30 CFR 1206.260 - Allocation of washed coal.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Allocation of washed coal. 1206.260 Section... RESOURCES REVENUE PRODUCT VALUATION Federal Coal § 1206.260 Allocation of washed coal. (a) When coal is subjected to washing, the washed coal must be allocated to the leases from which it was extracted. (b) When...

30 CFR 1206.459 - Allocation of washed coal.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Allocation of washed coal. 1206.459 Section... INTERIOR Natural Resources Revenue PRODUCT VALUATION Indian Coal § 1206.459 Allocation of washed coal. (a) When coal is subjected to washing, the washed coal must be allocated to the leases from which it was...

30 CFR 1206.260 - Allocation of washed coal.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Allocation of washed coal. 1206.260 Section... RESOURCES REVENUE PRODUCT VALUATION Federal Coal § 1206.260 Allocation of washed coal. (a) When coal is subjected to washing, the washed coal must be allocated to the leases from which it was extracted. (b) When...

30 CFR 1206.459 - Allocation of washed coal.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Allocation of washed coal. 1206.459 Section... RESOURCES REVENUE PRODUCT VALUATION Indian Coal § 1206.459 Allocation of washed coal. (a) When coal is subjected to washing, the washed coal must be allocated to the leases from which it was extracted. (b) When...

30 CFR 1206.260 - Allocation of washed coal.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Allocation of washed coal. 1206.260 Section... RESOURCES REVENUE PRODUCT VALUATION Federal Coal § 1206.260 Allocation of washed coal. (a) When coal is subjected to washing, the washed coal must be allocated to the leases from which it was extracted. (b) When...

Space Station Freedom resource allocation accommodation of technology payload requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Avery, Don E.; Collier, Lisa D.; Gartrell, Charles F.

1990-01-01

An overview of the Office of Aeronautics, Exploration, and Technology (OAET) Space Station Freedom Technology Payload Development Program is provided, and the OAET Station resource requirements are reviewed. The requirements are contrasted with current proposed resource allocations. A discussion of the issues and conclusions are provided. It is concluded that an overall 20 percent resource allocation is appropriate to support OAET's technology development program, that some resources are inadequate even at the 20 percent level, and that bartering resources among U.S. users and international partners and increasing the level of automation may be viable solutions to the resource constraint problem.

Risk-based decision making for staggered bioterrorist attacks : resource allocation and risk reduction in "reload" scenarios.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lemaster, Michelle Nicole; Gay, David M.; Ehlen, Mark Andrew

2009-10-01

Staggered bioterrorist attacks with aerosolized pathogens on population centers present a formidable challenge to resource allocation and response planning. The response and planning will commence immediately after the detection of the first attack and with no or little information of the second attack. In this report, we outline a method by which resource allocation may be performed. It involves probabilistic reconstruction of the bioterrorist attack from partial observations of the outbreak, followed by an optimization-under-uncertainty approach to perform resource allocations. We consider both single-site and time-staggered multi-site attacks (i.e., a reload scenario) under conditions when resources (personnel and equipment whichmore » are difficult to gather and transport) are insufficient. Both communicable (plague) and non-communicable diseases (anthrax) are addressed, and we also consider cases when the data, the time-series of people reporting with symptoms, are confounded with a reporting delay. We demonstrate how our approach develops allocations profiles that have the potential to reduce the probability of an extremely adverse outcome in exchange for a more certain, but less adverse outcome. We explore the effect of placing limits on daily allocations. Further, since our method is data-driven, the resource allocation progressively improves as more data becomes available.« less

Where Does the Money Go? Resource Allocation in Elementary and Secondary Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Picus, Lawrence O., Ed.; Wattenbarger, James L., Ed.

The 13 Chapters in this book address the important issue of how schools and school districts allocate their resources. The book summarizes the emerging research in educational resource allocations (tax dollars) at the district, school, and classroom levels. Following the preface by Lawrence O. Picus, the chapters include: (1) "Why Do We Need to…

Allocation Anatomy: How District Policies That Deploy Resources Can Support (or Undermine) District Reform Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roza, Marguerite

2008-01-01

The goal of this paper is to explore the effects of micro-budgeting decisions and show how they might support or hamper district reform strategies. The study draws on public and private sector resource allocation literature to identify key elements of resource allocation decisions. These elements are used to highlight different allocation…

A Model of Resource Allocation in Public School Districts: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chambers, Jay G.

This paper formulates a comprehensive model of resource allocation in a local public school district. The theoretical framework specified could be applied equally well to any number of local public social service agencies. Section 1 develops the theoretical model describing the process of resource allocation. This involves the determination of the…

Resource Allocation Models and Accountability: A Jamaican Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nkrumah-Young, Kofi K.; Powell, Philip

2008-01-01

Higher education institutions (HEIs) may be funded privately, by the state or by a mixture of the two. Nevertheless, any state financing of HE necessitates a mechanism to determine the level of support and the channels through which it is to be directed; that is, a resource allocation model. Public funding, through resource allocation models,…

Rail-Highway Crossing Resource Allocation Procedure - User's Guide. Third Edition

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1987-08-01

To assist states and railroads in determining effective allocations of Federal funds for rail-highway crossing improvements, the U.S. Department of Transportation has developed the DOT Rail-Highway Crossing Resource Allocation Procedure. The procedur...

Optimizing the integrated efficiency for water resource utilization：based on Economic perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, L.; Yoshikawa, S.; Kanae, S.

2014-12-01

At present, total global water withdrawal is increasing and water shortage will become a crucial issue around the world. In the 2050, the water withdrawal will exceed the water which we can get it from the river and underground. One of the ways of alleviating water scarcity is increasing the efficiency of water use without development of additional water supplies. In previous literatures about water use efficiency, there are less discussion about the temporal efficiency change with corresponding characteristics of water resource. The main aim of this paper is to estimate the temporal efficiency of water use during 2011-2020 for proposing how to use efficiently the limited water. This paper used dynamic Data Envelope Analysis to estimate the efficiency which is the ratio of the sum of weighted outputs to the sum of weighted inputs. Our model uses cost of agricultural production as input indices and production value of the agriculture as output index，water withdrawal as temporal linkage. We mainly work on the two problems: Firstly, finding out the evident how much the value of water use efficiencies are in each target country; Secondly, adjusting the output value to make those countries which water use inefficiency reach to DEA efficient. The results provide a scientific reference to make rational allocation and the sustainable use of water resources would be realized.

The dynamics of resource allocation and costs of reproduction in a sexually dimorphic, wind-pollinated dioecious plant.

PubMed

Teitel, Z; Pickup, M; Field, D L; Barrett, S C H

2016-01-01

Sexual dimorphism in resource allocation is expected to change during the life cycle of dioecious plants because of temporal differences between the sexes in reproductive investment. Given the potential for sex-specific differences in reproductive costs, resource availability may contribute to variation in reproductive allocation in females and males. Here, we used Rumex hastatulus, a dioecious, wind-pollinated annual plant, to investigate whether sexual dimorphism varies with life-history stage and nutrient availability, and determine whether allocation patterns differ depending on reproductive commitment. To examine if the costs of reproduction varied between the sexes, reproduction was either allowed or prevented through bud removal, and biomass allocation was measured at maturity. In a second experiment to assess variation in sexual dimorphism across the life cycle, and whether this varied with resource availability, plants were grown in high and low nutrients and allocation to roots, aboveground vegetative growth and reproduction were measured at three developmental stages. Males prevented from reproducing compensated with increased above- and belowground allocation to a much larger degree than females, suggesting that male reproductive costs reduce vegetative growth. The proportional allocation to roots, reproductive structures and aboveground vegetative growth varied between the sexes and among life-cycle stages, but not with nutrient treatment. Females allocated proportionally more resources to roots than males at peak flowering, but this pattern was reversed at reproductive maturity under low-nutrient conditions. Our study illustrates the importance of temporal dynamics in sex-specific resource allocation and provides support for high male reproductive costs in wind-pollinated plants. © 2015 German Botanical Society and The Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands.

Leveraging human decision making through the optimal management of centralized resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hyden, Paul; McGrath, Richard G.

2016-05-01

Combining results from mixed integer optimization, stochastic modeling and queuing theory, we will advance the interdisciplinary problem of efficiently and effectively allocating centrally managed resources. Academia currently fails to address this, as the esoteric demands of each of these large research areas limits work across traditional boundaries. The commercial space does not currently address these challenges due to the absence of a profit metric. By constructing algorithms that explicitly use inputs across boundaries, we are able to incorporate the advantages of using human decision makers. Key improvements in the underlying algorithms are made possible by aligning decision maker goals with the feedback loops introduced between the core optimization step and the modeling of the overall stochastic process of supply and demand. A key observation is that human decision-makers must be explicitly included in the analysis for these approaches to be ultimately successful. Transformative access gives warfighters and mission owners greater understanding of global needs and allows for relationships to guide optimal resource allocation decisions. Mastery of demand processes and optimization bottlenecks reveals long term maximum marginal utility gaps in capabilities.

Interactive two-stage stochastic fuzzy programming for water resources management.

PubMed

Wang, S; Huang, G H

2011-08-01

In this study, an interactive two-stage stochastic fuzzy programming (ITSFP) approach has been developed through incorporating an interactive fuzzy resolution (IFR) method within an inexact two-stage stochastic programming (ITSP) framework. ITSFP can not only tackle dual uncertainties presented as fuzzy boundary intervals that exist in the objective function and the left- and right-hand sides of constraints, but also permit in-depth analyses of various policy scenarios that are associated with different levels of economic penalties when the promised policy targets are violated. A management problem in terms of water resources allocation has been studied to illustrate applicability of the proposed approach. The results indicate that a set of solutions under different feasibility degrees has been generated for planning the water resources allocation. They can help the decision makers (DMs) to conduct in-depth analyses of tradeoffs between economic efficiency and constraint-violation risk, as well as enable them to identify, in an interactive way, a desired compromise between satisfaction degree of the goal and feasibility of the constraints (i.e., risk of constraint violation). Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nursing home reimbursement and the allocation of rehabilitation therapy resources.

PubMed

Murtaugh, C M; Cooney, L M; DerSimonian, R R; Smits, H L; Fetter, R B

1988-10-01

Most public funding methods for long-term care do not adequately match payment rates with patient need for services. Case-mix payment systems are designed to encourage a more efficient and equitable allocation of limited health care resources. Even nursing home case-mix payment systems, however, do not currently provide the proper incentives to match rehabilitation therapy resources to a patient's needs. We were able to determine by a review of over 8,500 patients in 65 nursing homes that certain diagnoses, partial dependence in activities of daily living (ADLs), clear mental status, and improving medical status are associated with the provision of rehabilitation services to nursing home residents. These patient characteristics are clinically reasonable predictors of the need for therapy and should be considered for use in nursing home case-mix reimbursement systems. Primary payment source also was associated with the provision of rehabilitation services even after taking into account significant patient characteristics. It is unclear how much of the variation in service use across payers is due to differences in patient need as opposed to differences in the financial incentives associated with current payment methods.

Integer-Linear-Programing Optimization in Scalable Video Multicast with Adaptive Modulation and Coding in Wireless Networks

PubMed Central

Lee, Chaewoo

2014-01-01

The advancement in wideband wireless network supports real time services such as IPTV and live video streaming. However, because of the sharing nature of the wireless medium, efficient resource allocation has been studied to achieve a high level of acceptability and proliferation of wireless multimedia. Scalable video coding (SVC) with adaptive modulation and coding (AMC) provides an excellent solution for wireless video streaming. By assigning different modulation and coding schemes (MCSs) to video layers, SVC can provide good video quality to users in good channel conditions and also basic video quality to users in bad channel conditions. For optimal resource allocation, a key issue in applying SVC in the wireless multicast service is how to assign MCSs and the time resources to each SVC layer in the heterogeneous channel condition. We formulate this problem with integer linear programming (ILP) and provide numerical results to show the performance under 802.16 m environment. The result shows that our methodology enhances the overall system throughput compared to an existing algorithm. PMID:25276862

Dynamic fair node spectrum allocation for ad hoc networks using random matrices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahmes, Mark; Lemieux, George; Chester, Dave; Sonnenberg, Jerry

2015-05-01

Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) is widely seen as a solution to the problem of limited spectrum, because of its ability to adapt the operating frequency of a radio. Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs) can extend high-capacity mobile communications over large areas where fixed and tethered-mobile systems are not available. In one use case with high potential impact, cognitive radio employs spectrum sensing to facilitate the identification of allocated frequencies not currently accessed by their primary users. Primary users own the rights to radiate at a specific frequency and geographic location, while secondary users opportunistically attempt to radiate at a specific frequency when the primary user is not using it. We populate a spatial radio environment map (REM) database with known information that can be leveraged in an ad hoc network to facilitate fair path use of the DSA-discovered links. Utilization of high-resolution geospatial data layers in RF propagation analysis is directly applicable. Random matrix theory (RMT) is useful in simulating network layer usage in nodes by a Wishart adjacency matrix. We use the Dijkstra algorithm for discovering ad hoc network node connection patterns. We present a method for analysts to dynamically allocate node-node path and link resources using fair division. User allocation of limited resources as a function of time must be dynamic and based on system fairness policies. The context of fair means that first available request for an asset is not envied as long as it is not yet allocated or tasked in order to prevent cycling of the system. This solution may also save money by offering a Pareto efficient repeatable process. We use a water fill queue algorithm to include Shapley value marginal contributions for allocation.

A Protocol for Generating and Exchanging (Genome-Scale) Metabolic Resource Allocation Models.

PubMed

Reimers, Alexandra-M; Lindhorst, Henning; Waldherr, Steffen

2017-09-06

In this article, we present a protocol for generating a complete (genome-scale) metabolic resource allocation model, as well as a proposal for how to represent such models in the systems biology markup language (SBML). Such models are used to investigate enzyme levels and achievable growth rates in large-scale metabolic networks. Although the idea of metabolic resource allocation studies has been present in the field of systems biology for some years, no guidelines for generating such a model have been published up to now. This paper presents step-by-step instructions for building a (dynamic) resource allocation model, starting with prerequisites such as a genome-scale metabolic reconstruction, through building protein and noncatalytic biomass synthesis reactions and assigning turnover rates for each reaction. In addition, we explain how one can use SBML level 3 in combination with the flux balance constraints and our resource allocation modeling annotation to represent such models.

Spectrum Sharing Based on a Bertrand Game in Cognitive Radio Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Zeng, Biqing; Zhang, Chi; Hu, Pianpian; Wang, Shengyu

2017-01-01

In the study of power control and allocation based on pricing, the utility of secondary users is usually studied from the perspective of the signal to noise ratio. The study of secondary user utility from the perspective of communication demand can not only promote the secondary users to meet the maximum communication needs, but also to maximize the utilization of spectrum resources, however, research in this area is lacking, so from the viewpoint of meeting the demand of network communication, this paper designs a two stage model to solve spectrum leasing and allocation problem in cognitive radio sensor networks (CRSNs). In the first stage, the secondary base station collects the secondary network communication requirements, and rents spectrum resources from several primary base stations using the Bertrand game to model the transaction behavior of the primary base station and secondary base station. The second stage, the subcarriers and power allocation problem of secondary base stations is defined as a nonlinear programming problem to be solved based on Nash bargaining. The simulation results show that the proposed model can satisfy the communication requirements of each user in a fair and efficient way compared to other spectrum sharing schemes. PMID:28067850

Opportunistic Capacity-Based Resource Allocation for Chunk-Based Multi-Carrier Cognitive Radio Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Huang, Jie; Zeng, Xiaoping; Jian, Xin; Tan, Xiaoheng; Zhang, Qi

2017-01-01

The spectrum allocation for cognitive radio sensor networks (CRSNs) has received considerable research attention under the assumption that the spectrum environment is static. However, in practice, the spectrum environment varies over time due to primary user/secondary user (PU/SU) activity and mobility, resulting in time-varied spectrum resources. This paper studies resource allocation for chunk-based multi-carrier CRSNs with time-varied spectrum resources. We present a novel opportunistic capacity model through a continuous time semi-Markov chain (CTSMC) to describe the time-varied spectrum resources of chunks and, based on this, a joint power and chunk allocation model by considering the opportunistically available capacity of chunks is proposed. To reduce the computational complexity, we split this model into two sub-problems and solve them via the Lagrangian dual method. Simulation results illustrate that the proposed opportunistic capacity-based resource allocation algorithm can achieve better performance compared with traditional algorithms when the spectrum environment is time-varied. PMID:28106803

Dynamic Hierarchical Sleep Scheduling for Wireless Ad-Hoc Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Wen, Chih-Yu; Chen, Ying-Chih

2009-01-01

This paper presents two scheduling management schemes for wireless sensor networks, which manage the sensors by utilizing the hierarchical network structure and allocate network resources efficiently. A local criterion is used to simultaneously establish the sensing coverage and connectivity such that dynamic cluster-based sleep scheduling can be achieved. The proposed schemes are simulated and analyzed to abstract the network behaviors in a number of settings. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithms provide efficient network power control and can achieve high scalability in wireless sensor networks. PMID:22412343

Dynamic hierarchical sleep scheduling for wireless ad-hoc sensor networks.

PubMed

Wen, Chih-Yu; Chen, Ying-Chih

2009-01-01

This paper presents two scheduling management schemes for wireless sensor networks, which manage the sensors by utilizing the hierarchical network structure and allocate network resources efficiently. A local criterion is used to simultaneously establish the sensing coverage and connectivity such that dynamic cluster-based sleep scheduling can be achieved. The proposed schemes are simulated and analyzed to abstract the network behaviors in a number of settings. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithms provide efficient network power control and can achieve high scalability in wireless sensor networks.

Flood Damage Prevention Services of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: An Evaluation of Policy Changes and Program Outcomes during 1970-1983 Measured against Criteria of Equity, Efficiency, and Responsiveness.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-02-01

appropriate. Flood damage prevention activities may be categorized in three major strategy group- ings: 1) modifying flooding, 2) modifying susceptibility...it is a more complex process. He categorizes the forces that interact on the allocation of resources for Corps projects as economic efficiency...outputs to outcomes. It is this relationship that is the essence of the research effort. * 1 bid. p. 8. 2 Lewis A. Froman, ’The Categorization of

Hong Kong Hospital Authority resource efficiency evaluation: Via a novel DEA-Malmquist model and Tobit regression model.

PubMed

Guo, Hainan; Zhao, Yang; Niu, Tie; Tsui, Kwok-Leung

2017-01-01

The Hospital Authority (HA) is a statutory body managing all the public hospitals and institutes in Hong Kong (HK). In recent decades, Hong Kong Hospital Authority (HKHA) has been making efforts to improve the healthcare services, but there still exist some problems like unfair resource allocation and poor management, as reported by the Hong Kong medical legislative committee. One critical consequence of these problems is low healthcare efficiency of hospitals, leading to low satisfaction among patients. Moreover, HKHA also suffers from the conflict between limited resource and growing demand. An effective evaluation of HA is important for resource planning and healthcare decision making. In this paper, we propose a two-phase method to evaluate HA efficiency for reducing healthcare expenditure and improving healthcare service. Specifically, in Phase I, we measure the HKHA efficiency changes from 2000 to 2013 by applying a novel DEA-Malmquist index with undesirable factors. In Phase II, we further explore the impact of some exogenous factors (e.g., population density) on HKHA efficiency by Tobit regression model. Empirical results show that there are significant differences between the efficiencies of different hospitals and clusters. In particular, it is found that the public hospital serving in a richer district has a relatively lower efficiency. To a certain extent, this reflects the socioeconomic reality in HK that people with better economic condition prefers receiving higher quality service from the private hospitals.

Hong Kong Hospital Authority resource efficiency evaluation: Via a novel DEA-Malmquist model and Tobit regression model

PubMed Central

Guo, Hainan; Zhao, Yang; Niu, Tie; Tsui, Kwok-Leung

2017-01-01

The Hospital Authority (HA) is a statutory body managing all the public hospitals and institutes in Hong Kong (HK). In recent decades, Hong Kong Hospital Authority (HKHA) has been making efforts to improve the healthcare services, but there still exist some problems like unfair resource allocation and poor management, as reported by the Hong Kong medical legislative committee. One critical consequence of these problems is low healthcare efficiency of hospitals, leading to low satisfaction among patients. Moreover, HKHA also suffers from the conflict between limited resource and growing demand. An effective evaluation of HA is important for resource planning and healthcare decision making. In this paper, we propose a two-phase method to evaluate HA efficiency for reducing healthcare expenditure and improving healthcare service. Specifically, in Phase I, we measure the HKHA efficiency changes from 2000 to 2013 by applying a novel DEA-Malmquist index with undesirable factors. In Phase II, we further explore the impact of some exogenous factors (e.g., population density) on HKHA efficiency by Tobit regression model. Empirical results show that there are significant differences between the efficiencies of different hospitals and clusters. In particular, it is found that the public hospital serving in a richer district has a relatively lower efficiency. To a certain extent, this reflects the socioeconomic reality in HK that people with better economic condition prefers receiving higher quality service from the private hospitals. PMID:28886087

Resource Allocation in High Schools. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hartman, William T.

This study investigated the resource allocation process--how school administrators obtain the proper resources to operate their schools, distribute the available resources among the various school programs appropriately, and manage resources for effective educational results--in four high schools during the 1984-85 school year. Information was…

Analysis of labor employment assessment on production machine to minimize time production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernawati, Tri; Suliawati; Sari Gumay, Vita

2018-03-01

Every company both in the field of service and manufacturing always trying to pass efficiency of it’s resource use. One resource that has an important role is labor. Labor has different efficiency levels for different jobs anyway. Problems related to the optimal allocation of labor that has different levels of efficiency for different jobs are called assignment problems, which is a special case of linear programming. In this research, Analysis of Labor Employment Assesment on Production Machine to Minimize Time Production, in PT PDM is done by using Hungarian algorithm. The aim of the research is to get the assignment of optimal labor on production machine to minimize time production. The results showed that the assignment of existing labor is not suitable because the time of completion of the assignment is longer than the assignment by using the Hungarian algorithm. By applying the Hungarian algorithm obtained time savings of 16%.

Preventing child pedestrian injury: pedestrian education or traffic calming?

PubMed

Roberts, I; Ashton, T; Dunn, R; Lee-Joe, T

1994-06-01

The traditional approach to the prevention of child pedestrian injuries in New Zealand is pedestrian education. However, none of the programs currently being implemented in New Zealand have ever been shown to reduce injury rates. The allocation of scarce resources to pedestrian education must therefore be questioned. In this paper we estimate the number of serious child pedestrian injuries which might be prevented if the resources allocated to pedestrian education were allocated instead to environmental approaches, in particular, to traffic calming. It is estimated that approximately 18 hospitalisations of child pedestrians could be prevented each year under this alternative resource allocation, disregarding any other benefits of traffic calming. These results emphasise the need to consider the potential sacrifices involved in the allocation of scarce resources to child pedestrian education.

Summary of Research 1997 Department of Systems Management.

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-01-01

formulation and execution; impacts of budget allocation , reallocation, and reduction; imple- mentation of Defense Resource Management Systems; and the...flexible structure that can be applied to a wide range of resource allocation problems. PUBLICATIONS: Dolk, D., Murphy, M., and Thomas, G...policies, procedures, and rationale in deter- mining recruiting resource allocation decisions. The methodology relies on a review of the literature

The Role of Temporal Context and Expectancy in Resource Allocation to and Perception of Rapid Serial Events

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kranczioch, Cornelia; Dhinakaran, Janani

2013-01-01

The perception of target events presented in a rapid stream of non-targets is impaired for early target positions, but then gradually improves, a phenomenon known as attentional awakening. This phenomenon has been associated with better resource allocation. It is unclear though whether improved resource allocation and attentional awakening are a…

Budgeting and Resource Allocation at Princeton University. Report of a Demonstration Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benacerraf, Paul; And Others

This report summarizes the work done to date on a study of resource allocation in universities. This report specifically is concerned with budgeting and resource allocation at Princeton University. The document consists of 4 sections. The first section deals with the process of budgeting at Princeton as it has evolved over the last 4 years. After…

An emulator for minimizing finite element analysis implementation resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Melosh, R. J.; Utku, S.; Salama, M.; Islam, M.

1982-01-01

A finite element analysis emulator providing a basis for efficiently establishing an optimum computer implementation strategy when many calculations are involved is described. The SCOPE emulator determines computer resources required as a function of the structural model, structural load-deflection equation characteristics, the storage allocation plan, and computer hardware capabilities. Thereby, it provides data for trading analysis implementation options to arrive at a best strategy. The models contained in SCOPE lead to micro-operation computer counts of each finite element operation as well as overall computer resource cost estimates. Application of SCOPE to the Memphis-Arkansas bridge analysis provides measures of the accuracy of resource assessments. Data indicate that predictions are within 17.3 percent for calculation times and within 3.2 percent for peripheral storage resources for the ELAS code.

Performance Evaluation Model for Application Layer Firewalls.

PubMed

Xuan, Shichang; Yang, Wu; Dong, Hui; Zhang, Jiangchuan

2016-01-01

Application layer firewalls protect the trusted area network against information security risks. However, firewall performance may affect user experience. Therefore, performance analysis plays a significant role in the evaluation of application layer firewalls. This paper presents an analytic model of the application layer firewall, based on a system analysis to evaluate the capability of the firewall. In order to enable users to improve the performance of the application layer firewall with limited resources, resource allocation was evaluated to obtain the optimal resource allocation scheme in terms of throughput, delay, and packet loss rate. The proposed model employs the Erlangian queuing model to analyze the performance parameters of the system with regard to the three layers (network, transport, and application layers). Then, the analysis results of all the layers are combined to obtain the overall system performance indicators. A discrete event simulation method was used to evaluate the proposed model. Finally, limited service desk resources were allocated to obtain the values of the performance indicators under different resource allocation scenarios in order to determine the optimal allocation scheme. Under limited resource allocation, this scheme enables users to maximize the performance of the application layer firewall.

Chaotic genetic algorithm and Adaboost ensemble metamodeling approach for optimum resource planning in emergency departments.

PubMed

Yousefi, Milad; Yousefi, Moslem; Ferreira, Ricardo Poley Martins; Kim, Joong Hoon; Fogliatto, Flavio S

2018-01-01

Long length of stay and overcrowding in emergency departments (EDs) are two common problems in the healthcare industry. To decrease the average length of stay (ALOS) and tackle overcrowding, numerous resources, including the number of doctors, nurses and receptionists need to be adjusted, while a number of constraints are to be considered at the same time. In this study, an efficient method based on agent-based simulation, machine learning and the genetic algorithm (GA) is presented to determine optimum resource allocation in emergency departments. GA can effectively explore the entire domain of all 19 variables and identify the optimum resource allocation through evolution and mimicking the survival of the fittest concept. A chaotic mutation operator is used in this study to boost GA performance. A model of the system needs to be run several thousand times through the GA evolution process to evaluate each solution, hence the process is computationally expensive. To overcome this drawback, a robust metamodel is initially constructed based on an agent-based system simulation. The simulation exhibits ED performance with various resource allocations and trains the metamodel. The metamodel is created with an ensemble of the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), feedforward neural network (FFNN) and recurrent neural network (RNN) using the adaptive boosting (AdaBoost) ensemble algorithm. The proposed GA-based optimization approach is tested in a public ED, and it is shown to decrease the ALOS in this ED case study by 14%. Additionally, the proposed metamodel shows a 26.6% improvement compared to the average results of ANFIS, FFNN and RNN in terms of mean absolute percentage error (MAPE). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Understanding the Uncertainty of an Effectiveness-Cost Ratio in Educational Resource Allocation: A Bayesian Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pan, Yilin

2016-01-01

Given the necessity to bridge the gap between what happened and what is likely to happen, this paper aims to explore how to apply Bayesian inference to cost-effectiveness analysis so as to capture the uncertainty of a ratio-type efficiency measure. The first part of the paper summarizes the characteristics of the evaluation data that are commonly…

'To each according to his needs': public libraries and socially excluded people.

PubMed

Hicken, Mandy

2004-09-01

To deliver a comprehensive and efficient service to all the community, public libraries must first identify needs and allocate an appropriate level of resources. This article focuses on public libraries in England. It outlines: the Government's policy on social inclusion; the needs of the various socially excluded groups; partnerships and funding; staff training and motivation; and examples of good practice.

Priority setting and the ethics of resource allocation within VA healthcare facilities: results of a survey.

PubMed

Foglia, Mary Beth; Pearlman, Robert A; Bottrell, Melissa M; Altemose, Jane A; Fox, Ellen

2008-01-01

Setting priorities and the subsequent allocation of resources is a major ethical issue facing healthcare facilities, including the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the largest integrated healthcare delivery network in the United States. Yet despite the importance of priority setting and its impact on those who receive and those who provide care, we know relatively little about how clinicians and managers view allocation processes within their facilities. The purpose of this secondary analysis of survey data was to characterize staff members' perceptions regarding the fairness of healthcare ethics practices related to resource allocation in Veterans Administration (VA) facilities. The specific aim of the study was to compare the responses of clinicians, clinician managers, and non-clinician managers with respect to these survey items. We utilized a paper and web-based survey and a cross-sectional design of VHA clinicians and managers. Our sample consisted of a purposive stratified sample of 109 managers and a stratified random sample of 269 clinicians employed 20 or more hours per week in one of four VA medical centers. The four medical centers were participating as field sites selected to test the logistics of administering and reporting results of the Integrated Ethics Staff Survey, an assessment tool aimed at characterizing a broad range of ethical practices within a healthcare organization. In general, clinicians were more critical than clinician managers or non-clinician managers of the institutions' allocation processes and of the impact of resource decisions on patient care. Clinicians commonly reported that they did not (a) understand their facility's decision-making processes, (b) receive explanations from management regarding the reasons behind important allocation decisions, or (b) perceive that they were influential in allocation decisions. In addition, clinicians and managers both perceived that education related to the ethics of resource allocation was insufficient and that their facilities could increase their effectiveness in identifying and resolving ethical problems related to resource allocation. How well a healthcare facility ensures fairness in the way it allocates its resources across programs and services depends on multiple factors, including awareness by decision makers that setting priorities and allocating resources is a moral enterprise (moral awareness), the availability of a consistent process that includes important stakeholder groups (procedural justice), and concurrence by stakeholders that decisions represent outcomes that fairly balance competing interests and have a positive net effect on the quality of care (distributive justice). In this study, clinicians and managers alike identified the need for improvement in healthcare ethics practices related to resource allocation.

Extended resource allocation index for link prediction of complex network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Shuxin; Ji, Xinsheng; Liu, Caixia; Bai, Yi

2017-08-01

Recently, a number of similarity-based methods have been proposed to predict the missing links in complex network. Among these indices, the resource allocation index performs very well with lower time complexity. However, it ignores potential resources transferred by local paths between two endpoints. Motivated by the resource exchange taking places between endpoints, an extended resource allocation index is proposed. Empirical study on twelve real networks and three synthetic dynamic networks has shown that the index we proposed can achieve a good performance, compared with eight mainstream baselines.

On-Line Allocation Of Robot Resources To Task Plans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lyons, Damian M.

1989-02-01

In this paper, I present an approach to representing plans that make on-line decisions about resource allocation. An on-line decision is the evaluation of a conditional expression involving sensory information as the plan is being executed. I use a plan representation called 7ZS10'1 1,12that has been especially designed for the domain of robot programming, and in particular, for the problem of on-line decisions. The resource allocation example is based on the robot assembly cell architecture outlined by Venkataraman and Lyons16. I begin by setting forth a definition of on-line decision making and some arguments as to why this form of decision making is important and useful. To set the context for the resource allocation example, I take some care in categorizing the types of on-line decision making and the approaches adopted by other workers so far. In particular, I justify a plan-based approach to the study of on-line decision making. From that, the focus shifts to one type of decision making: on-line allocation of robot resources to task plans. Robot resources are the physical manipulators (grippers, wrists, arms, feeders, etc) that are available to carry out the task. I formulate the assembly cell architecture of Venkataraman and Lyons16 as an R.S plan schema, and show how the on-line allocation specified in that architecture can be implemented. Finally, I show how considering the on-line allocation of logical resources, that is a physical resource plus some model information, can be used as a non-traditional approach to some problems in robot task planning.

A data envelope analysis to assess factors affecting technical and economic efficiency of individual broiler breeder hens.

PubMed

Romero, L F; Zuidhof, M J; Jeffrey, S R; Naeima, A; Renema, R A; Robinson, F E

2010-08-01

This study evaluated the effect of feed allocation and energetic efficiency on technical and economic efficiency of broiler breeder hens using the data envelope analysis methodology and quantified the effect of variables affecting technical efficiency. A total of 288 Ross 708 pullets were placed in individual cages at 16 wk of age and assigned to 1 of 4 feed allocation groups. Three of them had feed allocated on a group basis with divergent BW targets: standard, high (standard x 1.1), and low (standard x 0.9). The fourth group had feed allocated on an individual bird basis following the standard BW target. Birds were classified in 3 energetic efficiency categories: low, average, and high, based on estimated maintenance requirements. Technical efficiency considered saleable chicks as output and cumulative ME intake and time as inputs. Economic efficiency of feed allocation treatments was analyzed under different cost scenarios. Birds with low feed allocation exhibited a lower technical efficiency (69.4%) than standard (72.1%), which reflected a reduced egg production rate. Feed allocation of the high treatment could have been reduced by 10% with the same chick production as the standard treatment. The low treatment exhibited reduced economic efficiency at greater capital costs, whereas high had reduced economic efficiency at greater feed costs. The average energetic efficiency hens had a lower technical efficiency in the low compared with the standard feed allocation. A 1% increment in estimated maintenance requirement changed technical efficiency by -0.23%, whereas a 1% increment in ME intake had a -0.47% effect. The negative relationship between technical efficiency and ME intake was counterbalanced by a positive correlation of ME intake and egg production. The negative relationship of technical efficiency and maintenance requirements was synergized by a negative correlation of hen maintenance and egg production. Economic efficiency methodologies are effective tools to assess the economic effect of selection and flock management programs because biological, allocative, and economic factors can be independently analyzed.

Computing the Envelope for Stepwise Constant Resource Allocations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Muscettola, Nicola; Clancy, Daniel (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Estimating tight resource level is a fundamental problem in the construction of flexible plans with resource utilization. In this paper we describe an efficient algorithm that builds a resource envelope, the tightest possible such bound. The algorithm is based on transforming the temporal network of resource consuming and producing events into a flow network with noises equal to the events and edges equal to the necessary predecessor links between events. The incremental solution of a staged maximum flow problem on the network is then used to compute the time of occurrence and the height of each step of the resource envelope profile. The staged algorithm has the same computational complexity of solving a maximum flow problem on the entire flow network. This makes this method computationally feasible for use in the inner loop of search-based scheduling algorithms.

Computing the Envelope for Stepwise-Constant Resource Allocations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Muscettola, Nicola; Clancy, Daniel (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Computing tight resource-level bounds is a fundamental problem in the construction of flexible plans with resource utilization. In this paper we describe an efficient algorithm that builds a resource envelope, the tightest possible such bound. The algorithm is based on transforming the temporal network of resource consuming and producing events into a flow network with nodes equal to the events and edges equal to the necessary predecessor links between events. A staged maximum flow problem on the network is then used to compute the time of occurrence and the height of each step of the resource envelope profile. Each stage has the same computational complexity of solving a maximum flow problem on the entire flow network. This makes this method computationally feasible and promising for use in the inner loop of flexible-time scheduling algorithms.

Resource allocation processes at multilateral organizations working in global health.

PubMed

Chi, Y-Ling; Bump, Jesse B

2018-02-01

International institutions provide well over US$10 billion in development assistance for health (DAH) annually and between 1990 and 2014, DAH disbursements totaled $458 billion but how do they decide who gets what, and for what purpose? In this article, we explore how allocation decisions were made by the nine convening agencies of the Equitable Access Initiative. We provide clear, plain language descriptions of the complete process from resource mobilization to allocation for the nine multilateral agencies with prominent agendas in global health. Then, through a comparative analysis we illuminate the choices and strategies employed in the nine international institutions. We find that resource allocation in all reviewed institutions follow a similar pattern, which we categorized in a framework of five steps: strategy definition, resource mobilization, eligibility of countries, support type and funds allocation. All the reviewed institutions generate resource allocation decisions through well-structured and fairly complex processes. Variations in those processes seem to reflect differences in institutional principles and goals. However, these processes have serious shortcomings. Technical problems include inadequate flexibility to account for or meet country needs. Although aid effectiveness and value for money are commonly referenced, we find that neither performance nor impact is a major criterion for allocating resources. We found very little formal consideration of the incentives generated by allocation choices. Political issues include non-transparent influence on allocation processes by donors and bureaucrats, and the common practice of earmarking funds to bypass the normal allocation process entirely. Ethical deficiencies include low accountability and transparency at international institutions, and limited participation by affected citizens or their representatives. We find that recipient countries have low influence on allocation processes themselves, although within these processes they have some influence in relatively narrow areas. © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Assessing and Improving Performance: A Longitudinal Evaluation of Priority Setting and Resource Allocation in a Canadian Health Region

PubMed Central

Hall, William; Smith, Neale; Mitton, Craig; Urquhart, Bonnie; Bryan, Stirling

2018-01-01

Background: In order to meet the challenges presented by increasing demand and scarcity of resources, healthcare organizations are faced with difficult decisions related to resource allocation. Tools to facilitate evaluation and improvement of these processes could enable greater transparency and more optimal distribution of resources. Methods: The Resource Allocation Performance Assessment Tool (RAPAT) was implemented in a healthcare organization in British Columbia, Canada. Recommendations for improvement were delivered, and a follow up evaluation exercise was conducted to assess the trajectory of the organization’s priority setting and resource allocation (PSRA) process 2 years post the original evaluation. Results: Implementation of RAPAT in the pilot organization identified strengths and weaknesses of the organization’s PSRA process at the time of the original evaluation. Strengths included the use of criteria and evidence, an ability to reallocate resources, and the involvement of frontline staff in the process. Weaknesses included training, communication, and lack of program budgeting. Although the follow up revealed a regression from a more formal PSRA process, a legacy of explicit resource allocation was reported to be providing ongoing benefit for the organization. Conclusion: While past studies have taken a cross-sectional approach, this paper introduces the first longitudinal evaluation of PSRA in a healthcare organization. By including the strengths, weaknesses, and evolution of one organization’s journey, the authors’ intend that this paper will assist other healthcare leaders in meeting the challenges of allocating scarce resources. PMID:29626400

Resource Allocation and Seed Size Selection in Perennial Plants under Pollen Limitation.

PubMed

Huang, Qiaoqiao; Burd, Martin; Fan, Zhiwei

2017-09-01

Pollen limitation may affect resource allocation patterns in plants, but its role in the selection of seed size is not known. Using an evolutionarily stable strategy model of resource allocation in perennial iteroparous plants, we show that under density-independent population growth, pollen limitation (i.e., a reduction in ovule fertilization rate) should increase the optimal seed size. At any level of pollen limitation (including none), the optimal seed size maximizes the ratio of juvenile survival rate to the resource investment needed to produce one seed (including both ovule production and seed provisioning); that is, the optimum maximizes the fitness effect per unit cost. Seed investment may affect allocation to postbreeding adult survival. In our model, pollen limitation increases individual seed size but decreases overall reproductive allocation, so that pollen limitation should also increase the optimal allocation to postbreeding adult survival. Under density-dependent population growth, the optimal seed size is inversely proportional to ovule fertilization rate. However, pollen limitation does not affect the optimal allocation to postbreeding adult survival and ovule production. These results highlight the importance of allocation trade-offs in the effect pollen limitation has on the ecology and evolution of seed size and postbreeding adult survival in perennial plants.

Specific leaf area relates to the differences in leaf construction cost, photosynthesis, nitrogen allocation, and use efficiencies between invasive and noninvasive alien congeners.

PubMed

Feng, Yu-Long; Fu, Gai-Lan; Zheng, Yu-Long

2008-08-01

Comparisons between invasive and native species may not characterize the traits of invasive species, as native species might be invasive elsewhere if they were introduced. In this study, invasive Oxalis corymbosa and Peperomia pellucida were compared with their respective noninvasive alien congeners. We hypothesized that the invasive species have higher specific leaf (SLA) than their respective noninvasive alien congeners, and analyzed the physiological and ecological consequences of the higher SLA. Higher SLA was indeed the most important trait for the two invaders, which was associated with their lower leaf construction cost, higher nitrogen (N) allocation to photosynthesis and photosynthetic N use efficiency (PNUE). The higher N allocation to photosynthesis of the invaders in turn increased their PNUE, N content in photosynthesis, biochemical capacity for photosynthesis, and therefore light-saturated photosynthetic rate. The above resource capture-, use- and growth-related traits may facilitate the two invaders' invasion, while further comparative studies on a wider range of invasive and noninvasive congeners are needed to understand the generality of this pattern and to fully assess the competitive advantages afforded by these traits.

Budgeting by Objectives--How Goals and Objectives, Operational Activities, and Resource Allocation Are Integrated in a Planning System. AIR 1984 Annual Forum Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Capoor, Madan

The Objective-Based Assessment, Planning, and Resource Allocation System (OAPRAS) that was developed and implemented at Middlesex County College is described. The integrated self-assessment planning and budgeting system was developed in 1981. The central purpose of OAPRAS was to link resource allocation decisions to the prioritized objectives that…

Personnel Resource Allocation Strategies in a Time of Fiscal Crisis: Case Study of Elementary Schools in a California District

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sais, Melissa Marie

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to analyze human resource allocation data for all elementary schools in large urban school district to determine whether resources were allocated in ways in that research suggests can lead to improved student achievement. Data from all 46 elementary schools that participated in the study were compared to the…

Resource Allocation in Healthcare: Implications of Models of Medicine as a Profession

PubMed Central

Kluge, Eike-Henner W.

2007-01-01

For decades, the problem of how to allocate healthcare resources in a just and equitable fashion has been the subject of concerted discussion and analysis, yet the issue has stubbornly resisted resolution. This article suggests that a major reason for this is that the discussion has focused exclusively on the nature and status of the material resources, and that the nature and role of the medical profession have been entirely ignored. Because physicians are gatekeepers to healthcare resources, their role in allocation is central from a process perspective. This article identifies 3 distinct interpretations of the nature of medicine, shows how each mandates a different method of allocation, and argues that unless an appropriate model of medicine is developed that acknowledges the valid points contained in each of the 3 approaches, the allocation problem will remain unsolvable. PMID:17435657

Research of an emergency medical system for mass casualty incidents in Shanghai, China: a system dynamics model

PubMed Central

Liu, Xu; Chen, Haiping; Xue, Chen

2018-01-01

Objectives Emergency medical system for mass casualty incidents (EMS-MCIs) is a global issue. However, China lacks such studies extremely, which cannot meet the requirement of rapid decision-support system. This study aims to realize modeling EMS-MCIs in Shanghai, to improve mass casualty incident (MCI) rescue efficiency in China, and to provide a possible method of making rapid rescue decisions during MCIs. Methods This study established a system dynamics (SD) model of EMS-MCIs using the Vensim DSS program. Intervention scenarios were designed as adjusting scales of MCIs, allocation of ambulances, allocation of emergency medical staff, and efficiency of organization and command. Results Mortality increased with the increasing scale of MCIs, medical rescue capability of hospitals was relatively good, but the efficiency of organization and command was poor, and the prehospital time was too long. Mortality declined significantly when increasing ambulances and improving the efficiency of organization and command; triage and on-site first-aid time were shortened if increasing the availability of emergency medical staff. The effect was the most evident when 2,000 people were involved in MCIs; however, the influence was very small under the scale of 5,000 people. Conclusion The keys to decrease the mortality of MCIs were shortening the prehospital time and improving the efficiency of organization and command. For small-scale MCIs, improving the utilization rate of health resources was important in decreasing the mortality. For large-scale MCIs, increasing the number of ambulances and emergency medical professionals was the core to decrease prehospital time and mortality. For super-large-scale MCIs, increasing health resources was the premise. PMID:29440876

Emergence of distributed coordination in the Kolkata Paise Restaurant problem with finite information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghosh, Diptesh; Chakrabarti, Anindya S.

2017-10-01

In this paper, we study a large-scale distributed coordination problem and propose efficient adaptive strategies to solve the problem. The basic problem is to allocate finite number of resources to individual agents in the absence of a central planner such that there is as little congestion as possible and the fraction of unutilized resources is reduced as far as possible. In the absence of a central planner and global information, agents can employ adaptive strategies that uses only a finite knowledge about the competitors. In this paper, we show that a combination of finite information sets and reinforcement learning can increase the utilization fraction of resources substantially.

Study of network resource allocation based on market and game theoretic mechanism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yingmei; Wang, Hongwei; Wang, Gang

2004-04-01

We work on the network resource allocation issue concerning network management system function based on market-oriented mechanism. The scheme is to model the telecommunication network resources as trading goods in which the various network components could be owned by different competitive, real-world entities. This is a multidisciplinary framework concentrating on the similarity between resource allocation in network environment and the market mechanism in economic theory. By taking an economic (market-based and game theoretic) approach in routing of communication network, we study the dynamic behavior under game-theoretic framework in allocating network resources. Based on the prior work of Gibney and Jennings, we apply concepts of utility and fitness to the market mechanism with an intention to close the gap between experiment environment and real world situation.

Ethical triage and scarce resource allocation during public health emergencies: tenets and procedures.

PubMed

Kuschner, Ware G; Pollard, John B; Ezeji-Okoye, Stephen C

2007-01-01

Public health emergencies may result in mass casualties and a surge in demand for hospital-based care. Healthcare standards may need to be altered to respond to an imbalance between demands for care and resources. Clinical decisions that involve triage and scarce resource allocation may present unique ethical challenges. To address these challenges, the authors detailed tenets and procedures to guide triage and scarce resource allocation during public health emergencies. The authors propose health care organizations deploy a Triage and Scarce Resource Allocation Team to over-see and guide ethically challenging clinical decision-making during a crisis period. The authors' goal is to help healthcare organizations and clinicians balance public health responsibilities and their duty to individual patients during emergencies in as equitable and humane a manner as possible.

Decentralization and equity of resource allocation: evidence from Colombia and Chile.

PubMed Central

Bossert, Thomas J.; Larrañaga, Osvaldo; Giedion, Ursula; Arbelaez, José Jesus; Bowser, Diana M.

2003-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relation between decentralization and equity of resource allocation in Colombia and Chile. METHODS: The "decision space" approach and analysis of expenditures and utilization rates were used to provide a comparative analysis of decentralization of the health systems of Colombia and Chile. FINDINGS: Evidence from Colombia and Chile suggests that decentralization, under certain conditions and with some specific policy mechanisms, can improve equity of resource allocation. In these countries, equitable levels of per capita financial allocations at the municipal level were achieved through different forms of decentralization--the use of allocation formulae, adequate local funding choices and horizontal equity funds. Findings on equity of utilization of services were less consistent, but they did show that increased levels of funding were associated with increased utilization. This suggests that improved equity of funding over time might reduce inequities of service utilization. CONCLUSION: Decentralization can contribute to, or at least maintain, equitable allocation of health resources among municipalities of different incomes. PMID:12751417

Self-Regulated Reading in Adulthood

PubMed Central

Stine-Morrow, Elizabeth A. L.; Soederberg Miller, Lisa M.; Gagne, Danielle D.; Hertzog, Christopher

2008-01-01

Younger and older adults read a series of passages of three different genres for an immediate assessment of text memory (measured by recall and true-false questions). Word-by-word reading times were measured and decomposed into components reflecting resource allocation to particular linguistic processes using regression. Allocation to word and textbase processes showed some consistency across the three text types and was predictive of memory performance. Older adults allocated more time to word and textbase processes than the young did, but showed enhanced contextual facilitation. Structural equation modeling showed that greater resource allocation to word processes was required among readers with relatively low working memory spans and poorer verbal ability, and that greater resource allocation to textbase processes was engendered by higher verbal ability. Results are discussed in terms of a model of self-regulated language processing suggesting that older readers may compensate for processing deficiencies through greater reliance on discourse context and on increases in resource allocation that are enabled through growth in crystallized ability. PMID:18361662

Rectifying Social Inequalities in a Resource Allocation Task

PubMed Central

Elenbaas, Laura; Rizzo, Michael T.; Cooley, Shelby; Killen, Melanie

2016-01-01

To investigate whether children rectify social inequalities in a resource allocation task, participants (N = 185 African-American and European-American 5–6 year-olds and 10–11 year-olds) witnessed an inequality of school supplies between peers of different racial backgrounds. Assessments were conducted on how children judged the wrongfulness of the inequality, allocated new resources to racial ingroup and outgroup recipients, evaluated alternative allocation strategies, and reasoned about their decisions. Younger children showed ingroup favorability; their responses differed depending on whether they had witnessed their ingroup or an outgroup at a disadvantage. With age, children increasingly reasoned about the importance of equal access to school supplies and correcting past disparities. Older children judged the resource inequality negatively, allocated more resources to the disadvantaged group, and positively evaluated the actions of others who did the same, regardless of whether they had seen their racial ingroup or an outgroup at a disadvantage. Thus, balancing moral and social group concerns enabled individuals to rectify inequalities and ensure fair access to important resources regardless of racial group membership. PMID:27423813

Models of resource allocation optimization when solving the control problems in organizational systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Menshikh, V.; Samorokovskiy, A.; Avsentev, O.

2018-03-01

The mathematical model of optimizing the allocation of resources to reduce the time for management decisions and algorithms to solve the general problem of resource allocation. The optimization problem of choice of resources in organizational systems in order to reduce the total execution time of a job is solved. This problem is a complex three-level combinatorial problem, for the solving of which it is necessary to implement the solution to several specific problems: to estimate the duration of performing each action, depending on the number of performers within the group that performs this action; to estimate the total execution time of all actions depending on the quantitative composition of groups of performers; to find such a distribution of the existing resource of performers in groups to minimize the total execution time of all actions. In addition, algorithms to solve the general problem of resource allocation are proposed.

Contrarian behavior in a complex adaptive system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Y.; An, K. N.; Yang, G.; Huang, J. P.

2013-01-01

Contrarian behavior is a kind of self-organization in complex adaptive systems (CASs). Here we report the existence of a transition point in a model resource-allocation CAS with contrarian behavior by using human experiments, computer simulations, and theoretical analysis. The resource ratio and system predictability serve as the tuning parameter and order parameter, respectively. The transition point helps to reveal the positive or negative role of contrarian behavior. This finding is in contrast to the common belief that contrarian behavior always has a positive role in resource allocation, say, stabilizing resource allocation by shrinking the redundancy or the lack of resources. It is further shown that resource allocation can be optimized at the transition point by adding an appropriate size of contrarians. This work is also expected to be of value to some other fields ranging from management and social science to ecology and evolution.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wu, Hao; Garzoglio, Gabriele; Ren, Shangping

FermiCloud is a private cloud developed in Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory to provide elastic and on-demand resources for different scientific research experiments. The design goal of the FermiCloud is to automatically allocate resources for different scientific applications so that the QoS required by these applications is met and the operational cost of the FermiCloud is minimized. Our earlier research shows that VM launching overhead has large variations. If such variations are not taken into consideration when making resource allocation decisions, it may lead to poor performance and resource waste. In this paper, we show how we may use an VMmore » launching overhead reference model to minimize VM launching overhead. In particular, we first present a training algorithm that automatically tunes a given refer- ence model to accurately reflect FermiCloud environment. Based on the tuned reference model for virtual machine launching overhead, we develop an overhead-aware-best-fit resource allocation algorithm that decides where and when to allocate resources so that the average virtual machine launching overhead is minimized. The experimental results indicate that the developed overhead-aware-best-fit resource allocation algorithm can significantly improved the VM launching time when large number of VMs are simultaneously launched.« less

The Advantage of Standardisation as a Management Instrument in Companies

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-09-01

possible synergistic effects between different but related business units and allocate all kinds of resources in the best possible way. The management... allocating the necessary resources. This pragmatic approach corresponds to the "structure follows strategy thesis". Under the term strategy this thesis...implementation of the necessary arrangements in the functional areas as well as the allocation of existing resources. In this connection the demand for

Resource Allocation and Budgeting for the 1972-73 Mini-Schools of the Alum Rock Voucher Demonstration. Analysis of the Education Voucher Demonstration. A Working Note.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haggart, S. A.; Furry, W. S.

This Working Note documents the first year's events and outcomes in developing the budgeting system and resource allocation rules to support the Education Voucher Demonstration. The district now has systems for per pupil resource allocation and school/minischool cost center accounting. The basic voucher of $1,041 for grades 7-8, and $788 for…

Joint Rhythmic Movement Increases 4-Year-Old Children's Prosocial Sharing and Fairness Toward Peers.

PubMed

Rabinowitch, Tal-Chen; Meltzoff, Andrew N

2017-01-01

The allocation of resources to a peer partner is a prosocial act that is of fundamental importance. Joint rhythmic movement, such as occurs during musical interaction, can induce positive social experiences, which may play a role in developing and enhancing young children's prosocial skills. Here, we investigated whether joint rhythmic movement, free of musical context, increases 4-year-olds' sharing and sense of fairness in a resource allocation task involving peers. We developed a precise procedure for administering joint synchronous experience, joint asynchronous experience, and a baseline control involving no treatment. Then we tested how participants allocated resources between self and peer. We found an increase in the generous allocation of resources to peers following both synchronous and asynchronous movement compared to no treatment. At a more theoretical level, this result is considered in relation to previous work testing other aspects of child prosociality, for example, peer cooperation, which can be distinguished from judgments of fairness in resource allocation tasks. We draw a conceptual distinction between two types of prosocial behavior: resource allocation (an other-directed individual behavior) and cooperation (a goal-directed collaborative endeavor). Our results highlight how rhythmic interactions, which are prominent in joint musical engagements and synchronized activity, influence prosocial behavior between preschool peers.

Joint Rhythmic Movement Increases 4-Year-Old Children’s Prosocial Sharing and Fairness Toward Peers

PubMed Central

Rabinowitch, Tal-Chen; Meltzoff, Andrew N.

2017-01-01

The allocation of resources to a peer partner is a prosocial act that is of fundamental importance. Joint rhythmic movement, such as occurs during musical interaction, can induce positive social experiences, which may play a role in developing and enhancing young children’s prosocial skills. Here, we investigated whether joint rhythmic movement, free of musical context, increases 4-year-olds’ sharing and sense of fairness in a resource allocation task involving peers. We developed a precise procedure for administering joint synchronous experience, joint asynchronous experience, and a baseline control involving no treatment. Then we tested how participants allocated resources between self and peer. We found an increase in the generous allocation of resources to peers following both synchronous and asynchronous movement compared to no treatment. At a more theoretical level, this result is considered in relation to previous work testing other aspects of child prosociality, for example, peer cooperation, which can be distinguished from judgments of fairness in resource allocation tasks. We draw a conceptual distinction between two types of prosocial behavior: resource allocation (an other-directed individual behavior) and cooperation (a goal-directed collaborative endeavor). Our results highlight how rhythmic interactions, which are prominent in joint musical engagements and synchronized activity, influence prosocial behavior between preschool peers. PMID:28694786

Stochastic Optimization For Water Resources Allocation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamout, G.; Hatfield, K.

2003-12-01

For more than 40 years, water resources allocation problems have been addressed using deterministic mathematical optimization. When data uncertainties exist, these methods could lead to solutions that are sub-optimal or even infeasible. While optimization models have been proposed for water resources decision-making under uncertainty, no attempts have been made to address the uncertainties in water allocation problems in an integrated approach. This paper presents an Integrated Dynamic, Multi-stage, Feedback-controlled, Linear, Stochastic, and Distributed parameter optimization approach to solve a problem of water resources allocation. It attempts to capture (1) the conflict caused by competing objectives, (2) environmental degradation produced by resource consumption, and finally (3) the uncertainty and risk generated by the inherently random nature of state and decision parameters involved in such a problem. A theoretical system is defined throughout its different elements. These elements consisting mainly of water resource components and end-users are described in terms of quantity, quality, and present and future associated risks and uncertainties. Models are identified, modified, and interfaced together to constitute an integrated water allocation optimization framework. This effort is a novel approach to confront the water allocation optimization problem while accounting for uncertainties associated with all its elements; thus resulting in a solution that correctly reflects the physical problem in hand.

Atypical resource allocation may contribute to many aspects of autism

PubMed Central

Goldknopf, Emily J.

2013-01-01

Based on a review of the literature and on reports by people with autism, this paper suggests that atypical resource allocation is a factor that contributes to many aspects of autism spectrum conditions, including difficulties with language and social cognition, atypical sensory and attentional experiences, executive and motor challenges, and perceptual and conceptual strengths and weaknesses. Drawing upon resource theoretical approaches that suggest that perception, cognition, and action draw upon multiple pools of resources, the approach hypothesizes that compared with resources in typical cognition, resources in autism are narrowed or reduced, especially in people with strong sensory symptoms. In narrowed attention, resources are restricted to smaller areas and to fewer modalities, stages of processing, and cognitive processes than in typical cognition; narrowed resources may be more intense than in typical cognition. In reduced attentional capacity, overall resources are reduced; resources may be restricted to fewer modalities, stages of processing, and cognitive processes than in typical cognition, or the amount of resources allocated to each area or process may be reduced. Possible neural bases of the hypothesized atypical resource allocation, relations to other approaches, limitations, and tests of the hypotheses are discussed. PMID:24421760

The influence of mixed tree plantations on the nutrition of individual species: a review.

PubMed

Richards, Anna E; Forrester, David I; Bauhus, Jürgen; Scherer-Lorenzen, Michael

2010-09-01

Productivity of tree plantations is a function of the supply, capture and efficiency of use of resources, as outlined in the Production Ecology Equation. Species interactions in mixed-species stands can influence each of these variables. The importance of resource-use efficiency in determining forest productivity has been clearly demonstrated in monocultures; however, substantial knowledge gaps remain for mixtures. This review examines how the physiology and morphology of a given species can vary depending on whether it grows in a mixture or monoculture. We outline how physiological and morphological shifts within species, resulting from interactions in mixtures, may influence the three variables of the Production Ecology Equation, with an emphasis on nutrient resources [nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P)]. These include (i) resource availability, including soil nutrient mineralization, N₂ fixation and litter decomposition; (ii) proportion of resources captured, resulting from shifts in spatial, temporal and chemical patterns of root dynamics; (iii) resource-use efficiency. We found that more than 50% of mixed-species studies report a shift to greater above-ground nutrient content of species grown in mixtures compared to monocultures, indicating an increase in the proportion of resources captured from a site. Secondly, a meta-analysis showed that foliar N concentrations significantly increased for a given species in a mixture containing N₂-fixing species, compared to a monoculture, suggesting higher rates of photosynthesis and greater resource-use efficiency. Significant shifts in N- and P-use efficiencies of a given species, when grown in a mixture compared to a monoculture, occurred in over 65% of studies where resource-use efficiency could be calculated. Such shifts can result from changes in canopy photosynthetic capacities, changes in carbon allocation or changes to foliar nutrient residence times of species in a mixture. We recommend that future research focus on individual species' changes, particularly with respect to resource-use efficiency (including nutrients, water and light), when trees are grown in mixtures compared to monocultures. A better understanding of processes responsible for changes to tree productivity in mixed-species tree plantations can improve species, and within-species, selection so that the long-term outcome of mixtures is more predictable.

Allocation and simulation study of carbon emission quotas among China's provinces in 2020.

PubMed

Zhou, Xing; Guan, Xueling; Zhang, Ming; Zhou, Yao; Zhou, Meihua

2017-03-01

China will form its carbon market in 2017 to focus on the allocation of regional carbon emission quota in order to cope with global warming. The rationality of the regional allocation has become an important consideration for the government in ensuring stable growth in different regions that are experiencing disparity in resource endowment and economic status. Based on constructing the quota allocation indicator system for carbon emission, the emission quota for each province in different scenarios and schemes in 2020 is simulated by the multifactor hybrid weighted Shannon entropy allocation model. The following conclusions are drawn: (1) The top 5 secondary-level indicators that influence provincial quota allocation in weight are as follows: per capita energy consumption, openness, per capita carbon emission, per capita disposable income, and energy intensity. (2) The ratio of carbon emission in 2020 is different from that in 2013 in many scenarios, and the variation is scenario 2 > scenario 1 > scenario 3, with Hubei and Guangdong the provinces with the largest increase and decrease ratios, respectively. (3) In the same scenario, the quota allocation varies in different reduction criteria emphases; if the government emphasizes reduction efficiency, scheme 1 will show obvious adjustment, that is, Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, and Yunnan will have the largest decrease. The amounts are 4.28, 8.31, 4.04, and 5.97 million tons, respectively.

Reproductive efficiency and shade avoidance plasticity under simulated competition.

PubMed

Fazlioglu, Fatih; Al-Namazi, Ali; Bonser, Stephen P

2016-07-01

Plant strategy and life-history theories make different predictions about reproductive efficiency under competition. While strategy theory suggests under intense competition iteroparous perennial plants delay reproduction and semelparous annuals reproduce quickly, life-history theory predicts both annual and perennial plants increase resource allocation to reproduction under intense competition. We tested (1) how simulated competition influences reproductive efficiency and competitive ability (CA) of different plant life histories and growth forms; (2) whether life history or growth form is associated with CA; (3) whether shade avoidance plasticity is connected to reproductive efficiency under simulated competition. We examined plastic responses of 11 herbaceous species representing different life histories and growth forms to simulated competition (spectral shade). We found that both annual and perennial plants invested more to reproduction under simulated competition in accordance with life-history theory predictions. There was no significant difference between competitive abilities of different life histories, but across growth forms, erect species expressed greater CA (in terms of leaf number) than other growth forms. We also found that shade avoidance plasticity can increase the reproductive efficiency by capitalizing on the early life resource acquisition and conversion of these resources into reproduction. Therefore, we suggest that a reassessment of the interpretation of shade avoidance plasticity is necessary by revealing its role in reproduction, not only in competition of plants.

Strategically Allocating Resources to Support Teaching and Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lynch, Matthew

2012-01-01

As the enduring economic recession forces state and local governments to cut education budgets, astute allocation of resources is becoming more important. The author analyses three basic categories of educational resources: money, human capital, and time before moving to a discussion of resources as a component of school reform. The author…

BlueSky Cloud Framework: An E-Learning Framework Embracing Cloud Computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Bo; Zheng, Qinghua; Qiao, Mu; Shu, Jian; Yang, Jie

Currently, E-Learning has grown into a widely accepted way of learning. With the huge growth of users, services, education contents and resources, E-Learning systems are facing challenges of optimizing resource allocations, dealing with dynamic concurrency demands, handling rapid storage growth requirements and cost controlling. In this paper, an E-Learning framework based on cloud computing is presented, namely BlueSky cloud framework. Particularly, the architecture and core components of BlueSky cloud framework are introduced. In BlueSky cloud framework, physical machines are virtualized, and allocated on demand for E-Learning systems. Moreover, BlueSky cloud framework combines with traditional middleware functions (such as load balancing and data caching) to serve for E-Learning systems as a general architecture. It delivers reliable, scalable and cost-efficient services to E-Learning systems, and E-Learning organizations can establish systems through these services in a simple way. BlueSky cloud framework solves the challenges faced by E-Learning, and improves the performance, availability and scalability of E-Learning systems.

Ground data systems resource allocation process

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Berner, Carol A.; Durham, Ralph; Reilly, Norman B.

1989-01-01

The Ground Data Systems Resource Allocation Process at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory provides medium- and long-range planning for the use of Deep Space Network and Mission Control and Computing Center resources in support of NASA's deep space missions and Earth-based science. Resources consist of radio antenna complexes and associated data processing and control computer networks. A semi-automated system was developed that allows operations personnel to interactively generate, edit, and revise allocation plans spanning periods of up to ten years (as opposed to only two or three weeks under the manual system) based on the relative merit of mission events. It also enhances scientific data return. A software system known as the Resource Allocation and Planning Helper (RALPH) merges the conventional methods of operations research, rule-based knowledge engineering, and advanced data base structures. RALPH employs a generic, highly modular architecture capable of solving a wide variety of scheduling and resource sequencing problems. The rule-based RALPH system has saved significant labor in resource allocation. Its successful use affirms the importance of establishing and applying event priorities based on scientific merit, and the benefit of continuity in planning provided by knowledge-based engineering. The RALPH system exhibits a strong potential for minimizing development cycles of resource and payload planning systems throughout NASA and the private sector.

Research on allocation efficiency of the daisy chain allocation algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Jingping; Zhang, Weiguo

2013-03-01

With the improvement of the aircraft performance in reliability, maneuverability and survivability, the number of the control effectors increases a lot. How to distribute the three-axis moments into the control surfaces reasonably becomes an important problem. Daisy chain method is simple and easy to be carried out in the design of the allocation system. But it can not solve the allocation problem for entire attainable moment subset. For the lateral-directional allocation problem, the allocation efficiency of the daisy chain can be directly measured by the area of its subset of attainable moments. Because of the non-linear allocation characteristic, the subset of attainable moments of daisy-chain method is a complex non-convex polygon, and it is difficult to solve directly. By analyzing the two-dimensional allocation problems with a "micro-element" idea, a numerical calculation algorithm is proposed to compute the area of the non-convex polygon. In order to improve the allocation efficiency of the algorithm, a genetic algorithm with the allocation efficiency chosen as the fitness function is proposed to find the best pseudo-inverse matrix.

Discrete Resource Allocation in Visual Working Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barton, Brian; Ester, Edward F.; Awh, Edward

2009-01-01

Are resources in visual working memory allocated in a continuous or a discrete fashion? On one hand, flexible resource models suggest that capacity is determined by a central resource pool that can be flexibly divided such that items of greater complexity receive a larger share of resources. On the other hand, if capacity in working memory is…

Sustainability in health care by allocating resources effectively (SHARE) 3: examining how resource allocation decisions are made, implemented and evaluated in a local healthcare setting.

PubMed

Harris, Claire; Allen, Kelly; Waller, Cara; Brooke, Vanessa

2017-05-09

This is the third in a series of papers reporting a program of Sustainability in Health care by Allocating Resources Effectively (SHARE) in a local healthcare setting. Leaders in a large Australian health service planned to establish an organisation-wide, systematic, integrated, evidence-based approach to disinvestment. In order to introduce new systems and processes for disinvestment into existing decision-making infrastructure, we aimed to understand where, how and by whom resource allocation decisions were made, implemented and evaluated. We also sought the knowledge and experience of staff regarding previous disinvestment activities. Structured interviews, workshops and document analysis were used to collect information from multiple sources in an environmental scan of decision-making systems and processes. Findings were synthesised using a theoretical framework. Sixty-eight respondents participated in interviews and workshops. Eight components in the process of resource allocation were identified: Governance, Administration, Stakeholder engagement, Resources, Decision-making, Implementation, Evaluation and, where appropriate, Reinvestment of savings. Elements of structure and practice for each component are described and a new framework was developed to capture the relationships between them. A range of decision-makers, decision-making settings, type and scope of decisions, criteria used, and strengths, weaknesses, barriers and enablers are outlined. The term 'disinvestment' was not used in health service decision-making. Previous projects that involved removal, reduction or restriction of current practices were driven by quality and safety issues, evidence-based practice or a need to find resource savings and not by initiatives where the primary aim was to disinvest. Measuring resource savings is difficult, in some situations impossible. Savings are often only theoretical as resources released may be utilised immediately by patients waiting for beds, clinic appointments or surgery. Decision-making systems and processes for resource allocation are more complex than assumed in previous studies. There is a wide range of decision-makers, settings, scope and type of decisions, and criteria used for allocating resources within a single institution. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to report this level of detail and to introduce eight components of the resource allocation process identified within a local health service.

The international environment UNISPACE '82 and the ITU: A relationship between orbit-spectrum resource allocation and orbital debris

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Olmstead, D.

1985-01-01

The 1985 Space WARC will examine and potentially modify the current geostationary orbit spectrum resource allocation methodology. Discussions in this international political environment could likely associate the geostationary orbital debris issue with the politicized issue of orbit spectrum allocation.

A decision-analytic approach to the optimal allocation of resources for endangered species consultation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Converse, Sarah J.; Shelley, Kevin J.; Morey, Steve; Chan, Jeffrey; LaTier, Andrea; Scafidi, Carolyn; Crouse, Deborah T.; Runge, Michael C.

2011-01-01

The resources available to support conservation work, whether time or money, are limited. Decision makers need methods to help them identify the optimal allocation of limited resources to meet conservation goals, and decision analysis is uniquely suited to assist with the development of such methods. In recent years, a number of case studies have been described that examine optimal conservation decisions under fiscal constraints; here we develop methods to look at other types of constraints, including limited staff and regulatory deadlines. In the US, Section Seven consultation, an important component of protection under the federal Endangered Species Act, requires that federal agencies overseeing projects consult with federal biologists to avoid jeopardizing species. A benefit of consultation is negotiation of project modifications that lessen impacts on species, so staff time allocated to consultation supports conservation. However, some offices have experienced declining staff, potentially reducing the efficacy of consultation. This is true of the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Washington Fish and Wildlife Office (WFWO) and its consultation work on federally-threatened bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus). To improve effectiveness, WFWO managers needed a tool to help allocate this work to maximize conservation benefits. We used a decision-analytic approach to score projects based on the value of staff time investment, and then identified an optimal decision rule for how scored projects would be allocated across bins, where projects in different bins received different time investments. We found that, given current staff, the optimal decision rule placed 80% of informal consultations (those where expected effects are beneficial, insignificant, or discountable) in a short bin where they would be completed without negotiating changes. The remaining 20% would be placed in a long bin, warranting an investment of seven days, including time for negotiation. For formal consultations (those where expected effects are significant), 82% of projects would be placed in a long bin, with an average time investment of 15. days. The WFWO is using this decision-support tool to help allocate staff time. Because workload allocation decisions are iterative, we describe a monitoring plan designed to increase the tool's efficacy over time. This work has general application beyond Section Seven consultation, in that it provides a framework for efficient investment of staff time in conservation when such time is limited and when regulatory deadlines prevent an unconstrained approach. ?? 2010.

A Novel Approach to Measuring Efficiency of Scientific Research Projects: Data Envelopment Analysis.

PubMed

Dilts, David M; Zell, Adrienne; Orwoll, Eric

2015-10-01

Measuring the efficiency of resource allocation for the conduct of scientific projects in medical research is difficult due to, among other factors, the heterogeneity of resources supplied (e.g., dollars or FTEs) and outcomes expected (e.g., grants, publications). While this is an issue in medical science, it has been approached successfully in other fields by using data envelopment analysis (DEA). DEA has a number of advantages over other techniques as it simultaneously uses multiple heterogeneous inputs and outputs to determine which projects are performing most efficiently, referred to as being at the efficiency frontier, when compared to others in the data set. This research uses DEA for the evaluation of supported translational science projects by the Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute (OCTRI), a NCATS Clinical & Translational Science Award (CTSA) recipient. These results suggest that the primary determinate of overall project efficiency at OCTRI is the amount of funding, with smaller amounts of funding providing more efficiency than larger funding amounts. These results, and the use of DEA, highlight both the success of using this technique in helping determine medical research efficiency and those factors to consider when distributing funds for new projects at CTSAs. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The use of an integrated variable fuzzy sets in water resources management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qiu, Qingtai; Liu, Jia; Li, Chuanzhe; Yu, Xinzhe; Wang, Yang

2018-06-01

Based on the evaluation of the present situation of water resources and the development of water conservancy projects and social economy, optimal allocation of regional water resources presents an increasing need in the water resources management. Meanwhile it is also the most effective way to promote the harmonic relationship between human and water. In view of the own limitations of the traditional evaluations of which always choose a single index model using in optimal allocation of regional water resources, on the basis of the theory of variable fuzzy sets (VFS) and system dynamics (SD), an integrated variable fuzzy sets model (IVFS) is proposed to address dynamically complex problems in regional water resources management in this paper. The model is applied to evaluate the level of the optimal allocation of regional water resources of Zoucheng in China. Results show that the level of allocation schemes of water resources ranging from 2.5 to 3.5, generally showing a trend of lower level. To achieve optimal regional management of water resources, this model conveys a certain degree of accessing water resources management, which prominently improve the authentic assessment of water resources management by using the eigenvector of level H.

Improving resource allocation decisions for health and HIV programmes in South Africa: Bioethical, cost-effectiveness and health diplomacy considerations.

PubMed

Kevany, Sebastian; Benatar, Solomon R; Fleischer, Theodore

2013-01-01

The escalating expenditure on patients with HIV/AIDS within an inadequately funded public health system is tending towards crowding out care for patients with non-HIV illnesses. Priority-setting decisions are thus required and should increasingly be based on an explicit, transparent and accountable process to facilitate sustainability. South Africa's public health system is eroding, even though the government has received extensive donor financing for specific conditions, such as HIV/AIDS. The South African government's 2007 HIV plan anticipated costs exceeding 20% of the annual health budget with a strong focus on treatment interventions, while the recently announced 2012-2016 National Strategic HIV plan could cost up to US$16 billion. Conversely, the total non-HIV health budget has remained static in recent years, effectively reducing the supply of health care for other diseases. While the South African government cannot meet all demands for health care simultaneously, health funders should attempt to allocate health resources in a fair, efficient, transparent and accountable manner, in order to ensure that publicly funded health care is delivered in a reasonable and non-discriminatory fashion. We recommend a process for resource allocation that includes ethical, economic, legal and policy considerations. This process, adapted for use by South Africa's policy-makers, could bring health, political, economic and ethical gains, whilst allaying a social crisis as mounting treatment commitments generated by HIV have the potential to overwhelm the health system.

Gaps, conflicts, and consensus in the ethics statements of professional associations, medical groups, and health plans.

PubMed

Berkman, N D; Wynia, M K; Churchill, L R

2004-08-01

Patients today interact with physicians, physician groups, and health plans, each of which may follow distinct ethical guidelines. We systematically compared physician codes of ethics with ethics policies at physician group practices and health plans, using the 1998-99 policies of 38 organisations-18 medical associations (associations), nine physician group practices (groups), and 12 health plans (plans)-selected using random and stratified purposive sampling. A clinician and a social scientist independently abstracted each document, using a 397-item health care ethics taxonomy; a reconciled abstraction form was used for analysis. This study focuses on ethics policies regarding professional obligation towards patients, resource allocation, and care for the vulnerable in society. A majority in all three groups mention "fiduciary obligations" of one sort or another, but associations generally address physician/patient relations but not health plan obligations, while plans rarely endorse physicians' obligations of advocacy, beneficence, and non-maleficence. Except for occasional mentions of cost effectiveness or efficiency, ethical considerations in resource allocation rarely arise in the ethics policies of all three organisational types. Very few associations, groups, or plans specifically endorse obligations to vulnerable populations. With some important exceptions, we found that the ethics policies of associations, groups, and plans are narrowly focused and often ignore important ethical concerns for society, such as resource allocation and care for vulnerable populations. More collaborative work is needed to build integrated sets of ethical standards that address the aims and responsibilities of the major stakeholders in health care delivery.

From reactive to proactive: developing a valid clinical ethics needs assessment survey to support ethics program strategic planning (part 1 of 2).

PubMed

Frolic, Andrea; Jennings, Barb; Seidlitz, Wendy; Andreychuk, Sandy; Djuric-Paulin, Angela; Flaherty, Barb; Peace, Donna

2013-03-01

As ethics committees and programs become integrated into the "usual business" of healthcare organizations, they are likely to face the predicament of responding to greater demands for service and higher expectations, without an influx of additional resources. This situation demands that ethics committees and programs allocate their scarce resources (including their time, skills and funds) strategically, rather than lurching from one ad hoc request to another; finding ways to maximize the effectiveness, efficiency, impact and quality of ethics services is essential in today's competitive environment. How can Hospital Ethics Committees (HECs) begin the process of strategic priority-setting to ensure they are delivering services where and how they are most needed? This paper describes the creation of the Clinical Ethics Needs Assessment Survey (CENAS) as a tool to understand interprofessional staff perceptions of the organization's ethical climate, challenging ethical issues and educational priorities. The CENAS was designed to support informed resource allocation and advocacy by HECs. By sharing our process of developing and validating this ethics needs assessment survey we hope to enable strategic priority-setting in other resource-strapped ethics programs, and to empower HECs to shift their focus to more proactive, quality-focused initiatives.

The business of radiology: cost accounting.

PubMed

Camponovo, Ernest J

2004-08-01

Radiology practices confront questions of resource allocation every day. Unfortunately, practices frequently fail to adequately analyze revenues and expenses, which are at the heart of success or failure in any business endeavor. Cost allocation problems permeate nearly all aspects of cost analysis and accumulation and exist throughout all types of private-sector and public-sector organizations. "Managerial" or "cost" accounting is the discipline concerned with measuring and assigning the costs of delivering services or producing products. In contrast to financial accounting, management accounting produces relevant information for internal decision making and in general is designed to answer a firm's specific operational questions. Because costs play such a critical role in deriving and planning for revenues and profits, managerial accounting is in large part devoted to measuring and accumulating costs with the aims of control and continuous cost reduction. Because radiologists' salaries are at record highs, when accounting for a practice's clinical activities, such as the provision of mammography services, some allocation of radiologist costs themselves must be made, or the practice will not be able to achieve its goal of efficient allocation of resources. Whatever cost-accounting method is used should be specific enough to allow the differentiation of costs to as detailed a level as necessary for the strategic decision at hand. It is imperative that a practice use some rational method to gather and analyze costs and that management then use these data in decision making. Successful practices will be those most aware of their costs and the minimum acceptable reimbursements necessary for their success.

Deficit irrigation and sustainable water-resource strategies in agriculture for China’s food security

PubMed Central

Du, Taisheng; Kang, Shaozhong; Zhang, Jianhua; Davies, William J.

2015-01-01

More than 70% of fresh water is used in agriculture in many parts of the world, but competition for domestic and industrial water use is intense. For future global food security, water use in agriculture must become sustainable. Agricultural water-use efficiency and water productivity can be improved at different points from the stomatal to the regional scale. A promising approach is the use of deficit irrigation, which can both save water and induce plant physiological regulations such as stomatal opening and reproductive and vegetative growth. At the scales of the irrigation district, the catchment, and the region, there can be many other components to a sustainable water-resources strategy. There is much interest in whether crop water use can be regulated as a function of understanding of physiological responses. If this is the case, then agricultural water resources can be reallocated to the benefit of the broader community. We summarize the extent of use and impact of deficit irrigation within China. A sustainable strategy for allocation of agricultural water resources for food security is proposed. Our intention is to build an integrative system to control crop water use during different cropping stages and actively regulate the plant’s growth, productivity, and development based on physiological responses. This is done with a view to improving the allocation of limited agricultural water resources. PMID:25873664

The challenge of designing a database for auditing surgical in-patients.

PubMed

Branday, J M; Crandon, I; Carpenter, R; Rhoden, A; Meeks-Aitken, N

1999-12-01

Surgical audit is imperative in modern practice, particularly in the developing world where resources are limited and efficient allocation important. The structure, process and outcome of surgical care can be determined for quality assurance or for research. Improved efficiency and reduction of morbidity and mortality are additional goals which may be accomplished. However, computerization, medical staff cooperation and the availability of dedicated staff are among the hurdles which may be encountered. We report the challenge of designing and establishing a database for auditing surgical inpatients in a developing country and the difficulties which were encountered.

Methods and tools to simulate the effect of economic instruments in complex water resources systems. Application to the Jucar river basin.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lopez-Nicolas, Antonio; Pulido-Velazquez, Manuel

2014-05-01

The main challenge of the BLUEPRINT to safeguard Europe's water resources (EC, 2012) is to guarantee that enough good quality water is available for people's needs, the economy and the environment. In this sense, economic policy instruments such as water pricing policies and water markets can be applied to enhance efficient use of water. This paper presents a method based on hydro-economic tools to assess the effect of economic instruments on water resource systems. Hydro-economic models allow integrated analysis of water supply, demand and infrastructure operation at the river basin scale, by simultaneously combining engineering, hydrologic and economic aspects of water resources management. The method made use of the simulation and optimization hydroeconomic tools SIMGAMS and OPTIGAMS. The simulation tool SIMGAMS allocates water resources among the users according to priorities and operating rules, and evaluate economic scarcity costs of the system by using economic demand functions. The model's objective function is designed so that the system aims to meet the operational targets (ranked according to priorities) at each month while following the system operating rules. The optimization tool OPTIGAMS allocates water resources based on an economic efficiency criterion: maximize net benefits, or alternatively, minimizing the total water scarcity and operating cost of water use. SIMGAS allows to simulate incentive water pricing policies based on marginal resource opportunity costs (MROC; Pulido-Velazquez et al., 2013). Storage-dependent step pricing functions are derived from the time series of MROC values at a certain reservoir in the system. These water pricing policies are defined based on water availability in the system (scarcity pricing), so that when water storage is high, the MROC is low, while low storage (drought periods) will be associated to high MROC and therefore, high prices. We also illustrate the use of OPTIGAMS to simulate the effect of ideal water markets by economic optimization, without considering the potential effect of transaction costs. These methods and tools have been applied to the Jucar River basin (Spain). The results show the potential of economic instruments in setting incentives for a more efficient management of water resources systems. Acknowledgments: The study has been partially supported by the European Community 7th Framework Project (GENESIS project, n. 226536), SAWARES (Plan Nacional I+D+i 2008-2011, CGL2009-13238-C02-01 and C02-02), SCARCE (Consolider-Ingenio 2010 CSD2009-00065) of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness; and EC 7th Framework Project ENHANCE (n. 308438) Reference: Pulido-Velazquez, M., Alvarez-Mendiola, E., and Andreu, J., 2013. Design of Efficient Water Pricing Policies Integrating Basinwide Resource Opportunity Costs. J. Water Resour. Plann. Manage., 139(5): 583-592.

Methods for Computationally Efficient Structured CFD Simulations of Complex Turbomachinery Flows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Herrick, Gregory P.; Chen, Jen-Ping

2012-01-01

This research presents more efficient computational methods by which to perform multi-block structured Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations of turbomachinery, thus facilitating higher-fidelity solutions of complicated geometries and their associated flows. This computational framework offers flexibility in allocating resources to balance process count and wall-clock computation time, while facilitating research interests of simulating axial compressor stall inception with more complete gridding of the flow passages and rotor tip clearance regions than is typically practiced with structured codes. The paradigm presented herein facilitates CFD simulation of previously impractical geometries and flows. These methods are validated and demonstrate improved computational efficiency when applied to complicated geometries and flows.

A Two-Phase Model of Resource Allocation in Visual Working Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ye, Chaoxiong; Hu, Zhonghua; Li, Hong; Ristaniemi, Tapani; Liu, Qiang; Liu, Taosheng

2017-01-01

Two broad theories of visual working memory (VWM) storage have emerged from current research, a discrete slot-based theory and a continuous resource theory. However, neither the discrete slot-based theory or continuous resource theory clearly stipulates how the mental commodity for VWM (discrete slot or continuous resource) is allocated.…

Simple versus composite indicators of socioeconomic status in resource allocation formulae: the case of the district resource allocation formula in Malawi

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background The district resource allocation formula in Malawi was recently reviewed to include stunting as a proxy measure of socioeconomic status. In many countries where the concept of need has been incorporated in resource allocation, composite indicators of socioeconomic status have been used. In the Malawi case, it is important to ascertain whether there are differences between using single variable or composite indicators of socioeconomic status in allocations made to districts, holding all other factors in the resource allocation formula constant. Methods Principal components analysis was used to calculate asset indices for all districts from variables that capture living standards using data from the Malawi Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2006. These were normalized and used to weight district populations. District proportions of national population weighted by both the simple and composite indicators were then calculated for all districts and compared. District allocations were also calculated using the two approaches and compared. Results The two types of indicators are highly correlated, with a spearman rank correlation coefficient of 0.97 at the 1% level of significance. For 21 out of the 26 districts included in the study, proportions of national population weighted by the simple indicator are higher by an average of 0.6 percentage points. For the remaining 5 districts, district proportions of national population weighted by the composite indicator are higher by an average of 2 percentage points. Though the average percentage point differences are low and the actual allocations using both approaches highly correlated (ρ of 0.96), differences in actual allocations exceed 10% for 8 districts and have an average of 4.2% for the remaining 17. For 21 districts allocations based on the single variable indicator are higher. Conclusions Variations in district allocations made using either the simple or composite indicators of socioeconomic status are not statistically different to recommend one over the other. However, the single variable indicator is favourable for its ease of computation. PMID:20053274

Evaluation of input output efficiency of oil field considering undesirable output —A case study of sandstone reservoir in Xinjiang oilfield

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Shuying; Wu, Xuquan; Li, Deshan; Xu, Yadong; Song, Shulin

2017-06-01

Based on the input and output data of sandstone reservoir in Xinjiang oilfield, the SBM-Undesirable model is used to study the technical efficiency of each block. Results show that: the model of SBM-undesirable to evaluate its efficiency and to avoid defects caused by traditional DEA model radial angle, improve the accuracy of the efficiency evaluation. by analyzing the projection of the oil blocks, we find that each block is in the negative external effects of input redundancy and output deficiency benefit and undesirable output, and there are greater differences in the production efficiency of each block; the way to improve the input-output efficiency of oilfield is to optimize the allocation of resources, reduce the undesirable output and increase the expected output.

Tools for Analyzing Computing Resource Management Strategies and Algorithms for SDR Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marojevic, Vuk; Gomez-Miguelez, Ismael; Gelonch, Antoni

2012-09-01

Software defined radio (SDR) clouds centralize the computing resources of base stations. The computing resource pool is shared between radio operators and dynamically loads and unloads digital signal processing chains for providing wireless communications services on demand. Each new user session request particularly requires the allocation of computing resources for executing the corresponding SDR transceivers. The huge amount of computing resources of SDR cloud data centers and the numerous session requests at certain hours of a day require an efficient computing resource management. We propose a hierarchical approach, where the data center is divided in clusters that are managed in a distributed way. This paper presents a set of computing resource management tools for analyzing computing resource management strategies and algorithms for SDR clouds. We use the tools for evaluating a different strategies and algorithms. The results show that more sophisticated algorithms can achieve higher resource occupations and that a tradeoff exists between cluster size and algorithm complexity.

Healthcare resource allocation decisions affecting uninsured services

PubMed Central

Harrison, Krista Lyn; Taylor, Holly A.

2017-01-01

Purpose Using the example of community access programs (CAPs), the purpose of this paper is to describe resource allocation and policy decisions related to providing health services for the uninsured in the USA and the organizational values affecting these decisions. Design/methodology/approach The study used comparative case study methodology at two geographically diverse sites. Researchers collected data from program documents, meeting observations, and interviews with program stakeholders. Findings Five resource allocation or policy decisions relevant to providing healthcare services were described at each site across three categories: designing the health plan, reacting to funding changes, and revising policies. Organizational values of access to care and stewardship most frequently affected resource allocation and policy decisions, while economic and political pressures affect the relative prioritization of values. Research limitations/implications Small sample size, the potential for social desirability or recall bias, and the exclusion of provider, member or community perspectives beyond those represented among participating board members. Practical implications Program directors or researchers can use this study to assess the extent to which resource allocation and policy decisions align with organizational values and mission statements. Social implications The description of how healthcare decisions are actually made can be matched with literature that describes how healthcare resource decisions ought to be made, in order to provide a normative grounding for future decisions. Originality/value This study addresses a gap in literature regarding how CAPs actually make resource allocation decisions that affect access to healthcare services. PMID:27934550

Scarcity, Conflict, and Equity in Allocating Public Recreation Resources.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shelby, Bo; Danley, Mark

The conflict between the interests of commercial outfitters and private boaters in the use of whitewater rivers is examined. A discussion is presented on the literature on scarcity, allocation, and conflict among groups. These concepts are applied to the allocation of public resources on whitewater rivers. The conflicting interest groups are…

77 FR 42749 - Proposed Change in State Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant Allocations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-20

... Change in State Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant Allocations AGENCY: Health Resources and... the State Title V Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Block Grant allocations. Through the Health Resources and Services Administration's Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), Title V MCH Block Grant...

Equity in the allocation of public sector financial resources in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic literature review.

PubMed

Anselmi, Laura; Lagarde, Mylene; Hanson, Kara

2015-05-01

This review aims to identify, assess and analyse the evidence on equity in the distribution of public health sector expenditure in low- and middle-income countries. Four bibliographic databases and five websites were searched to identify quantitative studies examining equity in the distribution of public health funding in individual countries or groups of countries. Two different types of studies were identified: benefit incidence analysis (BIA) and resource allocation comparison (RAC) studies. Quality appraisal and data synthesis were tailored to each study type to reflect differences in the methods used and in the information provided. We identified 39 studies focusing on African, Asian and Latin American countries. Of these, 31 were BIA studies that described the distribution, typically across socio-economic status, of individual monetary benefit derived from service utilization. The remaining eight were RAC studies that compared the actual expenditure across geographic areas to an ideal need-based distribution. Overall, the quality of the evidence from both types of study was relatively weak. Looking across studies, the evidence confirms that resource allocation formulae can enhance equity in resource allocation across geographic areas and that the poor benefits proportionally more from primary health care than from hospital expenditure. The lack of information on the distribution of benefit from utilization in RAC studies and on the countries' approaches to resource allocation in BIA studies prevents further policy analysis. Additional research that relates the type of resource allocation mechanism to service provision and to the benefit distribution is required for a better understanding of equity-enhancing resource allocation policies. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine © The Author 2014; all rights reserved.

HTA Implementation Roadmap in Central and Eastern European Countries

PubMed Central

Gheorghe, Adrian; Huic, Mirjana; Csanádi, Marcell; Kristensen, Finn Boerlum

2016-01-01

Abstract The opportunity cost of inappropriate health policy decisions is greater in Central and Eastern European (CEE) compared with Western European (WE) countries because of poorer population health and more limited healthcare resources. Application of health technology assessment (HTA) prior to healthcare financing decisions can improve the allocative efficiency of scarce resources. However, few CEE countries have a clear roadmap for HTA implementation. Examples from high‐income countries may not be directly relevant, as CEE countries cannot allocate so much financial and human resources for substantiating policy decisions with evidence. Our objective was to describe the main HTA implementation scenarios in CEE countries and summarize the most important questions related to capacity building, financing HTA research, process and organizational structure for HTA, standardization of HTA methodology, use of local data, scope of mandatory HTA, decision criteria, and international collaboration in HTA. Although HTA implementation strategies from the region can be relevant examples for other CEE countries with similar cultural environment and economic status, HTA roadmaps are not still fully transferable without taking into account country‐specific aspects, such as country size, gross domestic product per capita, major social values, public health priorities, and fragmentation of healthcare financing. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. PMID:26763688

Factors that influence case managers' resource allocation decisions in pediatric home care: an ethnographic study.

PubMed

Fraser, Kimberly D; Estabrooks, Carole; Allen, Marion; Strang, Vicki

2009-03-01

Case managers make decisions that directly affect the amount and type of services home care clients receive and subsequently affect the overall available health care resources of home care programs. A recent systematic review of the literature identified significant knowledge gaps with respect to resource allocation decision-making in home care. Using Spradley's methodology, we designed an ethnographic study of a children's home care program in Western Canada. The sample included 11 case managers and program leaders. Data sources included interviews, card sorts, and participant observation over a 5-month period. Data analyses included open coding, domain, taxonomic, and componential analysis. One of the key findings was a taxonomy of factors that influence case manager resource allocation decisions. The factors were grouped into one of four main categories: system-related, home care program-related, family related, or client-related. Family related factors have not been previously reported as influencing case manager resource allocation decision-making and nor has the team's role been reported as an influencing factor. The findings of this study are examined in light of Daniels and Sabin's Accountability for Reasonableness framework, which may be useful for future knowledge development about micro-level resource allocation theory.

Determinants of expenditure variation in health care and care of the elderly among Finnish municipalities.

PubMed

Häkkinen, U; Luoma, K

1995-01-01

In Finland, municipal health care expenditure varies from FIM 3 800 per capita to FIM 7 800 per capita. The objective of this study was to estimate the impact of different economic, structural and demographic factors on the per capita costs of health services and care of the elderly. Using regression analysis we attempted to explain observed differences in expenditure by determining separately the effects of allocative and productive inefficiency and the effects of factors influencing the demand for services. We found income level of local population, generosity of central government matching grant, allocative efficiency (the mix of care between institutional and non-institutional care), productive efficiency of service providers, and factors associated with the need of services (age structure, morbidity) to be the most important determinants of health care expenditure. Our results reveal that municipalities have the means at their disposal (by shifting resources to outpatient care and increasing productivity) to significantly reduce expenditure on health services and care of the elderly.

Assessing and Improving Performance: A Longitudinal Evaluation of Priority Setting and Resource Allocation in a Canadian Health Region.

PubMed

Hall, William; Smith, Neale; Mitton, Craig; Urquhart, Bonnie; Bryan, Stirling

2017-08-22

In order to meet the challenges presented by increasing demand and scarcity of resources, healthcare organizations are faced with difficult decisions related to resource allocation. Tools to facilitate evaluation and improvement of these processes could enable greater transparency and more optimal distribution of resources. The Resource Allocation Performance Assessment Tool (RAPAT) was implemented in a healthcare organization in British Columbia, Canada. Recommendations for improvement were delivered, and a follow up evaluation exercise was conducted to assess the trajectory of the organization's priority setting and resource allocation (PSRA) process 2 years post the original evaluation. Implementation of RAPAT in the pilot organization identified strengths and weaknesses of the organization's PSRA process at the time of the original evaluation. Strengths included the use of criteria and evidence, an ability to reallocate resources, and the involvement of frontline staff in the process. Weaknesses included training, communication, and lack of program budgeting. Although the follow up revealed a regression from a more formal PSRA process, a legacy of explicit resource allocation was reported to be providing ongoing benefit for the organization. While past studies have taken a cross-sectional approach, this paper introduces the first longitudinal evaluation of PSRA in a healthcare organization. By including the strengths, weaknesses, and evolution of one organization's journey, the authors' intend that this paper will assist other healthcare leaders in meeting the challenges of allocating scarce resources. © 2018 The Author(s); Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Ethical considerations in resource allocation in a cochlear implant program.

PubMed

Westerberg, Brian D; Pijl, Sipke; McDonald, Michael

2008-04-01

To review processes of resource allocation and the ethical considerations relevant to the fair allocation of a limited number of cochlear implants to increasing numbers of potential recipients. Review of relevant considerations. Tertiary referral hospital. Editorial discussion of the ethical issues of resource allocation. Heterogeneity of audiometric thresholds, self-reported disability of hearing loss, age of the potential cochlear implant recipient, cost-effectiveness, access to resources, compliance with follow-up, social support available to the recipient, social consequences of hearing impairment, and other recipient-related factors. In a publicly funded health care system, there will always be a need for decision-making processes for allocation of finite fiscal resources. All candidates for cochlear implantation deserve fair consideration. However, they are a heterogeneous group in terms of needs and expected outcomes consisting of traditional and marginal candidates, with a wide range of benefit from acoustic amplification. We argue that implant programs should thoughtfully prioritize treatment on the basis of need and potential benefit. We reject queuing on the basis of "first-come, first-served" or on the basis of perceived social worth.

What is so important about completing lives? A critique of the modified youngest first principle of scarce resource allocation.

PubMed

Gamlund, Espen

2016-04-01

Ruth Tallman has recently offered a defense of the modified youngest first principle of scarce resource allocation [1]. According to Tallman, this principle calls for prioritizing adolescents and young adults between 15-40 years of age. In this article, I argue that Tallman's defense of the modified youngest first principle is vulnerable to important objections, and that it is thus unsuitable as a basis for allocating resources. Moreover, Tallman makes claims about the badness of death for individuals at different ages, but she lacks an account of the loss involved in dying to support her claims. To fill this gap in Tallman's account, I propose a view on the badness of death that I call 'Deprivationism'. I argue that this view explains why death is bad for those who die, and that it has some advantages over Tallman's complete lives view in the context of scarce resource allocation. Finally, I consider some objections to the relevance of Deprivationism to resource allocation, and offer my responses.

Asynchronous Incremental Stochastic Dual Descent Algorithm for Network Resource Allocation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bedi, Amrit Singh; Rajawat, Ketan

2018-05-01

Stochastic network optimization problems entail finding resource allocation policies that are optimum on an average but must be designed in an online fashion. Such problems are ubiquitous in communication networks, where resources such as energy and bandwidth are divided among nodes to satisfy certain long-term objectives. This paper proposes an asynchronous incremental dual decent resource allocation algorithm that utilizes delayed stochastic {gradients} for carrying out its updates. The proposed algorithm is well-suited to heterogeneous networks as it allows the computationally-challenged or energy-starved nodes to, at times, postpone the updates. The asymptotic analysis of the proposed algorithm is carried out, establishing dual convergence under both, constant and diminishing step sizes. It is also shown that with constant step size, the proposed resource allocation policy is asymptotically near-optimal. An application involving multi-cell coordinated beamforming is detailed, demonstrating the usefulness of the proposed algorithm.

Resource allocation and compensation during development in holometabolous insects.

PubMed

Nestel, David; Papadopoulos, Nikos T; Pascacio-Villafán, Carlos; Righini, Nicoletta; Altuzar-Molina, Alma R; Aluja, Martín

2016-12-01

We provide an extensive review on current knowledge and future research paths on the topic of resource allocation and compensation during development in holometabolous insects, emphasizing the role of resource management during development, and how compensatory mechanisms may be acting to remediate nutritional deficiencies carried over from earlier stages of development. We first review resource allocation in "open" and "closed" developmental stages and then move on to the topic of modelling resource allocation and its trade-offs. In doing so, we review novel methodological developments such as response-surface methods and mixture experiments as well as nutritional geometry. We also dwell on the fascinating topic of compensatory physiology and behavior. We finish by discussing future research paths, among them the emerging field of nutrigenomics and gut microbiome, which will shed light into the yet poorly understood role of the symbiotic microbiota in nutrient compensation or assimilation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Arithmetic and algebraic problem solving and resource allocation: the distinct impact of fluid and numerical intelligence.

PubMed

Dix, Annika; van der Meer, Elke

2015-04-01

This study investigates cognitive resource allocation dependent on fluid and numerical intelligence in arithmetic/algebraic tasks varying in difficulty. Sixty-six 11th grade students participated in a mathematical verification paradigm, while pupil dilation as a measure of resource allocation was collected. Students with high fluid intelligence solved the tasks faster and more accurately than those with average fluid intelligence, as did students with high compared to average numerical intelligence. However, fluid intelligence sped up response times only in students with average but not high numerical intelligence. Further, high fluid but not numerical intelligence led to greater task-related pupil dilation. We assume that fluid intelligence serves as a domain-general resource that helps to tackle problems for which domain-specific knowledge (numerical intelligence) is missing. The allocation of this resource can be measured by pupil dilation. Copyright © 2014 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Perceptions and Attitudes of Health Professionals in Kenya on National Health Care Resource Allocation Mechanisms: A Structural Equation Modeling

PubMed Central

Owili, Patrick Opiyo; Hsu, Yi-Hsin Elsa; Chern, Jin-Yuan; Chiu, Chiung-Hsuan Megan; Wang, Bill; Huang, Kuo-Cherh; Muga, Miriam Adoyo

2015-01-01

Background Health care resource allocation is key towards attaining equity in the health system. However, health professionals’ perceived impact and attitude towards health care resource allocation in Sub-Saharan Africa is unknown; furthermore, they occupy a position which makes them notice the impact of different policies in their health system. This study explored perceptions and attitudes of health professionals in Kenya on health care resource allocation mechanism. Method We conducted a survey of a representative sample of 341 health professionals in Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital from February to April 2012, consisting of over 3000 employees. We assessed health professionals’ perceived impact and attitudes on health care resource allocation mechanism in Kenya. We used structural equation modeling and applied a Confirmatory Factor Analysis using Robust Maximum Likelihood estimation procedure to test the hypothesized model. Results We found that the allocation mechanism was negatively associated with their perceived positive impact (-1.04, p < .001), health professionals’ satisfaction (-0.24, p < .01), and professionals’ attitudes (-1.55, p < .001) while it was positively associated with perceived negative impact (1.14, p < .001). Perceived positive impact of the allocation mechanism was negatively associated with their overall satisfaction (-0.08) and attitude (-0.98) at p < .001, respectively. Furthermore, overall satisfaction was negatively associated with attitude (-1.10, p <.001). On the other hand, perceived negative impact of the allocation was positively associated with overall satisfaction (0.29, p <.001) but was not associated with attitude. Conclusion The result suggests that health care resource allocation mechanism has a negative effect towards perceptions, attitudes and overall satisfaction of health professionals who are at the frontline in health care. These findings can serve as a crucial reference for policymakers as the Kenyan health system move towards devolving the system of governance. PMID:26039053

Criteria-Based Resource Allocation: A Tool to Improve Public Health Impact.

PubMed

Graham, J Ross; Mackie, Christopher

2016-01-01

Resource allocation in local public health (LPH) has been reported as a significant challenge for practitioners and a Public Health Services and Systems Research priority. Ensuring available resources have maximum impact on community health and maintaining public confidence in the resource allocation process are key challenges. A popular strategy in health care settings to address these challenges is Program Budgeting and Marginal Analysis (PBMA). This case study used PBMA in an LPH setting to examine its appropriateness and utility. The criteria-based resource allocation process PBMA was implemented to guide the development of annual organizational budget in an attempt to maximize the impact of agency resources. Senior leaders and managers were surveyed postimplementation regarding process facilitators, challenges, and successes. Canada's largest autonomous LPH agency. PBMA was used to shift 3.4% of the agency budget from lower-impact areas (through 34 specific disinvestments) to higher-impact areas (26 specific reinvestments). Senior leaders and managers validated the process as a useful approach for improving the public health impact of agency resources. However, they also reported the process may have decreased frontline staff confidence in senior leadership. In this case study, PBMA was used successfully to reallocate a sizable portion of an LPH agency's budget toward higher-impact activities. PBMA warrants further study as a tool to support optimal resource allocation in LPH settings.

Allocation of health resources according to the type and size of Iranian governmental hospitals.

PubMed

Hassani, Sa; Abolhallaje, M; Inanlo, S; Hosseini, H; Pourmohammadi, K; Bastani, P; Ramezanian, M; Marnani, A Barati

2013-01-01

Due to consuming about 50%-80% of health resources, hospitals are the greatest and costly operational units in Iranian Health system. so allocation of resources specially human and space resources as the most expensive ones is really important for further controlling of costs, analysis of costs and making suitable policies for increasing the profitability and allocation of resources and improvement of quality. This paper intends to describe and analyze any allocation of resources in 530 university hospitals in Iran. The final goal of this research is to provide a data bank according which there is a basis for more scientific budget allocation of state's hospitals from the size and type of application points of view. The relevant index of person to bed was 2.04 for human resources. All hospitals more than 300 beds are located in benefiting areas from which 17 cases are educational and 2 cases are therapeutic. This is necessary to mention that the rate of management group forces to total personnel at deprived areas is about 2.5% more than benefiting areas. Because 60-80% of hospital costs are applied for human forces, all managers of hospitals are obliged to revise their policies in attraction and employment of human force in order to benefit from such a valuable resource and prevent from expensive costs. So any employment of personnel should be based upon real needs of hospital.

Optimal Resource Allocation under Fair QoS in Multi-tier Server Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akai, Hirokazu; Ushio, Toshimitsu; Hayashi, Naoki

Recent development of network technology realizes multi-tier server systems, where several tiers perform functionally different processing requested by clients. It is an important issue to allocate resources of the systems to clients dynamically based on their current requests. On the other hand, Q-RAM has been proposed for resource allocation in real-time systems. In the server systems, it is important that execution results of all applications requested by clients are the same QoS(quality of service) level. In this paper, we extend Q-RAM to multi-tier server systems and propose a method for optimal resource allocation with fairness of the QoS levels of clients’ requests. We also consider an assignment problem of physical machines to be sleep in each tier sothat the energy consumption is minimized.

Children Rectify Inequalities for Disadvantaged Groups

PubMed Central

Elenbaas, Laura; Killen, Melanie

2016-01-01

Children’s decisions regarding the allocation of societal resources in the context of preexisting inequalities were investigated. African-American and European-American children ages 5–6 years (n = 91) and 10–11 years (n = 94) judged the acceptability of a medical resource inequality on the basis of race, allocated medical supplies, evaluated different resource allocation strategies, and completed a measure of status awareness based on race. With age, children were increasingly aware of wealth status disparities between African-Americans and European-Americans, and judged a medical resource inequality between groups more negatively. Further, with age, children rectified the resource inequality over perpetuating it, but only when African-American children were disadvantaged. With age, children also referenced rights when reasoning about their judgments concerning the disadvantaged African-American group. When European-American children were disadvantaged, children did not systematically allocate more resources to one group over another. The results are discussed in terms of social inequalities, disadvantaged status, moral judgments, and intergroup attitudes. PMID:27455190

Health Care: A Report on the Industry 2004

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-06-01

in fact are soaring out of proportion to the quality of care provided to the population as a whole. Market failures prevent the health care industry... failures prevent the health care industry from reaching its best potential efficiency in terms of resource allocation; the disconnect between buyers and...and-a-half points higher than the federal standard), 1,400 service members were discharged for failure to meet the metric in 2002, joining more than

Balancing the risks and the benefits.

PubMed

Klopack

2000-04-01

Pharmaceutical research organizations can benefit from outsourcing discovery activities that are not core competencies of the organization. The core competencies for a discovery operation are the expertise and systems that give the organization an advantage over its competition. Successful outsourcing ventures result in cost reduction, increased operation efficiency and optimization of resource allocation. While there are pitfalls to outsourcing, including poor partner selection and inadequate implementation, outsourcing can be a powerful tool for enhancing drug discovery operations.

Dynamic Resource Allocation to Improve Service Performance in Order Fulfillment Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-01-01

efficient system uses economies of scale at two points: orders are batched before processing, which reduces processing costs, and processed or- ders ...the ef- fects of batching on order picking processes is well-researched and well-understood ( van den Berg and Gademann, 1999). Because orders are...a final so- journ time distribution. Our work builds on existing research in matrix-geometric methods by Neuts (1981), Asmussen and M0ller (2001

Flexibility of resource allocation in a hermaphroditic-gynomonoecious herb through deployment of female and male resources in perfect flowers.

PubMed

Mamut, Jannathan; Xiong, Ying-Ze; Tan, Dun-Yan; Huang, Shuang-Quan

2017-03-01

It has been hypothesized that two flower types permit flexible allocation of resources to female and male functions, yet empirical evidence for the sex-allocation hypothesis remains scarce in gynomonoecious species. To characterize resource allocation to pistillate and perfect flowers and allocation of perfect flowers between gynomonoecious and hermaphroditic individuals, we examined the flexibility and whether female-biased allocation increases with plant size in the hermaphroditic-gynomonoecious herb Eremurus anisopterus . Frequency of gynomonoecious individuals, flower production, and plant size were investigated in different populations. Floral allocation was compared among the three flower types of E. anisopterus . Frequency of gynomonoecious plants varied from 2-17% in nine populations. Only larger plants produced female flowers at the bottom of racemes. Both female and perfect flower production tended to increase proportionately with plant size in gynomonoecious individuals. Female flowers did not produce less biomass than perfect flowers from hermaphroditic or gynomonoecious plants. However, both female and perfect flowers from gynomonoecious individuals had lighter stamen mass, but larger pistil mass, than perfect flowers from hermaphrodites. Although the prediction of an increase in female flower number with plant size was not observed in E. anisopterus , the flexibility of sex allocation in gynomonoecious species was confirmed in that gynomonoecious individuals had a female-biased floral allocation compared to hermaphroditic individuals. Such comparisons of gynomonoecious to hermaphroditic individuals permit us to unveil a sexual adjustment strategy: flexibility of sexual investments within plants. © 2017 Botanical Society of America.

Societal preferences for distributive justice in the allocation of health care resources: a latent class discrete choice experiment.

PubMed

Skedgel, Chris; Wailoo, Allan; Akehurst, Ron

2015-01-01

Economic theory suggests that resources should be allocated in a way that produces the greatest outputs, on the grounds that maximizing output allows for a redistribution that could benefit everyone. In health care, this is known as QALY (quality-adjusted life-year) maximization. This justification for QALY maximization may not hold, though, as it is difficult to reallocate health. Therefore, the allocation of health care should be seen as a matter of distributive justice as well as efficiency. A discrete choice experiment was undertaken to test consistency with the principles of QALY maximization and to quantify the willingness to trade life-year gains for distributive justice. An empirical ethics process was used to identify attributes that appeared relevant and ethically justified: patient age, severity (decomposed into initial quality and life expectancy), final health state, duration of benefit, and distributional concerns. Only 3% of respondents maximized QALYs with every choice, but scenarios with larger aggregate QALY gains were chosen more often and a majority of respondents maximized QALYs in a majority of their choices. However, respondents also appeared willing to prioritize smaller gains to preferred groups over larger gains to less preferred groups. Marginal analyses found a statistically significant preference for younger patients and a wider distribution of gains, as well as an aversion to patients with the shortest life expectancy or a poor final health state. These results support the existence of an equity-efficiency tradeoff and suggest that well-being could be enhanced by giving priority to programs that best satisfy societal preferences. Societal preferences could be incorporated through the use of explicit equity weights, although more research is required before such weights can be used in priority setting. © The Author(s) 2014.

The Health Resources Allocation Model (HRAM) for the 21st century.

PubMed

Maire, Nicolas; Hegnauer, Michael; Nguyen, Dana; Godelmann, Lucas; Hoffmann, Axel; de Savigny, Don; Tanner, Marcel

2012-05-01

The Health Resources Allocation Model (HRAM) is an eLearning tool for health cadres and scientists introducing basic concepts of sub-national, rational district-based health planning and systems thinking under resources constraint. HRAM allows the evaluation of resource allocation strategies in relation to key outcome measures such as coverage, equity of services achieved and number of deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) prevented. In addition, the model takes into account geographical and demographic characteristics and populations' health seeking behaviour. It can be adapted to different socio-ecological and health system settings.

From Districts to Schools: The Distribution of Resources across Schools in Big City School Districts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rubenstein, Ross; Schwartz, Amy Ellen; Stiefel, Leanna; Amor, Hella Bel Hadj

2007-01-01

While the distribution of resources across school districts is well studied, relatively little attention has been paid to how resources are allocated to individual schools inside those districts. This paper explores the determinants of resource allocation across schools in large districts based on factors that reflect differential school costs or…

Tailoring Software for Multiple Processor Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-10-01

resource management decisions . Despite the lack of programming support, the use of multiple processor systems has grown sub- -stantially. Software has...making resource management decisions . Specifically, program- 1 mers need not allocate specific hardware resources to individual program components...Instead, such allocation decisions are automatically made based on high-level resource directives stated by ap- plication programmers, where each directive

An interactive computer approach to performing resource analysis for a multi-resource/multi-project problem. [Spacelab inventory procurement planning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schlagheck, R. A.

1977-01-01

New planning techniques and supporting computer tools are needed for the optimization of resources and costs for space transportation and payload systems. Heavy emphasis on cost effective utilization of resources has caused NASA program planners to look at the impact of various independent variables that affect procurement buying. A description is presented of a category of resource planning which deals with Spacelab inventory procurement analysis. Spacelab is a joint payload project between NASA and the European Space Agency and will be flown aboard the Space Shuttle starting in 1980. In order to respond rapidly to the various procurement planning exercises, a system was built that could perform resource analysis in a quick and efficient manner. This system is known as the Interactive Resource Utilization Program (IRUP). Attention is given to aspects of problem definition, an IRUP system description, questions of data base entry, the approach used for project scheduling, and problems of resource allocation.

Medical resource preparation and allocation for humanitarian assistance based on module organization.

PubMed

Zhu, Min; Chen, Ruxue; Zhong, Shaobo; Qian, Yangming; Huang, Quanyi

2017-02-01

This research aims to associate the allocation of medical resources with the function of the modular organization and the possible needs for humanitarian assistance missions. The overseas humanitarian medical assistance mission, which was sent after a disaster on the hospital ship Peace Ark, part of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, was considered as study model. The cases used for clustering and matching sample formation were randomly selected from the existing information related to Peace Ark's mission. Categories of the reusable resources clustered by this research met the requirement of the actual consumption almost completely (more than 95%) and the categories of non-reusable resources met the requirement by more than 80%. In the mission's original resource preparing plan, more than 30% of the non-reusable resource categories remained unused during the mission. In the original resource preparing plan, some key non-reusable resources inventories were completely exhausted at the end of the mission, while 5% to 30% of non-reusable resources remained in the resource allocation plan generated by this research at the end of the mission. The medical resource allocation plan generated here can enhance the supporting level for the humanitarian assistance mission. This research could lay the foundation for an assistant decision-making system for humanitarian assistance mission.

Assessing system reliability and allocating resources: a bayesian approach that integrates multi-level data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Graves, Todd L; Hamada, Michael S

2008-01-01

Good estimates of the reliability of a system make use of test data and expert knowledge at all available levels. Furthermore, by integrating all these information sources, one can determine how best to allocate scarce testing resources to reduce uncertainty. Both of these goals are facilitated by modern Bayesian computational methods. We apply these tools to examples that were previously solvable only through the use of ingenious approximations, and use genetic algorithms to guide resource allocation.

Regional Disparities in the Allocation of China's Higher Education Resources from the Perspective of Equity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wei, Bao

2012-01-01

This article attempts to analyze the changing circumstances of the regional disparities in the allocation of China's higher educational resources before and after the increase in college enrollments, as well as the mechanisms that have affected these circumstances. The conclusions are that regional disparities in the allocation of China's funding…

Resources for health promotion: rhetoric, research and reality.

PubMed

Minke, Sharlene Wolbeck; Raine, Kim D; Plotnikoff, Ronald C; Anderson, Donna; Khalema, Ernest; Smith, Cynthia

2007-01-01

Canadian political discourse supports the importance of health promotion and advocates the allocation of health resources to health promotion. Furthermore, the current literature frequently identifies financial and human resources as important elements of organizational capacity for health promotion. In the Alberta Heart Health Project (AHHP), we sought to learn if the allocation of health resources in a regionalized health system was congruent with the espoused support for health promotion in Alberta, Canada. The AHHP used a mixed method approach in a time series design. Participants were drawn from multiple organizational levels (i.e., service providers, managers, board members) across all Regional Health Authorities (RHAs). Data were triangulated through multiple collection methods, primarily an organizational capacity survey, analysis of organizational documents, focus groups, and personal interviews. Analysis techniques were drawn from quantitative (i.e., frequency distributions, ANOVAs) and qualitative (i.e., content and thematic analysis) approaches. In most cases, small amounts (<5%) of financial resources were allocated to health promotion in RHAs' core budgets. Respondents reported seeking multiple sources of public health financing to support their health promotion initiatives. Human resources for health promotion were characterized by fragmented responsibilities and short-term work. Furthermore, valuable human resources were consumed in ongoing searches for funding that typically covered short time periods. Resource allocations to health promotion in Alberta RHAs are inconsistent with the current emphasis on health promotion as an organizational priority. Inadequate and unstable funding erodes the RHAs' capacity for health promotion. Sustainable health promotion calls for the assured allocation of adequate, sustainable financial resources.

Pollen transfer efficiency and its effect on inflorescence size in deceptive pollination strategies.

PubMed

Scopece, G; Schiestl, F P; Cozzolino, S

2015-03-01

Pollination systems differ in pollen transfer efficiency, a variable that may influence the evolution of flower number. Here we apply a comparative approach to examine the link between pollen transfer efficiency and the evolution of inflorescence size in food and sexually deceptive orchids. We examined pollination performance in nine food-deceptive, and eight sexually deceptive orchids by recording pollen removal and deposition in the field. We calculated correlations between reproductive success and flower number (as a proxy for resources allocated during reproductive process), and directional selection differentials were estimated on flower number for four species. Results indicate that sexually deceptive species experience decreased pollen loss compared to food-deceptive species. Despite producing fewer flowers, sexually deceptive species attained levels of overall pollination success (through male and female function) similar to food-deceptive species. Furthermore, a positive correlation between flower number and pollination success was observed in food-deceptive species, but this correlation was not detected in sexually deceptive species. Directional selection differentials for flower number were significantly higher in food compared to sexually deceptive species. We suggest that pollination systems with more efficient pollen transfer and no correlation between pollination success and number of flowers produced, such as sexual deception, may allow the production of inflorescences with fewer flowers that permit the plant to allocate fewer resources to floral displays and, at the same time, limit transpiration. This strategy can be particularly important for ecological success in Mediterranean water-deprived habitats, and might explain the high frequency of sexually deceptive species in these specialised ecosystems. © 2014 German Botanical Society and The Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands.

Neural bases of selective attention in action video game players.

PubMed

Bavelier, D; Achtman, R L; Mani, M; Föcker, J

2012-05-15

Over the past few years, the very act of playing action video games has been shown to enhance several different aspects of visual selective attention, yet little is known about the neural mechanisms that mediate such attentional benefits. A review of the aspects of attention enhanced in action game players suggests there are changes in the mechanisms that control attention allocation and its efficiency (Hubert-Wallander, Green, & Bavelier, 2010). The present study used brain imaging to test this hypothesis by comparing attentional network recruitment and distractor processing in action gamers versus non-gamers as attentional demands increased. Moving distractors were found to elicit lesser activation of the visual motion-sensitive area (MT/MST) in gamers as compared to non-gamers, suggestive of a better early filtering of irrelevant information in gamers. As expected, a fronto-parietal network of areas showed greater recruitment as attentional demands increased in non-gamers. In contrast, gamers barely engaged this network as attentional demands increased. This reduced activity in the fronto-parietal network that is hypothesized to control the flexible allocation of top-down attention is compatible with the proposal that action game players may allocate attentional resources more automatically, possibly allowing more efficient early filtering of irrelevant information. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optimal resource allocation for novelty detection in a human auditory memory.

PubMed

Sinkkonen, J; Kaski, S; Huotilainen, M; Ilmoniemi, R J; Näätänen, R; Kaila, K

1996-11-04

A theory of resource allocation for neuronal low-level filtering is presented, based on an analysis of optimal resource allocation in simple environments. A quantitative prediction of the theory was verified in measurements of the magnetic mismatch response (MMR), an auditory event-related magnetic response of the human brain. The amplitude of the MMR was found to be directly proportional to the information conveyed by the stimulus. To the extent that the amplitude of the MMR can be used to measure resource usage by the auditory cortex, this finding supports our theory that, at least for early auditory processing, energy resources are used in proportion to the information content of incoming stimulus flow.

Fine‐resolution conservation planning with limited climate‐change information

USGS Publications Warehouse

Shah, Payal; Mallory, Mindy L.; Ando , Amy W.; Guntenspergen, Glenn R.

2017-01-01

Climate‐change induced uncertainties in future spatial patterns of conservation‐related outcomes make it difficult to implement standard conservation‐planning paradigms. A recent study translates Markowitz's risk‐diversification strategy from finance to conservation settings, enabling conservation agents to use this diversification strategy for allocating conservation and restoration investments across space to minimize the risk associated with such uncertainty. However, this method is information intensive and requires a large number of forecasts of ecological outcomes associated with possible climate‐change scenarios for carrying out fine‐resolution conservation planning. We developed a technique for iterative, spatial portfolio analysis that can be used to allocate scarce conservation resources across a desired level of subregions in a planning landscape in the absence of a sufficient number of ecological forecasts. We applied our technique to the Prairie Pothole Region in central North America. A lack of sufficient future climate information prevented attainment of the most efficient risk‐return conservation outcomes in the Prairie Pothole Region. The difference in expected conservation returns between conservation planning with limited climate‐change information and full climate‐change information was as large as 30% for the Prairie Pothole Region even when the most efficient iterative approach was used. However, our iterative approach allowed finer resolution portfolio allocation with limited climate‐change forecasts such that the best possible risk‐return combinations were obtained. With our most efficient iterative approach, the expected loss in conservation outcomes owing to limited climate‐change information could be reduced by 17% relative to other iterative approaches.

Italian regional health system structure and expected cancer survival.

PubMed

Vercelli, Marina; Lillini, Roberto; Quaglia, Alberto; Capocaccia, Riccardo

2014-01-01

Few studies deal with the association of socioeconomic and health system resource variables with cancer survival at the Italian regional level, where the greatest number of decisions about social and health policies and resource allocations are taken. The present study aimed to describe the causal relationships between socioeconomic and health system resource factors and regional cancer survival and to compute the expected cancer survival at provincial, regional and area levels. Age-standardized relative survival at 5 years from diagnosis of cases incident in 1995-1998 and followed up to 2004 were derived by gender for 11 sites from the Italian Association of Cancer Registries data bank. The socioeconomic and health system resource variables, describing at a regional level the macro-economy, demography, labor market, and health resources for 1995-2005, came from the Health for All database. A principal components factor analysis was applied to the socioeconomic and health system resource variables. For every site, linear regression models were computed considering the relative survival at 5 years as a dependent variable and the principal components factor analysis factors as independent variables. The factors described the socioeconomic and health-related features of the regional systems and were causally related to the characteristics of the patient taken in charge. The models built by the factors allowed computation of the expected relative survival at 5 years with very good concordance with those observed at regional, macro-regional and national levels. In the regions without any cancer registry, survival was coherent with that of neighboring regions with similar socioeconomic and health system resources characteristics. The models highlighted the causal correlations between socioeconomic and health system resources and cancer survival, suggesting that they could be good evaluation tools for the efficiency of the resources allocation and use.

Global trends and challenges in deceased donor kidney allocation.

PubMed

Wu, Diana A; Watson, Christopher J; Bradley, J Andrew; Johnson, Rachel J; Forsythe, John L; Oniscu, Gabriel C

2017-06-01

Worldwide, the number of patients able to benefit from kidney transplantation is greatly restricted by the severe shortage of deceased donor organs. Allocation of this scarce resource is increasingly challenging and complex. Striking an acceptable balance between efficient use of (utility) and fair access to (equity) the limited supply of donated kidneys raises controversial but important debates at ethical, medical, and social levels. There is no international consensus on the recipient and donor factors that should be considered in the kidney allocation process. There is a general trend toward a reduction in the influence of human leukocyte antigen mismatch and an increase in the importance of other factors shown to affect posttransplant outcomes, such as cold ischemia, duration of dialysis, donor and recipient age, and comorbidity. Increased consideration of equity has led to improved access to transplantation for disadvantaged patient groups. There has been an overall improvement in the transparency and accountability of allocation policies. Novel and contentious approaches in kidney allocation include the use of survival prediction scores as a criterion for accessing the waiting list and at the point of organ offering with matching of predicted graft and recipient survival. This review compares the diverse international approaches to deceased donor kidney allocation and their evolution over the last decade. Copyright © 2017 International Society of Nephrology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Children's Allocation of Resources in Social Dominance Situations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Charafeddine, Rawan; Mercier, Hugo; Clément, Fabrice; Kaufmann, Laurence; Reboul, Anne; Van der Henst, Jean-Baptiste

2016-01-01

Two experiments with preschoolers (36 to 78 months) and 8-year-old children (Experiment 1, N = 173; Experiment 2, N = 132) investigated the development of children's resource distribution in dominance contexts. On the basis of the distributive justice literature, 2 opposite predictions were tested. Children could match resource allocation with the…

Multi-Agent Coordination Techniques for Naval Tactical Combat Resources Management

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-07-01

resource coordination and cooperation problems. The combat resource allocation planning problem is treated in the companion report [2]. 2.3 Resource...report focuses on the resource coordination problem, while allocation algorithms are discussed in the companion report [2]. First, coordination in...classification of each should be indicated as with the title.) Canada’s Leader in Defence and National Security Science and Technology Chef de file au Canada en

Self-benefiting in the allocation of scarce resources: leader-follower effects and the moderating effect of social value orientations.

PubMed

van Dijk, Eric; De Cremer, David

2006-10-01

Previous research on the allocation of scarce resources suggests that people who are assigned to higher positions (e.g., leaders) are more likely to make self-benefiting allocations than people who are assigned to lower positions (e.g., followers). In this article, the authors investigated the proposition that these findings would be moderated by people's social value orientations. In two experimental studies, the authors assigned participants either to the role of leader or follower and assessed the participants' social value orientations. In agreement with predictions, the findings show that position effects are moderated by social value orientation. Social value orientations only affected the allocation behavior of the leaders: Proself leaders allocated more resources to themselves than did prosocial leaders. Additional analyses indicate that these effects are mediated by feelings of entitlement.

[Mechanisms for allocating financial resources after decentralization in the state of Jalisco].

PubMed

Pérez-Núñez, Ricardo; Arredondo-López, Armando; Pelcastre, Blanca

2006-01-01

To analyze, from the decision maker's perspective, the financial resource allocation process of the health services of the state of Jalisco (SSJ, per its abbreviation in spanish), within the context of decentralization. Through a qualitative approximation using semi-structured individual interviews of key personnel in managerial positions as the method for compiling information, the experience of the SSJ in financial resource allocation was documented. From September to November 2003, the perception of managers and administrators regarding their level of autonomy in decision-making was explored as well as the process they follow for the allocation of financial resources, in order to identify the criteria they use and their justifications. From the point of view of decision-makers, autonomy of the SSJ has increased considerably since decentralization was implemented, although the degree of decision-making freedom remains limited due mainly to high adminstrative costs associated with salaries. In this sense, the implications attributable to labor situations that are still centralized are evident. Some innovative systems for financial resource allocation have been established in the SSJ for the sanitary regions and hospitals based upon administrative-managerial and productivity incentives. Adjustments were also made for degree of marginalization and population lag, under the equity criterion. General work conditions and decision-making autonomy of the sanitary regions constitute outstanding aspects pending decentralization. Although decentralization has granted more autonomy to the SSJ, the level of decision-making freedom for allocating financial resources has been held within the highest hierarchical levels.

[Strategic decisions in public psychiatric institutions: a proposed method for resource analysis and allocation].

PubMed

Micheletti, Pierre; Chierici, Piero; Durang, Xavier; Salvador, Nathalie; Lopez, Nathalie

2011-01-01

Because of its sector-based organization and extra-hospital care, public psychiatry has a unique position in healthcare. This paper describes the tools and procedures used to analyze and allocate the resources of the "Centre Hospitalier Alpes-Isère", a hospital serving a catchment population of 530,000 adults. A consensus-based approach was used to validate the selected indicators and included the participation of a geographer. Five levels of resource allocation were identified and classified using a decision tree. At each level, the relevant authorities and criteria were identified as key components of the decision-making process. This paper describes the first three levels of care provision. Focusing on adult care, a comparative assessment of the resources allocated to general psychiatric care and specialist care was conducted, in addition to a comparative assessment of the resources allocated to each of the hospital's four local centers. Geographical accessibility to extramural facilities was also assessed. A study of the characteristics of each general psychiatry clinic revealed significant disparities. The paper highlights several issues: the poor knowledge of psychiatric epidemiological data relating to the population within the catchment area, the difficulty of assessing non-consolidated data or indicators from multiple sources, and the limited and partial nature of geographical data for characterizing and evaluating health care in the hospital's peripheral clinics. Several studies are currently underway to assess the operational effectiveness of the tools and procedures used to analyze and allocate resources.

Risk-Based Sampling: I Don't Want to Weight in Vain.

PubMed

Powell, Mark R

2015-12-01

Recently, there has been considerable interest in developing risk-based sampling for food safety and animal and plant health for efficient allocation of inspection and surveillance resources. The problem of risk-based sampling allocation presents a challenge similar to financial portfolio analysis. Markowitz (1952) laid the foundation for modern portfolio theory based on mean-variance optimization. However, a persistent challenge in implementing portfolio optimization is the problem of estimation error, leading to false "optimal" portfolios and unstable asset weights. In some cases, portfolio diversification based on simple heuristics (e.g., equal allocation) has better out-of-sample performance than complex portfolio optimization methods due to estimation uncertainty. Even for portfolios with a modest number of assets, the estimation window required for true optimization may imply an implausibly long stationary period. The implications for risk-based sampling are illustrated by a simple simulation model of lot inspection for a small, heterogeneous group of producers. © 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.

Land Resources Allocation Strategies in an Urban Area Involving Uncertainty: A Case Study of Suzhou, in the Yangtze River Delta of China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Shasha; Guan, Xingliang; Zhou, Min; Wang, Yang

2014-05-01

A large number of mathematical models have been developed to support land resource allocation decisions and land management needs; however, few of them can address various uncertainties that exist in relation to many factors presented in such decisions (e.g., land resource availabilities, land demands, land-use patterns, and social demands, as well as ecological requirements). In this study, a multi-objective interval-stochastic land resource allocation model (MOISLAM) was developed for tackling uncertainty that presents as discrete intervals and/or probability distributions. The developed model improves upon the existing multi-objective programming and inexact optimization approaches. The MOISLAM not only considers economic factors, but also involves food security and eco-environmental constraints; it can, therefore, effectively reflect various interrelations among different aspects in a land resource management system. Moreover, the model can also help examine the reliability of satisfying (or the risk of violating) system constraints under uncertainty. In this study, the MOISLAM was applied to a real case of long-term urban land resource allocation planning in Suzhou, in the Yangtze River Delta of China. Interval solutions associated with different risk levels of constraint violation were obtained. The results are considered useful for generating a range of decision alternatives under various system conditions, and thus helping decision makers to identify a desirable land resource allocation strategy under uncertainty.

Influence of mate preference and laying order on maternal allocation in a monogamous parrot species with extreme hatching asynchrony.

PubMed

Lahaye, Stefanie E P; Eens, Marcel; Iserbyt, Arne; Groothuis, Ton G G; de Vries, Bonnie; Müller, Wendt; Pinxten, Rianne

2015-05-01

It is well established that in many avian species, prenatal maternal resource allocation varies both between and within clutches and may affect offspring fitness. Differential allocation of maternal resources, in terms of egg weight and yolk composition, may therefore allow the female to adjust brood reduction and to fine-tune reproductive investment in accordance with the expected fitness returns. The adaptive value of such maternal resource allocation is thought to be context-dependent as well as species-specific. We investigated the effects of female preference for her mate on the allocation of prenatal maternal resources in the budgerigar, Melopsittacus undulatus, a monogamous species of parrot that shows an extreme hatching asynchrony. We assessed mate preferences in a two-way preference test and allowed females two breeding rounds: one with the preferred and one with the non-preferred partner. We found no effect of preference on either latency to lay or clutch size, but females mated with the preferred partner laid eggs that contained significantly more yolk. Their eggs also contained significantly more androstenedione but not testosterone. Our results suggest that in this species, female preference may influence maternal resource allocation, and that the functional roles of each androgen in the yolk should be considered separately. In addition, we found a significant effect of laying order on egg and yolk weight as well as on yolk testosterone and androstenedione levels. These measures, however, did not change linearly with the laying order and render it unlikely that female budgerigars compensate for the extreme hatching asynchrony by adjusting within-clutch allocation of prenatal maternal resources. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Allocation of Health Resources According To the Type and Size of Iranian Governmental Hospitals

PubMed Central

Hassani, SA; Abolhallaje, M; Inanlo, S; Hosseini, H; Pourmohammadi, K; Bastani, P; Ramezanian, M; Marnani, A Barati

2013-01-01

Background: Due to consuming about 50%–80% of health resources, hospitals are the greatest and costly operational units in Iranian Health system. so allocation of resources specially human and space resources as the most expensive ones is really important for further controlling of costs, analysis of costs and making suitable policies for increasing the profitability and allocation of resources and improvement of quality. Method: This paper intends to describe and analyze any allocation of resources in 530 university hospitals in Iran. The final goal of this research is to provide a data bank according which there is a basis for more scientific budget allocation of state’s hospitals from the size and type of application points of view. Results: The relevant index of person to bed was 2.04 for human resources. All hospitals more than 300 beds are located in benefiting areas from which 17 cases are educational and 2 cases are therapeutic. This is necessary to mention that the rate of management group forces to total personnel at deprived areas is about 2.5% more than benefiting areas. Conclusion: Because 60–80% of hospital costs are applied for human forces, all managers of hospitals are obliged to revise their policies in attraction and employment of human force in order to benefit from such a valuable resource and prevent from expensive costs. So any employment of personnel should be based upon real needs of hospital. PMID:23865036

Effect of physician perspective on allocation of Medicare resources for patients with advanced cancer.

PubMed

Rocke, Daniel J; Beumer, Halton W; Thomas, Steven; Lee, Walter T

2014-05-01

To assess how physician perspective (perspective of patient vs perspective of physician) affects Medicare resource allocation for patients with advanced cancer and compare physician allocations with actual cancer patient and caregiver allocations. Cross-sectional assessment. National assessment. Otolaryngologists. Physicians used a validated tool to create a Medicare plan for patients with advanced cancer. Participants took the perspective of an advanced cancer patient and made resource allocations between 15 benefit categories (assessment 2, November/December 2012). Results were compared with data from a prior assessment made from a physician's perspective (assessment 1, February/March 2012) and with data from a separate study with patients with cancer and caregivers. In total, 767 physicians completed assessment 1 and 237 completed assessment 2. Results were compared with 146 cancer patient and 114 caregiver assessments. Assessment 1 physician responses differed significantly from patients/caregivers in 14 categories (P < .05), while assessment 2 differed in 11. When comparing physician data, assessment 2 allocations differed significantly from assessment 1 in 7 categories. When these 7 categories were compared with patient/caregiver data, assessment 2 allocations in emotional care, drug coverage, and nursing facility categories were not significantly different. Assessment 1 allocations in cosmetic care, dental, home care, and primary care categories were more similar to patient/caregiver preferences, although all but home care were still significantly different. Otolaryngology-head and neck surgery physician perspectives on end-of-life care differ significantly from cancer patient/caregiver perspectives, even when physicians take a patient's perspective when allocating resources. This demonstrates the challenges inherent in end-of-life discussions.

A system dynamics model of a large R&D program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahn, Namsung

Organizations with large R&D activities must deal with a hierarchy of decision regarding resource allocation. At the highest level of allocation, the decision is related to the total allocation to R&D as some portion of revenue. The middle level of allocation deals with the allocation among phases of the R&D process. The lowest level of decisions relates to the resource allocation to specific projects within a specific phase. This study focuses on developing an R&D model to deal with the middle level of allocation, i.e., the allocation among phases of research such as basic research, development, and demonstration. The methodology used to develop the R&D model is System Dynamics. Our modeling concept is innovative in representing each phase of R&D as consisting of two parts: projects under way, and an inventory of successful but not-yet- exploited projects. In a simple world, this concept can yield an exact analytical solution for allocation of resources among phases. But in a real world, the concept should be improved by adding more complex structures with nonlinear behaviors. Two particular nonlinear feedbacks are incorporated into the R&D model. The probability of success for any specific project is assumed partly dependent upon resources allocated to the project. Further, the time required to reach a conclusion regarding the success or failure of a project is also assumed dependent upon the level of resources allocated. In addition, the number of successful projects partly depends on the inventory of potential ideas in the previous stage that can be exploited. This model can provide R&D management with insights into the effect of changing allocations to phases whether those changes are internally or externally driven. With this model, it is possible to study the effectiveness of management decisions in a continuous fashion. Managers can predict payoffs for a host of different policies. In addition, as new research results accumulate, a re- assessment of program goals can be implemented easily and allocations adjusted to enhance continuously the likelihood of success, and to optimize payoffs. Finally, this model can give managers a quantitative rationale for program evaluation and permit the quantitative assessment of various externally imposed changes. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, Rm. 14-0551, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Ph. 617-253-5668; Fax 617-253-1690.)

Decision maker perceptions of resource allocation processes in Canadian health care organizations: a national survey.

PubMed

Smith, Neale; Mitton, Craig; Bryan, Stirling; Davidson, Alan; Urquhart, Bonnie; Gibson, Jennifer L; Peacock, Stuart; Donaldson, Cam

2013-07-02

Resource allocation is a key challenge for healthcare decision makers. While several case studies of organizational practice exist, there have been few large-scale cross-organization comparisons. Between January and April 2011, we conducted an on-line survey of senior decision makers within regional health authorities (and closely equivalent organizations) across all Canadian provinces and territories. We received returns from 92 individual managers, from 60 out of 89 organizations in total. The survey inquired about structures, process features, and behaviours related to organization-wide resource allocation decisions. We focus here on three main aspects: type of process, perceived fairness, and overall rating. About one-half of respondents indicated that their organization used a formal process for resource allocation, while the others reported that political or historical factors were predominant. Seventy percent (70%) of respondents self-reported that their resource allocation process was fair and just over one-half assessed their process as 'good' or 'very good'. This paper explores these findings in greater detail and assesses them in context of the larger literature. Data from this large-scale cross-jurisdictional survey helps to illustrate common challenges and areas of positive performance among Canada's health system leadership teams.

Physician allocation of Medicare resources for patients with advanced cancer.

PubMed

Rocke, Daniel J; Lee, Walter T; Beumer, Halton W; Taylor, Donald H; Schulz, Kristine; Thomas, Steven; Puscas, Liana

2013-08-01

Little is known about what patients and physicians value in end-of-life care, or how these groups would craft a health plan for those with advanced cancer. The study objective was to assess how otolaryngology, head and neck surgery (OHNS) physicians would structure a Medicare benefit plan for patients with advanced cancer, and to compare this with cancer patient and cancer patient caregiver preferences. OHNS physicians used an online version of a validated tool for assessing preferences for health plans in the setting of limited resources. These data were compared to cancer patient and caregiver preferences. OHNS physicians nationwide were assessed with comparison to similar data obtained in a separate study of cancer patients and their caregivers treated at Duke University Medical Center. Otolaryngology physicians (n=767) completed the online assessment and this was compared with data from 146 patients and 114 caregivers. OHNS physician allocations differed significantly in 14 of the 15 benefit categories when compared with patients and caregivers. Physicians elected more coverage in the Advice, Emotional Care, Palliative Care, and Treatment for Cancer benefit categories. Patients and their caregivers elected more coverage in the Cash, Complementary Care, Cosmetic Care, Dental and Vision, Drug Coverage, Home Improvement, House Calls, Nursing Facility, Other Medical Care, and Primary Care benefit categories. Otolaryngology physicians have significantly different values in end-of-life care than cancer patients and their caregivers. This information is important for efficient allocation of scarce Medicare resources and for effective end-of-life discussions, both of which are key for developing appropriate health policy.

A review of the Australian healthcare system: A policy perspective

PubMed Central

Sambasivan, Murali

2018-01-01

This article seeks to review the Australian healthcare system and compare it to similar systems in other countries to highlight the main issues and problems. A literature search for articles relating to the Australian and other developed countries’ healthcare systems was conducted by using Google and the library of Victoria University, Melbourne. Data from the websites of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the Australian Productivity Commission, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Bank have also been used. Although care within the Australian healthcare system is among the best in the world, there is a need to change the paradigm currently being used to measure the outcomes and allocate resources. The Australian healthcare system is potentially dealing with two main problems: (a) resource allocation, and (b) performance and patient outcomes improvements. An interdisciplinary research approach in the areas of performance measurement, quality and patient outcomes improvement could be adopted to discover new insights, by using the policy implementation error/efficiency and bureaucratic capacity. Hospital managers, executives and healthcare management practitioners could use an interdisciplinary approach to design new performance measurement models, in which financial performance, quality, healthcare and patient outcomes are blended in, for resource allocation and performance improvement. This article recommends that public policy implementation error and the bureaucratic capacity models be applied to healthcare to optimise the outcomes for the healthcare system in Australia. In addition, it highlights the need for evaluation of the current reimbursement method, freedom of choice to patients and a regular scrutiny of the appropriateness of care. PMID:29686869

A review of the Australian healthcare system: A policy perspective.

PubMed

Dixit, Sunil K; Sambasivan, Murali

2018-01-01

This article seeks to review the Australian healthcare system and compare it to similar systems in other countries to highlight the main issues and problems. A literature search for articles relating to the Australian and other developed countries' healthcare systems was conducted by using Google and the library of Victoria University, Melbourne. Data from the websites of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the Australian Productivity Commission, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Bank have also been used. Although care within the Australian healthcare system is among the best in the world, there is a need to change the paradigm currently being used to measure the outcomes and allocate resources. The Australian healthcare system is potentially dealing with two main problems: (a) resource allocation, and (b) performance and patient outcomes improvements. An interdisciplinary research approach in the areas of performance measurement, quality and patient outcomes improvement could be adopted to discover new insights, by using the policy implementation error/efficiency and bureaucratic capacity. Hospital managers, executives and healthcare management practitioners could use an interdisciplinary approach to design new performance measurement models, in which financial performance, quality, healthcare and patient outcomes are blended in, for resource allocation and performance improvement. This article recommends that public policy implementation error and the bureaucratic capacity models be applied to healthcare to optimise the outcomes for the healthcare system in Australia. In addition, it highlights the need for evaluation of the current reimbursement method, freedom of choice to patients and a regular scrutiny of the appropriateness of care.

Gaps, conflicts, and consensus in the ethics statements of professional associations, medical groups, and health plans

PubMed Central

Berkman, N; Wynia, M; Churchill, L

2004-01-01

Background: Patients today interact with physicians, physician groups, and health plans, each of which may follow distinct ethical guidelines. Method: We systematically compared physician codes of ethics with ethics policies at physician group practices and health plans, using the 1998–99 policies of 38 organisations—18 medical associations (associations), nine physician group practices (groups), and 12 health plans (plans)—selected using random and stratified purposive sampling. A clinician and a social scientist independently abstracted each document, using a 397-item health care ethics taxonomy; a reconciled abstraction form was used for analysis. This study focuses on ethics policies regarding professional obligation towards patients, resource allocation, and care for the vulnerable in society. Results: A majority in all three groups mention "fiduciary obligations" of one sort or another, but associations generally address physician/patient relations but not health plan obligations, while plans rarely endorse physicians' obligations of advocacy, beneficence, and non-maleficence. Except for occasional mentions of cost effectiveness or efficiency, ethical considerations in resource allocation rarely arise in the ethics policies of all three organisational types. Very few associations, groups, or plans specifically endorse obligations to vulnerable populations. Conclusions: With some important exceptions, we found that the ethics policies of associations, groups, and plans are narrowly focused and often ignore important ethical concerns for society, such as resource allocation and care for vulnerable populations. More collaborative work is needed to build integrated sets of ethical standards that address the aims and responsibilities of the major stakeholders in health care delivery. PMID:15289536

Ecological life histories of the three aquatic nuisance plants, Myriophyllum spicatum, Potamogeton crispus and Elodea canadensis

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nichols, S.A.; Shaw, B.H.

1986-01-01

The life histories of Myriophyllum spicatum L., Elodea canadensis Michx., and Potamogeton crispus L., serious aquatic nuisances in many regions of the world, are reviewed to provide insights into the life style of successful aquatic nuisance plants. Specifically, their distribution and spread in North America; their life cycle, productive and reproductive potential; and their ecosystem relationships are reviewed. Hopefully this review will improve a manager's ability to deal with aquatic nuisance problems. It also provides suggestions for basic research needed to develop more effective management practices. It was found that all three species possess a number of adaptations, including an ability to rapidly propagate vegetatively, an opportunistic nature for obtaining nutrients, a life cycle that favors cool weather, and a number of mechanisms which enhance photosynthetic efficiency, which allow them to proliferate. These three species do provide benefits to the ecosystem through their roles in materials cycling and energy flow. Therefore, management of these species should take an integrated approach which recognizes these benefits. The life history information available about the three species varies tremendously; however, a better understanding of resource gain and allocation is needed to manage all three species. Specifically, more research is needed to provide a better understanding of: 1) the role bicarbonate plays in photosynthesis, 2) the role roots play in supplying CO2 to the plabts, 3) resource accumulation and allocation under different temperature and light regimes, 4) resource allocation on a seasonal basis, and 5) nutrient cycling under different management regimes. ?? 1986 Dr W. Junk Publishers.

Multi-core processing and scheduling performance in CMS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernández, J. M.; Evans, D.; Foulkes, S.

2012-12-01

Commodity hardware is going many-core. We might soon not be able to satisfy the job memory needs per core in the current single-core processing model in High Energy Physics. In addition, an ever increasing number of independent and incoherent jobs running on the same physical hardware not sharing resources might significantly affect processing performance. It will be essential to effectively utilize the multi-core architecture. CMS has incorporated support for multi-core processing in the event processing framework and the workload management system. Multi-core processing jobs share common data in memory, such us the code libraries, detector geometry and conditions data, resulting in a much lower memory usage than standard single-core independent jobs. Exploiting this new processing model requires a new model in computing resource allocation, departing from the standard single-core allocation for a job. The experiment job management system needs to have control over a larger quantum of resource since multi-core aware jobs require the scheduling of multiples cores simultaneously. CMS is exploring the approach of using whole nodes as unit in the workload management system where all cores of a node are allocated to a multi-core job. Whole-node scheduling allows for optimization of the data/workflow management (e.g. I/O caching, local merging) but efficient utilization of all scheduled cores is challenging. Dedicated whole-node queues have been setup at all Tier-1 centers for exploring multi-core processing workflows in CMS. We present the evaluation of the performance scheduling and executing multi-core workflows in whole-node queues compared to the standard single-core processing workflows.

Divergence in plant and microbial allocation strategies explains continental patterns in microbial allocation and biogeochemical fluxes.

PubMed

Averill, Colin

2014-10-01

Allocation trade-offs shape ecological and biogeochemical phenomena at local to global scale. Plant allocation strategies drive major changes in ecosystem carbon cycling. Microbial allocation to enzymes that decompose carbon vs. organic nutrients may similarly affect ecosystem carbon cycling. Current solutions to this allocation problem prioritise stoichiometric tradeoffs implemented in plant ecology. These solutions may not maximise microbial growth and fitness under all conditions, because organic nutrients are also a significant carbon resource for microbes. I created multiple allocation frameworks and simulated microbial growth using a microbial explicit biogeochemical model. I demonstrate that prioritising stoichiometric trade-offs does not optimise microbial allocation, while exploiting organic nutrients as carbon resources does. Analysis of continental-scale enzyme data supports the allocation patterns predicted by this framework, and modelling suggests large deviations in soil C loss based on which strategy is implemented. Therefore, understanding microbial allocation strategies will likely improve our understanding of carbon cycling and climate. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

A new perspective on binaural integration using response time methodology: super capacity revealed in conditions of binaural masking release.

PubMed

Lentz, Jennifer J; He, Yuan; Townsend, James T

2014-01-01

This study applied reaction-time based methods to assess the workload capacity of binaural integration by comparing reaction time (RT) distributions for monaural and binaural tone-in-noise detection tasks. In the diotic contexts, an identical tone + noise stimulus was presented to each ear. In the dichotic contexts, an identical noise was presented to each ear, but the tone was presented to one of the ears 180° out of phase with respect to the other ear. Accuracy-based measurements have demonstrated a much lower signal detection threshold for the dichotic vs. the diotic conditions, but accuracy-based techniques do not allow for assessment of system dynamics or resource allocation across time. Further, RTs allow comparisons between these conditions at the same signal-to-noise ratio. Here, we apply a reaction-time based capacity coefficient, which provides an index of workload efficiency and quantifies the resource allocations for single ear vs. two ear presentations. We demonstrate that the release from masking generated by the addition of an identical stimulus to one ear is limited-to-unlimited capacity (efficiency typically less than 1), consistent with less gain than would be expected by probability summation. However, the dichotic presentation leads to a significant increase in workload capacity (increased efficiency)-most specifically at lower signal-to-noise ratios. These experimental results provide further evidence that configural processing plays a critical role in binaural masking release, and that these mechanisms may operate more strongly when the signal stimulus is difficult to detect, albeit still with nearly 100% accuracy.

A new perspective on binaural integration using response time methodology: super capacity revealed in conditions of binaural masking release

PubMed Central

Lentz, Jennifer J.; He, Yuan; Townsend, James T.

2014-01-01

This study applied reaction-time based methods to assess the workload capacity of binaural integration by comparing reaction time (RT) distributions for monaural and binaural tone-in-noise detection tasks. In the diotic contexts, an identical tone + noise stimulus was presented to each ear. In the dichotic contexts, an identical noise was presented to each ear, but the tone was presented to one of the ears 180° out of phase with respect to the other ear. Accuracy-based measurements have demonstrated a much lower signal detection threshold for the dichotic vs. the diotic conditions, but accuracy-based techniques do not allow for assessment of system dynamics or resource allocation across time. Further, RTs allow comparisons between these conditions at the same signal-to-noise ratio. Here, we apply a reaction-time based capacity coefficient, which provides an index of workload efficiency and quantifies the resource allocations for single ear vs. two ear presentations. We demonstrate that the release from masking generated by the addition of an identical stimulus to one ear is limited-to-unlimited capacity (efficiency typically less than 1), consistent with less gain than would be expected by probability summation. However, the dichotic presentation leads to a significant increase in workload capacity (increased efficiency)—most specifically at lower signal-to-noise ratios. These experimental results provide further evidence that configural processing plays a critical role in binaural masking release, and that these mechanisms may operate more strongly when the signal stimulus is difficult to detect, albeit still with nearly 100% accuracy. PMID:25202254

Optimal Resource Allocation in Library Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rouse, William B.

1975-01-01

Queueing theory is used to model processes as either waiting or balking processes. The optimal allocation of resources to these processes is defined as that which maximizes the expected value of the decision-maker's utility function. (Author)

A Novel Approach to Measuring Efficiency of Scientific Research Projects: Data Envelopment Analysis

PubMed Central

Zell, Adrienne; Orwoll, Eric

2015-01-01

Abstract Purpose Measuring the efficiency of resource allocation for the conduct of scientific projects in medical research is difficult due to, among other factors, the heterogeneity of resources supplied (e.g., dollars or FTEs) and outcomes expected (e.g., grants, publications). While this is an issue in medical science, it has been approached successfully in other fields by using data envelopment analysis (DEA). DEA has a number of advantages over other techniques as it simultaneously uses multiple heterogeneous inputs and outputs to determine which projects are performing most efficiently, referred to as being at the efficiency frontier, when compared to others in the data set. Method This research uses DEA for the evaluation of supported translational science projects by the Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute (OCTRI), a NCATS Clinical & Translational Science Award (CTSA) recipient. Results These results suggest that the primary determinate of overall project efficiency at OCTRI is the amount of funding, with smaller amounts of funding providing more efficiency than larger funding amounts. Conclusion These results, and the use of DEA, highlight both the success of using this technique in helping determine medical research efficiency and those factors to consider when distributing funds for new projects at CTSAs. PMID:26243147

CAD-Based Aerodynamic Design of Complex Configurations using a Cartesian Method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nemec, Marian; Aftosmis, Michael J.; Pulliam, Thomas H.

2003-01-01

A modular framework for aerodynamic optimization of complex geometries is developed. By working directly with a parametric CAD system, complex-geometry models are modified nnd tessellated in an automatic fashion. The use of a component-based Cartesian method significantly reduces the demands on the CAD system, and also provides for robust and efficient flowfield analysis. The optimization is controlled using either a genetic or quasi-Newton algorithm. Parallel efficiency of the framework is maintained even when subject to limited CAD resources by dynamically re-allocating the processors of the flow solver. Overall, the resulting framework can explore designs incorporating large shape modifications and changes in topology.

Application of Core Theory to the Airline Industry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Raghavan, Sunder

2003-01-01

Competition in the airline industry has been fierce since the industry was deregulated in 1978. The proponents of deregulation believed that more competition would improve efficiency and reduce prices and bring overall benefits to the consumer. In this paper, a case is made based on core theory that under certain demand and cost conditions more competition can actually lead to harmful consequences for industries like the airline industry or cause an empty core problem. Practices like monopolies, cartels, price discrimination, which is considered inefficient allocation of resources in many other industries, can actually be beneficial in the case of the airline industry in bringing about an efficient equilibrium.

Service guidelines based on Resource Utilization Groups Version III for Home Care provide decision-making support for case managers.

PubMed

Collister, Barbara; Stein, Glenda; Katz, Deborah; DeBruyn, Joan; Andrusiw, Linda; Cloutier, Sheila

2012-01-01

Increasing costs and budget reductions combined with increasing demand from our growing, aging population support the need to ensure that the scarce resources allocated to home care clients match client needs. This article details how Integrated Home Care for the Calgary Zone of Alberta Health Services considered ethical and economic principles and used data from the Resident Assessment Instrument for Home Care (RAI-HC) and case mix indices from the Resource Utilization Groups Version III for Home Care (RUG-III/HC) to formulate service guidelines. These explicit service guidelines formalize and support individual resource allocation decisions made by case managers and provide a consistent and transparent method of allocating limited resources.

Ising game: Nonequilibrium steady states of resource-allocation systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xin, C.; Yang, G.; Huang, J. P.

2017-04-01

Resource-allocation systems are ubiquitous in the human society. But how external fields affect the state of such systems remains poorly explored due to the lack of a suitable model. Because the behavior of spins pursuing energy minimization required by physical laws is similar to that of humans chasing payoff maximization studied in game theory, here we combine the Ising model with the market-directed resource-allocation game, yielding an Ising game. Based on the Ising game, we show theoretical, simulative and experimental evidences for a formula, which offers a clear expression of nonequilibrium steady states (NESSs). Interestingly, the formula also reveals a convertible relationship between the external field (exogenous factor) and resource ratio (endogenous factor), and a class of saturation as the external field exceeds certain limits. This work suggests that the Ising game could be a suitable model for studying external-field effects on resource-allocation systems, and it could provide guidance both for seeking more relations between NESSs and equilibrium states and for regulating human systems by choosing NESSs appropriately.

Resource allocation using ANN in LTE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yigit, Tuncay; Ersoy, Mevlut

2017-07-01

LTE is the 4th generation wireless network technology, which provides flexible bandwidth, higher data speeds and lower delay. Difficulties may be experienced upon an increase in the number of users in LTE. The objective of this study is to ensure a faster solution to any such resource allocation problems which might arise upon an increase in the number of users. A fast and effective solution has been obtained by making use of Artificial Neural Network. As a result, fast working artificial intelligence methods may be used in resource allocation problems during operation.

The balancing act: experts' opinions about the relative resourcing of tobacco control efforts for the general population versus disadvantaged populations.

PubMed

Paul, Christine Louise; Bonevski, Billie; Turon, Heidi Erin; Bryant, Jamie

2012-07-01

Despite the persistent socioeconomic gradient associated with smoking, little is known about how to 'close the gap'. There is a debate regarding the implications of directing resources away from general population efforts towards disadvantaged groups. The study explored views of those with expertise in tobacco control about the appropriate balance of tobacco control resourcing between the general population and disadvantaged groups. A Web-based survey of 192 respondents (response rate 65%) working in tobacco control in Australia and New Zealand was completed. Respondents were sampled from the Australian and New Zealand Tobacco Control Contact List and a literature search. Respondents were asked to allocate a hypothetical budget for: (a) anti-tobacco mass media campaigns; and (b) tobacco control research. The vast majority (93%) of respondents believed that some tobacco control resources should be specifically directed towards disadvantaged groups. Respondents believed up to half of mass media resources should be directed towards disadvantaged groups. In the case of tobacco control research, the median allocation to the general population was approximately one-third of a hypothetical research budget. It appears there is a desire among the Australian and New Zealand tobacco control community for substantial effort to be directed towards disadvantaged groups. It is important to develop an evidence base to ensure an efficient and equitable approach to balancing the potentially competing demands of general population versus disadvantaged group activities in relation to tobacco control. © 2012 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

Deficit irrigation and sustainable water-resource strategies in agriculture for China's food security.

PubMed

Du, Taisheng; Kang, Shaozhong; Zhang, Jianhua; Davies, William J

2015-04-01

More than 70% of fresh water is used in agriculture in many parts of the world, but competition for domestic and industrial water use is intense. For future global food security, water use in agriculture must become sustainable. Agricultural water-use efficiency and water productivity can be improved at different points from the stomatal to the regional scale. A promising approach is the use of deficit irrigation, which can both save water and induce plant physiological regulations such as stomatal opening and reproductive and vegetative growth. At the scales of the irrigation district, the catchment, and the region, there can be many other components to a sustainable water-resources strategy. There is much interest in whether crop water use can be regulated as a function of understanding of physiological responses. If this is the case, then agricultural water resources can be reallocated to the benefit of the broader community. We summarize the extent of use and impact of deficit irrigation within China. A sustainable strategy for allocation of agricultural water resources for food security is proposed. Our intention is to build an integrative system to control crop water use during different cropping stages and actively regulate the plant's growth, productivity, and development based on physiological responses. This is done with a view to improving the allocation of limited agricultural water resources. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The Caspian Sea Negotiation Support System 2.0

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rouhani, O. M.; Madani, K.

2012-12-01

The Caspian Sea is one of the most resourceful (both in energy and biological resources) areas of the world. The share allocation of Caspian Sea has been the subject of many disputes. Up to now, the negotiations to reach an agreement regarding the ownership status of the sea have not been completely successful. To facilitate reaching an agreement among littoral countries, research studies can provide valuable information. Researchers should examine different options for dividing the sea closely and determine the benefits of each of the options for the parties involved. Following an earlier effort, Caspian Sea Negotiation Support System is further developed in this regard. The model estimates countries' areal and utility shares under different legal methods/scenarios, attempting to minimize transportation costs of exploiting the resource. The applied model is more efficient than the earlier model and the used data includes more variables/attributes such as depth, the differentiation between gas and oil, and various fish resources than the previously employed data. Consequently, the estimates are calculated in more details than are calculated in the earlier study. The results still show a high sensitivity of outputs to the proposed division rules, suggesting a need to clarify the countries' utility and areal shares under any suggested legal regime. Compared to the previous results, the new results confirm the significant effect of the addition of the more variables/attributes to the analysis, in terms of the areal shares and allocations, valuation of resources, and asset management.

Cooperative institutions for sustainable common pool resource management: Application to groundwater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madani, Kaveh; Dinar, Ariel

2012-09-01

Beneficiaries of common pool resources (CPRs) may select available noncooperative and regulatory exogenous institutions for managing the resource, as well as cooperative management institutions. All these institutions may increase the long-term gains, prolong the life of the resource, and help to escape the tragedy of the commons trap. Cooperative game theory approaches can serve as the backbone of cooperative CPR management institutions. This paper formulates and applies several commonly used cooperative game theoretic solution concepts, namely, the core, Nash-Harsanyi, Shapley, and nucleolus. Through a numerical groundwater example, we show how CPR users can share the gains obtained from cooperation in a fair and efficient manner based on these cooperative solution concepts (management institutions). Although, based on their fairness rationales, various cooperative management institutions may suggest different allocations that are potentially acceptable to the users, these allocation solutions may not be stable as some users may find them unfair. This paper discusses how different methods, such as application of the plurality rule and power index, stability index, and propensity to disrupt concepts, can help identify the most stable and likely solutions for enforcing cooperation among the CPR beneficiaries. Furthermore, how the noncooperative managerial characteristics of the CPR users can affect the stability and acceptability of the different cooperative CPR management institutions is discussed, providing valuable policy insights for cooperative CPR management at community levels.

The Cost Structure of Higher Education: Implications for Governmental Policy in Steady State.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lyell, Edward H.

The historical pattern of resource allocation in American higher education as exemplified by public colleges in Colorado was examined. The reliance upon average cost information in making resource allocation decisions was critiqued for the special problems that arise from student enrollment decline or steady state. A model of resource allocation…

The Role of Research and Analysis in Resource Allocation Decisions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lea, Dennis; Polster, Patty Poppe

2011-01-01

In a time of diminishing resources and increased accountability, it is important for school leaders to make the most of every dollar they spend. One approach to ensuring responsible resource allocation is to closely examine the organizational culture surrounding decision making and provide a structure and process to incorporate research and data…

Resource Allocation Strategies in Doctoral/Research University (Extensive) Libraries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blake Gonzalez, Barbara

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify and understand the management of resources by library directors at 151 Public and Private Carnegie classified extensive university libraries in an environment of limited funding for higher education. This study examined the following research questions: 1. What resource allocation strategies are used by…

Resource Allocation and Improved Student Performance: Teachers' Perspectives on School Finance Administration.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rudo, Zena H.

As expectations rise for students to perform at higher levels, the question of how best to support student performance through resources becomes paramount. In determining new ways to better allocate resources, administrators must consider teacher input on what has/has not been effective in supporting increased student performance. Teachers…